Guest Blogger

Akiko watched as I wrote that last post. She wanted to write one, too. I know I don't usually post twice in a day, but for this I'll make an exception. Take it away, Akiko:

So at shcool i made a gingrbred  house. It was yummy! It is a bug gingrbred house.I did it all by my self!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

... but not this kind.

It wasn't a huge mess, thank heavens. But Asher sure was proud of himself.

Little stinker.

Guess Who's Back?

I'm kind of wary to make big announcements online. Especially when it comes to news like this. However, so far things are going great and so far there's no cause for concern. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by doing this.

Let's get down to business then, shall we?

Most Fruitful Yuki has returned!!

This is from the 2007 movie Juno.

We are expecting Weckerling #4. It's a boy. Yes, another boy. His due date is May 9th. This puts me at about 18.5 weeks.

Some of you know the reason for my wariness, but for those of you who don't, let me explain.

Almost three years ago I had two miscarriages in a row. The first was lost at six weeks. The second was lost at 12. I had announced both pregnancies on Facebook. Then, I had to announce that we had lost them. It was horrible.

I felt very loved and appreciated all the condolences that were sent my way by my friends, but really felt the need to grieve on my own with those that were closest to me.

My paranoia or superstition was so great for me that I didn't announce our pregnancy with Asher until I was eight months along and had started this blog. I had found out I was pregnant with him just a few days after we had moved to California, so none of my Utah friends knew until then, or didn't know at all until after Asher was born. I didn't even tell my new friends in California, with maybe one or two exceptions, until it was obvious I was expecting and they would ask.

Again, I really hope I'm not screwing things up by telling you all about this, at the same time, it's been very hard not saying something about it as we've had our adventures the last few months. That explains my procrastination and lack of motivation and general feeling of malaise.

I'm feeling much better now. (Ok, did anyone else suddenly think "Bring out your dead!"?) The morning sickness and ultimate fatigue passed just before Thanksgiving. I have felt the baby move, but not very much or very often. He seems very mellow, like Moses was/is. My energy is higher, and my belly is just starting to get in the way, but it's not too bad for now. I really do enjoy the second trimester.

Akiko is disappointed that she's not getting a sister. Frankly, so am I, but I do love my boys and the energy and spunk they bring into our house. We will have another daughter someday. I just think this is Heavenly Father's way of getting us to have more kids. I was able to put a positive spin on Akiko's disappointment when I told her that she'll get her own bedroom in a year or so. She perked up a lot when I mentioned that.

I am excited to see what this little boy will bring to our table (not literally). Moses and Asher have such different looks and different personalities from each other, I can't help but wonder if this little boy will end up being like either of them, a mix, or nothing like them at all.

I promise to try not to complain too much on here, especially once I enter the dreaded third trimester. We can't wait to meet our son!

PS: We already have a name picked out, but I'm going to keep you all in suspense until he's born. Mwahahahaha!

O Christmas Tree

So, this year I struggled with an odd feeling. This strange feeling was that I had no desire to put up a Christmas tree this year. I was kind of wiped out from Thanksgiving and just wanted to veg out for a while. The biggest reasons, though, were the fact that I have a 17 month-old running rampant through the house and the fake tree we have is the one I grew up with, so it's all old and dusty and makes my otherwise mild eczema break out like crazy on my hands.

I dared not mention this to the older kids. Apparently, I had voiced my annoyance of Christmas stuff coming out before Halloween a bit too often, and Akiko and Moses picked up on it. Akiko even went so far as asking the lady at Macy's why their Christmas decorations were up when it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet. Oops! So, once Thanksgiving was over, every single day for a week, Moses would ask when we were going to put up our tree. "*Sigh!* Soon," I would reply.

I posted a status on Facebook that stated my lack of desire for the tree. Some of my friends replied that they only decorated the top half of theirs. Others lamented that they would find ornaments all over the house. One suggested that I get a short tree and put it on a table like she had done the year that her twin boys were at that same delightful stage. I must interject here that a short tree on a table is a marvelous idea and I employed it when Akiko was 20 months old. Worked fabulously. I toyed with that idea again, but I didn't have an appropriate table for the job.

Joseph agreed that the fake tree needed a break and wanted to get a real tree this year, which I was all for. He also kept telling me not to worry, that Asher would be enthralled by the tree for a day or two and then ignore it. I was a bit skeptical about that, but I agreed to the purchase of a real tree this year. The kids were stoked, to say the least, when the day arrived to go shopping for one.

We found a real nice tree for a reasonable price and were quickly home to set it up. I was really impressed that the guy who nailed our base on was able to get it as straight as it turned out.

I brought the Christmas boxes in from the garage and for the two minutes I was gone to check on something, the kids had opened the boxes and started taking everything out. They wanted to get started on that tree. I had to tell them that there was a process.

First, you check the lights. Then you put on the lights. Then you put on the tinsel and/or beads. Then you can start putting the ornaments on.

They waited somewhat patiently for me to get the lights and tinsel on in a manner that was satisfactory to me. Once I was finally finished, it was time for ornaments.

At that point I was so tired from getting the lights and tinsel on that I did something that surprised even me. I let Akiko and Moses decorate the rest of the tree, under my supervision, of course. Here's how it turned out:

I have to admit, for a 4 and 6 year-old, they did a pretty good job. There were only a few clusters I had to fix and some branches still have double ornaments, but Akiko, Moses and I are pretty proud of our tree this year. I'm really proud of the kids. Akiko was able to reach the top branches with the help of a stool. Joseph lifted her up to put the star on the top at the very end.

My ornaments are not fancy. Many of them are plastic. Asher still managed to break one. Oh well. I'm not that attached to those ones anyway. They'll probably get made into a wreath or something some year soon. The fancy and heirloom ornaments that we do have get put up high on the tree, out of toddler reach. Someday, I'll have a tree with sparkly, beautiful, breakable ornaments, but for our child bearing years, I'm content with the cheap stuff.

And in case you were wondering, Joseph was right (and I'm not too proud to admit such a fact). Asher leaves the tree alone. In fact, the first couple days it was up, when he would walk up to it and swat at a branch, causing an ornament to fall, he would pick it up and try to put it back on the tree. He really is less chaotic than I may make him sound. He's just more chaotic than Akiko and Moses were combined.

Sorry the picture is crooked. One of the kids took this picture and I am both too lazy to correct it and think it's cute that they took it (and did a fairly good job for their age).

It's All About the Message

A few things happened this morning that I'd like to share. I mostly want to write them down so that I can look back and remember these things.

First: Moses was the first to wake up and get out of bed this morning. He came into the room and snuggled with me for a minute before he so sweetly asked if he could watch tv. This is something that actually happens pretty frequently. I love snuggling with that kid. He's so cuddly. I cherish it as much as I can, because I know someday he'll stop doing it.

Second: A few minutes later, Asher woke up and got out of bed. He came into the room first thing, like he always does. Instead of just climbing into bed with us, he picked up a balloon that he'd been playing with the night before, and threw it at my head and giggled. The balloon would bounce off my head and back towards him, where he would fetch it and throw it at my head again. I'm just glad it was a balloon and not a hard plastic toy. Asher is such a silly goofball.

Third: After a while, I made my way out of bed and into the living room. Moses was watching his show, Asher was wandering about, and Akiko was sitting on the couch reading a Friend. She asked if I would read some stories with her, which I obliged. She wanted to read to me the stories that real children send in about service they provided for others.

Now, Akiko loves to read and she reads really well. We're very proud of all the hard work she puts into it. When she comes across a hard word, she does the best she can to sound it out, before I will correct her and tell her what the word is.

Well, as she was reading, she came across the word "dispenser," which took her a moment, but she got it. I praised her and, without thinking, said, "Great job, Akiko."

She stopped reading, looked at me, and said, "Mom. It's not about the reading. It's about the girl doing service for someone else."

That girl makes me so proud.

Even if she is a bit silly sometimes.

Thanksgiving: The 2011 Edition

Six years ago, when I was pregnant with Akiko, I was working at a dry cleaner in downtown Salt Lake City, where we were living at the time. I had all sorts of local celebrity customers, including President Monson, who came in once a week.

The day before Thanksgiving, another of my celebrity customers, Carol Mikita, KSL's anchor lady (don't know if she is now, but she was then), came in to pick up her dry cleaning. We made some small chit chat about what we were doing the next day. She told me she was kind of stressed because it was her turn to host that year and she had tons of food to prepare. Then she asked me what I had to do to prepare. I told her that I still had tons of mothers, grandmothers and aunties that had everything under control.

"It will be years before I have to cook anything for Thanksgiving," I told her.

"You are so lucky," she replied.

Well, years it's been, though not as many as I may have thought then, and I cooked an entire Thanksgiving feast this year. I'm not counting last year, because I didn't cook the turkey and Chelsie and I split everything, even though we did pull off quite a feat.

There was talk, a few months back, that Mike and Chelsie would come down this year from Oregon, but then Chelsie ended up getting pregnant with twins, and then she was put on bedrest last week. Everyone else in the family was either stuck on Maui or going to their in-laws.

I was kind of bummed that we didn't have a whole lot of family to share the holiday with, but we did have Joseph's brother, Sam, with us.

We did invite some friends, but somehow managed to ask too late after they'd been invited elsewhere. Oh well. Maybe next time. Or maybe for Christmas.

The nice thing about not having to host people was that I didn't feel the need to make fancy decorations or anything to make things more festive. I'm crafty, but decor is not one of my strong points.

Onto the food:

I made the pies on Wednesday. Two pumpkin-butternut and two pecan. Yes, Asher is still allergic to nuts, however, in the test results that the doctor sent back to us he actually tested negative for pecan and walnut. And since pecan pie is my favorite pie, I decided to risk it and make some anyway. So far, no bad reactions, but that's also because we're still not letting him have any pecan pie.

Thursday morning got off to kind of a slow start. Since we didn't have anyone coming over, I didn't need to tell anyone what time we were eating, so I was able to take it easy. We ended up eating around 330p, which, in my experience, is pretty standard for Thanksgiving dinner. Right?

Anyway, I spent all day prepping and cooking and every step of the way, my wonderful six year-old daughter was by my side helping. She helped stir, roll out and roll up the crescent rolls. She sauteed the onions and apples for the stuffing. She put the cut potatoes in the pot to boil. She even helped me clean and butter the turkey, which was her favorite thing to do, even though she kept apologizing to the turkey that we were about to cook and eat "him."

I didn't take a single picture of prep time. I was way too busy for that and my hands were all all sorts of gunky. But now that I've bored you all with my writing, I'll let you all revel in my Thanksgiving feast awesomeness, with pictures and captions.

My sister, Kristen, learned how to make a succulent turkey that only stays in the oven for 1.5 hours. If she can do it, I can. Thank you so much, Kristen!! The turkey was perfect!!

The rest of the spread: pumpkin-butternut pie, pecan pie, homemade crescent rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing (not homemade, but not Stovetop, it took more effort than that), corn, sweet potatoes, roast asparagus, homemade gravy, fresh cranberry relish, and sparkling apple juice. Don't you wish you'd spent Thanksgiving with us?

Moses eagerly awaits dinner.

The patriarch makes the first cut.

The kiddie table. I think Asher ate more than Akiko and Moses combined.

Loaded up and ready to be eaten.

It was delicious.

And then there was pie.

After the meal, Akiko and Moses played slap-jack under the table.

Then the kids came to snuggle on the couch with me and watch some tv while I digested. I love Asher biting his overalls with his teeth sticking out.

Things that I'm grateful for that made this Thanksgiving special for me:

Joseph and Sam took over for the last little bit in the kitchen and finished the sweet potatoes and gravy. I was kind of burned out in the kitchen and starving and decided to do set up instead.

Akiko was so cute and helpful. I love spending time with her like this. She says helping me in the kitchen is her favorite thing to do. I just hope that someday she'll actually eat the food she helps me cook. She only ate a tiny bit of turkey, mashed potatoes and crescent rolls. She can't wait to tell her teacher on Monday all the things she helped me with.

Moses. I'm just grateful for Moses. Period. I can't even begin to describe how much I love that kid. Sweetest boy you'll ever meet. Incredibly smart, too. He's just turned four and is starting to read and do basic math. I really wish we could put him in kindergarten next fall, but we have to wait a whole year more. Bleh.

Asher was super happy and cute all day. I'm sure it had everything to do with the fact that his favorite person in the world stayed home from work. He hardly got in the way and only tried to "help" a couple times. I love this spunky child of mine. He's a hoot.

And last, but not least, I'm thankful that, even though the task was daunting and there was a lot of stuff to do, including doing things I never before had tried, Thanksgiving was almost completely stress free. I had a lot of fun and spent the holiday with the people I love most in the world. Does life get any better than that?

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving. If you traveled, I hope your travels were safe and uneventful. If they were eventful, I hope it was the awesome can't-wait-to-tell-your-friends kind.

 Happy Thanksgiving!!

Remove Gum From Your Clothes Dryer!!

I don't know how our parents survived without the Internet at their constant disposal. I get wonderful stain remover tips from there all the time. Sometimes, when you read them, you're like, that seems like a really weird solution to this problem, but then when you read the comments below and everyone is singing its praises, you know you better try it.

Well, this morning, on a day when I had mountains of laundry to attend to, I came across this as I was just about to put the first load in the dryer:

Oh yeah. Gum. My favorite thing to find first thing in the morning. Please note sarcasm. Want a close up?

What a mess!!

What's a girl to do? I don't want all that all over the rest of my clothes.

To the Internet!

I opened the first three sites from my search. The second site had a lot of different ideas for getting gum out of the dryer. They involved WD-40, Goo Gone, acetone (nail polish remover), and an ice cube paired with a scraping device. They all sounded very messy, and with the exception of the ice cube method, they all said to wait at least a week for your dryer to air out so your clothes don't end up smelling like the chemical you used. The one with the acetone also warned against risking a fire with your dryer since it's a flammable substance.

Well, I didn't have a week to wait. I needed my dryer now! I also really didn't want to risk blowing up anything in my house. Particularly something as expensive as my much needed and used clothes dryer.

The first and third sites told me to try the following method, which, I admit, I felt a  little skeptical about. But, once I read all the comments praising how quick and easy this method was, I decided to try it out. After all, it did seem pretty safe and much less messy than everything else I'd read.

Guess what? It worked!! I was so elated I wanted to share it all with you and I even took pictures while I did it (in case it actually worked), to prove how well it works.

1. Soak a dryer sheet in water for 1-2 minutes. You want it fully saturated.

Step 1

2. Place soaked dryer sheet directly on top of gum. If you have more than one giant spot of gum, use another dryer soaked sheet on that one. I'm sure it'll save you time. I, thankfully, only had one spot. Leave for 10-15 minutes.

Step 2

3. Using the dryer sheet, start scrubbing away. Fingernails come in handy in this step.

Step 3

Check it out! My first big chunk of gum came off pretty quickly!

And it kept coming off!

What a relief!!

It took some elbow grease, but I only had to scrub for about five minutes. Then after the biggest mess was gone, I scrubbed the little splotches of gum that were scattered all around the drum. I didn't even have to soak those ones. They came off pretty easily.

 4. Wipe with a clean, damp cloth.

Step 4

5. Jump for joy, breathe a sigh of relief, or do whatever it is you do when you claim a homemaking victory! Me? I blogged about it.

There you have it! Clothes from the washer can go right in!

   O frabjous day! Callouh! Callay! 
   (S)he chortled in [her] joy.

                                ~Lewis Carroll, from the poem Jabberwocky, from the book Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

Brilliant poem. One of my favorites. The dryer sheet was my vorpal blade. Please click the link to read the rest of the poem.

Now on to more laundry! I just heard the dryer beep.