get new bottles

because i know you moms need one more thing to be paranoid about!

i think we've all heard about the BPA issues that have become more and more prevalant in the media the past few months (bisphenola's toxic presence in plastics, particularly baby bottles). if not, you should probably read up on it. just type "BPA" into a google search and you'll find yourself with hours and hours of reading and research. the research especially freaks me out for two reasons: 1) i have one kid and another on the way and 2) i have MS and BPA has been linked to neurological issues and hormonal problems. (it's also been linked to fertility issues.) BPA is present in nearly all plastics, but it's especially harmful to infants because they are more vulnerable. the chemical leaches into beverages in bottles when bottles are heated or become scratched or worn.

so far, Z Reccommends' Z Report is the most useful resource i have found. the blog's author(s) have conducted research on nearly every maker of baby products (bottles, pacifiers, sippy cups, etc.) and list BPA-free products by brand. they also have a printable wallet card to carry with you when shopping (because it's all way to much to remember).

after scouring the internet for alternatives, i chose to go with green to grow BPA-free bottles {shown above}. they are a super cute and reasonably priced alternative to traditional plastic bottles. (glass is always another option -but they are heavy and scare me). if, like me, you were an Avent user before, you might be interested to know that the Avent nipples and Magic Spouts (both of which are BPA-free) work with the green to grow wide-mouth bottles, saving a little cash...

happy paranoia!!!

oh my gosh

i love how she(?) moves her head to count the beats. and i LOVE the nah-nah parts.

something to do

my oh-so-talented little brother is playing at kilby court {one of my favorite venues in the slc area} tuesday APRIL 29TH. nash and i are going fo' sho'. i know, i'm crazy like that-keeping him out past bedtime?!

hope to see you there!

click here for more info.

what's in a name?

alison tagged me. not really, she tagged "you" and i think i count as a "you" since i read her blog today. and like she said, "i'm bored," i'm lucky to even have found my way out of bed. does this count as doing something productive?

1. My rock star name (first pet and current car): Cat Element
2. My gangsta name (favorite ice cream flavor and favorite cookie): Amaretto Ginger Snap
3. My "fly girl" name (first initial of first name and first 3 letters of last name): LAnd
4. My detective name (favorite color and favorite animal): Green Dog
5. My soap opera name (middle name and city where you were born): Ann Provo
6. My Star Wars name (first 3 letters of your last name and first 2 letters of your first name): Andli
7. My superhero name (2nd favorite color and favorite drink with "The" in front): Turquoise the Coke
8. My Nascar name (first names of your grandfathers): Lyle Robert
9. My lounge singer name (name of your favorite perfume/cologne and your favorite candy): Greenify Gummy Bear
10. My witness-protection name (mother's and father's middle names): Ann Charles

three years ago...

i thought i was a hopeless romantic. then i realized that my third wedding anniversary was last saturday (4.19) and all i managed to do was send steve a text when i woke up. i didn't even call him.

when i think back to three years ago and what i imagined for the future, i have to admit there have been a lot of surprises. we've been through a lot together. a lot. obviously the biggest obstacle being my diagnosis of MS which reared its ugly head only two short months after we sealed the deal. my dad joked with steve at the time that he might actually let him out of the deal since steve ended up with "damaged goods." funny, yes. but at times i still feel so guilty that the timing of it all seemed like a nasty trick on steve's end. "through sickness and health," right? anyway, when i look back at the optimism and the dreams we shared for the future i can't help but become a little teary-eyed. alright, "weepy" is a better term. oh, to go back to those days. i wasn't naive; i knew we'd have hard times ahead; i knew we'd struggle financially; i knew we'd have hurdles to jump. i just never imagined all of it would come at the same time and with such haste.

what am i saying? i'm just saying that the last three years have been pretty stinking hard. harder than i ever imagined. BUT i'm so glad that i've had stevie by my side to get through it all. i don't tell him enough, but i love him. I LOVE HIM. I love you, Bevie.

the george

well, a week later and we are back from our annual trip to "the vacation house" in st. george. {chase & libby named it that years ago and it just stuck}. steve didn't get to go this year, and in fact, neither did any of the other hubbies. it was our first "girls week" at the vacation house. brian & brad got to come friday night, but they only came for the golf, and sadly for them it was much too windy on saturday to get in a good round.

nash came down with a high fever on tuesday and quit eating. he was so lethargic that he slept during most of pool time {which i must admit was nice for my sunbathing efforts}. i tried each day to get him to swim but he wasn't having it. he'd hang on to me for dear life {see picture}. by friday the fever finally subsided only to be followed by a rash {which was the telltale sign for alison and grandma whose children have experienced this}. turns out it was roseola, which is now gone, but his immune system was so weak that he now is battling a little case of thrush. will it ever end? the doctor assured me it will-after i had a near breakdown in his office sunday night feeling like the worst mommy ever for having a child who is perpetually sick.


and all that sunbathing? well i now look like a racoon. i'm not sure if it's because prior to this trip i had managed to let myself become more pale than ever in my life or if it's because my pregnant state forced me to sit more upright and tan only the front of my body. either way, i now have white eyebrows above my real dark eyebrows and white circles under my eyes where i normally have dark circles. go figure, huh? now i'm debating some serious facial scrubs or peels to get back to my former pale, yet non-freaky facial coloration...oh, and this not-so-great picture is the ONLY picture i am willing to let out in the public eye {the rest contain WAY too much cleavage-i keep wondering if i'm growing triplets...}

alison and i are both pregnant and this was our only chance to get some pictures together with our big bellies. here we are at 35 and 28 weeks. next time we see alison i'll have had haven and she'll be close to having her little girl. i'm excited for haven to have a cousin her age, even if we don't see them everyday. nash has been in a world of his own, even with his two girl cousins just a year or so ahead of him. once they're all older it won't seem like a big age difference at all, but right now it sure does.

for a recap of uneventful events {and a disgusting picture of a whale sunbathing}, go to alison's blog!

nash's first 5k

nash completed his first 5k (2008 Walk MS) this morning. yay buddy! he was sooo excited to be outside that we (emilie & i) had to keep him strapped into the stroller until the start. we didn't want him to burn out too quickly. he made it from n temple to 6th north before losing energy (which i think is pretty awesome). we kept telling him that he needed to pace himself, but....

dirty work and baby signs

i figure since haven is coming in under six weeks i better start getting creative about outsourcing the dirty work around here. nash is working out quite well ( i just have to get over the fact that the utensils aren't organized in their respective slots):



nash has also merged his love for feeding lexi and his love for rock-throwing into one convenient activity (one that lets me stay inside and out of this damned april weather -seriously? april and it snowed?). his laugh kills me:



and lastly, a quick little video of him doing the baby sign for "baby"(grandpa martin should be so proud!):

dear m.a.c,

i'm sorry i've treated you with such disrespect. i suppose i should let you know that it wasn't actually me who scraped you and threw you and shook you out on the carpet. it was nash. he just doesn't feel for you the way i do. (or for the carpet for that matter.) and in my further defense, it wasn't me who let him do it-it was someone else. i won't name names, but he's been a little...preoccupied. he says he was "studying," but i'm not so sure it wasn't Rock of Love. either way, just know that i never meant to hurt you. i'm as hurt by this as you are.

farewell zonk bleu!, expensive pink, and retrospeck. you were my favorite shadows. at least i get a free lipstick in trade for your carcasses?!