New Year's Resolutions

I've been thinking long and hard about what I want to accomplish this upcoming year other than the ubiquitous goal of being a better mother, wife and spiritual person and I think I have it narrowed down to a few attainable things:

I wish I could say I am going to lose 25 lbs by the end of the year, but it seems that the only way I can do that is to get pregnant, gain 20-50 lbs and then lose it in the following months and then be at a stand still about five pounds under pre-pregnancy weight. So, I'm just going to say that I'm not going to gain any weight and if I lose some, then bonus. So it looks like 2010 will be a pregnant-me-less year.

I am going to eat healthier... Right after I eat all my clearanced after-Christmas candy we splurged on.
...
And I don't think that will include the after Valentines Day chocolate, either.

I will potty train Aiden. Does this even count as a New Year's Resolution? Aren't those supposed to be something that you do to better yourself? I'm sure this counts because smelling his poopy diapers up close and personal on a daily basis can't be good for my health.

I will pack my house up before the last week before we move, minus essentials, of course. I hate moving. A lot. I moved once the entire time I grew up, and I was 6 so it doesn't really count. I didn't do anything to pack. The only thing I remember around that time in my life has nothing to do with boxes and packing tape and moving trucks, but instead my dog being ran over by a car, being excited about my first plane ride and being terribly upset that I was missing my Christmas Concert at school. Really, why couldn't we have moved our entire family a week later so I could sing with my other classmates for 20 minutes? That's not irrational, 6 year-old mind reasoning at all.
But anyway. I moved when I was 6 and that doesn't really count as having to deal with the moving process, but then when I was 19, that was across country from New Mexico to Florida and that was a process.... And again when I was 20, not across country, but I had "grown-up" stuff that made it a process that was moved in the back of my brother in-law's pick-up truck, load after load after load ..... And then again when I was 21.... And then when I was 23, with a 14 month old and 7 weeks vomiting-pregnant.... And now again when I will be 24, across country, from Florida to Utah, with two children and my husband staying behind for an extra month or so. I hope I won't have to move again for a while after this one because I'm tired of it.

But onto the most important ones:

I resolve that I will not be so desperate for the lime-light that I will pretend my son is caught in a homemade balloon that is drifting away.

I resolve to keep my threats away from the "shove a ball down your throat" path.

I resolve to not be, in any way, shape or form, like Kanye West.

I resolve to keep my congratulational gestures to hand shaking when it comes to blind people. That way my high-five won't be left hanging.... on national television... on one of the most watched shows.

I resolve this year that I will not marry someone, have twins with them, try for just one more and end up with six more and drive them so crazy by my constant nagging and stupid hair cut that they are driven to cheat on me with someone way younger just months after renewing our vows and telling the world that you are doing this so your children will know that Mommy and Daddy will always be together, no matter what.

I resolve to only fly US Airways through a flock of birds if Chesley B. Sullenburger III is my pilot.

I resolve to keep being a homebody instead of turning myself into a famous golfer that then cheats on their spouse with more than a baker's dozen of women.

I resolve to not take fertility drugs and end up pregnant with 8 babies.... especially if I already have 6 at home.

I resolve that when I win a record number of gold medals at the Olympics, I will not find myself in a huge controversy because a picture of me smoking pot surfaced.


I resolve to never help Drew Peterson with anything. Especially anything that involves disposing of blue barrels.

I resolve to stay home instead of flying on any commercial airplane if I have tuberculosis.

I resolve to not help a pimp and prostitute in their endeavors to open an under-aged brothel.

I resolve to leave the biggest carbon footprint possible, now that we know that Global Warming isn't real.

And last but certainly not the least:

I resolve that if I find myself attending a Midnight Mass with the Pope, I will not attack him because no matter who you are, or what you believe, that cannot be a good thing.

Seriously, how could you see this and think, "I'm going to attack that man."

Hope 2010 brings you all the best!!

Notice how I didn't mention anything about Michael Jackson? That's how it should be...

Today I will do my laundry...

Since I was called to the Stake Young Women's Presidency, my life has been full of loading kids to drive to other towns to visit with the Ward's Young Women's Presidencies and every spare moment my husband and I have no obligations, we are out at his parents spending time with them before D-Day comes and we have to move.

I am holding up mentally, emotionally, and physically wonderfully until I factor in the fact that my house is a mess. My dishes are perpetually piled up in the sink, my clothes are clean, but piled into our giant tote that we keep our Christmas Tree stored in for 11 months of the year, my dog is probably underfed and likes to compensate by trying to eat used paper towels that end up shredded all over the floor.

This morning I participated in our Stake Pioneer Trek Youth Conference. I was an "angel" that came at a trying time for the girls to help push their handcarts. A more detailed post will come later when I can figure out in my mind how to do that experience justice. But one huge lesson was learned after my 3 minute short burst of an incredible amount of energy. I helped them push the handcart up a sugar-sand hill and through loose sand after that for only about 50-60 yards. By the end, I was exhausted and felt like I literally could not walk another step and then it hit me that as exhausted as I was, these teenaged girls had been pulling these for an hour or two at that point and still had half the day left and that they are doing this trek because for thousands of people, some of them my ancestors, this was their life for months. They pushed their handcarts and held their children when they were exhausted and at the end of the day when they had a break, they had to cook and clean for their families and make everything in order because they would be leaving in the morning.

If they can do that, then I can fold my loads upon loads of clean clothes and put them away where they belong... all in the same day.

And tomorrow I will do the dishes.

My children have colds and I hate it.

For those of you who have read Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, remember the part when his father had to suck the mucous out of the little boy's nose (for the life of me I can't remember if it was Frank McCourt or his brother) using his own mouth because the boy couldn't breath from being so congested?

Well, when I first read that part, I was so disgusted and said I would never be able to do that and that I was glad I lived in a day and age when there are nose aspirators and saline spray. Never did it cross my 15 year old mind that those things wouldn't work. What happens when that doesn't work?! Oh, how having a baby changes things.

This morning I was about ten seconds away from doing that myself with my two and a half month old daughter and then she threw up because she was gagging on the post nasal drip and the most incredible amount of mucous came out with it. My hand was covered in it and once relief washed over me, all I could think of was Men in Black when Tommy Lee Jones is inside the cockroach at the end and shoots the cockroach from the inside and the mucous blasts out all over Will Smith.

Just so you know, I am not a bad mother. I had been using the nasal aspirator all night long, it just was going back down her throat so it wasn't as effective as it could have been. It's the pits when you can't do anything for them and you had to hear their little tiny body coughing. I'm sure you can imagine how many prayers I said last night.

I Want That!

This is amazing!!! If you didn't catch what it just did. The guy took a video with his digital camera, and set the camera down and went on his way while the SD card inside the camera automatically uploaded the pictures/video he took - ALL BY ITSELF!!

Technology is amazing and I want it.

Merry Christmas!

I've had mild interest in Celtic Woman recently, but today I think it bumped up to full blown love. Every song I have listened to has given me goosebumps at least once. I hope you enjoy! This song is absolutely beautiful.

P.S. Can you tell I just figured out how to post videos without having to look up the steps to make it work every time?

I Believe in Santa Clause

Is it Santa Claus or Santa Clause? I can't remember! But that is besides the point.

Recently my husband has had two very separate conversations with two very separate people that could not have more opposite mindsets when it comes to politics, religion, and family. Yet, they came to the same conclusion: They aren't comfortable teaching their children about Santa Clause.

One is in the far left as far as politics goes, is atheist or agnostic, at best and doesn't feel that marriage is a sacred covenant but instead just a piece of paper. He feels that to teach your children about Santa Clause is a bold faced lie and nothing more and that it will be detrimental to the child's upbringing when they find out their parents lied to them for years on end until they were old enough to find out for themselves that Santa isn't real.

The other is far right as far as politics goes, is a devout Christian and feels that marriage is a sacred covenant to be taken seriously and to be upheld. He feels that to teach your children about Santa Clause is taking away from the true meaning of Christmas and that it is commercialism gone awry and trying to take Christ out of Christmas.

Given the two options, I have to say I relate more to the latter, but not entirely.

I feel that you can teach that Santa is the Spirit of Christmas personified. How do you explain to a two year old the true meaning of Christmas? How do you make them understand that this is a time to remember all that we have and because we have so much, we should share of our love, time and in some cases, our means, to better mankind? What better way than to tell them of Santa Clause and how he comes in the middle of the night, not to receive glory, to leave presents anonymously under the tree for each and every person so they can put a face, a name, to what we all feel inside? Then when the times comes that they find out Santa Clause isn't "real", they can truly understand that he is real in the spirit of what Christmas truly is about. Love and giving of ourselves, which is what Jesus Christ did throughout His entire life.

Santa Clause loves little children, Santa Clause is happy, Santa Clause brings great and wonderful gifts much like Jesus Christ loves little children, is happy and brings the world's greatest and most wonderful gifts known to mankind.

So you can say that at my ripe old age of 23, I still believe in Santa Clause and I hope my children never stop believing, either.

Merry Christmas!

A Song for the Mormons

This is quite possibly the most pointless song I have ever heard, but it made me laugh so I hope you enjoy.


P.S. Sorry the right side is cut off, I couldn't fix it, but you don't miss anything.

Hello, my name is Kim.

So I think I am officially a blog addict. It seems almost every day I find another blog to follow because they seem to comment a lot on the blogs I already follow and so I check theirs out and if their blogs inspire me or make me laugh, they are added to the list.

When I first started a blog, I was surprised to see how many of my friends had a blog as well and through theirs I found blogs of my Stake President's daughters, a girl that was in Young Women's with me but I never really talked to because she was two years older and I was always intimidated by how gorgeous she was, my sister in law's sister, all of whom I follow anonymously because I don't know what they would think if I followed their blog. Dumb, I know. I legitimately know them, could tell you their birthdays even, but that may or may not be because I am a freak with dates like that. (My husband would assuredly say it's just because I'm a freak like that. I could tell you the date I moved from Utah to New Mexico.... 17 years ago. I could also tell you the date my brother had to report to the MTC and the date my other brother came home from his mission.)

But now I have found the wonders of following blogs of people that I really don't know, but have things in common with me. For instance, most of the blogs I follow have a common denominator. They are young mom's trying to save money and still do cute things for their kids. They live in Utah or New Mexico and to hear them talk about it makes my heart warm a little bit. They are Mormon and like to poke fun at the fact that a lot of people have misconceptions about Mormons that stem from next to complete ignorance about what our religion is about.

Some of them I skip over on a semi-regular basis, but most I laugh out loud and when I try to explain to my husband why I am laughing, it all seems lost on him.

But back to the main reason of this post, I wonder if there are others that read my blog and are to ashamed to admit it. I really don't care, it would help me justify the time I spend thinking about how I could write about the funny things in my life, the things that leave an impression on me and the random things that come to mind.

Oh, and if you do follow my blog, and I don't know, and you live near me, and are lookin for a boat, we are trying to sell our boat so you should buy it.

Cha-Ching!!

Remember how a few weeks ago my husband hit a deer? Well, last week, we were out at his parents and it was dark and rainy and we hit a stump. Pretty bad luck considering we were hoping to sell this car or trade it in on a new one that would be able to get us out to Utah.

Well, I was talking to my mom the other day and she said we should just make some claims and since the car is paid off, we can get a check written out to us instead of written out to an autobody shop. We followed her advice and now are anxiously awaiting a check for $1700 that will go into our Moving to Utah Fund.

This is pretty much the exact amount we will need to be able to rent a truck and trailer to move myself, son and daughter out about a month earlier than my husband so that I will be able to take a CNA course and hopefully be pretty close to having a job when my husband comes out.

Hooray for answered prayers!!

Random Thoughts for a Random Day

I love Christmastime. When I see Christmas decorations go up for sale in the stores before Halloween, it takes all I have to wait for Thanksgiving to put up my tree.

On a similar note, I think I am going to make it a tradition to put the Christmas Tree up for Family Home Evening the Monday before Thanksgiving and every ornament we put up, we have to name something we are thankful for. That way I can get my tree up earlier, tie in the two holidays and keep Christmas from stealing Thanksgiving's thunder.

I don't know if it's just me, but dead batteries feel lighter and more hollow than brand new batteries. I wonder if it is actually that way, or if I am just making it all up.

Recently my husband and I have had separate conversations with our mothers about memories we have of things that happened when we were younger and when we actually found out when it happened, it's when we were like two or three years old. Realizing this, and seeing as how my son is almost two years old, the things he remembers now or soon, he could potentially remember for the rest of his life. Which makes me think; what things am I doing now that I want to change before my son remembers me doing it? Do I want him to remember me sitting at the computer on Facebook while he is eating breakfast? Is that really such a big deal? I haven't decided yet.

I'm going to be moving across country in a few months. Any suggestions on how to keep a two year old and a four month old occupied for a possibly four day trip? Especially if I move out there before my husband to go to school.

It is so heartwarming to see my son try to be like his Daddy. He will stand next to him and prop his foot up and then check to make sure he's doing it just right. He will pretend to shave. He will act tough and speak with a booming voice. But my favorite is when he drinks his milk from a soda can, pretend to belch and then say "smee me" (excuse me) in a really sheepish way.

Two Months Old

I have officially joined the ranks of "Can you belive my child is already _____ old?!" With my son I felt every second of his growing up because I was growing every second of it as well. I was a first-time stay-at-home mom and was overwhelmed, baby blued, awestruck and so happy all at once. Every thing he did was a huge accomplishment on my part, as if I had something to do with it. So when people would talk about how fast he was growing, I knew that to them, it was amazing how fast he was growing, but I saw him every second of the day and two months felt like two months.

Not this time around.

My daughter sleeps like an angel which gives me a lot of time to play with my son and read blogs... I mean, do stuff around my house. When Monday came around and it was time for her two month check up, I was truly amazed that two months have come and gone already. Definitely put things into perspective since I will be moving in two months, give or ... well, just give a little.

She is growing fantastically. She was 23" long - 85th percentile and weighed 11 lbs 13.2 ounces which is about the 75th percentile. I am slowly realizing how dainty my little girl is, if 75th percentile is dainty in the real world. In this family, it is the daintiest of the daintiest. She was 15 days early and my son was 9 days late. She was 8 lbs at birth, my son was 9 lbs 13 oz. She was 11 lbs 13.2 ounces at two months, my son was 12 lbs 1 ounce at two weeks.

I love having a little girl. I have gone a little crazy lately buying headbands and the such for her and I've looked at buying patterns to make little girl booties and repurposed sweater dresses and the sort. (I just happened upon this blog and fell in love immediately: makeitandloveit.blogspot.com) I made her a tutu to go with her Halloween costume. I look forward to being able to paint her nails. The girly girl in me is coming out with her. I was never one to paint my nails or do my hair in any way other than a ponytail, every once in a while I'd go crazy and put it in a french braid but now I am just waiting for the day when I can sit and style her hair. I love playing with my son. I love wrestling with him and talking in monster voices with him, but I really think I am going to love accessorizing with my daughter. Anyone who knows me must think I'm kinda crazy hearing all this stuff because rarely do I even wear jewelery other than my wedding and CTR ring, but I am itching for her to be old enough to want to be a princess and play dress-up.
For all I know, she will be exactly like me when I was growing up and watch Batman and Ninja Turtles and hope the bad guy wins. And if she does watch the girly Disney movies like Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, she'll only do it to make fun of it.

Stake Young Women Presidency

I was recently called into the Stake Young Women Presidency as Secretary. I have no experience in Young Women except for when I was last in Young Women, five years ago. Which brings up another Why-Am-I-The-One-Called-For-This? point. If I had lived here five years ago, I would have been in Young Women with the Laurels that I am indirectly in charge of. They would have been Beehives when I was a Laurel.
I am very excited and look forward to see what is in store for me. It must be pretty important that I do this while I am still here for some reason and I'm anxious to see what reason that is. I have a whole laundry list of reasons why I could see why I wouldn't have been called to this, the least of which includes me moving in a few short months to Utah, my husband being a Police Officer that has to work every other Sunday and having two children under the age of two, but I am not one to turn down a calling that is extended to me.

For those of you who are not LDS: Young Women is an organization of well, young women, from the ages of 12-18. They participate in group activities and have Sunday School together in their wards or congregations. So many wards belong to a Stake. For instance, there are 8 wards in our Stake. My role as Stake Young Women Secretary pretty much means I will be taking notes and emailing the necessary people for the Stake Young Women President when we travel to the different wards to meet with them to assess their needs.