The Wedding Planner

Ok folks, I'm soliciting for help. My sister Lisa is getting married in June and we're working on planning the wedding. I am probably more stressed than she is at this point. Do any of you Vegas people have someone you would recommend for flowers or invitations? We are at a loss there. Any other fabulous ideas please send my way. Thanks!

Bastaball and Sharts

I'm backtracking just a little to last Saturday. We had a great day out and about with our Macie girl. Our first stop was the Rebel game. I've really been wanting to take Macie, but the games usually start too late. Luckily Saturday was an afternoon game, so we packed her up and went to see the Rebels win! Macie had a great time, just as I suspected she would. She loved the cheering, clapping, little boys sitting behind us, popcorn, mascot, etc. I am so glad she went. The funnest part was getting her all pumped up in the car to go see "bastaball". It is seriously the funnest thing to get her excited about something. She claps and screams and talks non-stop about whatever it is, even if she has no clue. I'm pretty sure she assumes that if Mom thinks it's exciting, then it must be exciting.

After the game we decided to stop at Mandalay Bay to go to the Shark Reef. Macie loves fish and knows about sharks, but has never seen them. I knew she'd enjoy it. She was all over the place running right up to the glass pointing at the fish saying, "Ohhh, big one!" Occasionally there were small ones, but to her they were mostly big. She especially liked the "sharts," and I was surprised she wasn't scared of them. As you walk through tunnels they swim overhead and it looks like they're swimming right in front of you. Josh held her up and she would reach out and tell me "touch it Mom." Even when they swam right up along the glass she stood still watching it go by and tell me how big she thought it was. Here's a poor picture of her talking about the fish.

She also enjoyed the sting ray and wanted to touch it like Daddy, but her little arms were too short. She has no fear! The cutest part was when we stopped to see the jellyfish. Of course they don't look like fish at all, so Macie kept saying,"Where jellyfish Mom?" When I pointed and said they were right there she would repeat her same question. Oh well, she'll learn when she's older.

We ended the day meeting friends at IHOP for dinner. (I know, what a healthy choice.) Macie was SO excited for her funny face pancake that she could hardly contain herself. By the time we got home it made for a long day, but was well worth it. We are loving the stage Macie is in right now. She is so aware of everything around her and communicates really well. For me, there's nothing more enjoyable as a parent than watching your child discover, be happy, and have fun. And of course when your child is such a crack up it makes life entertaining as well.

Baby Vance is Here!

Vance Waldron was born on February 13th and weighed 8 lbs, 4 oz. He arrived 4 weeks early, so the little guy is toughing it out in the NICU getting his lungs nice and strong so he can then learn to eat on his own. He sure is a cutie! We are so excited that Macie's first cousin on the Waldron side of the family is finally here.

It breaks my heart seeing little babies with tubes going in and out. Hopefully he'll be going home in a week or so.

Macie brought flowers to Aunt Alli and baby Vance at the hospital.
And then she ate Alli's dinner. Really Alli didn't want it, so Chad offered her some. That girl never passes up food!

Crime

There's a high school just a few minutes away from my house. Yesterday a ninth grade student was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting on his way home from school. Sad to say, crime is definitely not a stranger to Las Vegas. However, I didn't think something like that would happen by my house. I guess it's kind of how no one thought all of the senseless school and university shootings across the country could happen.

When I was in 6th grade there was a drive-by shooting across the street of my school. I remember being on lock down that day. When we went home I was told to lay on the floor of the bus if bullets went flying.  It's not a fun feeling to be uncertain of your safety when you're a scared, 12 year-old kid.  Of course in my days at Booker, we were bused across town into the ghetto for school that year.  Fortunately, they don't do that anymore.

I am so concerned about how frequently school shootings are happening nowadays. Even in a quiet part of town on a street I drive by every day an innocent kid was randomly shot.  It leaves little comfort for a parent raising children in times of increasing violence. I guess that's why I feel that parenthood is such a great responsibility.  It's up to parents to teach children right from wrong in a world of so much confusion.  I recently read a quote from Pres. Hinckley that I found inspiring and true of teenagers today: “My heart reaches out to our youth, who in many cases must walk a very lonely road. … I hope they can share their burden with you, their fathers and mothers. I hope that you will listen, that you will be patient and understanding, that you will draw them to you and comfort and sustain them in their loneliness. Pray for direction. Pray for patience. Pray for the strength to love. … Pray for understanding and kindness and, above all, for wisdom and inspiration.” 

My Sous Chef

My little Macie...she is such a funny girl. She does something that makes me laugh everyday. Her personality is so distinct, and she hasn't even turned 2 yet! She is very particular (I wonder where she gets that) and kind of bossy (I have no idea where she gets that). I guess the apple doesn't fall from the tree!

Whenever I am in the kitchen it's not long until I hear the screeching of a kitchen chair across the tile floor. Macie pushes her chair up to where I'm working and announces "I tooking too." This has evolved into quite the process. First she wants not only to wear an apron herself, but to make sure I have one on too. She then likes to have utensils or measuring cups and spoons handy. He favorite thing to make is dough because she likes to "do rolling".

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As you can imagine, it now takes me a bit longer to cook than before so Macie can be involved. She likes to help pour, dump, scoop, stir, measure, etc. I have to try to get everything out on the island so I don't end up with multiple chairs at all the countertops, and of course I don't want to be near the stove. Now that she's getting to be quite the sous chef she's expanding out to wanting her own mixing bowl, stir herself, and clean the dishes. (Cleaning mostly consists of her putting spoonfuls of water into a bowl and continuing to stir it up.)

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She is quite darling about the whole thing and I love her desire to help. I really enjoy cooking myself and it's fun to do together eventhough it definitely makes more work for me. I am amazed at the attention span she has for it; that girl will be in the kitchen helping as long as it takes to get things prepared. It may just all be for her love of food because Macie is an excellent eater. She likes to try and sneak tastes as she goes. She's had some pretty nasty ones but it doesn't deter her much.

Welcome Home

Josh's sister, Carleen, returned from her mission in Armenia just over a week ago. Yesterday we heard her report her mission in church. She looks great, served a good mission, and we're glad she's home! Unfortunately we only have a couple pictures we snapped at the airport and they weren't that great. This was taken as she was walking towards us after she got off the plane. We're proud of you Carleen!

The Fat Lady Sang

I flipped on the news this morning just in time to find out Romney was pulling out of the race. I was shocked first, then sad, followed by angry, and finally left with disappointment. Not in Mitt himself, but in our country. It's just sad to me that there seem to be diminishing numbers of conservatives out there, leaving me feeling like there's a huge magnet attracting people farther and farther to the left.

The more I think about Romney's speech the more I understand what's happening here. I do support Mitt's decision because I see what he's getting at with preventing a Democratic candidate from getting into office. Now is the time to let McCain mount his support as much as possible to give him a fighting chance in November. Yes, Romney could've continued to campaign and spend, but if those numbers can't crunch in your favor stepping aside is wise. Romney is irrefutably very smart, and I know he'll be back. To do as well as he did gives me hope for the future, be it distant, but hope nonetheless.

I'm not sure who I will vote for now. Time will tell. I do have strong feelings about the war and I can't see myself voting for someone who is against it. I've gotten too tired tossing it all around all day, so all I can do right now is accept what I have to accept and move on.

Political Venting

Until now I have refrained from commenting about the politics, but that's going to end. What a disappointing day yesterday was. I am still in shock at the huge lead McCain now has among the Republican delegates. How did this happen? Are there that many liberal republicans out there? And where did Huckabee come from?

My personal opinion is that Huckabee's victories came from folks not wanting to vote for McCain or Romney. How sad. It really is unfortunate that the southern "Bible belt" mostly wrote off Romney for religious reasons. Can't you just picture them saying (in a southern accent),"I'd be damned if I ever voted for a Mormon." I sure can. I really have a low tolerance for bigotry. And the sad part is that is a conservative portion of the country that really could've helped Romney.

So obviously I'm a Romney supporter and cringe at the thought of McCain getting the GOP nomination. We all know he will lose in the final election to a democrat anyway, so why give him the chance now? I'm not going to go on and on about why I don't like McCain, but it really isn't that hard to figure out if you do a little research. I've really agreed with and enjoyed reading the comments on Cristin's blog f0llowing the election, and I do have something to add. If you are a conservative republican in California and did not vote, then shame on you and don't tell me, because I will hold it against you. (Ok, not really, but I do feel strongly about voting). Hopefully in the near future we will see an exciting development in a positive direction. Keep your fingers crossed!

Ward Co-op

I joined a co-op group in my ward after a little persuasion from other mothers. About twice a month I have the co-op at my house for 3 hours in the morning. The maximum number of kids allowed is 6 per day, so each parent does have to call in advance if they're planning on having their child attend. Everyone "pays" for the time of their child with time coupons. It has really turned out to be a great thing since it rotates every day. If I have an appointment or something I need to do, it it very convenient to be able to send Macie over to play at someone else's home for a couple hours. She is one of the youngest in the co-op group, but definitely holds her own and thinks she is just as old as everyone else. She gets right into playing dress-up, dolls, princesses, you name it.

This picture above is a couple of her friends that came over last month during snack time. Today Macie had 2 girls over and it was so cute watching them play together. I found a recipie I had for homemade playdough that was so easy and very popular. We spent most of our time sculpting with pink dough.