French Quarter

Check out my friend's new tunes:

You can buy the whole album right now for $6, or pre-order an LP.
Click the link above. 

almost 40 weeks.

made it to the temple today. maybe the last time in a while...maybe not.

I'm tired. my face is sore. and for some reason I feel REALLY REALLY good. I got this new perspective driving today that reminded me of a bad car wreck collin and I got into after just one month of marriage (the one that totaled my car and has plagued us with carlessness ever since. wa wa.) But I was thinking...say we had died or something....it would be tragic, but I guess it'd be okay in the long run. I mean, I believe in the afterlife and all. BUT then we'd have to wait till the resurrection (when we receive our bodies back in perfect condition for eternity) to have children! But we didn't die! And I get to have a child. And honestly...let's face it...I GET to experience Bells Palsy and learn from it. And we GET to experience swimming and cuddling and broken arms and eating and warm and cold and everything. We have BODIES. They are so wonderful. They are amazing miracles.

Every day is a gift, man. And I'm sure glad I get to spend mine with CS.

grateful!!!

saw this commercial today

It makes me laugh every time!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Lunch:

                            

Also I made whole wheat banana muffins with flax seed yesterday. They are excellent to have around for a week or so to grab going out the door. AND delicious.

Recipe:

Makes 24 muffins
Set Oven to 350 degrees
Mix together:
1/2 cup of oil
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
4 bananas (pureed first)
Then Add: 
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 TBS Baking soda
1 pinch salt
2 TBS ground flax seed
Line muffin tins with paper cups or grease and flour pan. 
Bake for 18 minutes.

AND I am now obsessed with this awesome guy and his website thanks to dear friend, Natalie.
CHECK OUT HIS LATEST POST! DressyCats! My dreams have come true! http://madebyjoel.com

nap time

going psycho not five minutes before.

Morgan and Tom!!

AND HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY TO THE amazing couple, Morgan and Tom!!! Your love inspires me!!!!!!!

Bells Palsy

Yesterday Collin and I were asked to speak in church! I am always nervous to do this, but this time especially because last Thursday I woke up with Bells Palsy and I can't move the muscles on the right side of my face. Basically, my right facial nerve got swollen and is pinched. It is horrible. It's frustrating and quite embarrassing. It's hard to eat and speak and brush my teeth and my face is sore. It's so new and I have to learn to deal with it for now. It's temporary, hopefully, and can last anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months... :( You can read more about it here, if you want. 

I was going to call and get out of speaking in church. I was even going to stay home and never show my face again, but as I prayed about it and asked my Heavenly Father what I should do, I kept getting, yeah, you can stay home if you want, but think of the courage and accomplishment you'll experience if you do it! No one will hate you! You will learn and grow so much. Well, I did it. I stood up and gave my talk, but first made a big joke about it and got everyone laughing. I told them to try to bear with me and not to make too much fun of me. I showed that I'm about to have a baby any day by giving them my big huge profile, and got more laughs. It didn't get easier though. I spoke for about 15 minutes and the whole time could hear myself mispronouncing words (F and P is especially hard!!!) feel my face contorted and wrong. But the spirit was there, and I made it through. I did it. 

I also felt so much comfort that Collin was there with me. He gave an excellent talk. And my mom and dad and Joseph came, which gave me so much support and encouragement. 

Afterward a lot of people thanked me and even said they wanted to be my friend!! Quite a few women said that they had had Bells Palsy and gave me comfort and made me feel not so strange. I'm sure some think I'm a big weirdo, but I know I made the right choice, and I'm glad I did it. Now I'll have that baby any time, thank you, and hopefully recover from this. It still isn't easy and I kind of don't want to leave the house. But it gives me a whole new perspective. I don't think I'll complain the next time I'm asked to speak. And so many have it so much worse than me. But this is a big challenge for me, and I know it will make me a better person.

Something else I really learned this week: I am here, HERE. for a reason.  I kept missing DC and wishing I were there and being happy for Collin that he's so happy at work, but feeling like I'm just here for him. But SO many blessings are coming from being here. God knows the bigger picture. He knows me and what I need. 

So there's my sappy story. :) Here are some pictures. Joe's football game Sat. 

Another blow out. They called the game at 60-something to zero.

embarrassed her. happy birthday song!

extra-large is right. 39 weeks pregnant.

Happy Birthday to a Patriot

September 11th is Patriot's Day. The anniversary of 9/11. It's also my mom's birthday. She is big time patriotic. She raised us to love our country and be proud of who we are. (She's the blonde on the right).

Yesterday my mom turned 52. Can you believe it? She's beautiful, huh. Inside and OUT! She's my best friend and never stops encouraging me. She gave birth to me and she is going to be at the birth of my first child. I love you, my mother. 

it's going on

So my dad's heart is fixed!!! There was a large hole he'd had since birth and they were going to try this very new procedure where they go up through a vein in his groin and have this umbrella-like plug that opens up and completely seals the hole. But if the umbrella isn't big enough because the hole is too big, the person isn't a canidate and they have to back out, wake him up, and schedule open-heart suregery. But it worked!  Everything went perfectly!!! Prayer works. He's at home recovering and happy to be in his own bed instead of at the hospital. What a MIRACLE. What a difference from last time....also miracles and working prayers, but so much more up, down, up, down, complications, waivered faith, fear, "what if," etc. This time we were all firm in our faith. We were totally together and supporting each other and him. We knew that whatever happened, everything would be alright. My dad was courageous.

My kitten, Dottie, had her surgery yesterday as well. She is now spayed. I was super nervous about it because Monte had the worst time with it (plus the nervousness from Dad going into surgery), but the vets and techs at the AZ Humane Society were so kind and gave lots of comforting words. After hanging out with my dad all afternoon while he had to lay flat for hours after surgery, I went and picked up Dot.
She's all shaved on her tummy with an inch cut in her lower abdomen, now all stitched up, and it's all flabby down there from the procedure. Poor little one. She's doing well now. Last night was very stressful keeping her and Monte apart (meaning one could be in our room with us and one had to stay out in the living room alone...SAD) so they didn't play fight and keeping her from licking her stitches. We tried to put a cone on her, but she flipped out like she was POSSESSED and was running into things and hurting herself. Oh my goodness. So I just keep watching her. She understands, "no-no, Dot!" when she starts licking, and has pretty much quit trying. But I still have to keep an eye on both kitties at all times. We all listen to hypnobirthing together and then they just go to sleep. It's great. :)

Had an appointment today and apparently little Skittlecore is posterior at this time. I'm going to work my hardest at being a human hammock and sitting forward at all times to get him/her to flip, but make sure to send your "turn your back and face my bum" thoughts our way. :) Mary the midwife says not to worry and that she's sure everything will work out the way it's supposed to. I'm really not worried. I feel confident and excited about birth.

I had one of those crazy experiences today that really make you grateful and really make you think. Some people are born into situations that are really hard and that they can't do anything about. I'm really blessed. I need to do more service, think of others more, be more motivated. I want to. I even complain about my phone. Some people don't have a phone.

In other news: it's hot out there, but the sky sure is pretty.

Check out this sweetness from labor day:

Skittlecore at 38 weeks.

Dot on her way to certain doom

Real Pirates at AZ Science Center. It's a REAL PIRATE SHIP from 1700s! It's coming in Oct and going to be amazing. Collin's heading up the whole thing!

Waiting for Dad to get out. Didn't take long!

Poor baby girl.

Saturday

Some photos of Saturday. our first free Sat

in a while. nothing planned. just Saturdayness. 

Spent the morning doing THINGS and eating

omelets & playing with kitties & talking to tummy. 

Poor poor baby Collin's wounds: 

There are so many cute and awesome shops around our 

place. We went exploring. We didn't get to everything because

it's just TOO hot to a) get in and out of the car or b) walk

But we did discover some good stuff. 

 

Frances. a great place to explore for hours.

I, of course, found myself in a very tight spot reading about a cat named Ernie. 

This is seriously the funniest book ever. I want it so badly.

learned everything we need to know!

Then after heat exhaustion/large abdomen exhaustion, we found ourselves ordering a delicious sandwich and watermelon salad from Pane Bianco and then went to hang out/get drinks/enjoy the a/c in Lux coffee shop next door. the food: divine, amazing, delicious, simple, complex, fresh.

The company: funny, sweet, cute, generous, comfy. (foreground. I don't know that other guy, hehe.)

The drink: SO DELICIOUSLY perfectly what I wanted. Collin H Smith has a gift of knowing exactly what to order me and what I like. He knows my taste so WELL. It was a burning hot day, but for some reason I was craving a hot drink. Collin got me this iced chocolate steamer. it had caramel, too. mmmm. hit the spot.

The atmosphere: dreamlike. we were so tired and hot and just sat there on the couch, eating, sipping, staring, cooling off, hugging close, being comfortable. the a/c was so low. it was wonderful.

my busted up swollen feet.  he takes care of me. and I loved the couch we were sitting on. so comfy and so pretty. we stayed for hours.

later that night, we all relaxed and watched a few movies.
Monte is obsessed with sleeping/lounging on this box.

 Dottie chose between my leg and a pillow.

reading together.

And Collin painted my nails. so cute, he is.

So, a great day. a great Saturday. And Joseph's football team won 52-8!!!! 

Today was Sunday and it was great, too. And CS and I got asked to speak in 

church...next sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was like...I'll be there...unless I have my baby!