Christmas and So Much More

Well, it's been a while, but for good reason. The past two months have been INCREDIBLY busy! We went to visit my family in Utah for Christmas, which was very fun. We also got to see Adam's family. Lily had a lot of fun with her grandparents, aunts and uncles, her cousin Amelia, and ESPECIALLY the cats and dog at my parents' house. She is a super-fan of cats and dogs, and chasing kittens around pushed her to complete confidence in walking. We went sledding, visited temple square, tromped around in the snow, visited friends, shoveled A LOT, and just had a great time. Here are some pictures from our trip:

Chocolate face! Lily takes after her Nanna in her affinity for CHOCOLATE!

This was Lily's first experience with snow. She was much more impressed with the dog than with the snow, however.

Lily and Daddy exercising on Grandpa's rowing machine:

Sledding with Nanna and Daddy!

Lily and me on the Sunday before Christmas. Isn't she so cute in the dress I made for her? :)

Our visit to temple square:

Christmas Eve with Adam's family:

Lily and her cousin, Amelia had fun dancing and twirling (and sitting on the floor) in their Christmas dresses.

Lily with her Grandpa on Christmas morning:

Visiting with our good friends the Lees.

I stayed in Utah for two weeks after Adam left, which was hard. I hate being apart, but it was for good reason. My mom has been quite sick from the treatments she is doing for breast cancer, and she really can't be alone. She needed someone to be there to take care of her, and I was the most available person for the job. I think my parents really loved having Lily there for a while. 

It was hard to watch my mom struggling with her health, but at the same time, I have not been burdened with worry about her. Since she was diagnosed with cancer four years ago, I have always felt peace about it. My dad has given her multiple blessings, and all say she will fully recover, and I have complete faith that it will happen. In all the years I was growing up, my dad never gave a blessing that did not come to pass, regardless of how small or miraculous. I know he takes the priesthood power seriously, and I know the Lord makes good on His promises. Even if my mom does not recover, however, the peace I have felt so far has been reassuring to me that God can grant us peace and comfort even in difficult circumstances. It was actually wonderful to be there with her and take care of her when she has dedicated so many years of her life to taking care of others, between raising her children and helping people improve their lives through her therapy practice. I love my parents so much and am grateful for the opportunity to spend a few weeks with them, since it will be many months until I see them again.

Here are a few more pictures from our time in Utah during January. Lily really came to love her aunt Lisa, who doted on Lily during our visit.

Lily also came to love Kitty, my family's cat, but unfortunately the affection was not returned. Kitty's attention to Lily consisted only of some growls and a few scratches! Ouch!

Love you so much Grandpa and Grandma! Thanks to all our friends and family for a wonderful Christmas and a fun visit!

Family Proclamation Photo Book

About a year ago I saw a photo book based on the Family Proclamation at a friend's house, and I have wanted to do one for Lily ever since. I got a coupon in the mail for a free photobook from Shutterfly, so I made it for Lily for Christmas. I am so excited! I hope it can be a special keepsake for her for many years. I have posted an electronic version below:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly offers exclusive layouts and designs so you can make your book just the way you want.

Magical Sewing Machine + Pictures

I have a wonderful aunt who generously thought of me last summer when she bought a new sewing machine, and gave me her old one. This has really been quite a blessing. Of course, I thought it would be fun to have a sewing machine, but it was also an answer to prayers lately. We have been trying everything possible to reduce our budget and postpone the looming necessity of taking out student loans, and gifts have been the hardest area to stay within our budget. This is definitely my fault. What can I say? I like giving people stuff. :) 

I had thought for a few months that if I just had a sewing machine, I could make gifts instead of buying them. Yes, I know it is possible to make gifts without a sewing machine, but it has been a struggle for me to come up with crafty gifts that people would actually appreciate and use. Of course we didn't have money for a sewing machine, so I figured that was not a realistic option, but I kept praying to figure out ways to save more money. And then (bling!) a sewing machine magically appeared! Isn't it great when God answers our prayers my making stuff magically appear on your doorstep? (Okay actually, my aunt brought it to a family reunion, but it felt magical to me.)

I should also mention that I am not very good at sewing. My daydreams went something like: "I wish I had a sewing machine because after I learn to use it I will quickly and effortlessly whip out amazing homemade gifts for all my friends and family and save tons and tons of money and we won't have to go into debt to complete the fourth college degree of our married lives. Hooray!" Needless to say, it hasn't solved all our financial woes, and my first few sewing projects were anything but quick or effortless, but I am pressing on and becoming not-quite-as-bad-of-a-seamstress-as-I-was-before.

Here is one of the first gifts I made with my new money-saving gift-making machine/toy. It is just a simple burp cloth for a dog-loving friend of mine who is expecting, but since I made it out of a never-used dish towel and some scraps I had leftover from Adam's kilt, it was free! (And yes, in case you are wondering, my husband is obsessed with kilts. He says it is because of some bit of Scottish heritage, but I think it's really because at some level he just has the need to wear a man-skirt.)

I also made this Christmas card holder for my mom and a friend, from a table runner I got at the dollar store.

And I also used it to make Lily's Christmas dress. This project was obviously much more challenging, and it's a good thing my mother-in-law arrived in time to save the day. I actually finished it myself the afternoon before she arrived, but some of the inner workings of the dress were less than ideal, so she graciously took out a few seams and fixed them for me. Now the dress might actually last until Christmas. She also helped me figure a rough pattern for the second dress, which I made for Lily's cousin, Amelia. But I actually made that one all by myself. I was so proud! :) Amelia's dress is on the left; Lily's is on the right.

And, just for the grandparents, here is a picture of Lily eating a piece of toast:

And Lily walking:

And Lily "talking on the phone":

And I just think this one is cute (In case you are wondering what Lily is doing, she is stealing a bottle of aspirin from another baby who was playing with it. Real safe, I know)

And now it's December so happy Christmas season! Yay I love Christmas! 

Lily 's First Birthday!

Wow, Lily is one. How has it possibly been a year since she was born? It has gone by so fast. She is cuter than ever (of course, how could I not say that?), and had a very fun birthday party with her Nanna here last weekend. My uncle Will and some friends of our with their little girl also came to celebrate.

Lily was so excited about her first gift (a balloon) that it was hard to convince her to open any of the rest of her presents.

But she enjoyed all of them, especially the baby remote control from her Nanna,

the music set from our friends Brayden and Brianna,

and the stuffed kitty.

She also enjoyed her birthday cake, which was really sugar-free blueberry banana bread in cupcake form with cream cheese frosting.

And then she was on a sugar high for the next two hours and ran in circles around the kitchen like a half-naked balloon-toting maniac, squeeling at the top of her lungs. Definitely worth it.

And finally, here is Lily with her Nanna, wearing the Christmas dress I made for her birthday.

Happy birthday Lily! It has been a wonderful year and we love you!!

Guess what Lily did today . . .

Congratulations Lily! :)

Here are some more recent pictures:

A candy-striped Lily raids the candy jar

Lily snuggles with her stuffed animals after a wet walk in the rain

Mamma and Lily cuddle with Lily's teddy bear at bedtime

Mommy baked her first loaves of bread!! I know this probably sounds like a small accomplishment, but I have had a phobia of anything with yeast, especially anything that requires kneading and rising. I used the fact that I don't have a KitchenAid mixer as an excuse for a long time, but I finally decided to go for it. And it was totally possible! Bread-making will probably not be a weekly task, but it is good to know I am capable of it.

And of course, Lily's first Halloween:

Adam was in Phoenix for a conference on Halloween, so I contemplated just staying home and not doing anything, especially since we don't have any family around to enjoy Lily's costume anyway. But I decided that she would like watching the other kids at the ward trunk-or-treat, so we made the effort to dress up and go.

In case you are wondering, no I was not intending to dress up as a ballerina-eating vampire. With just the two of us, we decided to go very girly, so I also dressed up as a ballerina (black swan-esque, okay), although it's not very obvious without the tights or ballet slippers in the picture.

And in case you were wondering, yes, Adam is back at home. If he dressed up for Halloween, he didn't tell me about it, but I don't think he was a ballerina.

Daddy, Mommy, Dogs, and Bananas (the most important things in the world, of course)

It seems like Lily has just been growing up so fast lately. She has been crawling for over a month now and has been pulling herself up on the furniture more often and with greater stability. Her favorite thing is to hold onto one of our hands and cruise around our apartment or the lawns outside picking up anything and everything from off the ground (sometimes it takes a very long time to get very far). It has been very exciting and interesting to see Lily growing up and interacting more and more with her surroundings. I know what you're thinking: every first-time parent goes through this stage of awe at every little thing their child does from pooping to pulling the books off the bookshelf. Well, you're right. But you're here reading it so that means you want to hear about all the cute stuff she does too ;)

So like I was saying, it's been so much fun to see Lily growing up before our eyes and learning more about the world around her. Like when I come home from class and she gets a big grin on her face and points. Or when she sees one of us coming from down the hall or across the lawn and she turns, giggling as she tries to get away. It has been so much fun getting to know her little (or rather, big) personality. We just wish she could tell us what it was that she wanted more of the time. Which is why the title of this post has us very excited. If you haven't guessed, the title refers to the four words that Lily can say (or at least uses consistently in reference to something): Dadda, Mamma, Daw-do (which means dog, or cat), and "Na-na," which means banana. Other recent additions to her vocabulary include hand signs for "more" and "milk" which she generally signs quite emphatically and with gusto! She's also getting a lot better at pointing at things that she wants instead of just grunting.

Which brings us to another interesting development: Lily's culinary preferences. She has apparently developed an affinity for seafood. A few days ago Christina was having some lunch with Lily in her high chair at the dinner table. Lily didn't seem too interested in her peaches or banana, which is surprising since bananas are basically her favorite food. She kept pointing at something on the table very earnestly but Christina couldn't figure out what she wanted. Finally, she realized that the object of Lily's insistent attention was Christina's tuna sandwich. So, as an obliging mother, she gave her some tuna with a little piece of bread and Lily gobbled it up gleefully by the handful, immediately demanding more. The worst (or best) part about it was that Lily's hands smelled strongly of tuna for the next 24 hours. The next day we had shrimp soup with our dinner and Lily was equally enthusiastic about her portions. Funny, I thought most kids didn't like seafood.

And now for the pictures:

I'm Glad I Don't Live in Korea (or, what to do about the porn skateboard)

My Korean neighbor has a pornographic skateboard. This wouldn't bother me too much, except for the fact that it is almost always on display outside his apartment door, which happens to be right across from my apartment door. This means it is the first thing we see every time we leave our apartment.

He probably views this possession of his as completely unremarkable and innocuous, since pornography is much more common in Korea (glad I don't live there!). But I find it offensive. So when I ran into him yesterday as he was outside smoking (and if it's socially acceptable in Korea to smoke as much as he does, that's another reason I'm glad I don't live there), I politely asked him if he could do us a favor and keep his skateboard inside, as it is offensive to us. He nodded and said "Yeah, alright," so I assumed the issue was closed.

However, the next time I went outside, the notorious pornboard was again waiting for me, and has remained there since. Because we have been on friendly terms with our neighbor and his fiancee--we have had dinner with them once and chat briefly whenever we see them--I would like to think that he is not deliberately trying to offend me by leaving it there after telling me he would remove it. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he just didn't understand what I was asking, since his English leaves something to be desired. But if that is the case, what should I do now? If I ask him again, he probably still won't understand what I am talking about.

I have tried to ignore it and not let it get to me. I know there are lots of people who live in places where pornography is all around them. There are lots of other somewhat offensive things that I encounter regularly, and I usually just ignore them. If I see an offensive ad on TV, I just change the channel (although I hardly ever watch TV anyway), or if I see an inappropriate billboard, I just forget about it. But seeing this every day has honestly started to get to me. Even the times that I anticipate it and deliberately look elsewhere, avoiding it makes me think about how much it bothers me that it's there in the first place. I find it degrading and objectifying that a photograph of some woman's body (of course it's a white woman, and of course it's only her neck down to her knees), would be carelessly plastered onto a skateboard. How can our society think it is okay to portray people as objects and then exploit them to sell products, or purchase those products to indulge in lust?

Perhaps I'm bothered by it so much because it belongs to someone whom I consider a casual friend. It's one thing to know that greedy corporations without morals or values are willing to make money by degrading women. But to know that someone I have invited to my house for dinner subscribes to this and would purchase something like that, and carelessly leave it outside his house as if it's the most insignificant thing in the world, seems more offensive.

Or maybe it's just that I have never been subjected to pornography on a daily basis before. Did I just write that?! I am being subjected to pornography on a daily basis, as is my husband and everyone who comes to my house!! Wow. And now I am questioning myself as to why it bothers me?! This is ridiculous. We should not have to put up with this!

If you have any advice as to how you would approach this, I welcome the input.

(Please note that I have known many great and wonderful Korean people and that this post is not meant to imply that I think all people in Korea accept pornography, or smoke.)