Friday, May 30, 2008

Entertaining the Little One

I've come to the conclusion that our little one might be a tad more high maintenance than most babies. The last couple of weeks his little personality has required constant one on one attention in the form of bouncing, rocking, standing (setting him up on his little legs), swaying, and playing. He hates being set down and left alone, and always seems like he needs us right in his face entertaining him. He really doesn't even like to just sit in your arms- he's got to have movement. I love to play with him and all, but it's kind of hard to make dinner, clean the house, clean myself, even go to the bathroom when he's got a two minute time limit of entertaining himself without me. And after a night shift its almost physically impossible to constantly bounce him when I feel like I'm going to pass out myself. So this week I was about ready to leave him out in the yard when I pulled out the Baby Einstein Discovery Gym. He isn't really entertained by toys yet so I didn't expect much, but this thing goes to number one on my list of best inventions (surpassing TiVo and spray butter, which were tough to beat)! It has a sun in the middle of it that flashes different colored lights and plays music, and he stared at it for 40 minutes! I felt like maybe it was going to give him a seizure, but I was so relieved to make dinner without a baby on my hip that I took my chances. He danced and giggled the whole time, and probably would have kept going if he didn't get tired.
Best. Invention. EVER. I heart Baby Einstein.




He also loves the bike trailer we got- never makes a peep. This kid is making us get lots of exercise for sure.


Here is proof that the tougher babies are, the cuter they are. I think it's their own kind of protective mechanism so we don't purposely leave them at the grocery store.




I graphed something today at work

I guess this is what happens when you combine Engineer + Boredom at Work + Anger at Gas Prices: An Excel graph!!!


You'll probably need to click it to make it bigger to really see the dates, but basically, I wish it was 1998 again when gas was less than $1.00 a gallon. What the CRAP?!?!? What happened in 2003 to make gas prices keep going up and up and up? The only thing more ridiculous than this is the terrible gas millage my 4runner gets. Steph, I hope your not paying $4.00 a gallon or more when you drive to Florida this December or your going to pay $$$$ for gas in your Suburban. And Eric, when you take that job with Exxon-Mobile this fall in Houston, please figure out what the deal is and report back to me. Thanks. Oh ya, inflation was added just for you Eric.

Here are two good articles on gas prices that I've been reading today since I first posted this: HowStuffWorks and CNN.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Happy 5th Anniversary!


This post is dedicated to my sweet wonderful husband of 5 years. I completely adore this guy. He is the sweetest, funniest, most wonderful person I've ever known. I've never had so much constant fun with one person without getting sick of them. We have so much fun together! I think we've had maybe 5 fights in five years, none of which were even big enough to remember. He is so kind, respectful, creative, and smart. He never gets riled up or upset and has definitely mellowed me out since we've been married. I feel like I am such a better person for knowing him and I am forever greatful to have him in my life. I love you babe and happy anniversary!

Sophie and Bridger

Erika's sister, Kandice, dropped off their miniature dachshund while her and her family went on vacation to Arizona. We were a little afraid at first that Sophie would be too rough with Bridger, but they got along great. Bridger mostly just likes to follow Sophie around the yard, and Sophie loves to have a friend. Its amazing to see how little Bridger is compared to Sophie.






If you listen closely you can hear the neighbor kid practicing his oboe. He should probably keep that racket indoors.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

I hate Shauna Totten

She is the worst person I have ever met. Here is the background for those of you who don't know what Im talking about. Warning, this is a long story. Get comfortable because Im bored at work and your getting the whole story.

Chapter 1: The Crash. Around Feb 2007 I was driving my gold 4runner down 400 N in Bountiful. I drove through an intersection during a green light and Shauna Totten, who was driving the opposite direction on 400 N, made a left hand turn and I smashed into the side of her. You wouldn't believe how trashy these Evanston Wyoming residents were. The fat teenage girls in the back seat were all screaming hysterically, her boyfriend was yelling at her for not knowing how to drive, Shauna was yelling at him that he knew she didn't like driving in the big city. Ya, Bountiful is the big city. OK. Anyways, my 4runner was still drivable but her crappy 89 Mercury Tracer, or whatever trashy car it was, was totaled. Right after it happened I wasn't mad because I figured her insurance would pay for everything. I was actually in the process of selling my 4runner so I thought this would kind of be an easy way to get rid of it (damage to my car was about $4000).

Chapter 2: No Insurance. The next day when my insurance company tried to get a hold of her insurance company they found out that she didn't even have insurance. She lied to me at the scene of the accident. Only the worst people in the world drive without car insurance. And since I didn't have coverage for my car for uninsured motorists (my uninsured motorist coverage was only for personal injury), I was out of luck. So I begun the legal process. I filed a claim in small claims court, and since she didn't even show up on our court date the judge didn't think twice about giving me the judgment. So legally she now owed me about $4000, but its my problem to figure out how to collect it. And I don't think thats right. I think that if you win a judgment in court against someone that there should be some government agency that collects the money for you. Anyways, I was able to sell my crashed 4runner for $1000 since it had a good motor and it ran fine, but what I really want is for Shauna Totten to give me the money she owes me!

Chapter 3: Collecting. So I decided to start trying to collect on my own, but since Shauna lives in Evanston WY it was going to be tough. I thought if I can figure out where she works then I can garnish her wages. Well, Shauna changed her phone number and moved. I tried calling all of her neighbors around the address she gave me at the scene of the accident. Most of them didn't know who she was, but one kid did. He told me she worked at the movie rental store. I called the movie rental store and they told me she got fired. Crap. So then I did kind of an internet background check on her and I got some previous addresses. I called one of them and it was a trailer park. I talked with the trailer park manager lady and she told me that she had Shauna evicted a few years back because she was dealing drugs. CRAP! This was like the worst person ever to get in a car accident with! So after all of this I decided to hire a collection agency. Westgate Collections in Evenston was on the case. They would collect the judgment for me and would take about 40% of whatever money they get out of her. I figured that this seemed a little steep, but if I got anything I would be happy. Well, things since then haven't been going good. Right after I hired Westgate Collections I found out that Shauna was in jail for drugs. CRAP again! She got out after about 4 months, but then today I called and found out that Shauna was in jail again! She actually was in jail from May 5 to May 12. So, she is out of jail, but the odds of her getting a job aren't good. Between her jail appearances Westgate had the Evanston Sheriff go to her house and try to seize property but he returned and reported that she had nothing to seize. CRAP! She did tell the Sheriff that she was going to get a job at the Pilot gas station, but now that she visited jail again who knows if she'll land the job. What a waste of flesh. She is the worst. But do you know what? I will never give up. Never. My judgment is good for 8 year, and I will continue hunting her down for 7 more years. I hate Shauna Totten!!!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Calling all recipes!

I'm stealing this idea from my friend Elizabeth- I'm in a dinner rut and would love it if you would post your favorite easy and yummy dinner recipes. It seems like we always end up having quesadillas 3 days a week and when I try a new recipe it's not always the best. So your tried and true yummy recipes would be much appreciated! It's actually win-win- you can steal the ideas too. I'll start off with a couple of my (Will's) favorites:

Thai Peanut Stir Fry

In a saucepan, heat 4 Tbs chunky peanut butter, 3 Tbs soy sauce, 3 Tbs honey, 1-in minced ginger root, ,1 clove minced garlic, 1 tsp crushed red pepper, and the juice of 1/2 an orange. Heat until it starts to boil. It's the best sauce ever and I just pour it over frozen stir fry veggies with chicken and serve over rice. MMMM!

Cafe Rio Pork

In a crockpot mix 10 oz ketchup, 1 Liter Coke, 2 lb brown sugar; add an 8 lb pork roast and cook 8 hrs on low. Shred the pork and add back to the liquid. The dressing is 1 Hidden Valley Ranch packet, 16 oz sour cream, 1/4 c mild, and 7 oz can salsa verde. I serve it with rice, lettuce, cheese, and tortillas. We had this at Milo's baby blessing and it was a hit!

Cookie Salad (sounds weird but it's good)

2 c. buttermilk, 12 oz Cool Whip, 1 lg pkt vanilla instant pudding, 1 c pineapple tidbits, 2 c mandarin oranges, 1 c sliced strawberries, 1-2 pkgs Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies.
Mix all except cookies (make sure to drain the fruit very well. Crush cookies into chunks and add right before serving so they don't get soggy. Yummy for a summer treat!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Back to work

I have my first day back to work on Thursday! I'm actually excited to use another part of my brain that's been semi-dormant for the last two months. My first shift is a night shift, so we'll see how it goes. I'm used to being sleep deprived by now so it shouldn't be too bad, plus I have 100 times more energy than I had when I was pregnant. I'm excited to see my girls at work again and deliver some babies. Woo hoo! in tribute to my going back, here's Milo in his little baby scrubs Liz gave him (thanks Liz!). He and I now have matching uniforms.

Baby Blessing

Little Buddy had his big day on Sunday! Will's parents came in from Texas, his sister Stephanie from Montana, and my Mom and sister Kandice came from Idaho. It was so wonderful to have so much of our family there; it's hard since everyone is out of state. We had so many wonderful friends there as well and it was a gorgeous day! Thanks again to everyone who came- we love having you in our lives and loved sharing this fun day with you.











We had like 20 little kids running around climbing trees and our rock wall and having a great time- it was so cute! Who knew our backyard was such a child's paradise?



Miles' Smiles

I finally captured some of those sweet little smiles for all to see. He is so dang cute.





This is my new favorite outfit on him. My friend Sara at work knitted him the hat and booties. Love it!

Very Funny

Get ready for some funny: