Family Photo Shoot

We had the opporunity to take pictures with the AMAZING Jen Gagliardi in decemeber and again in January.

I was a total basket case for the December shoot, i had this "idea" for family pictures and it DID NOT come together. Riley was NOT into taking pictures AT ALL.  The kids stood and sat on weeds that (come to find out) had teeny-tiny pokies ALL over them-result:major rash and hives all over their thighs, feet, arms. Riley was screaming, braden didn't even notice) Jen did such a great job but i was just not personally happy with the outcome. We only had one pose to pick from for the family picture and i didn't like it. The ones of the kids came out good. (mind you, it was all me. i styled it wrong, had the wrong attidute [remember i was so stressed] and riley wasn't behaiving) Jen did a great job, the pictures themselves were awesome, my face just sort of ruined them all, ha.

The second shoot came out GREAT. I could NOT be happier...i let josh pick the outfits and he did a great job. I made sure i was going to be happy and we BRIBED riley with a new pack of bubble gum if she did good the entire time.

Cloth Diapering Day 1

A friend in my ward was kind enough to let me borrow all her cloth diapers (since her little boy is potty trained now) so i can really give this all a try before i invest the money into it. And she has quite a few different brands/styles which is helpful.

I started about half way through the day today and i have just two things to say:

1.It went well...(i hope i don't jinx myself)-the diapers held in his pee and poo and looked super cute...they seem so soft and to not bother him at all.

2.I want one of these

(to spray off the poo so you don't have to get "down and dirty" like i did tonight)

sweet dreams

Cloth Diapers

I am anxious to switch over to cloth diapers. I have to admitt my main motivation behind this is NOT the environment but the money i will save each month...(somewhere just over 30 bucks!) But knowing that my diapers will no longer be clogging up land fills is a great bonus...knowing that i will be scraping POO from the diapers into the toilet is definetly the worst thought about all this but then i just think...30 dollars freed up each month. Worth it to me (not my husband. lets make that clear).

There are SOOO many options of cloth diapers.

I've narrowed it down to two that i love...that is until i find another that i like...but BumGenius 4.0 and FuziBunz One size  I was a big Bum Genius fan until tonight. I looked up the Fuzibunz and those would be my top choice now, i think?

Both are leading brands (go figure, i have to fall in love with the two most expensive) and one diaper us just around 20 dollars each! eek! (a little less if you buy in bulk, but still quite the investment)

Does anyone have any advice? Has anyone tried cloth diapers? Please let me know...

Thanks! Happy Diapering ;)

Last Minute Resolutions

I've thought of just a couple more things to add to my list of ways i want to change my life this year

1.(start)Work on my Personal Progress.  Being called to 2nd counsler for the Young Women Program in our church has been great.  I love the calling and all that comes with it.  I've decided that each Sunday after church i will work on my Personal Progress. I think it will be a great Sunday activity to help keep the spirit and i always have a few free hours. This is something I've been wanting to do for quite a few years and finally have the perfect opprtunity.

2.Index an hour or so each week ('ish) (month? we'll see how it goes).  I learned how to index last night and it's sort of a new (dorky) passion. It's a relaxing thing to do, interesting and fun? (fun being left open to interpretation) But doing family search indexing makes me feel that i'm doing my part to help get names prepared for temple work.
3.Get and frame a picture of the Prophet and his counslers. I was at a friends house last night and they had one in their front room. It really does set such a different feeling. I loved it and am inspired to have the same feeling in my home.

4. Make my husband feel like the luckiest man ever.

So, there you have it. A few more things that will hopefully help shape me into a much better person.

Taste of SUMMER

This weather is such a tease...it went from snow flurrys to 86(yesterday).

Why is it that i wake up WAY more happy and motivated and energized when it's simply sunny and warm?

We've ran to the park to play and have a picnic, finally took down our garden(it was all decaying and growing weeds-yes the garden from last summer), washed my car inside and out, rode bikes on the street, played chalk in the driveway...and this was all in the past two days.

Here are TONS of pictures from my lastest "non-blogging" spell.

Enjoy!

[bag head braden on christmas morning]

 [Riley, happy as can be. Christmas morning]

 [That's my boy. Cheering on Riley trying her new scooter]

 [B-man's newest trick. Tell him "crazy eyes" and he gives you this look. He LOVES if you knit your eye brows together like you are super angry at him and he does the same thing back]

 [My dad and his wife came a few days after Christmas to hang out]

 [Girl's night.(dress up, doing real make-up, getting their hair styled, jumping on the couch, and playing mommy) Morgan-Riley-Madylin. I hope they stay close growing up]

 [Riley is good to go. All strapped in for a ride around the block in my step dad's VW Thing]

 [Getting ready to go]

 [Visit with Carrie]

 [First day in primary! Can you believe it, i still am confused walking her there instead of nursery on Sundays]

 [Visit to Great grandma Ruth's. Braden learns to put olives on his fingers. Priceless]

 [Part of my cleaning binge]

 [Watching "dispicable me" cuddling on the couch]

 [Being goofy at dinner. He just figured out how to shut his eyes on purpose...it's still hard for him and funny for us to watch]

 [Trip to the snow]

 [Braden's first time in the snow, he LOVED it!]

 [We parked at a turn out and sled most of the time. Riley refused at first, i forced her to go once and she couldn't stop]

 [Braden's first time falling asleep at lunch...had to get that on camera!]

We really are alive...the rain just slows me down.

Enjoy your week

NieNie

I read the NienieDialogues everyday. My sister inlaw introduced me to this blog and at first i read out of curiosity. Stephanie and her husband were in a tragic private airplane crash which resulted in major burns (covering over 80% of her body).

As i read more and more of her blog i became hooked. Then i went through a couple days of  "why should i read her blog? I don't know her, i dont' know anyone who actually knows her. Her story is amazing, but i've read that already..."  After a 3day brea from her blog i knew i had to go back for more. Nienie dialogues is simply uplifting. She has such a great perspective on life, she is fun and cute and still has a striking beauty to her.

I had never actually had a dream of her. Then i read on my friend's blog that she has dreamed of her several times. About a month after reading that i had my first dream (wierd i know-i woke up like...what?)

Me, josh the kids and Stephanie and her youngest son (nicolas i think) were thrown right into the middle of the book i was reading at that point (about the holocaust too, more of a nightmare)

Then a week later i had another dream about her.

I was out walking around somewhere with josh and Stepanie and a few of her friends or family were walking behind me...i was like a crazed fan "hi! i know you, i read your blog. You're beautiful."

I suggest you check out the blog she obviously has impacted my life.

p.s.i'm back. i have much to blog after my long break (what it came down to is that my house was DISGUSTING by my standards, dirty and unorganized..i spent a few days straight cleaning, scrubing, washing, folding, dusting etc. i'm back in business)

Resolutions!

I love the new year, i love making resolutions...i love anytime i can make a list of, farely, short term goals and have the chance to cross them off that list...

My resolutions for 2011:

• Write to my brother inlaw 2xmonth (leaving to serve a mission in Texas soon
• Write to my Grandma Ruth 2xmonth
• Complete part of Personal Progress for Young Women's by reading a chapter a day in the Book of Mormon (finishing it sometime by Thanksgiving)
• Keep running. Thanks in large part to my cousin and running buddy i haven't quit this winter like i usually do. Instead we brave the 40degree weather and we "just do it". I gotta take a picture, we run in head warmer things and gloves (and i still wear shorts-just cant bear to run in pants for some reason) i'm sure we look a little goofy.
• Be a better mom(i.e.have MORE patience)
• Get the top of my kitchen cupboards decorated...that dreaded space that is so hard to fill!
• Keep on with the Fisher Food Storage Plan i made up and started two months ago.

Our church talks A LOT about getting a good food storage going in your home and lately i really decided to listen to this and do something about it. There are many ways you can build a food storage and i finally found something that really works for us. I'll share it incase you want to adopt it and try it out this year!

Each month i simply write a "food storage goal" at the top of my calendar. Next to it i write "completed" and write down everything i bought. Sometimes i buy things (like an extra gallon of water) that wasn't on the list, so i write it there as well. It's something i have planned out a few months in advance so that i feel like i'm not focusing too much on one item and if a disaster stuck we'd atleast have a little of everything right off the bat.

Nov2010-50cans (i completed this by picking up whatever cans were on sale and whatever we like to eat or would use. refired beans, all dif veggies, a few fruits etc.)

Dec2010-72hour kits for each of us (josh, jessica riley and braden)-this one is tough but i feel the most important to start off. We can now survive in decent shape 3 days if we had to.

Jan2011-Baking goods (flour, sugar, salt, veg oil, powdered milk, etc.) AND 10-20 cans.

Feb2011-BIG first aid kit, 4gallons of Water, 5 boxes(crackers etc.)

March2011-canned meats(chicken, tuna, beef)

April2011-Toiletries(t.p.,baby wipes, dish soap, laundry detergent, body wash, face wash, toothpaste tampons(imagine being in a disaster w/o those!) AND 10cans

That's all i have mapped out so far. I think at that point i can re-assess and see what we need, where we need to add to etc.

Hope you all have fun making and keeping new resolutions as well!