Maybe I Can..

So my motto when it comes to crafts has always been "I'll just pay for other people's craftiness." I've wanted to be crafty but it's never been a possibility with Quilted Bear around me. Well, now there is no craftiness around me, and even if there was, I have no money to purchase it. So I am finally learning how to be crafty on a budget, and I'll even admit that it's fun!

So my first attempt was making a car seat canopy for Broden. I don't have a picture, because I still need to buy a car seat and a picture would just be a big piece of square brown and blue fabric! So a friend of mine that lives about an hour away just opened a kids consignment shop, like kid to kid. Well, I thought what an opportunity, so after talking to her and figuring things out I made 3 car seat canopies for her store. The store just opened so things are slow but the ones I made are adorable. I still have yet to get pictures of those too. So I'm making these canopies now for extra money. I'm only charging $30 for them when they go for $50+ anywhere else. Of course, I haven't made anything yet but I'm hoping soon that things will take off. I'm thinking about posting an ad on craigslist for them, and maybe putting them in a few other kids stores around here, what do you think? Should I go for it, or wait till after I have Brody to see what I can handle?

For those of you that don't know, I love to bake! I love new recipes and trying new things. I enjoy having homemade sweets in the house for no reason. Well, in a previous post I mentioned that we were going apple picking; well we didn't because I have a husband that knows me better than I know myself. I wanted to go pick apples to make a homemade, from scratch apple pie. Nick knew that picking apples would be torture for him and Neacel, plus the wheather wasn't great so he bought me a large bag of apples. So the other night, I put a movie on for Neacel while Nick was at school and went to town. I peeled and cut 3lbs of apples, and did the fancy top on the pie and everything.


Before and after picture of the pie

Was it worth it? Yes! Would I do it again? If I was trying to show off or something!

It took almost 2 hours just to get everything sliced and put it all together. I'm happy to say that I love that I can now say that I've made a pie from scratch, but I think I'll let Martha Stewart keep her job. I think the next big baking project will have to be a chocolate lava cake or something from my Ghirardelli recipe book. Those are my loves, recipe books, I have plenty but at the same time not enough.

Neacel is getting his own wall in the house too! He loves to color, and I want to be able to display his work and yet its so hard to pick which ones to keep. So every month he is going to color 4 pictures with a theme (this month is Halloween, Nov-Thanksgiving etc etc) Those 4 pictures will be framed and changed every month and those will be the ones that I hold onto. School nights are also mommy & Neacel nights, we are going to start doing more crafts and fun things, so that when Brody gets here, he will know that he can count on something fun those nights, whether its coloring, finger paint, baking....anything!

34 weeks!

I can't believe that in 5 weeks or less, little Brody will be here! Time has seriously just flown by. I finally found a doctor that I like. Whats nice about this office compared to the other? Oh let's see....
-They weren't shocked that I was married
-Didn't freak out over the fact that both kids have the same "baby daddy"
-I don't have to get a 30 lecture on getting my tubes tied (which I'm not but I still was going to have to listen to this)
-I'm not the only white person in the clinic
-An actual doctor will do my surgery, not a resident
-They weren't shocked that I don't drink, smoke or take any kind of street drug, while pregnant or not (which just blew my mind)

That's only a handful of reasons, but those are the ones that stick out the most. The new office is closer to home and reminds me a lot of Dr. Terry's office, so that's a comfort. PLUS, they are going to do an ultrasound this Thursday so we can find out how big he is. I have always wanted an ultrasound later in pregnancy to get a better idea of everything and see the baby and the features, not just a little alien. According to Baby Center Broden is about 18inches and just a little under 5lbs...we will find out soon enough! Neacel was 8lbs 14oz and 22in at birth, and the dr and I don't want this baby to be that big at birth, I'd like a 7lb baby please. So if Brody is measuring ahead then the due date will be changed! So it's a possibility I could have him in a month or less. I don't have any pregnancy pictures because I feel HUGE and don't want to show the world. I am a ton smaller then I was with Neacel (I'm not even close to this and this is just a week ahead), I think Neacel realized he could stretch one way and would have more room and Broden is just staying close to mom :-)
This pregnancy has been a dream, no sickness, no swelling, plenty of cravings, and no more stretch marks!!!! So cross your fingers that we can have Broden sooner...I'd love maybe hmmm October 24th???
I'll update more about the family later, we are heading to Elyria for the day to see my family. My brother is back in town and preparing to leave on his mission (he reports Oct 13th and will be serving in Riverside Cali) so I have to see him. We are going apple picking, which Ill explain why later, and I have to drop off my money making Martha Stewart projects to a friends store......but apparently both the boys realized today was busier, its 10am and both are still sleeping, Neacel never sleeps past 9 at the latest....just my luck!

Nick and Neacel at Wyoga Lake

A post by Nick. Mandy and I live on a lake and for some reason, we have never actually spent any time in/on it. So the other day, I decided to take Neacel to see it before summer was over. I only had a little time before I had to go to class, but I was able to snap a few photos. Here is beautiful Wyoga Lake.

Family Fun Night at U of A

A post by Nick.

The other night, in an effort to save money, we all went to the family fun night at the University of Akron. It was in the ballroom at the student union building, and they had all sorts of stuff set up for fun. They had family feud, crafts, board games, dancing and an favorite game in Ohio called "cornhole." As I like to point out, cornhole means butthole outside the state of Ohio, but no one seems to realize that.

Here Neacel is decorating a cookie.

Here is his chubby little hand putting on some sprinkles.

Tasting his creation.

I wasn't as angry as I look. Also, I think I look pretty trim in this picture. Down under 200, now that I'm not sitting at a desk all day.

Neacel happy to have some cotton candy.

Showing me that his mouth is "empty" so that he can have some more food.

Mandy pretending to be happy that I am taking her picture.

Neacel confused by the people dancing. Apparently there is something called the "Cleveland Hustle" which is sort of a combo between the "electric slide" and line dancing.

Neacel jumping after playing a game of "cornhole."

A view from a window in the Student Union building. In the background, Akron's terrible football team is practicing. They couldn't beat a punching bag if their life depended on it.

Butchel Hall, named after the schools founder in 1800 and something.

Neacel and Mommy going for a walk on campus.

A view in the center of campus.

The glass building in the background is their famous polymer engineering school.

The library where I spend a lot of time.

This is Kolbe Hall. My classroom is on the 4th floor.

This is Leigh Hall. Both of my classrooms are on the second floor.

Neacel and Daddy walking back to the car. Neacel wanted to push the stroller.

The walkway leading to the student recreation center.

Here is the new Zips football stadium.

Where Were You?

It's a day that no one will forget. A day that our children will read about in history books, one that we all lived to tell the story about. I'm curious, where were you when you heard the news?

For me, I was a sophomore in high school, sitting in biology class when a girl ran down the hall yelling "We have been attacked" Now in my high school, you laugh at this, just another crazy person stoned on something loosing their mind. We went on with class, then I went to choir. The news was on and that's when it hit us, it was real. We sat there, an all girl choir, crying our eyes out, hugging and holding each other in disbelief. Then all the sudden we saw another plane, and watched as it hit the second tower. A few screamed, I sat there, I'm sure my jaw hit the floor. Did I really see what I think I just saw? We watched the towers fall, we watched people jumping from the buildings, we didn't miss a single thing. School that day wasn't the same, the teachers didn't teach, we just watched the news and talked about what was happening. Even in Spanish class, we watched the news, yes it was in spanish...and no I have no clue what was said, but it didn't matter. I knew what was going on, you didn't need to understand what was being said to know that our country was under attack. Fear covered the school that day, I thought many times that I was just going to walk home but for some reason never did till it was time to go home. There was a quiet calm over everything that day, Elyria was a quiet town, people just looked at each other with a look of fear and love for each other. According to a few friends, churches in town were full. Flags were hung everywhere....

Here we are 9 years later. A war still going on, and still remembering that horrible day. We haven't forgotten a single thing, the pictures still in our head, the anger for what happened still in our hearts, and the love for each and every person that has passed away due to this. 9 years is plenty of time to heal over most things, but every year on this day we stop and think, ponder and talk about that day. I promise you that's one of those days that you know every little thing about....I remember what I was wearing. Blue jeans, black flip flops, red purse and guess what....a black shirt with the NYC skyline on it, including both of those towers standing proud. I hold on to that shirt because of the memories and the coincidence.

Please share, where were you that day? How did you hear the news?

Labor Day Weekend

Saturday we went up to Cleveland with my family. It was grandma Jacki's (step dads mom) birthday so that side of the family spent the day together. They were going to go on the Good-time 3 which is a 2 hour boat tour of the Cleveland area, but the waves were nuts due to the hurricane. So we all met at the Cleveland Natural History Museum. Neacel hadn't had much of a nap so I was thinking he would probably not be too fun, but he loved the museum and was just running around non stop. My child has to much energy! He loved the dino area, and the kids play area downstairs...he wasn't impressed with the jewels like I was.
We spent hours there and then decided to go get something sweet. We went to a place in Rocky River called Sweet Melissa's. Oh dear goodness, the sweets there are amazing! The cupcakes were HUGE! I couldn't finish one. (Jen, you would love this place, its one of those sweet treat snotty people places that you shouldn't take kids, but we totally would. You would die over the sweets though! I totally thought of you the whole time I was there) I had a carrot cake cupcake, which was good but it had pineapple in it, which is fine but I wasn't expecting it so it threw me off. I also had a chocolate covered strawberry, not just one chocolate but 3, white, milk and dark...can we say heaven? Nick had carrot cake but I think he was more impressed with his buffalo chicken wrap. Neacel had grilled cheese and fruit along with any sweets that he could get from all the adults! Such a little mooch.

We had a great time with family, but Nick had to hurry to my parents house to watch the BYU game. WOOHOO they won!!! Good thing they have a channel or two that he can watch a few games from. Mom and I went shopping and then to my Aunt Leslie's were we sat around eating peanut m&m's and talking. Peanut m&m's are a must at any late night gathering in my family. And if they aren't there someone will complain...

Sunday was spent baking and relaxing....nothing special. We had plenty to bake for labor day so we made Impossible Pie, Sunny delight (cake) and lemon bars.

Monday we went to Leslie's for a picnic and had a ton of fun. Neacel got stuck under a car because he was trying to get a basketball, so he has a nice scratched up chin. His clothes were filthy and he was happy. He chased the dogs all day and ate way too much. I was nice sitting around with family, talking and stuffing our faces with way to much food, but for some reason we never stopped. It was nice being at the first big family gathering since moving back out here, I can't wait for other gatherings!

***Don't forget the post below about Neacel.....***

Little Monster

Lately, I love watching Neacel and thinking about what he might be when he grows up. He laughs at everything, and loves making people laugh...comedian? He will tell you when you have an "ouchie" and when you are ok....doctor? But then he loves cars, trucks, and climbing under them...mechanic? It's amazing to think that Nick and I are raising this little person that one day is going to do something huge and amazing with his life. No matter what it is, you know he will make an impact. Neacel is becoming so independent, even more then he already was. Which means, he thinks that he doesn't need a nap and that bedtime is when he wants it, not at 8 like its always been. In fact, last week Neacel went to bed at 8 and around 9 we still heard him playing in his room. This isn't anything new, but will still would walk by his room and tell him to go to bed, he quickly told us no. Well, super long story short, Nick went in there at 10:30 to tuck him in and everything. As Nick opened the door Neacel booked it out of his room, and started dancing around the living room. Till midnight that night, Neacel was running around the living room laughing, dancing, jumping on the furniture, playing with toys etc etc. We asked him many times if he was going to bed, he quickly replied "No, UP UP" We just sat here watching him. We were laughing so hard. We had never seen him like this, this was like 3 days of energy dying to get out! At midnight, after trying to get him to lay down in our bed and trying everything in the book we finally just decided he needed to go to bed....at 1am Neacel was kicking our wall saying "No Sleepy Time.....UP UP!" My first thought was, well maybe he will sleep in, NOPE! Neacel was up at 8am that morning, and a brat all day. Luckily, we haven't had that happen again, but my goodness, it was one of those moments that you think about and just laugh and remember that even though everyone was tired and bratty the next day, we had a fun night together as a family, enjoying Neacels entertainment. That crazy wacky night, Neacel started saying "Neacel, I want..." and will sometimes still saying...maybe it was just the sugar rush that night?

Nick is doing great in school, just needs to figure out a study schedule. His Thursday teacher just piles on the reading, while Tuesday and Wednesday teachers give a decent amount without over doing it. So that's been a little hard on him. He will spend time Monday studying and then Tuesday and Wednesday reading at the school. By Thursday he doesn't have all of his reading done, so he has to spend time on Friday catching up with everything. Its just a cycle that he needs to find a way around, but the plan that he had hasn't worked because of that one class. So even though he wants to spend time with his wonderful family :-) he has been going to the school between noon-3 so that he can study a ton. Poor guy, I know it's best for him and for our family but it just stinks!

I finally was able to go to the dr. Broden is doing good with a strong heartbeat of about 130. Im measuring 32 weeks, so only about a half a week ahead of what I am. I can't schedule my c-section till Im 36 weeks, which sucks because Im ready to set the date now and don't plan on changing my mind. I know Ive leaned towards Oct 28th but Nick gave me a good reason not to go that day. He has school that night, and even though I don't care if he left the hospital and went to class, he has a huge project due that night. Again, I thought OK well just go to class, its not a big deal. Then he said that it would be hard to focus on this project knowing that I was in the hospital with a new baby....oops! I didn't think of it that way. So Oct 29th is the day unless for some reason the dr says No. I go to the dr again next week, because they didn't have my records so we will do another checkup just to make sure everything is stable since I hadn't seen a dr in a month in a half. Nick yells at me for still sleeping on my stomach, and Broden recently has started moving more, and a lot lower. Its painful to be honest. Ive got braxton hicks daily now, and usually spend my night laying in bed trying to relax and get them to quit. I'm wondering if all this is Broden's way of telling me he is going to be here early?

My grandpa's surgery went well. We will know in a week what he has.....it could be something as little at a folic acid deficiency or cancer. Either way, its a blessing to know what it is.

Quiet is never good

Let me start out by saying, I love Neacel to death. I love his laugh, the way he says "I love you" the way he thinks everything is hilarious, I just love the little boy that he is growing up to be. What I don't love....when he gets quiet! What mother doesn't like when her child is quiet? Aren't I supposed to love and take advantage of moments like that? Well, if you know Neacel, and I mean really, really, know Neacel, you know that quiet from him means that he is doing something he shouldn't be and is trying to not give it away.

One evening Nick and I were trying to throw dinner together and Neacel was playing in his room. Things got quiet, we didn't hear him talking about basketball, and we couldn't hear the farm that he always plays with. But then we heard sounds of him playing, and so we didn't check on him, and were'nt worried. So we went on making dinner and once it was done I walked around the corner to the picture above. Neacel sitting on a pillow with our brand new box of 1000 q-tips all over the floor. I think maybe 4 q-tips were still in the box. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So instead, I called Nick over and grabbed the camera. We stood there laughing, then Nick and Neacel cleaned them all up. And to think I hated when my brother wanted to play "52 card pick up" I would complain and punch him in the arm if he even threatened it. I now miss that game, because I think all of us moms can agree, we pick up more then 52 things a day, including children, toys, books, shoes, clothes etc etc.

Nick is in school full force this week. He spent most of Monday at the library studying and then was lucky enough to study at home today while Neacel was napping. He just got home and told me the teacher said that she will try to end class around 7:30 instead of about 8. Sounds good to me. That allows Neacel to see Dada before he goes to bed.

I don't normally ask for things like this but I have a huge testimony in the power of prayer. I'm not going to go into detail as to what is going on but if everyone could just keep my Grandpa in their prayers, I would be so grateful. He has surgery on Thursday, all I know is that it's something to do with his bone marrow. I don't know much about the surgery, but I know his condition and how he has reacted to other surgeries. We are keeping positive thoughts, but fear is getting the best of most of us.

We hope everyone is doing well. We miss everyone a ton, and will be soon posting pictures of the apartment and area. I just used up the battery on the camera taking pictures of Neacel and have yet to find the battery charger....oops!

Oopsie

Fact: I have a horrible time remembering, and finding time to blog
Fact: When I do remember, I end up looking at everyone's blog and don't do a darn thing with ours :-(

Well, we are pretty much settled into our apartment. We need to make a few changes to things but nothing major. I'll get it cleaned and organized completely and will post pictures soon...promise! I didn't love the place when we got here, but its growing on me. Just needs more pictures on the walls and no more boxes laying around and I think we will be set at that point. We haven't met anyone in the complex, and probably never will since people stay to themselves out here. Neacel says "hi" to everyone that passes him and they either say "hi" back to him or just look at him. We have been able to find some fun things to do in the area and have taken advantage of it all. There are tons of parks, and they all have a kiddie pool! Neacel hasn't complained once about that.

We have been to our new ward and love it! It's about half the size of a normal Utah ward but everyone is so nice. Our ward is a little bit of all ages, and they have the nursery split so there are plenty of kids around Neacel's age. I love the women in the Relief Society, they didn't hesitate to make me feel welcomed. They have play dates every Wednesday at a nearby park so Neacel and I get to go play. Nick liked the ward too, but likes to remind me that he sat next to a black guy. Neacel has done amazing at this ward too. It's almost like a different child at church. The first Sunday he was sharing Cheerios with the lady sitting next to us, and didn't freak out till I left for a few minutes...but he came back in sacrament without a tantrum. He did accidentally write on the guys pants next to me...khakis and blue crayon don't mix. I hope he was able to get the crayon out. Neacel goes right to nursery, no fight or anything and is in a daze watching the other kids when we come get him, he doesn't even realize we are in the room. His teacher did say that he seems to have a short attention span...she has no idea!

Nick started school last night, and found out that there is another LDS in his program. He went to BYU-I and was wearing a baseball hat of theirs so Nick approached him. The guy is from Pennsylvania, but still what are the odds in a smaller mostly female program that there would be a LDS male? Slim, very slim. Nick found out that the guy is married but didn't find out anything about kids...I think we might have to invite them over sometime. Nick likes the school, and likes that its not to far away. He has class Tuesday- Thursday's from 5-8ish. Can I just say how weird it is that he is gone in the evening? Neacel and I are totally lost. Neacel wasn't happy about Nick leaving last night, we will see what tonight brings.

Lastly, a little Broden/pregnancy update. I'm feeling ok, just about 30 weeks now. Still waiting on insurance so I haven't seen a Dr. in about 6 weeks...ooops! I get Braxton Hicks like crazy, I'm craving breaded shrimp (and I hate seafood). Broden has the weirdest movements at bedtime, and without fail gets the hiccups first thing in the morning and right as Im dozing off to bed! I've been getting a ton of lower abdomen pain, like little man is trying to headbutt his way out so that's been....fun? Broden loves my sciatic nerve, he pushes himself on it like they are stuck together 24/7. There has been many times that I can't walk because he is on it. So I will lay down and get him off of it, but as soon as I stand up, I can feel him wiggle his way back over to it. Little brat! I'm definitely ready to have him here though. I'm done being pregnant for now...I told Nick last night, that if I could have Broden now and know everything would be ok and he wouldn't have to be in the NICU then I totally would. Nick just stared at me. I just have the feeling of I'm done, I don't want another day of this, but Ill wait to have him till he is ready...or till the day I schedule my c section! Which if I can find a Dr that will allow me to go about a week and a half early Im hoping to have him Oct 28th or 29th! And as I sit here and type all of this, he is moving around to the point that the computer keeps jumping around. He is a ton calmer than Neacel was so that gives me hope that he won't completely kill me. I can't wait to see the boys together, and watch Neacel teach Broden things. Neacel recently will acknowledge Broden, before we would say something about the baby and Neacel didn't care. Now he will talk to Broden and give him a kiss, we ask him if he is going to play with Broden, and he usually tells us that he will teach him basketball. I know Neacel doesn't completely get it, but I think something is starting to click.

We love and miss everyone in Utah, but are so thankful for Nick to have the opportunity to go to school. We are thankful for all the phone calls and even though we don't answer them due to no reception in the apartment, we love listening to the voice mails before we go to bed (our room seems to be the only one with reception). Things are really starting to fall in place. I'm going to try and update the blog while Nick is at school, once Neacel has gone to bed....hopefully get some apartment/area pictures up soon!!! But like I said in the beginning, I'm horrible at remembering things!

We Made It!

I just thought I would write a quick little post about our trip to Ohio.
Wednesday was the first day on the road, we had a laundry basket full of snacks for Neacel and a diaper bag full of new Dollar Store toys and books. We were totally prepared. It was only suppose to be about a 10-12 hour drive, depending on stops for me and Neacel. Well, 15 hours later we arrived in North Platte, Nebraska. Neacel was a little grumpy but so were we so it was ok. Nick's back was killing him, my bum was killing me from sitting way to long and Neacel has never had to sit still that long so he was angry. We were about an hour out of Sidney, Nebraska....only about 2 1/2 hours from our hotel when our truck stalled. So we called Penske and a little over an hour later a mechanic was there and said he would have the truck fixed asap or he would tow us to sidney. We were tired and now stressed if we were going to make it on time....luckily it was a quick fix and we were back on the road in about 30-45 minutes. Thank goodness for Darin (the mechanic) and his good heart to help us out so quickly....he even ran to the store to grab a part instead of towing us. Then followed us for about an hour to make sure everything was ok.
Thursday was the day for traffic....goodness! I-80 kept going down to one lane and then because of the jerks who wanted to get over at the last minute we lost about an hour of time that day to just sitting in traffic. But the day only ended up being about a 12 hour trip so it was ok, and we had learned when to stop and how often for me so that helped a ton.
Friday, we were tired of the road, tired of sitting, tired of this big yellow stupid truck so we got up and on the road by 5am. Needless to say, Friday was the perfect trip. We pulled into our apartment complex by 3 and we were able to relax.

All in all, the trip was ok. Neacel did great, slept most of the time, and ate anytime he was awake. I didn't have problems with swelling, and Nick did an amazing job of getting us here and safely. Would I make the trip again? Not anytime soon. What did I learn? That we grow/eat way to much corn...I'm pretty sure that and the smell of cows is the best way to describe the whole way here. It was corn field after corn field, with a few major cities here and there.

We had a few problems with the apartment though, we realized that there was mold in our 1/2 bath and the ac didn't work along with a list of other things. We went down to the office yesterday morning because this just isn't ok and there were 8 guys here from the ward ready to help us unload the truck...and we wanted things fixed first. So Nick yelled at the girl in the office and long story short, everything is or has been taken care of. Maintenance was here within an hour fixing every little thing that Nick listed for them. The mold problem will be taken care of this week. They are going to rip the vanity out of our bathroom and put a new one in. I guess yelling sometimes does get things fixed. Nick feels bad about yelling at the girl though, he said she looked like she might cry so I think we will be making a trip over there with some cookies to say sorry and just explain it was stress and 35ish hrs in a truck! The ward had everything out of the truck within an hour and my family didn't hesitate to start unpacking. The house is in livable, semi organized condition...just with the mess of boxes and trash.

We are happy here, we love the area, and everyone from the ward was so kind. Nick even told me last night that one of the guys offered his home to us just in case things didn't work out with the apartment and they had to do something major to ours. He told nick they would be out of town for 3 weeks and we could stay there. How sweet and kind is that? He knows nothing about us other then we moved here from Utah and are trying to get comfy and he just offered his home. I was in complete shock when Nick said this, but it just reminds me that no matter where you are the church and its members are there in a heartbeat to help you out. It doesn't change state to state, its not something you have to search for, its there with open arms.

I know I said it would be a quick update, and it really wasn't but its about 10am and both the boys are sleeping. The house is quiet and my bowl of cereal was perfect...so I enjoyed sitting here with the bowl of cereal blogging about our interesting but fun past few days. We love and miss everyone, and I will update the blog as much as I can.

OH and also, since I can spill the beans now. My brother finally got his mission call. He will be serving in Riverside California! He reports to the MTC Oct. 13th!!!!!