We're officially in Virginia for Christmas now. It only took three days to get us here--thank you, Mother Nature--but we're here. Daniel is fighting his cat allergy (with the addition of Molly and Charles's cat, my family now has three felines underfoot) courageously while I enjoy someone else cooking for awhile.
I figured that since I'm home for Christmas, though, I should probably update on Thanksgiving and the weeks following. The pictures below are in backwards order, sorry.

Who would have thought a small mixing bowl full of balls would be so much fun?

In case you can't tell, Lynny really likes playing in the lovesac.
This is us during Christmas tree hunting. Every year of his life (minus the two years he was in Spain on his mission), Daniel has gone up into the mountains surrounding Koosharem, Utah to search for a good Christmas tree. This was my third year accompanying him, and we brought the baby along as well. What do you think of our choice?
We bundled Lynny up in all of her jackets and let her wear her Christmas hat a little early so she would stay warm. This picture was taken at the beginning of the hunt. The one above was taken after hiking through the snow for awhile. You really can't see her face above, but she was pooped.
I just can't enough of this kid!

Thanksgiving with Gramma and Grampa Cowdery in Boise was a blast. It was great to see family for the holidays. I can't tell you how grateful I am that Daniel was willing to sacrifice his Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to spend time with my family outside of Utah. I'm so blessed to be married to that man.

When we got back, we finally let Lynny try her hand at feeding herself, and she actually did pretty well. There's nothing on the spoon, but it doesnt' seem to bother her much.
Daddy let Lynny try her hand at driving on the way home. She's really good at it, can't you tell?
Lynny ate so much at Thanksgiving. She devoured mashed potatoes and decided it was time for her to learn to feed herself.
Cash thought it was pretty cool that he could hold and lift Lynny without any help this time.
Gramma gave Lynny a new hat while we were there. It's a little small, but we liked it anyway. I kinda think she looks like a flower or something.

Something new

Well, it's official: Lynny has a tooth.
After months of drooling, gnawing, chewing, and gumming on everything, Lynny's tooth finally made its grand appearance.
My grandma pointed out that it looked like a tooth might be coming in on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, and by the time we were ready to eat our turkey the next day, it was in.
Hooray!

Denver

This past weekend we took a whirlwind trip to Denver for Steven and Mindy's wedding. We spent a lot of time in the car, going to and from receptions, luncheons, the temple, etc. Lynny was great for most of the trip, thank goodness.

We were also able to see my cousins, Aaron and Veronica, while we were there. They were awesome for having us over on short notice and Aaron made an incredible dinner for us. I think it was probably the only real food we ate the entire three-day trip, and we were so grateful for it.

Veronica also gave us a swim diaper for the baby and handed down a bathing suit for me to wear. We took the baby swimming for the first time in the hotel pool. Unfortunately, the water was really cold (normally hotel indoor pools are pretty warm, but I guess ours was an exception that rule) so Lynny didn't enjoy it very much. We're going to have to try again, though, because I can't imagine the daughter of two trained river guides not liking the water.The trip back was little bit harder than on the way there. A snow storm hit us hard as we were going through Parley's Canyon so they closed the road until the plows could get to the top and lead everyone down. We were stuck for two and half hours, so we finally pulled the baby out and let her get some exercise. Daniel's parents pulled up alongside us and we let Lynny roll down the window and talk to Grampa through the snow. She was fascinated by all the white stuff falling and got pretty upset when we put her back in her seat once we started moving again.

So now we're home for one day before we take off for my Grandparents' house in Idaho for thanksgiving. We're busy doing laundry at my inlaws' house (our dryer has started eating our clothes and leaving holes in everything!) before driving down to get Lizzy in Provo for the trip. It'll be nice to have to have Aunt Lizzy in the backseat to keep Lynny a little more entertained than last time!

The new chair

I finally went out and got Lynny a high chair. I found it at Kid-to-Kid, where I already had 25 dollars credit so I only ended up paying 25 more for an almost brand-new chair! It's the same height as our table so Lynny is able to join us for meals without sticking her fingers in my food like she has been for a couple weeks now. She also doesn't have to play on the cold kitchen floor when she's keeping me company while I do dishes (Ah, to have a dishwasher...). And the best part of all: she gets to eat "real people" food.
That's right folks, we finally got tired of watching our daughter stare longingly at our dinners and sticking her little fingers in our food. So we started solids...or as solid as mashed up peas can get.
And it seemed to go alright. She still got a little bit on her lips with each bite, but she actually swallowed the first bite and went after the rest with interest. Sure, it's not "booby treats" as our pediatrician calls it, but it's something new and exciting.
First Mommy fed her (ignore the commentary; I tend to get chatty when the camera's on) and then Daddy had a try. For Oma and Opa, and other family who wasn't able to participate in the event, we recorded it for you and posted it below. Hooray for growing babies!

Dear Oma and Opa,

Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote. I've been doing a lot of growing and haven't had the chance to write about it. But here's what's new the life of your favorite four month old.
At my doctor's appointment on October 26, I was 12 pounds and 12.5 ounces and 25 inches long. That means I'm almost in the 50th percentile for weight and almost out of the 75th percentile for height: still tall and skinny. The doctor says I'm strong and thriving. I was talking up a storm and the receptionist said she thinks that I'm going to be the life of every party when I grow up...I told her that I already am!
I have big, big news! As of this afternoon, I can roll over! I've been doing it sporadically over the past couple of weeks, but today I did it tons! Mommy wasn't even paying attention until Daddy pointed it out to her that I'd been rolling over onto my belly and that Daddy kept putting me back on my back so I could do it again. Watch!

I'm getting more and more interested in food. I hate when Mommy and Daddy try to eat dinner without me--I want to eat with them! I like to be sitting on their laps when they eat. I can't wait until I get to eat real food. My doctor says to wait until I'm as close as possible to 6 months as possible, but Mommy says she'd prefer to feed me in a high chair than have my fingers in her food all the time, so she might give in soon. Mommy and Daddy took me with them to pick out pumpkins for Halloween. I chose a couple really big ones. They're the same size as me!Mommy and Daddy let me help carve pumpkins with them. Here I am showing Mommy how to cut around the stem.I helped Daddy decide if his pumpkin was all cleaned out, but I also decided I don't really like the feel of a cold pumpkin on my bare toes. See my face? On Halloween we went to Gramma and Grampa Gibson's ward trunk-or-treat so they could show me off to all of their friends. I was dressed up like a chicken (cus Mommy has called me "chicken little" since I was born) and everyone thought I looked really good. What do you think?

Our friends Jessica and Brennan went to Disneyland a couple weeks ago and brought back a Minnie Mouse doll for me. I love it--the nose is just the right size for my mouth--so Mommy and Daddy just leave it in my carseat so I can play with it whenever we go somewhere.

I've been working really hard and learning how to sit up. I practice all the time, even when there's a seatbelt holding me back, like in my carseat or bouncer.

That's all for now. I can't wait to see you at Christmas time. Just wait until you see how much I've grown!

Love, Carolynn (aka Lynny)

Fall colors and more fun.

Today after church we went for a nice long drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon to see all of the changing colors. Little did we know, the newspaper printed that this weekend was the best to catch the fall colors, so there were a ton of people on the road. We still managed to get a few good shots of the trees and some pretty good ones of us. Despite my problem with heights, I stood at the top of the overlook for a couple shots...and I was only a little dizzy.

We've also been having a lot of fun playing around the house lately. I caught this rare moment of my daughter actually having fun while on her tummy. And this was just a few minutes later. If you listen really, really carefully you'll catch the surprise at the end. It made me laugh really hard.

And this is Lynny going to town on my finger, which happens quite regularly when she's a little fussy for no apparent reason. She won't take a pacifier, but my finger really seems to do that trick!

And I just thought this was a good shot of us playing on the floor the other day. It was taken with a self-timer, believe it or not.

Dear Oma and Opa Meppen

Dear Oma and Opa,
I’m just writing to tell you all about what a normal day in the life of a three month old is like.

It starts around six in the morning when I decide I’m hungry enough to wake up for some food, but not awake enough to get up for the day. So, I fuss until Mommy comes in and gives me a little something to eat. She’s usually pretty quick about it—I think it’s cus she wants to get back to bed as soon as possible. Then I go back to sleep for a little while; sometimes it’s only for an hour, but it’s not uncommon for me to sleep in past nine!

Then Mommy comes in and I smile really big at her. (I’m a morning person, you know.) She changes my diaper while singing “So fresh and so clean” over and over, which makes me laugh and laugh. Mommy’s really funny—especially in the morning.

After I eat a real breakfast (with lots of noisy gulping) Mommy and I play on our tummies for a little bit. I’m not a huge fan of tummy time, simply because I can’t see as much as when I’m on my back. And I also can’t remember how to roll over, even though I’ve done it before, so I get frustrated really quickly. But Mommy knows that practice makes perfect so she helps me when I get stuck, and I’m always so happy to be on my back again.

I’m getting really good at touching my toes when I’m on my back, and I roll onto my side really well. I like doing that, especially when my favorite giraffe toy is there. I impress Mommy a lot because I can swipe at toys now, and I like to knock my giraffe over. I can also grab things and I bring them to my chest and hug them with both arms. Isn’t that cool of me? I’m a pretty awesome baby—Mommy and Daddy say so all the time. They think I’m especially cool now that I keep myself entertained for longer and longer stretches of time. Very grown up of me, don’t you think?

After Mommy and I play for awhile, Daddy comes home for a tiny bit between jobs (except on Tuesdays and Fridays when he donates plasma…he’s such a good provider.) He plays with me on my favorite blanket while Mommy does dishes or makes the bed. She’s the very image of domesticity; I know, cus I heard Daddy tell her that this morning.

Tummy and blanket time wear me out so I get cranky and have a hard time settling down. But Mommy knows I love to be outside so she puts me in the sling and we walk around the neighborhood. We always make sure to say hi to all of the dogs as we go: there’s the funny Airedale two houses down, and the black and yellow Labradors on the corner (they’re my favorite because they stand up against the fence and give me kisses) and the Labrador and Bassett Hound next door. Mommy says I’ll get to meet Boomer at Christmas, and I’ll probably get lots of doggy kisses, so I can’t wait! Daddy says we would have a dog if we weren’t renting, so I can’t wait until someday when we can have our own house and our own dog.

After our stroll around the neighborhood we go back inside and mommy swaddles me up and feeds me before she puts me down for a good long nap. I can usually be counted on to sleep for a good hour and half or more, so that’s when Mommy really gets down to business. She showers so she feels clean, and then she cleans the house so she really feels clean. A messy house makes Mommy grumpy, and “When Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy,” right? Occasionally, when I’m really tired, I sleep a little bit longer and Mommy gets to relax. That’s when she watches Gilmore Girls; we don’t get real TV so she just watches the DVDs. She usually tries to eat lunch then, too, but it doesn’t always happen.

After my nap, I’m kind of grumpy. Mommy says I don’t wake up easily, so she’s really good about letting me eat and burp before she tries to change my diaper; otherwise I scream and scream because diaper wipes seem especially cold and cruel when you’ve just woken up. After that Mommy and I go on a long walk in the park. Liberty Park is huge and we take different trails each day, but eventually we always end up at the playground. Mommy says she can’t wait until I’m grown up enough to play in the fountain that shoots up out of the ground. Sometimes we go with Mommy’s friends from church They both have older kids who really like the playground. And of course we stop and say hi to all of the dogs we see—even the annoying, little, yappy ones.

After our walk I’m usually pretty pooped again, but Mommy plays with me a little before we start our nap routine again. She wants to make sure I get a lot of socialization, because, if she learned anything in her family leisure class, it’s that babies learn most from playing with their parents. Sometimes Mommy gives me a bath before my naps, simply because it’s a good time for it. Baths really tucker me out—I think it’s because I’m so tense when I’m in the water. You see, I’m just barely starting to enjoy bath time. I even splashed and laughed in the tub yesterday, which was a surprise for Mommy.

For the past couple weeks Mommy and Daddy have been busy with a temporary job they took on to earn money to replace the clutch in the car. They had to bag and deliver phonebooks. So during my naps Mommy would put the phonebooks in the bags that they would deliver when Daddy got home. At one point, we had over 1,700 phonebooks in our living room! I climbed on top of the books to show Mommy and Daddy how tall I can be.

Now that the job is done, though, Mommy doesn’t remember what she used to do during my second nap of the day. The house is already clean (she got so good at cleaning it thoroughly during my first nap), so she sits and plays Hearts on the computer or reads her cookbooks. Once, she started dinner super early, but then it was cold by the time Daddy got home. And once she made a pretty toy box for me by covering a box with some leftover material from when she and Gramma made curtains. And today she wrote this letter from me to you, but now she’s out of projects again. Do you have any suggestions for what she can do while I’m asleep?

Sometimes, when I wake up, Daddy is home, unless he has to work late. When he is home, he plays with me while Mommy makes dinner. Otherwise I play in my bouncer seat until Daddy gets home and dinner’s ready. Then I play on my blanket while Mommy and Daddy eat. Sometimes I get bored playing by myself, though, so Mommy or Daddy lets me sit on their lap while they eat. I am usually very interested in their food and silverware; I think I’m going to be a good eater when I finally get to try.

Occasionally we don’t eat right when Daddy gets home. Instead, we go to Costco or Walmart for groceries. Mommy and Daddy love Costco because of the samples—especially when they have key lime pie samples. The pie is a little too expensive for us to buy, but it tastes so good! We go at least once a week, cus we go through milk really quickly. Mommy and Daddy drink almost as much milk as me! When we’re feeling very frivolous we’ll spend two dollars so Mommy can get a berry smoothie and Daddy can get a Churro. Mommy craved smoothies all the time when she was pregnant and the craving hasn’t gone away since.

Some evenings we rent a movie from Redbox to watch while I fall asleep. And some nights we go see Gramma and Grampa Gibson so Mommy and Daddy can check their email. And some nights, my favorite nights, we go for another long walk in the park or neighborhood. And then Daddy changes my diaper, and puts on my pajamas, and swaddles me up so Mommy can feed me and put me to bed.

After I go to sleep Mommy and Daddy eat ice cream and go to bed. It’s their special treat to themselves. It’s a good thing they keep track of where ice cream is on sale!

Other important things you should know about me are that I sleep really well now. I go to bed at 9:30 each night and sleep until about 4:00 in the morning when I need a little food to tide me over.

I'm still really tall and skinny. I'm the 50th percentile for my weight, but the 90th for my height! I'm only a tiny bit shorter than my cousin Olivia!

I still eat really often--every two hours--even though my doctor says I could probably go three or four hours. I've gone that long, but two hours suits me well enough.

I can't wait until Christmas when I can show you how strong I am. Look how well I can hold up my head!

I love you lots! Baby Lynny

Finally updating

I used to think it was tough to update when I had to go to the library to use the internet. Now I have to go to the library with a baby (not to mention her accessories: diaper bag, car seat, etc.) and only one operating car in the family. And I have to try and get stuff done before Lynny decides she tired of being there. Needless to say, we've left the library several times having accomplished nothing.
But I finally have the chance to update so I thought I let you all know what we've been up to the past few weeks.

We took our first road trip since having Lynny, and it was a huge success. We left early the first morning after Lynny had her first feeding for the day and headed for the old family homestead and spring just outside West Yellowstone. We took the traditional family picture on the foundation of the homestead, with the help of a tree stump and the camera timer. We think it turned out pretty well. We also filled a water cooler and a ton of water bottles with spring water to take with us.

We stopped to use the bathroom at Eagle's, the store where I always got my Yellowstone souvenirs growing up, and made sure to take a picture to document Lynny's first visit. It's too bad she slept through the whole thing.

From the spring we went to Jackson Hole. It was kind a crucial stop for us--it plays an important role in our short family history. Daniel and I met there two summers ago and returned last summer to work there again. We had to take Lynny back to where it all began. We got there at about six in the evening and had dinner with a few river buddies before stopping at camp and seeing a few more friends. We only got one picture while we were there, but it was a good one. Lynny sure looks happy to be out of her car seat, doesn't she?

The next day we started out early, headed to Boise to see my grandparents. We arrived there early in afternoon, surprising everyone with our arrival (even Anna, who was visiting them at the time, because she was expecting us around dinner time.) Lynny got to meet her cousin, Cash, who thought she was pretty cool. We just thought it was pretty cool how good Lynny was for the whole trip. The day after trip was Lynny's blessing day. A ton of Daniel's family was there and Molly and Charles even brought Olivia up for just a little while. They had to leave after the blessing, but it was so good to have them there. We wish we could have shared the day with more of the Meppen family, though.

A couple weeks later we joined our good friends Jessica and Brenna at the county demolition derby. We were afraid we would regret the decision to take the baby, but it was actually a pretty good outing. Lynny as content to sit on our laps--surprisingly happy--almost the entire time. She only got fussy at the very end!

The next week Lizzy came out to start at BYU and Anna stopped for a visit on her way back to Virginia. We got all the girls together--including the babies--and were able to get a few good shots. Lynny officially met her cousin Olivia and they were instantly friends (as evidenced by their linked arms, which they managed all by themselves.)

Two weeks, plus a few days

Well, we've made it to two weeks, but we're still getting used to having a baby. We've finally gotten nursing figured out (for the most part), but we're still working on the hours between 5 and 10 pm. Lynny seems to think I'm an all-you-can-eat boob buffet during that time. She'll sit and eat for an hour, fall asleep, and then start screaming for more food if you try to move her or put her down. It's tough, but we're working through it.


It was amazing having my mom here just after the baby was born, and then a short visit from Anna as she stopped in SLC on her way to spend the rest of the summer in Boise. But we're glad we can start settling down, now. We need to find our own rhythm.


Here's a picture from Daniel's phone of Lynny in her church clothes today. I would post more, but we don't have a computer (or the internet) so I'm speedily using my inlaws'.

Thanks to Aunt Heidi and Cousin McKenna for the cute clothes they gave us for Lynny (such as the adorable dress pictured above). It turns out they're the only ones that actually fit her right now! Everyone told us babies only fit in newborn stuff for a week so we didn't really invest in any. That was dumb, cus our little girl is so skinny she's gonna be in them for probably the next month.

And we are happy to announce that Lynny has already learned to roll over! Okay...she's only done it once, so it was probably a fluke, but we're proud of her regardless! She's slowly gaining back the weight she lost just after birth, and she's getting cuter everyday. The jury's still out on who she looks more like--as of right now, we're pretty sure she's the milkman's daughter.

That's all that's new in the Gib(by)son's house.

Late, but extremely welcomed

Well, she's here! Carolynn Lee Gibson arrived early Thursday morning, June 25th. She was a week late, but that week seemed to do her good because she's doing extremely well.The new happy family, a few hours after birth

After several frustrtating days of waiting, multiple attempts at self-induction (Castor oil my butt. I tried it three times!), and a LOT of walking, I finally called my doctor to see if we might be able to come in and discuss possible medical induction--something I was not keen on as I was planning on an entirely natural birth experience. We had an appointment for Thursday afternoon, but we never made it. Wednesday night, at about 11:30 my water broke as I was on my way to the bathroom (I actually thought I had wet my pants, and was quite embarrassed. But I just changed and went to bed.) Then, at 1:50 am I woke to minute long contractions coming five minutes apart. Daniel, my mom, and I loaded up the car and sped to the hospital. It was a good thing it was so early in the morning because Daniel was driving 90 mph to get there. We checked in and I was dilated to 4 cm. My best friend/doula arrived ten minutes later, and forty minutes later I was dilated to a 6. Twenty minutes later I had the urge to push, and I was indeed fully dilated. The nurse told me I couldn't push yet--the doctor was still on his way. So for about twenty more minutes I struggled until finally Doctor Tanner arrived. The nurse was literally holding the baby in! After about four or five pushes, at 4:52 am, out popped Lynny and they placed her on my chest. Daniel got to cut the cord and we had just a moment to share with her before they took her to give her some oxygen. She had swallowed some meconium and was having a hard time immediately adjusting, but a few minutes later she was handed back to us and we were able to start nursing. Total time of labor: three hours and two minutes.

It was easily the most incredible experience of my life. It really couldn't have been more perfect. Lynny weighed in at seven pounds, eight ounces and twenty-one and a quarter inches long. She has beautful dark hair with a slight curl, and her feet are close to twice the normal size expected. But she's amazing.

We're both doing extremely well. Nursing is taking a little bit to master, and we're still working on it, but she's eating well. We were out of the hospital by three thirty the next day. I was terrified that after such an easy pregnancy my labor would be long and arduous. That was hardly the case. Everything in my birth plan was followed--thanks to our incredible nurse--and I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Just after birth, still kind of mucky with meconium.

My mom was able to be there for the whole thing, which was really neat for all of us.

Lynny, after she'd been cleaned up a bit. She had kind of a "rug burn" on her face from coming out so fast, just like her uncle Doodie when he was born.

Sleeping Lynny.

One gigantic foot. They really are kind of comical.

Update

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that, yes, I'm still pregnant. No baby for us yet! I am dilated to 1.5 cm, and 70% effaced, and Dr. Tanner says my cervix is "ripe." So we're hoping any day now. Daniel has started working full time for the summer at the car dealership just down the road from our new house, so he can be home in five minutes if anything ever happens. As for me, it's just a waiting game...a very hard, long waiting game.
My mom arrives in Utah on Monday--yay!--so she will hopefully be there for the birth of our little girl. And she'll have time to spend with Molly's baby, Olivia, too.
We can't wait to be parents! Heck, it'll be nice to just have something happen.

Pregnancy dreams

Last night was a rough night for me. Daniel and I had been packing for a couple of hours, trying to finish the kitchen--which it is, finally--and went to bed exhausted. We crashed at about ten, which may not seem late but it is to an early-morning bus driver and an eight-month pregnant woman. I apparently hadn't been asleep long, though, when I jumped awake, sobbing. I tried to remember why I woke up, but all I could remember was the dream I had been having just before.
I can only recall the few major details of the dream, but essentially I was stuck in a cardboard box. And while I was trying to find a way to get out of this box I realized I could hear someone crying. And it was a scared, needy, desperate cry from a baby. There was no doubt in my mind that the crying was coming from my baby. It kept getting louder and louder, and more and more desperate. It was like something was torturing her. It was probably the most heart-wrenching sound I've ever heard. But no matter how hard I tried I could not get out of that box. I tried beating on it; I tried shaking it; I tried to find where it was taped so I could break through. I felt so helpless--I was abandoning my child, and she needed me so badly! That's when I started crying and woke up.
It was honestly the scariest dream I think I've ever had. I just layed in Daniel's arms, shaking, and sobbed for at least half an hour as he tried to get out of me what was wrong. I couldn't talk, I couldn't breath. All I could think about was the sound of that crying.
It took me several more hours to get back to sleep. I was so shaken that nothing could calm me down. You know how they say to visualize a calm, peaceful atmosphere--like a beach, or the mountains--when you're trying to relax. That's never really worked for me. What does work, however, is imagining stirring a pot; I usually visualize stirring a white sauce, with it getting thicker and thicker as it heats up. Even that old standby was useless for me last night. I was terrified that if I fell back asleep I would hear the crying again.
I realize now that I'm probably just nervous about being a mom--my due date is less than three weeks away, now--and the stress from the moving is probably getting to me as well. A stressed pregnant woman is not a good thing apparently. I still get teary-eyed when I think about that dream, and I can't help cringing.
Has anyone else ever had a dream that just stuck with them? Something that rattled them so badly they couldn't forget it? I'd appreciate any words of wisdom on how to forget about it. It just continues to linger in my mind, no matter what I do!

Facebooking and blogging, and my mother's kitchen

I have several friends who spend a great deal of time on Facebook, and while I have been known to frequent the site (I've even taken a few quizes and added a few applications) I haven't been able to lose myself in it like I used to. In fact, whenever the subject of Facebook comes up I find myself saying "On my blog...," to which my friends reply with confused, and occasionally hostile looks. How dare I confuse blogging with facebooking?!
But I've come to realize that I am a clicker, and that sustains me more than Facebook ever could. I'll usually start reading one person's blog and then click on a link to someone else's until, several clicks later, I'm suddenly reading about the life of a complete stranger living in Brazil. (And that Brazilian blogger is much more addicted to blogging than I am--she posts in both English and Portuguese.) Those random clicks have lead to me to quite a few jewels. I have to remind myself that I'm not actually friends with the people whose blogs I frequent. If I were, I would simply have a link to reach them more easily, instead of going through the grapevines of stranger's blogs to find them whenever I need an update. I feel so weird posting a link to a stranger--like I'm some sort of stalker.
But more than stranger's blogs, I love to read food blogs. Blogs that are meant for new and old readers to devour, and to seek cooking inspiration from. I've got my select few that I read religiously--one is the wonderful Brazilian woman's--and I find myself spending obscene amounts of time reading recipes that I plan to try someday when I have a kitchen large enough, and money enough to fund my expensive ingredient habits.
I've toyed with the idea of starting my own food blog. I have friends who are aspiring photographers and artists who have blogs devoted solely to the purpose of displaying their work. Well, cooking is an art too, isn't it? I could easily justify a food blog with that rationale. But unlike so many of artistic friends, I don't keep track of my work. I never think to write down the modifications I make to recipes so that I can share them, nor do I routinely photograph my food as the world's food-bloggers do. Would I, were I to start my own food blog?
My other qualm with pursuing this new--though simple--venture, is the fact that I think so many of my recent recipes are boring! Because we're so tight on money right now--and have been for several months--I haven't had the chance to explore interesting recipes like I want to. So I stick to my predictable meals, simple and satisfying, while I pray for the opportunity to cook how I want.
Speaking of cooking how I want, cooking at my mom's house is probably one of the most enjoyable experiences I've yet to have. She's never lacking for ingredients: she always has at least three different kinds of vinegar, an endless supply of stable and exotic spices, a plentiful supply of pots and pans, one or two good knives (wait a couple years and I'm sure Grandpa will get her some new ones so she'll have several good knives for about a year, until the family lets their blades dull), and the best environment to cook in. There's always something happening at my parents' house, and you can't beat an exciting home when it comes to cooking. There's always someone to taste your sauce, or tell you if you've overcooked the meat. And when the fire alarm goes off unexpectedly, there's a plan of action set in place.
So my ideal situation: my mom's kitchen in my parents' house, a scribe to record my recipe alterations, and a photographer to make my food look good. Once I have those I can start a food blog. Or maybe I'll consider it sooner than that.

Salt Flat Pictures

Last weekend we went with Daniel's family out to the Salt Flats and had his sister take some family pictures for us. We did some of our engagement pictures out there last year so we figured it would be a good way to celebrate our (approximate) one year anniversary.

And, because I'm three weeks away from popping a baby, I figured it might be good to post a few pictures to actually prove I'm growing. So here's me at 36 weeks, bulging at the belly and slightly puffy everywhere else.