Look-alikes

This post is for my good friend, Kalee. She is pretty much the sole reason I survived all of my ridiculously hard math classes at BYU. We took so many of our classes together and spent hours struggling through our homework. I am indebted to her and value her friendship greatly. Anyway, I was noticing the other day while looking at her blog that Kalee looks remarkably similar to author Stephenie Meyer. What do you think?

Kalee and her son Jackson

Stephenie Meyer with two Twilight cast members

While we are on the subject, many people say that my sister-in-law Alana looks like the Olsen twins. She looked even more like them when she was younger. I even think (if I remember the story correctly) that some people stopped her Disneyland once and asked her for her autograph.

Alana (2nd from left) several years ago

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen several years ago

Do you know any look-alikes?

Time Waster

Last week we discovered a great way to waste your day away: playing old-school Nintendo games online. What a way to re-live your childhood! (Actually, it wasn't my childhood because my family never owned a Nintendo. I was deprived.) :) Try Super Mario Brothers or Alan's favorite, Dr. Mario. You can Google many many others for yourself!

"I want to be like my daddy when I grow up"

Jared loves Alan. It is so ironic--sometimes I feel like I spend all day playing with Jared, making faces, and singing silly songs. He gives me plenty of attention and smiles, but no giggles. But once Alan walks in the door, Jared bursts into hysterical laughter for apparently no reason. If Alan talks, it is funny. If Alan smiles, it is funny. If Alan blinks, it is funny. It is amazing how the supposed "winding down" time right before Jared goes to bed has turned into "Daddy Silly Time," as the Daddy coined it himself.

I guess by nature daddies are more playful than mommies. They have a right to be. However, I still know that Jared loves me--I see it when I come to get him from his crib in the morning, when I comfort him when he's sad, when I see him looking up at me while I'm reading him stories. Maybe I will go read him one now.

Not Feeling Stouthearted

This post is dedicated to all the wimps out there, I being the biggest of them all.

Jared and I have been sick this week. Nothing big, just sore throats and sniffles and such. However, this is the first time I have been sick since the Buddy was born. It has been SOOO hard! I told Alan last night that I think it was easier being sick and still having to go to school and teach, because I just did what I had to do and dealt with it. However, I think it is so horrible to be home with my bed so close, literally mocking me: "Ha, ha, you just wish that you could take a nap, don't you?" I have spent the entire past three days just wishing I had the freedom to take a nap and recuperate. But alas, one of the biggest sacrifices of motherhood (arguably the biggest sacrifice) is losing the ability to take a nap whenever you wish. One would think that Jared, being sick as well, would have needed extra sleep, but he hasn't. He just keeps going and going.

I have to acknowledge you mothers out there that have likewise dealt with this, especially if you have had more than one child sick at a time. You are amazing. Maybe some day I will toughen up.

For Anna

Anna is Alan's sister, who passed away 8 years ago today due to complications from a disease called Lupus. She was 15. Our family had a dinner in honor of Anna a few nights ago, where we shared memories and thoughts about her.

Malia, the mother of several of my siblings-in-law (including Anna), shared some very tender feelings with the family. Among them, she noted how grateful she was that I was able to be there that day at the hospital for my dear friend and future sister-in-law, Amanda. I had no clue that I would be joining the Stout clan at that time. But, I feel that that day was, in a way, a tender mercy from the Lord. I had the opportunity to be there for one of my dearest friends, and at the same time I got a glimpse at the faith and love of a family that I would one day join. It is not likely that any others that marry into the Stout family will have had a chance to know Anna. I did, however. I love her, and I love her family that I am now a part of. I don't think I have ever told Amanda this, but that day was one of the most significant days of my life. I thank her for letting me be a part of it.

It was also about this time that my cousin Sara passed away from complications of a seizure several years ago. She loved laughing and mothering, and she filled up a room with joy. I have been thinking about Sara lately. Maybe it's because my husband was recently diagnosed with a seizure disorder, too. Maybe it's because Easter is this weekend. Either way, I know that because the Savior was resurrected, we will be too. Sara and Anna still live, and I know that they are continuing to accomplish the Lord's work, just in a different sphere.

Totally Awesome (or not)

Sometimes I just have to hand it to those people who try to do the impossible. Click here to read the latest.

Confessions of a Twilight Addict

My sister-in-law has terrible dreams when she is pregnant. In fact, that's how she first knew she was pregnant this time around. The dreams started coming.

I think I only dreamed about my unborn baby once while I was pregnant. I dreamed that I could "unzip" my little marsupial pouch and hold him, umbilical cord still attached and everything. I must have known that it was a bit odd at the time, because I asked my doctor brother in my dream if it was all right that I was holding him. He said, Yes, as long as he stayed asleep. So I continued to hold him as I hiked around Arches National Park. Yes, nothing to brag about, and not nearly as freaky as the dreams my sister-in-law has had recently about her unborn daughter.

After the Buddy was born, however, the dreams about him came a little more frequently. How many new parents have not had dreams that something tragic happened to their newborn child? I sure had my fair share of those.

Last night, however, my dreams jumped to a new energy level (see "Quantum Mechanics"). I dreamed that Jared was a vampire. Now, I suppose that this dream was not unfounded. Jared only has 2 teeth, but they are quite sharp, and he has been known to bite me in tender places. However, I think there's more to it. Have you ever loved someone whose biggest desire was to drink your blood? That was the basis of my dream. This little person whom I loved was chasing me around all night wanting to drink me alive. Weird. Sounds a little bit like Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books. I happen to enjoy these books quite a bit. My husband and I have read them out loud to each other. Before the third book, Eclipse, came out, my husband would periodically ask rhetorically in a suspenseful voice, "What's going to happen to Edward and Bella?" Unfortunately, we still don't know. My siblings have had some good speculations, though. A few days ago I was looking on the web at the cast of characters for the upcoming Twilight movie (undoubtedly the real source of my dream). Check it out yourself! I think they did a good job casting! Now, my only last request is that they cast Dennis Quaid as Charlie. He'd be perfect. Don't you agree?

It's strange how one small, innocent act can affect my tender sleep.

The Bugs are Bugging Me!

So, we have lived in our new apartment for 2 1/2 months. I should have known there was a problem when the first thing I did when we got here on moving day (Dec. 22--the dead of winter) was kill a box elder bug in our living room. Then, for the next few months, I got to look forward every day to killing two or three or four of them! (At least they aren't spiders!) I have no idea how they get in; the corners of our windows have been duct taped and all of our windows are double paned. I have been spraying Raid around the windows, but I would like to find an alternative since our little short n Stout one will be crawling fairly soon. Any suggestions?

As if that wasn't annoying enough, lately we have been having an ant collection! I can understand ants collecting on a piece of food on the kitchen floor, but several of these breakouts have been for no apparent reason: under our front door mat, on cracks where carpet meets tile, etc. Here is a picture of an ant trail coming from a wall in our coat closet. Gross.

To be fair, I actually love our spacious apartment dearly and do not have much to complain about. We are living in heaven compared to our last place. Maybe in an upcoming post I will post pictures of our place for my dear friends that live out of state and my dear friends that live close but have not come to visit yet. :)

Am I stouthearted for killing yucky bugs daily?

Especially for the Stouthearted Aunts and Uncles

Here are some more cute ones.

Jared's Bath

Okay, so I know that a good chunk of the viewers of this blog could probably care less about my ramblings, so here are some pictures of Jared, as promised. I know he looks scared to death in these pictures, but he actually enjoys his baths. He was just distracted by the camera.

Why my husband is stouthearted

1. He married me
2. He literally "wooed" me when we were dating
3. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in a rigorous, top-notch program
4. He works really, really hard to support our family
5. He eats everything and anything that I cook
6. He knows how to iron
7. He writes me poetry
8. He changes all of the poopy diapers when he's home (thanks for the idea, Shell!)
9. He fixes all the things that need fixing
10. He watches chick flicks with me
11. He lets me put my cold feet on his legs in bed
12. His favorite person to talk to and spend time with is ME!
13. He gets up at the same time as me, even when it is obscene-o'clock
14. He has more faith than I will ever have
15. He is Super Daddy

Just what does "stouthearted" mean?

Ok, so I'm going to have a go at blogging. We will see how it goes. First question of the day: how do you spell the title of my blog? Is it "stouthearted" or "stout-hearted" or "stout hearted" or none of the above? I found it as one word in the dictionary, but I'm not sure that I trust it. If I were to write the word on paper, I would probably do so a little sloppily so that I could refute with any school teacher whether the cross on the second "t" of stout was really the cross of a "t" or a hyphen--whichever I thought the teacher thought was correct. I used to be a school teacher, so trust me, I know most of those sorts of tricks. (Me: Is that a 1 or a 7? Student: Which do you want it to be?)

Why are we on this blog stouthearted? Well, first of all, because it's punny. Second of all, because being stouthearted connotes bravery, valor, and courage, and we all know how much more of these traits we could all use in this world. For the description of this blog, I thought of including a cool scripture about how righteous being stout of heart is, but I soon found out how wrong I was! So yeah, apparently being stouthearted can also connote stubbornness and pride. Alan and I always talk about how we HATE those words in the English language that seem to have two opposing definitions--just check them out yourself: cleave, sanction, stouthearted, to name a few.

But I have digressed. I first really thought about what it meant to be stouthearted somewhere during my high school years after I had become good friends with my future sister-in-law Amanda. I saw a T-shirt at her house that someone was wearing that said "Stout Hearted," apparently the favor of a recent family reunion in Hurricane, Utah. Little did I know then that I would be joining the Stouthearted clan. And then, of course, there is the famous Nelson Eddy song "Stout-hearted Men" (um, yeah, I'm just throwing a hyphen in there for the heck of it). Does that song make stoutheartedness sound like a bad thing? Nah.

So, after this lovely English lesson, welcome to the life of the Stouthearted Stouts. I hope to write some of the goings-on in our lives that make me and my family Stouthearted. I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride.