Holiday Endorphins

Something about Christmas just really makes our house feel like a home. I love it!
It was so fun decorating for the holidays with Jared. Funniest moment of the night: when the tree fell on Jared! He's been giving me a hard time because I ran for the camera instead of trying to help get the tree off of him. :)



Noah LOVES the Christmas tree...of course. Lucky for us, he's not mobile this Christmas, so I am fine to put him on a blanket underneath the tree...which usually buys me about 30 minutes of time in the morning. lol!



Also, we got a huge, awesome mirror from Jared's parents, which they helped us hang up tonight. I LOVE IT!!! Everytime I see it, it puts me in a good mood.



I just love this time of year. We take off tomorrow for Memphis for Thanksgiving with Jared's relatives. Hope everyone travels safely and has a WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!! And by the way, for any Biggest Loser fans...did any of that healthy Thanksgiving dinner on tonight's episode look good compared to the real thing? "instead of a delicious apple pie crust, we are going to make a crumble and add extra fruit." BLAHHH!!! Anyways, HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

You be the doctor!

Noah is in the mood today where he only wants me to hold him. He doesn't want to eat, doesn't need a new diaper, shouldn't be tired (but hopefully is), doesn't want to play. He just wants to make sure I accomplish nothing today besides holding him. Could he be sick? He has congestion. I feel like I have a cold or something...maybe he feels achy and bad like me??? How can I tell w/o going to the doctor?

On a postive note... we're decorating for Christmas tonight. I can't wait!!!

You've got to be kidding me!

Note: This story is being used with permission from my husband.

Today, Jared and I stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. I went off down the trashbag aisle, while Jared and Noah waited for me. When I came back to them, Jared was laughing/faking a sad face.

"What's wrong, Jared?"

"A man just walked by & said to me, 'SOMEBODY LOOKS LIKE A HAPPY GRANDPA!'"

Straight from Heaven

A few days ago, I received the following picture of Jesus:



Just for fun, I held it in front of Noah's face. The reaction that he gave was unlike anything I had ever seen. All of the sudden, his entire body lit up. He smiled so big and started making his cute baby sounds. His eyes were completely fixated on the picture.

Jared was with me and decided to do an experiment. We took away the picture of Jesus and put a picture of Jared and I in front of him. He just sort of looked at it and then looked away...no big grin or anything special. Then, we put the picture of Jesus in front of him- and BAM- the same reaction as before. In fact, each time that we show him the picture, he gets excited and glued to the picture.

From this experience, I learned that Noah really does know his savior, Jesus Christ. He was just with Him. Babies really do come straight from heaven. I hope I can help Noah remember his friend, Jesus, for his whole life.

Thank you Mom's!!!

I am LOVING y'alls advice in response to my last post. Please keep it coming because I know I am going to refer to the comments during this upcoming week when I'm ready to poke my eyes out!
Additional comment: I'm taking to Jared to work now, so I have a car during the day...maybe that will inspire more ideas?
Thanks again!!!

Did everyone have a good weekend?

Desperate Housewife

I need help. Seriously. So, this is a shout out to all you mom's who stay home with your kids.

I am so bored.

First of all, I just moved here two months ago and have approximately two friends. Two busy friends, I might add. So, Noah and I aren't exactly going to any playgroups.

Secondly, I have the house cleaned and organized by 10:00 am. This leaves me with about 7 hours until Jared comes home from work. So I...
-play with Noah
-read books
-blog stalk
-watch Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Penny, Judge David, & Judge Jeanine (I know, super lame, you said it. We don't have cable).
-write in my journal
-play with Noah more
-study different topics
-go for a walk
-go for another walk
-workout videos
(by the way, did I mention we only have one car and Jared takes it to work)
-take a nap
-make homemade meals
-talk to myself
-talk to Noah
-repeat

That pretty much wraps it up.

Now, if I were a person like my mother, I would be fine with doing all these things and would probably love my life. She's the person that went to college for child development and doesn't mind being by herself for hours on end. Anyone that knows me knows that THIS IS NOT ME AT ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I could def. use some suggestions. Keep in mind that we have:
1. no money
2. no vehicle to use during the day
3. no friends

I can't wait to hear any advice you might have. I don't have much to work with here.

Our Happy Halloween

I'm really trying hard to think what we did last year for Halloween. I DO remember a ward party. It was a jack o lantern contest and dinner. Jared and I carved our pumpkins to look like missionaries...so creative, we thought. Unfortunately, no one in our ward really wanted to be our friend (married student ward in Utah...bad experience). We walked around to different tables to compliment people on their jack-o-lanterns (make new friends). But instead, people just stopped talking, we endured a few seconds of awkward silence, made an uncomfortable giggle or two, and left, only to hear the people start talking again!



Oh, now I remember! Jared got diagnosed with mono! I left work in my vampire costume to take him to the doctor. That night, we made it to Kelly and Spencer's house for delicious homemade bagels and soup.





Now...on to this Halloween! What a difference it is having a child!
First of all, Noah got us free candy and even pizza. We went downtown to the "Goblin Parade." All the local businesses handed out candy to all the little trick-or-treaters. However, I have a teensy weensy bone to pick with most of them. WHY DUM DUM SUCKERS?!?!?! They are the absolute most gross candy that was ever invented. The sucker is so small, you can't even enjoy it because it is so awkward in your mouth. They also taste terrible (minus the rootbeer ones, which I still hate, but my husband for some reason, loves). They have the most funky flavors, like scooby doo mystery (oh boy) and cotton candy (sugary grossness).
Anyways, after the parade, we went to the mall for more walking around. We stopped getting candy from anyone for two reasons. #1. We had a year supply of dum-dums. and #2. We got tired of hearing people say, "Is he really going to eat that?"
That night, we went to the Jensen's for chili, cornbread, desserts, games, and friends.
DOES ANYONE LIKE HOLIDAYS AS MUCH AS ME?!?!?