Introducing...

For my next few posts I want to introduce my sisters. I can't do it all right now, because I need to get more pictures. So please look forward to becoming better acquainted with the beautiful women I have the privelege to call family.

My Ode to Music

The other day I was putting new songs on my playlist to put back on here and I was just feeling an overwhelming gratitude to Heavenly Father for the gift of music. It's miraculous. It can have many purposes: help the mind focus, soothe the soul, calm anger, spark excitement, create indescribable joy, entice the limbs to begin dancing, drown out thoughts or distractions, invite the spirit very quickly and very strongly, and teach principles. Only a being such as our Father in Heaven could have created this beautiful gift. It can touch people more deeply and more profoundly than anything else I know of. It is of an eternal nature(good music that is). Of course some music can have negative affects due to the efforts of the master imitator, Satan.

Music keeps me company at times during the day, much like a book, it can be my friend while I go about my daily activities. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to hear and at times participate in creating music that fulfills some of my needs where nothing else can. Sometimes I really miss playing percussion. I especially love the percussion instruments because they are so powerful in so many different ways depending on what the need of the song is. Probably my all time favorites to play are the marimba and timpani. The timpani in my opinion creates a strong foundation to a musical piece and can swell the music, which in turn always cause my heart to swell. I love the marimba because it is so soothing. The beautiful wooden notes and the sound of a mallet hitting them is exactly my cup of tea. It is my hope to one day own a marimba, and perhaps as my children get older I can continue to play and play in an orchestra. One day....Matt promised me that I could have a marimba.....I look forward to it one day.

New Skills

I forgot to post when this happened, although I don't know how I could have forgotten to...anyhow, Ammon FINALLY got his first tooth when he was about 81/2 months. So it only took about 4 1/2 months from the time he first began teething to get through. I wonder what the next teeth are going to be like...

We were over at my parents house the other evening and when it came time to put Ammon in his pj's they weren't in the bag. For all of you who have teased me for being a pack rat and having my diaper bag full to the brim wherever I go, that's why. If I try to cut down and consilidate, I forget important things! Oh well, it turned out to be a good thing because we put a shirt of Celeste's on him and it brought back memories of me wearing over-sized "night-shirts"(Matt does NOT want them to be called nightgowns for boys) and always having one shoulder exposed. He looked adorable. Matt commented, "see? we don't need to buy pajamas, he can just wear your old shirts". Matt is always thinking of ways to save...ha ha.


The pictures never look as good as the real thing, partly because it would help to have a better camera, and also because Ammon just always wants to grab the camera once he sees it, so it's quite difficult to capture him candidly.

That same night I was dancing with my sister and Ammon in the living room(strange you say? try it! it's so fun!) and as usual, I was making a fool of myself which of course made Ammon excited and laugh, and he started to clap. It was great, when he heard the sound coming from his hands, he would turn them to look at them which would make him stop. He's very happy he can clap. It seems to come as a surprise to him everytime he finds himself doing it.

He's also started making silly sounds with his fingers and his lips. Matt and I have been doing this to him and now he does it himself all the time, it's adorable. He's starting to immitate sounds and faces and loves patta-cake, head, shoulders, knees, and toes, and popcorn popping.

7 Random Things...

Meg tagged me to write 7 random things about myself, so here it is!

1. I love to watch movies, movies that allow me to escape. I don't really care for the movies like DeJaVu, or Enough because they just make me more paranoid about mean people. I like movies that are fantastic and somewhat unreal because they allow me to escape from this world for a time and help me to forget fears or stresses. I also really like movies to carry with them some sort of message of greater good. Love triumphs, good will endure, that kind of sometimes sappy stuff. I also have been a long-standing fan of old musicals, such as the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, Evita(although in my opinion it's a little on the odd end of the musical spectrum, as far as story goes, but I love the music), Calamity Jane, etc. I also love movies like Cat Baluo, The Court Jester, and the Jane Austin movies.

2. I am a morning person! Much to Matt's dismay, for he loves to stay up late and party! I really enjoy going to bed early, getting adequate sleep and waking up early to start the day. If I get up early and start the day by being productive I am a happy camper. Whereas, if I sleep in, don't get up and have a shower first thing, I am lazy most of the day and most likely, in a sour mood because I'm disappointed in my laziness.

3. I love organizing, and sometimes planning. I love anything office related. That's usually one of my favorite parts of walmart or a store like unto it. Give me a folder, papers, and office supplies and I will be happy. When I was younger, I'm sure I drove my mom nuts for all the papers I collected and stashed in my closet.

4. I like to bear my testimony. When fast and testimony meeting comes I enjoy it because it encourages me to think about what knowledge I have about principles of the gospel. It also helps to motivate me to seek out more truth and to stregthen the knowledge I already have. I feel like it is an opportunity provided by Heavenly Father to strengthen his children by bearing witness of truth to other as well as to ourselves.

5. I like pretty much anything peanut butter flavored, Reeses' candy, ice cream, cookies..etc. Especially real peanut butter IN ice cream, yummy!

6. I like long car rides...except when I'm pregnant, due to my having restless legs syndrome. I find car rides soothing in that they provide either time to play car games as I found last summer going to disneyland with Matt's family, have good discussions, listen to books on tape(something I found I enjoyed with my family on the way to Moab), or time to think to myself. I love them.

7. I love listening to music. I love that different styles of music can help me feel differently depending on my mood. I love dancing to music, especially with my sisters. Music moves me in way that nothing else can, and it can help to dissolve pain and anger, and enhance my joy and excitement.

There's my randomness, now I would like to tag Sharon, Janelle, and Jackie! Enjoy!

Disgusting

I don't normally care much about politics to be honest. (Sorry to those who love it) I don't like the endless debating about the same things over and over and, quite frankly, up until now I've been too occupied with my own puny existence...Anyway, I have followed more debates and read more about the current election than I ever have. I don't particularly like either candidate for different reasons, but the more I read about the policies Barack Obama supports, the more uneasy I feel about him as a President of the United States. He is a great speaker, he looks the part, and he's smooth; however, his policies remind me a little bit too much of countries such as China or Germany in the Hitler days. Here are two links of articles that I think everyone should read before voting:

Obama's Abortion Extremism

It's long, but extremely important in my opinion, please read it to the end. Also, here's a little story that gives a good analogy for a possible future America with Barack Obama as President:

Wild Pig Story

Poetic Justice

My mom tells me that I was a huge mommie's girl; so much so, that I didn't even want my dad to hold me if she wasn't around. Well, we have a momma's boy in our home. Last night I went to go pick up some dinner because I wasn't able to make any due to the fact that Ammon would scream anytime I put him down. Not just whining crying however, it was his hurting cry, it was so sad! So Matt tells me that when I left, Ammon started crawling toward our bedroom and into the closet/vanity area where I have been before and called him to come find me. Apparently when Ammon discovered I wasn't there he cried pretty much until the time I came home. I could tell by the look of his face, even though he smiled when he saw me, that he had been crying. How sad! I wonder if I created this monster, not just due to the fact that I was this way with my mom, and I am receiving poetic justice, but because I pretty much ALWAYS have him. Matt is gone long hours due to school and work and then the fact that I nurse him and he won't take a bottle doesn't exactly allow others to take part very much. Although it is frustrating at times that I can't put him down to brush my teeth, it is so rewarding to know that he has a healthy attachment to his mommy and I know he loves me.

Quirky Kathie

I am a pretty obsessive reader when I find a book or series I like. So I apologize to my family that whenever I was over visiting, I had my book with me. I'm finally done and I have told myself not to read so much! I go through spurts with almost everything in my life, reading, exercising, doing visiting teaching...I am going to work to be more consistent in developing good habits and maintaining them.

I have also discovered some odd activities that are quite enjoyable to me. I have found that when I am down or worked up about something stupid, I enjoy going to the store and walking around, I don't even have to buy anything, it's just fun to walk around! I even enjoy taking Ammon with me surprisingly enough because he likes to sit in the cart and I think he's way cute. Odd as it may sound, when I go to a store by myself I get to enter a world of my own and I really enjoy it. I also enjoy driving in the rain or at night by myself. I don't ALWAYS want to be alone, I love being with Matt as much as possible, but sometimes I just need some quiet time....

Another oddity about me is that I love to fold clothes that have just come out of the dryer. They are so warm and soft!!! Wierd post, I know...just thought I'd write down some things that have been on my mind. Sometimes it's soothing for me to analyze parts of my personality so I can find out how to be a better person.

9 mos already!

Ammon turned 9 mos. yesterday! His dr.'s appointment went really well, especially since he didn't have to get any shots. Woohoo! His doctor is so awesome. I love her. She's great with him and makes me feel like a great mom and tells me I'm doing everything right and gives me great advice. I know I don't do much right, but she's so nice and is so complimentary about how cute Ammon is and that he's progressing at a great rate. I think we all need a boost of confidence every now and again.

Anyway, Ammon is 28 3/4" tall which is the 70%, 19lbs 1oz which is the 25% for height, and is in the 25% for head circumference. Oh! I almost forgot! He finally got his first tooth last week! He's been MUCH happier since it finally popped through.

He's been waking up at LEAST 2-3 times every night and it kills me! I have always been the type of person to need plenty of sleep and it's been so hard, especially for Matt, because I get really ornery when I'm tired all the time. Plus, Ammon's schedule for the next day is always different and unpredictable when he's waking up at night. So I talked to the Dr. about it and she said that if we want him to be sleeping through the night and learn how to sooth himself back to sleep when he does wake up(of course unless he's sick or something similar) then we as parents have to respond appropriately. Obviously, my going in everytime he wakes up only trains him to wake up and cry until I come in and won't EVER go to sleep on his own. So last night we started it. I was really kind of dreading it because I was told that some babies will cry up to hours the first night or two before they'll go to sleep, so Matt and I braced ourselves for the worst. We were so blessed however, and when Ammon woke up at 1 am, he cried for about 25 minutes and then went to sleep for the night with his little bum high in the air, he just so cute! And for his afternoon nap he was able to put himself to sleep. I'm so grateful for that, his sleeping habits have been a real source of stress for me lately. Anyway, I hope he can keep it up for the most part. We'll see!

Conference Weekend

For this Conference we were able to go up to Bear Lake with Matt's family. It was really nice to get away and be with family. I enjoyed all the talks, especially Elder Uchtdorf's about faith, hope, and charity. We had lots of yummy food and played some games and I took some naps! Yay or sleeping! Anyway, here are some pictures of weekend.