SpindleStitch

January 2011

2011-11-04T22:53:00.000-06:00

As always, I was excited for my new classes when they begin (the stress comes later).

Liam decided my "Ugg" boots went well his soldier hat, he wore them all of the time. He's using caution cones for guns or something.

Cute boys.

Last day I had pictures taken before I cut my hair.

I had been toying with the idea of cutting my hair real short for quite a while. I was hesitant to trust someone else to get me the style I wanted. Silly? Probably. Anyway I sat myself down with large mirrors in front and behind and slowly hacked away till I got what I wanted.

Owen wanted a hug good night so we took turns climbing in and snapped a few pictures for fun.

Liam couldn't resist getting in the pictures with Ronan.

Three in a row...

Then Ronan rolled.

Nate took the boys out to play when he wasn't working.

Sometimes they lured me away from my school work and out of the house.

Roe appears to be getting tired of his food.

They love to cuddle up for a picture.

Christmas 2010

2011-11-04T20:09:00.002-06:00

Christmas was in Colorado with my family. We had a great day building snowmen and a snow ball fights in the back yard.

Liam loved the snow.

Owen spent nearly the whole time by an overturned mini playground eating snow and loosing his mittens.

Eating snow.

Why is it so cute when little kids wear snow clothes?

My sister Caitlin helping owen get his mittens back on.

The the younger kids made two regular sized snowmen and the big kids made a ten foot tall snowman with my Dads help.

Putting mittens on again.

Owen got stuck on the playground, Daddy saved him.

The pictures I took of the unwrapping of presents were too blurry. The boys had a great time though.

That was until Liam got a paper cut on and threw up.

More Catching Up: Oct-Dec 2010

2011-11-04T16:21:00.001-06:00

It snowed at the end of October

I was too busy for costume making so Liam was a ghost pillow, Owen was in Liam's old "Jedi" costume, and here's Ronan the fierce pirate baby (again Liam's old costume).

The boys just loved being read to.

Ronan was cute.

Liam was kind enough to pose for photo reference for some of my art.

Ronan was cute.

Well they all were cute. And everyone stayed relatively happy through finals.

Then Comes A Baby... (2010)

2011-08-19T15:32:00.009-06:00

WARNING: This is a birth story full of pain and anguish, (but hey it has a really adorable and chubby ending) you might not want to read this if you are pregnant or thinking about becoming so.

Last post, I left off with us getting home in time for classes on Monday. Well 3 o'clock Monday morning I woke to some very uncomfortable contractions (you know where this is headed...) I was able to go back to sleep until 4, then I had to give up. I had forgotten how bad contractions could be. You see with Owen, I was induced and I elected to have an epidural since I heard pitocin can make your contractions more intense and I wasn't interested in that. Since I didn't feel a single contraction or any pain at all for my last child I had forgotten what it was like to be in labor.
I was miserable when I was having the contractions and dreading the next one when I wasn't. They were so intense that I literally wanted to escape my own body every time a contraction hit me. I was screaming and crying through every one. After dealing with this for an hour I decided I wanted to go to the hospital even though my contractions weren't as regular as they say they should be ( a couple would be every 5 minutes then some would be every 8, and then 3, and then 10...). All I could think about was that the hospital was my relief and I wanted it now or was gonna loose my mind! We called my brother to come and watch the boys while we went to the hospital. It only took him 5 or 10 minutes but it felt like hours. I had basically decided I was gonna leave my children unattended and go to the hospital anyway (hey, he was gonna show up soon, I rationalized), when my brother finally showed up. I moved to the car as quickly as my pain-racked body could take me, crying the whole way. I was desperate. In order to save a few minutes of waiting I made a split second decision to go to the closest hospital instead of the one I had originally chosen. I was counting the minutes it would take to get there and unrealistically calculating how few contractions I might be able to get away with before the epidural took effect. Nathan parked and I got out of the car and went into the hospital without him. I just wanted to get in there as fast as I could, but I only made it 3 yards inside the door before I had to lean up against a wall and cry miserably. A very sweet angel of a doctor was walking past and tried to comfort me, sent some one to notify Labor and Delivery that I was coming, and guided me toward the correct elevator. Nathan caught up to me and we went up. As soon as we got in I was already begging for my pain relief. In the room the nurse checked me and was surprised that I was already fully dilated. They had to get an IV in my arm before they would give me a spinal epidural. Apparently I was dehydrated and that makes it really hard to successfully insert a needle. They had to stick me 2-3 times in each hand. I didn't care about that minor pain I just kept begging for I didn't really know what anymore. Then finally the anesthesiologist came and got the IV in and then gave me my epidural. RELIEF! Immediately after that the doctor came in and told me to start pushing...

On September 15th around 6am, just 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital Ronan Young Shirley was born. 9 lbs. 1 oz. and 20 .5 in. long and he was a week early! I was only in labor for 3 hours! It felt like eternity.

I felt much better afterwards.

He sure was a cute little chunker.

His brothers were, of course, delighted to have their little brother out in the open.

I chose to not take the week off (or for some people maybe it's longer, I don't know) because for me the worst possible thing would be to fall behind in my classes. So 58 hours (2 1/2 days) after giving birth I was back in my classes. Don't worry, I took it easy. At least I avoided walking to much.

So note that when ever I have said or will say, "I was going to school full time" that Art classes have double the in class hours of most typical college classes (and probably the out of class time required as well) so when I took 12 credits in the winter it was really 24 hours a week in class and when I took 14 credits in the fall that was really 28 hours a week in class then add out of class time. So basically when I wasn't sleeping, all I was doing was taking care of Ronan and working on my assignments. Nathan had to give me food or I usually wouldn't remember to eat (I confess I don't really do a whole lot better when I'm not busy either).

All I'm saying is that life was crazy.

Catch Up: Jan-Sep 2010

2011-08-19T13:36:00.011-06:00

I know that it has been forever since the last time I posted but I have a pretty good set of excuses! I will summarize the last 20 months (gosh that's long!) over a series of several posts.

January we moved in to our apartment in Wymount and started the winter semester. We had decided I would go full time and Nathan part time for three semesters and two terms and then he would graduate in April 2011 and I would finish up my degree long distance. Even though Nathan was taking fewer classes he still had work so things were really tough and we had to get some help watching the boys regularly or loose sleep and some times a combination of both. We also found out I was pregnant!

February Owen learned to walk at 10 months old. The picture is at the duck pond south of campus. We were giving him some support as he learned.

In April was the end of winter semester, Owen turned one year old, and my brother got married to an adorable young woman.

In May, Nate started taking the boys for hikes up the canyon. Even though I was getting larger with child, I accompanied them on one of their expeditions. The boys wanted to spend most of their time throwing rocks in the river.

May

June was the end of spring term and my load finally lightened a little (but not completely) for summer term. I know Nathan appreciated it too after being Mr. Mom for 6 months.

In August and September, things got really crazy right before fall semester Nathan was asked to go to Orlando for two weeks to do some work on site for Tupperware. Classes were starting and we couldn't find a babysitter and I was due in two weeks. So we took Liam and Owen to stay with my family and drove back the same day. I dropped Nathan off at the airport the following day (Sunday).
I started my classes all alone. It was the strangest feeling to be the only one at home and be a lone person with no kids attached (it was lonely). The next weekend, my brother and new sister-in-law (who also go to BYU) were having a late reception at my parents house, so I went down with them to see the boys and attend the reception and then we drove back for school.
I picked up Nate at the airport the next Friday night. Saturday we drove down to pick up the boys and drove back Sunday after Sacrament Meeting and were home in time to get some rest for classes the next day. Or so we thought...

Avatar

2009-12-23T11:56:00.002-07:00

We just went to see Avatar at an Imax theater last night. Grandma stayed home and watched Liam and Owen While the rest of the family went to the movie. I was bouncing and skipping as I walked to the movie feeling so light and it dawned on me that this was the first time I had been away from my babies in almost 4 months! (And I haven't been without Owen for even longer) I know that sounds a little pathetic maybe but I didn't really want to ask someone to babysit when I didn't know anyone very well and Owen was only recently was old enough to leave behind.

I thought Avatar was pretty cool. I agree with Nathan's Dad when he said "I like it when the Indian's win", the basic plot isn't original but it's still an impressive thing to watch. I read a review that said Avatar was like a teenage boy's dream (rescue an alien race, get a hot alien girl to fall in love with you, etc...) I had to laugh at a couple parts because it made me think of that review, but it was still awesome. The Imax was in a furniture store called Jordan's furniture. I had never heard of anything like that before. They have put a lot of attractions in their store to get people to walk through and see their furniture and hopefully buy it. I think it's a pretty good idea.

I was totally entertained by the women's bathroom! There were full length mirrors on all the bathroom stall doors. When I went into the stall and sat down to do my business. I was very uncomfortable when I finally realized I was watching ladies washing their hands. I felt very exposed (even though I wasn't really) when ladies were checking their appearance in the "mirror" and it looked like they were looking at me! Totally Genius! I have been raving to everyone about how awkwardly cool one way mirrors in a bathroom are! They kept the stalls dark as an important element in keeping the privacy. Only down side is then you can't check to see if the seat is wet before you sit down.

Let it snow!

2009-12-23T10:29:00.010-07:00

We are in Massachusetts with Nathan's family for the holidays. This is me in looking at the beautiful fresh snow while staying cozy inside! One of the best ways to enjoy the winter weather (especially if you've been in warm Florida for the past 4 months). Here is a summary of the time since my last post:

Liam and Nathan in front of "Pooh's howse" at Disney World.

Liam and Owen were wheeled around Disney World in style!

Liam trying on a hat after the Pirates of the Carribean ride. It's nice that we all could ride, even Owen! Nathan and I didn't have to take turns on almost any of the rides we went on.

Proof that I was there too! I got in free since it was my birthday! (they are ending that promotion this year, saddness...)

You can tell Liam loves his brother, Owen has to be pretty tough to handle the attention Liam gives him!

Nathan's internship ended on Dec 11th and we were planning on leaving the next day. I started fretting about the packing two weeks before we were going to leave and started packing the week of our departure. My brain felt pretty scrambled by the time we left. Here we have just about everything packed up...

2 days before we left we went to downtown Disney with some friends. It doesn't cost anything to walk around and there are lots of cool things to see. There was a Lego store that was showing off some impressive Lego sculptures outside. (we are posing in front of one of the smaller sculptures) We walked through a restaurant full of animatronic dinosaurs, Liam was pretty impressed. We had a fudge sundae at the Ghiradelli soda shop, mmmm.... very good! Downtown Disney wraps around a body of water so they have a ferry to take you across if you don't want to take the long way around. So we rode the ferry back to where we started when we were ready to go home. It was a lot of fun, Liam loved it.

Liam got a pirate sword from the ferryman at downtown Disney. Liam impressed him by calling the ferry a water taxi (he has a book full of different kinds of vehicles)

A different way to pack up Owen.

On our way to Massachusetts for Christmas. We split the trip down the middle by staying with my aunt Melissa in Virginia for a day. Liam and Owen were very good for both halves of the trip.

Luckily we just missed the snow storm that hit Virginia after we left. It caught up to us a day or two after we arrived in MA. But that was okay, as long as we weren't driving in it we didn't mind so much.

Super Owen!

Liam likes to wear his uncle Kevin's motorcycle helmet. It's very heavy but somehow he manages to avoid capsizing.

Liam was so excited to get to play in the fresh snow with Daddy, it was all hard and crunchy before.

He made Nathan take him out twice that day. Nathan made him a little 8" snow man that they played with for quite a while. It was very cute.

October

2009-11-04T11:20:00.009-07:00

Since it's been over two months since the last post, I'm going to back track a little.

We started potty training Liam the last week in September. No more diapers! It took him a week to figure out what needing to go feels like and what he was supposed to do, then he did pretty good most of the time. It took another week to start going to sit on the potty himself and some where in there we stopped using diapers when he slept. Then in another week there were virtually no accidents, yay! Also, Owen started army crawling at the beginning of October and now tries to eat everything in sight. He'll get up on all fours and rock but he won't do a real crawl yet. He's pretty fast though and very busy! Just in the past week, he's started to sit up all by himself too!

Liam calls it "my iPod" He likes to play the truck racing app, the drawing app and the puzzle app (especially the puzzle app!).

Mid October we were invited to a pumpkin carving party. We brought home the pieces for the eyes and nose because Liam liked to use the Jack-o-lantern as a puzzle. We took pictures right before we threw it away because it getting was moldy inside.

A friend gave us 11 fitted cloth diapers and 2 diaper covers at the beginning of the month, so mid month I decided to give cloth diapering a try (On Owen, not Liam! Remember, Liam is potty trained! Yay!). After a couple weeks, I bought 13 prefolds and 3 more diaper covers to supplement the ones that were given to us. We're still working out the nitty gritty stuff, but it' seems to be working for the most part.

Liam is using a pillow for a turtle shell.

Owen discovered he likes climbing on things, especially Liam's froggy potty. The only problem is he gets stuck once he's up there. He has pulled himself up to stand using the stairs. He has also tried to pull himself up using the coffee table and the beds.

Liam wanted to be a pirate for Halloween. He got really excited when he got his pirate beard painted on, he would yell: "Arrrr matey!" When Liam saw what I was wearing he said: "Mommy, you a pirate girl!"

Liam also liked Owens outfit. It was to small to wear in the conventional way, luckily he didn't mind wearing it as a little hooded cape. He ran over to my make up in the bathroom and said: "Make me a tiger nose!"

September

2009-11-04T09:02:00.008-07:00

Since it's been over two months since the last post, I'm going to back track a little.

Liam and Owen were delighted to have Daddy back! The trip to Orlando was about a 30 hour drive. We left Friday afternoon and arrived Monday night. Our only problems were Liam kept getting car sick until we got him some children's Dramamine and getting a flat tire the last day of the trip. Liam and Owen were suprisingly good for the trip. Still I'm pretty sure I want to avoid road trips that take longer than half a day in the future. Unfortunately, I know of two coming up before the year is over (ominous music playing...).

Owen started eating rice cereal at 5 months. He just wasn't satisfied with only nursing anymore. After a couple weeks we added the fruit and vegetable baby foods. He loves them all and so does Liam. Almost every time I feed Owen, Liam comes over and says: "Ahhhh" and waits with his mouth open until I give him a bite.

We went to Gatorland on Saturday the 19th since Tupperware offers employees free tickets.

It was pretty cool, Liam really enjoyed it. The gift shop had some awesome things like back scratchers made from real alligator "hands" , real lacquered alligator heads (they look alive), alligator skulls , plus toy alligators of every kind. (I really wanted to send my brother Chris an alligator back scratcher to use on his girlfriends, but I didn't... not yet anyway...)

The next weekend we went to Seaworld. They offer a Funpass which means you can come back all year for the same price as a single day pass, so we decided we should start going so we could make the most of our ticket price (we've gone three times as of November 1st). Liam loves all the fish. I think sea creatures are probably a big hit for kids of all ages, there is something so magical about them.

Kittens

2009-08-22T14:06:00.006-06:00

So, Nathan's internship has been extended 3 months! So that means we will be driving out to Orlando. He will be flying in Wednesday night, I'm so excited! It's been a long 8 weeks. The boys have grown so much. Owen has been working at grabbing things. Liam is talking better all the time. They have been having fun playing with the little kittens. It is fun to watch all these little kids carrying them around. It has been nice to be here with my family and spend time with them and get to know my younger siblings better. We will be driving to Idaho for Grandpa Shirley's birthday. Nathan's family will be there, so it will be like a mini family reunion. From there we will drive another 37 hours to Orlando, yipee! Lots of things going on! Oh! I can't wait 'til my love gets here!

away

2009-07-30T16:04:00.002-06:00

Nathan has been in Florida for 4 weeks now. So he is half-way through the internship. He says he's learning a lot, but he misses us and doesn't like being alone. The boys and I miss him terribly, but are getting along fine (I hate sleeping alone). I can't imagine being without Nathan for so long with out having my family around to help with the boys. Nathan and I talk every night either on the phone or webcam. Webcam is especially nice because Nathan can see the boys and they can see him. It's so fun to watch Liam talk to his daddy on the computer and see Owen smile and squirm when Nathan makes faces at him. Liam is talking better all the time and Owen is growing rapidly. They are both so very charming. I am sad that both Liam's 2nd birthday and our 3rd anniversary are going to happen while Nathan is away.

moving again

2009-06-16T12:29:00.003-06:00

So, a week and a half ago, Nathan got a two month internship with Tupperware in Orlando, Florida starting in July! Since it's only for two months, it works out better for Nathan to go alone and the boys and I will stay with my family in Colorado. If they ask him to stay longer (his teachers say it's pretty likely) the boys and I will go out to Orlando at that point and I will have to cancel my classes for the fall semester. But in the mean time the boys will get to spend time with their grandparents and little aunts and uncles. Now we get to pack our things into storage again! We've already started tearing the place apart and filling up boxes. What an adventure!

photography class

2009-06-16T12:12:00.009-06:00

I just finished my photography class yesterday. I have to say that the last assignment was my favorite, portraits. And, of course, I had to pick the most beautiful subjects that I had at my disposal, my boys! Here are some of my favorites. I just can't pick any less to show off than this and I wish I could post a lot more.

Liam and his favorite thing... can you guess?

sleeping smiles

dreamy baby

Owen with his daddy

Liam's first experience with a candle.

graham crackers

2009-05-15T17:56:00.006-06:00

Here is a video of Owen. He is now a month old. He's cuter than ever and and doing great. Sorry about the car noise in the background in the video, I had the front door open to let light and air inside. Liam absolutely loves Owen (he calls him "oh-wee"!). If I hadn't taken this video while Liam was napping, you probably wouldn't have been able to see Owen because Liam would have been all over him. I think they are going to be good friends.
I am pretty much recovered and I feel pretty good. I have been walking the 15 blocks up to school with Owen tied to me for my photography class on Mondays and Wednesdays. I also try to go running twice a week, if you can call my pathetic attempt running. I was so out of shape when I started a week and half ago, I could barely manage to jog a whole block and had to walk for 3 or 4 blocks before I could jog another. Now I can jog 3 blocks together and only have to walk for 2 or 3 in between. So at least there's improvement.
The past month I have tried making some different kinds of breads. I made some bedouin flat bread (kinda like pita bread), they weren't perfect but we enjoyed them. I also made wheat crackers that were good but a little dense (I will make improvements on both recipes next time hopefully). And finally, I made graham crackers last night that turned out wonderful! They were better than store bought (of course), buttery, and you couldn't even tell it was made with wheat flour.

Owen Alexander Shirley - April 15 2009

2009-04-18T15:55:00.005-06:00

Our little bundle arrived at 2:04am Wednesday morning. Owen weighed 8lbs. 3oz. and measured 19.5in. long. His hair has a reddish tinge, it looks about the same color as his daddy's right now we'll have to see what it changes into. But we might possibly have a little red head.

Liam came with Chris to the hospital to visit. When he saw Owen, his face lit up, "Beebee!" He softly stroked Owen's head and tweaked his little ear. It was nice to see that he was excited about his new little brother. We brought baby Owen home Friday afternoon. When we put him in his basket Liam started setting his favorite toys (cars) in the basket next to Owen. Next Liam started pulling letters off of his wooden alphabet puzzle and held them one at a time a few inches from Owen's sleeping face and told him what each of the letters were (at least the ones that he knew). It was precious! Today Liam has been laying down next to Owen while he sleeps on the Boppy pillow. Most of the time he is pretty gentle but we have to remind him occasionally.

Here is the nitty gritty (but not too graphic) on Owen's arrival for those who are interested:

On Tuesday after my visit to the doctor it was decided they would induce labor because the placenta was showing signs of being tired (I was 2 days past my due date...). They had us go straight to the hospital. So Chris picked up Liam at the hospital and I was started on pitocin at 6pm Tuesday night. I decided to have an epidural this time. I didn't feel any pain just some pressure during the last hour before he came, which was nice. I did get the shakes which was weird since I couldn't feel any pain or how hard my body was working. I didn't even push, he just came out. I didn't even know he was half-way out until I heard him making sounds. He was having trouble breathing because he had some fluid in his lungs so I only got to hold him for a minute before they took him to the nursery and put him on some kind of a respirator for a little while, then he just had oxygen tubes to his nose for a day. Later, they found that his white blood cell count was high (and some other test I can't remember), that made them think he was fighting off an infection. So, they wanted to put him on a 48 hour round of antibiotics. They had trouble getting the IV in him, the poor little guy had bruises and poke marks all over his arms, head, and feet. Finally, a nurse was able to get the needle in near his ankle with the help of 4 other nurses to hold him still. So our little Owen was tethered to the nursery and I had to visit him there to hold him and breastfeed him. They later told me they wanted to give antibiotics for 72 hours, so he was going to have to stay longer. I was reluctant to leave without my baby, but it couldn't be helped. I stayed at the hospital until Thursday night so I could be there to feed him as long as possible. When I came back on Friday to feed him, the pediatrician told me that I could take him home with me! So I hurried back to the house to grab the car seat (and Nathan and Liam). So Owen is home with us now and we are so grateful that he is healthy and here with us.

the Shirley family updated

2009-04-18T14:51:00.008-06:00

Owen Alexander Shirley

A couple weeks before my due date

Liam having fun with Daddy

Owen with his mommy

Owen and big brother Liam first meet

Liam wanted to share his best toys with Owen

Owen with his daddy on his first night home

Liam dancing

2009-03-27T23:04:00.003-06:00

I decided to try uploading a video of Liam dancing. He is cute, is he not?

Things are going well. I have two weeks left 'til my due date, so we are playing the waiting game. I am doing my best to get as many of my assignments done or close to done as possible so that if the baby comes early I won't have to stress out too much about everything I'll have to finish. Nathan is waiting to hear back on his internship applications. We are trying to prepare Liam for the arrival of his little brother, I think he sort of understands. Liam is working on his vocab and amazing us all the time with his intelligence. We are also working on his attitude. He seems to believe himself entitled to whatever he wants without talking of any kind, we're just supposed to give it to him when he squawks at us. He is also good at pestering Nathan or me when we are trying to get something important done. Luckily he is very adorable and entertaining or his parents might loose their minds. I definitely think God knew what he was doing when he designed children to be so cute and irresistible.

What a boy!

2009-02-28T20:26:00.009-07:00

We spent last weekend in Colorado with my family. Liam had so much fun there. There's a lot more room to explore there than in our little apartment, a lot more people to play with, and tons of things to do. Since we came home, he occasionally will run around the apartment calling, "Josh!" like he wants someone to play with (I think he is calling any of my little brothers when he says Josh).

Liam recently became fixated on cars, the toys and the real thing. He calls out, "Car!" for almost every car or truck he sees (and there are a lot). He loves looking at books and having them read to him. Oh, and he loves balls and pushing (it's actually more like punching when he does it, but he says "push" while he does it), if you say push and push him gently, he will fall on the ground and just lay there for a minute. He's all boy, that's for sure. He dances in a really cute way to upbeat music. It's like a sway step in a circle with his knees slightly bent and his head dipping side to side with each step.

Looking at books.

Liam borrowing his uncles head lamp.

Doing pull-ups.

Reading with Daddy before bed.

Soap

2009-01-31T18:10:00.004-07:00

We have a hand soap bottle that has a little tiger holding on to the straw inside, Liam always tries to play with it. When I noticed that he was holding it this evening, I figured I would take it away from him in a minute or so. The next thing I heard was swishing and splatting. I turned around to see Liam soaping up the end table. He had already dumped the rest of the bottle on the carpet (I had just filled the bottle a few days before). In addition, he had smeared the soap liberally onto half of his head. I quickly rinsed his hands and head to prevent him from rubbing it in his eyes, then tried to wipe up as much soap as possible. I still have a long way to go before the carpet stops sudsing up and I will probably run out of towels and rags before I'm done...such fun! Liam has been trying to help clean up the mess, which is sweet of him. Above is a picture of the culprit at the scene of the crime, post head-washing. Below is a mug shot.

yogurt

2009-01-29T10:39:00.005-07:00

Well, things are moving along at the usual pace. In a few days I will officially be 3/4 of the way through incubating our newest addition to the family. The little one seems to particularly enjoy nudging and bumping when I have the things I am working on resting against my belly. We've been thinking about names for him, but we don't really feel like sharing right now.

Liam seems to be getting more and more brilliant every day. He is working on his vocabulary and his animal sounds. We are working on getting him to try to communicate with us a little more verbally, instead of squawking his protests. He is very sweet and loves to help around the house. Liam is very patient with his parents always needing to be inside to do homework, but there is only so much a toddler can stand. He is occasionally afflicted by cabin fever and needs a change of scene, but he's quite the trooper.

I recently tried making yogurt and had great success. It's actually more economical that buying commercially made yogurt (how much more economical depends on if you add fruit and what kind, it is about 1/4 the price of store bought yogurt) and it is very easy to make. Most importantly Nathan and Liam love it. I make it a lightly sweetened vanilla yogurt and it tastes great, we don't even need to add fruit. I am also interested in trying a little cheese making, I'll post when I see how that turns out.

Classes are going well. I am really enjoying illustration so far. Nathan seems to be enjoying his classes, he is working on staying on top of his assignments. Most of all he has been working on his portfolio, he did some major revisions and it is really coming together. He will need to start sending it out soon to look for internships for summer. He is also planning to turn in his teapot project for the big Braun competition, so he has been working on that a lot as well. That would be exciting to win...

Back to School!

2009-01-05T14:40:00.003-07:00

Back to the crazy school life after a nice long holiday in Colorado. Nathan and I have been working out our schedules so there aren't too many conflicts. My brother Chris is willing to watch Liam for us one evening each week, so we only need to fill one more babysitting slot and we should be good to go! Now is the time when Nathan has to figure out what internships to apply to and send his portfolio out (into which he still wants to place a few more of his projects if he can find time) hopefully he can get a good internship for Summer!

Due April 12... It's a boy!

2008-11-19T16:08:00.004-07:00

We had the ultrasound today and we are definitely having another boy. I'm outnumbered 3 to 1! I was kind of wishing for a little girl to dress-up, but I am happy Liam will have a little brother to play rough house with him. Boys are such fun! We are so excited. An added bonus is we have the boy wardrobe covered, so we won't have to spend anymore there. Liam is forging the way! Yea for hand-me-downs! Now we can start thinking about names! Thanksgiving break is next week. We are going to Colorado to spend the holiday with my family. It will be a lot of fun and Liam will get to play with his little aunts and uncles.

Halloween

2008-10-25T21:11:00.013-06:00

It has been so fun watching Liam learn and grow. He is so fun. He dances to music or any kind of rhythm he notices. He's kinda quirky about putting away certain things. Don't get me wrong he is the king mess-maker, but he will do little things like throw some paper cut-outs in the trash without being asked, he will brush of an end table so it's clear, close drawers and cupboards that are partially open or push the kitchen chairs into the table. It's very charming. He's very good at communicating with hand motions and sounds and expressions.

The other day I got Liam his own little toothbrush (it lights up!). He immediately knew what to do with it. He just loves brushing his teeth, in fact, he is upset when it's time to stop.

Since the beginning of the month I have been working on pieces of Liam's costume. It's kind of an Asian/Middle Eastern style outfit, I know that's kind of vague. So I guess it's a bit Sci-fi that way. He looks a little bit like a youngling Jedi don't you think? The sash is twisted, sorry!

Now the nitty-gritty details of the making for those who are interested!

I crocheted the vest in a kinda fuzzy olive green yarn, it probably took the longest. Actually it might have tied with the shoes... I was experimenting with making a square of thick felt from alpaca wool roving and I decided to use it to make Liam curved-toe slippers, I had just enough. They might be just a little big, but hey, he grows! He actually really likes wearing them. I made his very cool and comfy pants out of the sleeves I had cut from a linen shirt (I had used most of the shirt to make a shoulder bag a year ago) I didn't have to hem them because I used the cuffs at his ankles. I made it with a large gusset for the crotch that gives it the "Aladdin pants" look and Liam has great mobility for his legs in these pants (good play pants). So then, today I made his long tunic/shirt. I used one of those flour sack towels to make it. I cut the full arm span and yoke as one piece (less sewing!) out of the width of the fabric so that the selvage is the cuffs (no hemming!) the body pieces also end in selvage so I only had to hem the side slits (which could have been longer to fit the middle eastern style better). I put gussets in the under arms for fit and mobility. I love rectangular construction!

Just a little distracted

2008-10-06T14:10:00.004-06:00

So, yesterday, in between sessions of general conference Liam got his second ever hair cut! He handled it pretty well, but Dad had to hold his head still most of the time. General conference was just wonderful, there were so many talks that I felt applied specifically to me. I feel like I definitely have things to work on in my life! So... it has been over a month since last I posted! My half decent excuse is that we got caught up in the beginning of classes and getting schedules figured out. My other excuse is that for the past month, I haven't been feeling that great, but I'm doing a little better now. Which leads me to our little announcement... we are expecting another baby! I'm 13 weeks today and we're super excited. Nathan has been so good to me. Even though he is incredibly busy he prepares food for me when I don't feel well and does the dishes at least once a week so I don't have to stand in one place for a long time (no dishwasher). School has been going well. I've really been enjoying all of my classes, but I especially look forward to my bookbinding class each Friday! Nathan has been working hard in his classes and on his portfolio so he can get a good internship this summer, hopefully!

Moving

2008-08-30T10:55:00.005-06:00

For the past few days we've been slowly moving everything into it's place. You never realize how much stuff you have until you have to move it around or find a place for it all. Since we couldn't find someone to watch Liam and I was feeling ill anyway, Nathan rented the Uhaul on Tuesday and singlehandedly loaded everything from the storage unit to the truck then from the truck to the apartment. He is Superman! But he kinda over did it. He didn't feel too good the next day...
We're not sure how well the fridge works (maybe it just needs a lot of stuff in it to hold the cold in?), the freezer seems to keep ice cream softly frozen when it's on its highest setting (at least you don't have to wait for it to thaw before serving...) and the fridge is barely colder than a cold air-conditioned room (the top shelf seems a bit better) so we'll see what happens. I realized I was keeping a lot of my old clothes that I never really liked wearing and hardly take out anymore, so they are now in a bag for the D.I. Yea! More free space, less junk!
Thursday we went to Ikea and got some furniture items we were lacking. A little kitchen table of birch (I like real wood), an inexpensive, but sturdy computer desk and office chair, a scratch and dent futon, and a baby mattress for Liam's crib. There is another item that we have to wait a week for, but it is one of the more important items (since we are both artists in school and work). It is an adjustable drawing table that has a clouded glass window on one side to use for a light table when you hook a lamp underneath. We are really excited for that!

Colorado

2008-08-24T15:55:00.004-06:00

This picture was taken by my uncle Cody, he's awesome. He also did our wedding pictures.

I was looking back over all the posts and noticed that I always use pictures of Liam when he is wearing nothing but a diaper. He really does wear clothes most of the time. I guess I just love photos that show off his beautiful baby squish! So, we are on our last day of our Colorado visit. Tomorrow we head back to Utah and get to do all that fun moving. I think Liam is going to go through withdrawals without any kids around to entertain him, just boring old mom and dad! The reunion was a lot of fun, I always love getting together with family. After the reunion I got to work on some projects while I was here: my mom and I figured out the pattern and assembly of the little baby shoes she has a few pairs of, now she can make more if she wants. I made a skirt for my little sis Caitlin (12) and helped McKenna (almost 8) and Kiersten (6) each start sewing their own stuffed animal. Then I made a cute mommy bag for me. So now I feel like I've had my sewing fix for a little while *sigh* anyway... back to the grind stone.

Going Back

2008-08-10T14:38:00.018-06:00

This week we house sat for a family in the ward. It was a beautiful old home originally built in the early 1700s. I loved the old wood floors and steep narrow staircases and central fireplace. I think Liam's favorite thing was the beautiful green yard and the gravel parking spot.

We're back at Nathan's childhood home now. We have to pack up so that we can fly out of here early Tuesday morning. Liam's first birthday is on Wednesday but we're going to have a little party for him here on Monday night. Nathan is working hard on trying to get everything together for a industrial design scholarship. He is also has a book layout to finish by Monday afternoon. I will be doing the seeking out and gathering of a whole summer's worth of lost things (hopefully nothing is really missing), laundering clothes to be packed, and trying to distribute weight between all the suitcases, etc. In Utah we will get to move into our new apartment. We have a family reunion for my Mother's side of the family in Colorado (my childhood home) so we will be driving off only two days after we arrive in Utah. Talk about some crazy maneuvering! I'm excited though!

Water

2008-07-26T06:23:00.007-06:00

Liam has been having fun playing in water inside the house and out. There is a tarp on the front porch that gathered a nice puddle of water after it rained. We took Liam out there to play a few times before it dried up. It's so fun watching him splash. He also likes dropping dog food and his crackers in the dog's water when we forget to put them out of his reach. But his favorite thing is taking a bath and dumping all the soap and shampoo bottles on the floor of the tub.
Within the past few days Liam has discovered that he can climb onto the footrest (it's about eight inches shorter than the couch), which is pushed up against one of the end tables and play with the lamp and pictures there. From there he learned to grab onto the arm of the couch and carefully climb over. He's quite the little monkey. Needless to say, we have to keep an even closer eye on his whereabouts and doings.

Goose Chase

2008-07-15T19:03:00.008-06:00

I finished reading Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl yesterday morning. It was a cute fairytale, I enjoyed it a lot. Later that morning, I decided to draw while Liam took his morning nap. Since the story was still fresh in my mind, I picked a scene from the book. I sketched it out in pencil and it turned out well so I decided to continue with colored pencils. I finished by the end of the day, but I'm not sure how long it actually took to complete, since progress is really on and off when you have a little one to chase around. No, the girl is not Rapunzel, she's a goose girl. But she does have magic hair, which she persuaded to grow so she could escape a dungeon. Her hair wasn't shrinking fast enough so she and her companions had to grab as much as they could and run for it. I can't tell you the whole story, so you will have to read it if you want to know more. The photo is not as good as it could be. Over all, I 'm pleased with how it turned out.

Eleven Months

2008-07-13T16:58:00.000-06:00

Liam is 11 months old! I never realized how quickly time slides by when you have a family of your own. Liam is such a bright boy. He is so observant and quick to learn. It is such a joy to watch his little personality develop, I can't wait to find out what he'll be like.

Once upon a time... isn't that how every good story begins?

2008-07-11T17:27:00.001-06:00

This blog needs to begin somewhere. And I guess a good beginning could be some kind of introduction of the blog's authors.
How about a love story? I know, almost everyone has one, but indulge me! I adore love stories and it would be such fun to share ours...

(By the way, my dear husband is writing his part of the story in regular type, while I am writing my part in italics.)

Nathan and I met May 1st 2006 at a Monday night singles' mix 'n mingle, which was located in the courtyard right outside my apartment. I came out and wandered around for a little while before going to see if there was anything good to eat at the refreshment table.

The gathering was starting to wind down. Since I'd already scoped out the newcomers and made a few acquaintances, I decided to assign myself to "clean up duty" at the refreshment table. After having finished off the last Hawaiian haystack (and everything else for that matter), I looked up and to my surprise, there before me was the girl of my dreams. Where had she come from? She seemed to have just appeared.

There wasn't anything left to eat at the table ( I couldn't really tell what had been there to begin with- something with rice.) I tried to not look disappointed or even as though I had been interested in the first place. A guy at the table with red hair and an even redder beard asked me if I had wanted a haystack so I politely lied and said I hadn't wanted one- in fact I wasn't even hungry. We introduced ourselves and chatted for a while. His roommates came over and he introduced them to me along with a girl he had just met. Within moments his room mates commandeered the conversation and the two of us were standing awkwardly on the fringes as they talked over us. Since I was no longer a part of the conversation and there was nothing else to do I returned to my apartment.

She left just as she had come.... in an instant and without a trace. I had hoped to regain some control of the conversation, and redirect it back to her, but being a horrible conversationalist and shy for that matter, I had not succeeded before she dematerialized. I had already decided to ask her out, but in an attempt to not scare her off with my haste, I decided to wait and do it in two days.

Wednesday evening I had decided to retire early and so I was already dressed in my Pjs when there was a knock at the door. My room mate answered the door. I heard a voice asking for me by name. I was bewildered since I hadn't met that many people yet. I came to the door and invited him in. I recognized him, it was the red-head I had talked to on Monday night but I didn't remember his name.

So there I was with my neck sticking my neck way out, standing on her doorstep (yes, I had managed to get her to say where she lived before she disappeared). Since I had already knocked, I ignored the impulse to run for cover once I realized what I was doing. A girl came to the door and I heard myself say, "Hi, is Jessica home?". I saw Jess poke her head around the corner, with a look of shear bewilderment that seemed say, "Who knows my name? I don't know anyone here!". Realizing that she didn't remember my name, I suavely introduced myself to her roommate, to save us the awkwardness of reintroductions. Well, maybe it wasn't all that suave, but it worked. I had totaled my car the week before taking my sister to the airport, so I was limited to a date place within walking distance. I asked her if she wanted to go get a milkshake and luckily (for my heart's sake,) she said yes. This was already going better than I had expected.

I quickly changed into a pair of jeans and was ready to go (lucky for me I hadn't washed off my make-up yet!) We walked down the block to the Malt Shoppe and ordered our shakes then talked as we drank them. He seemed really nice. I had fun.

Her voice was a little lower and richer than the typical Utah girls I was accustomed to hearing at the time and she talked enthusiastically of her many brothers and sisters. She was very cute and I was able to gradually loosen up and feel comfortable around her. Which was a huge deal for me. Over all the date seemed a success, but I had a rule of thumb that said there would be no second date unless she made it clear in some way that she wanted there to be one. I pointed out my apartment as I walked her home afterwards and told her to feel free to stop by anytime, seeing as our apartments had only one building between them.

A couple days later one of my room mates invited me to go to a baseball game with her and a friend. I was in the middle of a project so I politely declined. She suggested that I could invite someone if I wanted to show up later. I thought I might invite Nathan to go with me. So I casually walked past his apartment and tried to convince myself to go and knock on his door. I walked up the steps and almost changed my mind and turned around, but then I noticed his door was open. I saw him sitting on his couch with his laptop open. Some how that was easier for me, so I went up and said hello. He invited me in and I sat beside him. He showed me what he was working on (it was an angel graphic for a book.) After talking for a while, I lost interest in going to the game so I barely even mentioned it to Nathan. He wasn't to keen on going anyway. So he asked me if I had eaten yet, I hadn't. He suggested we go to Cafe Rio for dinner (it's now our favorite place to eat.) It was then I found out that he no longer had a car. So we took mine (or I should say the one my parents were letting me use for the summer.) After we stuffed ourselves we went to a movie. I enjoyed spending time with him, he was very comfortable to be around.

Well, randomly waltzing in my open door was more than enough to satisfy my rule of thumb. So I gave it my all from there on out and I'm glad I did. On Sunday I sat next to Jess during sacrament meeting and Sunday school. Later I found out that people assumed we were already engaged because of that. Well they weren't too far off, but we'll get there.

The following Monday when I was doing my laundry, a guy from the ward invited me up to watch some episodes of... some TV show that I wasn't familiar with- with a bunch of other guys while I waited for my laundry. I was trying to be friendly and get to know people in the ward so I accepted. I confess it was also fun having a room full of guys all to myself ;) so I sat myself down on a bean bag next to one of the guys to watch the show. After half a episode Nathan knocked on the door. All of the sudden I felt a little guilty, but I told myself I didn't have a good reason to feel guilty, after all, I was just being sociable. Nathan was inviting everyone to the F.H.E. activity, the singles were going to go see M.I. 3 at the theater. But everyone else in the room was going to a birthday dinner. But I said I wanted to go and hopped up and followed Nathan out the door.

This entire F.H.E. activity was conjured up by my roommates and I as an excuse for me to go out with Jess again. I had already knocked on her door and found the place disappointingly empty, so I was both confused and relieved to find her in an apartment full of boys. When she gave up her harem of men and got up to come with me, I must say, it gave the old ego a trip. ;D
And yes I made sure to pay for her ticket, to stake my claim.

To be continued...