General Conference Weekend

Oh, relief! Emma has gone to bed. She has been very 'alert' today and only took a 30 minute nap. She's been pretty wired lately. It's like her personality has doubled in enthusiasm in the last few days. She's so funny. I've been particularly impressed with her ability to recognize her alphabet as of late. She pretty much knows her entire alphabet, with the exception of a handful of letters. She definitely can't just spout of the ABC song, but she recognizes most letters when shown them. Even when we've been out places, she yells out "B!" or "O!" to me. She's really been noticing letters all around her: on signs, books, food boxes, etc. She is amazing. She really enjoys reading Curious's George's ABC's. She likes the animals in it and all the letters. Ben has recently been trying to see if we can get her to learn her numbers. So far, she says that all numbers are "two". That's amusing.

Ben is studying right now. He's been studying all day, and even sacrificed one of his brief break moments to do the dishes for me. He's really been super dad/husband lately. I've had a complete aversion to dishes and many food items. He's taken it upon himself to keep up with loading and unloading the dishwasher, wiping the counters, and cleaning the pots. What a good husband I have. I don't know what I'd do without him.

So, as the title of this post declares, it is General Conference weekend! I discovered a great option for watching Conference. Recently, BYU TV started up an online broadcast of their shows. You can watch BYU TV live all day from your computer! It's really amazing, and especially great for conference. I was able to lie in bed with my laptop and watch Conference today. It was very comfortable. And the best part is that you can pause and rewind! Awesome! Anyway, the video quality is really great. To view, go to www.byu.tv. Happy Conferencing!

Games

I've been really enjoying playing Yahoo! games the past couple of days. One arcade game in particular, called Dynomite, has some strange memories associated with it. For some reason, I was really into playing this game during the last month of my pregnancy with Emma. I remember sitting there in our Provo apartment playing Dynomite while having contractions. Towards the last few weeks I would have a few contractions a day and sometimes they would come in spurts every five minutes or so. One evening, Ben and I were at home and I was having contractions about every 3 minutes for a couple of hours. We called the doctor and the nurse told us that unless I'm really in pain with the contractions, then it's nothing to go to the hospital for. Well, they weren't anything particularly painful, just tight and strange feeling. The bottom line is that nothing came of it and in the end I was induced into labor anyway. What was I saying before? Oh, yes, Dynomite. My point, I guess, is that now when I play Dynomite, it makes me think about contractions. How funny. And since I'm pregnant again, it has an extra special meaning. I've also been enjoying a game called Typer Shark, which is funny in that it is really just a typing game, like Typing Tutor. But, it's really fun! To me anyway. You have to type given words as fast as you can before the sharks eat you. It's amusing. With both of these games, it has three options for play. You can buy the game for 20.00, or you can download a free trial version, which is just like the game you buy, but you can only play for 60 minutes. The third (and my favorite) option is to play the web version. It's a simpler version of the game, but without any time restrictions and it's free! So try them out. And if you look around, I'm sure you'll find another game or two you'd enjoy as well.

Mom mentioned to me that she's been working on a 500 piece puzzle. Well, I must admit that I was working on a puzzle of the same size last week, but I threw in the towel. I had made some good progress, but finally got to a point where I just couldn't make any more headway, without getting super frustrated. To me, the key to a good puzzle (at least when trying to finish one on your own) is to find just the right difficulty. Even very hard puzzles I can get a good start on, but eventually (unless outside help is given), I get to an impass where I've already put together all the easier parts and then I'm left with 200 pieces or so that tend to be the same color. Blast! So, to me, a 500 piece puzzle is perfect for a group/family project, but if being done alone, I'd prefer a 300 piecer. What's your opinion? Do you like puzzles? What's your frustration limit?

Oh, and ABC is back showing episodes for free online. They have a special Lost preview show, where they go back and look at the last couple of seasons and talk about what's happened. I thought it was entertaining and a good review before starting into the new season next week. To view it, click here and then click on Lost. It will bring up two episodes to choose from: the last episode of Season 2 and the Sneak Peak episode I'm talking about. Happy Lost watching!

Round 2

So, I'm going to make an official announcement for all the world to read and declare that I am 10 weeks pregnant! Yipee! I finally went to my first prenatal appointment yesterday afternoon. They even did an ultrasound! When I was pregnant with Emma they only did one ultrasound at about 20 weeks to determine the gender and just check up on how she was doing. At this new doctor's office, though, they like to do an ultrasound in the beginning to confirm the due date by checking on the growth of the baby. They have ultrasound equipment right there in the office, so it is definitely more convenient. The doctor's office is also attached to Arrowhead Hospital, which is where I will be delivering this new baby when the time comes. By the way, the due date is April 24th, and I should find out the gender around Thanksgiving time. For now, the fetus name is Lumpy, which is what my belly is right now. ;) Emma's fetus name was Squishy. We find that a fetus name is quite handy during this time before the gender is determined, let alone any name ideas. Then we don't have to just refer to fetus as "baby" or "it". Anyway, Lumpy is keeping me quite nauseous at the moment. I hope it will end soon. I've been feeling quite gross for about 3 weeks now and I anticipate about another 2 weeks of this, assuming it goes like the last one. But we will see. Oh, and like I mentioned before, I got an ultrasound done with a cute little picture. Lumpy is small but has a strong heartbeat and was wiggling around. How amazing! I don't have a scanner, but I tried just taking a picture of the photo... it didn't turn out great; even with the flash turned off, I was getting a lot of glare. For now, this will do. Ben is going to try to get it scanned at school so I have a better quality picture saved to the computer. It's nothing that exciting, but exciting for us, so we want to share it.

We got Emma a Nemo costume at the Disney store recently. She thinks it is the greatest. It's really funny. One time she insisted on wearing her Nemo costume, holding her Nemo stuffed animal and watching the Nemo movie all at the same time. What a funny girl. She definitely knows what she wants. Currently, she really enjoys Nemo and Elmo. I'd like to get Emma the new Elmo TMX for Christmas. She'd think it was hillarious. And secretly, I'd like it too. :) If you haven't already seen what the new Tickle Me Elmo can do, check it out on the video that my sister uploaded to the Muffin's blog. That Elmo is so funny.

Girl Shopping!

Oh, Saturday. How is everyone doing today? I am disappointed in that my cough/cold is still grasping on for dear life. I feel like my cough in particular is becomming more and more intense. In fact, Ben and I both have it, and when we are together, we sound like a bunch of dying, old people. I'd say my only hope is that it will past quickly, but Ben has had it for a few days longer than me, and his cough is still going strong. Good grief. Despite our illnesses, Ben thought it would be good for us all to get out of the house together. I haven't left in the house in three days (since I got back from Utah) because I've been feeling so under the weather. Ben thought it would be good to get some fresh air, so we did. We went over to the nearby Arrowhead Mall. It was a fun outing. We even got some fun things. It turns out, we were rather blessed with good fortune this month regarding our bills. First off, since we just traded in the truck to get the Altima, we won't have a payment to pay for about another 45 days, so that means we don't have a car payment to pay this month. Also, we were shocked to receive our utilities bill and discover that they actually owe us 45 dollars! Does that ever happen?! Well, I guess we paid a deposit at the beginning of the year or something, and now that the new payment year is starting, we received it back. What a lovely surprise! In addition to this, we are finally closing our account at UCCU up in Provo, which is where we've been had our auto loan for the truck. When we close it, we'll get 100.00 sent to us from our savings account. Anyway, other than rent, those are some of our largest bills to pay (car payment and utilities), so we justified a little fun money! Ben decided to spoil "his girls" by getting me some cute new shirts and makeup and Emma a new outfit. We even found Emma some very darling pink sneakers and a pink belt. She is so petite that she has been in desperate need for a belt. She turns 19 months old today and she is still often times too big for 12 month old clothes. Especially with pants... if I find something that fits her tiny waste, than the length is usually way too short. So, I think the best compromise is to find pants the correct length and then put on a belt to keep them up. Oh, what a chore, but what a cute Emma we have! :)

Ooooo... so, the 3rd Season of Lost starts on October 4th! I'm pretty excited. I really believe that Lost is the best show on TV right now, with 24 in a close 2nd. I'm not sure what to think coming into this new Lost season. I have so many questions and I'm worried about being disappointed with the answers. So far, I feel like my questions have all been "answered" with more and more questions. It's like a door is opened, only to find 10 more doors behind it. It's frustrating but very exciting. I think this series could go one of two ways... I will either be extremely pleased and satisfied with the story and its solutions, or incredibly disappointed. The writers have just really set up quite the mystery and I hope it all ties together in a logical, yet fantastic way. We will see... Woohoo Lost!

Speaking of TV shows, I've been really enjoying another series called Numbers. It's basically a detective show that utilizes math to solve crimes. It's pretty fun. I've really enjoyed it and have found that the characters (so far) are respectable people who live decent, moral lives. It's rather refreshing... and I love how math is the central theme. It's quite different from other shows on now.

Have a good day, or for whatever is left of it. And Happy 19 month old Birthday to Emma! :)

Puzzles, Munchkins, and Sheep.

So, I've been visiting my lovely family in Utah for the past week. Thus, I have been away from the blogging life for a little while. As I've mentioned before, I tend to never blog when actual fun things are going on in my life. I guess because I'm too distracted to bother. It isn't until my life gets back to the regular day-to-day routines that I actually post something. If I was really fun, I would post some audio blogs while I'm out and about at fun places... like when I went to Disneyland this past summer. How amusing it would have been to hear "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me!" in the background, while describing my experience on the Pirates of the Carribean ride (a.k.a. The Johnny Depp Adventure). But, no... instead, I took minimal photos or things to remember my trip by.... and the same has occured for my Utah trip. I, once again, took no photos or record of my travels. I'll just have to sum up for you. I came down with a cold for much of the trip, putting a slight damper on my outings during my visit. However, I found much to do, despite this ill-fated intruder. We put together many a puzzle and played many games. Dad even purchased a new game, under Aaron's counsil. Apparently, he played it often on P-days and really loved it. It's called Munchkin. It's basically a parody of games such as Dungeons and Dragons. It was pretty amusing, and fun to play... it did take a once-through before we all got the hang of it. There are a lot of cards and many different rules and steps. But it was worth the learning curve. Apparently, there are also a ton of expansion sets to get that add even more fun. Aaron said he especially enjoyed Star Munchkin. In addition to game playing, we also made another visit to Wheeler Farm. We took lunch and visited the animals. Emma's favorite seems to be the chickens, especially the rooster. She also conversed with the sheep, by approaching one and saying "Baaa". I think they shared with each other their own versions of the meaning of life. We also made some shopping trips, mostly for Emma stuff. She got some new pants, a dress, socks, and shoes. Grandma also bought a booster seat for her to use at the table. She's been ready for a while now to sit up with us at dinner and be a better part of the conversation. :) This morning at breakfast, we hooked up the seat to her own chair at the kitchen table. She chewed her muffin with the rest of us, and gave us all looks that said, "why are you all looking at me". Ben and I thought she was really cute eating like a big girl with her mom and dad. She is growing so quickly and developing quite the sense of humor. It's nice to have another personality in the mix to keep us entertained.

Anyway, it was a pleasant week, and really fun to see the family. Now I am trying to get back into life at home. It's hard to just jump back into routines, but it's nice to have them. Oh, and while I was gone, Ben held down the fort, got 100% on his Pathology test (I have a genious husband!), and cleared the way for the carpet cleaners. I love clean carpets!

Oh, and please comment on my newest post for the Book Review. I am seeking suggestions.

Happy Labor Day!

Aw, labor day. A strange holiday... I've never been quite sure what I was celebrating. This year, I thought I would look into the meaning of Labor Day and how it all began. Of course, I consulted the trusty Wikipedia site and discovered that there really isn't a great story associated with the holiday. I was rather disappointed. I learned that in 1882 the Knights of Labor, a labor union consisting of a small group of Philadelphia tailors, organized a parade in NYC. Another parade was held in 1884, at which point they started to pass resolutions to make it an annual event. President Grover Cleveland made it an official holiday in 1887. I suspect that their may be more to the story than this, but this is all I could gather. Let me know if you could add anything. I was a little surprised to learn that the holiday was started so long ago. I guess I would have thought that it was more a recent holiday that didn't begin until at least the early 1900's. Anyway, so I guess we can thank the labor union of Philadelphia tailors for our holiday celebrations to be held today.

So, I don't have any plans for today, other than clean the house some. Ben may need to study during a chunk of the day. In an ideal world, today we would be having a picnic at a park (and the weather would be a magical 78 degrees with no wind), spending some time swimming, and maybe going to see a movie. I'll let you know if any of my dreams come true. Actually, let me be a little more adventurous in my dreaming here... I really wish I were in Disneyland, or on a cruise, or traveling Europe. Yeah, that sounds like a wonderful Labor Day, eh?

What are your Labor Day plans? If you don't know yet, see what Strong Bad is doing for Labor Day... mabye you'll get a good idea from him.

Some videos...

In addition to the post below, I thought I would add something else for today. I told mom I would post some more videos of Emma since it has been so long. Emma changes so quickly. She's been speaking more and more everyday. I could no longer write down all the words she can say. It would be too many! How exciting! Anyway, I made two quick videos. The first you can watch below and the second you can watch by clicking here.



Sorry about the poor quality. I often forget to switch the camera to the high quality video and then when it gets stretched out, it looks quite blurry. Oh bother.

A new car!

So, I have not fallen off the earth. I have just been rather busy and distracted from things such as blogging. You may wonder what else falls under such a category as "things such as a blogging". These "things" often include writing in my journal, taking a bubble bath, curling my hair, reading a book, exercising, etc. All of these things are much enjoyed when I get myself to do them, but often not at the top of the pile of things to get done, so many get pushed to the wayside, until the right moment arises. So, I'll get to the couple of major points I wanted to fill you all in on (even though, most that read my blog, already have known long beforehand regarding anything I post... but act surprised anyway, so that I feel like this is worthwhile). We got a new car! Well, actually we said goodbye to our much beloved Chevy truck and traded it in for a more family-friendly and fuel-efficient vehicle. We are now driving around a lovely 2005 Nissan Altima, so it's used, but practically new. We feel spoiled with many of its features... especially considering the fact that we have never been privileged to have such luxuries up until now. One such prized convenience is finally having power doors and windows with a nice little clicker for my keychain. My naughty secret from the past is that I would always leave the back door unlocked, so that I could get Emma in and out without having to unlock the front door with my key and reach around to unlock the back door. Now I just push a button and I am much more secure in the process. I also have a tilt wheel... which for many may seem like a standard feature, but in the past, I haven't had one... now I can truly see over the steering wheel in a manner that is pleasing to me. There is even power seating on the drivers side, and I can raise my seat up a little if I want to. Oh, the joys of being short. Emma can relate, as is shown in the picture to the right (taken at the Tucson Children's Museum). Here's another secret... when I was in high school and first started driving, I would sit on a phone book in the good ol' Nissan Pathfinder so that I could see over the wheel more easily. And I guess I haven't really gotten any taller since then... oh drat. Anyway, we are just loving the new car and since we were buying used we didn't have much color choice and ended up with another white car. We tend to always have white vehicles. So, now we have the Altima and the particularly-crappy-now-that-we-have-a-better-car Chevy Cavelier. Two white cars... one nice, one not-so-nice. Currently, Ben and I are trading off on a weekly basis, so that no one gets jealous. ;)

Another fun event that occured was that we finally spent a day at the waterpark... at the tail end of the summer. Waterworld is only about 10 minutes away, so we spent last Saturday playing with our school friends. Emma just loved it! We all know she loves the water, but I was worried there wouldn't be much for her to do... but there was plenty! I could even take Emma down the big slides that you sit on a tube for; I just had Emma sit on my lap. She giggled the whole way down. I don't think she could believe we were doing such a crazy activity as sliding down a twisty 30 foot tall slide on an inflatable device while wearing swimsuits. It was a grand time!