Yeah for Poo Poo

Well, we have big news at our house! Turner went poo poo in the potty for the first time today!! I am sure it will be a long time before that is a regular thing but it was a pretty exciting first step. I know that this is not very exciting to some of you (namely my brothers) but for this momma this is front page news.

One smart kid

I haven't figured out how to load a you tube clip directly onto my blog but here is the link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=zCdZwitrNoY It is a 12 year old boy calling into a radio station in Texas (I was told.) I had to pass it on.

Dollar Store find of the day

A lot of women around here take their kids and walk the mall on these cold wintery days. Not this mom. The dollar store is a bit more my pace. With all the cheap dodads it is always an adventure. We found an endless array of useful things such as light bulbs, pot scrubbers, Valentines decor... I thought that Turner's toy choice though qualified for the dollar store find of the day. I think it is the cutest dinosaur he has! I just thought I would share!

Isn't he cute? Ok so he isn't that photogenic but I promise he is a cutie!

Turner has been playing with it all day. It is so cute as he is playing pretend more and more. This morning he started crawling around and roaring like a lion. It was so fun! I love the pretending stage!

A little on the wild side.

I am not one to experiment with cooking much.. ok not at all- I follow a recipe exactly- I don't deviate from it AT ALL! In fact I am so exact that I am have quite the collection of measuring devices, two sets of measuring cups, two sets of measuring spoons, two liquid measuring cups and a liquid/dry measure. Yeah- I don't deviate at all from a recipe... until today! There is a health food store here called Wild Oats that have the best zucchini bran muffins. When I lived in Salt Lake I ate them almost everyday. Well I found a recipe a while ago for apple raisin bran muffins. I substituted regular bran and zucchini for the raisin bran and apples. The result???

Here they are all in the pan looking so yummy!

Don't you just want to sink your teeth into it?

So Turner might not look like he is enjoying this in the picture but don't be fooled, that is his second one.

So here is the recipe:

1 1/2 C. Bran Cereal

1 C. Milk

1/4 C. Vegetable oil

2 eggs slightly beaten

1t. vanilla extract

2 C. shredded zucchini

2 1/2 C. All-purpose flour

3/4 c. Sugar

2 1/2t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1t. cinnamon

Mix wet ingredients. Add dry and mix together. Spoon evenly in t0 prepared muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes. I also sprinkled brown sugar on the top because that is how they are at wild oats and I recommend this or else they are kinda bland... I might try to experiment with how to sweeten them up just a little bit.

A little game of Tag

I found this tag blog surfin'. If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged (since I really don't know who reads this.) I thought that this one was funny!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME:(your first pet, the kind of car you drive) Muffin Odyessy

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) -fudge brownie sugar

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) - T Tho

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) - Red Frog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Anne Siera Vista

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) -Thoti

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) -The Brown Water (oh that sounds gross!)

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) -Claude Joseph

9. STRIPPER NAME:( the name of your favorite scent/perfume/cologne, favorite candy) - Romance Snickers (snickers would fit if I ever became a stripper!)

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother’s & father’s middle names ) -Carole Turner

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) -Groom Glendale

12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) -Spring peony (my favorite flower changes a lot... maybe that would be good for a spy)

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) -Orange t-shirty ???

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) -Oatmeal Aspen

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) -The crochet rain Tour (croceht is my favorite right now because I just learned how to do it)

My favorite things change a lot but this was fun!

Creative genius

I tried to download some video of this but somehow I couldn't get it to work. Anyway this is Turner in the process of writing his first symphony! Oh I hope that he gets some music ability unlike his parents.

This week has been a tough one. I think that Turner is stir-crazy. It has been biterly cold outside so we haven't been out much. I understand cabin fever. My friend Shannon came up from Springville on Tuesday and we were able to time the snow so we could go to the children's museum in Ogden. It is one of Turner's and my favorite places to go. Other than that we have been inside without much to do. Oh I am sure I could find a number of things to clean but as far as exciting things, we are pretty limited. These cold days take thier toll on both of us. I know that some of you have husbands that are gone a lot more than I do but Josh is also back in school so a few nights a week he doesn't get home until late. Those days tend to be a bit long

Last week I had my glucose test and while I was waiting that hour to draw blood the Doctor came out and told me that he was bored and that he wanted to see the baby. So I got a bonus ultrasound! Dr. Farley said that he was still a boy (good to know) and that everything looked good. The little guy was being a bit shy and had his hands in front of his face. But it was certianly fun to see him. Today is 29 weeks down and 11 to go. Somedays it seems like this process is just a bit long. And that fact that I need even more water than normal and my bladder is the size of a walnut seems like a design flaw to me.

So my dear friends and family, what are some great inside ideas to help keep me sane? I would love any advice! The catch? I would especially like something that doesn't make a huge mess (bending over isn't very fun anymore) and doesn't mess up his brain (we already watch Elmo a few times a week.) And those of you who tend to have husbands gone quite a bit- what do you do to keep from feeling lonely? Please comment!

OOHH Bickey

I am not very good of getting a picture of Turner in front of the Christmas tree. Infact I haven't remembered until it is time to take the tree down. These are some of my favorite pictures from this years "shoot"

Yeah he is a toddler alright! The is getting a bit of 'tude.

Being a little coy
I love this smile! It melts my heart. No that isn't a beauty mark... just the facial injury of the day :)
I thought that this was precious. This is the baby Jesus from one of our nativity sets. He loves to point out Jesus whenever he sees a picture or statue of Him. I had a friend tell me it was because I was a good mom but I have to give all of the credit to my husband for always pointing out pictures of Jesus to him from a very early age.

Turner has become

obsessed with blankets. He has a few in particular he likes. The other day he gathered them together and put them inside the turned over laundry hamper and climbed in saying "nigh-nigh." I think he was planning on spending the night in there! He has become so in love with his blankets or his "bickey" as he calls them that it has changed our whole night time routine. I use to sing to him while rocking him before bed. Now he just prefers to be put into the crib and he sings his own song about bickey. I don't understand all of the words except oohh bickey every few words. it is totally cute but I have to admit I am not sure I like him being so independent. I guess with #2 on the way it is good that he wants to go to sleep on his own. It is just hard when you know he is growing up and that nightly bonding time is over.

To all Moms present and future

My sweet mother gave me this letter on Christmas with the instructions to read it later. Well, Chirstmas came and went and it got packed away until I found it again. It was exactly what I needed to read today and although it is long for a blog (and no pictures) I thought I might send it out there to all of you other Moms or those thinking about becoming a mom.

The Invisible Woman

It started to happen gradually. One day I was walking my son Jake to school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when the crossing guard said to him, "who is that with you, young fella?'' "Nobody," he shrugged. Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My son is only 5, but as we crossed the street I thought, "oh my goodness, nobody?"

I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to my family-like "Turn the TV down please"- and nothing would happen. Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I would stand there for a minute, and then I would say agian, a little louder, "Would someone turn the TV down?" Nothing.

Just the other night my husband and I were out at a party. We'd been there for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was talking to a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a break in the conversation, I whispered, "I'm ready to go when you are." He just kept right on talking.

I'm invisible.

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk inot the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no on can see me at all.

I'm invisible.

Somedays I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Somedays I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, What number is the Disney Channel?" Im'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please"

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She is going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of=style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."

In the days ahead I would read-no, devour- the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

no one can say who built the great cathedrals- we have no record of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees."

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But ti is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writedr of the book went so far as to say that no cathedreals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for threee hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of "invisible women."
-Author Unknown

Well, I don't know why I have such about this year but I do! The highlight of last year was for was being a mom and watching Turner learn and grow. Also learning and growing myself as I grew more comfortable with who I was as a wife and a mother. The thing I am most looking forward to next year is adding our second son in April. I am really excited about being a mother of two little boys. I am also looking forward to growing even more in my role as wife and a mother. My theme for the year is Life is great in 2008! The quote I want to live by this year is my favorite quote by Henry David Thoreau "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." I think that the key words are confidently and imagined. The times that I have felt the most comfortable with my life have been when I have been confident. Sometimes you have to muster confidence. I think it is a state of mind. That is why I think that imagined is the other key word. We must imagine, ponder, or think about where we are going and where we want to be. The journey of our life begins in our mind. Once we have imagined, we can go confidently. Anyway these are the ramblings of a pregnant woman so I am sure that they don't make much sense :) I just hope that this year will be filled with fun adventures