Saturday, January 30, 2010

Scrapbooking

Mac's baby book is done! The printer I'm going to use is having a sale next weekend, so I'll order the prints then and have my book done before baby comes--hopefully! I've already purchased the binder and page protectors, so we're ready!








I'm a little behind on Project 365, but here is the page I finished today.
By the way, all my meals are officially frozen, so that's good. My list is slowly but surely getting smaller. Now if we could only all get well. I'm still just as sick as I was a week ago, and Mac has come down with something new, with a raging sore throat and fairly high temperature. Please please please let us all get well before baby!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Leiden's Dinner Contribution

Brad put a little of the flat black cherry soda in his cup and topped it off with some still-super-fizzy lemon lime. This was the ensuing conversation:

Leiden says, "Daddy, why did you do that?"
Brad says, "Because I'm a scientist."
Mercedes says, "Or an Indian." (You know, because he was concocting a wild indian...if I have to explain it...)

Brad graciously smiles at my poor joke, and Leiden says,
"Daddy's an idiot!"

Mac's Prayer

Mac has just recently deigned to repeat words for prayers. Usually she'll wait for prompting, but tonight before dinner, I prompted her, "Heavenly Father," and she said, "Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." This was completed with her arms spread open wide.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Last Little While--the Fast Version

This will be a smattering kind of post--I try to space out posts, but then I just get behind. On the plus side, I have been diligent in getting a picture a day for my 365 project--some of these are the picture from that day, and some are not. Anyway, here's the last little bit in a nutshell!

I found a gorgeous remnant of silk fabric for $4/yard (originally four times that), so the girls' dresses this year for Easter will be made of real silk. Not what I usually do, but the color was gorgeous, and you can't get even faux silk for that price! More pictures to come later as the project gets more underway.



I bought some playdoh to take to Nursery, but I failed to put it in the cupboard where the girls couldn't see it. So for about 2 days they begged to play with it, as our home playdoh has gone the way of the earth. I kept saying no, and then caved. It was astounding how long they both played with the stuff--and for days! This is Leiden's airplane. The white blobs are supposed to be the windows. This actually marked a 'maturing' moment for Leiden: she asked me to show her how to make an airplane--I think she wanted instructions like they have for other things. I told her I wasn't going to show her, but that I wanted her to think about what an airplane looks like, and just do her best to make it. Usually she'll balk and eventually just stop what she's doing, but this time, she didn't. She reasoned that they have long bodies, wings at the side, a tail, and windows.



She also made a bird, this time by following the instructions on the package.



My mother is astounded every day when I tell her Mac's latest. She really is just into everything. There is nothing sacred, nothing that she thinks she is not supposed to play with. This, I don't need anyone to tell me, is a dangerous view of life. The other day's escapades had to do with my mascara. (This was a day before she was diagnosed with pinkeye, so needless to say, that mascara went in the garbage.) Again, this was one of those, "Wait right here, don't move until I take a picture", and then after the picture is taken, "No, no! We don't get into Mommy's makeup!" Our priorities must be in order. Pictures first, scolding second.

I have to say, she has amazing eyelashes. And amazing dexterity to not get any IN her eyes. I had a really hard time cleaning it off, and for the rest of the day she looked vaguely like Alice Cooper.



This is a great picture of Leiden. The girls were doing ring around the rosies.



Mac was also having a great time.




Brad was encouraging the girls to jump off the ottoman and utilizing the fast action pictures the camera is capable of. Then of course, the obligatory lecture when the girls wouldn't stop jumping.
I have resolved to do more crafts with the girls, and this was a fun one I found to make a paper mache snowman with balloons. They are not done, yet, so I'll put more up later. I haven't done paper mache in years. And I was exceptionally naive to think that Mac might be capable of handling said craft.
Leiden thought it was great.

Last Monday, when I came in to Leiden's preschool, her teacher grabbed me and told me she had fallen outside on the ice and banged her cheek. As soon as Leiden saw me, she burst into tears and came running for a great big hug. The redness has mostly gone away, now, but she also scraped it, so it's scabbed over now.
I am frantically trying to get ready for this little baby coming. Have you seen my ticker?! 3 weeks, my friends. But this frantic feeling really only exists in my head, as I can't seem to get off my duff for very long to DO any of the things on my really long 'before baby comes' list. However, I did get some meals frozen--about half of what I've planned and already bought the food for. Maybe I'll finish tomorrow.
As soon as Mac wakes up from her nap, we're heading to Target to get childproof door knob covers. This morning, she got into my foundation (the 12 hour wear kind) and slathered it all over her face--and the carpet! It's hard to take a picture of, but it's the mottled bit of her right cheek that's slightly darker than the rest of her skin and a little more orangeish. The carpet looks much worse.

Whew! I'm sure I'll have more pictures soon, but here is the catch up!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Ice Skating

Last weekend, Leiden got to go ice skating at the community center. She did a great job--she hasn't been skating for over a year, but this place rented helmets and the little 'walker' in addition to the skates. The walker really helped her feel more independent on the ice.



Brad and Leiden had intended to meet her friend Ella there with her dad, but they ended up running into several other families from the ward there! A party!



Here's some live action!


Thursday, January 21, 2010

Catch Up with Life (and Scrapbooking!)

Well. Brad was so excited to get his eyes done. He has been so looking forward to a life without glasses and contacts. (He can't stand them.) Unfortunately, he is not a candidate for the procedure! The doctor gave him his consultation, and the end result was that his corneas are too thin. He will have to have glasses and contacts for the rest of his life.

I felt really bad for his disappointed hopes, so I made him some raspberry-lemonade bars. (As a side note, they were not that good, and the recipe I used was a classic case of some people being too talented of a photographer. On the blog I found the recipe on, these were a BRIGHT, gorgeous raspberry pink and looked absolutely divine. As you can tell, even taking into consideration the gap between this lady's photography skills and mine, these do not look insanely appetizing.)



Still going strong with the scrapbooking. I've completed a bunch more pages, but I'll put them up tomorrow. Here is Week 2 pg 1 again. I added a border, and think I like it better than before, but it's still not my best effort. Frustrating to admit, particularly when I don't know what to do to make it better!! I honestly think I just prefer white backgrounds. I am, in fact, in love with white or very pale backgrounds. I just think they show off the photos better, but if I'm going to be making 52 two-page-layouts, I've got to have a bit of variety. All will be plain, though.



And here's Week 2, pg 2. I like it better than the above.



Getting caught up with scrapbooking has become an obsession at this point. Never mind that I have like 30 (some big) things on the to-do-before-baby-comes list. There is something so satisfying about getting memories committed to 'paper'--or at least paired with some journaling. Since I rarely write in a journal, this blog and my scrapbooking are it! At any rate, thanks for indulging me my spot to showcase all my pages!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Scrapbooking Frenzy

I am totally on a roll here! I have one more page in Mac's 11th month, which only leaves me with about 6 pages total for her baby book to be done!



In the midst of it all, I have also completed the second Week 1 page,
and the first Week 2 page. Although something's wrong with this page. I'm not sure what it needs, but it's not done. I hate that. If you have any suggestions, let me know.


To top it all off, I used my Wonder Mill this morning to grind up 6 cups of wheat flour (in like 45 seconds!!) and made two loaves of bread.
Down side to all this wonderfulness? Mac has come down with yet another cold. Can't win them all.

Friday, January 15, 2010

The Other Day

I really do have a pleasant wake up call in the morning. I always hear Leiden get up and go to the bathroom, and then the show begins. Leiden getting up always wakes Mac up, and so for the first few minutes while Leiden is in the bathroom, I hear kind of mumbly noises that come from Mac waking up. Then, when Leiden returns to her room, the squealing begins. And I mean squealing. I don't even know what they're doing in there, but Mac is still in the crib, and I've finally trained Leiden to not get in with her, so I don't really care. The noise is phenomenal, and it makes me smile every time--perhaps a bigger smile when it's after 7:00 AM, but smile none the less.



I always ask Brad if he has any requests for dinners during the week, and this week he chose Indian food. I have never made Indian food in my life! So we looked up recipes and found Chicken Tikka Masala. It had high ratings, so we decided to give it a go. I am no food photographer, so it looks less than appetizing, but I was pleasantly surprised. I cut out a ton of the salt (it called for a total of almost 5 tsp.) and all but a pinch of the cayenne pepper (I am, after all, 8 months pregnant with a low spice tolerance!), and it turned out pretty good. The smell of the leftovers turned my stomach the next day, but it was good.



The flat bread that is eaten with the meal is called Naan. It's really good. Basic bread with garlic, but flattened, brushed on both sides with butter, and cooked like a tortilla on the griddle. (You do it on the grill if it's warm weather.)


All in all, a good day.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

More Baby Book

Mac's baby book should be finished next week or so, which will be so awesome. Now I need to figure out where to print it so I can have a physical book to look at.










Monday, January 11, 2010

Little Troublemaker

Mac is truly our troublemaker--and she gets away with a lot because who could resist this face?



She knows full well that she is to remain seated at the table, but this is what happens almost every meal, now. She stands up either on her booster seat or on the chair right in front of it. This is a rather precarious perch. And then she looks at you like this:



I'm sure some of you out there are thinking, "If you don't want her standing up, then strap her into the seat!" Believe me, I've thought of the same thing. The problem? She's a big girl, and the booster seat straps fit her very tightly. So we end up with this.



And darn it, she knows she's cute.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Birthday and Christmas (and maybe next birthday, too) for Mercedes

My Christmas (and birthday--it was really expensive...) was a wheat grinder! Not, perhaps, the most exciting of gifts, but it was what I asked my parents and Brad's for. It finally came in the mail on January 5, and I was totally excited to use it!

It grinds wheat like a dream, and although it boasts being one of the quietest mills out there, it was still pretty loud, so I'm glad I went with it! I have a hand grinder, which I have certainly used, but it takes forever to grind any substantial amount of wheat in it. This will grind 8 cups of wheat berries in something like 2 minutes. That's 12 cups of wheat flour!

Lest you think I am entirely boring and pedestrian for asking for a wheat grinder, Brad's Christmas present for me was all five seasons of the TV show Alias, also by request.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Christmas Day

And finally, here is Christmas Day! We all spent the night at Grandma's house, and this picture was taken at 7:29 Utah time. Not bad for Christmas morning. We had to wait on the stairs for the Macdonald boys (the younger ones) to come up from the basement.


Mac looking in her stocking.



Mac is all about being 'pretty' and a 'princess'. So she got some pretty princess jewelry. She still wears it around all the time.



Leiden opening her PillowPet--a lion, by request.



Mac got one, too, a doggy. They love them! Thanks so much, Grandma!



Leiden wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up, so she got some excavating materials in her stocking. She proved to be a little less than patient, but she is, after all, only 4.



Later on, at Great Bapa's, we had Christmas with Grandmere and Bapa. Mac got a dolly with a bunch of accessories--binky included.



Leiden got a massive collection of Polly Pockets, which, surprise! Mac likes them, too.


Brad is getting lasik done on his eyes in a couple weeks, so money was the order of the day. Grandmere and Bapa are incredibly clever people, so they did a spin on the Geico ad. Can you see the money stack with the googly eyes? The card that came with it was complete with the commercial's song recorded on it.



What about my Christmas, you ask? We'll get to that tomorrow!