This is why I hate baking

So lately I have been baking more, and thinking that it's not so bad. Mind you I mean baking, NOT cooking. But today I was reminded of why baking makes me sooooo mad.

Today is Miles' birthday. Happy Birthday sweetie! So for his birthday I am making his absolute favorite cake that his mom always made. It is really good, but it takes FOREVER. Nancy says she used to start the cake 3 days before Miles' birthday. So as you can see from the picture the cake did not come out of the pan, and now it is totally ruined! Crying, screaming, and cursing are all things I wanted to do. What are my options? Not having the cake or trying again tomorrow. I guess attempt #2 will start early tomorrow morning. So to everyone that's coming over tomorrow I apologize if I'm a little on the grumpy side.

P.S. Miles, I hope you know how much I love you if I'm attempting to bake this cake again!

P.S.S If anyone wants to get me those cake pans where the bottom comes off for my birthday, I'd be okay with that.

What happens when I'm in the shower...

Yep, this is what I found when I emerged from my nice, hot, relaxing shower. Usually Zo is kicking the bathroom door, anxiously waiting for me to come out of the shower. Today was different. It was quiet when I was done. As all you mothers know, that means TROUBLE! And it did.

These are the thoughts/feelings that came through my mind:

• I'm a little mad at all the food that he wasted.


• What a mess!! I hate cleaning up eggs!


• At least it wasn't on the carpet - Adelyn!


• Can I really blame him? He sees me cooking all the time where I get to crack open the eggs and stir them around. What doesn't look fun about that?


• Holy cow he is getting tall. Those eggs were way up on the counter, and he managed to reach up there and pull them down.

8 months later...

Yes, I know, it's been 8 months. But in my defense my internet is ridiculously slow at uploading pictures, and pictures are the main reason most people look at blogs. (At least that's my main reason.) Now, thanks to Jen's infinite wisdom, I found out that you can upload multiple pics at a time so I can do something else while they load.

Most of the people that might look at my blog probably already know what's going on in my life, but for those who don't here's a quick update...

The biggest news is obviously the new addition to our family, Liam Ammon Romney, who was born on Sept. 20th. Before the delivery I was so nervous that I was going to have a hard labor like I did with Zo. Everyone kept telling me that it was going to be so different since it was my second and the tracks have been greased. (That's how my father-in-law put it.) I didn't really believe him, but he knows what he's talking about because it was such a different experience!! It was so much easier which in turn made my recovery so much faster.

Liam's baby blessing went so well. Miles gave a wonderful blessing. My sister, Floris, and her family came from Saint Louis to the blessing. Floris and I got to play "A Poor Wayfarying Man of Grief" for the special musical number. It was really fun to play her. Her son, David, is getting to be quite the photographer. He took those pictures below.

He is a very good baby, and we just love having him around. Zo definitely went through and is still going through a somewhat rough adjustment period. He can get pretty ticked off when he can't have my attention right when he wants it. But he's getting better. He is already a protective big brother. Yesterday, at church, someone was touching Liam's head and Zo leaped over to slap the person's hand away. I guess only certain people can touch his brother!

Zo likes to share with Liam. So cute, except for when it's a quarter that he's trying to shove in Liam's mouth.

Zo is quite the vegetable eater. He won't eat a lot of things, but he'll eat his green beans, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and most fruits. Here's him eating a whole tomato.

He also likes to clean. Too bad he like making messes more.

In other exciting news, at least for me, I bought a new car!! Miles told me I could get whatever car I want (within financial reason). Who could ask for a nicer husband! So I got the brand spakin' new 2011 GMC Terrain with leather seats, sunroof, programable lift gate, rearview camera, and more. I absolutely LOVE it!! I haven't had a car in over a year. Our '93 Honda just wasn't trustworthy. I didn't want it to break down with me and two kids in the car. So with my new found freedom I go to the gym every morning and to the store whenever I want!!

This month was also our Primary program, and somehow with only one practice we pulled it off. But apparently we believe in the same organism that existed in the primitive church. It was a little bit of a challenge filling the time since we only have about 12 kids in the whole primary. Just a little different than my sister's ward in Lehi that has over 200.

One Mistake I'll Never Make Again...

I feel robbed. Robbed by H&R Block. I went there thinking they would be fairly inexpensive, fast, and easy. It was pretty fast, but the guy who did my taxes didn't know what some of the terms meant on the questionaire and had never done the sale of a house. Annoyed, yes, but he brought someone over who did know what they were doing to help.
After about an hour we were finished, and he told me how much I owed. I'm not even going to tell you how much because I feel ashamed that I didn't ask about their fees upfront and just assumed they would be reasonable. Let's just say it was A LOT! So now I'm pretty mad because this is seriously dipping into my valuable tax refund.
Today I decided to call the manager and give her a little piece of my mind. All she did was give me some lame excuse about coporate not lowering the fees, no matter how much they beg them. I told her how incompetant "Daniel" was, and how I am telling everyone how awful H&R Block is. Did she do anything to remedy the situation? Nope. Hence I'm spreading the word...

Don't ever go to H&R Block! Ever!!!

And that's all.

Baby Steps

On Monday Zo took his first steps! It was so exciting! I had tried to get him to walk before, but he would just stand for a few seconds and then sit down. I think he was trying to impress his aunt Rebekah because when she came and visited, he magically walked! Here are two very short clips of him from last night.

The Mart

On Saturday I finally went to Nebraska Furniture Mart, which I've been wanting to do for months. I went with Miles, Zo, Jen, Jared, Adelyn, and JR. We walk in and immediately we see the best vacuum ever made - the Dyson Ball DC25 (which I bought a few months ago). Miles only knew that I had spent "a lot". He saw the price tag and said, "You spent that much on a VACUUM?!?!" Thankfully Jen was there to justify my purchase and explain that you can either buy a crappy $200 vacuum every 2 years because it breaks so easily and quickly, OR you can buy a nice vacuum that will last a minumum of 10 years. At our last house we had a central vac, and I hardly ever vacuumed because the carpet attachment stopped working after about 8 months of living there. I have probably already vacuumed twice as much in the past 2 months as I did the whole 2 years we were in Idaho. I love my Dyson.

Anyway, back to The Mart. It was so fabulous, I can't even tell you how much fun this store is. It is HUGE! We were there for 1 1/2 hours and probably only saw 30% of the stuff. We found an office chair, TV, projector, and sectional that we want. All for really good prices too. I also found out that our last couch chafed Jen's arms, so we had to make sure to get Jen's approval on every couch we sat on to ensure it wouldn't chafe her arms like our previous one.

I love Nebraska Furniture Mart and want to go back and spend many more hours. Hopefully next time I go I'll have some money and I can actually buy something.

I also have to thank the men for coming with us and being really good sports. You're the best!

Come Back!

I just feel the need to say that I REALLY miss the sun, and I REALLY want it to come back. I'm so depressed from all these cloudy days where I never see the sun. Plus it's freakin' cold here. So sun, please come back!

Mess Maker, Mess Maker, Make Me a Mess...

He loves to shred the toilet paper into little tiny pieces.

Definitely his favorite cupboard.

Zo, Zo, Zo

Zo will stand up in his crib because like most little kids doesn't want to take a nap. But after a little while he realizes no one is coming to get him, so he sits down. He refuses to lay himself down because he hates lying down. So he bobbes his head like a sleepy Bishop and falls asleep folded in half. I then have to come check on him and move him so that he doesn't wake up all cranky from being in that position. Funny, funny boy!

He LOVES hanging out with Dad. He can say, "Mum Mum" and "Da Da".

He can only wear this shirt around certain people.

You might live in the country if...

• You can't get broadband or DSL internet.
• You have to read your own electric meter and then calculate your own bill.
• Your trash service man owns uses his own truck for garbage pick-up.
• You have a giant propane tank by the side of house.
• Your church leader owns 20,000 - 30,000 rounds of ammunition.
• Your friends can pay off their mortgage by selling their guns.
• You can shoot a 30-06 on your own property.
• The stores in town don't sell pita bread or Fresca.
• You see deer just outside your window almost everyday.