What's in my makeup bag?

First of all, I don't wear makeup very often. I should. I always feel better when I take the time to actually get ready, dry my hair, put on makeup, and all that. But, since you asked (even though you didn't), this is what's in my makeup bag:

Bare Essentials foundation and blush, Smashbox foundation, a couple of bare essentials eyeshadows and liners, and mascara.

Interesting, huh?

In other news, today was Christmas for us. Since we're leaving town tomorrow, we decided to celebrate today. Alice got a new play kitchen. I set it up last night and decided to nap on the couch until erik got home from work at 2 so that we could finish putting stuff up together. I woke up to the sound of Alice playing with the kitchen. It was before Erik got home since he got stuck on the freeway. Alice immediately walked over to me and said, "I want to cuddle with you" she seemed to know that she wasn't supposed to be down there playing, but didn't know what else to do. I took her upstairs and started asking her what she saw since I was only half awake and not quite sure what had happened. She told me:

"I was calling you, but you were asleep. I came downstairs and you were asleep. I was playing with my kitchen in the front room. I was making Spadetti"

It was hard to be upset with her, even though I really wanted to see her face when she first saw the kitchen.

Also, Erik got me a Kindle. It is awesome. I love it already! It's the year of the Kindle.  So many people we know are getting them :) Its a good thing for amazon, I suppose.

Our favorite place to eat

We have lots of favorites. Pretty much any time we can go out and not have to cook at home, it's a good thing. Our favorite lately has been:

It's mostly b/c of the free kids quesadilla with strawberry. That thing is really good and free kids food is ALWAYS appreciated. :)

The last item I purchased:

The last thing I bought was groceries. Among other things, this included potatoes. We are doing Raclette tomorrow with the Breakfast Clubbers, and we are in charge of the veggies. We'll also be doing a gift exchange white elephant style.

This Christmas has been the most spread out Christmas I've ever had. We had parties as early as the 12th, plus Alice even had her own party this year. It's been awesome. I'm excited to continue into the week of Christmas :)

The song

This is the song that has been stuck in my head for the past little while, and the only one I can think of to match my mood. I am so excited for Christmas!



There, Bridget. Are you happy? ;)

Dream Wedding?

I tried to write a post off of the prompt about my dream wedding... but it's too dumb of a prompt. I think that marriage is important, but not weddings. Don't get me wrong, I loved mine and seeing so many people i love there. The ceremony was great, but it was only the two of us plus... maybe 30 people? So... the wedding itself was pretty small scale which I guess was always how I pictured it.

In other news, in the past 3 days, 3 of my friends have had babies. How weird. My baby is no longer the babiest baby anymore. He's growing up and getting more interactive. I love his smiles and coos. I'm so ready to get his hair cut, too. It's getting out of control! We'll get it cut by a friend's mom when we're in CO, just shortly after his 3 month birthday. I can't wait. he'll look so cute :)

An animal I'd love to keep as a pet

Don't you think that a miniature elephant would be the cutest thing? Can't you picture it tromping around the house? Instead of a dog barking, you'd hear the little trumpet when someone rings the doorbell. You'd never lose anything because your elephant would always remember where you put it.  How awesome would that be!?

I hope that miniature elephants would be cuddly. And not bite.

Me 2 years ago

This is me and Alice at Sushi for Santa 2 years ago. I don't feel like I look much different, but Alice has changed a lot. :)

Favorite picture of my best friend

I haven't actually called someone my "best friend" for a long time. I have a lot of good friends, and we all have a different relationship dynamic. Some of my closest friends have stayed the same for years and some have changed. Since this post is looking for my best friend, though, I'll post a picture of the 2 people who I last remember really calling my "best friend"

I actually don't have very many pictures of them on my computer so I guess that this is my favorite b/c it's pretty much the only one I have :)

A perfect first date

Seriously, I don't think I'm very picky when it comes to dates. The only thing that I would have wanted out of a first date is for the conversation to flow naturally. I don't like awkward silence, especially when you are trying to get to know someone to see if you would like to continue dating them.

Erik passed the first date conversation flow test.

Right now, the perfect date would be to go somewhere fancy dressed up nice (not completely formal, but nice). No kids, which would mean that Jack would have to be happy taking a bottle. We're still working on that. Though I do have to say that I love taking Jack to the movies b/c I can just cuddle him the whole time.

We saw Tangled today and it was surprisingly really cute. I thought it looked dumb, but Mom convinced me to go. Alice loved it and I loved watching her watch it.

A photo of something I ate today

So I'm totally cheating on this one since I was really busy yesterday with building our shelving unit in the laundry closet. Yesterday, something I ate was:

It was the 2 piece meal with salad. It's ridiculously good. If you've never been and you get the opportunity, go.

We still have a long ways to go on the shelves, but we got the hardest part done.

A picture of me and my day today

Here's a recent picture of me from our trip to Disney World. Alice loves riding the carousel and we were lucky enough to have grandpa get a shot of the 3 of us (Jack was riding in one of the stationary cars with grandma)

So that's me. I don't really look that blond lately, so I guess it was just the lighting.

My day today has been relatively uneventful, though I guess when compared to other days in the life of a stay at home mom, it's been pretty normal. I held Jack for a nap since his swing wasn't plugged in and I didn't want to find another outlet. Then a friend came over to drop off some supplies from cub scouts yesterday. She had subbed for me since Alice was sick :( I hate it when my kids are sick.

After that... I ate some cold pizza for lunch and put Alice down for a nap. For the whole morning, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was playing in the background.

Right now, there's a load of whites in and I'm listening to our washing machine do this weird gear grinding thing that it's done for the past couple months. It's not a good sound. I'm looking forward to our new set that we are having delivered on thursday. They stack, so we'll be able to use the other half of the laundry closet for a pantry :)

Speaking of our new set... does anyone need a washer or drier? They still work (besides the gear grinding thing... and the drier doesn't have the auto dry feature anymore. That broke some time last year) and we're looking to get rid of them for maybe $50.

Blog Revival

I've seen this a couple times and feel like it's time for my blog to be revived...

So here's a 30 day challenge that I'll be following for the next month:

Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.
Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago.
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 – Your dream wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of our favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.
Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?
Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.
Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.
Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.
Day 19 – Another picture of yourself.
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – What’s in your purse?
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?
Day 28 – Your favorite movie.
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of youself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

Putting stuff in stuff

Alice has been practicing her spacial skills lately as she has realized that containers can fit "stuff" inside them and then those containers can fit into other containers and so on. I am forever finding all kinds of random assorted items throughout the house. Some of my favorites have been:

• A piece of bread inside a fossil watch tin in the toybox
• An old wallet I let her keep in her purse that was packed full of puzzle pieces
• Coins rattling around in the steering wheel (she had jammed them in through the cracks between the horn and the rest of the wheel)
• playing in the basket aisle at DI, putting a little stuffed animal into a lunch box, and that into a basket, then that basket into a bucket... and so on

She will constantly just rearrange things and try to fit more and more into different boxes. She was trying to put a Mario toy into a tin that also had a large fridge magnet that makes music and some stencils in it, and was very frustrated that not all 3 would fit. I would show her that 2 of the three would fit, but then she'd want to add the last item. Finally, we did find a way to tetris it all in and she was happy.

Today she came up to me in the kitchen and saw that I have a zippered pocket on my pants, and said, "A zipper. Can I put toys in it?" She came back with a beanie baby sized mickey mouse, realized it wouldn't fit, then ran out of the kitchen saying "gotta get a smaller toy" to herself. Right now, I actually have no idea what is in my pocket...

The only thing that is frustrating is that along the bottom of our entertainment center, there is a gap that is about an inch tall, and she loves to stick stuff under there. Since it is such a small opening, and the TV and entertainment center are so heavy, I can't really get much out from under there once she has put something there. Once in a while, I will run a ruler or something under to retrieve what I can, which is usually book and puzzle pieces mixed in with other random small toys. One time she stuck her beloved "mickey mouse ice cream" toy (a piece for mr. potato head that we got in disney world) under there, then realized it was stuck and ran off into the kitchen saying "I need a knife!" When I asked her why, she told me that her mickey mouse ice cream was stuck "on the tv." Yeah... we're still working on our prepositions. ;)

In other news, I had my 3 hour glucose tolerance test today and it was horrible... I felt sick the whole time. My fasting was good (91) but my 1 hour was around 220 somewhere, my 2 hour was 200, and my 3 hour was 140. Basically... confirmation that I have gestational diabetes again. It's kind of a bummer, but I expected it. I looked up how much glucose is in the drink they give you, and it's somewhere between 75 and 100 grams. Considering that the little bottle is only 8 oz, that is a LOT. imagine dissolving 1/2 cup of sugar in 1 cup of water (a little less i guess...) and then drinking it. Yuck. 

Anyway, they faxed an order over to the diabetes specialty people for me to be educated. I'll see what they have to say, but pretty much have been eating as if I'm diabetic already, checking my blood sugar and have had no problems yet, so I think I'll be fine. 

I just got an email from babycenter...

I love the emails baby center will send b/c they have information about what kinds of things Alice should be doing and other developmental landmarks both for her and for Jack. I just got this one though, and it cracked me up:

"By 30 months, your child can name a few body parts, some colors, and even a friend or two. Her memory and speaking ability work in tandem. Help out by expanding on what she says. If she says, "Dog sleep," you might say, "Yes, Spot is curled up and fast asleep in his doggie bed." She can't imitate your complex language patterns yet, but her brain is absorbing them. Every time you repeat her words or expand on them, you're giving her memory practice. "


I know that Alice's language skills are advanced, but most of the kids she hangs out with speak at a similar level to her, so I forget sometimes. She has been putting together some complex sentences lately, like "Katie took the ball and I really want it" or "Watch out for the scary ghosts, Daddy!" (while he's playing mario game). The other day, Sarah was rocking Pepper and Alice came into the room with her. Alice saw the breast pump and asked "what's that?" Sarah told her, "It's a pump". Alice then put the pieces up to her little boobies and asked "Can I try?"  When Sarah asked her how she knew that's what the pump was for, Alice replied "People just learn these things". 


I love listening to her talk and seeing her grow. She's so much fun and such a sweet little girl. She is starting to get an argumentative streak though. For example, I will tell her "I'm making soup for dinner" and she'll say, "It's not soup for dinner. It's soup for lunch". I have no idea why she would argue something like that, but she will... 


I know it's a ways away, but we're looking at a preschool for her to start up in the fall of 2011. It's a Spanish immersion preschool that I think looks really cool: http://www.mckeeschool.com/ It is a lot of time each day, but it's mostly narrated playing, so I'm not worried about it overloading her. I think that with her language skills, it'd be really nice for her to learn another language at a young age. We'll see when the time gets closer if we do decide to put her in, but for now I'm pretty sure that I want to :)

Oh Chick Fil A....

We stopped at Chick-Fil-A on our way out of town on tuesday to grab breakfast. I have never had their breakfast before but have heard that it is good (no surprise there) and it was. It was so good that I haven't been able to stop thinking about it and I can't get over my craving for chick fil a. Amy drove down that evening and took me to chick fil a, and i had the leftover nuggets for breakfast the next morning. I still want more.

Since there's only one in utah valley and it's at the mall... and i don't have a car... and indulging myself in chick fil a every day would get expensive, I looked up a copycat recipe. I have put together the ingredients and am waiting to give it a try. (You are supposed to soak the chicken in an egg/milk mixture for an hour before breading it in the flour/salt/pepper/powdered sugar mixture)

If it's any good, I will be so happy. If it's not... well i guess that chick fil a has me as a customer for life. I just can't resist! I'm tempted to get one of their party trays and freeze the nuggets so I can have them ready whenever i want. It's not too expensive... well more expensive than buying nuggets at costco, but better quality too. 64 nuggets are $23, 120 are $41.50, and 200 are $66.50. It seems cheaper than buying them 8 nuggets at a time... but then I'm not sure. I haven't done the math.

Erik thinks I'm crazy. Maybe I am....

baby Ty's Funeral and Raisins is Sticky

2 very different stories for today:

Yesterday was a funeral for baby Ty (a 4 1/2 mo old baby in our ward who died of SIDS on Wednesday). It was very sad to see his dad carrying his casket in all by himself, instead of the usual where they wheel it in. As his mom walked in behind him, she broke down crying and her knees buckled. She had to be supported by her mother in law who looked like she was practically carrying her in. I can't imagine the kind of strength it would take to bury your baby. It is an impossible task that I hope I am never challenged with.

The funeral was good. It was long, but everyone was hurting so I can't blame them for wanting to say as much as they could. There was a lot of family there. I think both parents had large families. The whole center section of the chapel was full of family members. The rest of the church up to 1 overflow was packed as well, with people in the foyers who couldn't get a seat inside.

He was a sweet little boy and he will be missed.

This morning, Alice woke up at 7:30 which was really 8:30 because of the Daylight Savings time. I'm not a fan of daylight savings. It just messes everything up. Oh well. I'm not so adamantly opposed to it that I would ever try to do anything to change it. Anyway, I told Alice that it was Sunday so we were going to church, and she started talking about bubbles and coloring and all the fun stuff they do in nursery. She was getting so excited. It was cute.

After a couple minutes, I realized I was too exhausted to go to church, so Erik took Alice and i slept the whole time they were gone. When they came home, Alice came upstairs to wake me up. I asked her what she did in Nursery, specifically if she had any snacks. She said "yeah. Pretzels and raisins". I said, "oh that's good. What else?" Her reply was "Raisins is sticky." It's true. Raisins are sticky.

Seeing the loss of a child makes me appreciate and want to spend more time hugging my own child. You forget how fragile their lives are and how you really need to enjoy every moment. I feel silly sometimes just wanting to tell everyone about all the cute things she says, like my life is just Alice. But it's true. Alice is my life and I'd rather only talk about her and report on her than on nothing.

This is why blogs are dying

I don't like posting and not getting any feedback. If I do a status update on facebook, I get tons of commentary and feedback. I like having blogs to keep in touch with people, but not if people never reply to what i say. I don't want to write a book about myself, I want to talk to people about what's going on.

So, this post is mostly to say that I won't really be posting on the blog anymore. Maybe I'll get the sudden urge to again, but If you want to know what's going on with me, you will be more likely to find updates and pictures on facebook.

This cracked me up

Especially when you get to the part about the letters in the confirmation code. When i was working for Convergys, I once told a lady that her code had the letter K as in Cat... yeah she caught it, too. Oops.

Aaaand.... we're back!

Sorry for the bit of a break up there. As I was saying a few posts ago, Erik's server was due to be turned off at any time (since it was an employee account at a company he didn't work for any more) so even though we had months of notice, we just never moved our blog off of the server. oops!

Anyway, we're back now. Welcome to our new blog! You shouldn't have to update any links since we still have car0lyn.com pointing here, but the real URL is carolynerik.blogspot.com.

Erik survived a round of layoffs at work this past week. We had no idea they were coming until maybe a few days before. The day of, Scott called us and asked if Erik had been scheduled a 1 on 1 meeting with the boss. Apparently, Scott had, and this meeting was where they gave them 1 months severance and said good luck. It sucks. I am glad that Erik was not let go, but there was a scary morning where I was left wondering if he would be. It was also hard to rejoice when i knew that Scott had lost his job. It has worked out alright though, b/c only 2 days later, Scott started training at another new job and as far as I can tell, things are going great there.

Since the training is in the mornings, I have been watching Katie & Audrey for 6-7 hours a day for the past week, and will be watching them for the next 2 weeks as well. Katie is only 8 months older than Alice, and i think that this is proof to me that there is a reason why it is impossible to have children that close together. The two of them are HARD to watch when they are together. Katie alone is a very sweet and nice little girl. Alice alone is easy. Alice and Katie together is terrible. They fight, push, cry (mostly Alice. Katie only cried once this entire week, adn that was when she was going down for a nap and missed her own home), run, scream, play, and have the best and worst times of their lives. It is very tiring, especially since I am already feeling kind of icky and tired from the morning sickness. Bleh.

All in all, though, I am happy to do it. I feel helpful and am getting compensated for the 3 weeks, so it's not a total loss. I do hope that by the end of the 3 weeks, Katie and Alice will be a little more used to spending time together. Audrey, of course, is just easy. She is the sweetest little baby. She's been eating a lot and sleeping really well. Sometimes she just wants to be held, but for the most part, she is content to be just sitting on the floor with me and the girls and playing while I either surf the internet or run back and forth getting water and making ramen and changing diapers and what not.

Erik's family is all coming over for dinner tomorrow to celebrate Shawna's birthday. I am attemting to recreate a dish she had in Disney World as closely as I can. I'll let you know how it turns out. If it is delicious, i will post the recipe.

Grammar

Alice has been putting together some pretty good sentences lately, but her grammar skills have not been perfected yet. Yesterday, we went to Barnes & Noble and when we walked out, she said to me "store book fun" so I said, "book store" back to her. She thought for a minute and then said, "bookstore fun!" She has been amazing me lately with her grasp of english. If I ask her where something is and she can't find it, She will say "Where? I don't see it!" If she does find it, of course she'll say "There it is!" One of her favorite phrases is "I did it!" She's also been getting into "Mine" lately, so will describe things as "Mine toy" or "Mine Couch". We were browsing through the books at Savers and she picked up a couple and said, "Mine favorite books". It really just is so amazing to me when she puts sentences together like that. I know the grammar is wrong in most cases, but the fact that she is learning the language just makes me proud :)

Today, I had to go drop off the car to get the check engine light looked at and all diagnosed, and since there was no one to come pick us up for about an hour and a half, the guy from the shop gave us a ride home in our car. Alice didn't like that much. This guy was a typical auto shop kind of guy. He was very nice, but a little rough and big, which scared her. Well, when we got out of the car and he drove away with it, Alice said, "Mine car. Mommy daddys car." and was pretty sad about it.

She has also been quite concerned in parking lots lately, and wants you to hold her. When I picked her up, she was worried and said, "Car get me!"