Glauser Glovebox

Stares and Stairs

2012-02-13T22:41:00.001-07:00

Here are some cute pictures of Scarlett's stares...

Scarlett loves balloons:

This is her "I know I'm getting into trouble" mischievous glance:

Enjoying a dinner of mashed 'nanas:

Wearing our matching South Carolina shirts (in honor of Elder Seaver):

and yes... in order to find matching shirts I had to shop in the kids section....

This is Scarlett showing how she can go up and down the stairs. She also says "baby" at the beginning (finally got it on tape!)

More about this little lady...

She can turn on/off our PS3 - she loves to eject the CDs and use them as hand-skis while she crawls

She does NOT like cherry puffs. We've even tried to sneak them in her mouth while she's eating other flavors (like sweet potato or banana) but nope - she spits them right out!

If she hears you eating she will smack her lips noisily as she crawls over to you and paws at your feet til you share your food with her

If she knows she's getting into trouble she will crawl really fast, faster than her arms can handle, and she'll face plant. Like when she sees we left the gate open on the stairs, or if the bathroom door is open and she doesn't think we're watching her...

Clicks her tongue and grinds her teeth (yikes! luckily they're baby teeth!)

Doesn't cry much/long when she bonks her head, just needs us to acknowledge her injury then she's done crying

If you're holding her she will point to where she wants to go - it's funny though cause her finger is straight but her wrist is bent almost 90 degrees

Pulls herself up to standing all over the house and walks while holding on to stuff

I think she has my hands (ie: lots of lines on the palms)

Sits up then uses her legs to spin in circles, sometimes while she's reading a book not even paying attention to her spinning

Crawls "normal" now, well... sometimes. She utilizes many crawling styles depending on her desired speed and what she's trying to look at while crawling

Sometimes she will be sitting on her bum and get really excited, so she lurches forward from her bum to her knees and catches herself with her hands, it looks like it would hurt but she doesn't seem to mind

Great Weekend!

2012-02-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

We had such a busy, fun weekend!

Jami and I threw a bridal shower for our friend Leslie! We're so excited for her!!!

Then Jake and I went to a fundraiser for a charter school (where our nieces and nephew go to school). It was a trivia competition. We had at our table: Jake's sister and her hubby (their kids go to the school), Mom & Dad Glauser, Mom & Dad Seaver, and Jake & me.

There were 14 teams and 10 rounds. We dominated! We won the Utah Sports round (prize: root beer floats), the Dr. Seuss round (prize: stack of 61 free A&W ice cream cone gift certificates - EACH), the baseball round (prize: L&L BBQ gift cards), plus we won the overall grand prize by answering the most total questions correct (prize: dinner gift cards and Jazz tickets)! How fun!!! We love to win! Yea! What a great date night! Plus, our table won 6 of the dozen or so silent auctions! :-)

(notice the "Smart Water" that my parents brought! hee hee) We also brount the left over bridal shower cake balls and balloons to add a little pizzazz to our table!)

Green Smoothies and the Magic Bullet

2012-02-13T21:39:00.003-07:00

I've really struggled with finding a nutritional breakfast that I enjoy eating each morning. But several friends recently suggested I go green... smoothies, that is. So I decided to test it - and I LOVE them! They taste great, I feel full, and I notice that I don't get that gross sugar feeling like when I eat cereal.

So this is how I "whip up the magic" (quote from Ted, What Not to Wear)

All the ingredients (spinach, kale, parsley, apple, orange, banana, flax seed, ice, & water).

Mix the greens first. I put the ice in the cup first, that way when the magic bullet it blending I can shake it up and down and the ice hits the greens toward the blade (otherwise sometimes they get stuck and don't move).

After the greens are blended I add the fruit. I end up using 1/2 an apple, 1/2 and orange and 1/2 a banana in one shake. If the banana is ripe I don't have to add any other sweetener to make it tasty.

All mixed up and ready to eat! (the magic bullet grinds up everything pretty well, it's like drinking orange juice with the pulp).

Scarlett loves eating (and playing with) it!

Jacob also noticed that KSL just posted an article about green smoothies - great minds think alike!

Sleep Deprivation

2012-01-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

Scarlett has not been big into naps since she was born. I had friends tell me about how their babies sleep all day... not mine! Other friends said their babies are on a consistent schedule, they just naturally wanted to eat/sleep at the same time each day... not mine! This wasn't a big deal until a few weeks ago. She just got really stubborn and didn't want to sleep - even at night. So I brushed the dust off my copy of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I had started reading this book awhile ago but I thought it was too froofrooy. But out of desperation I picked up where I left off. I actually learned several things I was doing wrong. Like, I have been keeping her up too late (mostly cause I want to play with her after work). But I realized that her sleep deprivation was leading to my sleep deprivation. So this past week I've been pretty good at putting her down at a consistent time for naps/bedtime. I've established a more specific routine for her. I tried to force a binki, blankey, stuffed animal, anything... but she only goes down for a nap with nursing/cuddling. I will work on getting rid of that when she's adjusted to her new routine.She takes naps in her pack and play (since I work in her room with her crib).

For the most part it's been fine and I'm mad at myself for not being more disciplined about her sleep schedule earlier on. But my resolve wavers at night when she cries herself to sleep. I try to rock her and sooth her, but a few different nights she's woken herself up when I lay her down and proceeded to scream. One night for 45 min. Another night for 80 min. I hate it, especially when she screams "mama". I know that the "extinction" method works well, and that I'm not making her cry, I'm letting her cry. But it still sucks. Sucks monkey.The first night she cried herself to sleep we went to check on her... she fell asleep with her bum in the air and she had somehow taken her pants off?!?! And just a cruel twist of fate, last night Jake and Scarlett slept soundly while I laid in bed wide awake for no reason for several hours. Dang snap! I'm so tired!

Just yesterday Jake noticed that she's been doing the Zoolander "Blue Steel" look. She did it all day today:

More about Scarlett...

She loves books! She loves to flip through the pages on her own or on our laps.

She finally got her 8th tooth, so now she's got the 4 middle on top and bottom.

"Baby" is her FAVORITE word. She says it a lot while she talks to her toys. I tried to get it on tape, but she stopped talking each time she saw the camera - what a tease!

She said "bye Dad" the other day when Jake left for school (kinda freaked Jami and me out!)

She copies random words we say (got to watch our language around her)

Says "uh oh"

Last week we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. The manager came out and brought Scarlett a silver baby spoon on a little tray. He told us that we could take it home with us afterwards. How cool is that! Now she can grow up with a silver spoon in her mouth! hahaha!

My Talented Husband

2012-01-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

Jacob is always amazing me with his many talents. The other day he told me he thought of a cool invention. It's a clamp that holds a LED flashlight on bicycle handlebars. But instead of just stopping there... he took it further.

He downloaded a CAD software program and learned how to use it in one day. He made a cool rendering of his product:

Then he uploaded it on Quirky (a social product development company). You can vote for his idea here: http://www.quirky.com/ideations/158757! How cool is that!!!

4th Anniversary

2012-01-18T22:30:00.000-07:00

Happy anniversary to my best friend! I can't believe we've already been married for 4 years! I guess you could say we have our Bachelor's degree in marriage! :-)

All I Want for MLK Day is my Two Front Teeth

2012-01-12T22:57:00.000-07:00

Thurs Jan 5
Top Front Middle Left (when looking at her) tooth came in!

Fri Jan 6
When I got Scarlett out of her crib this morning I found a bunch of black specks on her face. Upon further investigation I found this:

Apparently she's putting her new teeth to use! Or she is impersonating a beaver. Either way, I had to fabricate a solution (soon to be "fabric-ate" hahaha):

I also realized that she was too big for plastic bath tub, so I've let her sit on the floor of the tub while I shower. I have the no-slip things so she can crawl around and play with her toys. I've also been letting the tub fill up a little while I shampoo my hair. The first time her toy floated to the end of the bath tub she started crawling after it. But then the water was too deep, so she stopped half way and sat up. She looked back at her other toys and they were all starting to float too. I could tell she was having a little panic attack cause she kept looking back and forth, deep end to shallow end, the whole time while clutching my legs! But since then she's adjusted. In fact when I stomp and splash my feet it makes her crack up laughing!

Sat Jan 7
Got to go to Katie's baptism! We're so proud of Katie and her choice to be baptized!

Since we were up in Salt Lake county we decided to go to the Fashion Place mall for the afternoon. My iPod got recalled (apperently the battery can catch fire - yikes!). So we went into the Official Apple Store to get it replaced. The dude said we had to make an appointment with the tech person. Which we did - so we had 2 hours to kill. We got some exercise, I spent a gift card on new shoes, we ate lunch, Jake did a quick boxing match, ...

When we went back to meet with the tech about my iPod they told me I had to do it online! Seriously?!?! All the waiting for nothing! Apple store fail! Fortunately two good things came of this: 1 - Jake is starting to see why I don't want a Mac. 2 - we were forced to stay at the mall and actually had a really fun afternoon.

Sun Jan 8
Yesterday my eye started hurting, specifically the eyelashes started to hurt. By Sunday my entire eyelid was swollen. I used creative makeup techniques so I didn't look like a freak at church. But by Monday it was worse and I didn't have any of the usual allergy symptoms (both eyes swell, itching, etc) so my mom encouraged me to go to the doctor (don't mess around with the eyes).

I have blepharitis. That's just a fancy word for swollen eyelid. It can be caused by tons of different things: eyebrown dandruff (gross), eyelash mites (grosser), staph infections, blocked eyelash pores, and allergies. Based on my other symptoms (and my religious twice a day face washing routine) we determined it was allergies. I just have to avoid makeup and wait it out (it's getting much better). But seriously, why do I always get the weird eye things? Blepharitis, hives, scales, shingles, anaphylactic swelling, etc...

Mon Jan 9
Scarlett turned 10 Months! Man time is flying!

Happy Birthday Grammy Seaver! (Scarlett enjoyed the box the present came in...)

Tues Jan 10
Top Front Middle Right tooth came in! Yea for Scarlett (ouch for me!) Just the other day she was crawling around the house singing "All I Want for Martin Luther King Day is my Two Front Teeth" - she got her wish!!! :-)

We also learned today that Scarlett can now crawl up stairs!!! uh oh! And she's getting really good at pulling herself to to standing.

Thurs Jan 12
I took a Benadryl last night and fell into a deep sleep. At some point during the night I must have gotten Scarlett out of her crib and brought her to our bed to feed her (something I normally do). But since I was in such a deep sleep, the next thing we heard was a "thump" then crying. SHE FELL OFF THE BED!!!! I felt sooooooooooo bad! :'( Luckily she didn't hit my night stand and our carpet is soft. My mom reminded me that kids have been falling out of beds for years. I just felt bad cause it was my fault. So no more medicated mommy! I will put Jake on baby duty if I have to take that medicine again (which I will, I live on that stuff).

Happy Birthday Grandpa Glauser!

Other tidbits...
Scarlett is a chatty little lady. She is really good at mimicking certain sounds. We can get her to say: mama, dada, baby, bye bye, hi, red, blue, yellow, and others. Sometimes she will mouth the words instead of making sound! Funny!

She totally understands her name, if i say "do you want to eat this" she'll come crawling over, she understands "turns out the light" and "turn the page", knows "no", knows "come here", knows what she's not supposed to touch (cause if she thinks we're not looking she'll start crawling super fast over to it).

And lately when we try and put her diaper on she'll push out her belly really far then suck in over and over - just to make it that much harder for us! We're on your side!!! (heehee - Up All Night quote)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year! We hope you did too! Here's a snapshot of what we did...

Scarlett sat in Jake's stocking...

She sat on Santa's lap (unwillingly)...

I forced Jake to wear this shirt when we went to Draper for Christmas eve (what a good hubby!)

This was my shirt

For our Christmas Eve PJs I found Scarlett a onesie that says "My First Christmas" so I used a Sharpie to make our shirts coordinate...

I also decorated the back...

Scarlett spent most of Christmas morning (after church) like this...

She loved her new toys...

But mostly she loved the wrapping paper and bows...

The highlight of Christmas day was Skyping with James! He has grown so much. He shared a lesson with us and it was so powerful! We're so proud of him!

Scarlett stayed awake til midnight to ring in the New Year... (and she wasn't even whining)

Chumlee also enjoyed himself!

Scarlett wore her new boots on New Year's Day (thanks Aunt Jami!!!)

Now the holiday season is over - back to the real world: work, diets, and waking up early. Oh well... only 363 days left til Christmas! :-)

Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

I finally got our Christmas card and letter done! And BEFORE Christmas (that's a victory in my book). Since there's no chance of getting them mailed to all of you by Sunday I decided to just share our Christmas spirit digitally.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Card...

Christmas Letter...

9 months!

2011-12-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Scarlett is already 9 months old! I could have grown another baby already - crazy! (no... this is NOT an announcement)

She is such a happy little lady. She plays really well on her own, claps whenever she's happy and has started babbling a ton.

She got her 5th tooth last week (bottom middle left) (you can't really see it in this picture because of her tongue - but you can see her crazy vamp fangs!)

She also started crawling on Dec 10. She had a Skype date with her BF Parker that morning, and I think he gave her the confidence to turn her "I'm wounded" army crawl (arms only) to a real crawl! It's a funny crab like crawl in the sense that she uses her left knee and her right foot. The knee is for stabilization and the foot is for propulsion - so it's difficult for her to go straight. But she's getting faster and faster (and getting into all sorts of mischief). The other day she was in her room while Jake and I got dressed. Jake went in to get her and she wasn't there! He yelled "hey Scarlett!" and heard rustling from the corner. She was all the way behind her rocking chair playing with a garbage can. So this week Jake and I will be dedicating some hours to baby proofing (ie: putting everything up out of reach!)

(the band-aid is from the second half of her flu shot - it is a funny coincidence that she holds that leg out like it's wounded, but has nothing to do with the shot)

With her strong leg muscles from all the crawling, she's started pulling herself to standing. In the morning she now stands up in her crib and cries til I come get her.

She really is a little chatter box. The other day we were watching Pixar shorts. One of them was from Monsters, Inc. The title of the short (Mike's New Car) was on the screen for a few seconds while music played. Scarlett looked up at the screen and yelled "Mike!" Now I'm 99.73% confident that is was a really strange coincidence and she probably really only yelled "My". But there is 0.27% of me that thinks that maybe, just maybe, all that WordWorld is really sinking in her brilliant little head!

Last night she squished her finger and started crying. I picked her up and instead of just bawling she was actually telling me what happened. She kept looking over where she got hurt and holding her hand out while she said some choice words. I don't know what those words were, but she definitely knew what she was saying. It was so funny! More and more she is "talking" instead of just making random noises. And today she is talking REALLY LOUDLY! We went to the eye doctor with Jake and I had to take her out in the hall cause she was talking so loud! hee hee!

She had her 9 month doctor checkup last week. She is really healthy (by this age I had several ear infections and asthma attacks). She can now eat anything she wants except uncooked/unprocessed milk or honey. The doctor also said she's really flexible! Here are her stats:

18 lbs 9 oz - 50%
27 in long - 35%
17.5 in head circumference - 60%

She loves eating off our plates. She still hates baby food, but we've found a whole list of things she enjoys eating... yogurt, bananas, apples, carrots, ice cream, pizza, and even BBQ:

I also think she is a little bit Type-A like her mama:

We also got her ears pierced so people would know she was a girl. One on the left ear and two piercings on the right:

Just kidding!!!

These are little stickers that Jami put on her to be funny. No, she will have to wait until she's 8 to get her ears pierced (and only one hole).

Christmas Eve Program

2011-12-12T21:04:00.003-07:00

Last year we used this program to tell the story of the Savior's birth and I really liked it. But then I lost the paper and had to track down my neighbor who gave it to me to get a new copy (thanks Stasha!). Anyways... I wanted to put it on my blog so I won't lose it in the future.

Does your family have a fun/interesting way to tell the Savior's birth?

The Birth of Our King

Hymn #202 - "Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful"

Luke 2:1-5

1: And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2: (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3: And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4: And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5: To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

Hymn #208 - "O Little Town of Bethlehem"

Luke 2:6-7

6: And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7: And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Hymn #206 - "Away in a Manger"

Luke 2:8-14

8: And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9: And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10: And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12: And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13: And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Hymn #212 - "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains"

Luke 2:15-20

15: And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16: And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17: And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18: And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19: But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20: And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Hymn #204 - "Silent Night"

Matt 2:1-6

1: Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2: Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3: When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4: And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5: And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6: And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

Hymn #205 - "Once in Royal David's City"

Matt 2:7-12

7: Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8: And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9: When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10: When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11: And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 12: And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Hymn #210 - "With Wondering Awe"

Matt 2:13-15

13: And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14: When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 15: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

Hymn #201 - "Joy to the World"

Isaiah 9:6

6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Vampires are so hot right now!

2011-12-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

So Scarlett is really wrapped up in all the Vampire/Twilight stuff that's popular right now. No, she hasn't seen the movies or read the books, but I can tell she's really into it by this:

She's growing up so fast! These fangs came on Nov 30. She was fussy and kept waking up all night, but now I know it was just her teeth hurting her - poor girl. Last night when I was nursing she bit me - OUCH!!! She's even acting like a vampire!

She has no desire to crawl. She has her own method of maneuvering around the room, it involves: launching forward, army crawling, rolling over, sitting up, scooting, etc. Very elegant, but not very efficient. Since she's semi-mobile now, we've had to start baby proofing. Mostly putting everything on high shelves and vacuuming way more than before (she has eagle-eyes for any speck of trash on the floor).

She loves chatting. She loves singing with her Sing-a-ma-jig. She will talk to her toys. We've heard her say hi, pretty, red, yellow, and blue. Or at least really close to those words.

She loves books! Her favorite thing is to sit on my lap and turn the pages for me. She knows the pages flip right to left and when the book is done to turn it over and start again!

We put her hair in a ponytail for the first time. She looks just like Pebbles!

She loves eating puffs, drinking cold water from her sippy cup (mostly letting it dribble down her face - I think it feels good on her gums), and sucking on other baby melt-a-way snacks. Yesterday I gave her some of my banana and she went "yumumumum" while eating it, so I guess I'll add that to her list of foods.

She is seriously enamored with Chumlee. He steals her attention away from everyone else in the room. She recently discovered that he loves to eat any of her snacks she drops on the floor. One day he even ate her crackers out of her hand!!! I think he was happy that all the times he let her smack/pull/grab him finally paid off (I must say, he is so patient... he just lays there while she plays with him until he's annoyed then he just walks away. What a good dog!)

I would also like to say how thankful I am for WordWorld. It's her favorite show and the only show she really sits and watches. She giggles and laughs everytime it comes on - then she'll sit and watch it for 30-60 min! I know it's bad to let your baby watch TV... blahblahblah... I think of all shows it's not that bad (it teaches her to read for cryin' out loud!) and it's really nice to have a break - it protects my sanity! So I don't think it's all that bad.

One other random factoid. We recently cancelled our Netflix. We weren't really watching movies that much and the new price hike just ticked Jake off. Instead we use that monthly money to buy storage space on Mozy.com. (that's were Jake is doing his internship right now). They are an online data backup company. After setting it up (which was easy) it monitors your drives and automatically copies any new stuff over to their servers. I can't tell you how much piece of mind it gives me knowing all our family pictures/videos are safe from fire/flood/computer issues/theft/etc. (one of my biggest fears is losing them)! Way more valuable use of our funds! So I would recommend you look into it if you have the same fears.

Back the F(drive) up!

Favorite Things Winners 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-12-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

The results are in!!!

Jake and I wanted to pick things that represent this year. So these are a few of our favorite things for 2011...

Hobby Lobby Gift Card

I recently discovered Hobby Lobby! Or as I call it, the "Hob Lob" - and yes, it's worth it saving those 2 syllables - even if I have to explain it every time :-) I love to go wandering through there just to get my creative juices flowing. I went there often when putting our Halloween costumes together. And lately I've been working on a project (will post on blog soon).

If you have a smart phone, copy this link: http://www.hobbylobby.com/weekly/coupon.cfm. If you pull it up on your phone while checking out they'll give you 40% off any one full priced item! Awesome! And saves paper!

And the winner is... LL R. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dairy Queen Gift Card

During the last two weeks of my pregnancy I ate a Midnight Truffle Dairy Queen Blizzard almost every night. (rewarding myself for being so huge and uncomfortable). Jake and I often frequent the DQ, especially after a difficult week. We just had the new Candy Cane Blizzard last night - yum! We have been limiting our DQ lately (ever since we looked up the calories in a blizzard online). But we still love them!

And the winner is... Billy R. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crackle Nail Polish

You may remember my recent Nail Stamp post. This year I've really been enjoying crazy nail art. And when I don't have time to sit and put stamps on, I use my new Crackle Nail Polish. You first paint your nails a fun color, then put one thick coat of crackle over the color. As it dries it shrinks and "crackles". Then put a layer of clear on and you're done! :-)

And the winner is... Jenn S. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pink Ice Perfume

I tried this perfume when I was at Rue21 (the have the best socks!) and I love it! It has a sweet/floral/fruity/grapefruity smell - yummy!

And the winner is... Carolyn G. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you won - just send Jake or me and email/text and we'll get you your wonderful prize!

And that's all for this year! There were several other things we thought of but they were either too expensive, impossible to give away, or too precious to part with. Some examples include:

ksl.com
Dirt bike
Halo Heaven (more info in future post)
Mozy Backup Data Storage
Hair Bleach & Highlighting stuff
Amazon Mom
WordWorld
Google Calendar

Thanks again to all our blog readers! Keep on reading and commenting. I'm already thinking of fun ideas for next year's giveaway. (like making your odds based on number of comments on our blog, etc)

Thanks again!

Favorite Things Giveaway 2011!!!

2011-11-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

I thought it was a good time of year to say THANK YOU to all my blog readers. So I'm going to give away some of my favorite things to you! (well, some of you...)

To be entered in the drawing:

Leave a comment on this post with your name before Dec 1st!!!

This includes everyone. If you have been secretly stalking us - now's the time to come clean! It doesn't matter if you live close or far away - please enter! Not all the giveaways are girly, so if you're a guy you can enter too! [I will figure out how to get your address after we draw the winners.]

The only stipulation is --> you have to be a reader of this blog. I'm not saying you have to have read every single rant and rave I've posted, but "generally" you follow our family on this blog. (aka - don't enter the drawing if this is your first and only time looking at our blog!)

Thanks again! :-)

I totally copied this idea from my SIL (thanks Christy!)

All Hallows' Eve (+13 Eves)

2011-11-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

We finally finally finally had our Halloween celebration! I know it seems crazy to care so much, but Halloween's all I've got left - ever since the "the gays took over..Thanksgiving!" (that sentence would make more sense if you watch Modern Family.)

We went all out! Decorations, food, games, and costumes! It was so much fun! Here is a snippet of our party:

Miss Scarlett with the Poison in the Billiard Room

Colonel Mustard with the Rope in the Library

Mrs. Peacock with the Candlestick in the Ballroom

Professor Plum with the Revolver in the Study

Mr. Green with the Wrench in the Conservatory

Miss White with the Knife in the Kitchen

Clue Characters (aka Suspects)

Dangerous Daniels - yikes!

Boo!

Chumlee as Chumblebee

some of our decorations...

some of Kandy's amazing dishes...

some of Jami's amazing dishes....

Charades (we also played the "Spooky-wed" game)

No-hand doughnut eating contest

Close ups of our costumes....

The clue idea came about because I wanted to do something with Scarlett's name - especially cause there are only a few years where I get to pick her costume. I made Scarlett's with fringe, sequins and a red shirt from DI (plus lots and lots of help from Christy - THANKS!). Her costume barely fit this week! I guess one month in baby time is almost a new dress size! I found Jake's jacket at a used army/navy store - then I blinged it out with tons of yellow stuff and iron-ons! I wore an old prom dress of mine and tried to make my eyeshadow look like a peacock feather. We had a ton of fun! The only thing missing was James - but we're so proud of him serving the Lord right now. Don't worry James - I will make sure we get Dad to dress up for Halloween when you get back! (seriously - I think this is the first Halloween that I remember that we've gotten my Dad to dress up - maybe it was Snort's email where she encouraged "Papa Carl" to bring his A game - thanks Snort)!

Teeth & Toots

2011-11-14T21:26:00.001-07:00

Scarlett has 2 teeth!! (She got her 1st tooth on Oct 30 and her 2nd tooth on Nov 9)

She loves back scratches. When she's tired under her eyes get red and she twirls hair - but she fights falling asleep. She is starting to throw little tantrums now .. uh oh! She'll arch her back and scream if I try to buckle her in her car seat when she doesn't want to go. She hates hates hates baby food. But she loves loves loves the melt-a-way puffs.

She got her first sliver - ouch! We had to triple team her to get it out. She sits up like a pro but is not even interested in crawling. She loves to talk: bababa, mamama, dadada. She has a high pitched, sweet little voice! But last Sunday all during Sacrament Meeting she just grunted! Why couldn't she have made one of her many cute sounds?!? hahaha!

I'm including this story specifically for James...
Last Friday Jake, Scarlett and I went to the BYU Hockey game at 7peaks. Back in the day Jake had roommates that were on the team (now they are coaches!) So when we were sitting close to the ice, Jake explained the funky smell was the player's pads. In his apartment they had a rule - all hockey pads had to be stored on the deck outside cause they smell gross!

Anyways, during the game Scarlett started to toot. Not normal, funny toots. These were like ATOMIC - CLEAR THE ROOM - GAS MASKS EVERYONE toots!!!!! (She had been stinking it up for the whole day - I think she was working out a bug she had). I was nervous that someone would smell her and throw up or something, but Jake said not to worry cause Hockey is notorious for smelling bad. During the 2nd period I noticed the people behind us were talking about the smell. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw them fanning the air - one was even covering her nose! So finally I turned around and fessed up. I explained that it wasn't the players but actually my sweet darling tiny dainty little lady! I told them if I knew what I had eaten that caused her to smell that way, I would banish it from my diet forever! We all laughed at Scarlett's "talent".

During the 3rd period we moved to the top of the bleachers so I could nurse Scarlett. We looked down where we were sitting - and those people had moved! I guess they were afraid that we were going to come back and taint their clean air! hahaha

11:11 11/11/11

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

I have nothing of value to say right now... just thought it was a cool time to post!

11:11 am on 11/11/11

Happy Veterans Day!!!

BOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

2011-11-02T22:42:00.001-06:00

Well we ended up spending our Halloween quarantined in our home with a nasty stomach flu. BOOOOOO!!!!!!!! And not the ghost boo - the suck boo!

We got sick Sunday morning and had to miss church (they reorganized our ward, we really wanted to go). We took turns sleeping while the other one watched Scarlett. She had this flu last week so she was fine on Sunday. Luckily she plays really well on her own, so it wasn't too miserable.

We were so so so sick! I had to use 2 vacation days! :-( I threw up so hard that it made my c-section incision hurt (side note: my incision hasn't been hurting for the past few weeks). Then after throwing up, I had to clean it all up (since Jake was really sick too I felt bad asking him to do it). Being a grownup has it's disadvantages.

Monday evening we were still feeling if-y. Jake put this sign up on our door:

So we decided to postpone our Halloween. We're going to dress up with my family next week (the flu is making it's way through all our homes). I will be putting up all our pictures after that.

So to hold you over in the meantime, here is some more info about our little lady...

Scarlett has her first tooth!!!!!!!! We felt a little scratchy nubin on the bottom middle left this Sunday. We can't really see it yet but it's there!

This is a video from last Saturday when we were in Logan with the Glauser family (she really loves dogs! luckily her dad was holding her, if it had been me she wouldn't have got to play with the puppy):

Also, here are some other things I don't want to forget: she sleeps on her left side a lot or her tummy, she loves playing with granola bar wrappers, she chews "air gum", since last week I've been letting her ride in the shopping cart seat instead of bringing her in her carseat (I have a little fabric cover that goes in the cart) - she loves it!, she can say "mama" and "baba" and sometimes "dada", she knows her name (in fact, the other day a character on TV was named Scarlett and she turned toward the screen every time they said her name), she waves at people if they wave at her, she claps whenever she's happy (like when Word World comes on), and she scrunches her nose when she's mad:

Also, she can sit up on her own now. We lay her on her back and she uses her abs and arms to sit herself up. We've actually only seen her get 93% of the way up before laying back down. But yesterday when I wasn't looking she sat all the way up!

Bewitched and Bedazzled

2011-10-28T23:31:00.001-06:00

I L-O-V-E LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!

Not the gory, evil, satanic, freaky, weird stuff... but the creative, funny, costumey, silly stuff (Jake can confirm that I do NOT do scary). I love coming up with unique things that no one else thought of. Plus October is the best month: you get to unpack all your winter clothes, it's not snowing, the trees are beautiful, the air is crisp, pumpkin cookies, soup, Courtney's birthday... need I say more???

I decorated my table to start the month of right. I bought spiders and rubber cockroaches. I filled an old spice rack with colored water and used a bunch of glass jars that I got from DI. Plus we put up spooky window clings and a purple porch light.

Scarlett has been wearing costumes for PJs all month. She has black skeleton PJs, pink skeleton PJs, ladybug PJs, and a bunch of Halloween hand-me-down shirts that are so fun! This is her scary face:

I thought it was a good time of year to wear my Pink Power Ranger's shirt. I like this picture just because Scarlett is doing karate moves with me!

One of our CT friends just moved to Utah. She invited me to a witch themed dinner party. I even found a little tiny hat for Scarlett to wear! (weird that I had everything besides the tiny hat in my closet)

One evening last week Jake, Jami and I decorated pumpkins. We decided to spray paint this year rather than carve. Even though we were outside, I think the fumes may have gotten to Jake...

Here are our pumpkins (yes, some of them are bedazzled):

And Jake's ghost glows in the dark!!!

Jake is so patient with me and my eccentric love for this silly holiday. He has taken me to DI, Savers, Taylor Maid, Halloween Town, and many other places. He listens so attentively when I talk about all the little details I'm adding to our costumes. I'm so lucky to have him as my BF and hubby! (and I can't wait to show you our costumes next week!)

Hurrah for Halloween!

Nails, Makeup and Hair - Oh My!

2011-10-23T22:48:00.002-06:00

After 8 hrs of "enginerding" all day, I really like to unwind with creative projects. The past few weeks I've been working on our Halloween costumes - I'm so excited! If you want to know what we're dressing up at, there's a Clue in this post!

But, I've also been enjoying "girly" things. So...... if you don't care about nails, makeup or hair I suggest you stop reading immediately!

NAILS
Before Scarlett was born I got a manicure. The girl used these cool nail stamps on my nails to make awesome designs. She kept going on and on about how you have to have a beauty license to buy them and they cost $100+. So right when I got home I googled them and ended up buying the kit on Amazon for $20! hahaha!

I bought the Monster Nail Art plates and the Konad Nail Art stamper and scraper. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!!!!! It's been so fun to do crazy design on my nails - I get tons of compliments on them. (right now I'm typing with spiders and spider web nails - spooky!)

They sell special nail polish to use for the stamps, but I've just experimented with the polish I already own and it works great. You just want to use a thicker polish (that shows up in 1 coat) and it's best not to use a quick drying polish (so you have time to work with it). I keep all of my plates in plastic 4x6 photo sheets so they don't get scratched. Here is a video showing to use the stamps: Konad Nail Art Stamps. (In this video she uses the Konad plates, so I don't have the same designs.)

WARNING: DO NOT BUY THESE if there is any chance that I may be getting you a Christmas gift this year. I'm not making any promises..... but I still think you should wait til January to buy it.

After James got his wisdom teeth out, he was highly medicated - hee hee! (I took it off right after, but still.. what a good brother!!!)

These were my nails right before I went in to have Scarlett - it was really tricky trying to reach my feet over my huge prego belly!

MAKEUP
So I had 4 different friends ask me this summer what makeup I use or how I put my makeup on. I don't think I use anything particularly special. I have created a few tricks for putting on my mascara (mostly to keep my eyelashes from smacking my glasses). Anyways, for those 4 friends... here is my morning routine (I used to not wear makeup everyday, but now I feel like I have to otherwise I look like Peter Pan or Justin Bieber):

Blow dry my eyelashes (cause they're wet from the shower) - use cool setting!
Curl eyelashes (Maybelline Eyelash Curler)
Put eyeliner on upper and lower lashes, make sure to get all the way to the lash line (Cover Girl Perfect Point Plus Self-Sharpening Eye Pencil in Plum Velvet)
Put mascara on lower lashes (Maybelline Define-A-Lash Lengthening Mascara in Very Black)
Use the tip of the mascara wand back and forth on top lashes to coat them
Use the mascara wand like normal on upper lashes to separate and add a 2nd coat - note: when I put on mascara, I push my lashes up to help them curl more - this gets mascara all over my eyelids
Put on another coat (I usually only do this when I want to feel fancy)
Use the blow dryer on cool setting to dry mascara in place (this helps keep the curl, when they're wet they can get weighed down and dry less curly) - and you have to keep your eyes open while drying them, use the air to "push" your lashes even higher
Use a little bit of makeup remover on a q-tip to clean up the mascara on your eyelid
...this is when I usually blow dry my hair cause it's had a few min to air dry and I don't like how my base/powder melt off if I wait until the end to dry my hair...
Put on base - I use my fingers instead of makeup sponges (CoverGirl CG Smoothers foundation in Classic Beige - aka really really pale)
Put on under eye concealer (I'm not sure what I use, the name has rubbed off)
Put excess concealer from your fingers onto your eyelid - this will help your eyeshadow stay in place and prevents it from creasing
Put on powder (CoverGirl Professional Loose Powder in Fair)
Wipe off eyebrows with towel to remove any powder, comb them
Put on highlight shade of eyeshadow under the eyebrow and in the inner corner of the eye
Put dark shade along the upper and lower lash lines to help blend/smudge the eyeliner - I like to use an angled eyeshadow brush I bought at Target which gives you more control than the little plastic things that come with the eyeshadow
Put the midtone (if you have it) in the crease of the eye
Use the dark shade in the crease but just on above the outside corners to add some drama ... (Revlon ColorStay in Lavender Meadow and for special occasions (like my wedding) I use Clinque Color Surge Eye Shadow Duo in Plum Potion)
Add chapstick and you're done! ( I probably should also use blush, bronzer, lipstick, etc... but I don't...too much work)

If you have any other tips - please share!!! I'm always looking to improve!

HAIR
You may have noticed that I love to try new things with my hair. Especially color! I love that within a few hours I can look completely different! Right now I'm loving my pixie cut and I also love my pink chunk. But it probably won't be long before I'll be trying something new.

When we were in Connecticut my friend Angela was my hair stylist and she did an awesome job! I was so sad when we moved back to Utah cause she wouldn't be able to do my hair anymore. When I was getting the courage to chop my hair a few months ago, I had to call her and get her support. Well, she was in town over the summer visiting family. So while she was here she taught me all about color. Before I had been using the box colors you buy at the grocery store. She taught me about professional color and what to buy at Sally's. She even taught me about bleach (which had scared me before). Since then I have been a color maniac! I've been highlighting and dyeing anyone who's willing to let me expiriement on them! (so far just me, my mom, Jami, Kandy, and Braxtyn!) But it's been fun and we've saved a ton of money! I even talked Kandy into trimming my pixie! We've got a full service Seaver Salon in the works! :-)

Scarlett Claps!

2011-10-17T13:33:00.001-06:00

Scarlett started clapping like crazy this week. She's also really good at buzzing/razzing. In fact, she buzzed for most of Sunday School yesterday - it was pretty funny!

She's getting really good at saying "mom". A few nights ago Jake was trying to get her to say "dad", she kept going "mom mom momommomom" then she turned and looked at him and said "dad"! It was kinda freaky, and she hasn't said it since. What a smarty pants... or should I say sassy pants!!! And when I was at Target on Saturday I had 3 different people stop to tell me how pretty my baby is! I think she's extra cute cause she loves to smile at everyone. Yea for darling Scarlett!

Two funny things she does before nursing... if I'm too slow at getting undressed, sometimes she starts sucking on my ribs which tickles like crazy! haha! and other times if I'm too slow she'll start crying really loud. Even though she knows she's about to eat, it's like she's yelling at my for not being faster.

Also, you may have noticed I've been blogging more than normal... I've been trying to capture random stories so when I write James I can print off a bunch of blog posts to send him. So hopefully I keep it up, at least for two years! :-)

And one more thing! I added "quick comments" buttons (below). If you don't have time to leave a comment, you can just check one of these boxes.

Dancing Queen???

2011-10-16T18:30:00.001-06:00

First I have to explain that I LOVE Google calendar! I think it's so nifty that I can see what Jake is up to during the day and visa versa. It makes it really easy to plan things cause I don't have to go home and check my calendar-I always have it with me.

Anyways, the other day I noticed a weird meeting notice on Jake's calendar:

"take me off ur messaging list DANCING QUEEN!"

I asked him what that meant and he had no idea where it came from. So we were freaked out that someone had hacked into his gmail. We checked everything and couldn't find anything fishy. We looked through all his calendar permissions to see if anyone had access... nothing. Plus it was such a weird message.

Finally we checked the mobile settings and noticed his old Connecticut phone number was linked up. We thought that was the answer, but we weren't sure how they could add a calendar meeting...??? So we took off the old number and put on his new number. Then we made a test meeting notice. The calendar sent his phone a text with the meeting details. Then Jake replied to the text and sure enough it made a new appointment on his calendar. Mystery solved! Now that poor Connecticut person who got Jake's old number will no longer get random texts.

The only unsolved piece of the puzzle is the 'dancing queen' part. I guess some things we'll just never know!

Glauser Girls Getaway

2011-10-14T15:27:00.004-06:00

I was going to write a long post about our recent "Glauser Girls Getaway" but my sister in law beat me too it! So instead of duplicating work, I'll just link to her post: http://bodenfam.blogspot.com/2011/10/girl-time.html.

I will add that Scarlett was so good! I was worried about taking her (and a car load of baby stuff) without Jake's help, but we managed. She is so good at playing by herself! :-)

My mother in law rented this super cool condo in Park City and my SILs were sweet and gave me my own room (something about a baby waking them up all night...)

7 Months

2011-10-09T23:28:00.000-06:00

Wow! I can't believe she's already 7 months old! I felt like I was pregnant for years - but these past few months have just flow by! Here's a little bit about our darling Scarlett!

Physical Skills & Observations

She is such a happy baby!!!!! (except when she's tired or hungry)
Claps feet when she's excited
She will give hi-5s if you hold up your hand and say "Hi-5" (but only if you have 100% of her attention)

Can say "hi" and "mama" but I'm not sure if they count as her first words cause it's still baby babble
Will razz or make buzzing sounds
Will mimic me and raise her eyebrows
Will sit all by herself
Can maneuver all over the floor, but still doesn't crawl
Can give hugs and kisses (mostly face smashing but it still counts)
She has a few long scraggly hairs on the back of her head. Jami keeps threatening to cut them, but I like them!
I think she and I look a lot alike. Unfortunately I think she also got my wrinkly old lady hands. Poor girl.

She knows her name and will respond to it
She likes to peer around corners, so we'll hold her to the edge of the door and she cranes her neck around to see inside the room
Plays the hand stack game with me where I put my hand on hers and she moves her hand to the top, then I move my hand to the top... we've even played with all 4 of our hands and she knows that the bottom hand moves to the top.
She's very observant of her surroundings
She's petite and little except for all her squishy chub! :-)
She has really loud and super stinky toots - like clear-a-room stinky. I feel bad when she toots while eating under the nursing cover cause she "covered wagon"s herself!
Sleeps all night! Yea! In the morning I'll bring her in bed with us and she nurses while I sleep - awesome!
Reaches for whoever she wants
Has the cutest dimples and big blue eyes - she gets lots of compliments on them from strangers
Rocks back and forth when she's excited

Likes & Dislikes

Loves to dance when there's music
Loves remotes, cell phones, and her singamajig
Ticklish on her neck, ribs, and feet
Watches Word World (will giggle at the TV)

Gets so excited to shower! Loves to splash in the tub.
Hates her vitamin drops (they smell gross and taste grosser)
She loves meeting new people, especially babies and kids
She's pretty good at playing alone and keeping herself entertained, she especially likes hanging out in her bouncer

Doesn't like to eat real food. We were doing good with Rice cereal but then she and I got the flu and threw up. Since then she's had a food aversion and she dry heaves anytime I try to feed her from her spoons. I've even tried spoon feeding her breastmilk and she still makes herself gag. So we've taken a little break from food for now (I'm pretty sure that she's getting enough food from me - have you seen those chubby legs?!)

Likes to chew on straws and granola bar wrappers, she also likes paper but it gets too soggy
For whatever reason she loves to stare a trees
Loves loves loves dogs. She thinks Chumlee is HILARIOUS! She's always turning herself so she can watch him. He's patient and lets her pet/smack him. She giggles out loud when she sees him (she definitely doesn't get the puppy love from me). This video is from a month or so ago...

Loves to stare at herself in the mirror
Likes to gnaw on my chin
Thinks its funny when you startle her
Loves to play peek a boo, yesterday she even help up the blanket and put it down herself - all we had to do is say "peek a boo!"
Loves all her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents!

Funny Things

Scarlett and Jake enjoy napping together! (this was after we completed a 5k in Draper)

When I'm eating I will pretend to feed her a bite of my food (really it's just air), she eats off the spoon then she starts chewing hahaha - what a smarty!
When she's nursing before bed, as she starts to fall asleep she will start to "sing" to herself
Jake likes to play the "claw" game with her (like the arcade game) where he picks her up and hovers her over her toys till she grabs one. Jami also plays this game for Scarlett to choose what PJs to wear.
I'm convinced that she only throws her toys on the floor to watch us pick them up - I bet she's thinking about how she's got us all trained
She is really good at smiling for the camera
If I try to give her a binky when she's tired and she doesn't want it, she'll take it out of her mouth and throw it while looking at me. Uh oh! She's already sassy!
The other day I was working on the computer so I put her under her dangling toys, the next thing I knew she had maneuvered herself to inside her closet!

She's so fun and we feel so blessed to have her in our little family! We love her so much!

Forget Me Not

2011-09-29T22:03:00.000-06:00

I really liked the talks at the General Relief Society Meeting last Saturday. But I LOVED President Uchtdorf's talk "Forget Me Not"! I can't wait for Conference this weekend, we are so blessed to have a living Prophet and Apostles on the earth today!

I made these handouts for my Visiting Teachees (I was sending a bunch of 4x6 photos to Walgreens, so I decided to print these there too).

I found this picture of Forget Me Not flowers on an Alzheimer's web site! Seems appropriate! :-)

My Complaints Have Been Answered

2011-09-25T20:22:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to do a quick follow up to my complaining. Arctic Circle passed my complaints up to the VP of franchises and to the manager of the actual store. Hopefully they figure out a better way to save napkins. They ended up sending me a $10 gift card, which will be used in the drive through.

Tyson Chicken sent my complaint to their product manager and said they would look into in. I don't know if their "fingers" will get any better, but they did send a couple vouchers for free bags of frozen chicken! Woo-hoo! Now I just need to find a way to cook the scraps that I still have. Any ideas?

My Complaining Never Stops!

2011-09-15T13:57:00.002-06:00

For an assignment in school I had to write a complaint letter to a company and receive a response to see how they manage their quality. I ended up writing two letters (apparently I'm easily annoyed?)

To Tyson Chicken:

A couple months ago I bought 2 packages of your frozen, uncooked chicken fingers. When I got home and opened the bag what I found were obviously just the scraps left over from your other chicken products.
None of the pieces were big enough to be considered "fingers" and most of the pieces were extremely fatty and stringy. They could be used for popcorn chicken I suppose, but I bought them specifically to be chicken fingers. As a result we haven't bought any more chicken from anyone since then. The reason being that when my wife and I go grocery shopping we figure we don't need any more chicken, because we have two bags of "fingers" in the freezer. However, when we are cooking we never choose to cook the "fingers", because they are nasty. We've ended up eating a lot of beef and fast food ("blaaahhhh") which is making us gain weight. I would very much appreciate your response to this issue within the next couple of weeks.

Thanks!

Jacob Glauser

and to Arctic Circle:

A couple months ago my wife and I went to Arctic Circle. My wife had never been there and I wanted to show her the best tasting shakes around. However, the following experience has really made it difficult for me to get her to go back.

We went inside and ordered burgers and tater tots. We were planning on getting shakes, but decided to order them after our other food, so they wouldn't melt before we were ready for them. We paid for the food and got it in a timely manner. After sitting down, starting our meal, and having good conversation one of the employees came to us and said she accidentally charged us $0.10 for the tater tots and would have to charge us the full price (something like $1.25). When most restaurants make a mistake like that they just bite the bullet and don't bother their potentially repeat customers over a dollar and change. We received the food, so we were willing to pay for it, but it did seem kind of dumb. I told them we were planning on buying shakes and asked if we could just pay for the tots at that time. The employee said that would be OK, but a minute later she was back at our table, disturbing us, and said her manager was only comfortable with us paying for the tots right then. Did she think we were going to run off without paying the extra dollar? Is she seriously that concerned? This offended both my wife and I, but I left my meal, went to the counter, and paid for the tots anyway.

We were so annoyed with our experience that rather than buy shakes there that night we jumped in our car, drove across town, and bought a couple of Blizzards from Dairy Queen and have continued to go to Dairy
Queen since then.

What can you do to help me convince my wife to go back to Arctic Circle?!

Sincerely,
Jake Glauser

P.S. That store also has little signs everywhere requesting customers to take only one napkin at a time. This really comes across as cheap and seems like the management feels that the customer is their adversary. I understand that people usually grab a huge handful of napkins that often get wasted. Perhaps a better solution would be to have napkin dispensers at each table, so that customers only grab one napkin at a time. Needless to say, I ignored the napkin signs and grabbed a handful anyway. Once I'm seated with my family I don't want
to have to get up multiple times just to grab another napkin.

That about sums me up...

2011-09-11T22:26:00.000-06:00

When I was going through my phone I found a user defined dictionary with words I've added to my spell check over time. I have to wonder... what does this say about me?

Benadryl, Blizzack, brownie, carb, crap, dang, DQ, dundee, FHE, freaking, Frizzle (from Magic School Bus), frosting, frostys, Golem, guacamole, hahaha, heehee, hoo, hottie, ICEE, indubitably, JCWs, jello, Jimmer, LOTR, meds, naps, Netflix, NICU, NSAIDs, (Bill) Nye, PCOS, pooper, prego, Provo, rafting, rockstar, RX, snot, taco, teething, Tron, Tylenol, VTing, woot, Yeates (my allergist), Yoda, yucky, yummy

Seaver Stay-cation

2011-09-07T22:09:00.001-06:00

Over the past month we've had lots of Seaver Family Fun - all leading up to today. James entered the MTC today at 1:30 pm. *bitter sweet* We're so proud of him!!!

My parents planned a Seaver Stay-cation. What's a stay-cation you may ask? Well, it's a vacation where instead of hanging out in a crowded hotel we stay at our homes and explore the great state of Utah through various day trips. We had a blast! Here's an overview of the many fun things we did!

Hogle Zoo

We got to see the different animals at the Hogle Zoo. We also went to a bird show, drank ICEEs in awesome fancy cups, rode the train and rode the merry-go-round. Scarlett tried so hard to stay awake the entire day but eventually she just crashed in her daddy's arms.

Shooting
Next we found a random spot to go shooting out in the desert. Jake kindly decorated the power pole with his orange paintballs. Scarlett didn't really care for the loud shots - even with the fancy noise-cancelling headphones. James taught us the proper way to shoot (while lounging in a camp chair). We all had crazy huge bruises the next day on our shoulders!

Sailing
We couldn't let James leave without going sailing! He was the only scout in his troop to earn the sailing badge. It was a ton of fun - especially when the wind picked up! And we only had one capsizing event!

Kennecott Copper Mine

We went out to Kennecott and explored the HUGE HOLE they're digging out there! They use ginormous trucks to basically turn the mountain inside out! Scarlett even got to try her skills at the steering wheel!

Temple Square
We didn't think it would be good for James to get to South Carolina and have people in his ward who visited temple square more recently than him (and he was only 40 min away). So we went up to SLC and got a tour of the Conference Center. We saw the Joseph Smith movie (awesome!) and after a small picnic we went to Welfare Square where some sister missionaries gave us the full backstage tour. I can't believe all the great things the church does! Yea service! We ended the day at Macaroni Grill with a surprise birthday party for Jami.

Orem Owlz

We finished our stay-cation with an Orem Owlz baseball game!

BYU
Even though James deferred his enrollment for 2 years, Jake and I thought we better start now indoctrinating him on the BYU Cougar ways. We took him on a campus tour...

Scarlett's Boyfriend

Also, I have to mention that Scarlett finally got to see her boyfriend a few weeks ago. He's at dental school (USC) right now, so they don't get to see each other often. In fact, last time they were both in the womb planning their breech tricks on their mommies! They danced, Parker serenaded Scarlett with the ukulele, they tried to impress each other with their rolling over tricks, and they even went out to eat (aka Courtney and I nursed each other's babies)! I hope they grow up to be bestest friends like their mommies!

Update Part 4: Photo Shoot

2011-07-28T23:29:00.001-06:00

On July 1st I took Scarlett to get her pictures taken at PhotoWorks in the University Mall. It was a whole day adventure! She stopped twice to eat and and once for a 30 minutes power nap! Luckily the photo place is used to working with babies and they had a back room with a couch and a movie for me to camp out on. They were so good with her and I love the pictures

Update Part 3: Scarlett

2011-07-28T23:29:00.000-06:00

So much has happened in these past 4 months. I can't believe how fast she's changing! These are just a few of the many fun things we've learned about our little lady...

Playing the air guitar

Chillaxin' with Uncle James

Hanging out with her cousin (she made Scarlett that blanket!)

Showers
Once her umbilical cord fell off I started showering with her. I just put her little tub in the bath while I shower. She loves showering! She gets so excited when she hears the water running. I have these little foam pictures that stick on the wall and her favorite game is to knock them down off the wall.

When I put the water on her she likes to reach up for it or she twirls her leg up in the stream. Sometimes she even licks the water! The only part she doesn't like is when I suck out her boogies - fortunately I kinda like that part (weird, I know)! Only a few times has she gone potty in the tub, and it's a quick clean up.

Sleep
For the past few weeks she's been sleeping for a good 6-7 hour segment at night! Which is great cause we don't get a lot of sleep with her during the day. She's a power napper. She just loves being awake - to much to do!

After a few weeks of sleeping in our room when she was first born, we moved her to the crib in her room. I didn't realize how much I woke up just because she is a noisy sleeper.

When she's falling asleep she'll smile and sometimes even giggle - so cute! (she's always done this, that's how we got the smiling picture when she was 3 days old). She also sleeps with her hands held our flat and sometimes with her eyes slightly open (like mommy). When she's tired she twirls her hair, my mom said I used to do the same thing.

She is such a happy baby! When I go get her from her crib in the morning she just smiles at me! Her new thing is rolling over. I put her to sleep on her back and I find her in the morning on her tummy and in different places of her crib. She scoots all over in her sleep. One time she even rotated 180 degrees!


I can't believe she used to be this small!

Sleeping with her eyes open - freaky!

Sleeping with her hands out flat

Playing
Once she was able to control her hands she started playing by herself. In the morning when I put her under her hanging toys she's so excited - I think she misses them. She loves her toys - especially her links... well, really anything that she can maneuver into her mouth. She loves chewing on everything. Especially her thumb. Neither Jake nor I sucked our thumbs as babies, but Scarlett loves her thumb!

She claps her feet when she's excited. She loves to use her ab muscles and she tries to sit up. I have to be careful where I set her with her rolling/ab skills. One of her first tricks was opening her eyes really wide whenever it got dark. She's really loud and squeals/talks/giggles a ton. I have to go in the hall at church a lot just cause she's talking really loud!

Berlyn and Braxtyn were playing dress up with her

Buddha baby!

Playing with Grumple

Fell asleep playing (these links are her fav and she often falls asleep holding them)

Doctor
We've been to the doctor several times. We went when she was 6 weeks old cause she had blood in her stool. They said it was the milk in her formula that was ripping the lining of her colon. So we switched to soy formula and it went away. But now we don't use any formula which is even better! She's had 2 sets of immunizations. The first time she screamed so loud, but the second time wasn't nearly as bad.

At her checkups these were her stats (I think she's got my chunkiness and Jake's height):

2 Months: 11 lbs 13 oz (75%), 23 in long (75%), 39 cm head circumference (50%)
4 Months: 15 lbs 0 oz (80%), 25 in long (90%), 16.25 in head circumference (55%)

She had a follow up visit with the Cardiologist. They loved her! All the nurses kept peeking in our room to see her little chunky legs. Most of the babies they get there are real skinny and sick. So they loved on her chunk. She still has 2 holes in her heart. But neither of them effect the quality of her heart. We'll continue going every year just to make sure they stay small and hopefully heal. But even as they are now she won't need surgery or special medication. I'll have to have an echocaridiogram during my future pregnancies to check for heart issues (they said there's no way to know if our other kids will have issues). But even if I had one with Scarlett they wouldn't have seen these holes in the womb cause they're so small. In fact, one of the holes is really common - like 25% of people have it and most people don't even know it. The cardiologist was really nice and explained things very thoroughly. When he found out I was an engineer he told me about how these holes cause small pockets of turbulent flow (where it should be laminar) and that turbulence is what they can hear when they listen to her heart.

It's ironic. I wanted an ultrasound when I was 8 months pregnant. I kept asking the doctor for one cause I felt like I needed one, but since there wasn't a "medical need" they wouldn't do one. Now I'll need several ultrasounds to make sure my baby doesn't go breach. In addition, I'll have to have a fetal echocardiogram. Too bad mother's instinct doesn't count as "medical need".


At the cardiologist

The two holes in her heart: #1 is common (it's a flap that closes to change the direction of the flow from when you were in the womb and it's common for the flap to not completely cover the opening), #2 is uncommon (and her hole is closer to the base of the heart, not in the middle like on the picture)

We love Scarlett so much and feel so blessed to have her in our little family!!! She's so much fun and we're so grateful that she is healthy and happy.

Update Part 2: Jake

2011-07-28T23:18:00.000-06:00

Jake's had a busy past few months. He sold his Jeep, bought our Durango, bought a new couch, and bought his very first dirt bike!

Internship
Luckily he hasn't spent all his time making big purchases... this summer Jake's been doing an internship at IM Flash in the Supply Chain department. We're so grateful that he was able to find an awesome internship close by so we didn't have to move this summer (such a tender mercy!)

He developed a new tracking system for Intel's high priority NAND memory chips. The company is in the process of implementing his new system! Yea Jake!

The interns had a t-shirt design contest to make their summer internship shirts. Jake won!!! He's not sure if they'll actually make his design but he won a $25 visa gift card. So talented!

Daddy
Jake is such a great father! Not only does he take great care of Scarlett, but he also takes great care of me!

I don't know how he does it, but Jake is able to teach Scarlett tricks. He taught her to stick her tongue out when she was 3 weeks old. He taught her to play peek-a-boo. He taught her to lift her legs for a game he plays. Yesterday he taught her to stand up by herself while holding onto his thumbs. She just loves playing with her daddy! She is so excited to see him when he gets home from work.

She just fell asleep in his arms like that, notice what her feet say

Sleeping on daddy

Jake's already teaching her to be independent

Dirt Bike
For Jake's birthday he got a dirt bike! He's wanted a dirt bike since he was 12 years old. He bought a Yamaha WR426F. He loves taking it out and exploring the Utah desert whenever he gets a chance (which probably isn't as often as he'd like).

The dirt bike and the Durango

Starting Scarlett young...

Moab Adventure
Jake loves going on adventures. I think Scarlett has inherited this bug. She gets so excited when we put her in her car seat to go somewhere. And she loves being out doors.

After several weeks home with a newborn baby, Jake and I had terrible cabin fever. We decided to do a day trip down to Moab. We packed up early in the morning and drove down there - Scarlett slept the entire drive! Once we were there we drove through Arches. We even went on a few hikes (the paved, stroller accessible hikes). It was a great way to get out and explore with a new baby.

Can you spot Jake?

Update Part 1: Jenni

2011-07-28T23:14:00.000-06:00

So I've realized my stress-coping mechanism is to completely avoid contact with people outside my family. I cut myself off of all social networks and ignored my blog (and reading other blogs too). I'm not sure why this helps me with my stress, but it's what I do. So now I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, but I'm so behind on my blog - this is my feeble attempt to cover the past 4 months.

She loves to sleep on mommy!

So about me.... I love being a mom! Scarlett is so fun! I love that she wants me more than any one else (except maybe her daddy). I enjoy snuggling and playing with her all day.

During my 8 week Maternity Leave I went through a full spectrum of emotions but mostly I got more and more depressed. After several weeks Jake suggested I go to the doctor and get Zoloft. It made a HUGE difference! I am only sorry that it took me so long to start taking it. I will take the PPD meds immediately after my next baby.

Grammy

Working
I went back to work and ("back" meaning upstairs to my in-home office). My boss put me in charge of closing out JTP points (providing evidence to the government that our tests were completed correctly with expected results). I love my work - except really really really miss my afternoon nap!!! I hired a nanny - the best nanny that money can by - who also happens to be my sister, Jami. She comes over everyday and watches Scarlett while I work. Luckily I can still nurse my baby girl. I love listening to Jami sing to her and teaching her new things. I'm so lucky to have Jami!

I'm really grateful to have my job - especially the medical insurance. Our bills from Scarlett and my stay in the hospital were over $45,000! Yea for insurance!!!

Hair Cut
Right before my birthday I chopped off all my hair into a pixie cut. I was feeling brave that day (and I had some good friends who talked me into it - thanks Angela!)

And yes, Jake loves it (that's the question I get asked the most). He isn't a fan of long hair. In fact, he likes when I have "hair school" hair (crazy funky styles like the girls in hair school). I proposed the idea of chopping it off expecting him to talk me out of it, but in fact he talked me into it! What a good match we are for each other! :-)

The only thing I don't love about my hair is that if I'm not wearing makeup and I let it air dry - I look like Justin Bieber - or Peter Pan.

New hair cut - so short!!!

Nursing

About the middle of her 3rd month Jake mentioned that he hadn't washed any bottles that week. We didn't even notice that we weren't having to supplement anymore! All that pumping (oh the pumping) and taking prescriptions and herbal remedies (plus lots of prayers) and my body kicked into milk-producing mode! Her chubby little legs are evidence of my good milk skills!

I love nursing! I love how she likes to hold my chin while she eats or she puts her fingers in my mouth. I love how she just stares at me and if I'm not paying attention to her she yells at me til I look at her. I love that no matter where we are or who wants to hold her - I always get time to snuggle with her while she eats. I also love all the calories I'm burning - woot woot! Which is especially nice since running still hurts my C-section (and now I can't take Ibuprofen).

Came home early from church... can you guess why? (hint: that's not mustard on my skirt)

Reading

I've started reading a lot more. Mostly because during my midnight feedings I was falling asleep in my rocking chair and not waking up for 3 hours! I would wake up all sore and not very well rested. So I realized if I read while feeding her then it keeps me awake til she's done. I downloaded the Kindle app on my phone and I love it! No more dealing with huge heavy books or having to turn on the lamp!

In the past few months I've read: The 7 Harry Potter books (and watched the movies - including the awesome 7 Part 2), The Hunger Games series, The Hourglass Door series, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Ender's Game, and Persuasion.

Hanging out in Beaver, UT

Back when I was worried about having a kid, I used to wonder "what will I do all day?" - now when I'm completely exhausted at night I wonder "what did I do all day?" But I love it!

A Blessing for Scarlett & A Blessing for Me

2011-07-11T23:55:00.005-06:00

Scarlett in her blessing dress and bracelet that Jami made

Scarlett was given a name and a blessing by her dad on Sunday July 10th (luckily he named her the same name as her birth certificate - whew!) We waited until she was 4 months old because I really wanted James to be in the circle and he was just ordained last week (see http://ElderSeaver.blogspot.com/2011/07/ordained.html). She was really fussy right before Jake stood up, but she was quiet the whole prayer. Afterward Jake held her up and she looked around at everyone with her bright, alert eyes! So cute!!!

James, Dad S, Nate, Scarlett, Jake, Dad G, Kent, & Grandpa Seaver (Dave was home sick)

Afterwards we got together for a delicious luncheon at my parent's house with the Seaver and Glauser families. It was fun to have them all together, I think the last time that happened was for our wedding 3.5 yrs ago. We also got to celebrate Kassidy's 13th bday!

Glauser Family (except Jenny who had to work)

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the Seaver Family (they escaped my efforts.. this time....)


Dad G, Mom G, Jake, Scarlett, Jenni, Mom S, Dad S

Our little family!

That evening when I got home I wasn't feeling too great. I had to take Benadryl and do my nebulizer - but I just attributed this to being at my parent's house all day with Chumlee hair and the crazy high pollen levels. I woke up around 12:40 am with a terrible stomach ache. I went to the bathroom to get some medicine, while I was in there my eyes went from slightly itchy to really swollen. I started getting hives all over. I quickly took two more Benadryl then decided to wake Jake to give me a Priesthood Blessing. He was confused when I turned the lights on, but he quickly snapped into gear and gave me a blessing. At the end I was starting to look really bad and based on the intensity and speed of the reaction we decided to go the the emergency room.

We threw on some clothes, grabbed Scarlett, and jumped in the car. On the way to the Provo ER I shot myself with my Epi-Pen (scary!) (my CT nurse friend Jennah taught me to use my Epi-Pen when a reaction quickly inhibits my breathing, and my throat was closing up). We rushed in the waiting room and I told the guy at the counter "I think I'm having an allergic reaction", he looked up at me and said "why yes you are!"

Anaphylactic Shock

I quickly got admitted to a room and the doctor came in to talk to me. He gave me a shot of Vistaril (cousin to Benadryl), a dose of Prednisone, and some Pepcid (apparently there are two types of histamines that the body produces and one is what gives you heart burn - so in really bad reactions they give you Pepcid and Benadryl to stop the both types of histamines). Then we had to wait and see if my reaction stopped. By this time my skin was lobster red, emitting fiery heat, and covered in unbearably itchy hives. I also had some issues in the bathroom which is because the same reaction that happens on the outside of your body happens on the inside.

Eventually my reaction turned the corner and started slowing down (so I didn't need another dose of Epi). The ER doctor went over things that cause anaphylactic shock, but we couldn't figure it out. I hadn't eaten any nuts that day - and usually those reactions are immediate, whereas this one came on after hours of sleeping. YIKES!!!

Action shot! (even though I actually used the Epi-Pen 30 min prior to this) - see how red my face is!

Jake took such good care of me - and Scarlett slept through it all!

After a few hours of the medicine kicking in, they let us go home. Jake and I went to Walgreens at 3:30 am to fill my steroid and Epi-Pen prescriptions, and to stock up on Benadryl and Pepcid. I slept really well with all those antihistamines in my body. When I woke up I noticed red scratch marks all over my body where I drew blood from the hives - ouch! My skin's still puffy but a few days on the steroid will help clear everything up.

It made me nervous to not know what caused this reaction, so I called my allergist, Dr. Yeates, and went and saw him this afternoon. He walked in and immediately asked "did you have any aspirin or Ibuprofen yesterday?" Yes! I had taken several doses of 800mg Ibuprofen over the weekend because I went running and really hurt my c-section incision. "And did you also have a runny nose?" Yes again! Within 5 seconds he had figured it out! I'm so glad he's my allergist (I've been going to him since I was really little). But man, that's bad news! I can't have any NSAIDs anymore. There isn't a conclusive test to verify that this is the correct allergy, but it all fits (including the really painful tummy ache that woke me up). And these reactions can happen up to 8 hours after taking the medicine (which is why it came on after I went to sleep). He said it was probably a perfect storm: the dosages of Ibuprofen, the high pollen levels, the dog hair - just enough to push me over the edge.

Dr. Yeates said that I did everything correct in that situation (which made me feel better). He was even impressed that I shot the Epi-Pen in the right location and held it for the required 10 seconds (apparently people forget both of those steps). I told him that Jake and I shoot the expired Epi-Pens into rotten fruit. Practice makes perfect! I was just thinking a few months ago the Epi-Pens are a waste of money. I'm so careful with not eating nuts that I haven't had an anaphylactic reaction in over 10 years, so I think the scary factor had warn off. But it's back! And I definitely don't think that the Epi-Pens are a waste of money any more!!!

Now that I know I'm allergic to NSAIDs, I think I've had a similar reaction before, but I thought it was the air freshener in my old gym (see http://glauserglovebox.blogspot.com/2009/11/just-call-me-hydrogen.html). I must have taken Ibuprofen that day too!

I'm so grateful to be married to a faithful Priesthood holder whom I love so very much and who takes such good care of me!!! Thanks Jake!

Scarlett Marie Glauser

2011-03-24T23:23:00.019-06:00

Introducing.....

3 days old and Jake captured her darling little smile!

Scarlett Marie Glauser
Born Wednesday March 9, 2011 at 8:25 am
6 lbs 14 oz and 18.25 in long

All her stats

The past two weeks has been one of the happiest, most exhausting, stressful, and long weeks of my life. Thank you so much to all our friends and family who have called, emailed, texted or visited us!!! I’m sorry if I haven’t responded yet (it’s been a little crazy in our home). But we love and appreciate all of you!!!

Here is a summary of what went down..... (warning: this is very very very long, I only expect my mom to have the patience to read it all – but hopefully you can enjoy the pictures! Also – most of this was written while I was heavily medicated and super exhausted so I apologize if it’s really boring or doesn’t make any sense.)

Tuesday March 8

41 Weeks and Breech

I was 6 days overdue and so uncomfortable. Luckily my OB said they would induce me Tues night. We went to our appointment at 4pm. When the doctor checked my cervix he said “hmm... well, this feels like a bum instead of a head”. They pulled the ultrasound machine in the room and sure enough her little head was snug up by my ribs. She was breech this whole time!!! They figured that’s why my labor stopped progressing. Since I was a week overdue, the placenta was starting to calcify (I could see the bad spots on the ultrasound) and my amniotic fluid was really low. So an external cephalic version was out of the question. The OB asked when I ate last (right before I came) so he said that we might do a C-Section at midnight that night. Holy cow! Apparently they wanted to get her out ASAP! Luckily the hospital had an opening for a 7:30 am C-section the next day. So we were able to go home, pack, and process all this information. I’ll admit it brought me to tears. I wasn’t really upset about the C-section - more that it wasn’t going to be anything like we planned, I went a miserable week past my due date, and that everything was happening so fast.

I asked why they hadn’t found this sooner. He said that only like 4% of babies are breech and that bums feel a lot like heads so they usually don’t assume it’s a breech baby. It was the first time this doctor had checked me, Jake thinks the other 2 doctors who checked me may have missed it because they both had fatter fingers so they couldn’t feel her bum as well (since I wasn’t dilated very much). The really weird thing is that my best friend Courtney (whose baby was due 2 days after mine) also had a breech baby! But they knew so she had a C-section at 39 weeks (instead of 41 weeks like me). I’m convinced that Scarlett and Parker thought they would be funny and play a joke on their moms. Little teasers! (read Parker’s birth story here)

41 weeks and soooo uncomfortable

Wednesday March 9

C-Section
We had such a hard time sleeping, I think I got 3 hours total. We had to be at the hospital at 5:30. They hooked me up to tummy monitors to get a baseline for the baby. They put in an IV and gave me antibiotics (standard for any surgery) and anti-nausea medicine. The anesthesiologist came and talked about the spinal tap. He was really funny – made me relax a little. The OB was a little late, during the maybe 15 min we had to wait for him I was able to fall asleep. I felt so much better when I woke up. I told the nurse about a dream I had last night where they gave me a hysterectomy after the C-section – she assured me that wouldn’t happen.

They wheeled me back into the surgery room. I was so nervous. There was this tiny table surrounded by a huge, cold room filled with tons of machinery. I sat on the bed and the anesthesiologist put in the spinal tap (I told him I felt glamorous with iodine running down my bum crack). I laid on the table while everything from my ribs down became numb. While I was numbing up the nurses did a count of every single piece of equipment (including sponges and gauze), they do the same count after the surgery to make sure nothing is left inside of me. Jake came in the room all dressed in his clean suit. The nurses kept asking him if he had breakfast and did he want any juice (apparently they have a problem with dad’s passing out). Jake sat by my head and held my hand (my arms where stretched out on the table). They put up a curtain so we couldn’t see my belly. When the two OBs were about to start the nurse asked me some questions:

“Your name is Jennifer Glauser” “Yes”
“You want a C-section today” “Yes”
“You do not want a hysterectomy” “haha, correct!” (everyone chuckled and assured me my dream wouldn’t come true)

Then the anesthesiologist (who was standing right by my head the entire surgery) started giving Jake and I a play-by-play. They began cutting, it was weird to be awake knowing on the other side of the curtain they were cutting me open! I felt my whole body flop around when they were tugging on the baby. Then they said there was going to be a ton of pressure on my ribs as they pushed her out and that I would have “referred pain” in my shoulders. My right collar bone hurt like crazy. The OB said “here comes the little bum” then all of the sudden we heard adorable little cries! They lifted her over the curtain – it was so surreal! I couldn’t believe that she was inside of me this whole time!!! They took her over to a table and started cleaning her, Jake went over to watch and luckily I could see from the bed. They kept trying to make her cry more cause she wasn’t screaming enough. Then I started to feel really nauseated. The anesthesiologist said it was from the rapid and huge drop in blood pressure. He gave me some medicine to constrict my blood vessels and oxygen while they cleaned me up. Jake left with the baby. It took them 5 min to get her out and 25 min to sew/staple me shut. They vacuumed out my uterus then stitched up all 7 layers! I lost 800 units of blood (usually you loose 600) but that’s still ok. Other than that, everything went perfectly. They wheeled me to a post-op room to watch me for an hour.

Meeting her for the first time

The Baby and the NICU
Jake came back to tell me how adorable our daughter is! They weighed her and tried to measure her length. Since her legs had been stretched out (she was folded in half inside me) they had a really hard time trying to get her to lay flat. They ended up marking on the bed where her head was then rolling her to a sitting position to mark her little feet. Then they measured the marks to get her length – creative!

Getting cleaned up – see how her legs are straight out

They cleaned her up and checked that everything was working okay. After her bath she couldn’t bring her body temperature back up, so they had her under heat lamps. Her blood sugar was also really low. So they brought her to me to breastfeed. She is so beautiful! It caught me off guard at how much she looks like me! I just wanted to snuggle and stare at her forever. But after she ate, her sugars were still low. So they took her back to the heat lamps and gave her a bottle.

They wheeled me into my postpartum room while they waited to see how her temperatures and sugars were doing. They finally decided to give her an IV of fluids to bring up her sugars. Jake kept shuttling back and forth from me to the baby. At first I wasn’t too worried, I could tell that they expected her to be better with the IV. But even the IV didn’t help her sugars and her body temp was still too low (unless she was under the heat). So they finally decided to admit her into the NICU: Special Care room. They explained that the Special Care room is for low risk babies and that she would be okay. They started her on antibiotics, anti viral medicine, and sugar fluid. They also took a bunch of blood and sent it out for all sorts of testing.

Hanging out with Daddy

In the first 24 hours we found out our baby was breech, got a C-section and admitted our newborn to the NICU. I was so stressed and overwhelmed. I didn’t want to call everyone to share the good news because we didn’t know what was wrong and I was so frustrated. I just wanted to hold my baby! This didn’t turn out at all like I had expected!

Later in the day Jake wheeled me down to see her and to feed her. It was wonderful to snuggle with her little body! I got to feed her again. I thought breastfeeding was going to be really weird, but it felt somehow very natural (expect no one warned me that you get cramps while nursing!) Jake slept on a cot in my room. I could hear little babies crying in the rooms next to us, I was so jealous! But the nurses were great to me. They would call me each time she woke up for a feeding and I would walk down to the NICU (usually pushing a wheel chair for extra support).

I asked if she was too small (for being a week over due I thought she would be closer to 8 pounds). The nurse looked her weight up on a chart and found that she is in the 12th percentile. But since her head circumference, length and weight were all proportionally small they weren’t worried. Turns out she’s just a petite little lady!

Little Scarlett hooked up to her NICU monitors

Thursday March 10

They found that she did not have a virus, so they stopped that medication. All her blood work looked normal except for some protein count was high which is indicative of an infection (even though her white blood cell count wasn’t high). So they kept her on the antibiotics while waited for more blood work results (wouldn’t be done til Friday). They let Jake, my Dad, and my Father-in-Law give her a blessing this evening. She looked so small compared to their big hands!

Scarlett’s feet in Grammy Seaver’s hands

Her poor little hands covered in IVs and tape

Scarlett with her Grandparents (except Grandma Glauser who was at work)

Naming Her Scarlett
We heard the name Scarlett on TLC’s A Baby Story at the beginning of our pregnancy. We put it on our baby list and it was the only name that stayed in our top 3 the entire time. I like that it is very feminine, yet strong, and that it is a unique name but not something weird that we invented.

Once we met her, with her long dark hair – she just looked like a Scarlett. We decided to wait a day and see if we still felt that way. Sure enough, it still fit on Thursday. We wanted her to have a family middle name. We really liked the way Scarlett Marie sounded, and after meeting her and seeing how much she looked like me, it seemed to fit that she should have my middle name. It’s such a weird feeling to name a person. It’s kind of powerful – yet no one checks up on you to make sure you’re doing it right. She went from baby girl to a real person with a name. After naming her, all the nurses called her by her name. It was weird to hear them in the next room using the name that we gave her, but it still seemed to fit.

For the record, I have put Gone With the Wind on our Netflix instant queue. So in a few weeks I’ll be able to tell you what I think about Scarlett O’Hara. Also, we’re not fans of Scarlett Johansson. But we do like the color scarlet. And we also call our little lady Miss Scarlett (like in Clue – which is one of my fav games).

Friday March 11

I woke up feeling so nauseated and exhausted. My body was getting so worn out from all the stress. The nurse said they couldn’t give me anything for feeling sick. So I took a Zofran I had in my purse from pregnancy. When my OB came to check up on my incision, I confessed my pill sneaking and he said he would have done the same thing. Then he gave me another prescription so I wouldn’t have to sneak pills anymore! Other than feeling nauseated, I felt really good (all things considered). The OB said my incision looks great and I seem to be recovering really well (I considered that a tender mercy since I was dealing with all the baby stuff). Most C-section patients don’t walk very much the first few days, but I was walking up and down the hall to see my baby (which aided in my recovery).

Test Results
The neonatologist came to speak with Jake and I about the test results today. She does not appear to have any serious problem. They suspected an infection but her white blood cells were normal. The Doctor said that they figure she was getting a little infection right before she was born but all the antibiotics they pumped in me before my surgery killed the bug. Her body was still weak and worn out from the infection so she wasn’t able to handle the stress of being born. Plus she was so tiny (especially for being a week over due) that she didn’t have any fat stores to give her the energy she needed to bounce back after the birth. So the Doctor said they would keep her in the NICU for 7 days of intravenous antibiotic treatment to make sure and kill the bug.

During the tests they also found that she has a little heart murmur. They did an echocardiogram to figure out what was going on. She has two little holes in her heart. One of them is very very common and will most likely heal itself within a few months. The other is common and will most likely heal itself within two years. Neither require constant monitoring, we’ll just have to visit the heart doctor and get her retested every few months til we know it’s gone. And if they don’t heal there are medicines and things they can do way before she would need surgery. Still, scary.

The worst part of the past few days was just not knowing how serious it was going to be. They tested her for all sorts of crazy things. Once we knew she was going to be ok, we slept much better. (I’ll admit I had a breakdown before going to bed that night, the huge flux in hormones on top of everything called for a good cry).

They moved her to an enclosed bed so she could get better sleep (less noise, warmer, darker)

Scarlett’s Feeling Better
Today, Scarlett started acting like she felt so much better. She ate tons and could maintain her body temperature. The Doctor let them take out her head IV of 10% Dextrose, so she was down to one IV (of antibiotics).

One of her hand IVs went bad so they had to put it in her head

Saturday March 12

I get cold sores when I’m stressed out. This morning I woke up with – not one, not two… but FIVE cold sores!!! Luckily I caught them soon so my OB was able to give my Acyclovir – so they only lasted a few days. But yikes!

I’ve been pumping after feeding her (because even though I feed her whenever they call me, they still supplement in the nursery). The nurse put the milk I pumped in a syringe then took it down to the nursery. Scarlett was drinking a bottle when the nurse got there, so they put the syringe in the corner of her mouth so she would eat my milk while drinking her formula bottle. Once they started putting the syringe in her mouth she let go of the bottle and turned toward the syringe – apparently she likes my milk more than formula! The nurses said that they’ve never seen a baby do that before!

Scarlett’s Skills
We’ve figured out that after she’s done eating she likes to smile. When Jake was taking a photo of her with my cell phone she smiled at the perfect time. I love this picture! It melts my heart!!! (it’s the first photo on this post)

She knows my voice. When I come in the room to feed her she’ll turn toward my voice and start eating the air – rooting around for me. :-) The nurses call her the social butterfly cause she’s very alert for a baby her age. (wonder where she gets that…) Also, she can grasp my pinky finger with her long toes (she gets those from her daddy!)

Sunday March 13

Being a Mommy
It was hard to feel like Scarlett’s mom cause all the nurses were taking care of her. So I asked them if I could do ask much as they would let me. They have procedures I had to follow but they let me do a lot. I got to feed her, change her, rock her, bathe her (what else is there to do with a baby?) I figure it will be much easier to change her diaper when we get home because she won’t be hooked up to all the monitors. I got to give her a bath (at like 4 am). They turned on the heat lamp, she sprawled out like she was laying on the beach and was an angel for the entire process. Many of the nurses are lactation consultants. It was like I got personal mommy training for the days I was in there. I tried to ask as many questions as I could.

Her first bath!

I Got Discharged
I got discharged this morning (the OB let me stay an extra day in the hospital to be with my baby). The nurse came in and took my staples out (Jake got to watch). It felt like little pinches. They replaced the staples with Steri-Strips. Instead of sending me home, Timpanogos has a program where they let parents of NICU babies stay in the hospital rooms for free (if they have availability). I got to stay in the same room I was in. But now the nurses weren’t bugging me every 4 hours. They don’t provide meals, only towels, linens and toilet paper. But what a blessing! I was so grateful that I didn’t have to leave my little baby alone in the hospital. I was able to continue feeding her at night. But since I was no longer a patient, I could come and go as I please. So Jake took me to my parents for a quick dinner. I didn’t realize how loud the hospital is until the car ride over, it was so quiet! Jake decided to sleep at home these nights since he had to go to school.

While my staples were being removed, Scarlett was ready to eat. So her nurse put her in a swing to calm her down til I could feed her. The funny thing is that they had to get a written prescription from the doctor for her to be in the swing! Funny! Also, the same nurse (Adam) saw my bling bling cell phone cover and said he had the perfect thing for her – he brought back this pink little gansta hat covered in bling! And we got to keep it! Awesome!

Scarlett’s bling bling beanie

Relaxing in her swing

PICC Line
Scarlett was starting to look so healthy. She was acting more alert and happy. They had removed one of her IVs. I was starting to feel better about the whole NICU thing. But then her nurse, Adam, came into our room to tell Jake and I that they had run out of veins for her antibiotic IV. Apparently IVs only last about 24 hours in babies. And since she had two IVs for several days, her little hands and feet had been poked to the max. Poor little thing! The problem was that she still had 4 days of medicine left. So the solution? A PICC line. I had heard of people getting PICCs but I really didn’t know what it meant until today. They would have to insert a little skinny tube inside a vein in her head, it would follow the vein down the side of her face in front of her ear by her temple, down her jugular, and ending right by her heart! Holy cow! I was so nervous about it. It’s considered a surgical procedure that they have to do in a sterile environment.

It took the PICC expert 2 hours to feed it through her veins (average time - they have to wait til the body opens up and accepts it). She looked so sad on the table (the green towels mean sterile). Then they brought in an x-ray machine to make sure it was in the right place in proportion to her heart. During the process they kept her asleep with sugar water – apparently it’s like a drug for little babies! Our prayers were answered and the whole procedure went smoothly. The only bummer is she looked so much worse this evening than she had in the morning.

There’s a baby under there! Getting her PICC line in. She looks so sad…

X-Ray to make sure the PICC isn’t too close to her heart (I put the cursor on the end of the line). I’m holding a piece of the tubing that went inside her.

Monday March 14

Felt more rested today since I wasn’t interrupted by the nurses. I finally got out of the hospital gown and put on my own PJs – I felt so much better!

Jake came to visit us after school. He said it felt really weird to get back into a normal routine now with a baby. “How can people go to school when they have kids, don’t they just want to be at home with them all day?” He’s so cute!

When Jake was holding Scarlett he looked at her like he adored her more than anything else in the world. I fall in love with him more and more everyday!

Tuesday March 15

Moving Rooms
Scarlett was in the Special Care room. But it was getting crowded, so they decided to move her to the sick baby room in the NICU. They kept reassuring me that she wasn’t moving in there 'cause of her health, just a space issue. The room was huge and quiet compared to the other room. Each baby’s bed was surrounded with all sorts of machines. It was a lot more private too (I had to nurse her at the same time as another mom and behind the same screens in the other room). This new room had actual curtains that we could pull around her bed. Awesome! The only down side is that I had to scrub out each time I went to see her, instead of just one a shift (scrub out = 5 min hand and forearm wash with sterile scrub brushes before going in the room).

Something I found interesting… she was the only little girl in both the Special Care and NICU rooms (there were 7 little boys). And she looked huge compared to some of them – of course, they were preemies).

Her very own space (she looks so tiny compared to all the machines!)

The hospital needed the postpartum room that I was in, but they found a room on the surgical floor for me to stay in. It is a room used for people that needed to be isolated (due to illness). It had a room attached for nurses to change their clothes before and after seeing the patient. They assured me that it was very sterile and I didn’t have to worry. It was just weird to go from the labor floor with little babies to the orthopedic surgery wing with all the older folks getting knee and hip replacements. But it was very quiet and I had a great view of the mountains.

Checking Out Training and Tests
Before taking her home Jake and I had to watch an infant CPR DVD and another about PURPLE crying. I hope we never have to do CPR!

Scarlett had to pass the car seat test. We took her car seat and base into the NICU. For the test she had to be buckled in the seat for 90 minutes and not have any breathing or oxygen saturation problems. They only make NICU kids take this test (sometimes the preemies aren’t strong enough to hold their heads up in the car seat).

She started the test at like 11 pm. When I came back to feed her at like 3 am I expected her to have passed with flying colors. But an hour into the test her oxygen saturation went down below 90%, so she failed. The nurse sucked her nose out and found that she had tons of bogies and figured that was the cause of the problem. So they started the test again. When I went back just before 6 am I found that she had failed the test again! No way!!! We waited all this time to take her home and they were going to keep her because of some silly car seat test. Needless to say I went to bed VERY stressed. The nurse said that after shift change they might have to wait 12 hours to test her again! NOOOO!!!

Car seat test – try #1 (she's so tiny!)

Wednesday March 16

Going Home!
I called the nurse (Reba) first thing in the morning to see if she needed to eat. The nurse said she was 2 minutes away from passing her car seat test! WOOT WOOT!!! Third time’s the charm! I was so relieved. We get to take our baby home today! The nurse said she gave her a bottle and took out the newborn headrest in the seat and that seemed to do the trick!

I called Jake and he came and helped me load all my stuff in the car. By the time we got to Scarlett (around 9:30 am) she already had her last dose of medications and they had taken her PICC line out. We said our goodbyes to the wonderful staff (I am so grateful at how well they took care of us – they said it was easy to love on her since she was adorable – I agree!)

Adam (her nurse) walked us to the car to make sure we buckled her in correctly. He also gave us a special gift (bag of diapers, wipes, formula, hair bows, hats she wore, and other goodies!) Then we got in the car. We’ve had many people tell us that the drive home from the hospital is awkward and kinda scary (like: what do we do now? they’re letting us take the baby home?) but we just felt so excited – like Christmas Eve when you’re a little kid! Though it was strange when we got home – no one told us when to feed her, we had to figure that out on our own.

Finally going home!

Jake caught us napping on the couch – look: no wires!!!

Thursday March 17 – Wednesday March 23

OB Follow Up Visit
Since I can’t drive yet (pain meds) Jake took Scarlett and I to the OB for my follow up visit. I fed her right before we left, but the doctor’s office was running behind – so by the time we got in the exam room I had to feed her. Luckily they were totally understanding and the doctor just came back when we were done (I have a feeling that this won’t be the only time she’s hungry at an inconvenient time). They said my incision looks great and I can remove the Steri-strips. They also said I will barely be able to notice my 6 inch scar when it heals (I can barely see it now). I will see them again in a month to double check that everything healed correctly.

I asked them if it was normal that I’ve been finding bruises all over my belly and legs. The answer? Yes! Apparently a C-section is a really aggressive surgery. Once they cut you open they use these two plates to pry the incision apart. Gross! Glad I didn’t know that beforehand – it would have just made me more nervous.

Pediatrician
Scarlett went to see her Pediatrician on Monday. I fed her right before we left but I ended up having to feed her in the exam room again. She passed all her tests with flying colors. The doctor mentioned that she’s really alert/aware for a baby her age. She is 7 lbs 14 oz (already gained a pound since birth!) and 20 in long. The doctor also said she couldn’t hear the heart murmur anymore. So hopefully that’s starting to heal. Scarlett will go see the heart specialist in a few months just to make sure.

The crazy thing is that I called the Pediatrician before Scarlett was born to see if she (Dr. Shelly Savage) would come see our baby in the hospital. She said that she doesn’t come to the hospital unless she delivers the baby and to just use the hospital doctor until the baby’s two week appointment. But I still put Dr. Savage’s name down on the paperwork at the hospital. Luckily Dr. Savage was already at Timp Hospital when Scarlett was going to the NICU so she started treating her from day one. What’s so great is that during our entire stay at Timp, the hospital would call Dr. Savage and consult with her on what to do for Scarlett. When we went to our first appointment she knew Scarlett’s history and had made all the decisions, so it was an easy transition.

Two week appointment with Dr. Savage

Visitors
We’ve had a lot of family and friends come by to see our little lady. Plus we’ve had many dinners brought to us. We appreciate it so much!!! And everyone has been great at complying with what seems like our over compulsive hand washing rules before picking her up (the NICU doctor said we have to be really careful with her over the next few weeks cause she’s still fragile).

When Jami was kissing her feet the other day, Scarlett grabbed Jami’s lip with her toes! Haha! So talented! But it’s especially funny cause Jami has a huge feet phobia!

I can’t believe how I’m already starting to get cabin fever - and I still have several more weeks indoors!

Jami made sure she had her first “birth”day cake! (look – she’s the same size as the cake!)

Hangin Out
Scarlett and I just nap and eat all day. We don’t have any routine at all. The dishes pile up until my mom comes over. But it’s all ok. Jake’s been great at allowing me to get rest whenever he’s home. He does whatever chores he can after he’s done with homework. He’s so wonderful!

Scarlett’s a great eater. She eats about every 1.5 hours in the day (snacker?) and about every 3 hours at night. I’ve been trying hard to increase my milk supply since we’ve been home (the whole hospital thing really messed up our supply/demand). The hospital would give her bottles all the time, so we’ve had to give her 2 or 3 bottles a day since we’ve been home. I’m really struggling at increasing my supply. I just started taking Fenugreek, I drink >2L of water each day, I’ve been sleeping whenever I can, and I’ve been trying to de-stress as much as possible… but I’m open to suggestions if anyone has a trick that works.

This was her St. Patrick’s Day outfit that Kandy and the girls bought her (Y socks in honor of BYU’s basketball game)

Two Weeks Old
Scarlett was two weeks old yesterday! Her umbilical cord finally fell off (cute little belly button!) She loves loves loves when I wash her hair under the faucet. She’s really squeaky – she squeaks and chirps all night (I’m finally able to sleep through some of it). I think she gets bored of staring at me all day. Maybe I should get her some toys…

She loves getting her hair washed

She’s so beautiful and fun! We’re so grateful to have her in our lives!

"Unfavorable"

2011-03-05T11:52:00.003-07:00

Still no baby... dang my hospitable body!

The past few doctor's appointments have been fairly optimistic. I was making good progress. In fact, my OB told me:

"If 100 women had the same due date as you, I would

expect you to be about the 15th person to deliver"

When I went to the doctor this week, the attitude was much different:

"You have what we call an unfavorable cervix"

How did I go from being 15th to unfavorable? My body stopped changing for whatever reason. I'm just stuck at 65% effaced. I asked if he was going to strip my membranes this week, but he said it wouldn't do much and just hurt me like crazy (that explains last week's appointment).

Luckily everything's still going great with our tiny dancer. She and I are both healthy and not in danger at all. So he sent me home to bake for another week. But the plan is to induce me next week...

Why is it that the only toned muscle in my body right now is the only muscle I don't want to be toned?

Due Date

2011-03-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well today's my official due date - 40 weeks - and I don't feel any closer to labor... booo...

I am surprised at how much my body's been changing just in the last week or so:
(sorry if this is TMI... I tried to keep out any unpleasant details)

HEARTBURN - I'm lucky that I've only had bad heartburn in the past few weeks and not the entire pregnancy. But man! This sucks! It happens every night regardless of what bland foods I eat. Seems like the only thing that makes it better is the Midnight Truffle Blizzard from Dairy Queen (silver lining!)
Braxton Hicks - I have tons of contractions, some days they even get to be about every hour, but then they go away. They're not really that painful, mostly uncomfortable. Only occasionally do they wake me up. And I can usually make them less intense/go away when I change position. At least my body's doing something to gear up for labor!
Hot and sweaty - I now know why pregnant women have that "glow" about them, it's cause we're so dang hot and sweaty! I can't believe how warm I feel. Luckily it's cold outside!
Hip pain - my hips are so so so crazy uncomfortable. They feel so loose and they pop/grind when I walk. There is so much pressure on them (almost like a head is pushing on them from the inside, oh, wait...)
Waddling - I seriously look like I learned to walk from a duck. I try to walk normal, but it's difficult with a head between your legs. Jami (who is recovering from torn cartilage in her toe) and I went out the other day - we were quite a pair. At least we have someone to sympathize with!
Bending over - I feel ridiculous trying to pick something off the ground. I can't bend.. instead I have to do this squat maneuver. I've given up on shoes with laces.
Bigger baby - I can tell she's still growing. How? There's no more room little lady! My belly is rock hard with baby body. She likes to stick out her little bum right by my rib cage.
Face - my face is doing all sorts of weird things. My skin looks like it got sunburned. I keep getting cold sores. And my cheeks are puffy. Boooo!
Bladder - I am constantly scoping out the nearest restroom. The real bummer is that when I'm washing my hands after going potty I think "have I gone to the bathroom yet?" cause I still feel like peeing. No relief. Cruel.
Thirst - I can't get enough water! Which is a problem when combined with my tiny bladder.
Tired - I'm so dang tired! Probably cause I don't sleep very soundly due to my achy hips and constant pee breaks (someone please pass the Benadryl!)

Despite these new/increased symptoms... I'm so thankful we're having our little girl! I have to keep reminding myself to keep my eye on the prize. And, all things considered, I've had a great pregnancy. It's only been these past few days were I'm seriously uncomfortable and ready to do anything to get this baby out (yes, anything)... But I guess that's all part of the perfect plan.

My Grandma Seaver called me and enlightened me on why I haven't gone into labor: because my little girl isn't done getting ready for her debut. She has to grow her eyelashes and nails to perfection! hahaha I do take comfort in knowing that she knows when the time is right and it will all work out. Even if I'm forced to learn patience in the process.

Labor Update...

2011-02-24T11:02:00.002-07:00

Summary: I'm still prego....

Details: I went to the doctor this morning. I haven't made much progress since last week (still 1-2 cm dilated, 65% effaced, -1 position). But everything is still looking great. She's all lined up and ready to go. I think everyone's ready except for my body.

At my appointment last week the doctor stripped my membranes. Which, as it turns out, is about as much fun as it sounds. He said "ok, this is going to be uncomfortable" - then my face turned bright red and I got instantly sweaty from the sharp pain - he replied "oh, actually I meant it's going to hurt like the dickens!" haha - thanks for the heads up (not!)

Luckily when I had my membranes stripped this morning, I was much better prepared - so it didn't hurt as much (I wasn't caught off guard). The doctor said that within 48 hours I'll know if the process initiated labor (there's like a 50% chance that it will). Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be going into labor anytime soon. The first time I had crazy awful contractions right after. But today - nothing. :-( Get this baby out!!!

So I have another appointment on Wednesday (my actual due date). Worst case scenario, he said they'll induce me no later than March 9. So at least there's an end in sight (even if I have to use binoculars to see it!) But everything's going great. I've been trying to count my blessings: Blood pressure's been normal (today it was a little higher - but in my defense, they did take my blood pressure during a contraction - ouch!) Her little heartbeat is still strong. Even though I'm uncomfortable and semi-mobile, I'm not on bedrest. And my belly measures ~34 cm - which is on the small, but healthy side (yea for a petite little lady!) And I'm now on Maternity Leave - woot woot!

But hopefully it won't be too much longer. I think she's feeling real squished these days. She'll try and sprawl out making my belly look all lumpy with her little feet and elbows sticking out all over. And when I have a good contraction, I think it makes her mad. I have been trying to reason with her that if she were to come out she can wiggle and dance all she wants - but I don't think she's picking up what I'm putting down. Oh well, March 9.... let the countdown begin.

We can't wait to meet our tiny dancer!

Baby Shower!

2011-02-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

The wonderful ladies in my family recently threw me an AWESOME baby shower! We got together Thurs Jan 27 with friends for an open house. Then Sat Jan 29 we had the family over for lunch and games.

My mothers & sisters are so dang talented! Look at all those beautiful decorations!!! And no one can make delicious food like the Gourmet Glauser Girls! I'm so thankful to have such an amazing family! Both the one I was born into and the one I married into!

Love you all!!!

* note: no babies were actually showered during the course of this event

3rd Anniversary

2011-01-18T20:49:00.001-07:00

I just want to say Happy 3rd Anniversary to my amazing husband! I am so lucky to be married to my best friend! He even surprised me with roses today! I LOVE YOU JAKE!!!

David Lanz

2010-12-04T21:00:00.001-07:00

Tonight Jake took me to a concert of my favorite Modern / New Age / "Heavy Mellow" Composers - David Lanz!

I have been playing his songs since I was 12 or 13. In fact, I looked through my Christmas Eve book tonight and the first song I learned was in November 1999! It is my Christmas tradition to play that book cover to cover. And almost every Christmas Sacrament meeting performance I've done in the past 11 years has come from his book. So... I was way excited!

He came out with his crazy hair and yoga/zen shirts (classic!). He played "Christmas and the Beatles" (his latest album is inspired from Liverpool & Lennon). It was such a great concert! I loved his new songs. I loved his old songs. I loved listening to how the songs are supposed to sound. I loved the classic Cristofori's Dream. I loved the intense Dark Horse (seriously - that song is the bomb dot com! Jake even said it reminded him of Iron Maiden). I loved his version of Angels We Have Heard on High. I loved the whole thing!!!

After the concert, I got to meet him!!!!!! He was so nice and friendly - spelled my name correctly - talked about music - and was so excited when he found out my big belly is home to our first baby (he even rubbed my baby bump!)

It was an awesome night (thank you Jacob Dear!)

Oh - here are some cool facts about David Lanz:

He fired his piano teacher at age 12
His hand spans 10 notes on the piano (which is why I have to modify all his songs for my baby hands)
At least two of our Presidents have had Lanz's music featured on Air Force One.. and George Sr. even uses his music during his massages!
Cristofori's Dream is dedicated to Bartolomeo Cristorfori - the inventor of the piano.. and it spent 27 weeks as #1 on the Billboard New Age Chart, even sold platinum
Even though Yanni's CDs out sell David's, Lanz way out sells Yanni in the sheet music department
He is a spokesperson for the American Music Therapy Association and believes in the healing/calming effects of music... a Midwestern surgeon won't even operate unless Lanz's music is in the OR

Are you crazy?

2010-11-21T21:37:00.001-07:00

Jake watched this in his marketing class...

Halloween 2010

2010-11-16T20:12:00.001-07:00

I know it's a little late.. but since Halloween is my favorite holiday (besides Christmas of course), I had to make sure I mentioned it!

We had a blast carving pumpkins at the Daniels' house!

Our TV-themed costumes
Jami: Butt Head (from Beavis and Butthead) ... get it... butt head! hahaha
Jenni: Carmen (from Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?)
Jake: Mr. Rogers (from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood)
James: Bill Nye (from Bill Nye the Science Guy)
... did anyone else notice that 3 of us are from PBS TV shows and one of us is MTV? I'm just saying.... :-)

I just love Halloween!!!

Elven Baby Names

2010-10-28T22:07:00.000-06:00

Jake and I have been looking at little girl names this past week. We opened our Baby Names book and started with the A's. I came across these two names:

Aelfthryth - having an elf's strength

Aelfwine - a friend to the elves

I kept telling Jake that these were perfect names - since I'm such a huge LOTR fan (see Halloween 2009). Jake was adamant that our little girl isn't going to have any names dealing with elves. Adamant. (I was joking anyways... kind of...)

A few minutes later I decided we should look up the definitions of our names. I started with Alfred. Here's what I found:

Alfred - one who counsels the elves

No freaking way!!!!!!!!! What are the chances?!?!?!?! hahahahahaha!!!!!! Jake had never heard the definition before. It was so perfect cause he was dissing elf names not 10 minutes before!!! How funny!

And - another story - this morning I was on a conference call for work. Before the meeting started there was music playing (like the music they play when you're on hold). I put it on speakerphone and I had the cell phone laying on the couch next to my belly. Our little baby started jumping and moving like crazy! Then when the meeting began and the music stopped, our baby stopped her wiggling. What a tiny dancer!!! Darling!

Results are in - It's a ...

2010-10-20T19:30:00.000-06:00

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She was dancing around a lot during the ultrasound, but she was very cooperative for her photo shoot!

Here is her darling little face

And I love this picture of the bottom of her feet (they are crossed so one foot is laying on its side)

This is cute, but hard to decipher... it's another face picture, but this time her left arm is tucked under her chin and her right arm is up by her ear. It's so funny - I lay in the same position while talking to Jake at night!!! She's already taking on our characteristics!

We also have a few other pictures, including an obvious "girl" shot... not the kind of photos a lady would want of herself online! But if you're ever in Provo, you can drop by and see them on our fridge.

Here's a picture of the baby bump - this photo is only a week old and I feel like I'm noticeably "bump-ier". (Jami said if I had a boy I would have to change my hair to blue - luckily I can stay with the pink! Blue's just not my color...)

I finally went and bought some maternity pants - the elastic waistbands are so intimidating. But after an entire week of wearing my black sweats, I realized it was finally time to take the plunge. It's nice to have jeans that fit now (makes getting dressed in the morning a lot less depressing!)

Our baby girl is quite the kicker! She's so sassy!!! Jake's even felt her kick! Seeing her little face made the pregnancy feel so much more real! I guess we should start looking at cribs, car seats, diapers, etc (I don't even know what to buy!) AHHH!!!! I'm starting to freak out a little. I can't believe in ~20 more weeks we're going to have a BABY! YEA!!!

Boy -or- Girl ??????

2010-10-11T12:35:00.002-06:00

We find out the gender of our darling little baby this week.

Leave a comment with your guess ...

*Boy ~or~ *Girl

Little Alfreda? .or. Little Alfred?

Mini-Jake! or Mini-Jenni!

Jake and I are just hoping for a healthy baby. We're already getting to know our little baby's personality - every time I lay on the ground on my tummy or when I'm bent over... the baby will kick me! Apparently it doesn't like being squished!!!

Baby Wrists

2010-10-05T21:59:00.002-06:00

You might think this title is referring to the little joints that are growing inside my belly... but in fact, I am referring to my own wrists... let me explain.

On Sunday I had shooting pain in my right arm. It was mostly on the skin - kinda like a really bad sunburn without any sunburn... or like the flu in my skin (sounds weird - but that's how it felt). It was so uncomfortable that I had to take pain reliever to fall asleep. Monday morning it was still bothering me crazy bad. I googled all sorts of stuff trying to figure out if it was a common pregnancy symptom. All I could find was prego women getting carpal tunnel syndrome (from swollen wrists) or that it could be shingles (which I've had several times). But without a rash or swollen limbs, I was stumped. My mom convinced me to call the nurse at my OBGYN and see what she thought - she suggested I go to the doctor, cause if it is shingles they can treat it within the first 3 days.

So.... I saw the doctor this morning. I explained exactly my arm pain and how it hurt my hand too, but only around the thumb. She quickly diagnosed my symptoms as radial nerve inflammation. She said with everything shifting during pregnancy that maybe it somehow got pinched or if I had any trauma to the area it could cause this. As we were talking it dawned on me - I realized exactly what had happened. Let me take you back to Saturday night.

Jami and I decided to decorate cakes during Priesthood session. We just finished our last Wilton Cake Class at Michael's and wanted to try all our fancy techniques. In order to make roses, I had to whip up some pretty stiff frosting - great for keeping shape but a huge pain to squeeze out of the bag. After my 4th rose, I had to have my mom help me squeeze the bag to get the frosting out cause it was so much work.

After I explained this to the doctor and we realized my stiff frosting was the source of my radial nerve trauma, she wrote in my chart: "no decorating with stiff frosting, only the light and whippy kind"!!!

Now... it might seem strange that such a simple activity could cause me physical harm. But you have to understand, I have really small wrists. Baby wrists. Example: I have a baby bracelet that still fits. And I have proportionately small fingers - my wedding ring is a size 3.75. My pinkie is a size 1.5! (they sell baby rings in sizes 1 and 2!) While cheering/tumbling I had many sprained wrists. And one good game of bowling is likely to cause me grief the next day.

Luckily my doctor's appointment wasn't completely in vain - I got some RX refills and my flu shot. But you can bet I will steer clear of stiff frosting from now on!

Here are some pictures of the cakes we made during our class:

Our Big (Little) News

2010-09-27T13:09:00.005-06:00

Jake and I have had many adventures in the past few months... moving to Utah, starting grad school, learning to telecommute, buying a 1993 Jeep Wrangler, etc - but there is something that has taken the most of our time/thoughts/energy - see if you can guess:

it's why I won't be able to be in the same room with you if you smell bad (especially BO)
it's why Jake hasn't been able to go dirt biking as he would like (cause I can't go...)
it's why I have the strangest dreams
it's why I've been bitchier than normal
it's why I've been swearing a lot more (sorry if I've offended you)
it's why I get winded walking up the stairs
it's why swallowing pills now makes me gag (even the little ones)
it's why I'd rather take a nap then do anything else
it's why I can't eat hot dogs and deli meat
it's why any spicy food gives me crazy heartburn
it's why I didn't run the Labor Day half marathon
it's why Jake and I have switched from running to yoga
it's why my doctor gets mad if I cross my legs
it's why I no longer can eat like a normal person
it's why I've reaffirmed the fact that I'm married to the most patient, amazing man ever!
it's why Jami and James say cute things to my belly
it's why we won't be scheduling any trips in late Feb/early March
it's why I look way fatter than normal
it's why Jake puts his ear to my belly to listen for a heartbeat

That's right!!! WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!

We are soooooo excited! It took 12 long months to get pregnant and I can't believe it's really happening! Our baby is Due March 2 - 3/2/11 - which makes me ~17.7 weeks along right now! The first trimester was really, really difficult. I could barely eat anything (on the plus side - I lost several pounds). But things have been a lot better in the past few weeks (I'm making up for all the food I couldn't eat - I'm constantly hungry!)

Last Friday, I went to work in my black dress pants (fit a little snug around the belly, but not too uncomfortable). But by the end of the day, my belly had "popped" out and my pants no longer were comfortable to wear. I thought that maybe I was just bloated or something, but no - it didn't go away. I'm officially round and prego now!!! And the pain and cramps I had been feeling all week I now realize were from my ab muscles being ripped apart (yikes!). Jami and I had to make an emergency run to Target late Saturday night for Sunday clothes - I bought my first maternity outfit!!! I like that I'm starting to feel legitimately prego (but I don't like that none of my pants fit, in fact, I'm wearing sweat pants to work today!)

Oh - and when I'm laying down at night - I can feel movement in my belly. It's not like I can feel a specific kick or anything - more like a swooshy, sloshy feeling! AWESOME!

Sweat Dreams

2010-07-14T18:19:00.007-06:00

7:30 pm - 1/2 the power went out in our apartment (no TV, Internet, bedroom or living lights, and worst of all - no Air Conditioning) - called the power company and they said it would take ~3 hours to fix
10:30 pm - decided to go to bed (80 degF and super humid without A/C - but we used an extension cord for our floor fan from the working half of our apt to our bedroom)
12:00 am - woke up to LOUD and TORRENTIAL rain, BRIGHT GREEN lightning, and BOOMING thunder
1:00 am - smoke alarm started beeping like crazy, the battery was dying, it used a 9V - which, of course, we didn't have a spare - so we took the battery out - hoping that would solve the problem
1:15 am - the fire alarm started beeping again (back up power?), so Jake finally dismantled the fire alarm (we needed sleep and it was SO LOUD - and we still had 2 other fire alarms in tact in our little apt)
3:00 am - all the power shut off in our apt, NO FAN - soooo hot and sweaty
3:30 am - power finally came back on, TV and lights turned on - had to get up and turn everything off - but we finally got A/C so it was tons more comfortable
7 am - woke up after only 3.5 hours of good, uninterrupted sleep

... needless to say we were very tired at work today

(I know all you parents with small children have no sympathy for us, but you have to understand... we're used to getting 8+ hours of sleep every night - so it was a rough night for us)

Oh - PS - Happy Birthday to Jami!!!

How Jake Got Tricked...

2010-07-08T15:17:00.001-06:00

One of the Chief engineers set up a big mtg with Jake, his mentor and
his supervisor to go over this huge project Jake just completed. Jake
was like "Oh no... what do they need me to change now". But it turns
out the mtg wasn't to discuss a project problem after all - she tricked Jake!

Instead, the mtg was to present Jake with a Pratt & Whitney Appreciation
Award for all the hard work he did on this huge project! How nice!
They told him what an awesome job he did and how they'll miss having him
in the group. She (the chief engineer) even joked that Jake wasn't
allowed to leave Pratt cause he "knows too much..."

Yea to Jake for being super awesome!

Our Big News!

2010-06-30T18:56:00.002-06:00

Jake and I have big news to share. Here are the clues... see if you can guess what it is!
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Have you figured it out yet????
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ROAD TRIP to Utah so Jake can go back to school!
(I know... that was kind of a stretch)

Jake will be starting the MBA program at BYU this fall. We will be moving back to UT around July 20 (so soon!)

While Jake's in school, I will be the bread winner (aka sugar mama). I will still be working for Pratt & Whitney by telecommuting from UT.

We're so excited to be near our family! We can't wait to see you all!

All this for a DP... part deux

2010-06-22T18:01:00.002-06:00

The day after the DP fiasco I had an important meeting with some chief engineers. One of the guys - we'll call him Greg (cause, well... that's his name) had 2 cold cans of DP. (jealous!) After like 20 min into our mtg, Greg offered me one of his cans of DP, so obviously I took it. He told me that the vending machine gave him two cans when he put his money in. I asked him what vending machine he used - it was the exact same 2nd floor machine I used the day before that robbed me of my DP!!!!!

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?!?!

I finally got my can of DP. Thank you Karma!

All this for a DP...

2010-06-16T17:25:00.003-06:00

I was having a difficult day at work. Around 2 pm I decided to reward myself for not punching my computer monitor. My reward: a cold, crisp can of Dr. Pepper. This seemly simple task took the better part of my ergo break. Here's what happened:

I realized I only have $20 cash, so I had to borrow $2 from a coworker
Went down to the 2nd floor vending machines to buy a $0.75 can of DP - the machine ate my money without giving me my soda (rude!)
Went down to the 1st floor vending machines to buy a soda - turns out they only have bottles for $1.40. Let's do the math: $2.00 - $0.75 = $1.25 < $1.40!!!
A stranger suggested I go to the cafeteria to get reimbursed for my $0.75 - there was no one there
Ran into a friend who gave me a quarter
Went to the Pepsi machine - dollar reader was broke
Went to the Coke machine - took my dollar, but when I put in my 2 quarters they kept going straight to the coin return, I finally got them to work - put in my selection, the machine attempted to give me my soda, but with no success!!! The machine took my money and did NOT give me a soda!
I went to the cafeteria for a second time to get my money for two failed vending machine attempts. Luckily there was someone there to complain to. The girl said I would have to come back when they were open. But she finally felt back for me, unlocked the sodas and handed me a bottle of Dr Pepper.

All that for a DP.

Jami Jac Joy!

2010-06-09T19:21:00.010-06:00

Jami came to visit Jake and I for our BDAY week! We had a blast gallivanting throughout New England. Here is a snapshot of our itinerary: (pictures at the bottom)

Wed May 26
* Jami flew to CT! YEA!
* I went in my bedroom to change into my PJs and when I came out - Jami and I were wearing the EXACT SAME outfit! Weird! Sister bond!

Thurs May 27 - Jenni's BDAY
* Spent the day in Boston
* Went on a duck tour (amphibious boat/bus that takes you through Boston on land and water)
* Ate at the famous Mike's Pastry shop - I got a cannoli, thought I would give it another try, turns out that I don't like cannolis
* Walked on the Freedom Trail and saw the American History sights
* Came home and Jake made a delicious Teriyaki Chicken stir-fry for dinner, and Jami made a scrumptious red velvet cake for dessert!

Fri May 28 - Long Island
* In the morning, Jami and I pink-ifyied her hair - so now we're twinners! :-)
* We drove down to Long Island to see our cousins (Natalie & Glenn)! It was so much fun to hang out with them! Even though we're so close (3 hrs) we hardly ever see each other. Plus we got to meet little Ella!
* We all went to Chili's - Jake and I got our BDAY song from the waiters

Sat May 29 - New York
* We took the train to Times Square, we hit up a bunch of the NYC sights - lots of walking!
* We got to see Mamma Mia! on Broadway - so fun! I had ABBA songs stuck in my head the rest of the day!
* By the time we got to Central Park - NYC had lost it's luster. The crowds, smells, heat, humidity, lack of public bathrooms, street vendors, and oh the walking! We would rather go to Boston any day!
* Jami required official Yankees paraphernalia before we could leave - after looking in like a million places, we finally found an official Yankees store. While she was finding her perfect hoodie, Jake and I were wandering around - we heard the TV say "BYU" so we went over and the store had a BYU girl's softball game on! :-) (unfortunately BYU got killed, but it was still fun to see BYU representing)
* Went to Aunt Shari's to visit with the rest of the Seaver Family - NY branch! It was so fun to spend time with them!

Sun May 30 - CT
* We were so tired from driving home from Long Island late Saturday, but we made it on time to 9 am church! Go us!
* Sacrament Mtg was great - the Bishop's son just got home from his mission, so we got to hear about his great experiences!
* In Primary, I asked the kids to guess who Jami was.. there answer: "Your Identical Twin Sister!" love it!!!
* After church we took long naps and spent the rest of the evening chillaxing and eating our delicious crockpot dinner!

Mon May 31 - Memorial Day in Connecticut
* We weren't really sure what we were going to do today, but while Jake and I were at the gym Sister Wade (Bishop's wife) called and invited us over to their Memorial Day BBQ! She asked if I was running (cause I couldn't breathe when I answered), she said she could talk to Jake, but I told her that he was running too. She was like "you're running together on a treadmill?" haha Luckily our gym has 2 treadmills - but that would be an amazing talent if we could do that!
* We had Burgers (well seasoned!) in their backyard, then we played a competitive game of wiffle ball. Afterwards we made s'mores over a fire. Jake brought these HUGE marshmallows to try out (he's been eyeing them for weeks at the grocery store) they were a lot of fun, but super hard to eat - once you cracked open the crispy outer shell, the gooey meltey stuff would just poor out all over the place!

Tues June 1 - Jake's BDAY
* We had a delicious Red Robin burger for breakfast (ok, it was like noon). I made Jake wear the "Birthday Boy" star I bought that flashes like crazy!
* We went and saw the new Iron Man movie - we basically had the theater to ourselves! The movie was awesome! Not a lame sequel like I was expecting.
* We went Duck Pin bowling - it's a New England thing. You have 3 tries to hit down 10 short, fat pins with a bowling ball that's just a bit larger than a softball (no holes) - apparently they used cannon balls back in the day. Otherwise it's the same as bowling. We had a ton of fun. Jami turned out to be a natural duck pinner - but Jake still smoked us both, he's a professional... what else did you expect?
* Jami and Jake both played the Terminator arcade game - I think they both wanted to shoot with the huge machine guns
* We tried making molten lava chocolate cake, which didn't go so well once we stabbed them with candles! Luckily we had the real thing on Friday night, so our pallet wasn't thrown off too far.

Wed June 2
* Jami left for home early in the morning :-(

We had such a fun time! Jami is so funny and great to be with! I love her guts and miss her already! Thanks for coming out Twin!

Caribbean Cruise!!

2010-05-05T19:18:00.008-06:00

Here is a little snapshot of our AWESOME, RELAXING, & BODACIOUS vacation!

We had a blast - the sunburns were totally worth it!

I Spy with My Little Eye! See if you can spot these photos in our video
1: Jake trying on a $174,000.00 watch (seriously, it really cost that much!)
2: Us swimming at a topless beach (hint: we didn't show any of the boobies, but we did carve our initials in the sand)
3: A bat with sunglasses
4: Somali pirates attacking a ship (hint: only Jake thinks this is true)
5: A real live iguana hangin out in the trees
6: Secret tatoos
7: Jake's royal street
8: Jenni doing the can can (hint: you can only see the back of me)
9: All our booty we collected for free! (not the derriere kind)
10: A whole pile of pennies on the sill

I may write more details in the future, but I'm not promising anything! ;) I thought I should at least post this just in case!

Dad & Mom Seaver Came to Visit!!!

2010-04-03T18:45:00.007-06:00

Dad & Mom Seaver came and spent the weekend with us! It was so much fun - a much needed dose of family! We had a blast and went on many New England adventures! Here's a quick recap:

Mark Twain house
Toured the inside of Mark Twain's house, it's crazy cool and looks like a ginger bread house. Sam (aka Mark Twain) even had an electric burglar alarm system installed in his house - way back then!

USS Nautilus
We got to walk inside the first nuclear powered submarine, it's super cramped in there, I have more appreciation for the Navy!

Mystic Seaport
We went down to Mystic Seaport on the Long Island Sound for some fresh seafood (I ate chicken) and a walk on the water. So pretty!

Boston
We spent an entire day in Boston, walking the Freedom Trail (we even got Rock Star parking). Got to tour a warship, walk inside lots of old and historical buildings, and saw the original Cheers bar. We ate Boston Creme Pie at The Parker House - they're the people who actually invented it! (little secret: it wasn't actually that good... the Boston Creme Pie ice cream is much better).

Church
On Sunday we all went to Church. Dad & Mom got to see that the church is still true outside of Utah.

Pratt & Whitney
We got to walk around the PW visitor center and show Dad & Mom the engines that we work on. *Major Score* There was a photographer with all his gear set up in front of an engine - so he let us climb in and took our picture! All four of us fit in the Bellmouth of the PW4000-112"! These things are huge!

We had such a great time! It was a jam packed, yet relaxing, weekend! Thanks so much for coming and visiting us Mom & Dad!!! I miss you already!

Also, thanks to everyone else who's come and visited us out here - we really appreciate it. And for the rest of you - our door is always open... well, not literally - but if you would like to come visit NY and Boston, just give us a call!

Enginerdy

2010-03-08T17:39:00.002-07:00

I realized I'm kind of a nerd.

Yesterday, while bearing my testimony, I said that sometimes we have moments of spiritual clarity, where truth rings through us. "It hits our spirit's natural frequency and resonates within us." All the engineers (and there are many in our ward thanks to Pratt) came up and told me how they appreciated the reference - and that it describes it perfectly!

Later that night we watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Mom and Dad Glauser recommended it to us, saying that we would like it - and we did! Jake even posted this facebook status: "I just watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs...I think I might be married to Sammy Sparks!" Thanks my little Flint Lockwood!

NERDY!!!

not-really-that-sad, but sad...

2010-02-17T18:32:00.015-07:00

So, some of you may have heard our not-really-that-sad, but sad, news... Jake and I no longer sit 4 cubicles away from each other at work!

I've moved groups and now sit in another BUILDING across the Pratt campus!!! This will be the first time since Aug 2007 that we will have to consistently spend 8 hours/day apart! (kinda pathetic, I know)

This will be a difficult transition for us, but with the aid of land line phones, cell phones and email I'm confident that we will pull through.

The good news of all this drama is that I've changed groups! So far I'm really enjoying my new team and responsibilities. I work in the Flight Test Group (Systems Analysis and Validation) for the F135 engine - power for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter. I can't say much more, or else I would have to kill you - haha j/k - but seriously... ;)

So, this is a little video that shows the engine. The coolest part about this engine is that the STOVL (Short Take-Off Vertical Landing) will be able to do just that - land vertically! CRAZY!

;)

The Frog Blog...It Makes Us Sooooo Hoppy!!

2010-01-27T14:29:00.003-07:00

About ten years ago Jacob's older sister, Carolyn, left a frog-shaped bean bag in Jacob's bedroom before she moved out for college. A couple months later the frog showed up in Carolyn's apartment unexpected. Since then the frog has been transferred back and forth between Jacob and Carolyn always being left in mysterious ways.

For example, while Carolyn was living in D.C. she noticed her pillow was a bit lumpy. After a couple weeks of tolerating her uncomfortable pillow she realized the frog had been stuffed inside of it. Later while Jacob was in college he was asked to read a scripture in Sunday school. Upon opening his scripture case he found the frog there instead of scriptures. A year or two later Carolyn discovered it inside a flower vase at her Detroit apartment. Later it mysteriously showed up on Jacob's windshield in Provo.

Recently, while in Utah, we hid the frog in Carolyn's piano bench. Last week the frog somehow flew on a plane across the country, made its way past security guards, through doors that require a key card, and into Jacob's desk at work. How this was done, we do not know, but Carolyn won this round.

If anyone has any information regarding this bean bag frog, we would really appreciate it.

Enginerding Christmas

2009-12-15T11:36:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving Curse!

2009-12-02T17:01:00.007-07:00

I cannot remember a Thanksgiving where I wasn't sick... I'm pretty sure that I'm cursed! My first memory I have of this "grateful" holiday was at Aunt Kelly's old house in Oregon. Because of their animals, I had to take large quantities of Benedrayl (surprise)... I feel asleep on Aunt Kelly's lap and woke up later that evening - mortified to find out that I had slept through Thanksgiving! Pretty traumatic, I know.

Well this year was no exception to the curse. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I worked from home because I wasn't feeling that great. What was bad went to worse in a matter of hours. I cannot remember that last time I had thrown up or even had a fever! But now I can! In a matter of 2-3 hours I lost like 4 pounds. I was so dehydrated that my fingers were all pruney and my arms felt "fuzzy" (loss of electrolytes?) I could barely walk straight! I thought that we were going to have to go to the hospital... But thanks to the power of the priesthood, and my faithful husband, I was able to keep some water down and start rehydrating.

For the next week I was sicker than sick. I've eaten a year's supply worth of chicken soup, saltines and ginger ale! We had to cancel our trip to Long Island for the holiday (I was so bummed). On Thanksgiving I felt bad that Jake was just wandering aimlessly around our apartment... so we went to the grocery store and grabbed a few essentials for a humble little holiday dinner. We managed to quickly knock out a meal (instead of turkey, we opted for precooked chicken strips). Not too shabby!

Regardless of my queasy tummy, we did manage to get out a little and have some fun. We saw New Moon, went Christmas shopping, applied for our passports, and saw The Blind Side (love love loved it!). We even got a bunch of our friends together at a sports bar to watch the BYU vs Utah game! We sat there and ordered food for 4 hours so we could watch the whole game. During OT the restaurant changed all the TVs to some hockey game - we all stood up and were panicky until they turned our game back on - just in time to see BYUs winning TD!!! Whoo Hoo!!!

Oh, also, everyone keeps asking me if this illness means I'm pregnant - the answer is HECK NO!!! (pretty much the cramps, etc I'm having right now guarantee that I'm not with child)... I was just dang sick.

Words of Comfort?

2009-11-13T05:08:00.004-07:00

2 months ago Jake and I got to attend the wedding of our friend, and coworker, Claudia. It was seriously the most extravagant event Jake and I have ever been to! There were 2 huge ice sculptures, billowing clouds of dry ice "smoke" during the couple's first dance, the waiters did a choreographed routine with their huge trays, the DJ was a CT celebrity, (and in true Italian family style) the food was AMAZING - five courses!!!

Well earlier this year, Claudia tragically found out that her father passed away. (she got the phone call while we were covering an engine test, her scream still rings in my head) Her dad was living in Italy, trying to sell their property so he could come to CT to live with his wife and Claudia.

So during her wedding, Claudia's mom walked her down the aisle. Well, her mom had to have a splenectomy last month, and while they were there they found she has lymphoma. They did one Chemo treatment, but sadly she passed away last Friday.

The reason I'm telling you all this, is Claudia needs your prayers. She is an only child and has lost both parents unexpectedly in the same year. I'm so glad she has Mike (her husband) but this is a difficult time for their family.

I am going to write her a letter to hopefully give her some words of comfort. I was wondering if any of you had some ideas... What has given you strength when enduring difficult trials?

Just call me "hydrogen"...

2009-11-05T17:10:00.006-07:00

... cause I react with everything! (that joke is for you Snort!)

But seriously - I'm am allergic to EVERYthing!

Example: we go to our apartment gym before work everyday - I haven't had any problems. I can run 3 miles without getting wheezy at all (which is a big feat if you remember asthmatic Jen). But today was different.

I don't know what changed - but when I was sprinting at the end of my run I started to get a bad asthma attack - and my eyes were a little itchy. By the time we left the gym, walked through the parking lot and into our apartment things had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. I could barely breathe and my eyes were swollen. I took a Benedrayl and did my neb. While I was sitting on the couch recuperating, I noticed that I had hives all over my body - I went to look in the mirror and saw my eyes were almost swollen shut! At this point my mouth started to tingle - so I swallowed another Benedrayl and jumped in a cold shower (cool down the blood and get whatever was bugging me off my skin).

Needless to say - I'm alive still! But today was rough. I couldn't put on makeup and I looked like an alien for the first few hours of work. Plus, with 2 Benedrayls in the system I was SOOOO sleepy (not the best time to make engineering decisions)! I downed a DP and a Coke then held on til the end of the day. My eyes are still puffy - but I'm hoping a good night's sleep will take care of the rest!

Normal Jenni Allergic Reaction Jenni (the red face and crazy hair could be from my run, but it adds dramatic effect!) Yikes!
I called our gym office and they said nothing had changed (chemically, etc) that they knew of, but that they would have the maintenance staff sterilize it tonight. Maybe some smoker, who owns 1 million cats and only cooks with peanut oil decided to rub themselves all over the treadmill?)

Peeping & Halloween!!!

2009-11-01T15:19:00.016-07:00

(pictures at the end of post)

Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday and Autumn is my FAVORITE season. So this past month has been pretty exciting for me! We kicked off October by visiting 4 different Halloween costume/party stores - we spent $3 on decorations and our apartment has felt a lot more festive.

During General Conference we carved our pumpkins (and listened attentively)! They sat on our porch and we kinda forgot about them - by the time we threw them away they were quite disgusting!

A big thing in New England is "Leaf Peeping" - it's not dangerous nor is it illegal - it simply means you drive through the state during the optimal fall foliage viewing time to see the pretty colors. Google it - I promise it's a real term! So for our Leafing adventure, we drove up to Vermont. We spent a Saturday going over the rolling hills - it was so gorgeous! I've never seen so many fall colors, so vivid and bright! And so much variety! We stopped at the Yankee Candle Village and had lunch, then drove up to Sharon, Vermont to the Birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith. They have a visitor's center and several older missionaries to tell us about the Prophet. On the way home we stopped at Simon Pearce and watched some glass blowing.

We went to a ward Halloween party - Jake had found these huge rubber hands at the store and wanted to wear them, so he decided to be Gollum and I went as Frodo (both characters from The Lord of the Rings - which I just finished reading all 3 of the books). Jake scared all the little kids with his floppy ears and huge hands!

Then we spent about 2 weeks with a terrible cold - we were both home from work for a week! But we're better now! :) We did manage to get out and go apple picking in an orchard with some friends - much better tasting then apples from the store!

When Oct 31st finally rolled around, we didn't do a dang thing. We had ZERO trick-or-treaters! So sad! (I can't wait to have a house!)

Oh ya - I also got called to be the Primary Chorister!

JSTARS: Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System

2009-10-05T12:09:00.002-06:00

Right now Jake and I are both working on the same engine! Glausers are taking over JSTARS!!! haha

We're working on re-engining the military's JSTARS planes with JT8D-219 engines.

Here is a good video that explains the plane's role and why they're getting new engines (less than 5 min long)

http://www.pw.utc.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=391e77caa3a72210VgnVCM1000004f62529fRCRD

How the West Was Fun!

2009-09-17T18:38:00.011-06:00

We just back back from a FANTASTIC trip to Utah!!! It was so much fun to visit with our family and we were able to go on many adventures!

GLAUSER OLYMPICS

The 1st Annual Glauser Olympics was a very sophisticated and prestigious event. With competitions ranging from... the lighting of the eternal flame relay...

...hands-free donut speed scarfing (Jenni took 2nd place behind Nate!)...

... long distance paper aeronautics origami ...

... precision M&M tossing, delicate egg on spoon relay, ice cube melting, and gymnastics (twister). Tears were shed, heros were born, it was an extiting event for all. (except I can never eat a donut again!)

SEAVER FAMILY

The Seaver Household was busy with much excitement during our stay. Jami moved out of the basement and into an apartment! Mom, Jami and James all started back into school. James asked a cheerleader to his first high school dance (she said yes)! The Daniels took us to an awesome burger joint - with thick shakes and pastrami burgers (burger joints are hard to find in CT)!

Dad bought Mom a new dining table!

We went to Deer Creek for some hard core Wave Runnering (Berlyn and Braxtyn were speed demons!) When I was riding behind Jake on one of the Sea-Doos a fish jumped out of the water right in front of us and we smacked into it! Thud!

Kandy and James had a Birthday!

DIRT BIKING

Jake and I had a chance to take the dirt bikes to Tibblefork Reservoir. We rode up a trail and found the spot where he proposed to me! It was a great time - unlike the first time we took the dirt bikes out... The first dirk bike adventure we went on was at Five Mile Pass. We invited one of our old seminary students and his Dad (aka our Bishop) to come along (since they were in Utah). We were worried that the seminary student would get hurt, but within 15 min of being on the bike... his dad tried to go off a jump and crashed! Jake and I switched into super responsible adult mode and took care of him... long story short... the Bishop has stiches in his knee! oops!

MORE GLAUSER FUN

Hiking up Big Cottonwood Canyon - we saw 2 moose!

We went to the Salt Lake Temple - beautiful! After we got to spend some time with Grandma Glauser!

WAKE BORDING

Jake jumpin out of the wake!

Jake and Kyle catching some HUGE air (and yes, Kyle's standing up!)

Jake and I on the tube - so much fun!!!

My first time wake boarding! In and out of the wake like a pro (ok.. the getting out part's true, but not so much getting back in...)

GLAUSER FAMILY PHOTO

Thanks to all our family for making our vacation such a great experience! We love and miss you all so very much!!!

We're Finally Going Private

2009-08-03T15:20:00.007-06:00

Well I have many updates from our summer: Softball (injury), NY, Boston, James' Visit (4th of July, Naval Submarine, Mystic Beach), Billy's Visit (Tubing the Farmington River), Catamount Biking, Limerock Race Park, Baseball game, Church Calling, Birthdays, Smattering of Sauces, Rhode Island Airshow, Work Promotions, etc...

But before catching you all up on our summer, I saw this video clip and decided it was time for us to make our blog private. (notice the clip came from a lady in Mass... just up the road from us - and the names are Jake and Jenni!)

Please let us know if you would like to be added to our blog viewer list. Send me an email, facebook me, text, call, comment on this post, whatever!

So Check This Out!

2009-06-21T20:05:00.003-06:00

The other day we had a chance to visit our old friend Billy down in New York City. Here's a picture from the visit. While there we took in the sights, had some laughs, and took a nice stroll through Central Park.

Fun in the Sun

2009-06-21T19:40:00.006-06:00

So a few weeks ago our Glauser parents came out to visit. We had a lot of fun seeing some of the sights you always hear about, but rarely get to see in person. Our first stop was Niagara Falls where we got soaked while hiking to the base of the falls and Jenni was mistaken for a small Asian lady.

The next day we took a trip to Palmyra to see the Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorah, and the Smith Family Farm. This picture was taken right by the Smith’s home there and you can see the Palmyra temple in the background.

Furlough (n) A usually temporary layoff from work/A leave of absence from prison granted to a prisoner

2009-04-21T17:21:00.018-06:00

New Glasses

Jake and I have been wanting new glasses for a while... some people in our ward referred us to this web site http://zennioptical.com/. They aren't the best quality - but way affordable. So we each bought a fun pair and a tinted pair.

Visit from Dad!

My dad dropped by before our vacation! It's been so nice to have him come visit. The first time he came to our apartment... I cried when he left. It made me realize how much I miss my wonderful family. Luckily he's been able to see us 3 times thus far... so I don't get as sad knowing he'll be back again soon. For the record - I hate living across the country from everyone we love. (notice our mega computing power!)

Trip to Washington, DC

Pratt has been so kind, they gave us 5 extra days off this year (unpaid of course!) It's part of their "lower costs" program. Five Furlough days scheduled throughout the year. Hey, we're just glad to have jobs! And more vacation days! So we took our 4 day vacation and drove down to Washington DC for Easter weekend (Cherry Tree Blossom Festival).

It was weird to walk down the streets of DC and pass FBI vehicles and the actual Post Office building. We passed the IRS building and I wanted to yell "hey! give us our money!".

We saw both Air and Space Museums! The Pratt logo was all over...

"The Eagle is Everywhere" (offical Pratt motto!)

This is the PW4098-112" engine. Jake is the Performance guru for the 4000 series. He really likes his "EnJens" hahahahaha (for those of you who don't know... Jake's friends called me EnJen in college: "Engineering Jen" --> "EnJen")

We met Michelle and Reese House at the Air and Space Museum. It was so fun to catch up! We went to the Macaroni Grill with them and the Hovey's.

Our Hotel was crazy modern... heated bathroom floors, glass walls (inside only!), iPod docking station, flat screen TVs, free internet (although the valet parking wasn't free), and the hallway walls were covered in velvet! Fancy!!!

The Smithsonians were very well done. The crazy part is you get to see the real deal. One sign in particular caught me off guard: "This is the REAL Wright Brother's airplane" DANG SNAP! Plus we saw mummies, Dorthy's Ruby Red Slippers, Kermit the Frog, the space shuttle, The Hope Diamond, The Star Spangled Banner (that inspired our national anthem), dinosaurs...and tons of cool stuff. The monuments were beautiful and BIG.

The Vietnam Wall...

Honest Abe

In case you can't tell, that's the White house behind the big freakin egg! Roosevelt MemorialWashington Monument

WWII Memorial

We drove by the temple on the way home... it was BEAUTIFUL!!!

We decided to go a different route on the drive home. Even though it was a little longer, we avoided A TON of traffic problems. We drove right past the OCC (American Chopper) headquarters!!! We stopped in and bought some t-shirts (surprise! I know, hard to image ME in a t-shirt!) When we were in the car getting ready to pull out of the parking lot - Jake said to turn around... we saw Jason Poole walking to his car (the computer designer on the show). Sure enough there he was walking to his truck. He opened the back seat and got a 2' wooden block out and put it on the ground - his dog used it as a step to get in the truck! Cool! We were a little star struck (we watch a LOT of American Chopper). We had to fight the urge to follow him home... thought that might be a little freaky!

It was a fun vacation - very relaxing! DC is such a clean and pedestrian friendly city! But now we're back home... work... seminary... sleep... repeat!

A Couple of 1st Times

2009-03-15T17:43:00.009-06:00

Jake here - Jenni let me know it was my turn to do a posting, so here goes nothing. We've been trying really hard to find fun things to do outside of our apartment and realized it might be necessary to try new things found in Connecticut.

While watching TV, Jenni saw that Monster Jam was coming to our very own Hartford. She explained that as a young 13 year old she had the pleasure of going Monster Jam in SLC. I explained that although I did have a paper route when I was younger it didn't supply enough funds for me to go to such a classy event like this. Seeing as we now both have jobs that pay more than my little paper route we decided to attend.

It was pretty exciting. We soaked in the entire experience by getting some hot dogs, drinks, and churros.

A couple of weeks after Monster Jam we decided to go out to lunch to a restaurant recommended by one of our coworkers. On our way home we passed one of those pottery shops where you walk in, paint some pottery, let them fire it for you, and pick it up later. Neither one of us have ever done that, so another 1st for us!

Last week we went snowboarding with some friends from work. It was Jenni's first time and she did awesome. By the end of the night she was able to control the board enough to get all the way down the bunny hill.

We also recently chaparoned a church dance for the first time. It was an 80's dance, so Jenni crimped her hair and I wore a colorful tie (I felt like a tie would give me autority.)

Alright, well since this post has taken me two weeks to complete, you're getting one more story as a bonus. This is the tale of our own Friday the 13th! It all started at work when one of our coworkers let us know that TGI Fridays had a two for one entree deal going on. We printed off the coupon for the deal and later that night we headed over to the local TGI Fridays for some fine dining.

After being seated, Jenni whipped out the coupon and presented it to our waitress. The waitress took a look at it and asked, "Oh, what's this?"

We were surprised by her question seeing as the coupon explained exactly what we were after. I smugly asked, "Is this not a TGI Fridays?"

She replied, "This is Ruby Tuesday." *awkward silence* "Do you guys still want to order?"

We left and decided we'd check our coupon book for another potentially great deal on dinner. We were in luck; there was a coupon for half off pizza at the Wooster Street Pizzereia. We headed on over and were promptly seated. Again Jenni pulled out the pizza coupon and presented it to our waitress. She took a look at it and said, "You can't use this coupon here. It's for Whooster Street Pizzaria, not Wooster Street Pizzaria. We had been tricked once again. Anyway we stayed and ate our full price pizza like a couple of suckers.

Well, that's all for now. We'll see if this blog ever gets updated again.

Our 1st Anniversary

2009-01-23T15:06:00.003-07:00

For our 1st Anniversary we went to the Boston Aquarium...

Jake eating a hot pepper (they were so dang hot!) We saw a 3D IMAX movie... about a feeding frenzy in Africa.

The sharks swam in this HUGE column-tank that was in the center of the building. It had a ramp that spiraled around it, as you climbed up you could see the different kinds of fish that live in various levels of water pressure. There was wing dedicated to jelly fish, that was my favorite exhibit.

Around the many tropical fish, they had black lights!

This is how we stack up against a little shark.

Seeing as it was our Anniversary, I noticed everything around me that had to do with love. These are a few examples: 2 South African Penguins kissing (Jake's favorite exhibit), this fish's mouth is in the shape of a heart, and 2 Macoroni Penguins holding hands! (fitting as penguins mate for life)

Most people freeze the top of their wedding cake to eat on their first Anniversary. I thought that was gross. But I also knew we would be moving a lot, so we decided to eat it when it was fresh (good thing, I don't think frozen cake would last long in a Budget truck driving across the country for 3 days!) So we decided to replicate it... and as you can see that didn't go so well. When we were trying to frost over the chocolate cake-raspberry filled mess, the white frosting turned pink. Then I tried to decorate it by cutting a hole in a sandwich bag, and as you can see, the small hole I cut turned out to be quite a large tip for decorating. So after many vain attempts to save our cake, we just threw on the extra frosting (I made a bunch of hearts that, according to Jake, look like Wolf heads). The only important thing was that we had fun and it tasted delicious!

Other food things...

PF Chang's - So, according to our list of traditions to start, we were going to go to PF Chang's for dinner (we ate their on our honeymoon). But it was a 3 hour wait, so instead I made pasta!

Crunchy French Toast - On our honeymoon we ate crunchy french toast - which was so delectable! I found the recipe (it uses Corn Flakes) and made it on Sunday Morning (our real Anniversary). The only bummer is that we couldn't find Texas Toast. Flimsy white bread doesn't do justice to this breakfast dish... but it was still really good!

At the Boston Harbor. We've had a blast this past year. People said the first year's really difficult, but it just seemed so natural. We were meant to be together. He's my everything. I love him so much and look forward to the many more Anniversaries in the future.

College Tips

2009-01-08T18:36:00.002-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas vacation - which I will post pictures for soon.

But seeing how it's the beginning of another semester, I compiled a list, for my mom, of tips Jake and I have learned over 9 years (between us) of college. I thought I would post it here in case any other college students out there are looking for some ideas. The most important thing is to find what works best for you.

Here's our list:

For each class, buy the cheap 100 page spiral notebooks to take notes in. Then buy the cheap loose leaf folders the same color to match the notebooks. For each class have a different color code (ie: red books for math...)
Only take notes on the front side of the paper, using the back makes it hard to read and study. Plus you'll be able to use the back side for extra notes, quick practice problems, and quizzes in class.
Before doing your homework after class, browse through your notes from that lecture. It will help jog your memory of the material and you'll be able to see if your notes make sense (so you'll understand them later on). If sentences are incomplete, now's a good time to add extra stuff to help you later - like the page number from the text book that matches the lecture material.
If you get to class a little early... look over your notes from the previous lecture, it will help cement in the ideas you just learned. It also helps prepare you for any pop quizzes!
Don't be afraid to use up space in your notebook! I used to squish as many words as I could onto the page. It's nice to have the extra room when you're studying your notes, that way you can circle/highlight/underline important words.
If there was an important concept, vocabulary word or equation taught in class that day, I would write it on the left hand side of my notebook (ie: the back of the previous page) without the definition. I would use these as basic quiz questions as I studied for the exam. If I needed the explanation - the answer was written on the adjacent page. It's much easier to keep track of important information as you go along in the class then waiting for the day before the final exam and trying to remember everything you're supposed to remember before you even start studying!
Try to do your homework right after the lecture. The easiest thing is to find a TA lab for that class and meet a study group there. It helps to work in groups because teachers talk fast and everyone catches different stuff. Plus, if you get stuck - the TA is right there! (total homework time is considerably less than trying to do homework alone and at home)
It is important to get help with confusing topics BEFORE you turn in your homework. College is fast-paced and if you wait til after, it will be put on the back burner and won't get done. This is especially important if it's a class that builds on topics (like math or science)
In the loose leaf notebook, keep all of your old quizzes and homework problems. It help to browse through them before a quiz and re-work any problems you don't remember (some of the same questions might even be on the exam!)
If the teacher is discussing long words - I find it helpful to write a key in the margin at the top of the page - like: CHT = Convective Heat Transfer. That way you can take notes faster and you won't forget what "CHT is the process by which..." means later on in the semester.
Sometimes I would draw pictures or diagrams of the process - even if the teacher didn't - so I could see the information pictorially. If you're an audio learner, then it might help to take a tape recorder. You should cater your notes to your learning styles.
I ALWAYS wrote what was due the next class period at the end of my notes in big bold letters. That way when I cracked open my notebook that night I wouldn't forget about the silly assignment I was supposed to do.
Keep all your work from that class - at least until you've received your final grades. The worst is when you know you completed an assignment but have no proof to show your work.
I hated taking notes in pencil. I would rather have to cross stuff out and re-write it then have smudgy, hard to read notes. And write the date at the beginning of each lecture (it helps when you're trying to match class notes with the syllabus, etc)
Take time to stop by the college office and advisors. They are there to help you. Sometimes it's nice to sit with the advisor and map out your next few semesters. It helps give you direction so you don't waste your time on useless classes. Also, they know about little tricks. Like some classes double count for two generals, etc.
I always found it a NECESSITY to find a physical activity you enjoy doing and DO IT. I found it hard to sleep when my mind was tired but my body was restless. If I came home and couldn't concentrate on my homework, I would go for a run. It became the routine and helped me stay well balanced. I was able to concentrate on my homework better and sleep more soundly (plus I was in shape!)
Good luck!

Feel free to post any of your ideas or let me know if any of these have worked for you!

I wish I was an elephant...

2008-12-08T12:50:00.004-07:00

I've heard that elephants never forget. That is a trait we could have used last Friday.

Jake and I dress up for seminary... ties, skirts, you get the picture. So we'll often take extra clothes to change into. A few weeks ago it was raining really bad and I dropped my pants outside without realizing it. An hour later I found my pants, soaking wet. On the way to work I used the car heater to dry them - Jake would yell "switch" and I would turn on the defroster - all the moisture from my pants was fogging up the windows - then when the windows were clear I would switch back to drying my pants. All that morning at work, I had soggy legs.

Well this past Friday, on the way to seminary, Jake realized he had forgotten his Polo shirt at home. So he dropped me off at the church to get class started while he drove 10 min home. Then later, at work, it wasn't until 7:30 am that I realized I had forgotten my jump drive at home... and I needed it for my 8 am presentation! So I bolted home (this time a 15 min drive) during rush hour traffic... but I was able to make it back in time with 2 min to spare. If we had memories like elephants we wouldn't have wasted all that fuel (though we both enjoyed our drive home... it was similar to time trials before the big race - gotta beat the clock!)

This weekend we were very social. We had 4 friends over to watch Iron Man on Blu-Ray (amazing!) and we babysat a little 5 month old boy (super cute! but my arm's still sore from holding him). On Saturday my cousins Joe and Emily came to visit us - it was so much fun to hang out with them and hear all about Joe's fiance! That night we went to our ward Christmas party - I played the piano for our sing-a-long.. I love music! Then yesterday we got to visit my Organ teacher in a nursing home - she is always so happy!

Despite all the great friends we have out here (I really love going to church every Sunday! They keep us busy!) I'm really looking forward to going home. Less than 2 weeks and we'll get to be with all our family! YEA!!!

We're Back!

2008-11-16T18:10:00.010-07:00

So, many of you have ever so kindly reminded me that I've been neglecting our blog. The excuse is simple - I simply didn't want to update it! I spend all day on a computer and I didn't feel like spending my evenings on one too. But let me catch you up. Basically our past few months can be summed into a simple phrase: we've turned into old people! No I'm serious! This is our life right now:

4:30 am - Wake up!
5:30 am - leave for seminary
6:00 am - SEMINARY (our class is a ton of fun!)
7:15 am - work... aka... enginerding
3:45 pm - go home
4:10 pm - gym
6:00 pm - dinner/seminary lesson
7:30 pm - time to relax, watch some TV, read, etc
8:30 pm - lights out!

You may think that I'm joking, but it's 8:15 pm and I'm about to go brush my teeth! Luckily on the weekends we try to go out and see the sights - so here are some picts of our adventures!

The Big E!!! A huge state fair in Mass. Jake is standing with Lego Indy and I'm eating one of the famous Big E creme puffs!

This is a waterfall we came across on one of our hikes - this is on Case Mt, right by our house. It took us 30 min to walk leisurely to the summitt - not quite the mountains we're used to!

Ahhh, the Boston Temple! It's so beautiful (aren't they all?) It's weird to have to drive 2 hrs just to see an angel Moroni!

The New England Air Museum... we thought it was appropriate to check it out - since we're aviation extrodin-airs! We even splurged and bought Astronaut Ice Cream - surprisingly it wasn't that bad (though it didn't taste anything like ice cream)

HALLOWEEN!!!! MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY! We went to a ward party as 70s people - Jake was the classic 70s cop. And in case you're wondering why he would go to such extreme lengths to grow out his facial hair for a costume, the stache is, in fact, a fake one.

So apparently, in the "real world" not a lot of people dress up for work on halloween, but I didn't let that damper my spirits. I decided that I could probably pull off something not too extreme. So I went to work dressed up as Tina Fey dressed up as Sarah Palin! I even watched SNL the night before to practice my Alaskan accent (which wasn't too shabby don't ya know!) At lunch in the cafeteria I saw people pointing at me, and laughing, hopefully they were enjoying my costume and not making fun of the "Utah Poof" hairstyle!

Dad was in town for buisness this past week - so we got to spend some time with him! It's was fun to show off our crib and watch a Blu-Ray (which is amazingly way 100% incrediably better than a normal DVD - I swear the movie looks 3D - like there are little people dancing inside your television!) Dad came to Seminary with us and gave a wonderful devo. It was so fun to have him here! I got so homesick to see him go (tears and everything). It's hard being so far away from all of you. We want you to know we miss you all and think about you often. We keep you in our prayers. Love you! (unless you're a stranger reading our blog - we don't love you)

Satan's Kingdom

2008-08-24T16:24:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we went to "Satan's Kingdom" haha!!!

We went tubing down the Farmington river... they provide the lifevest, tubes and the bus ride back to your car. It's about a 2 hour float with class 3 rapids! It was a ton of relaxing fun.

We were chilling in a mellow section of the river and Jake was struggling to reposition himself on the tube. He thought it was funny that we had the same size tube even though we are definitely different sized people. He told me that I was "over there playing video games on your houseboat while I'm getting a full core workout just trying to stay on this thing!" haha!

No longer in happy valley...

2008-08-22T18:56:00.002-06:00

We went to Circuit City tonight to buy some CDs. We went to look at the Blue Ray section but found an empty isle. Curious as to what had happened we asked a salesman where the Blue Rays were, he said that earlier this week they were robbed of their entire Blue Ray stock!!! What's even worse is that it happened in the middle of the day when other people where shopping! CRAZY! They said it will take them a month to restock their shelves!