We Are LeGion

Hasta Luego

2010-05-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

I've moved.

I'm now blogging at http://perfectingmediocrity.blogspot.com/

See ya there!

Carter's rad.

2010-05-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

Isn't it amazing that we come to this world a lump and in less than a year can learn to do that?!

Would you rather....

2010-05-06T08:08:00.000-07:00

play single mom for a week to 4 kids,

(ages 13, 4, 2 and 10 months)

train for and run the St. George Marathon 2010?

Dear Grandpa,

2010-05-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

I am having lots of fun!

I loved the airport. A nice man convinced me to come play with him by sharing his tic tacs. He even let me keep them. After that I wanted to play with everyone. One lady took me for a walk around the chairs. Another guy let me check his email. It was really fun.

I loved the airplane too. I just ate my cheerios and looked out the window. It was bumpy, I liked that.

California is pretty cool too. There are lots of lights and new things to see. I'm a little afraid that all these girls are trying to steal my mommy. But she keeps telling me not to worry about it.

See you soon!
Carter

How we roll...

2010-04-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

Yum.

2010-04-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

Li made me breakfast in bed.
(After he'd already gone to an early morning work meeting, and I was back asleep after running.)

Your nap advice and uberkind comments on my triathlon post made me sing and dance inside.

And when I went outside to water the garden I found this.

I don't know where it came from or who it was intended for, but I liked it.

Oh, and dinner is already in the crockpot! (Recipe to follow. Someday. Soonish.)

Don't worry, Carter is having a good day too. Look what he did while I was putting said dinner in the crockpot...

I wrote this post a long time ago but finally got the pictures to upload!

2010-04-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

I have mixed thoughts on our triathlon this weekend.

I was hoping to finish in around an hour and a half and our time was one hour and thirty five minutes. So in that respect I feel really good about it.

I was also super proud of our run time. We did 3 miles in 27 minutes. Probably not impressive to some of you speed demons out there, but I'm a 10 minute mile girl. I would've been happy with that time even if I hadn't done the swim and bike first.

I feel good about our bike time because I was riding my beach cruiser. I would match my pedal speed to the girls passing me on road bikes and they would FLY out of sight. Basically I was working twice as hard as any of them. The bike portion is what caused me to come in dead last in my age division. But I figure someone has to be last, it might as well be the girl with the whitewall tires.

The biggest disappointment to me was the swim. When we first started training it took me something like 15 minutes to do it. But I practiced and got it down to somewhere around 10. On race day I had too many nerves and couldn't make myself slow my breathing down. It took me 14 minutes. Which was a major bummer to me.

But ultimately we didn't do the race to win. It was meant to be a fun project for Li and I to do together. And, it was!!

I think we are going to start painting now. But we are both interested in trying it again someday with a couple of road bikes.

Question

2010-04-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

When did your babies quit taking two naps?

Lookie

2010-04-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

what the UPS man just brought us!!

Now if only Carter's dad would get home to assemble it and change his poopy diaper.

7 habits

2010-04-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have a copy of
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
I could borrow?

Destruction

2010-04-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend.
We watched my mom take a sledgehammer to her stair rail. (Apparently she's always hated it.)
And we helped campaign for student council. (Click here for all the random trivia you can stand, and remember to vote for Amanda!)

Results

2010-04-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

I made the white chocolate soup and I thought it was delicious!

I used:

1 can of coconut milk (We buy it at Lin's and always have a bunch to make curry.)

1/2 of the coconut can full of mango nectar (that was what sounded best to me at Wal-Mart, but as I was making it I remembered that our Walgreen's has passion fruit juice...maybe next time.)

about 200g of white chocolate (I don't have a scale so I estimated based on what the package contained.)

We decided that coconut milk must have a really low boiling point because it was popping all over my hand but it still felt cold. Because of this I stirred it the whole time it was heating up. The whole project took me about 10 minutes start to finish and I LOVED it. It was really rich and yummy.

We also made the mouse pads last night and I think they turned out pretty cute. We had a hard time getting the spring part back on and Li had to come down and help us! Mine are still waiting for Li to finish. :)

Anyone interested in attending my school of photography? :)

Parties and Plumerias

2010-04-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

The making mouse pads party is scheduled

for this Thursday at 6:30pm at my house.
Bring a couple of traps and anything else you want to decorate them with.
(We can probably share too, I have a bunch of ReStore paint that I'm itching to bust out.)
Please come!
I'm actually really scared of mouse traps and am super glad somebody will be there to help me through it!

I just did a google image search for mouse trap to find a picture to go with this post. NOT A GOOD IDEA. Ew. Instead here are some plumerias in an attempt to wipe those nasty images out of my mind.

Cinderella dressed in yella

2010-04-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

So I'm trying to clean today, and my little munchkin is having a BLAST messing everything up AT LEAST twice as fast as I can clean it. It takes me a full five minutes to realize I am getting NO WHERE, but when I finally see what's going on we resort to this solution.

And since Squishy weighs something like 24lbs. this doubles as a pretty great workout.

No mice here

2010-04-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

I wanna make some of these.

Lowe's

Anybody want to get together and make some with me?

ReStore

2010-04-06T18:55:00.001-07:00

I love cheap things.
For some reason I just like things better if I know they didn't cost very much.
Almost every day I find myself adding up how much my outfit cost.

Like today...
jeans - $6 D.I.
shoes - $3 Goodwill
shirt - can't remember for the life of me and it's driving me crazy
earrings - free from my great grandma when she passed away

Anyway, the point is I love to find a deal. So imagine my joy today when I finally made it to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. A thrift store for home improvement!

I am now the proud owner of this almost full gallon bucket of beautiful paint in just the color I'd been looking for. And it only set me back $7. I was giddy through the whole store!

Oh and I also found scout shirts for Li and me at D.I. We saved $40 over buying them at the scout store!

Happy day!!

White Chocolate

2010-04-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

Design*Sponge

I'm planning the menu for this week and I'm dying to try this recipe. I've never made a dessert soup before. It sounds so interesting.

White Chocolate Soup

400g (1 can) coconut milk

200g Passionfruit nectar/juice

200g White chocolate

1 stalk of lemongrass (optional)

Break the chocolate into 2cm pieces and place in a bowl large enough to contain the liquid. Mix the coconut milk and passionfruit nectar in a small saucepan, and heat. (If you are using lemongrass, allow it to steep some in the hot coconut milk mixture). Pour the hot liquid over the white chocolate pieces and allow to sit for 3-4 minutes before stirring.

Serve warm.

The Explanation

2010-04-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for a long time. This is partly because I've been reading the Book of Mormon. I almost didn't do my annual read it in a month plan; I decided to do it the night before. I'm so glad I did! Every year I'm amazed at how it is a totally different experience. This year was one of the best. Early on this verse caught my attention: 2 Nephi 27:23

For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.

This was POWERFUL to me. My God can do miracles and he does them according to my faith. Pretty much the whole book took on this theme, so all month long I was reading a book about a God who loves his children and how I can have enough faith to get the miracles I need. Awesome. If you haven't tried the 17 pages a day plan (or 0 for 3 days and 50 after that is how I usually end up doing it) I highly recommend it. It isn't nearly as hard as you might think.

Reading has been taking a lot of my time, but also I'm not sure what I want to blog about. I could blog for hours about Carter and our daily dance parties. But I'm not sure how big my audience would be; I'm not even sure I'd want to read it. I have a few ideas of new things to blog about, but in the meantime here's what we've been up to.

Carter is our squishy baby and the love of our lives. He has two teeth, crawls all over the place and eats everything he can get in his mouth. His favorite foods are veggies and paper. He lost a little bit of weight between his last two trips to the doctor and is down to the 89th percentile for weight. He loves people and flirts with every girl he meets. He spends most of the day wandering around saying, "Oh Wow," to everything he sees.

Li, Carter and I planted a garden. (Carter mostly crawled around with socks on his hands, sticking his face in the dirt so he could eat it.) We found lettuce and onions sprouts this morning and got really excited. Li and I are "racing" in the SHAC triathlon tomorrow. Then we are heading north for General Conference. Carter and I will keep going up to Idaho to play with the Kanes for a week or so and Li will come back to work.

Shall we dance?

2010-03-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

When I got up and got dressed this morning-ish (blog worthy in and of itself) I put on this.

A few minutes later without thinking I put Carter in this.

Sadie Hawkins anyone?

A dance party at least, that's for sure.

Read the whole Book of Mormon in March.

2010-03-01T16:31:00.000-08:00

I'm going to. You are invited too.

foodie

2010-02-11T10:12:00.000-08:00

Carter had his first smoothie today.
I blended peaches into my Greek yogurt.
(In an attempt to make it edible.)
I was going to spoon feed him some, but once he saw the cup
he wanted NOTHING to do with a spoon.

Who knew food could be so much fun?

a guessing game

2010-02-01T07:52:00.000-08:00

Guess what's back.....

Nope. It's not fluffy purple skirts worn as swimsuit cover-ups.
(FYI I'm pretty sure that was NEVER in.)

And it's definitely NOT me pregnant.

Need more help....

Yea for the return of LOST.

Does KY mean Kentucky?

2010-01-29T11:27:00.000-08:00

Let's be honest, I probably spend too much time on the internet.
Okay, that's not really honest. I definitely spend too much time on the internet.

But when I have an order on the way from amazon? I AM OBSESSED with tracking my packages.

Carter's bike seat is in Vegas!! Too bad his helmet is still somewhere between here and KY.

I CAN NOT WAIT for family bike rides to start back up.

P.S. Go here for an interesting article on the difference between can not and cannot.
(I think I cannot wait, but probably I can.)

DR/Haiti

2010-01-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

All this talk about Haiti makes me wish I was back in the DR, with these kiddos, building houses.

Or doing something else more useful than reading reviews of bike seats on amazon for hours on end. Anyone know anything a poor girl can do to help?

more sleep

2010-01-22T11:35:00.000-08:00

I slept with earplugs last night.
It turns out I can STILL hear my snoring husband and crying baby.

Any ideas on how I can get some sleep around here?!

2010-01-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks for coming to my fiesta.

Have a beautiful day!

Fiesta Time!

2010-01-18T18:14:00.001-08:00

Guess what Li and I are making for the fiesta?

Hint, it involves: flour, water, a lot of newspaper and a HUGE mess!

sleep

2010-01-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

Carter hasn't been sleeping well AGAIN. Which is frustrating to say the least.

Then I think of Natalie and Richie who recently lost their sweet baby Gavin,
and I look at this precious face...

I think I would give up sleep forever to have one more day.

Dear friends in Southern Utah,

2010-01-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

You are invited to a Potluck Mexican Fiesta!!

If you are reading this consider yourself invited,
and feel free to bring your friends too.

The event will take place
at my house
Wednesday January 20, 2010 from 11-1.
(But if you come earlier or leave later no one will be mad at you.)

Bring your kids if you want, or don't if you don't, and if you don't have any, you are still invited.

You can leave a comment to RSVP
and let me know what you think you might like to bring.

Hasta la fiesta!

I uploaded this picture by accident.....
let the good times begin!

Pray for Gavin

2010-01-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

I'm praying for Gavin and you should too.

Happy birthday

2009-11-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my little punkin head is 5 months old!!
(Everyone says that but I really can't.)

I guess he's really not so little anymore.
At his 4 month check up he was
26.5 inches and pushing 19lbs.

Happy

2009-11-18T10:30:00.001-08:00

Halloween....

Somebody learned a new trick!

2009-11-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

I don't know who's more proud...me or him.

2009-10-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

In my hilarity (induced by my sleep deprivation) yesterday I became a twitterer.

Follow me to see how funny I think I am.

Or don't.

more joy

2009-10-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

On suffering

2009-10-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

"To draw an analogy: a man's suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the 'size' of human suffering is absolutely relative.

It also follows that a very trifling thing can cause the greatest of joys."

Viktor E. Frankl in Man's Search For Meaning

Sometimes I think people (usually me) shouldn't whine about their problems so much because someone always has it so much worse. But last night Carter decided it was perfectly acceptable to wake me up every hour and a half.

Do people have it worse? Yes they do.
Would I choose this problem over about 17 billion other problems I could think of? Uh huh.
Am I still suffering? Yup.

And yet...when I look at this face?

No Soup for You

2009-10-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

Do you read NieNie? I do on a fairly regular basis.

I thought today's post was particularly fun...

She canceled dinner.

That struck me as laugh out loud funny

They had marshmallows instead.
What a fun house.

And then there were none.

2009-10-21T08:54:00.001-07:00

Yup. I got the flu too. So that's where I've been.

But on a much happier note, my new hard drive arrived last night so I can start posting pictures again. That is, if I can find my camera!

Turns out...

2009-10-17T16:00:00.001-07:00

teething might not be SO bad.

Carter has the flu.

Teething....

2009-10-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

makes everyone in the house feel like this.

FYI this picture is from 3 months ago. He's much fatter now!

daddy

2009-10-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

Li hasn't been around Carter for 2 days since he's been sick.
I miss these moments.

Also, I just read this in the Book of Mormon...
...and our women did bear children in the wilderness.

Ew.

Where are we going?

2009-10-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

While my super cool brothers are off being missionaries in Japan and Brasil I have their ipods.
This equals lots of fun new music for me.

Right now I can't get enough of this song.

Okay...so that link didn't go where I wanted it to
you have to click on "to watch videos, please click here"
and then select "At the Bottom of Everything" from the menu

So, that's a lot of work. But it's a yummy song so I think you'll like it.

P.S. the video is weirdish, so maybe just listen.

:(

2009-10-13T20:30:00.001-07:00

Li's downstairs with a fever and a cough.

Bummer.

Thanks Columbus

2009-10-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

#1 Angels Landing
#2 yummy dinner in Springdale
#3 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3d at the IMAX

Yea for bank holidays!

En Espanol

2009-10-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

There is this adorable woman in our ward who just turned 90. She has the most amazing giggle and is very hard of hearing. She is always making loud comments and asking the people next to her to clarify announcements.

A few months ago, during a discussion of talents and the gift of tongues, I heard her "whisper" to her neighbor that she has always wanted to learn spanish. I laughed so hard and couldn't wait to go tell Li.

Fast forward to today. She got up to bear her testimony and her first words were, "Es verdad." She proceeded to tell us that she is literally learning spanish.

Why?

So she can share her testimony with the spanish speakers that she meets.

Please tell me that I will be that rad when I am 90 years old.

Appetizer

2009-10-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

We've had a lot of requests for pictures of the small child. Someday soon I will make enough space on my computer to upload some. Here is something to tide you over. This is from the 4th of July, right before he slept through all the fireworks.

Broken promises

2009-10-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

I promised Carter I'd be a better mommy if he'd let me sleep for 20 more minutes.

He gave me an hour.

I think I lied.

Take a hike

2009-10-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

I forget how much I love hiking until I go.

I LOVE it.

Carter and I are off to get our hike on,
call in the next hour if you want to come with.

P.S. I promise I am wearing a swimsuit and a tank top in this picture.

Another cool one from Craigslist

2009-10-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

iPod (Cedar City)

Date: 2009-09-14, 10:51AM MDT
Reply to: sale-9sq2u-1373902100@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

I have an iPod that was stolen last December from somewhere in Cedar City. I realize that it's been a while, but it's really eating me knowing what I did.

It's yours if you can tell me where it was stolen and from what. If it's yours, you'll know what I mean.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT KIND IF IPOD IT IS [SIZE, COLOUR, ENGRAVINGS, ETC] SO I KNOW IT'S REALLY YOURS.
If the right person doesn't respond, I'm giving it to charity.

I moved far out of the area, but I'll ship it back to you, all for free, including the case it was in.

I'm sorry.

My #

2009-10-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

I have a new phone number as of next Friday. If you think you should have it and don't, let me know.

P.S. Don't be offended because no one has it yet.

Correction

2009-10-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

I have TWO crushes.

Veggie Spaghetti

2009-10-04T12:38:00.000-07:00

Yup. It's a spaghetti squash. Gold stars all around. A friend that my mom and I visit teach gave it to us and told us that it's stringy so you can eat it like noodles. I decided to give it a try. I went here and here and here for help.

The verdict? I thought it tasted okay, just healthy. Li said noodles are bland anyway so why not eat squash instead since it's good for you. And my mom said it was terrible. Try it out and let me know what YOU think.

Our friend also gave us some of these.

Remember my last post about these?

This time I decided to take an easy route and make bread. I tried this recipe. It tastes more like cake than bread and is thus UBERDELICIOUS!

Gold star...

2009-10-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

...to anyone who can tell me what kind of squash this is.

And 10 points to all the marathon runners! When I woke up at 2:30 this morning to feed the baby I had flashbacks to that nervous/excited feeling. But at 9am I was very happy to be laying lazily in my bed. What an accomplishment! I'm proud of you!

And finally...thumbs up to all the conference watchers today. Aren't Saturday sessions the best?

I don't really know how to compare those units. ...
Check to see if there is a conversion chart in that notebook.
I really doubt it, Michael.
Please just check. ...

2 awesome things in 1 night

2009-10-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

#1 I dusted off my yoga mat and went to a class for the first time in probably a year or so.

IT WAS SOOOOOO GOOD.

If you're in my town you should join me next week.

#2 I saw a commercial for $20 "cardi coats" at Old Navy. I stopped by to get one and they were also having a 50% off clearance sale. Let me clarify. That's 50% off the stuff that's already marked down. They were practically giving stuff away.

Very few things make me happier than a good deal.

Here are the goods.

I have a crush.

2009-10-01T05:35:00.000-07:00

Li thinks it's creepy when I say that. But I can't help it. He's irresistible.

Serious inquiries only.

2009-07-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

Ever heard of the best of craiglist? I hadn't until last night.

I'm very happy I stumbled across it.

best of craigslist > phoenix > Wanted: Taxidermist who watches a lot of Kung Fu Originally Posted: Tue, 26 May 17:37 MST

Wanted: Taxidermist who watches a lot of Kung Fu

Date: 2009-05-26, 5:37PM MST

I am looking to hire someone with the means to obtain and stuff animals in fashions I choose, which will be Kung Fu for now. When I was younger I convinced a friend of mines dad to create two squirrels Kung Fu fighting. I still think about it from time to time and have decided to get my own Kung Fu animals, I understand this is a bizarre request. Serious inquiries only, please E-Mail me the species of animals you commonly hunt or can obtain and your rate for taxidermy of each in various Kung Fu poses. Mounting preferred. Once again I feel I must state this is serious. If you can show any of your previous work it will probably give you an edge on the competition. Please respond via/e-mail. Thank you.

it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: There will be payment, decent pay. Depends on quality of work and product which will vary.

PostingID: 1190484174

2009-07-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Carter and Li,
Thanks for hanging out together so I could go to the movies with the girls.
I hope you had fun.

Love,
Mommy/Jen

The long and short of it

2009-06-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

If you just want the short story and the pictures here you go....

We had a fairly long labor, then 2-3 hours of pushing and topped it off with a c-section.
Recovery has been a blast.

Sorry to the rest of you mothers,
but there never was a cuter creature on the face of the planet!

His dad is an expert swaddler.

He IS rad like dad.
EVERYTHING about him is just like his dad.

His first trip in the stroller.
I don't think he was as excited as I was.

If you are interested in a few more details....
I came home from my appointment Wednesday night in tears. I had a pretty intense cervical exam that left me in a lot of pain, my doctor said he wanted to induce me the next day because he was going out of town, (which just scared the crap out of me) and he also told me that my pubic bone has a weird angle, so there was about a 10% chance I'd need a c-section. Yippee skippee.

I started having contractions around midnight that continued all through the day. They weren't close enough together or regular enough to go to the hospital. Just bad enough to be painful and obnoxious. I also had some back labor pains, which should have been my first clue that this whole thing was going to go badly. The hospital was supposed to call at any moment so I could go in to be induced. I was already dilated to 3cm and I figured the contractions had done some more work, so I was praying for the hospital to just call already so I could get my epidural and breeze through the rest of this delivery!

The blessed call came around 3:30 in the afternoon which was perfect because Li had just finished his training at work. I went in and they said I was at 5 cm. My doctor came in to break my water and apparently it had already broken, which means I could have and should have come in earlier. I got my epidural and found it rather hysterical. I could still feel stuff, just no pain. I had some pretty bad shakes, but thought that was a rather small price to pay.

I continued to dilate, not as quickly as I would have liked, (I was hoping he'd be born the 18th) but I didn't really care because I wasn't in pain. The baby's head was facing posterior so I had to lay with my leg on a table for a few hours to try and turn it. I think it was around midnight when the nurses said I could start pushing. Which we did for an hour or more. Again, I thought this was HYSTERICAL!! I couldn't feel anything, but here I am pushing my brains out and I can't tell if I'm doing any good, except that Li and my mom keep getting all excited that they can see his head. (It was hysterical except for the part where I threw up.)

At this point I'm thinking, "Yea I made it to 10cm and we are pushing...no c-section for me!" Then they determined that his head was still facing posterior. So we stop pushing and my leg goes back up on a table. Then on the other side. Then back to the first side. And so it goes for hours. My doctor also turned the epidural down so that maybe I could feel better where I was pushing. Around 5am my parents had gone home, Li was asleep, no one had checked me for awhile, nothing was on TV except infomercials and fake gospel, and I just laid there staring at monitors that weren't doing ANYTHING!! I was incredibly frustrated.

I finally got Li to wake up and shortly after that my doctor came in and suggested we start pushing again. I was really hoping that this could work and we could end this misery. But it was looking doubtful. We pushed for another hour or so and this time it wasn't so funny. The nurses were not nearly as fun as the night before and one kept shaking her head like, "This is never going to work." Which makes pushing a lot of fun. My doctor came back in and said it was up to me, but basically it wasn't going to happen and I needed to get a c-section. At which point I had been through so much I did NOT want to go through major abdominal surgery as well. So I asked to push for a little while longer. Am I stupid? The nurses left with the doctor (I think he basically told them to convince me to give it up) and returned for about 15 more minutes of pushing. Nothing. So I agreed to a c-section.

They got me all prepped and Li gave me a blessing. I threw up again on the way down the hall. I felt like I was on ER when they wheeled me into the operating room, all these people in scrubs and bright lights in my face. They hung a curtain, pumped some more drugs into me and cut me open. I heard a baby cry and they said they wanted to present my son to me....what I saw was a yucky mess of something that didn't really resemble a baby and if it did it belonged to a Samoan and not to me. I might have been more enthused about seeing him, except that at the very moment he came out I started having a really intense pain around my belly button. I asked if it was supposed to hurt but no one could hear me except Li. So here they are showing me my son and I'm thinking in my head, "I'm going to die right here on this operating table. I am actually going to die in childbirth." Finally someone heard me and they pumped me full of something that they said would make me sleepy. That was a ginormous understatement! I immediately felt my whole body go limp and I could not keep my eyes open. It was a little freaky; I couldn't really tell if I was falling asleep or passing out. Plus I was super dizzy. When they moved me from one bed to another I thought the room was rocking and I grabbed the doctor's arm to keep from falling off.

But some time later (NO idea how much later) the nurses and Li brought him into the recovery room so I could feed him. I was still shaky and afraid to hold him. But he was ADORABLE!!!

We spent the next few days in the hospital. It was pretty frustrating to have this precious little new baby and not really be able to do anything for him. But it was amazing to watch Li step up and take care of everything. He even got excited about poopy diapers! I'm so glad Carter was born on the weekend so that Li could stay with me in the hospital.

It's been great staying at my parent's house too. Recovery is happening MUCH slower than I would like and it is nice to have so many people always anxious for a turn to take care of him.

Okay, so that was a quite a lot of details. The important part is that he is here and we LOVE him!!!!!!!!

2009-06-28T14:00:00.001-07:00

Li loves Jen MUCHO

Introducing....

2009-06-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

Carter Likeke Kane

He showed up Friday June 19th, 2009 at 8:29am
weighing 9lbs and 2ozs and was 22 inches tall.

And while he didn't exactly arrive in the manner we would have picked...
we have loved having him here!!

P.S.

2009-06-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Baby Kane,
We are now scheduled to induce this labor sometime between midnight tonight and midnight tomorrow.

Please try to cooperate.

Love,
Your mother

The Nest

2009-06-17T12:29:00.001-07:00

Dear Baby,
I know I begged you not to come out until your room was ready and I appreciate your obedience. But I guess I neglected to tell you that it is done.

Your dad painted the walls blue and then he painted these shelves and displayed these books.

Dad and Grandma endured a thorough scouring of two fabric stores before green accents and this fabric were deemed worthy. Then the chair was finally recovered.

Your mom sewed some pillow covers.

Dad destroyed Mom's old dresser to turn it into a changing table and great Grandma Campbell helped cover the changing pad.

Three sets of curtains were purchased and returned and every shade of green ribbon in the St. George area was considered. (Even though your dad insisted bows were too girly)

This thing used to be pink and even Mom knew that wasn't right, so Dad painted it and we stocked it with books and toys and such. And yes we even bought a water bottle to match. Your mother has gone a little crazy.

Granted there are still some projects. Like how we want to paint your name on here and add some pictures. But you don't have a name yet, and you are going to have to get used to some unfinished projects around here.

So you see, we are all ready and waiting.

Although your dad is training this week for his new job, so he probably wouldn't mind if you waited until the weekend.

Just let us know when's good for you.

Still ticking.

2009-06-14T20:59:00.001-07:00

Yup.

Jack-in-the-box

2009-06-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

I'm tired of feeling like a ticking time bomb!

Happy birthday to me!

2009-06-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my sister Tina came down and my mom took us all to get spa pedicures for my birthday. The cute little girl doing my nails convinced me that I needed blue footprints for my baby. And so I present to you...my toes!

On Sunday we had cake and some presents. (My mom let me pick out some new clothes...Tina tried them on to see if they'll fit me later and my mom paid. It was a pretty funny shopping trip.)

Monday morning Li woke me up to breakfast in bed and more presents. I was pampered all day and then we went to dinner at Pasta Factory.

As for our son....we still don't know when his birthday will be. I hit 40lbs yesterday and now weigh more than Li. I'm dilated somewhere around 3cms. Any day now.

Not yet.

2009-06-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in awhile mostly due to 3 reasons.
1- I couldn't find my camera cord and didn't want to look for it.
2- I've been constructing a nest. (More to come on that later.)
3- I just don't care.

But everything is going well. The still unnamed baby has dropped some and I am actually quite a bit more comfortable now. The new arrangement does make me have to pee a bit more, but frequent urination is the story of my life.

EVERYWHERE I go people give me these sympathetic looks and tell me that they feel sorry for me. They like to reminisce about how when they got this far they were willing to do anything to make it go away. I DO NOT feel like that! I'm quite comfy and dreading the thought of labor. I keep telling this kid to give me a couple more days and so far he is happy to oblige.

Although after inheriting everything from my aunt's attic, a great baby shower and an awesome shopping trip yesterday I am feeling a little bit better. The nest is almost ready. (Li swears that it will NEVER be ready, and that even after we finish my list of things to do I will still have more. He is probably right.)

People have been so generous and wonderful. Thanks to all of you!! But probably my all time favorite present is the one my little cousin made for us....

I almost don't want to put a picture in it, because his instructions are so adorable!

Tales

2009-05-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

At my appointment today they told me I was 1 cm dilated. Being the google nerd that I am I came home and almost immediately started reading forums about how long women were dilated to what point and other silly things like that.

But I came across a gem....a blog called Tales from Labor and Delivery
It's written by a girl who works in Labor and Delivery and her stories are hysterical. The link is itsababynotbrainsurgery if that gives you any indication. (Mikensi if you don't go read this blog right now I will be really disappointed!)

Also I ran into someone at the doctor's office today who was due after me, but was on the way to the hospital to give birth. Scary.

Last impressions

2009-05-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

This is one of the last images I have of Hawaii.
Yes, that is a wild boar chillin' in the middle of the street.

It reminded me of the time I was privileged to participate in this...

Hawaii is a place like no other.

So it turns out...

2009-05-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

I'm still alive.

Shocker huh?

Mikensi said I haven't posted because Utah is boring. Not the case.
Utah is lovely and I am lazy. And loving it.

So many things I'd love to post about but I'm not sure where to start.

For now here is a picture of my still unnamed baby...
Isn't he cute? This time around in the ultrasound even I could tell he was a boy, but out of respect for my unborn child I won't post that picture!

Snowing in Utah?!!?

2009-04-15T14:20:00.001-07:00

I might accidentally miss my flight.

Seriously.

2009-04-10T17:44:00.001-07:00

Our table is full of things we can't take with us, and there are several boxes worth underneath.

PLEASE come over and take somethings.

please.

Rad like Dad

2009-04-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

Alysha's mom came to visit and she brought these ADORABLE clothes for our baby!

I was SUPER excited because we haven't bought anything for the baby.
So excited, in fact, that I carried them around all night like they were real.
And I got mad at Li for squashing the baby while we were watching TV.

He decided to play along and turned the clothes into the creepiest child I've ever see.

I was laughing so hard I very nearly peed my pants.
And the poor kid's head keeps falling off.

Everything is amazing, nobody is happy...

2009-04-08T14:29:00.001-07:00

I loved this. Especially the end stuff.

Good turn daily.

2009-04-07T22:12:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been clicking here everyday.

You should too.

Then if you do NOTHING ELSE you can feel like at least one thing you did during the day mattered.

F.R.E.E. that spells free

2009-04-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hey we have a bunch of stuff that is not going to the mainland with us so if you want it come get it before it goes to the freebie bin.

Stuff like a lamp, rugs, books, clothes, baskets....you know, stuff.

Come check it out!

(This is us packing last time we moved to the mainland.
We HATE packing.
This is not the stuff we are giving away. Trust me, that stuff is much better.)

Did I ever show you...

2009-04-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

...this "tree" that Li and I made one day?

Fatty

2009-04-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of shots to help you get an idea of my pudginess.

For the most part I enjoy being pregnant these days, it's so fun to feel him moving around and to wonder what he'll be like when he come out.

However, I have recently lost the ability to digest my food properly. And that is NOT FUN!
Also, I wish we had some idea what to name the kid.

Suggestions?

April Rules

2009-04-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when I wrote this post about this article? You know the one where people did small things every day and got BIG results.

Well this is my mom.

On March 1st she did one push up (the "boy" kind, if you will) and was spent.

She kept at it every day and on March 31st did 15 push ups!!

That's amazing if you ask me.

This month she is working on her vertical jump. And I want to play too. I'm thinking I will pray out loud every day. It's either that or else red lipstick every day....but I don't have any, so probably prayers.

Who else wants to join in the fun?
Leave a comment if you want to play.

16 more days

2009-04-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

We leave Hawaii in 16 days. Weird.

Right now it's looking like we are leaving our apartment in 11 days so we may have to actually take some of you up on that offer to come sleep on your floor!

I finished the Book of Mormon last night at 10pm. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE reading it all at once. It is such an awesome story. I find myself wanting to read just one more page and then one more and then one more. It makes me so happy. I started the Doctrine and Covenants today. So far so good.

I don't post pictures anymore because Li doesn't take them anymore. Ever since he became infatuated with our new video camera we don't have any pictures to document our life. Maybe if he ever comes home from the library/class I'll convince him to take a few so you can all see how pudgy I am.

Disregard that....

2009-03-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

props to Anna for her record setting blog post response time!!

2009-03-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have a teaspoon of cumin I could borrow?

Last time I tried to make hummus I just used the spices I had = bad idea.

Funny Story

2009-03-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

Last night I found cheap tickets back to the mainland on the 10th and the 13th. We are supposed to be out of our apartment by the 11th so I wanted to buy the earlier tickets but knew there was a chance Li had a final that day and wouldn't be able to go.

I didn't want to miss the deal so I considered buying the later tickets and finding somewhere else to stay for the other 2 days. But I didn't.

This morning Li found out that he did indeed have a final and couldn't leave the 10th. We sucked it up and went online to buy the tickets for the 13th. Now there were no cheap tickets until the 16th.

Instead of finding somewhere to stay for 2 days we now have 5.

Sleep over anyone?

Camping trip?

Still here.

2009-03-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

Yeah, my parents are gone, so no more vacation. But it is Spring Break at the high school so no work for me for 2 weeks.

If you need me I'll be at home...reading the Book of Mormon. (I got about 130 pages behind while we were off partying.)

Good news....I passed the diabetes test!

Vay-cay

2009-03-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry no posts these days....I'm on vacation at home.

My parents are here. We just got back from Maui and now we are partying at home.

Good times.

oh yeah

2009-03-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

I recently went here and typed in these 4 letters...MIKA.

What a happy thing that has come into my life.

No sugar tonight

2009-03-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

I've been dreading today for about a month. This morning I was supposed to do a blood glucose test to find out if I have diabetes....at least I think that is what it's for.

I was supposed to fast 8 hours, drink this sugary orange drink and then get my blood drawn within an hour.

I had been hearing all these horror stories of how the hospital here is slow or registration took so long that people went over an hour and the test was no good. I did not want to be one of those stories. I borrowed a car so the bus couldn't make me late and made sure to drink my orange sugar right before I left. Registration did take forever and I was getting really nervous.

After he took my blood I noticed it had been 1/2 hour since I drank. I mentioned this to my doctor and she says that they aren't supposed to test early because there is a really good chance I will fail.
Awesome.

The next test is 3 hours instead of just one.

Can't wait.

A veggie tale

2009-03-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well we survived our week as "parents." And many things were learned.

In other news....
I've been wanting to eat a zucchini since we had pizza with it a week or so ago. I determined to make pasta with zucchini and some other veggies. Then I went to the store to buy one.

I saw lots of different kinds of long, skinny, green vegetables....but none with signs above them that said zucchini. Feeling like a vegetable imbecile I paced up and down the rows of produce. Finally I decided to buy what I thought looked the most like a zucchini and enjoy it, whatever it turned out to be.

I eagerly opened my receipt to see what I had purchased and knew I was a moron. I was now the proud owner of an Italian squash.

I ran to google to find out what in the world that was and felt a little better/worse.

Turns out Italian squash and zucchini are the same thing.

Family Circus

2009-03-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

Li and I have taken over a house of 6 kids from 4-17 for a week.

It's 8:15am on Day 1 and already I am so tired.

Glad our kids are coming one at a time.

As promised....

2009-02-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

Here is another reminder to start reading 17 pages in the Book of Mormon tomorrow.

And here is the schedule....
day 1 page 17
2 34
3 51
4 68
5 85
6 102
7 119
8 136
9 153
10 170
11 187
12 204
13 221
14 238
15 255
16 272
17 289
18 306
19 323
20 340
21 357
22 374
23 391
24 408
25 425
26 442
27 459
28 476
29 493
30 510
31 527 + a couple extra :)

Okay, so I didn't make the prettiest schedule you'll ever see....but read anyway!!

You'll be glad you did.

2009-02-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

If anyone is going to Costco, or Sam's or Wally's or anything of the sort and would love to pick up a few things for us, or let us tag along....that'd be peachy.

Let me know.

Engrish

2009-02-24T16:16:00.000-08:00

My brother Brett is off being a missionary in Japan. He read the following on a packet of sugar....

Sweet and delicious sugar live a life rich.
What tea, coffee, etc. "are drunk for as it is" tends to be considered to be stylish. However, the drink in which sugar are not contained is not a thing which the taste and a scent assert too much and everybody can not necessarily drink deliciously. Then, flavors are increase and the thing which becomes much more delicious in putting in the sugar of one cup of spoon. Furthermore, sugar relieve tiredness and give energy. Delicious sugar are your allies, when it is tired with work, or when energy does not come out.
Don't you read so far and doesn't a slightly sweet thing become wanting?

I want to visit Japan.

Counting Hams

2009-02-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

Do you ever find yourself in the middle of counting and you don't remember starting? I was somewhere around 19 or 20 when I realized that I was counting every slice of ham I put on my pizza. With pizza this could be explained by my days as a Papa Murphy's girl, when we had to count, measure or weigh everything we put on a pizza. But with things besides pizza....I just think it is weird.

In case you are wondering there were 70 slices of ham on this pizza, and it was yummy.

Also, in case you wondered, this pizza was really easy to make. It's the easiest recipe for pizza crust I've ever seen, it doesn't even have to rise.

It is as follows:
1 T yeast
1 T sugar
1 C warm water
-----proof yeast
-----add
1 t salt
2 1/2 C flour
-----mix
-----press into a pan
-----cover with sauce and toppings
-----bake @ 375 for 12-20 minutes

The first time I made this Li was asleep. When he woke up he thought I was a miracle worker.

March is coming

2009-02-19T15:45:00.000-08:00

It's almost March again and that means it is time for... March Madness-Book of Mormon style. Okay, so I've yet to come up with a good name for this event/activity, but it is pretty simple. Starting March 1st everyone is invited to read 17 pages in the Book of Mormon. On March 2nd you do the same thing. You keep doing this until March is over and you will have read the whole book in one month! Not only that, but you will be happier, your testimony and faith will be stronger and you will feel pretty good about yourself.

Don't worry, I'll post more info. later, including a schedule in case you get behind (I usually do). I'm posting this today so that you have a little while to toss the idea around in your brain and let it sink in until you realize that you really CAN do this and you WANT to give it a shot.

The Book of Mormon will change your life.

Leave a comment if you're in.

One o'clock and all's well

2009-02-18T14:53:00.000-08:00

It is nearly one in the afternoon, we ate a yummy breakfast and went back to bed. Li is snoring beside me, and the occasional kick to my bladder from inside my belly reminds me that these days won't last forever!

Happy Hearts Day.

2009-02-16T12:46:00.000-08:00

My cousin's wife Becca (what does that make her to me...besides cool?) has a website called Store & Style. It has great ideas on how to get organized, cool craft ideas, yummy sounding recipes, (I don't know, I've never gotten brave enough to try one, but if someone makes the pumpkin cookies I'd love a taste!) fun giveaways and other neat stuff like that.

For Thanksgiving Li and I made the Thanksgiving Tree that is pictured above. I liked it so much that for FHE last week we turned it into a Valentine's Day tree.

St. Paddy's Day is coming up...maybe you could try a green one. But I'm not too sure what you'd write on your 4 leaf clovers or pots of gold. Any ideas?

Family Update

2009-02-13T15:54:00.001-08:00

Here is a belly shot from 22 weeks. For those of you who have wondered why my rear-end is getting so big...I'm pretty sure that is where the kid is hanging out.

And this is our most recent picture of the kid. He's cute, don't you think?

And finally, here is Li showing off his first broken bone.

This is the lovely boot that he gets to wear for the next few weeks.
He likes to come home and take it off and then tell me that he can't move because he'll hurt his foot. He even got the x-ray guy to advise that he not do any housework for the next 6 weeks. Ha.

I Spy...

2009-02-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

Can you spot the love note I found on my refrigerator?

(Yes Melis, I still have the word magnets you gave me like 14 Christmases ago.)

A few reasons to smile...

2009-02-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

A sweet husband who will sleep on the couch so I can get a good night's sleep in our itty bitty bed.

My new silly, fluffy, purple skirt courtesy of the freebie bin.
If this used to be yours--thanks!

A shower that spits out hot water. You don't realize what a joy it is to take a warm shower from the comfort of your own house...until you are denied that blessing for a whole entire month!

Jasmine rice--you can't ruin this stuff if you try. Believe me, I've tried. It doesn't matter how much water you put in, or how long you forget about it and leave it boiling, it is always yummy.

And guess who is coming to Hawaii in March. I think they are more excited about it than this picture would suggest.

No such luck

2009-02-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2009 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:

Hear Ye Hear Ye

On Gobbler's Knob this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2009

Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators

Awoke to the call of President Bill Cooper

And greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths

After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,

Phil proclaimed that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers were World Champions one more time

And a bright sky above me

Showed my shadow beside me.

So 6 more weeks of winter it will be.

Check out groundhog.org for more information.

Apparently some Phil wannabe called Staten Island Chuck in NYC didn't see his shadow, and.....he bit the mayor. So we obviously cannot trust the little rat.

Will Phil Feel Lucky?

2009-02-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

I wanted to have a major Groundhog Day festival. But Heroes comes back on tomorrow, so I don't even think I could get my husband to come. Oh well, maybe next year.

I guess 6 more weeks of winter shouldn't make too much of a difference out here, but it has actually been quite cold and our water heater is broken so here's hoping that Phil doesn't see his shadow.

One of these days I WILL be in Punxsutawney to see for myself.