The Ingram Family

DIY

2012-01-28T10:43:00.002-07:00

Growing up I was always fascinated with stories about people living in the wilderness and figuring out how to live off nature.

I loved the Disney movies Swiss Family Robinson and the tree house that they were able to build using what they found on the island and scraps from the shipwrecked boat.
I loved that they used what they had and were quite happy.

I was fascinated by the book my side of the mountain.
I hardly remember the book now, except that the boy was living on his own in a tree that he hollowed out and finding his own food, with the help of his trained falcon.

I shared my dream of living in a place where I would have to live off the land with Jack the other day.
He was a little surprised that I would say that(he knows I love me some mall therapy) and I don't think he believed I could handle such a lifestyle for one second.
He is probably right.
But sometimes I wish we could do everything on our own without relying on grocery stores, malls, and Home depots.
People did it once upon a time so I know it can be done.

My goal this year is to do more on my own.
Make things instead of buy them.
Go without instead of thinking I NEED everything.

Thank you Hallmark for playing Swiss Family Robinson on repeat today to remind me of a simpler time.

He's gonna be a soccer player

2012-01-25T19:42:00.002-07:00

I knew from the time he was in the womb that Mack was gonna be a good kicker.
Today we put my predictions to the test.

Turns out I was right...he likes to kick things.

Happy Wednesday!

Spring

2012-01-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

Spring has hit the valley!
It's strange watching the news and places like Seattle and Alaska are having record breaking snowstorms and here in the valley of the sun we are basking in beautiful 70 degree weather and counting down the days til we can break out our swimming suits.

The benefits of having a ~~finished~~ semi-finished backyard is that I get to enjoy this weather right in my backyard.
Before our backyard looked like a jungle with zillions of overgrown weeds, but now it is well on it's way to being a comfortable area to play in the sun.

Mack loves being outside!

He also loves eating dirt....please tell me all little kids do this.

So come and play with us.
I kick around my soccer ball and pretend I used to know how to play and Mack stuffs as many rocks in his mouth as he can before I come chasing after him.
It's a great time!

Aren't baby hands just the cutest thing?

I LOVE his talking face.

I fairly certain he was hiding a rock in that little mouth. Stinker

Maybe this year I will actually get a tan.....ha.ha.ha.

I can't believe it's already the 20th

2012-01-20T10:48:00.005-07:00

I can't believe January is already nearing the end of the month and I have hardly posted at all in the new year.
So here is an update.

Baby numero dos

I feel as though I didn't document much on my pregnancy with Mack and therefore hardly remember any of it even though it was only a year ago.
This time I am determined to document....but probably not with pictures often.

We find out what we are having on February 8th (make your predictions now) which seems forever away.
I must confess July 5th feels like forever away and part of me is incredibly annoyed that I am counting down the weeks til summer hits.
When did I become this person that was so excited for the hot summer months and has welcomed each warm day with a smile simply because it means the truly unbearable days are just around the corner.
I guess it just goes to show that something to look forward to makes the heat a little more bearable.
This pregnancy has been very strange for me.
I feel as though I don't remember a thing from my last pregnancy and everything feels incredibly new.
Like the fact that I can feel the baby moving, but all it feels like is 100 butterfly's in my belly.
I must admit it's distracting....in a good way of course.

I'm on my 17th week and have not gained a pound yet...and yet none of my clothes seem to fit the way I want them to.
I am definitely getting larger around the middle, but only big enough that I can really notice.
The other day Jack declared that I was getting a baby belly and I had to sadly inform him that it is in fact just a food baby because I seem to be hungry ALL the time.

I'm teaching 4 nights a week at the studio and classes already seem to be harder for me than they were last time.
I am blaming that entirely on the fact that I am actually teaching harder classes this year and am required to move much more in much more difficult ways.
I have had to completely stop a couple of times because I could feel my body just not handling all the aggressive movement well.

Okay enough of that talk...

MACK!

This kid is SO much fun!
He has taken on his very own personality...which my mom says is exactly like Jack's.

Some of my favorite things he has been doing lately:

Clap when you say any for of "good boy," "good job," and even "silly boy"

Looks at his favorite farm book for hours...no really the kid loves his farm animals.(yes this picture is from Christmas....and yes I never did a Christmas post....sorry.)

Running faster and faster every day....he seems to want to practice the most at church. must be the long halls tempting him.

Loves these Jackie Chan commercials.

Does not matter what he is doing when he hears this commercial come on the TV he runs right in and stares and claps at the TV until it is over.
I guess Mack inherited Jack's obsession with Jackie Chan....ugh.

And finally...

JACK

After a year of working graveyards 5x8s Jack has finally gotten a 4X10 schedule.
It feels like he is home so much now which is so nice.
Both of us have Wednesdays completely off and are looking forward to actually having a date night.

Last week to take advantage of our afternoon off and the BEAUTIFUL weather we have been having lately we took Mack to the park. (everyday I want to go to the park because I feel it is silly not to take advantage of the perfect weather while we have it...but never want to go alone. Silly I know, but if you ever want to go with us before 4 in the afternoon, me and Mack are totally down!)

I was getting a cold so Jack played with Mack most of the time while I documented.

The kid loves his hills.
He played on the playground for a while, but mostly wanted to run up and down the hills.
I was very glad Jack was there to chase him.

Life has been interesting this last month with some very happy things and some very sad things and I just want to let all our family know especially our Ingram family that we are thinking of you and praying for you everyday.

Have a happy last week and a half of January!

Sometimes I miss things

2012-01-06T10:35:00.005-07:00

Mack has taken it into his own hands to change his schedule.
He has started taking only one nap a day which means he gets tired enough for bed a little bit earlier.
Thursday nights I usually get home from dance around 7:30 with just enough time to play with Mack for a bit before putting him to bed.
Last night I got home and Mack was already asleep.

Luckily for me Jack documented the evening so I didn't feel like I missed everything.

I feel like he looks so much older in this picture.

I love seeing his cute face in these pictures, but I have to admit that I didn't really love not seeing him before bed....I may need to rethink this schedule.

Family Christmas Present

2012-01-04T21:32:00.002-07:00

For Christmas we like to do one big family present and then little individual presents....which typically end up being far more than we plan...but oh well.
Last year we got a new TV which Jack had desperately wanted for years and I was so excited to have it because it meant we could make a Wal-mart trip without spending 20 minutes in the electronics aisle trying to decide what T.V. we would get if we were to ever one day get one.
All year I have been so sad about one big thing...our back yard was hideous.
So for our family Christmas gift this year, Jack is making our backyard beautiful.

For the past few days Jack and his dad have been slaving away burning the mountain of weeds that had taken residence behind our residence, digging up landscape rock, sifting landscape rock and re-landscaping.

The yard is far from finished and won't feel complete until we can plant grass in February, but after 3 years it looks absolutely amazing!
I almost want to cry when I look at it.....it's that beautiful...or I'm just pregnant.

Mack is going to love having a backyard I can already tell.
I couldn't take him downstairs while his dad was working outside because he would run to the sliding glass door and bang on it and yell until I would let him outside.

He especially loved all the rocks and for whatever reason more of them found way to his mouth than should have.

Apparently Mack was in a yelling mood this week.
He yelled at us...a lot.

I can't wait to have a backyard that Mack can play in and use up all that energy that wears me out every day.

These men worked super hard and I am so grateful for all the pain they went through for my Christmas present!

I guess I should tell you....

2011-12-19T14:32:00.002-07:00

...that Ingram baby #2 is on the way and will arrive sometime around the beginning of July.
We expect a girl, but won't find out for another month.

Merry Christmas!

Learning

2011-12-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

Mack had so much fun in St. Johns.
Granted he didn't sleep like I wanted him too, but he was still a pretty happy baby.
There were times when I wouldn't even need to worry about him because he was more than happy to just follow Isaac around...even if Isaac was ready to throw punches a few times to get him away.

My mom has a lot of little steps in her house.
For instance, to get into the living room you have to take a step down, then to get from the living room into the dining room you have to step up.
Considering at 5 months Mack took his first tumble down our stair, I have been a bit terrified of letting him come in contact with them again ever since.
I let him climb up the stairs, but never down.
I know, paranoid mom.

Because he has never really figured out how to use stairs, he has no fear of them.
First time he discovered the little steps in mom's house he just walked right off one, which of course resulted in him landing on his face.
I couldn't help it, I laughed.
He didn't seem much bothered by it and continued to use the steps in the same fashion for at least the entire first day of our trip.
He must have gotten tired of finding his face in the carpet, because for the next day he would not even attempt the scary steps.
He would either wait for someone to come and get him, or find something to do in the level he was already in.
He got so cautious that he was avoiding the different rugs, which I assume he figured were steps as well considering the contrasting colors.

By the third day he had successfully figured out how to get down on his knees and crawl off the step...still face first...but at least he didn't eat carpet.

It was so interesting to see him figure this entire situation out.
Because he is walking only now...never crawling...it was very difficult to teach him to get on his knees and go down backwards.
He had to figure it out all on his own...and sure enough he did.

Mack is such a smart baby and watching him discover things and figure them out is one of the most amazing things.

Long Weekend

2011-11-29T07:08:00.007-07:00

Over the Thanksgiving weekend Mack and I were able to go and stay with my parents for a few days.
It was so nice in the White Mountains.
There was Thanksgiving dinner, Tamale making, Play creating, and relaxing done.
I loved every minute of it and just wish that Jack could have been there to experience some of it.
So here it is...Thanksgiving weekend in pictures.

Beautiful leaves on Mom's apple trees.

Masa! The best part of Tamales!!!!

I can't wait until Mack is Coopers age. What a fun time.

Everyone got in on the Tamale making. I was surprised at how helpful the little girls were. All in all Tamales were a great success this year....22 dozen!

Isaac, who is 8 months older than Mack spent much of the weekend chasing Mack to give his pacifier back.

By the end of the weekend Isaac was pretty much done with Mack. But Mack loved the little buddy to follow around.

The kids put on a play...Cooper is Santa, of course, being pulled by Rudolph. Can't you tell by the red nose? Most inventive prop ever!

How entertaining it is to have older kids around the house. Makes our house seem quite dull.

I loved being home for the weekend.

Every time I go home I am amazed at how much my mom does for us.
I don't think she fully understands how wonderful she is and how I could not live without her.
Thank you mom for an amazing weekend!

Baby Blues

2011-11-08T15:07:00.002-07:00

I love these baby blues....

and this adorable smile!

I am spending about 6 hours at the studio today....and missing this little guy every single minute of that.

Yay for being home all day Wednesday!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-07T07:53:00.004-07:00

With Mack's ear infection a couple of weeks ago, and him trying to cut 5 teeth at the same time, Halloween was not as eventful as we had planned.
We had planned to head out to Mesa for a super amazing Halloween party...
after helping out at the Halloween party at my studio, Mack was pretty tired and cranky.
I didn't really feel like fighting him all night, so we stayed in.

Not the best of Halloweens, but at least he got to wear his goat pants!

A-dorable right!?!

He is Phil from Disney's Hercules.
A Goat-man. I love it.

Every day stuff and nonsense

2011-10-28T15:12:00.007-07:00

For some reason blogging has totally been absent from my mind lately.
I have learned that I am really good at completely putting things out of my mind.
which means when I can't blog...I don't even think about it.
But that also means that a lot of life has happened 'round here, and not much of it has shown up here.

SOOOO....I'll just provide some highlights.

It has been PERFECT weather here.
Ok perfect weather for like July, I personally prefer my Octobers to be a little cooler, but I'll take what I can get.
With the cooler weather trips to the park have definitely been in order.
It's so nice to go the park and find several mom's from the ward had the same idea.
Mack loved being around all the other kids.

This little guy is currently getting over an ear infection, and cutting 5 teeth.
Yeah 5.
The poor kid is drooling like CRAZY and chewing on everything he can get.
I frequently offer him my arm as a chew toy....I don't know if it's because I have been watching Vampire Diaries on Netflix lately, but I feel like my kid is a little vampire leaving teeth marks in my arm.
How fitting for Halloween.

Mack had quite the exciting night at Red Robin with his Aunt Laurel.
The night ended with us shopping for an extra shirt at target because somehow Jack shirt was ruined.
I do believe this story deserves an entire post....trust...it's HI-larious!

oh and does anyone else hate the placement of the buckle in target shopping carts? I feel like it is way to high and obnoxious....Wal-Mart totally has better ones.

Turns out Mack loves his great-grandparents, just like I do.
We don't get out to see grandma and grandpa often enough considering they live so close, but I always love it every time we do.

Mack's little incident in Red Robin forced Jack to fight his aversion to T-shirts.
I personally feel he could wear them more often.
Jack says I just wish we were high school students.
I say he just needs to stop thinking he is a 70 year old and wear normal 27 year old clothes.

Oh hi Laurel and your cute prego belly! So glad you came and can't wait for you to come again!

I had a birthday....the big 2-4.
It was quite a perfect day.
Started out with 2 bouquets of flowers, a big box of donuts, and a girl date to see Footloose.
I loved the movie...I seriously sang along to all the toe-tappin' tunes....don't worry the rest of the theater was too.
I couldn't help replacing Julianne Hough and Kenny Wormland with Brittany Platt and the rest of the cast with our high school cast.
I miss the good ole spring musical days.

As a birthday present to myself, I cut me some bangs.
The jury is still out, but Jack definitely wishes they would grow back.
I'm having some fun with them...it's the rest of my hair that is driving me crazy.

Um....did I mention Mack is walking?
How I don't have a picture of this I have no idea...but yeah the kid walks everywhere.

And that's was you missed in Ingram land.

Not quite there

2011-10-13T13:22:00.003-07:00

A few weeks ago I started working on a rag rug.
11 sheets and a lot of tired and sore fingers later, and I am still not quite there.

{pretty good for not crocheting since I was 8 years old huh?}
I love this rug so much and I have spent a ton of time making it just the right colors, and size, but I'm thinking it still needs a bit more.
I'm thinking now that I need about 4 more sheets....seriously one barely makes it around 2.5 times.
This things is massive.

When I crochet with it on my lap I feel like I have 1000 lbs. on my lap.
Seriously massive.

After working on this project, I now understand why most good rugs cost an arm and a leg.
The good thing is that now that I know I can do it, I will only have to give up a couple of hands for a custom rug.
A ton of work that is totally paying off.

8 Months

2011-10-13T13:15:00.003-07:00

Yesterday Mack had his 8 month birthday.

8 months.
I feel like I don't even have a baby anymore, just a little buddy.
He talks like crazy now....not actual words but a lot of da-da-da-doodoo-dau...you get the point.
He started walking without holding onto things about 3 weeks ago.
Like I said, it's like I just have a little buddy.
A walking, talking, little buddy.
Best 8 months ever!
I imagine the next 8 will be full of a lot of baby proofing, a lot of running my tooshie off, and a lot of fun fun fun times!

Today.

2011-10-09T15:21:00.002-07:00

I fasted for the first time in 16 months today.
I don't think I even realized what I was missing.
I woke up so not excited about being able to fast and just worried that I would be consumed the entire day with thoughts of delicious dinners swirling around in my head.
Turns out, I was not.
Today was just one of those days that even though every single thing didn't go exactly as it should have, it still felt perfect.
I am so excited to be able to fast again.
It's amazing how much of a blessing it is and how much I have missed it.

Rag Rug

2011-09-20T17:33:00.004-07:00

Making a rag rug has been a ton of fun.
I have not crocheted since I was 10 years old in activity days.
But it turns out, it's kinda like riding a bike.
You never really forget the motion.

Turns out though that a rug to fill a very large portion of my great room takes a whole lotta sheets.
I don't just need a flat sheet here and there, I need a full California king set of every color.
for real....a lot of sheets.

I'm about 3/4 of the way done.
3/4 of a large rag rug in just a few days.
I'd say that's pretty good.

LSP Retreat 2011

2011-09-19T09:16:00.001-07:00

On Saturday Mack and I got to go up the LSP retreat to help out as an alumni.
Me....not Mack.
Mack is the future ASU football player. Obvi.

It was so nice to get out of the heat for the day and spend it with some pretty awesome college students.
Being able to sit back and watch all the days events unfold reminded me how lucky I am to be part of such an amazing program.

Mack loved playing in the football field grass.
I can't wait until we have grass {and cooler weather} so Mack can explore the outdoors a little more.

Oh and Mack loved all the attention he was getting from the ladies.

He is gonna be such a ladies man.

Such a good way to spend a Saturday!

satisfaction

2011-09-14T10:03:00.001-07:00

There are a few things I just can't stand the idea of buying.
I mean it's true that I started sewing simply because I couldn't stand paying $60.00 for a skirt I knew only cost $20 to make.
But really my craziness in not wanting to purchase certain items goes further...

I hate the thought of buying rugs....rugs and shoes.
It's not even that I think either of these items are over priced.
Usually you can find decent versions of both for fair prices.
It's just that in my mind I know I can make them.
I can picture step by step what I would do.
It's kinda frustrating, because I can picture it...pretty clearly...and I know that if I had the tools sitting in front of me I could figure it out.
How cool would it be to make your own shoes?
I mean seriously.
Unfortunately, especially where the shoes are concerned, I REALLY don't have the tools.

Rugs on the other hand....
I need a rug for my great room....but NOTHING comes in the colors I want and if it does it is hundreds of dollars and either too big or too small.
I have been wanting to make my own rug but was a little scared to even attempt, knowing it was possible, but not really understanding how possible it actually is.

And so enters Pinterest and all it's awesomeness introducing me to this tutorial on Rag rugs.

You better believe I am going to be searching all thrift stores for sheets in order to make my very own rag rug
I am so excited to make a rug....it needs to be farely big, so I better get searching.

Firehouse subs

2011-09-13T08:47:00.001-07:00

Monday Mack and I went into Mesa to hang out with Shirley and Trey.
After a healthy visit to Goodwill we ate lunch at Firehouse Subs.

Hullo best Sub sandwich of my life!
Mack had his first experience eating ham....he loved it.
The pickles not so much.

oh and he loved watching football.
Thanks for hanging out with us Shirley and Trey!

7 months

2011-09-12T06:05:00.000-07:00

Mack is 7 months old today.

He is growing up so fast.
Over Labor Day weekend Mack discovered that if he is holding onto something and standing, he can let go and stay standing.....at least for a couple seconds.
Once he discovered this he wouldn't stop.
We can't looking at him and reminding him that he is only 6 and a half months old.

I guess he is gonna keep growing up no matter how much we want to keep him a little baby.

What to do

2011-09-10T09:31:00.002-07:00

I need some help.

I have this empty wall in my great room and I cannot decide what to do with it.
Part of me says to just leave it blank...there is such a thing as overdecorating.
The other part of me says it looks lame and boring and the only reason it doesn't have anything on it already is that I am really good at ignoring things that bother me.

Jack is pretty cool and likes a decorated house, which makes it easy for me justify decorating....and he happens to really want something on this wall.

So what do you think?
To decorate, or not to decorate?
If I do decide to decorate what should I put up?
I was kinda thinking of different types of artwork sticking with my color scheme....but I don't know.
What should I do....tell me please!

Welcome Home

2011-09-10T05:55:00.003-07:00

Coming home from dance is always good when this is what I come home to.

We will be raising that gate.
The kid just can't be contained.

That Face

2011-09-07T15:24:00.004-07:00

How can you not love that face?

{please disregard the green bean peanut butter covered onsie}

Labor Day 2011

2011-09-06T08:41:00.006-07:00

We had a great Labor Day weekend.
Jack's Parents came to visit along with David.

Mack LOVED uncle David.

They were little buddies the whole weekend.

For Labor day we went up to the Salt River and played a bit in the water and had a picnic.
It was great to get out and see a part of Arizona that I have never really seen.
I can't wait to go back in a bit cooler temperatures.
The water felt amazing and cool, but out of the water it was pretty warm.

Mack really likes to be involved in everything that could possibly be going on, which means he didn't sleep hardly at all during the whole weekend.
He was a little bit grumpy, but loved all the attention he was getting.

It was a great weekend and I am so glad the Ingrams came to visit!

why yes, yes it is.

2011-09-02T00:18:00.002-07:00

Remember a couple weeks ago how I asked the luminous questions of whether or not it was fate that opening day of Footloose happened to fall on my birthday?

Well tonight at 12:18 AM I have found the answer.

It is most absolutely fate!

As I was trying my hardest not to fall asleep, watching Remember Me, I decided to actually read through our monthly studio newsletter.

Apparently we are having a fall break.
And this so called fall break happens to be starting on Friday, October 14th.

Happy Birthday to me!

So what will I be doing on Friday afternoon on my Birthday?
Watching Footloose.....pending the decision of rating {with all the bump and grinding in the preview, I'm worried}.

Anyone want to join me?

All things Mack

2011-08-31T09:02:00.002-07:00

I LOVE being a mom.
I like to think that I am a pretty reasonable mom that while still thinking my baby is amazing, I can recognize that other babies are amazing and blah blah blah all babies are beautiful.
But some days I give into my proud mama tendencies and admit that my kid is pretty awesome.
I even went so far as to look up in "the book" {"the book" meaning What to Expect in the First Year book} how you can tell if you child is "gifted."
I hate using the word gifted as it tortured my junior high years, so I will use SMATO {slightly more advanced than others}.
According to "the Book" you can tell your child might be SMATO if they are learning to do everything a bit earlier than expected.

Based on this curriculum, Mack is possibly SMATO.
Let's count the ways.

SMATO proof numero uno:
Mack started crawling at 5 months. oh hello baby proofing WAY earlier than I wanted to.

SMATO proof numero dos:
After a only a couple of tries I have taught Mack how to give kisses. Yes they are big and wet and a tad gross....but oh my adorable!

SMATO proof numero tres:
Mack has totally learned that his little sleeping music dog means naptime....I really don't know if this means he is SMATO...but it sure is annoying since he won't fall asleep to it anymore and "the book" said something about connecting links between different objects. I don't know.
oh he also now knows that that little slice of yellow stuff equals uncomfortable sour taste....and he always comes back for more....what a daredevil!

SMATO proof numer.....let's be real I barely passed Spanish.....number four:
Mack pulls himself to standing positions on just about anything he can get his hands on. ExerSaucer, couch, entertainment center, bathtub...

SMATO proof number five:
Whenever we go out to a restaurant we are asked if we need a kids menu.
Um hai....6 months. 2 teeth...not really gonna be chowing down on chicken nuggets...although he does enjoy a good avocado if ya got any of those on hand.
Maybe not SMATO, but I think we can chalk this up to he largeness...{still in the 90th percentile btw}

SMATO proof number six:
Let's get serious now....Jack is his daddy. No more SMATO proof needed. Done and done.

Ok so maybe I only have four actual SMATO proofs, and maybe I can't prove at 6 months that my kid is gonna be "gifted," BUT he is pretty smart.
He definately makes life fun and entertaining.

We go together!

2011-08-30T08:48:00.004-07:00

We go together like ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong
Remembered forever as shoo-bop sha whada whadda yippidy boom da boom
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop that's the way it should be
Waooo Yeah

We're one of a kind like dip da dip da dip do whap de dobby do
Our names are signed boogedy boogedy boogedy boogedy shooby do wap shoo bop
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop we'll always be like one
Wa-wa-wa-one

When we go out a night (oh-h oh)
And stars are shining bright (oh-h, oh)
Up in the skies above
Or at the high school dance
Where you can find romance maybe it might be lo-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uve

Ramma lamma lamma ka dingity ding da dong
Shoo bop shoo wadda wadda yippity boom da boom
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop
Dip da dip da dip do wop da dooby do
Boogy boogy boogy boogy shooby sho wap sho wap
Sha na na na na na na na yippity dip da do
Ramma lamma lamma ka dingity ding da dong
Shoo bop shoo wadda wadda yippity boom sha boom
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop
Yip da dip da dip shoo bopp sha dooby do
Boogedy boogedy boogedy boogedy shooby do wap sho bop
Sha na na na na na na na yippity dip da do
A womp bop a looma a womp bam boom

We're for each other like womp bop a looma a womp bam boom
Just like my brother is sha na na na na na na na yippity dip da do
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop we'll always be together
Waooo Yeah!

We'll always be together
We'll always be together
We'll always be together
We'll always be together
We'll always be together
We'll always be together
We'll always be together

{really who has ever read through these lyrics. ....like my brother?...whhuuuttt?}
{regardless of silly lyrics my baby is adorable}
{Also I am rebelling against the record temperatures and breaking out my fall wardrobe. If the weather insists on sustaining temperatures above 110 degrees I will build myself my own imaginary world of bursting fall colors and cool crisp winds. Maybe if I stay indoors with really cold air conditioning I can start to believe the weather has actually turned in my favor. Wish me luck that I won't roast to death in my silly in season yet still out of season wardrobe. kthxbye!}

Heat wave

2011-08-23T11:09:00.001-07:00

This week has been one of the hottest of the summer.
Last week I worked out in my yard everyday and actually thought there was a nice cool breeze.
I was started to get excited that we were on the downhill climb toward fall, when kablammy....115 temperatures all week.
I am seriously missing the cool temperatures of St. Johns that let us hang out in the front yard at 4 in the afternoon.

Awesome.
I guess I'll have to wait a few more weeks.

6 months

2011-08-22T11:04:00.003-07:00

Today we are taking Mack to his 6 month check.

6 month check means 5 more shots.
I hate letting my little baby be poked.
Last time he barely made a peep and was so good afterwards.
Here's hoping he is just as good today.

The Hunger Games

2011-08-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

I finally read the uber popular Suzanne Collins series.
I put it off because I usually don't like books that recieve a lot of hype.
But because Katie happened to have the first book and I didn't really have any excuse not to, I went ahead and read them.
I read them quickly and very intently.
And when it was all said and done with the last chapter read....I was right.
I didn't like it much.

I found it depressing and the love story not worth the time.
I know. I know. How could I not fall in love with the love story of Peeta and Katniss....but really I didn't like it.

Now I'll probably love the movies.
And I am excited to see them.
But this is a series I probably won't visit again.

Is it Fate?

2011-08-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

Is it fate that the Footloose remake is hitting theaters on October 14, 2011?
October 14 which just happens to be my 24th birthday?
Footloose which just happens to by my 2nd favorite play I have ever performed in? {nothing can beat 7 Brides for 7 Brothers...srsly}
Is it fate that I already have a babysitter all lined up and classes covered?
Ok that last one is not true, but I am sure I can arrange it:).

I'm pretty excited for this movie.
I am sure it won't be that great with bad acting, too much direct copying to the original, and with Hip hop looking like the main dance style I am sure I will be missing the Kevin Bacon 80s moves....but I still can't wait.

Happy Birthday to me....in a few weeks.

Pioneer Days 2011

2011-08-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

This year Jack and I were going to completely miss the Pioneer day celebrations in St. Johns.
This would have been the first time in my entire life missing them.
I was sad, but ok with it, because we would have been going up to St. George to visit the Ingram family.

And then we found out that all my siblings would be going to St. Johns for the celebrations.
We felt we couldn't miss this opportunity to be there with the entire family...especially since Amanda would be coming all the way from Florida with her little family.

I am so glad we went.

I was so much fun to see all the family and especially see all the kids playing together.

I took a bazillion pictures, so of course I can't really post them all here...but I'll give you a sampling.
I have not made it to the Ice Cream social in a long time.
Free Ice Cream+old friends= Awesome!

Love this little redhead!

Biggest campfire circle the town has had in a long time....and the weather was perfect!
no rain...no wind.
loved it!

I wish we could have stayed at the dance longer....at least we got to see the kids dance around a bit.

Hottest parade ever! I swear the mountain sun is a killer.

Coolest Granny ever! Mom says she bought the trampoline for the grandkids....really she bought it for herself.

Jake and Jack supervised while the little boys learned how to throw hatchets....scary!

I loved the events of the weekend and even more loved spending time with family!
I don't know when all of us will be able to get together like that again...but I hope it's not another 3.5 years!

Tidbits

2011-08-14T07:34:00.011-07:00

Lately I have felt a little all over the place.
Nothing really organized.
Nothing really getting accomplished, but still doing a whole lot.

So that is how this post is gonna be.
A little here and there...but nothing really organized or accomplished

Tidbit #1
Mack's new smile is my favorite thing I have ever seen!

Tidbit #2
I have already started to dream about decorating for Christmas

...but I guess I have to wait til Oct. 31st to do so....so in the meantime I will be decorating for fall

{you know that season that never graces our valley} and Halloween

{I really don't like the holiday that much, but I gotta do it}

Tidbit #3
I'm pretty much scared of everything....including trampolines.
I can't even blame it on getting older....I have always been scared of everything.

Tidbit #4
I miss cold weather....like bad.
{freezing on top of Greens Peak....in August...beautiful!}

Tidbit #5
Mack can sometimes stand on his own....for quite a while.

He can also stay standing by himself if he is holding onto the couch or the back of a church bench.

Tidbit #6
I can't wait til Mack is Coopers age and can say funny things like "what if the wind blew so hard it blew my shirt off but not my jacket?"
Little boys are so funny.

Tidbit #7
Speaking of being a scaredy cat...This terrifies me!

This is also why she is the gymnast doing leaps and flips on a tiny beam and I choose to do my leaps on solid ground.

Tidbit #8
I am finally being allowed to spread my wings in the dancing world!
In a couple of months I will be teaching my very own Intermediate/ Advanced Jazz class.
I CANNOT wait....and yet I'm a little terrified.

Tidbit#9
My mom is one busy lady, but I love that she still listens to me drone on and on in our little phone conversations.

Tidbit #10
I gave in and Jack finally convinced himself to get cable.
The guy is coming to install it tomorrow.
For the first time in my entire life I will use the remote for more than the power and volume buttons.

I'm a little terrified that I will become even more of a couch potato than I already am.

One Good Mom

2011-08-11T10:30:00.001-07:00

A few semesters ago I was taking a genealogy class from ASU...{Oh hai college credit for essentially doing my church work!}

As I was reading material on one of my Great Great Grandma's I came across a section written by her daughter.

I don't have the exact wording, but essentially she said that her mother had a special talent of making a home comfortable and well decorated on a very very limited budget.

I think my mom inherited that trait especially when it comes to her yard.
He budget may not be as limited as that of her ancestors but she does everything on her own.

Every time I get after Jack for not working on the yard I remember that my mom does all of the yard work and by George if I want it done I should go out there and do it myself!
...if only it weren't so hot!

I love my mom's backyard.
While she would never admit it, she really has a green thumb.
Her green thumb is something I wish I had everyday.
After recently killing my beautiful geranium plant, I feel very inadequate in the emerald phalanges area.

Mack and I spent the last few days at my mom's house....you better believe I enjoyed her beautiful yard as much as possible!

{and ate as many snow cones as my stomach could handle...of course!}

Blessing

2011-07-17T06:31:00.006-07:00

Last Sunday we had some freinds and family over for Mack's blessing.

It was a great day with lots of good company.

This weekend we will be heading up to St. Johns for pioneer days.
I can't wait to see ALL my family!

Crafting....for a boy

2011-07-05T11:27:00.001-07:00

There are million and one things I can think to make for little girls.
Little boys are a different story.
Boys can't wear headbands, anything ruffled, or cute summer dresses.

But....

They can wear adorable bow ties!

I made a couple bow ties for Mack this last week.
He wore this one for a total of 20 minutes before it turned into a chew toy...but I was able to keep it out of his mouth most of the time.
This bow tie took me about 20 minutes to make and I love it!

You better believe Mack will be the cutest baby at church from now on.

Matching

2011-07-03T20:03:00.003-07:00

I have a problem.
I like everything to match.
This obsession is not limited to my clothing, but invades all aspects of my life.
My soap in my Kitchen has to match the hand towels.
The birds toys have to match the color of the couch.
Even the birds themselves have to match the room they live in.
I believe I would not keep them around if I thought they did not.

Anyway what I'm saying is that I have a problem.
Today that problem was truly manifest in my family Sunday wardrobe.

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, and such an easy one to dress up for.
so we did....

the entire family...

we are one matchy red, white, and blue family.
I felt a bit awkward at church when I realised that other families didn't match each other nearly so perfectly as my little family.
I had to convince myself that no one was staring at us judging us for our matchy matchy outfits.

I had to stop myself from repainting my toenails....while blue, they were not the correct color of blue.
I have to admit I stared at them all day wishing I had taken the 5 minutes to re-do them.

I had also made myself a headband that matched Mack's Bow tie and forced myself not to wear it convincing myself that matching my child is not necessary.
Later my mom suggested I make a hair bow to match Mack's bow tie....talk about enabling an obsession!

Anyway...Happy 4th of July.
May it be full of plenty of red white and blue....
...Don't worry my family will all match.

Freedom Week

2011-07-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

Last week was summer break for the studio.
I had an entire week of not worrying about being home by 2:00 in the afternoon to get ready to teach.
It felt like FREEDOM!
{I really enjoy teaching...and I love my students...but sometimes I love a break}

Jack was able to take a few days off so we could spend some time together.
It was so nice to have him around.

We spent the week shopping, going to the temple, and visiting the Sea Life aquarium in Tempe.

{yes we use our child as a prop....it's cool}

{Mack loved the aquarium. He loved looking at all the fun colors and crazy creatures. I was surprised by how much he noticed.}

{Jack really loves animal life...me not so much. But I love taking pictures. So any good excuse for me to drag around my camera is good enough for me.}

If you need a bit of cool entertainment for your kids this summer the Aquarium is doing a beat the heat special.
You have to order the tickets online, but they are a lot cheaper than buying them at the door.

This has been such a nice break with my boys and I am excited for 4th of July celebrations in St. Johns.

It's gettin hot in here!

2011-06-29T07:08:00.007-07:00

Monday night our AC quit working.
For anyone that knows anything about Arizona knows that it is stinkin' HOT here.
Inside our house was about 93 degrees.
93 DEGREES!
Insanity.

Considering tons of people have AC units going out left and right during these hot summer days, the AC people were all very busy.
No one could come and check it out until today....high that's 3 days without AC.
I know that does not sound so bad...but when it is 116 degrees outside and even taking a cold shower does not get your cooled off....3 days is a LONG time.
Luckily we have an amazing man in our Bishopric that was willing to come by after he finished his work day and check it out.

While we waited for Bro. Yo-ho to get off work we spent the hot day going out for lunch and wandering the mall

{Jack and I like to buy our body weight in candy and have it eaten before we get home....the stomach ache afterwards....not so much}

{One thing that is frustrating about mall shopping now is that I always have to use the elevator...so much less convenient}

We wandered the mall so long that the sunglasses kiosk guy was asking us if we were ever going to go home.

Our time without AC didn't last long.
15 minutes after Bro. Yo-Ho got to our house that night the air was back on.
Ward families and air conditioning are the best!

Why we love Queen Creek

2011-06-27T17:58:00.004-07:00

There are million reasons to love Queen Creek....but this is huge.
We just bought Saturday's Warrior....from Wal Mart!

That's right our Wal Mart out here has an entire section dedicated just to LDS movies.
Best FHE shopping trip ever!

Happy Monday!

2011-06-27T13:50:00.002-07:00

After almost 3 years in our house our stairway is finally getting painted.

Anyone know a good way to get really high corners?

Happy Monday!

Tongue Tied

2011-06-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Mack is tongue-tied.

Tongue Tie
[tuhng-tahy] noun, verb, -tied, -ty·ing.
–noun
1. impeded motion of the tongue caused especially by shortness of the frenum, which binds it to the floor of the mouth.

Sometimes I get confused when I see other babies stick out their tongues....and it actually goes past their lips.

Luckily Mack's tongue tiedness has not affected his eating, I'm just hoping he won't have to have it clipped like Uncle Jason when he is in his 20s. Ouch!

Mack is one lucky kid!

2011-06-22T11:44:00.004-07:00

Since Mack was born he has not gone more than 2 weeks without spending time with one of his grandmothers.
This is particularly happy for him since both of his grandmas live at least 3.5 hours away.
This past weekend Jack's mom flew in from St. George to spend a few days with Mack (she says she is coming to visit us, but we all know she is here to visit Mack).

It was a great weekend.

Now that Mack is becoming more active....and harder to hold onto...I am becoming more and more grateful for an extra set of helping hands.

Mack has such wonderful Grandmas and I am so grateful that he will grow up knowing them.

Yum!

2011-06-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

I love vegetables.
I try to have some form of vegetable every night for dinner.
If I didn't do this, Jack would never have any form of roughage.
I hope my kids take after me.

So far it looks like Mack will.

Mack likes green beans.

This makes me happy!

Going Green

2011-06-19T15:00:00.001-07:00

Mack is eating solid foods now....well eating might be the wrong term for it.
I put solid foods in his mouth and sometimes they make it to his belly.
So far we are just trying out all the green vegetables so the little guy gets used to eating vegetables.

WHAT.A.MESS!

He actually seems to enjoy them...or maybe he just enjoys eating.

Next week we will move on to Peas....OH goodie!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T13:51:00.002-07:00

Happy Father's day!

We are celebrating Jack's first Father's day with Grandma Ingram and skittles.
Enjoy!

Bunches of Mack

2011-06-18T14:46:00.004-07:00

We have been taking so many cute pictures of Mack, but I never have anything real to write about....

So here are just a few of my favorites

So I guess he really likes the Excersaucer....Thanks Katie!

I'm a big kid now!

2011-06-16T10:44:00.005-07:00

My baby is 4 months old now.
I can't believe it has only been 4 months.
I feel like Mack has always been around.

Anyway the 4 month mark means we are able to try out solid foods.

So last night was our first try with solid foods.

I thought it was going really well and that Mack was going to love his Rice cereal...until he discovered that he can spit it all out.

I'm not sure how much actually made it down to his belly, but I am excited to try again tonight.

In other news, Mack has been going with me to the studio all week. He has loved all the attention he has been getting from my dancers and their parents.

I don't think I will ever get sick of the little girls "I love your baby" comments.

oh to have a little girl

2011-06-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

I love my little boy.
I do.
This does not mean I don't dream of one day having a baby I can dress in ruffles and bows and flowers.
I guess I could be like that one canadian family and let Mack decide how he wants to dress....but I'm pretty sure Jack wouldn't stand for it.

Anyway thank goodness there have been a bazillion babies born in our ward in the last few weeks.
I have been able to try my hand and ruffling up some baby onesies.

Maybe I'll try to do some boy onesies...with uh....boats...and bears...and baseballs.
Yeah that just does not sound like much fun.

Memorial Day

2011-05-31T10:12:00.008-07:00

The heat has really settled on the valley and because I start dreading this part of the year in March, I felt I needed a bit of an escape before it got really bad.
With the studio closed for Memorial day, and Jack conveniently having Mondays off, we decided to take a quick trip up to Flagstaff to visit Katie and the family.

Early Monday morning we got up and visited Walnut Canyon to see the Indian Ruins.

With Mack strapped to me I was sure to be a bit tired from the hike...{Walnut Canyon has a bazillion steps and many warning signs on the way down to pace yourself..."going down is optional, coming out is mandatory."}

Coming out I thought I was going to die.....or at least be terribly sore.

Jack spent the entire way down searching for plants he could eat.
Jack loves to watch survivor shows and was itching to strap on his Bear Grylls skills.

He continued to eat just about every plant until he read that one particular plant was used to induce vomiting.
He stopped.

The kids seemed to enjoy it.

When we had just about reached the bottom of the trail (meaning we had not attempted the dreadful hike out) I heard Morgan say, "this is a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be boring."
Cooper responded, "I thought it was going to be fun, but not THIS fun!"

of course Morgan was singing a different tune after hiking back up all those stairs.

It was a beautiful day and an absolutely perfect way to spend my last day of cool weather before diving head first into 100 degree temperatures.

After a perfect picnic and a little nap, the kids let us play with the xbox kinect.
I'm telling you, I think it is a little insane the way that thing works.

{Cooper is amazing and NEEDS to take a hip hop class...the kid can dance!}

{best thing about hanging out with Katie's kids is I get to do the girls hair...ok maybe it's not THE best thing, but it's a pretty good time}

we had a great time.
I usually make it a rule to never dance unless it is choreographed...I have a phobia of dancing freestyle in public places.
I don't know what got into me...maybe the mountain air, but I had a great time dancing and looking like a fool.
Jack even joined in...first time I had ever...EVER...seen him dance. It was classic.

I love Flagstaff and I am so glad that Jack indulges in my crazy every once in a while and lets me visit.

Oh there you are

2011-05-29T11:21:00.001-07:00

You know those people that always seem to know exactly what they want to do with their life?
They go through elementary school, middle school, high school, and college like they are shooting straight for a finishing target that never moves.
They know exactly what they want to be.
You know the kind of people I'm talking about.

Well I am definitely not one of those people.

I changed my mind on what I wanted to do like I was changing clothes....which when I was little I would change my clothes 4 times a day just because I loved clothes that much....which means I changed my mind a lot.

Nutritionist, photographer, purse designer, dancer, lawyer, actress....are just a few of a very LONG list of things I wanted to be.

By high school graduation I still did not have a set idea on what I wanted to do, but I had a full ride to ASU, so that was my next step.

My Freshman year I changed my major from Business Management to Human Communication.
By my Sophomore year I had decided that Human Communication was not really what I wanted to do, but rather than be in school for an extra year, I would just tough it out and get the degree.
I never felt like school was where I wanted to be or should be, but I was there because it was free.
{Sorry LSP, but it is true}

Freshman year I started working at American Eagle.
It was a lame retail job with crappy pay and crappy hours, but I was good at it and I loved it.
I thought I wanted to be in fashion retail forever.
...for a while anyway.
When I realised about halfway through freshman year that I was surrounding myself with bad influences at AE, I knew it was a place I could not be anymore.

So I started working in an eye doctor's office.
I KNEW I didn't want to be at that job long.
Nothing about it was appealing, but I had to face the fact that I had no idea what else I wanted to do...and hey it was a job.

When I found the dance studio I felt like I might have found something I really was going to want to do for the rest of my life.
I love the kids.
I love being able to do something I LOVE everyday and not pay the outrageous prices that studios charge.
The studio was close, but still something was missing.

and then I had Mack

Being a mom I feel like I have finally found the thing I am supposed to do for the rest of my life.
I love every minute of it.
I love that I get to spend every minute of my day thinking about and taking care of my baby.
I love that I can stay home and be a mom, a full time mom, one that cooks and cleans and is truly in charge of my household and the emotional well being of it.
In the Family: A Proclamation to the World, we are told that a mother's primary responsibility is to nurture their children.
I feel like striving to do that every day is exactly what I am supposed to do for the rest of my life and I could not be more happy about it.

Now how old is he again

2011-05-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

I know I talk about how big my baby is waaayyy too much.
I try not to bring it up...but people always mention it.
Sunday as I was enjoying my few hours at church, I could not help but stare at the 7+ brand new babies in our ward.
{there is something in the water here in Pecan Creek. Last Sunday 5 new babies were blessed. There was supposed to be 6, but someone in the family was sick and they could not make it. I expect the fast Sunday in June to be just as busy with baby blessings.}
As I was starring at all the new babies 2, 3, and 4 weeks old, I tried to remember Mack at the stage.
But I could not
I feel like he never was.

He wore newborn clothes for a total of 4 days.
He has been able to hold his head up since day one.
He has never felt as fragile as all those babies looked today.
I pretty much birthed a 1 month old and he seems to have not slowed down.

At 3.5 months he weighs about 18 lbs. and if my tired arm from carting him around were not enough proof of his size, the fact that he has grown out of several of his 6month outfits is.
It's true I have had to start shopping for 9 month outfits.
My baby is large.
It almost makes me want to have another one just to have a real newborn experience....
....surely all my babies won't be this big.....
....right?....

Faces

2011-05-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

is it bad that this face is just as cute to me as this face?

I can't help but laugh when he cries because he makes the best crying faces.
Lucky for me he does not cry too much so I can enjoy the cute crying faces and not get tired of them.

Comfort

2011-05-13T15:24:00.001-07:00

I never have really understood the need for a stuffed animal to sleep with...

Until now....

He can't seem to fall asleep for a nap without something to hold on to.
Jack uses his foot, I use the bear.

Freckles

2011-05-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

As a young lady I hated my freckles.
I thought they made me look silly and young and little girlish.
One thing I am very good about doing is ignoring the things I hate.
So for the past many years I have ignored my freckles.
Sometimes I forget that I even have freckles.
Sometimes I remember and don't really think I have that many.
And then I look at pictures like these that I took with Mack while watching Lily play at the playground.

OH HAI freckles!!!!

Seriously I have like a zillion.

Even after applying base and powder they still shine through.

ah well....I guess if I can't change them I better learn to love them.
So here I go trying to learn to accept my face full of freckles!

no words

2011-05-08T20:34:00.006-07:00

I have been sitting here trying to think of a reason to write a blog post.
Jack is sleeping and has been for 5 hours.
Mack is sleeping not due to wake up for another 45 minutes.
I am watching My Fair Lady, a movie I settled on after an hour and a half of looking for something to entertain me.
I'm sitting here doing nothing and thought to myself that it was the perfect time to write a blog post.

but...

I don't really have anything to write about.

So here are some family pictures we took for our moms for Mother's Day.

Mack was very tired and not willing to cooperate.
He really does smile quite a lot.

Marion by Natalie

2011-05-01T19:54:00.004-07:00

When I got pregnant I felt that all the creativity that existed in my brain ran away and hid.
I honestly felt like every time I tried to come up with something to make I would immediately be transported into one of those nightmares where you are looking for something that you KNOW is there but you just can't find it.
It was a horrible feeling.

I allowed myself to take a hiatus from sewing for others.
I would have stopped completely if I had not been taking a sewing class forcing me to continue.

When Mack was born I felt like that cloud of nightmarish confusion was lifted and I immediately started sewing again.

I have been sewing nearly every day since making nursing covers, aprons, skirts, dresses.
I feel like my sewing mind is back and better than ever.

And now I'm ready to get back on the wagon completely.

Marion by Natalie is open for business and this time I making things that I truly love.

I loved the shirts, but Skirts and dresses are really what I love to create.

I can't wait to start making more creations.

Hopefully Mack will cooperate (he has been an angel so far)

Check it out!

Easter

2011-04-26T20:30:00.008-07:00

This Easter Mack and I escaped the heat for a couple of days and visited Katie and her family in Flagstaff.
It was so nice to need more clothing instead of less.
Most of the party explored the Lava tubes while Mom, Kaite, Isaac, Mack and I were the welcoming committee for when they finally emerged from the deep dark caves.

Watching all the kids hunt for eggs and get so excited everytime they found another egg made me very excited for future children and the fun we will have on Easter.

We finished up the weekend with the Flagstaff stake Conference where the apostle Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke.
It was very amazing being in such close proximity to a General Authority (we got to the church and hour and a half early in order to get close enough seats).
My favorite part of his talk was when he had all the children in the congregation stand and sing I am a child of God.
Such a sweet experience.

We had a very enjoyable Easter and loved spending time with our family.

Jack and the Animals

2011-04-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday Mack, Jack, and I went to the zoo to celebrate Jack's 27th birthday.
Thanks to my new camera, the Zoo held a lot more interest to me then it normally does.
Jack can't waste hours watching and playing with animals.
Me...not so much.
Ten minutes and I'm done.
But thanks to having a new camera to play with, a cute baby to look after, and the fact that we pretty much had the entire place to ourselves, we had a great time.

Notions

2011-04-22T03:30:00.002-07:00

High School is an interesting place in life to be.
You have all these fantasies about the 'real' world
You have all these notions about how you want your life to end up.
Typically, if you are like me, you don't believe your life could go any.other.way.

and then you grow up.

When I was in Honors English my Junior year we did silly things.
Side note:
does anybody remember learning anything in honors English?...we did absolutely nothing in my class and the only thing I can remember doing is singing country music while avoiding any type of serious work and watching the Crucible....which I have contemplated watching again as it has just come up as a "watch instant" movie of netflix but can't decide if I want to because it is quite the depressing story....come to think of it, I don't remember doing any work from high school}
end side note

one of the silly things we did was give out "future" awards.
You know future awards like "most likely to be on TV," "most likely to be arrested," "most likely to get married first."
Mostly this was just a way for the teacher to avoid giving work out the last 2 weeks of school.
I'm not sure how the other classes determined the future awards, but our honors English class consisted of about 7 kids...so one person would yell out an idea about what they thought another classes future accomplishment would be and the rest of the class would pretty much agree.

While the other kids in my class were giving each other future awards like "most likely to be President," "Most likely to be a cancer curring doctor," and "Most likely to be a millionaire by 30," my future award was
"Most likely to be a soccer mom."

I.was.traumatized.

At this time in my high school career I had notions of being a rich and famous lawyer, or dancer, or workout video extraordinaire like Billy Blanks...minus the gross outfits and bulging biceps.
The point is I wanted to be anything but a mother.
Kids scared me half to death and at the time I was going through a very independent phase.
Soccer mom was the farthest from my life goals list.

But like I said...after high school we grow up.

I'm still growing up in many ways, but I have finally come to realise that being a soccer mom could be the greatest job I could ever imagine.
I can't wait to have a zillion kids that need a zillion places to go because they are so awesome and want to be involved in everything.
I can't wait to sit in the stands at sporting event donning a shirt saying "Proud mom of Big Mack"

I can't wait to be a soccer mom.

2 months

2011-04-13T20:24:00.005-07:00

Yesterday Mack had his two month birthday.
Sometimes it feels like Mack has been around for a long time.
A lot longer than 2 months at least.

Friday we have our 2 month Check to get the update stats...but all I know is he is completely wearing 6 months clothes....so I guess he is big.

Mack smiles all the time now and loves to stand up.
If I lay him down he starts crying until I stand him back up.

He loves to hang out with Jack in the morning before Jack falls asleep.
He talks and smiles at Jack and never takes his eyes off him.
Adorable.

I love being able to stay home with Mack.
Happy birthday baby!

Playtime

2011-04-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

Mack is so much fun.
He loves to talk and be talked to.
He especially loves to talk in the morning.

His favorite thing lately is to stand up and talk to me.
Sometimes if I lay him down after he has been standing for a bit he will yell at me until I stand him up again.
He even bounces sometimes when he is standing and seems to love that even more.

He smiles a lot, but seems to be happiest in the morning {My kinda kid!}.

We have started introducing more toys just because he is so interested in everything and needs things to look at.

I love my little boy!

Early Mornings

2011-04-07T06:55:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I was explaining to someone that if I could start every day at 5:00AM I would be a happy camper.

Then I got started thinking..."why can't I start every day at 5:00AM....or at least close to it."
True I have a baby that I have to feed several times a night, and a husband that does not even leave for work until 9:30PM, but what kinds of excuses are those?

It's all about scheduling and will power.
If I want to be an early morning riser then I can be.

So this morning we bumped up our usual wake up time from 7:45AM to 5:45AM.
I have already done so many things could not feel happier.

I may even have breakfast cooking when Jack walks in the door from work.

I'm so looking forward to enjoying my mornings again!

Dance Matrix Moms

2011-04-06T06:48:00.003-07:00

Last week I had to take Mack with me to dance because Jack was going to a Suns game with some friends from work.
I was a little worried that he would not do well....especially since both classes involved tap.
When I arrived at the studio one of my favorite students moms was walking in as well.
When she realised that I was going to have my baby in class with me she quickly ran out to her car and retrieved a Mobe wrap from her trunk.
She helped me put it on and get Mack all situated
Her daughter is now 3 and too big for the wrap so she said I could have it.
Since then I have used it several times for classes and around the house work.
I love it.
So nice!

Sometimes my students parents are the best!

Good Luck Charlie

2011-04-03T19:51:00.004-07:00

I love Disney.
This is nothing new.
It's true that I dislike most of the new Disney movies...excluding Tangled of course {best Disney movie since Mulan in my opinion}....but I do love me some Disney Channel movies and TV shows.
And now thanks to Netflix I can watch just about any Disney Channel movie and TV show.
I find that with all the crappy TV shows on these days, Disney shows add a wholesome if not usually cheesy break from all the crap.
When you take all the sex, drugs, and nasty out of shows, you get some real humor and good drama.

Up until this week my favorite show has been Sonny With a Chance.
And still nothing is better than Chad Dylan Cooper.

But Friday night during Mack's 1:00 feeding, I discovered Good Luck Charlie, A show about a 15 year old girl sharing the experiences of her family in order to give advice to her 9 month little sister.
Oh yeah so the little sister is like WAAAAAAAAAYYYY younger than the rest of the kids.
Kinda reminds me of my family...maybe that is why I like this show so much.
This show is funny and clever in the way the Cosby Show was.
With the fate of Sonny with a Chance up in the air after Demi's little stint that whatever facility....we find this show a good substitute.

The show is pretty funny and quite enjoyable....but one of my favorite things about it is the house.
Seriously the house that the Duncan's live in is amazing!
I hope after I have been married for 19 years I will be cool enough to have a house this awesome.

The first thing you see when you enter this house is the green staircase.
Hullo...I love green....and they have a green staircase!

A green staircase and Blue windowsills.
Best living room ever.

only it gets better.

Check out the Kitchen...

Royal blue dining chairs, Chalkboard refrigerator, Green cabinets, and yellow walls.
In the words of Nicko...."It shouldn't work...but it does!"

stay with me...it just gets better from here.

Teddy's Room.

I love that platform!
Your room would have to be pretty big to have a platform for your bed...so this is something I will be holding out for in our next house.

The 9 month old even has an amazing room.

And the Basement/laundry room/ play room is pretty awesome.

Awesome chair,

Awesome chalkboard wall,

and awesome colors!!!

Seriously this how has the best set ever!

Even the Dentist office waiting room is pretty cool.

Can I please have that bench?

Seriously the whole set is like one big explosion of color.
I really am loving this show and find that the humor is pretty clever....even Jack likes it.
Typically watching SWAC Jack would only laugh at 4 characters...Chad, Nicko, Grady, and The random security guard....with Charlie he seems to laugh at just about every character.

So if you feel like having a good laugh....or just want decorating ideas watch Good Luck Charlie.
Thank you Netflix instant!

Warming up and Growing up

2011-03-30T15:29:00.004-07:00

With all the nights below freezing we had in the valley this winter, the neighborhood plants are having a hard time saying hello to spring.
The days are extremely warm, but with the dry winter combined with the freezes many of the plants have been damaged so badly that I don't think they will be coming back.
This makes for a very drab looking spring....at least compared to last year where EVERYTHING seemed to be covered in green.
Luckily we were smart and pulled the planter with mom's geraniums inside during the super cold nights which kept them alive.

Now we have an enormous planter of beautiful blossoms right by our front door.

We were very worried about our lemon tree.
It looked a little too far gone for a little too long.
just the last couple of weeks it has started producing beautiful green leaves.
In order to keep the nutrients going up the tree {a lesson I learned in my southwest gardening class} and not staying down in the trunk, I plucked a few springs to decorate my home with.

I LOVE fresh greenery!

Something that is not having a hard time growing is Mack.
He was measured again at his cardiologist appointment this last Monday.
13 lbs 8 ounces and 23 and 3/4 inches long.

Today we tried on a 6 month outfit after realising that his 3 month onesies were getting extremely short.
I was not surprised to see that it fit him perfectly.
Unfortunately his 6 month wardrobe is much smaller than his 3 month was.
Looks like I'll have to do some shopping...hehehehehe.

2011 hairstyles...please can we have something new?

2011-03-29T21:22:00.008-07:00

Is anyone else sick of the hairstyles lately?
I used to love to get magazines full of celebrity pictures just to find which new hairstyle I would talk myself OUT of getting.
I feel like there are a total of 2 hairstyles going on right now....messy beachy waves and uber curly curls....with varying degrees of bangs.

love her...but bored.

I love curls...I could wear my hair in curls everyday....but my hair would fall out if I did that.
Since I am currently growing my hair out...again...and just don't want to kill my hair by curling it everyday and my face just seems to look tired if I try to pull off the messy look, I am extremely frustrated with the hair trends of 2011.

Jenn honey...your skin is gorgeous, but the hair?....bored.

I mean when it comes to fashion and clothing...there is a huge variety of styles to choose from....50s, military, hippy, romantic, etc.
You would think that with all the money some of these celebrities make they could pay for an innovative stylist...but alas we are stuck with curly and curlier.

really the new body is amazing...but bored with the hair

At least in the early years of the 2000s people were changing hair colors like their lives depended on it.
Now everyone just goes with natural...which I am totally cool with...it just makes for boring pictures to look at.

Thank goodness for the upward trend in braids.

It has been suggested that braids help keep the hair healthy and growing.
I wear my hair in some form of braid 4 or 5 days out of the week.

It's super quick and looks a little more put together than a messy bun...and keeps my hair super healthy.

But really people....braids are a great hair trend and I am so happy they are back in style....but can we see a little more variation in the hair department?

I NEED variation and change!
Celebrities you disappoint me.

Anyone have any new hairstyle suggestions?

Seven Sling

2011-03-29T18:02:00.005-07:00

Jack will be leaving me and Mack at home to go and see a Suns game.
This means that Mack will be tagging along with me to dance.
We did a trial run today to my two classes I teach in the morning.
Mack did really well....until the tap shoes started tapping.
He does not like tap shoes.

I decided that leaving him in the car seat will not do for tomorrow night since both classes I will be teaching involve at least 15 minutes of tap shoes.
So we will be testing out our Seven Sling.

This thing is all kinds of amazing.
Lets me carry Mack around and still use my arms. Win!
Came in perfect dance matrix colors so I can always be in dress code. Double Win!

Now hopefully Mack does better during tap tomorrow night than he did today.

Not done yet

2011-03-28T15:20:00.005-07:00

So I thought today would be the last I would ever have to think about Mack's heart issues.
After 2 hours of testing which included an EKG and a heart ECHO and the cardiologist saying his heart looks fine, they still want to see him in another month.
The doctors said he was fine, but just to be sure we will be going back next month for another EKG.

Mack did great until they had to do the ultrasound on his heart that took 3 minutes and required him to make as little movement as possible.
He did not like having to hold still and the cold monitor moving around on his body.
I felt bad for the lady doing the ultrasound...apparently she does that all day and all her patients are children.
Talk about stressful job.

So anyway for now we can forget about that little heart issue.

Little Heart

2011-03-27T20:30:00.004-07:00

Ten minutes after Mack was born he was whisked off to the nursery to have an EKG done on his heart.
He had an irregular heart beat that had the nurses a little nervous.
I didn't get to see my baby until he was about 3 hours old and he had to stay the night in the nursery hooked up to monitors.

By 8:00 the next morning the pediatrician had made a phone call to a cardiologist and they decided his heart was just fine considering his oxygen levels were OK and he was not turning blue in the face.

Every time we have gone to the pediatrician she has stated that his heart beat is normal.
For insurance reasons she is sending us to a cardiologist to get him cleared so he does not have to trouble with a bad health record for the rest of his life.

Even when they took my baby away just minutes after I had delivered him and hooked his tiny body up to monitors, I never really believed anything was wrong with him.
Now that his cardiologist appointment is tomorrow morning at 8:30, I am nervous.
I don't think there is anything wrong with his heart...but I hate the idea of my little boy being hooked up to monitors for 2 hours.
The receptionist at the cardiologist office warned me that the appointment would be at least 2 hours start to finish.
My poor little guy.

I'm looking forward to getting this all taken care of, but not to the 2 hour visit.

"But I'm not sleepy!"

2011-03-21T11:59:00.001-07:00

On nights that Jack does not have to work he tries to stay up as late as he can to keep his body on schedule.
Usually this means he falls asleep much earlier than supposed to and throws his body off anyway.

We just got a new PS3 (yay for tax returns) so Jack was sure he was going to be able to keep himself awake last night.

I came out into the loft after Mack's 12:30 feeding to find this...

Jack Fast asleep...PS3 controller in hand exactly 7.5 hours before desired sleep time.

Looks like its gonna be another long week of graveyards.

A new addiction

2011-03-20T22:18:00.003-07:00

I graduated from college back in December.
3 months later I finally decided on what I wanted for a graduation present.

The Canon Rebel XS.

I have wanted a good SLR camera for a really long time, but never been able to justify the price.
With the extra money I had from graduation presents I felt I could finally splurge.

I am in love with the quality of the pictures and can't seem to put the camera down for very long.
I can't wait to document all the wonderful things in our lives.

My memory card is already filling up of Mack.

Happy Graduation to me!

Big Mack

2011-03-16T23:03:00.002-07:00

So I talk a lot about how big Mack is.
How big he was when he was born, how big he is compared to other babies...anything to do with size you better believe I have talked about it.
My sister even teased me about it a bit this weekend and it made me realise that I do in fact talk about it WAY too much.
But what can I say...I have a big boy.
I believe our naming him was inspired just so we could call him big Mack.
Luckily he is a boy and will probably hopefully not develope a complex over this loving nickname.

Mack turned one month old last saturday.
On Tuesday morning he had his one month check.
He is doing well and all we need is the cardiologist to sign off on his heart to complety ease all my worries that I might have had about my baby boy.

Throughout the entire visit I had to contain my laughter as I kept glancing at the list of stats they took of Mack.
At one month he weighs 12 lbs. 3 ounces.
12 lbs. is not a lot of weight.
I mean when I used to be able to work out only one more week to go until I get the go ahead from the Doc! yay! not that I needed the go ahead to go back to teaching dance....but that is beside the point I would use 15 lb. dumbbells.
I have zero upper-body strength so that HAS to mean that 12 lbs. really is not a lot.
That being said only 3% of all other one month olds are larger than my baby.
That is right he is in the 97th percentile for weight and the 90th for lenght measureing at 22 3/4 inches.

All this just goes to prove that he is living up to his very first nickname......
Big Mack.

Our family

2011-03-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking that I need to change the name of our blog now that the main topic of this blog will unavoidably be about Mack and not really about me and Jack.
I would like to say that I am going to avoid posting only about Mack, but I know that I probably won't be able to be true to that.

So....I need a new name.
Jack's suggestion was Jack, Mack and Whack....me of course being Whack.
Yes this is the man I married.

Considering our family names revolve somewhat around John Wayne, I figure I should name my blog something about John Wayne.
I am still stewing on ideas....any suggestions would be appreciated.

Sleeping

2011-03-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

Jack works grave yards.
At first I was worried about being home alone all night long with the baby.
I have always thought that I would share the all night duties with my spouse until it became very apparent that in order for me to keep teaching Jack would have to work grave yards.

This means that I get to spend all night long with my baby.
At first I thought I would be so tired and unhappy about the situation, but it has become one of my favorite times of the day....or night.
I miss Jack being home, but I love the time I get to spend with my baby.

Luckily at this stage in life Mack still sleeps quite a bit.
While this is frustrating for when he needs to be fed, it makes for some pretty adorable pictures.

Happy Sleeping!

11 days

2011-02-23T21:13:00.003-07:00

Mack had his one week check today.

My little baby is growing so fast.
He already weighs 9 lbs. 14 ounces....up over a pound from his last check.

{who says babies like to be swaddled? My baby likes to stretch out as long as he can!}

He is such a good baby.
And we are loving having him in our home.

My baby looks older than 11 days and I don't feel like I gave birth just 11 days ago.
I feel good enough to go back to teaching...which I plan to do on Monday.

{This is how he was when I woke up this morning. So adorable!}

I don't know if teaching up until a couple weeks before delivery really made the difference, but if that is what caused me to feel recovered so quickly you better believe I will be dancing throughout all of my pregnancies.

{Jack was so excited to bring Mack home that he ran out and bought him a welcome home present.}

Every day I wait for the baby blues to set in as I have heard so many stories and so far not one little bit of baby blues symptoms so far.
I am crossing my fingers that things stay this way.

I love being a mom and I love my baby more than I thought I could.

John McClintock Ingram

2011-02-13T12:11:00.003-07:00

Mack

Born at 11:50 PM on February 12th 2011 after 17 hours of labor
9lbs. 6 oz. 21.5 inches long

After a little heart scare and a night in the nursery being monitered, we are both doing fine and Jack and I are just enjoying our little guy.

Last thoughts

2011-02-11T18:19:00.004-07:00

Today has been my last day as a non-mommy.
I am 40 weeks and 1 day pregnant and I have spent the entire day cleaning.
Not one contraction the whole day.
Not one moment of pregnancy discomfort....not even when running up and down my stairs with loads of laundry.

I have been very lucky this pregnancy.
Especially this 9th month.
I was not lying when I said the 3rd trimester was my favorite.
I was far more uncomfortable during my 1st and 2nd trimesters mostly because they were during the unbearably hot months of summer.
The first 8 months of my pregnancy I dreaded getting to the last.
Everyone had told me that the last month you can never be comfortable.
Sitting down would be uncomfortable, standing up would be impossible and sleep could not even be considered.
All month I have been waiting for that discomfort to set in.
Sure there have been days that I have been more tired than others, or slightly uncomfortable, but I have never once been unbearably uncomfortable.
I quit teaching dance classes two weeks ago simply because everyone told me there was no way I could keep going.
The break has been nice, but I feel about the same that I felt a month ago.
Next time I will plan on teaching until I am on my way to the hospital....I hear being active is good for labor anyway.

So here it is.
The very end.
Jack and I will be spending our last evening eating little ceasar's pizza and watching Wallstreet: Money never sleeps.
Tomorrow we will be parents.
Wish me luck!

Our pets: Mr. Mordecai

2011-02-09T09:59:00.001-07:00

Mr. Mordecai is no average rabbit.
{at least from what people tell us...I have only ever seen rabbits at the county fair and the week we spent babysitting the neighbors rabbit}

Mr. Mordecai behaves somewhat like a small dog.

When I let him out after being in his cage for a few hours he will run up the hall and down the stairs 10 times at full speed before he has decided he is tired and comes and relaxes next to me on the couch.

When Jack gets home he runs to the top of the stairs to wait for him and then runs around his feet until Jack sits down.

Every time we walk down the hall to get something from another room he circles our feet and waits at the door until we come back out {he is not allowed in any of the bedrooms as there are too many things for him to climb under}.

If we lie down on the couch in a specific spot he will jump right up and expect us to scratch his head.

He loves to sit and watch T.V. next to us on the couch as long as we are petting him.

If you get your face really close to him....especially after sweating a little bit....he will lick your forehead.

He loves to jump over objects and onto the top of the couch which he will sprint around several times in his morning routine.

We keep him in his cage unless we are able to watch him....rabbits like to dig and I don't really want my carpet getting dug up...when he is out of his cage we never have to worry about accidents.
He is potty trained and really a very clean animal.

He is possibly the cutest animal ever and quickly took the favorite pet spot over the birds....he does not make any noise!

Preparing for Squid....Bedtime Edition

2011-02-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

Being the youngest in the family you get to see all your siblings grow up and have children.
I started figuring out when I was just 13 years old what exactly I wanted to have for my baby when that time came.

Number one on my list was a hand-crafted cradle made by my Dad.

My Dad has made 4 cradles so far, one for each of my siblings, and now he has just dropped off the last one he will ever make.

He could probably sell these for hundreds of dollars, but he chooses to make them only for his children...because he loves us.

The cradle is made of Red Oak and extremely sturdy.
It takes several days to make and when you live in a place that has been 20 below this winter all the sanding required can be extremely difficult.

I am so grateful that my dad put so much work into this cradle.
I tend to do things at very inconvenient times...first I got married at Christmas, and now I am having a baby just after the holidays.
I know my dad has a million other things he could be working on, but he put all that aside to make this amazing cradle for squid to enjoy.

My mom made the bedding and I absolutely adore it!

My parents have so much going on but they always take time to do special things for their kids and I am so grateful to them.

Now all we need is a baby to put inside!

I love green

2011-02-07T14:23:00.001-07:00

Every one of my combo dancers can tell you what my favorite color is.
Whenever we fly our butterflies in class....my butterfly is always green.
In my opinion the blooming flowers in spring are nice, but not quite as nice as the green that seems to cover everything.

I have the decor attention span of a 2 year old and was getting pretty tired of my gerbera daisy colored decorations in my kitchen.
After sifting through hundreds of decoration blogs and salivating at all the loveliness I decided a change had to be made.
I still love love love my melon walls, but was having a hard time deciding what other colors would accent it well.

sometime during a pregnancy dream I pictured green and white all over my kitchen and was sold.
After Christmas I quickly purchased a few cans of Rustoleum classic white spray paint, made a little trip to Goodwill and spent two full days changing everything yellow, orange, and aqua to white and green.

I love this collection of green vases I got for a dollar each at Goodwill.
The way the sun shines through them during the day is amazing.

This afternoon while waiting for darkness to come so I could take some better pictures, I prepared our house with a bit of felt for Valentine's day {my least favorite holiday of the year...but I am determined to be festive}.

I just love the green all in a row.

We even dyed our white canvas couch from IKEA green {Let me tell you the cost of buying dye was a whole lot cheaper then the $250 the new green cover would have cost me}
I love the green couch, but I will say that dying a couch is a very tiring process when you are 8 months pregnant....I don't recommend it.

I found this amazing green upholstery fabric at Joann's for 2 dollars a yard and quickly snatched it up.
I even got the remnant for like 75% off that price. Yeah it was awesome.
Guess how I covered the cushion?
Hot glue.
By the end of my two day redecorating marathon I was a little too tired to pull out the sewing machine and sew an actual cushion cover.
Don't tell anyone....mmmmkay?

I am currently very much in love with this stereo-scape, and even love the empty apothecary jars.
However in the spirit of being festive I am planning to fill them with Valentine's day candy.

The decorating is not complete, but I have to say that I am loving all the Green and crisp white.

I had another pregnancy dream the other night that someone was yelling at me for matching too much {it's true I worry if my dish towels and hand soap don't match...pathetic I know} so in an attempt to think outside my box I am contemplating leaving a few things unchanged.

For instance this chair that I recovered in November of 2009.
I have enough of the green fabric to recover this chair again, but I think I am kinda loving the different color for the room.

I love the addition of live plants to the kitchen.

I purchased this European Pine at Christmas and after reading the information tag attached I found that if I plant it in the ground it could grow to be 15 feet tall.
I realised I had probably not bought the best indoor plant.
However keeping it in small pot for now seems to be doing fine and I love the way it looks in my window.

I love live plants and wish I could have them all over the house....

....fresh flowers too.

The bump

2011-02-06T16:48:00.003-07:00

There is no other place where the difference between those that have kids and those that don't is felt quite as strong as it is at church.
Moms and Dads at church spend more time taking their kids to the bathroom, shushing their kids during Sacrament meeting, and hanging out in the mothers lounge then actually attending the 3 hour meeting.

Today was my last day as a non-mommy.
By next Sunday we will have our little Mac and I will no longer be able to enjoy a non-mommy gospel doctrine class or Relief Society.

I have always heard mom's complain of not having any time to themselves and always feeling thrown together because their children take up so much of their time.
If this is truly the case, I wanted to spend one last Sunday feeling very much put together, even if I look like a ballooning giant.
I spent longer on my hair then I have for a while, actually wore lipstick, and strapped into my 4 inch heels.
Even being 9 months fully pregnant, I felt cute and light.

My companion was teaching in primary so I actually got to attend Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society instead of Sharing Time.
I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my last Sunday of no responsibility.

Bring on the stinky diapers, tired crying, and cheerios...I am ready to join the forces of busy mommies at church!

The birds

2011-02-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

For the longest time I was terrified of birds because of the one random Halloween my friends and I watched The Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds."
I was always afraid that they were going to fly into my house and peck my eyes out.

I felt this way about birds until I started decorating my kitchen and realised what a great asset birds would be.
I couldn't justify spending the money to buy birds and a cage and everything else that they need just simply as a decoration...so I never got around to getting my birds....

until Veteran's day weekend 2010

A lady in my sewing class had purchased 3 parakeets for her 16 year old daughter and later realised that parakeets need way too much upkeep for a busy high school student.
She offered me all 3 birds, the cage they lived in, and a full container of feed for FREE!
My $200.00 kitchen decoration was quickly in my grasp and I snatched it up.

The birds did not become a kitchen decoration right away though.
Unlike me, Jack has always loved birds.
We had to stop putting bird seed in our feeder outside because he would waste hours watching out the kitchen window at the birds that would come for food.
When we got our birds, Jack quickly commandeered them up to his office so they could get used to him and become his best friends.
After a while, and several cage escaping incidents, Jack realised that they are just too loud and too hard to train to be in his office.

Now they are in their proper place in our great room and while they make a ton of noise...it is a little easier to ignore when we are upstairs.

phew....that was a long explanation of my lovely little decorations.

Now let me introduce you.

Meet Tilly

I introduce her first because we really have no reason for her name. Also she matches my decor least...but I really love her blue feathers.

Meet Bernard

The man in the cage.
He is a lime green with grey feathers, hence the old man name.
Bernard is the noisiest and probably the biggest pig with the food.

Finally meet Madame Curie

We named her this because when we first got the birds she seemed to be the smartest one of the bunch.
We later found out she was the least smart and most scared of humans.
She gets to keep her name anyway.

We love our birds.
Jack may call them devil birds frequently and they are regularly yelled at to be quiet {which they surprisingly respond well to} but they are a very enjoyable part of our home.
A very messy, loud and enjoyable part of our home.

Missing

2011-02-05T06:41:00.003-07:00

I have really missed blogging.
I never thought I would say that, but I have.
However every time I sit down to write a blog post I remember that I have been a horrible slacker at picture taking, and who wants to look at a blog without pictures?
{truth about me: if there are no pictures...chances are I won't read your blog....sorry}

This morning I starting thinking of all the things I should have written about and taken pictures of, but have not....

1.
My baby bump. I'm 39 and 1/2 weeks and I only have about 3 pictures of my pregnant belly. I know pathetic.

2.
My house. I have decorated a lot since October. Christmas filled our downstairs and I was actually quite proud of it. As soon as the new year hit Christmas came down and my entire great room got a little spray paint, fabric dying, hot gluing makeover.

3.
Our animals. I know I have written a bit about Mr. Mordecai, but I have never mentioned that we also have three parakeet's. We do. They are downstairs as a very loud part of the decor.

4.
Our trips. Due to weddings and funerals, Jack and I have made several trips to California in the last couple months. The last one being two weeks ago and slightly uncomfortable due to a very large belly and warmer than usual weather.

5.
Pregnancy in general. I know this is really useless information to everyone else, but since I have also been slacking in journal writing this may be my only way to record some of the events that have taken place in my first pregnancy.

6.
Preparing for Squid. Everyone's favorite question when you tell them your about to have a baby is, "so what does the nursery look like?" This was not one of my priorities until I spent the last week not working and needed projects. So I have a bit of a nursery set up that I suppose I could share along with some other squid preparing projects.

Anyway the point is, there is a lot of things I could have been writing about, but have not.

My goal for the next week of waiting is to take loads of pictures and overload the Internet with updates on our life....besides what else does a 9 month pregnant lady have to do?

My rabbit is not my child

2011-01-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows me knows I am not a huge animal person.
I have Mr. Mordecai and I love him....or at least enjoy having him as a pet.
And it is a very true statement that I got three parakeets for the downstairs simply as a decoration.
{a decoration that makes a lot of noise and a big feathery mess EVERY day...not so smart}

I am NOT someone that would get a dog as a replacement for having children.

First of all a dog will never ever be able to scoop his own poop.
a dog will never be able to clean itself.
A dog will never be able to feed itself.
A dog will never be able to fully verbalize a desire or need
{my defense in having Mr. Mordecai is that he cleans himself and is potty trained}

Some babies might take longer to learn these things than others....but they learn them eventually.

I am so excited to have our baby and watch him learn and grow.
I don't care that I will have to change thousands of stinky diapers, physically feed him, and try to interpret which cry means tired or sleepy for a while.
Eventually he will grow into a healthy young boy that will do these things on his own.....

and when he does I will still be cleaning Mr. Mordecai's cage twice a week and making sure he has enough food.

Pedicure

2011-01-16T08:14:00.003-07:00

I have never been a manicure or pedicure type person.
I have always felt that you pay a lot of money for something you can do yourself.

*side note: I am all about doing things myself.
I even hate going into book stores because I can't ever find anything on my own and that drives me crazy.
How hard would it be to place a little map somewhere in the store or labels at least?
end side note*

So as I was saying...I don't like to pay for pedicures.
I have had 2 in my whole life.
One when I went to my first prom, and one for my wedding.
Neither of which I paid for.

I would never pay for a pedicure in my normal non-pregnant life.
In my 9Th month of pregnancy, I think I would actually pay for a pedicure.
My feet have been severely ignored over the last 8 months and now they look pretty sad....
and there is nothing I can do about it myself.

I might break down and get a pedicure...

Or just use my ever growing belly to hide my feet so I am not reminded or their sad state.

Mac Monday: What I am looking forward to Postpartum

2011-01-10T07:18:00.004-07:00

I really have not minded being pregnant.
There are a few little things that really bother me....like these nasty swollen ankles after a full week of work

and the fact that my body still can't recover from the cold I got 2 months ago.

But really pregnancy has been very good to me.

However I would be lying if I said I was not looking forward to a few things after I pop this baby out.
Hanging out with the little guy would of course be numero uno, but a very...and I am talking VERY close second would be wearing and making normal sized clothes again.

As I was taking a sewing class and was required to make clothes for my own body, I decided to make only maternity clothes.

It was a fun little trip down creativity lane, but I must admit that I prefer making clothes that flatter the normal body much more.

Not only do maternity clothes require a ton more material, but they are incredibly hard to fit properly.
I understand now why the cute maternity clothes are so expensive.

I didn't realise how excited I was to jump back into the world of normal clothes until I saw this adorable Kate Spade add featuring Bryce Dallas Howard.
So cute right?

I immediately starting perusing the websites to find clothes that I wanted to work on postpartum.

Kate Spade is always the first website I go to for inspiration.

I love the simplicity and femininity to her designs.

I can't wait to start making my own versions of these creations.

Spring has become one of my favorite seasons to make clothes for and this Dolce and Gabbana dress is exactly why I have that sentiment.

And who does not love feminine floral dresses?

I understand that it will probably be a long while before I can really start wearing normal clothes, but I must say that the thought that this huge belly will be gone in just a few weeks makes the sewing ideas start flying in my mind.

I can't wait to get started!

appreciation

2011-01-04T19:48:00.002-07:00

In my opinion Mothers and husbands never get the amount of appreciation they deserve.
Maybe this is not the case for everyone...but I know that my mother and my husband never get the appreciation they deserve.
Maybe it is just the youngest child syndrome showing or just simply that I have the best mom and husband.

Anyway to prove how amazing Jack is, let me explain.
Jack understands me better then I understand myself sometimes.
When I found out I was pregnant we discussed my options with working.
With the swing shift work schedule he had, there was not really any way I was going to be able to keep teaching dance once the baby came.
I was a little excited about this since I get very irritated with aspects of teaching at the studio.
I thought this would be the perfect time to just walk away.

Jack knew better.
He knows that I don't do well when I am not doing something and especially when I am not involved in dance.

So what does he do?
Insist on switching to the graveyard shift, a shift he has avoided since day one, so that he can be home in the evening to babysit.
I tried to convince him that he didn't need to do that, but he kept saying that I would probably be grateful for the 2 hour break from being with the baby every day and that he didn't mind doing it.

Today he starts his first night on graveyards.
In preparation for today he has been trying to stay awake all night every night for the last week and sleep during the day.
Because this routine is so new to him he has lost sleep and messed up his schedule severely.
He won't even get home from work until 8 tomorrow morning.
Such a long night.

I am so grateful that he is willing to sacrifice to much so that I can continue doing something I love.

Mac Monday: Baby Shower

2011-01-03T10:26:00.007-07:00

Over Christmas break my mom and sister Katie threw me a baby shower.

{shirley is due a week before me. OH wow.....I look huge next to her. Thank you Mac for hanging out in my ribs all day and making me look monstrous}

It was so nice to see so many friends and family that I don't see often.

I could not believe how many people showed up and how far many of them were willing to travel {Jenna wins with the longest travel distance of 12 hours}.

I feel bad living in Queen Creek because so many of my friends live in the West Valley.
I was very grateful that they made the trip out...at rush hour...in pouring rain.

Mac and I got lots of great gifts and are well on our way to being fully prepared for the big day.

Thank you Katie and Mom for an excellent shower!

{sorry mom....I couldn't help it}

Thank you Katie for taking pictures!

Happy Anniversary to us!

2010-12-28T08:48:00.004-07:00

In some ways it feels as though the last three years have gone by very slowly.
In others it feels as though we just got married last week.

I am happy to report I am much happier now then I was when we got married.
Jack is a perfect fit for me as Shirley was quick to observe back in 2007.
I am excited to see what this next year will bring for us as we go through many many changes.

Here's to another year!

It's official

2010-12-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

....Well sorta.
I didn't march down the Aisle
and I still have to go through all the paperwork to get my diploma mailed to me......

but.....

I'm finished.

I no longer have to take another Spanish class or write an essay on a subject that I could care less about.

All semester I have been holding my breath that I would actually pass spanish.
It was not until one of my primary students would not believe me that people in Arizona actually speak Spanish that it hit me......I never have to be one of those Spanish speaking people again.
Some people are given the gift of tongues.....unfortunately that is not me.

of all of my undergraduate career I am happiest to never have to take a Spanish class again.

So here I am an official Graduate of Arizona State University....finally.

4 secrets

2010-12-22T07:25:00.001-07:00

A bit ago Jack and I got to participate in Jack's sisters wedding.
As with many weddings a few words of wisdom were shared by the bishop before the I Dos were said. I sat through several weddings and ring ceremonies and many times the words of advice are similar.
All these wise bishops seem to have a secret recipe for marriage that they share with the happy couple.
I remember hearing these 'secrets' several times when going through marriage prep classes over 3 years ago.

As I sat and listened to these same secrets given to one more couple, I could not help but smile.
Our 3 year anniversary is at the end of the month and as I sat there I realised that those secrets are what are making us stronger today than we were when we started out.
As the bishop listed off each one with a bit of discussion about each, I mentally made a check in my mind as I knew that Jack and I were working on that daily.

It was such a refreshing moment to realise that while these 3 years have not been perfect, we are still here and happier than we ever have been because we have followed the counsel of our leaders.

So here's to listening to counsel!

upgrade

2010-12-20T20:30:00.004-07:00

When we first got Mr. Mordecai he was very timid in his surroundings.
He was scared to go too far from his cage and explore.
This was great because we didn't need to worry about doors being shut or stairs being blocked.
He warmed up to his new home very quickly and soon discovered that the stairs were not as scary as they looked.

This was a problem.

Our downstairs is full of things he might like to chew up and dangerous things he could get into.

Our solution to this new found bravery?

My car sun shade.

Are we ghetto or what?

For the last few weeks we have been taping this sun shade to the walls of our stairs.
{It was actually quite the amusing barrier as Mr. Mordecai thought he could jump over it and was always thrown back into the room as he could not quite clear the 2.5 feet height.}

An amusing barrier....but not a very practical one.

Tonight we finally upgraded to an actual animal barrier.

We are moving up in the world of pet care!

Meet our newest addition

2010-12-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

He's here!
weighing in at about 4 lbs.

He has the cutest brown hair and big bright eyes.

He loves Jack much more than me....mostly just because Jack is salty.

His ears are the softest things I have ever touched and I love to watch him all day.

meet Mr. Chip Mordecai

No squid did not come 7 weeks early....thank goodness.

At Thanksgiving my mom informed me that a family had to get rid of their rabbit because they were moving into a safe house and the rabbit still needed a home.
I immediately called up Jack as I have been begging him to let me get a rabbit for over a year.
He was hesitant at first but then I informed him that the rabbit was house and people trained and came with all necessary accessories.
Poor little guy had to ride all the way from St. Johns to the valley in the back of my car listening to Christmas music the entire way.
He was slightly terrified when he got here.

Being terrified only lasted a few hours.
Now even if we try to scare him away from doing something he does not even flinch.

I am sure there will be more Mr. Mordecai stories to come.

Mac Monday: Vitamin Sucking Squid

2010-12-20T04:46:00.005-07:00

Every year I around this time I end up getting a cold.
It's the inevitable.
I have grown so accustomed to this yearly occurrence that I expect it and tend to go about my daily business without paying much mind to the sore throat, and achy muscles.
This year, thanks to Squid sucking up every useful vitamin in my body, my cold has lasted close to 4 weeks.
I can't seem to kick it and while I understand that resting will probably help me to get over this thing, I can't seem to keep myself down.

One of the positives about being sick is that on sleepless nights due to coughing and the inability to breath, I allow myself my yearly dose of my favorite movies.
When I am sick I tend to gravitate towards movies of empowered women.
I lie awake watching movies like Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, and Sabrina.
These movies always make me feel that I can do anything even with a nasty cold.

Let's hope this cold does not last another month....or else I may have to find some new sick movies.

As crappy as it is to be this sick during my favorite time of the year, I much prefer this cold in cooler weather then the first trimester sickness during the hot summer months.
I get asked every day if I am ready to be done with this pregnancy.
As far as I am concerned the 8Th month has been the most enjoyable so far.
I could be at this stage for a long time.
I'm sure in 3 weeks I will be singing a different tune {hopefully because right now the only tune I can sing is Bass}

The studio is on a break for the holidays, so I will have two weeks off until we return in January.
Hopefully this will force me to be rest and get better.

7 weeks to go.....but who is really counting?

2 down, 2 to go

2010-12-11T22:10:00.004-07:00

This week we traveled to Riverside, CA for Jack's sisters wedding.
I have never been part of a wedding party where my mom was not the mom in charge, so it was quite a different experience for me....one that I highly enjoyed.

Joe and Laurel were married at the beautiful Mission Inn in downtown Riverside.
It was such a beautiful and historic location {I have a very soft spot for historic things}.

All of the siblings were able to be at the wedding which is such a rare occasion for the Ingram family.

It was so nice to see all them interact, even if they were all talking over each other and interrupting each others stories.

Every time we hang out with Jack's family I learn to appreciate Jack a little bit more.

I love to travel with Jack and although I had a horrible cold the ENTIRE time we were gone, I still enjoyed the trip so much....7 months pregnant and all.

Congratulations Joe and Laurel! We are so happy for you.

We aren't even wearing red

2010-11-17T10:07:00.004-07:00

DO you ever get mistaken for an employee of the store your shopping in?

Like when you are wearing your favorite nasty housecleaning skirt, plain black shirt and military hat do you get mistaken for a hobby lobby employee?

or
Like when you are wearing sweatpants and a sweater do you get mistaken for an Express clothing store employee?

Or
do you regularly get asked for a fitting room when shopping in Christopher Banks with your mom?

Yes all of these have happened to me.
In fact I get mistaken as an employee almost every time I go shopping.
It's not that I spend my shopping experience adjusting the clothing racks {although I do have a tendancy to do that}, I am usually just looking.
It has become so regular that my response has gotten fairly scripted, "I don't work here...but the people wearing {insert assigned dress code article} do."

Last night one of these confusing instances happened...again.

My friend, Shirley, who is due about a week before me, and I were registering for baby things in Target.
I was wearing a blue and white floral top with jeans and flip flops and she was wearing denim shorts and a brown top.
Both of us being around 6 months we clearly look pregnant and as I said we were wearing blue and brown.

Jack dislikes going into Target because he says it is too much red.
There is red signs, red stripes on the floor, red cash registers, and all employees are required to wear red shirts.
YOu can't get away from the red. It's everywhere!
Thus the description of our aparrel is important.

While scanning items with our nifty baby registry scanners in the baby room decoration aisle, a lady walked up to us and after calling us good employees, asked us to help her find a specific section of the store.
I was spending too much brain power trying to figure out why she would we were employees to even hear where she needed to find, otherwise I probably would have just directed her to that location.
We looked at her and with confused expressions informed her that we didn't work at target, both of us forgetting to really be polite because we were still confused.

She commented again on how professional we looked with our scanners and moved on.

After she was out of ear shot {I hope} I turned to shirley and still a bit puzzled said, "we are not even wearing red"

So I just want to know...am I alone in having these kinds of experiences and is it trying to tell me that I should go back to working retail?

In the meantime I think I will start just directing people where to go when asked and then asking for discounts when I check out for being such an asset to the store.
Good idea?
I think so.

{P.S. someone please find my camera battery charger...there are Christmas decorations that need to be captured!}

I was a water girl

2010-11-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

I did a lot of really random things in high school.
One of the most random things happened when I was a senior in high school.
I heard that the football team needed a water girl at the beginning of the season and I tracked down coach Morgan until he said I could do it.

Yes football boys are disgusting and stink really bad....especially when you have to ride home on the bus with them,
and yes I was forced to do drills with the boys because the coaches thought I was a wimp,
and yes spending every minute of a football game soaking wet because you have been carting around water bottles does not sound great...
but being the water girl for our football team was one of my favorite memories.

Not only was it one of the most fun experiences of my life, it was also one of the most rewarding.
I didn't understand how rewarding it was until I started re watching some Friday Night Lights episodes.
Some of the story lines are less then appropriate and just plain dumb, but the main couple, Tami and Eric Taylor are inspiring.
They are a married couple that do all they can to help the students they work with at the school.

As I was explaining to Jack how inspiring this TV couple was to me, I started thinking about the Tami and Eric Taylor's in my life.
It was a good thing Jack was preoccupied with his Mongolian BBQ, because I was probably boring him listing off all the teachers, coaches, counselors, and office staff that were so important to me.
The football experience was so important to me because every single day I saw how much those men cared about their players.
If they saw a kid acting a little strange or a little off on their game they made sure to find out how the kid was doing and help them if something was wrong.
They spent a lot of time and really showed me that difference can be made.

The last few weeks I have really come to realise that that is what I want to do.
I am not sure in what aspect I would do this, but I really want to be able to help high school students become the adults they need to be.
I am grateful right now that I am heading into a new busy stage of my life and can't start on this dream yet, because I know that I am not yet mature enough to work with high school students and not start behaving as one as well.
But I cannot wait until I can start that journey.

Mac Monday: Like father like son.....we think

2010-11-01T08:20:00.004-07:00

Jack likes to be a pest and push my buttons just because he knows he will get a reaction out of me.
Luckily for him I understand that he just likes the reaction and is not really horrible, so I don't get mad at him for it......anymore.

After 2 ultrasound appointments we are still not 100% sure we are having a boy.
The doctor keeps saying he is "pretty sure" but he just can't tell.
This last appointment squid was playing trampoline on my bladder and so we could not get a good picture.
It was frustrating to say the least.

So what I am saying is....
Squid is a pest and going to do all he can to keep me worrying that if I start buying little boy things, on labor day a little girl will come out.
Squid is like his father and likes to push my buttons {and my bladder}

P.S. Don't forget to vote tomorrow!

protection

2010-10-29T07:56:00.003-07:00

Last night in one of my dance classes one of my students made a softball sized hole in the wall with her head.
As I was incredibly worried about the giant welt growing on her head, I could not help thinking about protection.
I have complete control over what can affect my baby right now, but once February rolls around, I won't be able to protect him from everything.

I think last night was the first time I have been scared to be a mom.

I know you can't protect kids from everything and you shouldn't try to.
Knowing that does not stop me from being terrified of everything my kids may come in contact with whether it is things they might learn at school or a giant knot the size of a softball on their head.