All I Have to Say Is....

I MADE IT TO UTAH! WAHOO!!!!!

Let the FUN begin!

....and where's Tyson? At work....what's vacation?

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Don't these pictures make you want to laugh and cry all at the same time! I mean, kids HATE Santa at first but later he'll become "the best ever". Poor Eden hated Santa...but her little sad face is so cute and funny. I'm such a mean mom. Jack definitely wasn't a fan of Santa either.

But Eden did like the bouncy ball Santa gave her. And she even admitted to me that it was nice of Santa to give her a toy even though when I asked her if she liked Santa she said, "no".


p.s. Thanks Eliza for the pictures.

If You're Happy and You Know It...Clap Your Hands!

*Clap Clap*

My Joys...

My mom and dad fly in TOMORROW.
I get a VACATION.
Eden will GET OUT OF THE HOUSE (she'll be pumped).

I'm so happy.

*Someone in the far off distance who somehow knows everything about my life yells out*
"But Bethany....WHY are you so happy? You've had so much to complain about!"

Me? Complain? NEVER! Just ask my husband. Hmm...scratch that, don't ask him.

Recent complaints (just to get them out):

• Finals week = No husband
• No husband = No car
• No car = Eden and I stuck at home going crazy
• Stuck at home and going crazy = whiny and bored child (and me)
  
• Morning sickness
• and Pink eye

But this just goes to show that even if you're a sick and lonely crazy-child hermit mother with a diseased eyeball....

You too can smile and clap your hands. :)

Happy Holidays.

p.s. I'm not being sarcastic. I'm being very realistic in fact. Although, the insanity displayed within this post may be have something to do with the complaints mentioned above.

Holiday Perm-a-Grins

You know those simple things in life that make you smile even just thinking about it? You can't help it...you gotta smile...and you can't stop smiling. There are several things on my Perm-a-Grin list including (but not limited to):

Norah Jones
Avocado-Vanilla Tapioca Drinks
Extra end-of-the-month budget money
Hot tubs

Its one of those things that make me happy cause I don't get these often making them a special treat when I do. Holidays do the same thing because there are some things I don't get unless its the holiday season. Here's my Perm-a-Grin holiday list:

Homemade Capriotti sandwich (turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce on a roll...try it if you haven't)
Christmas smelling candles
Elf ("Buddy the Elf. What's your favorite color?")
Peppermint ice cream
Turning off all lights except a lamp and the Christmas tree

So, this is me signing off....with a perm-a-grin. :)

p.s. Twelve more days until I head to Utah. Another thing that makes me smile.

Arts, Crafts, and Inspiration

A Story
by Bethany

Once upon a time there was a girl named Bethany. She loved to take pictures. She loved to blog. She loved to take pictures to put on her blog.

One day Bethany's camera battery ran out. Solvable problem. Then she realized that her battery charger had gone missing. Unsolvable problem.

Bethany's blog remained unposted.

Then she decided that she was sick of her old post, no new comments, and SEVERE lack of pictures....so, she pulled out the camera phone in desperation.

And now she can blog...at least today.

The end.


So, what was so exciting that I HAD to take pictures from my phone and post them on my blog? OK, honestly...it's probably not THAT exciting. But I wanted to show everyone Eden's art.

We've been having lots of fun the past while and it seems like there's lots of arts and crafts involved. Eden's been LOVING it.

There was a community activity day (Parents as Teachers) where the kids were able to get a little messy. Eden learned to paint. She LOVED it. They squirted a few colors of paint on a paper and the kids painted using a cue tip. She painted this all by herself (except her name of course). My favorite part about this picture was the blue squiggly line that is to the left of her name....see it? She drew that and said, "snake". (The picture is being held on our fridge by an Elvis magnet in case anyone was curious about the scary man in the corner.)

There was also an area with glue and things to stick to it. I put glue on and she would put things on (she did get to use some glue in the end as well). I wrote her name and Eden started to do really good at the beginning (notice the "E"). Then she just started plopping things on the page everywhere.

The only negative thing about this "messy day" is that Eden isn't much for messes (except when she eats and she knows that I rip off all her clothes for the purpose that its ok to get a bit messy). So, every time she got something on her hands she dropped everything and made me wipe it off before she would continue with her art.

Today at the house we had fun with cardboard. I pulled out the tent that I made for Eden a while back and she played for a while. Then she flattened it and laid down on it. I thought "hmm...that could be fun." So, I grabbed a marker and started to trace around her. She only let me do her legs. But then she would find other things for me to trace or tell me to draw something. Then she wanted to color and draw as well. It was fun.
Notice at the bottom I wrote her full name "Eden Emishi Finlinson". I was trying to teach her to say it. She said "Eden", "Mishi", and "Eden Finsin". Not too bad.

This is her drawing. It was after breakfast so I hadn't dressed her yet.Something I noticed a while back is that in her coloring book she'll scribble over it. But I noticed that she's really trying to color in the pictures the best she can. Notice the little circles I drew? She was trying to color each of them.
Also, I've been inspired. My friend's blog posted some crafts she's been working (blog post here) on that came from the blog makeitandloveit.blogspot.com. I love a lot of ideas that came from the blog and I'm determined to increase my craftiness. You should check it out if you haven't yet (and check on my friend's because I honestly think her little girl's sweater dress turned out WAY cuter than the one on the craft blog). You gotta kind of skim through it...there were a lot of things I was like "eh...I could live without that". But then you'll get to a few that look AWESOME and EASY. That's when I felt inspired to create.

Conversations with Eden

Attempting to explain to Eden that another baby is on its way...a little difficult...but it's been funny.

Conversations with Eden:

Me: "Eden, where is mommy's baby?"
Eden: (points to my belly button)
"Wah-Wah....crying."
(Shares her sippy cup with my belly)
"Poopy. Change."
(Wipes my belly with her hand)
"All better."

Me: "Eden, what should we name the baby?"
Eden: "Rock.....Trash......Hands."

Well, looks like we've got 3 suggestions for baby names. Hmm...dunno if they're gonna make it in the runnings.

I'm Horrible at Keeping Secrets...

Better Late than Never

Happy (late) Halloween! We went to our ward's carnival and trunk or treat which was a lot of fun. Tyson walked and played with Eden during the carnival...I was helping with the primary's booth of "shoot the ghosts on the wall with Nerf guns"...quite the popular game!

We unfortunately didn't get too many pictures...these are the best we got.

Eden the Indian and Jack the "JACK" o' Lantern...get it? Ha!

At the carnival Eden got her face painted (I mean, an indian has got to wear some war paint). She just sat there nice and still while they drew a flower on one side and a heart on the other....AND she never touched it after!

Pumpkin Carving and the Zoo

I'm loving this time of year. I don't usually get much into the "Halloween Spirit" or even care for the changing of the leaves on the trees. But this fall has been a lot of fun with friends! It helps that Eden is getting so active, loves pumpkins, and dressing up. But there are so many trees here in Kansas City that you can't help but love to watch the colors change and the whole world look like a different place (no offense to Utah where we live in a desert...just not the same).

We bought a pumpkin for Eden (because she's obsessed with them) and carved it with a bunch of friends (Tyson's study-buddies and their wives). Here's Jimmy, Seth, Tara, and Tyson stabbing away.
Eden inspected the pumpkin to make sure daddy's pumpkin carving skills were up to par.
Here's everyone together with our pumpkins (look at our little shrimpy pumpkin on the end!) But Seth and Tara (with the giant pumpkin) created a witch. Natalie and Jimmy made Wall-E. And Tyson (I admit I didn't help at all) did an angry faced pumpkin.

I also went out with some other friends of mine. We went to the zoo (where Kansas City residents get in for free during the months of October and November). I love the zoo...always have and always will.

Here's Eden and an otter.
Here's Drew and...some kind of bird that would try to peck at his hands through the glass.
Here are the kids...didn't get any pictures of the adults. Jack, Eden, and Drew are buddies (most of the time) and we try to have play group with them once a week.

And of course there are more pictures that I wanted to put on her...but didn't. If you'd like to see them....go to my picture blog tysonandbethany.blogspot.com.

Creativeness, Madness, and Sickness

So, for the 3rd or 4th or 5th time since living in Kansas City....I'm sick. Congestion, fever, achiness, the whole bit. Pity. Eden's even learned how to "play sick". She gets in my bed, puts the covers over her, and says "sick".

Beyond THAT I've had some fun with food! My friend Eliza taught me how to make and jar apple pie filling! I haven't yet tried making the actual pie, but I hear amazing things. I went over to her house and spent several hours making jars of goodness. And I was proud.
Then today I decided to play with my food. I was making lunch for me and Eden...we had some bananas and apples that needed to be used...so I had a good time. I found these little fun treats (bug-a-pillar banana dude and oozing apple monster mouths) on picky-palate.com. Her's look cuter than mine...I just rushed through mine...but I'm still proud.
Eden was a little frightened of eating the bug at first. I had to touch it first and show her that you eat it. After that she took it all apart before eating it. I think it helped her be less afraid when it didn't look like a bug. The first time I've ever seen her back away from a banana!
And I had a good time with the apple mouths. They were really quite tasty. And even though this crazy, mad-woman picture definitely shows my unattractive side....I'm still proud of what I've done...even when I'm sick.

Back with Pictures

The trip was wonderful and I'm sad it's over...at the same time its been nice to be home with my husband again. I'm not feeling very creative tonight...so sorry if this blog is a rather boring read. At least there are pictures of Eden! Who could ask for more?

Alright, this is me condensing all my pictures into a few that describe the trip...to see more pictures go to my other blog tysonandbethany.blogspot.com (or click here). For more detail on the trip...read the last two blogs.

The plane ride.

Hugging a pumpkin at my dad's work party in Wheeler Farm...Eden's in love with pumpkins.
My mom's 60th surprise birthday party.

The aquarium in Sandy. Eden was able to touch a snake.
Playing dress up.
The Witches at Gardner Village.
Eden and her cousin, Eva, playing during the Finlinson/Sakamoto dinner.

Going Home

Today is my last day here in Salt Lake. Its been tons of fun and I'm gonna miss everyone (I'm sure that Eden will miss all the friends and attention).

Well, here's what happened the last few days here (pictures to come):

At church on Sunday, my home ward had a change in bishoprics. That was exciting to see because it was the ward I always grew up in. When we left sacrament Eden saw the toys in the nursery. She yelled "TOYS!", ran into the nursery, and that was that. So, she went to nursery for the first time and didn't seem to notice I was even gone. I can't imagine sunday school and relief society to be as exciting in her mind as toys and snacks. She's apparently ready to go to nursery!

That night my family all came over for dinners and we played games. I love my family.

Monday I helped babysit my nephew Trey with my mom. We decided to go see the witches at Gardner Village. I don't think Eden really understood what witches are, although she can say "witches" (unlike Trey who says witches with a "b" instead of a "w"...oops). But she loved looking at all the pumpkins and horses...and eating a piece of fudge.

My sister, Becca, came over after and we played more games.

My good friend, Liz, gave me a call cause she read I was in town from my last blog. Good thing I wrote or else she wouldn't have realized I was here and I wouldn't have remembered that she moved in with her parents so she lived close enough that I could go visit her and see her new little baby. So cute...I love babies. I love Liz too.

We had invited the Finlinsons over for dinner with my family but they were running a little late. So, I went with Laura to see Trey's cousin, Italia...who isn't 2 yet but speaks in full sentences...quite impressive! But then we ran back home just in time for the party to start.

Dinner was great, it was wonderful to spend time with my in laws, they loved spending time with Eden, and we all just had a really great time. I ate til I was stuffed. I'm sure I've gained at least 5 lbs since I've been here.

This morning my mom, Laura, Becca, McKell, Eden, and I went out to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. My mom had a $10 off coupon so we figured we'd use it. Once again, I ate til I was stuffed.

Now I've just been home packing and grocery shopping in my mom' pantry. Eden's taking a nap...but we're gonna be leaving for our plane ride in an hour. Its bitter sweet. I get to see Tyson again but I'm gonna miss my family and being busy doing fun things all the time.

Eden's vocabulary has increased even in the small amount of time we've been here. She's learned to say "I don't want it" (unfortunately), "apple juice", and she's developed a fear of most anything that moves or makes noises and is bigger than a penny. She will run away to want me to carry her and she'll say "scary!"

Well, when I get home, I'll post all the pictures I took! Sorry if these two past posts have been....information (aka:boring). Back to the regular schedule when I get home!

Day 3 in Salt Lake

This is going to be a "no pictures" post. When I get home and can put all my pictures on to my computer...then I'll put all the pictures that relate to my posts. :)

Thursday (day 1):

There were a few complications when going to the airport. A friend was taking me and after she got to my house and we loaded up her car, the car broke down. We would have taken my car and then she could have driving it back...but I had already locked the car keys inside my house. So, I had to call another friend to ask her to take me to the airport. She came to the rescue. I guess that's why they tell you to come an hour early to the airport...make sure you are there on time even when bad things happen.

The airplane ride was pretty good. Eden did well...at least until the stop in Colorado. She was as happy as a clam, but her "no second nap" started to kick in from the trip to Colorado to Utah. She was a bit hard to handle, but we survived.

That night in Utah we went to my dad's work party at Wheeler farm where they fed us dinner, we looked at animals, got to pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, went on a hay ride, and went through the children's corn maze. It was a lot of fun, the kids had a blast. Eden's favorite was probably the pumpkins...she loves pumpkins. I have a feeling Halloween may be her favorite holiday.

That night my sisters and I pretended to go to a movie....but instead we went to my grandma's to help set up for my mom's surprise birthday party. It took a while, but we got it all together and it looked great!

Friday (day 2):

My mom and I ran a few errands and went to a few garage sales that morning. We also went to Taylorsville City Hall to see what we could do to help out with the tsunami in Samoa. They were collecting items to send over. So, my family and I printed off some flyers and took them door to door saying that the next morning we were going to gather items needed and to leave them on their doorstep.

Then I was in charge of making rolls for my mom's birthday party...I spent quite a bit of time making rolls, playing with kids and family that came around, and just relaxing.

The party was wonderful! My mom had no idea that so many people were going to be there for her 60th birthday. She just thought my grandma was having a dinner with some family. But we had a wonderful dinner, played let's make a deal, bingo, and "guess how many grams of fat/sugar/carbs are in the treats". We had cake and ice cream and lots of fun.

Saturday (day 3):

My family went around and picked up the items needed for the Samoa service project as well as bought a few things in bulk like water and rice to donate. I actually spent most of that time at home while Eden took a nap. So, I made sandwiches for my family when they returned for lunch.

That afternoon we went to the Aquarium in Sandy. We met up with Tyson's family there so they could spend some time with Eden. My sister won free tickets to the aquarium...so it was FREE! It is a really small aquarium with not a lot to see...but Eden probably liked it better that way. She was so excited to see fish, but when she saw how big they were....she backed off really quick! The only things she seemed to enjoy were the really small fish that she called "babies", the shark (from a distance that would occasionally swim by and she would wave and say "bye shark"), and the bird show. She did touch the snake and quickly backed away after, but that was pretty brave of her.

Then my family all went out to all-you-can-eat sushi. Oh...my mouth waters just thinking about it. It was delicious! We ate and ate and ate. I don't really ever get the chance to eat sushi...but since this new restaurant opened up really close and 1/2 priced gift certificates were sold...we've been there a few times.

That night we all just played games at my mom's house. My friends Rachel and David came over with their two kids to say hi. It was nice to see them. I hadn't met their little Emi before...she was born RIGHT after I left...like the week after.

So, that's an overview of the busy trip so far. Its nice to be busy and have so much family around. Rachel and David apologized for interrupting a family gathering...but nope, that's just how my family is all the time. They are always around, playing games, the kids can play with each other, the girls go shopping, and we just do whatever together.

I'll post later with what's going on the last half of my trip!!! Then pictures when I return!

Little Going On...

There's not much going on over here. General conference was great, we had our first visitor stay at our house (Tyson's friend Bryce came for med school interviews), and we all got sick...again.

But to make you all happy, here a little bit of Eden.

Eden got a Halloween costume from our friends, Chuck and Eliza. It was meant for their little boy, Jack, but didn't fit....so they gave it Eden. She LOVES it...and asks to wear it EVERY DAY. So, I guess it's an early Halloween here in Kansas City!

And here are some pictures of Eden eating leftover olives from dinner. She really enjoyed eating them...but more fun playing with them. She kept putting them on her fingers and saying, "puppet!"

Domesticating

Creativity is not one of my strong points. Saving money (well, more like not spending the money I have) is a stronger point. Unfortunately for Eden, that means for her that we lack toys and fun things in our house because I don't buy them AND I don't create them.

There was a lady who came over to my house that was a part of a free, community group called "Parents as Teachers". They come over every 3 months and talk about your child's development, give you ideas of things to do, and interact with your child. She came over for the first time a while back and she was really nice. She brought some toys that were made from things many would label as "trash". Since then I've been saving things from the fate of the trash can and giving them life as a child's play toy. I must say, Eden's impressed.

Here are my creations! A tent made out of the cardboard box, covered with her blanky (not so original, I know...I should have thought to do this a long time ago).



Out of a plastic apple carton (from Costco) I made a place for all of her little play food, balls, and little toys to go. She'll throw them in, close the lid, take them out. Seems kind of ridiculous...but she really loves it.And out of a sour cream carton I cut a slit through the bottom to fit her rings in (which is nice because she never uses those rings anymore...until now!) She'll put them in, open the bottom and dump it out, put them in again...she LOVES this one.
Also, while on my "domesticating" kick I figured that I would do something that was "economical" and always reminds me of my mom because she always did this....cut up her own chicken. I can officially say that I've taken a whole chicken and cut it up limb from limb. Umm...it was really gross and I may not do it again...I even called my mom halfway through for help and she basically told me, "Just do it!" And, as seen below...I DID IT!Although, I felt more like this crazy mad woman (as shown below) than a domesticated housewife....But at the end of the day....I wasn't the only one going crazy....

Videos!

That's right, I decided to give up trying to get my new camera's videos to work on my computer...so I pulled out the old camera and just started using that for my videos. The other issue is now Eden just loves to play with the camera...so its hard to get her to sit still enough in pictures and videos. So here's what's been going on.

Eden is getting smarter and smarter. She recently started to understand counting a bit. Here's a video of her counting...but its kind of hard to listen and decipher. She says, "one. two. four. five." She's obviously still learning. But she's counted all the way up to 10 (with a little help from me...and usually skipping at least one number in the middle).


Eden is also growing a lot. We put up this little measuring thing on her wall and she loves it. She'll always put her back to it and wait for me to measure her. She also tried to put her kitty there once to be measured.


This video may seem kind of boring because it's not really of Eden but the book we are reading. I couldn't figure out any other way to do this video. And might I add...it's really hard to read and turn pages on a book while Eden is sitting on my lap and I'm holding my camera.

Anyhow, this is Eden's favorite boo, "Moo. Baa. La La La." She reads the book with me and we'll often recite it without the book because by now we've BOTH got it memorized. And at the end the book asks "What do you say?" I didn't realize until today that when I ask that she says, "Waah" because she refers to herself as a baby.



Speaking of Eden liking to be the baby. She always asks me and Tyson and rock her and sing "rock rock" meaning 1 of 2 songs. Here she is rocking her bear.


Finally, this is her putting baby to sleep....and herself to sleep. But she still loves to have someone pretend sleep and then she'll say "ATTACK" and body slam them.

Flashback Friday: Mother's Cookies

It's 12:34 a.m. No, I wasn't so excited to do a "Flashback Friday" that I stayed up late...I just don't feel like sleeping yet...feeling REBELLIOUS!

I haven't done a Flashback Friday for a long time, but I recently had a flashback moment. I was making chocolate chip cookies with Eden. I decided to not use the Bosch mixture this time and hand mix my cookies...for the TRUE cookie making experience. Then it happened...the flashback.

*Vision gets fuzzy and music plays in the background as I reminisce back to my childhood*

My mom seemed to always be making cookies growing up. My friends loved coming to my house for the free food that my mom always offered. She never had a Bosch or any kind of mixer...just the buffness of her arms (which takes quite the strength might I add). She would always sit in front of the pantry door next to an open bucket of flour.... adding ... mixing .... adding ... mixing. A good portion of my memories of my mom were of her sitting there adding ... mixing ... adding ... mixing.

While I was making cookies, Eden started to get a little frustrated that I wasn't paying attention to her. So, I decided to sit on the ground with my bowl of cookie dough I was mixing to show Eden what I was doing. She sat there and loved to watch.

Eden pointed her finger at the dough wondering what it was...she pointed so closely that she touched the dough. Which she then stuck in her mouth. Which lead her to discover the wonderful excitement of eating cookie dough straight from the bowl. It became a game...get the cookie dough without being attacked by mom trying to vigorously hand mix with the spoon.
*Another flashback moment*

When I was little I remember trying to eat the cookie dough while my mom stirred the dough. I think she was much rougher than I was though...much more strength in her arms than mine I suppose...after all, I usually take the lazy road of using an electric mixer. But I usually didn't do too well at getting cookie dough while my mom was mixing...at least not a lot.

When I was finished mixing my cookie dough and started putting it on the cookie sheets all of a sudden I noticed Eden going for the kill. She saw this as her chance to REALLY get some good dough eating. First one finger, then using two fingers...and then three and four.

She was LOVING it...and being the loving daughter she is offered me some with a look on her face that said, "Mom...you have GOT TO try this stuff!"
And just like my mom used to do, I gave Eden the wooden spoon to lick after I was done with it.

I loved it. Eden loved it. And once Tyson got home from school after a long day of studying...he loved it.

Recipe for these cookies HERE.

Bumps and Bruises

Eden got her first big bump yesterday. And Tyson and I got our first real heart-racing scare.

This is her right before the incident, happy as a clam...or should I say lobster cause she looks more like a lobster than a clam with those mittens on.
This is her after the incident (actually I took this picture this morning)....

She was sitting on her feeding chair (as shown in the first picture), which was on our regular kitchen chair (and we didn't have the two chairs fastened together...making this totally our fault). She leaned forward to see something she dropped and the chair fell right off with her attached to it. She hit face first and with how hard that floor is, how far down she fell, and how bad it looked...I'm surprised she doesn't look worse. She actually isn't bruising too much, but its definitely discolored giving her a black eye and a bump on the forehead. And her eye is definitely swollen making her look like she's permanently giving the stink eye.

I'm just glad that she is alright and we didn't have to go to the hospital and nothing serious happened. I'm positive that God made children super resilient for a purpose....1: to create a way for a child to live past toddlerhood and 2: to help the parents learn to take extra safety precautions when it comes to their children.

Defenders of Awesomeness

There is a very prestigious group of individuals that have come to call themselves the "Defenders of Awesomeness" (of which my husband is affiliated, he's got the t-shirt to prove it). When first formed, this group of high schoolers...I mean, group of prestigious individuals...defined "awesomeness" as "never having to say you are boring". I have been selected to be a part of this group (through marriage...I'm more like an in-law has become a part of a family "through marriage" or like someone who is given a job not because of their qualifications but because their uncle is the "top dog" of the company...not because of my highly-esteemed qualities and values which I hold). And awesome is what I strive to be.

But I have failed this group and found myself to be a boring individual. I'm currently in the repentance process. Starting with this picture below to prove that I'm not boring...boring people just don't take pictures like that.


The beginnings of me going back to awesomeness...

I went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art which was INCREDIBLE (and FREE). It was huge! Three floors and a large outside area with statues and sculptures.
....and GIANT birdies.
This is Tyson in front of a statue that represents peace. After taking this picture we were tempted to take a picture of him doing a peace sign...but didn't.
Inside there were rooms and rooms of different cultures, artifacts, stories, etc.
And I have person who is willing to vouch for my "awesomeness". She may be a little person...but just like the book Horton Hears a Who "a person's a person, no matter how small".

Isn't she cute? I love when she wakes up from nap happy...
...and half naked. She's really into dressing...and UNdressing herself lately. Yeah, that shirt got stretched out a bit after she was done with it.

And Eden's gonna grow up to be awesome just like her mom...she's already starting to imitate me. Obviously I take a lot of pictures...(but I swear that I don't wake up from naps and take off my clothes...she learned to love that by herself)This is Eden's first picture she ever took by herself. She was playing with the camera and and all a sudden I saw a flash. She got a LOVELY shot of my neck and arm.

All I have to say is "I'm awesome, I'm pretty, and DOG GONE IT...people like me!!"