True North

Last weekend Kensie performed with the University of Utah's Children's Dance Theatre in True North.

As usual, it was an amazing concert. As usual, I cried {a lot}. It was a hectic week driving downtown for rehearsals every night, but it is always so worth it to see Kensie's radiant face when she dances. Parents are required to put in 20 hours of volunteer work each year, and I try to save my hours for concert week so that I get to be in on all the action backstage and in the dressing rooms......I'm instantly transported back to my dancing days, and that's why I cry {a lot}. There's something so magical about feeling the energy of the dancers backstage as they wait to go on.

Kensie loved her teacher, Miss Mimi, this year. She was so great with the girls, and expected a lot from them. Their dance was called Winter Games. Kensie loved dancing with the balls, and even had a special part where she got to yell "HEY!" {she was very nervous about this, but she has no trouble being loud in everyday life so I knew she'd do great!}.

Men's Week

I really enjoyed Men's Week on CJane.

I especially liked her brother's entry, "Taking Care of Your Wife in Labor", and Jim Rowberry's entry, "Taking Care of Your Wife During The Postpartum Phase".

Here are a few of my favorite exerpts:


from Christopher Clark-

Gentlemen, here are some other things not to do during the birthing process:

DO NOT

1. Say things like 'Wow, this takes forever!"

2. Text updates to friends and family every 15 minutes about how this is "taking forever."

3. Sing songs about wearing red pajamas, or even whisper "oh, we'll all go out to meet her."

4. Eat those cups of crushed ice they give your wife (EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE SO TEMPTING)

5. Forget what your baby looks like. They will eventually wheel your baby into a big room full of babies who look just like yours. Mothers could tell a difference, but you can't. You better figure out which one is yours or you can be charged for negligence in some states.

6. Complain about the color of your hospital bracelet.

7. Sit in the waiting room and smoke a big cigar (EVEN THOUGH IT IS SO TEMPTING)

8. Make comments if your baby's head is misshapen or the skin is blotchy. That's normal for babies, what's your excuse?

9. Bring your other children to see the new baby wearing mismatchy outfits and messy hair. Your wife will charge you for negligence.

10. Assume you know how much childbirth hurts (UNLESS YOU HAVE HAD A KIDNEY STONE.)


from Jim Rowberry-

When your wife gets the post-partum crazies, don’t tell her she is crazy, listen and don’t overreact. Be patient. Everything will normalize with time. It’s okay to smile and nod.

Six weeks means six weeks. No paper chains or countdown calendars. You know what I’m talking about.

A man is not a man if he can’t provide his family with a hot meal and clean clothes. Little Caesar’s 5 dollar pizza does not count. Clean the house, do the dishes, and bathe the kids. If you need to, rely on paper plates. Don’t be an ignorant husband. You can learn how to use the washing machine and the dishwasher. It’s manly, I promise.

Sundries

There has been a lot going on lately, and I just can't seem to get my act together when it comes to blogging. Here's my attempt to catch up....


1. Have I mentioned that Jackson cracks me up? Here are a few more examples:

"FUNDER!"



"Single Ladies" has been replaced....



2. This is my last week of work until the baby comes {which is on May 13th barring any unforeseen circumstances}. It's bittersweet for me. I love all those rugrats, but I'll be glad to rest for a week before MY rugrat arrives. I'm so grateful that I'll be able to go back when I'm ready, and for all the support everyone there has shown me.

3. We had a wonderful time at the Salt Lake Temple with Matt's sister, Alayna, as she attended for the first time. It was great to be there with everyone. I'm pretty sure this night was the "breaking point" for my pubic bone, but it was worth it!! We wish she could have stayed longer....

4. Kensie got to play a piano "duet" with Larry Beebe at my parent's house awhile ago. She thought it was so awesome! What an amazing experience.




5. I'm starting to actually believe that I'm going to have a baby in mere weeks, and it has me both excited and freaked out! The hormones have returned. I spent yesterday just holding Jackson and crying because he's not going to be my baby anymore....

6. I am so grateful to have amazing friends and family who are taking such good care of me! I feel unworthy of all the calls, treats, meals, babysitting, etc. It's much easier for me to give the help, but it has been SO wonderful to be the recipient. I'm starting to realize that I don't have to be superwoman. It's okay if I'm in pain and can't do everything I want to. And it's okay to let people help me with those things I can't do. It doesn't make me less of a woman.

7. My mind and heart are in full nesting mode, but my body cannot fulfill the need to clean, organize, and prepare the way I want to. It's frustrating. I wish men experienced nesting....

8. Spring has finally arrived. The vole tracks are being raked out, the deer are daily visitors, the hill is turning green, and the windows are letting in the fresh air! Also, my toes look like sausages, my ankles are now cankles, and I can barely type with my bloated fingers. Thank goodness I'm having this baby before summer comes!

9. I'm officially a mini-van mom. I thought I'd never say it....
We've been searching for months and finally found one that we liked and could afford (not an easy task!). It will be nice to be able to all fit in one car. The kids think it's the greatest and get excited every time we have to go somewhere! We'll see how I do without 4-wheel drive in the winter...

Soccer

Lincoln started spring soccer last week. His first game was so funny to watch! Pre-K kids are awesome! Lincoln really had no clue what to do, but listened to everything his coach told him and caught on quickly. He ended up scoring 4 goals and had a blast! He's excited to have his friend Corbin on his team.

He loves his uniform and wants to wear it 24/7. He was also thrilled to learn that you get treats after the game! We're looking forward to watching him the next few weeks, and I'm sad that I'll miss his last two games (I'll be in the hospital with a new baby!!).

State Reflections

Kensie received her final award for Reflections this year. She was thrilled when she got her invitation in the mail telling her that she would be getting an Award of Merit at the state level! It was great to have both sets of grandparents and her aunt Alayna there to support her, even if it was a miserable couple of {unorganized} hours....

She was beaming when they showed a clip of her dance & everyone clapped! Way to go, Kens!!

Hippity Hoppity

hello.

I am still alive. Things have been a bit crazy around here lately, hence my lack of blogging. They diagnosed me with PSD, which basically means my pubic bone has separated and MAN does it hurt!! I've been trying to take it easy {yeah right} as much as possible, but with Kensie's concert coming up and Lincoln starting soccer it's not really an option. I only have 4 weeks left.....I can survive that long!

Anyway, let's play catch up.


We had a great Easter and enjoyed spending time with family. Our Easter baskets were nowhere to be found this year, so the kids ended up decorating bags. It might become a new tradition! It even allowed me to listen to a few Conference talks in peace!!

We dyed our eggs {and our fingers} and the kids had fun coming up with some creative dying techniques. No pictures of the finished product because I decided to try dying the eggs with food coloring drops this year. Don't try it. Some of the colors were fine, but others were heinous. That's why Kensie has a grouchy face....her pink was more of a brown.

We attended the annual SunCrest egg hunt, snow and all! Kensie even found a golden egg and got some sweet prizes! The Easter Bunny came in the fire truck and pulled the siren to start the race. That night when I put the kids to bed I told Jackson to hurry and go to sleep so the Easter Bunny could come. He replied, "Mom, where is he going to park his fire truck? In our driveway?".


We also had fun at Grandma May's making Easter crafts, and having a delicious Easter feast and receiving baskets full of goodies at my parent's house. What a great weekend!

Things I Really, Really Want To Do This Week....

...but probably won't get around to doing because {let's be honest} I can barely waddle my pregnant self to work, dance rehearsals, birthday parties, and everything else that I HAVE to do this week.

1. Make this "sushi" for April Fool's Day

2. Hot Cross Buns

3. Add these eggs to our traditional egg-dying techniques

A few things that I will DEFINITELY be doing this week:

1. Pondering This:

2. Listening to the Prophet


3. Doing the Easter Cookie Story with the kids & spending lots of time with family

These three things are much more important to me than the previous things, anyway.....

maybe next year I'll have time to do it all.

Gourmet Night

March was my month to host Gourmet night. "Gourmet" is such a subjective term, don't you think? I would never think of my meals as gourmet, but someone could bring me a pizza and a pre-packaged salad and I would consider it gourmet as long as I didn't have to cook it.

It was a great night, and I'm still recovering! Go here to see what I made...

Some things {for me} to remember when hosting dinner group:

1. Try to host in April or May. That way it is still light out when guests arrive {they won't get lost}, and there hopefully won't be a snow storm.
   
2. Try not to host when you are a huge 7-month pregnant person, although it is preferable to being a not so huge 8 week nauseous pregnant person. Or having a newborn.
3. Allow your children to play the Wii and watch movies all day so you don't have to clean up after them {or yell at them} 500 times.
4. The food will never be as good as the company. Deal with it and move on. {This only applies to me, of course.}
5. Using a new recipe without testing it out first sometimes works, but can be disastrous.
6. Get a double oven.
7. Relax and enjoy yourself. No one will know that hours before they arrived your kitchen was filled with smoke, that you couldn't get the stain out of the carpet, or that most of your recipes didn't quite turn out how you'd have liked them to.
   

Erin Go Braugh

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Kensie built a tremendous Leprechaun Hotel in hopes of catching the little fellow, but had no luck. It was a 4 star establishment complete with a couch, big screen t.v., and a sign that said "There is gold here". I would have stayed there.....

We've been enjoying St. Patrick's Day by making treats:

Rainbow Cupcakes from Family Fun

Chocolate Mint Brownies for my YW activity tonight. I'm secretly hoping not many girls show up so there are some left over!

Good Times

Matt's been traveling a lot for work lately. Since December I feel like I've only seen him a handful of times.....

On the days he's actually been home we've been too exhausted to even try to have a conversation, let alone do anything fun. Luckily those days are over {knock on wood} and we've had some great opportunities {thanks to family} to make up for lost time.


Matt's parent's took us to the Desert Star Theatre to see Twi-lite. Oh my, how I've missed the Desert Star. I'd forgotten how fun it is, though too much laughing and a full pregnant bladder are not always a good thing!



My parent's got us tickets to see Brian Regan at Abravanel Hall. I laughed & laughed {see bladder reference above}; at one point I was crying- I do that when I laugh. The one annoying thing about going to a comedy show is having to listen to other peoples' laughs. Some people come so eager to laugh that they begin before the joke's even over...



*this "good time" was while Matt was traveling, but I had to include it

My friend Amy's dad opened a Corner Bakery near the U of U and we had a fabulous night there! We were treated like royalty with a reserved table, delicious food, more desserts than we could eat {we managed to} and a loaf of bread to take home.

We learned that we've still got it at ages 32 & 33 when we were warned that one of the workers in back wanted to come out and meet the table of "beautiful ladies"! It was a great night.