Chapped Lips Are Not Good

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I was without chap stick on my flight to Utah. Apparently my lips got really chapped because that night they were bright red like they had be sun burned. I was applying chap stick non-stop. Well, Saturday night a gigantic cold sore grew onto my top lip. I've had plenty of cold sores in my life but I don't think I've ever had one this big. My whole top lip was majorly swollen and covered in blisters. Of course I had to take pictures to document the nastiness.

Day One: There is puss oozing out of the blister. The day I had to meet a bunch of new people at church.

Day 2: We bought Abreva so I was hoping I'd wake up and it would be better but it was worse. I had to fly home this day. I sat in the last row of the plane and I was the last person on so I had to walk past everyone. Embarrassing. 

 This picture shoes how swollen it was.

Day 3: This was the day after taking the prescription my sister-in-law Heather was nice enough to write for me. A little less swollen. 

Day 5: No more swelling, now just a scab.

Day 7: This is today. The scab is almost gone and I can almost smile. I'm starting to feel like I'll never have a normal lip again.

All I can say is I'm never going without chap stick again!

American Mothers, Inc.

Macy and I flew to Utah on April 28th to be with Dorothy and so I could attend the National Mothers Convention. It was a great trip, but almost didn't happen.

We were supposed to fly on April 27th. We get to the airport and no one could find my reservation. Apparently it didn't get booked properly. After talking to the Delta representatives for an hour we came to the conclusion that we would take a flight the next day since it was getting late in the night. I was very hesitant to go because Macy had a runny nose and hadn't been feeling well. It almost came as a relief that I wouldn't have to travel with her. I decided to go to Utah and I was so glad I did. We had a layover on the flight over and it turned out great. Our layover was in Detroit so it was only an hour flight. Macy is pretty good for the first hour of flight so this worked out well. Our  second half of the flight was even better. We sat in front of two little kids, one Macy's age and a four year old girl. They all entertained each other and had a great time. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

The only bad thing was I didn't have any chapstick and my lips got really chapped. I'll explain this more in another post. Oh, and I also forgot Macy's shoes in Virginia. People probably thought I was a terrible mom for letting my daughter walk around the dirty airport and airplane without shoes. My friend Chelsey was nice enough to go and buy us some shoes so Macy could walk in Utah.

As soon as we got to Utah we met up with Chelsey and her son Truman. Here the kiddies are sitting at the Gateway like old buddies. Getting both of them to look at the camera was just too much to ask. They are still cute though!

That night we drove up to "This is the place" Heritage Park for dinner. Macy and I missed out on the festivities because she was having so much fun walking around the front lawn. Unfortunately within the first few minutes of being there Macy tripped and scraped her forehead pretty good. She got over the pain in about 30 seconds.


Now the rest of the weekend was mostly spent Macy free. Since Dorothy used to live in Utah she knew some people to ask to babysit Macy so I could attend the conference. The babysitter, Hannah, came to the hotel (The Little America) and watched Macy in the morning, fed her lunch, put her down for a nap, took her to her house in Salt Lake, fed her dinner, and put her to bed. For two days in a row! It was so nice! Macy did great and slept like a champ. Hannah enjoyed Macy and said she missed her after she left.

I loved being at American Mother's convention and listening to all the great talks about being a mother and motherhood. Everyone is a mother there so we all know what it's like. It was also fun because any time I did have Macy they all loved her and thought she was so cute. It's refreshing to be with such a large group of women that all believe in the importance of being a mother and spending time with your children. So many people I talk so ask what I do and when I tell them I stay at home with Macy they say,  "Oh." And that's the end of the conversation. My life may seem boring so them, but it's rewarding and harder than going to work!

Elaine Dalton, the General Young Women's President, was there because her daughter was the Utah Mother of the Year. I was able to get a picture with this "celebrity."

Chelsey was able to come on Saturday for the lunch and two workshops. John Bytheway spoke during lunch and was so funny! He is great with his love of The Andy Griffith Show and his Barney impersonation.

Matt Townsend spoke during a workshop. He is a "relationship and communication expert." All I know was that he was hilarious! Everyone in the room was laughing hysterically and crying. He had great stories, and I think we learned something too.

The next workshop we went to was Hilary Weeks. She is an LDS singer and sang some of her songs for us. She also explained how she came to wrote them. Her song "If I Only Had Today" had everyone in the room crying. It was really sweet and made me thing of Macy. Chelsey, Dorothy, and I got pictures with Hilary.

Sunday morning we were able to attend Music and The Spoken Word in the Tabernacle. I was able to sit in the fifth row and Dorothy took Macy in the observation room in the back of the Tabernacle. Dorothy said she was amazed at how still Macy was sitting when she realized she was asleep! Macy never would have fallen asleep for me! Granny Dot has the magic touch. Macy then slept through the whole broadcast so there was no interruptions by her :)

Walking around Temple Square

Sunday afternoon we went to church at Dorothy's old ward in Holladay. It was a little embarrassing because of my before mentioned lip problem, but it was fun to meet people. Macy and I were really tired and since I would have spent the next two hours in the halls we decided to take a nap in the car. It was the best.

We spent the rest of Sunday taking our time, eating dinner, and visiting.

We flew out Monday morning. This time we had a non-stop back to Virginia but it was only 3 hours 23 minutes. Much more doable than the 5 hour plan ride to California. Macy did pretty well and we made some friends who even moved their seats so they could sit by us (despite the scariness of my lip). Macy had only minimal crying. We had a great flight and a great weekend!

Look What's Cooking Today

It's been awhile since I've posted about a blog my friends and I started with recipes we've tried that we love. You should check it out if you're in a rut. It's called "Look What's Cooking Today."

Here are a few of the latest recipes I've posted lately:

• Baked Potato Wedges
• English Muffins
• Chicken Cornbread Bake

lookwhatscookingtoday.blogspot.com

Count Your Blessings

Yesterday was such a perfect day! As I was reminiscing about it the hymn "Count Your Blessings" came into my mind. I'm going to count them so I can see what God hath done. It was one of those days when you think to yourself, "I love living here. It's so great." We also kept waiting for something bad to happen, but thank goodness it didn't.

1. We went to an egg hunt at Holly and Greg's. Macy had a great time and knew exactly what to do when she saw those eggs.  It's a good thing her little basket only holds about 5 eggs because she would have picked all the eggs within her reach. She was pretty easily distracted though when she realized the eggs had candy in them.

2. Jonathan helped me clean the house by scrubbing the bathrooms and spent a lot of time scrubbing the shower. I hate cleaning bathrooms so this was a huge help.

3. Macy took a 3 hour nap. We aren't sure if she slept that whole time but at least she was in her crib for 3 hours. I was able to get so much done!

4. The weather was absolutely perfect so we decided to go on a family bike ride. Jonathan pulled Macy in the trailer this time and Macy loved it. She was talking and having a great time. We realized she doesn't like being strapped in completely, so we did the strap across her lap and she was so happy. She didn't try to climb out either which was nice.

5. Jonathan took Macy out to the tot lot outside our building while I made dinner. Cooking dinner is actually enjoyable when you don't have a toddler screaming and pulling on your leg. They had such a great time. Macy just started going down the slide by herself. Here's a video of it.

6. We went to Heather and Trevor's to retrieve a lost sippy cup (and we got yummy dessert too) and when Addie saw Macy's pajama's she had to put her matching pajama's on. They then played ring around the rosy. So cute!

7. Macy when right to sleep at night without any fight. She does this most nights but it's always nice.

8. And today she slept until 9 a.m.! We are so lucky!

9. She looks so cute in her Easter dress Grandma Seymour gave her. 

I Love OxiClean!

I pulled out a brand new shirt (as in I've never worn it) from the dryer and there were weird blue marks all over it! It looked like it could be ink, but nothing else in that load had any marks. I decided to soak the shirt in an OxiClean solution for a few hours to hopefully save my shirt. Since it was already ruined it couldn't get any worse. Mind you, it had already been through the dryer, but the stains came out! I'm so excited! I now have a solution to all my stained clothes. And Macy's too. I wish I figured this out about OxiClean in the beginning of her life. 

I've put some in the wash and nothing happened, but it really works when you soak the clothes. It's a great buy.

My First Weekend Away

I was lucky enough to fly to California without Macy for a weekend. Boy, is traveling without a child so different! I forgot how relaxing life can be.

The happy couple

The purpose of my trip was to witness the sealing of my Grandpa and Grandma Seymour in the Los Angeles Temple. I would have flown around the world to see that if I had to. It was amazing to witness and to see all the friends and family members who were there to support my grandparents. It was also very amazing to see my dad get sealed to his parents. I've never live families be sealed before and to have my first one be my grandparents and dad was pretty special. When I was a child and I learned that I wouldn't be able to live with Grandpa and Grandma forever because I wasn't sealed to them I was really sad. I loved my grandparents and always wanted to be with them. I'm so happy they are now sealed to me forever. My parents, my siblings, and my children are also sealed to them too. Isn't that wonderful?

I actually got to be part of the sealings because I was the proxy for my Aunt Karen who has passed away. Now not only had I seen a live sealing, I got to be part of one too. It was an amazing experience. I don't know how else to describe it. There was not a dry eye in that sealing room. I was so happy that I could help my Aunt Karen be sealed to her parents for eternity.

On the way to the temple that day I had prayed to myself asking Heavenly Father to show me that Aunt Karen would be there at the sealing and I would know of her joy. As I was sitting in the sealing room waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to come in I felt this overwhelming warmth. It was definitely a burning in my bosom. I have never felt the Spirit so strongly as I had in that room. I knew instantly that Aunt Karen was telling me she was watching from above and that she was so happy to be sealed to her parents. I cried because I knew I had received an answer to my prayer and that Aunt Karen was there.

Another special part of the day was my cousin Bryce went through the temple for the first time because he is going on a mission to Alabama. Him and his brother Evan got to be witnesses while their mom was being sealed to Grandma and Grandpa.

That night Uncle Eric (Karen's husband) hosted a party at his house for Grandma and Grandpa so their friends could celebrate with them on this joyous day.

It was such an spiritually uplifting experience and I was so glad I could be there. I would not have missed it!

More Cherry Blossoms

I forgot to blog about my trip downtown with Macy to see the Cherry Blossoms. We went April 4th on the most beautiful day. It was warm, sunny, slight breeze with a few clouds. I couldn't have asked for anything better. We took the metro because it would have been impossible to find parking downtown.

Here are some of my favorite pictures. It's almost impossible to get a picture of Macy that is in focus and a good shot of her since she is always moving. We had a great time!

Picking up sticks of course.

More bars in more places

She's a happy girl.

Trying to reach the branches

Her "Wooo" face.

She saw another kid climbing in the tree so naturally se wanted to.

She could have spent the whole day walking under these chains.

Best Purchase of the Year

I've been waiting almost 4 years: I finally got a bike! It's blue, and it has pedals and gears. That's about all I know about it. But I love it! I had purchased a bike trailer for Macy at the consignment sale so I figured I needed a bike to pull her. We already went on a ride this afternoon and Macy liked it until the end when she was getting cold. I'm so excited we can become a biking family now!

Best Kept Secret in D.C.

Kenwood Neighborhood in Bethesda. The whole neighborhood is lined with pink cherry blossom trees. It's amazing and beautiful. It looked like it was snowing pink. The trees cover the streets and provide a pretty pink canopy. Now these pictures are terrible because I didn't get out of the car but I think it gives a good idea. Thanks Janae for sharing!

Macy's March

I realized I wasn't very good about posting anything during the month of March. Here are some photo updates for those people who want to read a post full my crazy little bundle of joy. 

Jonathan received a "music" card for his birthday. Macy enjoyed it so much we listened to it non-stop the next day.

Macy loves to accessorize. She picked these out herself if you can't tell. Its her one pink glove (we lost the other) and a belt from one of my jackets. She had it on like a scarf.

Apparently it was "Don't Brush Your Hair Day."

Lily came over and Macy insisted that she sit on Lily's lap.

Then Macy wanted Lily to sit on her lap. It looks like Lily didn't mind the attention. Aren't they cute?

Macy also loves bags and carrying things. Here she can do both and she's in heaven.

More accessorizing. She loves scarves.

Beets, Beets, Beets

I made beets for the first time and I really like them now. I'm not sure if I like all beets, but I like these that I made. Not only do they taste good but they have a beautiful color and they make everything turn that color. I visited a new market (GW Market for you locals) and their produce prices were so cheap I thought I'd try making something new and if I didn't like it oh well.

I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com. It's called Grandma's Harvard Beets. I liked them the night I made them but I think I like them even more the next day when they have chilled in the fridge.

The recipe says to use canned beets but I had fresh I had to roast them first. I removed the greens and wrapped each beet in foil. I then roasted them at 375 for 45 mins.