Burps

So, we're sitting at dinner. And from Abby's side of the table, James and I hear a toot. We ignore it and keep eating. Abby looks up with a shocked face and says, "mommy, there's a burp in my bum bum!"
Trying not to laugh, James explains that it is a toot. And Abby looks at him and says
"No Daddy, it was a burp!"

Cute sayings

So we've been pretty busy, still working on that potty training thing and getting caught up with dentist and eye doctor appointments. It's that time. I have to admit that I get into my ' go get it done' mode and I must be a tyrant of a mommy when I get into that mode because my kids are always trying to figure out a way to bring me back to real life. So, Abby had a couple of 'accidents' and William has been crying a lot. I swear they are trying to call to me and tell me they need me, but I just get frustrated and need to have my own time and escape it all. So I tried to escape a few times, and it didn't work. We ended up having nachos for dinner and watching Enchanted as a family (it pays to have a sister working at Blockbuster. You can see all the movies before they come out to determine whether or not it's worth buying them the first week they are out and $5 cheaper at Wal-Mart). I finally started to relax and Abby was so cute at the end of the movie, she leaned over and said "Mommy, that was a coooool movie!" I have to admit I was shocked because the dragon lady had scared her. But, apparantly she liked it enough to race down the hall pretending to be the dragon lady. 10 minutes later she had another accident. I have to say I'm thankful for the cute, good, funny moments day to day, because otherwise this mommy job would be a lot harder. Oh well, back to real life. :D

A busy week

So I've never posted to our own website. Never felt the urge to, but I thought we would try it today. And in all theory this should post to my blog too. So we'll see if I break it :D (PS- I broke it and had to copy and paste :D)

It's been a busy busy week. Monday the girls in James family got together to scrapbook and have fondue. Cheese and chocolate. Yummmm. Here are some recipes that don't call for alcohol that we tried.

Chocolate Fondue

8 oz Semi sweet chocolate pieces
8 oz Milk chocolate pieces
2/3 C + 2 Tbsp Heavy cream (we used heavy whipping cream)
2 tsp vanilla

Chop chocolate up into small pieces if it isn't already. Melt chocolate over low heat (in a double boiler if you have to cook it before you serve it in a fondue pot). Add cream. Stir until chocolate melts and the cream is blended. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Enjoy

Cheddar Cheese Fondue

4 Tbsp Butter
3 Tbsp Flour
3 shakes Dry Mustard
1 shake minced Garlic
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 C Milk
6 C Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Melt butter in saucepan, whisk in flour, mustard and garlic. Gradually add mild, stirring constantly until thickened. Add Worcestershire sauce and blend. Add cheese and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.



The other part of our busy week was potty training. This has been very difficult for us. When Abby was showing us a year ago that she was ready to potty train, I was in my last trimester of pregnancy with William. I wasn't ready to start. Then Crystal was living with us and that was hectic, and then she moved out. So, I figured that now we are getting into our own little routine finally we had better get on it. Especially since Abby now has such a negative attitude about it. So, we had a party. A potty party. The book said you could potty train your child in one day, and I almost hoped. Now I've come to realize that Abby is not that child and we will just keep working on it. But we did take some very important steps on Wednesday. She will sit on the potty. She likes the stickers, and she wants to ice skate and dance. I told her she could have dance lessons if she would learn to use the potty. It actually costs less than the diapers and wipes. So, now we are learning. And she's doing well. I'm glad she's so smart, and I told James the other night after she was fighting us, that I'm glad she's a fighter. I just hope and pray that we teach her good principles and that she learns to fight for good causes as she grows older. She's my cute girl :D

It has been sooooooo long...

Since I last did any kind of post. Yes, it's been years as a matter of a fact. Since then I've graduated college, supported James as he graduated and had another baby. So here I am with two beautiful kids, still living in Orem, and lo and behold, some wonderful friends inspired me to open my account back up and write a little. So, here's to you Charity, Tiff, and Melanie, for making sure that we can all keep in touch. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, as for funny stories lately. I have to say that Abby is the one with which I have the most hysterical conversations with. After talking to my dad this morning and relating some of her funnies, here's my favorite. As for back up information, you need to know that I painted her room a year ago because of some black crayon that went along 3 walls, 2 closet doors, and the main door. I am not a fan of crayons or anything in her room like that, but sometimes, things just happen!

Shauna: Abby, come on, we need to change your diaper!
Abby: NO!
Shauna: Come on, hurry!
Abby: NO!
*After a tussle, and just beginning to change her diaper...I shut her bedroom door a little and saw crazy eight and candyland game cards stuck to her door...Horrified!...
Shauna: Abby, did you do that?
Abby: (excitedly) Yes!
Shauna: What did you do?
Abby: I glued it mom!
Shauna: Glued it with what?
Abby: Diaper Rash Cream!!! (Totally proud of herself)

And to quote a friend, what does that say about the diaper rash cream that we can glue things with it? Well, at least it works for a lot of things!!!

And lastly, I really didn't forget... HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE!

School has begun...

and it is very busy around here. But, we are finally getting into a routine and everything is working out just fine. James works and goes to school during the day and then I go to class in the evenings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some of those times we have a babysitter for Abby when James needs to do homework, but otherwise he and Abby are getting some great one-on-one time. They are so cute together. They wrestle and walk around together and it's adorable. If you didn't catch that, Abby is learning how to walk right now. She does about 3-4 steps at a time, and she is learning fast. She loves exploring and finding new things. Tonight she opened up the kitchen cupboards and when I came looking for her to see what she was up to she quickly slammed the one cupboard shut as if she hadn't been in there! Yes, I know, it's going to be a fun, but long road if she is already doing that! But, it is really cute. She also loves the "I'm going to get you" game and laughs and goes running when she hears that phrase. This is definitely a fun stage for all of us. She is also learning to mind us when we say no. She is actually very good at doing as she is told. She's a good girl and we love her.

I've been doing Mary Kay now for a couple of months and it's getting easier and I'm starting to earn a little money at it. It's good for me to be able to go and visit with other women and to spend that time helping them and socializing. I love the women I work with and it's a lot of fun.

As for school, I have 2 classes. One is a capstone class for Political Science. Basically I do a lot of reading and on the side I'm writing a major research paper. This last week I had an idea for the paper and the teacher approved it while I was in class and helped me plan out how to do it. If I do it right, I might even be published which is a great resume builder. What for, I don't know! But the topic is interesting. Basically, there was an author that made the comment that those churches that require a lot of time and effort from their members takes time from those members from participating politically. My hypothesis is to prove that statement wrong among the LDS faith. I want to see if Mormons are able to contribute religiously and politically effectively and I will probably compare them to Protestants since I'm doing another project on Protestants for the same class. It will be interesting. And if you're wondering by now why I'm studying religion in my political science class (It is BYU, but we usually don't study religion intently in the same class as another subject. The professor might make a few comments on what the church teaches compared to that topic, but it isn't an everyday comparison if you will. Usually religion and say, political science would be two different classes), the topic of this capstone class is how religion affects political behavior. I'm excited to see what we find out.

My other class is an elective, Environmental Biology, and I love the teacher and the fact that compared to the classes I've been taking for the last couple of years, it's easy. It's nice to have one that I don't have to work as hard for when my capstone class will take so much time. And it's an interesting topic.

I think that is most of what has been going on. We go to work, do homework, play with Abby, and try to keep up on the housework. We have better days than others, but it's working. We're just thankful that James has such a good job and we don't have to worry about health insurance and things like that as much. It's a little more stable which is nice. So, we're all doing well, and we're healthy, and the plan is to come home for Christmas and see everyone. Hopefully that will work out because I'm excited to see my family and for everyone to meet Abby again. So on that note, I hope everyone has a good week, and I'm off to bed to start mine. Loves from all of us!

Hi There...

It's a new post, and a new month, and a new day. Thankfully things have been calming down around here. James got the full time job at BYU and will go to school part time. So, we will be here for awhile now. I will finish by December, and I'm so glad. Something I didn't mention before is that in June I started a Mary Kay business. I'm definitely learning a lot, but it's been a great thing for me to do. I'm learning how to talk to people and not be so shy, and I have fun with other women. It's wonderful.

Abby is as cute as ever. She crawls everywhere, and she just got weaned. So, she's a little more clingy and cuddly than before, which is fun for us. She loves to wave at people and point to what she wants, and is quickly learning the word "no-no" and responds to it, thankfully!

Other than that, things are finally calming down, which is ironic since school starts in 3 weeks already. But, it's nice to have a routine for now. I've had some time to scrapbook and sew a little every day and that has been fun too. I get my creative bit in and it feels nice to have a well rounded day. I've also been baking a lot. 2 batches of cookies this week. Boy am I sounding like a housewife! Who'd a thought it? It's fun though, and I enjoy it.

Well folks, I need to go to bed, but I thought I would catch up a little. Take care.