Lauren&Hyrum

Dear Georgia, We're getting to excited to see your face!  You had the hiccups this morning and its all I could do not to wake up your Dad and make him feel because I thought it was so awesome to know what you were doing at that moment. I wasn't sure what to call you for a while.  I really liked the name Selah (Say-luh), but really really liked the name Georgia.  I was worried for a few days that giving you such a strong name would put pressure on you to be the President or something, but I decided that you'd be whomever you wanted no matter what I call you :)  Nicknames flow freely now.  I could not be happier. Your middle name still eludes me.  I've had some beautiful suggestions, like Grace, from aunt Susan.  I like the idea of two "G" names, because I'm going to call you Gigi anyway, and a double "G" in the initials would make that one all the more prevalent.  BUT- Neomi's middle name is Grace, and I want you to have your own.  I was...

20 weeks today... that means that I'm half way... or so...  And that is terrifying. Don't get me wrong, I'm gayer than Christmas to be having a baby, and a girl at that, but I really  REALLY enjoy sleeping until I wake up. Here's my update picture.  I'm not sure what's happening with my face.  I don't really look pregnant in clothes, so I felt silly posting pictures of myself not looking pregnant out of them.  But now its beginning to show a little.  I've gained about 10 lbs, and I've posted the picture that emphasizes my love handles because my arms look better in it than the other one I took :)  No I LOVE gaining weight for this- I feel ultimately comfortable doing it- why do you ask? I've been agonizing some about all of the decisions that I have to re-make because baby is not Henry, but Girl.  Its not a big deal, but I had it all worked out!  I had nothing to start with because I just simply hadn't considered the possibility ...

This is my daughter.  She's got my ski jump nose, and it looks like she's sucking her thumb here, but she was flailing around so much we're pretty sure she wouldn't have had time commit to a whole thumbsuck.  :) She's perfect (ahem... if I do say so myself...).  I didn't know that they could check so many things on babies!  Before we got to the part where the lady told us what she was, we checked all 4 chambers of her heart, her valves, her aorta and pulmonary artery, her brain, her kidneys, her spine, her fingers and toes, her lips and chin- everything.  And she's perfect so far.  PHEW! Now, you all know I was sure it was a boy.  So when it came to checking out whether I'm nesting in blues and greens or pinks and purples, we got that view that those of you who've been through this know rather well- the butt view.  Like looking up at the under carriage of a car.  I'm just glad she doesn't know enough to be horrified at me yet.  Anyhoo...

Ugh....   I... didn't want to do this. But due to the continuous media coverage of the anniversary, I can't help but think about it.  And to be honest, I don't care what almost anybody else's experience was, and I know from experience that no one cares what my experience was.  So let me just let you off the hook now; you don't want to read this, I just feel like I have to say it. I don't have anything horrible to say, I've just never had anyone listen all the way through my story, and more often than not, the would-be listener glazed over and started thinking about something else before I got to the mid-day recounting of my September, 11, 2001.  And- this is the worst thing I have to say about the whole thing- screw every person who did that.  And that feeling is why I've only talked about it a handful of times. I'm getting a headache just thinking about it.  Ok, so... I moved the Brooklyn, New York on July 17, 2001, about 6 wee...

I am wasting my pregnancy (read: last blessed days of freedom without a kid) reading about pregnancy.  Oh and I forgot to mention that I'm due on March 3, 2012 :) I'm being overly dramatic about possible names, still 2 months before I know what this person is. I feel like its a boy, and that his name is Henry. I am adamant that my children will have nicknames because, having only had a few stick to me for short periods of time over the years, nicknames mean to me that people love you. If you're going by just your name all the time, no one cares enough to call you a special name just for you and them. So I will choose nicknames that will stick to them and make the people around them love them. Here's the drama with the name Henry: (whoa hold on to your seats) Henry is a popular name. I thought it was an old-man name, but when I tell people I love this name, invariably they say, "Oh I know a Henry. He's 6. What a cute kid." I thought people would say...

I'm pregnant :) But if you read this, you already know that because only people close to me read my blog. MAN! Pregnancy is a roller coaster. As a first timer I'm freakin' out of course because as much as I've heard about pregnancy, you never think to yourself, "I should get ready to have heartburn for the first time in my life, and every day for the whole thing." We went to Sumatra in May and had to take Doxycycline (antibiotic) for a week ahead and for a month after which is not recommended during pregnancy although its not a big deal, you just stop taking it when you find out you're pregnant. And I really liked taking it because it cleared up my acne :) But when June came around my biological clock alarm went crazy, and I HAD to start trying, I risked malaria and quit the doxy. I did every old-wives-tale thing to ensure that I got pregnant on the first try, as well as the stuff you really should know. By the end of June I got a faint but immediate s...

Me and cousin Claire made Cousin Steven and Steven's new wife's wedding cake. And it was gooooooood. Red velvet with chocolate cream cheese frosting :) Aaaand I made this for sister-in-law Laura's birthday. And this one was for brother-in-law Roland's birthday. Yaaay :)

My dog is sitting here next to me resting her smaller-than-my-fist head on my comparatively giant knee, asking why I haven't written about her lately. Well as an update, I groomed her- now dredlock free- and we've been practicing her tricks, and we're doing ok; not great, just ok. But about my new cake- not too much to tell. It was my standard chocolate with a chocolate fudge frosting and cheesecake filling, with vanilla butter cream for the crumb layer, because I only had enough frosting left over from my brownies yesterday (family party) to cover the top. It was SO good though. Try it. Ingredients 1/2 cup butter 4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate 1 pound confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup milk Directions Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave, or in the top of a double boiler. In a large bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, vanilla and 1/2 cup of the milk. Blend in the melted chocolate mixture. Add remaining milk, a little a...

I made this. :) Its the biggest cake I've ever made. But its also the most elaborate. I'm the Laurals advisor for my ward and the resident Prissiest-Person-Anyone-Knows (not exactly sure how that happened), so when the YW Presidency decided to host an Oscar Night themed party, I was enlisted for hair, makeup, wardrobe, and cake. I did hair on anyone who wanted it (2 other leaders were doing hair too, but mostly curling, and sending them to my chair for styling), makeup to anyone who wanted it, and no one ended up needing any of my formalwear, but I came through with the cake. Stars were the main decorative theme for the night, and the colors were black, white, gold and silver, So I used that and the invitation, which had swirls of the four colors, as my inspiration. I also googled "Old Hollywood Glamour" and a cake came up. This one. So I did my usual chocolate and lemon cakes, chocolate for top and bottom, and lemon in the middle, and did cheesecake flavored pudding ...