Friday, May 22, 2009

Bud Pics

This is my nephew, after a really long boring night of nothing happening, the doctor came to help Liam along and he did not like it at all. Kate was rushed into surgery, put under, and 7 minutes later Liam joined us. He took a day long well deserved nap, as did Kate. I am in love with his huge little feet (they are so BIG!!)


Thursday, May 21, 2009

Welcome Little Bud

William Kyle Johnson, aka Liam, or as once was Greg Brady, joined us today weighing in at 7 pounds 8 ounces and is 20.5 inches long. After a long labor... they took him c-section. He has a ton of hair, I think I will go meet him in about an hour.

I compiled a list of things (found mostly on the world wide interweb) of tips for Patrick not to say to Katie during labor:
-Stop your swearing and just breathe.
-I'm surprising you with a Glamour Shots, they'll be here in 15 minutes.
-I'm hungry, what do you have planned for dinner?
-Your stomach still looks like it has another one in there.
-No, it's hee hee hoo hoo. You're saying it wrong!
-It's been like 20 hours, if I were at work I'd be earning time and a half.
-If you think this hurts, I should tell you about the time I twisted my ankle playing baseball.
-Gosh, you're lucky, I sure wish men could experience the miracle of childbirth!

Welcome to the world, Little Bud, took you long enough! ;)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Ode to Greg Brady

Little one, you tease your mom with the contractions, a little water breaking, a week overdue, and yet you stay put. Greg Brady come out a play with us and become our Little Bud!

And a small note to the doctors: She is a week overdue. Dude, just take the kid out of her!

A note to Katie, hang in the sister.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day


Hey Mom, happy your day. Thanks for sticking around another year so we can celebrate it with you. And thanks for finally seeing the light and switching to Team Obama! (Sorry Dad, I win!)

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Help Whip Cancer Fundraiser

Every year I hold a Help Whip Cancer Fundraising Show with the Pampered Chef. This year I am no longer a consultant but have asked a good friend to help me with one. A percentage of the sale AND the "free host" gifts goes to the American Cancer Society for breast cancer research; in addition the consultant donates part of her commission.

I have had a HWC show for the last 3 years, this year it means more to me than ever. My uncle died last month of cancer, my mom was diagnosed with cancer last year, my cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and my Aunt B is a 26 (?) year breast cancer survivor; I am even using pink letters... this is me growing as a person because, say it with me, CANCER SUCKS!!

So here is the deal, here is how a HWC Fundraiser show works. All of the wonderful Pampered Chef items are for sale, as normal, but there are some special PINK items this month only. (I personally am in love with the little dessert plates!)

For each of the pink items sold Pampered Chef donates $1 to the American Cancer Society. Then because I am doing a fundraiser, instead of getting free stuff for me, the Pampered Chef gives a portion of the sales to The American Cancer Society (15-25% depending on how big the show is.)

If the show gets over $500 then 25% of total sales gets donated to cancer research.



Need anything for your kitchen or know anyone getting married (say May 25 or so)? This is a great way to get wonderful products AND help raise money for cancer research.

If you are interested please visit THIS WEBSITE and click on SHOP ONLINE. Under option 1 enter the organization AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY and you'll find a link with my name there. It is basically that easy! The whole catalog will be there to click through. If you might want some suggestions, well I have almost everything! (The new spices and rubs are so great and don't get me started on stoneware! Love it!)

This show will be open online until May 25 (I know this does not get things here in time for any wedding that might be on that day, but I promise she would understand!! LOL) Even my friends who live far away can order and have item shipped directly to them, for a little bit more shipping cost.

Know why May is National Breast Cancer Month? It is because in May we celebrate our Moms. Know why pink items are sold for Help Whip Cancer? So that every time a woman looks at these items they are reminded to do regular self breast examinations and to get a check up yearly from her doctor. Know why I am so passionate about Help Whip Cancer? Because the research and medical advances in breast cancer research has already saved two of my family members (I love you Aunt Bonnie and Denise!! Happy Hello!) and together we can help fight many more years to keep our 'girls' safe.

The American Cancer Society has invested $323 million in breast cancer research since 1972. It is important to support such worthy causes because one never knows when cancer will affect ones family or friends. I know cancer has impacted the lives of my entire extended family and I will do everything I can to help raise funds for research and prevention!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Happy LoMo Day!!

Today is my nieces 1st birthday. Happy Birthday LoMo!! Below are some of my favorite shots of LoMo this year. (Thanks Aunt Katie for the pics of LoMo in her pretty red dress!) LoMo at her party Sunday. She had a pinata full of fun, but we sure missed the churros!
LoMo after church, just hanging out at the fridge (CoMo took this pic)
LoMo with her favorite Aunt Stephanie! (thanks Aunt Katie for the pic)
LoMo loves sweet potato... mmmmm!
LoMo with Grandma on Halloween
LoMo had a cold one day, everyone with a cold must wear a mask around Grandma.
Last night LoMo had a sleep over at Grandma's house so Mom could get some rest (feel better Co!!) and I told her to say cheese, this is what I got!
Why? Aunt Stephanie? Why? LoMo on her Birthday Eve, hanging with Vegas (her bear)

So you don't feel left out, Happy Birthday Stephanie Maag and 'the soon to enter the world' Elisabeth Stephenson.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

101 Update

I wanted to give an update on some of my progress on my set of 101 goals (Link on the right of this post, called My 101)

#11 - Blog daily for a month one thing I am grateful for. This was done in April, I really liked it. I had a great time turning my focus on things I am grateful for rather than things that were making me mad!!

#25 - Have afternoon tea at the Grand. This is one of my favorite things to do and I have been a few times, in fact I'm going again around Mother's Day with 2 of my families. If you like tea, herbal or not herbal, afternoon tea at the Grand in Salt Lake is a fun afternoon. It includes your choice of tea, scones, finger sandwiches, and a dessert.

#42 - Exercise with someone new to learn a new workout. I have hired a personal trainer, Katie, to help me lose weight. She kicks my butt. Anyone else know what the dead cockroach is? Ouch!! I have been three times now. She is really good, more of a Bob than a Jillian. Well this week she almost had me in tears. I was so tired by the time we were done...who are we kidding? I was tired within the first 10 minutes! Oh man she is good. I am down 13 pounds since starting with her!

#44 - Get a new pair of great running shoes. Check! The Nike outlet store in Park City had a great pair of shoes for $40 (normally $80 or so) and I snagged them up. I also got new socks that hold my arches better. First test was when I walked the Salt Lake Marathon 5K with a friend and my feet were not tired after we were done!

#49 - Buy all of my dishes by the end of 2009. The plates that I fell in love with are sold by the Pampered Chef (Simple Additions white and cranberry) and up until last month I sold PC. I finished buying my plates and bowls last month before I quit selling for Pampered Chef. Pretty right?

#54 - Get laptop fixed. Well sort of. It died died. So I replaced it with a new laptop. My old one will be stripped down to the bare nothings and will become the play computer for the little ones who come over to play at our house to have computer games.

#57 - Plan a trip to Boulder Colorado for 2009. Done. I planned it, I now need to buy it. I currently have it planned for the end of August.

#75 - Do all of the required reading for one class in school. The last class I took was on ethics and critical thinking. I loved reading all of the info provided. Much of it was common sense, but still it was a nice refresher.

#98 - Stay overnight at one of the really nice hotels downtown. I stayed at the Hotel Monaco with Candice. It was a pretty room and we got a fish named Glen Gary Glen Ross. Which then inspired me to really get a fish, her name is Gwen.

Friday, May 1, 2009