I don't post blogs more often because...

Nothing much has happened since the last time I posted, that's why. Adrien has mentioned I don't post blogs very often. And that's simply because life is what it is and I'm not a talented enough writer/anything to know how to make it appear more interesting for a blog. But I'll try to make these things about once a week from now on (...try...).
Anywho. Katie (my cousin, for those who don't know... but I think everyone reading this does, unless Jared's relatives check back here sometimes) is in town for a couple of weeks to do EFY. I hadn't seen her since January. She thought Nathan had gotten big. Also, when she saw my stomach she pointed at it and said something similar to "oohoo!", which I thought was funny.
So what is new? Not very much, as I've said, but Jared did build a frame for a screen so we could watch movies (and probably he will watch games on it, also) with his projector. I'll put a picture of that up later since I don't have one right now. You can see the image backwards, though, from the other side of the sheet, so when Jared was still experimenting with it the neighbors got a very good view of Jared and his dad preforming "Who's On First" at an old talent show. I saw them looking and laughing, so don't tell me I was being paranoid. =) Anyway, there was also the issue of light shining through the sheet from the neighbor's house, so now we put a blanket up in the window when we watch something... like Raiders of the Lost Ark! We rented the three old Indiana Jones movies and we're going to watch all of them before we go see the new one. I haven't seen them in forever... I hadn't noticed the vaguely racist portrayal of a lot of the people before and I'd forgotten that some of the effects were so cheesy.
But still, good movie, overall. We'll probably watch Temple of Doom tonight, unless we hang out with people instead. By the way, Jared told me that the words to the Indiana Jones theme song go like this, "Indiana... Jones-y Jones. Indiana...! Jones-y Jones-y Jones!" And so on. At least, that's what he said he's always heard in his head. =)
I've been baking a lot (for me) lately. I've made coffee cake (or breakfast cake, if you grew up in the Wood household...) a couple of times as well as apple-bran muffins (yummy). I also made rice pudding, but that doesn't really count as baking, obviously. I'll probably taper off on the baking again when it starts to warm up again. And then I'm going to make lots of tasty things like...
Parmesan Portobello Farfalle (this isn't really it - the real thing looks much tastier),
a creamy-lemony tagliarini with spices,
and a lemon cake. Hmm... that's two lemon things. Oh well. Also...
stir-fry sounds good. So does smoked sausage with green beans and red potatoes. But I don't have a picture for the last one and I don't feel like looking for one (even tho I had to look for a picture of the PPF and stir fry - the lemon ones I already knew were at www.dominomag.com).
Hmm, all this talk of food has got me feeling a little hungry. That reminds me. I let Nathan eat his own spaghetti the other day...
Never again. He looks so somber... he wouldn't smile for me. He doesn't like being that messy very much.

Oh... p.s. - does anyone have any suggestions for this wall/window in our master bedroom?I pretty much hate these curtains... and I don't like that the sun faded them either (the windows face south), but still. Green with a repeated floral pattern ain't really my thing. At all. I was thinking maybe about painting the walls a pale turquoise or light blue, getting dark brown furniture and having white curtains... but that's just an idea. In any case, I'm going to buy solar blocking blind thingies for the window so the fading thing doesn't happen again. So - any ideas? I don't just mean window coverings, either. I mean like what you would suggest for furniture (if we can afford it someday), art/pictures, etc. Since the room is pretty much completely plain at this point (still), I'm open to pretty much anything. As long as I like it, obviously. =)

Sad day.

I don't have a more recent picture of Nathan being sad, so I'm using this one from a time when he was toothless. =) It's kinda funny tho. In a sad sort of way.

So it turns out Nathan actually has a cold - that's why he was so tired the other day. Yesterday was worse, but I think today he's much better. Jared's feeling better, too. So far nothing serious with me - just a sore throat and funky eyes.

Anyway, we just went to the doctor's office this morning and we asked him about the reunion again; just about what the odds actually were that it was a good idea and that kind of thing. He told us that if we aren't prepared to pay the hospital bills for having the baby in Joseph, Oregon (plus cost of transfer to another nearby facility with a NICU) and the cost living there for however long it takes for the baby to get healthy enough to leave the NICU (because to have her flown back down to Provo in the emergency helicopter is like... 20 grand) then we shouldn't take the risk. He said there are pretty much two kinds of women in this case: one is the kind where the first pregnancy was just different because of the baby, the other kind is where the woman just always delivers early. And at this point it's impossible to tell which kind I am. Anyway, since we don't want to take that risk, we're not going to go to the reunion this year. We're just going to have to wait for next time. I think it just feels kind of weird... I've never missed one before. But, things change, I guess.

Anyway, Nathan is learning lots of new words (sort of) and talks a lot. Half of the time we don't understand him but we're learning, too. Some of Nathan's new(ish) words are: "downstairs" (his version is "dess" or "desstess" on a good day), and "gosh" (unfortunately, this one is probably my fault. When he says it tho, it sounds more like "gus"... at least I think that's what he's saying) and "lie down" (he says "die down" or "die dow"). He says "oh-sai" or similar for "outside". He also says "beebee" for "blanket" and has barking conversations with the dog next door. Oh and he says "please" when I prompt him. It sounds like "peas".

more catching up to do...

So there was a break in updates partly because I'm lazy and partly because for a while we didn't have the internet... again. We have a desktop computer that I've had since I graduated from high school (2003... which makes it ancient in computer years. or maybe just middle-aged.) and it's got a number of viruses now. Or maybe just one. Either way, it's pretty much dead. You can turn it on in 'safety mode', but that's pretty much it. Anyway, our internet was hooked up through that computer, and then we had a router hooked up to it so that Jared's work laptop could connect also. So to skip a bunch of things I don't understand and to make a long story (sort of) short, we finally were able to get the internet hooked up to the laptop somehow with the router... and so now we have the internet again. Fortunately, all our pictures and stuff are on a backup hard drive so we don't need to worry much about what's on the desktop if we're never able to get it working again. There are a few things I'd be a little annoyed about - all my poetry from the past years (I took the trouble to type them out for some reason I now don't understand), emails from family and that kind of thing, but I do still have the original copies of my poetry (if you could even call it poetry) and I have actual letters I've saved from my mom and other family members so if we can't get those files off, we'll probably be alright. We haven't decided whether we're going to just wipe the hard drive or get a new computer yet. If we wipe the hard drive, we'd have to borrow someone else's software CDs or buy new ones because we don't have the ones that came with the computer.Anyway. On to other things. Mother's day was awesome! We called our moms and just kinda hung out most of the day. Jared and Nathan got me a sewing machine (I'd been talking about getting one for a long time) and 3 huge, white roses. Jared made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and lasagna and cheesecake for dinner. Also, Aubrie came over and went to church with us and had dinner with us and everything. We played Mexican Train after dinner (of course) but we stopped with 3 rounds left and everyone within one point of each other so we might pick that back up when she comes out to Utah again to go into the MTC since she's going to stay here the night before she goes in. Anyway, it was a good day and I ate way too much.

So far today has been nice here at home. Last night nobody slept well because... I'm pregnant, Jared has allergies, and for some reason Nathan woke up crying twice. In any case, this morning was pleasant regardless of those things. I got some things done around the house, Nathan was in a good mood, and I made scones. Nathan kept asking (without actually speaking, of course) for strawberries all morning, and then decided to go lie down on the floor and cuddle with his blanket. I looked over a minute later and realized he was asleep! He's never done that with me before. I think Barb said he did that with her once while she was here. Anyway, so I put him to bed for his nap a lot earlier than normal (poor kid was probably so tired from last night) and it's been pretty quiet since. I'm trying to enjoy these times by myself as much as possible because I know they won't last!
Anyway, here are some pictures to catch up:This is from March, when I was still feeling sick all the time (I can't believe the latest picture of me is from when I was throwing up. Awesome). Nathan decided to cuddle with me, and he actually stayed there and held relatively still for like 2 minutes! Ha ha...This is a picture of Nathan on Easter Sunday with a duck from his grandma (Barb).
This was at the park at the end of March.Just a couple of pictures of Nathan and his daddy goofing off.Nathan in his guayabera. It doesn't really fit him anymore so that's probably the last time he'll wear it. Sad. =(
And a few of Nathan enjoying some macaroni and cheese... I know the last one is blurry, but I love it.Nathan being a goof. I wish there was a way of guaranteeing you wouldn't look at what's in the background without calling attention to it... oh well.

The baby is wriggling in my belly a lot more often lately. Jared and I think she's acting like some kind of alien or something. Sometimes she tickles me. It's crazy. =) Still not making any progress on names... and I'm getting more and more worried about it, because the time is getting closer and closer! I guess I'm also partly worried she'll come early like Nathan did. If she doesn't, then we have plenty of time. But how do you know she won't come early? Anyway, I'm getting better at calming myself down and that kind of thing - and I'm not lifting heavy boxes and dealing with (semi) crazy work situations this time around so hopefully all will go well.

I'd better get going - things to do! I'm going to make a goal to have the kids' (kids!!??) bedrooms painted within the month so hopefully you'll be seeing some pictures of that soon...