33 weeks

Em and the berries at 33 weeks. She is measuring 40 weeks since there is 2 babies in that bump. I can't wait to meet my newest cousins. They are due on Thanksgiving but the goal is that they stay where they are until at LEAST the end of October. I'm so excited!!

Not important...

I love this quote! It expresses how I feel at this moment so well...

"Two tears in a bucket, mother fuck it"-The Lady Chablis from the movie "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil"

I thought I would be in SLC bonding with Mo after his birth, but I have been informed that I am not important so I will change the cat litter instead. And yes, I know I'm whining & being immature, but that is about all I can manage to do at this moment.

She didn't call...

Actually Deb did call just now to let me know that Moses was born this afternoon at 3:41 p.m. He weighs 7 lbs 11 oz, 19 inches long, & has dark hair like his mom. I guess a second birth partner wasn't needed after all. As far as I know the whole family is doing fine. Congrats Deb, Jesse, & Mo!

Waiting for Mo.....

Waiting for Moses Clloyd LaGrande Stevens:

He is due October 11th so all that we know is that he certainly WON'T be coming on that day! As the day approaches I've had to do a few things to prepare.

• Deb & I have agreed that she will ring me to let me know that I must start driving south when her contractions have become a bit regular but are still far apart. This is a good plan cause I anticipate it will take me about 3 hours to get to Deb & Jesse's house considering all the variables of packing, traffic & who knows what.
• I've made sure that Deb has multiple #'s to reach me at.
  
• I have a list of things I have to do once I get the call: Pack, get gas, & remember to drive safely!
  
• I put in my time off request from work months ago.
  
• I found someone to feed Canon & Daphney while I'm away. Thanks Sammie.
  
• I've tried to prepare by reading many books about how to be the best birth partner that I can be.
  
• Try to keep up on my wash & house cleaning for the next two weeks so I have enough clean cloths & Sammie can find her way into my apartment without inflicting too much physical or psychological pain on her. Side note on this one: I still have to do my wash & clean my apartment. :) I'm banking on the hope that Mo won't come today.
  
• I still don't have a camera but I don't think I'll be able to get one before Mo comes so I guess I can cross this one off. :( Plus I still don't know if I can upload pic onto my computer. I keep forgetting to ask the Geeks I know (Andy, Matthew, & Tommy). If any of the wifes of these geeks read this tell your husband to ring me please.
  
• And now we wait................
  

My Auntie Shower...

My Auntie shower is almost here! Ok, really it's Deb & Mo's baby shower but since I'm in charge I fully plan on being the star of the party! I mean really who else would be center of attention if not ME! I've been handwriting the invitations for the last few hours. They're taking a bit longer to complete then I anticipated. It's on August 22nd at 2p.m. in Salt Lake City. We're inviting friends to this shower cause Deb's family is having a separate family shower on the August 15th. Trouble is Deb is a bit of a hermit so she doesn't have a village of friends to invite, so the guest list is mostly MY family. :) It really is an "Auntie Shower!" Of course my family is fabulous so it will for sure be a good time even if it's just Deb, Megan, & me.

My summer vacation 2009!

Here it is! The post you've all been waiting for! Real non-camera phone pics of my fabulous weekend summer vacation. Don't get so excited that you're hyperventilating. Just channel all of that energy into fabulous comments. Enjoy!

I went to SLC Friday night, July 10th, so I could go to the yearly Hartvigsen Family Reunion early Saturday morning.

This is Deb & I before I heading to the reunion. I like to call this pic "bosom buddies" for obvious reasons. If it's not obvious to you then....mmm not sure what to tell ya about that one. :)

HARTVIGSEN FAMILY REUNION 2009

(Lion's pavilion)
My grandma Margaret Mina Hartvigsen Toman was 1 of 15 children. The decedents of those 15 children have a reunion every year in Utah up Springville Canyon at Kelly's Grove. This year it was at the Lion's pavilion. I've gone to this family reunion nearly every year of my life. Growing up we never had funds to go on extravagant family vacations so the reunion was our summer vacation every year. It was a huge deal to me. Something I looked forward to every summer. I recall making my list each year of things I needed to take in June! The reunion is usually held the second weekend of July each year! I still look forward to it just as much now, although I don't make a packing list a month in advance any longer! Over the years I became close to a few cousin in particular & look forward to seeing each of them every year. I tried to get pics of most of the folks on the favorite cousin list. Ok, now that I'm thinking about it I missed a lot of people but the memory card was full.

On Saturday we have a pot-luck lunch. Mmm my favorite!! This year I brought a yummy desert salad! It was a big hit with us Tolman's but not a lot of the other folks were brave enough to try it. Oh, well at least I like it. Delish!

This is my 1st cousin Tommy (Tom-Tom) & his way-to-cute son Carter.

My 1st cousin Emily but I've called you Em as long as I can remember & her darling daughter Maleah. Maleah was a huge fan of the salad I brought! At least I have one fan that appreciated my silly attempt at cooking!

This is my mom's 1st cousin Kristy, my Great Aunt Marda's daughter. I've always thought that Marda's daughters were the epitome of "beautiful." Isn't Kristy just gorgous? Exactly! Plus she has the funnest personality & the most amazing memory! Hmm, I'm just a bit jealous.

My Grandma's sister, my Great Aunt Shirley! This year she ended up finding out that I'm no longer a member of the Mormon church & she was totally fine with it. Gotta love people who love you no matter what! I wish everyone could be more like Aunt Shirly.

I asked Em to take this pic of me and my 2nd cousin Jason. In preparation of this pic Jason told Em to count to 3 and then take the pic. This is the moment that I realized Jason's big plan....

of getting rid of the pie in his hand by depositing it on my FACE! Yeah, I don't think so Jason!

This is after he promised to be nice.

My 2nd cousin Abbie & me. We're the same age and we've always been pretty close. Her and her husband Jeff are some of the funniest people I know! She used to blame me for her kids cause I would tell her that she was going to get pregnant & then she would! After this amazing psychic ability of mine worked with her 1st 2 children she told me I had to keep my pregnancy predictions to myself. Interestingly enough she still ended up with 2 more kids with NO help from me.

My 1st cousin Megan and her nephew Carter. Megan & I are super close so there are just way to many stories to tell you about her. To many to choose from. She is a pharmacist so she is my go-to person for anything medical. Thanks Megan!

Jenny, my 1st cousin Tommy's wife & Carter's mom. I've gotten to know Jenny quite a bit over the last year. I just love her. I'm so glad she is my cousin. She is a genius on holistic & alternative health care. It's so fun to talk to her about Deb's pregnancy since Deb really wants a no drug birth.

Tommy, Jenny, & Carter. Aren't we Tolman's just cute!

Sandi (left), Lindsy (right)

After pot-luck there is usually some sort of craft for the children to make if they're interested. Of course being the crafty person that I am I usually end up at the craft table for a bit. This year everyone was making bead necklaces and bracelets. As I was making mine I was visiting with my 2nd cousin Lindsy & getting to know her new sister-in-law Sandi. At one point Sandi set her beverage down on the table and immediately proceeded to dump the entire contents of her cup on both she and I. Funny! Even funnier was when she said there was a little "sommin sommin" in her drink. Of course I said "where is the bottle of this "sommin sommin", hook me up!" Lindsy, Sandi, & I then went and had our own version of a family reunion in Aunt Shirley's camper. Good times! Course it was amazingly hard for me to try to "act" sober after that as I'm such a light weight when it comes to alcohol. This whole situation created some great laughs and now is one of my fondest family reunion memories: "Remember that time Sandi and I got completely smashed and tried to pretend we weren't! Fun times!!" I guess I did a pretty ok job at acting sober, cause even Megan who knows me the best and has seen me drunk had no idea that I had 3 shots of vodka on board until I told her later. :)
Thanks Deb for letting me borrow your camera!

This post has inspired me to start a charity. I'm calling it:

"HELP HETH GET A REAL CAMERA FUND"

All donations can be sent directly to me. Hey, it's such a worthy cause. :)

Pregnant!

No, not me but it seems everyone I know is pregnant! The "prego club" currently includes:

• Deb (best friend & sister)
• Jaylene (her parent's took me in my last year of high school)
• Shealyn (Jaylene's little sis)
• Candle (1st cousin)
• Shari (Harri's daughter)
• Becky (Harri's sister)
• Jody (co-worker)

Of course there have been many who recently lost their membership to the "prego club" only to be promoted to the "baby club."

Feeling a little crafty

I got this crazy idea yesterday that I wanted to MAKE things for Mo. First of all you must know that I don't make anything! I like crafts & usually catch on pretty fast, but I just don't have that drive like some right brained people do to create all the time. I don't consider myself crafty or creative, but I can pretend right?
I decided I wanted to make burp rags for Mo. I looked online for an easy stitch that I could sew by hand as I don't have a sewing machine. I discovered the "blanket stitch." I watched a You Tube video, found a snazzy tutorial on a craft blog, bought the needed items, & am now on my way to sewing cute things for Mo to expel bodily fluids onto!

eBay opps!

So as you know if you follow my blog I'm going to be an auntie to Deb & Jesse's baby Mo. Because of this I've turned into this crazy baby obsessed person. Don't worry I still don't want children myself....I'm not THAT crazy!
I've been scoping out baby stuff online, & yesterday morning I decided to scope out eBay. I've never really looked on eBay before. I found some way cute stuff so I decided to set up an account and bid on a few things. What's the harm...for sure I'll get out bid right?
WRONG! I bid $76.00 on the 4 in 1 crib in the pic & won! Trouble is I didn't really want to win it! If you know anything about cribs you know that $76.00 is a steal of a deal for a brand new 4 in 1 crib. They normally run from $250.00 to $450.00. Trouble is, & I didn't know this before bidding, the shipping and handling is $99.00! OPPS! BIG OPPS! I get paid on the 5th and would have had the $ then but not now. Hopefully my landlord won't cash my rent check straight away. Opps!! Well, the crib should be in my storage unit within 2 weeks just waiting for Mo to get here...in OCTOBER!

Playing in SLC

After I went to my cousin Megan's wedding the weekend of May 15th-17th I headed to play with Deb & Jesse.This was the first time I had seen Deb since she found out that her and Jesse are having a boy. Of course we went baby boy shopping like mad! My cousin Emily told me of a fabulous store called Kid to Kid. It's my new favorite store! I bought Mo a slightly used car seat for a mere $25.00 & of course I bought him a whole bunch of darling cloths! So much fun!

This is a pic of Deb, Mo, & Jesse after we had a delish breakfast at The Olympian Restaurant, our favorite dinner in SLC.

On our shopping spree I had to introduce Deb to the Old Navy flip flop. I think I converted her! I'm pretty sure she is a life long fan now!

It's a.............

This just in: Deb and Jesse are having a baby......


A boy...it's a boy...it's a boy...it's a boy!

My birthday week!

I was born April, 16 1976. That means that this past week I completed my 33rd year of life. As always I was completely spoiled & felt very much loved and adored. Here are the high lights from the week of celebration.

Please don't be to harsh regarding my picture taking ability.

• 1st I'm not a master or even an amateur photographer.
• 2nd The only camera I have is the one on my phone.
• 3rd and most importantly I was completely drunk while taking most of these pics
  

Thursday was the 16th and my birthday. I went to work but about an hour into my shift Harri had the most brilliant idea ever.....

(Harri at Angie's. When she sees this she is going to be pissed...no makeup!)

Birthday breakfast at Angie's Restaurant! We told our managers that we HAD to go, & off we went! Thanks Manda & Janet for not firing us! :) Angie's is the absolute best diner in all of Cache Valley. If you're ever in Cache Valley and need some grub this is the place to go. Don't forget to order some hot chocolate. Angie's hot chocolate is a must...don't pass it up. It's the best I've ever had!

(Me at Angie's on my BDay.)

I was showered with gifts & warm happy birthday wishes all day on my birthday. Thank you everyone for making me feel so special!

Of course the real partying started on Saturday the 18th. This was the day of my much anticipated BDAY BBQ!

Deb, Jesse, & MoJo drove from SLC. They were a bit delayed due to the SLC marathon mile marker #22 that was stationed right in front of their apartment! Funny stuff! Rather then waiting for all 7000 participants to run past Deb pleaded to the officer of the law that was stationed in front of their apartment. She informed him that they had to get out. His response was "good luck with that!" Followed by a laugh! Seriously!! After Deb stood there long enough to make him realize that she wasn't taking that as an answer he finally conceded to help her and Jesse get on their way.

They made it to Logan in good time....Jesse drove! :) We even had time to make a trip for some breakfast to....you guessed it....Angie's!

Then we made a stop at the liquor store and got some beverages for the BBQ.

The BBQ was at Harri's house. She went all out for it. Of course the decorations had a purple theme & there was more food then even a small village could eat.

Not to mention more "beverage" then I could consume although I gave it my best effort! One of my co-workers gave me a fabulous recipe for tasty beverage that will totally do the job in getting you completely fucked up. I can testify it works!

*Fabulous BDAY BBQ Beverage Recipe*
(The BBB)
2 liters of Squirt soda
1 packet of blue berry Kool Aid, other flavors can be substituted
1 pint of Everclear 100 proof alcohol!!

Poor out about 3 inches of soda into a glass to make room for the Kool Aid and alcohol. Add Kool Aid packet & Everclear to remaining Squirt in 2 liter bottle. Quickly put cap back on bottle. Be careful when you open the bottle cause it will fizz all over the place. I suggest opening it in the sink. Poor BBB over ice and enjoy! Good times ahead! Here's the best part. You can't even taste the Everclear!!

I would like to think that since I ONLY invited my closest and dearest friends that I won't forever hear about my ridiculous drunken behavior, but alas these ARE my closest and dearest friend so I can pretty much GUARANTEE that I will never hear the end of what an ass I made of myself. Fucking love you guys!

Clay was in charge of the actual BBQ! He is an amazing cook so of course everything turned out perfect! He cooked BBQ beef and pork with my favorite "Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce." The meat was so tender. Yum!!

Harri's youngest daughter Ashlee was there to eat and laugh at me of course! Cute girl! She's my fave & she shares a birthday with my sister Lisa. Cool huh?

My manager and good friend Manda came. She made this fantastic pasta salad. It was delish!

She also showered me with fabulous presents! My favorite was the purple flip flops of course. They even have purple glittery sparkle on them. And as any former fag hag knows glittery sparkles goes with ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! Well done! Thanks Manda!!

Course my darling Amber Brown was there. Her husband Julius even made an appearance but I didn't get a pic of him. Amber gave me the most fantastic present. A "Grow your own hermit crab." It's a hermit crab that you submerge in H20 and in about 10 days you have a fabulous "Herriette the Hermit Crab" pet for your very own. She was orginaly "Hazet the Hermit Crab" but I took the liberty to change her name to "Harriette." Much better don't ya think? After the 10 day bath Harriette will be 600% larger then she started out as! Wow!! Here's the best bit. If you take Harriette out of the water she will shrink down to her original size & you can grow her over and over again! Fab!! Love it!

Painting done by Deb

As I've said already I was completely spoiled & showered with birthday gifts. All of which I appreciate but they're are a few gift that mean especially a lot to me. I received 3 paintings & a 1 book of original poetry! I have such talented and gifted friends. Now don't forget the the pics of the paintings are pathetically taken with my camera phone and don't even pretend to do justice to the real beauty of the paintings in real life.

Reprint of painting by Janet Hall

Tulips are my favorite flower. My former manager gave me reprints of 2 paintings she had done. They are stunning in real life. The red tulips was turned into a greeting card by my friend Melissa from work. She got all of my co-workers to sign it.

Reprint of painting done by Janet Hall

The purple tulips Janet just gave me. It is so stunningly beautiful in real life. I'm for sure going to frame it and hang it on my wall. Gorgeous!!

Deb also gave me the first copy of her 1st book of poetry. Deb is a gifted and talented writer and poet. I feel so honored that she would give me such a gift. I know that for those who are artistic their art is part of them. Janet said that giving her art away is like ripping her part of her heart out. Wow, that is intense! I don't really understand this emotion as the only poem I've ever written was just the other night and completely inspired by a bottle of wine. I appreciate those who do have talent and who have chosen to share it with me.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR MAKING MY BIRTHDAY SO FABULOUS! I LOVE ALL OF YOU DEARLY. I HOPE I CAN RETURN SOME OF THE LOVE & APPRECIATION THAT YOU HAVE SHOWERED UPON ME THIS LAST WEEK!

YOU'RE INVITED!

I'm having a catalog party & you're invited!

My friend Harri has decided to be a consultant for a company that she believes in and is so excited about: Thirty-One. I'm supporting her new business by hosting a catalog and online party.

You may be wondering what Thirty-One is. "Thirty-One was derived from the Old Testament, where Proverbs 31 describes a virtuous woman who exhibits hard work, wisdom, encouragement and care for others."

Thirty-One sales fabulous purses, bags, & home decor. Click on any of the pictures or italisized words for a direct link to Harri's Thirty-One website. Scope out the fun items in the adult catalog to find something for yourself or a good friend.

For all of you moms out there Thirty-One just recently published a new 31 Kids catalog. I'm especially excited about this cause the minute Deb & Jesse find out if MoJo is a Moses or a Josephine I'll be ordering all sorts of darling monogrammed items.

Some of the items in the 31 Kids catalog include bibs, fold & go organizers, changing pads, aprons, & much more!

Here's the best part: The customer special for April is $1 embroidery for all items in the 31 Kids catalog! Yippee!!

Please help me have a successful Thirty-One party. Here's how to order:

• Visit Harri's Thirty-One website http://www.mythirtyone.com/7229
• Shop & pick out all that you want
• Text, or call Harri with your order at 435-890-8964
• Email Harri at melindaharris12@hotmail.com
• Or contact me to order
• You can order from NOW thru April 24, 2009!

Have fun shopping!!!

Just what I needed!

I went to Salt Lake City yesterday to play with Deb, Jesse, & baby MoJo. Of course we had the most fun as we always do. I spent way too much money, but it was so worth it. My mini trip to be with those that I love & love me unconditionally was exactly what I needed. You can't put a price tag on that.
Please click on the olive colored words for more information about store or product.

Here are the high lights of my trip:

• We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory in the historic downtown Trolley Square for lunch. I had chicken marsala. It was way tasty, but for sure not near as good as the chicken marsala that Amanda makes. Don't worry Amanda promised me that the next time she makes it I'm invited! Of course I'm going to hold her to that promise. Delish!
• We then scoped out some of the fun shops in Trolley Square. We went to Cabin Fever. A shop that sales all these weird retro and nostalgic things. I bought "A littlt Golden Book classic" book for MoJo. I got he/she "The Shy Little Kitten" to teach MoJo about the other small member of the family...Muni Cat. I can't wait to read the book to MoJo.
• I also picked up the cutest little cards for Deb & MoJo's baby shower. I know it is many months away. I mean we don't even know the gender of the baby yet! But when you find the perfect cards you have to buy them right? Beauty part is the cards will be great for either a Moses or a Josephine. Cute! Deb thought they were perfect too! I so had to get them!
  
• We then found the most fantastic organic products shop called Trolley Green Giant. They sale all organic and natural products. They even sale my beloved Chico Bag! Most of their health and hygiene products are from a company called Bubble & Bee Organic. Deb ended up buying some lip balm. After I tried hers I was sold & had to have my own tube. Here's the best part! If you have a lip balm with you the Trolley Green Giant will let you trade it in for a FREE Bubble & Bee Organic lip balm. I'm all about free so I ended up trading my Burt's Bees pomegranate lip balm for a Bubble & Bee karma apple. Good choice! I also purchased an unscented lip balm as well. If you're looking for a really great lip balm I defiantly recommend Bubble & Bee Organic.
  
• We then headed over to the Trolley Taffy Station & bought some yummy old fashioned salt water taffy. Salt water taffy is a tourist novelty item in Salt Lake City because of the Great Salt Lake. Course I'm completely fine with this cause it's yummy!
• After all this shopping we just went back to Deb & Jesse's house & did some serious chillaxin.
  
• On a recent trip to Arizona Jesse purchased some kosher wine for he and I as we're both interested in the Jewish religion. We opened the bottle to assist with the serious chillaxin that was going on. Yippee for fabulous kosher Arizona wine. :)
• After more chillaxin I headed north and got home at 10:30ish p.m. It was an all around fun day.
  

Saturday mini trip

I decided I deserve a Saturday mini trip to Salt Lake City to visit Deb, Jesse, & baby MoJo. I know I'll have the most fun no matter what we end up doing...time to get ready! Yippee!! Send safe driving thoughts my way please.

Ya ready for it?

I have the most fantastic news that I have just been itchin to announce:

Deb & Jesse are pregnant!

Yes, I'm going to be an Auntie. Finally! The baby's due date is October 11th. Seems like forever away.
I hope to be the most fantastic Auntie EVER! The baby is only 11 weeks and I've already bought 2 of my favorite children books for it, "The Berenstain Bears" & "Curious George." I've decided to be in charge of teaching it the love of reading.
I'm just so excited!!!