Good News and Mostly Bad News

The good news is that I can finally upload normally. Our internet provider came and replaced some wires and wa-la!

The bad news is that we can't refinance or get anything based on home equity, because our home has no equity. It's basically worthless. Our cars are also basically worthless and I don't think anyone would pay for my body, so our financial options are nil at this point. (Can you hear me screaming?)

I hate being unable to control things in my life. Aside from adoption, the other things stressing me out are David's doctorate applications. I can't force anyone to accept him, so once again our future is completely outside my control.

I'm thinking of either going to Vegas, robbing a bank, or planting a cabbage patch and then making the poor starving farmer that steals my food pay me back with his first born child who will have really long hair and be shut up in a tower.

Thank goodness for the little girl that lights up my life. Baylie is always the best news. This is her response when I asked her to smile. (I knit her this hat and scarf. The store bought hats won't fit over her hair.)

P.S. Baylie is off the pacifier! We cut the end off of it and told her it was broken. She hasn't been very happy about it, but she's done pretty good.

Happy New Year!

Hopefully you had a wonderful holiday. We had a great visit with David's brother's family in Oregon. For some reason, I thought it would be cold in Oregon, but it was much warmer than Utah. Utah has been freezing with snow. It's great!

We are determined to adopt again this year, hopefully soon. We want to finalize no later than August just in case we have to move for David to continue schooling. The only problem is, there's no money! We checked into getting a home equity line of credit. We bought our home in 2002 for $97,900. Seven years later, Chase estimates our home value at $90,000...what the heck! Of course, Harris County estimates our home value much higher so they can charge us more for taxes. I guess next we'll check into refinancing. Sure wish we were sitcom stars or professional athletes or something.

I was very excited to get Adobe Photoshop for Christmas (thanks, hubby). Once I figure it out, I'll share my awesome skills with you. For now, we still have internet issues and I can't post pictures at all. Our internet provider has finally admitted there is a problem on their side, so hopefully it gets resolved soon.

The Christmas Jar

Last year, David and I read a moving story called The Christmas Jar. After reading the book, we decided to start our own Christmas jar, so we saved our change throughout the year. We just counted the money day before yesterday. There wasn't much, but we were still excited at the prospect of being able to give away a jar. We talked about who we should give it to and how we should deliver it.

Then, this morning David came in and woke me up. He told me I had to come see what someone had left for us. It was this...

Someone gave us a Christmas jar! We couldn't believe it. And there are far more coins in this jar than in the one we are giving away. More than the money, we are just so moved that someone thought of us and wanted to share with us. These are the kinds of things that make Christmas so special to me. I think we will save this money towards our future adoption so that it will mean even more.

I don't know if the giver reads my blog, but if they do, thanks so much. And Merry Christmas!

I can fly! I can fly! I can fly!

Thanks to "Uncle" Jack. Jack and his wife Dayna are Baylie's favorite non-relative babysitters.

Diary of a Hair Day

I have often been asked if I do my daughter's hair. I always feel like saying, "Yes, can't you tell by the crooked parts and tufts of hair sticking up everywhere?" I am amazed by the moms who create wonderful geometric patterns in their daughter's hair. I would be satisfied with a straight line somewhere.

I realize that Baylie's hair is so thick that I need to start using more braids than I currently do, but that would take more time to fix her hair and I'm not ready to cross that bridge yet. I'm also not ready to pay $65+ to have a professional do it. Nevertheless, I've decided to blog about a hair day.

I didn't take a starting picture, but this was her last hairdo, which is two strands of hair twisted together all over her head. I really like it this way. It kind of looks like dreadlocks. I usually leave each hairdo in for two weeks to a month. By then it's starting to come undone.

It took close to an hour to undo her hair, afterwhich we have this look. Undoing her hair also means spraying on conditioner and brushing it out section by section. Baylie HATES having this done.
Next, I part her hair down the middle and pull back the side I'm not working on with clips. Then I separate a section to braid and pull back the rest of the hair on that side with a clip.
Her hair is extremely thick, so separating and parting is harder than it sounds.
Once the actual braiding begins, it's a process of convincing her of how much fun we are having and trying to get her to stay seated. (She starts to scream and fuss the minute I spray water on her head.)
Still trying... We usually move from the chair to the floor and back a few times. We get out lots of toys and other distractions.
At some point, I give up and just hold her in a vice grip between my legs.

Finally, after about three hours, three suckers, half of Sleeping Beauty, all of Cinderella, and part of two old Santa movies, we are half way through! At this point, Baylie and I both need lunch and a nap.

After she wakes up, I realize there is not time to finish her hair before I run my errands, so we go out with our half-done hairdo. We do cover it with a winter hat. (Note, that her hair just looked like this after her nap. I didn't do anything to make it stand up. I find her hair truly amazing.)

After our errands are finished and we've eaten dinner, we decide to tackle the other half of the head. This time it only took about an hour and a half. And, we're done! Of course, at this point I realize that her part is off center. Dang it! Oh well, its' going to be that way for a few weeks.

I'm always surprised to see how different Baylie looks with her braids. So much older and her head is so much smaller. She loves to shake her beads. Hopefully one day she'll enjoy getting her hair done!

Once there Was a Snowman

Baylie loved her snowman . . .

. . . he was very tasty.

The Princess and the Frog

Today we had a family date to go see The Princess and The Frog. It was a great time. I'm sure some people will say the movie is too dark because of the voodoo, but we all liked it. David and I lived in the South and have visited New Orleans a handful of times. We cracked up at some things that reminded us of living down there. Baylie loved the music. Thank goodness we sat where she was free to dance her heart out (she fell asleep before we even left the parking lot after the movie). Of course, her favorite thing was the gigantic tub of popcorn.

Ready to go in her Princess Tiana shirt ($5 at Wal Mart).

Being wowed by the theater display.

Ready to go (seriously, 30 minutes of previews)!

Support Our Troops!

Go here to send a free postcard to our troops courtesy of Xerox. This is a great activity for the whole family and lets our soldiers know they aren't forgotten, especially during the holidays. I like this idea so much, I'm adding it to my sidebar!

Santa Baby...NOT!

Merry Christmas!

Good to Be a Cougar ...

...and not just because I'm in love with a younger man.

Happy Thanksgiving

Things for which I am truly grateful.

• A husband who loves me no matter how I look, how much I weigh or how mean I get.
• A miracle of a little girl that calls me "momma."
• A tight and loving extended family.
• A secure knowledge of the love of God and Christ for all of us.
• Good friends that make life more fun.
• A country that despite problems is still safe and free.
• Football.

David on the Air

I shoul have posted this way earlier, but if you're online now (6:00 p.m., Monday, November 23), you can go to utahfm.org and click on the "Listen Live" box at the top right to hear David being interviewed and his music being played. He'll be on until around 9:00 p.m.

Whirlwind Catch Up

I'm way behind on the blog, so here are some pictures to summarize our recent activities.

We watched Timpview (my dad's school) take their fourth straight state championship in football. They've won five of the past six years. We got to watch the game from a loge. It was awesome. Go T-birds!


We got sideline passes for after the game. Now how many toddlers can say they've stood on the 50-yard line of a Division I football field? (Or as my dad pointed out, how many of their mothers would care?)


We had fun raking and playing in the leaves.

Danielle helped us winterize our apartment (hope she forgives me for the picture)...

...while our girls read a few books.

We had an unexpected visit from my Uncle Eric, a real cowboy. Some of you in the Utah area may have heard of him when he received a reward from the FBI for finding the remains of a missing fugitive. (The FBI totally ripped him off and only paid him half the promised reward.)

Baylie tried on his stetson.

It's been a busy couple of weeks!

Matching Mondays - Utah Children

I'm just waiting for approval from the Utah Adoption Exchange in order to continue featuring children available for adoption. Stay tuned.

Thank You Veterans

(pictures on this post are from my brother-in-law's funeral earlier this year)

I spent the entire morning crying, but in a good way. My dad is the principal of a local high school. I am frequently impressed with this school and it's students. Today I was even more impressed than usual. Today the school put on an assembly to honor veterans. My mom and I decided to attend. When I first got there, I was surprised to see how many kids were dressed up, some in suits and ties. At first I thought they must be participating, but then I realized they were just being respectful to the veterans. It was very impressive.

Selected students gave brief recaps of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War the Gulf War and the War on Terrorism. After each recap - from which I learned a lot I didn't know - they honored a veteran of that conflict. The veteran stood to be recognized and the student body gave them a standing ovation. It was very moving. It was obvious that these men were humbled to be honored by these high school students.

One student played Amazing Grace on the bagpipes, the ballroom dance team did a naval-inspired number and the choir sang the service song medley. During the medley the men and women who had served in that branch of the armed forces stood to be recognized. The students clapped again. I cried again when one elderly man stood and saluted the students and another waved to them.

In a day and age when there is not always respect shown from the younger generation to their forbears, this was a beautiful experience and one that I wish could be repeated in high schools across this nation. I think it would be a powerful tool for patriotism and honor. I'm just grateful I got to be a part of it.

On a humorous note, today is also my dad's birthday. The student body started the assembly by embarassing him with a dorky hat and by singing happy birthday. I think it meant a lot to him. He works hard and I'm glad the kids like and respect him. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't take very good indoor pictures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

Love this Video!

Cowboys and Little Indian

We premiered Baylie's costume at Gardner's Village. It's a fun shopping area made from old homes.
Every Halloween they decorate with huge paper maché witches. This one is called "witchy poo."


Baylie loved the pony ride and petting zoo. She cried when we left.

Baylie wore a costume that I wore when I was a little girl. She was a little Indian, so David and I decided to be cowboys. Trick or Treating was a big hit with Baylie this year, but she didn't want to put any candy in the bag. She just wanted to eat it right then.

Here is the only picture I could find of me in the costume. I was MUCH older than Baylie when I wore it. I'm here with my brother Clark. I think my mom went a little crazy with the war paint!

Shake Your Beads!

To Cheat or Not to Cheat

I just read a really disturbing quote about monogamy in a CNN article.

No wonder many people believe monogamy is completely on its way out. French author Jacques Attali in recent years wrote, "Monogamy, which is really no more than a useful social convention, will not survive. It has rarely been honored in practice; soon, it will vanish even as an ideal."

The article mentions that there are more than half a million "polyamorous families" living in the United States. Polyamorous couples are married but get involved with other people outside of the marriage. These are not just affairs, but long-term relationships. There are also the people that just have affairs or people that go from one long-term relationship to the next. The article states that the United States sees monogamy as more serious than much of the rest of the world where affairs are more tolerated.

CNN sums up the benefits of monogamy as follows:

"Because whether it's raising children or avoiding emotional chaos and drama, like what David Letterman is facing, or whether it's building an estate and avoiding conflict about estate planning, there are lots of reasons that two people who cooperate are better off than one person alone or one person who is a cheat."

I am so grateful to belong to a religion that stresses monogamy. I'm grateful to live in a community where monogamy is the norm. I prefer my religion's definition of fidelity and family.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. "Children are an heritage of the Lord." Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. (Read the complete statement here.)

I'm grateful to be the daughter of parents who have honored their marital vows for 43 years and counting. I'm grateful to be married to a man who believes in monogamy and never causes me to doubt his fidelity. True happiness and true love is found in these types of relationships.

Free Adoption Conference

For those of you in the Utah County area, Utah Valley University is offering a free Conference on Adoption on November 2. They have something for everyone with a professional track, pre-adoption track, post-adoptive track and an options track to discuss current events. It's a great opportunity to learn more about adoption and meet other people in the adoption world. Register here.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a local pumpkin patch to look at the huge pumpkins and try out the corn maze. I love fall! I'm even starting to like Halloween. Imagine that!

And here's picture of Baylie with her fall braids.