Trick-or-Treaters

This year we had a whole family of Trick-or-Treaters. There were three whole kids! That's three more trick-or-treaters than we had last year. At this rate, maybe next year our doorbell will ring twice!

Also, here's my costume that I wore to work. Homemade.

Chris made the ears. Aren't they cute?

Thoughts for the Sisters...

Women,

If you hear the world telling you that as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you are second class, or oppressed or any thing along those lines, don't you believe it. The Adversary would love nothing more than to drive the holy daughters of God away from truth and away from their divine destiny.

The Holy Ghost teaches of things as they really are, and if you are ever struggling with understanding your place in Christ's church, or the role of women in his church, ask God. I testify that God loves his daughters. Each and every one. You are cherished and beloved, and He wants the very best for you.

Also, here's one of my favorite quotes about doubts. It certainly applies to this subject:

• "If you should have doubting thoughts, remember the counsel given by President Stephen L. Richards, a former counselor in the First Presidency, who declared: “Just say to those skeptical, disturbing, rebellious thoughts, ‘I propose to stay with my faith, with the faith of my people. I know that happiness and contentment are there and I forbid you, agnostic, doubting thoughts, to destroy the house of my faith. I acknowledge that I do not understand the processes of creation, but I accept the fact of it. I grant that I cannot explain the miracles of the Bible, and I do not attempt to do so, but I accept God’s word. I wasn’t with Joseph, but I believe him. My faith did not come to me through science and I will not permit science to destroy it.’”

Much love to you all.

Sincerely,

Sarah

The baby moves!!!

On Friday, I felt the baby move for the first time! I was only half awake when I realized what was happening and my eyes flew right open. Of course after telling Chris, I had to call my mom and talk excitedly about it and other baby stuff for like an hour. :)

Go, Baby! Go! Keep growing, keep moving, and Daddy and I... we'll keep loving you!

As a bonus, here's what my "baby bump" looks like as of today.

17 weeks

P.S. Does anyone have recommendations on baby/pregnancy/labor/parenting books? I've read some of the standards, "What to expect when your expecting," "Your pregnancy week by week," etc. but I'd love to read more of what's out there (memoirs, labor methods, nursing guides, you name it). Let me know if you have any favorites.

On math and heartbeats and love

Some simple math:

Usually...

nausea + throwing up + tiredness = sick

But for about 10 weeks...

nausea + throwing up + tiredness = baby

Yep. That's right. Many of you have already heard the news, but incase you haven't, Chris and I are expecting.  At first, I was just so happy to be nauseous and going to the bathroom constantly because every time it reminded me, "I'm pregnant! Woohoo!" But after awhile, that excitement faded. (because, well... I was tired, and going to the bathroom is only so fun, you know?) and even though I knew that the pregnancy thing was still there, it just seemed unreal. Sure, I didn't feel great, but always in the past that meant I was coming down with something. Now I had to rewire my brain to remember that, "nausea + throwing up + tiredness = baby". 

Enter my doctor's appointment a week and a half a go.

Never have I ever encountered this equation before:

nausea + throwing up + tiredness + heartbeat coming from my abdomen! = baby

Okay, here was something my brain could handle. Never have I had a heartbeat coming from my abdomen!!! And never have I ever been pregnant before!!!! So much easier for my brain to connect those two things!

On top of that, it was soooo good to hear that little one's heartbeat. I think as an expectant mother, you can't help but fear the worst. "What if the doctor can't find a heartbeat? what if the heartbeat is irregular? or too slow? or too fast? etc. etc. etc." But from all we can tell so far, baby is doing great. Baby's heartbeat was normal, not too fast or too slow. Baby is moving around in there and we heard lots of squirming. Oh, it does a momma's heart good to hear her baby!

It has been surprising to me how deeply my love for this little one will occasionally wash over me. It has hit me when I'm playing primary songs on our piano. I've felt it at church. It's hit me when I'm just sitting on the couch at home. I can't really explain why. It's just happened. And it feels so good.

Little One? We haven't met yet, but Momma sure does love you!

Cooking Failures Feel So Personal

As stated a while back, my cooking skills are... let's just say, "not great". Recently I've been trying to cook more often and try new things. Usually pasta is somehow involved  because Chris and I both love pasta, and it's really hard to mess up the noodle-cooking part. But I've learned that whatever else I'm making with the pasta can turn out really "dross".

For some reason, whenever it does go wrong, it feels so personal. Like the world is out to get me... or at least the food and the cooking appliances are. Shouldn't that chicken know that I was looking forward to eating something my taste buds would enjoy? Shouldn't that crock pot understand that when you turn it on low for 6 hours, you're not supposed to come home to charbroiled burnt-ness? Doesn't the food know that I have hopes and dreams of cooking grandeur, and by-gum, when the dinner I made turns out yucky it's just demoralizing?

I've heard lots of stories of women who made horrible food when they were first married, but I still feel defeated. You see, the joy I feel anticipating the yumminess I'll soon be eating is like a little girl who is dreaming of going to Disneyland, and then the sadness I experience when the food comes out gross is like finding out that you are never going to Disneyland. Ever.

Hopes? Dashed.
Dreams? Crushed.
Dinner? Blech.

Someday, I'm going to conquer this. Someday...

A reflection from today.

It's easy for me to waste time. But, when I get moving and working again, it's like I can feel my soul saying, "Ahhh, that's what I needed. Thank you."

Something I need to remember more often.

"Work is always a spiritual necessity even if, for some, work is not an economic necessity." - Neal A. Maxwell

Epic FHE activity

Living up to the "-epic" part of our blog name... look what we made during family night!

Ice Cream!!!

Chris had never made home made ice cream before and decided that making some would be an awesome family night activity. He found a recipe online, bought some half & half and some rock salt, and we were set. Here's what it looked like when it was finished (minus the stuff we had already eaten...):

We just used a washed out jar of Adam's peanut butter to make it in, put it inside a big family canning can (about the size of a coffee can), and lined the inside space with ice and rock salt. then we put a towel down on the floor and rolled it back and forth between us to churn it.

While we were churn-rolling, Chris suddenly said, "Books of the Old Testament. Go!" And we traded off saying each book in order as we passed it back and forth. We had to churn the ice cream so much that we had named all the books in the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Pearl of Great Price (we skipped the Doctrine and Covenants), and then did the first 5 scripture mastery scriptures in the Book of Mormon. 


What with all the food and fun, happiness abounded in the Machado home.

See?