Since last we met . . .

So it's been a while, and the Team has had a few adventures since the last time I posted.
* We took a trip to Provo to celebrate Matt's sister's graduation and meet our new cousin Seth.
* We made a table cloth. (Jill and I. And Matt admired our fine work.)
* We started reading Middlemarch by George Elliot. Really I started reading Middlemarch, but because I'm listening to the audio book, everyone gets a chance to hear it from time to time.
* Jill learned to sit up on her own, how to fold her arms, and how to "sing" during the quiet moments in church.
* We took a trip to Texas to visit family and celebrate my brother's graduation.
* We went to some parties.
* We celebrated mother's day.
* We tried making new foods.
* I knitted a few things.
* We planted our garden.
* Matt started playing league soccer. Just a little warm up for the FIFA World cup this summer.

Just a few things. Hopefully I'll get some pictures up before too long.

xoxoxo

Thanks for letting us visit everyone. We love seeing you!

Things We Love

Jill is 5 months old now, and she's becoming very particular about what she loves and what she doesn't. And as everyone knows, what she loves is what we love . . .

We love to read the newspaper, especially the Sunday ads.

We love fruit.

Or maybe it's the spoons. We LOVE spoons.

We love to do laundry.

Or maybe not.

It's to early to tell how committed we are to the family business.

April Fooled

Ha Ha Ha. Spring brought us ALL such a nice surprise this year. But she was sooo tricky about it. The last week of March was beautiful, in the 40's and 50's all week long. (That's wonderful for March in Idaho.) I was so excited and though we might have a lovely spring from here on out. April 1st and 2nd were the most beautiful days of all. Then, on April 3rd, Mother nature got a good laugh as she YELLED "April Fools" and dropped 4 inches of snow on my front step.

Matt and I were planning on grilling to welcome Spring, but I guess the invitation got lost in the mail. Oh well, at least we weren't part of the sad Easter troop that got to hunt eggs in the snow.

Good one Mother N. You fooled us all.

(Wish I had pictures, but I was to disgusted to take any this year.)

Everything I know about cold sores . . .

They come very late at night when you least expect and usually right before a very large, picturesque, life event . . . right girls.

Over the years, through sad experience, I've become one of my families experts on cold sores. After a few recent calls from family members in the thralls of cold sore trauma, I've decided to share everything I know that helps and somethings I've heard that help but I haven't tried. (Noted by a *.)

Cold sores, fever blisters, and sun blisters can appear as a result of stress, too much work, being over tired, or having chapped lips from not drinking enough or being out in the sun too long.

Remember that the germs that cause sores can linger on chap stick and lip gloss. Using an infected product can reinfect you lips. Be safe and throw away any balm or gloss you are unsure about.

To prevent, try drinking more water, getting plenty of sleep (ha ha), getting a good lip gloss with UV protection, and taking yoga classes.

When you feel that tell-tale burning sensation of your lips, treat it with my two step philosophy . . . "Clean and Dry." Here are some ways to keep your new found friend clean and dry and help it on it's way:

1. Wash with water and a soft washcloth at the first sign; then dab with a q-tip of rubbing alcohol.
2. Keep some handy alcohol wipes in your car or purse in case you feel one coming on while you're on the go.
3. A strong mouthwash also works great in place of rubbing alcohol.
4. Try this product: Abreva . Keep it in your pocket and apply multiple times a day.
5. If you're home all day, put on a movie and hold an ice cube to your lip.
6. Try this product: Neosporin or any antibiotic ointment. I put the regular cuts and scratches stuff right on my lip. Reapply multiple times a day. (If anyone tries the lip health products, please let me know how they do.)
7. Try this product: Carmex. It's great for prevention but works very slowly as a treatment.

For kids: Don't put anything on your kids lips you don't want them to lick off. For rashes and dry lips and cheeks try Lansinoh HPA Brand Lanolin and Carmex.

For bad inside mouth sores, amp your brushing up to three times a day, or after every meal. Get a good mouth wash to use after brushing and flossing. If this doesn't help, but some mouth wash on a q-tip and hold it right up against your sore for 30 seconds. Do this every morning and evening until it's gone. For more advice on this, talk to Mom.

Long term help:
Try L-Lysine - a dietary supplement used to improve immunity and skin health
If you feel like you have a serious health problem, talk to your doctor about a prescription for Acyclovir -medicine designed specifically to treat pervasive lip sores.*

Patty's Cake! AKA a father's interpritation

I love hearing Matt sing and play with Jill. We both love nursery rhymes, and I'm aften surprised how many my sweet sports loving husband can rattle off. This week we had a little competition. An article in our local paper challenged us to recite the first lines of poems after hearing only the second line. Let's see how you guys do.

Under Grad Level:
1. The cat and the fiddle
2. Sat on a wall
3. Lost her sheep
4. Went up a hill
5. The mouse ran up the clock

Graduate Level:
1. This little piggy stayed home
2. Three men in a tub
3. Father John , Father John
4. See how they run
5. Eating her curds and whey

PhD Level:
1. Kissed the girls and made them cry
2. Had a wife but couldn't keep her
3. Went to bed with his stockings on
4. The sheep are in the meadow, the cow's in the corn
5. How does your garden grow

Later, Matt was singing Pat-A-Cake with Jill. It went something like this:

Patty's Cake, Patty's Cake, Bake-a-Man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Flip it, and throw it, and drop it on your knee.
And . . . ummm, What's the rest of this song?

I was laughing so hard at the knee part I almost couldn't rember the last line. I love our daddy's nursery rhyme renditions.

Re-arranging

This week for Family Night, Matt and I did some re-arraning. We shuffed things around in the computer room/study/spare bedroom/sewing room/nursery in order to fit in yet another piece of furnature, a dresser for Jill's cloths and supplies.

That will be nice, but the real reason for the change is actully this . . .

Our new dresser.

Surprisingly, the CR/S/SBR/SR/N looks better and more open (all be it, fuller) in the new arrangement. I'm pleased with how it turned out, and with how pacient my wonderful husband was with me as we moved and removed different things. AND I'm pleased as punch to have enough drawer space in our room for all my love's t-shirts.

Scissors

Between Matt and I, we have about 8 pair of scissors. (On a good day, there are no scissors between us.) We live in a 2 bedroom, 1&1/2 bath apartment.. You'd think with so many scissors and so little space, we'd always be able to find a pair. But alas, when I have something to cut out, the only scissors I find handy are my sewing scissors. That pair seems to be the most available at any given time in any given room. Good thing my mother taught me better than that, and I am morally against using sewing scissors for anything besides sewing.

I think most of them are in the kitchen . . . don't ask me why.

Osmosis

We are testing this theory. If it is correct, by the time Matt and I are done with all our schooling, Jill will have learned the equivilant of two master's degrees.

Good luck on your test Daddy.

Pictures

Because of our recent copmuter upgrade, I'm downloading and reorganizing all of our pictures. This is how I feel about that . . .

So, holiday updates are a little late, but, not as late as last year.

Cuty Pants

Oh my goodness. I love baby jeans. Thanks Aunt Becca for sending these way took cute blue jeans to keep us warm on winter days.

Jill's First Movie

I have to start by saying, I haven't read any of the Twilight Saga all the way through. As a librarian I had lots of opportunities to skim, read reviews, and talk to everyone about them. I know the whole storyline, but don't care to actually read the entire series.

Now, the movies on the other hand, I find very entertaining.

So entertaining that when my friend invited me to see New Moon, I couldn't pass her up. So three of us (and Jill, she made four) went to the late show.

The lady in front of us was a little annoyed by the noise we were making. But Jill wasn't the problem. We were just discussing who was cuter, Edward or Jacob.

Jill wasn't impressed though. She slept through the whole thing, except the wolf fights. Those scared her a little.

Super Dad!

Matt is a super dad! Especially when he sings to baby Jill. Yesterday I heard him singing as he rocked her to sleep. You all know this old favorite:

Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top.
When the wind blows the cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall . . .

but you might not be familiar with the last line, which Matt assured me is part of the original "daddy version" of the song:

But Daddy will catching you and your cradle and save the day!

Go Super Dad!!!

One Month

Jill turned one month old today! We can't believe it . . . time flies when you're having fun.

Adding to the Team

Matt and I have been waiting for the a good time to let everyone know about our future plans. Now seems like as good a time as any. Last weekend we came home with very exciting news.
Our doubles team will become a three-some in November. We're very excited to announce the quick approach of our little girl. (90% sure we're not announcing a boy, but if things change, we'll be just as excited, and of course let you know.)

Here are some odds and ends for everyone:

I'm 22 weeks along. (That about 41/2 months.)
I feel great (most of the time).
We're about 90% sure we're having a girl.
We have a list of names about a mile long.
My doctor says November 17th is the red letter day to look forward to.

I'm #1000

I just happened to look at the people counter today and notices that I'm my own 1000 viewer!!!!

*Yaeh, Cheers, Confetee, Frollicing*

I think that's really funny. Thanks you guys for reading about Matt and Me and our adventures. I know I don't visit often enough to make it all the way to 1000 alone. Keep checking because this summer will be a very very fun one.

xoxoxox,
Team Svedin

Never Before, Never Again

Yesterday, the fam came over and we had breakfast for lunch, then we bought some seeds for the garden, checked out the new plot and picked up our new canoe!!!
It was starting out to be a pretty great day.
Then, it started to rain, so we went home and pulled out RISK!


This is the beginning board. I'm blue and pretty equally dispersed around the world.

I had never played RISK before, and was honestly a little afraid for the following reasons:
1. This game is notorious for taking HOURS to play.
2. Everytime I've seen people play this game (except that one time between M. and N., who are both really good natured girls) at least one person leaves the room early, angry, and hurt.
3. Every game hits you at a different psyphological level, and this one hits me at a level that is way above my ability to maturly cope with loss. (I mean come on, someone is attacking you (and probably verbally insulting your intelligence for no reason) and you get less opportunity to win back your pride than you attacker gets to take you over. It really is like a war.)
4. I don't know how to play, it seems really confusing, and I already have a complex about looking stupid when I do something new. Why on earth would I want to do something new, and confusing, in front of one or more people who are (see above) attacking me and verbally insulting my intelligence for no reason, especially when my odds of success are so calculatedly low?

I'm not going to tell you how the game ended. It's not important. But now I can say, I know how to play RISK, and if I can help it, I will try very hard to avoid ever playing it again.

Being Married is Like . . .

Happy President's Day Weekend of our lives!

Every President's Day for the past 5 years my sister Mary and I have got together somehow. When she lived in Provo, I would drive down to visit. Last year when she was in Taiwan, we met over Google-talk. Now, she's in Texas and I'm in Idaho, so we spent an hour or so talking to each other as she drove down a central Texas highway and I sat on my kitchen cabinet looking for a cinnamon roll recipe.

As we talked, Mary asked what everyone asks, "What's it like being married?" I love being married, but you know me, I like to say exactly the right thing to express my feelings. We talked about it a little as I tried to find the right words. We talked about how you can be a good person but you finally get to a point where you can't do it on your own anymore. And then I thought (and said) what I feel like is the best way for me to express what being married is like for me. Being married is like having a personal trainer, someone who is always there helping you remember what type of person you want to be. When you're doing well they are there to cheer you on, and when you're having a hard time, they're there to hold the bar for you and help you up, and when you want to stop training, they're there to remind you of your goals and help you get back on track.

The other side of that coin is that, being married, you are your love's personal trainer as well. Now, I don't know about you, and I've never personally had a trainer, but I know what kind of personal trainer I would like to have. So if I'm going to be a personal trainer I'd better be the kind I wish I had and not a hard and mean one. I want to be the type that notices the hard work and not just the fat, and who realizes that everyone needs a day off and a cookie sometimes.

So, being married is like having/being a personal trainer. And mine is keeping me on my game!

I'm Sorry!

There are so many things that Matt and I have been up to and I've been wanting to write about them, but I can never seem to get my self, my thoughts, and my pictures in the same place at the same time.

But, to keep you coming, I will tell you that I have drafts of posts about snowshoeing, two funny parties, two weeks fo creepy movies, wedding pictures (which there are a LOT of), and lots of other things.

I'll get it together soon, I promise.