lots of stuff.

So in the past little while LOTS has happened. I am succesfully losing wight and that makes me happy. Also, since i have been on this diet and can no longer eat ANYTHING! I have been forming lists in my head of what i want to eat when i am finally OFF this diet. I love lists. Anyways, Over the past few weeks I have been cooking alot, and loving it again. I kind of started to hate cooking for a while there, it sort of became a chore, but the fire is rekindled. Funny thing is, I'm doing a better job lately since I can't taste anything. Mom says its because i don't have to eat compulsively. I tend to agree with her.
Moving on.... I have really discovered some of the things that I actually want, and surprisingly not very many of them are sweet things, which is odd because before that was definitly my problem area.... I would go so far as to say my addiction. There are things I will always love like banana cream pie, and Kates mint brownies, but for the most part thats it. I think i will be using my calories on more savory dishes.
I want to start making my own cheese. Apparently its not that hard. There are certain kinds that are harder than others like gruyere and chedder that need to age for almost a year, but types like brie and camembert, and even blue cheese(not my fav) can be made in under a week. I kinda figured that since there are so many dairys around I could get some real fresh whole milk and start making some gourmet cheeses. Everything is better with cheese. And who doesn't like knowing that they have a useful skill if the apocalypse comes right??
I also want to learn how to make homemade pasta, all different kinds, and perfect pastry. And the perfect cream sauce, just a basic one to start and then branch out from there. Then once i have all those things figured out, I will move on to the next phase of operation "take over the world" which includes expanding my spice knowledge and pallete and moving on to other exotic flavors, I'm thinking asian first. Yum.
If you can't tell I'm also thinking abut starting another blog. A food blog. Nothing fancy just me learning new things and trying them out.
I will post again soon. Next time it will be about my family and how awesome they are! Complete with pictures of my cutie pies!!!

Romans firsts

We went to Taber for the Brenner Christmas. It was the first time meeting alot of them for me so it was fun, we played the always entertaining spoons and ate more good food. Fortunately for me i am not capable of gaining any more weight at this point.... im as large as is humanly possible. Randalls Auntie Jane loves babies and had alot of fun with Roman.
SHE GOT HIM TO LAUGH!! It was his first laugh ever!!! He was giggling up a storm, but we haven't heard it since. Oh well it will come eventually.(hopefully sooner rather than later)
Roman has teeth!! His bottom two are through and he survived it like a trooper. They are so stinking cute!!
Roman also decided to stop rolling over for awhile and he did it again yesterday, so its almost like a first. He is getting so big, he is wearing 6 month stuff and this will be the last week before we retire them. 6-9 month sizes here we come. Roman is almost 4 months.
On Monday is Levi's Birthday so it will be Romans first party... Happy Birthday Levi!!

December

Where do I begin..... December was a crazy month.
First we moved into our new house...(technically it was the end of November that we moved but whatever) This was after moving into Kate and Kyle's garage/basement. I hate moving.
On Dec 9th Randall and I were sealed to each in the temple, and Roman to us. It was very exciting and a little nerve racking because it almost didn't happen. Things worked out though and I'm very happy to have know I have my family forever. Just as a side note, Roman screamed the entire time that the temple workers were babysitting him (poor women) and as soon as he saw us, Randall put his finger in his mouth and he stopped. It was sad and cute all at the same time.
The next night, Dec 10th we had our Allred family sing along at Kates house. A tradition that we all figured we needed to start, and the men are all pushing through it like troopers. I think it will be fun when Ike gets home as well. I was definitely a party pooper at this one though, because I couldn't sing, not because I was sick or anything like that, its just that since Roman was born my voice simply won't cooperate. I have no control and my range is down to about 3 notes. I was miserable. Even the simple songs were too much for me. On the other hand its always fun being with family and i loved seeing everyone before our big road trip.
Which brings me to the next big event of Dec. Our trip to Utah.
Everthing went extremely well and Roman slept through the night twice while we were down there. I got to do a little Christmas shopping, and because Randall was back to normal activity we were able to have almost a mini vacation.
Andrea and Rod drove us down there( thank goodness for them and their minivan and for just being awesome and babysitting and being awesome) It was a really good time hanging out with them, its been a while and it was alot of fun. People say alot of things about Utah, but we loved it there. We loved the people and the climate (so much warmer then here) It was just a really great trip. I think we'll be going down to visit again soon.
Basically as soon as we got back....
CHRISTMAS!!!! WOO HOO!!
Randall and I got spoiled from both sides of the family this year, and Roman too. Thanks everybody! We had a lot of fun this Christmas, on the 24th we went to Cardston to Andrea's always amazing turkey and ham dinner, we played games and hung out, and all the girls took really stupid pictures.... Fun
That night we headed to Glenwood for some Allred festivities the following day. Presents, Dads famous breakfast on the new griddle, naptime, and then the best stuffing ever!! Also wonderful turkey sweet potatoes etc... We all just kind of chilled and played games, read the book of awesome etc...
Turns out though, allergic to the whole environment in general. the combination of dust, smoke, animal hair, aparently I can't handle it very well. Oh well it was a fun time despite my puffy face and stuffed up nose.
We had a day off and then back to Cardston for Randalls dads thing at the church, yummy food and then games in the gym, we played bump and volleyball for hours, it was awesome!!
That night we made the rounds and went to Matt and Nelette's then a brief stop at extra foods had us running into a bunch of high school friends. Beth and Brennen and Carley. Good times. then we were off to Dennis's house, then Andrea's then finally home.

sleeeeep........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Im so tired..... that is all.


Okay, so that is not all. I love Roman more than I can possibly express. When he smiles it makes me so happy I could cry.
Now if only he would sleep.
Also, people are liars, they always pretend that you somehow manage to get enough sleep, or that their child slept through the night at 3 weeks blah blah blah.... they all lied, and they suck. I just want a nap.

Homeless NO MORE!!

We got the house that we wanted!!! WOO HOO!! Could it be, that i may actually have a home without mice? Could it be, our place may have working electrical? Could it be that the plumbing in our new diggs be functional and the hot water works for giving my baby a bath? Could this really be happening?? *sigh* Too good to be true!
I actually had fun staying with Kate, but in reality it's always nice to know you have your own house to come home to. Plus it has been way easier for me then it has been for Randall. I just get to hang out with my sister all day, something i haven't done for a while, but it does tend to come quite naturally. Randall on the other hand has it harder just because of the whole male pride thing, and its not even his family. (Well it is, but not a brother or sister) Fortunately for us Kate and Kyle's basement is spacious, and vastly underused by the two of them. So we were easily able to avoid detection when necessary.... except that one time when we came home late..... ha ha ha

Sick Again.....

Roman is sick again...... and this time mommy is sick with him. Its not an unheard of combination, but it is one that really doesn't go well together. When two people have a fever, it doesn't seem like cuddling up together to reflect each others body heat (and germs) would be a good plan.... however, tell that to a very sad two month old. Then there is the added bonus of being in the same house with Kate and Levi all day. They were sick too, making it a virtual cocktail of germs in this house.......COCKTAIL I tell you!!!! There was a lot of crying going on at bedtime last night!