Weekend in Portland

Last weekend we went to Portland so the boys could do some business. We stayed at my wonderful, generous, fun, happy, organized (and Mari, the list goes on -- I think you're great!) sister-in-law's house and had a nice, relaxing time. The weather was so fantastic -- it was 60+ degrees and sunny! Hey, when you're used to 40 being a nice day, 60 was awesome.

I didn't take any pictures but I wanted to jot down a couple of funny things.

I went for a walk with my niece and her friend. She kept saying "the yellow fire hider" when she meant fire hydrant.

I gave them a piece of gum and her friend asked me what I do when I'm done. Here is the basic conversation:

Me -- I just spit it out.

Hunter -- Oh, I swallow it.

Me -- Oh.

Hunter -- But then I get worried that it will hook onto my lung and something else and pull them together.

Me -- That won't happen. It will just come out in your poop.

Hunter -- Oh.

So, if you ever want me to tell it straight to your kid, send him over. After that my niece asked me how I feed Morgan under the blanket. I was going to tell her but instead I told her to go ask her mom. I have my limits.

$185.62

$185.62. That is the price of our new gas bill (the last one was $363.73). I turned the heat down from 67 to 65 (when you already have to bundle up, two degrees isn't a big deal), we turned it down to 53 for the week we were gone, and the result was a half price gas bill. Conservation pays off!

How do we live in that, you ask? My answer would have to be... layers. I'm just too frugal (not cheap) to double the gas bill to keep warm when I will forget it by summer anyway.

Stair Climber and Quiet Car Ride

Morgan has started crawling up the stairs. I'm trying to teach her how to climb down but she's still learning that one.

We set up the DVD player in our car (thanks mom and dad) so Morgan can have some entertainment on long drives, which has sooooo helped with car crying that leads to me driving with my arm stretched into the back seat to hold her hand. Safety first!

The Miracle Worker

Yesterday I texted Tom to tell him what a bad day I was having (deleting my pictures and all) and he called his I.T. buddy who works a few offices down to see if there was anything he could do. I packed up Morgan and my camera and drove to Tom's office. It turns out that his I.T. friend is pretty much a genius when it comes to electronics and he pulled up all of the pictures that I deleted. Phew. So, here they are...

Our Valentines date

This is the host of the dinner, equipt with tails and chaps.
Shy and Morgan

Grandpa and Morgan

Valentines Weekend

We had a cool Valentines weekend and I had a bunch of pictures to post but I just deleted them -- seriously, I'm so mad that I could run a fast 10 miles to get rid of the frustration and I would except Morgan is sick and sleeping right now so I have to just sit here and let it fester.

Anyway, my dad and sister showed up on our doorstep on Thursday night -- awesome surprise! They stayed until Monday. This is where I would put a couple of pictures with them and Morgan, but they are in digital prison now and I can't access that. (Insert cuss word here).

Tom surprised me on Saturday with a Valentines date. We went to the local ski resort and took a sleigh pulled by Clydesdales to a cabin where we were served dinner and entertained.

We used a sugar bullet -- let me explain. As I've posted before, we are not eating sugar. The rules with that are that we don't eat refined sugar but we can have honey (we just don't make sweets with it). And we watch for high fructose corn syrup and try to avoid things that contain it. When we started we gave ourselves 11 sugar bullets for the year. That means that we can have dessert or whatever we want with sugar 11 times this year. So we used one on Valentines day.

Again I would post a bunch of pictures of our date but I don't have them. Just know that I had my hair in two braids and a cute navy blue beanie with light blue flowers.

Superbowl and Fire Alarms

We decided to have a small Superbowl party last Sunday with the Brunsons and Ruizes so we invited them to come over around 6:30 to have something to eat and watch the game. What? The game didn't start at 6:30? Oh, that was eastern time? Yeah, so we had everyone over for the last half of the game.

We were going to bar-b-que some brats and burgers. There is a cool grill connection on our stove so we started it up and threw on the meat. A few minutes later our house was filled with smoke. We opened the windows and doors and got the fan out but it was too late. Our smoke alarms all started going off. As soon as I'd turn one off, it would start going again. After about 5 minutes of alarms we were able to get the smoke to subside and turn the alarms off.

It was on my "to do" list to test the smoke alarms. Check! They work.

Playtime

If I could read Morgan's thoughts, I'm sure they'd go something like this...

Hey, this looks like fun...

Oh, it tastes so good...
Whoa, I slipped but luckily I caught myself with my arms out... don't move, don't move, don't move...

Cool, another thing to play with and suck on!

Guilt-free

Thanks to all of you who commented on my last post. I feel a lot less guilty about leaving Morgan for a minimal time each week. I will just enjoy the small breaks and let her make new friends.

Mommy Advice Needed

I've been feeling a little guilty lately and I need some advice to know if there is anything to that guilt.

So, I'm training for the half Ironman. With that comes hours of exercise and time. Now, I take Morgan with me on bike rides and running and she seems to love it. My guilt comes with swimming three times a week. I have to take her to the gym daycare and I usually leave her for an hour, again, three times a week. She doesn't particularly love it there because she is away from me so she ends up crying for probably the majority of that hour. I take her fun toy and some food so she's distracted and sometimes that works, but other times she is just sad to be left.

Then Tom and I need a date night so we get a babysitter for a few hours one night a week.

Is that too much? Is this something I should quit doing? Am I normal to feel guilty for leaving her? Is she going to grow up with abandonment issues? Is it okay to leave her for a few hours every week plus date night? Your help and comments are greatly appreciated.

Epi's

I planned our anniversary celebration this year. It was really original. We went to dinner -- not even a movie. However, I chose Epi's in downtown Meridian. Epi's is a Basque restaurant and their food and service was unmatched. Tom got lamb chops, which were great and I got a super delicious shrimp wrapped in sole and smothered in a cream and butter sauce dish. I could only eat 1/4 of it at the restaurant because it was so rich (and I was full from the appetizer, soup, salad and bread). Then it lasted for lunch and dinner the next day. There's nothing like a good cream and butter sauce. Yum.

If you're ever in the area, Epi's is a must!

Photoshoot Preview

The other day I took Morgan to get her pictures taken so Audrey could use her new floor. The little stink did not smile one time in an hour and a half but her serious pictures are so cute.

Happy Anniversary, Tom

Tom,

How fun to wake up this morning and do a play-by-play of what we were doing three years ago on this day. As I type I was getting my makeup done and then I would be off to meet you at the temple. That was the best day of my life.

It wasn't the best day because I was the center of attention or because everyone did what I wanted, but because I became your wife. I get to spend eternity with you and that makes me exceptionally happy.

I appreciate you. You never yell, are never impatient with me, and always make me laugh. If every wife could have a husband like you this world would be a better place with a lot of happy people.

This past year has come with a lot of changes for us -- our new house, no job for me, a new baby. I couldn't ask for a better partner with whom to share these changes than you. Our life is even better and I love you even more than I did on February 2, 2007.

If Groundhogs day was really a day that repeated until it was perfect, this day would only have happened once for me, thanks to you (and I mean that for this day every year).

You're my best friend, my true love, my eternal companion. I love you space.

Kelli

For anyone who reads this. The word, "space," in "I love you space" comes because a few years ago when we were visiting my parents, my little sister was trying to think of the word "infinity" but couldn't get the exact word. She was about 5 years old and chose the word "space" because she knew what she wanted to say, just not the exact wording. It has been our little thing since.