Hospital birth: 1 Home birth: Infinity

There's a chain of hospitals down here all called Banner Something-or-other. Ethan was born at Banner Gateway, but there's also Banner Baywood and many others, including one called Cardon's Children Medical Center. Apparently Cardon's keeps track of when the babies born at Banner hospitals turn one year old and they select a chosen few to receive a special birthday present: a free three month membership to the Phoenix Zoo! I was totally floored when I got this offer in the mail about two weeks ago. I called right away and signed up for it. My voucher came Monday afternoon so yesterday, being my mother in law's last day with us (Robert drove her home after work last night) she and I took the kids to the zoo. It was so much fun. As a member, you also get discounts on the safari train, camel rides, giraffe feedings, and other cool things. It was warm, but at least it was under 100. We were home by 1:00, though. Craig crashed in the car at about 12:30, I laid him down when we got home and he continued sleeping until 4:30! I was shocked...and grateful. That made it possible for me to take an hour nap after putting Ethan down. I'm still recuperating from my big weekend. Here are a few pictures. I can't wait to go again!

There are several splash pads like this at the zoo. I forgot to bring swim stuff for Craig, but it was hot enough for him to just play in his shirt and diaper and then dry off pretty quickly afterward before I changed his diaper and put his pants back on. I think this was his favorite part. He LOVES the water.

We also ate lunch at the splash pad. We had several ducks for company. One of them tried to snag a piece of an orange (or "orshan" as Craig says) out of his hand. Craig was kind of scared of them after that. I thought it was funny. :)

I've ridden an elephant, but never a camel. Craig didn't want to go at first, but once he got on, he had fun. He kept saying, "Horse?" and I'd say, "No, camel. Say camel." Then he'd say, "Horse." Okay, Craig, so it's a horse.

There and Back Again (it's a very useful title, isn't it?)

It has been a very big week for me. On Labor Day, we drove to a town called Show Low to pick up Robert's mom and bring her back to Fountain Hills with us. That was a long day and I won't go into tired babies and being stuck in Labor Day traffic for four hours. I think I kind of just went into it anyway.

On Tuesday, at the last minute, I was able to go with Robert and a couple of guys from work to watch the Diamondbacks/Giants baseball game. They got tickets from a food purveyor (Sysco) and one of the guys backed out. Since Cassie was here (my MIL), I got to go and she watched the kids! They were awesome seats (about three rows back from the home dugout), we had access to the under-the-stadium restaurant, and we had a $10 credit--so a buffet that normally costs $23 only cost us $13! If you've ever been to a professional sports game you know you can spend that on a hotdog and a bag of chips. Arizona lost, but I am a San Francisco fan at heart, so I won either way.

Thursday was the day I had been waiting for, though. That was the morning I flew out to Sacramento to meet my mom and two sisters for a weekend in the city, away from children. husbands, and responsibility. I was very excited/nervous about leaving them since the longest I've been away from either one of my boys was when I went to the hospital to have Ethan. I held myself together well until my plane was on the runway. The engines revved, and we began speeding down the lane, launching into the air. I felt this desperate, inner voice yell, "Stop! I'm not ready! You're pulling me away from my boys and I have no power to stop it!" I involuntarily burst into tears as I watched Arizona shrink away. All of sudden it was very real to me just how far away Sacramento is from Arizona. I got over it, though, by the time we reached 10,000 feet and pulled myself together. I found refuge in the new book I bought at the airport: Eat, Pray, Love.

After that emotional outburst, I got all my nervousness out at once and felt much more confident the rest of the trip. I didn't worry about Craig and Ethan at all. I missed them like heck, but I didn't worry. I had so much fun. It was great to get away and see my family...well, most of them. I spent Thursday night at my parent's house and Friday morning my sister Laura, my mom, and I headed out to meet Anna in Fairfield before heading to Sacramento. I did get to stop and visit with some of my favorite people in Sonora, though before we left Friday morning. I used to work at a center for disabled adults for about two years before Robert and I moved to Montana. I surprised them and got to catch up on everything I've missed these last three years.

Under the capitol dome

In Sacramento we ate a lot, rested a little, laughed, walked, shopped, swam, and had a great time. We got to visit the capitol where we saw a police officer on horseback and took a picture in front of Queen Isabel from Spain (who said she would pawn her crown jewels to help America succeed--where's the queen of Spain in this economy, huh?) Saturday afternoon, my mom and sisters dropped me off at the airport and they went back to their homes. It was a lot of fun and I am so grateful to the grandma and husbands who made it possible for us to see each other and have a fun couple of days away. I got home right at bedtime and was able to see my boys for a few brief moments. I had missed them so much and it was good to see how much they had missed me. But they were good for Grandma in my absence. I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, though.

The cobblestone road in Old Town Sacramento

Despite Craig's best attempts, Ethan made it to his first birthday

Mr. Ethan turned one today and I can't believe it. I know everyone says that, and I said it on both of Craig's birthdays so far, but I really look at Ethan and see a baby still. Not a toddler. Maybe it's because he's so much smaller than Craig ever was at this age. He's barely big enough to be in a forward facing car seat. We had to put Craig in a big car seat, turned backwards, when he was seven months old. I'm tempted to just leave Ethan rear facing for a while because they sleep so much better that way on long trips.

Robert wasn't feeling well so he stayed home from church today. For a special treat for Ethan's birthday we let him stay home, too, and have three fulls hours without Craig! After dinner, we celebrated with this carrot bunny cake:


I made one like this for Craig's first birthday and I think I might make it a tradition. I'm certainly not claiming to be a cake decorator, but I think it turned out cute. Craig knew it was a bunny, so I guess that's a plus. Here are some pictures of the messy little birthday boy diving into his cake. I wish I could say this was his first taste of sugar, but it's not. I'll be honest.
The blogger video feature hasn't been working right, I've noticed, so I might try to post a video of him squishing it between his fingers at another time. If it doesn't show up, it's because I couldn't get it to work right.

By the way, I've noticed some of you have successfully posted videos in the last few months, any tips on how to do it? Do you use something other than blogger?

NCRM missionaries please read!

I got this in my email today and wanted to post it so anyone who may not be on the mission email list can know about it. Let me know if you want your email sent to Pres. and Sis. Welch and get on their list.

The family of Garth and Melba Welch is hosting an open house to celebrate their 50^th Wedding Anniversary on Saturday, September 18^th from 5:00 – 7:30 pm, to be held at 3910 No. 800 West, Pleasant View, Utah. In case of inclement weather it will be held at the church on the corner of Pleasant View Drive and 900 West. We would love to have you and your family join us for a combined anniversary celebration and missionary reunion.

We are sorry we were not able to get this out earlier. My computer has been down for a couple of weeks and we are hoping that it will hang in there till we notify everyone. We would appreciate your passing this on to others. It is far better to have several notices than none. Hope to see as many of you who can make it.

What do you get a one year old with a million toys and tons of clothes for his birthday?

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything really interesting. I've been waiting to take some good pictures but Robert took our camera to work. So, I figured I would just tell you all what's going on around here and put some pictures up next week. It seems like there's been a lot going on and we've all been busy, but then when I sit to write about it I can't think of anything worth documenting. Craig is using more complete sentences and just beginning to attempt "the, is, and" etc. I love being able to ask him questions and trust that his answers are really answers and not just the first this that popped into his mind. Ethan's walking is more and more confident every day. He's crawling less and less. He also got comfortable wearing his little soft-soled shoes at church on Sunday.

Here's something you can help me with---what do you suggest I get Ethan for his birthday? I want something he and Craig can (relatively) easily share but I'm not interested in just buying him a new toy. A couple ideas I had was a sandbox. I was thinking of using a plastic swimming pool. However, around here you have to worry about things like scorpions and tarantulas burrowing into the sand. So I would have figure out some kind of cover for it. Would that just be too much trouble? I also thought of getting a little plastic slide, but we only have a concrete patio and no grass, so I might just be asking for trouble there. My last thought was a double sided easel and some kids finger paints. I don't know. What suggestions or advice do you all have from your experiences?

Pasta with Turkey and Zucchini

I made this for dinner last night from a recipe I found on the Food Network website. This week, I've planned meals that are lighter, simple in flavor, and easier to make and this was my first edition. I ended up making a lot of variations since I was trying to save money and use what I had on hand so the end product was quite a bit different than the original recipe. If you want to see the recipe I based this on, you can find it here. This is what I ended up making:

Pasta with Zucchini and Turkey (catchy name, I know)

1 bag (12 oz.) Bow-tie pasta
1 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, cut into chunks
1/4 lb. turkey lunch meat, cut into strips
1/4 lb. mozzarella, cut into cubes
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

First cook the pasta in salted water. Put grated zucchini in a strainer, mix with the 1/4 tsp. salt, and set in the sink to rest for at least 10 minutes. The salt draws out the moisture from the zucchini and seasons it at the same time. Drizzle the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and saute until lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and let them cook for a few minutes while you squeeze out the excess moisture from the zucchini. Add zucchini to the tomatoes and garlic. Lastly, add the turkey, pasta, and chicken stock. Stir well and simmer for a few minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and fold in the mozzarella chunks. Let sit for a few minutes to allow the mozzarella to heat through and begin melting. I was surprised at how simple the flavors are but how addicting this is, too. As a side note, I used a dash of cayenne pepper when I added the garlic to the oil. It was the perfect amount of spice for me, but too much for the kids. Just a little variation, in case you like a little spice.

The best thing about this was the only I had to buy was the zucchini--I already had everything else. I like that this is versatile and you can easily make substitutions, like squash or cucumber, maybe, or bell peppers, onions, feta, parmesan, ham, shrimp, cilantro, lime juice...anything, really! (Except maybe not all of those things together. :)) Just remember to keep the ratios of dry to wet ingredients the same.

We have walker!

Ethan started trying to take a few steps about two weeks ago but it was really minimal. I thought it would be a month or so before he really got the hang of it. On Saturday, though, I noticed he was starting to stumble with a little more confidence and realized that it was going to happen sooner than I thought. Sure enough, today I think he can officially be classified as a walker. He prefers to walk now and only crawls when he's upset (like if he bonked his head or was pushed by Craig). He's even mastering the art of stopping, standing for a minute, and then walking again. He changes directions, too! I can't believe my little baby is embarking on toddlerhood. I sure love this little boy.

We can all rest easy

I know you've all been losing sleep over my Fairport New York mystery, but I am here to tell you that you can all rest easy. Whoever you are, you don't know your own identity. You see, I "privatized" my blog about 12 hours or so ago and added all of the email addresses of people I know. A few minutes ago I logged on and saw that Fairport New York viewed my blog (and left via many of your blogs) no less than 5 hours ago. So, you are not some pedophile or social miscreant holed up in a basement somewhere. You are a friend or family member of mine who, for some unknown reason, is trolling from a distant zip code. Now I can start posting real stuff again. Once interesting things begin to happen and I remember to get the camera out.

On the other hand, any computer addict worth their salt could probably bypass a blog's privacy setting fairly easily...

Going private

Fairport New York never did step forward, and since the world and the internet can be a scary place, I've decided to take my brother's advice and go private. The reason I didn't go private from the beginning is because I wanted all the people I've known in the past, whether I knew them well or not, to feel comfortable reading my blog without having to announce their presence. So, for those of you out there who I may not know or may not know well, please don't hesitate to request being added. I like being able to network and meet new (normal) people so even if I don't know you, I would like to add you and be able to read your blog, too. I'll leave this up for a day or so before going private just so everyone has a chance to read this. I know Fairport New York will see it. They get on at least twice a day. Also, I'm doing this for your benefit, too. Whoever this mystery person it, they often leave my blog via many of your blogs, too. I guess we'll find them out or weed them out.

I hope this doesn't bore you

I hope that when I talk about couponing it doesn't bore anyone. I'm trying to keep it to a minimum. However, this week I spent a lot of time trying to prefect my system and ended with what I feel is my first truly triumphant, full shopping day savings. So far, I've gotten some great deals here and there on a few things, but I haven't had one of THOSE moments when I'm expecting to pay a certain amount and am shocked when I get the receipt. I've been cleaning out the cupboards the last few weeks so this week I really needed to not only buy practically all of the ingredients for our meals for the next two weeks, but I also had to stock up on several things. Not to mention the box of diapers I needed and various other items that are expensive but I only have to buy them once a month came due this week as well. With all that in mind, picture an overflowing cart and look at the receipt below. The red underline it what I spent and the purple below it is what I saved.
I literally got the chills when I saw that $128.05! Granted, most of the savings came because of the awesome sale the grocery store was having this week, but it took a lot of time for me to go through the ads, find the best sales, and then figure out their system so I could maximize my savings. This couponing thing does take some practice and some time to really get the most for you money, but it is totally worth it to me. People ask where I find the time and my answer is simply that right now, I can't afford to not find the time. Literally.

Fairport, NY anyone?

For the past few months I've had this widget on my blog that tells me the general vicinity of the computers that access my blog. I look at it once in a while and can tell that it isn't always exactly right on. For example, it'll say Pleasantville, UT. I know I have several friends who come to my blog who live in Utah, so it could be any number of then who live anywhere near Pleasantville. And sometimes it changes the location, even though it's the same computer accessing it. Sometimes it says I accessed from Fountain Hills (where we live) and other times it says Tempe. I've been able to assign a person who I know gets on this blog with every location I've seen, except one. And this location comes very often. I've been dying to find out who it is, so I've decided to just ask. The location is Fairport, NY. Now, this could be someone who lives on the East Cost somewhere, or maybe their computer was originally purchased there but now they live somewhere out west. I just know that I cannot think of anyone further east than Indiana that I know who gets on my blog. So, Fairport New York, would you please name yourself? I certainly don't mind if I don't know you. I blog stalk, too. But my overly imaginative mind has been picturing a reclusive, middle-aged stranger in pajamas and slippers who gets on my blog for who-knows-why and I just need that alleviated. Anyone, if you think you might possibly be Fairport, NY, let me know. Thanks!

Funny boys

We had spaghetti the other night and it was Ethan's first time. As Craig just said when this picture popped up, 'Messy baby." Yes, Craig, there is a VERY messy baby right there. But they don't get much cuter, do they?

Speaking of Craig and his language skills, he's been randomly coming up to me the last few days, grabbing my hand, shaking it, and saying, "How are you?" I have absolutely no idea where he got that, but it's so cute and I've been trying to teach him how to say "Good" in response. We're working on it.

A cold stone and a wet boy

While my mother in law was here, we decided to try to a little gelato shop here in town. I've never had much gelato before, but I was thoroughly unimpressed with this place. For the four of us (Robert, me, Cassie, and Craig) we spent $20 for the ice cream! Now, if this was the best I'd ever tasted, that would be one thing. But it wasn't. It had good texture, but the flavors seemed like they were trying too hard to be different and instead of being unique, it was more like buying mint chip and getting amaretto. It was just weird and a total waste of money. Well, I guess not a TOTAL waste. We did have a nice evening together and had fun walking around outside by the pond for a bit. But we could've done that without buying the gelato.

Anyway, the next night we wanted to get ice cream again so we decided if we were serious about it, we'd go all out and find the nearest Coldstone. The GPS took us down the freeway (which was a bad idea at 5:30 in the evening) and finally we found the place: Coldstone University at their headquarters in Scottsdale. Who knew? Of course, they were closed and there was no ice cream shop, so since we were out, we searched again thinking that there MUST be a Coldstone near the headquarters, right? Nope. About 10 miles later, we were in the heart of Scottsdale (a ritzy community) driving down a narrow lane in front of stores like Barney's of New York, Talbots, Saks Fifth Avenue, and We Sell Shoes Made by Chinese Children for $500. Finally, we found the Coldstone after passing a brand new Rolls Royce (the first I'd ever seen in person). Oddly enough, even though we were in an area surrounded by more wealth an affluence than I'd ever seen in my life, that night we only spent $13 for our ice cream. (I guess if you call something "gelato" you get to charge a lot for it so people can pretend it's awesome to justify the expense.)

We had all been in the car for a while, so it was nice to get out and enjoy to warm summer air. After a few minutes, Craig spotted a little park with some other kids and upon further inspection, it turned out to be one of those little splash pads...with some spigots of water shooting out of the ground. I let him take off his pants and run wild. He had a blast getting wet and playing with the other kids. We didn't get home until after bed time, but it turned out to be a great night with great ice cream and happy kids. What more could you want?

A fun visit

My mother in law came to visit for about five days last week. She only lives about two and half hours away, but we only manage to see each other a couple times a year. She doesn't have a car that is reliable and with Robert's work schedule, we have a hard time getting away. Luckily, she has some friends who were coming down here to visit family so she was able to hitch a ride with them. We had a really fun time and it was nice to have someone else around to help out.

We tried to stay busy, but with nap times, we were a little limited. We did get to the Youth Museum one day, we went to the splash pad another day, McDonalds for lunch (they have a play area), and we went for ice cream a couple of times (that's another post). Here, I have pictures of the Youth Museum. It's mostly a big, glorified indoor park but Craig and Ethan love it. They have a little padded area just for babies, too.

Here's Cassie (my MIL) with Ethan and her little Pomeranian Latisha (who is a sweet little dog and a joy to have around--Craig adored her...probably too much).

Summer break

Today marks the end of my first week of summer break. I've been staying busy, but it's weird when something that consumes your time suddenly vanishes. My whole routine gets thrown off. I recently realized that I can be doing more structured reading and learning times with Craig and more involved play time, too. I've slacked on all those things this week, though, and have read about half of this:

and watched ALL of these:


I know, that's a lot of movies in one week. It's just one of those things--once you watch one, you have to watch the next one. That's why I watched the first season of 24, but haven't seen one episode since. Too addicting.

Something productive I did this week, though, is that I spent a lot of time going through sale ads and coupons. My most triumphant purchase this week was at CVS today. Here is what I got:

My total for this purchase was $22 and some change. I'm still learning a lot about this whole process, but seeing as how that box of diapers was normally $23 alone, not to mention the Pull Ups being about $12 normally, I felt really good about this! The milk and syrup I threw in because I had the credit in my Extra Bucks (a thing CVS does to give you money back for your purchases) and they were the only other two things I still needed to buy that CVS stocks.

This coming week should be fun. The golf course Robert works at is closed for the next two weeks and he has to go in for a few hours three days each week, but that's it! His mom is coming down to visit for a few days next week, so we'll be busy. Before we know it, he'll be back to work and I'll be back to school so I really want to try and enjoy this vacation time and take it easy.

First trip to the dentist

Craig went to his first dental appointment recently. I found this place called For Kids Only. They are super friendly, the office is full of toys and colorful things, and the dentist has won all kinds of awards. Since Craig has never been, I wanted to be sure he felt comfortable. I talked to him about it for a week before going. We practiced openly his mouth and letting me look at his teeth. He loves brushing his teeth, too, so I wasn't too concerned. Once we got there, he did well and played with the toys. Then they called us back. Craig started getting very suspicious and antsy. We just about had him calmed down, until the assistant snapped on her latex gloves. I'm pretty sure he associates that with getting a shot. I don't remember much after that. Just a lot of kicking, screaming, and me holding Craig in a way similar to how The Incredible Hulk forced his opponents into submission. At least his mouth was WIDE open so they were able to get in and out. At the end, she wanted to take a picture to put on their "Our Friends" wall. Here is what all the other little kids are going to see on their way to The Chair:

I know Mom, I know :)

The best time to get outside and play is in the morning, as I'm sure you all have experienced where ever you are. The best way to stay cool and keep my little fish occupied is with water. So, the other morning after promising Craig we could go play in the water and discovering that the splash pad doesn't open until 9:00 (which is crazy when it's 95 degrees at 8:00 in the morning) and then having to think quickly, I did what anyone else would do. I went to Target. I found this neat little pool, two squirt guns included, for $15! We went home, set it up, and had a great time. Now I just need to buy a camp chair so I can sit outside with him and not have to be in the water or sitting on the ground.

Side note:
Craig's starting to say some funny things. My favorites are:
"Cool, Mom, cool!"
"Craig do it!"
"Silly [Ethan, Mom, Dad, Kitty, Jay Leno, etc.]"
"Oh, man!"
"Wake up Jeff!"
"Swiper no swiping!"
Those last two are funny because he says them while watching the shows, but also at random times and he uses the hand gestures.

Oh, and yes, he loves Jay Leno. I DVR the Tonight Show and Craig's gotten into watching it with me. If something is funny and I laugh, he laughs too and says, "Silly Jay Leno."

If I had a show on the Food Network

I came up with a brilliant idea for a new show they should do on the food network. They somewhat cater to the home cook, right? That's why everyone tries to make things cheap, easy, and at least "semi-homemade." To showcase the REAL home cook, they should have average people come on as contestants, put them in kitchens that look like this:

And make them produce something that contains all the food groups, is nutritionally balanced, and edible. That's it. Well, why not throw in a couple of kids. And make sure that they're crying and saying things like "Hungry!" and "Food!" Oh, and they're trying to snatch things off the counter like little scavengers.

Needless to say, that is what cooking dinner is like for me sometimes. This is what I produced on the same night the above picture was taken:

Fried chicken, garlic-butter green beans, and cheese biscuits. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but if I had a vuvuzela, you would have heard it from a mile away.

Who's with me?

The grass is always greener...

Ethan's begun to realize that when I'm feeding him baby food and we're eating something else, our food is a lot better than his. Craig has also become interested in what Ethan's eating and occasionally asks for a few bites of baby food. He seems to like it but I know he would never eat it on his own if Ethan weren't eating it, too. They're both in this stage of wanting what the other one has. Toys, food, sippy cups, whatever it might be. It worked to our advantage the other day, though, when Craig and Ethan rejected their food simultaneously. My solution? A swap!

Ethan does not even have his firs tooth yet, but he gummed his way through this chicken and pasta.

Craig thoroughly enjoyed Ethan's pureed sweet potatoes/green beans/chicken mash and even wanted me to get him more, of which he ate over half. Craig's kind of spoiled when it comes to food. He usually won't eat things that aren't properly seasoned (thanks to having a chef for a dad), so this really surprised me. The most important thing, though, is that they both got all the nutrients they needed and walked/crawled away from dinner with full tummies. What more could I ask for?

Arizona Science Center

On Monday (one of Robert's days off) we all went to the science center in Phoenix. It was really neat. I love stuff like this. They had all kinds of things you can see and do. On the first floor, there was a stage you could stand on and watch a weather simulator. When it was a tornado or hurricane, there would be a really strong fan blowing on you. They had lightening, thunder, and a little misting for rain. My favorite, though, was the earthquake. Craig loved that part, too. Here are some pictures of only a few of the things we did there.

This one you just stand and spin. Craig loved it, until he got off and couldn't stand up straight. He just leaned against the side bars with his eyes closed and yelled, "Mama!" I had to hold him until he regained his balance.

Here am I on a bed of nails. Well, they were pretty big nails and not very sharp, but uncomfortable nonetheless. There's another one checked off my bucket list! :)

By the way, Ethan was there, too, but I forgot to get a picture of him and Craig while they were playing in the little kids area. Most of the time he spent happily eating graham crackers in the stroller.