Random is as Random Does

I have a couple of random thoughts for your veiwing pleasure. . .

Several days ago, Claire stepped on a piece of bread, right in the middle and it left her foot print indentation on it. It immediately triggered a memory that I had not thought of in years and pretty much lay forgotten in the crevases of my mind. Growing up, me and my sisters loved it when our parents bought white bread from the store. Yum. I personally liked to eat the bread plain, squish it up into perfect cubes, etc., and every time I pulled out a fresh piece of bread, Monica would walk by and pound the side of her fist into it to create a baby footprint. Random, I know.

Second random thought, I currently weigh the same amount that I weighed in high school and I am 22 weeks pregnant. That goes to show you how in fact overweight I was in high school!

Third random thought, I spent all morning working out in the yard as it is the first nice day in weeks. I loved it! I could spend all day out there working, but unfortunately our messy, messy house was calling me inside to clean it. So I sat down to write this post instead.

Fourth and final thought, two of my good friends here had their babies in the past two days, so I took them cinnamon rolls when I visited them in the hospital. I am sorry Tiffani and Monica, but there ain't no way your rolls are as good as mine. YUM!! You all better be watchin' out at the Cinnamon National Bakeoff Championships 2007, because I be bringing it for real.

A True Lady

Last night, Cody and I hired a babysitter, dressed up in our finest clothes, and headed out to the Dean's Scholarship Ball where we caught a glimpse into the life styles of the rich and self-important. The tickets to these were $200 a piece, which is equivalent to about two weeks of groceries for us. We didn't purchase the tickets, obviously. We just snuck in. Psych! The father of someone Cody had helped at school gave away the tickets because he couldn't go. So here Cody and I go to a dinner in our very finest, which for Cody meant his suit, and for me meant a black wrap-around maternity dress. But finest for everyone else there meant full-on tuxedo's and Miss USA style gowns. Lots and lots of cleavage. So we felt a bit out of place (not that I don't have cleavage!), but there was no way I was going to buy a maternity formal- just not gonna do it. The dinner was held at the Dusquene Club, which had random sitting rooms of wealthy old people scattered around, baracaded off by a 'members only' sign. The whole thing seemed like Robin Leech meets nursing home. But the building, which was a historical building, was very ornate and beautiful.

The dinner was nice. I honestly don't think I have ever had a dinner served to me in courses (except when we use to play restaurant with Monica and Michelle where we had bread for the first course and top ramon as the main course). The best part of the dinner was the filet mignon-yum. I even had a pear walnut truffle- as I sat eating it, I had the thought that I don't think I had actually ever had pear pie before, even though my family makes it all the time. The truffle was okay, just not good enough to finish. I just don't like fruit desserts. So sue me.

We sat at a table with a nice yet arrogant oral surgeon and his wife, and their guests- their kids school teachers and spouses. I really don't think I have ever been in such a fancy situation, so I was extremely self-conscious about my manners- table manners that is. As I tried to dantily hold my fork while I cut my steak, I thought to myself- I ha te manners!! It would have been so much easier to dig in, with elbows out, and a firm grip on my fork. Whatever. I really panicked when I went to the 'powder room' and they had a maid in there handing out towels. Woooaaa! It was such a schmancy bathroom that I was really self-conscious about just using the potty. I giggled to myself (honestly I was trying to hard to keep the giggles quiet) as I sat there thinking how absolutely hysterical it would be to hear one of these fancily dressed women toot while they were sitting on the pot. I was dying at my own imagination. I am so not mature.

So after dinner and dancing, they gave away door prizes. Some were really fancy- like weekend get aways at resorts and stuff. I kept thinking, why are all these millionaires getting those kind of gifts- they can just pay for it themselves, filthy rich people. At functions where they have door prizes I usually win really dumb things like a stuffed Aflac duck or a poster of Ogden. So I was really suprised when they called my name. I didn't hear what I had won, so I went up to the table and there were all these gift baskets of bottled wine and cheese. Great. Just what a pregnant, mormon needs. But they pulled out an envelope from the table and handed it to me. A gift certificate to Le Mont restaurant (apparently another schmancy restaurant I had never heard of). Not bad. But I will be danged if I am going to care about how I hold my fork when I devour my steak.

Mom, you should be real proud of the fine little lady I have become!

Year of the three-year-old!

Though Claire has been telling people for months now that she is three, she didn't actually turn 3 until today. We had a birthday party for her with some of her friends and, boy, was that crazy. There were nine kids here, all under the age of 3. We had giggles, melt downs, and poopy diapers and most of that was from Claire! She had a bit of a hard time following instructions of the games, taking turns, and sharing her new gifts! But she (and everyone else) made it through all right and I think everyone had a good time.

It was an under the sea theme, so we played a bean bag toss game (the bean bags were fish, the box was a shark), Pin the leg on the Octypus, and a fishing game. The shark toss was the highlight for the kids, I think.

The cake was the highlight for me. I had a lot of fun making it last night. Cody watched me make it and kept asking, "Is it worth it?" Of course! I liked the way it turned out, though next time I might skip the fish on the top (it looks crazy, like it's strung out).

Claire loved all of her gifts! She had a hard time leaving one gift behind to open another. Her favorites were probably a Polly Pocket that she got and a Ponyville house (its the minature my little ponies). But being the gracious guest of honor, she really did enjoy everything that she got.

Currently she is down snuggling with Cody- she fell asleep in his arms because she was so tuckered out from playing and screaming (which she did plenty of at the party). She is so excited to be three, to choose which clothes to wear, to be a little mom to every doll and every kid she sees. She is so darn silly and funny and she keeps us laughing every day. We love her sooooooooo much!

(Mom, consoling a distraught three year old!)

Easter Claire

We had a good Easter, even though it snowed the whole weekend (that is not a complaint, just a fact)! On Saturday we went to a birthday party for one of Claire's friends, which also doubled as an Easter Egg hunt- indoors, of course. This year Claire really caught onto the concept of finding eggs, because she knew there was candy in them. She is definitely a child of mine. Claire did have a hard concept with the idea of giving a birthday gift. She was all excited to wrap up a gift for her friend and take it too her, but as soon as we got there, Claire thought that she was the one who was going to open it, right there, right then. I told her no, threatened her with her life, yada, yada, and as soon as I turned my back, she had torn the wrapping paper off. What a turkey! But Claire's turn is coming up soon. Her birthday is this week. I don't know where three years has gone, but we have sure had a good time with her. She says the funniest thing, even when she is in the midsts of a terrible tantrum. Cody and I have to cover our mouths so as not to let on that we are laughing.

Here's a picture of our little Easter Claire. We sure do think she's pretty.

(Oh, and she was so excited about her shoes. She showed everyone at church who would listen "Look at my pretty ballerina shoes".) Vanity runs deep in our family!

A Moment to Brag, Please

One of my favorite things in the whole world to do is to design projects in my head. For instance, I get the Pottery Barn catalogue strictly for ideas- I have never actually bought anything from there, but I love their stuff. I think of ways I can make it, or even change it to make it more mine. For me there is a certain excitement and satisfaction of planning and preparation to create the idea that I envision in my head. However, that satisfaction is often short lived as I actually attempt to create the so called idea. It usually turns out not how I pictured it, and I always feel a bit deflated. On rare occasions it turns out as a success and I think its those few success stories that rally my mind back into planning more projects.

Well yesterday was just such a day! Be prepared, for their is some unabashed and unashamed bragging in this following paragraph. Again, I feel no shame. I was hosting another baby shower (third one in the last two months) and I wanted to make a hooded towel for her. I wanted to make a full size one that the baby could use into the toddler and little kid phase. My friend had one that her mom had made for her, so I borrowed it to get figure out how it was sewn together, and then I added some additional touches, which really was the clincher. I was nervous as I was making it, because I just didn't want to mess up and make it look cheap and home made. Well when I was finished, BOY was it cute! Not just a little cute. . . super cute!

So at the shower, I was really excited to see her open her gift and hope that she would be as impressed with it as I was (again, unabashed vanity). And she did!! I had a great reaction from her! That is the best. I have given plenty gifts where the opener likes it and say, "Oh, thanks. That's so cute, blah, blah, generic blah." But what makes gift giving worth it is the few times that your gift was right on, where the receiver has a true genuine reaction of appreciate for the gift. That was last night for me. She liked it. She really liked it!

So just to prove what a real geek I am, last night as I got in bed, I stayed awake thinking about the gift for like an hour! What!! Get over myself. It was just so cute!

And that concludes the confessions of a braggaholic gifter. Until next time. . .

I am so proud of it, I even took pictures!

And I am also extremely proud of my model, Claire. Isn't she cute. (she is currently downstairs yelling at the Backyardagains to "Stop singing. I am sleeping.")

And the Pulitzer goes to. .

Tonight I have been reviewing every one's past blogs, all the way to the beginning. It has been fun to see the blogs that I have completely forgotten about and it always amazes me how fast time is flying. So I thought I would share with you my top pick of posts from a few of the blogs that I read.

Some of my favorite posts to read are when kids say absolutely funny things! So a couple of those posts that I love and that make me laugh every time I read them are as follows (drum roll, please):

% Tiffani's, or Tharker as she is better known, "Never Trust A Five Year Old" September 27, 2006, is a sweeping drama of a family torn apart by vicious lies and lingering rumors; Rumors which happen to be extremely clever and well thought out.

% Monica's "It Doesn't Hurt, I promise" October 25, 2006, is a tale of struggle, violence, and down right hypocrisy that I personally love from a four year old. Monica takes us into the nurses office with her haunting narratives ("totally freaking out") and character development (I can't believe what that lady just did to Samampa").

And speaking of character development, there is one post in particular that I feels captures the essence of character development, as that's all it is-- characters developing:

% Shell's "A Day at Disneyland" December 21, 2006, is the best family fun adventure post of the year. It contains spot on depiction's of the angst of the frugal and anti-corporate father, the wonder of the beautiful and unassuming mother, and the delight of the babbling grandson. The post is extremely witty and fun, especially when you know the people involved.

And finally, my absolute favorite things about blogs are the honest posts. The post where you tell way to much about your personal life- so much, in fact, that you experience some trepidation mingled with excitement as you hit the publish button. Here are a couple of post that are fresh, honest, and very funny:

% Carrie's "Nobody's Perfect" January 21, 2007, is an action packed crime drama that deals with the pressure's of a suburban housewife who balances her life with baking blackberry pies whilst stealing hangers from Fred Meyers. This post just goes to show you that you cannot judge a post by its template.

% Karen's, aka Puerto Rican Princess, "Star Wars, Episode 7" August 31, 2006 is a literary masterpiece highlighting the most romantic and sacred parts of a marital relationship. It truly is an amazing journey as we follow the author through a desperate night full of hard aches, loss, and ultimately, rekindled love.

That is my list of the incredible delights and hidden talents that I have found while reading your blogs (because, frankly, before you all had blogs, I didn't know you were so creative in the whole writing department!). If I cared just a little bit more I would have made links to all these posts, but I fall just short of that level of commitment. Hope you enjoy!