We went to Iowa!

Oh Iowa, how great and marvelous you are with all of your trees and grass, and with all of that wide open expanse I can only describe as heavenly.



Oh, hey, you're here.



I went to Iowa this last weekend. It was ah-may-zing.

We got there Thursday night around 8:30 and the partying didn't stop until we left Sunday evening!

But first, lets talk about how much I hate the Denver airport.

That's right, I'm talking to you.

I really REALLY hate being there. Though I suppose my hatred is based on little experience there - maybe if I went there more often I would like it. ...meh, probably not.

The first time I was there we were coming back from grand 'ole state of Canada and our flight got cancelled (oh joy), so they kindly put us up in a "hotel" (I beg to question the brothel-like-state the place was in). This was the dirtiest place I've EVER slept. But lets start with the lobby. It was actually quite nice. When we got to the elevator I noticed the broken mirrors were being held together/in place with duct tape (keeping it classy of course). When we got to the floor our rooms were on I then noticed (besides the obviously filthy floor) the sockets had no covers (okay, maybe they were replacing them? Or doing some electrical work? Something??). Our room was relatively nice compared to the others (I mean, our room only had FUNNY HAIRS on everything - we're talking the funny kind of hairs people, though not so funny when they're in your bed). But hey, we were lucky, our friends stayed in a room with blood on the sink. 

This time when we were there, it was far less eventful but I blame everything on Denver (unfair? Yes, but I'm pretty sure the Denver Airport is ripe with portals to the Nether [my Minecraft reference for the day]). Anyway, Saoirse had a scab on her foot that got rubbed off and we didn't notice until her foot and shoe were SATURATED with blood. (yay). Then we had a two hour delay added to the 3 1/2 hour layover. (yipee). Our way back was much more kind to us with only a two hour layover and an annoying 7 or 8-year-old whiny kid who seemed extremely manipulative based on the 20 minutes we listened and watched him whine to his mom.

Anyway, lets get back to how amazing Iowa is. I got to see lots of my family which was the best thing ever!!! We had a lot of down time so I got to catch up and hang out. Saturday we went to be part of my cousin's wedding. I was a bridesmaid, and made my own jacket to cover my shoulders (HOLLA). I don't have pictures of the wedding (since I was in it) so I'm going to wait to post pictures until I can steal them from my cousin's Facebook. In the meantime, enjoy some of this.

Vinnie thought it was funny to talk on the "phone" (or the baby monitor).

Of course I ate Taco John's, OooooOooooOhh, such salty goodness..

Saoirse loved climbing up and down the stairs.

I wanted Vinnie to smile, but asking him to smile wasn't working, so I asked him to show me his teeth - this was what I got. Good enough I guess.

Then I taught him a monster face.

They were best friends!! Vinnie liked to show Saoirse affection but it usually ended up with him laying on top of her while she was folded in half..

I just thought this was adorable.

Then Scarlet came over! I didn't want anyone to tell her we were there so we could all surprise her. I think she was very happy about her surprise!

So, we only had one car to get everyone to the wedding. Joseph and Jherek were getting cozy in the trunk space.

I love these girls!

So this is like, the only picture I got at the wedding. I felt like I should post SOMETHING from the wedding. I mean, it was the whole reason we even went to Iowa.

After the reception we all went back to our rooms and hung out for a little while. Saoirse was being so cute - whenever she gets really tired she closes her eyes tightly and sits there. 

Breakfast the next morning was delicious! Joseph had a million waffles and we got to spend a little more time with Aunts, Uncles, and cousins before we all left!

Saoirse really loves her grandma!

Then we watched the kiddies go swimming.

Saoirse really wanted to go in too. 

She loved it!!

They got out and Saoirse diaper was enormous. 

Her and daddy stood in the shower for about 10 minutes. I guess it felt good.

Later that day my dad and step-mom came over, it was so good to see them. :D

Then Vinnie decided to paint his arm, head, and table. 

We visited with the Gelders for a little while too, but I forgot to get pictures with them... :/

All in all, it was a very fun and successful trip! I can't wait to go back for Thanksgiving and see all of these wonderful people again! 

Okay, I'm getting tired of writing and I'm hungry. I also can't make eye contact with Saoirse without her crying. 

Her booby trap.

I know this is nothing new to anyone ever. But I HATE stepping on pointy/hard/wobbly/unforgiving things on the floor. Because of this hatred, I rarely do ever step on anything that cause me pain because I'm always looking at the floor.

Until tonight,

While I'm cooking, Saoirse likes to go through all of the drawers pulling out everything in them and placing them on the floor in such a way that I might kill myself trying to get anywhere in the kitchen. She especially likes the potato masher.

you know,

one of these.

As I was walking through the living room minding my own business my toes somehow get tangled in the wiggly bits of the masher while the tender arch of my foot is supporting all of my weight on the centimeter wide edge part. 

I only mention this because I almost died and it still hurts 2 hours later.

On the plus side I'll be uploading pictures soon of 3 more bag books and the cutest video of Saoirse laughing you'll ever see. Ever.

By the bye, I'm really getting into the Dick Van Dyke Show. I think it's safe to say that I LOVE IT. It's hilarious and CLEAN! I mean, the parents sleep in separate beds. You can't get much more 'pure' than that. 

I should have lived in the 60's.

I made something!

I try to be one of those crafty moms.

It seems like half of the time I'm more excited about the finished product than Saoirse is.

But today, I feel like I've got something she'll love - or at least will be handy in an airplane...


I made this!

It's a Saoirse number book! I fell in love with this idea because the Ziplock bags will keep off any drool/food/water/milk/poop(hahajkbutreally). Not only that but you can use one book of bags and replace the paper inside - that somehow seems like too much work to me so I'm just making several bag books.. which is in fact more work than just switching paper out in reality. 

I just printed out the numbers 0-9 (I believe I googled "printable colored numbers" in case you're interested) and cut along the dotted lines they lovingly provided for me then taped those to bigger pieces of paper that would fit nicely inside the bags. I also had the genius idea to put metallic flowers in there too so you can count along!! Could I have just drawn all of this? Yes, of course, but I really don't want to make Saoirse's education/entertainment rely on my ability of draw.

And then I remembered that I only printed out the numbers 0-9. ZERO through NINE people. Who the heck teaches their kid to count only to 9???? Instead of wasting paper for a stinking 10 I just drew one.. I also had to draw in half of the flowers since a 10 wasn't in my original plans for some reason.

Looks pretty good if I do say so myself.

Then for the fabric binding I got creative and did a fun little pattern with the sewing machine. 

It would have been awesome had I thought to use a different color of thread than the fabric... seems like that's how all of my projects go. 

Hopefully the little miss likes it. I'm not planning on giving it to her until we're on the plane. So that way it's new and exciting.

I'm going to make two or three more of these that will be a "body book" with pictures of different parts of her body (eye, nose, etc.) and a "faces book" with a bunch of pictures of some people in our family and herself (since she's her own favorite topic at the moment) and eventually I'll make an alphabet book. We'll see how I feel after making the other two. 

UPDATE!

I decided to see if Saoirse likes the book so I gave it to her for a few minutes and she LOVES LOVES LOVES LOVES LOVES it. I mean, I took it away a couple of times and she cried. Real tears people. This project is definitely a win!!

You can judge me.

Seriously.



Why would you judge me do you ask?


Because I bought this for Saoirse.

That's right. I bought her a leash. Actually I prefer to call it a "safety harness." But let me defend myself before you go all "child degradation" on me. First, this is not degrading - it's a fun monkey backpack! Second, anyone who really does have a problem with these things I cordially invite you to take my daughter in public and force her to sit in her stroller. Even better, why don't you try carrying her for a few hours? If your arms aren't tired from carrying 25 lbs, maybe they'll get that workout you've been dying for if that 25 lbs is screaming in your face and struggling for freedom.

I feel like I'm doing the world a service. I'm sure nobody wants to hear my child cry-screaming, and I don't want her wandering off by herself. Win-win right?

Really.

We're going to Iowa soon-ish and I desperately needed something to assure her protection from crazy strangers and from her own curiosity while we're at the airport(s). 

I've heard of some people having serious problems with these things. I'll admit that I didn't think they were necessary when I was younger. But that was before I had a kid and realized the genius behind these things. Your child can walk and be safe while in public! Everyone is happy.

On another note, I made this last night for dinner.

Yummy.

It's a black bean salad/dip. You can eat it by itself but I highly recommend dipping some chips in there. Have I had onion breath for 24 hours? Why yes I have. And it's been amazing, thanks for asking.

Black Bean Salad

Serves 4

Two 16-ounce cans black beans drained and rinsed well (to avoid turning your salad grey)
1 very large tomato, diced (I used three)
1 16-ounce can corn (I used 3 corn cobs)
1/2 Vidalia onion, diced (the smaller pieces the better unless you really like raw onion)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained, rinsed and diced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, juice and zest
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar or more to taste

1. Add beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, and water chestnuts to a bowl (glass looks pretty) and mix.
2. Add cilantro, lime and balsamic vinegar and mix again. Serve alone, with cucumber open-faced sandwiches or chips for a perfect meal!

Her sensory box!

I decided today that I wanted to make Saoirse a sensory box that she could love and play with and love forever. GREAT IDEA!!

I started by poking holes in the side of a box.

Then I threaded some extra stripped fabric I had from previous blanket projects.

And I taped down the little bits on the outside so they could be pulled on pretty hard from the inside.

Inside.

Then I cut up some foam I had and glued it to the inside.

 Lastly, I cut little windows for her to look through.


I didn't get any pictures of her playing with the finished product because the box is TOO SMALL for her to play in! I blame it on her very large head (thanks daddy).

Oh well. It was a good try right?



On the plus side she really enjoyed the newspaper I shred up for her while she was waiting for her sensory box...

Must keep this in mind for a quick distraction.

On a side note, we had a pretty decent storm here last night. There was rain, wind, thunder, and lightening! In fact, the lightening struck the side of Y Mountain and started a tree or bush on fire. If you're 'in the know' you might understand how scary that actually is. The drought has made the already dry state of Utah pretty dang crispy and there have already been multiple wildfires that have consumed thousands of acres of land and a few houses.

Here's a blurry picture taken out of our kitchen window.

A little smudge of white smoke in the middle.

Watching the fire/watching the rain.

They got the fire out within about an hour but I guess it started back up again this morning? EMBERS people! They got that one out too. I hope they stomped and soaked the embers this time. Seriously.

My bready adventures

After being vegan for a while I feel like I'm slowly able to better appreciate healthier food choices. Right now I'm focusing on getting rid of preservatives and chemicals and things. Basically get it as natural as possible. For the most part we've been able to replace or cut out things that contain unpronounceable white powders and "natural flavors" (castoreum?). But a HUGE weakness of ours is bread. If you've never looked at the ingredients list on your weekly bread loaf you buy from the store lets just say that the list is so long and huge that the font is almost too small to even read. To remedie this problem I decided I was going to start making my own bread.

It was an AMAZING SUCCESS. I'm pretty sure I could eat this stuff all the live long day. This picture was taken of the two loaves just before I put them in the oven. They are probably about an inch or two taller now. 

Unfortunately I don't have any after pictures... someone whose name rhymes with "Meer-shah" might have been a little impatient bumble bee to eat some.


Oh! I almost forgot to mention that this is VEGAN. My favorite part! Whole-wheat honey bread is my new best friend.

So you know when you go to the store and you see those amazingly cute baby/toddler things that you just HAVE to have? Yeah, so I bought this itty bitty tiny tooth brush (I mean, she'll need one eventually anyway), because it was dang cute. I've heard that you should start brushing their teeth as soon as they get them anyway. So after 4 teeth it's probably time to get a tooth brush. 

The blur really emphasizes how well this went I think.

Once I sort of brushed her teeth I gave her the tooth brush.

I wanted at least one good shot of her with the dang thing in her mouth. I think she's still a little confused by the whole process.

That "good idea" lasted about 2 minutes before she remembered the recently used bathtub was there. She has this thing where she needs to rub everything she can hold on the inside of the tub - which is really gross to me. 

I mean, naked bodies go in there.