Here was dinner last night:

First prepare the chicken and vegetables:

Next add the WW pasta and some olives for fun:

Tastes a lot like Noodles & Company.

Yum.

Found the recipe here
(on July 17, 2007)

We changed it a little by adding the chicken and olives.

Today was a great day. It was a lazy day, which made it relaxing. Preschool is also over so I can nurse freely and not worry about covering up. I let the kids watch movies today after they cleaned their rooms. They each chose one, Mulan and Curious George. They also made posters for M's birthday party Monday so it's not like we just sat watching movies the whole time. K had the idea of getting out the little table to color the poster on so we placed it in the living room and the kids took turns doing their thing.

It was funny...during the avalanche scene in Mulan, k kept saying, "Maybe they'll turn into mermaids." Ha ha, I cracked up inside. He must've been thinking about The Little Mermaid. Oh yeah, I think it was last week that k told me he dreamt I was at the dentist. I thought it was funny. Sometimes I wish I could see his dreams because most of them sound so adventurous and amazing.

Anyway, after Mulan the kids played dress ups and played the most creative make-believe. The game was a mixture of Pirates of the Caribbean, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and in the end we all turned into rabbits who acted like pirates. Also, K and I were sisters. At first I was the mean sister, but then K's wand turned me nice.

Today was also a good day because I was able to stay close to M and love her. She is such a loving baby.

I'm glad and grateful we went over today. Mary has taught me how to be a mother, even if it's unintentionally. From her I've learned to let kids be kids and realize things don't have to always follow a cookie cutter pattern. I'll post a quote when I post from my laptop that explains better what I mean.

I've also learned how to talk to Natalia from her. It always seemed weird talking to newborns. I never knew what to do whenever I held one. Mary's example taught me that you just talk to them. Now I talk to Natalia just like Mary did and still does. I owe Mary so many thanks.

Well, my sweet babe is asleep so now it's my turn to snooze.

We have a plate of brownies left over from Sunday. I wish I could have someone come over and take them because we're not going to eat them. Maybe I can ask my VTeachers to take them. They always say I can call if I ever need anything. Perhaps I'll see if Josh will take them to the pregnant woman on his team; she might like them.

Tonight we're making pesto pizza for the first time. Mmm, sounds delicious. I'm also trying avocado as a topping for the first time. I figure we'll make 4 individual pizzas. Well, the yeast is done eating the sugar or whatever it does for 7 minutes so back to getting the dough ready.

Natalia turned 2 months last Thursday on May 17th. I can't believe she is already 2 months old. Time has gone by so fast. I love her so much and love her more and more everyday. Motherhood seems to open a whole other dimension of love I didn't know existed beforehand. I love my Natalia so much. We have a good time together. Natalia is such a happy baby. She sort of laughs, I don't know what you would call it, but it is adorable.

I'm so behind on journaling/blogging. I had a lot I wanted to post about during last week, but never got to it. Life is grand. Josh is loving his new job. I am loving his new job...and I'm sure Natalia is also loving his new job:) Yesterday was my last day of regular nannying, but I may be back Thursday. Last week I was during really well on eating well, but then came Sunday and we made delicious pizza, I ate more than I should have. We also made brownies for visiting teaching and it was too tempting. We made them from scratch and they were chocolaty, moist, tasty, and oh so unhealthy. I don't regret eating what I did (too much) though because I can get back on track this week. I've been doing a ton better eating well since I made the goal to be better weeks ago. I feel great. I've also been walking (with a couple light jogs) every day and it feels so good. Depending on how often Natalia nurses, I may start doing strength training at the gym at 3 months.

So a couple recaps from the weekend worth mentioning:

Saturday evening we decided to go for a walk. We had wanted to go venture around our stake center since we haven't walked around there ever. We start heading toward our stake center and as we are passed by a car, a man waves. We didn't recognize them. As we keep walking we notice several more cars driving toward us, everyone in Sunday clothes. Then I realize they are all coming from the stake center. They were all leaving the adult session of stake conference. I was so embarrassed. I kept asking Josh if we could go up a street to avoid being seen, but he said to keep on walking and not be embarrassed. Finally though we did go up a street for my sanity. It makes for a funny story now. We had missed last week to see my brother speak in his ward and were oblivious/completely forgot there are adult sessions on Saturdays when there is stake conference.

We didn't miss stake conference on Sunday. Good thing my partner and I had gone visiting teaching last week because that's where I found out we were having stake conference. Stake conference was very inspiring. I loved it.

Well. since I can't remember much from last week I'll post pictures.

 I knew Natalia was not in the mood to smile. Here are the shots anyhow.

2 months!

comparison

 One of our veggie pizzas...this one also had chicken. The whole veggie one was much better.

 

Sunday afternoon

Eclipse time!

Yes, Daddy is enjoying a Choco Taco

There's me looking chunky

Woo hoo! Natalia pooped, just now. Maybe now she'll get some sleep...or we'll play.

Natalia held her head up for a good few minutes at the Coombs' house today. Go Natalia!

Recap of last week's activity: walked about 16-17 miles total

Recap of eventful walks from the weekend:

Friday: decided to try to walk to Nicholls Park from home, walked about 1.5 miles and hit a dead end so I tried another route, Natalia started to wake up, I chickened out in fear of no where to nurse her, I had no idea how to get home, used Google Maps to find a route and hurried home.

Saturday: left sickly husband home, walked to Bowman's and Ben Franklin to purchase honeydew melon and cookie cutters for Mother's Day creations, walked to Kaysville cemetery, walked around cemetery, walked past cemetery, Natalia started to wake up due to hunger, called sickly husband (who said he could pick us up if we needed him to) 10+ times, no answer, don't know how to get home, panicked in fear of having to nurse her in the cemetery, used Google Maps, the fastest way home was to go back to the cemetery, ran back toward cemetery and familiar road, ran past castle houses (mentioned in some other post), got lost again in a dead end, finally got to correct road, ran home, ended up running a about whole mile home, Natalia was fine so I stressed over nothing.

Weekend recap:
We had a pretty good weekend. Going on walks have been so refreshing and I like exploring the area. I've got lost 3 days last week on walks (2 mentioned above), but luckily I've been able to get home with the help of technology. I've been looking for parks along the way where I could nurse if needed and no luck.

Saturday was a good day. When we walked into the cemetery I felt the Spirit so strongly. I have no idea why. I have no family buried there. Right when we walked onto the property I felt the most calming, reassuring feeling, almost like feeling the biggest caring hug you can imagine. It was an overwhelming feeling. I can't explain it. I get choked up all over again just writing about it. It was very serene walking around the cemetery. I wish I could find the words to explain the experience. It was like feeling protected by numerous...I don't know, it was a loving feeling and I needed it.

When Natalia started to wake up after we had walked further east past the cemetery. I panicked and started to get frustrated at all my unanswered calls. I was very upset inside, not angry upset, but worried or helpless upset. I wanted to take care of my baby and there was no where close by where I would've been able to comfortably nurse her. On our walks I often have visions of having to nurse her on the side of the road and looking like the worst mother. Right when I knew Natalia was starting to get hungry and I started to panic I felt, almost like words, that everything was going to be fine. I kept ignoring the feeling though and let myself get angry at my predicament. When I realized Josh wasn't going to answer, I knew I could pray and I did. I felt reassured all the way home, but I kept pushing it back. I wish I hadn't. Natalia was fine. She fell back asleep and was content when we got home. I felt blessed. Josh was sound asleep. He was so sick and felt so hot. He needed that extra sleep.

Pictures from Friday and Sunday

Here is Natalia being a fashion icon to 7 weeks + 6 days old babies everywhere on Friday

Happy 8 Week Birthday. Natalia was * weeks plus 1 day old in the pictures below. (The 1 day makes a difference). It is so hard to get her to smile on camera. I took like 20 pictures on Friday and she would also stop smiling when I would take the picture.


Take 1: Laughing to the side.
Take 2: Sort of smiles, head on.
Take 3: The square root of pi is what?
Take 4: Smiles, but covers part of mouth.

Me: (referring to the pine cones on the side walk) Pine cones, sweet. I'll know where to find them if I need any(for crafts). My dad once said these are edible.

Josh: They are. People roast them.

Me: Then let's do it.

Josh: Gross! It doesn't mean it tastes good!

bahahahaha...You had to be there