Weaning*@#%&! er a argh... Weaning? I need advice!

I used to be one of those moms who looked at other moms and thought, "that kid is waaaayyy too old to still be breastfeeding." Okay, so Nick is 11 months old in 2 days and I've (half-heartedly) decided that it is time to get him eating baby food. I've tried for months to get him to take everything from rice cereal to pudding (healthy, I know). He hates it all! He won't take a bottle- doesn't matter what is in it-, doesn't like to take baby food from me (takes it pretty good for my mom when we visit her), and is totally disinterested in all things food except...the boob and Famous Amos cookies. I'm pretty sure a boy can't survive on Famous Amos alone, but I'm ready to wean. I've tried it all and I'm exhausted. He still wakes about 3 times a night and doesn't really soothe himself back to sleep. I'm sleep deprived, overweight, and constantly getting sick from not treating myself better. Nick, on the other hand, is not phased by my lack of sleep.
The solution: Jeff's going hunting in Wyoming next week for the week. I've enlisted the help of my mom for the whole week. She's coming up and we're going to get Nick weaned. Any suggestions? We need some tips on how to make this smooth for both Nick & I. So far all my efforts have been unsuccessful.

Deer Hunt

We're back from the deer hunt and I won't post a picture of Jeff's deer because of its mammoth size...wouldn't want to create any hurt feelings. Actually, I just forgot to take a picture while we were there because it was off in the north forty hanging in a tree. It's a small one this year, but we all had a good time.

I went to my last Photoshop class last night and had to play with a few more photos. I'm sure you're sick of seeing all my fun play stuff, but I love all this computer photography fun. The trees were just a happy accident as I sort of got lost on the mountain while helping to try and push some deer out of the trees and up to Craig. I looked up and thought how cool all these dead, burnt trees looked and so I snapped a few pictures.

My Little Pumpkin

My Boys

In trying to put clean sheets on my bed yesterday, Ryan insisted I take a picture of he and Nick rolling around and the downy-smelling linens. At first I was irritated and wanted to get the beds made, but then I thought better of my attitude, grabbed my camera, and pulled the sheets a few different directions. The lighting isn't just right, but the moment was.

Spoon Me, St. George

This is my sweet sister-in-law, Britta's, store that was burglarized. You have to check out the video because you can see her running after the creep that took the money. Hope they catch the guy...spread the word.

BTW: if you haven't been to Spoon Me, GO! It is over by the Pineview Stadium Movie Theaters and it is super yummy, healthy, and addicting.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4529455

Reward offered in charity jar theft
October 14th, 2008 @ 9:50pm
(KSL News) Employees at a St. George frozen yogurt shop want to find a man who stole their charity jar.
Last night, the man went into the "Spoon Me" store at 2376 Red Cliffs Drive, and then left. But he came back and took the jar of the counter and ran away from employees.
The store was planning to use the money to pay for medical bills for a Hurricane baby. Management says the family will still get the money, and they are offering a cash reward or free yogurt for a month for information leading to an arrest.

I'm With Britni On This One...I Care What Happens

YES ON PROPOSITION 8 in California

You've been tagged. PLEASE READ THIS no matter what state you live in. Failure to pass Proposition 8 will hurt children. If gay marriage remains legal, public schools will put it on equal footing with traditional marriage. Children will likely receive “age appropriate” information about sexual relations within heterosexual and homosexual marriages.

Failure to pass Proposition 8 will hurt churches. The court’s decision will inevitably lead to conflicts with religious liberty and free speech rights. Society will become more and more hostile to traditional beliefs about marriage and family. Over time, greater acceptance of nontraditional marriage will be demanded of all people. This could impact the ability of any religion to teach and practice its beliefs. Including adoption agencies.

A YES vote will not hurt gays. In California, the law provides for marriage-related benefits to be given to civil unions and domestic partnerships. Proposition 8 does not diminish these benefits.

For your information:On Friday, October 10th, 2008 a first-grade class took a field trip to witness a lesbian wedding in California. Click Here for the article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

A father in Massachusetts was frustrated when his kindergartner was taught about homosexuality at school by the teachers. He insisted he be notified in the future before such things were discussed so he could pull his boy out of school.He was taken to jail. Click Here for the story.

A Catholic adoption agency In the UK closed their doors because of the Government's new homosexual equality laws. The Equality Act forbids discrimination in the provision of goods and services on the basis of sexual orientation. The law was forced through Parliament last year despite past Prime Minister Tony Blair's recommendation that Catholic adoption agencies be exempted from the rules. Click Here for more info.

Earlier this month judges in Connecticut overturned the state law (just as the judges in California did) to legalized gay marriage. This is not just an issue in California. We voted years ago to keep traditional marriage as the only marriage recognized in the state of California, 4 judges overturned our vote…and we need to fight back. That is what this Proposition is about. This is happening everywhere and the leaders of the church and others have warned that the outcome of California’s vote will affect the way the other states vote. So PLEASE…even if you don’t live in California, put this on your blog or email this on. The Internet knows no state line. You know contacts in California that I don’t…and so do your friends. Please pass this on as it could eventually have an effect on everyone!

"Occasionally discouragement may darken our pathway; frustration may be a constant companion. In our ears there may sound the sophistry of Satan as he whispers, "You cannot save the world; your small efforts are meaningless. You haven't time to be concerned for others." Trusting in the Lord, let us turn our heads from such falsehoods and make certain our feet are firmly planted in the path of service and our hearts and souls dedicated to follow the example of the Lord." --Thomas S. Monson

Click Here for excerpts from the Broadcast given by Elders M. Russell Ballard, Quentin L. Cook and L. Whitney Clayton.

A good resource mentioned in the broadcast: http://www.preservingmarriage.org/

October 20th: Last day to apply for an absentee ballot if voting out of state. Click Here to get one.

October 27th: Last day to apply for “Vote by Mail” Click Here for info.November 4th: Election day. Polls close at 8:00pm. Vote by mail must be received by this time and can be hand delivered if necessary.

YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED...Here's what you do:In the broadcast we were asked to "go viral on our blogs, etc" by Elder Ballard. This is my way of going viral. If you feel this is an important issue I ask that you copy and paste this post...and post it on your blog. PLEASE keep it at the top of your blog through November 4th. which you can adjust each time you post under the "edit post" option. The Internet knows NO STATE LINE. You know contacts in California that I do not...as do your friends and their friends...and so on. Please do this. If not for your own children and the effect it could have on them some day...for mine! After you have posted this...email this to your contacts and TAG all your blogging buddies to do the same. THANK YOU!

Photoshop Fun

I'm loving the Photoshop class that Amber and I are taking right now. We are having so much fun and learning som really cool stuff. I'm beginning to realize that all those cool, trendy things that photographers are doing to pictures are just fairly simple Photoshop steps.

I hope that Ryan and Nick will be happy after Ryan gets home today so that I can take some more pictures to practice on besides the same ones that I've already posted.

This one is kind of yellow, but I liked the sort of "rusty" look to it.

Hunting for Elk

This Past weekend was the opening of the Elk Hunt. We went with both my parents and Jeff's parents down near Mayfield in the Manti-La Sal National Forest. We had a great time, got to see a lot of elk, and enjoyed:) the new-fallen snow.

It was a pretty muddy mess, but once it snowed more than the initial 3-4" everything just sort froze over and it was beautiful. The trees were still bright colors of orange, yellow, and red and the sight was amazing. The pictures don't do the scenery justice because I wasn't about to take my good camera camping in the mud and the muck.

What a hot babe I'm married to! Sure do love him lots and lots.

Don't be too jealous of all that orange I'm wearing.

Hey, that reminds me of the funny story on how I got all that orange gear:

Jeff and I had been married about a month when I came home tired from teaching one day. We did the usual "how was your day?" talk and then Jeff said, "I bought you something today." I said "You did, where is it?" Jeff replied, "It's in the bedroom." and he had this really mischievous look on his face and was pretty excited about what it was he had purchased. Being only married for a month or so, I expected to go in our room and find a pink Victoria's Secret bag on the bed. I rounded the corner and found a giant brown bag on the bed and when I took the items out is was an orange hunting jacket, orange pants, and other hunting attire. I hadn't hunted a day in my life!!! Needless to say, I was actually a little ticked off and told him it was an absolute waste of money, that I would never use it and hunt with him, and that he should take it back. He refused and was convinced that he would convert me over to love hunting. Several years later and a lot of use out of those clothes and I've had to sort-of eat my words. We do love camping and hunting together. Who would've thought? I know that those of you who've known me for a long time would've put money on my not getting dirty, enjoying the outdoors, and helping gut dear & elk... I guess miracles do happen. Now, when I tell the orange hunting clothes story, it always gets a good laugh...even from myself.

I couldn't resist buying the puppy-dog hat when I saw it on Nick in the store. My mom put it on him when I wasn't looking and I absolutely thought it was the cutest thing, especially since Nick loves wearing it.

Love being a mom! This one is one of the best little boys in the whole world.

Prop 8

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1155394344/bctid1822459319

(I watched this on laughwiththeflea.blogspot.com because they live in Cali & so does my SIL. I'm too dumb to figure out how to blog the video from the link...it keeps saying bad request so I'm just going to put the link instead of the video on this...argh, computers!)

Worth watching if you care about kids and schools and what may happen to both across the country. Let's all hope that voting goes the way it should in November.