So Tired

This is Paisley after quiet time has ended! I didn't think that quiet time was supposed to exhaust a child, but hey, she plays hard. At our home Paisley doesn't have to sleep at quiet time she just has to stay in her room. She sometimes has trouble sleeping at night if she has a nap during the day so I don't enforce a nap. Some times she sleeps, sometimes she plays. Today she was playing and when it was time to get her she had just decided she was tired and wanted to lay down. We came downstairs and I had put on a movie for her to watch for a couple minutes while I was putting dinner in the oven and this is what I came downstairs to. I think this is so funny!! Cute girl!S

Wind

Here in Kansas we often have high wind warnings. When they send out the warning they mean. Right now it is blowing like crazy, I wouldn't be surprised to find many tree branches and roof tiles on the lawn tomorrow. I don't really mind the crazy wind when I am inside. It sounds big and scary but other than that it's ok. Tonight when I was talking to Jason about why it is so windy in Kansas he said "Because Nebraska sucks and Oklahoma blows." I laughed hard, really hard. We had just put Paisley to bed so I tried to be as quiet as can be, but I lost it and thought that comments was so funny!! Anyway, it seemed like the perfect thing to include in a blog post!

Taxes

I usually love doing taxes. I think it is so fun to get all your financial papers in order and get down to work. In our home we use TurboTax which is an excellent way for the do-it-yourselfer to get your taxes done right. I've never considered doing taxes to be hard (mostly because we don't make enough or own enough for it to be hard). This year however we threw one extra monkey wrench into the system and it became a nightmare!! Man, all that changed was the aquisition of a health savings account and BAM-O! Stress, headaches, and weeping galore (OK I didn't really cry). After numerous phone calls to me Dad over different questions I think I got it figured out. Tomorrow I'll go through the taxes one last time with Jason just to double check (although TurboTax did say my error check passed without errors) and then I'll get the guts to click eFile!! I will then be 8-10 days away from the biggest refund we've ever gotten and my savings account can jump for joy! Ya gotta love tax time!

I NEED a Project

I have been trying to think of a project I could work on. Cleaning the house isn't exactly what I had in mind even though that always needs to be done. I love to paint canvas to hang in my rooms so I feel like I am adding to the rooms I decorate instead of having everything come from the store. I do have a 3 piece canvas project I do need to get started on, but not while I'm alone with Paisley because she will want to paint and I don't want to deal with that mess while I'm trying to be creative.

In our backyard we always have tons of bird visitors. Our neighborhood is primarily an older generation and they tend to have a lot of bird houses in their back yards and such. Paisley and I love to watch the birds every morning while we eat breakfast. I decided that one fun project we can make is a milk jug bird feeder. This will take all of 10 minutes but Paisley will get a kick out of it and then we will have a lot more birds to watch in the morning. Luckily I thought of this while we had an empty jug laying around. Now all I need to do is gather supplies and hopefully tomorrow morning we can hang our bird feeder. This is so exciting!!

This small project, however, doesn't fill my need for a project. I would like one that takes a little while. I was thinking maybe a cross stitch, but what do you do with it? I'm not going to hang it in my house. The baby doesn't get to have a bedroom so I don't want to make some baby something. Anyway, it's something to ponder over and I'd happily except suggestions.

Abstinence is VERY Realistic

(WARNING: For those that know me, you know I am VERY opinionated, so spoiler alert, if you read this know that it has strong opinions in it.)

Not too many exciting things happen in Kansas very often so frequently on our nightly news there are celebrity updates or high profile people stories. Tonight they aired clips from Bristol Palin's interview in which she is supposedly an advocate for abstinence yet told the interviewer that abstinence is unrealistic. Well newsflash Bristol: Abstinence is very realistic and should be expected. Obviously I feel this way because of my religious views but far beyond that I think it is sick that everyone automatically gives up on the idea of abstinence without a true effort of promoting it. There is hope for young women living in this Sodom and Gommorah world to remain virgins until marriage. If a daughter is taught love for herself and womanhood, virtue, integrity, that she is a child of God, and nurtured by a mother and father I think abstinence is very likely. Often children rise to the expectations placed upon them. If your daughter knows that abstinence is expected until marriage, I think there will be an effort to achieve that. Now kids can make their choices and some will choose a different course than we would like, but with a lifetime of conversation, nurturing, explaining and loving it is possible to make it to marriage pure. Bristol Palin is definitely no role model for this home. I also fully expect to try my best to raise my children to know that abstinence before marriage is clearly the better choice and expected of them.

Hormones

So my wonderful hormones on top of giving me an insane craving for delicious food that is far beyond reach has made me break out worse than a 14 year old boy. I've never been one to have perfect skin, I have a couple conditions which guarantee me acne for the rest of my life unless I pay tons of money to visit Mr. Dermatologist for the rest of my life. I have come to terms with my skin issues, but this whole zit problems due to baby hormones are 100% frustrating. Even my extra powerful acne medicine from Mr. Dermatologist is no match for the baby hormones. Thanks a lot baby!

Small Towns are BAD for Cravings

Unlike some, I welcome my pregnancy cravings. I think it is a great excuse to need to get a treat or go out to dinner more often than we really should! Cravings turn ugly when you live in the middle of no where and fulfilling some of those needs (or should I say wants?) isn't possible because of lack of dining options. Some cravings come and go and it is ok when I don't get play into them, but others are longer lasting and far more painful (emotionally). For instance, I really, REALLY NEED some In N Out! This hamburger chain is only in a few western states and so for now it is seeming pretty impossible to get my hands on a hamburger from there. This is one craving that has not gone away and has made me cry on numerous occasions when it seems I will explode if I do not get some In N Out. Maybe by some miracle I'll get to take a trip to California sooner rather than later and put this craving to rest. One can only hope!

Primary Activity

Tonight was Paisley's first primary activity. The theme was PJ'S (which stands for prayer, journal, and scriptures). All the kids wore their pajamas to the activity. It was a blast. I thought I would share a couple of the answers to Paisley's journal questions because they were so very cute.
Birth date: "The day when Jesus brought me to my Mom."
My Parents: "My mom and dad."
Where I live: "at home"
Things I like to do: "Play in sandbox, play with friends, play with mom and dad."
My Pets: "1 dog." (NO we do NOT have a dog!)
When I grow up I will be: "a sister for a baby."

She is the cutest!!! I love her answers so much and can't wait to share this journal with her when she is older and can appreciate the pure innocence of her answers.

At the activity she was also able to paint a prayer rock, which she can bring home on Sunday. She also took a picture with the bishop that she will get for her birthday. For snack they had cereal and juice. It went really well, and Paisley had a blast.

A Beautiful Winter Day

This is probably not the picture you would expect given that it is February 10 and still technically winter, but it is a lovely day outside and we wanted to play. It is in the upper 60's and it feels wonderful. Paisley had a blast getting her bike out for the first time this year. Last year she couldn't use the pedals because she couldn't reach and today she was using them like an old pro. She even figured out how to pedal herself backwards. This cute big 3 year old is sure getting tricky.

Cute Bag!

I have resisted buying things for the baby for a couple of reasons. Number one, for some reason I feel completely lost in the boy department. Number two is I'm hoping some nice friend will through me a shower so I will wait and see what I need after that. Today though, I could not resist. This diaper bag called out to me!! Feel free to click on the picture to get the full experience of all the cute ribbons. I feel like this bag totally screams Stefanie. Thanks Jason for letting me break the rule and get a cute, cute diaper bag! Now I will be totally stylin' with a baby boy.

Valentine's Enrichment

Tonight was our relief society's midweek enrichment activity. The craft was decorating cupcakes to look like a box of chocolates. I went just planning on socializing but after some peer pressure this cute box of cupcakes is what I came home with. I think they look so adorable and I don't want people to eat them, but Paisley will probably object to that!

Half way done, half to go

Today I'm 20 weeks along! Hooray! Pregnancy isn't the most pleasurable time for me. With Paisley I had morning sickness until I was 6 months along. This time I still have to take a time out on my bed every once in a while but I haven't thrown up in a week and a half. I still have a love/hate relationship with food and that is annoying. Food is what keeps me from being sick, yet I can't stand the thought of putting it in my mouth. Hopefully all this will pass soon.

I went to the doctor on Tuesday and things are good. We had a sonogram last week that told us the baby is a boy and things are good but they couldn't get a good shot of his kidneys. This means at my next appointment I will have another sonogram so the doctor can try and find his kidneys. She said she is sure everything is fine and I shouldn't worry. The good thing about having a sonogram in her office instead of at the hospital is that my doctor is really nice and doesn't charge me for it. I'm excited to see the baby again and to double check that it's a boy.

I also now have to go to physical therapy. My sciatic nerve is acting up and she says that since it is so early in my pregnancy she fears that I may have permanent problems if we don't do something about it. I've never been medically high maintenance before and I'm not enjoying that I am becoming that way. I guess that's what happens as we age.

Yay our own blog!

After some not so serious contemplation we have decided to start our own blog. Jason's family has one that we contribute to, my family has one we contribute to, but we think it is time that we get our own. There are some things I would like to blog about that I don't think should go on the family blogs for mine or jason's family so now we have our own to do with what we'd like. We will still contribute to our families blogs but there will be additional and supplemental material here for those that would like it! :)

What's With the Title?

The title of our blog is strange, it's true. It comes from a funny story of living here in Kansas. We have lived in Kansas for almost two years. Our last name isn't difficult but it is strange and therefore hard for some to remember. Well there is a lady we go to church with and she was asking about us to a friend and had a hard time remembering our last name so she ended up asking "How are the Cornstalks doing?" The friend then told us this story the next time we saw each other because they thought it was so funny. Eventually work spread to a lot of our friends and so one of them thinking they were so cleaver mutated Cornstalks into Cornstalkers and so we still at some social gatherings get asked "How are the Cornstalkers doing?"