Day in the park

Today we went to the park after Marshall got off work. It was Carly's first trip to the park, and we think she enjoyed herself. It was a lovely day!

Carly Lou Who?

I have been told (by my brothers) that Carly's recent hairstyles make her look like Cindy Lou Who. What do you think?

Sabbath Thoughts

I don't always share my testimony as often as I should. I often have a small story, or a small thought that has impressed my heart during the course of the week, but I find myself self conscious. A child in a room of giants. And I don't often blog about religion, as there are so many with such great insight who already post regularly on provoplatinum. Again, self conscious. But I was thinking that maybe we could ALL take the opportunity to past a little insight from our weeks on Sunday. Maybe we could share the stories we didn't get the chance to in church. Or perhaps the thoughts that came to us during the lesson that got passed over for lack of time. So I am instituting Sunday Sentiments. I "tag" all those who read this, and specifically all those who I have a link to right there -------------------------------------->
So I hope we can all take a moment on Sundays to share a little bit of our testimonies. You never know who might need to hear what you have had in your heart all week!

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So this weekend I had the opportunity to drive from Richfield back up to Provo (about 2 hours) all alone. I didn't have great reception on either the radio or my cell phone driving the winding roads of the Utah countryside. So I decided to listen to a CD. If you know me well, you know that I love to listen to good songs on repeat, as in the same song over, and over, and over again. I don't know quite why I like to do this, but I always have. I feel like it lets the song "sink in." It gives me the opportunity to really think about every word, every phrase. By the end I usually have the song memorized. Marshall hates it when I do this, so when I get the chance to drive alone, I always pick a song and listen away.

During my drive, I decided to listen to "Come Thou Fount." It has always been one of my favorite hymns, and it isn't one we get the chance to sing in church. I had the most wonderful time, listening to the beautifully haunting melody and contemplating the words and message of the song. I was driving through the beauty of desert Utah, watching a setting sun and thinking about Easter the following morning. This song isn't normally an "Easter"-y song. But I really feel it shares a wonderful message about the atonement and our need for the interposing blood of Christ. It just made me so grateful for the opportunity I was going to have today to celebrate the wonderful gift and sacrifice of a loving older brother, and a wise Heavenly Father.



Come, thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for thy courts above.

Happy Easter!

Marshall had to work on Easter morning, so we didn't do much on Sunday. But on Saturday, I took Carly to the park for what I *thought* was a ward activity. When I got there it became pretty evident that this was a community egg hunt, and my ward was just participating.

Carly was a little unsure about the whole thing...she can get a bit clingy around large crowds and new places.

But when they blew the whistle, we made our way out to get some eggs.

Then we had to take the standard baby-group picture with all the wardies that showed up.

But then one of the little boys started getting fresh with her. And she wasn't having any of it! Happy Easter!

The End.

Thanks mom!

My mom sent Carly an Easter care package today. There was some cute stuff!

A cute little dress/hat combination that she sewed herself...

TOO CUTE!

And matchy socks!! Yay!!

I gotta say I love matchy items. Too bad she didn't make me a matchy dress and hat!! Jk.. ;)

Thanks Mom!!

Hamburgers

We made hamburgers for dinner the other night. Unfortunately, none of us knew normal sized patties shrink on the grill.

Apparently, if you want a normal sized finished product, you need hugely overestimate how much raw meat you can eat. Now I understand why they're called "quarter pounders." I used to think they were exaggerating.

Useful...?

We thought that a DVD guard would be a very useful invention when it came to baby-proofing our home. It is meant to keep little fingers off of the buttons on your tv related electronics, while still allowing the remotes to work. Genius! So we registered for one.

Well, it turns out that babies can just grab ahold and pull these down. I mean, I guess I could use that foam tape stuff to secure it, but that would just ruin the wood.

Our little monster, however, has come up with quite the creative use for this otherwise useless invention.

I'll just post the pictures, they explain themselves:

2 for 1

Today I decided to put cute little pigtails in Carly's hair. I thought it would be fun to have a different hairstyle (for as much as you can style 3 inches of hair).


I didn't know you got another totally awesome hairstyle when you took the pigtails out! It's like a 2 for 1!

Sexual what?

Marshall recently got a new job with an ambulance company. (YAY, no wildland this summer!)

Today when he got home, he was telling me all about his full day of training. At one point he was talking about how their training group (9 guys and 1 girl) were getting sized for their uniforms by their instructors. He thought it was funny how the trainers, upon seeing the new female hire, remarked, "So YOU'RE the hot new blonde everyone has been talking about!"

A little disgusted I asked what his instructors had them do next that day. Marshall's response: "Oh next we watched a video on Sexual Harassment in the workplace."

Classic.

Constantine Black, or perhaps Jack Maroulis?

Okay, I love American Idol. And I think that this season is really great so far. One contestant who has done pretty well is David Cook, but I can't stand to watch the guy sing. I think he pulls some funny faces. Half the time he looks really creepy, like Constantine Maroulis, and the other half he looks funny, like Jack Black. It's like Constantine and Jack had a baby and named him David Cook.

But NO ONE else sees it!!

So tell me what you think:

"Creepy Consantine"

"Deranged Jack Black"

Yeah, yeah, so now you probably all think I'm crazy. Well that's okay. I know that next time you watch David Cook sing, you will be bugged by his close resemblance to Jack Maroulis.

LATCH lies

So I bought my car as a college freshman, and one of the things I really wanted was the LATCH system. I thought I might still have that car when I had kids, so I researched LATCH and looked only for cars 2000 and newer. I bought my 2000 dodge in 2002, and was happy that someday I would get to use LATCH and have a safer ride for my future kids.

Well, here I am 6 years later, and we have a baby. We have been using our newer car, and the "old dodge" has been consigned to a spare car. Well, today was its day of glory! I needed to use it with my daughter's carseat. I went to install it, and couldn't find the LATCH bars anywhere. I must have dug around in that seat bight for 15 minutes, until I finally was able to admit that my car DIDN'T HAVE LATCH!! The owners manual confirmed this, and I had to install using the lap belt.

Later, I was talking to my husband about my shock and surprise that my 2000 model car didn't have this feature, and he said simply, "of course." He then reminded me that cars are produced 1 year prior to the year they are named! UGH!!! I'm so Stupid!! So my 2000 was really produced in 1999, 1 year (probably only a couple months) before LATCH was a required safety feature. I've been tricked by fancy car naming, and for 6 whole years!

If you give a Carly a biscuit...

You are left with a very big mess!

First baby doll

When we were at the museum the other day, Carly met another little girl who had a baby doll. Carly wanted it. She chased the other little girl around the bench trying to take the doll. So we thought that maybe it was time to buy Carly her first baby doll. We went to BabiesRUs and picked out the cheapest little doll they had. When we got home, we took it out of the box and gave it to her, camera ready.

Their relationship started off nice enough. Carly looked at the baby adoringly. We thought we were geniuses for buying her a toy she so obviously related to.

But it soon went downhill....

We've raised a cannibal!! Maybe it wasn't the other baby's doll she was chasing after....

Tag! I'm it!

Two Names You Go By: 1)Lauren 2)Creeper (Marshall's weird)

Things You Are Wearing Right Now: 1)glasses 2) baby food

Two things you Want (or have) in a Relationship: 1)Communication 2)Good times

Two of Your Favorite Things to do: 1)Go out to eat 2)Stay in and cuddle

Two things you did last night 1)Went to the Mayan with some fabulous friends 2)went to the Casteel's house

Two people you Last Talked To: 1)Marshall 2)Carly (does she count?)

Two Things You're doing tomorrow: 1)Church 2)Watching Marshall and Russ play hours of Smashbrothers on the Wii

Two Longest Car Rides: 1)The Christmas Loop 2)Church history tour (the entire Church history) on a BUS!

Two Favorite Holidays:(As an adult) 1)4th of July 2)Christmas

Two Favorite Drinks: 1)Real lemonade 2)Hot cocoa

Two Things About Me you may not have known: 1)I love reading song lyrics 2)I LOVE footrubs

Two jobs I have had in my life: 1)Beauty supply sales 2)Waitress

Two Movies I would watch over and over: 1)The notebook 2)50 first dates

Two of my Favorite Foods: 1)Any and all chocolate 2)I really like french onion soup!

Two places I'd rather be right now: 1)Hawaii (I can dream, right?) 2)In a house that we own (again, dreaming here)

5 people I am tagging now:
Marshall
Russ
Star
Maranda
Kelly
Bryant (I know, that's 6)

This is why I LOVE my job

This last week has caused me to take a deeper look at my job.

As many of you know, I work as an adoption and birth parent specialist for LDS Family Services. It is such...special...work. I can't think of a word special enough, so I'll just use "special." It can be heart wrenchingly devastating, and sweetly inspiring in the same moment. Every client that comes into my office, whether desperately aching for children, or faced with the uncertainty of an unplanned pregnancy, enters with a prayer in their heart and hope in their eyes; each is there seeking comfort and guidance. I often tell my husband that I feel like I get to go to work in the temple everyday, because the Spirit in my little office is so strong. Indeed, the work I get to do is sacred and holy.

I am so lucky that on some tiny level, I get to be a part of creating forever families. I get to witness the sweetest, most important moments in my clients' lives. I get to hear the first-hand account from an expectant mother of the sweet witness of the Spirit the first time saw "her couple's" profile. I get to witness the moment that a couple who has known the desperation of infertility finds out that they are going to become parents: "The due date is in 7 weeks. Oh, and by the way, it's a girl." I get to be present the first time a couple meets the mother who is carrying the sweet angel that she has chosen to place into their family. I get to watch in silent reverence as a birth mother, a first mother, with more tears and heartbreak than one can comprehend, gently places her precious baby into the aching arms of the woman that she has chosen to be known as "mommy."

Often I find that I feel like an intruder, a voyeur, in these special, private moments. But I remember that ultimately I am privileged to be part of something so sacred. My job is to be a Witness of Miracles.

This explains why I love my job so much more than I ever could:
"So much in my heart"

Not so vicious

We have always said that our kids are going to beat up Russell's kids (when he gets some). I mean, look at Marshall and myself. Have you ever seen two more vicious people in your life? Yeah, pretty scary. So no doubt our kids would be just as intimidating.

So our sweet little Carly got in her first fight on Sunday. She decided to take on this little guy, our upstairs neighbor. We thought it was a fair match; he is 2 weeks older, but she has 1 lb on him. I have to say that it was quite pitiful to watch her curl into a little crying ball while he jumped up and down on her. He's not even all that scary! I guess the vicious nature skips a generation. This makes us seriously question all of the threats we have put out on Russ's future kids. Hopefully our boys will still be able to take them.

I never knew clapping could be so funny.

Carly thinks it is pretty funny!

0-5 months in the blink of an eye

Watch if you have a moment to spare... We love this baby!!

Silly Boy

So when I got out of the shower this morning, I heard a sawing noise. I stood still for a minute trying to determine which neighbors were doing light construction (yes, our walls are that thin), when I realized the sawing was coming from my own hallway. I opened the door to see a guilty looking Marshall standing next to our linens/games cupboard. He had a hacksaw in his hand. When I finally get him to tell me what he is doing, I discover that my dear, sweet husband has been trying to wrestle the monopoly game out of the cupboard (you have to turn it diagonally to get it to fit). But, failing in his attemps, he decided the next logical step would be to simply saw through the wood frame of the cupboard to make it big enough to get the game out. Luckily I stopped him (and got the game out) before he did enough damage that the landlord would notice. But this makes me seriously question his critical thinking abilities.

Butterflies

I was looking through some old photos on our computer, and I came across this picture taken in Las Vegas on that fateful trip where Marshall and I began dating. I love this picture. I had no idea at the time it was taken that I would be marrying the guy I was sitting next to; I just remember the intense butterflies in my stomach because he had his arm around my waist.

BYU vs. UCLA

Marshall and I decided to go to the game during his 4 days off. We drove down, but Russ flew in the day of the game to go with us and then catch a ride back. We went to the BYU tailgate after picking Russ up at the airport. It was held on the golf course next to the Rose Bowl. It was grassy and cool and beautiful. I took pictures, but of course, they are all of Carly.

I do have one picture of Russ and Marshall at the actual game. It shows our excellent seats.

**Notice the UCLA student section right behind us.

Yeah, it was an interesting game. That chain link fence was up to separate the BYU fans from the UCLA students. We even had a guard assigned to stand at the gap in the fence. The UCLA students still managed to steal Russ's hat and pass it up the section before game's end. And we got he hear some creative chants. They started with the cliche "Stupid Mormons." But quickly moved on when I reminded them that their quarterback was a "stupid Mormon." By the end of the game, they began chanting "We can drink," followed soon after by "We're not that drunk." These were my favorite, because it was kinda slurred, and from a distance it sounded a lot like "We can read, we're not that dumb." LOL. Ahhh, UCLA. It was a fun trip.

Carly and Cosmo and Ty, Oh My!

So on Saturday, I took Carly to her first BYU football game (first of MANY, I'm sure). We went with Russ and Star and even though we only stayed until half time, we had a very nice time. The only thing missing was Marshall. He, being the biggest BYU football fan ever, was super happy his daughter was getting to go to the opening game. And so when I saw Cosmo, I knew that he would be the proudest papa if I could get a picture of Carly with him.

At half time, we sat through the half time show so that we didn't have to battle the crowds on the main level as we tried to leave. This was actually pretty cool, because we got to see the ceremony to retire Ty Detmer's number. We were walking down the west side of the stadium by the cougar statue as the 3rd quarter started. And who did I happen to see? Ty Detmer and his family taking press photos in front of the statue. So being the devoted football wife that I am, I quickly called Marshall and asked if I should chase him down to take a picture with Carly, or if that would be too psycho intrusive. He was, afterall, with his family. Marshall told me to go ahead and be psycho. So I parked the stroller, grabbed the baby, and started running across the grass yelling, "Mr. Detmer! Mr. Detmer! Will you take a picture with my baby?!!" Of course he obliged; he was such a nice guy.

So Carly may never remember her first BYU game, but we sure will. And we have the super great pictures to remind us. The pictures, for Marshall, almost make up for not being there. Almost.

Freecycle and Me

Okay, so I LOVE to freecycle. I give a lot more stuff away than I actually find to take. I think this is because most of the stuff on freecycle is so rediculously cheap, that I would rather go to Smith's and pay 4 dollars instead of driving around the surrounding cities searching for a random address to pick up 20 diapers. But I love giving stuff away. I hate clutter and I think I may be slightly addicted to posting things, to the point that I find myself looking around my house to find things to give away.

There are however a few things about posting on freecycle that annoy me:

1) The first person I contact to come claim that prize inevitably never shows up and I have to set up a new time with someone else.

2) The same 3 or 4 people respond to EVERY post. I bet they have ebay businesses and seriously just drive around picking up free stuff all day.

3) I always tell the people that the items are on the front porch. This is because I do not like to open my door to strangers. If I wanted to talk to or meet them, I wouldn't specifically leave the item on the front porch. Yet each time someone picks something up, they still knock on my door just to let me know they took the item, thus forcing me to put on a shirt and answer the door in case it is a neighbor or delivery man.

4) They also ALWAYS ask if the other items on my front porch are also free. No, you cannot have my BBQ. Sorry.

Yet I still search daily for items (expiring food, coupons, old shampoo, outgrown clothes, etc) to list. So if you are ever on Provo's Freecycle board, look for me. And if you see something you need, try not to be annoying about it.

Bringing Sexy Back

Okay, so leg warmers were never sexy.

But they sure are cute on a 3 month old!!!

Rolling Over

1st try....

2nd try...

3rd times...

The Charm!!!

Marshall and Prenatal Class

So last night we had our first prenatal class at the hospital. The nurse/instructor was really funny and had a lot of visual aids, etc. We heard a lot of incredible stories and saw a cabbage patch doll shoved, in a variety of ways, through a set of skeleton hips. We were shown various medical supplies such as cathetors, internal monitors, and breathing masks. We saw a lot of charts and drawings accompanied by the common (and often unbelievable) phrase, "Yes, that is actual size."

I left feeling a little overwhelmed with all the new information and scenarios I had never even considered. I turned to Marshall to see what he thought of the class. His response: "It was pretty boring; I didn't learn anything new."

Incredible. I've married a genius. Why are we even paying for prenatal care? He's a natural born OB. I can tell you one thing, all the other expectant mothers in my class (whose husband's actually learned something) should be jealous. Because I'll be the luckiest woman to ever give birth, with Marshall as my coach in the delivery room. /sarcasm.

fire + marshall - helmet =

At academy last night, Marshall got too close to the fire without wearing his protective gear. Result? Singed eyelashes. Pretty cool looking, but I wish he wouldn't scare me like that.

Hard day

So yesterday I had to work a 15 hour shift at the boys' ranch. I had only gotten 2 hours of sleep the night before (pregnancy means you are never comfortable). I also got bad heartburn from the healthy breakfast of hashbrowns and sausage they served at the ranch that morning. At lunch I drove to the nearby Smith's in search of Tums (you can have 6 a day while pregnant!), and while I was in the antacid aisle, Marshall called on his lunch break. Tired, hormonal, overwhelmed by my long shift, and in severe digestional pain, I started crying immediately when I heard his voice.

So I'm standing in the middle of the store, Tums in one hand, phone in the other, obviously pregnant, and bawling. Then my nose starts bleeding. Seriously. This little old lady walks up to me after I collect myself and asks sweetly, "How much longer do you have left?"

You know you look bad when questions about your due date start to sound like questions about a prison term.

hooked on phonics...

Marshall and I like to read together in bed at night, mostly Michael Crichton books. Well, usually it is Marshall reading and me listening because I am really self conscious of my ability to read aloud (trauma dating back to elementary school). Last night, however, he put his foot down and said that I had to read the first chapter before he took over. No biggie.

I didn't even get half way into the chapter before he took it from me, insisting that I let him finish. "Why?" I ask, "are you getting tired?" "No" he says, "you just suck at reading."

Ouch.