The Manhattan Declaration

Okay... I'll be the first to admit... my blog has been very fluffy lately. My kids (and facebook) have kept me away.

However today I couldn't resist blogging about this.

Please read and sign the Manhattan Declaration.

It is beautiful.

Here is an excerpt from the summary:

"The institution of marriage, already wounded by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, is at risk of being redefined and thus subverted. Marriage is the original and most important institution for sustaining the health, education, and welfare of all. Where marriage erodes, social pathologies rise. The impulse to redefine marriage is a symptom, rather than the cause, of the erosion of the marriage culture. It reflects a loss of understanding of the meaning of marriage as embodied in our civil law as well as our religious traditions. Yet it is critical that the impulse be resisted, for yielding to it would mean abandoning the possibility of restoring a sound understanding of marriage and, with it, the hope of rebuilding a healthy marriage culture."

The Party Never Stops...

Thanksgiving at our house...













Lights at Temple Square...





Lily's Blessing Day...

Thanks!

Postpartum is setting in. Okay, maybe it's just baby blues... but it's no fun. Having two kids is physically and emotionally exhausting. Every day feels like a marathon. I'm tired and I'm grouchy and I'm feeling a little resentful because I have NO time to myself.

Luckily I married a therapist. He's good at reminding me to stay positive. Whenever I get cranky, my wise husband makes me say ten things aloud that I'm thankful for.

I'm feeling cranky tonight so, here are some things I'm thankful for. (Just in time for Thanksgiving.)

(Warning: this will be cheesy. You will find similar posts at seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com.)

1. I am thankful for my husband.



Sure, he's not perfect but he's pretty cool. He does the laundry and the dishes, takes out the trash, takes care of the kiddos, kicks butt at work and school, and sometimes even turns off the football game to help me with stuff. Not bad, huh? Oh yeah, and he's really good at helping his crazy wife work through her "issues" (or "thinking errors" as he calls them.)

2. I am thankful for Drew.



(Playing in the leaves at night... wearing a headlamp.)

Holy cow that kid is a handful! He is bossy and loud and totally out of control sometimes. But he has his moments too... like when I caught him looking in the mirror while fixing his hair the other day. When I asked him what he was doing he responded, "I'm getting ready so I can marry you in the temple, Mom." Sigh.

3. I am thankful for Lil.



Lily is such a good baby. She hardly ever cries, she sleeps like a champ, and she is SO FUN to dress up. Now I know why people have more than one child. If she keeps this up, we may have more kids someday.



4. I am thankful for my family.



They are great. And I'll see them on Thanksgiving!!! YAY!

5. I am thankful for my girls.



I <3 (heart) them. (And I think they like me too most of the time.) They are so fun. And they take such good care of me. I'm lucky.

6. I am thankful for my religion.

www.mormon.org

I love being Mormon. I find such perspective in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't know how people get through hard stuff without it.

7. I am thankful we are healthy-ish.



My kids are getting over their colds. And we don't have the swine flu. And we're not puking our guts out. Yet.

8. I am thankful for Lala who came over and brought me lunch today.



(Haha. Remember this? Why didn't we bring strollers and more blankets? We should take the kids to the zoo again.) It was fun to see you today. XOXO

9. I am thankful for sleep. I should go to bed.

And best of all...

10. I am thankful I'm not pregnant anymore! SO.FREAKING.AWESOME.



YIKES! That was rough.

YAY! I'm not pregnant! Wait, why was I complaining? (See, it worked.)

The End.

What are you thankful for?

This Makes Me Smile...

Caffine Please

Last night was a typical night at the Jacobson's.

I finally crawled into bed at 11 pm.
Drew woke up crying at midnight.
Then Lily wanted to eat at 1 am.
Drew cried for 15 minutes again at 3 am.
And Lily was hungry again at 4.
And Drew wanted hot chocolate at 7.
And then Lily wanted to eat again.
Garrit woke me up to say good bye at 7:30.
And Drew got up for the day at 8... and insisted that I play cars with him.
So I did.

And somehow I manage to make through the day without coffee. How do I do it? I am amazing :)

Happy Halloween!

Now We're Cookin'

Two years ago my kitchen looked like this.



And this.



Today, it looks like this.







It has taken a lot of time, creativity, and elbow grease to finish our kitchen on a grad school budget but we're finally done!!! (Minus a few colorful accessories... I can't decide if I want to do my accents in red or yellow...)

Anyway, here's what we did:

Built and island using MDF (in the garage), painted it black and added Ikea hardware. (About $100 for materials. Garrit borrowed the tools he needed from his dad. Thanks Blair!)

Replaced the sub floor and vinyl floor with Ikea Tundra laminate. (Around $400 for the sub floor and laminate in the kitchen and dining room.)

Painted the cabinets white, then black, and replaced the hardware. (I found the cabinet in the as-is section at Ikea... so we only paid about $25 for those. We had to pay like $65 for the hinges on ebay because the big box stores didn't have the right ones. Paint and supplies... $20)

Replaced all the counter tops with Ikea butcher block and stained and sealed them to match the floor. (Around $300 for the counters, stain, and sealant.)

Installed recessed lighting (thanks Danny and Garrit!) to brighten things up. (Around $85)

Installed a new subway tile back splash for about $85. (Thanks Casey!)

It's a good thing we're finished because our little chef was getting antsy.



Ahhh. Much better.