My Haircut

I have been feeling the need to get my haircut. Sort of. I wanted to grow my hair out because some of the pictures of myself that I like the most are when I have super long hair (coincidentally I was also to skinniest, but that is not as easy to control as a haircut.)

Anyway, I can't decide what to do. Do I go for super short like I've done before (and enjoyed). Do I just get a trim, leave my hair mostly as-is and try to grow it out?
The reason I like short hair is that it is easy to shower and wash it every day and I was able to do it pretty quickly each morning. I like long hair but I usually only wash it every other day and the day I don't wash it it ends up either in a pony-tail or half-way up, and I sometime feel bleh.

As a side note I am going to get contacts again soon, and I always feel prettier without glasses so that will help with whatever I choose to do.

I am leaning towards keeping my hair at my current length so it can grow out more and trying bangs with it, but I can't really remember the last time I had longer hair w/ bangs. Any input? Suggestions? I need help!


This is me now. Meh.
My bob.
Longer, with layers.
Shorter hair...some bangs.
Really short hair, with bangs. I'm trying to picture those bangs with longer hair. Hhmm.

Flippy, layers.
Super short and spiky
Super short view from the front.
Long hair. Its nice, but really flat against my head.
Another long hair shot. I like this one.
And finally, one of my favorite long hair shots. The bridal picture. And yes, that was all my hair.

Sleeping

One of the best parts of my day. And cute too!

Disc Golfing 2009

On Wednesday February 25, 2009 the Lasley family went disc golfing together for the first time this year. (Morgan had been by himself earlier in the year.) We had a really great time. Eli walked the whole way and only complained a little bit at the end. He did fall down in the mud and got his jacket all dirty and all of our feet and pants were wet by the end of the day, but that is to be expected in February.
As we were walking around I told Morgan that this round was better than the last time I played Deerwood park with him. Last time I was 8+ months pregnant and it was crazy hot, not very fun. Hopefully we can continue to go enjoy the outdoors together as a family. I figure that as long as I regularly go outside then as the weather gets more hot and humid I will have slowly acclimated myself to it so it won't be so bad.

I can dream, right?

Bob the Builder

Today we went shopping at Fareway and the entire 20 minutes we were there we went through this conversation over and over and over again, Eli speaking at the top of his voice.

Eli: Mom, can we do it?
Me: Yes, we can.
Eli: Uh, I think so.

Eli: Mom, can we build it?
Me: Yes, we can.
Eli: Uh, I think so.

We got a lot of smiles, and I smiled right back. There are a lot more embarrassing things Eli could be yelling about in the store, and at least he was happy. :)

100 Books

(I don't know if this is true, but it is fun.)

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up? Instructions:1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.4) Tally your total at the bottom.

(X+) 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
() 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
(X) 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
(X+) 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
(X) 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
(X) 6 The Bible –
(X) 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
() 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
(X) 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
(X) 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
(X) 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
( ) 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
() 13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
() 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare –
(X) 15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
() 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
() 17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
() 18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
( ) 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
(X) 20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
(X) 21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
(X) 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
() 23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
() 24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
()25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
() 26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
() 27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
(X) 28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
() 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
() 30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
() 31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
() 32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
(X) 33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
(X) 34 Emma - Jane Austen
(X) 35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
(X) 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
() 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
() 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
() 39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
() 40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
() 41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
(X) 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
() 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
() 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
() 45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
(X) 46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
() 47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
() 48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
() 49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
() 50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
() 51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
() 52 Dune - Frank Herbert
( ) 53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
(X) 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
() 55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
() 56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
(X) 57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
() 58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
() 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
() 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
() 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
() 62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
() 63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
() 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
(*) 65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
() 66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
() 67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
() 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
() 69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
(X) 70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
(X) 71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
() 72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
(X) 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
() 74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
() 75 Ulysses - James Joyce
() 76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
() 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
() 78 Germinal - Emile Zola
() 79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
() 80 Possession - AS Byatt
(X) 81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
() 82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
() 83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
() 84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
() 85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
() 86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
(X) 87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
() 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
() 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
() 90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
(X) 91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
() 92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
() 93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
() 94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
() 95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
() 96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
() 97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
(X) 98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
(X) 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
(*) 100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I may have miscounted, but I think I have read 30 of these books. Although why they have some as completed works and then a separate of one of those don't ask me. (Narnia, Shakespeare.) x

Absence makes the Heart Grow Fonder

I don't believe the above sentence is true unequivocally. However, lately Eli has been playing somewhat on his own. Generally in the same room as me, but doing his own thing and not requiring my constant attention.
Not having him always tugging on me and wanting me to do this or that makes me want to spend more time with him and just lets me love him. Just seeing my sweet little boy quietly playing with his train makes me love him all the more. I am so thankful to be Mommy to Eli and Josh. Even though days (like today) can be a little crazy, there is just something so special about motherhood and children that I can't help but be grateful.

New Calling

I am the new Waterloo Ward Young Women's Camp Director! Crazy, eh?

I am very excited for this calling. I always enjoyed girls camp and I am looking forward to the experience. I am a little nervous...I will have to take Josh with me (he'll be 8 months and still nursing). But a good friend took her baby with her when she was stake camp director so I am looking forward to getting a lot of tips.
The stake is having a meeting in a couple of weeks to talk about camp and the Young Women's President is going to get me some of the other camp stuff. Woo-Hoo.

(Sorry this post is short and probably confusing, I am on my way to book club and really late :). )

Our Valentines Day

We had a great (non-traditional) Valentines Day. Why non-traditional, you ask? We spent the day with our friends. We drove down to Coralville after Morgan finished helping someone in our ward move. Had a great fast food lunch then Morgan and Reuben went to Play It Again Sports where Morgan traded 5 found discs for 2 nice new discs. Then went and picked up a new cabinet for me. Jamie and I hung out at their house and dealt with the kids napping.
Then when the men got home we played a fun game of Puerto Rico. I had an amazing game and won by more than 15 points! We made a delicious pork loin for dinner and had sparkling cider and angel food cake with FRESH berries & whip cream for dessert.

It was fun to hang out with friends and relax. Eli and Isaac had a good time playing together and Josh couldn't take his eyes of Bella. She couldn't take her eyes of Morgan, but mostly because she found him frightening.

Eli's First Valentine

Eli received his first Valentine last week. Grandma and Grandpa Lasley sent it to him in the mail and he was VERY excited. He doesn't often/ever get mail that is actually for him (I'll let him have the junk mail). He had a great time opening the envelope and carries the Valentine around and leaves it in random places. Right now it is in Josh's bassinet. He'll find it, and take it somewhere else. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!

Eating Solids?

Sunday night we decided to try and give Josh his first taste of rice cereal. Eli was very interested and felt like he needed to be a part of the action. He would have fed Josh the spoon if I had let him. Here are some pictures of the event.






Josh was not to excited about the prospect, and Monday night went worse. I'm not really worried about it though. We didn't even start with Eli until he was 6 months old. I am only going to give it to Josh once in the evening. Hopefully he'll start to like it and it will help him sleep through the night.

Toes

Reasons I'm Happy Today

1. I decided to change my blog background to something a little more "Valentine-y" background. And just doing that one little thing has made me happy.

2. I am finished making CD's for Primary. Each CD has all of the Primary program songs, other songs I plan on teaching them this year (some to perform in Sacrament meeting), the 13 Article of Faith songs as well as a few extras just for fun.

3. Eli is getting better. We have had two nights without Eli throwing up. He's still not eating as well as before and other digestive systems are not back to normal (my prerequisite to start potty training again) but things are looking up.

4. Morgan wrote me a wonderful love-note. You can't be unhappy after reading a sweet love-note.

5. I don't have to make dinner tonight - we are having left-over home-made pizza.

6. I am going to a girl's game night tomorrow.

7. I was worried and putting off contacting someone because I was afraid/nervous. I did it and it was no big deal.

8. I have two sweet little boys. Eli is sleeping right now, which makes it easier to write that, but even when he is in his craziest of moods I still can't help but love him.

9. We are going to try and do our taxes tonight...hopefully we'll get a nice return.

10. I feel loved. I know that Morgan, Josh and Eli love me. I know my family and Morgan's family love me, I know my friends love me, and I know that my Heavenly Father loves me. I'm not sure things can get much better than that.

Sick HAPPY Boy

So, I know I posted about potty training, that isn't happening any more. I would like to, but Eli has been sick since Thursday night and I'm not going to deal with messes coming out of both ends, if you know what I mean.

Eli threw up Thursday night before bed, then about 3 times during the night. Friday threw up once in the morning then he lazed around the house, hanging on to his blanket. We skipped a party that night because we didn't want to contaminate anyone else. And since Friday night he has been waking up between 2:30am - 3:30 am and throwing up once.

Morgan stayed home with Eli on Sunday. Eli was not happy about missing church at all. He was crying saying, no sick, no sick. I need my shoes. Go to church, wear Sunday shirt. It was nice to see that he likes church so much, but sad that we had to keep him home. He and Morgan had a blast, playing war, greed, dominoes, reading books. Eli had all the energy in the world.

Eli playing dominoes.

This was my Sunday night.
1:45am - Josh wakes up crying, I try to feed him, he's not really interested and goes back to sleep.
2:30am - I hear Eli cough and then throw up so I go clean him up.
3:30am - Josh wakes up again, I try to feed him, no luck.
4:00am - Eli's crying, he thinks it is morning and wants to get out of bed. I sing him I am a Child of God and he goes back to bed.
6:30am - Morgan' alarm goes off
7:00am - Josh wakes up for real and finally eats
7:30am - Eli is awake and ready to go.


Needless to say yesterday was a really hard day for me. Monday and today Eli was just full of energy. We've called the doctor and they think it is just a stomach flu and we just have to wait for it to take its course. I am not going to keep Eli home from anything more though...the nurse said as long as he doesn't have a fever he shouldn't be contagious. He's got the energy to do anything, and I need to let him burn it off.


On a new topic, I admit that I never thought I would be a mom to let my kids run around without clothes on. Now I realize that there is no LET about it. Once kids figure out how to take off their clothes they will if they want to. After I took the following pictures Eli took all of his clothes off (thankfully he kept the diaper on.)



Now for the update on Josh. He is almost 5 months old and sometimes he drives me nuts. Mostly it is because he isn't eating as long as he used to and I am worried about him. Today he is doing better though, so I am not going to follow through on my threat of switching him to a bottle. But he is awfully cute!

Leatherheads

I borrowed this film from the library this week. I didn't really have a desire to see it, per se, but I saw it sitting on the express DVD shelf and thought, why not?

I really enjoyed watching this movie! The previews had the little witty exchanges but I was surprised to see more than what the preview showed. The whole movie was very funny. It didn't take itself seriously and was able to channel a "Bugs Bunny" feel and make it work and fit with the rest of the movie. John Krasinski (from The Office) played a very similar character except in this he was not so sarcastic. Just a nice straight-laced guy. There was also a lot more plot than the previews suggested.

Probably the thing that I liked most about this movie (time period of after WWI) is the references to Sergeant York. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 others. I saw the 1941 film in a History class in highschool and have loved it ever since.

Anyway, the the movie Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski) is a football player, war hero who captured German soldiers as well similar to York. If I hadn't seen Sergeant York in highschool I wouldn't have known who they were talking about, but I love that they talk about it anyway even though many of their audience may not know. If the story were real then naturally they would talk about a contemporary hero.

Lastly, I would definitely recommend this movie for a light fun movie night. Don't expect too much and you would enjoy yourself immensely.