Tagged--Eight Things

People keep talking about getting tagged. I don't really know what this means. If I were tagged, would I know it? I'm enough of a nerd that I have actually been searching for an official definition of being tagged, but to no avail. I am also enough of a nerd to really want to be tagged even though I don't know what it is. But my friend Rachelle was tagged and suggested that readers fill out the profile thing, so does that mean I am tagged? I don't know if it's official, but I'll fill it out anyway:

8 Things I am passionate about

1. The Gospel

2. My sweet boy, Dane
   

3. Joel

4. The rest of my family

5. I think I enjoy cooking
   

6. The Biggest Loser
   

7. Um...running out...here's the problem. I've always worried that I'm not a particularly passionate person. I mean, I like lots of things, but would I go crazy without them? I don't know. Oh, okay: music.
   

8. Pugsley & Puppet
   

8 Things I want to do before I die

1. Buy a house somewhere in the world I've never lived
   

2. Get a doctorate
   

3. Visit Europe
   

4. Visit Hawaii
   

5. Go on a mission
   

6. Go on another cruise. Hopefully many more.
   

7. Have a happy, righteous family
   

8. Speak Japanese significantly better
   

8 Books I have read recently

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
   
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (you get the idea)
   
5. The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan (I really loved it)
6. Persuasion by Jane Austen (except I returned it to the library before I was done because I'd already renewed it several times. Is that sacrilege?)
7. Obsession by Jonathan Kellerman (not recommended)
8. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

8 Things I often say

1. Hi, sweet boy!
   

2. Time for milk!
   

3. Daddy's home!
   

4. Joel, it's time for bed.
   

5. Our Netflix is here!
   

6. Sorry dinner's not ready yet. (This is an apology I make because I always want to have dinner ready when Joel gets home but I rarely do. Joel really doesn't care and is in no way pressuring me, lest you think he's being a jerk or something.)
   

7. Hi, Bishop. (He's been calling me all the time asking me questions about the Christmas sacrament meeting music. All the time.)

8. It's okay, Mommy's here. It was just a sneeze. (Dane starts crying when Joel sneezes, usually.)
   

8 Things that attract me to friends

1. Kindness

2. Humor

3. Openness

4. Easy to talk to
   

5. Slightly sarcastic

6. Compassionate, but not in a cheesy way
   

7. Proximity; I usually don't really go out of my way to get to know people I don't see often. That's probably bad.
   

8. Common interests
   

8 Songs and Albums I could listen to over and over again

1. I listen to recordings of my orchestra concerts a lot. Not because I'm on it but because I put effort into knowing, understanding, and appreciating the music.
   

2. There's this one Pachelbel and Fasch album I used to listen when I was studying or writing a paper.
   

3. There aren't very many things I can listen to over and over. I get tired of things pretty quickly. Plus I've been out of the music scene for a while. I really like Georgia by John Mayer.
   

4. The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson
   

5. The Getupkids' Something to Write Home About and

6. Weezer's Pinkerton take me back to high school and college fun
   

7. Historically, I listened to Hanson's Middle of Nowhere over and over again for a long time
   

8. Currently, I'm listening to the Vienna Choir Boys Christmas album. You can't really get tired of choir boys.
   

8 Things I learned this year

1. I get really huge while pregnant
   

2. There are a lot of things people never tell you about childbirth/the ensuing recovery
   

3. The worrying of a parent never goes away
   

4. How to not be upset when a baby projectile vomits all over you. For the fourth time. In one day.
   

5. That the Harry Potter books really are quite good
   

6. That getting out of the house at least once a day takes effort but is worth it
   

7. That friends are really important
   

8. That I can survive without going out to eat once a week
   

8 Random things about me

1. I'm good at timing the different courses of dinner so they're all ready at the same time.
   

2. I can't whistle.
   

3. I grow immune to deodorants, so I never buy the same kind twice in a row, and I have two different kinds that I use on alternate days.
   

4. I feel really bad after I win something on eBay, thinking "What if the people I beat needed it more?"
   

5. I love Chinese food. A lot.
   

6. I sometimes cheat and read a good chunk of books on the Amazon previews.
   

7. I don't vacuum very often. That will probably have to change once Dane is more mobile. Dang.
   

8. I will go out of my way to step on little ice crunchies on the sidewalk.
   

8 People I tag

Again, not sure what it means to tag. So I got out of this one. Swish! (I'm borrowing that expression from Rika, who borrowed it from Homer Simpson.)

And here is a picture of Dane for your enjoyment:

Wintriness

If that's a word.
For FHE on Monday, we went with a bunch of Joel's cousins to This Is The Place Heritage Park. It was really cool, and I wish we had had more time to spend there to really experience all they had to offer. I think we might go back before they close for the year.
They have both authentic houses and replicas of old pioneer houses, complete with no electricity. This will explain the poor quality of my pictures. That and the fact that I was really paranoid about Dane freezing. Nevertheless, here is what we got:
Dane met Father Christmas. And although his beard was not real, he was a lot friendlier than the mall Santa.

Here are Daddy and Dane playing as we wait for others to talk to Father Christmas

Here we are aboard the Candlelight Express

Then we stopped at the Anderson House to have hot chocolate and sing Christmas Carols (none of my pictures there turned out at all--no lights). Then the train took us to the live Nativity, complete with real sheep, cows, Joseph, and Mary (no real baby. Except Dane, who did not understand the "no crying he makes" concept in the cold). I had never really thought about how the stable in which Christ was born would have stunk. It really brought home just how humble His beginnings were. Then, we went to Brigham Young's house, where we heard him tell the tale of the first pioneer Christmas in the West. At that point, things were closing down so there wasn't another train coming by. We walked about a quarter mile in the cold. People kept asking me if they should hold Dane for me, and I refused. I wanted to experience a tiny little part of what it would have been like as a pioneer to trek across the plains in the winter. It would have been miserable. I would not have made it. Which is probably why I wasn't born then.
Again, it was a great time, and I want to go back.
In other news, the ice storms across the midwest hit Oklahoma hard. Both of my sisters have been without power since Sunday night. Luckily, Kenta and Kendall's apartment has power, so Rika, Brady, and Mika have been hanging out there a lot. Here are some pictures of around Norman (where OU is) that Kenta sent me:


Apparently, people with nowhere else to go are sleeping on OU campus because it is one of the few places with power. A tree fell over in my parents' yard, too, but they never lost power. I guess it's the worst in Norman. It's pretty crazy. Hopefully they will have power again soon.

It's Beginning to Look...

...a lot like Christmas, finally.
It took me longer than normal to get the tree up this year, but I finally finished putting it together yesterday, complete with the hand-strung popcorn and cranberry strings. Here it is in all it's glory:

We now officially have no space left in our living room. But that's okay. Notice the lack of tree skirt; that's my project for tomorrow. I actually bought the fabric last year but was never able to get to it. Here's hoping it comes together this year.
Joel can attest to the fact that I get pretty particular about decorating the tree. I'll stand back and adjust things so there's a good distribution of color and what not. Our tree is even more full this year because my mom gave me all these pretty Santa ornaments last year. I think they added very well to the overall theme.

We also had a white, Christmasy Saturday. We woke up to about eight inches of snow, and I spent the next few hours debating about how to introduce a two-month-old to the snow appropriately. In the end, I just bundled him up as much as I could and kept him out there for just a couple minutes.

Luckily we had this snuggly fleece outfit, a great hand-me-down from Dane's cousin Alena.
Here's Daddy, brushing the snow off:



My hair wasn't looking so great that day, but whatever.
Later that day, Dane met Santa! I was way more excited than Dane was, but I really enjoyed taking his picture.

Apparently, Santa doesn't look at the camera unless you're buying their portrait packages. Stupid. But Dane behaved very well with Santa, as I knew he would.

Happy Birthday, Joel!

Dane and I spent the whole day preparing for Joel's birthday. We made him a birthday banner...okay, I made the banner while Dane took a nap. But that was a great help. Then, we wrapped his presents and got dinner ready. Joel requested a special birthday dinner with Colcannon, an Irish dish that is great for winter. It worked out well because the day brought the first snow of the season. As soon as Joel got home from work, the festivities began. We ate dinner, had dessert (chocolate pudding cake with extra pecans, another of Joel's requests), and we watched The Biggest Loser, our favorite show. And yes, we always see the irony of scarfing down dessert while watching a show about weight loss. Joel's favorite birthday present was a trucker hat from the trailer company, Great Dane.

The party was so fun, it completely wore Dane out. Happy 29th Birthday, Joel!

It's Autumntime, It's Autumntime

So, Dane and I have been going on a lot of walks lately. I need the exercise (I just can't handle the gym thing. And by "can't handle" I mean "I would never go even if I tried"), and I want to maximize what little time we have before the weather gets too cold and snowy. Here is a photographic journey of some of the things we've encountered along the way:
This is a pretty, leafy trail near our house

I just loved the contrast of the yellow berries with the blue-grey sky.

This is a cat that crossed our path.

Sheep!

He always find the walks very soothing...except for that time I walked all the way to Wal-Mart. I think it's a little over a mile, one way, and I didn't set out until later in the afternoon, so it got kind of chilly by the time we got back. That wasn't so soothing.

And here we are, modeling the new stroller my dad got us while he was out here for the blessing. (Those are Dane's little feet sticking out in front.) And that's my new hair. It's not a close up because I made the mistake of forgetting to take a picture the day I got it cut; it's always so much better when it's professionally styled. But you get the gist of it.

I'll be sad when fall is over. And it sounds like that'll be tonight. Oh well.

It's Official

We had Dane's baby blessing on Sunday. Stephen and Meghan live nearby, and Kenji is pretty close, so we expected them to come, but then Joel's mom and Laurie Jayne planned on coming, and then Paul and Tess were going to be in town, and then my dad surprised us by flying out for the event. All in all, we had a pretty good crowd.
My mom made the little outfit for Dane; it consisted of a teeny white shirt, a vest with teddy bear buttons (in honor of my grandma), tux pants with suspenders, little shoes, and a little bowtie. He was adorable.

The picture's kind of dark, but you get the idea.
It was great to have everyone there, the lunch I made ended up being pretty good portions (I'm always paranoid about not having enough food), and a good time was had by all.

Dane was very well behaved throughout church and the blessing, but by the end of it all, he was pretty hungry and tired of all the pictures.

Our new little family:

Chili Cookoff!

Our ward had the Friends of Scouting Chili Cookoff tonight. It involved a silent auction of things the scouts had collected, a live auction of desserts, and a chili contest. I contributed some chili, and Joel and I hoped to win some cool stuff. Here is some of our bounty:

We won those sunglasses and the wooden peg game in the silent auction, and we won the castle cake and pumpkin dessert in the live auction. The pumpkin is yummy; we haven't tried the castle yet. For both of them, we felt bad because no one was bidding on them and we didn't want them to go for just a dollar, so Joel and I kept outbidding each other until they got to a respectable price. I think we confused the auctioneer.
As for the chili contest...

I won Most Traditional Chili! Which is actually funny because it had chorizo and cocoa powder in it. But I was still happy to win. I pumped my fists in the air and ran up to the stage to claim my prize; people laughed at me, but I think that's how prizes should always be received.
Also, here is the picture they took of me and Dane at the midwife clinic, now that we're officially done with all pregnancy/labor related checkups:

I'd like everyone to note that my face is not nearly as puffy as it was during pregnancy. Even though I'm not anywhere close to losing all my pregnancy weight, it's nice not to have a fat face anymore. Plus, you may have noticed that I have had my hair in a ponytail almost constantly for the past 10 months. While I was pregnant, I was just too hot to blowdry it or have it in my face, and now I keep it back while I'm nursing (which is all the time), plus I don't have much chance to do it. But soon I'll be sporting a new 'do because I also won a haircut and style at the silent auction. I'll keep you posted!

Halloween II

Halloween was a happy time. Joel had a fun office party...here's his story:
We had 22 minutes to create Halloween costumes from anything in the office.

I found the stocking cap from a build-your-own-snowman kit, and made the glasses from a computer cord and tape. I won second place, behind scarecrow. My boss gave me FIFTY BUCKS!

So Joel was Waldo for Halloween. Then, we went to a party at our friends' George and Melanee, and we unveiled Dane's costume:

The Golden Snitch! I've very recently gotten into Harry Potter (nursing gives me lots of time to read), so I decided to make him a snitch costume. I was all excited and tried to make the trick-or-treaters guess what he was before they'd get candy, but none of them knew. I guess Harry Potter isn't as big with kids as it is with adults. Oh well. Here he is with his daddy, the Dementor:


And here he is with his cousin Lauren (the chicken) and his friend Sami (the elephant).

We finished off the night by watching Michael Jackson's Thriller video. All in all, it was a very happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Dane was a really good sport last night, humoring his parents while they made him sit in a pumpkin. Are we bad parents? We filled the pumpkin with warm water so he would be comfortable. We got a few cute shots, but he wasn't too happy about it a lot of the time:

I'll probably post again later today with shots of him in his costume. It's more comfortable than a pumpkin.

I was reminiscing about the poetry group I was in my sophomore year at BYU. We had some fun times. I wrote this Halloween poem then and wanted to share it with you.
Hm. I just read through it again. I was kind of bitter. The poem isn't nearly as good as I thought it was when I wrote it. Haha, lame. That's embarrassing. It was about how Halloween went from innocent, wide-eyed fun in childhood to having an excuse to flirt and bend dress code rules in college. Here are the best lines, which I quoted from other people:
"Halloween: the day when the Medievel kids can dress up with no shame."
"The transition was smooth, so sly yet regrettable and irreversible due to social mores. 'What's a more?' 'When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie.'"
This probably makes no sense. Oh well.

Bitten

Last night, we went to a friend's house to return dishes from when they brought us dinner. They had a large dog. I gave the dog a pat on the head, asked the owner what his name was, called it by name, and went to pet it again. Then it bit me. That hurt. Here is the damage:

I couldn't get the picture to show the bite marks very well, so I took the liberty of highlighting them.
Anyway, later that night, Joel and I are reading in Philipians 3, and verse two says, "Beware of dogs." Joel just thought that was so hilarious that he read it three times, just for good measure.

In other news, Dane is cute.
Here he is, eyeing me skeptically:


Here is his contented, "I'm full" face:

And here he is, fast asleep, practicing the piano:

He seriously slept like that for an hour. He's definitely a lot of fun.

Catching Up

We finally have the internet! Hooray! There are more than a million things I want to catch everybody up on, but I'm sure no one really wants to read all those million things, so I'll see how well I can condense things.
First, I would like to present the picture they took of Dane in the hospital. I wasn't able to see it until he was over two weeks old; I laughed out loud at how much he changed. Also, my sister Rika thought that he looked like Anpanman, a Japanese cartoon character. What do you think?

Here is a brief timeline of his life.

One week old, sleeping with Daddy:

Two weeks old, enjoying tummy time:

Three weeks old, happily sleeping:

Four weeks old, meeting Daddy at the Trax station:

In some ways, the time has really flown by. In other ways, it feels like it's been forever. He's such a sweet boy. His neck is really strong already; he's holding his head up really well. We're having a lot of fun. Sometimes he doesn't want to go to bed, which is frustrating, but it's amazing to me how easily we forget the frustrating stuff and just remember how happy we are that he's here. Life is really happy. The only thing I would change is getting rid of this dang thrush. Man, it hurts.

Dane Hiro Frost

I have limited time on a computer at the library, but I've been dying to update, so here are some pictures of our new baby boy:

Okay, I'm about to run out of time on my computer, but we love him like crazy, he has a little acid reflux, we're running low on sleep, and we're having a great time. I'll update again as soon as I can (with labor stories! Hooray!)

Pregnancy Updates

To all those out there who actually read my blog: sorry I've been uncommunicative. We don't have the internet at home yet. But here's the scoop.
We are moved into our house and about 90% arranged. The baby's room is all ready with the necessities. I won't have the chance to get it all decorated and cute before it comes, but it has what it needs. I've taken some pictures, but I don't have my camera here to upload it.
The baby is not here yet. Maybe I'm silly to feel so impatient when the due date hasn't even come yet, but I am. Yesterday, my midwives told me I'm dilated to a three and about 75% effaced. I thought that was pretty exciting, but it apparently doesn't really mean that much. So I'm still waiting. Is it okay to talk about dilation on my blog? Seems innocuous enough, but you never know. I never knew until I married Joel that some people think saying "I'm pregnant" has an air of inappropriateness to it (as opposed to "I'm expecting.")
As far as the baby's hugeness goes, the follow up ultrasound said that it's still big but the growth has slowed down a bit. Plus, my fundal height measurements have totally evened out. I'm still just relying on the doctors being wrong. That sounds pretty ridiculous, but I just can't imagine having a huge baby. We'll see.
Anyway, life is good. Hopefully my next entry will be announcing the baby, and hopefully it'll be soon!

We Have an Apartment!

At long last, after an urgent, stressful, mostly disappointing apartment hunt, we officially have a new place to live. So we won't be homeless when the baby comes. Hooray! Out of all the places we looked, this was our favorite, so we were really happy to get it. The owners really seem to like us, and they seem like really good landlords. It's a 3 bed/1.5 bath duplex in Sandy, much like the place we've been living in Provo, but bigger. Here's a picture of the front:

The nice man painting the shutters is Vaun, our landlord.
Here's our fenced in side yard, complete with sprinkler system:

And here is the carport and storage area:

Here's the living room:

And the kitchen:

We're really happy to have found it, and we think it will work well for us. It's in a quiet part of Sandy, close to Trax, and close to lots of shopping and restaurants. It also has some features we've never had in our married lives: a walk-in closet, a bathroom right off our bedroom (though it's just a 1/2 bath), covered parking, and an old basketball hoop. We're also only about ten minutes away from Stephen and Meghan, so we're excited to hang out with them often.
Hooray for a place to live! Hooray that it's not disgusting or stinky! Hooray that it's not tiny! Hooray! Here's another picture of the front because it makes me happy to think about it: