My First Sewing Project

I have always wanted to learn how to sew. When I got a sewing machine as an early Christmas present, I was thrilled! My friend in the ward Rachel Garland was so gracious to come over and show me the basics. We spent most of yesterday together experimenting with the frustrating quirks of my particular model. We had quite the fun time :)

I have these couch pillows that my sister-in-law Megan covered a while ago, and I really liked them but the seams were coming loose and we were re-decorating our living room with a modern organic theme anyway. So for my first project, I re-covered my pillows.

BEFORE (this is what they look like underneath Megan's covers)

AFTER!
Its called a petal pillow. Cute, huh? It was really fun to make :)
and since I had two identical grandma floral pillows, I covered the other one and sewed on some leaf shapes. The smaller one was just some fabric I liked.


So there you go! I'm excited to find new little projects to keep me busy. :)

8 Months

Talmage is almost 8 months old! I honestly can't believe how fast time has flown...it just seems like last week I was holding his little 9 lb. body and looking at his scrunched up newborn face. Being a mother has taught me so much. I feel like since Day 1 Heavenly Father has been teaching me one lesson at a time, shaping me into the person I am now. I love my son more than I ever knew I could love.

Some things that he can do now are: clap his hands together, dance to music, sign for "milk", balance standing up with one hand on something, and shake his head "no". hehe...we love that last one. Sometimes we'll ask him questions like, "Are you going to sleep tonight?" and he'll shake his head no- it is so funny.

In about a week we are headed towards Louisiana. I can't wait to show my hubby my hometown in its fullest. He has been there once with me right after we got married, but it was a short visit and we couldn't do much. I am especially looking forward to sharing Christmas with my family! :) I think we did a good job on giving thoughtful gifts this year. We are constantly on a tight budget so we made it work in a different way :)

Well I guess that's all...I'm just gonna go back to watching P.S. I Love You now...(which I got for $2 Black Friday shopping!)

My love of snow

I will assume that not many people read this blog since I haven't had comments in a while...so I'm taking the opportunity to be a total mush-mush and gush about my love of this season.

What is the number 1 reason for my love of winter? I will tell you. It reminds me of the time I met my husband, fell in love with him, and married him. Its simple, really. Snow=magic. Magic and romance. ah.

Before I met Jonathan I hated snow. I still kinda despise the stuff. But secretly, deep down inside, I smile when it snows because it takes me back to the feelings I had on that blizzarding day in December when I married the man of my dreams that I thought was a total hottie.

This month we will have been married for two years. I am so blessed to have found a man that treats me like a princess and still sweep me off my feet. I love him so very much!!!

Thanksgiving!

Here are the yummies I baked this Thanksgiving. Don't they look scrumptious?
The first one is a pumpkin cheesecake recipe that I got out of Parenting magazine. This was my first time making any kind of cheesecake in my life- it was surprisingly easy. It has all the right spices and was really a hit! It is especially good chilled with some homemade whipped cream on top :) We candied pecans and added them on top with some toasted coconut flakes. double yum.
The second is an apple cranberry pie that my mom made last year and everyone loved. It was a bit more work to make but I think I liked it even more than the cheesecake. Its the perfect blend of tart and sweet. sooo good.

I didn't post much the other day about our time at Grandma & Grandpa Dennetts, so here goes. The car ride was long- much longer than ever. I give credit to the baby :)

He thinks its hilarious when I have a binkie, too.

Don't let his chill expression fool you. He hated being in that car seat.

We sort of had a mini-Christmas with Jonathan's family since we will be with mine for the real thing. Talmage got spoiled by his grandma :)

I don't think he knows what to do with it all.

Jonathan lives on a farm, and so I got to take Talmage out to see all the animals! He was really intrigued. Especially with the cow, hehe.





I just have to put these pictures on here too because they are cute. Here's my little chunk with his cousin Ethan having tubby time :D We got a bum shot because there is a picture of Jonathan as a baby doing the same thing! We compared, and they have the same bum! I know...too much maybe? I don't think so :)

Many Thanks

I just spent the last hour reading all my friends posts, those friends who are listed on the right side of this blog. How I love them all and how thankful I am for their own grateful attitudes. It was good to read about their Thanksgiving holidays. Now it's my turn!

This Thanksgiving has been real good. I spent it with the in-laws, and I'm thankful that I actually really like them. They are wonderful to me and treat me as family. I will never forget the first time I came to Jonathan's parents house, when I was just his friend. His dad gave a blessing over the food and in it he said, "Please bless Lindsey that she will feel comfortable in our home. We are so glad to have her here." I was flabbergasted. And in the 2 years that Jonathan and I have been married they have given us so much love and support. I am thankful for my in-laws, whom I call Mom and Dad.

As for my own parents, they are amazing. I love them both so much and am proud of who they have become as individuals, and of the great feats they have accomplished. Mommy and Daddy, I love you.

I am grateful for the relationship I have with my husband. This past week there has been some drama that I won't go into detail about...but it has made me realize just how good Jonathan is to me. I can trust that we will be together forever because we have a mutual understanding that love will conquer all. We don't let our share of trails or disagreements get in the way of our respect for one another. I love him so much- words cannot describe it. He is my better half.

I could go on and on, but mostly this year my focus is on the people in my life. And to all my friends that let me ramble/vent/talk to them, I am grateful for you. It gets awfully lonely some days and you all are the ones that make them better.

I will post more later about the delicious desserts I baked, because they are worth a post of their own :)

Things I love about my son

*Picking him up out of his crib when he's woken up from a nap. He's all warm and soft and a little drowsy still.
*Starting his bath as he sits on my lap. He gets excited and hugs me a few times.
*Smelling his hair after his bath. It dries right away and is so fluffy.
*Watching his eyes get wide as he plays with a toy. Especially ones that light up or make noise.
*Cupping his little face & cheeks in my hands and smooching him.
*The fat rolls on his chubby legs.
*His conversation with himself in his car seat.
*The pieces of hair that stick up on top of his head.
*His laughing as I sing the diaper song (which I made up and will never sing to anyone else).
*His "ya-ya-ya"ing as he cries.
*How determined he is to stand up every time he's on the floor.
and so much more :)

As Jonathan is away, I can't help but realize that I'm not so lonely because I have Talmage. He makes me laugh and the days are so much brighter with him around. I am truly blessed to have this boy for a son. I can't wait to share with him all the joys of this life as he grows.

So many choices

Lately it seems like no choice is too simple. Everything is more complicated than it used to be. I cannot decide whether I want my couch longways or sideways. Should I eat my apple slices with or without peanut butter? Which is more fun- date night or using that money for Christmas? I ask myself- when did life get so complicated?

Some of you may have noticed that in the last week or so, I've had multiple blog backgrounds. There were just too many choices. But I have settled at last. I promise that I won't be changing it again for quite some time...

unless, of course, I feel the need to complicate things.

No candy for me!

Every year when Halloween rolls around, I make it an excuse for scarfing down a million things of candy and making myself sick. SO this year I made a goal not to eat *any candy. And guess what?
I didn't! Not one!
Instead I made these yummies :)

The nuts slid down the caramel but we sliced them apples up and they were so yummy! Thanks Joelle for the idea!
And remember those cookies I said I would make? Well they were delicious. Very seasonal and good :) I think I want to make these oatmeal cookies every week, but with something different each time, like raisins, mini chocolate chips, peanut butter, etc.

Basically, these cookies changed my life forever.

In other news! Talmage now says "Mumm, mumm" along with "DA DA" and he says them both interchangeably. It's pretty funny. We really love him, a lot :) The other day I put him down for a nap, wide awake, and when I went in to check to see if he was asleep yet, this is what I found the lil stinker doing.

He was like, "Oh! You caught me!"

I think we may have to lower that mattress now, haha.

Mohawk Man

I love my little guy. His hair is starting to grow a bit longer and I got really excited about it. Ever since I was pregnant I envisioned my son having one of those cute little baby mohawks! I was told that baby lotion worked well so today and tried it and lo and behold...



Isn't it awesome? Now hopefully it stays long enough for me to enjoy :]

Miriam Ricks 1910-2010

My great grandmother passed away this week. She lived a long and fulfilling life of 100 years. I believe she was the oldest living person in Rexburg before she passed. Here is a picture of her with Talmage when he was 6 weeks old. These two share the same birthday, April 14th.


Miriam's husband, Aaron, was a descendant of Thomas E. Ricks, founder of Ricks college- now BYU-Idaho. If I could describe her in three words I would say she was spunky, charming, and most of all humble. She recognized that all her blessings came from her beloved Heavenly Father. She was also so full of life. In her seventies, she actually made it all the way to the top of Table Rock near the Tetons, which everyone here knows is not an easy feat. She loved flowers and birds and she would tell me all about them every chance she got. She was recently featured in the Rexburg magazine, where there is pictured her being sung to by David Archuletta. My fondest memory is of her barn out in Sugar City. It is so picturesque and she really loved it there. Wild flowers everywhere and kittens crawling over under every haystack. Miriam's memory will always live on, with me and with many members of her family who loved her very much. We miss you, grandma, but we will see you again someday. Lots of loves from us all.

Cookies & Colors

I made some cookies the other day that are great this time of the year. I made them last year, too, and still love them :) With only 3 ingredients, they are the easiest cookies in the world to make.


Pumpkin Pie Cookies:
1 package spice cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 package dark chocolate chips
*Cook at 350 for 10 minutes.

Be warned that these are REALLY soft, and they maye seem undercooked but if you let them cool for an hour they are perfect.

Soon I am going to take this recipe and replace the butterscotch chips with cinnamon chips (just to be more seasonal). I've tried the original recipe and these are the best oatmeal cookies I've had in my life!

I am also way excited about our family pics this week. My ex-roomate/great friend Elizabeth took over 600 pictures of the three of us! Since there is NO way I could put even half of those on here, here is a sampling!





The rest are on Facebook :)

I admit it...I kind of got carried away in the blissful colors of fall. I just wanted to take lots & lots of pictures with such a beautiful backdrop. So this morning after Jonathan was done with class we took some more fun pics with my tripod. We did it at the gardens on campus. I love how they turned out!









I think that I've pretty much overwhelmed my husband and little boy with picture taking. Talmage was ready for a nap during the ones today, and you can just see those tired eyes! But it worked out good, and now I am done. maybe :)

Tiddlywinks & Pumpkins

Crafts are fun. and I'm just a tad bit addicted this season. I think it's because these ones are so darn cheap and easy. Not to mention fall is my favorite time of the year!!

Here is my "ghost family", courtesy of Brighton :) I love how they turned out and they look so festive on our table! Definitely an eye-catcher.



The tutorial is here.

I call these "raggedy broomsticks" and I sort of just made them with stuff I had lying around. Then I put them on the door to keep out the devil! ha ha.



Everyone keeps asking me, "What is Talmage going to be for Halloween?" I conjured up all kinds of cute ideas before realizing that 1)there is no ward Halloween party and 2)we won't be going trick-or-treating since he is so young. So really I would waste time and money for no reason. This is my compromise.



Jonathan made it all. He carved the pumpkin and crocheted this little hat for him. I loved the fact that I didn't have to do a thing but take cute pictures :) You may not be able to tell, but he *really* hated being in that pumpkin. We had to act like crazy monkeys to keep him the least bit content.


That lasted for a little while, then he lost it.


Overall it was a wonderful memory and years from now when he has a bride I can show these to her and say, "See how cute he is?!?!"

I'm so excited & I just can't hide it!

It has been a while since my last post, so I will try to cram all the latest into this one. I apologize if it is long and boring! :)

Our little boy has learned to crawl! What's really funny, though, is when he gets on his toes and hands and puts his bum in the air. Exhibit A.


and the view from behind.


He is such a joy :) We also recently got him this awesome jumperoo which he goes nutso in. He is particularly fascinated with the spinning blue doo-hicky on the side.


As far as other advancements with little Talmage, he now says DA DA (a lot) and YA YA. He eats lots of big people food (mushed up of course) and sleeps fairly well at night- usually waking up once. He is teething and we expect that first tooth to come in any day now!

And now my most exciting news! After months of anticipation, we finally got our SUPER stroller! Phil & Ted, you guys rock.

I decided to go with the all black because it goes with everything, and it just looks chic. We have taken it all over town and it is like walking in a dream. I just cannot tell you how many features on this pram that I am in love with! and Talmage loves it too, of course :)



If you've made it this far down in the post, I congratulate you. And as a reward you can see these cute pumpkin decorations that I made! They are super quick to create with just a few simple materials, including toilet paper!




Thanks Brighton for the idea!
If you are interested in these toilet paper pumpkins, the tutorial is here.

I am really excited for this week, and here is why.
1. Tomorrow we will be taking family pictures! Yay!
2. My good friend/neighbor is getting induced tomorrow! That means another little baby for me to squeeze and hold. double yay :D
3. This weekend Jonathan and I are going on a DATE. I know, those are hard to come by. But we've got a babysitter! We're going to the temple and then to our ward's "Harvest Ball" which sounds like fun. It's always hard being away from my son but I think this date is really needed.
4. I get to take my stroller around town some more! wahoo!

Oh, and if you'd like to make the yummiest chocolate chip cookies you've ever had, try these. I made them last night and they were to die for. I think that the shortening is what makes them super soft and good.
Happy baking, crafting, and loving this season!