Kids' Names

Jonah started kindergarten this week. I haven't really written about it because he wouldn't let me take his picture on the first day and he's been a bit grumpy and moody all week. He doesn't like change. I'm thinking things will get better as time goes on.
Anyway, to the subject of my post.

I asked Jonah today if he's made any new friends in his class. He already knew a few of the kids from church and preschool. He told me that he did make new friends, but he could only remember two of their names. So I asked what their names are. He replied, "America and Nauvoo." Jonah said, "Nauvoo is a silly sounding word, Mom. How do you spell it?" I told him and he still thinks it's a silly word.

This little conversation got me to thinking about names when I was growing up. I was raised in the era of Jessica's, Jennifer's, Amy's, and about a zillion other Ashley's. The boys all seemed to be named 'Josh' or 'Jason' or 'Micheal'. I remember there were 4 or 5 Ashley's in my kindergarten class and I don't think I ever had a class where I was the only Ashley. So I guess that's why a lot of people are now obsessed with giving their kids "unique" names. This seems to be accomplished in a variety of ways. They name their children after places, like America and Nauvoo. Or they spell their name in a "different" way, such as Jaxsun(seriously, I saw it on a class list) Deighton, or Taeler. Or they use words spelled backwards, like the ever popular "Neveah". Or they just use words that are associated with values, like 'Honor' 'Charity' and 'Chastity'.
Then you get the celebrities who pick all kinds of "different" names for their kids and then fans decide to name their kids the same thing. Like "Apple" "Bronx" "Zuma Nesta Rock" or "Audio Science"(yeah, you can look it up).

So, do any of these parents consider whether or not the child will like their 'unique' name? The child is the one who has to live with it, spell it for everyone, and explain it to everyone. I remember a girl in my 4th grade class whose name was Chevrolet. The poor thing was teased mercilessly.

There's an episode of my favorite sitcom, 'Friends', that sort of deals with this topic. Phoebe and Mike have just gotten married and Phoebe goes to change her name. She finds out that she can change it to whatever she wants. So she picks 'Princess Consuela Banana Hammock' because it's fun to say and no one else has it. Mike is not a fan of the new name and to illustrate his point, he decides he's going to change his name to Crap Bag and makes Phoebe introduce him to people as such. Needless to say, she gets the point and changes her name back. Funny episode.

Anyway, back to the baby naming thing...call me old fashioned, but I just don't get it.
I wanted unique names for my kids too, but I went more for the traditional but not over used. Although, since naming them, I see kids with their names everywhere. Funny, because before they were born I'd never run into a little Jonah or Lilly or Jayne, now they're all over the place. Go figure.

~:More of the New Family Pictures:~

We got our CD of all of our family pictures, so I thought I'd share a few more of our favorites. To all of you who read my first post on these pics, Nate picked the western stuff(he really wants to be a cowboy when he grows up) and I chose the white and blue.

It got a little breezy on us.I love this one of Jayne.

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Nate and Jonah actually didn't know they took this picture. They were checking out some of the rocks together.
My beautiful baby girl!

This is another candid shot. Nate was watching the kids play. Lilly is squirting Jonah with a spray bottle.

Me and my honey!

Jonah, showing us his awesome strength!

Nate making me laugh, like he does every single day

I love this picture because Jonah and Lilly are comforting each other after they had just fallen off the log. I was holding Jayne from behind, but Jonah and Lilly leaned too far forward and fell right off. When they got back on they both kept reassuring each other that they were okay. It was so sweet.

Jonah didn't feel like smiling in this one and I'm not sure what Jayne was looking at.

I love my little 'cheesers'!

When I first saw these pics, I told Nate, "We look like people who have horses!" He said, "We should get some of those."

Jonah doing what he does best, being silly for the camera.

So, there you have it! My beautiful little family. Thanks again to Andy and Tina for the great pictures. You should all check them out at Gracie Mae Photography.

My Fast-Food Fast

I don't like to cook. It's not that I'm a bad cook. I actually can make some pretty yummy stuff. It's just not one of my favorite things to do towards the end of my day when the kids are getting tired and grumpy and the house needs to be picked up and I'm just tired.
As a result of my aversion to cooking, we eat fast food about once a week. McDonald's is right around the corner, along with KFC, A&W, Arctic Circle, Subway, Wendy's, Beto's, and Carl's JR. I have Pizza Hut's phone number programmed in my phone. It's SOOOOO easy to give in to the "I don't wanna cook tonight" feeling.

In addition to that, Nate and I usually go on a date night once a week, which almost always includes dinner.

Well, as of today, I have not had fast food, or eaten out at all for that matter, for two whole weeks!
It all started when I looked at our bank statement and added up how much money we'd spent on eating out. I won't give you the exact amount because it's a bit embarrassing, but it was quite a chunk. So, with more bills and the same income, I was looking for ways to cut back and eating out was definitely a preventable expense.
I wrote up our dinner menu for the week, did the shopping, and committed myself to cook dinner for my family every night.
Honestly, I really didn't think I'd make it past day 3 or 4. But here we are on day 14 and not a penny has gone to restaurants.
I have been tempted....a lot! I like food. I like it even more when I don't have to prepare it or clean up after eating it. But, I must say, that the longer I go without stopping at McDonald's, the easier it gets.

Blog Makeover

I love to make changes to my blog! I just got done giving it a little makeover. When I first started blogging, I had no idea how to make it look nice and "cutesy", so I thought I'd share a couple of the fun websites that I've found that helped me. Click on any of the site names to be linked to their website.

The Cutest Blog on The Block- This site has a bunch of free backgrounds, banners, blinkies, buttons, and other fun extras for a blog. It also has a 'free blogging secrets' section that teaches you lots of fun little tricks to make your blog your own.

Shabby Blogs- Here's another site with some cute backgrounds and headers. They also have post dividers and cute little extras.

Kevin & Amanda- I LOVE this one! On this site, she's created a gazillion cute fonts that you can download for free to use for scrapbooking, blogging, or just in regular word documents. She gives great detailed instructions on how to get and use them.

Anyway, that's just a few of my favorites. You can find countless others by using a search engine. If you have any favorites, leave a comment and let me know. I always love finding cute new stuff!

Talk About Baby Weight!

I have this pair of pajama pants that is way too big, so Nate decided to sneak up behind me and leave a little present. I walked her around like this for a couple minutes and Jayne thought it was a hoot!

New Family Photos!

We had some new pictures taken a few days ago. Our friends, Andy and Tina love photography and are starting up a side business with it. So we asked them to do our pictures. We haven't gotten a decent family picture in two years! Yikes!

We all drove up to Temple Quarry in Little Cottonwood canyon. It was a lot of fun! Andy and Tina did a great job. I highly recommend them. Their prices are great too! You get to pick your own location and get a CD of all your pictures so you can get prints of whatever you want, whenever you want.

Before I link you to some of the pictures I have to explain something. My sweet husband is picky about pictures. I don't know why. Everyone else tells me their husband doesn't care. My husband really cares what we wear. So....this time we totally disagreed and couldn't find a compromise on anything. So we decided to do some of the pictures wearing what Nate wanted us to wear and some wearing what I wanted us to wear. See if you can guess who picked what.
And, my kids are cheesers! I cannot ever get them to just look at the camera and smile, especially Jonah.
Oh, and also, ignore the picture of us walking away from the camera. I think I found where those last 10 pounds are hanging out! =)
Anyway, go to www.graciemaephotography.com to see some of our pictures. Thanks Andy and Tina!

Plateau......Grrrrrr!

As many of you know, I've been trying hard to get rid of the baby weight since Jayne was born. I've lost 33lbs so far and have about 10 to go until I'm at my pre-Jayne weight.
What is it about the last 10 pounds that is always so hard?! I'm working out and watching what I eat and I'm staying exactly the same! Arrrgghhhh!
I haven't updated my shrinking woman sidebar thingy because there's been nothing to report. I've seriously stayed the same weight for over a month now.
So......if any of you have been in my shoes, please send some good advice and weight loss vibes my way. I'd love to hear how you broke through a plateau. Please, please, please......pretty please!

*Our Songs*

Every couple has "their" songs. You know, the ones that seem to fit them just right or that were playing at some significant point in their relationship. So, I thought it would be fun to share a few of ours with you.

Song #1 ~ Iris~ GooGoo Dolls

Nate and I met when I was 15 and he was 17. It was at the Manti pageant and was just one of those teenage things where you don't expect to see each other ever again. On the way back to where we were staying that night after the pageant, this song was on the radio. I remember hearing the line "I just want you to know who I am" and wondering if 'Nate from Nevada' would remember me in a day, or a week, or a year. Every time I heard that song after that night, I thought about him.

Song #2 ~ I Miss You~ Incubus

The first time Nate came over after his mission, we drove to Salt Lake to see my friend's choir sing at Temple Square. We were listening to this CD on the way home and Nate kept pushing repeat on this song. We must have listened to it 10 times during that drive. It was his way of hinting that he really liked me. During our engagement, I lived in Ogden and he lived in Vegas and we definitely 'missed' each other. This poor song got very overplayed during those 8 weeks. =)

Song #3 ~ Swing Life Away ~ Rise Against

Nate heard this song on the radio and told me that I had to hear it because it was "us". This was probably 4 or so years ago. The lyrics seemed to describe our life at the time perfectly. Give it a listen. It's a really good one.

Song #4 ~ Don't Matter ~ Akon

This is another one that Nate heard on the radio. Ever since the beginning of our relationship, people have wondered why we're together and some even went so far as to tell us that we shouldn't be together. We also had an experience a few years ago with someone who tried very very hard and very deliberately to break us up. I especially love the line in this song that says we're gonna fight for our right to love. "Nobody wanna see us together, but it don't matter, no, 'cause I got you babe." Classic Nate and Ashley

So, these are just a few of "our songs." You can listen to them by clicking the playlist in the right column of the blog. Or just turn on your speakers, I think it's supposed to start playing when you come to our page. The last couple songs on there are just fun ones. They don't have any great stories, but we like them.

Also, leave a comment and tell me about YOUR songs! I'd love to hear about them!

Have You Seen US???

My movies, that is. A couple of months ago, I went to watch one of my favorite movies and found that it was not in its case. So, I decided I'd watch another one of my favorite movies, but alas, it was not in its case either. Are you sensing a pattern here? I asked my darling hubby if he knew where they were, which he didn't. So, he and I proceeded to do an inventory of our three or four hundred movies that we own. The results were shocking! We are missing A LOT of movies! Almost ALL the movies missing are MY movies, aka chick movies.
Sooooo.....I searched my house inch by inch convinced that I must have put them somewhere for some strange reason. No dice. Not that I expected to find them. We only put our movies in one place and if they're not there, then they're not anywhere around here. We don't lend them out or take them places with us.
Now, to investigate....there are only 5 people who have EVER had access to our house when we have not been at home. All of them deny having any of the missing movies. Two of them can definitely be ruled out for reasons I won't go into.
My only conclusion(as I am one for giving the benefit of the doubt) can be that one of the other three borrowed the movies, forgot to return them, and now would feel bad giving them back because they think we'd think they stole them on purpose. Or, that some burglar randomly came in our house and only took a few movies and left everything else of value. That could have happened, right?
Anyway....here is a list of my missing movies. If you see them wandering down the street, please call me so I can bring them home where they belong! I miss them!

• Sweet Home Alabama
• 13 Going on 30
• Just Like Heaven
• How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
• Juno
• Dan in Real Life
• 27 Dresses
• Veggie Tales(these are the 'not-chick' movies)---Duke & The Great Pie War
• Veggie Tales- Sheerluck Holmes
• Veggie Tales- Lord of the Beans
• Veggie Tales- Holiday Double Feature
• Veggie Tales- The Story of Little Joe
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Pride & Prejudice(the cheesey LDS one)
• The Devil Wears Prada
• The Holiday
• Legally Blonde

There may be others, so keep your eyes open. And, if they happen to have wandered into your DVD case by 'accident' I would still love you if you'd give them back.

*Our 39 Hour Escape!*

I have been spoiled. Ever since having my first baby, about every 3 or 4 months my mom would take the kids for a weekend and Nate and I would go on a weekend adventure. Usually we go somewhere close and stay in a B&B or we stay home and just sleep in, eat out, and generally relax. Well, I'm not sure why, but apparently baby #3 was the cutoff point. I've been trying since she was three months old to talk my mom into giving us our usual break. For some reason, she always declined. I'm thinking it's because she had a lot of change and challenges in her life personally, so she just didn't feel up to it. Anyway, after much begging and pleading, she finally agreed to come watch the kids at our house this last weekend.

Since she would be watching them at our house, we couldn't just stay home and 'veg'. Money has been tight, so we decided that camping would be the ideal option.

We had decided to go to a campground in Provo Canyon that Nate's parents recommended. It had drinking water and flushing toilets. We would leave Friday after Nate and my mom got off work and come home Sunday afternoon.

Well, our plans changed abruptly last Wednesday when Nate's parents sent me an e-mail letting me know that they were going camping in the same campground we were planning to head to. I love my in-laws, but after a whole year of no nights alone, I really wanted this weekend to be just Nate and me. So I began trying to find a place to camp, preferably one with a real bathroom. Everything that could be reserved was reserved, so we decided to drive the Mirror Lake Hwy and camp in the first place we could find a spot.

Fast forward to Friday.......

I spent the entire day getting things ready. I cleaned the house from top to bottom for my mom and sister(who came to help with the kids), I packed everything we would need for camping. I even did some research and found some new camping recipes for us to try out since neither of us are big hot dog fans. I cleaned out the Jeep and vaccuumed it and got everything loaded up and ready to go. Nate was supposed to get off work by 5:00. Can you guess what happened? Yep, as it always happens when we make plans, Nate didn't get off work on time. In fact, he didn't get home until around 7:00. By the time he got showered and we got on the road it was getting close to 8. By the time we got to the campgrounds it was dark. We drove through several without finding a spot. At 10:30 we were ready to give up when Nate spotted a small campsite in the trees. We got the tent set up and hit the sack at around 11:30.

This is where it gets good. As I lay on the air mattress listening to the nearby river and the lovely sounds of nature, I could not sleep. I was very uncomfortable and every little noise put me on edge. I've always had this little fear of sleeping outdoors. When morning finally came(at 6:00am!) and we made our trek to the super-stinky outhouse, I finally embraced what I have been denying my entire life........I HATE CAMPING! I've tried so hard to enjoy it, but I just don't. I don't like the dirt, I don't like sleeping on the ground, I don't like outhouses, I never get any rest and I'm on edge all the time. So....as we commenced driving back into Kamas (yes at 6:00 in the morning) to break my $20 so we could buy a $3 recreation pass and avoid getting our vehicle impounded by the friendly rangers, Nate guessed what I was not saying. I really didn't want to camp another night. That is when my sweet, understanding husband turned the Jeep around and we headed back to our site, packed it up, and drove to Evanston. We got a room in a Best Western, took a shower, and fell into bed until one in the afternoon. We spent the rest of the day playing games, watching TV, and sleeping. We did take a walk around Evanston. They have a cute main street and some fun little shops. We pretty much just ate the food we had brought with us. Our room had a fridge, so nothing was wasted. We did have yummy lunch at Wally's Burgers across the street from our hotel.

So, there you have it. I am a wimp and I admit it. Here are some pictures of our little adventure.

These are the trees above our tent

The beautiful mountains. I really love the scenery, but I'm more of a day trip kind of girl when it comes to the outdoors. We did see a mother and baby moose and a few deer on our morning drive. All the scenery was gorgeous!The entrance to our Hotel, The Dunmar Inn. It was actually pretty nice. Everything was clean and the staff was very friendly.

Our Scrabble board. Nate had to take a picture because he was so proud that he beat me. You'll notice a couple of 'illegal' words on there. I felt like being lenient. I think that was my downfall.

The score board. I was way off my game. I think I need more practice.

The moral of this story: Know Thyself and Act Accordingly!