c'mon America, you can do better than this

Always setting a good example of the joys of capitalism for those embracing communism:

Surging shoppers kill Wal-Mart employee

...what is this world coming to when a five dollar savings at the till is worth taking a life for?!

Like Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend...

Amelia is officially weaned this week.  It's been a long hard road and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it.  I mean, this was something that I fought really REALLY hard for.  I struggled and struggled for a really long time...but I did it!  I would dare say it was one of the biggest achievements I have ever had.  I knew that this was what I wanted for my little girl and I was willing to go to whatever lengths I needed to for her.  But at the same time, I've got my body back all to myself.  And that is so nice.  It's SO nice.  And now I feel like I can leave her a night and not worry about her.  There is nothing that I could do for her that someone else couldn't now.  Exciting and sad all at the same time.  She's growing up so fast.  I just can't believe it.  I guess now we've just got to start all over again and pray that it won't be so painful the next time around.

By the way, our computer is COMPLETELY full of stuff.  I'm not even kidding.  We have 10,189 photos on our computer.   Plus all the video, plus everything else.  And of those 10,189 photos, NOT A SINGLE ONE IS PRINTED!!  Scary?!  Yes!!  Brad and I can't bring ourselves to delete anything.  It's all memories and treasures.  Its all backed up in numerous places but deleting it off the computer means we won't have daily access to it.  It won't be right at our fingertips.

So what I'm trying to say is, we have no more room for any more photos.  Meaning, for a little while at least, until we remedy this situation, there will be no more photos posted on our blog.  Sad, I know.  We'll be working as fast and as hard and as long as we can to get this problem fixed.  Until then, please scroll through our archives for your Amelia fix.

Happy Anniversary...(sort of)

Seven years ago on the day after Thanksgiving I was sleeping snuggly in my bed when all of a sudden I was attacked with silly string by my roommates.  I was very annoyed with them!  Then good old Andrea came in with pancakes, ice cream, strawberries...yum!  Breakfast in bed!!  I opened the card, it was from all my roommates and Brad declaring that it was "Happy Kim Day."  It read, "We wanted to thank you for all that you always do for us, so we're taking a day to say thank you."  Cool!  

At the bottom of the card was a  message from Brad saying to be dressed and "ready for a sweat" by 9am and a "Mr. Jenkins" would be there to pick me up.  I was very excited and intrigued.  I looked at the clock, it was 8:30 (I miss those days of sleeping in) so I jumped out of bed and got dressed.  When I came downstairs this is what I found:

 Brad was waiting for me, roses were on the table, balloons and streamers everywhere and a sign on the door that read, "Happy Kim Day."  This was gonna be good.  

Brad and I went and jumped in the car and he drove me to The Quarry, an indoor rock climbing gym.  Awesome!!  This was one of my favourite things to do and Brad and I had never done it together before.  So we spent the morning checking out each others butts, climbing the walls.  So fun.  

When we arrived home, he handed me another card and said to hurry inside and to not read the card until then.  So I rushed into my apartment and opened it.  It said that another person was going to be there to pick me up and to not shower yet (weird).  So my roommate's sister, Jenny, picked me up and drove me to a place to my surprise to get my nails done.  

After that Jenny gave me another card that said to run inside, shower, and do my make-up but not do my hair (again, weird), and then run to apartment 23 where Courtney lived (She's a hairstylist) to, surprisingly enough, have my hair done.  By this point I started to get just a little suspicious but still had no clue what was on the horizon.

When Courtney finished with my hair she gave me another card that said, "Now that you're primped and beautiful (don't touch your hair it looks great! [he knew me too well]) hurry home and up to your room."  When I got to my room I found a beautiful formal gown laying on my bed with another note saying, "Put me on, I'll look stunning on you.  But hurry we've got to leave by 4:30p."  

By this point I kinda started freaking out, but still had no idea what was on the horizon.  I was a bit nervous, yet oh so excited!

When I was dressed and all ready to go, I came downstairs to find Brad dressed in a tuxedo.  Hubba Hubba!  (No, this wasn't unusual.  Brad and I used to always get dressed up and go to plays and out to dinner and stuff.  He had just never bought me a dress before :).

We went out to the car and started driving towards Salt Lake City.  It was a 45 minute car ride and I have NO CLUE what we talked about.  I don't remember one spec of that conversation.  My mind must have been somewhere else.  

He drove to Temple Square for the day-after-Thanksgiving turning on of the Christmas lights!!  This is one of my all time favourite things in all the world.  I love being there when they turn on the lights!  It's so magical.  Unfortunately we were a little bit late and they were already on.  We walked to this little secluded corner and he just stood there for a long time talking about nothing at all.  Then I convinced him to wander around with me.  (I had no clue he was planning on proposing.  I just thought he was acting weird.)  

So we wandered around for a while, then he took me right back to that secluded corner.  We stood there for a while longer, then we turned to me and said something like, "I took you rock climbing this morning because I trust you with my life, I wanted you to be all primped up so you would know how special you are to me, and I've brought you here to Temple Square because I want to spend the rest of eternity with you."  He then got down on this knee, pulled out the ring and said, "Kimberly Blunck, will you marry me?"  To which I replied, "Of course I will!" - with no hesitation I might add.  I threw my arms around his neck and gave him a huge hug.  Then he pushed me back and said, "Aren't you even going to look at the ring?"  Oh yeah, small detail!  It was beautiful!  

After all this, we walked around the corner to Cafe Molise, the best Italian restaurant I had ever eaten at.  And the whole time I made sure I used my left hand for everything.  I wanted everyone to see it!  We even stole a menu from the restaurant and (whenever we have our stuff) proudly display it in our kitchen in a beautiful frame. 

(sorry, unfortunately digital cameras weren't as prevalent, so we couldn't retake this pic...too bad his eyes were closed!)

Thank you Brad!  It was a beautiful night.  The perfect beginning to a beautiful life.  I love you!

How does she do it?

After a long day of swimming...

More Sleeping Dramas

When we first brought Amelia home from the hospital she slept all the time.  She would even do 8 hours at night.  I soon came to realize that was because I was on so much pain killers and breast feeding her.  As soon as I stopped the meds sleep went out the window.  Don't get me wrong, we've had good days, weeks, and even good months here and there, but it's always interupted by something.  Teething, illness, stuffy nose, noise outside, loneliness...there's always something.  

So recently we have taken the drop side off of her crib so that when she wakes at night she can just come and get us instead of us going in to her room 4-5 times a night.  There have been nights we have just let her cry herself to sleep, and two nights ago we discovered that she climbed back into her bed and pulled the covers up over herself.  YEAH!!!  Hopefully we'll get somewhere soon!

These are photos from nap time.  I couldn't get her to sleep so I just locked her in my room.  She just played for a while but then when it went quiet I went in to discover this: 

Kids are so funny!

Photography by Amelia

The other day during breakfast Amelia got a hold of the camera and I helped her work out the right button to press and then off she went.  Here are a few of the gems.

Baz Luhrmann's "AUSTRALIA" world premiere [UPDATED]

[UPDATE]

This morning, in a fluke, I told Kim to SMS an entry into a competition, and we WON two free passes to see the public premiere (26th Nov) of "AUSTRALIA" at the Fox Studios Entertainment Quarter's Hoyts La Premiere (yeah, check out how nice this "luxury cinema" is - click here - "personalised in-cinema waiter service [and] enjoy complimentary popcorn and soft drink" - how cool is that?!).

Ok, so back to the original blog post...So, it wasn't until after I [Brad] had arrived in Artarmon off the train this morning for work that I realized I left our camera at home.  Luckily I borrowed a point 'n shoot from someone at work - however, it nearly proved fruitless, as I quickly realized cameras using over the shelf "AA" batteries don't cut it if you're attempting to pass as a paparazzo as they take forever to write data to the card and get back to the point you can shoot again (lets call it the "orange flashing light of death", or OFLD for short, shall we?)  I plowed through 3 pairs of AA's and only took 24 - 5MP stills...how does that work?

View looking down the largest red carpet ever laid out for an Australian home grown movie premiere, just outside the Greater Union on George Street, Sydney.

Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) and David Ngoombujarra (finally found his name)

So, Nicole Kidman came right by me a couple different times (I stood eye to eye with her, she's quite tall), but as I took a shot, someone would invariably get in the way, and by the time the OFLD finished and let me snap another, she was down the carpet further...

I yelled out "Mr. Jackman", and Hugh came by and I got to shake his hand.  We're pretty much the same height...tall fellow

Keith Urban turned around from signing autographs and came straight for me and shook my hand (maybe because I was the tallest and stood out?).  What do you say to someone famous?  I told him, "hey, thanks for flying down to Sydney for 24 hrs" (as I knew he and Nicole were only in Sydney for literally, 24 hrs, and then flew right back to the US - man, they must be hating the jetlag - probably fell asleep mid-way thru Baz's 2:45 film (yup, "AUSTRALIA" is 2 hrs and 45 mins at the time of this writing, Baz is, however, still editing of course, much to many a Fox exec's dismay :)

Seemed like no one knew who Miranda Otto was, so I blurted out her name, and she turned and waved to me 

The only decent snap I could pull off of Hugh and Nicole doing round two back down the carpet.  Hugh stopped by again and shook my hand (yeah, twice in one night, weird).  I really wanted to say hi to Baz Luhrman (the director of the film), whom you can see over Hugh's right shoulder, but, blame it on the OFLD and the fact that Baz was running late and he sped walked up the red carpet.  I did yell out "Baz!" after he had passed, and he turned and grinned (my claim to fame), but kept walking

Jennifer Hawkins, (2004 Miss Universe) stopped and flashed a peace sign for me.

Needless to say, I was surprised at how accessible these "stars" all were.  I mean, the fact that Hugh came and shook my hand twice???  And Keith Urban came up to me?  It really makes it just feel like they're regular people, which was great.

Subtitles

This pretty much speaks for itself.  Amelia sings a great deal around the house.

Remember this?

The other day I [Kim] had this song in my head all day so I went online to see if I could find it.  Does this not just take you back?  I remember my brothers and I doing our Saturday chores listening to this song.  Its amazing what memories music can bring back.  

The video kind of stinks but I love this song.  There is something that's gotta be said about the 80's.  Great music!!

So what's your favorite 80's song?  Leave us a comment and we'll see if we can find it.  Go on!   You know you want to.

Look what we found!!

A FROG!! Yes that's right, a frog!!  In our very own backyard just last night.  

And I've got to say I was reminded of one of the reasons why I fell in love with Brad.  He turns into a 5 year old child any time he sees little creatures!  I'm not kidding, he even prayed for the frog last night in our family prayers, "Thank you for the little frog and for all your beautiful creations." (for Amelia's sake because she couldn't stop talking about it)  How cute is that?!  A grown man praying for a frog!  Oh Brad, you crack me up!

In all of his excitement he couldn't wait to run next door and show off his new treasure.  

"Look Isobel, this is what we call a Froggie."

"And if you touch his back legs like this, it jumps!"

Even Sharon found herself fascinated by the little creature.

Isobel: "Mommy, Brad says if I'm really good I can take him in the bath with me."

Joseph: "Oh good then I can eat him!"

Amelia:  "Daddy, can I say 'hi' to the Froggie?"

"No, I'll just keep him for my pet."

"If I just act like I don't care, I can eat him when she's not looking."

"Don't worry Froggie, I'll never let anything happen to you."

"That's what she thinks!"

"Almost.....got....him!"

Needless to say, the kids loved it!  

Shout out to all you Everett & Flora Crosby descendants

Hey, if you're descended from Everett & Flora Crosby, we wanna know! Please sound off in the comments or email us your blog address or Facebook name (and any one else you may know of) so we can see what you're all up to and keep in touch (maybe make a family web directory??).

We're also thinking of spearheading an extended family reunion sometime in 2009 (depending on what the majority of the family thinks, if they can make it, etc). No it won't be in Australia (unfortunately :), but please let us know if you'd be at all interested in something like that.

Hope to hear from the lot of you soon!

Ameliaisms

Here are a few "Ameliaisms" for you all to enjoy:

First of all, the most recent is she has a fascination for my deoderant.  I'm talking a serious fascination.  Yesterday we went for a walk to the train station to meet Brad and she had to carry it with her the entire way.  She wouldn't let me take it off her.  You should have seen some of the looks we got.  Priceless!  I've discovered her carrying it with her all around the house talking to it, putting it in her stroller and pushing it around, wrapping it in blankets and tucking it in bed, you know that kind of stuff.   Maybe she really does need a doll of her own.

She also has a fascination with toilet paper.  She loves ripping it into little teeny tiny pieces and sprinkling them around the house.  I think she thinks it like magic fairy dust or something, or maybe snow!  There has even been the few times that she's taken the entire roll and filled the toilet with it.  Luckily it didn't clog.  But usually I'll go into the bathroom to discover most of the roll unrolled.  

Her vocabulary consists of:

money money=yummy yummy

Bood=Food

Mur=more

dink du=thank you

pith=please

binth=binx=pacifier

(she very much has a lisp at the moment)

dee=drink

bitty=biscuit=cracker 

saucy=sausage

daddy

mommy=which is used for everything

doggie

bid=bird

titty=cat

du=duck

simmy=swimming, usually accompanied by her following me around the house carrying my swimming suit.  

hi

ullo=hello

aru=how are you

bone=phone

and just so many many more.  She jabbers ALL the time.  She's started singing/yelling all the time.  Last night I said "okie dokie Kolipokie" and she copied me with a jumble of words ending with "podie."  I'm happy she's trying.  There are so many times we say big words and things and she tries her hardest to copy them. 

 

She loves to give snuggles or really in her case tackles.  If ever Brad and I are on the ground she'll run as fast as she can and jump on us.  She loves to be thrown around.  

She gives kisses.  She'll press her face up to yours with a big "mwah."  Blows kisses in the same manner.  

Whenever we are walking down the street she waves and says "hi" or "hello" to everyone.

   

Our Brave Little Girl

This is such a breakthrough.  Amelia will now pet doggies.  As Brad was filming this the battery died on the camera which is why it ends so abruptly.  But I hope you can enjoy it as much as us.  

Thoughts

Yesterday I Skype’d with my family and my dad mentioned that Brad and I are quite vocal and express ourselves often. I think a lot of this has to come from being in Australia. Aussie's are very vocal and very straight forward – they speak their mind rather than beat around the bush. But as I have been thinking about it since that conversation with my dad, I thought about an Ensign article written by Elder Ballard, (you can read it here) about using “new media” to share the gospel. Here are the bits I liked the best:

"The Apostle Paul has admonished us to not be “ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). Let us all stand firmly and speak with faith in sharing our message with the world.

(He writes about using our blogs and other sites as "conversations about the Church.")

"As you participate in this conversation and utilize the tools of new media, remember who you are—Latter-day Saints.... Our position is solid; the Church is true. We simply need to have a conversation, as friends in the same room would have, always guided by the prompting of the Spirit and constantly remembering the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, which reminds us of how precious are the children of our Father in Heaven.

"May the Lord bless each of you that you will have a powerful influence on those you come in contact with."

I love those words. I think anything I have to add would only deter from what he's just declared. But I do know that I want to use our blog as a tool for sharing the gospel because I know that my beliefs in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are true. I find so much comfort and peace and guidance through life from them and I hope that we can somehow help you, our readers (whomever or wherever you may be) to feel the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Breakthrough!

Amelia LOVES animals.  That is to say that she loves looking at them but whenever they approach her she turns and screams in terror.  She can pick a dog out from a mile away but WILL NOT try and pet it.  Until today...everything changed!!  The sunbeam teacher brought her baby bunnies to church for the kids to see and Amelia could not get enough of them.  She walked right up the them and pet them, yes, pet them!!  Brad even got her to hold one!!  My jaw just dropped.  It was a major turning point.  

Loving the bunny.

Snuggling the bunny

Realizing he's alright!!

Saturday Night Fever!!

We always look forward to the weekend...who doesn't?  Dad's around, family time abounds, the sun shines!!  Yes, we love it.  On Saturday we were able to have a laid back day.  You know the kind where you do nothing but what you want to do?!  It was great.  After dinner we pulled out the sidewalk chalk!  Nothing spells summer like sidewalk chalk!

Our little artist.

After all that chalk fun it was time for a bath before bed (like every other night.)  And after the bath comes the milk.  Amelia is getting a little too clued on and has now started to follow me around with the pillow.  Weining may be on the horizon.

After that we were greeted with this BEAUTIFUL sunset!  It was stunning.  Who can say there isn't a God with brilliant paintings like this to say goodnight?

Our blog's word cloud

(click to enlarge)

Ok, so word clouds take a bunch of text and highlight the most frequently used words by enlarging them proportionally in size.  I was inspired by the guys over at LDS Media Talk blog, who imported the full text of the recent LDS General Conference to create a word cloud via a fantastic website called Wordle.  (that particular word cloud is great to show people who think the LDS Church focuses solely on Joseph Smith and that we "aren't Christian", yet you'll see some of the most frequently used words were "Lord" "Jesus" "Christ".  Nice.) 

Anyway, I changed the settings of our blog to temporarily show 500 posts, turned off "load images automatically" and disabled all the Java so it wouldn't take forever to load with all of our old posts (in Firefox 3.1b1), loaded our blog, copied all the text, and then pasted into Wordle and voila!  (I also took out a bunch of commonly used words like the days of the week, etc).

So, you can definitely tell we "love" the "fun" "time" we "get" to spend each "day" with our "little" "one", "Amelia" :)

(if you use a blog as a journal - like us! -, the above steps might be a great way to make a backup of it all in case Google "accidentally" deletes your blog, which I've read has happened!!!)

A life lived in fear...

A life lived in fear is a life half lived.  Brad and I are trying to live with less fear.  We want to live our lives the way the scriptures and prophets tell us we should, "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."  Why shouldn't we live with fear?  Because life is too precious.  If we let fear cripple us we'll miss these moments.  

Why do we blog?  We blog because we love life.  Because we love Amelia and want to share every second of her life with you.  We blog because today we went swimming and Amelia jumped in the water with no fear, and we love to share that type of information with you.  We blog because this morning Amelia looked me square in the eye and defiantly said, "NO!  Naughty!"  We blog because we can publicly share our love for our Saviour Jesus Christ and invite people to come to our church, (wanna come?!)  We blog because we love this life and we love our God.  That's why.

We choose to follow Amelia and live with no fear.