Trip to North Carolina

Last week Kylie and I headed to North Carolina for a few days to visit family. I have a grandfather whose health continues to decline, and I wanted to spend some time with him. I also wanted to have a chance to tell him that I loved him, while he was still alive. (wiping a tear...) So Kylie and I decided to take a direct flight to Charlotte where my parents live, and then drive to Wilmington to see the grandparents.

The weather in North Carolina is always better than the weather in Wisconsin (or at least that's how it feels..). This time, not so much. The first night we were there Kylie woke up at about midnight screaming, and when I went into her bedroom to get her, I see the ground covered in snow. I was in shock. It never snows there. Just my luck... Every day it seemed to warm up a little more, so by the time Saturday rolled around and I was getting on the plane to come back, it was around 55 degrees. Which was the same temperature it was in Milwaukee when I got home.

Kylie and I really enjoyed spending time with family. We miss them so much. Below are a few pictures of the fun:

Kylie and Grampy horsing around. Notice the firm grasp she has on his hair. One of her favorite moves.

Kylie with Grandma Rosie

Happy Birthday Steve!

Today our proud Papa is 30 years old. He is a little sad about this age, but I tried to tell him that 30 is young...I should know...I thought of writing all of these mushy things that I love about Steve, and how great a husband/friend/Dad he is, but he doesn't really go for things like that. So I will just say this: He is the most compassionate, patient, understanding, forgiving person that I know, and what is even better is that I get to spend eternity with him by my side. My life is blessed because of him. Love you Babe!

It's Official - We Just Had Our First Temper Tantrum

Life can be so very hard for our little eight month old. Two naps a day, eleven hours of sleep a night, having Mommy here to entertain all day, cute outfits fill the closet, diaper changed more frequently than any other baby I know....Life is so, so hard. Today, it just became too much. The volcano erupted. Sad, but true.

I thought we were having a good day. Kylie slept in, plenty of laughs all morning long, a decent mid-morning nap, then off to visiting teaching. Little fussy during our visit, but that is to be expected, when it is around lunch time, which it was. We get home, and that's when the trouble started. I took her out of her car seat, snuggled her a little, and then attempted to put her in her booster seat for her lunch of delicous peas mixed with oatmeal. Now, peas aren't exactly her favorite, but she normally eats them without incident. Not today...I sat her in her chair, strapped her in, and she immediately burst into tears. This has happened before, I usually ignore it, and get the feeding started. She normally as soon as the food hits her mouth, becomes cheerful again (she gets that from her mother...). Today when I fed her a spoonful of peas, she spit them back out all over my face and favorite green sweater. Fiesty little gal, I think in my head. She then takes her fists, pounds them on her little tray, while screaming and kicking. I decide to take her out and try to comfort her (all the books say you want to keep meal time as pleasant as possible), but she then screams louder and kicks me and pushes me away. That's when I knew, THIS WAS A TEMPER TANTRUM. She did that for about five minutes, until I distracted her with a book.

We eventually got over it, but I feel a little damaged. I feel like she turned on me. My sweet little happy gal, my pal, she let me have it today. I tried to play with her all afternoon to show her that everything is okay, but I'm a little sad. I knew the day would come when she would express herself this way. She's too much like me to be a sweet little flower, without opinions or a voice. I just didn't imagine it would come this quickly. But it did. I still love her just as much as before, but I have a new admiration for my Mom. I'm pretty sure I gave her a temper tantrum every day for at least the first 18 years of my life...Love you Mom!

Devan and Marie's Wedding

Last week, Steve, Kylie and I had the pleasure of flying out to Utah to attend Marie (Steve's sister) and Devan's wedding in the Salt Lake temple. We had a great time visiting with family and enjoying the beauty of Utah. The highlight of the trip, though, was THE WEDDING!!

We flew out Wednesday morning, bright and early. This is a little trick we learned after our last stint of miserable flights - fly out in the morning, when the little gal is less fussy... Kylie did great on the flights, she slept a lot, and we arrived in Utah to sunny skies and snow covered mountains. Love it! We got to visit with my Aunt Martha (my mother's sister), Uncle Cary and their bunch, which was neat, because I don't get to see them that often. Then we ate at Cafe Rio (love that pulled pork), which Steve thoroughly enjoyed. That night the rest of the family arrived, and the fun began!

I forget how hectic weddings are, but they're so much more fun when everyone pitches in to get things accomplished, which the O'Brien's do a great job at. Speaking of the O'Brien's, we rented a condo by Thanksgiving Point that was LOVELY (five bedrooms, two fireplaces, big screen tv's, hot tub, pool table), and it was great for us all to be able to stay together. Kylie enjoyed all of the action. Thursday was spent in preparation for the wedding, Friday much the same. Friday night was the reception in Holden (ever heard of Holden, UT?? Tiny little town two hours south of SL), which Kylie endured semi-well. I was stressed out a little because of her crankly attitude, but we made it through. Saturday was the BIG day, and let me tell ya, it was special. We had a brunch with both families in the morning, and then headed over to the temple. Steve's Aunt Judy watched Kylie for us, and Steve and I got to attend the sealing. The Salt Lake Temple's beauty always takes my breath away, and to see Marie and Devan getting sealed there, well, I cried my eyes out. I took in every minute of being able to be with Steve in the temple, we don't get to do that much now that our princess arrived.

Sunday morning we flew back home, Kylie was great again, slept a lot. Now we're back to normal life, which is nice in and of itself.

Congratulations Marie and Devan!

Some picture of our trip:

At the reception

Me with my eyes closed

You Asked For It

Dearest Fans,
You requested the Cold Oven Pound Cake recipe. Here it is:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Crisco shortening
2 sticks butter (do not substitute margarine)
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp. each of butter, almond, lemon and vanilla flavorings

Cream shortening, butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Blend in flavorings. Add flour alternately with milk. Pour into large, well greased and floured tube pan. Place in cold oven. Set oven at 325 degrees. Bake 1 and 1/2 hours WITHOUT OPENING OVEN. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

This is the best pound cake I've ever eaten. It's my Mom's recipe, so I can't take any credit here. Enjoy!

Reminder to Whitney - pass along the chocolate chip cookie recipe!!

3 Years and Counting

Three years ago, on this very day, Steve made me a happy woman. He agreed to spend eternity with me. I always said he was the "adventurous" type. In all honesty, without him I just wouldn't be the same. He makes me smile, and makes me laugh, and if there has been any improvement at all in anything about me over the past three years, I would say that it was because of his example that helped me along.

I knew early on that Steve was my soul mate. Things were just so natural with him. We were just in sync. I am happy to report, we still are. Marriage has never been hard. Having a baby was hard...But marriage never was. I can't imagine my life without Steve in it. He is perfect for me. I hope I can be as good a wife to him as he's been as a husband to me. Did I get that right? You know what I mean.

I love you Steve!

Goodbye to the Mazda

Dearest Mazda,
Thank you for your many years of good service. You were Steve's first car. You took him back and forth to college. You escorted us on our first date. You took our new little baby Kylie home from the hospital. You had a good run. We have many fond memories of our experiences with you.

Last night you let us down. Your transmission failed you. You almost didn't make it home from downtown. It's okay, we forgive you. But it's time for you to go. Goodbye little Mazda, with your super-glued exterior and wood-pecker trunk sounds. There is a special place reserved for you in the scrap yard.

Love,
The O'Brien's

P.S. You have not been "replaced", we just needed a bigger car. Thank you to Big Daddy, for getting Mama a beautiful blue/green Honda Pilot, with all the extra's. And thank you Kohl's, for making this all possible.