clint.jana.dallas.norah

The year 20-something...

2012-01-01T10:33:00.001-07:00

Is it wrong to say that my days/weeks/months/years really blend together since becoming a stay at home mom? Kinda feels like the movie "Groundhog Day" sometimes. I'm not sure why that is, because it really is a crazy time of life!So, true to form, 2011 felt pretty uneventful despite being packed with chaos, but I will count that as a blessing. We went on a cruise (Clint's first) and have been itching to get back ever since. Clint started his new job at the LDS Church. I ran my first half marathon and was so hooked that I ran another a month later. Clint went back to school to begin work on his graduate degree. We celebrated one year with our beautiful Norah and 4 years with Dallas. We marked 5 years in our townhouse and then rented it out and moved in with my parents while we house hunt. And one day after moving, we found out we are expecting #3.2012 promises to be exciting, and inevitably more stressful as we move into a new home, welcome a new baby, and Clint officially starts his MBA program. I hope to grow as a mother, shrink as a person (after giving birth), and continue to be blessed with more than I deserve. Bring it on!

The only thing worth blogging about...

2011-12-26T08:05:00.003-07:00

Merry Christmas from the FIVE of us! xoxo

General Relief Society choir

2011-09-27T07:59:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday I got to sing in the choir at the General Relief Society Meeting.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little glad to have it behind me. Truthfully, I am so grateful to have been a part of it, but I will thoroughly enjoy my now practice-free Saturdays and Sunday afternoons. Here were some of the highlights, in no particular order:
1. Sitting behind the prophet during the meeting and feeling his power.
2. Sister Wadley, our director, and her incredible sense of humor and powerful testimony (she played the lady with the abusive husband in 17 Miracles if you saw that).
3. Brushing up on my musical abilities, which had been in hibernation for about a decade.
4. Getting to know the sisters in my ward who sang with me a lot better.
5. Hearing from the General Relief Society presidency in such a small, intimate setting.
6. Remembering how terrible school buses are and being grateful I no longer ride them daily.
7. Renewed gratitude that I don't have to wear nylons on a daily basis.
8. Having so much time to ponder the words of the hymns we sang and strengthen my testimony and gratitude to live in the fullness of times and be able to enjoy the resorted gospel on the earth.

Look whooooo turned one!

2011-09-23T09:25:00.005-06:00

We threw Norah a little owl party for her birthday last Friday and it was so much fun. Translation: I was EXHAUSTED by that night.

Birthday breakfast:

First ride front facing:

The invites (which my computer won't let me rotate):

Cake & Decor for the party:

Eating the cake:

She was a little off-kilter that day. The child who leaves me a 2 hour clean-up project after every meal on a regular day ate her birthday cake like a dainty little princess. Go figure.

And now onto the cliche, sappy, normal first birthday stuff.

But it's true what they say, I CAN'T believe it's been a year since you were born. I keep waiting for you to get grumpy once in a while. But you don't. I always say I deserved you after what your brother put me through in his first year (bless his heart). You're just a sweetheart who still sleeps like 20 hours a day and is nowhere near walking. Call me crazy, but I love that about you. I love that you are content to sit and watch your brother play with a big smile. I needed you to be a content child, otherwise we would have never made it through those 9 months in a Pavlik harness alive... one or both of us would have spontaneously combusted if you had not handled that so well, I am sure of it. Thank you for making us so happy. We love you forever.

The five year itch

2011-09-09T14:38:00.001-06:00

Nope, not sick of my husband. Just getting that out of the way. It's the house.

We are just shy of the 5 year mark in our home and something has gone terribly wrong in my head. All of a sudden things are falling apart and my decor could not be more boring. So I've embarked on a brown-purging cleanse. Replacing my old neutrals with color of this sort:

Yes, I know these colors are far too "trendy" and will get old and outdated really fast, luckily its nothing a new coat of spray paint won't fix in the future. The perks of owning cheap things. :)

Today's DIY project was turning this boring clock...

...into this clock:

(special thanks to landeeseelandeedo for the inspiration and Elephannie [may fav vinyl lady] for making this one happen on the cheap)

Next projects are replacing my backsplash, which I have recently come to loathe:

with this one:

And repainting the yucky dark brown wall you can see in the pictures above with a medium gray. (Sometimes I wonder what on earth ever inspired me to do that in a townhome with very few windows. Hello, bat cave.)

And, of course, the less realistic projects on the list:
-Finish the basement
-Replace worn out carpets on main floor with wood floors
-Crown molding in family room and master bedroom
-Tile master bathroom (our builders thought carpet in the bathroom was a good idea... gross)-
-White bead board around kitchen island
-Frame all bathroom mirrors
-Put up garage shelving
-Refinish kitchen cabinets
-I could go on and on...

...or we could just move. It's sounding more and more appealing as I write that list...

Student wife

2011-08-31T14:22:00.002-06:00

Starting today, I am once again a student wife. Clint is finishing up a few prerequisites in preparation to start his MBA program next year. I am proud of him, and super nervous for both of us. He is still going to be working full time, which means he will be insanely busy and I will be insanely alone with the kids A LOT. It's the right thing for our family and the right time to do it, but it's still frightening. It feels like it's been forever since we had to worry about homework and test deadlines. Good news is, I feel like everyone's husbands are in school lately, so I will have plenty of shoulders to cry on when I need it, right ladies? ;)

(I'm also secretly jealous because I am DYING to go back! One day.....)

Worry wart

2011-08-30T12:24:00.002-06:00

Dallas is a very cautious child. He worries and frets and worries some more. It takes a lot of time and thought to decide what slides are safe at the playground. He makes sure everyone has a seat belt on every time we get in the car. He plans ahead: He talks daily about the ten children he wants to have when he grows up and comes up with lists of all of the things he will need "ten of" (ie ten scooters, ten toothbrushes, ten beds, etc...)

And his latest worry..... losing teeth....

"Mom, I don't want my teeth to fall out when I'm ten years old."

My Norah

2011-08-26T08:27:00.007-06:00

My *almost* one year old is finally beginning to attempt crawling...

May not seem like a big deal (in fact, you might even say it's about time!), but for the little girl who was stuck in this thing...
...until she was almost 9 months old, it is a MASSIVE deal.

In 2.5 months she has learned to bear weight on her legs and will stand against furniture, learned to roll over, and now is *this close* to crawling. I could not be more proud of this one.

I can't keep up

2011-08-24T15:30:00.002-06:00

Why can't I be one of those moms where every single picture is perfect and professional? Instead I get pictures like this...

...adorable subjects, terrible pictures. Okay, so it's 50% because I take every single picture on my phone and don't own a nice camera and 50% because even if I did own that camera somehow my pictures wouldn't measure up anyway.

Thanks HEAVENS for faces like the one above that trump good picture quality any day.

No big deal.

2011-08-18T21:05:00.001-06:00

I just spent that afternoon with Michelle Branch. Up close and personal.

My husband is the radio contest king and it paid off big this time.

I have video. Good video. But blogger+video=no bueno. Anyone else have that issue? If you know me, I'll post video to Facebook.

The massacre

2011-08-15T07:50:00.003-06:00

Remember this post about my lovely little tomatoes?

Just days later, tragedy struck. Dallas and I went outside to water our little garden one afternoon. About an hour later, Clint returned from work with a handful of little green tomatoes in his hands... Little green tomatoes that had been plucked from my tomato plant, taste tested one by one by a neighbor child, and then discarded on my front porch (which I was too beside myself to remember to take a picture of). I'm not going to lie... I grieved. Literally: depression,denial, anger -- the whole shebang.

Once I completed the grieving process, the tomatoes were moved to the back "yard" (shhhh don't tell the neighbor kids) for safer keeping. We are making some progress in starting over, and I'm beginning to think my life will go on. Maybe.

the library

2011-08-03T21:57:00.003-06:00

Do you remember going to the library when you were a kid? I seriously loved it. It felt so big and magical. Free books and a nice old lady reading to me in a circle with my friends? Yes please. Also, I would LOVE to go back to the San Ramon City Library next time I am in California and take a gander at that place again... I'd bet big money that it's actually pretty tiny.

Recently our city opened a "library". Yes, the quotation marks are on purpose. It makes me laugh almost every time I go. It is so tiny I don't even think the skewed view of my 3 year old thinks it's big. But he certainly thinks its magical.

The best part: it's like a 5 minute walk from my house. And I get to look at this when I look down on the stroller all the way there. Hand holding all the way there. Every time.

And we come home looking like this.

I love the library.

my pride & joy

2011-07-27T15:17:00.005-06:00

Early this year I was called onto the Relief Society board in my ward over Provident Living. It was short lived. I was probably in less than 6 months before Primary sucked me back (I say that jokingly... I love Primary). But 6 months was the perfect amount of time to put a bee in my bonnet about such important things as food storage, emergency preparedness, and gardening. All of which I am naturally terrible at and completely uninterested in. So, this spring I planted my "garden". I live in a town home with no yard, so it's really 3 pots by my front porch. (Let me preface the rest of this by saying I kill plants. A lot. I love me some fake plants in my house, cuz the real thing just ain't gonna last. So this is a big deal).

Presenting...

Yeah, my first success. It turned into this... and it was mmm, mmm, good.

I really can't understand how this makes me so proud. I mean, I did grow 2 kids and this should pale in comparison. But I burst with pride when I look at these pictures. It's weird, I know.

Free PDF pattern this week!

2011-07-26T07:51:00.004-06:00

Remember my fantastically talented little sister over at ReadJame? Well, this week only she is giving away a FREE pdf pattern for her one size fits newborn-toddler "bandana dresses" to anyone who becomes a follower of her blog AND/OR adds her button to their blog AND/OR blogs about her blog AND/OR posts her link on Facebook.

Let me just attest that if you have a little girl you NEED this pattern. Okay, I haven't made any because I have the hookups and she has given me more than a few of them, but Stacie claims they are pretty easy to make ;) But they are honestly a little girl wardrobe staple. The ONLY dress that fit Norah properly when she came home from the hospital. And now she STILL wears them as a very very fat little 10 month old (she wears it as a skirt now). The. best. ever. Don't believe me? Here are pics of Norah in them then and now.

And a picture of Stacie's 14 month old and her newborn both wearing them:
So head on over here: http://www.readjame.com/2011/07/bandana-dress-pdf-pattern-free-this.html and check it out!

Summer 2011 according to my iPhone

2011-07-22T08:39:00.006-06:00

My new favorite quote:

2011-07-16T10:18:00.004-06:00

"The gospel is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable" -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland quoting President Harold B. Lee

How true is that?? No matter what your "gospel" or your "truth" is, isn't that exactly what it should do? We are comforted by our beliefs when times are hard and we need an extra "push". But when things are good, it again gives us a "push" to go BEYOND, to be better, to work harder.

I know my gospel "afflicts" my comfort at times (paying tithing, feelings of inadequacy, knowing I could be doing more and teaching my children more, etc), but it has also comforted me in times of affliction which is well worth it all.

You have to climb the peak to see the view.

I am one of the ninety and nine

2011-06-30T12:21:00.005-06:00

Living where I do, it is easy to feel like an ant in an ant hill.

Hi, my name is Jana and I'm a stay at home mom and an active member of my Church.

...Just like nearly every.single.woman. on my street, in my neighborhood, in my town, in my county, in my state.

I am one of the ninety and nine
I’m not perfect, but basically I’m doing fine
I have not lost my way I have not gone astray
I’m just one of the ninety and nine

It's easy to feel lost in the crowd. To feel like nothing I do is highly significant. I'm not the beacon on a hill that I might be if I lived elsewhere. People don't need my example, because they already do what they do better than I do.

I am here in the heart of the fold
I’m not mindless, but I try do as I’m told
I’m not tempted to run
and become the lost one
I am here in the heart of the fold

But today the thought came to me that, yes, "I am one of the ninety and nine", and that's okay. If it weren't for people like me there would be no fold. There's someone who thinks my contribution is significant. HE knows that being one of the ninety and nine isn't easy. HE knows I made this conscious decision to be faithful. HE thinks I stand out and sees me in a slightly different shade of white from the rest of the fold.

You are one of the ninety and nine
Have you any idea how brightly you shine?
You are safe in his fold
and it’s time you were told
That I know where you’ve been so I know where you’ll be
Because all of your life you’ve been following me
You are more than just one of the sands of the sea
Or just one of the ninety and nine
You are mine

**lyrics, Ninety and Nine, Michael McLean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjt2w9spiwU

Don't mind if I do shamelessly brag

2011-06-13T08:28:00.005-06:00

We all know that's what this is, so I'm just putting it out there.

Saturday I woke up at 2:30am, headed out the door with some awesome friends, froze my butt off waiting for a few hours, and then ran 13.1 beautiful miles. It was SO not as bad as I expected it to be (although my old lady hip disagreed yesterday).

Here are my stats:
Finish Time 2:29:08 (my goal was 2:30:00. Barely pulled that one off.)
11:23 average mile pace
183/282 for females in my age group
1390/1949 total racers (male and female)

So to sum it up, I'm slow. And it doesn't make me any less proud of my accomplishment. I trained hard, I crossed the finish line, and I kind of loved it. So here's to hopefully many more half marathons and to still thinking anyone who wants to run a full marathon is bat crazy.

I hate thinking of witty titles

2011-06-06T08:34:00.011-06:00

Get this. In my 4+ years of blogging I have NEVER gone an entire month post-less... until now. Sorry, May 2011. "Things" happened. I just seem to have lost my vigor. What happened to my once almost-daily blogging habit? Perhaps my life just used to be more interesting. Here are the "things". In no particular order.

***Miss Norah's hips were pronounced "perfect" today. Which means the saga is over. Checkups a few times a year throughout her childhood, but besides that we are home free. She still isn't anywhere near crawling, or even rolling really, but she has started locking her knees in standing position and bearing weight on her legs which is HUGE. I cannot express how grateful I am for modern medicine. I think I will cry when she steps into her first dance class and I get to watch her use her little body like every child should be able to. (I tried to upload an adorable video of her laughing, but I gave up after AN HOUR. Um, blogger, it's not 1997 and I don't have dial up internet. )

***Big D did T-Ball and pretty much loved it. He was an absolute midget compared to every other kid on his team. Poor little guy. He also finished up gymnastics for the year and had his final performance. It was adorable. Clint has made it very clear to me that this is a hobby for his preschool years only. Whatevs.

***Joy school ended (with a bang... at the smelly petting zoo). Good news: lots of stress off my shoulders. Bad news: It means the start of forrealz preschool in the fall. He's basically gonna graduate from high school next week at this rate. Why oh why?

**Dallas surprised me one day by showing me he could do this all on his own: No joke, I did not teach him and had no idea he had such mad skills.

**Clint is doing fantastic at his new job (duh). I love that he doesn't wake up grumpy and nauseous every morning anymore.

***There is now evidence in our home that Norah exists, thanks to new family photos. You probably already saw them on FB and I'm too lazy to upload them here. But they are awesome, thank you Carrie!

***I lost sleep for almost a week after watching the "Sister Wives" get driven out of Utah. I'm not an advocate of polygamy, I just hate watching history repeat itself. It really bugged me. A lot.

***I broke 2 iPhones in 2 days (that's a story for another day) and had to live like a cave woman for a whole month. I nearly cried when it finally got replaced. It was pathetic, really.

***T minus 5 days until my half marathon. Cue butterflies in my stomach.

A new phase

2011-04-25T15:11:00.007-06:00

Today is Clint's first day at his new job here:(LDS Church Office Building)

We are SOOO excited about this new opportunity. It is a fantastic job in a fantastic place and in contrast to his previous job/company which did nothing but bring a whole lot of trauma into his life (and mine), it is a pretty exciting change. And I am more than a little proud of my man. Plus, honestly, is there ANYWHERE cooler you could work than for the Church? I would argue that there is not.

He did leave me with this disclaimer, however: "Just so you know, I'm on the top floor. So basically if terrorists ever decide to attack the Church, I'm a dead man." Thanks for the heads up, babe.

my excuse

2011-04-20T11:38:00.002-06:00

"Blogs are out, but people are texting each other..."
- Ryan Howard, The Office

...I'm not gonna lie, I kind of agree.

Run For Lindsey

2011-04-09T17:27:00.002-06:00

Lindsey Karr is my adorable neighbor who is battling brain tumors. She and her husband, Josh, have had a year I can't even imagine going through but are always SO positive and are such an amazing example of "Living Through Laughter". She wrote out her life motto and it brings me to tears every single time I read it:

Laughter is transformational. It can take the dreariest of life’s moments and change them in an instant to something that eases heartache and suffering. Laughter is contagious. It can cause others who are filled with doubt and worry to become lighter and more joyful. Laughter is an attitude. Finding humor in situations that would normally cause anger or despair is healing for both body and soul. This is something that it has taken me 10 years, four brain surgeries, two series of radiation, seizures, shunts, and pirates to learn. When I was 14 I had brain surgery to remove a giant tumor that had taken up residence in my left frontal lobe. Then at 16 it happened again. And yet again at 18. This time, after surgery, the doctors decided that radiation was the best course for eradicating any lingering tumor cells. So the tumor cells that had dwelled in my brain decided to pack up and move south. I didn’t realize that these rare cells were able to travel through my spinal/cranial fluid. So after a few years of being healthy, I was surprised to discover that I had five new tumors along my spinal column. They were the same type of tumors as before, but inoperable. All of this was discovered over a five month period, during which I was in immense pain, which led to seizures, which led to the neuro ICU for a week, which led to a fourth brain surgery; this time to put in a shunt. Radiation treatments began as soon as my body could handle them. I also was bed-ridden, needed 24 hour care, had no control over my bodily functions, and was losing weight like crazy. (I know what you’re thinking, ladies, and this is NOT the way to lose it!) I couldn’t sit-up, and I couldn’t see, and migraine-level headaches were constant. And yet somehow, through everything that I was suffering, I was gifted with the ability to see the humor in situations. And to laugh, and encourage those with me to laugh. Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely days when I cried as well. Yet I was able to move past the darker, gloomier clouds in my life and see sunshine. Life is not so serious that we cannot take a moment to enjoy blessings, or experience gratitude, or see the little funny things that happen on a daily basis. Search for the erratic, the ironic, and the slapstick comedy of life. Because you know what? Laughter truly is the best medicine.

You can check out Lindsey's blog here: forlindsey.blogspot.com

A 5K has been organized for her for May 14 and I wanted to get the word out for everyone to come join in the fun!

I'm stealing the post right off of her blog, because they have all the info in there :)

We are so excited to announce RUN FOR LINDSEY 5k! Lindsey has touched and influenced lives everywhere, and this is our chance to give back.

RACE INFO

May 14, 2011
Inlet Park in Saratoga Springs, UT

Race will begin at 9am

Registration is $15 per entry

visit: http://runforlindsey.com/ for more information

T-SHIRT

A Living Through Laughter T-Shirt is available to purchase for $10. This shirt shares Lindsey's motto with the world. The first 50 participants to sign up for the race will receive a t-shirt included in their registration fee. In an effort to raise as much money to pay for Lindsey's medical bills, 100% of the proceeds from the race registry and t-shirt sales will go to Lindsey. Shirts will be available to everyone.

Where ever you may be, coast to coast, you can share Lindsey's message and her story by wearing a Living Through Laughter tee!

SPONSOR

Many companies are sponsoring the race and Lindsey's cause and we invite all companies interested in sponsorship to inquire by emailing sponsor@runforlindsey.com. All sponsors will be featured on runforlindsey.com, sponsors donating $100+ will have their logo on the back of the Living Through Laughter Tee, and will be recognized by thousands as a supporter of Josh and Lindsey Karr.

Please visit www.runforlindsey.com to register for the race or purchase Living Through Laughter t-shirts.

Because together, we can help the Karrs!

Ways to donate:

1. Run for Lindsey!

2. Support Lindsey through Deals That Matter. Local charities have raised thousands of dollars in a weeks time, but this was only made possible because supporters share the information with everyone they know.

3. Purchase a Living Through Laughter Tee.

4. Donate to Lindsey's paypal account.

Run for Lindsey Button: Post this button with a link to runforlindsey.com on your blog.

One {half} year older and wiser too

2011-03-16T10:01:00.006-06:00

This little beauty is 6 months old today. It boggles my mind.

She is a bit small for age and a bit behind physically (thanks to the Pavlik harness), but that's just part of what makes her her and I love it. I feel so grateful to know that she will catch up... all in due time :)

But don't get me wrong... plenty has changed since she entered our worlds six short months ago. She sleeps at least 11 hours straight every single night and has for months. She eats her solids like a champ. She can hold her own bottle. she is binky-free and quite the thumb-sucker. She giggles at most everything Clint and Dallas do.

It's true what they say... time goes by so much faster as you get older. When I think about it, I really feel like she's going to be all grown up TOMORROW. Luckily that's not exactly true, so TODAY I am going to cherish my teeny tiny little girl, and secretly hope she doesn't catch up as quickly as she's expected to. Is that wrong?

Another three year old funny

2011-03-10T09:23:00.003-07:00

Dallas (pointing to a birthmark on his foot): "what's this mom?"
Me: "it's a birthmark"
Dallas: "what's birthmark means?"
Me: "it's just a spot on your skin that you'll always have. Even when you grow up big. It makes you special."
Dallas: "what's special means?"
Me: "it means there's no one like you. "
Dallas (with a horrified heartbroken look on his face): "NO ONE LIKES ME???"

So sad. I am ruining my child.