Wake Up!

It's FEBRUARY!

This blog is in major desperation for some good ole keyboard lovin'.  It needs more pictures and more stories and more posts!  I'm so sorry dear reader that it has not been updated in practically a month.  Where has this month gone!?  Moving is stressful, yo!  I haven't had the time to curl my hair, let alone sit down and blog about it.  

But, we are all {mostly} moved in.

The house is {mostly} in order.

And I am still {mostly} sane.

Anyway, I KNOW this blog needs some love... and what a better way than a great surprise! 

THE JENSON JAUNTS GOT AN AWARD! 

Das finde ich toll! {I think that's great!}

How sweet is that?!  We are the proud recipients of the "Liebster Blog Award"!  Given to us by our oh so amazing fellow Mormon Mommy Blogger:  Mom, the Intern.  If you haven't started following the adventures of Jenna, Dill, and their two minis, Bubby and Smush (you seriously should take a minute and click this link and see her pretty minis!), you are missing out!  Jenna is one of the best mommy bloggers I know and I'm proud to call her a friend!  Her blog is great with posts about her life along with posts about current events too.  She is great and will keep you guessing about what you are going to learn next with every post.  :) enjoy.  

So, now is time for your German lesson.... 

which is pretty funny considering I don't speak German!  Please dear reader, no comments about my bad German from people who *actually* Sprechen Sie Deutsch.  {mmmkay?!}

"Liebster" is German for "dearest", "beloved" and "darling" {It's also for boyfriend and sweetheart... but we are going to ignore that fact, unless there is some news that Jenna wants to share with me...?} and it's quite fitting for the month of February... blogs I love. :)  

The great part about this is that I get to turn around and give the award to five other bloggers...

BUT, FIRST... Here are the RULES for the award:

1.  Acknowledge the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them. 

2.  Give this award to FIVE other bloggers who have FEWER THAN 200 readers.  let them know through a comment on their blog.

3.  Post this wonderful award on your blog.

4. Bask in the glory bestowed upon you and appreciate all the amazing bloggers out there.  

So, my five winners are:

1. Katie D:  Ok, this one might be cheating because 1. I don't know how many readers she has, and 2.  She has more of a "site" than a "blog"... but I'm going to give it to her anyway because it is AWESOME!  There is a host of yummy recipes and Aquaponics (growing plants in water with out soil) and in case you have a tech-y side she even has a section with information about different web browsers, and extensions you can use. :)

2. Be Grateful (formerly What's Cookin?): This is my dear friend Kat's family blog.  She and Trav just had the sweetest baby boy via homebirth.  She is a fellow crunch-momma and I love her SO MUCH.  She is such a great writer.  Right now on her blog she is doing "12 this for 2012" and it is SO great to read.  Her theme this year is "Be Grateful".  I'm loving every post. 

3.  Mama Bell's Blog:  Connie is my former Relief Society President our neighborhood church when we lived in Utah.  She such an amazing woman.  Her blog is lots of fun tidbits about her family, and she posts about her quilting!  She is an amazing seamstress who makes beautiful handmade quilts.  I love going on and seeing her fun quilts and reading about what is going on in her life.  She is such a great woman and I love her so much.  When I grow up I want to be like Connie. <3

4. The Staten's:  This is a family blog of our good friends Paul and Annie.  They have a sweet baby boy named Connor (that I blogged about in, Heart of the Matter last February).  We just recently found out that they are expecting TWIN GIRLS and we couldn't be more excited for them.  She hasn't updated in a bit, but I'm hoping this will spark some blog love. :)

5.  A Day With KT: This blog is my AWESOME FRIEND Katie's blog.  She has some fun posts about her and her husbands fun doings!  I love reading and seeing pictures of their sweet puppy kenobi! :)  

So go read!  

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Be Bald! Be Bold!

Today is the National Fundraiser, Be Bold!  Be Bald! which raises funds to support cancer-fighting charities.  This year, a good friend of mine, Stacy, was diagnosed with cancer.  She has had to have one of her kidneys removed, and has had lots of chemo and surgeries.  She has four beautiful children and an amazing husband.  A group of her friends decided that we should do this years Be Bold!  Be Bald! fundraiser in support of her.  So, we started a fundraising team called "Stacy's Pirate Girls" and have been raising funds to go to cancer-butt kicking foundations.  :)

Each of us are wearing a bald cap and a super cool t-shirt from Be Bold! Be Bald! the fundraising packet that came with it had a magic marker to write who you are supporting today.  I wish my cap was empty with names, instead of the eleven that is on it so far. 

Here are a few photos of our day so far!

See?  She sports the bald EVERY DAY! :)

Love that Marcus wanted to wear the cap for a bit too!

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Summer Lovin'

Is having us a blast!  I LOVE when its warm and we get to play, eat, live outside!  This is the first summer in our house that we have had our yard finished, and we have eaten outside almost every night we can!  It's so great!

A few Sundays ago, we had Cooper's cousin Jensen over for the night because he was leaving on an LDS mission later that week.  We also had our good friends The Statens over.  They have a sweet little boy named Connor who is just ADORIBLE!   Marcus and Connor played outside on the grass.  Marcus kept getting Connor to play Croquet with him!  It was so funny. :)

Marcus trying to get Connor to play Croquet.

Sweet Connor wondering what the heck Marcus is trying to get him to do! 

Sweet Silly Marcus... cute picture, so sad its so blurry!

Recently, we discovered the coolness that is Crayola's 3D chalk!  It is super fun!  We color with it all the time, and then put on the glasses and watch our creations pop!  It is SO COOL!  You need to go get some for your kiddos.  For real.  Stinkin' cool.

Notice the chalk on his forehead?!

While waiting for dinner to get done, Marcus and Connor decided to clean out one of our cabinets.  They had a great time doing so! :)

For dinner, we had these yummy recipes with DELISH sliced seedless watermelon and cornbread.  (Funny Fact:  I HATE watermelon when I'm not pregnant... but when I'm pregnant, it's divine!)

action shot! ;)

L to R: Jensen, Cooper, Paul and Annie

L to R: (Please don't mind the not so cute me!) Marcus, Melanie, Cooper,
Paul, Annie and Connor.

I love messy, eaten plates next to the sink when we have had friends over. :)  We did a good amount of damage on the food-- hardly any leftovers. 

For Dessert, we all made S'mores on our mini charcoal grill!  It was a fun adventure and we all smelled like campfire when we were done.  It was our first S'more session of the season... and it was quite a success!  We got the big JUMBO sized marshmallows, and while they were a blast to roast, I'm going to stick with the regular sized ones. :)  They are like, 3X the size of regular ones! While quite fun to roast, they take a LONG time to reach the perfect gooey in the middle, crispy brown on the outside consistancy... and when I'm making myself roasted marshmallows and s'mores... I want it much faster than it takes to roast one! haha!

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Someone thinks I'm Stylish!

Awesome!

Cool Beans!

Well, my awesome fellow blogging momma (who has much more entertaining blog posts than I do... I totally admit that...) Jenna, aka Mom. The Intern. thinks so... pretty snazzy!  I'm so excited!  I've never gotten a blog award before! Thanks Jenna!  Go check her out.  She is GREAT! :)

Apparently my prize is to link this snazzy black box to my board via google picture search, and share seven secrets with my blogging audience, and then choose seven others to get such an awesome blog award!  Whoot!

  ...seven secrets huh?

Ok... Um...

1.  I could live off of Pasta Roni... Granted, I'd be a big huge tub-ball from eating nothing but refined carbs, butter and olive oil... but man... mmmmmmm... I looooove it.  I could never make a sauce from scratch that tastes as delicious as theirs.  As someone who considers herself a pretty dang decently good cook...that is lame and embarrassing!  lol!

2.  I listen to Catholic Radio on SiriusXM in the car.  I'm mainly out and about running errands between 12 and 4... during those times there are two shows that I really do enjoy.  The one from 12-2 is "Across the Nation with Bob Dunning", a news show that discusses news issues from a Catholic point of view.  As a journalist, Bob is really great at presenting issues and we tend to agree on quite a few things.  He is really balanced and fair and often plays the devil's advocate and allows his listeners to call in and state their points of view.  He is great.  The other show I listen to is "The Catholic Guy with Lino Rulli".  This show is SO FREAKING FUNNY!  Lino's show is so funny. Its just a basic radio talk show...they talk about everything and sometimes they play games when the listeners can call in, like "Are you smarter than a bad Catholic?" and they do trivia between the caller and one of his regular co-hosts.  Anyway, if you need a laugh, Lino is great for that.  (He is also pretty funny on twitter, so you could follow him and laugh all day!)

3.  Lately, I've worn pjs more than my regular clothes.  If you want to see a look of surprise, come ring my doorbell around 11 on a day when I have nothing planned...sorry... hahaha.

4.  I'm an ideas person, not really a follow through person.  Its a fault that I have that I really hate... I always have the idea to fix it...but not the follow through! haha.  For instance, our guest room has a closet filled with what I call, "mommy world" its all off my crafting crap that I think I might use one day that never do... I also three boxes of fabric that I had cute ideas for that didn't ever make.  I'm trying to work on it though... or at least I think I am.

5. I'm shy.  I hate meeting new people because they probably think I'm so weird!  I get really nervous and talk and talk and talk about stupid things... and unless that person is a good listener, they usually just phase out what I'm saying... and I'm only saying it because I'm nervous!  I'm the queen of awkward conversations between new friends... or acquaintances... or the pizza guy...

6.  My Secret ingredient in everything is almost always butter... or, double vanilla.  If something tastes delicious at my house, it is probably because it has butter in it.  And a decent amount.  At least two tablespoons for the whole dish.... at least.  Butter makes everything better. (Except your thighs).  Also, if a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of vanilla, I'll add two.  At least two...sometimes more...  Every. Single. Time.


7. I have a love hate relationship with cleaning.   This probably isn't really a secret to anybody...well, maybe it is.  I LOVE my house clean, (duh, who doesn't dum dum?) but I hate doing it unless I plan my day around it.  I LOVE cleaning if I have a list of things that I know needs to be done.  It takes lots of motivation for me to get started, but then I start and I can't stop until the whole house is clean.  I love getting on my hands and knees and scrubbing my kitchen floor because for FIVE minutes, it's pretty...
        I'm like that with organizing too.  In the past few weeks I've been an organizing machine.  I've cleaned out four closets in  our house and put everything into these awesome little boxes from Ikea (2.99 for two of them that are small enough that they don't get heavy, but big enough to have thirty or so DVDs in them!) or separated it into big tupperware bins.  It's been nice because I want to show off my clean and organized closets, but really... It kind of sucks to be an organizing machine for things that people can't see... because then you look around and have no idea what consumed all of your time for the past few hours of hard organization work... unless you want to leave your closet doors open.  I HAVE gone into those clean, organized closets and just sat and looked at them for a minute or two...Whatever makes the weirdo happy, right?

Okay... now I get to choose SEVEN other bloggers that I think are Stylish... now you can play too... Here we go:


Drumroll Please...

Annie from The Staten's

Stacey from Peanutbutter Fingerprints

 Mikah from Philipoom Phamily (In hopes she will blog more... c'mon girlie!)

Melissa from Shade of Grey (sorry people, this is private...)

Kat from What's Cookin?

Jessica from her private family blog (sorry again guys... sucks to be you who don't have an invite.)

Jessica from The Forever Mummy Blog 

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The Heart of the Matter

I have been writing this post all month... Well, I've been writing this post in my head all month.  :)  For those of you who didn't catch it before now, the month of February is American Heart Month. 

While America has an entire month devoted to heart health, having a day where people wear red to raise awareness of heart disease.  It was spotlighted at least weekly on the Today Show, and the reminder is even on the side of your Diet Coke can. (hahaha... or you could have just thought it was cute hearts for Valentine's Day...!) 

I WAS planning on writing this post at the beginning of February, but decided I wanted to wait until the END of February because it is something that is important to everyone to remember and think about through all months of the year. 

Heart health is an important subject to me.  While I DO have family who it effects, lately I have been hearing MUCH more than just family stories of heart problems.

This past year, I have made some amazing friends, Annie and Paul who's son Connor was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect (CHD) called Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF).

Annie and Baby Connor when he was only a day old.

Paul and Connor

Basically, Connor was born with a hole in his heart.  Connor was born 3 weeks early, and  he was admitted to the NICU for having a hard time breathing.  Annie and Paul were told that the NICU staff thought that Connor had a CHD, and he was sent to Primary Children's Hospital here in Salt Lake City where their thoughts were confirmed.  Connor spent the next 2 1/2 months in the NICU at Primary Children's.  While he was there, he had a feeding tube in his nose, but he was able to come home.  He also developed severe Acid Reflux.  He was scheduled to have open heart surgery, but the surgery had to be rescheduled 3 times before he was able to have surgery this past June to repair his ToF.  His surgery lasted seven hours and was very successful and he stayed in the hospital for two weeks.

I LOVE this picture of Connor!

He had a cardiology checkup in November, and the cardiologist said that his pulmonary valve is leaking more than they would like to see, so in a few years, Connor will have to have open heart surgery again and have his entire valve replaced.  He will probably need to have some type of surgery or procedures throughout his life to replace and upkeep his valve.

Connor at 1 years old

Also this month, I read an amazing story of  my friend, who's grandfather was admitted into the hospital for a heart attack.  He too had emergency open heart surgery and died on the table SIX times.  The second time was the longest duration of the six, and the doctor was looking up at the clock to pronounce the time of death when her grandfather's heart began to beat again.  During his open heart surgery, a team of twenty-two worked to partially clear one of his main arteries that had become 100% blocked.  Her grandfather is still alive, and "24 hours after his surgery, he was sitting up in bed, chowing down on his first solid meal in three days, and had ditched 3 of the 4 IV machines he'd had the day before.  Onward and upward!"

This month, these two stories have really helped me become more thankful for my health and that of my family.  It has made me want to help, even if this blog post gets read by only Annie and a few others, I still feel that putting it out there has somehow made a difference.

YOU can help too by helping yourself. The American Heart Association has a great program called "My Life Check: Life's Simple 7 Success Plan".  It is a fun quiz you can take to see how you are doing in your optimal health.  It's a great way to start

YOU can help too by helping your family.  If you are a mom who plans the meals, plan some that are yummy and heart healthy.  If you are a dad who is sick of your "family fun" watching a Disney movie on the couch, take your kids out for a walk around the block or go play catch at the park.  Encourage your family to have checkups and get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked.  If you are expecting a new baby, talk to your pediatrician about testing your baby for a Congenital Heart Defect.


One in One100 babies are born with some sort of Congenital Heart Defect. Remember how the Super Bowl was this month?  Well, the Dallas Cowboys stadium can seat 80,000 people.  If you took every baby born THIS YEAR with a congenital heart defect and put them in a seat, they would fill nearly HALF the stadium.  Between 35,000 and 36,000 births a year.


YOU can help too by raising awareness.  Tell your friends and family how important it is to take care of their Hearts.  Volunteer.  Write or call your legislature and ask to have CPR and AED (Automated External Defibrillator) training given to students (at least) before they graduate.  Ask for better screening for heart problems to the uninsured and under-insured.  Ask for basic screening for newborn babies for congenital heart defects before they leave the hospital by pulse oximetry screening after 24 hours of life.  (For a great example of a mother who went before her state of Indiana's legislature demanding this very easy and life saving screening click here to read Cora's Story.)  Even asking legislature for a basic mandate for schools to have regular GYM CLASS, RECESS and HEALTHIER FOOD in your child's school helps immensely!

You can help too...!

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Year 2010 in Review, Leading to a New Year...

Last Year started with a lot of this....

Injections, ultrasounds, pills, and LOTS of money spent every month, but we kept seeing this:

Cooper and I decided in September of 2008 to start trying to have another baby... after trying, trying trying and trying, we went to the doctor, and tried some more. Then, we went to another doctor, tried again, and in the fall of 2009, I was diagnosed with PCOS. Normal ovaries should look like this:

Mine on the other hand, look more like this:

The big circle that contains all of the little black circles is an ovary. All of the little tiny black circles inside of that are cysts. I have quite a few... I think the last ultrasound I had that counted my cysts there were about 35 in EACH ovary...

The problem with trying to have a baby while you have PCOS, is that it makes it very hard for your body to ovulate on it's own. That is why we ended up using injectable FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) to make me ovulate. After a few tries of doing that, we stopped and took a break in March 2010.

..................................

While taking a break, Cooper and I started the Atkins Diet and we both ended up loosing some weight! Always a plus! We started a "Low-Carb" recipe blog, called Faux Pasta.

The "baby break" we had was such a blessing... we could let loose and have some fun without the pressure and stress of people asking, "are you pregnant yet?!". We enjoyed life.

Working too hard...

Celebrating Birthdays...

Ben's Birthday, February 2010

Playing with Friends and Family...

Juls, Milo, Katie, Me and Hazel, when Katie was here March 2010

Katie, Me, Kate, and Charlotte Peeking out from the Hallway, Summer 2010

Marcus and Milo at the Dinosaur Museum, April 2010

Minnie, Marcus and Maddi, Disneyland, June 2010

Me, Juls, Katie and Lacey, at Katie's Wedding, Spring 2010

This Year, Melanie turned 23, Cooper turned 27, and Marcus turned THREE!

Marcus and Cooper at the Blue Bayou, in Disneyland, October 2010

And for My Birthday, We added to our Family... A Kitten! We named her Mao (that is how you say "cat" in Cantonese!

Mao, July 2010

We Played in Laguna Beach...

Maddi, Marcus and Grandma Stori, Laguna Beach, June 2010

Visited Sun Valley...

Me and Cooper at the Kneadery in Sun Valley, November 2010

Marcus, November 2010

And Finally Made it to Denver...

Great Grandpa John and Me, Denver, December 2010

Me and Candace in Denver, December 2010

Marcus and his Grandpa John playing on a swing that Grandpa John BUILT him while we were there!

Christmas came and went, We spent it in Sun Valley with Cooper's family.

Cooper, Me and Marcus at the Lights at Temple Square, December 2010

After we came home from Sun Valley, we spent the first New Years Eve at home. Ringing in the New Year in front of our house watching a fireworks show by our next-door neighbor, Rich Goade and we had LOTS to be grateful for...

Good Health.

Great Friends.

Amazing Family.

Fun Adventures.

And the Multitude of Blessings from this year.

Including our newest blessing...

In August, we will be expecting a new baby!

A year ago, we didn't expect we would get this surprise, especially without the injections, ultrasounds, pills, and LOTS of money spent every month ... but we did.

Here is to 2011.

We Love you.

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