With What Measure ye Mete...

I have to forewarn you that I am 36 weeks today (entering week 37 tomorrow, which means full term), and even though I am not truly bothered by what I'm about to write about, it may come off as such since I am uncomfortable and impatient about...well everything right now.

In general, people who are clearly pregnant get pleasant reactions from others in public...the smiles, the tummy rubs, the questions about when they're due, unwanted advice, etc.  I received my fair share of that being pregnant with Beckett.  I have received some reactions like that this time around, but not many.  You may or may not be shocked to hear that when I venture out to the grocery store, mall, what have you, the general looks I get are ones of disgust and judgement.  I ignore them because I know that the people staring are completely wrong in their assumption (which is even more apparent when our family of three go out all together).  It is clear from the abundance of expressions I get that everyone who sees us assumes that Jeremy and I are teen parents of a two-year old and one on the way, and people do not like it!

I even have one example of an onlooker who began asking my mom questions about us when we were out eating at The Money Pit over Thanksgiving weekend.  This lady (sitting by the soda fountain) saw our family all come in and order together, smiled politely at Jeremy and Beckett as they got their drink, and then proceeded to question my mom as she got her drink.

Lady:  Is that your daughter over there?
Mom:  Yeah, all four of the girls are mine...the oldest three are all married.
Lady:  And that one is expecting?
Mom:  Yes, she's 8 months.
Lady:  Oh wow!  And that little one is theirs too?!
Mom:  Yes, he's 2 and 1/2.
Lady:  Um, how old are they? (referring to Jeremy and I with a rather concerned tone of voice)
Mom:  They are both 26, and she graduated from college before she had her first.
Lady:  Oh goodness!  I thought they were 17!

And there you have it...proof that people think we are ridiculous teenagers that belong on 'sixteen and pregnant'.  After the countless stares I got at walmart yesterday (shopping alone even), I had to share these experiences with you.  I'm glad these people are wrong and their looks don't bother me, but how sad that they would make such horrible faces at someone and be so judgmental.  The end.

Company Party

At 34 weeks pregnant, you can only imagine why I was less than thrilled to go to Jeremy's company party at a club downtown for the second year in a row.  It was a little better than last year because of the food, me knowing some of his co-workers better than before, and the photo booth.  At a meeting the day before, everyone was told that they were expected to stay from 6pm on into the night as the club opened for normal business hours, but Jeremy was given the "ok" for us to leave early since I'm with child.  Haha.  Good thing too, because I was super tired of standing by 9:30 when we left.

 

12 days of Christmas

Here is a cool history about this song that I was sent in an email from my grandma.  I like things that bring the gospel back into Christmas and help us forget about the commercialism and materialism that many focus on at this time of year.


From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stand for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds are the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stand for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represent the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking are the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping are the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stand for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolize the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

Nothing Better

We spent our weekend filled with giving thanks and being surrounded by the people I love most.  We had such a great time celebrating Thanks-Christmas with my family!  Disneyland, eating, gift exchanging, family pictures, shopping, money pit, Sheba memories...good times.

Big Boy Undies

Of course saying this might cause him to have a total relapse and force me to take it back, but I'm going to go ahead and say that Beckett is potty trained!  Yes, the occasional accident still occurs...usually after naps (which are rare occurrences in the first place for him) when he's a little cranky and stubborn.  However, he is doing a lot better at letting me know as soon as he feels he has to go.  Also, he's had two days in a row of successfully going #2 on the potty!  I still put him in diapers for church, and also at night because he likes milk before bed.  But the nights he hasn't had milk, he's woken up with a dry diaper.  I can't even tell you how thrilled I am that I will only be changing one set of diapers once this baby comes.  I didn't know if Beckett would make the transition (or if I'd have the energy to follow through with it) before then.  And best of all, GG found a much coveted peter potty for extremely cheap on craigslist!  To refresh your memories, that is the toddler-sized urinal I saw at BabiesRus when pregnant with Beckett, but held off buying because I figured it would be a few years before he'd need it, but it is now no longer made or sold.  He loves using it!  Hooray for big boy undies!

engineer

Beckett visited the fire station near our house last saturday.  He loved it!

Looking for a unique present?

I have made my own version of a family tree display inspired by one seen on pinterest.  The 11x14 print by the online company is sold for $65 (no frame included), and is only sold in two color schemes.  If you are looking for something special for a parent, sibling, etc. for Christmas and have 4 generation family group sheets for both sides of the family, I'll be selling these lovelies for $20!  What you'll get:

- a family tree with your choice of child's name OR family name and established date in the center
- customized color scheme of your choosing (need ideas?  try this site out to easily show me what you're looking for... http://www.design-seeds.com/p/palette-search.html)
- I will send you the completed 11x14 JPG file that you can take anywhere to be printed OR for $30 I will have it printed and mailed to you.

If interested, email me at ...ashleysbyu {at} yahoo [dot] com... for more information on placing an order!
(Orders must be placed before December 1st to guarantee completion in time for Christmas.)


Examples:

space rangers

Beckett's always liked this ride, but he talked about the buzz ride and shooting zurg for days afterwards this time.

I think this might be my best score ever!  I haven't played in a long time without holding a child mind you.  Also, don't mind Alex's "kill shot" via "Date Night".

This was our only trip during the halloween decoration time.  Can't wait to go now and see it all Christmas-y again!

Bates

We headed up to Bates Nut Farm this year with our good friends the Nielsens again.

Beckett and Emmy's favorite part?...trying to navigate as far into the center of the pumpkin groups as possible, and then trying to make it back out.

Jeremy captured some sweet sun flare with his iPhone.  He was proud.

Beckett's other favorite part...carrying pumpkins out of the middle area, and attempting to drop kick them.  This one is in mid-drop.

what's in a name?

Most people ask us if we have a name yet.  The truth is that, for the most part, yes we do.  We refer to the baby by that name, and I'm about 90% set on it.  The middle name, however, is a no contest.  The middle name for number 2 will be Odell after my great grandpa.  I've posted this picture before, as well as a few posts about him (refresh your memories here and here), but I'm putting it up again because I love it.

Also, we started a sisters blog...check it out... http://squisties.blogspot.com/

Yes, I love technology...

My sis Alex posted this picture on pinterest (you can follow me on pinterest here)...

...and Beckett walked up as I was looking at all the new pins I hadn't seen yet this morning.  He saw me scroll past this one and made me go back up.  He then tried to touch the "R" and "Y" to move them up on the board, and then gave up when he realized it didn't work.  He can turn on my ipod touch and get into games no problem.  He loves angry birds, cut the rope, words with friends (just for dropping the tiles on the board at random), his thomas the train puzzle game, and a memory match game I got for him.  He is a crack up.

i love the Book of Mormon

I have a dear (Christian) friend that I have grown up with.  Recently as we watched our kids play together, and had to intervene at times to get them to share, we got to discussing the nature of children.  She commented on how naturally sinful these little toddlers were and how we are all sinful beings.  I agreed with the natural man we all have inside us and how we all have to learn to fight it as we come to understand right and wrong.  I added though that while some of Beckett's bad behaviors are purely his own, many have been learned by example from us as parents or from older kids at church in nursery.  She again asserted that that couldn't really be the case because he was sinful from birth on his own.  As I held her sweet innocent five month old on my lap who hadn't made a peep for nearly an hour, I couldn't agree with her.  I tried to wrack my brain to explain that I know that kids can and do sin, but we as parents are here to help teach them right and wrong, and that in our church we don't believe they are accountable for these sins until the age of eight.  This is why we baptize at that age...the age when they should really understand right and wrong completely for themselves, and when the atonement becomes necessary for them.  She then said that  she believed that her toddler knew and understood when she was doing wrong, and that the doctrine of us being evil from birth comes from the bible, and don't we believe in the bible?  I sat a little dumbfounded and all I could answer was yes, we did.  Our conversation moved elsewhere, but this concept of little children did not leave my mind for a few days, and of course I later thought of many things I should have said (not to argue, but to clarify our beliefs).

I didn't recall until Saturday the biblical passage in Matthew 18:3-4 where Christ tells us we must become converted and humble like little children or we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.  But the main scripture I thought of was Mosiah 3:19:

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

This scripture illustrates all the amazing Christlike attributes that are naturally found in children that King Benjamin urges us to emulate.  Don't get me wrong, I know that children exhibit the natural man and do sin, but I feel that dwelling on a belief that we are evil from birth is not correct.  We are spirit children of God, and come into this world with unique and inherited godlike characteristics.  In this last week's conference, President Uchtdorf emphasized that we should view ourselves as God does...as the beings that we are designed to become.  I feel that both of these sets of scriptures, and this added counsel clarify the purity of heart and submissiveness that little children have naturally, but I didn't feel that sharing them with my friend would really clarify much because she doesn't believe in the Book of Mormon.  We have had many gospel conversations over the years that I have known her, and I once gave her a Book of Mormon with my testimony written inside.

Then I heard Tad R. Callister's talk on the necessity of the Book of Mormon in clarifying biblical doctrines, and it all clicked!  I finally feel that I can explain our beliefs, why they differ from hers, and where they come from in a better way than I have tried to in all the years I have previously.  Even though we believe the Bible to be correct and the word of God, so many different churches exist and claim to be Christian because of how they interpret the doctrines differently.  The Book of Mormon is necessary to add another witness of Christ in alignment with the Bible that also acts as a tool for clarification.  Also, the Book of Mormon is either true, or it is not.  It is from God, or it is from the devil.  It urges us to follow Christ, and therefore how could it be from Satan?

Anyway, sorry for my ramble.  I just needed to get that off my chest.  I love this gospel and its clarity.  The end.

Conference Favorites

-The Lord sees us as the beings we are designed to, and can become.
-Trials are given to us to see if we will choose to follow the Savior by waiting upon the Lord and saying "Thy will be done".
-We ultimately have one choice: choose to follow the Savior, or choose to follow the world and its -influences.
-The Lord wishes to grant us the righteous things we ask for, but He will not do things for us if we can do them for ourselves.
-Pray and then act.

There were also two other topics spoken about that really touched me.  The first was Tad R. Callister's talk about the necessity of the Book of Mormon as clarification for doctrines found in the bible.  The second was Quentin L. Cook's talk on tragedies and why they are allowed by God to happen in this life.  I'll explain why in later separate posts!

Sentimental

Some things about Beckett that he does/used to do that I don't want to forget:


-His knee dance.  He would move his knees in an out anytime we told him to "do the dance."

-Two hands.  He noticed in Tarzan how the mom and Tarzan put their hands up to each other as she points out to him how they are alike.  About a year ago while watching it, Beckett turned to me with his hands up and said "Two hands."  He would randomly come up to me (or Jeremy, my parents, or sisters) every once in a while and request "two hands."

-Lanterns.  Also movie related.  When he was about 18 months we took him to see Tangled in theaters.  He was entranced by the floating lantern part, and raised both his arms in the air and moved them in a kind of egg-beater, swirling motion.  He does it most times he's paying attention to the movie still, or anytime we say "lanterns."

-The tangled dance.  With the credits on Tangled there is a great song that we love to get up and dance to when it comes on.  I have the song on my ipod too, and he'll semi-dance to it in his carseat.  Once while driving he was asleep and the song came on.  No joke, he started bobbing his head and wiggling for about ten seconds, completely asleep!  It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

-Smile, frown, crazy face.  I don't know who taught him this, but people seem to love that he will give these faces in order on command.


And then there's this random tidbit...my favorite eyelash comment about him thus far from the lady at Sally's who rang up my nail polish yesterday:
"Look at those eyelashes!  Do you use Latisse on him??

i dream of...

our double stroller!

When I found out I was having another boy, I knew that this was the only big ticket item we would be needing.  So I also figured I might as well pick a really nice one even if it was a bit pricey because, hey, why not?  My in-laws have generously offered to buy us the double stroller I picked out...the City Select by Baby Jogger.  You can oogle at its awesomeness with me here or here.  I only wish I could have it now to take Beckett and Alexis to the park on the days I babysit her!

The Latest...

in my never-ending craft/decor projects.

I updated my kitchen jar labels because they needed a little something more.

Saw a cute family tree that this company sells, and created my own in photoshop.  I love it!

summer

 A little bit of summer that I never posted about...

The boy turned 2...and loved his cake this year!

(hammin' it up as usual)

Brayden's Baptism

Good times with the whole fam playing badminton.

USA vs. Costa Rica at the Home Depot Center

I love this little man!

the goods

I try to keep the pregnancy posts to a minimum when I'm expecting, but I do want to share a few products I'm excited about and swear by.

I know it's a little vain to desire it again, but with my first pregnancy I was able to come out unscathed by those dreaded stretch marks.  Everyone told me I wouldn't make it, and that theirs came in the last few weeks of pregnancy.  I attribute (aside from genetics, which are supposed to determine some of your skin stretching abilities) my success to this product:

It smells delish, and helps your tummy stay moisturized.  Some days you can just feel your skin getting pulled to its max, and this is the perfect solution.  I put it on everyday after I get out of the shower. 

Love it!

The other item, that I didn't discover until this time around, is the boppy wedge pillow.

It's not huge like many pregnancy pillows or wedge ones I've seen, and it's soooo much better than shoving a normal pillow under there (what I did sometimes with Beckett, but never helped much).

it's a jungle in here

Beckett's new jungle room...complete with tunnel bed, a play cave with curtains, and leaves!

He loves it!!

carseat shmarseat

When I chose my infant carseat for Beckett, as well as with his stroller, the determining factor was, "is this the lightest one on the market?"  Needless to say, looks were not as important to me as how heavy the carseat was to carry.  With this baby on the way I decided to give the seat a little makeover with some help from my mom.  Ta-daaa!

initials

I finally finished my initial shelf!

Numero Dos

Beckett is getting a baby brother!

crafting and such

Things I've started on/plan to start soon!

1. Make a new spice rack with spices I actually use and put it above my stove with the ikea shelf I already own.

ispiration from casasugar.com

2. I've just ordered a large "S" and our other three initials for a wall to look like this.  Now I just need a large shelf, a few more frames, and fabric for behind the letters.

inspired by and ordered from studio6fresno on etsy

3. Make new kitchen towels!  I've had the same two hanging on my oven handle since we got married.  They are just a tad grungy and begging to be replaced.

ispiration from realphotography.com