OK Go - Here It Goes Again

Have you seen this? This is hilarious!I love it! It really makes me want to get 8 treadmills so I can re-create the choreography. It looks so fun!I am usually the last to see these things, so sorry if it has been overviewed by you all. It made me laugh. Enjoy!

Another first

I have to document this for posterity, so I apologize in advance if it is too much information.

Avery accomplished another "first" yesterday. She bit me. Ow! For a baby with no teeth, it hurt like the dickons. Of course it caught me off guard, and so I yelled really loud, and it made her cry.So, sad, right? But what about the momma in pain? I am afraid to feed her now because I keep expecting her to do it again. She did it 2 more times later in the day! She will be 7 months old on Sunday. I am not ready to wean her yet, but if she keeps this up I may have no choice! Anyway, she is still cute as ever. She actually may have a tooth trying to pop through, but I can't tell for sure. Logan was 7 1/2 months old when he got his first tooth, so I know the time is approaching. It really is amazing how fast time flies.

So, I went to an At Home America party last night. I really, really want to be able to decorate my house. I have some cute ideas now, but have to get things one at a time.

And I found something else really cool. Have you seen this site? You can totally download software for free that will format your blog into a book. You can then pay to have it printed out like a real book! You can also do this with recipes and other things. What a great idea for gifts1 Perhaps when I hit my 1 year mark with my blog, I will get it published. Then I can do it every year and have volumes. That would be cool. What an easy way to have a journal!

Picture Day!

I took Avery to get her 6 month pictures taken today. I had to hurry because she will be 7 months old in a week! I can't believe I let the month fly by! She is definitely growing so fast. She is really trying to be mobile, and get around where she wants to go. She tries sooooo hard to scoot, but really only ends up rolling around everywhere. When she has been working herself across the room, and I finally notice and react, she gets so excited and proud of herself! It is so cute! She is also working on sitting up. She can do it for a few seconds at a time, and is getting better and better. I am going to really make sure things are baby-proofed! She already managed to roll herself over to the entertainment center and pull dvd's and videos off the bottom shelf. I didn't have too many problems with Logan trying to put everything in his mouth, but I have a feeling Avery will. She thinks she needs to eat everything.

So, it was a pretty productive Saturday. I got several loads of laundry done,as well as various other household tasks.I prepared the grocery list and went grocery shopping, as well as took Avery to get her pictures taken. Overall, it was a nice day, and I am feeling pretty happy today. Here are the 5 things I loved about today.

1. It was actually a very pleasant evening on my way to the store and back. I drove with my windows down, and enjoyed the summer evening breeze! It was such a pretty night, and I loved seeing the sunset.

2. I loved listening to Logan just playing so contently by himself today. He was really wound up and wouldn't nap, but he stayed in his room, and I could hear him talking to himself and playing quietly.It made me happy.

3. I was proud of Avery when she got her pictures taken. She was soooo good, and smiled so big! The photographer had had a rough day, and he thanked me for having a good baby. I also heard people around me talking to each other about Avery's curl on the top of her head. I love that it does that!

4. I am grateful for Tony and how hard he works for our family and our home. He spent all morning mowing the lawn, and it isn't an easy job or a fast one! I think he was out there for a good 2 hours, and still wasn't done when he came in because the lawn mower quit on him. It is times like this when having a big yard is a drawback! But it looks nice now!

5. I am grateful for the quiet hours in the evening that I can have to myself, or spend with Tony after the kids are in bed.

So, now I am off to enjoy a little bit more of my quiet time before I hit the hay!

New Challenge

So, my friend Vicki (I hope you don't mind my mentioning this!) decided she was going to challenge me to not say negative things about myself. I am not sure how well I will do at this challenge, but I thought I would attempt something similar.I think I am going to try to post 5 things I am grateful for each time I post. I have a gratitude journal, and have written in it on occasion, but this might be a better way for me to keep myself finding the good things about my day, rather than focusing on the negative things. So, in the end, if I am looking for the good in things around me, perhaps I will not be so hard on myself. We shall see.So, here goes for today.

1. Lemon-berry slushes from SONIC. YUMMY! These are my new found drink addiction, and a very refreshing beverage choice for the hot, humid summer days (and nights) here in Kansas.I could drink a HUGE one every day and still want more. I love them!

2. Girl's nights. I appreciate having opportunities to get out of the house and socialize with my friends, and make new ones in the process.Tonight was our Relief Society sewing group, and I learned how to make a baby diaper changing pad. It has been good for me to start learning how to sew and make things for my home and family.I really appreciate the patience and kindness of the other women who help me along in my desire to learn a new skill.

3. Clean kitchen counters. There is just something about having the kitchen counters cleaned off that really makes the rest of the house not seem so messy after all.

4. BYU radio on Dish network. I just discovered that I had this yesterday! Hello! I hve only had satellite for 3 years now! Anyway...it has been nice to have this playing in the background today while the rest of my day was whirling around in chaos. I am just imagining that the mood could have been much worse had it not been for that underlying spirit.

5. My children. I love them soooo much it makes my nose tickle!Just thinking about their cute little selves brings tears to my eyes. I know this sounds totally cheesy, but it's true. Logan has such a cute smile, especially with his little dimple. He is such a cute boy, and is growing up so fast. I am truly amazed at how precious he is to me. And little Avery. She is soo sweet! She just grins up a storm whenever she sees any of us! It makes all of us so happy to see her because she is so happy to see us. I love her happy little self. She has such pretty big blue eyes too, just like her brother. They are the sweetest children, and they are all mine, and I am so lucky to have them in my life. I will probably have them on my list every time!

Close every door to me

The adventure begins...bright and early!

My life as I know it will be changing starting tomorrow. Bright and early, as a matter of fact. So early, I don't think it will be bright yet. We are talking approximately 4:45 a.m. early. My sweet slumber may be interrupted at about this time not by my children (although it might be them too), but by Tony. He will be making a regular routine of getting up in the morning around this time to prepare for his latest church assignment. If you haven't guessed it yet, I will tell you. Tony has been asked to teach Seminary. Oh the joys! He will be teaching the Old Testament to a class of 12 High School Freshman every school day for the entire school year.This means that not only will he be getting up so early to go teach early morning seminary beginning at 6 a.m., but he will also have to devote a few hours of his evening to preparing his lessons, and a big chunk on Sundays as well. I am saying bye bye to family time, and bye bye to my husband. He will be going to bed around 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. Supposedly a calling such as this brings blessings, so I hope so. I am the one that will have to be patient, and that can be hard for me at times.

On the other hand, I do think it is exciting, and it will be a wonderful learning opportunity for Tony. Just think about how much he will learn about the Old Testament? My goal is to try to study along with what his class is doing, so I can also learn. We will see how that goes. I think I for sure need to purchase the "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" CD to get me in the mood for the OT. For some reason, ever since I have been thinking of the stories, I have had songs from this musical in my head.(Check out the YouTube video in my next post!It's Donny Osmond, and it's pretty awesome!)I just told Tony he should play it for his class, and he didn't think it was as funny as I did. How is he going to keep his freshman awake you ask? Well, this is pretty humorous actually. At their orientation, when he was introducing himself, he mentioned that he was on the Folk Dance Team at BYU.He told them that if they fell asleep, he would make them get up and do folk dancing in front of the class.I think that's awesome.

Anyway...I will keep you updated.

I need yummy recipes!

I love good party food. I always seem to find recipes that I want to make at my next get-together, but when it comes time for that get-together, I can't remember what I wanted to make! I am having a Stampin' Up! workshop tomorrow night at my house. I haven't done a workshop in a year! It's time to get back on the wagon. I have fun doing it, so instead of conning someone into hosting, I decided to host myself. Which means that not only do I have to prepare for all the demonstrations, but I also have to make sure my house is clean, and I have some good refreshments!

So, please! Tell me what I should make, and include the recipe as well!What is your favorite thing to eat at "get-togethers"?I will be extremely grateful! I will even send anyone who gives me a recipe a hand-stamped card! Just for me...especially made for you!" So, email me with your address! kerryjoyblack@hotmail.com

Thanks!

Super Cute Bibs!

My sister-in-law Jody gave Avery three of the CUTEST bibs EVER for a baby gift. She made them herself, and they were so pickin cute I had to show them to everyone I knew. I hardly wanted to bring myself to actually use them because I didn't want to get them dirty. Well, due to the shortage of bibs in my house,I had to resort to using them. I really, really love them. They are a bit too big for her still, since they were designed for about 9 months and up, but I am using them anyway.

This is why I think they are so great.

1. They are absolutely adoreable! Way better than the ugly, plain ones at Wal-Mart that say cheesy things on them like "mommy's girl", or "little princess". It isn't that I don't like my baby being labeled as those things, but I don't really need everything she owns to say something like that on it. Of course she is a mommy's girl,and of course she is a little princess! That's obvious.

2. They close off to the side, rather than in the back. One thing I have noticed with Avery is that she absolutely hates it when I am trying to put bibs on her and have to reach behind her head to put it on, or take it off. With the closure on the side, it makes it really easy to do both, and she doesn't throw a fit about it.

3. The closure is NOT velcro. Again, it is really easy to fasten and undo with the jeans button. I hate velcro. It is just cheap looking, and it ends up snagging everything in the wash.

4. They are nice and wide and long, so they cover every bit of Avery's clothes. Her brother introduced her to graham crackers, and I am very glad she had such good coverage with her bib. It was a mess! But not on her!

5. They are very well made. These bibs look extremely professional, and will not fall apart.

6. They are such a unique, original gift for anyone who is expecting. They for sure won't have anything else like it, and they will ooh and ahh over them, and I bet they would be their favorite gift. They have been one of my favorites for sure!

The point of my bib ramblings, is because my sister-in-law is now selling her awesome bibs on Etsy. Her gallery is suzieQdesigns. Go check them out!You will love them!

It's check-up time!

So, today was Avery's 6 month check-up. It turns out that my little piggy must have holes in her toes and everything she eats is falling out, because she has only gained 5 oz. in the past two months. She weighed 13 lbs. 10 oz. at her 4 month visit, and today she weighed in at 13 lbs. 15 oz. She is long though, so maybe her weight is just spreading out lengthwise instead of width-wise. Anyway...I guess I need to start feeding her more food. She loves to eat. She had graham crackers for the first time the other day,(thanks to her brother) and LOVES them! And bread. She is always reaching for everything we have in our hands. She even tried to drink out of straws. She is a funny baby. I can't believe how fast time flies.

So,on another note. Does anyone know anything about Lyme disease? I noticed some bug bites on Logan the other day (remember the clown noses?). Well, when I was getting him dressed this morning, the bite on his shoulder had a ring around it. I just happened to read an article in the July Parents magazine about Lyme disease, and became all paranoid and worried. I decided to take him with me to Avery's appointment and have the doctor check it out.I guess they can't officially diagnose Lyme disease without doing some tests, and actually it can be very difficult to diagnose until it is farther advanced, which by that point it can be too late to prevent. Anyway, the doctor agreed that the bite looked suspicious, so she prescribed an antibiotic.Unlike a normal run of antibiotics which lasts 10 days, for Lyme they have to take it for about 2-3 weeks. This will be fun. Thank goodness Logan is pretty good about taking medicine. I just hope we remember! I hope I am not being too paranoid, but I feel like I would rather be safe than sorry.And since the doctor didn't brush it off, I feel better knowing I am doing what I can to take care of my child. I never did see a tick on Logan, but we have so many trees and bushes, and lots of grass in our yard,so it wouldn't surprise me if he had gotten bit by a tick. Yuck! I am glad it is so dang hot that Logan isn't outside much at all anyway. He just happened to be outside with Tony this week-end cutting down some trees and digging up stumps.

So, that was my day! Another exciting day in the life of a mom!

Idaho

We spent the fourth of July in Idaho with my brother and sister and their families. This was after the parade in Rexburg with Logan, Avery, Carissa, Brynn and Cassidy.The best part of the parade was the chocolate milk they handed out to everyone. It was sooooo cold and actually refreshing. Who would have thought of milk as being a refreshing beverage in the summer? It is when it is ice cold!Yum! That's the way milk should be.



I took Logan to the fireworks in Menan with my sister-in-law and my nieces and nephews. Tony stayed home with Avery and my brother. My 16 year old nephew Carson had fun taking pictures of all the fireworks. He actually got some good ones!Logan fell asleep at the end though. How is that possible with all the noise?









These pictures are of us visiting my Grandpa Bowden. Grandpa doesn't like getting his picture taken, so this was the best I could get of him with Avery. The one of him with Logan was the best I could get of Logan. And the picture of the group of us is from left to right: Tony, Logan, Me, Avery, my niece Brynn, my sister Kristy, and her husband Kris.





We stayed over night one night at my sister's house. This is Logan and Brynn swimming in Brynn's little pool. It was sooo hot, but they had a great time cooling off, while my sister and I baked watching them.







We took a scenic drive out to Mesa Falls one evening with Logan. We left Avery at home with my sister. I had never been here before, and HOLY COW it is incredible!I have no words to describe it other than totally breathtaking, stunning, amazing, incredible, beautiful, awesome.

After visiting Idaho, we left from there to drive back home. What a great vacation!

Like a clown nose

We discovered some bug bites on Logan this morning. While he was looking at them he said, " It's like a clown! The bug bites is red like a clown nose!"

He is cracking me up!

I'm Pee Pee Man!

Just had to share this humorous story with you all. So, this morning I was encouraging Logan to go potty like a big boy, and as we were in the bathroom with him doing his thing, he tells me "I'm pee pee boy!" and I say,"Oh, you are?" and then he says, "No, I'm Pee Pee Man!" O.k. So, anyone have any suggestions as to how to make a costume for this? The life of a 3 year old!

San Diego

We left Blanding on June 20th and drove all day to get to my parents house by that evening.Here are some highlights from our stay in San Diego.



Here is Logan on his jet ski in the pool!



Here is grandpa with Logan and cousin Kellen. They had so much fun together!



We went to the beach one day, and Logan and cousin Brynn had soooo much fun playing in the water. This was both of their first experience playing in the ocean. They had tons of fun!



Tony took Logan swimming every day,and sometimes several times a day while he was there. Logan inherited this fun swimsuit from Kellen. Logan referred to it as his "big tummy superman suit" It has padding in the top half, so it makes him look pretty buff. It's funny, but he loves it. he prefers this one over his shark suit.



Grandma and Avery. How cute! My mom and my sister had a fetish about putting bows on Avery's head every day. While I do like bows, I don't usually put them on her every day, so grandma and Aunt Kristy came to the cute rescue.




I think this picture of grandpa and Avery is so sweet! It makes me so happy.




Cousin Tawni held Avery in the jacuzzi for me so I could take Logan swimming in the big pool. Avery loved the pool! She was happy as can be!



California makes Avery happy! And everyone else too. We had a really nice time visiting grandma and grandpa, and seeing cousins, and playing in the pool!

I am so annoyed

So, I may have mentioned in previous posts that Tony gave me an Mp3 player for my birthday. It came in very handy on our trip. I downloaded some audiobooks to listen to. Anyway, the book I listened to on the trip was Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.So, yesterday, I downloaded New Moon, which is the next book in the series. I was so excited to start listening to it, that I went to bed early. That's not normal for me. Anyway, after listening to it for about an hour and a half, I was very confused at what was going on. I felt like I had missed a huge chunk. Well, after some fiddling around with my player, I realized what the problem was. My audiobook had downloaded to the music section on my player which I happened to have programmed to shuffle. So, my chapters were playing in random order.I think the first 2 or 3 were actually in order, but after that, i was so lost. I just gave up! I am going to have to start over almost. I feel so dumb! Anyway, just thought I would share my really bright moment!

Blanding Highlights

Here are some pictures of the time we spent in Blanding.



Here is cowboy Logan riding "Chip". I am so surprised that he was actually willing to ride! He is sometimes afraid of animals up close. He had a great time. Uncle Dave led him around.





We had our family pictures taken up on the mountain after they had finished branding, so all the men had to clean up the "mountain man" way. Here is Tony shaving in the great outdoors.




We went to the Dinosaur museum in Blanding one day. I don't know who is more ferocious...Logan, or the dinosaur! Poor Logan had so much fun on this trip, that he didn't get much sleep. See the tired eyes?



Grandma Black was so smart one day. She moved the trampoline under the tree in the shade, and put the sprinkler under it. Then all the grandkids put on their swimsuits and jumped. Logan had such a good time. I think he was on the trampoline almost all day every day while in Blanding!





This one is of Aunt Marlene and cousin Tanya reading stories with Avery. It was so cute to see Avery really enjoying the story.She loves her cousins!




Look what Logan found on the sidewalk in front of Grandma and Grandpa Black's house! He was sure not to get too close though!

Hooray for Food!

Yeah! We are having great food success in our house, and I am very excited.

Avery is eating solid food really, really well. She gobbles it up so good, and doesn't even make faces or shudder! Logan shuddered at everything when he started eating solids. He still is a bit particular about his food choices.Well, last week, we managed to convince Logan to eat some rice, and he did it willingly! He hasn't eaten rice since he was like 18 months maybe.And tonight, believe it or not, he actually ate ham! I think I might pass out from shock! he has only eaten chicken and bacon up until now. We told him the ham was bacon ham. He pretty willingly tried it, and decided he liked it so much that he ate more! I am so excited! I have been getting so tired of him not eating the things I make for dinner. I am hoping this means we are well on our way to the child eating dinner like a normal kid.

And back to Avery. She has now eaten applesauce, pears, rice cereal, oatmeal, squash and sweet potatoes. She wasn't as fond of the squash, but she did eat half the jar. She eats full jars of all the rest though. She is a good eater!

Hooray for food!

Pottermania

I finished Harry Potter this morning. What a great series! J.K. Rowling is very clever and creative. And very, very rich too! I just read a comment from another blog about how cool it is that so many people all over the world(and such a wide variety) have all been reading the same book this week-end. That is really cool if you think about it. And the fact that on average (this is from my own view) most books are about 200 pages, and this one was 800! And still it could be read in just a day or two (with lack of sleep and getting very little else done)Truly amazing!

And now a look back to when my Pottermania began. It was the summer of 2000, and I was on tour with the BYU Folk Dance Team in New Zealand and Australia. We were on the bus so much driving from performance site to performance site that we would get really bored. Most people had brought a book or two with them, and then we would just pass the books around to read. I had a Nancy Drew book with me (I know, so grown up!)My friend Melanie happened to have the first Harry Potter. I hadn't had any desire to see what all the fuss was about, but for lack of anything better to do, I decided it couldn't hurt. It looked like a quick read. Well, when I finished that book, i could not wait to find out what happened next, so I bought the second and third books in New Zealand. Needless to say, Pottermania spread really quickly throughout our team. When we got home later that summer, the fourth book came out. Of course we had to go get it right away!What torture it has been to have to wait over the past 7 years for the rest of them! It is finally over though, and it has been a great ride.

Family Picture

 

This is the picture we had taken up on the mountain in Blanding. We had all been up there for the round-up, and all the guys had to semi clean up using the water jugs so they would look presentable for the pictures! I wish my kids had nice faces, but what can you expect from them? It's a good thing you can't see up close, because I bet you might spot dirt hiding in places on Tony and Logan!

5 Things....

I was tagged by my friend Whitney. I know I have yet to blog about my trip, or anything else for that matter, but I felt compelled to do this. Priorities, priorities!

Five things I was doing 10 years ago

1. Folk Dancing lots and lots. I was getting ready to perform at the Pioneer Day Sesquicentennial Celebration at BYU. (I had to keep this one the same as Whitney!)
2. Working at Sea World during the summer when home from school.
3. I had just finished my sophomore year at BYU as an English major. (that didn't last long!)
4. I lived in my cute little blue house on 300 East in Provo.
5. My roommate Sharon and I were hanging out with my cousin Steve and his roommates doing crazy things like going to Nutty Putty cave,the hot pots, and walking on the green pipe in Provo Canyon at midnight.(what was I thinking?????)

My To-Do List today

1. Go to our ward Mommy and Me playgroup at the play area at the mall.
2. Do laundry.
3. Do the dishes and tidy up a bit.
4. Take care of some Enrichment stuff for my church calling.
5. Not much else to be honest!

Snacks I enjoy

1. Edamame lately! I can't stop eating the darn things!
2. Quaker mini cheddar cheese rice cakes
3. cookies of any kind
4. chips and salsa
5. anything and dip (fruit and dip, veggies and dip, chips and dip, etc.)

Songs I know the Lyrics to

1. songs from the Celtic Woman CD (it's in my van currently)
2. Carrie Underwood "Jesus take the wheel"
3. "On my own" from Les Mis
4. Twinkle Twinkle Little star (it's Logan's favorite at the moment)
5. Come thou fount (I love this song!)

Things I would Buy if I was a Millionaire

1. I would take Tony to Spain, and I would love to go back to the British Isles
2. My dream house
3. new furniture for my new house
4. a new wardrobe
5. fun things for my kids

Bad Habits

1. I chew my nails
2. lazy
3. Critical of my body and what I look like
4. Not nearly as clean and tidy as I would like to be
5. Snacking on treats instead of healthy things
* I just kept 2-5 the same as Whitney. It's exactly me to a T, it is scary!

Things I would never wear again

1. peach lipstick
2. overalls
3. scrunchies
4. I can't think of anything else (not implying that my style is perfect or ever was, I just can't think right now)

Things I like to do

1. read
2. sing
3. make cards
4. Chat with friends and family
5. Hug and kiss my children's sweet little cheeks!

Favorite Toys

1. The laptop-my brother says I need computer rehab cause I am online all the time
2. Mp3 player-I am getting hooked on audiobooks! It keeps me on the treadmill!
3. My stamp stuff
4. My Kitchenaid mixer
5. My sewing machine (although I haven't used it much, I still think it is cool)

People I tag:

1. Heather
2. Christy
3. Linnea
4. Lark
5. Maren

Diagnosis please

O.k. I need to throw this out there in blog land for any experienced mother/child care-giver expert person, or anyone else for that matter.

What would you say the reason is for:

1. A 5 1/2 month old baby waking up in the middle of the night when they haven't done that since they were born.

2. The same 5 1/2 month old baby being fussy all the time when they haven't been this way EVER.

3. Again, said baby always wanting to be held, but still crying, fussing, wriggling, and grabbing/pulling my hair?

4. Also not napping as well as normal, or waking up too early only to be coaxed back to sleep?

My original thought was that she is hungry. I am nursing, but she just started on solids, so I am wondering if she is not getting enough when nursing anymore?She doesn't nurse as long as she used to at each feeding, but seems like she wants to eat more often. I don't want to get her started on bad habits that will be hard to break later (like not sleeping well, and wanting to eat in the middle of the night.)

Could it be a growth spurt? At this age when she has already been going every 4 hours between feedings and about 11 hours at night, could she all of a sudden really need to eat so much more often?

I mentioned this to my mom who suggested teething. Hmmm...??? Logan got his first tooth at around 7 1/2 months. Would she really be two months earlier? He was a pretty easy teether though, so I guess I am not sure what to look for if she is having more of a rough time with it.

So...any advice, suggestions, or other assumptions? I would appreciate any comments so i am not forced to give my baby to the neighbors. Along with her 3 year old brother who has also been driving me NUTS with his whining since we returned from our vacation. It has been a week now since we got home. I would have thought he would have been over it by now. Maybe I am just an ignorant mother who has no idea what's in store for her and has only been somewhat lucky and fortunate up until now. Or maybe I just need more patience.