The Munk Family

Christmas Pictures

2012-01-01T15:23:00.000-08:00

We had a cold, but not white, Utah christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Munk. I was excited when I found out that Christmas was on Sunday- perfect opportunity to make a special dress. She got this:

The dress is sleeveless so I made this little ruffle jacket to keep her warm. Grandma Munk let her wear her pearls. All she needed was some little white gloves! (I don't know how to make those or you can bet she would have had some.)

In keeping with the tradition I started last year, I made us matching Christmas jammies. Laura's were especially cute with pink polka dot trim and matching bunny slippers.

Laura got a playhouse for Christmas. "Santa" spent hours and hours and hours working on this thing. But I think it was worth it because she seems to love it. She has even been sleeping in it at night.

We got to spend time with Peter's sister, Katie, and her family. Laura loved playing with her cousins. She wasn't as interested in her cousin Vea and her princess dress-up and other girly toys. But she loved wrestling and playing super hero with her older cousin Alex.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

We just got back from trick or treating and put our exhausted, sugar-eating monster to bed. Starting tomorrow, there will be no more sugar in this house! Laura woke up this morning and the first words out of her mouth were, "Please, can I have a candy?" Halloween is so much fun, but I'm glad that it is now over. So we can move on to healthier holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. :)
We had a fun Halloween weekend and enjoyed every unhealthy minute. On Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch and let Laura run around and hug the pumpkins. Or kick them. Or hit them with a stick. Mostly there was a lot of hitting. This is Laura's new favorite game: hitting things. Is this normal behavior for a sweet little girl?

Saturday evening we went to our ward Trunk or treat. Laura ate way too much candy, got her face painted and wore out her mother who chased her around all evening!

Tonight we met up with some friends who have a daughter Laura's age to go trick or treating. These two girls are best friends.

And in case you want to see one more picture of our cute little peacock:

Laura the peacock

2011-10-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

Halloween is so much fun with a 2 year old. Laura loves wearing her costume and especially loves the candy. We have already gone to a Halloween party and a trick or treating event. And we have more Halloween fun planned for this weekend. Let's hope she doesn't get sick of wearing the ridiculous feather headress I keep sticking on her head!

2011-10-21T07:57:00.001-07:00

I love fall in Nashville. We have been enjoying temperatures in the 70's and sunny days. And the colorful leaves are just gorgeous with all the trees here. I think we got a pretty good scenario worked out: cool, moderate summer in New Hampshire and home in time for the beautiful warm fall of Nashville. Too bad we can't own homes in two different places because I kind of liked how that worked out.

Laura is still as fun and crazy as ever.

And we still think she is the smartest, cutest baby in the world. We still call her a baby, even though she is obviously not one. Until we get another baby in this house, Laura is our baby. She is okay with this arrangement because she recognizes she gets perks that other children her age do not. Like when Peter brought her into bed with us at 2:00 am a couple of nights ago. And like when she wakes up in the middle of the night and insists Mama sings her a song before she can go back to sleep. Is it normal for a 2 1/2 year old to not sleep through the night? She wakes up at least every other night needing a song or to be tucked back in. Sometimes he just screams, "I need something!" because she can't think of anything in particular. I know it is our fault- if we stopped going in she would stop waking up. But, like I said, she is our baby so we spoil her a little bit. Lately she has been sleeping in a tent next to her bed. We set it up for her to play in one day and she has been sleeping in it ever since.

She even takes her naps in there. She used to take them in my bed. But when I moved all the craft stuff downstairs this arrangement had to be changed. Shortly after moving my craft desk into my room, I came in to get Laura after nap time and found this:

Apparently she was having the time of her life with my markers before falling asleep.

And now she has one more bed in the house to take her naps in:
:
Shortly after we found out that Angelica wouldn't live long after birth, we decided to sign up to do foster care. It is something that I've always wanted to do, but I thought it would be later in life when we were done having children of our own. However, after finding out that it would just be me and Laura at home for another year, we decided it was perfect timing. My days with Laura are so much fun, but honestly, my life is probably a little too easy. It wouldn't hurt to have one more crazy to chase after in this house. And I figure until we can get another baby of our own, I will love other people's babies who need some extra love. I feel like it is a great way to let Angelica's short life bless another child's life since it is because of her that we decided to do this now.

All that being said, I don't know when or if we will even get the chance to have a foster child. We finished our last appointment yesterday and so once our caseworker finishes up the paperwork we will officially be in the program. But we have a specific age range we are looking for so it may be a while, or never, before they have a child in that range that needs a temporary home. And we are down to only 8-9 months left in Nashville.

But I had so much fun getting the child's room ready in case we receive one. I didn't want to spend money on a room that I wasn't sure would even be used, so I had to get creative in trying to make it cute with only buying a few things.

We found the bed and mattress on Craigslist for $20 and I bought a cheap duvet comforter from Target. The rest was made with stuff I have stockpiled in my craft supply. For the duvet cover I used a yellow sheet and white sheet from a yard sale that I cut in strips and sewed together. I love how it turned out. It had to be something that could be used by a boy or girl and I think it turned out pretty gender neutral yet fun and cute.
So now we wait and see if we ever receive a phone call asking us to take a child. And in the meantime, I am enjoying having a bed next to Peter's study desk. I go up every night and read a book and fall asleep on the bed while Peter studies. It's like spending time together without talking. When you have a law student husband you take what you can get!

Panty Picnic

2011-09-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

Laura hates clothes. I've pretty much given up on keeping her fully dressed through out the day- these days I feel like a sucessful mother if she is wearing panties. This is a definite result of potty training. She is constantly stripping down to use the toilet and it is so much work to get all the layers back on. And, since Peter keeps our thermostat set at 87 degrees (I am dead serious)I am secretly jealous when she gets to run around naked. Last week her friend came over to play and I fed them a picnic lunch on the patio. Laura, as usual, was wearing only her panties.

Our New England Summer

2011-08-16T13:47:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a very fun summer spent in New Hampshire. Although I wasn't sure what to expect having never been to this part of the country, I fell in love with the Northeast. I loved the cool summers, the ocean, the rivers and bays, the trees, the beautiful houses, lobster, everything! Here are some pictures of the fun we had:

Eating Lobster

I figured that we couldn't truly experience New Hampshire with out eating lobster. So, one day after spending a few hours at the beach, we walked across the street to a little seafood restaurant and ordered it. I admit I was a little intimidated by it when they brought it out to me, but it was actually quite tasty. Laura was more interested in eating the sugar packets on the table.

Our last night in New Hampshire, my sister prepared a lobster feast for us. Each person got their own lobster. What a fun way to spend our last night in New England!

The Beach:
I can't believe how much fun it is to live close to the ocean. Laura loved the beach. She spent hours digging around in the sand. This is Grandpa Fielding and Laura at the beach.

Eating Cannolis from the North End in Boston: Wow. Are you kidding me? These are the most delicious things ever. I only had them twice but I can't stop thinking about them. I would move back to the Northeast just for these.

Fourth of July: We had a bbq at the Casper house. It was a perfect fourth of July with great food and great company.

Meeting Mitt Romney: We tagged along with Kashann to see Mitt Romney announce his candidacy for president. I wish I could have heard more of the speech, but I was busy making sure that I didn't lose Laura in the crowd of people since she insisted on walking everywhere and refused to be carried.

Four Weeks Ago

2011-06-01T09:52:00.001-07:00

Four weeks ago, today, the doctor put little Angelica on my chest for the first time. We were finally meeting our special little girl after 9 long months awaiting her arrival. The past four weeks have been the hardest, saddest weeks of my life as well as the happiest and most wonderful. I miss Angelica so much, but I know that she will be part of our family again someday and I am grateful for the five days we got to spend with her in this life.

Maybe the most important lesson I learned from this experience is that Heavenly Father is watching over us and listening to our prayers. This has been very clear since the first ultrasound when we found out that our daughter had severe abnormalities. Although we didn't have any answers at that point, we knew that the baby we were expecting was going to be a very special baby. We were obviously confused, sad and worried. But as I said my prayers that night, I felt peace and knew that Heavenly Father was watching over us and everything would work out for our good.

And it has. Heavenly Father has been there for us, answering our prayers and strengthening us when we needed it. I prayed so hard that Angelica would survive the birth and that we would be able to meet our little girl, if for only a few minutes. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father not only answered our prayers, but gave us five days of precious time with our daughter. He didn’t cure our baby; that was not part of his plan for our family. But he strengthened us and brought us peace. Our experience reminds me of a scripture in the Book of Mormon: “And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.”

It would have been a lot easier if the Lord had simply healed our baby. But if Heavenly Father always answered our prayers in the easiest way, we wouldn’t learn all the lessons that we were sent to Earth to learn. He didn’t heal Angelica, but he strengthened us so that we could bear the burden. And although we were not always cheerful and patient, I was amazed at how much joy and happiness we felt during this experience.

I am grateful for our belief in a God that can turn a tragedy into a tender learning experience. And I am grateful for the knowledge that this good-bye is only temporary and we will have our daughter again with us someday.

Angelica Fielding Munk 05/04/11 - 05/09/11

2011-05-09T03:16:00.000-07:00

After five special days, our sweet baby Angelica has passed on. We laid her down to sleep between us around 11:30 pm, and she never woke up. Candice said that Angelica was breathing well and had good color around 2:15 am. We found that she had passed around 3:15 am. Angelica was pronounced dead at 3:55 am.

The funeral home picked up Angelica's little body within the hour. Among the multitude of tender mercies that we have experienced in the past few days was that the funeral director lived very close to our home, and had taken the infant carrier and our information home with him just yesterday. After the many blessings we have received in the past five days, I can't say that we were surprised that Heavenly Father was watching over this small detail as He has everything else.

Candice and I are happy. We feel that Angelica passed in the best possible circumstances. Heavenly Father blessed her in life and in death. We both agree that the past five days spent with Angelica were among the sweetest of our lives, and we look forward to seeing her again someday.

The Best Mother's Day Ever

2011-05-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Angelica has been alive 106 hours! We are going on our fifth day and we can't believe it. Going into this, we were really hoping for just a few minutes with her and we feel so blessed to have the time that we have had. This is truly the best Mother's Day present ever.
Here are my 2 little girls wearing their matching dresses I made for them:

Peter has been such a good husband and makes sure that I get time for a nap every day. I love snuggling up to my baby and taking a nap together. Peter took this picture yesterday while we were sleeping.

Update on Angelica

2011-05-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

Angelica is now 80 hours old and still going strong. We have had a few close calls where she has stopped breathing for a few moments, but she was able to revive herself each time. We appreciate the chance to get to know our little girl.

Angelica Fielding Munk

2011-05-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little daughter Angelica Fielding Munk was born on May 4 at 8:57 am. Despite a few tense moments during the night, labor and delivery went very well. We were blessed to have both sets of grandparents present, along with Laura and her own personal baby-sitter (thanks Julie). Angelica was 4 lbs 12 ozs and 17 inches long at birth.

After delivery, Angelica was placed directly on Candice's chest with minimal intervention from the hospital staff. The nurses and doctors were very sensitive to the fact that we might not have much time with the baby, and largely left us alone for the entire day. It was a special experience to spend the day with our new sweet baby. Candice said that it was the happiest day of her life. We didn't know if we would have minutes, hours, or days, so every moment was precious. We have since returned home, and are enjoying her here.

We have found out a few things about little Angelica (or as Laura calls her, Gicala): she is really cute; she looks like her big sister; someone is watching over her short little life; and she is quite the little fighter. To the last point, she has now been alive for over 48 hours, and is more alert and vigorous than any of the doctors expected. She drinks from a bottle, screams, makes messy diapers, and burps when she is done drinking. She is exceeding all expectations.

That being said, her grasp on life is tenuous. Yesterday before we left the hospital she turned dusky and stopped breathing for a few minutes. We thought that Angelica's time here was complete. However, Angelica surprised us all and revived herself. During her little episode, Angelica was peaceful, with no sign of struggle or pain.

Angelica has had two more episodes since we have been home, reminding us that every moment with her is special and shouldn't be taken for granted. The doctor said that she could go on like this for a week or more. Or it might not. We will enjoy every minute.

Thank you all for your concern and prayers. We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for the many blessings we have enjoyed these last 48 hours. We will keep you all updated and provide more details as things develop.

For more pictures, see my friend Abbie Rufener's blog. She took some absolutely beautiful pictures for us. (abbierufener.com/blog)

Laura's Birthday

2011-05-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

I feel like we have been celebrating Laura's birthday for the past 2 weeks. But I guess it all ended today since it is officially her birthday. She got to eat a cupcake for breakfast and open presents this morning. And then she got to open more presents (thanks to our good friends Paul and Nicole who spoil Laura) and eat cake and icecream this evening. It didn't take her long to get used to all this special treatment and by the end of the day she was running around saying, "I need more birthday."

I made her a farm cake with animal cupcakes. Laura loves animals right now so she thought it was pretty fun. She mostly just wanted to eat the candy off the top of each cupcake and would then put it back and reach for another one. Which was fine with me since I didn't want the candy on there spoiling my cupcake anyways.

I mentioned in my last post that I have been doing a lot of sewing. And I meant it. Lots of sewing. Laura's present for her birthday was a doll with lots of matching outfits. I'm not going to say how many because it is kind of embarrassing how much time I wasted on this project, but seriously how fun is it so sew something cute for your daughter, and then make a miniature version for her doll? Here she is in her matching giraffe jammies and knot dresses.

She also got a backpack with her name on it so she can store all the fun things that she constantly wants to bring with us when we leave the house (stuffed animals, snacks, balloons, blankets, Peter's football, etc...) She loves it. She calls it her "packpack" and insisted on wearing it to church today. She keeps putting it on and saying, "bye bye, mamma" and walking to the door. When I ask her where she is going she answers, "cools" (school). She knows the drill from watching her Daddy leave every morning.

Being Laura's mom brings me so much happiness. I love it! Even with everything we have been dealing with the last few months, it is hard to ever feel sad with such a beautiful and happy little daughter. I just wish she could stay this age forever because it is my favorite.

Sewing For Angelica

2011-04-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

Our doctor told us Angelica will likely be a around 4 pounds when she is born. Laura was 6 1/2 pounds and we thought she was teeny tiny. We had to go buy preemie clothes for her to wear the first month of life because the newborn clothes were way too big for her. So I wanted to make some little outfits that would fit Angelica. I found a free pattern (http://projectsbyjess.blogspot.com/2011/02/tutorial-baby-sleep-sack.html) and shrunk it down to about preemie size and made some cute little baby gowns for her. I love this pattern because it has the little pockets that fold over the baby's hands to keep her warm.

My favorite part was making some matching outfits for Laura and Angelica. When I first found out I was pregnant, I was so excited to sew matching outfits for my 2 children. So, as silly as it is, I just had to sew them one matching outfit.

And of course, I had to make matching hair accessories.

I'm not sure that she will live long enough to enjoy these little outfits, but it feels good to know that if she does, she will have a cute wardrobe. And I enjoyed sewing them so much. There is not a whole lot that we can do to prepare for this baby, so it was nice to have something to do.
Best of all, my mother sewed the most beautiful blessing/burial gown for her. She made it out of her wedding dress and it turned out so perfect.

She sent me some of the left over fabric so I could make a matching bonnet.

We are down to 4 more days before we go in to be induced. And although I am getting scared and sad that we will have to say goodbye to her so soon, we are excited to be able to meet our daughter after waiting so long for her arrival. I think it is going to be a very special, sweet experience.

A few more birthday pics

2011-04-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

Laura's Birthday Party

2011-04-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

We decided to have Laura's birthday party a week and a half in advance since her birthday is 2 days before our scheduled induction date. We had a little chef party theme and it was so much fun. We sent out invitations telling everyone to come prepared to do some cooking and to bring their own rolling pin. We invited 8 children children thinking that we would probably only have 5 or 6 be able to come. All but one ended up coming so we had a house full of 2 year olds. I made them each an apron and chef hat and they all looked so cute. We had so much fun rolling out pizza dough and making pizzas and decorating Laura's birthday cake.

We played a game that I made up called "Fill the Fruit Bowl" which consisted of giving each of the children a piece of fruit that they could throw in the bowl. Peter said it sounded like a dumb game but I figured they were too young to do anything more complicated. It actually was so much fun. It took a little while for them to figure out what they were supposed to do and most of them were busy eating the fruit they were given, but once they got the hang of it, they were having so much throwing the fruit.

I look forward to more fun parties each year! I love planning parties for little kids!

2011-04-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

My friend, Abbie, offered to take some maternity pictures for me. I admit I was hesitant at first because the last thing you want to do when you are nine months pregnant is take a bunch of pictures of yourself. But she did such a good job and I think they turned out so beautiful. I especially loved how she was able to capture Laura's little personality on camera. Laura is VERY diffucult to take pictures of and Abbie did a great job. I know I will treasure these pictures for the rest of my life and it will be a great memory of the precious time I got to spend with Angelica inside of me.

If you want to see more of Abbie's work you can check out her website, Abbie Rufener Photography at http://abbierufener.com. She does an awesome job!

Time Flies

2011-03-14T06:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how old Laura is! She turns 2 in less than 2 months. She is now stringing words together and saying the funniest things. One of my favorite things she does is for words starting with an "s," she switches the "s" sound from the beginning to the end of the word. So Daddy is gone all day at "cools"(school) and she likes to climb in bed with me and "nuggles" (snuggle) and she insists on always eating dinner with Laura's "poos" (spoon). She is also saying prayers now and says the funniest things. Last week her prayer went like this:
Father.
Thanks.
Pee pee.
Poo poos.
Amen.
She has yet to understand why we say prayers- she just thinks it is a good time to throw in some of her favorite words. "Puppy," "purse" and "baby" are other words that are often included in her prayer.
She loves to be outside and now that the weather has been so nice we have been spending lots of time going to parks and on walks. She hates to be in her stroller and insists on walking everywhere. Even in the grocery stores. If I put her in the shopping cart she will scream and yell "hug" which is code for pick me up. As soon as I pick her up she will scream "down" and take off running.

And Laura is not the only one getting bigger everyday. I am now down to 8 more weeks until the due date and am starting to feel quite large.

We have decided on a name for our sweet little girl, Angelica. Laura calls her "Gica" and loves to lift up my shirt and give her kisses and hugs. (She obviously doesn't understand the baby making process since she also tries to do this to Daddy sometimes). As the due date gets closer, it seems like I am so much more emotional about everything. I know that the closer that we get to her birth, the sooner I am going to have to say goodbye to her. I am really enjoying this pregnancy because I feel like I am keeping my fragile baby safe and protected. She is constantly reminding me how well she is doing with kicks and jabs in my stomach! We are just praying that we get to spend a little bit of time with her before Heavenly Father takes her home.

A Big Day for Laura!

2011-01-22T19:49:00.000-08:00

Laura had ZERO accidents today! I think she has got this potty training thing down. She runs around all day in just her shirt and whenever she needs to go, she runs into the bathroom and climbs up on the big toilet (she doesn't like to use her own toilet). She doesn't tell me she needs help and if I don't hear her in there, she will just finish and climb down and start playing again. She doesn't act like it is a big deal at all. I stopped giving her a treat each time she went because she didn't expect one and acted surprised when she got it.
I feel like that was way too easy. We will see if she keeps it up. The next big steps are going to be 1)Getting her to wear pants during the day and 2) Taking her out of the house with out a diaper. This last one really scares me because she doesn't ever tell me when she needs to go. She just takes care of it herself. So I don't know what we will do if we are in a store and she can't run to the bathroom by herself. I think we might give it another week before we take her out with out a diaper.

I feel like my little baby is growing up into a big girl. I'm not sure I want her to grow up this fast!

I made her this little dress out of one of my old sweaters. Doesn't she look so sweet? She is starting to get a little bit of hair. Just enough for me to give her pigtails.

A Long Day

2011-01-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

For those who thought that potty training was going way too easy for me, you will be happy to hear that today didn't go well at all. The singing toilet remained quiet all day- we had 3 accidents and 0 successes! I think Laura has decided that it is no longer fun to sit on her toilet.

I am going to give it one more day. If I don't see a little bit of improvement tomorrow, I think we will pack the singing potty away for a few more months.

Potty Training Update

2011-01-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

Laura had 4 successes and 2 accidents today. I think she is doing pretty well. I don't have to tell her to go, she just runs in there and does her thing. Good thing her toilet plays music when she goes so I know I need to come in and help her finish up.

I don't know how people with carpet do this. It would be a lot harder and a lot messier. Hard wood floors are awesome for potty training.

Laura- 20 months

2011-01-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Laura surprised us by going potty in the toilet all by herself!

For the last couple of weeks, her favorite thing to do is take off her diaper and run around the house yelling "pee pee" and then climbing up on the toilet. Since she has such a little bum she had to be creative in how to sit on such a big seat. So this is what she came up with:
After a couple of seconds of sitting in this position, she will yell "all done" and climb back off. I figured since she had no idea she was supposed to do anything while she was on the toilet potty training was still months away. Plus, she is still my little baby, not a big girl. But yesterday, while running around the house with her diaper off, I saw her start peeing on the floor. I went over and told her that was yucky and that we only do that in the toilet. While I was cleaning up the puddle, Laura ran into the bathroom, climbed up on the toilet and finished the job. Does this mean she is ready to start potty training?

After talking to my sisters who are experienced in potty training, I figured I would give it a try. I went and bought a pink potty and pink panties at Target. (Don't you love buying pink stuff for little girls?) Laura looks so cute in her big girl panties, I figured she didn't need to wear any other clothes. Plus, more clothes means more washing for the accidents I know are bound to happen. And it is always a fight to keep Laura in clothes anyways, since she is constantly yelling "off' and trying to remove them.

We officially started potty training 3:00 this afternoon. Laura loves her potty and hates her panties which means she has been running around naked for the last few hours and has spent quite a bit of the time sitting and playing with her potty. So far, we have had 3 successes and 1 accident. Not too bad for the first day.

I still think she is way too young to learn, but I figure it can't hurt to try.

I took her in to the doctor today because she has an eye infection and has not been sleeping well the last week. Sure enough, she has an ear infection as well. Poor thing. No wonder we were up all night last night.

Laura is so much fun these days and I love staying home with her all day. She is repeating everything she hears and is constantly amazing me with how smart she is. I love this age!

She is still loving her play kitchen. I just wish she loved to clean up all the pieces as much as she loves taking them all out.

Laura's First Birthday Party

2011-01-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

Laura got invited to attend her first birthday party. The theme was "pink." I dressed her up in the cutest little pink outfit and she looked so cute with the little girl's present in her hand as she walked into the party. She was the youngest one there and Stacy, the mother of the birthday girl, told me she spent more time in the girl's bedroom playing with her toys than she did with the older girls doing the party games and activities. She especially loved the pink cake and icecream.

Our Baby

2011-01-05T03:36:00.000-08:00

A week before Christmas, Peter and I went in for our 18 week ultrasound to find out the sex of our baby. The doctor found some serious abnormalities in the ultrasound and recommended that we do an amniocentesis to find out more information. A few days later we received the difficult news that our little girl has trisomy 13.

Trisomy 13 is condition in which the baby ends up with an extra chromosome 13, which is similar to down syndrome where the child has an extra chromosome 21. However, the extra 13 chromosome is much more serious and in most cases, as the nurse told us, is incompatible with life. Eighty percent of babies born with trisomy 13 die within the first month and the rest rarely live past a year. We have an appointment next week to meet with a heart specialist who will do an ultrasound of our baby's heart, the most serious defect, and help us better prepare for what to expect for our little girl.

It is obviously not what we were expecting, but we are grateful to learn the news ahead of time so we can appreciate each day of pregnancy as precious time we get to spend with our little girl as part of our family.

Thank you for all your prayers, love and support. We are doing fine. It is hard to be sad or depressed when I spend my days taking care of our beautiful, healthy daughter who is constantly reminding me how alive (and busy) she is! And I have the most wonderful husband in the world. We are grateful that God is giving us this special baby girl and hope that we can spend a little bit of time with her before He takes her home.

21 Weeks Pregnant with Daughter #2

"Another Tender Tennessee Christmas"

2010-12-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

This is our fourth Christmas since we've been married and I think it was the best yet. Last night we went over to some friends' house and ate great food, enjoyed a nativity by the children,I got to speak in spanish all night with my Venezuelan friends and Peter spent the night arguing constitutional law with a lady at the party. It was perfect. We spent the ride home singing Jingle Bells the whole way because Laura insisted that we kept singing it. Each time the song ended, she would begin to yell "jingle" until we started singing again. When we got home, we each got to open up a present with pj's in them. I scored at Wal-Mart and found $1.50/yd fabric that was not entirely hideous. Peter thought the print wasn't quite manly enough for him but I thought the navy blue polka dot was kind of cute. And it was so fun to all have matching pajama pants.

After we put Laura to bed, we set up the play kitchen that we have been working on the last couple of weeks. I think it turned out so cute. I was so excited for her to see it. So by 6:30 am I was awake laying in bed wondering when Laura was going to wake up. By 7:30, Peter and I couldn't wait any longer so we woke her up and brought her down stairs to see what Santa had brought her.

She seemed pretty happy about it and immediately began going through the cupboards and pulling out the dishes and food. We helped her put on her little apron, chef hat, and oven mitt that I made to go with the kitchen and she looked so dang cute.

We spent the rest of the morning in our matching pj pants watching "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World" which we got for Christmas from my brother Jeremy. It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood.
I love Christmas time! It is so wonderful to have my husband home all day and to be able to spend time with the two people I love most in the world.

What I'm grateful for:

2010-11-26T16:33:00.000-08:00

1. A wonderful, kind husband.
2. An extrememly energetic and fun toddler.
3. That I'm 16 weeks pregnant with baby #2!

The Latin Dance Party

2010-11-08T16:58:00.001-08:00

Our latin dance party was pretty much the best party ever. Really. It turned out even cuter than we imagined. Celebrating 5 people's birthday at the same party is really quite fun. My friend, Julie, who threw the party at her house did a great job decorating with our homemade birthday banners and hats. I loved the bright colors. My favorite part about the decorations were the brightly colored cakes. They took a long, long time to make due to the fact that I had one small cake pan and I was too cheap to buy another so I had to bake 10 cakes in order to make 5 double layer cakes. It was a lot of washing and regreasing that dang pan. Well, it wasn't even a cake pan, more like a casserole dish that happened to be just the right size. Each of the cakes had the initial of one of the birthday people on it. Really, how cute is that? We converted her upstairs into a dance floor with lights, a crystal ball and some ripped pieces of dyed sheets. Peter was a champ. For some one who hates latin dancing and latin music he was such a good sport. He danced with me and did a great job. Here are some action shots: And one of the best birthday presents was my friend Angela drove down from Iowa to be here at my birthday party. Angela was my latin dancing friend who went with me 3 times a week back in my single days. Sometimes 4 times a week. Here is a video of us dancing. (I just told Peter I was uploading this video and he told me he wants me to make it clear that this video does not represent the extent of his moves.)

Vacation, Vomit, a Very cute angel and a Very fun date

2010-11-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Cyndie, had a 5K run that she was participating in last weekend to earn money for ovarian cancer research. We wanted to be there and run as part of her team. So we decided to drive to North Carolina for the weekend and spend some time with them. We all participated in the race. Cyndie, Grandma Munk, and I jogged while the dads took up the rear (literally, I think they were the very last people) with a full double stroller and one walking child. About 5 minutes into the 5K, the walking child got injured and so Laura was taken out of the stroller and carried on Peter's shoulders the rest of the way. I was waiting at the finished line when they walked in at 59 minutes and I saw a very sad and very cold baby sitting on her daddy's shoulders. Peter said she cried the whole 59 minutes with out stopping. She spent the next hour cuddled up in a blanket on my chest. She seemed a little traumatized by the whole thing. I was glad that Daddy had the hard job so I could enjoy jogging the race. The park where we ran was so beautiful with misty lakes and trees with brightly colored fall leaves. If it weren't for the freezing cold weather, it would have been a perfect jog.

That night, the kids put on the costumes to go to the ward trunk-or-treat. Laura hated her costume and screamed every time I tried it on her. She hates when I sew things for her because I have to try in on her at various stages to make sure it is going to fit. So by the time I had finished this dress she already hated it and would run away every time she saw it. So we didn't get a whole lot of Halloween pictures with a smile.

She did, however, really enjoy the trick or treating part. She quickly caught on and would walk from trunk to trunk and hold out her little orange bucket and wait for a piece of candy to be placed in it.

That was the fun part of the trip. The not-so-fun part was the driving part. On the way there, about 2 hours into our trip, Laura threw up. A lot. Everywhere. We pulled over on the side of the road and spent 15 minutes trying our best to clean up our baby, the car seat and the back seat of Peter's car as best as we could with baby wipes. We spent the rest of the 7 hour trip in a very stinky car. When we got in our car Sunday morning to drive home, none of us where feeling very good and it didn't help that you could still vaguely smell the throw up from the previous car trip. A couple hours into the drive we had to pull over so I could throw up. An hour later, Laura threw up once again all over herself, the car seat, and the backseat. Once again we tried our best to clean the car, but the smell was horrible. A couple of hours later, we had to pull over so I could throw up again. Peter was strong until the end. About 35 minutes outside Nashville we pulled over to get gas and Peter threw up. The last 35 minutes were the worst because Peter was so sick and feverish he turned up the heat. I felt like I was in a vomit sauna. We were all feeling so sick and the car smelled horrible. Laura was the only one who seemed fine, except she was screaming because we wouldn't give her any crackers because we didn't want her throwing up again. When we got home, Peter dragged himself into the house, sat in a hot bath tub for 30 minutes and then went straight to bed. I had to haul in all the stuff from the car, clean up the throw up off the seat, start some loads of throw up laundry and clean up a very stinky car seat. It was a horrible day. The good news is we woke up the next morning feeling great. The bad news is Cyndie's family woke up the next morning feeling horrible and spent the whole day throwing up. Well, at least it wasn't in the back seat of their car. Peter and I went out on a date last night to celebrate our shared birthday. He lined up the babysitter and planned the whole thing. It was awesome. He took me to Red Robin where we both got free dinner for our birthday. (Peter made fun of me for this at the time, but I signed us up a couple of months ago when I heard that Red Robin gives you a free hamburger each year on your birthday. I thought awesome, we will have a totally free dinner each year on our birthday since we both eat free. I think our waitress thought we were trying to work the system, but we could have proved it if she looked at our drivers license.) So we splurged and got appetizer and dessert, mostly because we felt bad if our meal was totally free.
After our totally unhealthy but pretty delicious dinner, Peter then took me to Steinnmart to buy me something pretty. It was a perfect b-day celebration. And now I am looking forward to my latin dance birthday party my friend is hosting for us this Saturday. It's going to be awesome! And my friend, Angela is driving down for the weekend to be here for it. It's going to be a great birthday weekend!

Happy Fall

2010-10-21T05:59:00.000-07:00

I both love and hate fall. I love it because the weather is beautiful and the leaves are gorgeous. I hate it because I know winter is right around the corner. I took advantage of the pretty scenery to takes some pictures of Laura.

New Hampshire

2010-10-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

Peter got offered a summer job in Manchester, New Hampshire this morning and he accepted it! We are very happy to have secured such a great job and I am especially happy to be neighbors with my sister, Kashann and her family. The Casper family did their best to leave all family and friends behind by moving clear across the country, but it looks like we will be following them there.

To celebrate I went on a 5 mile bike ride with a friend. This was my first real bike ride ever. I never learned to ride a bike as a child. We had bumpy, dirt, farm roads that weren't great for learning how to ride bikes. We did have a concrete basketball court area but it was so small, I had to learn to ride while doing circles because it wasn't long enough in either direction to continue straight once you finally got going. So, I never learned... until today. I wish I had a video to post of the experience. I must have looked pretty funny, a grown woman gripping onto both handlebars swerving on and off the bike path. The funniest part was seeing the looks on the people's faces that we past. And, I didn't crash once. (Unless you count the time I ran into the fence, but I didn't actually fall of the bike. I just got a really big bruise where my leg hit the fence.) I found it very exhilarating.

2010-09-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

We went canoeing last Saturday with some friends. It was a beautiful day and the river was gorgeous. I love how green Tennessee is!

Peter told me I didn't need to wear my swimsuit since we wouldn't be getting wet. I figured if we were in a canoe on the water, there was a very good chance that we would get wet. And I was right. Half way through our trip, the canoe tipped over and we both took a little swim. This was the spot of the dangerous rapids were we tipped. It looks pretty dangerous, right?

We had a relief society activity with a 50's soda shop theme. I was one of the waitresses who took orders and served the food. We were asked to come dressed in 50's theme. This is what my friend and I came up with. The skirts are made out of tablecloths and sheets from Goodwill. The rollerskates were my favorite part. I found these at a thrift store for $9. A little spendy for me, but now I own a pair of rollerskates. Not quite sure what I will do with them in the future, but don't be surprised if you come over to my house and find doing my housework with my rollerskates on.

Sunday Nap

2010-09-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

I decided to take a nap after church today. Peter was kind enough to watch Laura while I slept. I woke up an hour later to see my baby running around naked with no diaper on. Then I saw a mysterious looking puddle on the floor. I pointed it out to Peter. When he saw it he said, "Laura, I trusted you!"

Pictures from our road trip to UT and WA

2010-08-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

Laura did better than expected in the car, considering how much she hates sitting in her carseat. For the most part she was happy and entertained herself with cheerios and sippy cups.

The hardest part about leaving TN was leaving my little "garden" on my back deck. We had a friend that tried to water them for us while we were gone, but it has been too hot here and they are about 65% dead. I'm hoping to coax them back to life.

Laura had so much swimming at Priest Lake.

I made Laura and I skirts for the Fourth of July.

Laura and Great Grandpa Fielding

Laura at 13 months

2010-06-22T03:27:00.000-07:00

Laura just keeps getting more and more fun. I love this age. She is constantly jabbering all day long (Peter says she takes after her mother) and often times she gets lucky and stumbles across real words. For the past few weeks she has been walking around the house saying, "guys!" like she has an announcement to make and wants everyone to hear. Her vocabulary also includes: "uh-oh," "mama," "dada," "hi" (which she says to everyone in the grocery store), "oh yeah" and "wow."

She also loves to accessorize. She is constantly putting things on her head, around her neck, on her hands, etc. Maybe it is my fault for telling her how pretty she when I put a flower on her head to try to encourage her not to rip it off. Now she thinks she can put anthing on her head, or elsewhere, and she looks pretty. This includes, scraps of fabric, food, toys, etc. All day long she is collecting items and sticking them somewhere on herself. Then she will go look in the mirror and giggle at herself. The other day she was walking around with this pink shirt on her head for 5 minutes. She couldn't see anything so she kept running into walls and furniture but I guess she thought it was so pretty she couldn't take it off.

She is a super happy baby and is so easy. Which means that my life is easy since my only responsibility is to take care of her. She is especially good when there are other children around.

I also love having a little model to practice my sewing. Most of her wardrobe consists of little dresses I have made her. In fact, I think I need to chill on sewing her more clothes. But I am just having so much fun. Everything looks good on her so she makes me feel like I am a better seamstress than I am. Trust me, I tried to make a skirt for myself last week and it was a total disaster. So, I am just going to stick with sewing Laura's wardrobe. I also made her a white sun hat to protect her from the ridiculously, hot TN sun.

Laura recently learned to give five and give kisses. I love those slobbery kisses! And when you ask her "where's your head" she sticks both hands on her head and smiles. When asked "where's your nose" she sticks her finger in her mouth. We are still working on that one.

What we've been up to

2010-05-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

After what seems like forever, Laura has finally decided that she is ready to start walking. And I am loving it. She just keeps getting more and more fun.

I took Laura to our favorite park to go on a walk and it was such a gorgeous day we had to take a couple of pictures. I am loving spring in TN. The last few years I have been in Utah for the spring. I hate spring weather in Utah. Really, does it have to continue to snow until June? Maybe in a couple of months, when my clothes are sticking to my wet, sticky body, I will be missing Utah's more moderate summer weather.

Isn't she starting to look so much like her father? Everyone tells us she looks like a little Peter.

Grandma Munk came to stay with us several weeks ago and we loved having her here. She even let us share her birthday with us. It was a great opportunity to try out the birthday banner and hats I just made.

And last but not least, I have little blossoms all over my vegetable plants! About a month ago, I built these homemade earthboxes following an online tutorial. I wanted to have a garden, but didn't have a spot to put it. So I built these to put on my deck.

And now, a little over a month later, my tomato, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers are covered in little yellow blossoms. I love gardening. Even if it is in a cheap, plastic tub. It is so exciting to watch plants grow.

Laura's Birthday Present

2010-05-04T05:07:00.001-07:00

For the past month, I have been slaving away on Laura's birthday present. This little quiet book took a surprising amount of time! But, I really like the way it turned out. And so far, Laura seems to love it. The test will be on Sunday when we find out if it really keeps her entertained and quiet!

(I am not sure why this pictures uploaded sideways.)

Happy Birthday, Laura

2010-05-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

My baby is now one year old!. I can't believe how fast the last year has flown by. Last night, when I was putting her to sleep, I got a little sad thinking that the first year of her life is over and I will never get to spend that time with her again. But, as cute as she was as a little baby, she is so much more fun now. I love seeing her gain her own little personality and learn how to do new tricks.

We celebrated her birthday with a little party with some of our friends.

One of the couples we invited over have a baby about the same age as Laura. It was fun watching them play together. Don't they look so cute in the party hats?

Laura had her own cake that we put on the floor. She had fun digging in to the frosting and licking it off her fingers.

This was the cake I made for Laura that the grown ups got to eat.

Laura's First Steps?

2010-04-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

My favorite thing about my gym is the child care. Laura gets to be watched by these sweet, old southern ladies with a inch of orange foundation on their face and the greatest southern accents. They all call her "Miss Laura" and everytime I pick her up she smells like rose scented perfume.

Last week, I went to get her after I had finished my work out and the lady told me, "Miss Laura is getting good at walking!" I responded, "You mean standing up?" She said, "No, walking. She took 3 steps all by herself." What? Did I miss my baby's first steps?

I really hope that Laura was not so inconsiderate as to take her first steps in front of the nice YMCA ladies and not her mama who is with her the other 23 hours of the day.

My superior athletic abilities

2010-04-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

On our picnic last Sunday, my friend snapped this picture right after I threw what I thought was a pretty good pass to Peter.

Yeah, I think this picture sums up my athletic abilities pretty well. It looks more like I am doing a dance move than throwing a football. I mean seriously, have you ever seen anything more awkward?

Easter

2010-04-04T20:34:00.001-07:00

We had such a wonderful Easter! The Easter brought Laura a cute bunny hat (Peter surprised us us by going to Target yesterday to buy Laura an Easter present and some chocolate for me.)

In between sessions of conference we went to a park and had a picnic with some friends. I am loving this 80 degree weather. I know that it is going to get really hot soon so I am going to enjoy the perfect weather as long as I can.

And here are a couple pictures of Laura's Easter dress.

Peter's Spring Break

2010-03-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

Peter had spring break last week which meant that we got to spend a little bit more time with him. We were invited by one of his friends to go on a "hike." It turned out that it wasn't much of a hike at all, at least we wouldn't call it a "hike" in Utah. It was more like a walk through a forest. But it was a beautiful day and it felt so good to be outside. I am looking forward to going back after the trees have leaves. It will be beautiful.

Laura is so much fun these days. She is constantly getting into trouble. Here are some of her latest tricks I've caught her in:

It seems like everyday she learns something new. Yesterday she danced for the first time and today she learned how to stand up in her high chair. I liked the dancing way better than the standing up in the high chair.
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I just painted and recovered this little rocking chair to go in her room. She loves to sit in it and make it rock and can climb out all by herself.

Alainna's Visit

2010-02-24T12:40:00.000-08:00

My sister Alainna came to stay with us for a week while her husband had a piano concert in London. We spent our time sewing a quilt and making some onesies for her baby boy that is due the end of April.

Thanks, Lainna, for coming to visit us. We hope can't wait for the baby to come and try out his new blanket!

Some fun things about Laura

2010-01-27T17:11:00.001-08:00

1. My baby loves blueberries. She would eat blueberries all day long if I let her. They were on sale last week at Wal-Mart so I bought a bunch and gave them to her to try. She loved it and has been eating them ever since. About 3 weeks ago, she decided she didn't want me feeding her anymore. Since then, she will only eat things that she feeds herself. I have been trying to find things soft and small enough for a toothless mouth and big enough that she can grab them with her awkward fingers. Blueberries are perfect. We are both going to be sad when the sale is over. Fresh blueberries are way too expensive to buy at regular price.

2. She is crawling now and the hard wood floors don't slow her down at all. She crawls all over the house looking for things to put in her mouth.

3. Her favorite toy is my toothbrush. She likes to sit on the bathroom cupboard while I brush my teeth and wait for her turn.

4. She now has one tooth, with one more on the way.

Tender Tennessee Christmas

2010-01-05T19:07:00.000-08:00

My favorite Christmas album always has been and always will be Amy Grant's Tender Tennessee Christmas. I have been listening to this song each Christmas for as long as I can remember. I was so excited when we moved to Tennessee and I realized I would have my own Tender Tennessee Christmas. And thanks to my sister Kashann and her family who made the 12 hour drive from Buffalo, NY to spend Christmas with us, it was everything we hoped our first Christmas in Tennessee would be.

Laura of course was too young to appreciate the magic of presents and so it was fun to have excited kids around on Christmas. We had a slumber party upstairs on Christmas Eve with sleeping bags on the floor. At 2:30 am, everyone woke up thinking it was morning already and I had to stumble downstairs to find a clock and then tell everyone to go back to sleep- Santa hadn't come yet.

We spent Christmas day eating a delicious Turkey dinner, thanks to my sister Kashann (you would think that after driving 12 hours to someone else's house you wouldn't have to do the cooking, too) and making dolls with my neices. What better way to spend Christmas than doing my two favorite things: eating and crafting.

Other highlights include playing the wii, (Peter is still mad I beat him and insists his side of the mat was broken) searching for Brent's dream house, listening to Caroline entertain us with her made up songs, and having 3 neices who took care of my baby all weekend.

Thanks, Casper family, for sharing our Tender Tennessee Christmas with us! We miss you and are hoping that Brent's dream house will be built somewhere close to Nashville.

Sitting Up

2009-12-12T21:29:00.001-08:00

Laura has finally learned to sit up!

The 2 things I am most thankful for...

2009-11-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

My wonderful husband and beautiful daughter.

Laura enjoyed her first Thanksgiving. And I enjoyed the cute Venezuelan family who was there and took care of Laura the whole time so I could help set up and clean up. She loves hearing them speak in Spanish. This is the 12 year old daughter, Denise, who carried her everywhere she went. Maybe a potential babysitter?

Happy Birthday to us!

2009-11-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

Peter and I both celebrated our birthday last Thursday. I am glad that Peter is finally 24, but he is not catching up because I turned 27! We had birthday dinner and cake at our house on Thursday and then celebrated by going out on a date Friday night and dropped our baby off at a friend's. It is the first time we have been just the two of us since Laura was born.

My parents called and made reservations at a Korean restuarant and paid for us. The food was awesome and thanks to my parents, Peter didn't have to choose one thing and was able to order everything he wanted. The food was excellent. When we finished and asked for our ticket, the Korean lady told us to wait. 5 minutes later she came out with a Wal-Mart birthday cake with lighted candles and announced to everyone in the restaurant, in her broken english, that it was our birthday and everyone sang to us.
i'm not quite sure what my mother said or paid to that little Korean lady, but it was such a fun surprise.

Toys

2009-11-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

I hate toys. I hate organizing them. I hate picking them up. And I hate finding them all over the house. Because of these reasons, I haven't bought any toys for Laura, even though she is getting to the age where she is starting to appreciate them. I always tell Peter that there is no reason to buy a toy when she has just as much fun playing with a piece of paper or a wooden spoon. Well, two days ago I caught her trying to swallow a big piece of paper and yesterday she poked herself in the eye with a wooden spoon. So I gave in today and bought her a toy to play with. I don't think she likes it anymore than the wooden spoon, but at least I am not worried about her hurting herself.

Happy Half Birthday

2009-11-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

Laura is now six months old. She weighs 14 lbs 15 oz and is 26 inches long.

First Halloween

2009-10-31T22:42:00.000-07:00

For our Halloween party, Laura was the only one from our family who dressed up. I confess, I am not much for cdressing up in costumes. I always feel a little silly when I am wearing some ridiculous outfit. I especially feel silly when I am at a party with a bunch of people that I just met in the last couple of months and am still getting to know. But, Laura doesn't feel silly. In fact, she could care less what she is wearing and enjoyed having new accessories to pull off and chew on. She dressed up for her first Halloween as a ladybug in a costume that I made. You can buy costumes for pretty cheap, but it was fun to make it.

Halloween Treats

2009-10-31T22:33:00.000-07:00

We got invited to a Halloween party and I was asked to bring some Halloween treats. So, last night, for our date night, Peter explained legal terms to me while I made these while I made these:

These were supposed to look like spiders but they turned out looking like little monsters. But, I guess that works too for Halloween.

Hanging Out

2009-10-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love looking at your sleeping baby? My favorite time of the day is at night, before I go to bed, when I go check on my baby. In this picture, the crib bumper was in my craft room getting fixed. That can't be very comfortable.

Fussy Baby

2009-10-18T17:24:00.001-07:00

The last couple of days, Laura has been extra fussy and I can't figure out what is wrong. Yesterday, every time I set her down or put her in her swing, she would start to fuss. She usually loves her swing. And today in church, all I could hear for the first 5 minutes of my relief society lesson, was my baby's cry coming from somewhere out in the hall. Well, it sounded more like a scream. I thought it would be some good father-daughter bonding time, but after 5 minutes I couldn't take it anymore. I found Peter in an empty room with the light out sitting on a chair staring at our screaming baby on his lap. Laura has always been an alert and crazy baby, but this is somewhat unusual for her. I can't figure out if she is teething, sick, has gas, or what. Maybe I should give her some infant Tylenol. I am just hesitant to give her medicine when she cries, because I don't want to be drugging my baby every time she seems fussy. But then again, I don't want her to be feeling unnecessary pain. It is hard to be a mother. I feel like I don't know what I am doing.

I have to admit though, I really enjoyed how she laid on my shoulder while she cried this afternoon. It is so much fun to cuddle with my baby, and she has never been a cuddler. She always wants to be standing up in my lap looking at everything going on around her. It is nice to feel her little head resting on my shoulder, even if she is crying.

First Real Food

2009-09-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

Laura has been very interested in food lately, staring at and reaching for whatever I am eating. So, I decided to let her try some rice cereal. A very small percentage of it actually went down, but she seemed to really enjoy it. It was fun for both of us. Here is a video of her first experience with food.

Little Miss Muffet

2009-09-03T08:11:00.001-07:00

My sister gave me a bonnet several months ago with some hand-me-down clothing from her girls. I love the little bonnet and decided to try to make one myself. Peter came home from school yesterday to see his daughter wearing this outfit. Peter said I need to quit making silly things for our daughter to wear. Last week, I made her a little tutu skirt. It is just so much fun to have a little girl to doll up. What will I do if I ever have a son?

Laura's New Chair

2009-09-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

We went to the relief society's president home for dinner on Sunday and she gave us her Bumbo chair for Laura. I love it. She just looks so big sitting up on her own.

Couch Pillows

2009-09-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

I love pillows, but I hate spending $15 for one pillow and it's always so hard to find one that matches perfectly. So I recycled the old curtains and some scrap fabric and made some pillows. I think I got a little carried away and it probably won't be the last time. I am just having too much fun making stuff for my house.

My new favorite recipe

2009-08-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

I love finding new, healthy recipes. I got this one off of the back of a bag of dry chick peas. It was delicious.

Falafel Sandwich

1 cup dry chick peas

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 medium jalapeno seeded (I didn't have a jalapeno so I used some chili garlic sauce to make it spicy)

2 tsp. cumin powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp ground pepper

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

Soak dry chick peas overnight, drain and combine with onion, garlic, parsley and jalapeno. Grind mixture in food processor. Add the remaining ingredients. Shape into patties 1 1/2" in diameter and 1/2" thick. Fry in deep hot oil until brown and crisp (I just used a little bit of olive oil). Serve hot in a pita with tomato slices.

(I know a lot of you are looking at it thinking that it looks like a green hamburger. The truth is, it does look kind of like a green hamburger. But a very yummy one! Even Peter, who would prefer to eat meat and potatoes at every meal, agreed that it was good enough to make for dinner again. This is high praise for something healthy coming from Peter.

Weekend Projects

2009-08-24T19:17:00.000-07:00

I love having a new house to decorate. Even if it is on a very tight budget. But thanks to some great end of summer sales, I completed two projects this weekend.

We bought these chairs at Kmart on clearance. I hated the wicker seats, so I decided to try to cover them. I love how they turned out.

Before:

After:

We needed curtains and I wanted something bright and fun to liven up our living room.

No more tip-toeing to the crib

2009-08-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

Ever since our car trip across the country, our baby no longer takes naps. And, the only way she falls asleep is if she is being held and fed. Then we play my favorite game of all: Tip-toe to the crib, say a silent prayer that she stays asleep, and try to put her down very gently and quietly as to not wake her up. 9 times out of 10, this is followed with screams and crying. After playing this game several times a day, I was starting to feel very frustrated. So I checked out a book my sister-in-law recommended, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. The book was great. I learned that I need to be in control of my baby's sleep and that she is old enough to learn how to fall asleep on her own. The author recommends putting the baby into bed for bed time and naps and not coming back in to rescue them regardless of how loud the baby cries. It sounds a little harsh, but, as the author explained, you are doing it because you are the parent and know that this is what is best for the baby.

So I decided to try it today and it was marvelous. Laura took 3 naps and went to bed at 8:00. She cried as usual when we first put her down, but I just let her cry until she fell asleep. With the first nap she cried 45 minutes. It seemed very long, but by the last nap she only cried about 5 minutes. And she was a much happier baby all day. And I was a much happier mother.

Bath Time

2009-08-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

Laura loves her bath these days. That is, after she gets over the initial shock of the cool water. It just seems to cruel to give her a warm bath when it is so hot inside. So we give her cold baths. Sorry about the nudity, but these pictures were too cute.

Our New Home

2009-08-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

I know for all the rest of you who have been living in a house for the past several years, it is nothing special to live in a house. But after spending the last 8 years of my life in apartments, I love having my own house. Of course, it is not our house at all because we are renting it but it feels so much more like our own personal house when we don't have neighbors above and below us. This morning I had so much fun mowing my little yard and checking my mailbox to see if there were any letters for me. And everyone time I use my washing machine to do a load of laundry, if feel as if I have died and gone to heaven.

You might be wondering why my baby is naked in this picture. It is because my husband doesn't want the air conditioning in our new house to run up a large bill. So, we don't use it. And for those of you who have been to TN in August know how hot and humid it can be with no AC. Our house stays above 80 degrees all through out the day and night. And even though I have a cute little room upstairs for our baby, she is sleeping downstairs with us where it is cooler.

Things I will miss about the Brigadoon

2009-08-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Now that I am living in a new cute little house, I am reminded of all the things that I learned to love and will miss about the Brigadoon. The Brigadoon is the name of the apartment complex where Peter and I lived for the past 18 months. And yes, it is as romantic as it sounds. I will always treasure the memories from our first year of marriage spent in the Brigadoon. Some of my favorites include:

1. The star print bathroom counter.

2. Hauling my laundry each weekend to my mother-in-law's, or anyone else who took pity on us and let us use their washer and dryer.

3. The fact that I could stand in the middle of my kitchen and not be able to reach out my arms all the way with out hitting a wall or cupboard. I still can't believe I cooked as many meals as I did in the teeny, tiny space.

4. The 90 degree summers and the 55 degree winters.

5. The bathroom floor that was stained all around the toilet. No matter how hard I scrubbed it still looked like somebody had an accident.

6. The paint on the wall that would wash off with water. (Don't bother trying to clean off any stains, you just make the problem worse by removing the paint as well.)

7. The gamble that each night your's could be the car that was broken into.

8. That only 2 of the four burners on the stove worked. The other two, not matter how many times I cleaned them, would fill the small apartment with smoke if they were turned on.

9. The fire alarm that went off everytime I used the stove. (even the two working burners sent off the fire alarm.)

10. The community garden two blocks away where I had my own little plot.

11. It was where we took our baby home.

12. It is where I first lived as Peter's wife; our first home together.

Goodbye Salt Lake, hello Virginia. Goodbye Virginia, hello Tennessee

2009-08-05T22:25:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a crazy couple of weeks. In the last two weeks we have moved not once, but twice.

Two weeks ago, we said goodbye to the Brigadoon and left for our road trip across the country to Virginia. Peter was planning on attending William and Mary law school and we were moving out to get settled before school started. We loaded up our furniture and stuff on to a big semi that we had rented space on (it was the cheapest way to do it) and shipped my car so that I could sit by Laura in the back seat to feed her bottles, hold her pacifier and keep her from screaming on the 33 hour drive. She actually did amazingly well. She slept most of the time and was much better than I would have been had I been strapped in the sweaty, milk and spit up soaked, smelly car seat for 2.5 days. We arrived in Virginia Sunday night and moved in to our apartment and signed our 1 year lease Monday morning. Then we spent the next 2 days going to Target, Wal-Mart, and Bed, Bath and Beyond buying all the things we left behind. Tuesday, the day our furniture arrived in the semi, Peter received a phone call from Vanderbilt law school asking if he was still interested. He had been put on the waiting list last January and we haven't heard from them since. Both he and I had pretty much given up on that and felt confident that we wouldn't be hearing from them again. Peter, thinking he didn't have anything to lose, told them he was still interested. The next day, Thursday, they called to tell him he was accepted. We debated as to what we should do. Vanderbilt is a better school, but is also more expensive. And we had just spent almost 2 grand moving out to Virginia! By Thursday, we had decided to move yet again. So by Friday night, we had packed up all our cars, loaded up a semi with our stuff again, and were driving through the night to get to Nashville by Saturday morning. We arrived in Nashville with our cars jammed full of all the stuff we had bought in Virginia and I felt like a homeless family living out of our car. To make things even more exciting, it was like 500 degrees plus 110 percent humidiy in Nashville that day. Laura was getting so hot and sweaty as we drove around looking at apartments I was afraid she was going to suffer from heat stroke if we didn't find some place to cool her down. But we didn't have a house to go home to. So we went to a grocery store and hung out for a couple of hours, taking advantage of their AC while we waited for our next house appointment. Luckily the next appointment was a little, cute house with a landlord nice enough to let us sign the lease and move in that day.

Yesterday, our furniture finally arrived for the second time, and for the first time in a couple of weeks, I have a bed to sleep on. You don't realize how great it is to have a bed, until you don't have one. I kept reminding myself that my Grandpa Fielding spent 3 months sleeping on a buffalo rug while he drove a covered wagon across the plains on the Mormon Trail reenactment. And he was over 65 years old. I figured if he could sleep on the floor for 3 months, I could handle it for a couple of weeks. But I've decided I am not as tough as Grandpa and hope to never have to sleep on the floor again.

It feels so good to have a bed and a home again. I hope Peter gets a job in Nashville after he graduates from law school because I never want to move again.

2 Months Old

2009-06-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

Laura will be 2 months old tomorrow! I can't believe how fast she is changing. She is starting to put on a little bit of weight and she now has cheeks (on her face and bum) and a round little belly. I like seeing her chubbier because it keeps me from worrying whether she is getting enough to eat. She is smiling all the time now and loves it when I talk and sing to her. She is a happy baby and only cries when she is hungry or wants someone to pay attention to her. Or if she is sick of being in her carseat and wants to get out. (Like this morning in the grocery store.) Or if she is dragged in and out of the car in Virginia heat and humidity to look at 7 different apartments.

Sometimes she gets lucky and puts her hands in the right spot and can hold up her own bottle.

My Latest Craft Project

2009-05-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

When I found out I was going to have a girl, I got all excited to make clothes for my baby. I could picture all these cute little dresses and outfits I was going to make for her. I'm not quite sure why I thought I would be able to do this since I don't know how to sew clothing. After a couple attempts and some ugly finished products, I decided to steer clear from sewing articles of clothing and decided instead to embellish things that I can buy at the store. And since onsies cost about $2 a piece, I thought this would be a good thing to start with. I think she looks so cute in this one.

I thought the heart would be cute, but it turns out that it is way too big and looks ridiculous on her little chest.

But the ruffles on her little bum looked very cute.

Garden Produce

2009-05-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite time of the year: the sun is shining, the weather is warm, there are flowers in everyone's yard, and best of all, I get to start eating produce from my garden. My spinach, lettuce, and arugula that I planted in early April are ready to eat. I guess it was worth all the back pain I felt after hoeing and planting with an 8 month pregnant belly. I love fresh spinach from the garden. Friday night, we ate a yummy salad with the pizza that Peter brought home for dinner for our date night. Our date night isn't quite what it used to be. I held Laura while Peter hurried to eat his pizza so he could hold Laura while I hurried to eat my pizza so I could feed her when I was done.

Peter also brought home a documentary on America and war. Sometimes I wish my husband would bring home a good movie. Something other than a documentary or a movie where people drive fast cars and get blown up. But, the documentary turned out to be perfect because Peter got to watch it while I took a much needed nap.

Healthy Version of Tin Foil Dinners

2009-05-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a yummy and healthy version of tin foil dinners. I have always loved tin foil dinners with hamburger, potatoes, onions, and carrots. Last night, I found a recipe online that inspired me to come up with this version that is way better and healthier. These are the ingredients that I used:

Salmon Fillet (I used the cheap, frozen version that I got on sale at Smiths)
Asparagus Spears
Zuchinni and Yellow Squash
Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper

I cut up the veggies and placed them with 1 salmon fillet in individual tin foil pieces. Then I poured lemon juice over the top and added salt and pepper. Then I cooked it for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees. It took less than 5 minutes to make and it was so yummy. We ate it with brown rice which is my new favorite thing to eat. I don't know why I ever ate white rice when brown rice is so good and so good for you. I like to add a little bit of chicken base and garlic to the rice cooker while it is cooking for more flavor.

I love finding new healthy dinner ideas. Even Peter liked it!

More Pictures of Laura

2009-05-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

I love staying home everday and taking care of my baby. I love watching all the funny things she does with her hands, arms, legs, face, etc. I found her sleeping in this position during one of her naps.

While we were in the hospital, the nurses brought Laura back to our room with a pacifier in the crib. That night she was crying and we couldn't figure out what to do so we put the pacifier in her mouth and she immediately stopped crying. It was amazing. We have used the pacifier ever since. She loves it. However, it is both a blessing and a curse. I spend many hours each day and night putting the pacifier back in her mouth!

I wish I could say she inherited these skinny legs from her mother.

Grandma Laura Hammond

2009-05-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Laura with her grandma, Laura Hammond, who she is named after.

When we were trying to choose a name, I couldn't get Peter to commit to any of the names that we were discussing. He just kept saying that he didn't just want to pick a name that was cute, but he wanted a name that had significance. One evening, we were discussing name ideas with his parents and Peter's mother mentioned "Laura." Ever since then, Peter was sure that was the name that we would choose. Luckily, I liked it as well.

We are happy to have our daughter named after such a wonderful woman and hope she follows in her Grandmother's footsteps.

Going Home From the Hospital

2009-05-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

It was one of the weirdest experiences to leave the hospital. Not just because we couldn't believe that they would let us walk out with a baby that we had no idea how to take care of, but also because there was an extra little person in our family. When we came in on Friday, it was just Peter and me; on Sunday we left as a family of 3.

This is her all dressed up ready to go home. She doesn't look very happy here. Maybe she is scared that the hospital is sending her away with 2 inexperienced parents who don't know what they are doing.

She is all buckled up in her carseat that Daddy thinks Mommy spent way too much money on. I told him if he was that upset with having to buy a carseat, he could call my brother-in-law, Brent, who could teach him how to make a harness out of rope to strap her in with. It seems to work well with his children.

Laura Munk

2009-05-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

Laura Munk, May 1, 6 lbs 7 oz

2009-05-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

I went to the hospital on Thursday for a routine fetal NST monitoring appointment. During my visit, the nurse found that Laura had an irregular heart beat pattern, so she transfered me over to labor & delivery to be examined by a doctor. After 4 hours of monitoring and an IV stuck in my arm (I still don't know what the point of that was), they sent us home saying that everything seemed to be okay and telling us to come back the next morning for more monitoring. After being stressed out all night about the health of our baby, we called our doctor Friday morning and asked if we could be induced. She fit us in at 1:30pm. So yesterday morning we cleaned our house, packed our bags, rented a couple of movies, and left for the hospital to have our baby.

They started me on pitocin and after several hours of painless contractions, they broke my water to help speed along the process. This was followed by an epidural. That was the best thing that has ever happened to me. Don't ask me why some women choose to go natural. I was perfectly relaxed and calm and we spent the next several hours of labor hanging out with Peter's family in our room. I was so relaxed that Peter was even allowed to watch a basketball game, which I never would have imagined my husband would be doing while I was in labor!

By 10pm, the family was getting tired and the end still seemed several hours away. I was dialated to a 4 and 80 percent effaced. The nurse guessed the baby would be born sometime around 5am, so the family took off with plans to come back in the morning when things heated up. Meanwhile, Peter and I got ready to take a nap and rest up for labor. Around 10:15 the nurse came in to check and see how things were progressing and, much to her surprise, as well as ours, I was dialated to a 10. She called the doctor in and we were told it was time to start pushing. It seemed like up until this point, labor was way too easy, but I figured the pushing would make up for it. They told me that lots of first time mothers push for 1 to 2 hours. But, once again, things were way easier than expected. After 9 or 10 pushes, and no more than 10 minutes, the doctor said, "Push really hard on this next contraction and you are going to have a baby."

And that is exacty what happened. It's a good thing that it was over so quickly because Peter almost didn't make it. He was holding one of my legs and everytime I looked over at him his face was turned towards the back wall and he looked like he was going to faint. Not really the encouragement I was looking for from my labor partner.

So with in 10 hours of checking into the hospital we were blessed with a beautiful and healthy baby girl with brown fuzzy hair and the cutest nose I've ever seen. Since then she has continued to be the perfect baby and is nursing well and sleeping lots.

Thank you all for your prayers and

overDUE

2009-04-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

The due date, April 27th, has come and gone. For the past several months, I have been counting down the days to April 27th. My planner at work has little X's crossing out each day and the 27th was a big and colorfuly marked goal that kept coming closer and closer with each X. Now, there is an X over the 27th as well. It was very anti-climatic.

I continue to cross out days, although I am not quite sure what I am counting down to, but I know that I can't have this big belly forever. At some point, something has got to happen. Although it sometimes feels like it, I know pregnancy can not be a permanant condition.

Meanwhile, Peter is happy that I am still able to go to work and earn more money and he is still able to study for his finals with out trying to balance school with being a new dad. Peter told me all along he wanted our daughter to wait until after his finals are done, May 6th, and it looks like that may just be what happens.

I haven't felt any contractions at all and think I should be more uncomfortable or in pain if anything was going to happen anytime soon. Yesterday, I decided to do my part to bring on labor and so every hour, on the hour, I hiked up from my basement office to the fifth floor of our building. By the end of the day, several of my coworkers had joined in with me. Unfortunantly, the only thing it did was make my calves ache. So this morning when I woke up, it wasn't with just a sore back but with aching legs. Well, I guess if it doesn't induce labor, it can't hurt to work on toning up my legs.

The doctor encouraged us to set the induction for this Friday, but I really want the baby to come on her own. So we put off the induction date till next Thursday, May 7th, the day after Peter's last final.

I hope this picture is not inappropriate, but I think it is so funny. Peter and I are both amazed at how big my belly has grown over the last several months. Peter wanted to make sure that we knew just how big it really is so he had me hold the chapstick to act as a scale.

The good news is that besides the fact that the suspense and the waiting is killing me, I don't feel as miserable as people told me I would feel at the end. I still have lots of energy and am still enjoying the big belly that is a constant reminder that there is a real baby inside of me. I love feeling her move around, and especially love the constant hiccups. I can't believe how often this baby has the hiccups! Best of all, I love the excitement of knowing that it could happen any day and the constant thinking and dreaming about what our baby will look like and what it will be like to be a mother.

Mom Jeans Baby Shower

2009-03-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Angela and my sister Alainna threw a baby shower for me and the theme was Mom Jeans. (If you are not familiar with this term, I recommend you watch the Saturday Night Live clip http://www.hulu.com/watch/10333/saturday-night-live-mom-jeans ). I guess they think that now I am having a baby, my body will permanantly change so that I have to start wearing a new style of jeans!

Were these jeans really ever in style or did just a few fashion oblivious mothers wear them because they were more comfortable? There couldn't possible be a time in our recent history when it was fashionable to have the long bum look, right?

As you can see, both Lainna and Angela are sporting the long bum look here.

I think I will send this picture to Lainna's husband who seems to be out of town more than he is home. How will he be able to stay away with such an enticing picture of what he is misssing out on?

My co-workers came to the mom jeans party and gave us a pack-n-play which will be our daughter's permanant bed for the next several months. I had these great plans for painting an old crib, sewing her a quilt and fixing up a cute little room for our baby. But Peter doesn't want to give up his "office" and we don't want to collect a bunch of baby furniture that we will have to move across the country with us in August when we go to law school. So I hope our daughter doesn't have any expectations for a high standard of living. I still don't know how she is going to survive the summer months living in an apartment where the bedroom reaches 95 degrees and doesn't cool down at night.

We are down to 4 more weeks until our due date. I can't believe how close we are to the end and I keep trying to imagine what it will be like to have our baby outside of my belly. I have never been so excited for anything in my whole life!

My Baby's Quilt

2009-02-28T08:15:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun making this rag quilt for my baby. It was the easiest and fastest quilt I have ever made. These are the simple instructions I wish I would have had so I wouldn't have had to figure it out along the way.

1) Buy twice as much printed flannel fabric as plain flannel fabric which will be used for the batting (The inside flannel will show so make sure you choose a color that matches)
2) Cut out 5''x5'' squares of fabric (Or whatever size you want the squares to be)
3) Place printed fabric right sides facing out with plain flannel square in the middle creating a 3 layer square
4) Sew an X through each 3 layer square
5) Lay out squares on the floor and arrange them into your desired quilt pattern
6) Sew squares into strips with the seams on one side of the strip
7) Sew strips together , once again keeping seams on one side of the quilt
8) With scissors, cut the seams making small cuts as close together as possible
9) Wash the quilt so that the seams fray

The only thing I wish I could have changed would be the thickness of the blanket. Next time I make a quilt like this, I think I might add an extra layer of plain flannel in the middle to make the quilt a little thicker. I can't wait to wrap my baby in this!

Christmas is Over

2009-01-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

I love the holiday season and I'm always a little bit sad to see it end. However, I am glad to be rid of all the cookies, fudge, etc. that is always with in reach everywhere you go during the month of December. I used to think that being pregnant during Christmas would awesome because I have an excuse for looking chubbier than usual. That was before I realized that my doctor loves to weigh me each month and comment on how much weight I have gained. And while the rest of you can start a new year's diet plan to lose the extra pounds you gained during the holiday season, I can look forward to gaining a pound a week for the next few months. I sound as if I am complaining, but the truth is, I love being pregnant. I mean, I don't love getting fat, but I love knowing that there is a baby inside of me and I like looking in the mirror and seeing a pregnant belly. I especially love knowing that eventually this baby will come out and then I will have my own baby.

I was finally able to talk Peter into spending the money to get a Christmas tree in our house. I decided that rather than buy cheap ugly ornaments that would most likely be broken by our child next year, I would make our Christmas decorations. I had so much fun making our ornaments and, although they do not look great, I figure the more I practice the more crafty I will become. I also added to our stockings with one for our baby. I made one for Peter and I last year so I thought it would be fun to have one for our baby this year.

It's a girl!!!

2008-12-24T09:06:00.000-08:00

We had our 20 week ultrasound and were pleased to find that we are having a little girl. That night we celebrated with brownies topped with pink peppermint icecream and pink whip cream, served with pink punch.

I am so excited we are having a little girl! I can't wait to dress her up in pretty little dresses and hair bows.

My belly is big enough now that people love to comment on my pregnant body and what they think about it. I find it interesting that complete strangers feel so comfortable in giving me medical advice and diagnosing any possible problems. How is it possible that in the same day I will have one person tell me that my belly is too small for 5 months along, while another complete stranger claims I am so big I have to be having twins? (Apparently this lady is so experienced in estimating child size, she thinks she knows more than the doctor who has a camera that sees inside my belly.) Yesterday somebody asked me why my baby was so high. I am glad she made me aware that my baby was higher than it was supposed to be as I never realized that it was too low. I really don't mind all the sudden interest in my body, but I need to learn to not let their free advice worry me. One moment I am worrying that I am too small and my baby isn't growing properly, while the next I am worried that I have a baby prone to obesity who likes to ride dangerously high in my belly. I guess it is all part of the fun of being pregnant.

The Pregnant Bridesmaid

2008-11-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

My best friend finally got married! We met several years ago in Florida selling pest control. Since then we have spent every summer selling together. The rest of the year we spent latin dancing every weekend and wasting our hard earned pest control money in shopping malls. Last year, I finally convinced her to give up year round pest control and go back to college. I convinced her that it was the only way she would find a guy and be able to get married. Well, she found a guy...my guy. Peter happened to be in one of her classes, she gave him my number and the rest is history. Since that time, I have been feeling guilty that I am happily married with the man she found, and have been trying unsuccessfully to return the favor. Well, she found this one all on her own, and they are perfect for each other. It was a beautiful wedding and I'm very happy for her.

Game Day

2008-11-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to pretend that I care about college football or I give a darn who wins or loses. Nor do I understand anything that is happening the few minutes that I have spent watching a football game with Peter on TV. But there is one game that everyone in Utah cares about: the U vs the Y. So, even though I really could care less about football, I put on my BYU hat and dressed in blue and white and watched 4 long hours of football with my U loving husband. I tried to stick up for BYU as much as possible, but it is difficult when you don't have any idea what is going on, and BYU isn't doing much that you could brag about. Unfortuantly, Peter's team won, just as he said they would. I hate when he turns out to be right, especially on something as dumb as college football.

My Pregnant Belly

2008-11-16T17:25:00.000-08:00

I am starting to look pregnant! My normal clothes are fitting a little too tight, and although I am not quite big enough for maternity clothes, this high waisted dress shows off my blossoming belly. I love being pregnant and don't mind getting a little round if it means there is a baby inside me. In fact, I am really enjoying it. I hope Peter feels the same way...

Peter's Birthday Present

2008-11-08T12:49:00.000-08:00

Peter is modeling the apron I made him for his birthday. I thought maybe he could use something more manly than my pink and polka dotted, frilly aprons that he usually wears on Sunday to keep his white shirt clean during Sunday dinner. Okay, so maybe this isn't too manly either, but I didn't want to make an ugly, boring apron.

Happy Birthday to Us

2008-11-08T12:33:00.000-08:00

It is so much fun to have the same birthday. (And it's great to know that I will never, ever forget about his birthday.) We woke up and cooked breakfast together and then went to a Korean restaurant for dinner. If you are wondering why we are throwing gang signs, let me explain by saying that in every single one of Peter's mission pictures, there is a Korean with a peace sign.

The Fruits of My Labor

2008-11-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to show off my home grown, home canned tomatoes. (Thanks to my mother in law who let me use her kitchen and canning supplies) I had so much fun this summer growing, weeding, and harvesting my little garden. We had a plentiful supply of carrots, beets, peppers, fresh herbs, tomatoes, radishes, squash, cucumbers, and of course zuchinni. I even had flowers to put on my table each week.

Unfortunately, my pregnancy nausea decided to hit for the first time while I was making a vegetable lasagna with all my garden produce. I haven't been able to eat anything from my garden since. Although I can not imagine a time in the future when zucchini will sound good again, I am hoping my love for garden veggies will return before next summer.