The Play Date Card

"An influential job like yours deserves stationary."

As a mom sometimes Trevor and I are out and about and we come across another mom with her child and I think to myself, "I bet Trevor would love to get together with that kid and play sometime!  I should give her my number."  But then I never do.

Enter the play date card.  It is a business card listing my name, the names of my children and our contact info that I can hand out to other moms we'd like to have a play date with.  Sounds cool huh!

I have designed some play date cards and I need your help deciding which one I should use.  (FYI...my info has been changed since this blog is not private...I do not in fact live on Main Street.)

Card #1

Card #2

Card #3

Card #4

So leave a comment with the number of the card you like best and if you decide to make a play date card I'd love to have one!

Richelle & Darren's Wedding Cake

Last Friday I did a wedding cake for my friend Shauna's little sister.  She wanted a very simple, three layer cake.

I was excited when she wanted the bottom two layers to be styrofoam because it is easier to frost and a whole lot less time consuming because I only had to bake a 6" layer.  She also wanted butter cream icing instead of fondant, which freaked me out at first because it is hard to make butter cream look perfectly smooth.  Once I learned that she wanted a more vintage and imperfect look I was confident that I could make her ideal wedding cake.

So here it is and despite thinning my royal icing too much at first, making this cake was so low stress it was a pleasure to make.

Simply beautiful.

Still in Love

On Saturday, Darren and I were able to go to the Renton Stake Valentine's Dinner/Dance.

It's nice to know that when we actually do get to spend quality time together we still know how to enjoy each others company.

Sometimes Darren even does his part to "support" my growing belly.

Update on Austin and My Pregnancy

I am now 30 weeks along in my pregnancy and I am feeling great.  Someone at church on Sunday said, "I can't believe you are 30 weeks, you look great".  I said, "thank you" and a meant it because I agree that I look pretty great!

 

Now that I have entered the home stretch I am starting to get excited about Austin's upcoming birth.  As many of you know I am planning a drug-free, vaginal birth after a C-section (VBAC) and I couldn't be happier with my decision.  I have a great team of people assembled to help me accomplish my goal; the midwives group, my doula, and my supportive husband.  Last week I met with one of the OB backups for the midwives and she gave me an enthusiastic green light to proceed with my plans for a VBAC.  I knew that I was a good candidate all along, but it was nice to hear that a well-respected OB agrees with me.


My favorite quote and the motto for my pregnancy, labor and delivery is:
"Remember this, for it is as true and true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic. Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth well as aardvarks, lions, rhinoceri, elephants, moose, and water buffalo. Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body."  -Ina May Gaskin

So, I am feeling great and thinking positively about my pregnancy and upcoming birth.  My plans for the next 10 weeks include, tackling the stack of papers in the office that has been stacking up since I got pregnant, painting the inside of front door because it looks ugly and it drives me crazy, and preparing myself mentally and physically for the challenge of unmedicated labor.  Wish me luck!

Update on Trevor

Having a two year old is not easy work, but it makes it a bit easier when your two year old is Trevor.  He is (almost) always helpful around the house and he loves to help with the vacuuming and the dishes.  He talks a lot and pretty soon I need to get a video of him reciting his favorite books.  It is adorable!!

I haven't posted any pictures of him lately because his hair was so unruly that it was embarrassing and his facial expressions are less than photo quality.  Case in point...

While I can't do anything about his facial expressions, I did take him to get his hair cut and it is amazing how grown-up he looks now.  I bribed him with some fruit snacks to get him to sit still while they cut his hair and he loves fruit snacks so much he was willing to endure the haircut just to eat them.

Another thing Trevor loves to do is go swimming.  Here is some video of him last month kicking and splashing his way around the pool.

This isn't the first time I have captured Trevor loving the water.  There is definitely a chance this kid may be a swimmer someday, maybe even an Olympic swimmer.

The other new thing going on with Trevor lately is that he is making the transition from his crib to his new big boy bed.  Trevor is doing a whole lot better lately, but this transition has been really rough for him and for Darren and I.  We are hopeful that within the next couple days Trevor will be back to sleeping well both at nap time and bed time.

Waxing Spiritual

On Saturday morning I was able to attend the Stake Relief Society presentation of the 10 Virgins.  It was very well done and the spirit was there in abundance.

As I sat listening to the story told through song it occurred to me as it never had before that all 10 women were good women, and not 5 good and 5 bad like I had previously supposed.  Each woman was given a talent and the only difference between the women was whether they chose to magnify their talent and use it to bless the lives of others, or to get so busy doing other good things that they failed to do the most important things.

There was a point when the bridegroom came and one woman lamented that she had meant to fill her lamp, but just got so busy with everything else she had to do that she ran out of time and my heart broke for her, because by then it was too late and I felt a pang in my heart that unless I get busy that could be me.

After the presentation our Stake President stood and felt prompted to remind us sisters that we shouldn't be to hard on ourselves and that all Heavenly Father requires is our best.  He then did something I have never had happen to me before, he blessed us by the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood he holds that "as we come unto our Father it will be enough" and "that we will not be deceived" and "the day will come when he will say unto you, 'well done thou good and faithful servant".  It was an experience I hope I never forget.

Sunday evening I attended a fireside given by Kim Nelson a member of the Bellevue WA Stake Presidency.  His address was given to the sisters and was about how we as women are too hard on ourselves.  He said, "You sisters have no idea how good you are!  It is frustrating to see people in the world doing mediocre things and calling them great and see you women doing great things and thinking it is not good enough.  Only the adversary would have you not feel good about yourself."

He talked a little bit about Moroni, in Ether 12:37.  He reminded us that at this point Moroni had been the prophet for about 40 years and that he was in hiding from the Lamanites because if they found him they would kill him, just like they had killed all the rest of the Nephites.  Ether 12:37 says,
"And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made ^aclean. And because thou hast seen thy ^bweakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father."

President Nelson pointed out that the Lord told Moroni that his garments shall be made clean and that his weaknesses shalt be made strong.  So here is the prophet who is still not perfect, but he is able to talk to the Lord face to face.  If Moroni can approach the Lord despite his lack of perfection, we can to and we should.

Another thing he said was, "Sisters, you have a wonderful capacity to give, but you're terrible at receiving!  Be as kind to yourself as you are to others!!"  He read Proverbs 31:10-31 which describes a virtuous woman and then reminded us that for most of the women in the church this is not a to-do list, but rather a resume.

As he concluded his talk, I witnessed for the second time in my life a speaker bless those who were in attendance by the authority of Melchizedek priesthood that he holds.  He blessed us that we would "find the kindness of the spirit in our lives and that we would say kind things to each other and hear the good things said about us".

For the first time in a long time I have pulled my lamp off the shelf and I am carrying it proudly looking for an opportunity to add another drop of oil to the reservoir just in case He comes sooner than I was expecting and I hope that you will too.

The Story of the Man Who Made me so Upset at McDonald's that I Spilled my Dr. Pepper

The Short Version:
Today we went to McDonald's for lunch and to let Trevor play.  There was a man there who spent 5 minutes lecturing and attacking the woman at the register.  When he tried to talk to me about it I made a comment back and when he started arguing with me I got so flustered and upset that I dropped my Dr. Pepper on the floor.  He walked away and I used napkins to clean up my mess.

The Detailed Version:
Trevor went down for bed like a champ last night for Darren and so as a reward I took him to McDonald's to eat and play.  When we walked in there was an older man lecturing and attacking the woman at the register.  He was upset that she touched his money and then touched his food.  He went on and on and on about how dirty money is and that he expects that workers in the food industry will do their best to ensure that their hands are clean and sanitary at all times.  (Side note: for dramatic effect during his lecture he held up some money and rubbed it all over his hands to make his point and I never saw him wash his hands before opening his burger and taking a bite.  It made me wonder how that was any better than her touching his money and then touching the wrapper on his food, but I digress.)  He just wouldn't shut up about it and I could tell that the poor lady was at a loss about what to say or do to make him leave.  Five minutes later he left the register and I was able to place my order.

While I was waiting for my food he came back holding his tray.  He set the tray down and pointed to a black hair on the tray about 1 cm long.  He said, "See, this is what I am talking about!!  If the health department came in here they would shut you down!  This is not my hair!!"  (I wondered to myself how he knew it was not his, from where I was standing he had black hair that was about 1 cm long all over his head, but I digress.)  The poor lady asked if he would like another tray of food and he said "no" and left again to go sit down.

Not long after that my food was ready and I went over to fill my drink.  He got up and walked over to me and tried to engaged me in conversation about the service.  In a kind, but matter-of-fact voice I said, "It is your choice to eat here.   No one is forcing you.  And I think it is rude to come to someone's place of work and attack them."  He started to talk back saying, "I wan't attacking her" and I said, "I heard the whole thing and sir, you were attacking her."  While this whole conversation was going on I was putting the lid on my Dr. Pepper and trying to balance it on my tray while I looked for Trevor to make sure he was still close by me and in the peak of my frustration with this rude man my drink fell off the tray and into the floor.  Ice and pop everywhere.

He made some comment that I didn't hear and then proceeded to sit down and offer a prayer over his food and no doubt for my eternal soul.  Trevor patiently ate some fries while I mopped up 24 oz of Dr. Pepper with napkins.