We have a winner!

Okay, so round one is officially over and the big winner is...my MOM! To that she would say, "why do I gotta be big?" It's a family joke. It goes something like, say someone says, "you're a big mean jerk" then the other person would say, "why do I gotta be big?" Like that's the real insult. I think I'm going to get a little more creative with the questions to even the playing field. Maybe some U.S. History or Saved by the Bell trivia questions. Hmmm...we'll see. But while I figure out how round two will go, here are the answers to round one!







1. What were the 4 wild card middle names that eventually lost out to the winner, Hunter? [Cougar, Rocket, Wolfgang Zeppelin]
2. What animal does Emily collect? [elephant]
3. If my Mom didn't have veto power, what would my Dad have named me? [Cheyenne]

1. What yoga pose did Reid do today, as demonstrated by the lady at the left? [cobra pose]
2. What was Erik's major at BYU? [Linguistics]
3. What field day event was Emily terrified of as a kindergartner? [The Chariots of Fire, every year at field day the fastest kid from each class was chosen to run in "The Chariots of Fire", just a fancy name for "the big race." I was a pretty fast runner as a kid and my teacher asked me if I would like to run it for our class. As soon as she said it my overactive imagination pictured fire pits that I had hurdle over. As I politely said, "no, thank you" I was actually thinking, "I'm not crazy! I'm not jumping over fire!"]

1. What was Erik's funny costume for Halloween 2003? (I'll post the picture when this round is over and I reveal all the answers.) [that's right, that's the picture. Elana knew this one. I think my mom remembered it too. Erik and I were getting to know each other better then, hanging out more, and one night Erik came over to show me the costume he had rented...this was it. I thought, "what kind of a dude rents a huge bird costume?" My Erik, that's who. I love him for it. And no, Annie, he would never, EVER dress up in one of those ugly pimp costumes, nor would I date and then end up marrying a boy who would.]
2. Name any three of Emily's many, many majors. [any majors in the areas of education or art were counted as correct, although there were some wildcard majors too. I think my next major will be creative writing. That sounds fun.]
3. This one is for fun. Knowing Reid's perfect blend of Erik's mellow and amiable-ness, and Emily's feisty and playful-ness, what do you think Reid will be when he grows up? [I liked the answers to this one, at this point my guess is a sumo wrestler because of his adorable belly, but once those Olsen genes kick in he'll lose that...so I don't really know.]

1. What is the color of Reid's eyes? [the eye color is still a little undecided, but I counted any answers that were not brown because that's the only real way I can describe his eyes..."not brown]
2. What is your favorite reality TV show? [I liked hearing the answers to that one, I have ones that I like and ones that I would want to be on. I think Erik and I would rule "Amazing Race", except for the eating crazy stuff part. I can't even eat seafood.]
3. How many dates did Erik and I go on before I knew I wanted to marry him? [It was our second date. We were at City Grill in Tucson and he was across the table from me telling me about his job. I thought it was the most exciting thing I had ever heard. I kept thinking, "holy crap, this guy is has a degree, a job, AND he's fun?!" It was a great date, and I was hooked.]

1. What is Reid's special gift? a. squealing, b. farting, or c. spitting [all of the above]
2. What is Erik's special gift? a. impersonations, b. mastery of all things engine-powered, or c. possessing the longest fuse (as in the opposite of a figurative short fuse) of all time [all of the above]
3. What is Emily's special gift? a. daydreaming about anything and everything, b. managing to be accepted into university after university even though she has a less than stellar academic history, or c. loving her two boys more than any other two boys have ever been loved [all of the above]
Okay, so those were trick questions. If I had listed "all of the above" as an option then you wouldn't have to think very hard. But all of the above answers are correct. And Reid is perfecting all three of his special baby gifts. Speaking of Reid...here's some recent adorableness.

Just about kills you, doesn't it? This is another one from the 6 month portraits with Kim. Seriously, if you live in the Fairbanks area, you NEED to have her take your family portraits.

I try to get pictures of Reid and I together to send Erik, but it's a little tricky. Here's one solution. Reid is wrapped up in the baby wrap and then zipped up in my coat. He loves it. When it's not TOO cold (meaning, when it's warmer than 10 degrees F) I take Reid out for a little walk all wrapped up with me.

Here are some pictures of mealtime fun. Reid is a BIG fan of baby food. He still nurses 4 times a day, but despite that he eats a LOT of baby food. This is prunes and rice cereal that looked pretty dark on his face, so I made it into a Nacho Libre mustache.

His hair is getting so long. After I give him a bath and I towel dry his hair it all sticks up and he looks like Albert Einstein. On this day I gave him "the David Beckham."

Pretty sweet, right?

Reid's even got the model pose down.

These next few are just because he's so cute.

This picture was to illustrate to Erik just how much baby food Reid eats in a day. He eats baby food 3 times a day, and each time I mix in rice cereal, AND he still nurses...but he still manages to eat this much each day. He's a machine.

This is in Edmond, OK. My family gathered here for Thanksgiving and one day we went to a great little restaurant. Reid had his eye on the dessert plate on the table and William had the job of intercepting Reid's quick grabs.

Reid is just as sweet as ever, looking more like Erik every day. I can't wait to share him with the Olsens at Christmastime!

6 month portraits

Okay, so seriously...is this the cutest baby ever or what? I know it's not just me that thinks so. Look at that face, I mean...he's an angel. Actually he is. Heavenly Father gave me him as my little angel for when Erik was gone. And the best part is that I get to keep him even when Erik comes home! Our friend Kim from the ward is a great photographer and she came over on Thursday to take some 6-month portraits of Reid. I'm so excited to see how the rest of them turned out. Check out her blog, she's good.

So, we're in the final inning of round one of my silly little game. I hope you are having fun with it, because I'm keeping it up even if you aren't. And, for fairness' sake, I'm going to make the questions a little more general. This round was a sweep. My mom pretty much smoked all of you. The next post will have all of the answers, some of which will be quite funny. Stay tuned.

1. What is Reid's special gift? a. squealing, b. farting, or c. spitting

2. What is Erik's special gift? a. impersonations, b. mastery of all things engine-powered, or c. possessing the longest fuse (as in the opposite of a figurative short fuse) of all time

3. What is Emily's special gift? a. daydreaming about anything and everything, b. managing to be accepted into university after university even though she has a less than stellar academic history, or c. loving her two boys more than any other two boys have ever been loved

Too bad

Lucky for Reid, I only just saw this amazing costume on etsy. It's an amazing site if you haven't checked it out yet. Too bad I didn't see it before Halloween or else Reid would have been a little shrimp and I could have been a fisherman. It would have been very easy to round up some gaiters and other fishing paraphernalia around these parts. And I think I probably could have figured out how to replicate this costume, as long as I didn't start sewing only 3 hours before the party started. Reid was very specific about not wanting to be any sort of bug, but he didn't mention crustaceans, so I think it would have been okay. Oh well, I'll embarrass our next baby with the shrimp costume.

p.s. Obviously, I am the worst blogger ever. I mean, Annie knows how to put youtube videos on her blog, the Crandells have music and a slide show, and I only just learned how to do a hyperlink. But I am so glad you stop by to read this very neglected blog nonetheless.

Oops, I forgot

Okay, we are in the 4th inning of Round One. Here are your questions:
1. What is the color of Reid's eyes?
2. What is your favorite reality TV show?
3. How many dates did Erik and I go on before I knew I wanted to marry him?

Yoda ate the baby

Reid and I had a lot of discussions about what this year's Halloween costume would be. It was a hard decision. I mean, this is his one chance to be something funny that requires a very small size. Yoda was the very clear choice. Sadly, I didn't start sewing the costume until 4 in the afternoon...and the Ward Party was at 7. About halfway through I started thinking, "hmmm...this is looking awfully big. I cut out the right size for his weight (which is over 19 lbs. by the way, and yesterday he turned 6 mos.) but it just seems so big." Meanwhile I'm furiously sewing with pauses to feed, change and play with the baby. Bottom line, this costume could fit a 5 year old. It looked like Yoda swallowed Reid whole.

I had to roll the sleeves up a few times to try and excavate some little hands buried in the fleece costume.

However, thanks to my mother for mailing up my Princess Leia costume, I think we pulled it off. It's easy to be a hit with a cute baby and buns on the sides of your head. Words to live by.

Reid Extravaganza

I started out not quite intending to post a bazillion pictures of Reid, but he's just so painfully cute that I couldn't stop. So, this is the short list. And believe me, there's plenty more where these came from. This picture shows how Reid has mastered "the rollover." He does full rolls on either side. This gets tricky because I put him somewhere and in a matter of minutes he's rolled up against something and he gets stuck. It's interesting because I know he has the technology to roll back the other way, but he's intent on going one direction and gets frustrated when something like a wall slows him down. I can't really blame him there. My mind thinks in the same irrational manner. I want what I want, and that's all there is to it. So I get it, if Reid is intent on going right, he's going to go right. Even if it means he goes right into a wall. Then he howls and I rescue him, so it all ends up okay. Check out his cute outfit, it says, "Let it snow!" This was chosen to photodocument our first sighting of snow. This morning there was snow on the rooftops. Just a little, mind you, but I'm not fooled. A little soon becomes a lot, and a lot soon becomes never ending. I know, I know, Salt Lake got snow over the weekend. But I'm not about to hear any whining because we're looking down the barrel of a solid six months of snow. Can you say that, Utah? I didn't' think so. Another shampoo shark shot. He loves bathtime. It just adds to my daily daydreaming of Hawaii as our next assignment. I can just picture the three of us playing on the beach, Reid as our little beach baby. He can be like the cute baby on the sunscreen bottle (minus the pigtails, and the sun damage. But not minus the dog, I think we should get a dog wherever we go next.)

Reid falls asleep in the craziest positions. Many times he's holding his hands together, like he's praying. So cute. But today his little footsies were trying to escape.

On another day I found him up from his nap and playing. This shot is funny. I think he can see me out of the corner of his eye, and he's paused like, "what?"

"Oh, hi mom. Did you want to play?"

Here's the little man. Doesn't he look like he's about to start kindergarten or something? I should get him a little backpack. He looks so much like Erik. I had Sunday dinner over at the home of a new family in the ward. They moved in after Erik left, so they haven't met him yet. As I was holding Reid and the wife says, "So Reid looks a lot like Erik, then?" Exactly. Reid looks so much like Erik, and not hardly at all like me. He's a smart boy, that Reid.

That's right, he's on to solid foods. It's going pretty well, except for the fact that the days of his inoffensive, innocent poop...are gone. Over. A thing of the past. Never to be seen again. Finito. So long. Done for. I mean, I don't mean to dwell on it (well, maybe a little) but I didn't see too much of a change with the rice cereal, but on Saturday I gave him bananas. Sunday's first diaper was like WHAMMO! Welcome to the real world! Sheesh.

I try to send Erik a shot of the two of us every now and then. But they usually turn out like this. This one is a happy accident, though. Regardless of the fact that it's completely blurry, it captures something that Reid does all the time, so I'm glad to have it in a picture. When I'm holding him and he catches our reflection in a mirror, or someone says hello to him, or for no reason at all - he turns into me and buries in my neck. It's really cute. It's him being playful and bashful at the same time. He kisses my neck and nuzzles into me. Heaven.

These next few shots are from a fun day when Reid and I were playing. He was in his swing and we were just chatting like two old friends. We had such a good time. Check out those rosy cheeks.

Reid loves this little elephant toy. When he falls asleep with a toy nearby, he's always holding on to it still. I promise, this wasn't staged. I got him out of the car, put the carseat in its parking spot in the living room, and he was still reaching up, holding onto his toy.

Just because he's cute, and because he looks like he's a 50's high school athlete.

Another cute shot of funny sleep poses.

Check out those hands.

And finally, the Bumbo. A rad little chair that helps him to sit up. His head/neck is really strong, but his hips wobble about still, so he can't sit up on his own. He loves hanging out in this thing and being part of the action.

And he loves the toy that I hook to the tray. It's very predictable: I put him in, put on the tray, suction on the toy...in the mouth it goes.

So that's what's going on around here. Erik is doing well. Hanging in there. He's pretty much amazing. Completely amazing. I know how sappy it is to say it, but I really feel like it's an honor to do what I can to support him in his efforts. He's a good man. So, the big debate around here is: what are we going to be for Halloween? I thought I had the perfect plan. I was going to be this (3858) and Reid was going to be Senor Baby, to match. He was going to have a little "Three Amigos" outfit with a ruffled shirt and everything. And a tiny mustache and a black hat with black pom-poms around the brim. But then I realized that up here no one is going to know what a Mariachi girl is, so I'll show up at the church for the party as "Girl in the big, strange dress." That's not that funny. So, then I found this (3637) at JoAnns. That's right, I'm going to be Marie Antoinette. Now I'll be "Girl in the big, strange dress and white wig." That's a little better. William had the hilarious idea of Reid being a little French boy. You know, give him rosy cheeks, a beauty spot, a white wig, and a little suit with knickers for pants. Underneath he'd have tights and then little buckled loafers. So cute. But, I talked with Reid about it and he doesn't really want to be Senor Baby or Monsieur Baby. He wants to be Ninja Baby. And I can't say I blame him. Ninjas are pretty sweet. I think he knows how to use the computer already, the must be teaching him that in kindergarten. I think he got on to youtube to watch this. Now, imagine if that cute baby had a costume on. Funny, right? So, as of now, Reid wants to be Ninja Baby. He may change his mind though, which I understand, I do it all the time. Plus, it's his first Halloween, so I think he's a little overwhelmed. Seriously, there's so much fun to be had, it's hard to decide. Very early on, in no uncertain terms, he informed me that he would not participate in any Halloween festivities that included him dressing up as any of the following: a pumpkin, a pea pod, or a bug of any sort.

It's all really silly anyway, because people here aren't really party people. Reid and I are going to show up at the ward party dressed to the nines, while most of the other kids will be wearing a t-shirt that has a jack-o-lantern on it or something. And the adults don't dress up at all. But I decided that Halloween is a time for silliness, so I'm going to give it all I've got. And I love that Erik is right there with me. Or, maybe he's a few steps ahead. The first Halloween I knew him, I had a party at my parents house for the Institute ward. I was Jessie from Toy Story 2. Crazy cute costume by the way, made my my mother. I remember Erik and Mark showing up, and Erik was wearing a vintage brown leather jacket. I couldn't tell if that was his costume or not. I hope not because as a costume it's pretty lame. But just to wear it...sweet. We hardly knew each other at that point. By the next year, we had become better friends and one night he came over to my house to show me the costume he rented. That's right, he rented a costume. I loved it. What kind of a guy rents a costume? My kind of guy. I'll find the picture of it. It'll blow your mind. That year I was "gum under a shoe." Years ago my dad found a pair of size 19 sneakers at a sports store. He bought them because the were so darn funny. I'll always love him for that, it shows a very keen sense of humor. He let me drill holes into the bottom of one of the shoes, and then tie the shoe onto a bike helmet that I had spray painted bubblegum pink. I dyed a shirt pink, and my mom and I made pink pants to match. It was a fun costume. What I remember most about that costume is that I had to fish out these sneakers from the back of a closet. I jokingly put on one of the shoes and felt something with my foot. I screamed and pulled my foot out quickly. As I frantically dumped over the shoe, a FROG fell out. A gross, dried out, dead frog. Isn't that so sick? What a sad death for that frog, to die in a giant sneaker. But, I wonder, what is a frog doing in the back of that closet? So strange. Gives me the willies just thinking about it. Well, that's all the nonsense I've got the energy for today. On to the questions! (Actually, anyone who got to the end of this mega-post should get a prize, but that's too easy.)

1. What was Erik's funny costume for Halloween 2003? (I'll post the picture when this round is over and I reveal all the answers.)

2. Name any three of Emily's many, many majors.

3. This one is for fun. Knowing Reid's perfect blend of Erik's mellow and amiable-ness, and Emily's feisty and playful-ness, what do you think Reid will be when he grows up?

Reid is a poser

Hello everybody. Reid is getting so good at playing on his stomach. He gets stronger everyday. Today I put him down and he completely lifted his chest off the ground, his arms were totally straight. It was amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera nearby, plus it was a pretty fleeting moment. He's getting stronger, but I don't think we have the next Arnold Schwarzenegger on our hands...at least I hope not. It does seem, however, that Reid is into yoga. Cool.
So here are today's questions:
1. What yoga pose did Reid do today, as demonstrated by the lady at the left?
2. What was Erik's major at BYU?
3. What field day event was Emily terrified of as a kindergartner?

Who's up for some fun?

Hey people, I've got a fun game to play. I have no idea who even reads this silly blog, but I'd sure like to find out, so here's the game:
Every 5 posts I'll tally up the points and the winner will be sent a little present. You can earn a point for each time you comment on a post, and I'll ask questions in each post that you can answer in your comments. Correct answers will earn you a point. Doesn't that sound like fun?

This girl thinks it sounds like fun. Check her out, she seems intrigued.

This baby is like, "Yes! Presents! I'm going to rule this game!" He is excited, for sure.

This lady is like, "I hope I win! I hope! I hope! I hope!"

And best of all, this boy heard the news while he was in the bath. His excitement was just too much to contain. He's definitely ready for some fun.

Now you're thinking, "I guess I'm excited, but I don't understand...what's the point of all this, Emily?" Well, if you are asking that then we need to spend more time together because you have not yet learned that not everything I do has a point to it. This is just for fun. I just like hearing from all you out there, and I like to give presents.

Here's a few questions to start:

1. What were the 4 wild card middle names that eventually lost out to the winner, Hunter?

2. What animal does Emily collect?

3. If my Mom didn't have veto power, what would my Dad have named me?

Alright, the game has begun. This round will go for 5 posts, after the 5th one I'll tally up the points and then we'll start again. So if you're out there reading this, let me know it by commenting and saying hello. You could win yourself something cool.

Oh, I have big news too! I'll get a good picture of it, but look back at the post called "I think I'm backwards" and you'll see the earrings that I ordered. I'm going to need them now to put in my new pierced ears! It sounded like something fun to do so on my birthday Reid and I went to Good Karma Tattoos in Fairbanks and I got them pierced. I like it.

Here's how to comment: at the end of the post click on the link that says "COMMENTS" and then write your message. It's easy...and fun!

I'm a winner!

So, I am sad to report that I did not, in fact, win any blue ribbons. I will have to try again next year, wherever we are then. This is the sweater that I entered in the "Recycle, Reduce, Reuse" category. I figured, "this sweater is darn cute, I'm a shoe-in for the blue ribbon." Not the case. I won 5th place...in my division. That's not good. Tomorrow I'll post the some other entries that placed higher than me in my division. Apparently I lost pretty bad, because those entries are nothing special.

However, in my quilting division I got 2nd place! Still not 1st, but I didn't get slaughtered this time. I love this quilt. My Mom and I took a class from a friend who was trying to start up teaching quilting. My Mom (already a pro) and me (a novice then and a novice+ now) figured we could probably learn a thing or two, so we gave it a shot. We actually learned quite a lot. I think that's good advice: even if you're pretty good at something, every now and then a lesson is a good idea. Keeps you learning and progressing. I need to start taking piano lessons again, I improve so much faster than just working on my own. I made this quilt with the intention to create a nighttime ritual. Every night the kids can pick a book, grab the quilt, and we'll all snuggle together and read a story. Hence, I have named this quilt "Storytime Stars." Apparently quilters name their quilts. You can't really see, but the blue fabric with the small stars and swirls, and the dark blue fabric have glitter on it. Now that I have it back I think it's time to start the ritual. I like rituals, things that carry over from season to season. We're making memories here, people.

Here we are with cute little Madeline. She loves our Reid, and she's jazzed to say hi whenever she sees him. I was feeding him and she really wanted to help, but it's kind of a one-woman job right now. Cute, cute Madeline.

Oh, another shot of the loser sweater. Actually it's really cute. I think I'm going to go to Value Village and try and find some old sweaters to felt and embellish. Maybe I'll sell them and make millions. That would show the Tanana Valley State Fair who's a winner.

This crazy thing won "Best in Show" for the entire Recycle, Reduce, Reuse category. This is a grocery sack. Whoever made this wove hundreds of plastic bags into one big plastic sack. Huh. That's right, I lost to this. I guess it's pretty clever, but I figure, if you want to recycle the bags, just use them again. I don't know, seemed like a big fat waste of time to me. But that's the life of a crafter...one person's big fat waste of time is another person's favorite pastime. Wierd though, right?

After checking out the exhibits, the O'neils and I went around to the booths. There was this guy who guessed age, weight, and birth month. You pay him $3 and if he gets it wrong then you can pick a prize. So Dahlia goes first and he underguesses her age by like 5 years or something. Then Jeremy has him guess his weight and he underguesses by 20 lbs. So I figure, sure...this could be fun. I pay him my $3 and have him guess my age. (Seriously, I'm still playing the "I just had a baby card", I don't need anyone guessing my weight) He, Jeremy, and Dahlia were all facing me as he writes his guess on his post-it note. As soon as he writes it Jeremy's eyes get really big and he starts laughing. So I'm like, "hey, what did he write?!" The guy then asks how old I am and I tell him "25." He immediately crumples up the paper and says to Jeremy and Dahlia, "don't tell her, don't tell her!" I eventually got it out of them that his guess was 31. 31! Granted, "I just had a baby" so I've kind of got that haggard mom thing going on, but 31! I thought it was funny so I had him rewrite it so I could get a picture. That's me holding my prize, a teddy bear. That was an expensive bear, it cost me $3...and my pride. Today I turn 26 and I have decided that 26 is going to be the year I'm the best Emily ever. No more of this 31 crap until I actually am 31, and even then it would be nice for people to guess that I'm younger. So watch out people, Emily's bringing sexy back.