Santa Baby

Merry Christmas from the Moon family!

Schoooool's Out ForEVER!

So, how about that? I did it. I actually got a Master's degree. Really, even I can't believe it. It really wasn't something that I set out to do when I started. (I mean, I didn't even know what a Master's degree was in kindergarten.)

In any case, I'm done. And, my goodness, does it feel wonderful!

When I started the degree two years and four months ago (thanks to some prodding from a favorite cousin) the main purpose was to make myself more marketable. I had realized that I needed to broaden my horizons beyond journalism and the publishing world and "Communications Management" was the next logical step. Since then, I have actually found a dream job in PR, where I basically manage communications of all sorts, so I guess it worked. But I have to admit that over the last six months or so, I have been less than enthused about finishing. I have already reached the goal of a new job so the motivation really waned. Either way, now I have a couple extra initials to put at the end of my name, and could possibly get a decent raise down the road. We'll see.

More than anything, being done means more time with the family and less worrying about the homework I have to do or the paper I have to write or the test I have to study for or the class I have to go to after work. It also means I can get down to business on about a thousand things I have been saying I will do after I'm done with school. Stuff like reading more books and fixing things around the house and exercising. No more excuses.

It also means I have a hefty loan to pay off, but that is what the raise is for, right?

Carson Loves the Spot Where the Sagebrush Grows

Our little family was lucky enough to get tickets to the BYU vs. USU basketball game at Energy Solutions Arena last night. Why did they play in Salt Lake you ask? After 90 years of taking turns playing in Logan and Provo, BYU said they wouldn't play the Aggies unless it was on a neutral court. Apparently the Spectrum is too much for them to handle. Luckily the students brought the "Spectrum on Wheels" and it was really loud. We were sitting close to the court and weren't sure if Carson would like the game, but he did great. He especially liked the cheerleaders.The game was really exciting and very close. Carson got nervous that the Aggies might lose.So he cheered extra loud. Go Aggies, go Aggies. Hey! Hey! hey!The close game was too much for a baby to handle, so he did what babies do best - he went to sleep.Although our team didn't win, our fans were there in force and we were proud of that. We had a great time, and hopefully we'll be able to make it to the rematch next year.

Disclaimer: I realize that some people who read this blog are Cougar fans. This is not meant to anger you in any way. Basketball is all we Aggies have, so let us enjoy it.

I am thankful...

At a time when most people seem to think that the end of the world is right around the corner, I feel like I have a lot to be thankful for. Here are a few of the things I will be thinking about on Turkey Day.

• My two favorite boys.
• That I only paid $1.61 for gas today.
  
• Jake's job for two reasons - he loves it, and it makes it possible for me to stay home with Carson.
• A wonderful house with equally great neighbors.
  
• My Young Women's calling that gets me to do crazy things like shoot a gun.

• Pre-pregnancy pictures of me that remind me what I used to look like. (see above)
• My new phone with a QWERTY keyboard so I can finally text.
  
• Carson is not really getting teeth (like I thought before.) Great news for a nursing mom!
• An awesome family (and fantastic in-laws) who we live close to and get to see often.

What are you thankful for?

The Holiday Season

Has anyone else noticed that the "holiday season" keeps getting longer each year? Two local radio stations began playing Christmas music on Halloween, and the seasonal aisle at Target had skeletons and Santas hanging next to each other on the rack. (Just what I love... A little death with my figgy pudding.)

Anyway, all this premature merriment got us thinking that a lot of the other holidays are really getting lost in the hubub around this time of year. I mean, I love Christmas and can get "in the spirit of the season" as much as the next guy, but seriously, the longer it lasts, the less the holiday really means.

So, just to make sure we truly appreciate every holiday, Michelle and I have decided we are going to start celebrating the 4th of July in May. We figure Memorial Day is as good a time as any to start planning the big BBQ. It's also about the right time to start getting Carson excited about our newest (and possibly creepiest) tradition... when Uncle Sam wakes him up in the night to spread a little cheer by leaving a 12-pack of Whistling Petes and a package of hot dogs under his pillow. But to really get us in the holiday spirit, beginning on Mother's Day you will only hear the sounds of patriotic music coming from our house and cars. (Really, can anyone ever get enough of Neil Diamond's Coming to America?") We figure a quick trip to Evanston right after Easter - heck, maybe even on Easter - should give us ample ammunition to start the season off right.

But in all this celebration, we really want to focus on the real "meaning" of Independence Day - the purpose that has obviously gotten lost in all the barbeques and fireworks. So on July 3rd, everyone is invited to join us around the patio fire pit as a Betsy Ross-clad Michelle sews a 20-foot flag while I act out the signing of the Declaration of Independence. (BYOPW: Bring your own powdered wig.)

We're also looking for someone to play Uncle Sam for the kids this year. Happy Holidays.

Teeth!

There never was a
Child so lovely but his
Mother was glad to see him asleep.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

This picture was taken the last time that I remember Carson sleeping peacefully. The next day he became unusually cranky, and I began to wonder if he was the first baby to have colic begin at four months. Then we saw it - a little white spot on his gums. No wonder he is so sad. I feel bad for the little guy, but selfishly I admit that I look forward to him sleeping again.

Happy Birthday!

This is my friend Rosie and her husband Isaiah. Rosie and I have been friends since high school, and she was my roommate in college. Today is her birthday, and I wanted to do something to celebrate. They have just completed their application for adoption, and I am so excited for them to become parents. Let's help them find their baby. If you hear of anyone who is considering or planning on placing a baby for adoption, let them know about Rosie and Isaiah. You can find out more about them on their blog or by visiting their adoption profile. Want to do something extra nice? Add a link on your blog to theirs. They will be amazing parents, so let's get the word out to as many people as possible. For more info on adoption, check out my cousin's awesome blog.

Happy birthday, Rosie!

Happy Halloween!

Carson has a little photo shoot with his aunt this morning. I didn't get him a fancy costume because (1) I wasn't sure if he would wear it and (2) he doesn't really care anyway. He is wearing a little owl hat, but you can't really see it. Hoot hoot!

A Little Update

It's been a while since we've posted anything. I wish I could say it's because we have had so much going on, but that isn't really true. Here's what has been happening.
Jake had to go to Cedar City for work for a few days. He got to fly on the corporate jet there because apparently a 3 hour drive takes far too long.
Carson and I stayed home for this trip, so we had some good bonding time.

We are looking forward to carving the pumpkins we grew in our garden this year. Unfortunately, we didn't get one as cool as our three-pumpkins-in-one that we got last year.

We are All Here

My family has this tradition... Every time we get together with my mom's family (the Christensen side) we recite a little poem together. Usually we gather around right before eating a meal or playing a game to say it, and most of the time we casually ramble through it so that we can get on with the party. But not today. Today, I think everyone wished the poem would last a little longer. I know I did. That's because we recited it during my grandpa's funeral.

At 96 years and 11 months old, my grandpa Christensen finally got to go home. He has been waiting for it for a while, especially since grandma died five years ago, and more than anything, our family recognized his passing as more of a sweet reunion than any sort of loss. Of course we cried, because we will miss him - a lot. The amazing thing about Grandpa is that he touched each family member's life in such a personal way. Somehow I think all of the grand kids think we are his favorite, because he genuinely loved and cared about each of us. He attended every graduation, baptism, ordination, school production, and sporting event that happened near Salt Lake, and even made it to a few functions in other parts of the country. Most of all, I think he was the perfect example to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren - a true patriarch in every sense of the word and a perfect follower of Christ if there ever were one. I'm going to miss him, especially at Sunday dinners and every other family function we attend. The beauty of it is that we will always have the poem to remind us that we are never that far apart.

We are all here
Father, Mother, Sister, Brother
All who hold each other dear.
Each chair is filled, we are all at home
Tonight let no cold stranger come
For it is not often thus around
The old familiar hearth we are found.
Bless then the meeting and the spot
For once be every care forgot.
Let gentle peace assert its power
And love and kindness rule the hour.
We are all, all here.

(This picture was taken on Carson's blessing day in August. I think it was the first event in all his years Grandpa ever missed, so we went to him... and boy, am I glad we did.)

Mr. Carson Goes to Washington

Our little family had a great time this past week enjoying our nation's capital. Here are a few things we learned:

• Business trips are a lot more fun when the whole family is there. Jake's boss was kind enough to invite me and Carson along.
• Getting through airport security with a baby by yourself is impossible. Bring a friend!
• Baby slings are awesome! It sure beats the stroller, and Carson was happy as could be.
• Smithsonian brownies taste like chocolate flavored sidewalk chalk that got left out in the sprinklers. Don't buy one!
• Local tour guides are the best. We got to spend some time with my college roommate and her family. It was great to see them.
• Paying extra money to fly on Delta rather than Southwest (which is what we normally do) is worth it. Paying extra money to stay in a Marriott rather than a Holiday Inn Express (where we normally stay) is not worth it.
• October is a great time to visit DC. The weather was great, and tour buses were rare. We had a great time!
  

Andiamo al tempio!

In case you missed it... there is going to be an LDS temple in Italy. One more reason for us to plan a trip. Maybe we can make it for the groundbreaking or dedication. Speriamo.

Speaking of Italy, I ran into a group of Italians at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC today. What are the chances? More details/pictures of that trip are on their way...

Roma. Ancora, non ci credo.

Two Months Old!

At the risk of sound like this blog, here are some pictures of my favorite baby.

Cross eyes!

He really fell asleep like this. I couldn't have posed him like that if I tried.

My two favorite boys.

My handsome little man on his blessing day.

Just plain cute.

First smile caught on camera.
Carson has been smiling on his own for a few weeks now,
but we have had a hard time getting a picture of it. I guess he's a little shy.

Glasses

The other night for a Young Womens activity, we had a daddy-daughter "Nerd Night." Carson gets to come with me because Jake has school on Wednesdays, so I thought he should participate. I found some of Jake's old glasses and Carson tried them on.

It took a lot of tries to get a good picture. This is what Carson really thought of the glasses:I guess we better hope he doesn't follow in his parent's footsteps, and he has perfect eyesight.

Better Than SNL

Need a good laugh? If you enjoy movies like Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, you have got to check this out. Last night we were watching PBS on our fancy new TV and came across a hilarious documentary on people who have ferrets. These people don't just have ferrets, though, they are beyond obsessed with their ferrets. Here is a clip of one of the ladies singing a song she wrote about ferrets.



This same lady also brags about how many dead ferrets she can fit in her freezer. Seriously. The show is called "Ferrets: The Pursuit of Excellence." Check your local PBS listings for the next time it will air. I promise you won't be disappointed.

TV's Dirty Little Secret

Some may say we are de-evolving, but I say we are simply cutting the chains of cable slavery.

To make a very long explanation short, we now get all the TV programming we need for free. That's right, completely and utterly free. Yesterday we bought a new 32" LCD HDTV. The picture is absolutely pristine, and the price is even better. We get all the network stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WB, KJZZ, KBYU and KUED) in HD and don't have to pay one red cent.

Michelle and I are pretty simple folk when it comes to TV programming. We never miss and episode of The Office or ER and we'll sit down for a good episode of American Idol or Saturday Night Live, but other than that, there isn't anything we really care enough about to have to pay to see it. For the last five years we haven't ever paid more than $17/month for the basic cable access, and that was only to get access to basic network programming and to watch the news. The basic package did have its perks, but nothing we won't miss. The Discovery Channel has Survivorman and Dirty Jobs, which I love, and Michelle would watch some stuff on E! and the Style Network. Now we don't even have that choice, and it doesn't even matter. Plus, we can rent or buy practicalliy anything we want on DVD.

So here's the dirty secret... The broadcast stations and cable companies are doing a horrible job of explaining the veritable television armageddon scheduled to cripple the world on February 17, 2009. You may have heard that your old TV is going to be completely useless unless you convert to cable or satellite or buy a digital conversion box for your old tube. The thing they don't tell you is that while your old analog TV may become a pile of rubbish, new flat panel HDTVs are now more useful than ever. When connected to a set of old-fashioned rabbit ears they pick up digital HD signals with perfect clarity, and will continue to do so forever. Here is a site that explains it all (plus tons of other useful techie stuff) in very simple terms. This deal won't work for everyone, especially those who can't live without ESPN, MTV or AMC. But with prices falling like crazy on HDTVs (I recommend a Vizio from Costco), I'm feeling pretty good knowing the money I was spending on cable will practically pay for the TV in just 28 months.

My Famous Husband

Want to see Jake on TV?

Click here and watch the episode that aired on 8/12. He is on about 4 1/2 minutes into the episode.

Five Great Years

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary. Time flies! It seems like just yesterday we were at the temple and I kept thinking, "This is the best day of my life!" It was wonderful having Jake to myself for 5 years, but it has been even more awesome to see him as a dad. Having a two-week-old sure makes celebrating an anniversary a little difficult, but I have a feeling this is going to be the best anniversary ever.

Happy anniversary! I love you!

(I have been trying to add a picture, but we are having scanner issues today. Hopefully I will be able to add one soon, but I wanted to post this is a timely manner.)

The first 10 days...

"...but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise."

- Alma 37:6

My talented sister took this adorable picture. Check out her new website.

Celebrating One Week

I actually made this little movie a few days ago, but thought I'd finally share it. I sure love this little man.

iRecommend: Epistle of Joe

I figured everyone has probably had enough of my ramblings about Carson for the time being, so I thought I'd ramble about something almost as entertaining. I'd like to redirect your attention to one of my favorite blogs. A friend of mine from college recently began writing Epistle of Joe, "a slightly skewed tour of what you thought you knew of the Scriptures." The fact is Joe is an amazing/amusing writer, and his take on the King James Version of The Bible will likely renew any interest you have had in the Old Testament and offers a lighthearted (yet tactful) glimpse at the mysteries of the Good Book.

Hope you enjoy it, too.

(p.s. Hey, Joe. I hope you don't mind. Your last few posts had me chuckling so hard that I had to share it with the three people who read this blog. You say the word and this post will be immediately deleted.)

(p.p.s. More Carson-related fun is on its way.)

Carson's Big Adventure (Or more appropriately "Carson's Parents' Big Adventure")

So, when we brought Carson home from the hospital yesterday, Michelle and I were sure we had everything covered. His room was ready, the house was clean, his car seat was installed, we had blankets and shirts and pants and bottles and diapers and wet wipes and a baby monitor. We felt like we had everything under control. But we forgot one little detail... the key to the house.

There we sat on our back patio with our two-day-old baby, chatting it up with our neighbors about our great parenting skills while we waited for a locksmith to come open our door. Granted, there was a whole series of events that lead to this little mishap, and it can't really be blamed on anyone, but it put us in quite the precarious situation. I was pacing quite a bit on the verge of swearing, while Michelle protected Carson from the heat in the shade. He obviously had no idea what was going on, but we sure felt like winners. Luckily the locksmith only took about 15 minutes to arrive, and we eventually made it into our nice, cool home.

There were other series of wonderful events yesterday afternoon that I won't go too far into, other than to say that a toilet full of not-softened-stool overflowed its porcelain bounds.

Michelle and I were exhausted by the end of it all, and a well-timed dinner prepared by a wonderful grandma saved the day.

Here are a couple more pictures for good measure. Carson had a little jaundice the day he came home, giving him a lovely yellowish hue on his adorable little face.

This meant he had to sleep/squirm all night on a bed of lights. Meet our Space Baby...

24 Hours of...

Perfection
Pronunciation: \pər-ˈfek-shən\ (noun)
Etymology: Middle English perfeccioun, from Anglo-French perfection, from Latin perfection-, perfectio, from perficere

1: the quality or state of being perfect: as a: freedom from fault or defect : flawlessness b: the quality or state of being saintly
2 a: an exemplification of supreme excellence b: an unsurpassable degree of accuracy or excellence

This is what I have been staring at for the past 24 hours. Life couldn't be better.

Heeeeeere's Carson!

I've been sitting here for 10 minutes trying to think of something clever to write about this amazing day. But I'm simply speechless. We just wanted to let everyone know he is finally here. Please welcome Carson Jacob Moon to the world. 7 lbs 11 ounces, 21 inches long and absolutely the cutest little man in the world. Enjoy...

Summer Movie Excitement

When I was little, my favorite TV show was Batman. It was made long before I was born, but it must have been on re-runs, and I loved it. I would rather watch it than any cartoon that was on.
When I was 10 or so, I saw this movie:
You can't really beat dancing boys - especially Jack Kelly. I remember asking my mom to rent it for me every time I had to stay home from school because I was sick. I watched it the other day, and it is still a really good show.

You can imagine my excitement 3 years ago when I found out that my beloved Bruce Wayne was being played by none other than my beloved Christian Bale.
Talk about the best of both worlds. I am so excited for the Dark Knight to come out this month! As anxious as I am for our baby to get here, part of me hopes that he stays put until July 18th so I can make it to the midnight showing of the movie. If it is anywhere near as good as the first one it will be awesome!

Disclaimer: There was an article about Christian Bale in Parade magazine on Sunday. When Jake found out he was married, I was given the go-ahead to continue my girlhood crush. Also, for the record, Jake is way more sexy than anyone in any movie.

Our New Bathroom

A few weeks ago Jake and I decided to remodel our bathroom. It was the only room in our house that we hadn't done anything with, and also the only that was still painted white. We only have one full bathroom, and some of the stuff in there had been there since the house was built. This is what the bathroom looked like before:
It wasn't horrible, but it was the only room in our house that showed it's age. Plus, I was tired of the shower curtain that we were given when we got married. Luckily, someone had already put new tile on the floor, so we didn't have to worry about that. The tile in the shower should probably be replaced, but we didn't do that this time. Here are the results of our hard work:
The best part of the new bathroom is the storage that is in the vanity now. We picked this model because the big part on the bottom is a drawer, too. The bathroom is really small, so I was nervous about painting it brown, but I love the results. I am lucky to have a wonderful husband who did most of the work. I tried to be as helpful as I could, but anything that involved bending over or reaching up high wasn't really working for me. Speaking of our little guy, we have his room ready, too:

Styles and Stains

So, I'm looking though the weekly Sunday "circulars" today and see this picture on the front of the Kohl's ad:

There are so many reasons why this style is NOT A GOOD IDEA, the least of which being that peeing on your tie is so not cool.

School's Out For Summer

Today is the last day of school. I remember how exciting is was when you have a whole summer to look forward to sleeping in, vacationing, and not having to do homework. I had those feelings last summer. However, this year it is quite a different feeling for me. I won't be returning to school in the fall, and that makes today pretty sad.

I know this probably sounds crazy to most people, but I think that teaching middle school happens to be the best job in the world. I love teenagers! They have a really bad reputation, but mostly they are really great, funny people. I am going to miss being around them.

I have been thinking a lot about why I love my job so much and the things that I am going to miss about it. These are my top three:

#3: I overheard this conversation in the hallway in February. These students didn't know that I was behind them.
Student 1: Have you seen Mrs. Moon lately?
Student 2: Yeah. She looks really fat.
Student 1: I know! Do you think she's pregnant?
Student 2: No, she's just fat.

Luckily, I was pregnant or I would have felt pretty bad. I thought it was hilarious. Teenagers speak their mind, which can be a bad thing sometimes, but when they give you a compliment you know they really mean it. One of my favorites this year was a homemade card I got from a student saying I was as funny as a talking parakeet. I don't really know what that means, but I think it's a good thing.

#2: Teaching students to cook and sew can be quite a challenge. I have seen fingers sewn through, bad burns from getting pans out of the oven without an oven mitt (who knew you had to explain that?), and all kinds of cuts ranging from rotary cutters to aluminum cans. My favorite part was watching them try to follow recipes. This is my all-time favorite story. We were making frosting for cakes, and the recipe was the basic powdered sugar-butter-milk version.
Student 1: Mrs. Moon. Can you come look at our frosting. It doesn't look right.
Me: (Looking at what is supposed to be frosting but looks more like little styrofoam balls.) Well, it looks like you didn't follow the recipe correctly. Did you put in the milk? Did you melt the butter? Did you put in enough powdered sugar?
Student 2: Yes! We did everything right. There is something wrong with the recipe.
Me: The rest of the class is using the same recipe and it is turning out fine. Let's figure out what's wrong. Why don't you taste it and see if you can tell what is missing.
Student 1: (Tasting frosting and making a sour face.) Umm, it tastes fine to me. You try it.
Student 2: (Tasting frosting and making a similar face.) I guess it's ok.
Me: (After all of the students in the group have tasted it.) I think you may have put flour in instead of powdered sugar. Let's just start over.
Student 1: Mrs. Moon! My tongue is burning!
Students 2, 3, 4: Mine too!
Me: What did you put in this? Show me.
Student 1: (Pulls out a can of baking powder.) Isn't this what we were supposed to use?

Yes. Baking powder instead of powdered sugar. I couldn't believe it! First of all, I'm not sure where they even found three cups of baking powder. I guess they both say "powder" but when something comes in such a small can you would think that maybe it was the wrong thing. The student who was cooking on the stove with a Pyrex bowl instead of a saucepan comes in at a close second. FYI: Pyrex shatters when heated to a very high temperature.

#1:
Mostly I will miss my awesome students. These are some of the Student Body Officers who I was the adviser for this year. They were so much fun to work with. The best part about being a teacher is that I got to be around all kinds of people, like the "cool" kids (which I wasn't) and the "emo" kids, which didn't really exist when I was in school. I realized that no matter what group the kids belong to, they are all basically the same.

So I guess I'm ready to trade in my title as teacher to a new one as mom. I think my feelings can be summed up by this quote from Dr. Seuss:

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

The Man-cart

I have to admit that I am a little weird when it comes to grocery shopping. I spend a lot of time at the grocery store because I am always buying food for school. It isn't one of my favorite parts of my job, but I know the Harmon's in South Jordan like the back of my hand. I like to call Harmon's the celestial kingdom of grocery stores. I believe that it is the best store ever, but I think I'll save that for another post. I told you I was pretty weird.

When Jake and I got married and started grocery shopping together, I noticed that he does something strange. He will put all of the groceries, no matter what it is, in the part where a little kid is supposed to sit. Even if it is getting crowded, he will keep putting the food there. For some reason, he doesn't like to put it in the large part in the front. He claims it is just easier to put it there. I started noticing that many men who are grocery shopping do the same thing. I rarely saw women doing that. I really do spend a lot of time at the grocery store - I wasn't kidding.

A few weeks ago, there was a new kind of grocery cart in the store. We like to refer to it as the man-cart. Maybe you have seen one.

This is the ideal shopping cart for a man, because there is no large part in the front. It is all little basket, but you don't have to carry it around. The store we were at had both man-carts and regular shopping carts. The man-carts were (surprise) mostly being used by men. We decided to try one. I made Jake push it. It worked pretty well until we filled up the top basket and started putting things on the bottom one. Maybe it was just my pregnant belly getting in the way, but I didn't like it at all. Jake didn't like it because it didn't go around corners very well. I still don't understand why someone needs a cart like this. I found out while looking for a picture that it is really called a "retail convenience express shopping cart."

I think I like man-cart better.