I looked out the window...

And what did I see? A peeping tom...
Well, not really it was a tree climbing, branch cutting, chainsaw baring kid hanging out in the tree outside my 2nd floor balcony. That would be a sweet job. I mean who wouldn't want to climb trees all day with a chainsaw. Every day you could come home and say I saw the coolest thing. Today, he probably said, "There was this crazy lady in a moo-moo trying to subtly take pictures of me through her window, but it wasn't all that subtle." Anyways, if my full-time job wasn't being a mom, I would want to be a tree-climber. Maybe when all the kids are grown up, I can be the old lady tree climber and all the young guys can affectionally call me "Grandma Chainsaw."

A continution of the thought I mentioned on Ryan's blog...

You know... I thought about it at work when I read it, and I thought about it on my 20 minute drive home, and I came to the conclusion that I could write way too much on the subject, and not be sure if it was all true. So, I'm just going to tell you what I think right here.

Malachi's prophesy seems to me to have a two way deal. Children turn to their fathers, and the fathers turn to their children. We rightly assume that "children to their fathers" means baptism for the dead, but what is meant by the fathers to the children? Does it simply mean our ancestors say "Hey! Thanks for doing my work!" I don't think so.

I'm trying not to be light minded talking about this, but we all hear some people mention experiences where they felt some ancestor was close. And what were they close for? To help with the pain and mourn with those that mourn. Hearing of those experiences is enough evidence for me to believe that the dead, who posthumously recieved their saving ordinances, are as Joseph Smith said; "Enveloped in flaming fire... not far from us.. know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and motions, and are often pained therewith" (Teachings, p. 326).

I'm sure they are pleased sometimes too.

DNA and God

In my biology lecture we started talking about cell reproduction. This means we start with DNA replication, and RNA translation and transcription; pretty much all the stuff that takes place when you get a new cell, proteins, etc. DNA is made up of a nitrogen base, a sugar (deoxyribose, or ribose), and a phosphate group. There are 4 nitrogen bases that make up DNA. They are adenine, cystosine, thymine, and guanine. Adenine attaches to thymine, and each cystosine attaches to a guanine making something like unto this:

...and so on.

The phosphates hold each sugar together, but the organization of everything made me ask my professor, "I understand that all these nitrogen bases have to match up, but why does it matter how everything else matches up vertically?" I had already run through the processes and came to the conclusion that everyone has to sort of have the same DNA, or that DNA had to have an origin, but I needed to hear my professor explain it. She said that DNA make up has to have been around for a long time. DNA make up, like above, doesn't just occur randomly since DNA is always replicated with an orginal piece. Sure there are adjustments that define how we look, but as far as each individual having 2 eyes, 10 toes, and a butt... that's been around forever.

My conclusion from all of this thinking, was that something so complex had to have a starting point. There had to be a point where the DNA for humans was introduced and man began. If it's so complex, why not?

Chicken Primavera

This recipe is great...

Chicken Primavera

2 Chicken Breasts
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp of salt
dash of garlic
1 12oz can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup of milk
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 medium onion
1/4 cup of butter
8oz. (usually half a package) of pasta

In a skillet brown cut chicken. After that's done, empty and set them aside. Saute red bell pepper, green bell pepper, onion, garlic, and butter. Add milks, basil, salt, and chicken. Cook and stir until thickened, about 15-20 minutes. Serve over cooked pasta.

This is the version that we use. My sister's recipe calls for mushrooms, but those aren't allowed in our house. Another thing is that the original recipe calls for 2 cups of whipping cream, but we didn't have any of that so we substituted the evaporated milk. Look for it on the baking aisle. Also, if this seems like a lot of vegetables, it is. Slice everything up, and freeze half of it for when you make this recipe next week. I know you won't be able to withstand yourself.

I'll come up with a real blog in a few days...

Meant for each other

Well, there are things you probably shouldn't do...like cut your own hair. Tuesday, I decided to cut my hair. It turned out ok. I wasn't really satisfied though. So wednesday, I had Jordan cut my hair. I think it turned out suprisingly well. In fact, today, I went ahead and added some highlights. This is what I was thinking though. Jordan and I are perfect for each other. I don't know many women that would let there husbands cut their hair. And I definetly don't know many men willing to risk cutting their wives hair. We had a good time chopping away at my hair last night, and frankly, why spend a ton a money when you've got scissors and a comb at home.
So you be the judge, should Jordan be my new sylist? Or do I look like a boy? Or just a girl with a really bad cut?

The Hazards of Parenting

Dad with puke.
Lucky mommy gets the poop.

On my mission, I knew an elder who was incredibly good at making everyone laugh while retaining his so-cal style. (He was actually from St. George) One way that he did it was by practicing adult humor. Adult humor, as he defined it, were jokes that only adults would laught at. It was captivating to watch him humorize some of the most stone cold members, all while eating a casserole or drinking kool-aid.

I've found myself lately telling lots of adult type jokes. Not only telling, but laughing at and enjoying as well. I don't think "man that was stupid". I now think more along the lines of, "WOW! Who can I tell that too?". I'm stepping into the adult zone... and I like it.

Contamination

Well, Jonah has been having a hard time getting back up to his birth weight so I keep having to take him into the doctor for weigh-ins. Friday, Jordan was working so my mom took me up. The little guy got hungry sitting in the lobby so I started to feed him and sure enough they call us back 5 mins later. So I'm already kind of awkward but mom helps me be modest and make it back. Then we get to our little room and I have to stop feeding him and take his clothes off for the weigh -in. He was 9'2'. Yeah. He's pretty ticked as is cause his meals been interupted but we decided to change him while his clothes were off. Of course, he starts screaming even louder because his unit is getting cold. So while I'm starting to pull out the essentials of diapering, mom pulls off his diaper. She was too quick and jonah saw his chance pee went shooting everywhere. The poor kid got it all over himself, his chest, his face. Then when we thought he had stopped...he started all over again. The little table was soaked. My mom and I laughed hysterically and removed the little paper covering to hide the evidence. So the doctor takes forever to get in there which was good cause I finished feeding Jonah. Then I pass him off to mom to quickly burp him. What does Jonah do? He pukes all over the floor. The practically needed a haz-mat team in there after Jonah. My favorite thing about the whole trip though was when the doctor checked his ear. Without thinking I said, "There might be pee in that one." She responded, "Well, I've never heard that before." Over all it was one of my favorite trips to the doctor ever.

Messin' with Rubbish

Wow. I just woke up from the best nap ever. Wow. Amelia just woke up from the best nap ever. Wow. Jonah just woke up from a nap without crying. It makes taking the day off of work worth every cent I didn't make just to get some decent sleep.

Yes, the first couple of weeks of having a newborn have been hard. I'd like to say that our little burrito has been real easy to handle, but he hasn't. I'm sure he's had just as hard a time trying to understand us as we have him. Sometimes I'm startled by how much of a life long affair it is having kids. This morning I took Jonah to the outpatient testing center for the rest of his PKU testing to take place. The nurse who was going to "suck his blood" was a very sweet little old latin lady. She said she had 3 kids and all grown. I thought "Wow, I can't wait to say something like that". Raising kids and helping them learn how to be independent is the whole point. Well independent from the world, but more dependent on God. For now though... he needs someone to change his nappys.

A 24 hour wail

When Amelia woke up yesterday one of the first things she said to me was, "I'm hungry." I asked her what she wanted and she said something like graham crackers sounded good. But she had eaten all of those so I had to go through the cupboard to find something suitable for her taste. Reeses' Puffs Cereal was the only thing I could find that I thought fit the description. I brought it to her in a cup and she ate a little bit.

Throughout the day Jonah just cried his head off. Amelia told me that he would cry, poop, sleep for 10 minutes, wake up, cry, poop, and sleep for 10 minutes. The process repeated itself over and over until 12:30 or 1am this morning.

We didn't know what it was and tried everything to find out. Nothing seemed to work. It wasn't until about 11 last night that Amelia had an idea. She said, "Jordy. I think it was the Reeses' Puffs. They have chocolate in them." REESES' PUFFS? I had heard that nursing moms aren't supposed to eat chocolate, and if that was really the cause of Jonah's discomfort then I know why nursing mom's can't eat chocolate. Some might say it was something else, but really that's the only thing that makes sense.

Some people say that if you don't know why your baby is crying, then they are "colicky". All that means is that the parent hasn't been able to determine the cause of the screaming. I'm not much of a believer in the idea that kids, especially infants, scream just for fun. There is a reason for everything.

Introducing...

The arrival of our son Jonah was quite an ordeal. I think Amelia and myself can testify that each of us faced some of the greatest struggles of our lives. But the Lord has his time-table, and he showed us that he had been mindful of us long before February 28th.

On Monday, Amelia's water broke naturally. It was exciting running around the house throwing stuff in my pockets, and filling our labor bags with the final necessities. When we got the hospital the nurses called Dr. Domonique and told us Dr. Domonique requested Amelia be put on pictocin since she was only dilated to a 1 1/2. That was tough, especially since after 10 or 11 hours she had only dilated 4 1/2 cm.

Around 7:30, Dr. Domonique came in and told us that Jonah's presentation was off, and that if Amelia pushed him out, he would come out looking like a boxer. (He was coming out eyes and nose first, not by crown). Then she told us that she highly recommended doing a c-section. After a prayer, we made the decision to have the c-section done. Within an hour, Jonah was born and Amelia was on her way to recovery.

We're so happy to have Jonah in our home. We always hear in the church that having children, and raising them properly will bring the most joy to the home. I never really thought that was that great until now.

Have kids. You won't regret the decision.