I WON the Zune writing contest in part to my amigos. Thanks all. I picked up $75.00!

WINNERS

Not only did I win, I dominated. I had 10 votes and second place received 5. Thanks to my good friends and a UCLA English degree.

The other night I decided to branch out from my normal holiday baking routine and make marshmallows. I'm glad I did. Although adding another thing to bake at the holidays is not always a good thing. My list is getting a little long. But these were worth it.

I found the recipe here. They are simple. I got tired of crushing candy canes, but it turned out okay because now every now and again while eating the mallows you get a little chunk of candy cane that adds a nice texture. I was seriously wishing for a kitchenaid mixer after about five minutes of mixing with a hand mixer and had to recruit John to do some mixing.

They are delicious in hot chocolate or all by themselves. Give them a try!

I think after last years list, everyone pretty much knows how I feel about my hubby. And even though I have another years worth of reasons to love him, I think you all get the idea. He's the best.

Happy Anniversary!!

I really wanted to come up with a fun, creative and witty way to announce that we are having a GIRL, but I couldn't come up with anything.

In the car this morning I asked Devan is she was excited about getting a new sister. She said yes. Then I told her that the baby would get to wear all her old baby clothes and she said, "I'm not sure about her wearing my clothes".

There's nothing like a little sisterly love at an early age!

Hey all! I LOVE my ZUNE MP3 player, so much so that I wrote a Haiku about it in order to win more Zune stuff. Please go vote for my poem.

CLICK ON THIS FOR THE LINK- VOTE FOR ZUNE HAIKU!

THANKS- JOHN

p.s.- It looks like you have to register to vote. If you feel so inclined you may. One kind friend has already. (Thanks Kim!)

I've been using photoshop for years, and for years I've had no idea what I was doing. With the little knowledge I had I was able to edit photos just enough so they didn't look horrible. This morning I finally got around to checking out some photoshop tutorials. I googled "easy photoshop tutorials" and found that a great looking picture is way easier than I thought!



Take a look at these before and afters. I used this simple tutorial and was able to come up with a beautiful photo in only a few clicks.


Click photos to enlarge.

I know I still have A LOT to learn and don't even come close to some real photographers I know, and it will probably be years again before I learn to do anything else, but I am excited I know one new trick! If you have photoshop you should definintely try it!

Devan has the tendency to act very energetic after bathtime. Most nights I find myself begging her to settle down so we can put her pj's on. I often find myself repeating such statements as "Devan, focus! Put your jammies on and then we can play!"

The other night at the dinner table John and I were talking and he happened to use the word focus. Devan's eyes got big and she said "Hey! Mommy says that word!" Then John asked her, "Devan, what does focus mean?" And she said, "It means, put your jammies on!"

Needless to say, we were both laughing.

Here is my short Christmas list. Times are tough so I will spare my potential gifters increased hardship:

1. Rainbow Sandals (I have burned through 2 pair already, I wear them every day)
2. Dual Layer DVD's (I have the technology to "back up" in DL)
3. Call of Duty: World at War for Xbox 360
4. LA Dodgers hat, pro fit (All black hat with black lettering)
5. Laser Eye Surgery (not cheap, but I would be forever grateful)

ADDED:
Money for MBA tuition
Good Photo Printer with wireless capability
Disneyland Season Passes (since we are so close)

Maybe Morgan or others can remind me of what I want

I thought I'd take a minute to share my gratitude during this holiday season. And while I am grateful for more things than I can count, I would like to share one thing I am immensely grateful for at the moment:

Gas is $1.89 in Orange County, CA. It's hard to believe just a few short months ago it was over $4 a gallon and it cost me $85 to fill up. Let's all start thinking positive thoughts that it stays this cheap for a long, long time!

I've found a better, cheaper replacement. You may remember my sandal conundrum a few months back when I ultimately gave in and went to Stride Rite. And I still really like Stride Rite, I just really don't like their prices. My Crocs discovery was actually by accident.



I have been wearing Crocs for a couple years now and really love them. Although my only complaint is that they are (obviously) not the most stylish shoes. I mostly wear them because they really are so comfortable. I've looked at Crocs for Devan several times, real and generic, and never felt crazy about them. Until now.

A couple days ago I was heading a doctors appointment. I stopped at Joann's on the way. While I was putting Devan back into the car one of her sandals fell off her feet and into the parking lot. I didn't notice. We drove to my appointment where the only free parking I could find was in a mall parking lot. (Who puts a hospital and a mall right across the street from each other anyway?) I noticed Devan had lost a sandal. I also noticed we had to cross a busy street, find the doctors office in one of many glass buildings that looked exactly alike, make it through my appointment and then make it back to the car. I didn't want to carry her the whole way and I didn't want her walking around barefoot, either. The closest store was a Nordstrom Rack. Like I EVER shop at Nordstrom anything! The sandal that she lost was from a pair I bought at Old Navy for 2 bucks. I quickly ran in and found the cheapest shoe I could find- the Mickey Mouse Crocs. They were $16, which I guess is good for Crocs, but I was still a little bummed about spending so much. Anyway- turns out we both LOVE them! Devan can put them on herself and they stay on, unlike her flip flops. And I really think they are so cute on little kids. I think I'll be sticking with Crocs from now on. Sorry, Stride Rite. I hope you understand.

I learned how to knit. I'm not quite sure how, but I love it. I've still got a lot to learn, but my first knitting project is coming along quite nicely.

I've also been sewing some festive holiday clothes for Devan. Last summer I bought this big flannel pink snowman sheet at a thrift store for 2 bucks. It looked brand new and I figured I'd find something to make with it. Well I found the worlds easiest tutorial for pants and whipped up a pair in no time.
I have SO much fabric left that I think I'll just keep it around to make some pajama pants every year until I run out. Unless anybody else has any great ideas for pink snowmen flannel.


I also made a Christmas skirt for her that she wouldn't touch. Maybe she'll change her mind and I'll be able to at least get a photo of it on her. I suppose I better go clean up my big crafting mess now...wish me luck!

You may remember that a while back I posted about inheriting my grandmothers bedroom set. Well, I have been in the process of sanding/painting it and have finally completely finished one piece. This is what it looked like before (but not a dresser, a nightstand).

And this is what it looks like now:
It will be going in Devan's room. You can see I've started sanding the drawers for the dresser. It's been so ridiculously hot here that I haven't wanted to be outside much lately, otherwise I'd probably have more progress. My Mom also has a desk, hutch and headboard but I don't think I'll be getting around to painting those any time soon.
Even though I'm happy that Devan gets to have a bedroom set that her great grandmother bought, and that almost everyone in my family has used at one time or another, I'm still excited for the day that I can buy whatever furniture I want!
And on the topic of buying stuff, we have made several offers on homes these past couple weeks. We are supposed to hear today or tomorrow on our favorite one so cross your fingers for us!

I have had a problem for a long while now that I need a solution to. We have a king size bed that I love. I love everything about it and cannot believe that we ever slept on a queen. I especially love it since we bought a foam mattress topper. But there is one problem: I cannot, for the life of me, find sheets that fit.
I have bought about 4 different sets of sheets over the past few years and NONE fit. I've bought "extra deep pocket" sheets and "fits up to 17 inch mattress" sheets all to no avail. I've measured my mattress, and it's not 17 inches tall. With our queen bed I could buy any sheets and have room to spare. And my problem has only been exacerbated since buying the mattress topper. Now, every single day when I make the bed I end up pulling and stretching, and pulling and stretching just to get the fitted sheet to fit! It is becoming the bane of my existence!

If anyone has any input, or knows of a particular brand that will actually fit a king sized mattress, please let me know! I would appreciate it more than you know!

I have been waiting for the weather to cool down enough to start making soup. Soup is probably one of my favorite things to cook. A couple years ago I found a great minestrone recipe and haven't abandoned it yet. It's very versatile and oh so delectable. Especially on a cold day/night.


I leave out a few things from this recipe, mainly the wine and spinach. I also used potatoes this time instead of noodles. I cook it in my slow cooker and always have leftovers. And since it's actually stayed cool for more than one day, I have been able to eat those leftovers which is always great. If you love soup, and minestrone, try this one!

Our Halloween was full of fun times for the whole family. Devan, my Mom and I went to the pumpkin patch together. Oddly enough I didn't get any pictures of pumpkins. We did, however, check out the petting zoo and continued our tradition of going down the big slide. Here is Devan clinging to my Mom because she's afraid of the goat.

Dev carving her pumpkin

We went to our friends house to trick or treat. We ate chili, trick or treated and handed out lots of candy. Devan had a blast! I think she might have had more fun handing out candy than actually getting it.

Me and my little chick.

Devan and her friend Blaine getting ready to trick or treat.

When we were walking past a group of kids, one of the mothers said to Devan, "Oh what a cute chicken!" and Devan said "Bock bock!" I was cracking up. She was the cutest chicken ever.

Halloween was great and I already got Devan's costume for next year! Now it's time to get ready for turkey!! I can't wait!

Every year since before I was born my family has had a tradition of buying apples from our favorite apple farm. The apples are absolutely declicious and usually around 50 cents a pound. (Which really makes it hard to buy mediocre apples for $2 or more a pound in the grocery stores the rest of the year!) This weekend we packed up our car and headed north to continue the tradition. We ate lunch at our favorite clam chowder spot, drove through beautiful canyons while enjoying the nice fall weather, bought lots and lots of apples, and of course, took photos!

I'm already looking forward to next year!

Every parent has expectations and ideas of what parenthood is going to be like. For me, most of these were gone long before Devan reached one week old. One of the biggest surprises for me was realizing that Devan was not me, nor John. I used to daydream about having a little girl that was just like me running around, and I very quickly saw that was not the case. There are definitely similarities, but for the most part Devan is a truly unique person.

Yesterday on the way home from the grocery store Devan informed me that she wanted a snack. I told her we were almost home and that I would get her a snack soon. She was not happy about this. She let out a VERY dramatic sigh that sounded like this "Uuuuhhhhh!" That was followed by this statement: "This is Ridiculous!!"

Later that night I was talking to my Mom on the phone and I told her this story. I then said something like "My little drama queen...". Devan overheard this and came running over to me and exclaimed " no, YOU'RE the drama queen!!"

Seriously, where did she come from?

I don't generally believe in bribing children. In fact I'm pretty against it. I believe children need to learn to do things because it's the right thing to do, and not because you get a reward. The reward system is called a token economy and here is a perfect example.

Take your typical "entitlement generation" high school grad. She thinks she should get a new car for graduating high school. Her parents agree. "Congratulations, Daughter!"She thinks, "Awesome".

Take your other typical high school grad, who was raised in an authoritative home (authoritative parenting has been proven to be the most effective type of parenting. Not to be confused with authoritarian). She was not raised in a token economy but thinks she should ask for a car for graduation anyway. Her parents disagree. "If you can't graduate high school, you're a dummy". She thinks, "They're right. But it still sucks".

Can you guess which example was mine? Okay, my parents didn't say that if I couldn't graduate I was a dummy, but they did say something along those lines. My high school graduation present was dinner at Macaroni Grill. And I'm still grateful for it, because I love that place. And I'm grateful that they didn't get me a car. I was a really bad driver back then.

So- back to bribing. I haven't bribed Devan with anything yet. Not when I stopped nursing, not when I took her bottles away, not when I wanted her to sleep in her own bed, etc. And she knows that she has responsibilities around the house, too. She will put her laundry away, throw away her diapers and put her toys away all without being rewarded. She's seemed to respond well to my parenting decisions, except when it comes to one thing: Potty training.

I have been potty training her for well over a month and I still cannot leave the house without a diaper on her. I had tried EVERYTHING. Keeping the toilet in the family room, putting a toilet seat on the big toilet, letting her put stickers on a chart, and giving her lots of salty foods and juice so she'd go more. Nothing seemed to click for her. The other night I was watching Jon and Kate Plus 8 and they were potty training. Kate gave her kids one M&M each time they used their toilets. I suddenly knew what I had to do.

I took Devan to the store with me today and bought a big bag of M&M's. We came home and I repeatedly asked her if she had to go pee. She always says no. She always says no until she pees in her underwear. So today after asking her for about 30 minutes, I decided to try a little bribe. "If you go pee pee, you can have one M&M". She immediately RAN to the toilet and peed. It was pretty amazing, really. She was so happy to pick out one M&M she said she had to pee again, but couldn't. I put the candy in a jar and on a shelf where she can see them and I have a feeling potty training is going to be a bit easier for both of us. And as long as I make sure that one M&M doesn't turn into a car for high school graduation, we'll be okay.

Yesterday I heard the babies heart beat for the first time. And just for the record, I'm predicting a girl. This is how it went.

Me: (after the Doctor found the heart beat) Is that it?
Doctor: It's not yours!
Me: It's fast.
Doctor: Yeah, it's fast.
Me: (thinking to myself) A GIRL!

I'm sure most people know that girls generally have faster hear rates than guys. This is absolutely the case with John and I. My resting heart rate is somewhere between 80 and 90. John's? Between 40-50. As he likes to say "My heart gets the job done with half as much effort as yours". Men also have larger hearts, for the record.

Back to the baby- Everything looks/sounds good. I'm afraid John might be a little disappointed that I think it's a girl. I'm not worried because we'll have more kids and I'm sure a boy will show up sooner or later if not this time.

A couple more reasons I love my doctors office: Every room has it's own private bathroom. And it's own digital scale. That means no more weighing in in front of the whole office staff. Towards the end of my pregnancy with Devan I'd get so embarrassed when I'd step on the platform scale and the nurse would start sliding the weights to the right and I thought she'd never stop! Now I get to be weighed in the privacy of my own room and without hearing those noisy weights sliding around. (Still not an enjoyable experience- either way your consistently gaining weight for 9 months straight!) Although I really can't complain. I realize that being pregnant is a total blessing and am grateful every day that I get to add to our family. I just need the next six months to go as quickly as possible!