Christmas and Such

We had a fine Christmas. I got an iPod Nano, and it's so small, I honestly don't think I'm going to have it for very long. I lose things, you see. Nils had it engraved with my name and phone number in case I lose it. That's nice and everything, but like someone's actually going to call me when they find a stray iPod. I'll enjoy it while I have it. And I'm going to try really hard not to lose it. I promise. I got Nils a surround sound system. He's been crying his eyes out for YEARS for one. This is what I've learned from this experience: From now on, I'm getting my husband whatever techno-gadget noise making thing he wants (within reason). In years past, I've done the thoughtful, homemade gifts, or something mushy or sentimental. While he likes them fine, I've never seen his face full of such sincere joy while opening a gift as I did Sunday morning. So forget thought and sentiment. I'm going to Best Buy from now on. Anders got a Big Wheel and a Thomas the Tank Engine track-block set. Addie got a couple of baby toys. She just doesn't care yet.

We painted our room last night. We've had the paint since September, and I've been very curious to see what it would turn out like. I gotta say- it's blue. We only did two walls because of the blueness. We weren't too sure last night, but we woke up this morning and agreed that we like it. I'm glad we only stuck with the two walls. I would probably feel like I had been swallowed up in the sea if we'd done all of them.

Okay, I have to go- I have an appt. at the gym. I need to write more about Anders' sleep training, so don't let me forget.

Where to Start....

Monday: Nothing too exciting happened. I puked at the gym, though.
Tuesday: Nils got a huge pen order. He had to make 25 pens by Friday.
Wednesday: My Grandma died. Sad, weird day. Nils worked all day at Craft Supplies, and all night on the pens.
Thursday: Had a Christmas party with girls in the ward. Nils worked until 2:30 a.m. finishing the pens.
Friday: I took the kids to Salt Lake to my brother Greg's firefighting graduation.
Saturday: We all drove to Price for my Grandma's funeral. It was sad, but good at the same time. She would have been 92 next month. We had to get home, because I've been planning a Christmas party with my high school friends, and it was here. It was lots of fun, they stayed until midnight. I was pooped. Got the flu.
Sunday (today): Woke up feeling a bit better, went to church, etc. Started feeling crappy during Primary, and have felt miserable the rest of the day and night. I really hope I get over it quick.

Now, for a tribute to Grandma. My sister spoke at the funeral and asked that we write a favorite memory of our Grandma. My paper was folded in half, so she forgot to read it. Here's what it said:

My favorite times with Grandma were when she would take one or two of us to her house in Mapleton to spend the night. We would stop at Allen's grocery store in Springville on the way, and she'd let us each pick out our very own box of cereal. She would even let us get the sugar coated stuff. I always had fun at Grandma's house, because she had a TV with a remote control, and she let me eat all the sugar cubes I wanted. It was really all about the sugar at Grandma's. Besides sugar, however, I loved spending time with her because I knew she loved us so much and she loved having us with her.

The End.

It's Cold!

I was just trying to recap the week in my head, and the only thing I could really remember was how very cold it's been. I don't know what the deal is with the arctic air, but it can leave anytime. It's been 10-20 degrees during the day, and zero or minus at night. It's too cold to go outside at all! Our windshield washer fluid has been frozen all week, and our windshield is disgusting. There's nothing we can do about it. Well, I guess we could clean it off at the gas station, but that involves getting out of the warm car.

Other than the cold, it's been a rough week. Nils has been deathly ill all week with the flu. He won't get better until next week, however. He's too busy to actually rest and heal his sick self. Next week, after finals are over, he can rest and recover. If he makes it that long. Anders has been sick this week as well. I'm the only one in our little family that hasn't gotten it yet...knock on wood. Usually I'm the sickly one with the random diseases.

We had our ward Christmas party tonight. It was pretty fun. Santa was there at the end, and Anders looked absolutely terrified. He said to me, "I don't want to say hi to Santa". Addie had a ball crawling around the gym floor. She kept trying to lick the lines that make up the basketball court. It was funny.

I'm so tired right now I can't think of anything else....

Is the week over yet?

Alright, what a week. Oh my. So Addie's been sick as I previously mentioned. Monday I took her to the doctor because she still had a fever and was very listless. She was pale and like a little rag doll. The doctor looked at her ears, throat, etc. She said her throat was red and sore, and that her ears looked wonderful and fabulous, but that may change. Yesterday she screamed all day. Not a cry or whimper, but full-on scream, non-stop for hours and hours. I took her into the doctor again, and low and behold, 2 ear infections! She didn't go to bed last night until about midnight. Oh my. Non-stop screaming, all day, all night until midnight. I know ear infections are no picnic. They're torture, actually. Tylenol wouldn't touch the pain, had to break out the Motrin. Today she slept in until 10 (usually gets up at 6:30 or 7:00), and she's on her second nap, just past 2:00. Something tells me she's tired. No more sickness!!! It's miserable for everyone.

Both Anders and Addie are asleep right now. Anders has been really good about taking naps lately. He doesn't fight me at all, ever since I changed the name from "nap time" to "quiet time". Napping is optional, but quiet time is not. He's been napping every day for the past couple of weeks. It's wonderous.

We went to Costco last night to break up the monotany of screaming.... there are so many things there that I want to buy. Not for myself, even. The toys! Oh, the toys! I wish I could buy my kids everything, but I know that would be stupid. There are so many fun things there that I know Anders would love, and Addie's starting to be interested in toys and interactive stuff too. We're going to keep Christmas real low key while we can, one or two Santa gifts per kid. It would just be so fun to buy everything they ever wanted.

Nils is going right from work to school, so he won't be home until 7:00- and then I have to leave right when he gets home for a Primary meeting. Then I have to go to the gym after that. I can't take the kids to the gym during the day when we are carriers of diseases. It's rough. How I look forward to the weekend!

Sick Addie

Addie's sick. I don't know with what, but she's had a temperature all day and has been lethargic and snuggly. I have a feeling we'll be visiting the doctor tomorrow. There was a sign on the gym daycare door the other day that said there had been an outbreak of chicken pox. That would be just swell.

So we went to Salt Lake last night in an attempt to go to the Church History Museum to see the Joseph Smith exhibit. We got there about 7:30, and they closed at 7:00. It was absolutely FREEEEEEZING, and we had taken trax. So we had waited at the trax station for 10 minutes freezing our buns off, then walked a block or so to the museum to find it was closed. We walked around Temple Square for a little while, then got back on the train. Anders loved the train. We went with my Mom and Greg and Britta, and he had a great time. Poor little Addie was burrowed into me like a groundhog the whole time. She was so cold. THEN, on our way home a blizzard came out of NOWHERE. It took us 2 hours to drive home. Holy crap. There were cars sliding all over the road, some flipped over, some spun around. It was very scary and horrible. We were just pooped when we finally got home at 11:22 pm.

We sluffed church today, because we're evil. Actually, we weren't going to take Addie to church, and we figured we had such a traumatic night last night that we deserved a day of rest. It was kind of nice to lay around all day. We let Anders color in his special "marker book" since it's Sunday. Honestly, I think he spent the better part of 2 or 3 hours coloring in it. He's been saying all week that he wants to to go church, and I think it's this book. He loves it. Perhaps it will help us in converting him to the gospel. Who knows!

I'm done- a sink of dishes awaits me.

Saturday Madness

What a wild day. The kids both got up at 7:00, which I think is just cruel. I went to the gym, came home, showered and went for a haircut. Came home, went to Super Saturday. Came home, and we went to Target and the mall. Anders cried pretty much the whole time. We came home, had dinner and put those rascals to bed! I've been reading a book called 1-2-3 Magic for disciplining Anders when he acts up. It works well, but public settings require you to ignore the screaming. It's great when people look at you and your screaming child. Their looks vary from "That's funny", "Those poor parents", "Get your kids out of here", etc. Anyhoo, I'm just physically tired tonight. I was going to go to the store for groceries, but I don't think I can muster the energy.

We got a fun book for Anders to play with during church. It's sort of a dry-erase book that should keep him occupied for the duration of Sacrament Meeting. That's one of our biggest stresses, that hour of the week. The past few weeks I've been stuffing him with candy to keep him quiet, but I think people are starting to notice and it doesn't look good. Plus, it's not good for him in any way, really. We're going to keep this book for church only, so he doesn't get to play with it at all during the week. We'll see how that goes. It's so funny to see the difference in Anders and Addie. Anders has always been a challenge during church. He was born that way. He screamed through church as a newborn, and hasn't stopped since. Addie's fine. She doesn't fuss during church and is just more content in general. It's nice to have one be a little easier in that way.

Okay, I'm done. I think I'll do something that requires little energy. Typing is just too much for me. Bonsoir.

Funny Stuff

I need to write some of the funny things Anders has said lately before I forget. We were at Macey's the other day grocery shopping. We saw a man in a long black trench coat with long black hair and some stubble. Anders said to me, "Mommy, it's a Jesus!" I laughed and laughed out loud. The guy actually looked a little scary, which added to the humor of it all.

My mom bought him two Spiderman shirts last week and he's in love with them. He's never seen a Spiderman show or anything, but somehow he knows who Spiderman is and thinks he's AWESOME. So we went to our neighbor's house and Anders said to their little boy, Caleb, "Yes Caleb, I AM wearing a Spiderman shirt!", as if Caleb asked or cared.

On Halloween when we went trick or treating, Anders told us that he didn't want to say "trick or treat" at the doors. We asked him why, and he said, "Because I'm much too shy." Much too shy? Where did he get that one?

I've been taking Anders and Addie with me to the gym everyday, and they play in little daycare there. Anders loves it. When I'm done working out and go to get them, he almost always says, "No, Mommy! Go exercise! I'm not done yet!" It makes me feel so loved.

He's been saying a lot of funny words in general. He uses the word "Spooky" a lot, he says, "Oh my GOSH!" all the time, and also says, "Oh Shoot!". It's a good thing we don't swear.

What a boy!

Darkness

Isn't that just a happy title. What's up with it getting dark at 5:30? How is that good for anyone? And it just gets worse from here to December. Geez, no wonder people get depressed around the holidays. I don't think it's the holidays at all, I think it's the sun's premature departure from Earth every day. I'm making a mental effort to stay positive through these times of darkness. It helps that I'm not pregnant- giving birth in January 2 of the last 3 years wasn't a good thing for me. (Let me qualify that statement: I love my children and I'm thankful they were born. January just isn't the best time of year for me. Add to that the postpartum crap...you know.) Anyhoo, like I was saying, I'm hoping to make it through the winter with as little blueness as possible.

So, Addie is really crawling. She's got the hang of it, one little leg in front of the other. She's much happier now. It's very cute to see her crawling around. Anders is still talking non-stop. He really never stops talking. Ever.

So I was thinking about stopping the Pampered Chef thing, but then I got a shipment of stuff for my kit enhancement month, and I decided that I just love the products too much to stop doing it. I really just do it for the free stuff and discounts. But it's worth it. I'm having an open house on Saturday, hopefully people will come. I took October off to decide if it's something I want to continue doing. I don't love all the work it involves, but I really like getting free crap. It's a disease.

Good night, I have nothing more to say.

And it Starts!

Addie is officially mobile. She doesn't crawl in a conventional manner. It's more of the 80's breakdance move "The Worm". Remember that? It's bittersweet, really. She's been frustrated for awhile because she couldn't go where she wanted, but now we have to baby-proof. She's also started pulling herself up into a sit. Last night I put her to bed and she started screaming a couple of minutes later. I went in to see, and she had pulled herself up in her crib and was hanging over the side. We hadn't lowered her crib mattress because she wasn't doing anything like that until now. Crazy kid. It's about time, she's almost 10 months old. This morning I stuck her in a laundry basket (on the floor, not the dryer), and she pulled herself into a stand. Anders did that, too. The day after he started to crawl he was pulling himself up. Shouldn't there be a little more time in between?

So I've been part of this "Ladies Night Out" group this year, and last night it was my turn to host it. It's kind of a strange little group- I was invited because my sister-in-law started it, but it's mostly girls from her ward and their friends. I'm kind of like the red headed step child of the group, but whatever. Anyway, over the year it's pretty much fizzled, so last night 3 people of about 15 showed up. It was still fun, but kind of a sad way to end it. We decided last night was the last one since no one comes anymore.

I'm glad it's Friday. Weekends are good.

Sinus Infection Headaches!

Good morning, Mr. Blog. It's been difficult for me to write consistently lately. Probably has something to do with my two wild children and my body's inability to stay well. This last week was just glorious. I've had a sinus infection. I forgot how nasty they are. I don't know how most people react to them, but I get migraines due to the snot blockage. Wonderful. I just took a little pill prescribed to me for pain after childbirth...I didn't use it then, but boy am I glad I have it now. I'm evil, but I've had a migraine for 2 days. Stop judging me.

Nils' parents were here this week. They slept at our house, but other than that we didn't see them a whole lot. We went to a movie with them yesterday morning and had lunch, and they were off. Still good to see them.

Addie is really trying to crawl. She gets up on all fours, then gets up on her toes with her bum in the air, but doesn't really know what to do after that. She's also been rolling around in her crib at night, so most of the time she's on her belly. It scares us. She's such a sweet baby. She's very cuddly and just has a sweet little personality.

Anders is doing very well. He talks non-stop. Sometimes when Nils is trying to talk to me, Anders will copy everything he says. It drives Nils crazy. I think it's kind of funny. I can't believe this little boy who walks, talks, jumps, plays with blocks, and looks at books was that little baby inside of me. I know it's cliche, but it really is crazy how fast they grow and develop and change. It's just amazing.

We've made a goal for the month of November: No eating out. We itemized our budget, and I think if we eliminate that one expense, we'll save a lot of money. We don't eat out that much anyway, but it's so darn expensive and adds up in no time. Sheesh. I think we'll be okay money wise. We just have to be a lot more conscious of what we spend. We can't afford extras, but I'm feeling hopeful because we do have enough to pay our bills and feed our children. That is a blessing. If anyone knows of anybody who wants a Honda Odyssey, let us know. Ours is for sale to anyone who'll buy it for $13,500. Hey, it's got a GPS, it's totally worth it!

Figuring it Out

So this week is the first of many that I went to the gym 6 days in a row. That's quite an accomplishment, and I'm feeling quite spiffy about it. I've been going during the day, which makes it much easier. I decided that Anders was just going to have to deal with going with me and being in the daycare. He struggled for a couple of days, but now he loves it and he doesn't want to leave when I'm done. Hooray! It's nice not going at night. I went to the gym at night for many moons. It sort of ruined my life.

On to a more depressing matter- we're BROKE. Something has to change. I think we're going to sell the van. To whom? I know not. We just can't afford it, and that's pretty much the only bill we have that's not absolutely necessary. We love the van, and we'll miss it, but we won't miss the payment. Also, we got our mortgage statement yesterday and it said our payment is going up in December. Joyous rapture. What the crap? Just got the mail, and our property tax bill was in there, so we owe $850.00 by November 30. Actually, that's not true. I just called the mortgage company and they said they're paying it. Phew. I guess that's why our payment is going up in December, but whatever. I think we need to refinance anyway. Okay, now I'm depressed. Bonsoir.

We're so loaded.

It's so great not to have to worry about money. We don't have to worry about how much things cost or if we'll be able to afford the items we want. We just know that we have no money and we can't. There's no worrying involved. Yesterday we went to a Corn Maze and Activity place called Hee Haws with our neighbors. It cost around $15 or so and we had a good time there for a few hours. We were all pretty hungry afterward so we went out to eat after. Our neighbors ordered first and then we did. I handed the girl my debit card to pay for it and it was declined. She ran it again and it declined again. I thought- OK, so we're broke. I'll have to break out the old credit card. I handed her that and it declined, too. So that was great. We had no money whatsoever so we cancelled our order and were just going to go home. Our neighbor was nice enough to let us borrow $20 for the meal and we will just pay him back tomorrow when I get paid. How sad is that, though. We're pathetic. I think we're going to have to sell our children. But we'll sell our minivan first. And then a couple of my kidneys. My mom has three, maybe I do, too. I only need one, right? I'm a bad budgeter and Katrina has to try to keep me in check. I'm spendy, you could say. There are always 82 items on my "I wanna buy that" list and Katrina doesn't have many expensive tastes. I do. I'm trying to work out a deal with a company down the street from where I work. I'll be doing their monthly e-mail promotions for $100-$150 a month, hopefully. That'll help a little. I'm also trying to sell some pens on eBay but that doesn't do too well. We'll see how it goes. This is our constant dilemma. We don't have enough money to last from one paycheck to the next. So I guess we're living from paycheck to almost paycheck. Or something. Anyway, we'll keep trying to be good and we always have enough to take care of the basics. Well, at least most of the time. I'll stop whining about our poverty for now.
Anders is doing good for the most part. He's very smart but he's very two as well.

OK- I just got back from church. We made it through one hour, not even until the end of sacrament. Anders was being so out of control that we couldn't keep him at church. Katrina played piano for the Primary Program during sacrament so we missed pretty much the whole thing due to our angelic two year old. I felt bad leaving church while Katrina was up on the stage but she called just now and I told her what happened. We're going to do some reading this week and see what we can do to get him to behave at least a little bit at church. It gets worse each week and we're not sure what to do. Addie was so good the whole time and when we came home she fell right asleep. Anders was better once we got home but it took him a little while. Hopefully we'll find some good info to help us help him so that we can be active at church. That would be nice. I felt bad for myself after getting him to bed so I heated up a hot pocket and blended up a Pina Colada, which I am about to enjoy. Seeya.

Laundry

Throughout my life I've added to my definition of my own personal hell. Thus far, it has included moving (as in moving from home to home) for eternity in the heat of Las Vegas in July. I think I'll go ahead and add to that: folding laundry. Forever. But here's the thing: I actually do that now, so is that part of my own little hell on earth right now? I appreciate clean clothes. The washing and drying don't bother me so much. It's the mountain of clothes that, once cleared, replenishes itself within minutes. I also hate dragging the hamper up and down the stairs. Having said all this, I am very thankful to have a washer and drying in my own home. We did laundry at parents' homes for 4 years. But holy crap, could I have all the clothes put away and have the hamper be empty for at least 4 seconds? Yeah, like that's going to happen.

This week is and has been pretty busy. Monday night I dropped the kids off at my mom's while Nils was at school so I could go to the gym. Last night Nils had a work party at a place called Boondocks. They have go-karts, a rock wall, mini-golf, arcade games, etc. It was fun. Tonight I have a Shade party, which I'm terrified no one will show up to, tomorrow night Nils is going to play video games with his friends, and Friday night we're actually going to go on a date. Oh my! Saturday I think we're going to the pumpkin patch with our neighbors. Are we popular or what?

I'm off...more laundry awaits me.

Redundance

Anders thinks that he can get what he wants by driving me crazy. He asks for something, I say no, and he continues to ask. Over and over and over. It's a little annoying. I don't give in, but he's started back talking me. I'll say, "I said no, Anders", and he'll say, "I say YES, MOMMAY!" Then he runs to his room and slams the door. He's not even 3 yet and he's storming off and slamming doors. It's been a rough week. Addie must be cutting some teeth or something. She's cranky pretty much all the time, and she's not sleeping well. She hasn't been taking good naps and she's waking up a lot in the night. Between the two of them, my nerves are shot. The little whipper-snappers.

I have Bunco tonight. I really need it.

It's Been So Long

Well, it's been awhile since I wrote. Quick update: Nils took 3 days off work last week. We did lots of fun stuff. We mostly just spent money, which is funny, because we don't have any. But anyhoo... it was nice to have a few days together. This week has been less enjoyable. I've been sick all week with hemophilis or something of the sort. The kids have snotty noses, and Anders has had stomach issues. I'll spare the details. We're feeling better, however. I went to the Dr. and got a $60 prescription, so all is well. I really don't have much else to report. I'll write more when something AMAZING happens.

As Long As I Can See the Light

I've seen the commercials for these GE Reveal Light Bulbs but I thought it was probably just a marketing spoof. Then I became really curious about the bulbs so Katrina and I picked up a couple of packs at the store. They were expensive. Normal four pack of bulbs: 96 cents. Reveal four pack of bulbs: $2.50. I turned on only one light fixture in our living room, which contains three bulbs, and set the camera on the bench to take the first picture. I had the camera on all manual settings so that the Fstop, shutter speed, etc. would be the same in the before and after pictures. No flash was used. After the first picture, I didn't touch the camera at all but I did change the bulbs in the light and shot another picture. What a difference! Now I love walking into our living room at night because it's a huge improvement. Our paint looks different, things look clear instead of faded and yellow. I'm hooked. I've since replaced the bulbs in the kitchen and many of our dishes have colors in them that I've never even seen. It's totally amazing so I'm sharing my new found information with the world. OK, not the world.. but maybe two or three people. So try it out. When you do you'll thank me for showing you the light. Literally.

Sleepless Wonders

Anders woke up at 3 am, got out of his bed and came into our room. This has never happened in the middle of the night. It was a little freaky to wake up to him, honestly. He got into our bed, and didn't go to sleep. He heard the train go by and said, "Mommy! I hear the train!" I was like, yeah that's great, go to sleep. An hour of him squirming and kicking was enough to put him back in his room. He completely freaked out. Finally the only way I could get him to go to sleep was to lay on his floor by his bed. He finally went to sleep at about 4:30, and then Addie decided to wake up at 5. That was actually really good for her, it was the first time she woke up. Anyhoo, she decided to wake up for good at 6. I let her lay in our bed and play for awhile so I could doze, but eventually she started slapping my face and grabbing my nose. I really need to cut her nails, by the way.
On Tuesday night, I was so tired my body ached. At about 8:30, I laid down thinking I would rest for 30 minutes or so. I woke up 11 hours later. Nils told me I woke up a couple of times, said really weird things and went back to sleep. I guess my whole point is that I'm tired, and I'm wondering if I'll ever be un-tired.
The good news is that we've finally cracked down on Addie. She no longer sleeps in our bed at night, and we have made her cry through the night. It sounds so mean. But, she's pretty much sleeping through the night now. So it makes no sense that I'm going to bed at 8:30.
I had a goal last night to run 3 miles in less than 30 minutes. I had eaten a pretty good sized dinner not too long before this, so by the time I finished running I thought I was having a heart attack. No really, I did. I came home and told Nils I was having a heart attack. He was like, "Oh really?" (Probably because I'm always dying. During my pregnancy with Addie, I thought I had Parkinson's Disease, and I thought I was having a heart attack then, too.) Anyway, I looked up symptoms of a heart attack, and I had them!!! Fortunately the pain subsided after about a half hour. When I do actually have a heart attack, no one will believe me. And won't that just be sad?

Help Support Katrina's iPod Nano Cause!

I've always thought those 'Free iPod' offers were hoaxes but I know a few people who have actually gotten XBox's and iPod's from them so I thought I'd investigate. When this new iPod Nano came out, I thought I'd check out the possibility of getting one for 'free'. It's not totally free but if I have to pay $20 or so for an iPod Nano 4GB, I'm OK with that. Here's the deal: I signed up for one service (there's a list of 20 or so to choose from) and I have done my part. I now need to get five other people to sign up for a service or trial and then we get the Nano! The cool part is that the offers aren't these ridiculous offers that nobody would want to try. There are things like discountd ink cartridges, Blockbuster DVD trials, subscriptions, etc. I signed up for Auto Vantage- a roadside assistance type thing. It's $1 to sign up and after 7 days they send me a $40 Gas Card! That's pretty cool. If I continue with the service (and I probably should since I drive a 91 wagon) it's $9.99/month but I think I'm just gonna cancel before the first 30 days.

Here's the other cool part- if you sign up, then you've taken care of your offer, too. That means that if you get five other people (I can't be one of them) to sign up then you also get a free iPod or whatever else you choose from. There are four or five gifts to choose from.

So PLEASE HELP! If you need cheap ink, a gas card, some DVD's by mail or anything like that- SIGN UP! OK, schpeal over. Thanks for listening. We usually don't solicit but we only need five people and this is a really cool offer so I'm enlisting help via Blog.
Above is the iPod Nano we're trying to win: It's pretty sweet.

Hmmmm...

Nils just told me I should write about what a wonderful husband I have. I looked at him blankly, and I think he's offended. I do think he's wonderful. Now moving on... (hardy har har)
It's Sunday night and I'm sad the weekend is over. Like everyone else on the planet, I love weekends. It's just nice to have a little more freedom schedule wise. I love being together with my little family.

So we had stake conference today, but we don't know where our stake center is. We asked some people, and they didn't really know either. Our stake is new, so it's not listed. We got all ready, packed up the diaper bag, and drove around for about 45 minutes before giving up. I did find one random address online that we attempted, but no luck. I think we get points for trying.
Went to my mom's for our weekly dinner. Anders pushed Addie in the swing and they both thought it was hilarious. I can't wait until they can actually play with each other and entertain each other. I think they'll be good little buddies. They already love each other a lot.

We have a closet under our stairs that we keep all the toys in. Anders hasn't really taken much interest in it lately because it's been such a disaster. Last night I cleaned it out and took a good portion of the toys out and put them in the crawl space. It's like a completely different space. Anders spent most of the day in there today. He can actually get in it which helps, I'm sure. He looked at his books, played with blocks, found all of his little tools. We really haven't sorted through his toys since he was a baby so there was just a lot of clutter. I'm sure it was too overwhelming for him. Hopefully his new play space will help him break away from Dora.

Back to Life

Labor Day was uneventful, but it was good to have the long weekend. We decided to paint the living room late Sunday night after the kids were in bed. We figured that would be easier than trying to take care of them and paint at the same time on Monday. We finished around 1 in the morning, and it looks really good. I'm now inspired to paint every room in the house. Yesterday we all took naps. I must say it was highly unusual and very enjoyable. Nils and Anders went to Krispy Kreme in the morning and got a dozen donuts. That's pretty much all we ate the whole day. It was ever so much fun, yet a little disgusting.
Last night when we were saying family prayer, Anders decided he wanted to say it. It's the first time he's said a prayer by himself, and it was so funny and cute. He listed all the things he was thankful for: Mommy, Daddy, Addie, eating donuts, going to Grandma's house, Mommy's blankie, Daddy's blankie, the pillows, and then he goes, "That's all, I'm all done!". Very cute. One of those rewarding parent moments. It's nice to have those once in awhile.

Holy Saturday, Batman!

Today was nuts! Most Saturdays are, but today was just a whirlwind. The kids both woke up at 7:30- what is up with that, anyway? I went to the gym while Nils took them for a walk. We all got home, showered, etc. My mom called to tell Nils that her cooler stopped working AGAIN, and since he can fix anything (or so everyone thinks) he's obligated to take care of it. After spending a few hours at her house, she offered to take us to Chili's. After Chili's we went to Costco so she could look for a hallway table. While at Costco, she decided to buy us whatever we wanted. Woo-Hoo! We got some new clothes for everyone. Anders got a sliver while we were at Costco and freaked out for about an hour. He got over it when I started feeding him Laffy Taffy. We came back home and went to Wal-Mart to buy some paint, finally. We're going to break up the beigeness in our house. I want our walls to be painted, but I don't want to be the one to paint them. I hate painting. Anyhoo, we ended up spending 100 bucks on painting supplies and diapers and wipes. Holy crap! Most of the money was spent on diapers and wipes. We bought the huge boxes of both, because it's getting old buying diapers once a week. Hopefully this lot will last awhile.
I'm feeling happy that this is a long weekend. They are few and far between. Happy Labor Day to all.

Busy, Busy

School started last week. We realized that Nils actually has class on Mondays and Wednesdays, so that kind of sucks. Oh well. Perhaps one day we'll get through the abyss of education. We finally got our financial aid check this week. That's a big relief. Upon celebrating at Subway (yes, that's a celebration for us) we remembered that we have to pay property taxes in November. So there went that check! Sometimes we miss renting. We were able to get some things we've been needing, and that was barrels o' fun!
We bought Anders some underwear and a potty. He thinks the underwear takes the place of pants. He wants to wear them and nothing else. He'll also sit on the potty and say, "I need help pushing" or, "Peeing is too hard". He doesn't understand that it's something he has to do all on his own, and Mommy and Daddy can't help the pee or poo come out. Poor kid.
So I have to say- I don't like sharing my name with this major hurricane. Nils goes into work and people say, "So how many people did Katrina kill last night?" Hilarious, isn't it? Why can't it be Hurricane Bob or Jane? I don't like being associated with devastation. It's a little disturbing to watch CNN and see the headline "WRATH OF KATRINA" or "KATRINA'S FURY". I'm a nice girl! It really is sad, though. When these things happen, it puts things in perspective and makes you realize what's really important in life. Thanks a lot, Katrina.

The Half-Blood Prince

OK, so if you're not a Harry Potter fan- why not? I just finished reading the latest book- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and I gotta say, it's great. My favorite book is probably still the 5th book: Order of the Phoenix. But what a great series. This is coming from a dummy who has read maybe 25 books or so in life. Reading has never been my favorite thing, mostly due to the fact that it requires solely the use of the mind and not of the hands. I'd prefer to create, to dream up, to build, to invent. But not so with Harry Potter. Ever since the first book I really liked reading about his adventures and the wizard world. I won't say much more. I just really enjoyed reading this latest book and the end is bittersweet. If you haven't read it, take a clue from this illiterate Winsted boy- Read it! If you haven't read any of them, you're in for a real treat. A fascinating tale that you'll love every minute of. Alright, soapbox removed. G'night.

The Joys of Fatherhood

I know that sounds like a sarcastic title but I really am going to write about the joys of fatherhood. I really love being a dad and I feel so lucky to have our two little squirts in our family. Some days I look at my kids and Katrina at the end of the day and I just feel like I've got it all. We're all healthy, we're all together, I don't work 600 hours a week, Katrina is a stay at home mom, we have a nice little home and two cars that run. I think we're doing alright. Yeah, we're broke and living almost paycheck to paycheck (the almost is because we run out of money three or four days before the next paycheck) but we have our family. Anders is so funny and clever and cute and sweet. Addie is so happy and adorable and sweet and fun. Katrina is the greatest wife a guy could ask for and I'm more in love with her now than I was during our late teen head over heels infatuation that most romances start with. That was just shy of 9 years ago! We don't make out as much but that's OK because we're old. OK, so we're not but we feel like it sometimes.
My point is that I love my little family and sometimes I feel overwhelmed with this connection that I have to them. It's a dad thing, I s'pose. Times are rough in many ways and things could be better but at the same time- they couldn't be any better. What an exciting time in life when we get to start a family and watch these little tiny babies grow and learn and grasp and struggle. There aren't many joys in life that compare. So that's my schpeel for tonight. G'night.

Why am I Awake?

It's almost 2 in the morning, and I'm not asleep. I've decided Addie needs to stop waking up in the night, so she's crying right now. And, being the neurotic mother that I am, I can't sleep when she's crying. I think most moms are this way. I don't know any dads who are. Nils is sleeping like a rock, completely oblivious to my personal mission. I also have a bad stomach ache. I don't know why I have a stomach ache. The last time I ate was at 6, and usually if something I eat bothers me, it's within an hour.
So I'm all hyper because I have a Pampered Chef party tomorrow (today, actually) in DELTA. I've never been to Delta before. It better be a good one, because I'm driving an hour and a half both ways to get there. I hope to make it as quick as possible. I'm kind of sad that I don't get to spend my Saturday evening with Nils and the kids. Well, maybe I'll make some money. Money is good. Okay, I'm going to check on Addie again to see how the crying is going for her. Good night.

Screaming child

I feel the need to convey my stress level right now. Addie has been screaming bloody murder for about 40 minutes now. I know I'm not unusual in this, but it stresses me out to listen to my children scream. I feel frustrated, guilty, sad, sorry for them...but mostly frustrated. She's EXHAUSTED. You would think the screaming would have worn her out by now. She refuses to give in, the little stinker. She seriously sounds like she's being tortured. At this point I'm debating whether it's even worth it. Bedtime is in an hour and a half, but I know if we do anything other than sit on the floor and play she'll fall asleep anyway. Anders is dying to go on a walk in the new stroller, but if I get her up and take her on a walk, she'll be out in 30 seconds and bedtime is shot. I hate teaching babies to sleep. It seems so cruel, but at the same time you could lose your mind trying to rock, feed, cuddle, soothe, all the while baby refuses to relax in your arms. She's so interested in what's going on, the cuddling doesn't work anymore. Just thought I'd share.

Jack Johnson

Tonight we're going to the Jack Johnson concert. Nils got us tickets for our anniversary in April, so this is very exciting. I'm in love with Jack Johnson. I've been to one other concert in my life, it was Ben Harper, and it was pretty lame. I was bored the whole time. I think tonight will be better because I actually know and like Jack's music, and it's out doors, and we're leaving our children with a babysitter. Actually, we're leaving them with Tom and Jamie, so I guess babysitterS would be more of an accurate term. But I digress.
So school starts tomorrow. Oh joy. I don't think this semester will be all that bad, actually. Nils is only taking 6 credits, and one of his classes is online. He'll be at school only 2 hours a week. So I think we might still like each other at the end of this semester. It's a little sad that summer is ending. I'm a happier person in the summer. Winter is not a great time for me. I think it has more to do with the time change. I hate when it gets dark at 5:00; it's depressing to even think about.
We're waiting with baited breath for our financial aid check(s) to arrive. How wondrous and great they are.
I have nothing more to say. I must shower. The RS President is coming to visit today, and I don't want to stink when she comes.

Good Saturday

Today was pretty busy, but it was a good day. Emmy hosted a Pampered Chef party for me today, and it was a lot of fun. I left at about 9:00 this morning for that, and got home at about 2:30, so it was pretty good time-wise. Harmony watched the kids for me, because Nils decided to scale a mountain in the middle of the night. But I'm s ure you'll hear all about that from him. We went shopping tonight. Addie has no clothes. She's starting to out grow her 3-6 month clothing, which is fine since she's 7 months old, but she has not a single item larger than 3-6 months. We found a bunch of stuff at Wal-Mart on clearance. We were able to get PJ's and onesises for ridiculously cheap, so she's stocked up on those for awhile. We went to the mall and I found the cutest shorts and shirts for next summer. 2 pairs of shorts and 2 shirts for $8! Sears has the best clearance racks. I love it. I've decided to search ebay for her winter clothing, since everything in the stores right now is too expensive.
On a different subject completely: Anders has had a tail for about 2 months now. You know, the tail that boys used to grow when they got their head buzzed, except for a piece in the back that they let grow long? Yep, Anders has had one. When I cut his hair last, he was resisting me pretty bad and tilting his head backwards, so I couldn't get the bit by his neck. Over the last couple months, his tail has grown to where people have started to notice it. We've tried to cut it, but he says, "NO! I DON'T WANT TO CUT MY TAIL!!" Well, tonight was the night. We bought him a Push Pop at the store for bribery purposes, and I was finally able to snip the tail off. What a relief. He freaked out a little, but at least it's gone.
Oh, good news. We bought a double stroller. It's the kind I wanted. We were able to scrounge up the money to buy one. It's so nice. Both kids really like it a lot, and I'm so happy that I can take them both on walks without having to put Addie in the carrier.
Alright, I'm pooped. Nils lost consciousness quite awhile ago, so I think I'll join in the realm of sleep. Good night.

Poverty

It's always a bad sign when you get 7 thin envelopes from the bank in your mailbox. That pretty much sums up the last week. We're retarded. We don't have enough money, but we think we do for some reason. I don't even want to talk about it. Nothing terribly exciting has been happening, which is why I haven't felt compelled to write anything all week. I really want a double stroller. We sold a bunch of formula on ebay, so I think we'll take the money from that and buy a stroller. We went to the mall tonight to look for a watch for Nils. It was his birthday Thursday and he has some birthday money to spend. Oh, his parents bought him a flat screen monitor for his birthday, so that's really nice. I don't honestly understand why it's worth spending $200, but whatever makes him happy. Our old monitor was pretty crappy, anyway. As I was saying, we went to the mall tonight and Addie loved it. She was laughing and sqealing the whole time. I think we're in trouble when she gets older if she loves the mall so much right now.
I'm so tired tonight I can't think straight. I still have to go to the gym, too. Oooohhhhh, the gym. My ball and chain. Au Revoir.

Our weekend

We got back from Vegas last night. When we say Vegas, we really mean Logandale. We actually did drive into Vegas to meet York & Luly and Nils' dad, Par, so that we could all have dinner together before Par had to fly out. I have no desire to "do Vegas" when we're there. So we spent the rest of the weekend in Logandale. It's a small little place with not much to do. We spent most of the time inside, since it is seriously hotter than H there. I tried running on Par's treadmill, but was afraid I might get electrocuted, what with the exposed wires and all. I lasted about five minutes. Anders and Xan played together pretty well, but Xan is going through a biting phase, so Anders fell victim to his fangs a few times. He's got a nice toothy mark on his forearm from yesterday morning. It's all good, though. On the way home we stopped in St. George to see my Grandma. It was pretty depressing. She didn't make any indication that she knew we were there. I tried talking to her, and she'd kind of open her eyes, but her look was pretty blank. It's kind of like she's just giving up.
The rest of the trip home was pretty decent, actually. No screaming fits from Anders! We borrowed Tom and Jamie's portable DVD player, so he was entertained by Thomas the Tank Engine and Elmo most of the time.
So this is the first week in forever that Nils will actually be able to come home from work and not have a billion and a half things to do. It's pretty exciting. Maybe we can actually spend quality time together as a family, and get some projects done around OUR house! That would be T-Riffic!

My Sigh of Relief

DONE! I'm pretty much done with my two latest head aches! I have completed all that I need to complete of the tile. Tom will be finishing up- what a relief! I also finished making the last of the 58 pens that I had to make. I will be putting them together tomorrow during work but I'm done turning (I think) so that's a huge relief, too. I feel pretty liberated tonight. It's the first time in a while that I haven't had some huge project hanging over me. I still have lots of projects to complete but no more pens and no more tile.
Tomorrow we're leaving for Vegas around 1 or 2. I'm pretty excited about it. We've need a little getaway for a while now. Not that this will be an amazing trip or anything but at least it's a weekend away. We're borrowing Tom and Jaime's DVD player for the van so that's gonna be a huge help. Anders watched Tomas the Tank Engine on the way home tonight and we were blown away. He sat there quietly and watched. He was good the whole way home. He's not always a cylclone of terror in the car but he certainly can be. We're gonna have to get one of them there DVD players. We just need to win one so that we don't have to pay for it. Let me know if you see any for free.
I bought a cool flashlight tonight. It's an LED light. It's got nine little bulbs in it and it shines very clearly and brightly. That was my belated father's day gift. I used a $20 gift card that Kathy had given me for Target. We also bought a new outfit for Anders and that Tomas the Tank DVD. We're taking Harmony (Gwen) on this trip with us so I hope she's feeling well and isn't too down. She's usually pretty fun to be around but she has a hard time when she gets really depressed. I can't say that I understand it but I guess I can imagine what it would be like. I don't have time for depression. I'm too busy. I just signed up for Math 1050 for the fall semester. This will be my third or fourth attempt at this class. There's a guy in my ward who was also in my mission who is now a math teacher and he said he'd help me out with it. I'll need lots of help. I'm a super sped (special-ed).
So I'm gonna have like 40 pens that I can sell now. That's pretty cool. I don't know how fast I'll be able to sell them or how much I can get them for but at least I get the pens (and some $) out of it. Also, all the pens I made get photographed and put in our Fall Catalog. That's pretty cool, too. I'll have my work in a catalog, so that's neat.
I'm gonna get some stuff ready for the trip now. I'm also going to read Harry Potter for a bit but I'm sure I'll fall asleep. It's a great book but Nils + reading= sleep. Rock on from Nizzle Foschizzle.

Here's the floor I've been tiling.

I'm Bald

I just got my haircut. It's always risky, but otherwise I look like a bushwoman with a pyramid hair-do. It's a good cut, I suppose, but it's really short. I always feel really insecure when my hair is really short. I don't think I have the kind of face to support a very short haircut. But what do I do? I just have to wait for it to grow. I'm sure I'll really like it in a month. Today was quite a day. Some days are non-stop, and some days never end. Today was non-stop, things to do. It's much more difficult to have a million things to do living in Springville. I have to squeeze everything into one trip because I'm not willing to drive to Provo or Orem 14 times a day. It makes for a tired mommy and worn out kids who are sick of being dragged around. Nils finished cutting all of the tile tonight. Hopefully my brother Tom will just finish the floor. There's not a ton that needs to be done. This project seriously needs to be out of our lives. We've made a committment not to go there anymore this week. It would be wonderful if by Monday when we're back from Vegas, it's just DONE!
Have you ever had an itch, and you scratch the part of you that's itchy, but you don't get any relief? That's happening to me right now. My knee itches, but it's not the source of it. I'm going a little crazy trying to scratch everywhere to figure out where it's coming from. I'm normal! I wish everybody could see. Alright, me and my bald head are going to do some laundry.

Weariness

It's Sunday night, 8:37 to be exact. Both kids actually got to bed on time tonight. That's rare these days. Last night Anders got to bed at 11:30 because we were at my mom's house tiling until about 11. He actually slept until 9 this morning, but when he came into our room to get us, I could have sworn it was 7. Nils and I are actually looking forward to school starting, because we think it will give our lives a sense of structure and normalcy again. Who knows if we're correct, but I just think it's tragic that we think school is better than the lifestyle we have now. This has been the most un-relaxing summer ever. Cry me a river. This next weekend we're going to brave a trip to Logandale, NV, where Nils' parents live. York and Luly & kids will be there. We need to introduce them to Addie, and we need to meet their Tiago. It should be fun, but I'm sure the heat is going to get to me. We also need to stop in St. George to see my Grandma, who probably isn't going to be around much longer. She's 91 and has lived a good, long and hard life. It'll be sad, but we all know she's getting ready.
Tom and Jamie came over for dinner tonight. It was fun. It's kind of nice to stay home on a Sunday evening. I like going to my mom's house, too, but we've been going there every Sunday to eat since we moved here. That's a lot of Sundays.
I just want to say that I love my little kids. They're a lot of work, but they're so much fun. It's so awesome to see them turning into little people. Anders is really starting to structure sentences correctly, and he knows the names of most things. If he doesn't know something and I tell him, he remembers forever. He thinks about things, too. He'll be playing with his blocks or something and he'll start talking about something from the day before, or he'll start singing a song he learned in nursery. Those moments are rewarding and help me feel like I'm doing an okay job. Anyway, I just love them and I want to be a good mom to them. I want them to know that I love them. I'm also thankful for Nils. He totally works his butt off every day for us. I've always really respected his work ethic. He's a very good husband, he tries really hard to be understanding of me and to do things to make me happy. I'm lucky that way. I think I'm going to try to read some Harry Potter, since it's relatively early and I have nothing to do! What a lucky girl I am!

Drained

I just don't have any energy left. I was really looking forward to a summer full of family outtings, personal projects, knocking off the to-do list and even some much deserved relaxation. As fate would have it, this summer has filled itself up with projects, deadlines, and work that wasn't on my list. As for the relaxation- HA! No such thing. It's been a good summer none the less, but it wasn't what I had planned. I don't know why I ever volunteered to tile Kathy's floor. In my usual ambitious spirit of "I can do anything in an hour"- I decided that the floor would take about four days but then I'd have a few days to hang out and do fun stuff. That was three weeks ago. As soon as Katrina is out of the bath, we're going over to Kathy's house again. We spend WAY too much time over there lately. Poor little Anders. His limited vocabulary includes such phrases as "Daddy go to work now?" and "Daddy tile floor.. Gramma's house." He also has gotten to watch his Busy People and Dora Videos about 800 times since that's one of the only things he can do to amuse himself while Katrina and I are working on the floor and other things.
Just before my trip to Kansas City, the owner of our company asked me to be in charge of a project that involved making about 60 pens that were perfect so that they could be photographed and put in our new catalog for the Fall. That's fine and great but I basically was given two weeks to do all of that. I was (and am) still tiling so that was kind of a first priority. So today I woke up at 3:30 AM and went to work to make pens. A coworker was there so that really helped but by noon I was out of energy. I came home and Katrina looked like she was ready to go hide in a closet somewhere and not come out until the kids were old enough to take care of themselves. We're both just pooped and we're really hoping that by the time we go to Las Vegas this weekend, the tile and the pens will be all done. It would be so nice. Then school starts in just a few weeks so that's wonderful. We're actually thinking that school will be a relief, though. At least it's a pretty regular schedule and this semester I'll only be at school for a few hours a week. That should leave me just enough time to embark on projects that are way out of my capabilities and devote my nights to laboring over some other huge andoverwhelming set of tasks. OK- I'm done whining.
On a less "chained down to my life" note, Anders and Addie are as cute as ever. Anders is speaking really well and he can be quite funny. He's so sweet and sometimes he comes up and rubs my back or tackles me and it makes me feel quite loved and lucky (even if I have to experience those emotions while in the fetal position because he doesn't understand that daddy isn't a trampoline). Addie is just so darn cute and she gets laughing and smiling sometimes and she's just totally adorable. Katrina is looking better than ever. She's totally hot and she's really getting in great shape. She's been so understanding of all the work I've had to do and she's an incredible mom. I feel very lucky to have my li'l family. They're the greatest thing in my life and I couldn't be happier with them. Speaking of which, Addie is sitting on my lap and is fussing so I'd better go make her a bottle. Rock on.

Some Summer This Is!

Katrina's been doing all of the writing here so I thought I'd post my two cents for a change. It's been a while and I've been busy, as you can tell by Katrina's entries. The tiling still isn't done but I took a night off tonight. Katrina and I need some "relaxation". She's at the gym and I'm trying to get a computer ready that was recently sold on eBay.
My Kansas City trip was normal schmormal. Nothing too exciting but it was good to meet some of the fellow woodturners out there. What is woodturning you ask? See Nils Creations for some of the stuff I do on a wood lathe. It's a lot of fun.
So I still have to cut all of the outside tiles for the kitchen, eating area and part of the rear entrance at Katrina's mom's house. I'm pretty tired of tiling. I've spent around 70 hours at it so far and I need a month off. I feel bad for Katrina because we were looking forward to spending more time together that week but it just wasn't happening. She took it really well though and stayed with me at her mom's house a lot of the time. It's just nicer to work when I know she's near by. I really missed Anders and Addie on my trip. Tonight Anders was climbing all over me and laughing and playing with me because "Daddy's not at work". He's such a good little boy. Addie was laughing, too and being as cute as ever. I'm a pretty lucky guy to have such a good little family.
So next week we're packing up the ol' mini van and driving to Logandale, Nevada, where my parents live. My brother and his wife and two kids will be there so we're pretty excited to see them. Harmony, my youngest sister is coming with us so it will be good to hang out with her too. I hope we don't melt but I think we will. It'll probably be about 240 degrees each day.
I just remembered that I saw a guy with the coolest Mullet in Kansas. It was the perfect mullet with the wind blown short haired look in the front and sides and long wavy locks all the way down his back. He also had on a black sleeveless T-Shirt to expose his wicked tattooage and some mean biker boots. He was at the table across from us at the Chinese Buffet and I don't think his kids were in any TAG (talented and gifted) classes at school but he seemed like a nice enough guy. That was probably the highlight of my trip. Sad, isn't it?
I feel tired in general lately and I could use a week of sleeping til noon and eating lots of Cherry Garcia and Taquitos. A coma would be great, too. I wonder if you feel refreshed after being in a seven day coma. I hope to find out.
Here's a recent picture of Mr. Man doing what he does best... fishing. He's in a nose picking stage so we're earnestly trying to break him of the habit but in the mean time I thought I may as well just photograph it. I'm going to do other stuff now, I guess. I think I'll read Harry Potter some more. That should last a good six minutes before I fall asleep. G'night.

-Nizzle Foschizzle

Single Parenting

Nils gets home tonight from his trip. I'm ready. Yesterday I took Anders and Addie to Salt Lake to Li'l Matt's birthday party. (Thanks for letting us crash your party, Emmy!) It was really good to see Emmy and BreAnne. I loved the breastfeeding discussion. It was very refreshing! I missed you guys! The VMS days were good days, indeed. When we got home last night, my children had a stench. I managed to dump them both in a bath and get them to bed relatively early, which was good. Tom and Jamie came over to do laundry and chat. It was fun, it was nice not to spend the evening alone. I got to bed late, though, and Anders woke me up at 7:24 this morning. Seriously, that has to stop. Can't he at least sleep until 8? Is that too much to ask? Church should be interesting today. I wouldn't be that worried about it, but I have to play piano in Primary. I think I'll ask my mom to come over and watch Addie so I don't have to juggle her and the piano playing. Hopefully Anders will cooperate and go to nursery without too much trouble. Nils should be home by 9 or so, I told him about 14 times last night not to miss his flight. It irritates me so when that happens. Anyhoo, I'm really looking forward to having daddy home.

What a Night!

So last night was the first night in weeks that Nils has spent at home. It was nice, considering that he left today for the big KC! We got a quart of Cold Stone to celebrate. I started reading the new Harry Potter book last night, and got about 70 pages in, but Nils took it with him on the trip. It's so good so far. I'm so excited to finish the rest of it. Addie slept in her crib without waking up until 4:00 this morning. That is a serious record! Then at 8:00, I was fast asleep until I heard a little voice in my ear saying, "Downstairs, Mommy?" I opened my eyes, and there was a little blonde boy before me. Anders has been getting out of his bed a lot lately, but he's just started coming out of his room on his own after naps and when he wakes up in the moring. It's a bit unnerving, especially when I'm unconscious! He's such a funny boy. I just got back from the gym and I stink, so off I go to shower.

Another Week

Another week begins. I'm excited for this week to be over. My mom's kitchen floor isn't finished yet, but Nils had to back to work today. The plan is for him to work all day and then work all night on her floor until it's finished. On Thursday, he's leaving for Kansas City until Sunday. He's going to a woodturners trade show for Craft Supplies. I hate it when he goes on these trips. I think I'm a crappy wife or something, but I hate it when he's gone. I know Anders is going to miss him, too. That aside, I hope the week goes by quickly and we don't have too much trauma here at the Rasmusson abode. I'm sure we'll get through it all!
So, Saturday was an interesting day. I had a Pampered Chef party, and I knew it would be a little weird, but boy oh boy. It's a really long story. My host told me there would be at least 11 people there, plus three husbands, so she wanted me to make double of everything. I got there 1 1/2 hours early so I could do most of the work before people came. There were 6 people there, including the host. What a crowd! 6 is a fine number, but they were so very odd. There was really no chemistry between me and them. They just sat there and looked at me. I had to physically hand them catalogs, because they wouldn't get off the couch and walk to the table to get one. We had to physically serve them their food for the same reason. Speaking of food, I made two huge calzones and 20 sundaes. The calzones were polished off. Not too many of them tried the sundaes because they involved mango, and none of them had ever eaten a mango. I DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!!! IT'S A PEACH WITH A TWIST! Mangos are delicious, not scary! One lady told me I burnt the tortilla shell that the ice cream went in. Just for the record, it wasn't burnt! As this lady was leaving, she was holding her grandson and trying to get him to say, "Up yours!" I don't know if it was directed at me or someone else, but I thought it strange nonetheless. I'm just glad it's over. I think I left a couple of my things there, though. I was in a hurry to leave. That means I have to go back, and that's just unfortunate. I have another party tomorrow night, and I think it will be much better. I could use a little redemption.

Our "Vacation"

This week, Nils has the whole week off of work. Technically. He's not working at Craft Supplies this week, but he's still working his butt off. He and my mother came up with a brilliant plan to remodel her kitchen this week, thinking it would only take 2 or 3 days. Ha! It's Wednesday, and it's nowhere near completion, of course. And, there's no turning back now, because she has no floor. He plans on laying tile. We went to Home Depot on Monday and purchased all of the supplies, all 3000 lbs of them. It will look nice when it's done, but there goes our summer vacation. Woo-hoo. I've been there for most of the days this week, but I think today I'll stay home and try to have a somewhat normal day. Anders hasn't napped all week, and he's pooped. Last night when we got home at 8:00 he was dead asleep. Nils put him on the couch and he said, "Thanks", and was dead to the world. We finally moved him to his bed around 10. He usually doesn't sleep anywhere but his bed unless he's sick. It was really funny watching him position himself while he slept.
I got another calling on Sunday. Primary Pianist. I'm pretty bummed about it. It's not a bad calling, it's just that I don't get to go to Relief Society. This saddens me. The other crappy thing is that I "get" to keep my other calling for the Midweek Activity Committee. What a lucky duck I am! That's also not a bad calling... actually, it kind of is. How can I phrase this delicately? I really don't see eye-to-eye with some of the other girls on the committee, which is really stupid, because it's a glorified playgroup. This shouldn't be that complicated, but there are some who are making it so. It irritates me. I was in charge yesterday, so we swam and ate ice cream and there was a great turnout. I think the simpler the activity the better, but some of the others stress out about making it this big freakin' deal. Like I said, it's really stupid, so I'm done talking about it.
Well, I have some exciting news. No, I'm not pregnant, silly! I've been trying really hard in the past few months to lose my baby weight. I never lost the weight I wanted to after I had Anders. I came pretty close, but didn't quite succeed in time. I'm happy to announce that I'm pre-Addie weight, minus 6 pounds. I gained 31 pounds during my pregnancy, and have lost a total of 37. I don't really look at it that way, though. I lost 21 pounds the week after I had her, so I see it as losing 16 pounds in the last 3 months. Now don't get me wrong, I'm no Mary-Kate! I'm still waiting for my boobs to disappear, but I don't think that will ever happen. I'm pretty sure I'd have to die and start decomposing for that to happen. But I digress. Anyhoo, my goal is to lose another 14 pounds. I'll be pre-marriage weight then. Wouldn't that be fabulous? It's really all about weight training, I'm telling you. I didn't believe it, but it's true. I've also modified my diet quite a bit. I still eat normal food, just not as much of it. I always told myself that I could eat whatever I wanted because I was working out. But I wasn't losing any weight, either. Funny how that works. I'm just happy that my pants fit.
Anders is squealing, so I must go.

A Note to My Wife

Since nobody reads this blog except Katrina, I feel it's a good place to write you, Katrina. It's 6:26 AM and I've got a couple of minutes before I have to leave for work. I just wanted to tell you how I feel about you. You've volunteered for the least appreciated yet most admirable job of being a full time mom. Yours is the hardest job in the world and you don't get lunch breaks or paid time off. But you do the best job of anyone I know. You love our kids so much and you work so hard to raise them right and to teach them good principles. Your love for them is evident and even as trying as a two year old boy can be, you still manage to keep your patience and teach Anders each day. Addie is a happy little girl because she knows she has such a great mom. You love her so much and it shows. The way you talk to Anders and Addie and the way you play with them makes it very clear how terrific a mom you really are.
And then there's me. I have to be gone so much for work that you get stuck at home all the time. Your parenting job that should be shared with me on evenings and weekends often gets stuck to you while I work. I just want you to know that through the five years we've been married, I've come to love and respect you more than ever. I realize that I'm a dope and I screw up a lot. I repeat mistakes, I'm lazy a lot, my brain filter sometimes doesn't work, I make faces that make you question my views about you and I'm just a general dill weed sometimes. Despite these things, in my heart of hearts I love you more than anything. I want you to be happy and I will continue to try to make you as happy as you can be. You deserve the best and although I have made my share of mistakes, I want to the best person available for you. I want to be the best me. You deserve it.
So thank you for all you do. Thank you for sticking with me through my trials and me faults. Thank you for loving our kids so much. And thank you for loving the gospel. Your testimony is evident and it strengthens me daily. I love you more than anything and I feel so fortunate to have such an excellent wife at my side. I know that you're under-appreciated in many ways so I just wanted to tell you that I really do appreciate you. I like you, I love you, I respect you and I cherish you. I just hope that I can improve each day to be the best person I can for you.
I'm not sure when you'll read this but hopefully it will put a smile on your face for at least a moment. You deserve it.

With all my heart,
Nils

In My Head

I have a lot going on in my head. Not necessarily in my life, but in my head. There are a lot of good things going on right now, and there are also a lot of difficulties. I'm having a hard time making sense of it all. Therefore, this will probably make no sense to anyone else. Not that anyone else will ever see this. Maybe Nils will take a gander, but probably not. This has been a really hard month. I have been sick for most of June and so has Addie. Just the mere fact that I haven't felt well for a month really compounds the trials of life, I think. Our money situation has been a complete disaster, and we haven't been able to figure it out. I finally sat down a couple of Saturdays ago and went over every penny we spend, at what time in the month it is spent, and how we can fix it. I thought I had it all figured out. Yesterday Nils got paid (5 days late, thank you very much) and 300 dollars was missing. It turns out that our credit union, which we are normally in love with, screwed up our car payment and took it out twice last month, and they took out another half of it yesterday. Huh? I'm all for paying bills off early, but when you can't feed your children... VERY frustrating. I called them and they fixed it, but I was a little irritated. Hopefully this month everything will be taken out at the correct time and the correct amount will be withdrawn. I'm starting to see some set backs of having everything withdrawn automatically. I feel really out of control. It's super depressing when the paycheck is deposited and literally the same day, 3/4 of it is gone. Even our tithing is automatically withdrawn, so there's little satisfaction in not writing the check and handing it to the bishop. I suppose it's better than forgetting for 5 months and then having to write a check for $900, though. We had to set everything up to be automatic, because when I had babies my brain fell out too, and I forget to pay bills.
Speaking of babies, Anders was quite difficult this evening. I won't get into it because it's boring and I don't even want to re-live it, but he cried and screamed from about 5:00-9:00. It was wonderful. It's times like this that I feel inadequate as a mother. Does anyone else feel this way, I wonder? How is it possible that this little boy who I'm completely in love with can drive me insane at the same time? I really want him to be happy. I want him to know how much he's loved. It's difficult to convey that when he screams for 4 hours. When I put him to bed I was pretty frustrated, but I read him a story and told him that I loved him. He threw his binky on the floor and then cried about it. Ahhh, motherhood.
On Monday Nils and I went to Lagoon by ourselves. It was really fun. The 4th of July is the best day of the year to go to Lagoon, but don't tell anybody. It's not crowded at all because people are busy doing other things. We didn't wait long at all for any rides. We got there about noon, and by 4:30 we had done everything we wanted to do and went home. We both got fried.
I have been busy lately trying to book Pampered Chef parties. I feel like a big loser for doing this, but I'm getting pretty excited. I've got 3 booked for July, and one for August so far. My friend Beverly told me she would also do one in August, so I'm stoked about that. I'm really excited to get free stuff. I think I'm more excited about that than getting a paycheck. I really like all of my Pampered Chef stuff, so I don't think it will be a hard sell. I think it's also really good for my mental state. It gives me something to think about besides nap time and poo, and it's challenging me to step out of my comfort zone. And, I'm really all about the free stuff.
Well, I guess I should fold laundry now. My favorite.

Allergies?

I know I keep beating this dead horse, and no one actually cares (or should, for that matter), but I still can't smell and I can't taste anything due to my sinus congestion. It's been weeks. Maybe I have allergies. I've been sneezing like mad, and I'm constantly blowing the schnauz (sp?). I am feeling better in general, though, so I think I've had some bacteria, and maybe allergies have compounded it. So glad I'm a doctor. Nils worked yesterday until 9:00 pm, so we didn't see him at all. Anders wouldn't go to sleep last night despite the fact that he had no nap. I think he finally went to sleep a little after 9, the little stinker. Addie will not stay asleep in her crib, and it's driving us crazy. Last night she woke up to eat, and as I was trying to put formula in the bottle, her hand flailed and knocked mine, and I spilled formula all over her head and it got all over our bed. How gross! There's nothing like grainy formula all over your sheets at 3 in the morning.

We're having an art festival today for the midweek activity. It should be interesting.

Sunday Morning Excitement

It's Sunday morning. Addie woke up at 7:00, and Anders followed at 8:00. This despite the fact that he didn't go to bed until after 10 last night. Little rascal. Now we have church to look forward to. Anders is anti-church, so it's always a barrel 'o' laughs trying to get him to be quiet. I was looking on ebay this morning and Target's website at kids room decor. I think it would be so fun to decorate the kids' rooms. Alas, this too will have to wait due to our extreme lack of funds. We also have to figure out where we're going to put all of the office crap. Addie needs her own room, and we're going to have to sacrifice the office. It's got to fit in our room somehow. It's just so...ugly. You know what I could use? A coma. I'm just tired. I'm going to go think about that for awhile.

Ear Infection = No Sleep

Addie has had an ear infection for almost 2 weeks. She's had various treatments, but it's back. I just got back from the doctor for the 5th time in the last two weeks. You wouldn't think it would be this complicated to treat an ear infection, but apparently it is. I'm learning that I have to be the one to suggest what kind of medication will work the best. We have to go back on Monday for another shot. This will be the third one. If it doesn't do the trick, I think I'll lose my mind. I need sleep. I think I have a sinus infection. I called MY doctor back today to tell him that I finished all of the worthless amoxicillan and I'm still feeling crappy. He said it's viral. Yeah, okay. How about we try some real drugs and see if it's still viral. I get to go get my new prescription now. How terribly exciting. Harmony is here today to help me with Anders and Addie. How wonderful is that? I tried laying down and Anders came into my room and said, "Wake up, Mommy! Eyes open, Mommy!" He's anti-sleep, just like Addie. I'm having a mental debate right now as to whether or not I should go to the gym. I feel pretty crappy, but I have been feeling this way for quite awhile, and my gym attendance has suffered greatly. I'm wondering if I should just go and exercise my way through the pain, or if I should stay here and sleep through the pain. I know which one sounds more attractive! I'll let you know later which one I choose. I'm leaning toward the gym because I ate part of a chocolate muffin this morning for breakfast. However, the longer I sit here typing, the more I don't want to go. So I'm off.

Oh the sickness

This last week was one of the worst in recent memory. Addie had a terrible ear infection, along with conjunctivitis in both eyes. I took her to the doctor 3 times last week. I think we've finally gotten it all cleared up. We're working on clearing up her thrush AGAIN. I've been giving her gentian violet aggressively, and it seems to be working. Her mouth is purple, and I've got purple spots all over my hands. It's messy, but it works. As my luck would have it, I contracted some kind of bacterial infection as well. How fun is that? I got an eye infection from Addie, and have been feeling awful in addition to that. I also went to the doctor and got a prescription, but have been feeling lousy anyway. My eye has been swollen half shut, I haven't been able to breathe through my nose or smell anything for a week now, my neck is stiff, head hurts, throat tickles. I think I'm just feeling picked on. Being sick is so much worse when you have little kids to take care of. They don't care that you feel like crap. As for good news, Addie found her toes this weekend and has been having lots of fun playing with her feet. It's so cute. I gave Anders his summer haircut on Friday. He was so shaggy. I made a giant calzone for dinner tonight, and we had to give half of it to our neighbors because we couldn't finish it all. I hope tomorrow I feel better. I'd like to get back to normal life. Good night.

"Nap Time" (yeah right)

When I sat down initially to write this, I thought both of my precious children were asleep. Five seconds later, however, I heard Addie start crying, and Anders saying "Crayon, where are you?" Currently, Anders is still talking to the crayon and Addie is laying on our bed looking at the shelves on the wall. Apparently they're very fun to look at. This last week was pretty crappy. Literally. Anders and Addie both had the 'rrea all week, I didn't feel well either. There were some other not-so-fun events as well, but the week was dominated mostly by poopy diapers. I'm taking Addie to the doctor this afternoon. She's had a goopy eye for awhile, and she's been feverish. Last night I started getting a snotty eye, and was up for a good portion of the night trying not to rub it. I feel awful today, and so does Nils. He called me from work, and it was a pathetic, hilarious conversation. I can't say my "M's" or "N's", and my throat kills. Nils' throat is killing him as well. I also made an appointment for Anders on Friday. It's called a "consult" visit. I want to talk to the pediatrician about the little attitude he has developed lately. I also want to discuss potty training and moving him into a bed. I've been realizing lately that I don't know what the heck I'm doing when it comes to raising children. Anders is reaching a point where I don't know what to do with him when he acts up, and I don't know what to use as collateral without being too mean. I don't want him to feel like he's always in trouble, but I don't want to give in and let him have or do whatever he wants. I hope the doctor has some good advice. She's a really nice person, and has always given me practical suggestions that have been effective.

My calling in the ward is Midweek Activity Committee Member. It's basically a glorified playgroup. It's been about a month so far that we've been having activities, and it's been very interesting. Tomorrow, however, is the first activity that I'm in charge of. We're doing a Show and Tell. I thought it would be fun if the moms and children all brought something to show and tell, and we can all learn some fun things about each other. I think I'm going to take my headphones. The reason? I'm the only person at the gym who wears headphones that are that big. They're Princess Lea-ish. Every time I'm at the gym I think "I look like such a dork wearing these headphones", but I guess I don't care enough to get different ones. Well, that, and we don't have money to buy new ones. I think for Anders' show and tell, we'll take his Elmo shoes, since they are his most valued possession. I don't know for Addie. Maybe a bib, since she's required to wear one 24 hours a day due to her excessive spitting up. I really hope that stops sometime. Nils got home about 15 minutes ago, I guess he left work early. We're a sick, sick bunch of people. It's tragic.

What happened to Spring?

Hello, Katrina here. Just thought I'd tell you in case someone actually reads this. It's another rainy morning. IT'S JUNE! I don't think mother nature got the memo. We've had no Spring. It's nice for a day or two at a time, just enough to tease us into thinking the weather is going to stay nice. It's fine, I s'pose. We have been in a drought for the last seven years, after all.
All is well here on the homefront. We went to my mom's for dinner last night and a few of the other family members were there. Anders loves his cousins, and we didn't end up leaving until about 9:30. Once the kids were asleep it was 10:00, which is just way too late. Addie, however, still woke up at her usual 7:00 am. We need to do something about that. She's always really happy for about an hour after she wakes up, but then starts getting tired again. It's getting to be about that time now. She's sitting in her bouncer looking at me longingly, while making noises that indicate she'd like some attention. She's adorable. She's starting to laugh and coo, and she's getting ready to roll over. She's in the scooty stage; we can't leave her anywhere unbuckled or she scoots her way off or out.
Anders is going through a difficult phase right now. We think the terrible two's hit him late. He's been an angel ever since he turned two in January. Addie's birth didn't affect him at all. He loves her. It's been about the last month that he's started getting defiant and naughty. When we try to help him brush his teeth, he covers his mouth with his hands, clamps it shut, and then screams like he's being tortured. He has similar reactions when we try to wipe his dirty face or hands. As delightful as it is, we're hoping it stops soon.
Anders is sick today. He keeps saying his tummy hurts and he's filling a lot of diapers. Rather smelly ones. FUN! I just gave him some stickers, that seemed to perk him up a bit. Nils is really happy that I decided to write an entry. That's funny. I do keep a real journal. You know, the paper kind that you actually open with your hands and write in with a pen? The difference between this and that is I only write all my deep dark secrets in that one. I'm done now. Children call!

Late on a Saturday

I don't think most people realize how long it takes to convert a video cassette to a DVD. My brother in law/friend Randy asked me to convert some videos for him to DVD. There are six videos, each being about two hours in length. After messing around for hours and hours trying to find the best way to do this, I finally have a pattern down. Unfortunately it takes two hours to record the videos onto the computer, then about a half hour to capture the footage and create the DVD menu, etc. Then it takes around 9 hours for the computer to encode the footage to DVD and then another few minutes to burn it. What a process! Hopefully I'll get quicker at this. Right now I've decided to capture the tapes during the day and then let the encoding take place while we sleep (not that we could ever sleep for anywhere near 9 hours). So I'm in the middle of doing video 2 of 6.
I spent the whole day today with the kids and once again I have to say I'm glad Katrina is a stay at home mom and I'm glad it's not me. I get a bit frustrated sometimes because I feel like I should be getting things done all of the time and it's hard to do that when you're trying to watch two small children. I guess I just have to realize that watching them and playing with them and taking care of them and just being with them is getting something done. It's something that they'll appreciate later on in life. We did get to go out at night and I got some new shoes. I then gave Anders a haircut when we came home. I'm not sure if it looks good or not but I like to think it's OK.
Well, it looks like my video is ready to be encoded so I'm going to restart the computer and then do that. Rock On.
-Nizzle.

Summer, Harry & the Big Five.

I'm lovin' it! Not McDonalds food, but spring weather. It's been in the 70's and breezy here so I'm really enjoying the outside temps right now. Hopefully it'll stay like this for a while. Little Addie is doing better and is no longer on Oxygen so that's a lot easier for all of us. School is almost over- just a couple more weeks then I'm home free for the summer. I'm going to try to register for all online courses for the Fall so that I can stay home all the time and not be bound to a school schedule. We'll see how well that works. Summer has always been my favorite season, as it is for a lot of people. It's lighter, it's warmer, it's brighter, it's easier and it's usually school-free. Maybe one day when I graduate (no day soon) I won't long for summer as much as I do now but until then I'm can't wait for it to arrive.
Work's been good. Trying to run the one man marketing show is hard at times but as long as I can keep motivated and not fall asleep, it's pretty cool. I have no idea what my bosses are thinking right about now though- if they think I'm doing great and are happy with my progress or if they're wondering when I'll kick myself into shape and get on the ball. I guess I'll find out soon enough.
I've been pretty agressively working on my weight gain/workout routine. I go to the gym three times a week and do certain sets of weight lifting exercises and each morning I drink some nasty protein shake and creatine shake and I take a vitamin of sorts. I repeat this routine each night before I go to bed, minus the vitamin. When I got married, I weighed around 145 or so, quite a scrawny weight for a 6' guy. Today I weigh 170 and my goal weight is 185. I know that most people don't want to hear this but I put up with weight loss commercials, e-mails, shows, diets, plans, stories, etc. every day so you can tolerate a little bit of the other side. The shakes are disgusting and I also try to eat as many boiled eggs as I can. Katrina says I smell like a mobile septic tank but it's working. It's pretty cool to see myself grow, even though it's a very gradual process.
I've just finished "reading" the latest Harry Potter book. I actually listened to the whole thing on CD in th car. Katrina bought book 5 for me on CD so I listened to it on the way to and from work and a little bit on the walkman. 27 Hours later, I was done. What cool books those Harry Potter books are. The sixth one comes out this summer so we've already pre-ordered it using a gift certficate we were given. I might just have to read this one rather than just listen to it.
In a couple weeks Katrina and I will celebrate or 5th Anniversary. Can you believe it? Five years already and two kids to boot. My friend Brandon at work will celebrate his 6th anniversary but by then he'll have four kids. That's a lot of kids. I don't know how they stay sane with that many small children. Some people seem to have a gift for that. So hopefully we'll be able to take a little more time with our kids but I guess it's kind of whatever works out. We're just glad we can have kids. A lot of people really struggle with it so we know that we're extremely lucky. I had better wrap it up for now. I'll write again before too long. Like anyone cares.

Rock On- Nizzle Foschizzle.

In the Beginning

So this is the beginning. I recently learned about blogs and thought it would be fun to keep one online. Since they're free, here it is. Anyone who stumbles across this is more than welcome to post a comment. I'd like to start off by saying that I'm sick of Britney Spears and Christina Haggyhaira. If I want to see lingerie I'll look at a Sears catalog. Anyway, I have to go to my next class now so I'll sign off for now.
Rock On, -Nils.