Julie's Scribbles

'A' family pics

2012-01-30T19:42:00.004-07:00

Today we got digital copies for a few of the poses from the family pictures we had taken with Lance's family at Christmas. Too bad they're going to be out-of-date again in April, some of them are pretty cute! I'm excited to see the rest of them!

a Z convo

2012-01-26T21:36:00.006-07:00

{During rockabye tonight}

Z: (pointing to our big living room lamp) I broke it.
Me: Yep, you broke the lamp huh?!
Z: Huh huh
Me: We've got to be careful and try not to break things!
Z: Huh. (shaking finger) No color walls, color PAPER!

I guess that answers my question of whether he ever listens... ;)

our snowy friend

2012-01-25T18:38:00.003-07:00

Today we made a snowman. If you look closely you can see where Z kept kicking him. I barely managed to get him put together because Z was bent on destroying him while I built...boys, sheesh. We were short on corn cob pipes, button noses, and coal so instead our snowman has leafy hair, bark eyes and mouth, and a carrot nose. Once he had a face Z was much nicer and even held his twiggy hand:

Usually I'm ready for the snow to be gone once January hits, but since we've had so little this winter we're enjoying every last flake!

future NBA star?

2012-01-24T19:29:00.004-07:00

Actually, I hope not. I'm not a big fan of professional basketball (although I do love me some college hoops!)

For Christmas our family got a pair of nerf basketball hoops from Lincoln and Tracey. Z made short work of chewing the basketball to pieces (my fault for leaving it at his level overnight) but luckily we have some cloth squishy balls that are the perfect size.

At first Z was terrible! He couldn't get the ball anywhere near the hoop and would say, "help" until we put him on our shoulders so he could "dunk" it.

Imagine my surprise when today he was sinking shots like a professional! He and daddy must have been working harder than I thought! Z kept saying, "I did it!" and then would run over to give me double high-fives. He also says, "ball in hoop" over and over. Or, "so close!" when he misses (even if it's not remotely close to being a basket!) What a clever little monkey we have!

so much to love

2012-01-24T10:42:00.004-07:00

Recently Trudy moved just a few miles away from my parents' house. We were very excited because now we can we visit her when we visit them. She is also MUCH closer to us and now she can visit here more often! We had a fun day visiting her and the boys on Saturday...Z especially had a blast wrestling with people closer to his size! He also enjoyed their dogs, Titan and Sheba. (He definitely didn't get that from me, Titan is a 180 pound great dane and even though he is very calm he still scared me to death!)

Sadly our camera was dead so I had to take these pics with the camcorder. I didn't realize how poor of quality those pictures would be! :(
I know a lot of people wonder how we can "handle" having an open adoption but we wouldn't have it any other way. It truly is amazing building these relationships! We love our special extra family! :)

fireplaces and baby sisters

2012-01-19T17:26:00.005-07:00

After dinner tonight Lance and I were talking about houses. We've been browsing lately and I of course have found one that I love out of our budget. Somewhere in our conversation I brought up how nice it would be to have a fireplace ( a subtle hint about my new found dream house) and Z picked right up on that! He kept saying, "fiwerplace" over and over!

As Lance was leaving I turned to Z and we had the cutest conversation (which I tried to record later but he was too wired and wouldn't really cooperate for...sigh):

Me: Zachy are we going to buy a house?
Z: YES!
Me: Mommy and daddy should buy a house? (see how I play Z against Lance, ha ha!)
Z: Yes.
Me: What do you want in your house?
Z: Fiwerplace?
Me: A fireplace?
Z: Huh huh
Me: What else do you want in our house?
Z: BABY SISTA!
Me: A fireplace and a baby sister?
Z: SISTAAAA!

Me too little buddy, me too! I need to have Z say our prayers every night, I'm not sure Heavenly Father could resist that plea!

We might have Lance convinced on the fireplace though... ;)

p.s. Happy 22 months little guy! I can't believe the big 2 is approaching so quickly!

the one where we quit

2012-01-19T07:37:00.003-07:00

Potty training that is. There were about ten times yesterday I thought to myself "Why are we doing this?" After a terrible first night, and Z not exhibiting signs of more control yesterday it was a wonder that we kept going through last night. In my defense, while I loved the thought of Z potty training way early and a small part of me might have thought that it would make me look like a better mom, I also honestly thought he was ready! He's my first child, so what do I really know?! ;)

Last night actually wasn't too bad for Z. He slept from 9 until 6. The problem is that I woke up at 4:30 listening for any little sounds of stirring so I could catch Z before he wet the bed. It turns out that it didn't matter because when he woke up at 6 he had already wet the bed in his sleep anyway. I took him to the bathroom, and then took him back to bed. He cried. Lance rolled over and said, "Do you think he's really ready?" I honestly answered, "No!". We made a mutual decision right there to quit. I put a diaper on Z (I have two or three in the diaper bag) and gave him a cup of milk. He went right back to sleep. He'll probably sleep late today after two bad nights in a row. It's blissful not worrying about wet undies or waking him up early to prevent a wet bed (I did that yesterday morning, it made for a VERY long day!)

Sadly, I couldn't get back to sleep (hence the blog post) so I'll be tired today, but at least I won't have to follow Z around catching accidents!

I think the 3 day method is good, but I think we mistook interest in the potty for readiness to potty train. Classic rookie mistake? I hope I didn't mess Z up with this trial! Some signs we'll wait for before we try again?
-Waking up DRY
-Telling us when he goes potty or needs to go potty

these pictures probably speak for themselves

2012-01-17T14:58:00.003-07:00

We're potty training at our house this week! Right now Z is napping and I'm crossing my fingers he will wake up dry! Lance was really nervous to start, but it was the perfect timing because we ran out of diapers and now we won't be tempted to use them as a back up.

Today's been pretty great, a few accidents, but Z is really starting to recognize the urge to go and will give me a funny look and start running to the bathroom.

We decided against the little toilets you have to empty and instead got a stool and a toilet seat that has an extra little seat for kids (it's magnetic too so it's not always down)...it's adorable and very handy.

I'll let you know how our 3-day method goes and whether I'd recommend it. Wish us luck!!

a quick story

2012-01-12T19:00:00.009-07:00

Once upon a time there was a girl who hated her hair. It was long and she determined that the way to love her hair again was to cut it.

So she did.

On the first day of the cut (including a style from the salon) she did love her hair again. It was marvelous-- she felt cute and sassy.

After sleeping on her hair the love diminished a bit, but the maiden decided that a wash and style would re-ignite the love yet again.

One shower and an hour in the bathroom with a blow dryer and round brush later the girl is distraught that her hair insists on looking like a mushroom perched on her head.

Will there be a happily ever after? Perhaps if said girl wears a hat everyday for the rest of her life.

Sigh. I think I need a class on round brushing...it's way harder than the stylist made it look! Or I just need a personal hairstylist to come live with me, ha!

final catch up: Chicago and other randoms

2012-01-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

I've decided to shove the last bit of our vacation into one big post because I'm tired of 'catching up'! On the Tuesday after Christmas we went to Chicago. Lance's brother Lincoln and his wife Tracey are right outside of the city doing medical school. Our plan was to spend the night at Lincoln's and then head to Shedd aquarium the next day.

We all crammed into their little apartment and froze all night long...well at least I did. Because they have electric heating they keep their thermostat in the 50's. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much and in the morning when Lance got up with Z I stole all the covers and relished being warm again!
We ate a quick breakfast and headed to the city. Here is our first glimpse. I realized as we arrived that our camera battery was almost gone. I was so mad at myself for not thinking to charge it, but we ended up having enough.
We headed straight to the aquarium and it was a nightmare from the start. We went to park in the lot next door and waited FOREVER. The really annoying thing was that people kept butting in line and then when we finally got to the lot the person before us (who had butted) got in, but they told us they were full. We ended up parking about a 1/2 mile away and walking.

Once we arrived at the aquarium they told us the line was an hour and a half! I was already grumpy from the lack of sleep + the parking mess and was not happy! Fortunately a nice worker told us to go to a family line because Z is too little to stand out in the cold (it was VERY cold!). We went over to the other line and they told us that we couldn't be there because we didn't have a stroller (our stroller got lost on the airplane ride out...). We told them that the other lady sent us and they said that me, Lance and Z could stay but everyone else would have to wait in the other line.

Well, the others decided to go check out some other sites and we decided to meet up later. Later ended up being sooner though after we waited in line for twenty minutes and only moved a few feet. It was just too cold and we do not have a toddler who is capable of waiting in line. We decided to bag the aquarium. The grouchy workers and rude people in line added to that decision. In a few short hours I developed a very low opinion of "Chicagoans".

We called the others and headed over to the shore of lake Michigan to meet them. All of the other museums were way too expensive to do with Z because we knew his attention span wouldn't be long enough to get our money's worth. On the way to meet our group we snapped a few pics of the city skyline.Lance and Z went down on a very slippery dock. It made me nervous just watching them!
Lake Michigan was so pretty, but at this point Z literally had a meltdown. He wouldn't leave his gloves on and his hands got so cold he screamed the whole mile walk back to the car. I felt awful. I was really worried he would get frostbite because they were so red and he would not let us do anything to help warm them up. Frankly, I was quite happy to see the city in the rearview mirror after that! We've decided that next time we go we need to be better organized, go when it's warm, and Z needs to be older so that it's worth the money.

Luckily he has a short memory and after we got him to the car and warm he was his happy little self again!

We headed back to Springfield, resolved to stay close for the rest of our vacation. The rest of our trip felt very relaxing! We had a blast soaking up family time.

We were really sad to leave and even now Z is missing his grandparents (and all the attention) like crazy, but after an hour+ delay on our flight home, we were VERY happy to be done with traveling for a while!Time to start planning our next vacation I guess! :)

recent fun

2012-01-10T20:46:00.007-07:00

I just have two more vacation posts and I'll be done with catch-up blogging. Except that I am now behind on stuff since we've been home...bother! Here's a quick look at the fun we've been up to for the past week:

-Lance turned 28 last Thursday. Am I a terrible wife for not writing a birthday post? Yikes! We had a fun day shopping and just being together before Lance worked. Then because of work (boo!) we celebrated on Sunday with a second Thanksgiving feast! It was delightful and so much fun to have all of Lance's UT siblings and cousins here to bash with us! Z has lately developed an obsession with fire (why are boys such pyros?) and LOVES to blow out the candles, so he helped daddy!

I sure love this guy. I don't think I could have found someone more perfect for me!
-It finally snowed!! Only a few inches, but it was enough for Z to finally get to wear his snow pants! He was SO happy! Now every day when we open the blinds he says, "SNOW"! We had a fun morning outside on Saturday...Z mostly just ate the snow.
-Z fell asleep on the living room floor. This hasn't happened since he was a baby, it was so cute!
We bought a new blender and a coffee grinder. We aren't coffee drinkers, but the grinder is awesome for flaxseed and oatmeal. We've had some really delicious smoothies and I'm excited to include both ingredients in my bread. I've been finding lots of things to add flax to. It's great because it really doesn't affect the flavor, but it's soooo healthy! :)

playing catch up: Christmas!

2012-01-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

Z was very entertaining on Christmas morning. He was definitely more interested in opening presents than last year, but still not fully comprehending. He kept wandering around and trying to help everyone else with their presents. We all got very spoiled and had such a fun morning.

Christmas was even better this year because it was on Sunday so we got to go to Sacrament meeting. I can't think of any better way to celebrate Christmas than by going to church (especially since the other meetings were cancelled, hee hee!) I didn't take very many pictures because we were all too busy enjoying the moment, oh well! :)

just call me 'jewls the brave'

2012-01-10T14:31:00.004-07:00

I got my hair cut today! I was really worried after she cut the first hunk and my wet hair was all plastered to my head, but once she styled it I LOVE it! I decided I'd better go spur-of-the-moment on a bad hair day so that I wouldn't talk myself out of it.

8 1/2 inches later here it is:
It seriously took less than five minutes to style and it looks so full and thick and HEALTHY. I'm very pleased. Too bad this picture doesn't do it justice ;).

Poor Lance is a little shocked, but I promised I'll grow it out again for him(the man just loves long hair)...ha! We'll see if I can keep that promise, I love it!

happy are we!

2012-01-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

Our vacation put us a little behind and we are just today getting into the swing of the new year. When New Year's day passed I worried that we'd missed our opportunity to set new goals, but then I realized that is ridiculous...being a week late is no biggie!

The first thing we really wanted to do differently this year is to have a family theme/motto. I searched the scriptures and thought of several possibilities and then Lance and I picked together. So without further ado I introduce to you our scripture theme for the year:

Happy Are We!
"...and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he." -Proverbs 16:20

It was actually quite hard to choose--we had two favorites--but we settled on this one because our overall goal this year is to be HAPPY! There are a lot of things outside of our control (adoption being the obvious one) and although it gets hard, emotional and stressful, we want to focus on trusting the Lord and his timing, and being happy no matter what! The First Presidency Message, "Living the Abundant Life" in this month's Ensign really helped us settle on our theme. If you haven't read this talk yet you really should! I was going to quote a few favorite lines, but I really just love the entire thing so go read it! You won't regret it! I love Thomas S. Monson! I'm so thankful to have a living prophet who is so inspired, and we're going to keep this talk to read over and over throughout the year to help us stay on track with our theme and goals.

Now, onto our goals. As we have in past years we decided once again to settle on three.

First, our spiritual goal. Family night EVERY week. Our goal is to not miss a single week. We struggled with this last year because of Lance's schedule but this year we aren't using any excuses, we are making it a priority! Another spiritual goal is to read Z the whole BOM. We're very good at reading scriptures with him, but we've always used the little kid picture readers. This year I want to read from the actual book. Hopefully we can build up to him repeating verses with us too.

Second, our financial goal. We want X amount of money in the bank (I don't feel comfortable writing how much). Basically we want to build our savings to have our adoption fee, plus a down payment on a house and still have an emergency fund. Our goal is to be in a house by the time Z is three, but we're going over our budget with a fine tooth comb to cut expenses and we're optimistic that we'll be able to make it by the end of the year....if we stick to our budget that is. Definitely a good goal to help us cut out splurges.

Third, our physical goal. Instead of focusing on weight or getting toned x amount we decided to make it our goal to each go to the gym at least 15 times/month. I really slacked at the end of the year and we need to make sure we're getting our money's worth with our gym membership...plus we're both way happier when we're working out.

We have a lot of big decisions we're working toward this year and our goal is to put trust in the Lord and be happy as he guides us! I'm so excited about the new year and the opportunity to start fresh. I'm hoping to gain some patience along the way because that is still something I feel that I seriously lack. So, cheers to 2012! Hopefully there are a lot of great things in store.

playing catch up: Christmas Eve

2012-01-06T20:07:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the traditions! Here's how Christmas Eve goes with Lance's family. (When we do Christmas Eve with just our little fam we will incorporate most of these, I love it!)

We started with a big ham dinner (I forgot to get pictures, sad!)

Next we had a talent show. I don't have much talent so our little fam decided to perform Z's favorite song:

Lillie played her violin, Lindi her flute, Luke sang in Tagalog, Lincoln played the piano and read a poem with Tracey, Laura sang to Ben playing the guitar, and mom & dad read a story which involved mistletoe at the end ;) It's always fun watching everyone perform. I did miss MY family tradition of sitting around mom on the piano and singing hymns, and especially missed singing with my sisters.
After the talent show we acted out the nativity. Z was the cutest little sheep I've ever seen. I was his shepherd with Laura and Lindi (but apparently not a very good one because I wasn't able to stop him from stealing the blanket from baby Jesus...whoops!) Lance was a wise man with Luke and Ben. Lincoln and Tracey were Joseph and Mary, Lillie was the angel, mom was the star, and dad was the narrator. They invited a guest over who was king Herod and for the life of me I cannot remember his name? After the nativity we dressed Z in his new Christmas jammies and he went out with daddy to look for Santa. This is one of my favorite traditions Lance's family does. I love the special bonding time they have talking with their dad one-on-one, youngest to oldest.
After Z was asleep everyone else put their Christmas jammies on (modeled by mom and dad first, hilarious if I can figure out how to upload from the camcorder!)
After opening one present of our choice we settled down by the tree to do my other favorite tradition in their family. Every year Lance's dad reads the story of George Albert Smith (a former prophet of my church) told by his granddaughter about how he hung up a huge stocking, cut a hole in the toe, and then put a bucket underneath to fool Santa. When they woke up the next morning it was full of switches and coal. I love the reminder not to be greedy and to be thankful and it always makes me laugh!Yep, I love, love, love Christmas Eve!

playing catch up: Santa at the Lincoln Museum!

2012-01-05T20:30:00.001-07:00

We never took Z to visit Santa last year so this year I was determined that we would go. It was just our luck that Civil War Santa came to the Abraham Lincoln museum (where Lance's dad works) the week before Christmas. We decided we couldn't miss it. I'm sure glad we went too because he was the sweetest Santa EVER! Z is obsessed with Santa and if you ask him what Santa says he will say, "ho ho ho!" I was still a little worried that he would get scared though.

It turns out I didn't need to be. Z saw Santa from museum entry and took off running! He ran right up to Santa and jumped into his arms. Santa talked to him forever and kept kissing Z's cheeks. Z kept touching Santa's beard (it was definitely the real deal)! It was so fun to watch him interact with Santa, and I'm so glad we didn't go to a mall Santa because he got so much personal attention and lovies!

After Santa we decided to spend some time looking at exhibits. If you're ever in Springfield you should definitely go! It's excellent--my very favorite museum. I played with Z and aunt Lillie in Mrs. Lincoln's attic:We tried to watch one of the movies but Z wasn't having it so we went back out to the lobby and listened to some musicians. Z enjoyed dancing with grandma!

It was a really fun outing and especially fun to have the entire fam together!

playing catch up: Nauvoo

2012-01-05T19:07:00.003-07:00

Tuesday night before Christmas we headed over to our favorite condos in Nauvoo. I love how close Lance's family lives to Nauvoo because it is one of my favorite places to visit.

We were able to do a session in the Nauvoo temple on Tuesday night. It was really special because it was just our family-seven people-there. You never get sessions that small and intimate in Utah temples! Lindi and Lillie watched Z and when we returned we spent the rest of the night playing games, watching movies and eating five different kinds of frozen pizza (to decide which one was the best...!)

The next day we spent a few hours touring the sites. Before we left the condos Z discovered the phone. It was so cute I had to snap a picture.

We had perfect timing to ride a carriage around Nauvoo. It was awesome, but it was COLD! The tour guides kept giving us blankets before we started the ride and let me tell you, we were sure glad they did because we definitely used them!This is probably one of my favorite pictures from our ENTIRE trip! I love watching Z with his grandparents. It's sad that they're so far away because he loves them!Z didn't last too long after the carriage ride. We were only able to visit a few homes before he had a meltdown and I stayed with him asleep in the car while the family went to the last one. Poor guy can't make it without his nap! He did love the school house because he got to "CUYER" on the chalkboards.On our way out of Nauvoo we stopped by the fudge shop (sooo yummy!) and at a cute little restaurant to have lunch. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!

playing catch up: gingerbread houses

2012-01-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

We missed our annual gingerbread house making night this year because I was stressed out preparing for our big trip. We were sad we didn't get to make houses with the Jacks, but luckily grandma saved the day and prepared gingerbread for Z and aunt Lillie. I would love to say that I helped him create a masterpiece, but actually I let grandma do all of the work and mostly just watched and ate candy...gosh I love this tradition! :)
Z wasn't too interested in decorating either, just like his mama he'd rather eat!

if I ever get brave enough...

2012-01-04T20:18:00.003-07:00

THIS
is the haircut I've decided that I really want. No joke, I've been deliberating and looking at pictures for over six months. I instantly fell in love with this cut when I saw it and went to my stylist before Christmas with my picture in hand. And then...I chickened out.

I don't know why, I hate my hair right now. I desperately need a change. Lately I've been getting ideas and then telling myself, "I'll do that when our next baby comes". During our vacation I realized that I can't stop waiting for a magic moment. Frankly, it could be years or maybe not at all. I need to LIVE now.

To kick some changes into gear, today I rearranged Z's room. We moved the recliner OUT even though we don't have another bed and little person to fill it up. And? I'm loving how spacious it is! We moved all of his toys into his room so that the empty space is filled with fun and now my living room is MINE again! I love it!

I go back to see my stylist in February. She promised she won't let me chicken out. I may have to take my sister with me to hold my hand, but I'm not wimping out this time! :)

airplane salvation

2012-01-04T18:42:00.003-07:00

We're home! We were feeling very sad when it was time to leave, but after a long, long day of travel yesterday we are now just SO happy to be home and settled! Z was a total trooper on the plane even with an hour delay stuck waiting on the plane in Denver. We were very fortunate that a sweet grandma sat next to us and let Z play with her iPad on the last leg of our journey or Z would have had a major meltdown...heck, I was starting to melt down after that long on the plane. My poor bottom was so numb I thought I was going to scream!

Besides the iPad, coloring was the activity that really sustained Z through our journey. He colored for over an hour on the way home. We were so worried about the second flight because it was in the middle of the day but his crayons we our golden commodity! This boy LOVES to "cuwer" and it's probably the single activity that will hold his attention for more than a few minutes. Maybe we have a little Picasso on our hands?

We're happy to be home and I have a zillion posts to write, but until I find my motivation here is Z doing his most favorite thing:

Oh, and I must add that crayola twistable crayons are the BEST. invention. ever! They are also the best impulse buy I've ever made! :)

a little boy's dreamland

2011-12-30T09:03:00.001-07:00

I have about a billion and one posts to write, but I've realized blogging is much harder on an unfamiliar computer without your normal gadgets (like my list of passwords so I can login to youtube...whoops!) I thought about waiting until we're home next week, but that overwhelmed me too much and I decided to write a few posts before I get back and add the video later to save myself a lot of late nights (it's great here because there are plenty of things to entertain Z while I blog whereas at home I have to wait until nap or bedtime).

Our vacation has been soooo much fun. I honestly don't know

what I'm going to do when it's just me and Z again. He's had a total blast being spoiled with attention from grandma, grandpa and all of his aunts and uncles. He's also been spoiled with a big house to run around in and really nice temperatures+grandma's dreamland...aka, the backyard. The yard here is a little boy's dream with a pond, river bottoms, a treehouse, squirrels and other critters, a burn pile and tons of room to run!

Dreamland in all senses of the word... ;)

Stay tuned for: gingerbread houses, Christmas Eve, Christmas, Chicago and other good stuff! :)

we made it!

2011-12-21T09:54:00.004-07:00

We had a very successful plane ride to IL on Saturday. Our vacation has been a blast so far...so much fun in fact that I haven't bothered to get online (which is a big deal for me since I usually check my email 50 times a day...it's a compulsion that comes with the waiting process of adoption). Z was such a trooper on the plane ride and aside from pushing the stewardess button over and over and throwing a car at the person ahead of us he was great! I think I worried too much. The airplane play mat was a big help, especially the crayons and notebook. So thankful for that stroke of genius from Emily.

Z had a rough night sleeping at aunt Whit's on Saturday, but here at grandma he's been a champ. He is totally in love with their house....mostly the space to run around inside and out. On Monday Z spent the whole day outside helping daddy rake and take leaves to the burn pile, playing on the slide, and walking around the pond and creek. Grandma's backyard is a little boy's dream!

Z loves all of the attention from his grandparents and aunts and uncles. Lance and I love the extra free-time and babysitters so we get a small break from watching him! :) We're getting SO excited for Christmas! Here is a small picture dump, I really am going to try to blog about things here so that I don't have a million posts to write when we get home.

These are from our day in Kirksville, MO visiting Whit and Evan. We ended up leaving them earlier than we had planned so that Z could sleep in his own bed at grandma's instead of sleeping with and kicking us all night long.

We went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner and Z drank the cup of honey mustard sauce...yuck!

Z loved playing with Lacey (Whit and Evan's dog) and kept trying to eat her dog food and climb in her kennel. Finally we gave up and just let him.

We love these two!

Many more pictures and adventures to come. I hope everyone is having a fabulous 'week before Christmas'!

*** P.S. My giveaway was very unsuccessful with just two entries, so I am giving a pair of earrings to BOTH of you who entered! Email me your address (lance-julie@hotmail.com) and I'll get those sent off! :)

earring giveaway

2011-12-14T19:32:00.001-07:00

We're having a little bit of a posting slump around here. Gearing up for our big vacation means LOTS of laundry, LOTS of cleaning and LOTS of packing. Basically...not much fun stuff to report. Thankfully that will all change soon.

Until then my sister agreed let me giveaway some of her jewelry as a promotion for our adoption! It's been awhile since our last one and since we don't post about it enough (ha ha) we wanted to make sure everyone still remembers that we're trying to adopt!

So, if you'd like to win a pair of adorable earrings here's how to enter (5 entries available):

Blog, facebook or tweet the link to our online adoption profile (separate entry for each one!): https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/26170645/ourMessage.jsf

Write a post about this giveaway and link back to me

← Follow this blog.

And, you really should check out Whit's website. I lost the email with the pictures she sent me for the giveaway but you can get an idea here (only cuter because her website is still in the works). Go give her some bloggy love and buy some really cute jewels for very affordable prices!

*Giveaway closes December 20th so enter soon!

humble pie

2011-12-08T20:47:00.003-07:00

Last week I headed to my parents house to kill some time before going to a family Christmas party. If you know me you know that I hate driving. So does Z (the kid doesn't like to be restrained). It didn't help that I was tired. I was frazzled. I was a bit grumpy and I really didn't want to go to the party but felt obligated so I went anyway. The hour-long drive went by without any hitches, however as I neared their street my eyelids felt as heavy as bricks and Z was starting to grumble, adding to my tension.

I reached the turn off to their culdesac and pulled into the left turn lane behind a little rundown car. There was a lot of traffic heading in the opposite direction and I could feel my aggravation building as the car kept missing gaps that I knew they could have made. I was mumbling, "Come on" under my breathe meanwhile thinking, "what a retarded driver" and other unkind things. Out of my drivers side window there was a man standing on the sidewalk near a bus stop sign. I glanced away quickly before making eye contact. I felt even more annoyed that he seemed to be staring at me and made extra efforts to ignore him adding things like, "creep" to my silent dialogue.

There were people waiting to turn left out of the neighborhood and I got angrier and angrier as each of those cars turned in MY place because the "idiot" in front of me was just sitting there wasting the gaps.

After several long minutes and many missed opportunities I was fed up. I strained to see who was in front of me and the realization washed over me...there was no one in the car. It wasn't even turned on. Feeling completely sheepish I finally looked over at the man on the sidewalk and realized that he was gesturing to me that it was his car. Sitting there stalled.

I immediately felt remorse for all of the terrible thoughts I had sent towards the owner of that car. I had allowed myself to get so angry when everyone turning out in front of me and even the guy on the sidewalk were trying to help me if I had just paid attention.

I felt completely ridiculous when that happened (and so grateful none of those people knew me) but after that night I had completely forgotten about it. Until yesterday. I got mad at Lance and went on a drive by the temple with Z and for some reason that experience popped into my head. It extinguished my bad feelings faster than water on a campfire.

I think we all have moments like these in our lives. We often don't see the whole picture (the empty car in front of us) and allow ourselves to get angry, hurt, annoyed, or offended when in all actuality if we would just open up our eyes the people we are angry at haven't done anything wrong or are trying to help us. We need to take more time to understand the situation before making judgements.

Matthew 7:3- "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thin own eye?"

What are you having for dessert tonight? Humble pie is on the menu a lot around here.

Isn't it interesting that I hate driving so much when some of my biggest epiphanies happen in the car?

choo choo trains & a Z update

2011-12-07T19:30:00.001-07:00

Does anyone else feel like it should still be the beginning of November? Time is going much too quickly, I feel way behind on the Christmas Spirit thing...although we did finally get a tree up this weekend (a fakie-borrowed from my sister so a real tree wouldn't die while we're gone-we'll never go fake again, it's just not the same!) Hopefully I can get caught up and soak up the season before Christmas comes and goes!

For several months now Z has been obsessed with trains. It could be because there are railroad tracks right across from the house, or because our library has an awesome new train table. I'm not sure exactly why, but lately Z has been turning everything into a train. It's adorable and makes me smile every time. We're thinking of getting him his own train table for his birthday (well, I am...Lance wants to get him a scooter).

He makes the most adorable "choo choo" noise and runs around with blocks yelling, "It's a train!"

We've had some extremely frigid temperatures lately and after short walks (soooo cold!) we make sure to enjoy some hot chocolate. Of course it's a big hit with Z. He loves slurping it out of daddy's cup (He learned the slurping from me, I have terrible table manners).

Z also loves snapping buckles--in his car seat, high chair, grocery carts or wherever they can be found.

Z is constant energy. People are always surprised when they're around him for long periods of time because he goes non-stop. Seriously. He'll sit for a while to read books but that's it. It's so tiring sometimes! He recently discovered how to pull chairs around the house to climb up on things. For example yesterday he used his firetruck to climb on the counter and started playing with knives from the knife block. He also discovered how to open and climb the pantry for his favorite treats. I need a new hiding spot for the tootsie roll "potty treats". He also climbs on the tops of the couches and jumps off. I'm terrified to leave him anywhere by himself because I never know where I'll find him when I come back.

Z's constant energy is fun (and great for burning calories) but it is also SCARY. Yesterday I made him stay in his high chair while I quickly loaded the dishwasher and instead of waiting for me to get him out, he tipped it over. I ran and picked him up and there was a lot of blood. He had bitten two gashes into his lower lip. Fortunately we rinsed it out and he sucked on some ice so the bleeding stopped really quickly. I was freaked out way more then Z was. He didn't even care about the cuts but was mad because he was still, "stuck!" The little turkey. I anticipate a lot of ER/instacare visits with this one and am surprised we haven't had any yet (knock on wood).

Z is talking like crazy! He repeats (or tries to) everything we say. I feel like we have our own little language because usually Lance and I know exactly what he's saying but everyone else is clueless! Some of my favorite words and phrases right now are:

"It's snowing!" (even though it hasn't really snowed much yet)
"Choo choo train"
"Sillwey mom!"
"Me love me!" (When I ask him to say I love you)
"Rock-bye baby"
"poopoo & peepee" (because I am a five-year old boy, ha!)
"spider" (said while making a stomping motion...I've trained him well!)
"cuyer" (color)
"Son!" (after Lance says it in an aggravated voice)
"one, two, seven, six, seven" (when asked to count)
"momma, momma, momma, momma" (said until I respond)
"manmals" (animals)
"BLUE!" (when asked what color something is...everything is blue to him...green is second choice)
"Siiiiister!" (when asked if he wants a brother or sister)
"Maymen" (amen, usually yelled three or four times after someone prays or closes a talk)

There are so many more cute things he says, but I can't remember them all. It's so fun everyday to hear him learn and use new words or phrases.

Z is quite the little helper. He is getting really good at helping me clean up his toys. He knows where most objects in the house go and will put them away if we ask (sometimes!). Z loves the broom and vacuum and today he even helped Lance mop. Z hates church (sacrament meeting) but loves nursery.

We think the little man might be getting his two-year molars because Z has been sleeping terribly lately. I'm honestly beside myself on what to do but my gut tells me it's time to start letting him cry it out. Right now we've just been letting him climb into bed with us which really affects our sleep-he's a wiggle worm. He also hasn't been napping much, but I don't expect that will get better because he's been that way since we switched him from a crib. I'm getting increasingly nervous for our Christmas trip...not just the plane ride but also the messed up routine that comes with vacation+being at someone else's house. I understand so much better why people often stop hanging out with you when they have kids.

I'm sure there is a lot more I could say, but I'm exhausted so I think I'll go take a bubble bath in my squeaky clean tub (Z pooped in it last night so I had to clean it...thanks little man!).

What a fun, busy life.

E family pics

2011-12-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

We had family pics taken at the State Capitol with my side of the family before the boys left on their missions. We won't be able to get another picture with ALL of us for at least four years, so it was much-needed. Here are a few of them :)

The whole fam:the parentals:
wee ones:
the unmarrieds:
the girls:
the boys:
the missionaries:

our little fam:

pre-potty training

2011-12-01T20:04:00.001-07:00

The past month or so Z has exhibited what I (with my very limited knowledge) would call 'real potty readiness'. Translation? It seems to me like the little tyke might be ready to be done with diapers and use the porcelain throne.

Frankly, I was very excited. Let's be realistic diapers are expensive. The sooner we can cut those bad boys out of our budget (for a time at least, we are hoping there's a necessity for some teeny tiny diapers soon) the better! The only thing that has been holding me back is our upcoming airplane ride. Those bathrooms are too small for even one person, let alone an adult + a still-learning, wild toddler.

So what I decided is to wait for 'real' potty training, but when Z takes off his diaper (which he does all day long...and his clothes too) that he gets to use the potty for the rest of the day. Today those clothes came off during nap time so we had a "nekid" day the rest of the day...he loved it! He did great! He had a few small accidents, but I caught them before they were too bad. Also, he told us he needed to and then went on the potty so many times! I'm hoping this will make official potty training a little easier because he'll be more familiar with it? We'll see!

I must say, there is nothing funnier (or more nerve-wracking) than a little naked bum running around the house all day!

This picture looks just like what it is. Lance was cooking, Z was playing with the zipper on his workout pants and then thought it would be funny to pull them down and climb inside! Luckily Lance had basketball shorts underneath so I could take a picture. I was worried he might have an accident in LANCE's pants but he played in there for several minutes with no problem.

Z has been sooo hilarious lately and talking like crazy! I'll update more pics and funny things in the next couple of days.

goodbye for two years

2011-11-30T11:35:00.001-07:00

Today my brothers enter the MTC! They stopped at our house this morning to say goodbye and we celebrated Ben's birthday with donuts, yum! I thought it would be sadder, but I am just SO excited for these two. They have both grown up so much the past few years and I know they will be hard-working, diligent missionaries. I will try to update on them every once in awhile, but for now here are a few parting shots of their cute/goofy faces...

...and a video for good measure.

They're reading The Three Little Gators by Helen Ketteman...it's a favorite at our house and now we'll never forget our goodbye. Aren't they hilarious with their 'southern accents'? Evan will probably have a genuine one when he gets home!

I hope Z will grow up to be like his uncles.

temple square

2011-11-29T19:44:00.003-07:00

Last Friday we went to Temple Square to watch the lights turn on. It worked out very nicely because we were already downtown getting family pictures at the State Capitol.

We had a bit of a wait for dusk so we stopped at the Church History museum to check out the children's display of the Book of Mormon. I almost had a heart attack when Z ran off and I couldn't find him, but luckily he was just one room over and my worry was short-lived.

The lights were wonderful and a great way to kick-off the Christmas season. We haven't been for a few years and it was nice to go again. It was one of my family traditions growing up and I definitely want to continue with it our kids.
Z even loved it--until it got dark and cold and he was tired of me taking pics. Oh well, at least I got a few good pics before he got too ornery!

Waiting for the lights to turn on...
Boom! Our favorite tree. It's extra pretty because it still has leaves and looks heavenly with the lights.
I've never been to the lights on the night they turned on. It was fun to be there to see it!
Z loved playing in the leaves......and spending more time with aunt Whit.
He also had fun touching all of the low lights and saying, "ouch!" with dad.
We tried (like a hundred times) to get a family picture, but Z didn't really cooperate and when he did Lance was being goofy...boys! (Please note I look almost exactly the same in EVERY picture!)
I loved the blue lights. This picture is terrible but they were so pretty!This one makes my heart happy. I love this time of year and I love this temple! :)

so much to be thankful for

2011-11-28T09:14:00.008-07:00

If it were two years ago yesterday we would have gotten "the call". The one from Jill about her sister-in-law's sister who had decided to place her child for adoption and wanted to meet us.

If it were two years ago today we would be meeting Trudy at a Winger's in Brigham City. We'd be totally nervous, but also very excited.

If it were two years ago we'd find out that Trudy was having a little boy and feel a twinge of sadness because right before our meeting we'd buried our only nephew.

If it were two years ago our meeting would be perfect! We'd spend an hour talking and it would feel like five minutes. We would automatically love Trudy.

If it were two years ago I would know this was "it" and Lance would spend the next three days warning me to be cautious and not to get my hopes up.

If it were two years ago we would be three days away from being given the best news ever, that we were chosen to be parents.

If it were two years ago our lives would be about to change forever.

Trudy was one of the first leaves on our gratitude tree. We are so thankful for her, for that fateful meeting two years ago, for adoption, and most of all for Heavenly Father for orchestrating our lives like a beautiful symphony! We are so blessed!

Who knows but that someday soon our lives will change again with another phone call?

Thanksgiving '11

2011-11-26T19:42:00.001-07:00

I would have to say that this was the best E family Thanksgiving yet! I was lucky enough to head up to my parents a day early to spend time with Whit and Ev who were here from Missouri. It was good too, because I've missed that sister of mine! I can't wait for our turn to visit her next month!

Lance joined us on Thanksgiving day and boy was I glad to see him! Z didn't sleep much at grandma's the night before and we were both ready for him to have some daddy time. Which was very effective:Mom and dad reserved the church because there are so many of us that we don't fit in the house anymore (how cool is that?!) It was nice to have tons of space for the kids to run around so that we could enjoy eating and then play games! Z had a blast playing with all of his cousins, especially Charlotte (who is only 6 months older). I think they're going to be best buds! When I watch them it always makes me wish Scotlin was here to join the fun. :(We were also lucky enough to have Trudy with us this year! Her boys were with their dad, so we stole her to come hang out with our fam. Gosh I love that lady and am so thankful for her! (Yes, I'm a nerd!)

The food was AH-mazing! I didn't take any pictures (sad!) but this year I made a pear/pomegranate salad (one of Lance's delicious family recipes) and a turkey-shaped cheese ball (which was tasty+adorable!)

We managed to squeeze in a few family pics at the church (and got some more professional ones yesterday which I'll post later). This is the last time all the kids will be together for at LEAST four years. It's crazy...and a little sad!we even got the grand kids to hold still for a few pictures (minus baby Esther)
We played games (I dominated at Pit)

took some goofy sister pics (mostly me and Whitney...for some reason taking facebook-style pictures of ourselves is a tradition...and it makes us laugh like crazy!)this one is my favorite:and overall just had a really, really great day! We continued the fun on Friday with family pics and a trip to temple square to watch the lights turn on (I'll post pics from that later!)

I sure love this time of year! I'm thankful for my amazing family and especially for this guy:
I wub him! ♥

Z just wanted to say...

2011-11-26T12:09:00.001-07:00

my angel nephew turns two

2011-11-24T09:14:00.004-07:00

So thankful for Scotlin, my sweet little nephew...and his momma and daddy. Wish you were here to play with us little buddy!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today more than anything else I am thankful for the knowledge I have of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ...where the most important things in my life have come from.

airplane crafty

2011-11-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

Pretty soon our little fam will be embarking on our second airplane trip to IL with Z man. Last time he was 8 months old and it wasn't too bad, but the past month or so I've started to dread our upcoming trip...Z does NOT like to sit still. Ever. We are planning to borrow an iPod touch from a family member (which will buy us at least an hour-Z loves it) but I was still worried about the rest of the trip...

Until my friend Emily posted this. An airplane-tray play mat. Brilliant! I pulled out all of my scraps and got to work. I'm very happy with how it turned out! (*Don't compare mine to Em's-- she's a professional seamstress.) Also, ignore the yellow thread on everything...I was too lazy to re-thread my machine for each color!

Ta da! Here is the front side:
With this page we can color, work on learning his shapes (and colors) and finally Z can play with the truck (he found it and was mad I took it away!)

I decided on twistable crayons because I didn't want to sew individual sleeves for each crayon (again, I'm lazy) plus these are harder to break!

and for the back side:
Z's favorite chant is "3 little monkeys swinging in the tree"...do you know that one? So we're probably going to annoy everyone on the plane saying it over and over and over! (I feel bad for the poor soul stuck sitting next to us!)
--I still need to laminate the monkies and alligator and attach alligator clips to the back...then I'm going to attach loops to the tree that they can clip on! I was going to make them with felt but lost my ambition and printing them was sooo much quicker!

We can work on spelling Z's name (to the tune of "twinkle, twinkle little star") and practice colors and numbers with hand beads. I also figured we can sing "once there was a snowman" while we attach the balls...(I was going to leave all of the body parts loose, but they were too small and I don't want them to get lost). On this page he can also practice zipping...I might cover that zipper with ribbon to make it look nicer, we'll see!

Fun right?! I'm a little less nervous about airplane entertainment, cross your fingers for us! :)

farewell time

2011-11-20T19:36:00.008-07:00

Today my two brothers gave their missionary farewell talks in church. They leave on their missions in just ten days! Both talks were fantastic and I know that they are going to be amazing missionaries. I'm so proud of you Evan and Ben! :)

I took a lot of pictures because it was a special day! I'm sure there will be loads more before the week is out!

the missionaries with mom and dad

missionaries with dad

missionaries with Grandma...who met Z for the first time "in real life" today!

missionaries with mom

missionaries with ME--yes I think I'm pretty special! ;)

It was a great day with the entire Epperson bunch together (which we're getting pictures of this Friday!) I love my family!

I'm also happy to have my Widget here from Missouri...I've missed her!

With all the missionaries coming up in my family it will be a long time before we are ALL together again. I'm going to soak it up this week!

a supermom day

2011-11-17T17:45:00.001-07:00

Every Thursday I tend three little boys. Including Z their ages are 2 (turning 3 in December), 21 months, 20 months, and 14 months. Usually Thursdays are really hard, but today it was confidence boost I've been praying for.

The past few weeks have been rough at our house. Z's been sick, Lance has been sick (and having a sick husband is like having THREE sick babies!), Z hasn't been sleeping (we're talking multiple wake-ups screaming at night and despite that still waking full-energy to start the day at 6 am), I hadn't been to the gym in over two weeks, and my house was a constant mess. I've felt so discouraged-that I can't do anything right, like I'm the worst wife and mother. I've felt completely unorganized, devoid of patience and utterly exhausted.

I honestly think that's why I've been posting so infrequently...because I hate admitting that things aren't perfect all the time. Every post I sat down to write just felt like a jumbled vent.

Insert today. My crazy, busy Thursday. I automatically knew it was going to be a better day when Z woke up at seven instead of six. We got dressed, ate breakfast and played while we waited for Liam (21 months) to arrive around 8:30. Once he came we headed next door to watch the other two (Lance works late so I go there so that we don't worry about waking him up!) I was visiting with Mandi when her oldest little boy had a meltdown. She took him to time out and tried to calm him down. After two attempts she returned from his room in tears and said something like, "My mom thinks he's wild and look, he is! I'm sure it's all my fault too!" Half of me felt bad that she was upset, and the other half felt relieved, (yes I'm probably horrible) but relieved that I am not the only mom who has moments like that! I pushed Mandi out the door saying, "He is a great kid, you haven't done ANYTHING wrong...you go to work and we'll be fine, don't worry!" (And a note to you Mandi...your boys ARE great! I am always impressed with how smart, helpful and well-behaved they are!)

And we WERE fine. In fact, we had a fantastic day. I think that realization--that I'm not the only one who worries they've messed up their child, or the only one whose child has meltdowns and acts naughty--really pulled me out of my funk! So, even though I'm sad you had a rough morning, thanks Mandi for making me feel like a normal person! Sometimes we just need a little perspective or to take a closer look at people who seem "perfect" and realize that they have bad days too!

My floors need mopping, my dishes and laundry need washing, my bathroom needs scrubbing... but today I took four little boys to the park all by myself without a stroller. Today I had near perfect patience with drippy noses, temper tantrums, and Z repeatedly hitting. Today I entertained four little boys, made and cleaned up four lunches, achieved three naps, AND made it to the gym for a run. Today felt perfect. Today I am supermom.

sometimes I wonder...

2011-11-15T18:33:00.002-07:00

...why we even buy toys?

a thought for Sunday

2011-11-13T10:46:00.005-07:00

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." -Romans 5:3-5

Still working on this patience thing...I just can't seem to grasp it. Most likely it will be one of my life-long struggles. I love the concept of finding the glory in your tribulations. It's hard for me in this moment requiring patience. I'm having a hard time feeling "glory" in the waiting process. However, I can definitely glory in the tribulations that led to Z's adoption experience. I know that it was the Holy Ghost that "shed the love of God in our hearts" for everyone involved...me, Lance and Trudy! I also know there are new virtues we need to learn and qualities we need to develop in our journey to our next child. I'm trying so hard to be patient and recognize, even glory in, these experiences as they come.

This song describes how I feel perfectly today, love it! (the video's not my favorite, I'd just listen)

Jumping Jacks

2011-11-12T09:59:00.003-07:00

What do you get when you combine three little boys with a room full of giant inflatable toys? Pure fun!

Yesterday our favorite next-door neighbor Mandi invited us to go to Jumping Jacks with them! I immediately said, "yes!" because we've been stuck inside due to yucky weather. Also, Z has been sleeping terribly at night so I was hoping that it would help him to get some energy out.

It didn't do much for his sleep last night, but we had a BLAST! The best part is that Z was free and it only cost $5 for me to get in! We're definitely going to hang out there a lot this winter! :)

Most of the pics are blurry because Z was too excited bouncing or running around to hold still so I am just slapping them on in collage form.These two are my favorite, so I left them out of the collage so you could actually see them:I like that you can tell Z is bouncing...and I think it's funny that I look like a grasshopper ;)

Can you tell how much fun we had? Total, exhausting fun!

makes me smile

2011-11-07T19:11:00.006-07:00

Here's a wrambly post for you. Forgive me if it's a bit disjointed, I'm writing during DWTS commercials and keep losing my train of thought! ;)

Z has enough personality and energy to fill three people. Seriously! He is constantly making us laugh, making us tired, and frequently he'll say/do something and I'll look at Lance with a "Did he really just say/do that?" expression only to find that Lance is wondering the exact same thing.

Recently Z has become a pro at opening doors. It's nice because he can come get us when he wakes up in the morning. It's not-so-nice because he can get into everything. Today I found Z in the computer room. It's not just our computer room, but our sewing, craft, storage/junk room. The vacuum lives there, and Z LOVES the vacuum! When I found him he was sitting on the floor in his jammies covered in dust. He'd pulled out the dirt catcher thing and spilled it all over. I was not happy. We replaced the container and he helped me vacuum it back up.

I forgot all about that incident until later this afternoon when I walked into the kitchen and Z was holding the vacuum container again. My first response was, "Oh Z, what did you do?" But then I quickly discovered what he had done. He had taken the vacuum dust container and emptied it into the trash can! (Probably what he was trying to do the first time and just dropped it!) I was so proud and I made sure to praise him for being such a good helper! It's amazing what they pick up on just from watching you!

Besides opening doors Z has also discovered that it's fun to undress himself. He loves to take his pants off, and sometimes his diaper too! Today he took of his pants and grabbed his cars to play...because don't you know it's so much more fun that way?!In January (after our plane ride, I don't want to deal with bathroom on an airplane) we are jumping right into the world of potty training (gasp!). I've taught Z to say "poopoo" and "peepee" and occasionally he'll tell me, "poopoo" and head towards the bathroom to go! It makes me so proud every time he goes in the toilet...funny how such a weird thing can make a momma so happy! I'm going to use Lora Jensen's 3 Day Potty Training program (I'll review it when I'm done to let you know how I liked it), but any tips or advice would be totally welcome! I figure that since I was the easiest child to potty train EVER (a story for Wednesday perhaps) that I should get a break on this!

Random, yeah. But the gist is this: I love my little Z man and I just can't wipe the smile from my face today.

p.s. I just ordered 500 more pass along cards and would LOVE your help getting them out! We pray every day for our next family member but we need help to spread the word!

the second best day of my life

2011-11-06T09:59:00.006-07:00

I hesitated to say that, "second best day" but after mulling it over I decided that it's definitely true. The best day of my life is and always will be my wedding day, second best was Zachary's sealing day. {Hopefully we'll get to add more temple days in the future to share second place! :) } Today we celebrate ONE WHOLE YEAR since we went to the temple and Z joined our eternal family. We've decided to make this day, November 6, a holiday at our house...one of our families' special "temple days". To celebrate we're going to eat fun foods and then later this week (since the temple is closed on Sundays) Lance and I will go do sealings by proxy (for deceased people who weren't able to go on their own) and then we'll take Z to walk around the temple and talk about our special day and how much we love him! Not bad right? I've felt extremely emotional knowing that this day was approaching and today while looking over these pictures I cried tears of pure gratitude. I am so thankful that this little guy is part of our family forever! I am so thankful for Trudy for making our day possible. I love her so much!

I think a primary song expresses my feelings better than any other words I could think of (I always change the song a little bit when I sing it to Z so today you got OUR version!)

"[We] love to see the temple; [We went] inside [that] day;
[We] covenant[ed] with Father; [and] promise[d] to obey.
For the temple is a holy place where we [were] sealed together.
And as children of God [we've] learned the truth:
[Our] family is forever!"

Happy temple day Z man! We love you so much!

BIG smelly messes

2011-11-02T19:29:00.000-06:00

...have occurred twice at our house in the past 24 hours.

This guy is the culprit:The first was last night. Z and I were perusing the stacks of leftovers in the fridgefor some dinner when Z got his hands on the red wine vinegar. I didn't even notice until he dropped it. I couldn't be mad because he was just trying to help, but since it was a glass bottle I had to lock him in his room so I could make sure our floor was shard-free. Vinegar stinks. Really bad. After twenty minutes scrubbing the floor I vowed never to buy it again! Yuck!

The second was this morning. Z's had a cold the past few days so every night before bed he helps me rub children's mentholatum on his chest and under his nose. The kid loves the stuff. He also knows how to unscrew lids. After he went to bed last night I put the mentholatum away. We were fine until Z woke up around 11:00 pm coughing and I went in to soothe him and put more on his chest...and forgot to put it away. Instead I left it on the chair in his room. Big stinky mess was his entire room lathered in mentholatum this morning. Again, my fault. My sinuses were crystal clear after cleaning that up!
This little guy is VERY curious and is also very good at figuring out how to get things that he wants! He opens doors like a pro, climbs everything, and being dirty doesn't phase him in the least. Although I don't love messes I can't help but laugh at his mischievous ways!

Good thing he's so cute!

"dic or deet"

2011-11-01T10:08:00.005-06:00

I did a terrible job taking pictures for Halloween this year...we were too busy having fun!

Z had TWO costumes:

A dragon that he wore to trunk-or-treat and trick-or-treat (because it's sooo warm!) Sadly, this is the only picture I got, Z would not hold still and we were so busy I never took time to try a photo-shoot...
and a clown that he wore to our family Halloween party. This costume is special because it was Lance's first Halloween costume made by grandma A (I wish I had a picture of him in it to compare!)Z loved the clown costume so much that he wore it to bed after the party!

Laura went all out for the party, and all the food was festive...
(Lance and I are lame and don't really dress up, but I did wear a Halloween shirt and Lance DID wear a costume to the ward party...a giant inflatable football I didn't get a picture of...whoops!)
Yesterday me and my neighbor Mandie made caramel apples! We had no idea what we were doing, but they turned out really yummy!!

and Z had fun "dic-or-deeting" with my brother and his friend. Between last night and the trunk-or-treat Z got a pretty good haul!
Just looking at this gives me a stomach-ache, we might have Halloween candy at our house until Christmas is over!

Hope ya'll had a fun Halloween, this was by far my favorite one yet! :)

this is not Z's halloween costume

2011-10-28T18:06:00.005-06:00

{for obvious reasons}but I'm thinking he would make a very cute garden gnome. *Mischevious-ness included!*

♥ bath-time bubble beards!

stay tuned for his real costume, it's adorable

eating battles

2011-10-26T18:21:00.001-06:00

Our little dude has turned into a bit of a picky eater lately. Lance and I have had to get creative to get him to eat. Here are a few of our little secrets!

#1-Sauce. If Z can dip his food in something he's more likely to eat it. The best combination I've discovered so far is broccoli+A1 sauce. He NEVER used to eat broccoli but now he will chow down as long as he can dip!

#2- Train, Airplane- When Z won't eat something I know that he likes me or Lance take over his spoon and turn it into a train/plane that crash lands in his mouth.

#3-Exaggerate- Z loves to do what we're doing. This is great when we're eating as a family. Lance and I will take turns exaggerating every bite with "Yummmm, this is so good" then Z will copycat.

#4- Make sure he's hungry at meal time- No snacks, no carrying drinks around all day. This has actually helped a LOT!

#5- Give up and laugh when none of these work. Let's face it...this guy has a mind of his own!

We sure do love when he does eat, but either way he seems to be growing just fine so I guess he knows what he needs!

pumpkin walk

2011-10-25T19:11:00.000-06:00

When we lived in Logan one of my favorite traditions in the fall was the pumpkin walk. I was thrilled when I realized we'd be able to go this past weekend when we visited. As usual, it was fantastic. The theme for this year was "favorite things" which I thought was fitting!

Z loved it too. I was worried it wouldn't hold his attention but he was very excited at each display! Here are some of the highlights:

A scene from Fantasia. It was seriously awesome!We had to get a picture with this one because it was made by the local FSA (families supporting adoption) chapter and the sign says, "Adoption is our favorite thing!" We totally agree! :)
Cool flag!
This made me a tinsy bit excited for winter...too bad snow can't be warm!
Lance always loved Eeyore growing up...I think it's amazing how they utilize the different-shaped gourds!
Z was very excited about the zoo, we need to take him to the real one!
He kept roaring at the lion!
I love, love, love this movie...especially the minions!
Lindi (Lance's sister) and Lisa (her roommate) in front of the Tangled display...a favorite for sure!

Z's very favorite display was the camping one, but only because of the water fall. If you look closely you can see the water coming out of the pumpkins mouth. He kept saying "waer" over and over and was mad when we moved on!I was worried the witch would scare him but he was too excited about the fake puppy she was holding to pay her any attention!

Finally, as all good things must do, the pumpkin walk came to an end! Luckily there were fun boards to take pictures in and the return bus ride back to our car (which was a definite highlight for Z, he kept saying "we're on the BUS!" making people laugh).This was probably my favorite pumpkin walk to date! I loved every single display! I am always amazed at people's creativity and use of resources! If you are anywhere near Logan, UT you should go check it out!

a day at the game

2011-10-24T09:32:00.000-06:00

Food, family, football...the only thing that would have made Saturday better was a win for our team ;)Oh well! We love our Aggies!

pumpkin carving

2011-10-23T11:57:00.001-06:00

Last Tuesday we carved/painted pumpkins. It was a blast! It was also Z's first time (because last year we were slackers.) So I just had to document our experience :)

We started by laying down newspaper and stripping Z down.

He got into the painting thing really fast. I just gave him paint and let him go at it.
The carving? Took a little longer to warm up to! I thought he would love grabbing the pumpkin "guts" but it freaked him out at first.So instead I dug in,made him laugh,and then he decided to give it a go.And...he realized it was actually sort of fun!
It took quite a while to scrub paint off of Z, but we'll count this activity as a success!

seeking out the bend in the road

2011-10-18T13:01:00.007-06:00

The leaves at the mouth of the canyon and in the city have exploded with color this week! We decided to take a walk on the Hobble Creek trail for family "night" on Monday.

Gosh this time of year rocks!

And speaking of rocks...
what is it with boys and throwing rocks whenever they're near water?

Here is our picture overload. I wanted to take a picture of a "bend" for the quote on my right sidebar. It was hard to choose, but I settled on this one:
these two were my runners up:

We're anticipating the next bend in the road for our family. There are definitely great things ahead!
These two boys sure make me happy!Ignore my hair. I'm having a hair crisis lately and am trying to decide whether or not a dramatic cut is in my near future
We even played with our camera timer so we could get a shot all together...it was fun and we're going to start using it more often!And to top off a perfect day: a perfect kiss...
...from this perfect little guyI. Love. My. Life!

a favorite tradition

2011-10-13T19:27:00.010-06:00

L ast year we started the tradition of going to the pumpkin patch. It's great because we have the best pumpkin patch EVER in our town. We have already been three times since it opened (twice with friends and once as a fam) and we'll probably go again, it's so fun and it's FREE! (So if you're in town give me a call and we'll go with you!) I took about a million pictures so I'm posting most of them as collages to spare myself the upload time and you the scrolling time!

Z's favorite part is the corn box! It entertains him so well and we love the fact that he'll stay in a contained space (plus he hasn't tried to eat the corn this year, yay!)

Z does NOT like the mini hay maze (because I threw him in there to try and find his way out and he panicked...I felt so bad!) However, instead of a hay fort this year they had a larger hay maze and Z had a blast playing in there with us. He cheated with daddy and climbed on top...naughty boys! ;)
We climbed the hay pyramid,
visited the animals

and spent lots of time picking the perfect pumpkins!
We're excited to carve them next week for family night!
Lance took a copycat of my favorite candid shot from last year......Z looks so much bigger!

By the end of our time there yesterday (which was by far the longest we've spent so far) Z was exhausted.
I love perfect fall days. I am so thankful for these two handsome boys!

on my mind

2011-10-08T21:12:00.001-06:00

Tonight Lance is working and because Z didn't have a nap today- he went to bed early. So it's just me, alone on a Saturday night. I thought about popping in a chick flick but then I decided to change a few things on our adoption sites...I've been meaning to revise them for a while but hadn't gotten around to it.

We're approaching the two month mark of being approved to adopt, 9+ months of feeling like someone was missing. It's a new milestone for us. We didn't wait this long (which I know isn't really long at all, bear with me I'm venting) with Z.

Despite being busy with the Zacster, our next little family member is on my mind a lot...and especially tonight Waiting is hard. It's easier than last time, but harder too...does that make any sense? I'll explain. It's easier because we have Z...and if you've read our blog you realize he keeps us pretty busy. It's harder because Z's adoption was so fast and flawless and it's hard not to have that expectation again.

There are other hard things too:

the unknown-not knowing WHEN. Or even a possibility of when. Wanting to nest, but not even knowing which gender to prepare for...or which season? (I've been making stuff for both genders, just in case)

the lack of sleep-People LOVE to tell me, "enjoy your sleep while you can". The truth...once we found out about Z I didn't sleep for the next four months (until I got a muscle relaxer from my doctor) and I haven't been sleeping well for the past month or so. I can't seem to shut my brain down, the wondering (when, but also if there is something we should be doing) keeps me awake. It also leads to a lot of pleading with my Heavenly Father.

stats counters/the feeling of not being enough- I wish I had never discovered these. We can see how many people view each section of each of our adoption profiles, blogs, etc. It's really disheartening to see the amount of stats in some places and lack in others. It's hard not to wonder if we would be chosen faster if we were cuter, richer, smarter...etc.

the lack of control- this is the hardest thing for me. It's not so bad in the paperwork phase because you feel productive--like you're moving forward. This approval phase of just waiting sucks! There's not a whole lot we can do besides try to spread the word to everyone we know (and people we don't know)! I must be very impatient and lacking faith, because adoption tests both big time.

Fortunately, also on my mind is the fact that things work out in the BEST way...even if it's not the easiest way. I'm trying to remember that and hope I'm not being too selfish asking for another miracle.

Meanwhile I'm enjoying this miracle to the fullest.

And that is what's on my mind tonight. Welcome to the emotional thoughts of an adoptive mommy.

so glad we didn't wait

2011-10-07T18:57:00.005-06:00

On Tuesday we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to drive the Alpine loop in American Fork canyon. We were originally going to wait until this weekend, but I'm glad we didn't because now the mountains are full of snow (boo!) and we would have missed seeing the best leaves!

It was seriously amazing, these pictures don't do it justice (we really need a new camera). And the best part was the SMELL! The air was so fresh and pine-y. I wanted to bottle it up. Eventually I quit trying to take pictures because they just couldn't capture the real thing. It was a fun family day, and a great time together to celebrate Z's adoption day (we even got pizza on the way home!) :)

We've vowed that next summer we aren't going to be such slackers and we're going to take advantage of our beautiful mountains to do lots of camping!Of course Z's favorite part was throwing rocks in a small puddle we found on the trail...boys!

Dear Winter,

2011-10-06T13:36:00.005-06:00

Since you stayed way too long and stole our Spring this year I think it's only fair that we get a nice long fall......which means this stuff must go!

Sincerely, Jewls

p.s. *Serves me right for guffawing at the mention of "winter storm warning" last night

a year already?!

2011-10-04T10:18:00.004-06:00

Happy adoption day Zachary! We're so happy you are in our family!

how I love general conference!

2011-10-02T20:17:00.004-06:00

This weekend was my church's (The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) semi-annual general conference! I always love "conference weekend"! Leaders from our church, including the prophet, share inspiring messages full of advice and counsel to help improve our lives. I was able to watch all of the sessions, but was distracted by Z a few times. I'm excited to read the parts I didn't hear as well.

It's hard to choose but I think my favorite talk was Neil A. Anderson's (I love technology, how cool that I can just post it here!):

But, this one was great too...yep impossible to choose just one. Oh how I love the Book of Mormon!

wanna see Z's latest trick?

2011-09-30T15:36:00.004-06:00

Sooo excited to start a mom-n-tot gymnastics class with him this winter, he's gonna rock at it!

P.S. Isn't he so cute in his way-too-big clothing? That's what you get when you send daddy to do the shopping!

giveaway winners!

2011-09-30T15:31:00.000-06:00

The results for the giveaway are in!!

Congratulations Danielle and Kam!

First one to email me (jewls.andreasen@gmail.com) with their address also gets gender preference! I'll get those mailed off as soon as I have that info! A big THANKS to everyone who helped us spread the word. Annnnd...even though our giveaway is over you can still keep spreading it! :)

good times & great friends

2011-09-26T19:07:00.004-06:00

Last week we had dinner with our dear friends the McNinch's! We became really close when we lived in Logan and were all going to school. Then we moved...and we hardly ever saw each other! You can imagine how excited we were when they moved just 20ish minutes away! We've got big plans for lots of fun get-togethers, this is only the beginning!

Z gave Sofie (who is just a few months older) a big open-mouthed kiss right on the lips! I still laugh thinking about it...we're gonna have to watch this boy!We roasted marshmallows for s'mores...one of my favorite treats...I ate way too many!true love=trading your perfectly toasted mallows for your wife's crispy/charred ones!
or you can just eat them plain ( I recommend frozen...so yummy!)
Thanks so much for a fun night and thanks for letting me steal your pictures Kristen!

*Excluded from these photos is Jason with his nasty creepo mustache. Sorry, but this is a family friendly blog ;)

celebrating each step

2011-09-26T12:43:00.001-06:00

*I'm re-posting our giveaway...there are just a few more days to enter!!*

We're trying to spread the word about our hope to adopt! We met Z's birth mother through a friend and we KNOW that even though we feel like a broken record sometimes, we need your help! Will you be the link to our next family member? Here's how you can help us:

Giveaway!
Enter to win a boy or girl baby rag quilt (TWO chances!) I'll randomly select the winners on September 30th!

Hopefully our giveaway will make this more fun! Basically you can have an entry for anything you can think of to help promote our adoption efforts, or adoption in general. It doesn't have to be on the list to count, be creative! Just make sure to leave a comment for every ITEM that you do (if you want multiple entries)!
You know the drill, but here are some general entry ideas:

-Grab our button

-Follow our blogs and invite friends to follow as well!

-Join our adoption group on facebook and invite friends to join!

-Email me your address (lance-julie@hotmail.com) so that I can send you some pass-along cards then keep them in your wallet in case an opportunity ever arises to stick them on a bulletin board or give them to someone.

-Write a blog post, facebook post, tweet...whatever...promoting adoption and link to one of our online profiles: You can have THREE entries for each one of these you do...because it's harder!
https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/26170645/ourMessage.jsf
http://www.hopingtoadopt.org/index.php/family/letters/205

Thanks in advance, we're so excited for Z to be a big brother! :)

a thought for Sunday

2011-09-25T09:53:00.006-06:00

Last night I was fortunate enough to attend my church's General Relief Society Broadcast.
It. was. Fantastic! Just what I needed. I can't wait for the talks to be published so that I can re-read them all. My favorite (like so many other people) was President Uchtdorf's talk: "forget-me-not". You can watch some excerpts from the rest of the meeting here, it was all so great!

TW Wednesday...a few oldies

2011-09-21T18:16:00.006-06:00

I haven't done a time-warp post for a while, so here are a few pictures from my childhood! My goal is to get them all scanned in someday...

Me and dad...he's pretty handsome huh?!Mom used to put curlers in our hair every Saturday night so that we'd be ready for church. Whit and I would argue over who got theirs in first and out last because we wanted our hair to be the "most curly"!Me, Danny & Crystal (my two older siblings) now we have kids these ages...so weird!Oh, and I finally went fabric shopping today! I've got a long night of cutting ahead, but these quilts are going to be so cute! If you want to WIN one, make sure to enter our giveaway...there are only eight days left!!

18 months

2011-09-20T13:14:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Z's half birthday! Gosh the time is just flyin' right on by!His checkup was today, here are the stats:

Height: 32.5"-56%
Weight: 26 lbs-52%

The doctor asked me a bunch of questions and then said, "I don't know why I'm even asking, I can already tell how smart he is!" He mentioned three or four times how smart Z is...it makes me a proud mama!

Z is VERY active. He is constantly in motion whether it's running, jumping, climbing, throwing, building, etc...he's a busy guy! He LOVES balls. Whenever we go to someone's house he digs right into their toys and pulls out as many balls as he can. Z loves to be outside getting dirty. He loves the park, especially the swings.

Z is NOT a very good eater lately. It seems to me that most of his food ends up on his clothes or on the floor. His favorite food is blueberries, and he would drink a gallon of milk a day if I would let him! Z is developing a big love of reading, and his favorite books are picture books where we make up the stories or he just gets to find things. He loves to sing and his favorite songs are still 'itsy bitsy spider' and 'no more monkeys'. Z loves to play games, his favorite is 'ring around the rosy'. He also loves to help mom and dad. He's becoming really good at sweeping, cleaning up toys, and putting dishes (and shoes and cars and blocks, ha) in the sink. He also loves to 'help' us with laundry.

Z has gone to nursery three times and although he was a little sad the first time, now he absolutely loves it! He's getting a lot better at being friendly and loves to play with his friends, especially our next door neighbor Brax...they're sort of frenemies and it cracks me up to watch them together.

Z loves to point out body parts. He loves to show people his 'belbo' (belly button) and jab his finger into your 'eyyye' (eye). He is convinced that mommy is hiding balls under her shirt...we're working on the concept of "private parts"! He's got all of the basic body parts down and we're working on some of the harder ones like 'elbow'. I am constantly amazed at how well his language is developing. The other day we walked out the the mailbox and he said, "We're getting the mail!" I've kept a list of his words and there are over seventy! (I decided just to put them in his baby book instead of posting them here.)

I could go on and on, but almost every post is about him anyway, so you can just stay tuned for more later. We sure love our little guy. He definitely keeps us on our toes and makes our lives so much more fun! Happy half-birthday little Z man!

Oh, and we decided against the crib tent. He's getting better at sleeping but it still takes a little bit longer and he always falls asleep on the floor. I'm hoping he'll soon realize that his bed is much more comfy!

bedtime battle

2011-09-15T21:45:00.000-06:00

Today we I converted Z's crib into a toddler bed. I cried while I did it too. I'm not ready for my baby to grow up. (Can you imagine what kindergarten is going to do to me?) It feels especially unjust since we have no control over when we can have another child. Somehow I think that if we were having another baby soon it wouldn't seem quite as traumatic to me that Z is growing up. And maybe we are? If this were Z's adoption we would have been chosen yesterday! How weird is that. It can literally happen any day, you never know...but I'm soooo not cut out for this waiting stuff, it's hard!

Anyway, back the the topic...Lance and I were going to make the switch yesterday, in fact we had the footboard off and just needed to attach the toddler rail when we wimped out and decided to give it one more night. After all, maybe he'd magically forget how to climb out of the bed... right? Wrong.(This has become a very common sight during bedtime)

This morning I was tired from last night's bedtime battle so I decided to just get it over with. After all, if he's going to climb out over and over and over again, he might as well climb out safely.He was so excited for his "new" bed...it only took him an hour of playing around and trying to escape the bedroom before he went down for his nap (on the floor, I picked him up and put him in the bed for the picture).

Then he napped for forty minutes. Only forty.

And I feel so tired! I honestly don't know how he had any fight left in him tonight, I expected him snuggle right up to me and fall asleep to his lullabies. But of course he didn't, he just barely went to sleep. An hour and a half later than normal. And now I am seriously considering getting one of these:
A crib tent. Before yesterday I had never even heard of them, but tonight I decided to look into it. All of the reviews gave them five stars, and I felt so much better after reading them because they were all written by frantic parents like me whose children ~~are half-monkey~~ figured out how to climb out of their beds when they were way too young and who also weren't sure they were ready to make the big transition to a 'real bed'.

We'll have to see what Lance thinks...

Good thing this dude is so darn cute!
What do you think about crib tents?
Keep in mind that without said tent we'll have to switch his door lock to the outside because he figured out how to open his door yesterday too.
Oh, but he also pooped in the potty which I guess is worth throwing out there as a pro for the toddler bed...ha!

Too much change all at once!

irony

2011-09-13T19:25:00.004-06:00

Today we went on a nice family walk. Lance and I were chatting when he randomly asked when we needed to start shopping for a bed. "A bed?" I said. "For who?" Lance launched into a story about how one of his friends from work just switched their little girl from a crib to a regular bed. I pointed out that they had just had a baby, so they probably needed the crib for him.

Then I opened my big fat mouth and said, "We won't need to switch Z until we have another baby....unless he figures out how to climb out before then, but I seriously doubt he'll be doing that for a while (you see where this is going?)...In fact, I feel very confident that we'll have another baby long before we have to buy a new bed." Lance agreed with my logic and we continued on our walk.

We enjoyed the rest of our afternoon and dinner time approached. We sat down to eat and Z promptly started throwing everything on his plate at us or on the floor. I was frustrated because I scrubbed the floor this morning. I got Z down from the table and took him to 'time out' in the pack-n-play while Lance and I finished eating. Once we were done I began clean-up and Lance freed Z and gave him a kiss on his way to work. Z played for a little bit, inevitable got bored, and came running into the kitchen in a bee-line right to the table. He loves to climb on it, but knows he's not allowed to. He climbed anyway and it resulted in another "time out"--this time in his crib.

I continued cleaning up when I heard a knock on Z's bedroom door. I thought, "someone's knocking on the door"...it took a few seconds for me to realize what that meant. Yup, you guessed it. Z had climbed out of his crib and was knocking on the door for me to let him out. I was in shock. Of all days for him to acquire that particular skill of course it had to be today after our totally random conversation...he must have been listening.

No fluke either, this kid has got it figured out. I put him back in just to see if he could do it again and he sure can, just watch:

I was trying to be mad, but I was laughing too hard at my own audacity to underestimate my toddler so much. I called Lance and we had a good laugh. What an adventure parenthood is! I guess tomorrow we're putting up the toddler rail, but at least we have that option instead of a whole new bed...so I was still kind of right?! ;)

Any suggestions on how to keep your child in their bed at night would be much appreciated!

a new kind of tap dancing

2011-09-11T16:07:00.000-06:00

reunion time!

2011-09-11T13:40:00.004-06:00

I love opportunities to get together with the people I love! Yesterday I was lucky enough to see a bunch of my favorite people!

One of my besties from college got married yesterday! Some of my favorite girlfriends were at her luncheon! Shalane looked beautiful and her and Tyler both looked so happy! Congrats you two!While I was at the luncheon Z got to play at his great-grandmas. Lately when I have left him somewhere he has cried. Well, with his grandma he cried when I came to pick him up! He didn't want to leave because he was having too much fun! And I was worried?...ha!

On our way home we got to stop and see Trudy and the boys! We went out for ice cream which was delish! It was quick, but great to at least see everyone! We sure love them all!

Labor Day

2011-09-11T13:22:00.003-06:00

We had a blast on Labor Day! Spur-of-the-moment we decided to head up the canyon for a small BBQ. Luckily for us some of Lance's cousins had the same idea so we were able to crash their campsite! ;)

They had an awesome spot by the river with a picnic table, fire pit, and even a small playground nearby! We roasted yummy and mallows (for s'mores!)--Z played on the playground and in the dirt! :) (the two lovebirds, Mike & Jana--they're getting married on the 30th!)

After eating all the adults played tip it (a game with frisbee) while Z played with his favorite uncle Ben! They're best buds!

We were all exhausted and almost headed home, but I had really wanted to take Z to see bridal veil falls that day, so the three of us made a quick trip on our way out of the canyon. It was very crowded and the water was freezing but me and Z had fun wading a little bit!

Love our beautiful mountains, beautiful nature and BEAUTIFUL days off of work! We had such a blast! Thanks for a great time guys!

never forget

2011-09-11T12:59:00.001-06:00

Ten years ago I was a sophomore in High School. I remember that it WAS a perfect morning. The weather was great, and I felt so happy walking to school. That feeling lasted the entirety of first period. School started at 7:25 and somehow my first period English class had no idea about the attack.

When I walked into my next class, choir, I remember laughing and talking and wondering why everyone seemed so sad. My friend grabbed my hand and whispered, "Julie, didn't you hear about what happened?" My whole body went numb as my friend repeated the tragic events and had unfolded thus far.

The rest of that day was a blur. I remember watching a LOT of news coverage. Something we hadn't done in school except for on the day of the Columbine shooting. It was a very somber day. My heart went out to all of the people who who lost loved ones. My heart cheered with the victory of the people who so selflessly gave their lives (rescue workers and those aboard United 93) to try and minimize the damage. I was amazed at how connected I suddenly felt to everyone.

A few days ago I watched a special on 9/11 and sobbed as I listened to stories of courage, faith, selflessness. I hope that I would have the strength to do the same thing. I hope that we as a nation will always remember and that we can turn to God EVERY day like we did THAT day. Let's never forget.