Its Not Very Often....

...that I throw out our left over dinner. Thats not to say that I'm an excellent cook... it just means that most times we can handle eating our dinner for lunch the next day. But tonight... it was awful. Thank heavens for the salad and baked potato because if those weren't there... Yeah. 

I've made this recipe before and it was awesome. It's suppose to look like this: 

Yummy right?

But it ended up looking like this:

Gross Right?

A disgrace to salmon everywhere!! Oh and top of that I said to Landon, "This is one of the worst meals i've ever made" and my sweet sensitive husband said, "No its not. You've made worse." Thanks babe. Thanks. :)

Anyway while I was throwing away said despicable fish, Jax was unloading the dirty dishes and BAM. Broken bowl. Lucky it wasn't too loud so he wasn't too scared about it.

and with that we say good bye and good night!

Happy Thursday

No Good Dirty Rotten Pinterest

Yep! I don't like Pinterest. There is a reason I don't have an account and a reason why I never get on to look at things. However, today, for some reason I thought pinterest was my answer.

Don't get me wrong. Pinterest is great for most people. Dare I say everyone else but me. My sister-in-law Sarah has found/done AWESOME things from pinterest.  My neighbor Tiffany has done some super cute things in her home from pinterest. My friend Carissa has found ideas to use with her kids... and they loved it! I think even my mother has found pinterest useful. So for the record I don't hate pinterest lovers I just hate pinterest.

Maybe one day. One day I will like it. And I will not be proud and still pretend I don't. But for today. And for right now. Let me hate it. 

I'm sure you're wondering why the rant. Let me explain. 

This morning I woke up with Jax at 6:30. We came downstairs and I made my lovely to-do list for the day. By the time Jax was down for his first nap, I had done two loads of laundry, the dishes, swept, mopped, written in my journal, read my scriptures and taken a shower. I was feeling pretty good about myself. Then... I thought, "I want to do my hair different today." First mistake. I ALWAYS do this. I'm not good at hair. I don't enjoying doing it. But for some reason I think if I'm just really careful my hair will look like my sister-in-laws hair (Lacey) or some hair on a magazine. NOPE. It never does. And I always get mad at myself for trying. I just need to stick with what I know. Straight, little curl, down. Period. 

Anyway. So I had that thought. And I thought, "Hmmm maybe pinterest will have some cute up-dos." So venturing onto pinterest for honestly the third time in my life... I found some of the cutest, some of the "easiest" some of the coolest hair dos ever. Some you can use socks. Some you can use scarfs. Others you just twist and I even found ones that you can do on the subway while driving to work. Who needs that tutorial? Nonetheless... they were adorable. So I was thinking... "My hair is going to look awesome today. AWESOME!" 

Well it doesn't. I tried three different "easy" "simple" "do-it-with-you-eyes-closed" hair dos and all of them failed. I ended up with my hair in a simple pony tail an hour later. AN HOUR. Stupid. I blame Pinterest. Well me and pinterest. I just need to stick with what I know and be happy with that. And most days I am. Blah. Stupid... no good... dirty rotten... pinterest. Stay. Away. 

HA! On a happier note... this gave me chills this morning :). 

Happy Wednesday

Monday @ Noon

We finished our first round of tests on Monday. How were they? Well they were harder and easier then expected. I have had this image in my head of how medical school would be. And its been a lot different. I see Landon more then I planned on seeing him. So for me they weren't as bad as I anticipated. Landon manages his time really well and he doesn't stress out very often. So those two things together makes it so, even during test week, I am with him at least an hour every day. And Sunday I am with him basically all day.

For Landon, I think they were harder then he anticipated. Three tests, totaling 280+ questions, asking things like this;

"Which of the following 5 statements are true" 

Statements given here 

1: Only one statement is true 

2: Only two statements are true 

3: Three statements are true 

4: Four statements are true 

5: Five Statements are true 

6: All statements are true 

7: None of the statements are true. 

But I think he likes that the first round of tests are over and he knows what to expect. All and all I would say we made it through on a good note :). 

Landon spent most of the day studying on Saturday. Jax and I were feeling a little cooped up so we went on a date. We drove to the mall and got Chinese food (bad idea ps) and then went a bought Jax some shoes. (Which he doesn't like. So I think I will wait til he can really REALLY walk not just take a few steps and fall.)

Mommy-Son Date

On Monday Landon finished his third test and so we headed to the Canal in downtown indianapolis. On our way I kept saying, "It is monday @ noon and I get to go with my husband to have a picnic in the park... Medical School ROCKS!" Yes one of the advantages of school are days like this when there is a small break between finished tests and new classes... I will enjoy these days as I KNOW they are numbered! 

We walked down a little portion of the Canal, but we decided we liked the nature feeling better then the city feel. So we found a beautiful park on a perfectly weathered day and had lunch. Jax is getting SO close to being able to walk. He can stand by himself now and take one or two steps before falling. 

Life is good.

Happy Tuesday

Ordinary Moments

PRESIDENT UCHTDORF  said:

"The lesson here is that if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us. 

"This is not to say that we should abandon hope or temper our goals. Never stop striving for the best that is within you. Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don’t close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day’s ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life. 

"The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy."

 I listened to this talk three times this morning. I'm getting so excited for General Conference!!! 

I have a new goal. I'm posting here so that I have more of a motivation to keep it. When Jax's thinks of me, I don't want him to connect the computer, telephone, or television. I know that he is young and won't remember his life right now, but I also know that habits are hard to break sometimes. So i'm starting now. 

GOAL: When Jaxson is awake I will not leisurely be one my computer, phone, or television.

In Acts 17:27 it says, "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:" I know that God is always there for us. I want my children to feel the same way so i'm starting now to work on this. I know that I will fail multiple times, but I have to try! 

Jax and I are going on an adventure this afternoon :). Have a great weekend!

Living in the Now

President Thomas S. Monson, the Prophet of the LDS church gave a talk a few years back about finding joy in the journey. That talk has stayed with me since. I'm constantly trying to find ways to find joy in the journey. Landon and I are loving our life right now and we feel very blessed.

With that said, i'm a planner. I'm always thinking about not just the next week, but the next months, years, and decades to come. Someone asked me today what our lucky number is (when it comes to kids). I should have given the correct answer, "Whatever the Lord has in store for us," but I gave my desired answer instead... "8." As much as I love the situation we are in, I realized today that I spend a good amount of time envisioning what our family will look like in 15 years instead of what our family looks like right now. I think its healthy to be excited about the future. I think we should have goals and we should be looking forward. But not so much that when things don't go exactly as planned you get disappointed with an otherwise perfect pictur.

Who knows how many children we will end be able to have, who knows where we will end up living, who knows what callings are in store for us, and what hardships we have yet to face. As a glorfied planner, the 'who knows' can be enough to stress you out. But i'm just not going to let it. I'm going to live in the now. I'm going to hope for a bright future, trust in the Lord, and do what is right. I'm not going to worry about my plan not going according to plan and recognize its His plan anyways. Living in the now, much better then living in the future!

And now, ironically, i'm going to post some pictures of the past couple of days.

This weeks pictureless moments: 

•  Book Club at Maddie's home! So fun with the yummiest banana bread. We read and discussed The Book Thief  
• Progressive Dinner. We had a progressive dinner with about 25 other families in our ward. Everyone split up and went to different homes for appetizers, main course, and dessert. We hosted 4 families for the main course. Such a fun idea! Thanks Kristin
• My first hair cut. Yes I gave Lando a hair cut (finally) and yes it wasn't pretty. Lando's sister has been cutting his hair since... forever... and she is SO good. Now Landon is walking around school with a very unprofessional haircut. Hopefully i'll get better soon.
• Sunday picnic with Diane. We have a lovely older lady as a neighbor and she loves Jax and me. She comes over for a couple of hours every other day or so. She is lonely. Sunday I gave her a Book of Mormon and we discussed some of the church's doctrines. Amazing! She promised me she would come to church soon. 

Now for the pictures

Jax and I went to the Indianapolis Zoo! Jax was afraid of the dolphins (he cried every time they jumped of the water) but he LOVED the ducks... which is fitting because he has an Uncle Duck!

Gary drove down to visit from Chicago. We went to lunch together and then watched the BYU UTah game. Sad! But I did get some good pre-game shots!

 Gary, Johnny, Me! Weird that there are more Edwards siblings in the Midwest then in Utah! 

FALL!!!! Oh how I LOVE fall!!! Probably what I will miss most about Utah. So I brought a little fall spirit to our home this week! Made a wreath, basket, two picture hangings and a few other small decorations!

And finally! I threw a baby shower for two lovely ladies in our ward. It was last night and turned out great. Homemade Lemon Ice Cream and different kinds of breads. We had 19 people come and we had a lot of fun! 

 I had saved some of Jax's baby food jars. I took off the labeling and put a pink strip of paper around. Then filled it with the yummiest ice cream ever and topped with a rasberry. I thought they turned out pretty cute! 

I also made tab blankets for the little babies! It was fun to be crafty and homemaker-y this week! I feel like a real grown up person these days. Doing things all by myself with out my mom. (Oh wait... I think I called her 8 times while I was making the ice cream). :) I guess some grown-ups will always need their moms! 

Happy Wednesday!

Just One of Those Days Part 2

Yep! Today, unlike this day, was one of those days I never want to forget. Nothing special happened. It was just one of those days where you get SO much done and your so happy and you do the same things as you always do, and you wonder why you can't do this everyday? A few things I want to remember about today!

5:47am: Jax wakes up screaming! Not sure if it was teething or he had a nightmare, but I got to rock him back to sleep! He isn't a cuddly baby, so having him fall asleep on me every once in a while is the best feeling in the world!

10:37am: Killed a spider with mold remover spray. HA! Vengeance is mine! I hate spiders. (Sorry to all of you who don't believe in killing spiders.)

12:56pm: Found a flight into provo, yes into PROVO for $105 one way! WHAT??? Indianapolis-->Provo=$105. Again I say WHAT?  Christmas in UT & AZ we're coming for you.

2:03pm: Read Jax a story, while he drank his bottle, sang silent night then put him in bed.

2:07pm: Jax started talking in his crib (NOTE: for the last 2 weeks when he starts talking in his crib, I go back into his room and lay him back down. I'm trying to teach him that this is nap time, since I use to just feed him to sleep) ANYWAY.... So Jax started talking

2:09pm: I opened the door to his bedroom. Jax looked at me, grabbed his blanket, covered his head, quickly laid down, and closed his eyes. The child was pretending he was asleep. He is only 11 months OLD!! So cute now, made me laugh so hard, but i'm sure in 6 months it won't be as cute? Maybe it still will be. I know I did the same thing.

3:35pm: Finished three loads of laundry, three loads of dishes, vaccumed, disinfected, straightened and still had 15 minutes... so I read The Book Thief and ate a small piece of cheesecake with milk! YES! 

6:03pm: Bath time! So fun today. I would put something up on the ledge and Jax would get so excited to climb up and get it that he would slip over, and over, and over again. We both just kept laughing so hard.

7:03pm: Jax in bed, landon walks downstairs for our 45 minutes of time together! So LONG!!!!!

My Best FriendS....

This guy!

So cute in his scrubs. I can't imagine life without him and I feel so blessed that we are married for eternity. He is the only person I can be me with and the only person that I never feel judged by. I am lucky to have him and I love him so much. 

and of course this guy!

Look how old he looks! And look at him in his cute work out clothes. I bought 18 months clothes this month so I don't have to buy clothes for a while. They are baggy, but so cute. He is my best friend too. I am so goofy with him and I totally have a blast. I feel like i'm his best friend too :). Its nice to have best friend feelings reciprocated. :)

Anyway we had a good week this week. Lets replay

• Monday: No School. Study. Landon went golfing with Johnny. Marie & I made dinner for when they came home from a hard days work. I went to a bonfire in the neighborhood while Landon studied.
• Tuesday:  All I can remember about this day is I made Wingers Sticky Fingers. One of my favorite comfort foods.
• Wednesday: Cleaned my neighbor's home. One of those Sweet-southern-'Praise the Lord'-older ladies. She offered to pay me, but I told her to come to church with us instead. Made homemade peach pies for the RS activity. Went to the activity and people seemed to like the pies--I believe one person said, "Heavenly". That is always a nice feeling.   

• Thursday: Had that day... that day that should not be named :). 
• Friday: Redid and finished all the things I was suppose to do on Thursday. I updated my kitchen a little bit and still haven't decided if I like it. Date night=Pizza and a movie. Our first time eating out (if you call domino's carry-out eating out) in 4 weeks. Maybe not an accomplishment to you, but a HUGE accomplishment for us. 

• Saturday: Went to the temple. Its about a 6 1/2 hour trip. Jaxson was a sweetheart. Watched the BYU football game. Well Landon watched and I made our food menu for next week. I think I only have one repeat item... but that is because it is SO good. Babysat while Landon studied then had the best talk ever with Landon!!!

(Jax always crosses his legs like this. I just wanted to remember that. Taken on the way to the temple)

• Today: Jax is currently throwing his food off the table. Love it.

 Here is our menu for this week:

Sunday: Ribs, Rice, Corn on the Cob
Monday: Stuffed Buffalo Chicken and a Salad
Tuesday: Crockpot Tacos
Wednesday: Parmesan Crusted Talapia  Sweet Rice, Lemon Asparagus (My  repeat recipe)
Thursday: Cheese Raviolis w/ white sauce (chicken broth for wine) and Shrimp Cucumber side
Friday: Honey Sesame Chicken and Crab Cheese Wantons (I've made the wantons before)
Saturday: One of our favorite chickens for the progressive dinner--Actually in a cookbook :) and I guess i've made this one too. I lied. Sorry.
Sunday: Creamy Pesto, Parmesan Zucchini, Garlic Bread

It should be a good week! Busy and good! Happy Sunday :)

Just One of Those Days

Thats right folks. Today has been one of those days.

• One of those days where you blink and you suddenly have two sinks full of dishes. 
• One of those days where you find a spider in your running shoe. 
• One of those days where something smells in your kitchen, but you can't figure out what.
•  One of those days where you spend two hours looking for a pediatrician only to have to stop because your baby woke up from his 2 hour nap. Still no pediatrician 
• One of those days where you realized you filled out the wrong form, and you applied for the wrong thing 
• One of those days where you go through the walmart checkout line three times, one because you forgot to ring something up and another because you just forgot something all together 
• One of those days where you can't return formula (without a receipt) because of the WIC program. I didn't use the WIC program to get the formula. $60 worth of unused formula 
• One of those days where you yet again don't make it to the post office 
• One of those days where you think you know where you're going on to realize you are lost 
• One of those days where your house starts out freezing and then ends up on fire 
• One of those days where you spin your wheels over and over again and you feel like nothing is getting finished and you just have more to do 
• One of those days where you forget your grocery list at home 
• One of those days where you have to turn around because you left your wallet on the counter
• One of those days where you don't understand medical insurance and feel like you never will 
• One of those days where you try to keep smiling, but then you get another curve ball 
• One of those days where you didn't follow a prompting you know you should have 
• One of those days where you start a project, get 3/4 of the way through, only to realize you don't like your idea and you just made things look worse then they were (referring to the kitchen)
• One of those days where it takes you 1 hour longer at the store 
• One of those days where you are so hungry come dinner time that you start eating your babies $2 walmart meal
• One of those days where you're thinking... Bahamas???? 
• One of those days where you are SO glad when it is finally over. 

Yep. I had all of those days in my day today. I just felt like I was battling one thing after another and I had to keep mentally telling myself... its no big deal. Well all combined it was a big deal.... to me at least!!! But here were some of the upsides when I was about to lose it.

• I bought dorito's at walmart so I didn't have to make the dip I was going to--Saved me 15 minutes come dinner prep
• I bought Jax a meal at walmart so I didn't have to worry about rushing dinner to get him to bed on time--Just made me a little more relaxed
• Jaxson didn't have a poppy diaper when I changed him right before bed--that was just a tender mercy. Seriously!
• I got my 45 minutes of Landon time 

I didn't have the best day, but I am proud of one thing that I did. I let it go when Landon came. You see I had a massive headache, I was tired and overwhelmed and frustrated. But when Landon came downstairs and asked what was wrong, I said "nothing... how are you". I had the thought right when he asked me that, "He is tired too. He is working hard too. There is no reason to focus on the negative!"  And it is true. He is amazing and I know that what he is doing right now... I could never do! Gotta love him.

Anyway. Thank heavens today is over. Project #14 1/2.... get through Sept 6th 2012. Check! 

Jaxson

 We love him!

This little guy has grown up so much lately. Here are some updates on Jax: 

• He has no teeth, but eats everything. And I mean everything!!! (Bananas, Strawberries, Raspberries, Broccoli, Carrots, Oatmeal, Jelly Sandwiches, Hotdogs, Hawaiian Haystacks, Mac & Cheese, Any fish, Any pasta, Any meat, Any seasoning... anything.) I got tired of waiting for teeth to come and he hated his baby mush so about a month ago I started giving him small portions of whatever we were having. He has been game ever since 
•  He is very independent. If you try to feed him, he turns his mouth and wines. But if you put it on his plate, he grabs and eats quickly. Messy? Yes. Happy? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. If he is trying to stand up on something and you help him... he will nose dive back to the ground to start over. He HATES being changed and we think its because he just doesn't like being confined. He is not cuddly and he never just sits on my lap. I've tried reading with him, but he just squirms and turns and squeals... so I give up. One day we'll read together :) 
• He talks all of the time. In his crib, in the car, at church, while he eats. When he is crying... he will cry for a little bit and then talk while he is crying. He cry talks. I love it. 
• He is completely and thoroughly entertained by balls. We have a cupboard full of toys, but the only reason he touches the toys is to get to the balls. He laughs so hard when we shot a ball at the nerf hoop. 
• He crawls everywhere and can walk along any surface and from surface to surface. He is getting so close to being able to stand alone. The last couple of days he has had a couple of seconds standing on his own. 
• He loves clapping and playing peak-a-boo. We play "when you're happy and you know it clap your hands" and he claps during the whole song. He LOVES being chased but he starts laughing to hard while he is trying too crawl away... so he stops and surrenders. 
• My favorite... He can do "Nogin"... "Dude" from Finding Nemo. We will say, "Hey Jax....'Nogin'" and he will lean in and bump his forhead against ours and we will finish with "dude". We've recently adding a session of clapping to the game after we finish the head bump. So sometimes we will say "nogin" and he will skip to the clapping. 
• He has two naps during the day. One at 9:30 and one at 2:00. Each are about and an hour and a half. I feed him to sleep for his naps. But for bedtime we change him, say our prayers, sing silent night and lay him in his crib wide awake at 7:00pm. He goes right to sleep without a sound. He then wakes up around 6:00 or 6:30. I love the 3-4 hours at night for myself! 
• He probably weighs about 21 pounds, but I haven't been to the doctor since may? 
• He is so cute all of the time, is getting some more hair on top of the head, smiles lots and even laughs more then he use to. He loves walks and loves watching kids a little older then him. He has recently started to replicate out actions. If we shake our hand he attempts to do the same. He gets into everything he is not suppose to and nothing he is. He is our perfect little ten month old and we love being his parents. 

 

 Some yummy banana's and strawberries for breakfast. 

 

One of the many things he is not really suppose to get in to. But yet I don't mind as long as i'm close by and it entertains him for a little while.

See... this is a ping pong ball

 and he also founds daddys basketball.

 He loves balls! 

Sleeping after his missed nap from being at church. How precious is this! There is something about seeing your husband be with your little precious baby. Those have been some of the happiest moments of my motherhood.

 

Happy Sunday