Evelyn Clementine Borup

I know I'm biased, but I just think Evie is the prettiest little girl I've ever seen.  And her personality is just hilarious-- it adds.  She's my favorite girl.

Some of my favorite Evie things:

*She runs on her tiptoes.  This has two effects: she looks like a Disney princess all the time, and she has great calves.

*She loves to kiss "Chewman's cute little handies!"  She's constantly grabbing his hands and kissing them, and he kind of hates it because he's trying to do things with those hands, but she just can't stop herself.

*She has the greatest laugh-- it is the ultimate sound of childlike joy: so carefree and sincere, like she just loves life and everything in it.  

My kids are great!

Andrew is getting super creative lately and drawing all the time and cutting out pictures and trying to make all kinds of things with paper.  He's getting so big!  His favorite things are pictures of monsters and superheroes, paper airplanes, and cardboard swords and daggers.  

Evie loves to dress up.  She spends most of her time in a bathing suit.  Since my parents' house is usually a little warmer than a normal home, I let her.  But she does have to wear clothes to go out in the snow.   Actually both my kids spend most of their time in costume.  I let them dress themselves, and they usually are either clashing or dirty, but I think it's kind of cute anyway.

Truman is still not walking.  He was tested this morning by the state infant/toddler program to see if he's eligible for physical therapy.   He is making progress, though.  He will walk a couple steps now (he's taking his first steps!  Hooray!  He's 17 months old- better make note of that for the baby history).  He's also walking willingly around the house holding only one hand.  And he can scoot down the stairs on his bum (to go up, he sits at the bottom and yells, "I'm done!").  Oooh, and today he started giving me kisses- normal ones, not the open mouthed slobbery baby kind.  We like that kid.  

My favorite thing about my family is how much we all love each other, and love to show it.  This morning, Truman and I peeked in at Evie, who was still sleeping, and he wouldn't let me leave until I let him cuddle with her and give her a kiss.  Then when Evie got up we all went in and woke up Andrew and they all cuddle-wrestled on his bed.  My kids' favorite people are each other, and it's the best thing in the world to me.  

My boys

I love my boys!  They are so sweet and loving and cuddly, and they're just great guys!  

I love this picture.  Truman is giving Daddy some cuddles because he let Truman play his guitar with him.  I love Michael's face in this one-- just thoroughly enjoying that hug.  

Thanksgiving in Boise

This year we had Thanksgiving in Boise with the Borups-- the second I've ever been to.  It was really nice.  It was good to spend some time with Michael's family and nice to have a change and have things a little quieter and calmer for the most part for a little bit.  

The guys spent most of the time out in Keith's shop building Christmas gifts and stuff-- Michael made a dress up box for Evie, and Andrew got Grandpa to help him make a dollhouse for her too (it was his idea and everything-- sweetie brother!  Andrew started it on his own but when Grandpa found out what he was doing he couldn't resist jumping in and helping him make a nice one.  Andrew got to pick the paint and do most of the painting on it.).  

Truman had fun- he learned a new word: "Pie!" Truman loves chocolate pie, but he'll eat just about any kind he can get his hands on.  I think he ate as much as I did on our friday pie night.  Truman is actually talking like crazy lately, which was fun for everyone to hear.  He has even learned to sing "Happy Birthday."  What a cutie!  

One more thing to be thankful for: We're working on negotiations for selling our house right now.  Hooray!  Hopefully we'll have that baby all closed up by the end of the year.

Tuesday Tell All: Thanksgiving Pie

So, now that I have loaned out my camera for a while, I don't take pictures nearly as much as I should.  That means I have nothing to post.  I decided I should probably post something because people (my family) have been complaining.  I found this website called Tuesday Tell All linked from my friend Amanda's blog, and decided this might be a solution until I have an idea of my own.  It might be boring for you, because now I'm really feeling like an example of the despair.com poster I read recently: "Blogging: Never before have so many... had so much to say... about so little."  But, in the spirit of blogging, I'm going to do it.

This week's topic is, "What is your favorite Thanksgiving pie?"

I don't, as a rule, love pie.  At least that has been my official opinion for a long time. The truth is, I do love pie, if it's the right kind.  I just don't do too well with cooked fruit in general.  Apple pie and cherry, and lots of berry pies, give me heartburn usually.  So although I enjoy a couple bites of those occasionally (like once a year or less) I'm not a big fan of most fruit pies. At least not in very large quantities.  With one exception.  Because of it's sentimental value from childhood Thanksgivings at my grandma's, I really love a good slice of warm blueberry pie a la mode.  Which is funny, because I don't really like blueberries.  Am I sounding picky yet?

My favorite Thanksgiving pie, though, is probably pecan.  It's definitely deceptively named.  It should be named Caramelly Pie With Pecans on Top, because it's the caramel stuff that really makes the pie.  I think this is the most unique and surprisingly delicious of all thanksgiving pies.  Good stuff.  

(I also love lemon, any cream pie that is done well, and pumpkin-- in case you're thinking of making me a pie :) ...and now I'm getting hungry!)

Happy Thanksgiving!  

Halloween-- a little late

Here are this year's halloween costumes. Truman was a jedi, Evie was a princess of course, Andrew was Darth Maul, I was Rosie the Riveter (I know, I'm a dork), and Michael had a paper airplane stuck in his head. Good times. We went trunk or treating and let our kids just go at it with the candy for two or three days. Kind of gross, but fun I guess.

I have been thinking a lot about the great people in my life and how they have helped me get where I am and become the person I am now. 

Michael is not the last person I've met to have had an impact on my life, but he definitely has the greatest impact.  More than anyone else, Michael Carl Borup, my love, has helped me become who I am today.  Not just for the obvious reasons like we got married and had children, but because he has changed the way I look at life and at myself so drastically--definitely in a good way.

First, the shallow stuff.  Knowing Mikey makes me cooler.  My taste in music is a good example.  He has introduced me to this amazing world of crazy-good music that I only glimpsed before knowing him.  He has taught me all about cooking (I couldn't cook when we got married-- he taught me) and great food from all over the place.  He's even got me thinking outside the box about the kind of home we want (possibly a dome-- which sounds weird until you see some of their interiors) and the kind of lifestyle we'd like (among our long-term goals are owning a hip restaurant/movie theater, sailing all over on a yacht-- possibly one we built or restored ourselves, and writing a screenplay together).  

As his coolness has rubbed off on me, I have also found my own ways to be cool, which he has supported 100%.  He encouraged me in my decisions to start a book club, to run again, and to become a certified personal trainer, among other things.  I know he'll be there to back me up in whatever I set my mind to.

Michael has taught me to value myself as a woman and daughter of God.  He has shown me the good in myself as an individual.  He makes me feel safe and valued and cherished.  After being around that so long, my confidence has grown exponentially.

Michael helped me grow up.  When we met I was a shallow, self-centered teenager.  I wanted to marry late, live in Los Angeles, and have one to three children while working like crazy (guess I was influenced a little too much by the feminist movement, huh?).  He gently questioned and reminded and suggested until he had helped me flip my view of what a fulfilling life is completely upside down.  Now I know that life is about love and family, and that the real adventures come through our relationships and what we can do to lift and build one another.  And while my day consists of changing diapers and reading stories instead of world travel and prestigious promotions, I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

As Sister Hinckley once said, life is more than I ever imagined it would be.  Mikey, thank you for helping me discover what's important, who I am, and what I can be.

What I learned in Conference today

"Never underestimate the power of your righteous influence."  

-Elaine S. Dalton, Young Women General President

Happy Birthday to Evie!... a week ago.

Evie turned three years old on September 8th.  She had a rainbow cake, which she chose and was thrilled about.
She got sparkly red shoes, a princess dress, some books, a beautiful necklace, and a dress up skirt, among other things.  Then Grandma Andrews put curlers in her hair before bed. 
I can't believe we have two kids over three years old now!  They're so big!

Hired!...?

I have been working with several people at the YMCA in Idaho Falls to get on as a personal trainer there.  I guess from the start I was hired, because they copied my Social Security card the second time I showed up.  But since I'm not CPR certified, I can't work until that's done, so I think I'll be starting after the 24th.  

It's just kind of funny because they never officially said, "Yes, we'd like to hire you." They just started talking like, "well since you're working here the daycare is free for your kids..."  I was going in with the attitude that I was going to go through some things with them and if they liked what I knew and stuff they'd hire me, but when they started talking like that, I put the pieces together...

I'm really excited to start.  I get to hang out with all kinds of cool people, do something I love, and learn and improve myself like crazy.  It's pretty fun.

Truman's hair

Truman looks so different to me with his new haircut. Just so much less like a baby, and more like a kid. He looks a lot like Andrew. Here is the Before:

And this is After:

Lately...

I haven't posted much lately, especially pictures, because we just moved into my parents house and too late I realized all my beloved pictures were on the other computer, which was put into storage, probably not to be retrieved until we move out.  Because of my sadness over the loss of my cute pictures, I have had a slight aversion to blogging in general.  But I'm here to hop back on the wagon and move forward, so this here is a post to tell you what's going on and show a couple of pictures too.

We, especially my kids, are enjoying

 spending so much time with my family.  All my kids love Bubba a lot--

 his is the only name of my siblings Truman can say yet.  I have made him babysit much more often than I probably should, but he's been a pretty good sport about it.

Andrew continues to experiment with our camera, and I guess he picked up on Nick's self-portrait vibe and decided to do one of his own.  I like it.  It's so... Andrew.

In other news, I am in the process of getting a job as a personal trainer at the YMCA in Idaho Falls.  I've been spending a lot of time there interviewing and learning and stuff.  I'm really excited-- I really like having a place to exercise, I'm thrilled to be practicing and learning more about personal training, and the others who work at the YMCA, including LeAnn, one of my favorite people (I told her she's what I want to be when I grow up), are really cool.  

Today, Truman got a haircut.  He looks just like Andrew now.  I miss his curls a bit, but it was time for him to look like a boy instead of a baby.  I was going to upload some pictures of the Before and After, but my computer won't let me anymore, so I'll post those later.

The Move

Most know by now that we recently moved back to Shelley, my hometown.  Michael was hired for a job in Idaho Falls on a wednesday and started the following monday (Aug. 11).  It was a little crazy moving so fast-- we spent a couple of days packing and saying goodbye and we were out of there.  We are excited for the new job, and to be closer to family, but also sad to leave our sweet little ward in Sandy.  When I told Andrew we were moving, he started crying, "But I'm going to miss Reese!" (Reese and his family are some of the good friends we spent a lot of time with in Sandy).  

We are now staying with my parents in Woodville until we get our house either sold or rented out completely, so we don't have to pay double rent or house payments.  It's a little crazy and crowded here, but it's kind of fun too.  The hardest thing is getting into a routine and out of vacation mode-- staying up too late and eating a lot of junk food.  

Michael loves his job at IE Productions, and I'm excited to start soon as a personal trainer at the Idaho Falls YMCA.  It looks like we just might settle here in eastern Idaho, which is surprising, but I guess you have to move away to appreciate it.  It's a pretty good place to be, despite the constant wind and the smell of dairy (and when I say dairy, I mean manure, not milk products).  

Who do we trust now?...

I got an email this morning with a picture of the new dollar coins on it.   Wanna see?

Apparently there is no "In God We Trust" on this one.  Maybe it's one of those stupid chain mails that is created for the sole purpose of getting it passed around everywhere.  Has anyone seen this?

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

For the few who are lucky enough to read this before Sunday, you MUST go watch this little movie.  It is hilarious.  It may make you pee.  (Okay, actually, if I didn't pee, probably no one will, but it's still awesome).  Think Doogie Howser meets Pinky and the Brain, meets Broadway.  Dr. Horrible is very likable, and I highly recommend this.  If you happen to miss it, I would even suggest you may want to buy it on iTunes-- it's that good.

PREVIEW:

You can watch this for free until Sunday, July 20th, so GO GO GO!!!

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Slow Progress...help me out here...

Since I recently certified as a personal fitness trainer, I've come across some dilemmas:

It was brought to my attention that I'm really not in great shape.  I am okay, and pretty good for having an 11 month old and not a lot of time to work out, but I don't feel like I'm in trainer shape.  I am still working on lots of things-- particularly flexibility-- and this knowledge of my not-so-great shape has kind of lowered my confidence a bit.  Maybe it will help me relate a little better to my clients...

I'm worried about my lack of experience-- I've never even worked with a trainer.  But I am going to be shadowing a trainer next week, so I'm hoping this will help.  Besides, the only way to get experience, really, is to start, right?

I planned to work at a rec center here, which I was super excited about--It seems to be the only place with lots of support, no minimum number of hours or set schedule, and a decent split (trainers pay the gym a percentage of their profit)-- but they have yet to return my phone calls.  This has been really discouraging, so I've been re-evaluating things.  I think I am going to get my specialization in pre-and postnatal fitness soon and possibly start working in people's homes.  

Knowing all this, I urge you all to give me a shove-- I need to be told to "get up to bat and swing."  I'll appreciate your bossiness, or whatever you've got.

Before I die...

I've been thinking about big things I want to do in my life, and I thought I'd share a few with you. I'm not going to post the obvious "Raise good kids" or "do what's right" or "help others" but more specific ambitions:

1. Run the Ironman Triathlon! This is probably my loftiest physical goal. Particularly because I have yet to really learn how to swim. I think when I'm in a position to, I'm going to take swimming lessons, as nerdy as I might feel about it.

2. Buy a yacht. It doesn't have to be super fancy, but I would really like to sail to beautiful places with my family and have the kind of family vacations that might just be as much about the vacation as the family. I want my kids to experience amazing things together. And what could be more amazing than spending a week or two each summer traveling to exotic places on our own private boat?  Also, Michael loves to sail, and I love for him to do what he loves to do.

3. Publish a book. I am leaning toward a photo essay or something at this point-- something that can say a lot without me rambling on the way I usually do. Possible themes are: candid shots of people doing nice things for each other; a book of pictures of "beautiful women"-- normal looking women who have done beautiful things (kind of like the foundation for a better life billboards); or.... honestly, I've forgotten my other ideas... maybe I'll tell you later.

Mom Jeans

This made me laugh really hard. Also, Tada! Look what I learned how to do:

People change...

So, I've been jumping from blog to blog tonight just kind of checking up on all the people I used to know...

I feel a tiny bit disillusioned when I know I shouldn't.

I guess in my mind these people are still the same people they used to be (except maybe with families), but lots of times I find that I'm wrong. They've moved on with their lives, and the ones I haven't kept in touch with especially seem to have gone a very different direction than I did, or than I imagined they would.

I know I've changed too, and it makes it weird when I run into people I haven't seen in a while because I feel like I have to explain myself...

Whatever. It's impossible to maintain relationships with all the amazing people I've known in my life because things are just way too busy. I just hope they're all truly happy, and I can't wait for eternity to have all the time in the world to do that. At least that's how I sort of hope it will be.

The Abyss

We have had a bout of sickness around our house the past couple of weeks that seemed to last forever. Michael was sick with fevers and sore throat and just generally feeling lousy for a good week or so, and then Andrew caught what we later found out was pneumonia. Needless to say we really haven't left the house much, and I haven't had time in all my cuddling and waiting on Andrew to even give Evie and Truman all the time they need. Here is a picture of Truman helping himself while I was attending to some sickness-related matter.

We are finally mostly over all that, and even managed to have our whole family at sacrament meeting today. My friend Emily saw us there and asked, "Are you out of the abyss now?" I thought "The Abyss" was a good description of where we've been-- stuck at home taking long naps and watching movies of Andrew's choice, attempting to keep the house from falling apart, while all I really want is to run free outside again.

On Friday, Andrew was starting to feel better, so we made play-dough and took silly pictures in the morning. (And, yes, I know I look totally gross in that picture, but I guess I was trying to have fun with my kids and make them laugh.)

In the afternoon I tried to get them to jump on the trampoline but Andrew cried and freaked out in every way possible until we went inside and made dinner. So I guess it'll be a slow trip toward normal again, but we're working on it.

A random post loosely based on my birthday

Okay, okay, I tried not to plagiarize by actually at least citing where I got my pictures. Do I need to do that?... it's way less fun...
(picture from digital-photography-school.com/.../)
(picture from www.allgames.com/forums/ showthread.php?p=325872)

So, a week ago friday was my birthday. I am now 24 years old. I still think that's a pretty cool age. In fact, I think I'll continue to like my age for a while. Twenty four is me still young and cool but with enough experience to not be so dang stupid 99% of the time-- I'm willing to say that my stupidity is down possibly a good 10% from when I was in high school. Maybe more. And that makes me pretty happy. Because I'd hate to be so stupid my whole life. Yet, at 24, I still feel pretty good. Perhaps the rest of my semi-youth will be well spent.

Michael bought me Wii Fit for my birthday. It's kind of an excellent game in my opinion. I wouldn't feel comfortable using my game console for my sole source of exercise, but it does make me at least more aware of where I stand. Which is kind of what convinced me that I should consider myself my first major client and give myself a month to get in shape (long enough to make some decent progress without forgetting everything I just learned). Proprioception-- awareness of the position of one's body in space-- is something I feel I have always lacked, which is probably why I hated dancing. Also, my hatred of dancing has probably contributed to my inflexibility.

I really haven't gotten very far since I decided to whip myself into shape, and tonight while talking to my dad I concluded that I need to treat this part like a job too and dedicate the time necessary to get it done and do it well, which may mean letting the kids watch a little TV or something while I do my workouts or my program design. I did, however, recently get with a friend from the ward and give her some good, free nutrition advice. I knew what I was talking about, which felt good. But I had a hard time explaining it in a way that was short and to the point. It was hard not to just tell her everything I know...
(This one I just stole from my textbook) By the way, I know all these muscles and more. Would you like to know what my favorite muscle is? Too bad, I'm telling you. I actually have three: the Deltoids (the ones that make shoulders look sexy, and I'm particularly fond of mine); the brachioradialis (a muscle of the forearm, which I really think is hot on Michael); and the thoracic vertebral extensors (the muscles of the lower back-- I like these because I like to feel the way they move when someone is walking). I know. I'm weird.

Also for my birthday I went to my first concert: The Cure (you know, that Goth 80s band?). (picture from www.rockinsider.com/ 2007/06/curefor-my-blues.html)
It was kind of fun (although I only knew about four songs), and really loud. We felt kind of old walking in because Michael and I were both like, "Wow, this is really, really loud!!!" we almost were afraid to go in. But now I've been to a concert. Next time I'd like to go to someone I love and listen to all the time, like Ben Folds or John Mayer. That would be pretty excellent.

I mentioned in an earlier post that we had invented great breakfast cookies. Michael has thus far asked me not to share it yet because we're not sure we've perfected it. I do promise to share it, though. And I'm giving us a month (same time I have to get in shape) to get those suckers ready for the public-- or at least for friends and family who read my blog.

Some pictures

My blog is too texty right now, so I'm going to here are a few pictures for the sake of pictures:

Kids in the tub:
Truman is cute and big!
I love Michael!
I also got a haircut. I think it turned out pretty hot, when I can do it right... The angle on this picture makes me look weird. I think it's because Michael is a FOOT TALLER THAN ME!!!

Dandelion Boquets

One of my favorite flowers (if you can call it that) is a dandelion. To me it represents innocence and childish wonder. An adult looks at a dandelion and sees a weed, but when a child looks at a dandelion they see a beautiful yellow flower in the grass. It's particularly exciting because they're everywhere! "Look at all the pretty yellow flowers!" kids say, as they're running around barefoot in the lawn. And then they will pick a large bouquet of them for their mom. I remember doing this, and now my kids are doing it for me. I love my "flowers," and I love my kids even more, so this year a got out my best (my only really) vase, and put the flowers proudly on our dining room table. The kids found other flowers I in our yard and we had fresh flowers on our table for weeks.

Good news!

Most of you know I've been studying to certify as a Personal Fitness Trainer. Well, yesterday I took my test and scored 98 out of 100, so I'll be getting my certificate in the mail in a few weeks. That's pretty exciting. I will then start working hopefully a couple hours a day at a local rec. center. I'm really excited.

While I was studying I also learned about nutrition, and Michael (who can cook) and I (who was learning about nutrition) made up a recipe for healthy breakfast cookies that is kind of delicious.

Those are my major accomplishments so far. I'm sure I'll write more later.

It's just true.

I, of course, wanted to write this before Mother's Day, but it is no less true today. My mom is amazing. Unfortunately, she is the most under-appreciated person in my life. The older I get, the more I realize this.

I must have been sort of emotionally ignorant or something, because it took me until I had my own daughter to realize that a mom actually cares what her daughter thinks of her. A lot. It's not like how I discounted the opinions of my younger siblings, because they were just my siblings, and what did they know anyway? And when I realized this I thought of all the times I let my mom down in this regard-- I never told her enough how amazing she was, or how much I love her, or how nothing makes me feel more loved than hugging her.


My mom has the super-power of patience. She put up with a lot. She still does. Her unappreciated yet continual giving to her daughters may be summed up in one phrase: up-dos. She also has the incredible ability to just enjoy. Anything. A moment, a book, a food. Seriously, I don't know anyone who can so thoroughly enjoy a meal like my mom can-- it makes you feel good to see it, even if you weren't the one who cooked it. My mom can sit and talk with me forever and not worry about what she should be doing instead. She will read a hundred books to my kids at bedtime (if she doesn't fall asleep first), or the same one a hundred times and like it as much as they do.


When I was in middle school, I was a brat. My parents didn't have a lot of money, but they let me go on a series of ski trips with the school. For lunch, I wanted money to spend at the lodge. Instead, my mom had the audacity to make me a loaf of homemade bread for a sandwich and this huge thermos of hot chocolate to drink. I whined. The thing I never told her was, I've never had a better peanut butter sandwich. And I know the hot chocolate was about a million times better than the dirty water they sell by the cup-- My friends were jealous. I never thanked her.

Thanks mom. That was an awesome lunch. And thanks, mom, that was a pretty awesome childhood too. Oh, and thanks for putting my kids to bed for me every chance you get.

Tag...

Rules of this Tag:
1. Answer the questions about the list of friends and/or family on your blog.
2. If you don’t have 18 names answer the question about the next name that you have not had a question for on your list.
3. Tag 5 people.*
When did you first meet the first person on your list? I met Benny and Amanda soon after Mikey and I started dating-- Benny named a fish after me and threatened to put it in the blender if I broke up with Mikey.
*What do you like about the third person on your list's blog? Gail and Curtis are about the coolest people I know-- they just have this aura of coolness around them, and we get along really well. Wait, was I supposed to say what I liked about them or their blog? Their blog is cool too. I just like that it makes me feel like we keep in touch better than we do. *What do you like best about the fifth and sixth people on your list? Oh, how convenient that number five and six are both Karen and Matthew-- I like Karen, like all Borups, for her strong opinions and huge number of original ideas. Matthew is a SUPER nice guy who just seems really sincere. *How long have you known the ninth person on your list? LoriAnn and I have been friends mostly since right after I graduated high school, but known each other a bit longer than that, and it seems like forever. *What impresses you about the eleventh and twelfth people on your list? Aaron- he's really smart and could probably do anything he wants if he makes an effort, and my CTMA friends (ask if you care what that is) are amazing because we all have a strong friendship and I like hanging out with them because it's fun sometimes to be more introspective, which seems to be the effect they have on me. *What is a memory you have with the sixteenth person on your list? No #16 so Nick- Sampling produce and reading on a blanket in the sun, also Crawdad fishing, boat building, Screetching Soprano singing, Enrique... and lots and lots more... *Say something nice about the eighteenth person on your list. I guess I'll just go with Daniel and Camille here-- they are both really talented and have a great relationship and a CUTE little LouAnna to top it all off. *Tag 5 people. Karen, Rachel, Aaron, Tyra, and Gail.

Accomplishments

So, my kids are pretty talented these days. Among their accomplishments are these:

Andrew is learning his letters and now knows how to spell his full name. I attribute this mostly to pbs.org, sadly, and I hate to admit it, but I'm sure it's true. He has also become an awesome stunt rider on his power wheels Harley.
His repertoire of growing independence n includes pouring his own cereal, dishing his own applesauce, and cutting his own pancakes. Andrew even cleaned his room all by himself yesterday when I threatened to put some toys in storage. Here he is pictured with his first fort built entirely by himself! Pretty impressive...

Evie can sneak pretty well and loves to steal my gum from my purse and my mascara from my drawer (and put it on all by herself) then run to her room and hide under a blanket until I catch her. She also is an amazing dancer and trampoline-jumper. Evie is into naming her dolls and animals lately. Among them are her favorite baby, LouAnna, her bear, Heat, her lamb, Herv, and her babies, Superman and Junk. That's right, Junk. Did I mention Evie laughs like a crazy chipmunk? It's pretty funny.


Truman is our little sweetie. There is nothing better than holding that snuggly little guy. I'm holding him right now, in fact! Here is a really cute picture of Truman crying-- it's very sad. Truman is just as slow as my other kids as far as motivation to move-- he is pretty good at standing and sitting and rolling into awkward positions in the crib, but could really care less about reaching and crawling right now. I'm pretty sure he's okay. Here's a picture of him standing, and, on a side note, he's wearing my favorite outfit for him-- the shirt used to be Michael's! Truman is also growing his two top front teeth (which will make four teeth) and he loves to jump, rip paper, and play with his family.

Okay, I guess I figured this one out...

Lately I'm a bit overwhelmed about things, and I'm not sure why. I guess sometimes I'm in a groove and sometimes I'm not. Right now I feel like I'm not. I'm getting things done, and I'm pretty much doing the same things as every day, but for some reason I feel like I'm missing something and I feel perpetually anxious about this. Is it that I would like to find a babysitter so we can go to the temple soon and haven't yet? Is it because there's a basket of laundry looming in my room, waiting to be folded? Is something about enrichment nagging at my subconscious? Maybe it's just that I haven't taken the time to focus on playing with my kids. Yeah, I think that's probably it. Thanks. I'm glad I talked to you about this. That was kind of weird of me, huh? I'm going to post it anyway...

Wow, I am getting bad at this...

Okay, so I haven't posted in THREE MONTHS! I hope everyone hasn't completely lost interest by now, but I guess if you have, this will make a good journal...

We have been freaky-busy these past few months, so I'll try and catch everyone up.

Christmas was good, and small, and simple. We probably still spent too much. We went to Boise for New Years and hung out with Matt and Kelly.

Here is a picture of Bird Man Andrew (snow wings and legs) Evie is eating his wing, which was pretty upsetting for him. We had lots of snow this winter-- it kept snowing like a foot, then staying for a while, then melting, then snowing a foot again a day or two later. Winter has been kind of long and anti-social, so we're ready for spring. The past few days I've been jumping on the trampoline with the kids every spare minute. It's pretty fun. I'm excited to start having playgroup again soon hopefully.

Michael started his own business, Borup Creative, doing pretty much the same thing for now, but since he's his own boss there's lots of potential for expansion and change, which is pretty exciting. That has also been an opportunity for me to learn to cook with what we have (I actually didn't shop other than WIC stuff for about a month!). It's exciting to see what I'm capable of. I'm now budgeting out $150/month for food, and $50 for other consumables, like diapers and toilet paper and soap. So far, I have kept in the budget, but it's only the 20th... The key is to avoid the store as much as possible. I actually may need to get some lessons from Rebecca about shopping cheaply-- coupons and stuff. The tricky thing is feeding Truman-- it takes a lot of time to make our own baby food.

I am the enrichment leader in my ward, and this month was the Relief Society Birthday dinner. I decided to do something new, and we had fondue served buffet style (it was out in crock-pots and we'd come and fill a cup and get a plate of food to dip) We had TONS of leftovers, and we ate about half an hour late because I underestimated how long it would take to cut things, but it turned out pretty good. It was exciting. Unfortunately, I used up all my cell phone minutes planning it.

Oh yeah, we got cell phones and got rid of our land line (because Mikey needed a cell phone for work-- he got an iPhone).

I am now studying to become a certified personal fitness trainer. I also want to get specialized in pre- and post- natal fitness, and nutrition. I'm planning to work at Cottonwood Heights Rec center after I finish, and I can just work in the morning and on Saturdays (maybe ten hours a week) and I won't even need a babysitter. It will pay well, too, which means we can pay off our debts! I'll also get to teach a fitness class (the lady I talked to told me I could choose which one I want to teach. I think everything sounds pretty fun except yoga, which I would suck at teaching because I'm so ridiculously not flexible. Then when all my kids are in school I want to start my own fitness center called Hot Momma's.

Truman is sitting up really well. He's also trying to grow his third and fourth teeth. He loves his jumper thing. Now if we had some carpet maybe this kid could learn to crawl a little quicker.