Merry Christmas!

We had a very fun Christmas this year. It was seriously so nice to be home and to be doing all the regular traditions and well... to not be stuck in Michigan with legal issues and stress looming over our heads. I'm glad Santa only brought Kylie two presents because my sisters sure spoil her! Jared surprised me with a wheat grinder which I'm excited to use. Today I even made some breadsticks with some of the wheat we ground up with it. Now I have a good reason to start adding wheat to our food storage. I've never had any wheat stored up, but have started using whole wheat when making bread so now I can start!

Kylie also learned over the holiday how to go down the stairs. She's been really good at going UP the stairs for months now, but wouldn't go down and would just stand at the top and whine or cry when we'd go downstairs. I'm so happy she's learned how to go down! It's so much fun watching her learn new things. She likes to feel her legs on something solid so she just slides down the stairs straight as a board feeling the stairs underneath her.

The day after Christmas we drove home to find 15 inches of snow on our driveway. Not to mention there were some heavy drifts that made the snow 24 inches plus in some areas. Near the street where the snowplows came by was the worst. There was literally a wall of snow. We couldn't get into the garage in any way, shape or form so we parked on the street and spent the next THREE hours digging out our driveway (we only had one snow shovel or it would have gone faster). We've been living in our home now for five years and I can't remember our driveway being buried in so much snow before. For a little bit we put Kylie's coat and mittens on and she joined us outside. She doesn't like wearing the hood on her coat. It will be frigid outside, plus a wind chill and she'll be pawing at the hood on her coat trying to get it off! Silly girl :)

Hope you had a great week!

Christ Child

At this time of year I love looking at artwork of Mary and the Christ child. They are so beautiful and I love the sweetness and innocence they portray. One of these days I'd love to get a framed print for my home. I did a google search the other day and there are so many beautiful potrails. Some are by contemporary artists and some are historically catholic potrails. I loved all of these and thought I'd share. The reason for the season...

It's that time of year...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Ready for Christmas

The holidays are winding down. I got my last package in the mail on Saturday, had our family Christmas party that night (btw, our home is WAY too small for 50 people) and we are done with the shopping. In the past there always seems to be a Christmas eve run and I'm so glad that we won't be doing that this year! I've already decided to work on some handmade gifts for next year (or at least that is the plan). There's never anything to do in January so maybe I can get a head start for next year. I've got a few ideas that are already cooking.

Oh and the good news is that I'm feeling better, but we played some games with some friends last night and I think Kylie picked up Kaden's pukes. She's been throwing up all day. Her favorite blankie is in the wash and there's the lovely smell of pukes perfuming our home.

Jolly Holiday

Our poor little darling is mortified, scared to death and freaked out by the jolly man himself. Two weeks ago we had our ward's Christmas party and Santa arrived with his holiday greetings and cheer. So of course she needed to have the obligatory chat with Santa on his lap. Oh the screams. Not just displeasure, but I'M GOING TO DIE kind of screams. Then this past weekend while we were down in Fayette visiting the Jared's family we happened to go to their ward's Christmas party. Santa also made his appearance and while her screams weren't bad as the first time she was hollering and you can see how she's leaning towards Jared. She wanted nothing to do with him!

Thoughts

Okay I've been majorly slacking in the blog posting department. Of course it doesn't help that we just can't seem to get over these runny noses and colds! I need to take Analee's advise and start downing orange juice (doesn't help that I'm not a fan of OJ in the first place). Last weekend we went down to Fayette to attend the annual temple devotional. We woke Kylie up, got her dressed so she could go with Angie to church and she just would not stop crying. More of a hysterical cry for a long period of time. It just wasn't her. We were planning on sending her with Angie and Greg's family while we were gone. After debating back and forth we decided that I'd stay home with her and that poor stuffy, runny-nosed girl slept for another four hours that morning. We've seriously had runny noses around this joint for three weeks now. THREE WEEKS!!!

I'm sort of morning the fact that Kylie now refuses to wear bows in her hair. She's always worn headbands and never given me an ounce of trouble. Then all of a sudden she's all over that sham. The second I put one on her head she rips it out!!! UGH! I've tried even sneaking a clip in while she's not looking but it's like the doll can sense that it's there! I'm looking forward to when her hair is long enough to wear piggie tails, or even "a" piggie on the top of her head. It's starting to fill in more now, but still isn't long enough even in back to pull out.

I've been kind of a major funk over the past week over all the failed adoptions in the news and blogs that I follow. My heart just literally hurts. I need to hear some positive adoption stories where everything works out because this week I've heard nothing but one heart breaking situation after another. One where the expectant mom changed her mind shortly after birth. A six month old going back to his native american tribe to be put into fostercare. Another anguishing story where a couple had been parents for 34 days before the placement failed because the birthmother's family put so much pressure on her daughter to not place the baby. (Utah is one of the few states where birthparents rights are unrevokable after they sign. Many states have 3, 10 even 30 days to change their mind or other legal loopholes) Today I found out another family will be going through a contested adoption by the young birthfather.

All these stories just cut too close to home and the problem is that I CAN imagine what it would be like. Sometimes you can do everything right, and only accept certain placements and this could still happen to you. I can't imagine a greater pain than loosing a child and I just ache for these families. I wish I could come through all of that unscathed. I love adoption but I also hate it. And this week I hate it royally.

And on that happy note, Merry Christmas!

Sick

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile. It seems like everyone in our family has been sick over the past two weeks. Last week it was Kylie and Jared (while I was thanking my lucky stars I hadn't caught it). Poor little Kylie has had the runniest nose, is teething and unfortunately has to deal with mom chasing after her to wipe her nose every twenty minutes. And so of course now I've jumped the bandwagon and haven't felt too good lately. My throat hurts something awful. I'm feeling better now, but it seems to get worse at nights.

Christmas Lights Video

A few years ago I received a link to this youtube video and I thought it was the funniest thing ever. My favorite part is the ending. I forwarded it around to my work and my boss somehow thought this was my house! Ugh...... nope!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmgf60CI_ks

Not Much (what's been going on you say?)

Well not much has been going on around here. I've been trying to knock out most of the Christmas shopping this week so I can just relax the rest of the month. Good news is that I'm finished shopping for Jared, Myself and Kylie (yeah!) and I'm halfway done with the other gifts we need for family. I really don't have much left. I tend to buy things at the after Christmas sales so it makes it nice for when the following year rolls around.

I've had to venture out to the stores more than I usually have to this year. So it's been more spread out because of the munchkin. She only lasts so long before needing a nap and just doesn't nap anymore unless she's in her crib or the car seat (bummer). And yes poor me has to buy my own Christmas presents. It's a sad reality but it's how it works for the most part around the S house. But the perk is I always get something useful and it's what I want. That's even how it was growing up once I hit age 13-14. My mom doesn't want to buy anything unless she know for certain that we wanted it so we usually ended up being there when it was purchased. It's a sad reality but I'm so used to it it really doesn't bother me anymore (you can send your condolences).

I'm also trying out a new roll recipe and they are rising at the moment. They are sour cream crescent rolls and they sound delish. You can find the recipe here: http://adailyscoop.blogspot.com/2008/11/rolls.htm I'm liking this bread-making thing. Whoever invented the Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough attachment has unfolded a whole world out there for me as to making bread.

Mittens or Mutton anyone?

On Saturday we were down in good ol' Sanpete County visiting Jared's parents. Jared went down with the scouts to a cabin in Fairview Canyon the night before. Saturday morning I drove through Manti and Ephraim to pick up him up in Fairview. I went to school for a year at Snow College. I haven't been through that area so it was fun to drive through and see how much HASN'T changed... even in ten years.

Before I hit Manti I got stuck in a bit of traffic. Of the four-legged kind. Now I remembered this happens occasionally on some of the roads down there but I've never experienced on the main highway through town. I swear every sheep in that town was being led down the middle of the highway, going the opposite of traffic. Why were they being sent down the middle of the road instead off on the wide shoulder? Don't ask me, but there are some awfully smart sheep herders who thought it would be great entertainment for us travelers. Kylie and I sat parked on the highway for about ten minutes for all those sheep to walk around us. Here are some pictures from the cell phone.

Resting

Today we attended the funeral and laid to rest our beautiful great-grandmother. We will miss her so much! Grandma Crowther is Jared's grandmother and she lived in West Jordan. We took these pictures over at her house (four generations) just last week. We will miss her tons. She was a very elect lady.

On a sillier note, at the cemetery Kylie was having a hay day running around everywhere and playing in the leaves. She'd just take off, and would grab a fun treasure on her way that was adoring someones headstone. So Jared spent a great deal of time chasing her down and returning the items to their respective headstones. I was taking pictures and so Jared was watching her most of the time. While she was under my watch for a few minutes while I was being THE BEST MOTHER EVER I took a picture, then looked down and saw that Kylie had plopped herself down next to the casket and was trying to crawl underneath it. Problem is there's nothing but a long drop down into where the casket will rest. Someone grabbed her right when I was about to have a heart attack. Wouldn't that have made great headlines? NEWS AT NINE... BABY INJURED FROM FALLING INTO HER GREAT-GRANDMOTHER'S GRAVE. So thankfully the munchkin has made it another day unscathed. We will miss our grandma so much.

Granted these two pictures aren't great, but look at Grandma Crowther's reaction to Kylie putting her finger in her ear!
































A little nicer picture of the four generations.

It's Getting Busy Around Here

I've noticed just over the past few days Kylie is getting much, much more busier! There is constant trail of odds and ends and junk that she's dragged out of every bookshelf, drawer, cabinet that she can find. Yesterday especially. I was trying to wrap a present and before I knew it it looked like the gift wrapping drawer had exploded. She's also tall enough now to reach onto the countertops in the bathrooms. I have to keep reminding Jared to make sure to put the cap on the toothpaste, because she keeps finding it, tasting it, and getting it on her clothes. And she's tall enough to reach into the junk drawer and empty that out.

Tomorrow I'm making a trip to find those cabinet and door locks that use a magnet. I put a bunch of the inexpensive locks on the cabinets but they don't work well. Half of them don't work. A few mighty tugs from munchkin and she's hit the mother load of odds and ends to strew about my house.

Halloweening

So I've failed to post some pictures of munchkin in her Halloween duds.

Here she is in her Sugar Plum Fairy finest.

You see, Kylie might grow up to have a tom boy streak (might is the operative word) and so as her mother it's my duty to get my fill of girly frillyness while I can. Not that I'm expecting that. But you never know.

But doesn't she look ADORABLE?

To be fair, I took these two weeks before Halloween while I was working on her costume (yes I made it... everything except for the wings). So here are some snapshots more or less of it in the works.

I'd say these pictures reflect about 80% of what the finished product looked like. She ended up wearing a white long sleeve onesie underneath, the skirt was a little more full, tucked in some of the ribbons into the skirt better, and I reworked the flowers on the dress so they'd stay better and weren't so large. The tulle skirt wasn't hard to make. You cut 4" strips of various shades of wedding tulle and tie them to some elastic. The flowers and purple tulle came from my mom's stash (aka. Emily's wedding).

I really didn't set out this year for this costume, but the ideas kept flowing after I stumbled on to those cute fairy wings at Gardner Village. I started poking around on Ebay to get some ideas for something to go with it and found some very pretty tutu's that were very boutique priced. This ended up costing me about $9 to make ($6 for the wings, $3 for the contrasting tulle) since I was able to raid Mom's wedding stash and use thing I had already.



































































































Checking out the pumpkins on the front step.

Positive Adoption Terms

For no other reason than (ahem) it's National Adoption Month I'm posting this for anyone who wants to brush up on their adoption lingo. Or just wants to make sure they don't unintentionally tick someone off who is adopted or has adopted a child. So here's your lesson for today...

Negative Terms
Gave her baby up for adoption (this one drives me crazy when I hear it... Kylie was placed out of love, not because her birth mom gave her up, or that she was a gift)
Real parent; natural parent (implies that somehow I'm unnatural)
Adoptive parent
Her adopted child (luckily no one has ever used this around me... blech)
Illegitimate Adoptee
To keep
Adoptable child; available child
Foreign adoption
Track down parents
Unwanted child
Is adopted

Preferred Terms
Placed her child for adoption (ding ding ding!)
Birth parent; biological parent
Parent
His/her child
Born to unmarried parents
Child who was adopted
To parent
Waiting child
International adoption
Search
Child placed for adoption
Was adopted


By far the two that I hear the most are "gave her baby up" and when asking about Kylie's birthmom sometimes people will say something like "was her mom (insert question)?" Ahem, I am her mom. I can usually know what they are talking about so I'll say "Oh you mean her birth mom? And I'll go on to answer the question. Another one I hear a lot of complaints about (though I haven't gotten this myself) is "Are you ever going to have any kids of your OWN?" As if Kylie is on loan to us or something. It's not really a tactful way of asking this question and there are better better ways to inqure if someone is pursuing pregnancy or fertility treatments. (And my answer to that probing question is that according to our RE we need to try IVF to make that happen. So for all of you who are stuffing their pillows at night with their wads of cash send some our way. About 12K worth please!)


There you go folks!

Of Utmost Importance

Kylie's learned to say "Mama" today! She was babbling in the tub as usual and we were mimicking words back and forth. If anyone can't remember she loves to say dada. She watched my mouth form the word and she said mama twice! And crazy enough, in some of her frustrations today I can tell she's trying to say it.

Desires of the Heart

A fellow blogger posted this and I loved it. I hope it's okay, but I've re-posted it here to share with you all.


Boyd K. Packer:

Some years ago a president of a student stake asked if I would counsel with a young couple. The stalwart young man and his lovely wife had recently been told, with some finality, that they would never have children of their own. They were heartbroken as they sobbed out their disappointment. What they wanted most in life, what they had been taught and knew was an obligation and a privilege beyond price (part of the Plan), they now were to be denied. Why? Why? Why?

I consoled them as best I could and offered comfort that really was insufficient to quiet the pain they felt. As they were leaving the office, I called them back and said: “You are a very fortunate and very blessed young couple.”

They were startled and the young man asked why would I say such a thing as that. Did I not understand what they had told me? Why would I say they were fortunate and blessed, when they were to be denied the thing they wanted most, children of their own.

I answered, “Because you want them. In the eternal scheme of things that will be of inestimable and eternal value.” The Lord has said that He “will judge all men according to their works; according to the desires of their hearts” (D&C 137:9). Many people now do not want children or want few of them or consider them a burden rather than a blessing.” They were a very blessed young couple.

When you understand the plan, you can cope with challenges in life which otherwise would be unbearable.

About two weeks ago I took Kylie up Butterfield Canyon one afternoon so I could work on my artistic abilities. Problem? Lighting was crappy and baby wasn't thrilled with the idea of being my model. Some orange outfitted deer hunters walked by and I could but help but wonder if I could be mistaken for you know... a four legged critter that tastes like venison. So we didn't stay up there long.

R House from the S House

Well I can't really think of anything to write about tonight (though I'm still working on posting some Halloween pictures for ya Emily) so I thought I'd share one of my new found and favorite blogs to follow.

Her name is Lindsey and she's an adoptive mother times two. I actually remember seeing their online profile when ours was active also, before they were placed with their son. She's a BIG TIME adoption advocate and there is so much information on her blog it's mind boggling. Articles, thoughts, rants, birthmothers, adoptive parents, feel good stories and heartbreaking stories. You name it's there somewhere.

http://therhouse.blogspot.com

Sean saved me...

Geez, I was almost in a car accident today. I was turning left onto 134000 south. The light turned green and I hesitated for a few seconds because I was paying attention to Sean Hannity on the radio. Then a van came blazing to my left through a VERY red light. I came *this* close to being T-boned. So I'm glad I'm here and my bones, my car and my baby are in good shape. Whew!

November

Today is November 2nd. Which means that...


#1. It's my sister Vaylene's birthday (Happy Twenty Four to you Vay).

#2. Elections are almost here and over (hallelujah).

#3. For those who are involved in the adoption world, or who have been exposed to it in some way November is big month for advocacy and education since i's National Adoption Month. I'll celebrate it in my own way by posting a few adoption related posts and articles during this month. So stay tuned.

#4. Last I heard our Abbie is flying out here next weekend. I'm SO EXCITED! Her aunt & cousin were coming to Utah for a few days so she was toying with the idea of coming too. I hope it works out for her to do so. We haven't seen her since April.

#5. I found out that a dear friend of mine that's been TTC for three years is pregnant! I was so excited when her hubby told me. They were one month away from trying IVF so I'm just over the moon thrilled for them. It totally made my day.

#6. Today was as good as any to make cinnamon rolls from scratch. It doesn't happen often around the S home. Yummy!

12 Month Stats

Kylie had her twelve month doctor visit today.

Drum roll please...

She's gained one pound since her nine month visit and now is 23lbs 14.5oz which is in the 88th percentile. She's 29.5 tall (96th percentile) and her head circumstance is in the 93rd percentiles. And the doctor gave me the a-okay to give her 2% milk instead of whole since she's so high on the percentiles. She got a few immunizations today too, which made her cry a bit but we are both glad they are over. I think she cried harder when the doctor was trying to peek inside of her ears. She's been pretty happy tonight and is sporting a nice looking pair of band-aids on those legs!

Version 1.0

Happy Birthday Kylie! We love you SOOOOOOOOOOO much!

Yesterday was munchkin's first birthday! We had so much fun. She wasn't feeling very well most of the day and was really sleepy, but she still had fun. We made cupcakes for our little "cupcake" and we sang "Happy Happy Birthday Kylie Dear..." many times to her during the day and she'd start swaying back and forth. I love that she loves music and songs!

We sang to her and she got to "blow" out her first candle. She didn't seem very interested in attacking the sugary creation. She took a few tastes of the frosting with her fingers, but the cupcake pretty much stayed intact. We've loved every minute of this past year having you with us and we can't wait for many more to come. Happy Birthday love!

Sneaky

My little Kylie has learned something new. I store the diaper bag next to the basket of toys we keep by the side of the couch. Kylie's discovered that I keep a zip lock baggie full of Nilla wafers in the diaper bag. Several times today she fished the baggie out of the diaper bag and brought it to me wanting a snack. I don't blame her... I think Nilla's are yummy too!

Tamara Needs...

So I took this idea from my friend Corrinne's blog. Do a google search for your first name and add "needs" to the search. So for myself I googled "Tamara Needs". See what you come up with.

(Ahem)

Tamara needs a little guidance.

Someone has a hard time accepting Tamara's needs for structure.

He has a much harder time accepting Tamara's needs for structure. His craving for Tamara was hot, but his desire to understand her as well made him an incomparable hero. (yikes!)

Tamara is described as having a sweet spirit. Her foster mother tells us she doesn’t think she’s ever seen her get mad. Tamara needs a forever family. (okay this one is sad)

Tamara needs your help.

Tamara DEFINATELY needs some help.

Tamara needs $600 to re-stock her inventory for the holiday season. (hey, I like this one)

Tamara needs your subscriptions. I need them.

Tamara needs a date to the prom at Los Amigos High School.

Tamara needs counseling and jail. Why do I stress that she needs jail? Because quite obviously, letting her out of jail causes car wrecks.


So it looks like the general consensus is that I need a date to the prom (better take that up with Jared), need guidance and structure, subscriptions, need some counseling and jail time and that I NEED six hundred smackers to buy more stuff for the holidays.

The Munchkin...

What's Kylie been up to these days you ask?

1. Walking. About two weeks ago she had mastered the art of taking 6-7 steps at a time. With all the excitement over last weekend, and plenty of cousins worth chasing after she can now walk from room to room without too much trouble. Still wobbly *very wobbly* but she's definately walking now. Way to go sweetie!

2. Slamming doors. She's learned how to push a door that's ajar open... or slam it closed. Which is extra nice when I'm trying to take a nap.

3. Her three tricks she's learned so far are clapping, waving hi and bye, and making the motions when you put your hand on your mouth and make silly sounds. But according to Aunt Julie, they aren't really tricks since she's not a sea lion. So we'll call them Kylie's talents just for Julie's sake.

4. She's decided that playing in nursery is much funner than sitting through Sunday School class.

5. Looking ADORABLE in her holiday dress. Black & white & silver plaid taffeta with a black sash and red flower at the waist. Yes it's a little early. But I found it on clearance a few moons ago at BRUs and I'm worried she may outgrow it if I wait till December. I'll take some pictures soon.

6. Anticipating her big 1.0 birthday this next Sunday. Can you believe it's already been a year? I can't belive it's already been a year. Where did my little baby go?

7. Loving having a play group in the neighborhood. This chickpea LOVES social interaction and is always much happier when we can go play with some friends and toys.

8. There are only a few inches left in Kylie's LAST can of formula. This week I've started to transition her. Started by mixing half and half, and then just decided to go all out. So far so good and she seems to like it. I'm very happy to not have to buy formula any more!

9. We've had fun this week blowing kisses and making noises in the nape of her neck. She starts laughing hysterically. It's cute to watch.

10. We've learned that Kylie LOVES music. Anytime a song will come on she'll start moving back and forth. It's cute to watch. And you'd think she'd died and gone to heaven when you pick her up and start dancing to the music. There was a little disney carousal/merry-go-round at the children's center at the temple last week and she was absolutely fixated with it! It had music that it playd as the characters went round and round. She's either going to be our little muscisian or she's going to be asking for an Ipod by her second birthday.


Well that's all folks.

We are off tomorrow to the pumpkin patch to find a large pumpkin for our little pumpkin. Catch that?

shout out

Hey all of my blogging buddies...

I'm on the search for a plain long sleeved onsie or long sleved dance leotard (white or lavender) sized about 18m or 24m. The purpose you may ask? It's Halloweeeeeeeeen time my friends. And I've been working on munchkin's costume.

I've been around to a few stores but haven't found anything. If anybody has any ideas of where I could buy one, or if anyone has anything like this in their bins of baby cloths that I could borrow for the week of Halloween will you let me know? No long sleeve onsies or dance leotards will be damaged in the process. Email me or leave a comment. Thanks!

A Blessed Girl

So if you didn't get enough pictures here are a bunch from Sunday's blessing. And for those inquiring to know about the dude in the background in my last post... that's our one and only BIL Jordan! You should have seen how hard Jared was laughing when he saw that picture.

Now back to the original topic...

This past Sunday morning was blessed by her father. We have so many good friends, and people who I genuinely love in our ward "family" that I really wanted to share that experience with them too. They know the trials we've been through over the last year and I was so happy that we could share this happy day with them. I was able to hold Kylie in my lap while her dad, grandpas, uncles, and favorite cousins laid their hands on her head and gave her a name and a blessing. It was absolutely beautiful and I couldn't help but cry through most of it. We are truly blessed to have Kylie with our family.

I am so grateful to have a loving Heavenly Father that would answer our prayers, and also the prayers of our most favorite Abbie. Our little girl is loved by so many people and will always be. This beautiful little girl has affected so many lives over the past year and a half for the better. In her blessing a statement was made… "From your birth you have been the means of bringing souls to Christ and will continue to bring souls to Christ throughout your life."

I truly feel honored to be her mother and love that she is absolutely adored and cherished by her father. She has truly brought joy to our family like no one else could ever have. Kylie, thank you for making such a difference in so many lives. We love you SO MUCH!!!