Matt's Costume

Any guesses on what Matt was for Halloween?

Halloween

Our little Lily is almost obsessed with puppies, so really we had no choice than to let her be a puppy for Halloween. Here is a picture:
In case you were wondering, that is a tootsie roll in her mouth.

One large drinking fountain

Lily has discovered a new limitless source of water. Today while I was fixing a sink out in our group room at work I had my special little helper trying to climb on my lap and see exactly what her daddy was doing. Well she stopped bothering me for a few seconds and then she said "mmm." I looked over to see her dunking her hand in the toilet and then drinking from it. I started freaking out and yelling for Ally. I was so repulsed by it that I told everyone that I saw. Well later during the night Lily disappeared and we found out where she was when a girl brought her and a soaking wet care bear out. Lily had been shoving it in the toilet and then sucking the water out of it. Well Lily does love puppies a lot, I guess why not take another step in becoming one.

I'm a Big Girl Now

No, we are not potty training yet (Mommy, wow...), but Lily is attempting another big girl milestone. She has decided that she will only eat at certain times when she can feed herself. Most of the time this is not a problem, because she is actually pretty fussy about keeping clean, EXCEPT...when she wants to use a spoon to feed herself. This picture is the result of her most recent attempt. Luckily, I stripped her down to her diaper first and we gave her a bath after. Her hands are in front of her face because she was clapping for herself.

Pretty Ponies and Crying Girls

Lily rode a pony for the first time! We picked the smallest one they had, but she was still afraid of it. We went to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point, and she loved all the animals--from a distance. She kept reaching to try to pet them, but when we got her closer, she would pull away and start whining. She couldn't quite decide what she wanted to do. I wanted her to ride the pony, so we waited in line. She was pretty excited to watch them, and kept barking at the ponies, because when you are 18 months, everything barks, right? Well, when it was finally our turn, we walked into the ring. She started crying immediately. I kept telling her that the ponies were very nice and I tried to get her to pet it, but she wouldn't calm down. Luckily, our pony was only half-conscious, and stood patiently. I finally got Lily on, and she kept crying. Mean mom that I am, though, I was determined she would stay on. Once the pony started moving, Lily stopped crying for a second, but quickly resumed the whining. She was quite the pitiful site. We did provide entertainment for everyone else waiting in line. I heard plenty of chuckles and "Oh, she is so cute!" Well, the torture only lasted for 2 and a half walks around the ring. As soon as Lily got off the pony, she was fine. We had to take a little stop in jail, though, to show her what could happen to girls that cry too much!

Return to Action

Hi, all!
How is everyone doing? I have been absent from our blog for a few days (or weeks!) and I am sorry for that. We have been really busy with work. This weekend we had our first day off in almost two weeks. Last weekend was our big fundraiser for the Academy. It is called the Scarecrow Festival, and it is a lot of fun, but a lot of work also. We worked for the most part in the face painting tent. These are a couple of my personal creations. I was quite proud of my creations. I have become very crafty in my old age!

A Cottage Built for Three

Hi, so we have had some questions about where our blog name has come from. I was wondering if we could get some guesses. I will give you a hint each day until we figure out where it is from. Your hint is: it comes from a song from a movie (although we have taken some artistic license with the exact wording).

*Update: I guess that wasn't that hard after all. Alicia guessed it right, the name comes from the song, "My Little Buttercup," which comes from that classic movie, Three Amigos. For some reason Matt started singing that song to me when we first got together and then when Lily was born, it was changed to "a cottage built for three." And there we are!

Lily

Look at that little face. I love the big expressive eyes. She is so much fun to be around!

Space Travel

Today we had the wonderful opportunity to participate in SPACE TRAVEL. First we went to the moon, where magically you can breathe without a space suit and the gravity is very similar to Earth's gravity. As you can see, Lily liked exploring a lot.

























Next, we went to Mars. Lily found a pair of magic space mittens!




















All in all, we had a really great time. We were glad to return home later that night. I was surprised at how short the travel time was! Maybe we'll have to go back again sometime.

My Brother, My Hero

Matt, unfortunately, gets migraines. He doesn't get them nearly as often as he used to, thanks to skilled doctors, lots of tests, and lots of different things that he does to avoid them, but every once in a great while he gets the killer migraine. Now, I have never had a migraine and I hope never to have one, because I have seen how bad they affect him and others I know that have had them. The killer migraine is the worst of the worst. Matt has described it to me as his brain feels like it is going to explode, he can't stand even the smallest bit of light, and he can't stop throwing up. Well, last night he had one of these "killers" and I didn't know what to do. Work was a little hectic-we were already without our live-in because she was on a camping trip, we were doing face painting for our upcoming Scarecrow Festival, Lily was running around, and I had to make a birthday cake for one of the girls. When I came back to our apartment to check on Matt, I saw a cute little PT Cruiser in the parking lot. I thought, that looks like my brother Eddie's car, but then I remembered that he no longer lived nearby. He was, sniff, sniff, up in far away Logan. It couldn't be him, could it? I walked in the house with high hopes, and there he was! I asked him what he was doing here and he said that he was in the area and he wasn't going to stop by, but then he just thought he would for a minute. I almost started to cry. He was an answer to my prayers. Well, to make a long story a little bit shorter, he ended up taking Matt to the Instacare, where Matt ended up getting two shots in the rear. Matt was able to stop throwing up and he was able to sleep for the rest of the night. Eddie then went home, as he had a test the next day. He called me when he got back, which wasn't until almost 11:00, and he said that if I ever needed him again, he was "only" two hours away. What an awesome brother! As it says up top, that night, my brother Eddie was definitely my hero! And to make things even better, Matt felt much better the next day.

Squeaky shoes

Lily has been a bit of a late walker, and it's really only been the last month or two that she has gotten more confident with her walking. We went to Swiss Days in Midway a couple of weeks, and there was a booth there that had these adorable squeaky shoes! When she first put them on, she started jumping around and walking and stomping around in circles. She then found out that she could make them squeak by sitting on the ground and pounding the ground with her feet. She brings the shoes often to me when we are at home, wanting me to put them on her. The only drawback is that they tend to draw attention when we are at the store. Today I heard someone say to her friend, "Ask her where she got those shoes!" You can take out the plastic thingy to make them stop squeaking, like when we went to Barnes and Noble. They are also good when she likes to go exploring, because I can always hear where she is at. Okay, I know that I am sounding like a commercial, but I really do like these shoes a lot. If you want to check them out for yourself, here is the address: http://www.mybabychicks.com/

Or, I just found the website of the Chinese maker of these shoes:
http://www.chinadirectstore.com/squeaky_shoes.htm

I may have to get those green leather ones for Lily next.

Mom's Sidekick

Lily and I spend a lot of time together, just the two of us. I found this shirt for her that says, "Mom's sidekick," and it was perfect for her. We took some pictures, which she loved. She posed and laughed the whole time. The accessories are all her own!

Its All Greek To Me

Well, we went to the Greek festival over the weekend. Ally got free tickets with $20 in vouchers to spend while we were there. We planned on Mandy coming with us, and she did just on E.S.T. (Eynon Standard Time) which translates into 1 to 2 hours late. So got there just in time for the large rush of people that lined up to get into the festival. We got in there and they had a small bizarre going on. There was quite a few jewelry stands and I saw a Russian nesting doll and wood boxes stand, oh and don't forget the books found at the D.I. and then resold at $6-$40. We then went into the church which was
pretty cool. It was really beautiful, full of stained glass and other things. We then hit the line from hell. We sat in a line for food for nearly 2 hours while two guys swore a whole lot behind us, and the line slowly just inched forward with people with two beers cutting in between us. When we got to the food we realized that it was too late to eat there and we had to go home, but the food was delicious and our breath stunk of onion and garlic. It was quite the experience, but it will take a few things for me to go back again.

1. I start drinking a whole lot, so I am drunk through the food line.
2. I find my Greek roots.
3. I go before 5:00 in the afternoon.
4. I don't shower for a week so I smell so bad that no one wants to be near me.
5. Sit and watch the dancers and make people stand in the line for me.
   

CSW!!!!!!!!!!

So, it is official. I am now a CSW! I got the certificate in the mail today. Two years ago, I graduated from the University of Utah with a Master's of Social Work. A year later, I finally took the ASWB test, which is the test that purports to measure how much social work stuff you know, but is mostly the test that you have to take to get your license to work as a social worker. So, passed that with flying colors, and then this year, I finally finished the application and sent in the money to get my actual license. So, I am officially a Certified Social Worker. This means I can work in a therapeutic setting, as long as I am supervised at least once a week. Then after two years of full time work, or 4000 hours of working, I can then become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. That would pave the way for me to open up my own practice or work for a private practice and choose my own hours. So, it would allow me to work when I want and set my own hours. It's one step closer to my goals. Matt was so cute--he brought it to me from the mailbox and he handed it to me as he was singing a graduation march! It was a very proud moment. If you want to check it out, you can look me up by name at this link:

https://secure.utah.gov/llv/llv

An Attitude of Gratitude

I think the theme for me this week is GRATITUDE and having more of it. Recently, each week for our Monday Spiritual Nights (aka FHE) with the girls we have been taking a value from President Hinckley's book, Standing for Something, and had a lesson on it. This past week our lesson was on gratitude. Rachel, who was teaching the lesson, suggested keeping a gratitude journal, a concept I have heard since high school, and something I have done on occasion. The basic idea is that each day, you write down 5 things that you are grateful for. When she talked about it, I thought, "That is something I need to do more of." And then, today in Relief Society, our lesson was on gratitude and service. Maybe the Lord is trying to tell me something. So, in keeping with the spirit of the week, here are five things I am grateful for today:
1-A husband who helps get the kid ready: Matt got up early today, never an easy thing to do on Sunday mornings, and showered Lily, fed her breakfast, and got the church bag ready. He left the hair styling to me, since that kid has crazy hair, but it gave me plenty of time to get ready myself. He then took her to priesthood meeting with him. He really is a great dad and Lily sure does love him.
2-Warm running water: I love taking showers. It wakes me up and gets me going. I have had a goal the last week to get in the shower right when I get up, and it has helped me get more done.
3-Contact lenses: I have worn glasses since I was the 1st grade, so I have dealt with the hassles of fogging up, rain splashing, babies grabbing, slipping, no peripheral vision, etc. It is amazing how two little pieces of plastic eliminates all those hassles, and makes it possible for me to see. Now, it would be better if I didn't have to use them at all, but they are definitely a step up from the glasses.
4-Cars: I like driving, as long as it is good weather. I don't do rain or snow, but I love the freedom of going where I want much more quickly and easily than on my own two feet.
5-Music: It really can soothe the savage beast. Lily can calm down so fast when we play music for her. The last few days, we have been playing Herb Alpert for her, and she can go from screaming to kicking her legs and bobbing her head in just a few seconds.

Hawaii, Here We Come

Matt's mom brought Lily home this outfit from Hawaii, where she went recently. I have never been there, but the way she describes it, it sounds like paradise. Now, I have seen enough "Dog, the Bounty Hunter," to know that it's not perfect there, but white sand and blue ocean would be nice to live next to. She said that she would like to live there someday, but only if her family were to come also. Sometimes I just get an itch to have an adventure, and I think that would be a good adventure to have. I have also, only half-jokingly, been looking at what it would take to have Matt teach in Mexico for a year or two. When life gets stressful, that is what we say, "Let's go to Mexico." Maybe things have been stressful lately, because I am starting to believe it. But for now, we are happy to be in Utah.

The First Post

Okay, well here I am, writing my first blog entry. I have been entertained recently by several blogs, especially the one that shows what this one lady wears everyday! I have to say, she is quite brave. I also enjoy blogs that link to other interesting things. I found one blog that saved me quite a bit of money on baby food, which is always nice. So, we will see if I can come up with anything good, but at least it will be something. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know if there is anything I can change, what you would like to see more of, or perhaps less of.