Clothes & Giggles

As you can tell from the previous post, we have been organizing our house before winter comes. One major task was organizing Braden's clothes. He has more clothes than I have my whole adult life. Not only are all these containers full, but the dresser behind them is jam packed as well.

NOTE to all grandparents, aunts/uncles, etc: please DO NOT get Braden any clothes. We are overloaded. If you want to get him a gift, please opt for books (he LOVES them), kid's music cd's, or little toys. (Preferably in that order.) This little boy is way too spoiled with his clothes. I don't want him to end up like his Uncle Toren.

Look at Braden's cute Sunday shirt. You can already tell his skin is looking better, except the little rash around his mouth.

Who's having more fun here? You decide.

Mom vs. Dad. You tell me who wins.

Obviously Blake makes a bigger fool out of himself. That or Braden is used to me being a big dork during the day.

7 to 11

That was my day yesterday. 7 am to 11 pm. My friend Collette talked me into going biking with a bunch of girls. One thing you need to know about Collette, besides the fact that she's amazing in EVERYTHING, she is a heavy duty biker. I accepted her challenge, but only biked over to the Moscow's Farmers Market (about 10 miles). They continued on to Troy and back (which is like 45-50 miles).

Can you see me? I am in the white long sleeve shirt and no helmet. Yep, no biking gear for me. By the way, it is freezing in the morning.

Fellow ward member, Aubree and I riding. It was her first time too.
We Finished!
After biking and getting some yummy fruit and veggies at the Farmer's Market, Blake and I tackled cleaning our garage. It looked terrible, trust me. The gap in between the stairs and those recycling cans were filled with cardboard. Blake had already taken them to the recycling place by the time I took this pic. The cardboard made the garage look even worse, trust me. Here are some after shots
I got more peaches at the Farmer's Market (and tomatoes), so I cut some peaches to freeze and then made peach jam. yum-yum!
My favorite part of the day was going to the Relief Society Broadcast. Collette was nice enough to pick me up. Our stake was doing a service project followed by the broadcast followed by soup and rolls. For those of you have watched it, President Uchdorf gave the most inspirational talk. It really motivated me. It makes me really excited for General Conference.

That was my day. 7 am to 11 pm. It was long, but very fulfilling. Both Blake and I are exhausted today. With afternoon church, it's too late to nap, so hopefully we get a good night sleep tonight.

Get to Know Me a Little More...

I typically don't like these, but I thought this one was fun. You can get to know a little more about me.

1. If every job paid $50,000 a year, and you had no physical or mental limitations, what would you do? I would be a professional party planner. I love to plan and organize.

2. What is your current church calling? What do you like about it? What have some of your other callings been? I am the 2nd Counselor in the Primary Presidency. I love the people I work with. I have been in activities, young women's, and Sunday School.

3. Name a person you regularly encounter (outside your family) who brightens your day. I love hearing from my Logan Family. I get to read their blogs, but don't get to talk with them as much as I'd like.

4. In twenty years, what do you think you will miss most about your life now? How much time I can spend with my husband and child. I love being involved 100% in Braden's life with a variety of activities. I have a feeling I will be spread pretty thin when more kids come along.

5. What’s something you appreciate about your spouse? His testimony and love for our family. He truly is the patriarch of our home in every way. He is also a big dork, which is something I always need in my life. And there are few people who can live with me, he just happens to be one of them.

6.What is your favorite routine, household chore? I love to organize my house. Laundry, putting away dishes, and putting everything in its place. I HATE HATE HATE making my bed. It is the worst job in the world!

7. What’s a book you return to occasionally (besides the scriptures)? To be honest, I don't think I have ever read a book twice. I am just now getting into reading. Ask me this question in a couple of years.

8. Favorite Small Pleasure: ice cream, warm baths, Braden, fruit smoothies, cool summer nights, or warm fall nights

9. Favorite time of the day? waking up in the morning to Braden talking to himself, snuggling at night with Blake

10. Name a person who performed what they thought was a small act of service, but ended up being a big deal to you: Like my friend, there are too many to write down. I appreciate all that people have done for me.

11. Name someone who somehow changed your life: Brado Potato

12. Consider what you do each day. Think of one attribute or trait that you bring to your daily work that is a strength—what is something you do really well? Organizing! I also feel I am pretty on top of things, as far as schedules go. Some would differ.

The best baby in the world...

EXCEPT WHEN:

1. He's tired
2. He has a poopy diaper
3. He sees mom eating
4. He sees dad eating
5. He's not eating
6. He sees a bottle (doesn't even have to be his)
7. He's getting lotioned
8. He can't reach something
9. It's 2 in the morning
10. He's sick
11. He's at church

Ok, maybe there are a few times he's not the best baby in the world, but we love him nonetheless. The video below shows why he is the best baby in the world.

Blake reading his bedtime stories (only does this when Blake reads to him). The video is a little shaky. We didn't want to distract Braden. Sorry, it's still cute.

Completed Yard

At the request of many, here are the pictures of our yard. Blake moved it for the first time on Saturday. It still needs about 2 more mows before it looks golden, but it is good enough to show everyone.

Here is a reminder of what our yard looked like before (standing from the porch) Looking into our neighbors yard (look at the slope)
Looking from the top of our property down
After (looking down)
After (Looking down)

Here is a virtual tour of the yard. It shows you all the details. Let us know what you think.

Birthday Recap

I want to thank all those who called, left a comment or texted me Happy Birthday. It made my day so much better. I know a lot of you want to know about my suspension and I will share that story in another post.

I woke up this morning to Blake shutting the bathroom door. "Why did you shut the door?" "Oh, it was an accident. I love you, Happy Birthday." Braden slept in until 8:30 am which allowed me to sleep in and get ready without worrying about him. I walked into the bathroom to see a cute love note on the mirror. That's why he was shutting the door, he didn't want me to see it until he was at work.

My wonderful Primary Presidency took me (and Ashley- in green shirt) out for our birthday's. We went to a wonderful place called The Breakfast Club in Moscow. I had the best stuffed biscuits and gravy.

I came home for lunch (which I didn't eat because I was still full) and then got a call from my friend Jessica. She took me back over to Moscow and let me pick out anything from Bath and Body Works. I picked this lovely and yummy lip gloss. After this we got yummy smoothies.
Blake felt bad about my terrible lunch, so he took me out again. We have been wanting to try Taco Del Mar, so we did. It wasn't anything like Cafe Rio (which we hoped it would), but it was ok. Probably won't go there again, but it was still nice. If you have noticed in pictures of Braden, he always wears a clip with his binki attached. They are the Mum brand and keep breaking. My friend Ashley (pictured above) suggested I make my own using suspender clips. Here it is.
It works just great. I know it is kind of a corny thing to do on my birthday, but it is so nice to have something that won't break.

One of the best parts of the day is when my whole family called and serenaded me. If you know anything about Forsberg's, you would know that we are NOT musical. It was nice to hear from all of them. We are really excited to go see them next week.

Overall, I had a tremendous birthday. Being 25 is great. I am so happy with life, family and friends. Look for upcoming posts on our yard and possibly some high school suspension stories.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well, it is my 25th year of life. I can't say I have done anything truly amazing, but I wouldn't change anything. Here are some pictures (and I put in some embarrassing ones) for you to enjoy. It really goes through my fun and crazy life.

Click to enlarge: Top left: 6 month pic, Top right: 1st grade, Middle left: 3rd grade, Bottom left: 2nd grade, middle right: 4th grade (just look at my hair and outfit, I blame this on my mom), bottom right: 1st daddy daughter date.

Click to enlarge: top left: look at those karaoke skills, middle left: 1st temple trip, top right: hiking trip with dad, middle right: 1st basketball team, bottom right: girls camp
Click to enlarge: Top left: 1st youth conference, middle left: first formal dance, bottom left: first crush, right: playing dress up (always did this with my best friend)
Even after 2 detentions and 1 (almost 2) suspension, I finally graduated high school. Made the most amazing friends
Found the Love of my Life (my birthday last year)

No suspensions or detentions, I graduated college!

I have had weird things grow on my neck.

I have traveled around the country and world

Random weekend to Helena, MT to run a 5K

Martin's Cove (with old roommate Chelsee) Me in London I have made friends from all over the world (representing 8 different countries, 9 if you count the cameraman)
Me in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta). I just got a hair cut from a man/woman (we couldn't figure it out, maybe that's why my hair cut is gross.)
Me in St. George
Me in Seattle
Me in Hong Kong
After 25 years I finally have a wonderful husband and beautiful baby boy. What more could I ask for?

So, this may be a self indulging post, but Happy Birthday to me! I am one year older and WISER too. (At least that's what the Primary Kids sang to me yesterday.)

Canning: Tomatoes & Peaches

We had a wonderful Enrichment on Tuesday, where we learned the simplicity of canning. No, I have never canned before, but Yes, I wanted to try. We set out to the Moscow Farmer's Market and got a box full of tomatoes and peaches. Then off to lunch (note post below) and then to the grocery store to get jars. I decided to do everything using a water bath instead of a pressure cooker. Pressure Cookers cost around $50-$100 and I didn't even know if I would like it.

Me with my Tomato and Peach

Canning the tomatoes (No, I am NOT pregnant again, the apron is just big)
Canning peaches
Peaches: end product
Tomatoes: End product (minus 1 whole other cart)

Overall, I think I was made for canning. I really enjoyed it. Yes, it did take all day, but I hope I will enjoy the fruits of my labor (no pun intended). I am also going to can beans (black and red) and apples. I also want to can some salsa, but we will see how adventurous I am. Blake kept saying yesterday, "I love that you are my little homemaker, I would have never guessed it." Either would I have Blake, either would I.

Worst Birthday Lunch EVER

For all of those who are worried that you missed my birthday, you didn't, it's Monday. We just decided to celebrate a little early since we were headed over to Moscow yesterday. We decided to go out to lunch instead of dinner on Monday.

As we were headed out to Moscow we noticed all these mini Cooper's. You may need to blow up the picture, but our whole street was filled with them. We didn't know what was going on.

We went to the Moscow Farmer's Market to get peaches and tomatoes. After an excellent Enrichment night on canning, I decided to develop a new hobby (note the post above). After stopping at a couple of flooring places (we are redoing our kitchen and dining area) we settled down at Sangria Grille.

This was literally the WORST birthday lunch ever. We decided to splurge and get an appetizer (which we never do). The southwestern egg rolls were pretty good. and then the waiting took place. We were some of the first people into the restaurant that day, but the last one's to get our meal. It took over an hour to get our food. People who showed up a half an hour after we did we leaving by the time we got our food. The waitress filled our water once and don't get me started on the food.

I know some people (Justin Thayne) wouldn't think that there can be too much cilantro, but there sure was. Needless to say, I ate 3 southwestern egg rolls and 10 or so french fries. We will never be wasting our money there again. Sangria Grill: F-

Two for Two

Quick vent. We went to Braden's swimming class today. If you remember, last week the teacher wasn't available because her child was sick (heaven knows why there wasn't a sub, but there wasn't). Well, we showed up today (on time) and the warmer pool was closed, so we were forced to get into the cold pool. I guess that wasn't bad, but the teacher still didn't teach.

Needless to say, we only stayed for about 10 minutes because it was way too cold for any baby to last a 1/2 hour. It just makes me mad that I spent money on this class and we still haven't had an actual class. I guess we are going to have a make-up class, but who knows if I will be able to attend. I give it one more week before I drop the class and get my money back.

Specialists & Foot Eating

We have been struggling with Braden's skin ever since he was born. Yes, we did find that polyester irritated it, thus boxing up all polyester. However, his skin is still bad. After an intense scratching session last week, we decided we needed to go see a specialist. I called around and they couldn't get him until next March. Yes, March! I called my doctor and he referred us up to a specialist in Spokane. Due to a cancellation, we were able to get in today.

I just want to say that I am so thankful for specialists. The first thing he said was that it is eczema. "Your doctor probably told you to only give him a bath once a week. No chlorine and so forth." Of course he did and I was holding to that, mostly. "Well, forget it all. He is wrong. You can give him a bath everyday and in fact, the chlorine actually helps his skin. Assuming you give him a good bath and moisturize him after. And if he doesn't going swimming during the week, then you need to put bleach in his bath water." I was so glad to hear that. He prescribed some good lotions and medications. We should see some improvements within the next month.

Braden sleeping in the love sac yesterday. You can see how bad his face is. (Eczema wise, not cute wise!)

This is a new event that took place tonight. Just watch the video and see, it's hilarious.

He sure loves cereal with his foot.

Pictures of his skin. Look at his legs.

Closeup of what his skin looks like, especially behind his knees and on his arms.