Two Big Bellies

These are two of my little sisters, Andrea and Rachelle. Aren't they beautiful!? Their due dates are just two weeks apart! They have been very much on my mind the past few days. All three of us were pregnant together for a couple of months and telling as many people as possible that she had three pregnant daughters became my mom's favorite pastime. Well, I obviously had my baby first, but now it is their turn - like, specifically, tonight. Overdue Rachelle is kicking off the baby birthing season by being induced tonight. She is so overdue that her doctor finally has made the call and said enough is enough - let's get this baby out!

I'm so excited for her and her darling husband, Brad. I can't stop thinking about how their lives are changing so much tonight. They are going to make the sweetest parents, and I know they will love being parents. Watching Scooter be a dad has been one of my very favorite parts of being a mom and I know they will love watching their new little daughter bring out the best in each other. In my opinion, nothing is more romantic than sitting in a quiet, dark hospital room cuddling the tiny little bundle of baby that you made together and just letting the waves of happiness and gratitude just wash over you. I'm crying just thinking of it. I am so happy that they will get to experience it soon. It is so magical to watch someone you love so much and have known their whole life transform into being a mother. I remember watching my sister Andrea, almost in awe, as she underwent this transformation. I think that Rachelle is going to be more amazing than we have ever imagined her. I wish so much that I could be there with her tonight, but all I can do is send all of my love and prayers.

Andrea had contractions all night last night, so hopefully she can hold off until Rachelle has had her baby because even though my mom is really amazing, she hasn't figured out how to be in two places at once yet...


Hugging is hard when both the hugger and the hugee have babies that are in the way. 

365 Days: Week 15

This post is so late it is almost time to post week 16! but we have been super busy around here and I can't wait to show you what we've been working on. 

Just out for a Sunday walk, taking advantage of those oft-discussed walking paths. The woods are even more beautiful now that all the trees have leaves and are looking green again.

Yes, I curled my hair with a headband this day.

Tooth becomes teeth! Five days after Lincoln's first tooth came in his second one cut through. He took it like a champ though.

He still was struggling to sit fully upright while unsupported, but it is already funny to look at this picture because he can sit by himself now. Isn't it amazing what changes a baby can make in a week?

Scooter doing one of his favorite things in the whole world - Craigslist-ing! He bought an air compressor and  a nail/staple gun. We love it! Should have bought one ages ago.

This is our master bathroom. We kinda hate it. OK, we really hate it. One sink, nasty tiny shower, useless vanity, peach/pinkish paint in the shower room, dingy laminate in the shower room, no storage, too dark of a paint color (in our opinion) by the vanity, carpet in part of it. Trust us, it's gross. Well, Scooter's spring break is this week so we were planning on basically starting over. This is the last night it looked like this because we started demo the next day. I've been trying to repaint my bedroom for a while - see the various paint swatches on the wall? I've decided to wait until the bathroom is done. Too much going on in there right now. 

Lincoln is really starting to be able to move around. Today I turned around to find that he had army crawled over to a hanger that was on the floor. He l.o.v.e.d. it! He even started protesting when I took it away from him, which he has never done with any object before. He loves chewing on the corner of it and it is really easy for him to hold onto. If he lies down with it he can also play with it using his feet while he is chewing on it - multi-tasking play heaven! Now we just let him play with them under supervision because he loves them so much. Why do kids always prefer ordinary household things to toys made for them?

Yep. Lincoln is wearing a little University of Oxford sleeper that we bought three years ago while we lived there in anticipation of our future children. Who knew we would name our first child after Scooter's college at Oxford? (Which you can read more about here here here and here) Under Scooter's insistence we only bought a blue one - good thing he was right this time!

Like I mentioned earlier -we are working on remodeling our master bathroom. We literally took the whole thing down to the studs - actually past the studs because we had to move a wall, but whatever. Some of the demo was pretty intense as evidenced by this... Scooter says you aren't a really serious DIY person until you have broken your hammer, so I guess we are officially serious now. Also, lesson learned - never buy wood hammers. Just spring for the metal kind.

Have you seen this?

This is the sweetest commercial. I have cried every time that I've watched it. 

Being a mom really is the best job in the world. 

Downton Abbey

So, we don't have cable.... Nope, not even the bunny ears to get the basic stations.  I know, right? How do we live, etc? We've heard it all.  We do have a Netflix subscription and get two DVDs at a time through the mail. We used to stream to our laptops occasionally, but since they separated the streaming from the DVDs we just stuck with the DVDs by mail. We read our news online, we watch mostly movies, and if we want to see a TV show we wait until it is available on Netflix.

We really don't miss it because it is usually just a huge time-suck, but occasionally things come up that make us wish we had cable. The biggest example of this is the Olympics, in fact, with the summer Olympics in London coming up this summer we are considering getting cable even if it is just for a couple months.

The other thing that may induce me to get cable is this show.

I have read so much about it online and have been wanting to watch it for a long time. My mother-in-law had been watching it and she really wanted to watch it together so I persevered and waited until she visited a couple weeks ago. I am a little ashamed (but not too much) that we watched both of the first two seasons during her four day visit. That's a lot of TV! I loved it and now I know why everyone has been talking about it. It really is that good. When the third season comes out I'm not sure that I'll be able to wait until it is available on Netflix - I'll want to watch it every week as it comes out.

 If you are one of the few who haven't seen it (like all my family) it is very simply the story of a rich family and their servants living in England during the Edwardian Era.

Although this is a period drama, it is more fast-paced than most of the others in it's genre. The conflicts in the show are not just conversation-driven, but more action-driven (although for the record, I love super slow-paced period dramas - I've never found one that was too slow for me). It is basically like a soap opera, but not trashy and more realistic. Scooter usually doesn't like period dramas very much because he feels like they are too "slow" but he actually liked this show and watched some of it with us.

One thing that I love about this show is how many main characters it has. The photo on the cover of the DVDs (the one at the top of this post) perfectly portrays this fact. How could they have chosen just a few people to be on the cover? Every person in this show gets almost equal attention. The cook gets as much attention as the lady of the house. The footman gets as much attention as the Earl. It takes about two episodes to keep everyone straight (at least that's how long it took me) and remember their job titles, but once you do it is really easy to jump between story lines.

And the clothes! Oh, the clothes! And the hair! And the hats! Oh, I die! I can't get enough. I even really like the servants clothes. And now, let's pause for a few lovely images.

For aesthetic reasons I really wish we could go back to this formal way of dressing, but then I think about my yoga pants and feel grateful that we are more casual. I could at least go for dressing for dinner, but that would involve not having to make the dinner, so that's not going to happen in this lifetime.

I love that they have included the servants and their lives so prominently in the plot because, so often, shows like this are not showing both classes. Who says that just because they are servants their lives are less interesting?

I wish I could talk more about the characters and why I love them, but my family reads this blog and they haven't seen it and I don't want to spoil anything for them because I am bringing both seasons to Utah in a few weeks so all of us girls can watch it while we take care of both of the new babies!

I can't wait for season three!

Cardboard Arcade

This video is the cutest, most-heartwarming thing I've seen in a while. I know it is kinda long, but seriously watch it to the very very end. You won't be sorry. I was bawling. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to be a nicer person. 

found here

Kansas City Temple

The Kansas City temple is complete and open for tours. Latter-day Saint (Mormon) temples are only open to the public for a few weeks after their completion. After that they are dedicated and only open to LDS members in good standing. They are not for Sunday worship, but are attended in addition to regular Sunday services. 

Temples are very sacred places for Mormons - the place where we feel closest to God. We go there to pray and worship. Scooter and I feel so blessed to have a temple so close now. Before this temple was built we had to drive to St. Louis, which is four hours away to attend the nearest temple. When we lived in Utah we had a temple 10 minutes away and tried to attend on a weekly basis. We have really missed that experience and are grateful that we will be able to attend more regularly now. 

Scooter had Thursday morning off, so we went and checked it out. We have been anxiously awaiting it's completion for months and have driven up to see it under construction a few times. Since it opened to the public for tours one week ago it has been toured by almost 40,000 people! Anyone is welcome to take a tour. You can make reservations online, but honestly, when you get there they don't ask for any kind of ticket, so you don't need to bother. There are two more weeks left to tour the temple, so if you are in the area you should really go see it. We'll even go with you if you want!

It was built in an undeveloped area that will someday be a neighborhood. The house you see is the only house around and it is owned by the LDS church to house the temple president.

After this temple is dedicated it will be the 137th temple in operation worldwide. To see a map of where all the other temples are click here.

It was randomly cold so Lincoln is sporting is warmest hat.

This temple will serve approximately 45,000 Mormons from mainly Missouri and Kansas.

Right next to the temple is a new church which will be used for Sunday worship. Both buildings sit on extensive grounds that include a few small ponds and walking paths. Sorry we didn't get pictures, but it was too cold!

You aren't allowed to take pictures of the interior of the temple, but the church has taken some professional ones and made them available for the media. Here are some of my favorites. 

As is fitting, the church seems to have spared no expense in building this temple, The workmanship is absolutely incredible. Being the DIY nerds that we are, Scooter and I kept geeking-out over things like the drywall and baseboards. No joke, only the best craftsmen could have built this building. There is an olive branch motif running throughout the building. You can see it behind the front recommend desk, in the glass and windows, on the trim, in the railings, on the upholstery of the furniture, and in the custom carpets. The chandeliers are custom designed and made with Swarovski crystals. 

This is the celestial room. I literally gasped when I saw the chandelier. I think it is one of the most breathtaking I have ever seen. 

The baptismal font

The murals in every temple, no matter where it is in the world, depict the natural beauty of the region where that temple is located. I think that this mural so beautifully depicts our area. See the redbud tree? As I have mentioned so frequently lately they are indigenous to our area and grow everywhere.

This is the front desk where we will show our recommendations from our local leader that shows we are church members in good standing. See the olive tree?

This is a sealing room where people are married. 

You can see all of the professional pictures here.

This is a video about why Mormons build temples if you are interested.

If you have other questions about what Mormons believe I really like this website and if you want to see answers to some FAQs you can go here.