Molen Nation

Disney!

2010-10-12T00:08:00.003-06:00

We brought Lottie to Disneyland this week. On Friday, the day before we left to drive down here, we decided to leave Kelsey with the Aunts for the week. She will spend the weekends with Stephanie and the week with Aunt Colleen & Aunt Della.

We have one more day here before moving on down to San Diego. Here are a few pictures... I promised to show Aunt Stephanie how much fun we're having. I will post more later.

They have it all decked out for Halloween. Lots of pumpkins.

Lottie got cozy on Pluto's bed at Mickey's house.

She was a little scared of getting too close to Mickey. She shook his hand and was excited to see him, just didn't want to hug him.

She did better when we saw him out in costume today. She actually hugged him and kissed his nose.

Mama Bo (that's what Lottie has started calling my mom) wasn't afraid to give him a hug and smooch though!

Lottie did run right up to Princess Tiana. We had to hold her back to wait her turn.

We are having a great time, in spite of the fact that Mama Bo passed out while waiting for the fairies. Way too long standing in one place in the hot sun. She's just fine though. At least it got us special seating when we went to see World of Color. See... there's a bright spot in everything!

Feel so Trendy

2010-07-22T09:14:00.004-06:00

Do you ever come across something you love, and then wish you didn't because it's just so trendy? I didn't even know how trendy until after I was in love though.

I have been listening to my Glee Cast Radio on Pandora (I know... more and more trend) and heard this song "New Soul." I really dig it.

So at my girl's night last week I asked my friends if they had heard it. Kristyn had bought the whole album on iTunes already. Kalee had to listen, but then said "Oh, I know this song... from the commercial!"

Right there, I thought, dang! Sometimes I just don't like to jump on bandwagons. Kristyn said the rest of the album wasn't as good, and I shouldn't waste my time. I had to check it out for myself, just to be sure. I listened to previews, and hurried over to buy the whole album myself. Sorry Kristyn, I love the whole thing.

"Paris" intrigues me. In fact, since I bought it yesterday, I've listened to that more than "New Soul." Yael Nain (the singer, and the album title) sings several songs in Hebrew (her native tongue) and they are haunting and beautiful - even though I have no idea what they're about.

Anyway, I highly recommend this album if you're into this kind of thing. The musical style kind of reminds me of Poe's "Haunted," which I also love.

One of those days

2010-07-13T13:29:00.002-06:00

Do you ever have one of those days? You know, the ones where you are at work, doing your job as a technical writer, and you suddenly realize that Microsoft Word is not spell checking your documents?

And with the error you just found (Waranty? How is Waranty an acceptable word?) in the title of your document, you know that it hasn't been working for over a month at the very least? And you know how you have written and updated hundreds of documents during that time?

Here's to the three hours I spent fixing that one mistake... in the dozens of pdf bundles that form is included in. And here's to many more opening all of the documents I've created lately (once IT actually gets the problem fixed) and checking them.

An Open Note...

2010-06-17T15:55:00.003-06:00

to Shopowners Everywhere,

Please do not display merchandise for sale in your bathrooms. Because... Ew.

The End.

Sincerely,
Grossed-out Fabric Shopper
(who did not purchase, and now will not purchase from your store.)

Not to complain...

2010-06-09T21:03:00.003-06:00

But I'm going to complain. I don't like to vent and be all negative on the blog, but today I have to.
This Saturday is June 12th. Many of the 3 or so people who read this blog remember that I am running a half marathon on Saturday.

Excuse me, was running a half marathon on Saturday.

That's right. I have allergies, asthma and OCD - which means I can't run on Saturday. Okay, maybe the OCD has nothing to do with my running, but that diagnosis came this week too. Here's the story:

I've been having asthma attacks much more frequently the past couple of weeks. I know it is because of the cottonwood trees that are shedding their little cotton balls all over the place around here. So, it's been really hard for me running.

I've been working for five months now, building up the endurance I need to run 13.1 miles. Three weeks ago I ran 8 miles and thought I was in great shape. Two weeks ago I was supposed to run 10. I hit about 3 miles, had an asthma attack and ended up walking 1.5 miles home. Last Saturday I was supposed to run 8-10 miles. I did 6 and thought I was going to die.

This leads me to Monday. I was sitting and sewing, and I had an asthma attack. That's right, no activity at all and I couldn't breathe. So, I went to the doctor. He suggested (told me) that I shouldn't try to do the run on Saturday because it was likely I would push myself through an asthma attack and end up in the hospital. But he didn't absolutely forbid my running.

I debated long and hard. I talked to Brad, I asked sister, and I talked to Kimberly at work (who has been a big support in my running - she's doing the full marathon on Saturday hoping to qualify for Boston). After that and a lot of soul searching, I decided finally that it wasn't worth the risk, and I haven't really wasted the last five months, because as soon as I get my asthma under control I can keep training to run a half marathon (maybe Vegas in December?) in a much faster time. I can set a new goal for myself, instead of just finishing, to finish in under two hours.

It's hard. I still really want to run this week, and part of me still thinks that I've wasted a lot of time for nothing. After all, I was hoping this would help me get healthy and lose weight. I haven't lost a pound (and no, my jeans are not fitting any looser either) and I get winded just walking up the stairs. But then again, I get winded just walking up the stairs and so I know I can't run 13.1 miles this weekend. I just have to realize that I'm at least a little healthier, because five months ago there is no way on earth I could have run eight miles at once and been okay afterward.

And now here's the funny part. I have been teased a lot about some of my quirks. Yes, I call them quirks. Some call them freakish behaviors. It has always been a kind of joke that I'm "a little OCD." Well, a few weeks ago I came up the stairs at my house, and was so bothered that I had to go down and do it again. Turns out, it was just because I started on the wrong foot. That got me thinking really hard, noticing more of my "quirks."

I have a system when I get in the car. If I don't do things in the right order, I have flashes of horrible accidents while I'm driving. Not so much if I start off right.

I can't start cooking a meal when things in my utensil turn-about on the counter are in the wrong place. Like, if Brad has put the dishes away (which he does a lot. I have a good husband.) and he just sticks things in there wherever they fit, I have to stop and sort it out right before I start cooking. Even if I'm not using anything in there. I think about burning food and catching the house on fire if I don't fix those things.

Well guess what... that means I have OCD. There's a distinction between quirky behavior and liking things in order and OCD. A tell-tale sign of OCD is associating horrible events with certain quirky behaviors.

I'm not at the "What About Bob" stage... and I will probably never be. I'm not even at the needing medication or a therapist stage. I am supposed to talk about my behaviors and thoughts. If I feel like it's taking control of my life, that's when I would start seeing a behavioral therapist. For now, all of you, my good friends and family, get to be my therapists.

And yes, you can tell me I'm crazy. Because let's be honest here. I am a little bit crazy. (The first time I said that, it was to Brad. And I'm lame enough to have finished it up with "and you're a little bit rock & roll.") And really, as I heard once... "I don't have OCD. I have CDO, because I believe everything should be in alphabetical order."

Don't Read This!!!

2010-05-24T10:22:00.002-06:00

If you didn't watch the series finale of Lost yet, don't read this. Wait until you've watched it, then come back.

First off, Boone is hot. Just had to get that out of the way. I was glad to see him for just a few minutes at least.

But where was Michael? And the annoying kid? Walter! How come they didn't get to come meet up with everyone in heaven? (Not that I minded too much - I didn't really like them.) Basically, if you weren't a couple, you didn't get to heaven. Except Boone, probably because he's hot.

And how unsatisfying that they call it a resolution, when all it was is everyone meeting up in the afterlife, since they're all dead. I mean, sure, they held true to the "dead is dead" philosophy, but seriously? That is not closure.

I was with it right up to the point when Jack started talking to his father. At that point, it became just another Dallas moment - where an entire season was a dream just so they could get Patrick Duffy back, or Newhart... "Honey, you won't believe the dream I just had." Lame.

As Brad said, "I just wasted 120 hours of my life."

Okay, maybe not all wasted, I just feel cheated. There were no answers here, just another intense, very good episode. Only this time instead of leaving us hanging and wanting more, they wrapped up with five minutes of crap.

I'd go so far as to say I think even Seinfeld ended better. Leaving the main characters in jail is better than saying "Hey, we're not going to tell you what really happened to any of them. We're not going to explain anything about the island, just introduce you to a new shiny place there. We'll just let you know they all got to the afterlife. Because they all died at some point. Just like everyone else."

I am done now.

Tracking

2010-05-11T13:34:00.004-06:00

Once upon a time, my sister went on a trip. Far away. Like, halfway around the world.

I was jealous. I still am. Mostly. She's had some flight issues. She didn't get to Barcelona until a day after she was scheduled, since her flight out of Salt Lake was delayed by snow and she missed the connection in Atlanta.

She should have been home yesterday, but her flight out of Barcelona was canceled due to the no-fly zone in Portugal because of the ash cloud from the Iceland volcano. She was re-routed through Paris and was supposed to be home about 30 minutes from now. So I thought I would get online and just check to see if she really would be.

Looks like her flight was delayed a few hours and she'll now be home in 2 1/2 hours. But at least it's in the air and back over North America. Know how I know?

How cool is that? Not only does it give you the expected time of arrival, but you can actually see the progress of the flight! Ah, web stalking. What did we ever do without it?

P.S. Notice how they couldn't fly through Portugal, but they can fly directly over the volcano producing the ash? Mother Nature is one freaky lady!

Lottie's Nemo Party

2010-05-03T19:26:00.006-06:00

Lottie turns two this week. It's crazy that she is that old... sometimes she seems much older!

We had her birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house on Saturday. We're still at the stage where we really just have family at the party, but I think next year she'll get a party with her little friends - since they'll probably be old enough to understand and maybe care by then ; )

Warning... picture overload coming up.

I barely finished her birthday outfit, since my sewing machine jammed up while I was halfway through quilting her new quilt. Good thing she's not old enough to realize she didn't get it on her birthday! I borrowed my mom's machine and finished the pants late Friday night. Which means I didn't get to try them on her, and they are too long. But that's okay, she's still cute.

She liked twirling her shirt. And she even left the flower in her hair for the whole party. Hanging out with Ainsleigh is really turning her into a princess.

Daddy helped her open her presents. She was really spoiled by everyone. Grandma and Grandpa Molen made her a picture book with all of her Aunts and Uncles and cousins on the Molen side of the family. That will make it much easier to teach her who her family is that she doesn't get to see all the time.

Aunt Stephanie couldn't be at the party even though it was at her house, something about being on a Mediterranean cruise or something, but she made sure that Lottie had a new bike to match Ainsleigh's so they can ride around together.

And Liam's just so upset that he doesn't have a big kid bike to ride.

Or maybe he's upset because his pants kept falling down so we put him in suspenders to match Grandpa.

Then we had the pinata. One of my neighbors made this for the party. Since Lottie is our little Cinco de Mayo baby, we've had a pinata for her birthday party. I think that will last as long as she likes it... not sure how we'll work it in when she wants a princess party though.

And don't let their innocent faces fool you. They may look sweet, but they had great fun yelling "Hit Nemo!" and "I hit Nemo's face!"

Come to think of it, maybe pinatas don't teach the best lessons... Then we moved on to the cake. My Neighbor (notice the capitalization of Neighbor, that is not a typo - we don't actually live by each other any more, but she'll always be Neighbor to me - and she's awesome) made this amazing Nemo cake. And she always says she's not domestic.

Lottie sort of blew out the candles. Mommy had to help.

I made Nemo and bubble cookies to go with the cake and ice cream. I mean, really, what's a kid's birthday party without loading them up on sugar and sending them home with their parents?

I just miscalculated the "sending them home with their parents" part since all the kids were hanging out for the rest of the day at my parent's house. Oops. Well, at least they sat with their balloons watching a movie for a little while.

It was a great birthday party.

A Few Things About Lottie

2010-04-19T21:28:00.003-06:00

She is just beautiful. Really, everywhere we go people comment on how beautiful she is. She's got that perfect hair that is naturally highlighted, changing from red to blond depending on how the light hits it. Vivid blue eyes. And a smile that can light up a room.

She likes cheese. Every time we open the fridge, she runs over and asks for a cheese. It's adorable.

And she loves {Vegas}. Not the city so much as the bear. I'd say 90% of the time you see her, it is like this, Vegas hanging from her hand, or tucked under an arm. When she's cuddling Vegas and you give her kisses, you have to give Vegas kisses too. In fact, he's been kissed and cuddled so much that he no longer has a nose or mouth, the threads broke from so much love.

Aunt Stephanie brought him back from a trip she took to Las Vegas, and he's been Lottie's favorite ever since she could pick a favorite. She has others she likes - {Tiger} that Uncle Lane gave her, and {Princess} from Aunt Dayna - but nobody can replace Vegas.

This is an unfortunate fact, as Vegas is missing at the moment. Yup... we had him last night, but nobody's seen him at all today. He magically disappeared between bedtime last night and this morning. We have searched our house, Grandma's searching hers (in the morning), and the van has been thoroughly searched as well. I have no idea where he could have gone. Let's just say that I hope we can find him soon. It's more than an hour past bedtime, but she's still not asleep, missing her Vegas. {And let's be honest here... I kind of miss him too... she doesn't cuddle anyone quite as adorably as she cuddles him.}

A few notes:

1. Kate took these awesome pictures while we were doing Kelsey's six month photo shoot. Doesn't she take great pics?

2. Lottie has a nice leather chair that is all her own. My furniture is stained microfiber... how is it that kids have nicer stuff than their parents?

3. We just found out tonight that the bear Aunt Dayna gave her is named Princess. He usually sits on the shelf above her play kitchen, but when we tried to pacify her with him, she did at least hug him and call him Princess. So maybe I should stop referring to Princess as "him" since this bear is obviously a girl.

4. Recently, I've been using brackets {inappropriately}. I just think they're cute. And I'm a firm believer that you can't break the rules until you know how to follow them. And since I know how to follow the grammar rules, I feel I can break them if I want to. (Just don't let it get out with the people I work with... they'd lose all respect for me.)

Easter

2010-04-07T20:26:00.003-06:00

We had a great Easter with our girls. It was so much fun to decorate eggs with Lottie. She put the eggs on the spoon for me to dip into the dye, and was so patient as she waited for them to come out colored.

I'm waiting for pics of that from my sister Kate, but I do have a few others that Kate took that day to share here. We had a fun little photo shoot with Lottie, Kelsey, Ainsleigh and Liam.

We also did a photo shoot for Kelsey's six month pictures. I will post those as soon as I have them.

I love a sense of humor

2010-04-01T08:49:00.000-06:00

Why can't everyone have as good a sense of humor as Google? Really, if one of the top companies out there can play a good April Fool's Day joke, I should work harder to get in on the action.

{Brad, consider this your fair warning!}

2010-03-09T20:37:00.002-07:00

Dear US Census Bureau,

I understand your desire to have every person in the country counted. I understand the reasoning behind this desire. I even understand the lame radio commercials I've been hearing to inform people the census is happening, and to make sure we are aware our form coming in the mail is legit. I fully intend to fill my census form out completely and return it to you.

I do not understand the need to mail a letter to me telling me you will be mailing my census form to me. Really? It says to watch for my form in the mail. Do you think that letter is going to reach people who aren't checking their mail? Really!?!

Is there any purpose in this letter other than wasting money? Maybe your purpose is wasting time. Or killing trees. So, I guess maybe there is more purpose than just wasting money. I take it all back US Census Bureau. Maybe you know what you're doing.

Then again, I know some of your employees... so maybe you don't.

Sincerely,
A Resident of Eagle Mountain
( I just thought I should tell you where I live, because my letter came addressed to the resident at my street address, my zip code, city of Lehi. I don't live in Lehi.)

Trucks

2010-03-06T20:01:00.005-07:00

Kelsey is having a rough time right now. RSV with ear infections in both ears makes for an unhappy baby. She has been getting a lot of my attention right now. Sewing is getting no attention. Lottie is still getting some, but not as much as she should be.

Instead, I'm sorry to say, I've resorted to the electronic babysitter all too frequently this week.

Her new favorite - even more requested than Yo Gabba Gabba - is Trucks.

Or, as everyone else knows it:

She especially loves Mater. And I'll admit - he's kind of my favorite too.

Favorite Place

2010-02-24T21:05:00.003-07:00

Lottie has a new favorite place to be. Often, if we cannot hear her, we go into her room and find her here:

Although, she usually looks up and laughs. But the other day, she didn't feel well, so she curled up and went to sleep under Kelsey's crib.

Kelsey's favorite place to be is anywhere someone is paying attention to her:

We see the smile on her face a lot more now that we have her reflux under control and have switched her to lactose-free soy formula. More expensive, but I'd say that smile is well worth it.

I Lost

2010-02-15T15:52:00.004-07:00

And losing was never so much fun!

We had a great Valentine's Day around here. We've sort of got an arrangement: Brad plans our Valentine's activity, I plan our anniversary. I've got a lot to live up to in June.

This is what I got Brad:
Yup. Some movies (let's face it, I don't even know if he wanted them... but I did, and I knew he would enjoy them) and fabric. You read right - fabric. He needs new pajama pants, and I thought it would be more thoughtful if I made them, but I didn't even get around to getting them done before the big day.

This is what he got me:

He dropped me off Saturday afternoon at a Day Spa for a pedicure, manicure, one-hour massage and makeup treatment.

While I was relaxing at the spa, he relaxed with these:

(Lottie takes after Grandma Molen... she loves to play the piano!)

He picked me up from the spa and we went here for dinner.

During dinner he let it slip that he had only thought of the spa the day before. I knew that he hadn't forgotten to get me a present because he had been planning this for so long, so I had a sudden "a-ha" moment when I realized that the spa hadn't been my only present! Sure enough he pulls this out of his coat.

(except of course, my charms say "L" & "K")

I have been seriously wanting some of Lisa Leonard's jewelry for a while now. She has some awesome stuff. I follow her blog and feel like I know her amazing little family. I don't know how Brad knew the perfect gift to get me! (Unless, of course, it was the e-mail I sent him one night as we were both sitting next to each other surfing the web on our iPhones.)

We followed it up with a movie. It was a real date night out - which we don't have very often. Not often enough.

So that night, Stephanie said to me, "You totally lose. Look what he got you, and you got him that?" So yes, I lose. But in losing, I totally won.

June 12th

2010-01-22T14:08:00.004-07:00

One might ask: Why is this day important?

I will tell you. On June 12, 2010, I will be doing this:

Okay, technically I will only be doing half of that. But they didn't have a cute logo I could put up that said half. So - keep bugging me and ask if I'm keeping up with my training schedule. I might get to the point I need pushing!

2010-01-05T22:22:00.003-07:00

Okay, I fully plan to write about Christmas (we had a wonderful time), but this is just a quick post to point you towards my other site where I'm in need of help and offering free things for it!

Click here to check it out:

Sometimes...

2009-12-17T12:21:00.002-07:00

Sometimes when you're listening to Christmas music on the radio do you have to stop and yell, "But Neil, you're Jewish!" just to remind him, because obviously he forgot?

Because I do. Although I find it a little harder to yell the same sentiment at Barbara...

Just because

2009-12-13T21:10:00.003-07:00

I am organizing pictures. I'll post more soon, I promise. I just wanted to share this one of Lottie and Brad from our trip to the zoo in November.

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

2009-12-13T20:33:00.003-07:00

So, who wouldn't want to win this? Well, except maybe sister... she's not so crafty.

TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year? An immersion blender, a Cricut, fabric, a new computer (oh wait, we just got that...), world peace? Although, my husband has already finished shopping for me, and I've only told him one of those things. I didn't give him my list until he'd already got my big present.

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received? My mom gave me a nativity made of wood. Nothing fancy, but I love it.

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle? I tried scarves and they turned out great, now my husband wants me to crochet some gloves. I don't know that I really want to tackle it, but it would be interesting.

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child? I don't remember many, (although I remember every year my dad coming down the stairs after turning the lights on the tree and saying Santa didn't come - so predictable) but I remember the year we got the Nintendo DS. We put that thing back in the box for weeks every time we were done playing with it - only to have to get it out again when we wanted to play. Once Everett got sick of that and left it out, I threw the worst tantrum I remember. I screamed "No, No, No! Put it where it goes!" over and over. I was even on the ground kicking and punching. Seriously, I had issues.

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year? They're not quite old enough to make lists. But Lottie's getting a play kitchen and Kelsey is getting a musical learning table.

6. What is your favorite holiday food? Nuts & Bolts (my mom's version of Chex Mix), or the fudge... maybe caramels? I love all of the tastes and smells of holiday food.

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays? I made a clutch for one of my girls night girls (Kristyn, if you're reading this, I need to get you your gift - act surprised). I haven't done too much crafting for gifts this year.

8. What is your favorite holiday movie? A Charlie Brown Christmas, or It's a Wonderful Life.

9. Favorite holiday song? I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

10. Favorite holiday pastime? I love decorating the tree. And I love Christmas Eve. My family's tradition is to have breakfast for dinner, read the Christmas story from the Bible, and each open one present. I love the traditions. Brad's family has a giant hoagie sandwich on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas they open one gift at a time so everyone can see what each other received. I am glad that we both have such strong traditions that we can merge together to pass on to our children, and that we have started our own traditions.

An Open Letter

2009-12-10T10:43:00.001-07:00

To All Patrons of the Theatre,

Don’t arrive late. It’s just rude. I know that sometimes there are circumstances beyond your control Sometimes there are accidents or bad weather. Maybe you should plan a little extra time for travel to account for the unexpected.

If you do arrive late, shut your mouth as the usher shows you to your seats. Don’t continue to discuss the unexpected event that made you late, hoping that those around you will overhear your conversation and assume that you are not really late, since it wasn’t your fault. That just makes those around you dislike you even more.

And speaking of late, don’t wait so long to order your tickets that you won’t be able to sit with your entire party, and then yell across rows of people to the rest of your friends. It’s just rude. As you wait for the show to start, get up and go talk to whomever you want to, but don’t make everyone listen to your life story. Especially when you have a voice like yours (yeah lady behind me the other night, you know who you are)! And extra especially if you realize right before curtain that you left your cell phone in the bathroom. Nobody needs to know that it was in your hand, and you don’t know where you put it. The mental images that conjures are just wrong. Then, as the lights are dimming and the gentleman is telling everyone to turn off their cell phones and enjoy the show, when your cell phone rings (loudly) don’t pick it up and have a conversation telling that person that you thought you lost it and your daughter is off looking for it in the bathroom! Just turn it off and wait until intermission to apologize to your daughter for making her miss curtain while searching a bathroom. Especially if your daughter is sitting several rows of people away from you.

When you bring children to the theatre, please be mindful of what they are doing. The person in front of you does not keep turning around to look at your child because he’s so good looking. It’s probably because your child is doing something annoying – like kicking the seat in front of him. So when the patron in front of your child politely asks them to stop kicking the seat, don’t look at her like she is rude for talking. And when the musical (or other event) is over, don’t stop the kind beautiful woman who was annoyed by your child and say “I’m sorry he was kicking your seat. He just doesn’t understand that he’s not at the movies.” Because I’ve got news for you – That’s not okay at the movies either!!!

And speaking of when the musical is over – it’s not over until the house lights come up. This is not a football game where your team is up 54-6 with 40 seconds left. It’s not over until the performers are done with their bows. Don’t start walking out at the end of the finale to beat traffic. Be respectful of all the time these performers put in to give you a few hours of entertainment. Because I’ve got news for you – it may be dark where you’re standing, but the actors can still see you. And it hurts a little that you don’t care enough to stand for a few extra seconds and clap for their talents and efforts.

Sincerely,

A Patron of the Arts (who has at least a little class)

Boutique

2009-11-22T21:08:00.003-07:00

It's time for our annual holiday boutique. For the last several years my sister and cousin and I have had a holiday boutique. While my cousin is unable to be there this year, and Steph no longer sells Pampered Chef (she will be hosting a catalog party for the boutique), we have been able to add Kate's photography, Mom and Barry (the brother, not the father)'s yummy baked goods - think delicious caramels...- and a friend's cute little girl fun stuff!

I'm really excited about it this year. In years past, I've been set up to sell Mary Kay at the boutique. While I will still have that available, this year I will be selling my new handbags and accessories. I've just started making bags, wallets, and accessories to sell online. It's my new business - The Busy Bean. Visit my new website to see what I'm making! www.thebusybean.com. Okay, right now there's really only one post there with the first bag I designed and made, but I'm working on finishing a few other styles and getting those pictures up as well. I've also finished a necklace and bracelet - with more to come.

While these will all be available at the boutique, I'll soon open up an etsy shop to sell them as well. The goal is for me to do this and teach piano, and be able to stay home with our girls. Being home for six weeks when Kelsey was born really made me realize how important that is. While it's great that they are always with family while I'm at work, I think it's still important for me to be with them more. And if I'm home, then Brad will get to spend more time with us all as well.

So, wish me luck, and tell all your friends about me - because all women need more handbags, right? And who wouldn't want a unique bag, instead of the same old store-bought, mass-produced bags everyone else carries? Come see the debut on December 5th!

Gone, Baby, Gone...

2009-10-15T12:50:00.004-06:00

The mullet's gone. Yes, my child had a mullet. It wasn't intentional, just the way her hair was growing. And it was so long in the back I just couldn't bring myself to cut it! Until today.

And yes, she was cute before, but now she looks even better.

On another note, I meant to post this a week ago, but time just gets away from me. On General Conference Sunday, my family gathered at the Aunts' house to watch conference and do some humanitarian projects. We made games for the Humanitarian Center and blankets for Primary Children's Hospital. While we were there, Lottie finally let go. She's been walking with assistance for so long, but wouldn't really go more than a step or two on her own. Then that all changed...

Kelsey McKinley

2009-10-04T08:03:00.003-06:00

I guess a week and a half is too long, and I should have put up some pictures of Kelsey long ago, but I just spend too much time cuddling her to get on the computer.

Kelsey was born last Wednesday (missed Aunt Della's birthday by 17 minutes... so sad for Aunt Della) at 12:16 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long. For being 1 1/2 pounds more than Lottie, her delivery sure was a lot easier.

They induced me on Tuesday at about 4:30, I got an epidural when the contractions got uncomfortable, and at 9:30 I was still only at 4.5 cm. Yeah, I'd been almost that far along for three weeks on my own! But from there it went pretty quickly, I was ready to start pushing at midnight. My doctor got there at 12:10 a.m. and told me to start pushing. I was expecting this to be a long process, since I pushed with Lottie for about two hours. So, he said "Give me a big push" and tried, but started coughing. Gave him another good push, then he said "Okay, now another big push for the shoulders" and I was in shock! It couldn't be that easy, right? Instead of pushing I ended up coughing again. One more push and it was over, so I pretty much coughed Kelsey right out.

Now, my sister-in-law Kate is pretty much awesome. She's our family photographer, and we're lucky to have her. Visit her blog here - Kate Johnson Photography - remember that if you ever need great pictures taken. I was going to have her take pictures next week, but then I found out on Friday that she was going to be out of town for two weeks. So, Saturday morning I sent her a text and by that afternoon we were taking Kelsey's pictures! I love the way they turned out! Here are just a few...

With the teddy bear Grandma Glo and Grandpa gave her

Here's a cute one of Lottie that Katie snapped while I took a break with Kelsey. I can never get Lottie to smile in pictures for me, but Katie has a way of catching her at just the right moments to really catch her personality.

And finally here's me with my two girls. Brad was at Priesthood Conference while we did this, so he didn't get any pictures with her, but we'll catch that later.

Kelsey is so sweet. She doesn't look at all like Lottie, yet. I have a feeling they'll look more alike as time goes on. Kelsey does have my darker hair, and doesn't have Brad's eyes and eyebrows like Lottie does. I may be biased, but I think they're both adorable.

Non-stress?

2009-09-18T08:53:00.004-06:00

Why is it called a non-stress test when they only do it when you're stressed?

I've been pretty sick for the past week and a half. My family shares everything - even the stomach flu. And that's miserable enough, but worse when you're 9 months pregnant! Yesterday, for the fifth day out of the last eight, I couldn't keep anything down. After being at work for a while, I noticed that the baby wasn't moving like she usually does. Little Laverne & Shirley is really quite active. So I focused for an hour and only felt her move once.

My doctor sent me to the hospital for a non-stress test. Luckily, I work with my brothers, and Barry drove me to the hospital. Brad dropped Lottie off at his mom's and met us there. They strapped the monitors on me and I waited. We heard the strong heartbeat immediately, and it continued throughout the test.

So, they sent me home with a lovely prescription for the nausea. And when they say that it may cause drowsiness, they are right. I slept almost through the whole night last night, for the first time in a long time.

Now I just have to focus on getting better so I can actually deliver a baby. I was almost hoping they would just induce me yesterday while I was there, but they won't do that while you're sick as long as the baby's okay. Now it's back to waiting. I'm scheduled to be induced on Wednesday if I don't have the baby before then.

By popular demand...

2009-09-13T04:04:00.005-06:00

So, here are a couple new pictures of Lottie. I didn't take many pictures during August or yet in September, so they aren't the most recent.

We went swimming on the 24th of July with Debbie and Ainsleigh. Lottie has a lot of hair, but normally it just lays flat doing nothing. However, put a little sunscreen in it and you get...

Whenever we do Lottie's laundry, she likes to help. Mostly she helps by crawling into her empty basket. But if you put the clothes from the washer onto the door of the dryer, she

will push them in for you.

And to prove she's growing up so fast, we were waiting for Uncle Patrick and Aunt Katie to get home one night and she just had to sit in my seat and learn to drive. A minute later when she grabbed my phone and held it up to her ear with one hand still on the wheel, I knew we were in trouble.

I'm trying to upload a video, but it seems to be having issues. I'll work on that and get it posted too.

Maybe pregnancy insomnia is sort of a good thing. If I could actually sleep at night, I don't think I'd ever post. 4 a.m. seems to be a good time for me to blog. Two more weeks, then I get "baby's not sleeping" insomnia. Don't think that will be as conducive for blogging though.

Seriously, so proud

2009-09-10T04:18:00.005-06:00

Last year, just before Lottie was born, Brad walked in the graduation ceremony at BYU. He wasn't officially a graduate, because he still had his 200 hour internship to complete, but he walked, planning on completing his internship over the summer and having his diploma mailed.

Well, ask anyone who's done it, but an internship while working full-time to support a family is no easy task.

It's already taken him longer to complete his classes than usual because he had to work full-time. He's put so much effort into taking care of me and Lottie that his own personal interests have been put second. There are so many things that he wants to accomplish, but there just seems to be no time.

His work schedule isn't the easiest. And when he's home, he seems to spend all of his time on his own "honey-do" list. I've never had to make one for him, he just gets things done. Of course, top on the list is spending all the time he can with Lottie. I swear, if it wasn't for him that girl wouldn't be as smart as she is. She loves to play and walk and go up and down the stairs, and he is the one who never fails to have the energy to do it with her - even after a full day of work standing for eight hours straight.

Add to all of that the internship. This summer (only a year after planned...) he finally finished his internship with Select Health. Part of that was to complete a journal of activities. So many people (myself included) would probably have just done the hours, whipped something together to get just a passing grade, and submitted it. But Brad put a lot of time into actually turning in a journal he could be proud of. Enough to get an "A."

And yesterday, his diploma was mailed. He is officially a college graduate. Sure, he may have picked the wrong University to attend (Go Utes!) but he did it. He didn't let anything stop him, and that makes me so proud of him.

I was talking to my mom one day, and she shared with me what she worries about with her children. Each of us has different struggles. One thing she said was that she didn't worry about my family financially because she was sure that Brad would do whatever it took to make sure that we were cared for. I don't doubt that either.

I'm so glad that he has the drive to finish what he starts. He truly can teach our children by example. I don't ever have to worry that they'll do something they see their daddy do, because I would be proud to have my children do exactly what their daddy does.

And so fitting that he finished classes and walked right before his first child was born, and actually has the diploma now just before child #2. So really, we could just pretend these pictures were taken now... since we both still look the same!

*Disclaimer - I just couldn't resist one stab at BYU... But while we all know that the U of U is a much better school, I am still quite excited that BYU beat Oklahoma. I even cheered for them and explained to my sister why it was so exciting that they won that game.

Quick Learner

2009-07-10T15:36:00.003-06:00

Monday night we were all sitting around at the Johnson house when Gramma Glo called out for us to make sure the girls were contained so she could open the oven and check on dinner. It's dangerous to cook around little Ainsleigh and Lottie. They both love to "help" when we open the dishwasher, I'm sure they'd love to climb right in the oven and "help" there too.

Uncle Patrick asked, "Do they know what hot is?" Well, Monday night we could say, "Not yet."

Lottie must have taken that as a personal challenge to learn as quickly as possible what hot is, because this was her hand on Tuesday.

The other hand doesn't look much better.

She was playing outside at Aunt Colleen's house with Ainsleigh, getting ready to go swimming, and crawled over a hot piece of metal on the ramp up to the front door. The poor girl screamed for two hours straight. Gramma Glo was beside herself with concern that she didn't watch her close enough. I said "meh..." Really, it could have happened when we were there all day on the 4th of July and they were crawling around the same spot. Although it was fun to text the picture to Aunt Stephanie with the caption "Grandma taught me what hot is."

The nurse said that she would be in a lot of pain for 2-3 days. You would never know that with how happy and playful she was that night. The only time she screams at us is when we change the bandages. I'm sure it is not fun to have your hands all bandaged up so you can't bend your fingers all the way when they're barely big enough to grab your favorite toys as it is!

Realization

2009-06-25T13:43:00.004-06:00

I realize that most dreams make no sense. I have a recurring nightmare about escalators and being torn to shreds by Sylvester the Cat. It makes no sense. What makes even less sense about this is the scary thing in that nightmare is Sylvester, not the escalator. And yet, I am afraid of escalators, and not Sylvester the Cat.

Still, other than that, I have never had dreams as strange or convoluted as during pregnancy. Yesterday, I woke up from a dream several times as I hit snooze on my alarm. I kept hoping that by going back to sleep I could somehow will myself out of this bad dream and force a happy resolution. Finally I just got out of bed since instead of getting better, my situation in the dream kept getting worse. But even more disturbing than the dream itself are the two conclusions I drew from the dream...

1. I should stop listening to NPR news.

2. Once A Flock of Seagulls gets in your head, it's impossible to get them out.

I'm still singing "I Ran (so far away)". Not a good thing. And any dream that combines those two realizations into one is definately not a good thing.

Opening Night!

2009-06-19T09:53:00.005-06:00

Sometimes I get so busy that I forget to post about my show! I'm so excited to be doing theater again... four years away is way too long. It's been exhausting, but so worth it. So, everyone come see me play Yertle the Turtle in this wonderful production!

The Midvale Arts Council will present "Seussical", June 19 - 27 (nightly except Sunday), 7:30 pm at the Midvale Outdoor Stage in the Park, 400 West 7500 South.

Now one of the most performed shows in America, "Seussical" is a fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza! Tony winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty ("Ragtime," "Once On This Island") have lovingly brought to life all of our favorite Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton the Elephant, The Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, lazy Mayzie, and a little boy with a big imagination--Jojo.

The story centers around Horton the Elephant, who finds himself faced with a double challenge--not only must he protect his tiny friend Jojo (and all the invisible Whos) from a world of naysayers and dangers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left to his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him, the only one who recognizes "his kind and his powerful heart." Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community are challenged and emerge triumphant, in a story that makes you laugh and cry.

The show is being directed by Stephanie Johnson, with musical direction by Tammy Morgan and choreography by Emilee Stokes and Stephanie Maag. The cast includes as Cat in the Hat - Candice J. Jorgensen, JoJo - Gracie Vesley, Horton - Jeremy Wing, Gertrude - Casey Matern, Mayzie - Elisha Jorgensen,
and as Sour Kangaroo - Lorri L. Cerva.

Tickets are $5 general admission, $3 children and seniors and may be purchased at the door or in advance at www.midvalearts.com. Group discounts and $20 family passes (one household) are also available. Seating is on the grass so please bring lawn chairs & blankets.

Squidbaby

2009-05-19T10:03:00.003-06:00

I got to work this morning and saw on my whiteboard the heading "My baby is a..."

There were three options, and a note to circle one. Boy, Girl, or Squidbaby.

As we had our ultrasound yesterday and eliminated one possibility, boy had been crossed out. Which, according to my team at work, still leaves the options of girl or squidbaby.

The doctor thinks girl.

Happy Cinco de Lottie

2009-05-05T15:50:00.006-06:00

Today is Lottie's first birthday. I can hardly believe that she has been with us for a year. She really has been the most amazing blessing in our lives.

We had a lot of fun at her birthday party on Sunday. We had a barbecue, cake, and a pinata. The pinata really kind of scared Lottie, but she took a few swings at it with help.

I have a few pictures of the party, but I put my camera away since everyone else there had theirs out. I decided to be part of the party instead of just taking pictures of it. I'll post more when I get them from Katie.

She sat for a while in the hat, but when we turned it around to face front, she didn't like it one bit.

She did enjoy the cake, but then her daddy had to put her in the tub.

Oh Happy Day!

2009-04-27T07:25:00.003-06:00

For two years, our yard has been dirt. And not so much plain dirt, but clay, since our soil where we live is crap. Finally, this year we have finally been able to put in our yard. Last fall and for the past few weekends, my family has been working really hard with us to finish the sprinkler system. It was finished on the 18th, which means this last Saturday we were finally able to make it look like someone lives in our house.

Here's Brad and my neighbor Amy (who is almost as excited for our grass as we are) getting the soil ready to lay the sod.

Patrick was a real workhorse Saturday, planting trees and lugging a lot of sod.

We had a few neighbors come help, and Lane and Everett to lay the sod. They finished up the last few pieces just as the pouring rain started.

I'll have to take some good pictures, now that the whole thing is done, but it was raining way too hard the rest of the weekend to get good shots. We still have to plant one more tree in the back, spread the seed back there, and put in the flower bed, but then our yard will be all done; ready for a summer of BBQ and fun. We've got a Little Tykes swing set for Lottie to play on and everything. I can hardly wait to be able to fully enjoy the perks of home ownership that include our own place to play outside!

Today I am grateful for...

2009-04-10T16:48:00.000-06:00

My sister. I stole this title from her, because she has been posting on her blog every day about something she is grateful for. It's really nice to think about all these random things - movie quotes, new laptops (jealous), family, etc. It was a goal of hers to post one thing every day this month. And I love it. So check out her blog if you want something refreshing - funny - insightful - each day during April. I find myself really looking forward to it each day.

A few things

2009-04-01T03:01:00.000-06:00

Last night I auditioned for Seussical the Musical. This was big for me. It has been a while since I auditioned for anything. I was thinking it was three years ago, but as I pulled my old theatre resume off the computer, I realized my last show was four years ago. And I haven't sung in public since that time.

Luckily my good friend Candice worked really hard with me on an audition song. Singing is not my strong point in musical theatre. I'm an actress who can sing, not the other way around. So I get nervous during the singing portion of auditions. Especially since I was auditioning for people I know. The musical director is a wonderful woman named Tammy. My only contact with her has come outside of the theatre, so singing for her was new. And the director is my sister. I've been dreading singing to be judged by these two talented women. They can be quite intimidating.

Well, as generally happens with me and singing auditions, I hit some pretty bad notes. Surprisingly though, I thought my sister would make me more nervous, but it actually calmed me to look at her! Candice too was in the audience, and between looking at the two of them and seeing their support, I was able to get back on track. And I felt good about my reading of "The Sneetches."

So, we'll see what happens. I'm not hoping for a lead; I know I don't have the vocal strength for one in this show. But, it will be good to get back to the theatre and have some "me" time. I've got to get that in before the next baby's born.

Which brings us to part 2 of this post. Lots of people know, but for those who don't, I'm pregnant! It was quite unexpected, (really, those little pills only work if you don't forget them for three weeks) but we are so excited! Baby #2 (currently named Cain & Abel by Steph) is due to enter the world on or about Septmber 27th. Yes, that puts Lottie at only 16 months - two not in nursery. But, since I'm not getting any younger, we're in a two week countdown to 30, it's not a bad thing to get our family into the world quickly.

Unfortunately, that's why I'm writing this post at 3:00 am on my phone... Pregnancy insomnia. I wake up for hours at a time during the night, unable to get back to sleep. I laid here for over an hour tonight before I decided to just do something. So, that means a blog update (since they're way too few in number). Next time I'll post from the home computer so I can include updated pictures of Lottie. They're getting even cuter now that she actually smiles for the camera sometimes.

A little confused

2009-03-08T19:43:00.002-06:00

Lottie loves socks. She really does. She's just a little confused about where they go.

Update

2009-02-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

It's really sad when you finally get around to reading your sister's blog, and only then realize that you haven't updated you own in 5 weeks. So here's an update.

We went to dinner on Friday the 13th to celebrate my mom's news that her cancer is in complete remission. Yippee! The transplant worked just as they hoped it would.

Our little family is doing well. Lottie gets bigger every day. She's still got her daddy's calm personality, for which I am continually greatful.

My Trip to CES

2009-01-17T00:12:00.004-07:00

I found myself at the Microsoft booth at CES 2009. The CES, or Consumer Electronics Show, offers some of the latest technology, coolest gadgets and craziest new innovations. At this particular booth, I was playing around with one of the newest Windows Mobile phones when I was approached by a very insistent woman.

"You need to get off this phone, the FCC Chair wants to see it." Say what?

Naturally, I obliged and let Kevin Martin, the current (but not for long) FCC Chairman, use the phone I was just playing with. He kicked me off!

Part of me wanted to respond, "the FCC Chair can wait his turn just like everyone else." But I didn't want the government all over me, though I wonder in retrospect what he would've done if I had resisted. Guess we'll never know.

So why did I go to CES? To blog. And for an escape. I'm making the transition from full-time job at AT&T to a part-time internship, and it seemed like the best time to do it. Plus, I could get into the show and parties for free. All I had to worry about was the gas, food and possible hotels. Sounds like a good deal to me.

I currently blog for unwiredview.com, and figured I could find plenty of stuff to write about. It was true. Some of the cool stuff I saw? A watch with a built-in touchscreen phone (Dick Tracy style) and MP3 player, that will speak your text messages to you. A luxury phone that costs $2,000. An 8 MP camera phone (read: better than my current digital camera).

There was a ton more. Huge booths with the fanciest displays I've ever seen, showing off all the latest products. One in particular was a sensor that you put on the top of your HDTV that can see your hand gestures so you can use your hand as a remote control. Practical? No. Intriguing? Indeed.

I also enjoyed the parties. Many of the big players at CES will put on afterparties Thursday-Saturday nights. I went to three on Friday night -- one that was on the top floor of the Wynn, with amazing views of the valley; one that was uneventful for me and doesn't need to be mentioned; and one that featured a free performance by the Counting Crows. I got into that one at the last minute and waltzed right in to a nice view, only 5 feet away from the lead singer. Not bad for free!

I also was able to attend my grandma's birthday celebration that my parents and my dad's siblings attended. That was nice timing for me to be there, and a pleasant surprise for her.

The other notable thing I did on the trip was eat out at a posh steakhouse at the Paris called Les Artiste. Rather pricey stuff. I was invited by my sister-in-law who was on her way down to Cali with some friends; they definitely wanted to go to a place while stopped in Vegas for the night. Naturally I hadn't eaten much that day, so thus my stomach was smaller and I wasn't able to eat much of my expensive dinner. Nice timing for that as well. Fortunately I got a doggie bag and finished it all later, so it didn't go to waste.

All in all, it was a great weekend and everything seemed to come together quite nicely. I networked with some new people, saw some cool new gadgets, and caught some good entertainment. Great way to transition into a new phase of my life!

Between Boise and Bliss

2009-01-02T21:04:00.002-07:00

I have a lot of catching up to do on my blog posts, but I thought I would start our holiday recap with this:

Lottie is generally such a happy baby. She spends much more time laughing and playing than she does crying. And she has slept through the night since she was a month old. So of course, when we went to Washington to spend Christmas with Brad's family, she was up throughout the night crying. She didn't smile and laugh like she usually does. I'm sure the family who doesn't get to see her much thought that we all lied about her personality.

It reminded me of when Melanie and Jeremy came to visit Utah last year. They spent a day skiing with Brad and Lane. I couldn't ski because I was pregnant (well... that and I can't ski). So I watched their 5 kids that day. They told me that Brielle, the baby, was so good-natured; that she was just a happy little baby. Of course, she spent the whole day crying and didn't take a nap at all. Turns out she was teething and having a bad day.

Well, as we were driving home from Washington (which is a story for another post) Lottie was being generally good. She was laughing and smiling or sleeping. Until we got back in the car after eating lunch in Boise. Then she cried and screamed pretty straight until we reached Bliss, Idaho. Then suddenly she started laughing and playing again. It was crazy how quickly her mood changed. I grabbed the camera and snapped some pictures. It was then that I saw this:

Look close on the bottom of her smile there - you'll see Lottie's first tooth. I guess one tooth makes a big difference in attitude. The difference between being in Boise and Bliss!

Giving Thanks

2008-12-01T21:16:00.004-07:00

Generally, we have Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Colleen's house. This year, since my mom can't be around crowds, we had our own little family dinner at her house. My sister, Stephanie, has set some goals for herself. One of those goals is to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner. She has been stuck in the "non-cook" food assignment category... veggie trays, mashed potatoes, etc. She wanted to prove that she can bring big kid food next time. So, I went and helped her prepare a traditional Thanksgiving dinner from scratch.

It started Wednesday night with making pies (and pie crust) from scratch, rolls, and brining the turkey. She watched Rachel Ray, and learned all about brining a turkey. Sometimes I think that watching Food Network is a dangerous thing for my sister. Anyway, she had learned to brine from Rachel, and I learned from Alton Brown. I won. Our theme for the meal prep became "What would Alton Brown do?"

First, Alton would wash the turkey. Stephanie is a germophobe, so this was rather amusing to watch.

But, she got through it, and the finished product was amazing.

Brad was assigned to carve, his firt time, while Stephanie makes gravy in the background. It was a Thanksgiving of firsts for everyone.

Mom walked us through making the stuffing (which was NOT stuffed in the actual bird... this is a valid germaphobe fear, according to Alton Brown). It tasted just like Aunt Lynn's.

Our homemade rolls were beautiful (and just a little dry).

And Stephanie set a beautiful table in the living room for us to enjoy our dinner together.

And after dinner, while the boys cleaned up, Stephanie and I both took a well-deserved nap. Although, she got to cuddle with Lottie and the teddy bear, while I was cuddled up with the after Thanksgiving shopping ads.

Oh Happy Day!

2008-11-21T07:50:00.001-07:00

This morning a great and wonderful thing happened. I was getting dressed and thought I'd try an experiment...

So as I sit typing this, I sit in my pre-pregnancy jeans!

Life is good.

Lottie at Grandma's

2008-10-24T09:28:00.003-06:00

Some babies see a camera and start posing/smiling/laughing; some babies will see a camera (or even my iPhone, which I thought would be at least a little more sneaky) and go from smiley mode to straight face right away. Lottie is in the latter category. However, I was able to catch my daughter in rare form the other night as we were in Grandma Glo's hospital room. Here are a couple snapshots.

The first one is my favorite, because she looks like me when I was in high school and just wanted to pose by pointing at the camera all the time. Copycat...
But I also like the last one just because it shows what she really looks like when she's laughing and giggling, which is rather difficult to capture with a camera.

FHE

2008-10-21T10:56:00.006-06:00

On Sunday night, my family had our Family Hair Evening. Since my mom is going to lose all of her hair with the chemo, she didn't want to wait for it to all fall out in clumps while laying in her hospital bed. Since she was shaving her head, we all decided to support her by shaving ours too! Here are some of the pictures of the night. My sister-in-law Katie was taking pictures of the whole thing, and took over 300 that night.

Here's the whole family before:

Mom was first. We all took a swipe at her with cutters at one point. But Dad's first cut was a little sad for her:

She cheered up a lot once Steph and I spiked her hair into a purple mohawk. She's all punk now!

Dad let mom shave off the middle of his moustache. Then we gave him a little pony tail on top and shaved the rest.

Everett shaved spikes all over his head. He tried to do lightning bolts in his beard, but that didn't work.

Stephanie did what she likes to call "the Joe Biden" but it really turned out more like a monk:

Barry was going for the Captain Picard look, but he was not nearly as good looking. In fact, right after this picture was taken, Ainsleigh just cried. I guess she doesn't like her daddy bald:

Stephanie wanted to do a Cyndi Lauper look on me, but it was getting late and dark, so we didn't have time for the waffle cut:

Although, when we finished the job she did give me a little splotchy Brittney Spears look going on:

And finally, Patrick already had such short hair - so I shaved the words "Cancer Sucks" into his head:

My sister's best friend has been around our family so much that she's practically family herself. She has long enough hair that she is going to cut it off and donate to locks of love. Her husband Hutch joined us in the shaving party on Sunday:

And here's the family after. I may be a little biased, but I think that we're kind of an attractive group of bald people:

Poor Brad was really concerned about how bad I'd look with a shaved head. Luckily for him, it's not so bad. In fact, I told him that I liked it so much I'm going to keep it this way. His response was "No you're not." But I really am glad of his support of me and my family.

The Harvest

2008-10-14T14:58:00.002-06:00

Today began the harvest of my mom's stem cells. Actually, the process started on Friday with shots she has to give herself to build the count of stem cells in her blood. All weekend she was giving herself seven shots a day. The side effects of the shots were not pleasant. They cause bone pain, and general flu-like symptoms.

Friday night we spent the night at my parents' house, as we were participating the next morning in a Cancer Walk. Our team raised $1900 for cancer research! Unfortunately, mom was not up to participating with us. I've always been told that listening to your child cry, being unable to help them, is the worst feeling in the world. I don't think that anyone who says that can have had to endure sitting with their mother and hearing her cry because she is in so much pain, and not be able to do anything about it. I have never hurt so bad as when I knew how much my mom is hurting. I think it's because she's always been so strong. Mom is the one that is always there, always the one who fixes things. I just want to fix it for her, but I know I can't.

Yesterday they installed a central line in her chest. This way with all the blood they will have to take, and all that they need to give her, she won't have to be more of a pincushion than she already has been. That went well. She did develop a fever later in the evening, and they took her back to the hospital. She was given a high dose of antibiotic, and will hopefully be fine.

Today they started actually harvesting cells from her blood to use in her transplant. Her counts are good, so they think that with any luck they could have enough from this week of harvesting. That means that she would go into the hospital to start the chemo on the 21st. And she wouldn't have to go through another round of the painful shots.

Most of my information is coming from texts from my sister, or from reading her blog. It's a lot of phone calls to make every day to keep everyone up to date. So, I'll try updating here, but if you're curious for more information, check out Steph's blog. She's a wealth of knowledge, as she attends most of my mom's doctor appointments with her.

One thing I know is that my mom will require several blood transfusions. It used to be that they asked family to donate directly to use for the patient. While that isn't the case any more, and they use the blood from the American Red Cross, they do ask that as family and friends we make a conscious effort to go donate blood if we are able to. So please, if you want to support my family right now, find out if you are able to donate, and go donate blood.

Firsts

2008-09-30T11:19:00.002-06:00

Every baby has lots of firsts. First smile. First laugh. First step. First word.

Well, last week, Lottie had her first car accident. Yup, we got rear-ended. I was taking Lottie in to her Grandma Molen's house for the day, and a very nice lady that was stopped behind us decided to go before the light turned green. She blamed it on the sun glaring in her eyes. I think it had more to do with the cell phone in front of her face that she was obviously texting on.

Anyway, the car just has a little scratch. Lottie and I are just fine. But, it did require us to buy a new car seat. The cool thing is we got the kind that converts to a front-facing car seat, and then a booster. The Evenflo Symphony, which has a cool new SURElatch system that is so easy to install and practically impossible to mess up. Well, I struggled with my mom and my old neighbor trying to get it in my car on Friday night. I was so upset that it wouldn't even reach the hooks in my car! I was ready to take it back to Babies 'r Us and get all upset at the guy for telling me it was the best car seat, when I couldn't even get it in my car! I went home and did a little more research online to read other people's reviews of the seat. Turns out, I had the straps in the front-facing position, and needed to switch it to the rear-facing. So great! It's made so you can't install it incorrectly, try as hard as you might. We will never need another seat for Lottie.

The best part was that after the accident, Lottie screamed for all of about 1 minute. Then she was happy and smiling. She calmed down so fast. It sure took me a lot longer to calm down. I was just so concerned about her. But the paramedics came and said she seemed fine. I took her in to her doctor, and she came through unscathed. Hooray for resilient babies. She giggled with the paramedic and everything. She is such a great little girl.

Multimedia message

2008-09-04T21:19:00.000-06:00

She has a PhD

2008-08-26T21:17:00.003-06:00

In horribleness...

Oh how I love my sister. She dyed her hair yesterday. Black. And she's making the most of it before we shave it all off.

She is so advanced!

2008-08-24T17:11:00.004-06:00

Last week, Lottie was laying on Aunt Stephanie's lap, and she rolled over. Yup, that's right, she rolled all the way over from her back to her front. Now, being that she was on someone's lap, I had to ask myself how much was Lottie, and how much was the fact that she was maybe slightly on a slant. Stephanie said that Lottie did it all by herself, but I still wasn't quite sure.

Well, yesterday I laid Lottie on a blanket while I went to take a shower. When I got out, I could hear her fussing. Not really crying, but not happy. I came out to check on her, and this is how I found her:

Indeed, she really had rolled all by herself! And what's more, she did it every time I put her on her back and walked away. After a while, she even started enjoying being on her tummy more.

Now we just have to work on getting her to roll back over to her back when she's done with tummy time. Which, according to the development books, she should have done before rolling from back to front.

New Directions

2008-08-22T09:10:00.003-06:00

The last half of September could potentially be a life-changer for me. I really hope it will be.

As I approach the 3-year anniversary of working for Cingular/AT&T, I find myself progressively more and more disinterested in my current profession. I've felt this way for quite some time, frankly, but the longer I stick with it the more disgusted I become.

The hours are terrible and not conducive to family life; I miss out on a LOT of beautiful Saturdays where I could be getting stuff done around the house or something fun. I miss time with Lottie. Not to mention I'm frustrated at customers who think yelling at me is the solution to all of life's problems (spoiler alert -- it's not!). The list goes on and on.

Problem is, it still pays well enough to get us through each month, insurance is awesome and I haven't found something else of interest that pays more. And this is something that concerns me every day because I don't want to be stuck in retail forever, though that's what it feels like I'm destined for. And I certainly would like to give Colleen the opportunity to stay at home with Lottie and future children.

The hard thing for me is that, being a part of my daily life for the last 3 years, cell phones are all I really know well. I have little expertise in any other area. I'm a jack of all trades, I guess.

This is why I've picked up blogging. I'm exploring my options in that area to see if I can start a business of my own and start working on the internet. This would be great because I can work at home, with my own flexible hours, doing something I would rather do.

Which brings me to the last half of September. In the span of about 5 days I will be doing 2 things that could potentially help me determine the direction I want to go from here. I have registered at the BlogWorld Expo 2008 in Vegas on Sept. 20-21, where some of the most successful and well-known bloggers in the world will come together and teach on different methods and strategies to use.

A few days later I will be teaching realtors how to increase productivity with their iPhones or Blackberrys. Two hours of public speaking, not a bad experience builder at all.

If they don't go well, at least I have two more possibilities scratched off the list. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one. I really want to succeed at this!

I don't mean to make this a depressing post -- I just needed to get it off my chest.

The Big C

2008-08-05T11:43:00.006-06:00

So, most people that read this already know that my mom has cancer. She was diagnosed recently with Multiple Myeloma. This is a cancer of the blood that is incurable, but treatable. Last week she had an appointment with a transplant doctor who told her that she is a good candidate for an autologous stem cell transplant. They will take her own stem cells from her blood, giver her a massive amount of chemotherapy to kill everything in her body, and replace her stem cells. She will spend about three weeks in the hospital in October, then another month at home staying away from everyone who has cooties. This treatment should give her 3-5 years where she does not have to do anything else to control this disease. When they harvest her stem cells, they will take enough to do about three transplants. That way in 3-5 years they can do another transplant to give her 3-5 more years.

She had a lot of questions answered for her at that appointment. While she cannot have visits from anyone who is sick, as this treatment will completely destroy her immune system, as long as we're healthy, we can all visit her. Including the babies. I'm sure that spending some long boring days in the hospital will be cheered greatly by seeing her grandchildren. About six days after the transplant, she will lose all her hair. She has decided to shave her head, so that her hair isn't falling out in clumps. All of her children have also decided to shave our heads with her. And her husband. Solidarity, sister! We'll have fun picking out some scarves and a few kicky berets to wear until it grows back. She's decided against spending all the money for a wig to wear for such a short amount of time.

So, the doctors have a great outlook on her case. She was diagnosed early and is responding very well to the chemo cycles she's done so far. All her numbers they track are going in the right directions.

It's been probably the toughest thing I've had to deal with in my life. While her prognosis is good, it's really hard for me to think about the possibility of losing her. I never thought about the possibility that my children wouldn't have the chance of knowing her. She's always been so strong for me. Most days I can focus on how well she's doing, but there's still just this underlying fear in the back of my head. It's just that word - cancer. I can say "My mom is having a transplant" with no problems. It's just when that one word comes out - cancer - that I choke up. The Big C is scary.

New Job = Hooray!

2008-08-01T14:30:00.002-06:00

New hours, however, = boo. I have given in to family peer pressure, and now work with my three brothers and my sister-in-law. It's really a good move for me, attitude-wise. I realized how much I didn't like my old job of being yelled at all day long. Here, I will be yelled at occaisionally, but nothing like it was at Whitewater. Mean contractors, with their construction site language. I can handle any kind of yelling after that.

Here's the drawback. My old job's hours were whenever I wanted to whenever I wanted. I now work 8:30 - 5:30 M-F. Which means I get custody of Lottie on weekends. That's nice since I only spend a few hours a day with her when she's awake now. I'm so thankful for parents who are willing to take care of her for us, since Brad and I both have to work. If we didn't have family to take her to, we would sell our house and live in a crappy apartment so I could stay home. I don't think I could send her to a daycare. It's hard enough today, when I left her with my fabulous neighbor for the day, since both sets of grandparents are out of town. I couldn't leave her with strangers.

I'm so grateful that Brad is so motivated to find something to provide for his family so that I can eventually stay home with our children. I'm somewhat of a feminist - but I still think it's in a child's best interest to have a mother stay home and raise them. For now, Grandma is the next best thing.

Public Speaking and the Human Response

2008-07-26T23:56:00.003-06:00

I've never really been afraid of public speaking. I've done my share of talks in church (esp. on the mish) and have done plenty of singing in front of large groups, so I'm not scared to get up in front of people.

But this month I've committed to do 2 hours' worth of public speaking in one specific day. What am I doing to myself? It's one thing to sing a few songs with other people on stage, or give a 10 minute talk you've meticulously prepared; but another to commit to teaching 2 different hourlong classes at a tech fair, where you're supposed to be the expert and be interactive during this whole time.

This is going to be interesting; certainly a unique challenge for me. And I had better prepare the heck out of this thing so I don't go looking like more of an idiot than I may currently look like.

I'm teaching a class on the iPhone, and a class on Blackberrys (Not spelled blackberries in this case, since it is a brand name and not an actual berry). I'm comfortable with both types of phones, but I guess my nightmare is that I will have some jerk ask a dumb question that I can't answer, thus throwing me off my whole expert groove.

However, if I pull this off, maybe I will look like a total Tony Robbins and be asked by other attendees to go teach other classes. Maybe I can start getting paid to speak in front of crowds.

Yeah right. But it's neat to think about. It is interesting to look back at the last few months and see how I've really expanded my roots in attempt to find a direction for my life. The whole blogging thing is a recent development that will help me develop teaching and writing skills, and who knows--maybe I'll find a niche I like in public speaking. I love that I'm finding other avenues to pursue and experiment with. So yeah, I'm a little nervous. But I by no means will go into this unprepared.

Anything to get me out of this whole retail energy drain I am currently in.

I did not escape

2008-07-25T08:51:00.002-06:00

Alas, unlike my sister, I did not escape geekdom from growing up with my brothers. I was just thinking how Lottie kind of looks like a ferengi with her hair all worn away on the top and sides, but that ring of red around the back. And then I had to see the geek quiz that Steph took. She is only 11% geek. I, unfortunately, am a lot more geek than that.

53% Geek

Created by OnePlusYou

Yummy

2008-07-23T12:52:00.005-06:00

The other day, Brad told me I was beautiful. "What does this have to do with brussel sprouts?" you ask. I will tell you. My response to being called beautiful was to cry and say I felt fat, not beautiful. Wow, having a baby will change a girl!

So, my new fitness goal, since I'm not so much with the working out, is to plan meals for a week, healthy meals, and stick to it. This way I can shop for what we need, and not let things go to waste. This started last night.

On Monday, I found a bunch of healthy recipes I thought sounded good and easy. I printed them all out with the intention of going shopping on the way home from work. That didn't happen. But I did go shopping last night on the way home - but had left my recipes at home. So, I improvised. I thought about what sounded good. And brussel sprouts sounded sooo good!

Well, it turns out that last night was the first time Brad had ever had brussel sprouts. I know, I'm unlike any other person out there... as a kid, I loved them. And I still do. I eagerly watched his face as he took his first bite. His response? "They're not my favorite. But they're not terrible." However, the look on his face was that he leaned a little more towards the terrible side than the good. Maybe if I make them enough, I can convince him of how yummy they are!

Must see:

2008-07-17T08:36:00.003-06:00

Anybody who is a fan of Joss Whedon needs to see this. In the same vein as the musical episode of Buffy, Dr. Horrible is a musical joy to watch. They are releasing an act every other day. Today marks the release of Act II. And with Neil Patrick Harris taking the lead as "a low-rent super-villain" it can't be bad at all. In fact, it's quite good. Go check it out before the free viewing period ends on July 20th. Then download it on iTunes as so many people already have, making it first place in both the ‘Top TV Episodes’ AND the ‘Top TV Seasons’.

Frowny Face Contest

2008-07-01T13:32:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, Brad took a picture of Lottie, and told me it was the saddest face ever. I had to disagree, since I had seen the picture that Stephanie took on Saturday. After seeing Steph's, brad conceded the frowny face contest.

Brad's entry...

And the winner is...

Lottie Rae

2008-06-29T10:25:00.004-06:00

Well, if the purpose of this blog is to brag up our daughter - maybe we should include a picture of her. Because she is adorable.

And it's not just for bragging up our kid. It's so we can be slackers in keeping everyone updated on what's going on in our lives. Because it's a lot easier to type things once than multiple times - and who ever has time for phone calls nowadays? Ah the internet - making us lazy slobs. Gotta love it!

You asked for it, Jeremy

2008-06-28T20:17:00.000-06:00

By popular demand -- and by popular I mean Jeremy thought it would be a good idea to hop on the Molen blog bandwagon -- Colleen and I have decided to start typing random musings by way of a blog.

We figured, we're already behind Matt, Lane and Melanie and certainly don't want to be the last of the Molens to come up with a blog. Because hey, we would just be copycats who can't come up with an idea on our own. And that's just silly.

Besides, I am already a blogger so it's not like it's uber-difficult to come out with one to brag up our beautiful new daughter and introduce her to the world. Google image search anyone?

Hmm....on second thought....

Welcome to our blog!