Proudest Mothering Moment

Has it really been Monday since my last post? Geesh. I guess something had to give. Suddenly life seems so busy, but really, I am just trying to work out and it is chewing up all of my blogging time!



I mentioned that Jaxon has really been hilarious lately, but more importantly, he has been so much better with RECALL. Some children with Autism don't have the ability to tell you WHAT they did. As a matter of fact, they struggle with most W questions, like, Where, When, Why and What.




We have been astonished that Jaxon has been able to relate what he has been doing at school and at church lately. Usually when you ask him what he learned at church (Church being his least favorite place) he mutters something about Jesus and Joseph Smith and that usually sums it up. . . which wouldn't be so bad, but he says the same thing every week just to get us off his back.





This last Sunday he told us all about how eating good food will make your body healthy! It was amazing! Maybe it was just because his teacher gave him grapes. . . yeah, that was probably it.





It is now flowing over into school this week where he told me all about a game they played with trying to guess what was in eggs (I am assuming plastic eggs). He told me that his friends kept guessing the same thing as him, and it was, in his words, "Totally BUGGING ME OUT!" I have no idea where THAT phrase came from, but, work with it Jaxon, work with it.





Normally when you ask him what he did at school he says, work and play games. . . another standard "get off my back" response. However, yesterday was a different story. We sat down to dinner and asked the kids how their day was. Jaxon was excited about his favorite "burgers" that I had made for dinner. Apparently the word "burger" triggered a memory from school that day and Jaxon IMMEDIATELY piped up and said, "My teacher gave me a treat!!! She gave me a treat because I promised NEVER to pick my nose and eat my boogers EVER AGAIN! Isn't that great???? She gave me candy and I won't eat my boogers!"





Great Jaxon. . . . that's great. I hope that bribery takes you a LONG way. Hey, at least he remembered!

Like a piece of meat

I am having issues.

I want to clean my house

But laundry and dishes seem to keep me PLENTY busy.

I want to work out

But I am always teetering on the verge of being exhausted.

Just when I think K is going to sleep through the night

She doesn't.

I need a place for everything

But everything is NOT in it's place.

I am enjoying my kids so much these days

But they are SO MUCH WORK!

I have funny Jaxon stories to tell

But no time to blog!

I didn't nurse Abby or Jaxon and I only nursed Wade part time

But now I know what it feels like to have your baby look at you like a piece of MEAT! (And for the record, it cracks me up. Her little tongue darting in and out and her lips smacking. It is hilarious)

The Day After

I am sure if you were to see me today, you might say, "How was your Birthday????" And I would say, "Is it OVER?"

Nope, it isn't.

I am still celebrating.

But I WILL tell you what I did yesterday, because I had fun. ALL. DAY. LONG.

First, I sat on the computer and watched all of The FB wishes come in. Yet another reason to love the FB, they notify you of upcoming birthdays! YAY!

Then I watched the page hits on Statcounter load up, and once again, I had LOTS OF CHEATERS. Geesh people. All I ask for is a simple "heya" for my birthday. . you read my post and you can't even give me my ONE BIRTHDAY WISH??? Ouch. I will spend the next year trying to get over it. 73 Visitors, and only 15 comments. WAAAAAAAwaaaaaaaaaaa.

Then I got ready to Coupon! I decided to take advantage of Walgreen's 15% off and free Earth Day Bags. I recycle my plastic bags from the grocery store, but, I am ready to go green. Might as well get a few bags for free!

If you have not added this Coupon-er Blog to your blog reader, you just HAVE TO, because she gets the most insane deals. Seriously. Because of her I got this and a few deals from this post too! Like the Physicians Formula (Just a few bucks after the rebate) and FREE Chapstick and Pledge Mulit-surface cleaner for $1 each! It was awesome to walk out of there with so much FREE Stuff! But I was almost late to my LUNCH DATE!

I met up with some girls for lunch at Paradise Bakery! Yum-o. It was delish. I was loving it. I don't think she reads my blog, but THANKS SO MUCH FOR MY LUNCH SHANNON! I had a great time girls!

After that, I came home and surfed another site which told me how to get FREE FLIP FLOPS from Simple Shoes! YEAH! I had to order one pair (for 14.90 + free shipping-- I got 7% cashback from Cashbaq --tell them I sent you Lindzstewathotmaildotcom) and with as much as I wear flip flops around here it was like. . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! 2 Pairs of Flip Flops for 15 bucks! (nice ones too!)

I had to take Abby to her dance class, but met Peter at Cafe Rio for dinner, cuz, NO ONE should have to cook dinner on their birthday. He took the boys home and I did . . . . MORE COUPONING! (I know, I went crazy . . really. . ) I took my Huggies Coupons from Coupons.com and went to Kmart where they were DOUBLING COUPONS! I got 2 packages of pull ups for 5.99 Each, (regularly 10.99) and two packages of Huggies Natural Care Diapers for $5.50 off each! They weren't on sale, but, I will take $5.50 off a box of diapers ANYDAY!

I think all together I saved about $76.00 today! (Doesn't that mean I can go spend THE MONEY SAVED on myself?-- Don't answer that honey, it was rhetorical)

Whoosh, you tired yet? Because I was! Abby and I arrived home to a birthday party for mommy put on by the boys. Peter took the boys to Target and let them get me presents. . . whatever they wanted. . . Jaxon got me this . . .

because he wanted to get me something "pretty" and "shiny" and "sparkly" Close Jaxon... VERY close to what EVERY woman wants. He had the right idea. . . just needs to go a little smaller and circular. I love that boy.

In all, it was a pretty great day!

Thanks to everyone for making it special.

Let the party continue!

30 Something-Birthday Edition

Someone asked me how old I was the other day (or how old I was turning) and I seriously couldn't remember. I couldn't remember if I had turned 35 last year? Or this year? I know. Sad.

I never thought it would happen really. Where I didn't care how old I was, or how old I was getting? I seriously don't care. I mean, I just look at my birthday as an opportunity to party and buy things for myself .. and to get out of doing things, like making dinner. Apparently, when you become a mom, you NEED an excuse to get out of these kinds of things.

I also use it as an excuse to celebrate ALL WEEK. Why should a birthday be just one day? I think a week is more appropriate. I am dangerously close to making it an entire month, but, I don't want to wear people out.

I think once you get to a certain point, it just doesn't matter how old you are turning until you pass another decade... Like, 30 was a big deal, because you aren't in your 20's anymore, and you might suddenly be considered O.L.D. You celebrate 40 because you are now OVER THE HILL. I seriously cannot believe that. I REMEMBER my dad's 40th birthday party and of course, we all thought he was dreadfully old. Weird. I am pushin' it, BIG TIME. I seriously can't believe that I am at an age that I can remember my parents and what they were doing at my same age! I don't feel like I am as old, or as wise as they were back then, but maybe that is because I have only been married for 9 years instead of 19 years. Yeah, that probably has something to do it.

I was going to list 36 things about me. . . but you already know them. Let's face it, I am an open book.

I have one wish for me birthday. . . leave me a comment would ya? Bust out of your shell and show me the love.

postaldeliveriaphobia

I tweeted yesterday that I am afraid of the mail. It is true. For some reason, I have developed a healthy fear of the mail. I think it started a couple of years ago when we went out of town for a week or so. We stopped the mail from being delivered and when I went to the post office to pick it up, they gave me one of those jumbo sized buckets with all my mail in it. It took me WEEKS to go through all the mail.

Now, I guess the real problem here is, WHY WOULD IT TAKE ANYONE WEEKS TO GO THROUGH THE MAIL? I ask myself that REPEATEDLY. Honestly, I think it is because of my OCD tendencies. Does anyone else feel the need to look through every magazine? Just in case there is something you need/want/didn't think of?

I have to admit, I am getting better at this. I threw away the Smith and Noble and Land's End Men's Catalog without a second glance. However, I had to keep the Pottery Barn, Lands End Swim, Home Decorators Collection, BYU magazine, Sports Illustrated (for the Hubby) and People Magazine (I got a new subscription for my birthday, YAY!) just in case there was some fabulous idea in there that I needed to copy for my own home. (I admit, I am a decorating copier, I use there great ideas- but get something cheaper) And Lands End Swim? I am probably going to live in a swim suit (it was 98 degrees yesterday) from now until October 1st. . . So, it is a wise investment. However, the problem now is WHEN DO I READ THOSE MAGS? They will sit on my counter for a few more weeks, maybe make it into the bathroom and when I figure I have never looked at them in a 4 week period (1 week mail box, 2 weeks counter, 1 week bathroom) I will finally throw them in the recycle bin. [Don't worry, the People mag gets read]

Then there are the coupons. GEESH I hate those coupon mailers! Here in AZ the coupon adds flood your mail box like reproducing bunnies! Just when you think you have "separated" them, another litter comes along. Why do I feel the need to look through all of those adds! I meticulously peruse them for special deals. I take out the coupons for the Zoo, Animal Park, Hair Cuts, Oil Changes and eating establishments that we go to. . . and then we don't go. Actually, the truth of the matter is, I put them in a basket (my coupon and whatever else junk basket) and they expire. Or I throw them out because I get ANOTHER coupon (the same one) that expires at a later date. I swear I am going to use them SOMETIME! (Am I crazy? I am starting to feel that way)

Then of course there are the bills. . . bills . . . bills. I know they are coming. I know when they are due. Can't I just leave 'em in the box until I need to pay them? Ugh. I hate the bills. I do all of my bill paying on my computer these days (no stamps necessary!) But since my computer is in my bedroom it always take a concerted effort to get the bills to my bedroom and make sure they are paid. ON TIME.

Good stuff in the mail? Like what? Does ANYONE get good mail? Except for Christmas and Birthdays . . . I think NOT. How about you, do you like the mail?

Love it?

Or

Hate it?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Most of you figured out that I didn't send out a Christmas Card this year. . . If you were thinking it was just lost in the mail, it wasn't. . . I REALLY appreciated all of the cards that we received though! I decided that in lieu of sending a Christmas Card, I would do a Baby announcement/Christmas card. You know, kill two birds with one stone. However, my Christmas card list was wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too long to send everyone a baby announcement. . . So, I got permission from Sarah to post it here! I know we announced her birth a while ago, but these pictures were just too precious to go un-posted.

Enjoy!

Oh, and Merry Christmas

Here is to a much HAPPIER new year.

What I am doing RIGHT NOW

What I am doing right now is . . .



Eating a cupcake.

Not just any old cupcake.

Or I wouldn't be blogging about it.

Why am I writing about CUPCAKES?

Because I love them.

And because it is cupcake SEASON.

And because it is sooooooooooooooooo good.

And because it was HARD EARNED.

Because you see,

The cupcake CRAZE has not caught on here in Arizona.

At least not to my knowlege.

Because I have only found like, 3 shops when I google "Cupcakes" on Google Maps.

And NONE of them are by my house.

ESPECIALLY not the one worth going to.

But I had to make a special trip.

Because it is CUPCAKE SEASON.

Because they are my favorite thing.

AND IT WAS WORTH IT.

Blogging BRUNCH

There is NOTHING better than eating good food with great ladies... AM I RIGHT? Seriously, I am. I had THE WORST DAY yesterday, and it was all forgotten today when I got to meet with Jessica, Kara, and Adrienne!! I know Jessica from my old hood (actually, we met each other through blogging before ACTUALLY meeting in person--even though we went to the same ward building) but she dropped me a line saying that she was going to be in the land of the sun and wanted to do LUNCH! I would never pass up an opportunity to do lunch, especially when she said she was going to bring Kara and Adrienne.



Kara lives here and I have never met her personally until today and of course our lives twine together in an odd way. I dated guys from her high school, she had cousins that went to mine, we grew up in the same area and weird, I know, now we meet via blog land! I even went to Jerusalem with one of her cousins! This world is getting smaller all the time.



To make the visit a little sweeter, besides great conversation, Kara Jayne brought me a little gift! Wanna see?

I have LONG been coveting Kara's creations from her blog. I have to admit, when I saw what it was I was completely GIDDY! I have been wanting one of her hand made necklaces FOREVER! The shorter one is hand-stamped disks with all of my kids names, and the larger one is an "L" on one side and a picture of a cute bird on the other! Double sided! Kara. . . seriously, you are super talented, and I LOVE IT. I need to add her to the LIST of super talented people who live by me! Oh, and Celia, Yeah, that is your same shirt.. . Jessica informed me that you wore it on her last visit to you! I knew we were connected in more ways that just blogging. . . shopping power, unite.

Thanks Ladies, for bringing even MORE sunshine to my day! Oh, and if I beat you all to the blogging punch, it is because I am doing a WHOLE LOT LESS THAN YOU!

And to finish this post, I need to post a few pix of little K- Just cuz they grow so fast. If you see her with that polka-dot background a lot, that is because it is the sheets on my bed, and that is where we hang out, you know. . . when she is nursing, and I am on the FB.

Mom, those were for you! ENJOY!

Oh wait . . .

I said I didn't get any Easter pictures . . . well, I got ONE for you. Happy Easter!

Thanks Easter Bunny! Bawk Bawk!

Easter: A Bust.

Does this look familiar? Remnants of Easter. . . EVERYWHERE??? I would be lying if I said this particular mess was left by anyone other than. . .ahem. . myself. Actually, you wouldn't have seen a mess like that in MY house last night, because, there wasn't one. Because, our Easter was a BUST! (And because Peter cleaned up Easter while I was at my sister's house with Abby trying to actually CELEBRATE IT!)

Jaxon woke up with 103.8 degree fever. . . I had to teach a lesson in church, so, instead of getting all dressed up in our Easter Garb, and snapping an awesome pic to post here today. . I got nothin' . Cuz Abby and I were the only ones that got dressed and went to church. Didn't take Jaxon (sick) didn't take Wade (too much trouble) didn't take Kaylin (needed to teach a lesson) and didn't take Daddy cuz he took care of the Crazy Bunch at home. (Kinda like the funky bunch, but different) Hmm. . . I hope THIS doesn't happen EVERY year! It seems to be becoming a pattern!

Anyway, that wasn't the ONLY bust. . . We didn't color Easter eggs (because I didn't want to even ATTEMPT that with Wade). We didn't' frost Sugar Cookies. . . (I got the supplies, but ran out of time) And we didn't go to the Easter Egg Hunt, (Because it rained--- I know YOU all went in the rain, but come on. . . I don't even own COATS for my kids anymore! Just sweatshirts!) Not only that, but Kaylin decided that to get in the spirit of things, she was going to keep mom and dad HOPPING all weekend because she cried for most of it. (HOWEVER, she has slept through the night for the last three nights. . and is peacefully sleeping RIGHT NOW :)

But, here are a few of the things I DID do. . . . made Waffles and Strawberries for my kids (who were out of school) on Good Friday. . Whipped Cream and Easter Sprinkles included!

AND. . . Dressed Abby up like this:

To go to THIS!
The Performance at the Temple Easter Pageant was seriously impressive, and left an impression on my daughter that I am hoping will last an entire lifetime. I loved it, and it was TOTALLY worth sitting in the cold (68 degrees feels REALLY cold, OK??) Trust me, we were grateful for all those clothes, blankets and sweatshirts!

Nothing like a little mother/daughter bonding time.

(Ps- if it looks like I did my hair, but did NOT put on make-up, that would be the case, because these days. . . it is either ONE or the OTHER!)

Wow, now that I think about it, Peter spent ALOT of time with the funky bunch this week! Thanks Honey!

Happy Easter

17 years ago, I was here on Easter Morning

I didn't have to wonder why this tomb was empty.

I hope you don't either.

To my Hubby

Our anniversary has come and gone (April 8th). . . and there was no blog post!

WHAT?

I am ashamed. Especially after this FABULOUS post last year! It is tough to top. However, we have been through quite a year and to say that I didn't feel different would be a lie. How do you go through the most difficult year of your life and have things be the same? You don't.

To be honest this past year has been a refiners fire. It has done nothing but polish my husband into a more beautiful stone (that is right, baby, I just called you a beautiful stone). But it is true. The things that he had to endure were unimaginable and I doubt there are many people out there who could handle them as well as he did. Instead of questioning why, he came closer to the Lord. Instead of getting angry, he looked at all of the good. Instead of falling apart, he became stronger and more focused, and I love him all the more.

It is difficult to put into words the gratitude that I have for him and the astonishment I have at what he had to endure (and still endure). But, I knew when I married him that above all, he was a good person, who had a tender heart, who would always do his best to choose the right and rise above.

He has done all of that, and more. Much, much more.

I love you, Happy Anniversary.

From OLD to NEW

I have the GREAT fortune of living next to some amazing people in AZ. Actually, I have found since I have moved here that MOST people are amazing and if you aren't . . . you are out numbered-- so you better get used to it. Everyone has a talent. . say for example THIS person who just took fab pictures of my kids (check the FB for a link). She has a great talent!!

Then, just down the street from me there is THIS person, who makes AMAZING hand crafted gifts. And THIS person who makes jewelry . . I used to think that I made cute jewelry. . but these, these are CUTE!

And then there is Wendy, who is an amazing painter. I have done a few paint projects in my time . . my chairs, and my kitchen caddy, but when it came down to re-finishing my kitchen table, I knew exactly who to call. She took my kitchen table from this . .

to THIS!!!!

Isn't it AMAZING! She did an incredible job, and get this! Rather than re-stain the top and sand the heck out of it, she just painted that table top and did some dry brushing to give it some depth! I LOVE the way it turned out. . . and just when I was ready to TOSS THAT TABLE OUT, now, it looks amazing and I couldn't live without it! Thanks Wendy!

Oh, and for those of you who have seen my tables and chairs in person, I painted the white ones cream, because I just was going to miss the miss-matchiness of it all! So, now they coordinate with the whole look! It couldn't be better. Need a new look? Check out Wendy's Blog! Do you love it as much as I do??

Why I love the FB

I think it is quite possible that Facebook is the greatest invention EVER. Or, at least the greatest way to keep in touch with people. Let's face it, we all know lots of people. Some that we would love to keep in touch with more, some that we would like to get to know better and some that we would just rather not keep in touch with. Facebook allows you to do all of that and even better, you know what most of those people have done in the last few hours!

Of course THE FB (which is what I refer to it as) can be a supreme waste of time as well, but hey, when you are nursing and staring at your computer, it makes the time move a little faster. Here are the top 10 reasons I love THE FB.

10. I can catch up with my friends that don't have blogs.
9. I can see pictures of my friends that don't have blogs.
8. I can ask a question like, "Has any one's child had torticollis?" and get some answers, because I am pretty sure Kaylin has it. (Now would be the time to answer that question, thank you.)
7. I can interface my blog and tweets all on facebook, and that is a beautiful thing.
6. I can see what people are up to without them KNOWING that I am seeing what they are up to. . . unlike a blog, where STATCOUNTER can tell you all things.
5. You can be friends with ANYONE, because EVERYONE wants lots of friends.
4. You can look at all those guys that you used to be crazy over in high school and see that they aren't all that anymore. . . and on top of that, they have no hair.
3. They can see that I might not still be all that, but at least I have HAIR.
2. You can "unfriend" someone if they are stalker-ish, or driving you crazy
1. You can find out important things like whether or not Adam Lambert is Gay, and I am here to tell you that I found someone on the FB who knows him and they said, YES, HE IS GAY! (If you couldn't figure that out on your own!)

Oh, and one more thing you can do on the FB is figure out how small the world really is. Or, find out how all of your friends know each other! I had one "blogger" that I have never met in person who was "friends" with one of my neighbors! I asked how they were friends and they grew up together!! WEIRD!

You can also keep in touch with those people who are just horrible about keeping in touch!!

FACEBOOK: DO YOU LOVE IT? or HATE IT?

Wanna be friends? Leave your name and I will friend you!

Uplifting as Always

Of course many of you watched General Conference this weekend. It was uplifting as always. The talks were insightful and inspiring and uplifting. If you didn't watch it, you should! Even if you aren't a member of my church because really, it was for the whole world to watch.

My favorite quote was from President Monson who said,

"Your future is as bright as your faith"

Let's face it, we all need inspiring words during this tumultuous time, and I think those are it! I am ready to get a piece of wood and get some vinyl lettering tomorrow! Heck, I might even just get those vinyl letters and stick them straight on the wall. :)

What I DIDN'T EXPECT, was for my daughter to ask the "age old question" during Elder Oaks talk. . . Who would have thought that an Apostles' talk would inspire the question, "What is s*x?" Great. . . good thing we can pause live TV.

Belated Birthday

I love that you can celebrate a two year old's birthday a few weeks late, and he doesn't even realize it. I need that kind of mercy right now. We waited for some more family to be in town to celebrate and although it wasn't the "real day" he still loved it!

He is obsessed with his brother's Razor Scooter, so, we got him one of his own. This Radio Flyer rocks! He loved it, it was perfect. Unfortunately, he slept through his birthday party. It was in conjunction with K's blessing day. FORTUNATELY, he slept through his birthday party! It was after 12:00 after all, and ALL of us were happier that he was a well rested boy. He got to eat cake after he woke up.

He was a lot more civilized about than last year, and actually, right after this picture, he asked for a fork. I am still enjoying him quite a bit, except, during spring break, he had a rotten cold and was miserable and making ME miserable, so I gave him his binki back.. HUGE MISTAKE. Now I can't seem to take it away again.

We love Wade's personality, and my favorite thing he does right now is when he runs into a room he says, "Hey-ya!" It is so cute. He recognizes all of his letters ( I know!) and is USUALLY so much fun. However, he knows how to throw a serious tantrum . . . but as soon as you can get him to reason, he snaps right out of it. We love him bunches and can't believe that he just turned TWO! Where did the time go? I mean, my BLOG is almost that old!!! If you want to see some great pictures of Wade, click HERE. But, if you want to see the Wades TRUE COLORS, I'll give you this one. Sarah sent me another pic of our photo shoot.

That just about says it all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WADE!