I'm baaaack.....

And I know you all missed me so dearly. I don't know if it's laziness or busyness (or both) but blogging has been rather low on my list of priorities. Anyway, we're still alive and well...or somewhat well, I guess...we can't all manage to be healthy at the same time, but such is life in the winter.

So, we went to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful time!! We decided to drive, and drive straight through, but it actually ended up being ok. Mostly because John is really good at staying awake...I however, am not so great...though that may have had something to do with seeing Twilight at midnight the night before we left. Worth it though. My favorite part of the drive was when Andrew coughed so hard he threw up all over himself. I was driving and John started freaking out "He's puking, he's puking! PULL OVER!" Before the car had even come to a complete stop John had opened the door and jumped out. SUCH a wimp about vomit. Seriously. Boys.

Anyway, we got to spend an entire week with John's family and it was lovely. Andrew was in heaven, having someone (or several someones in this case) to play with and entertain him constantly. He adores his grandparents and aunts and uncles, and it was so fun to see him with them. It was also great to have everyone get to see Grant, since they hadn't seen him since his blessing in July.

It was a relaxing week, we played a lot of Wii and ate a lot of pie. It was declared "Pie Week '08", meaning there was a new pie every day, with six pies on Thanksgiving day. Fortunately for me (and my waistline), while I make pies, I don't eat them (except for chocolate chip pie and chocolate meringue pie). I got to try some new pie recipes, so I had a lot of fun.

The night before we left we took Andrew to see the lights at Temple Square, because he'd been telling us all week that he wanted to go see the temple (so cute!). It was crowded and cold, but also beautiful, and Andrew had a great time. Before we were even out of the state of Utah we were missing everyone. We love Texas, but sometimes it's too far away. If only it were located between California and Utah...who needs Nevada, anyway?

Here are some trip pictures, most of which were taken by "Sydawg", who Andrew had a blast with. Thanks Sarah!

Tagged Again

Morgan tagged me this time, and I love tags...so here goes!

*8 TV Shows I Like to Watch:

1. Pushing Daisies (but it's getting canceled....noooooooooo!)
2. Ugly Betty
3. Heroes
4. Fringe
5. Lost
6. Chuck
7. The Office
8. Samantha Who

I'm really behind on all of these shows though because I haven't been able to record them (need more DVD-RW discs!), which means I can only watch them on the internet (which is a pain).


*Favorite Restaurants (limiting to 8 will be tough...)

1. El Ranchito Taco Shop
2. In-N-Out
3. Bombay House
4. Babe's
5. Tepanyaki
6. Mandarin
7. Chipotle
8. Either Texas Roadhouse or Red Hot and Blue


*Favorite Places to Shop (hehe, everywhere...except WalMart)

1. Target
2. Costco
3. Michael's
4. amazon.com
5. Banana Republic, if I could still afford it, Old Navy instead
6. Best Buy
7. Pretty much any store with cute clothes and shoes
8. Any store that carries nice cooking/baking stuff...but again, I can't shop at these places right now


*Things that happened yesterday

1. Did preschool at Robyn's
2. Played with the kiddos at the park (Grant rode on the swing for the first time! It was cute.)
3. Watched The Office
4. Ate at Chipotle, even though I shouldn't have
5. Worked on Christmas lists
6. Filled out insurance info for next year...exciting, I know.
7. Laundry
8. Cleaned the oven (we had a nice little oven fire the other night...whoops! It was so John's fault though. :)


*Things I'm looking forward to:

1. Thanksgiving in Utah
2. Christmas in California
3. Andrew's birthday
4. Buying a house
5. The holiday season in general
6. Watching my children continue to learn and grow.
7. Going to see Twilight with the girls.
8. Appearing on Deal or No Deal and winning $1,000,000. Hey, a girl can dream.


*Things on my wishlist:

1. A house. But are we going to be here long enough for it to be worth it? Who knows.
2. A minivan. Yes, I want a minivan. Desperately. So?
3. Losing 25 pounds
4. Culinary school
5. To travel the world. But especially to at least make it to every continent.
6. To have a baby girl....no, I am not pregnant or even considering getting pregnant, or even ready to THINK about being pregnant again, but I do really want to have a girl. My boys ROCK but I want a daughter too.
7. Cubs win the World Series (though if they couldn't manage to do it this year, I'm thinking it's not gonna happen).
8. World peace....can't come up with anything else, sadly. But this would be a good one, don't ya think? Oooh, I know...opening my own bakery.

*8 people I am tagging:

1. Maren....maybe this way she'll actually update her blog!
2. Robyn
3. Laurel
4. Liz
5. Emily
6. Katie
7. Marni
8. OK, I'm out of people...go me.

7 Random Facts...

Robyn tagged me a few weeks ago, but I was having a hard time coming up with 7 random things (sad, huh?) so I kept putting it off. So here goes!

1. I have to eat my M&Ms in threes. If I'm about to finish a bag and I only have two left, I usually don't eat them. Yes, I'm a freak.

2. I've had at least four root canals that I can think of. I'm going to have dentures by the time I'm 40.

3. I love to sleep. Love, love, love it. Sadly, I don't get enough any more...oh, what I would give for even 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep (though I certainly don't have it as bad as some :). I miss you sleep!

4. Back when I was at BYU I promised I would never live in Texas. And now, here we are...living in Texas. And--gasp--enjoying it!

5. Whenever I drink a bottle of Dr. Pepper (yes, tsk tsk, I know) I never drink the last little bit. It drives John nuts, but I think it tastes bad.

6. I am going to go to culinary school (for the baking/pastry program). I don't know WHEN I'll do it, but I will. And then I will open my bakery.

7. I'm training for a half-marathon that's in February, but I'm discovering that my (relatively) young body thinks it's 40. My shins hurt, my knees hurt....it's awful. When I'm on an elliptical machine I do great, but when I'm running outside and have lots of impact on my shins/knees...yikes. Here's hoping I can get this all figured out before the half-marathon!

Ok, tag... anyone who wants to be is it. Lame, I know. My brain is shutting down though, so that's the best I can do.

"I was just wondering if you were available for Bar Mitzvahs and Christenings in addition to Ruby Weddings."

Name that movie!

Yep, it's Bridget Jones's Diary in all its awesomeness. When I was in the car today the song "All by Myself" came on the radio. I don't think it's possible to hear that song without thinking of that movie. Love it.

Other wonderful quotes:

Interviewer: What do you think about the El Nino phenomenon?
Bridget: It's a blip. Latin music's on its way out.

Mark Darcy: I like you, very much.
Bridget: Ah, apart from the smoking and the drinking, the vulgar mother and... ah, the verbal diarrhea.
Mark Darcy: No, I like you very much. Just as you are.

Bridget: Look, are you and Cosmo in on this together? Because every time I see you, you seem to go out of your way to make me feel like a COMPLETE idiot. And you really needn't bother: I already feel like an idiot most of the time anyway - with, or without the fireman's pole.

Mark Darcy: Mother, I do not need a blind date. Particularly not with some verbally incontinent spinster who drinks like a fish, smokes like a chimney, and dresses like her mother

One Year Ago....

An aerial shot of the house/property before the fire.

An aerial shot of the house after the fire, before the debris had been cleared.

It was one year ago today that my parents' house (and my childhood home) burned down in the southern California Witch Creek fire. On one hand, the whole event seems like an eternity ago...I feel like the picture of that house that I have in my head is getting less and less clear as time goes on. I wonder if one day I'll hardly be able to remember what it looked like. On the other hand, it seems like it all just happened. Sometimes when I think about my parents, or when I talk to them on the phone, I picture them sitting in that house, perhaps down in their office where they spent so much time. But after a year (and several visits to the house they're in now) I can usually remember to picture them in their current house. It's less weird to visit there now than it was a year ago, but still...everything is so different. There's hardly anything in that house that my parents owned before the fire. But my family still lives there, so it's still feels like home to me.

Wildfires are a threat every year, and I remember being evacuated on multiple occasions growing up. With the Witch Creek fire, while it seemed a little scarier, I didn't actually ever think that the house would actually burn down. I was obsessed with getting as much news about the fire as I could. My grandparents, my dad (my mom was in Boston for the birth of grandson #3...poor Maren, what a thing to have happen 3 days after you have a baby!) and the foster kids evacuated at 5:30am. Early that evening, I got a call from my dear friend Liz while I was shopping at Burlington Coat Factory (I was looking for something very specific for Andrew, maybe it was a coat...I don't really remember now) and she politely listened while I babbled about what little news I had, that so and so's hose had burned down, but last I knew my parents' house was still fine. As I was walking past the shoe section (isn't it weird the details you remember?), Liz told me that her dad (a volunteer sheriff) had been out and seen that my parents' house was gone. Poor Liz had to sit there and listen to me cry, I was so shocked. I got off the phone with her and called my mom, who hadn't heard the news yet.

Most of my stuff has been out of that house for years, though I did still have some things sitting in my old closet and the garage. But my dad got out the very most important things, thank goodness. And everyone was safe! I'll occasionally remember something random that burned up...like my wedding bouquet. And I mourn the loss of the beautiful baby grand piano that I wanted to inherit. And while this event added more stress to my already overstressed parents, I think everything happens for a reason (hehe, isn't that easy for ME to say since I'm so removed from the situation?). My parents were able to experience an incredible outpouring of love from the community, and it was a great thing to see.

So anyway, happy one year anniversary! ;) We miss you, house; good times were had by all.

Standing in the general area of my old bedroom.

Ah, the beloved piano...

From what was the top story, looking down...

Where the office used to be.

Andrew's checking out the things that were found in the rubble. Look, a cupcake pan!

Driving out to the house....there were some really lucky people whose homes just barely escaped the fire.

Lucky people...

A Mangum family Christmas.

From the pool area, looking towards the back of the house.

Second garage/grandparents' rooms.

This was taken the day of the fire, before my family had been out to see it. The caption on the news website said "No one was around to see these house at 18111 Old Coach Road burn."

Where the garage used to be.

The garage, in all its mouse-y glory. :)

Pretty pool...

This is one of the few pictures I can find of the inside of the house. You can see the kitchen in the background.

Not so pretty pool...

Before shot of previous picture.

Front door area.

Front door area before fire.

My wonderful in-laws came down from Utah to help sift through the debris.

My parents and in-laws during the debris sorting. I wish I could've been there! Hey look, you can see Michelle's shower!

October Adventures

We've been keeping relatively busy lately, enjoying some fun outings now that the weather is cooling down and it's not unbearable to be outside. Two weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch with some friends. Andrew got to run around like crazy, jump in bounce houses, go on a hayride, and just have fun in general. Grant just sat there in the stroller, tolerating it all. What a trooper. It was a really fun day! Here's a slide show of our pumpkin patch adventures:

Last week we made a trip to the main fire station here in Denton. They have a little museum, which was mostly full of stuff Andrew didn't care about, though there were some fun hoses, hats, and uniforms that the kids enjoyed. A very nice firefighter took us on a tour of the entire station, and the kids were in heaven! In the living quarters there was a large display case FULL of firetrucks, Andrew desperately wanted to play with them. When we finally got to the actual firetrucks, Andrew was really scared. The firefighter opened the driver's side and said the kids could get in, but Andrew just wouldn't do it. He liked looking, just not touching. We also got to see the Hazmat truck, the bomb squad truck, and the search and rescue boat. It was pretty awesome! After the firestation we went to the park for a picnic, which is always fun. While our toddlers were playing, we sat and fed our babies (yep, all three of us have babies under 8 months...it's the Denton 4th ward baby boom!) we were approached by a woman who handed us cards--breastfeeding licenses, if you will--and told us she thought what we were doing was so great. Good for us for nursing in public. She was really nice, and I kind of got a chuckle when she said she and the other parents were from the Denton AP (attachment parenting) group. I could tell, because some of them looked a bit like hippies...like the guy with the really long hair wearing a Moby Wrap. The day I catch my husband wearing our Moby Wrap, I will die of shock. Anyway, it was nice to get a positive reaction for nursing in public, because I've definitely received some not so positive looks before.

And in super exciting news, Andrew is now fully potty trained. Woo hoo! I love not having two kids in diapers. He's been using the potty for the past year or so, but a few weeks ago we got really serious about it. Then about two weeks ago, he was just done with diapers. It was great! He (knock on wood) hasn't had any accidents since then (even at night!) and does great when we're out of the house too. Some times I don't love the whole underwear thing though, like when we were at Wal-Mart (shudder...it's REALLY too bad they're the only ones who carry my tortillas!) and Andrew told me he had to use the bathroom. Ugh, the Wal-Mart bathroom! I guess it's worth it though. :)

Grant is five months old now and reaching some fun milestones! He rolls all over the place, so we really have to watch him now. And he's starting to love solids (especially carrots and pears) and only need to nurse once at night (thank goodness). I finally found a Bumbo for him and he loves it, so hopefully he'll be able to sit up on his own soon. He also might be trying to crawl...he does this hilarious scoot thing where he puts his head down and his butt up and then pushes forward. He doesn't get very far, but I bet he will soon. My favorite thing is that he sucks on his toes, it's hilarious. He's a flexible little guy! He's SUCH a happy, smiley baby and such a wonderful addition to our family. And here's another slide show, this time of the fire station and other cute, random pictures:

So, life is good and we are really excited for the upcoming holiday season. My parents are coming for Halloween, then we get to go to Utah for Thanksgiving and California for Christmas. Exciting! Poor Andrew will be so bored come January, I know he'll be begging to go see grandma and grandpa. And by then he'll be 3....holy cow!! Time flies.

Oh, and please help give either John or I get "I told you so" rights by voting in our poll (to the left).

Match-o-Matic

So we found this political quiz (thanks Katie!) and I think you should all go take it. It's very interesting...it matched me up with McCain (who beat Obama 7-6) and it matched John up with Obama (who beat McCain 7-6). So go, GO take it. And then come back and share your results. :)

A night in the life...

I am so unbelievably tired I can barely function. Grant is being....less than good at night lately. I got home from Young Womens at about 9pm last night, fed Grant, and had him in bed before 10pm. I was excited that he ate so late, I thought he'd sleep until 3 or 4am. Well, I was irresponsible and stayed up late to watch Pushing Daisies (I couldn't help myself!) and didn't get to bed until almost midnight. Stupid thing to do when you have to get up with a baby. Anyway, Grant woke up around 1am, which was extremely irritating. I sat on the couch with him until 3am, trying to stay awake long enough to feed him (obviously didn't work very well...) and went back to bed around 3:15. When my alarm went off at 5:15, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to go workout (due to a stupid incident involving my foot and a tape dispenser...yeah, so cool) and so I sent a message to my workout buddy and went back to sleep. 20 minutes later, Grant cried. What?!?! UGH! I was so frustrated. I went and got him and started to feed him, hoping to be able to put him back down to bed after he ate so I could get some sleep. As I was finishing feeding him, however, Andrew woke up and that was the end of my dream to go back to sleep. I'm SO tired. It's only 10am and I'm really hoping I can make it through the day...

In happier news, some awesome pictures from our recent adventures are forthcoming. Stay tuned.

Yes, that's right. I am MAD at the Cubs. Boo.

I love Fall

What's not to love about Fall? Temperature cooling, leaves changing colors...not that any of that happens here, but hey. That's not what excites me about Fall (though maybe it would if I lived somewhere where it happened). What excites me about Fall is the new television season. Wahoo! Something good to watch every night! And yes, I do watch too much TV when the Fall season starts....I can't help it! Heroes, Pushing Daisies, ANTM, Ugly Betty, The Office, Fringe. Fringe! Has anyone else seen that show? So good. And I've finally seen Chuck, which was also very good. Oooh, and Samantha Who starts soon...yikes, so much TV. I just love it though. Let's have no more strikes this year!

Grant Hates Showers

Grant protesting my shower.

Silly child. Grant seriously hates it when I take showers. It doesn't matter how good a mood he's in when I get in the shower, he freaks out as soon as the water is on and the curtain is shut. I'm not exaggerating when I say he cries every single time I get in the shower, unless John is home. He'll be napping and he get in the shower and he'll start to cry. What gives? Today he was in the happiest, smiliest mood, but not even sixty seconds into my shower he started to wail. This kid doesn't just cry when I shower, he SCREAMS. Screams bloody murder. It's ridiculous. I don't know if it's that he doesn't like the sound of the water or he just doesn't like for me to have five minutes to myself to get clean, but he just doesn't like it. If it weren't so dang frustrating it might be comical.

The problem is, dealing with a fussy Grant makes me want to go bake some of these:



Not a good temptation...if I go make myself cookies every time I get frustrated, I'll not just never lose this baby weight, I'll end up the size of a whale. Sigh. I love love love cookies.

Go Cubbies!

The Nelsen household is very excited today....the Chicago Cubs clinched the NL Central division. Woo hoo! Our new blogger template is in honor of them, hopefully we will be able to leave it up until October when the Cubs win the World Series! Sorry Dodgers (gag, no offense Liz), sorry Angels, sorry even to Tampa Bay (I'd actually like to see them win if the Cubs don't), but it's gonna be the Cubbies this year! 2008 marks the 100 year anniversary of the Cubs last World Series title, so it's a perfect year for them to finally do it.

What's been going on...

Things have not been terribly exciting around here lately, but here's the latest. About three weeks ago, we all got colds...not a big deal for me, John, or Andrew, but poor little Grant is another story. His cold turned into bronchiolitis and he's still trying to get better. He has a horrible cough and is so congested...it's just sad! And he has such a hard time eating because he can barely breath. Poor little guy. We've been to the doctor a few times, and yesterday the doc said he's gotten to the point where we need to breathing treatments (I guess it's a good thing we already have a nebulizer...). Grant does NOT enjoy these breathing treatments, to say the least. He hates having that mask over his face and screams the whole time we do it. So sad.

This is the only time he didn't freak out during a breathing treatment--good job Grant!

In more sad news, Grant had quite the spill today. I took the boys out to the playground (nice weather today, only 70 degrees!) and as we were walking back, I let Andrew push Grant in the stroller. It's a small, light stroller, and I was walking next to Andrew the whole time to make sure he didn't go too fast or anything. Before I could react, however, Andrew tried to drive the stroller over the side of a little hill, and it tipped over. Grant face planted it into the dirt and was SO upset. The poor little guy had dirt all over his face, and in his mouth and nose. Yes, I feel like the worst mother ever (and sadly, that is not the worst bad mom experience I've had in the past few months, but the other incidents are too embarrassing to share).

Andrew is as hilarious as ever. When my parents were here a couple of weeks ago, they told Andrew that he gets to go see them for Christmas, and that we'll open presents and go see the train. Now every day (at least once) Andrew will say "Go see grandma, grandpa, open presents, see train, yay!" It's quite adorable. Sometimes his talking is just so cute that I can't help but laugh, and he'll crinkle his nose and say "What's so funny?" It's hilarious.

We also made an amazing discovery the other night at dinner. We were having these delicious wraps (with, by the way, the best homemade guacamole ever) and we discovered that Andrew LOVES fresh spinach. Whoulda thought? He was devouring it like Popeye does, it was crazy. We kept having to tell him he had to eat some of the other things before he could have more.

In happy Grant news, we are excited that he has started to roll over...it's so cute, though I can't believe he's getting that old already. What's funniest is when he tries to roll over while in his swing or something. He gets so mad when he can't! I'm hoping he'll sit up soon, because it will make things so much easier. We also started him on solids yesterday (happy 4 months baby Grant!) and he wasn't the biggest fan. I didn't think I was going to start him so early, because it was pretty pointless with Andrew when we started that early. But since my milk supply is so low, I figured if he were getting a little nutrition from solids, maybe we would be able to keep exclusively breastfeeding.

And that's the past couple of weeks in a nutshell. I adore my boys. :)

Grant's first experience eating solids:

First bite...

He's not sure what he thinks...

Ewwww, carrots!

And so he spits it all out.

Please don't make me eat any more!