Theory

I went on antibiotics for my toe infection. It  got rid of the infection and I was happy.... until I got sick. Thursday night on my way to the airport to visit family in Arizona I confessed to Chris my tummy was churning. Friday I was powering through it and Friday night I died. It was BAD! One of the worst times I've ever been sick. The most I could do was turn from side to side and feed Fiona. I couldn't eat, or drink and I could barely think (not to sound rhymie). So here's my theory on why antibiotics suck. It wiped me clean of all my antibodies so when I got some germ on me it took me OUT! For someone who would only battle the stomach bug for 24 - 48 hours has taken me almost a week to kick. Everyday when I eat my stomach dies churns and grumbles and I know in about 2 hours I'm going to be in pain. I can't complain too much though cause I lost almost 3 pounds over my vacation when I thought I would gain 5. So hopefully someday soon I will have the energy I need to do my mommy and student duties. Thank goodness for Chris and his amazingness to take care of me. So you'll get the full story of my visit home and the fun the kids had with Chris while I was away on Friday when I feel a little more "with it", right now I'm still surviving.

Random Friday

I had this scheduled to be published on Friday but I never hit publish so it stayed a draft. Oh well.

-I took the kids to get their teeth cleaned on Tuesday and amazingly they don't have any cavities! The dentist said no build up and their teeth look great. This was music to my ears! It's not easy brushing, flossing and doing fluoride on 3 kids every night. And some nights I just don't want to do it but it totally paid off! This was Asher's first time getting his teeth cleaned and I was a bit nervous but he did awesome!

-During conference I was cuddling with Cecily and she started to pick her nose. I told her not to. She then said "I'm not eating them just crumbling them like Jocelyn taught me!" Then Jocelyn yelled "No I didn't!" It was a classic family moment.

-I mentioned before my new favorite buttermilk biscuits but have you ever made buttermilk pancakes?! Holy moly, they are GOOD! Jocelyn and Cecily each ate 3.

-I got a B+ in my employment law class. It's a lot of affirmative action, civil rights act, fair labor act...blah blah blah... I'm pretty excited to be Toby on the office. 

-On Saturday I went to the thrift store. As an effort to be more green I bought a ton of towels to use in place of paper towels. They ended up having a ton of decent stuff so I bought a lot of long sleeve shirts for the girls, a warm car seat thing for Fiona (I would seriously sleep in an adult size one of these, it's so comfy) and a couple pairs of shoes for the kids. Then on Tuesday I went to Old Navy to buy some shirts for me for my trip to AZ and they were having a huge clearance. Mens shirts and shorts were 97 cents, and tons of baby girl stuff was a $1. There was nothing in boys or womens clearance. I ended up getting 23 items for $40 bucks. It was a good day.

-I got Fiona's tongue clipped. No more heart shaped tongue. They don't numb it cause it doesn't hurt babies that bad. I asked what to expect and he said just a little fussy. So he did it and she didn't even cry. In fact she just thought he was playing the whole time so she kept smiling.

-Chris and I went on a 30 Rock binge and there's an episode where Liz says "Somebody bring me some haaaammmm!" In a sing song voice. So Chris kept saying it over and over and it was driving Jocelyn crazy! She ended up singing back to him "Please stop singing that sooooooonng!" Classic.

-We had a photo shoot on Sunday after conference with Fiona for her 4 month birthday. Veronica gave me this pretty dress when I had Jocelyn and we took pictures of her then. We moved and I couldn't find it anywhere so I missed getting photos of Cecily in the dress. But I knew exactly where it was for Fiona. She's such a ham...

 Yep licking the grass.

For random photos here's the photo of Jocelyn in the same outfit.

Family

I've been holding onto these drawings by the girls so I could blog them with my family photos. I love them. And I'm going to hold onto them forever. I think what I love the most is I know who I am in them right away with my dark curly hair.

Art by Cecily

Art by Jocelyn

Self portrait of Cecily

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we got family photos taken of us. We just got them back and I was pretty excited...until I saw them. Before I start on my rant I need to tell you how important family photos are to me. I would give you all my worldly possessions just so I can keep my photos. I can sit for hours looking at them. I don't demand perfection I just want all the photos raw and I'll do what I want with them. I felt very strongly about this even when we were taking photos for other people. Now onto my rant... Granted it was a mini-session, the kids rebelled, and I look very fat but I was bummed she only put a few of us as a family when I know there are a bunch more. I really like the ones of me and Chris. (Her photo effects are obnoxious though, and not to mention her proof is so dark I can't even see the whole photo, maybe a little lighter?).View all of them HERE.

When I was waiting forever to hear back from photographer 1 I emailed a friend in the ward and asked if she could take my family photos and she said YES! We went to a different place and I just felt like Lindsay got me and we had a lot of fun with her. Asher was out of control, and I'm still fat but the girls and Chris were fantastic! Lindsay sent me a sneak peak last night and now I am SO super excited to see the rest. Thank you SO MUCH Lindsay!

October! WTF?!

-Fiona turned 4 month on Monday. I haven't taken pictures of her yet. She's not doing anything new which is nice. She decided to not rush it. She's content to play on the floor and eat her feet (which is my favorite!)

-Cecily got new glasses. She was due some in July but when I did my appointment in March she didn't have any glasses so the prescription he gave her wasn't accurate. I finally got her an appointment here in Fort Collins with a pediatric ophthalmologist. (He's the only one here in Northern Colorado. So anyone trying to decide what to be when they grow up this guy makes bank!) Can you tell why she choose these ones?

-Chris brought me flowers yesterday! I was so ecstatic! It's been a long time and he knows it melts me so it was a really nice treat.

-Asher woke up Wednesday morning with this bruise on his  right eye. Thank goodness he's a boy and no one worries too much about little bruises like this on a 2 year old. Growing up with my parents doing foster care I live in fear of CPS.

-Jocelyn had a fever Wednesday night so I kept her home from school yesterday. She was still burning up last night so I kept her home today but she's doing just fine now.

-I went to the doctor about my toe infection and got antibiotics. It's already pink instead of flaming red. I'm happy cause I want to get a pedi while in AZ.

-We got a package from Nana and Papa Richards yesterday. (The only thing that got Jocelyn off the couch all day). Asher got this original art by his papa. It's priceless and I can't wait to frame it!

-Still waiting on photos from the photographer. It will be two weeks tomorrow so hopefully I'll get a sneak peak soon. A friend in the ward is a new photographer and so she said she'll take some more photos of us tomorrow. I'm really excited!!!

-Here is this months desktop.

-I just got invited! Hope you can make it too....! (sake tini = sushi)

Have a great weekend!

Country Fair

2 months ago I was called to be Relief Society Activities committee leader. We only do a couple big activities a year but the lady I replaced is so awesome I was really feeling like I had some big shoes to fill. The RS President is so super amazing (seriously, I want to be her when I grow up. A million times cooler than Martha Stewart) and her counselor that I work with and they were really patient with me while I tried to keep up with them. I'm an organized person but when it comes to planning I'm a "throw it together" kind of gal. So this threw me out of my element and it was a huge learning experience for me.

It was a mother/daughter activity and it turned out so great. We took a hayride up to the house and had chili and rolls. We did a blue ribbon contest for jams and Jellies, Pies, and an "other" category for cakes, cookies and any other desserts. (ps: my pumpkin bars won this category!) We did a sewing and pie crust class. Then the girls got to go to the country store and pick out carmel apples, hair band kit, pumpkin bracelet kit, caramel balls.... it was so fun for them!

My committee is amazing. They did all the decorating and set up. There were lights... I really wish I got to take more photos once the sun set. But it was a perfect evening! (I wish I got pictures of my girls too!)

So I tried a couple new recipes this week.
Swiss Steak (my mom's is better, sorry Paula)
Scalloped Chicken (it was kinda bland. I might do it again and add some more veggies, and a more flavorful scallop potato mix)
Slow Cooker Tamale Pie (super good! For sure doing this one again!)

Nothing

As I mentioned before Chris was sick. So we didn't go anywhere. We didn't do anything. Actually I take that back. I took Chris's car to get a carwash for our one year anniversary. It has not had a wash since we left AZ. Anyway, we watched a lot of TV, played a lot of wii, and ate a lot of pumpkin bars (and ditched homework).

Chris downloaded the dumbest, most addictive game for the ipod. It's called pocket frogs. You breed frogs and create all kinds of rare breeds. We just sat next to each other and played it the whole time.

Fiona found her tongue. She sticks it out all the time. And if you stick your tongue out at her she'll stick hers out. Too cute! I'm getting it clipped at her 4 month appointment on Friday. So no more heart shaped tongue.

When Asher goes to the bathroom he likes to lock himself in the bathroom. He can unlock it but sometimes he'll lock it before he closes it and we have to take the door knob off. He got stuck in the bathroom the other day and was calling for us from the door knob hole.

And we had a tea party in the basement with the girls.

It was a wonderful weekend and hopefully a wonderful week.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Random Friday

-I finished Mockingjay (FINALLY!) I had a hard time getting into it because I didn't like where things were going with it. Even though the book wasn't that great, I felt like the whole series was wrapped up in pretty paper tied up in a nice big bow. So I'm content. I really don't want to post any spoilers, and Chris hasn't even tried to finish reading it so I'm trying to keep my feelings inside.

-I made THESE awesome pumpkin bars last night. So yummy. For the powdered sugar part of the cream cheese frosting I only put 1 1/2 cups cause I wanted to take more cream cheese and it was perfection. So moist. So yummy.

-Fiona and I are making a trip to Mesa Oct 8 - 11. I'm pretty excited to eat sushi, the good egg, costa vida, native new yorker and filburtos while I'm there. Oh and see everybody too. (winky face)

- Chris and I got a wii and the wii fit plus. I have been weighing myself everyday and it's been so great to see my progress. The other night Chris weighed in and it said he lost a pound. He did some exercise and then weighed in again and this time it said he lost 4 more pounds. Kinda weird. He did it 4 times and came up with the same weight every time. So I did it and I had lost a pound since weighing in that morning. Score! The next morning I weighed in and it said I had lost 9 pounds overnight. Ummm... pretty sure that's wrong, and physically impossible! I did some research and found out when weighing in on carpet the little feet need to be on the board. I was so mad! So I did it and I've still lost weight since my last doctor's appt in July. I just haven't lost as much and I weighed 5 pounds more than what I thought so that always sucks. Oh well, now things are more accurate.

-Chris got a C+ in his history class. He didn't even give us credit for the discussion questions we answered. A big fat ZERO!

-Cecily's new favorite color is rainbow. 

-This week Chris and I went as a family grocery shopping. This was a bad choice. Oh but then the next day we decided to go to Sams Club all together again. Another bad choice. As fun as it is for Chris and I to be together it's just too much for Asher. Maybe in a year we can all go together. I had Fiona in the snuglie and people could not get enough of her. She's such a ham!

-I just learned in my employment law class that more truck drivers die every year than police officers/detectives.

-Chris is home sick today so I get to play nurse. Except I've been told I'm a mean nurse. I like to think of myself as a concerned nurse.

-This Friday last year Chris and I were living the craziest day of our life. We had our whole house to pack up and 2 weddings to photograph. We just told our parents we were pregnant and we were moving to a new state the next day. Very stressful. This has been the fastest year of my life and full of new things.