life is FABULOUS!!!!!

wow, i am just super happy to be the mom of lilli AND sanoii.  these girls absolutely LOVE each other.   i knew that lilli was going to be a rad sis, but we are just amazed at how sweet she is to her and that she has never asked if we could return her.  i also can't believe how different these two gals look. 1 is sort of a mini gareth and 1 is a mini me.  (of course my mini me is the short chubby one!)

honestly, my christmas was strange.  i was very sad because i thought dixiemae was dying.  she was very sick all day and i thought i was going to have to say good bye to my closest companion of 11 years.  turns out that she has made a full recovery so i am just going to cherish every day with her and try to be more patient with her.  

i hope you all had a great christmas and that your new year will be GREAT!  i love new year because that means that gareth will be having a few weeks off soon.  our plans for a big vacation might be put on hold because he has to work longer than expected and has a couple buckets n boards gigs lined up on dates that get right in the way of a long trip.  i am still hoping to go to AZ, CA, and OR.  we are just going to have to see what turns up.  we are also planning a big trip to MAUI in november.  the first week. anyone who would like to go with us, let me know.  i will arrange the whole thing.  i would love for family or friends to join us.  everyone could start saving now!

i am also wayyy excited for jan 5th to get here.  that is my official day back at exercising.  i wont jump right into crossfit, but i will being doing more than sitting on the couch eating sweets... i will also post a before picture on my blog.  that will inspire me to hurry and get a flattering after picture up!  the best word to describe me right now is: jiggly.  i have quite a few friends that are marathon training and it drives me crazy to be a blob right now.  my friend libia just finished the dallas marathon.  everyone is very inspiring to me.  

"if you want peace, then peace is what you will choose"  eckhart tolle

enjoy the show!

YIPPPPEEEE and a YAHHHHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sanoii Mae Sever 5lbs 15oz 17 inches long





my love!  perhaps a future midwife!
well, she is here!  our newest addition to our family is absolutely the sweetest tushiest gal around.  i can't help but wonder:  how did G and i get so blessed to have not 1 but 2 super rad girlies.  i am shocked at how different the two of them are as far as size.  lilli was a pound heavier and 3 inches taller!  sorry this has taken awhile to write the story of teeny SANOII (which is a hawaiian name and means mist of the mountain), but i have been living in the newborn bubble since she was born.  

and here is the story.  unedited.  so watch out for words like poop and blood and needles.....

it all started on sunday nov.23, 2008.  i felt a tad off all day and was hoping to have her that day because Lilli had predicted 6 days earlier that the baby was coming on sunday.  anywho, after sitting around for most of the day, i got up to do the electric slide with G, Lilli and our friend Bre.  after one round of sliding, i excused myself to go check my pants, for they felt strange.  there was a lil bit of bleeding, but nothing too alarming.  and no contractions.  soon, G was at work and called me to make sure i had the emergency number to get ahold of him at work.  at precisely 5:30 pm  ( showtime for G)  i lost my mucous plug.  i called his work and he left immediately.  when he got home he was rushing around to get stuff together.  however, i was just sitting on the stairs hanging out because i wasn't having any contractions.  (i will be typing that word a lot... from now on contraction will be: cx)  

we headed 30 mins to the hospital.  our midwife debbie checked me and i was at 5cm dilated with no cx.  i was at 3cm the week before and 2cm the week before that.  since i wasn't having cx she said we could go back home.  we stopped at Arby's to get a delicious jr. roast beef sandwich.  we get home close to 9pm.  and i started having cx.  but i was also busy texting some friends and suddenly i had to poop.  that was when i knew i was in labor.  for sure.  i didn't want to get off the toilet.  i didn't want to walk down the stairs.  i didn't want to get in the van.  somehow g got me in the back seat.  i was having some serious cx and lilli held my hand the whole trip down.  we got to the ER at 1030 and they were waiting with a wheel chair.  here's where it gets fun.

my midwife took one look at me and said that i was in transition.  nice... i pretty much skipped the first stage of labor.  they put me in the chair and hauled tush to the labor room.  the nurse pushing me was a tad... large.  my head was bouncing off of her belly with every stride she took.  i tried to lean forward but that was too painful.  we got in the room and the nurse attempted to put an iv in my hand and blew out my vein.  (which up until recently was very painful to the touch)  after she couldn't use that vein, she announced that it was because i didn't drink enough water that day.  i had no response because i was shaking uncontrollably and having major cx and was flat on my back.  she finally got an iv hooked into my arm and i was free to be in labor and off the bed.  the iv was for penicillin.  i was strep b positive which is why we had to stay 48 hrs at the hospital instead of 24.

we met our rad nurse.  Anna.  i got on the exercise ball and just had a few cx and listened to lilli talk to everyone about our dogs.  she would occasionally wipe my head with a damp cloth and feed me ice chips.  dang she was such a doll and i was happy to have her there distracting me.  speaking of distractions, the nurse decided that that was a good time to ask me random info questions.  in the middle of transition.  while having serious cx... like my SSN, address, would i like to have Sanoii featured in the local paper... how funny, we had to be there for 2 whole days they would have plenty of time to get the paper work done.  but i didn't mind the distractions.  

i was waiting for the wonderful reward of pushing.  it never really came, so i just told the midwife i couldn't wait to push.  with lilli the urge to push was what stands out in my mind as euphoric.  my midwife encouraged me to push with my next cx.  i did while squatting on the ground.  and peed.  they thought it was my amniotic fluid.  g corrected them as i pushed again and peed again.  next i hopped up on the bed and got on all fours and pushed.  pop!!!! there goes the water!  that was pretty rad.  the next push, out came her head.  i heard her crying!  while she was still mostly in.  one more push (which felt like i was being split up to my belly button) and the rest of her came out!  i couldn't believe that she was out!  i was in labor for like 2 hours and suddenly i'm not pregnant anymore!  they tried to hand her to me while i was still on all fours, so i said to just hand her to G.  everyone was saying how teeny she was and how much hair she had.  when i first saw her i thought that she looked identical to my baby picture.  she immediately started breast feeding and i was in heaven.  i had Lilli with me the whole time and she was wonderful and absolutely loves her baby sis!  everyone was saying it was such a beautiful birth.  to me, i would disagree.  i was on all fours with my tush in the air surrounded by strangers.  much the opposite of my lovely Lilli water birth.  however, my healing wassuper duper beautiful.  no tears, no sore nipples, just baby bliss.  

2 loooong days later, we are home with a complete family.  life.  is.  good.  i mean GREAT!!!!

  

no spend month wrap up and other interesting tidbits.

well, it seems like only a month ago that we embarked on the journey of the no spend month.  i decided after the first week not to bore you all with the details of where every penny went.  i was just really proud of the fact that we had eliminated our fancy coffee drinks to 25 cent soda once or twice week.  anywho, successful isn't a big enough word for the last month.  i don't have the exact total  that was spent yet, but we realized that although it was important to try to stick close to $250, the main point was just to become aware of where our money was going.  there were a few gray areas for me.  like when i bought stuff to do cakes or cupcakes and we would also use those things like sugar and flour and eggs and what not.  you don't count business expenses but hmmm.  also, we did luck out a few times.  my parents came for a weekend and took us out to dinners and stuff.  and then our other family from arizona came into town and got our meals a lot.  so right when i was starting to feel some serious thai withdrawals, i was rescued by my loved ones!

i strongly urge everyone to maybe at least try a week on this money diet if you are someone that usually doesn't keep track of what you spend your dough on.  i will be completely honest.  now that the challenge is over, i do plan on eating thai thai on various occasions and dropping in for a quick thai iced coffee.  a gals gotta live.  but no more target shopping just for fun for me.  it just doesn't feel the same.  well, not yet.  

so as i mentioned in an earlier post, since we weren't out shopping, we spent a lot of time at home hanging out.  i started reading the twilight series and holy guacamole... addicting, yo!  i've never read books as fast as i read these couple of books.  they are very mesmerizing somehow.  and of course it is fun to read a fiction romance packed with vampires and whatnot.  pretty much anyone who was into the harry potter books graduate to the twilight series.  i recommend  them to anyone who well... reads.  they are a fun break from reality.  however, they are addicting!  even gareth got into them just as much as i did!  we still have some more to read, but we are holding off for a bit.

more pictures will be up soon.  we have a few projects in the works.  we want to get all of these things done before the baby arrives.  we are quickly realizing that we are running out of time!  geez!  i cannot believe how FAST time has flown by.  i am, however, feeling every bit of 9 months pregnant.  tired.  enormous.  hungry.  tired.  chubby.  tired.  it has been pointed out twice now that i look ready to have the baby on account of my face... being bigger.  thanks.  that will go on my list of things to never say to a pregnant woman.  it is true though.  no matter how much weight you do or don't gain, your face just gets oddly swollen.  oh and halloween is a terrible time to be so pregnant.  bags and bags of chocolate just begging to be eaten.  and sugar cookies.  not fair.  

the best part of halloween is that lilli was rad.  there was a dixie halloween party and i whipped up her costume in literally 2 hours.  she won the costume contest and 50 smackaroos!  she was lil' skeeter.  in case you don't know, gareth is regular sized skeeter.  

also!!  don't forget to go vote on tuesday!!!!!!  i am sooo excited and will be making a t shirt for the big day...  i'll post it soon.  i wonder if anyone out there can figure out who is getting my vote.... hmmm....

fall, oh how i love thee.

the leaves are changing and all is wonderful in the world.  here are a few pictures that i took today.  if only i could take good pictures.  oh well, you kinda get the point though, eh?

Fun work and other projects.ther

besides doing cakes this passed few days i also did a painting of gareth's favorite horse.  he really likes the eye on the painting, so that's why there is a random picture of the eye.  his name is dickisaw.  he's a retired dixie stampede horse that now belongs to our friend kodii.  he's pretty set out there at her ranch.  i also want to do a painting of her donkey, rowdy.  we became buds while he followed me around chewing on my elbow.  

i wish i could take good pictures.  a lot of my friends can take great pictures.  does anyone out there want to be on call for me just in case a picture taking moment arises?  or at least after each cake i do, it'd be nice to get a picture without my shadow on it.  speaking of pictures, tomorrow i am going to take some of the beautiful fall foliage.  my FAVORITE time of the year!  it just makes you want to take a deep breath and relax.  and put on a sweatshirt.  i love sweatshirt weather.  all of my sweatshirts still fit me so from the front i just look like a chunk.  a happy cozy autumn loving chunk.   

eyes wide open

it has been a successful week to say the very least.  i have been super excited to tell you all about it.  hmmm but where to begin...

i guess for starters here is what we spent our money on this week:

week 1 $58.31 plus lilli gave a dollar to the dog pound.  (donations aren't included but anyway)

oct.1- 25 cents at lilli's dance class for skittles.

oct.2- $29.28 at the grocery store for dinners for a few days.  $1.78 later that day for a 2 liter of dr. pepper

0ct.4- 50 cents for mtn. dew at work

oct.6- $1 for 2 bottles of water at the dance studio and $24.00 at the grocery store for... food.

oct.7- 50 cents for mtn. dew at work 

i bet at first glance this list might look like we are depriving ourselves from every day treats or even needs.  however, it has been quite the opposite.  let me attempt to explain why.  

something wonderful happened when we took spending money out of the equation.  all of the wonderful things that come with having a family or living life in general magically float to the front of your mind.  there is so much more room for those thoughts when the clutter of money is taken out.  i never realized how much time i spent thinking of what we were going to buy that day until we no longer had need for those thoughts.  so much of my daily activities revolved around what store or especially what restaurant we were going to.  without that to think about, my mind was open to think about what family activity we were going to do.  this week we spent more time together than ever before.  by this i mean:  really together.  enjoying each other's company.  we weren't rushing around trying to get stuff done before gareth went to work.  we were really able to be awake in the moment.  it really is a cleansing experience and i feel like i have stumbled on an ancient secret that i want to pass on to the world.  when you live from what is necessary instead of desire... holy moly.  so much time is spent buying stuff.  stuff that will make you feel better about yourself for about a sec.  whether you are buying things to fit in or stand out, to show off how much money you have or how much money you saved on something, it all goes back to being happy.  shopping is fun and can make you happy, but not as happy as creating something yourself or as a family.  or just being together in general.  i have learned to relax.  and we don't spend time wondering what is on the agenda for the day.  we have our errands and we go do them as a family then we are back at home hanging out and usually cooking.  so much of our money was spent on going out to eat and then going to the grocery store and then still going out to eat for no reason. (i do hope we get some thai thai in on  our month... just being honest) i love to cook.  esp with lilli.  we've been baking a ton!  yummy cookies and breadsticks and of course biscuits.  at first i felt like it was a bad time to for me to do this whole no spend thing because i am 8 months pregnant.  i was thinking about how i needed to eat whatever i wanted.  turns out i'm happy with 3 dozen m&m oatmeal cookies!  this is the best time for me to do this.  when the new tiny stinky arrives, she'll be welcomed by a momma that will have a handle on happiness.  

i hope this doesn't sound a little much to you all, i am just the happiest person on earth and i highly recommend that you try it.  or at least be conscience in your everyday decisions and next time you shop, shop for what you really need.   (esp since our economy is the way it is because we all have bought more than we need)  which wont be for much.  since, in more ways than one, you probably already have it!  

  

a no spend month? what? why? really?

sure, why not?  yesterday gareth and i stumbled upon a lady's blog that i found very interesting.  her family does an annual no spend month in july.  it's a pretty rad idea and so the month of october is no spend month for the sever family of branson.

just to clear up something, we are not in any financial trouble at all.  this is just a great way to sort of declutter ourselves as a family.  to be conscience in what we buy.  to really divide our wants and needs.  

the goal?  we have 31 days and $250.  cash money.  everything has to be accounted for.  what this includes:  food, entertainment, clothing, and misc.  it wont include bills, business expenses or gas.  however, we are only adding 100 bucks in for gas.  we want to keep track of filling up and stuff, so i guess you can say $350 for the month and include gas.  the reason why we had to add money for gas is that we will be driving back and forth to harrison, ar a bunch since drs visit for the pregnancy are more frequent.  and honestly we don't have the most fuel efficient vehicles.  but don't hate... we recycle... does that help out at all?

and to keep me honest, i'll be posting on this blog the expenses and the goings on with this experiment.  

i am very excited about this.  if you know me well, i am kind of a nut about money.  i've been called a penny pincher and other things like frugal.  i just like to have everything accounted for and often have inner battles about buying something that is $1.75.  hmmm, but gareth on the other hand.  he is a tad more... free with the dough.

this will be an eye opener and i hope inspiring to you guys.  i think a lot of people buy stuff to just be buying stuff.  i do that every once in awhile.  damn you target/tj maxx.  this month we'll see what we really need to buy instead of what we want to buy.  the hardest thing will be staying at home to eat.  since the 250 includes eating out and the grocery store, looks like we'll be cooking more.  i'll miss you thai thai.  the other stuff will be easy.  we don't leave the house and go out much like to movies and stuff.  so food is our main challenge.  esp for me.  so what if i sneak out for a big mac supersized meal.... i'm a big ol' pregnant lady.  this better work for me.  my biggest weight gain with lilli was the last month.  i just couldn't get full.  this month i guess i'll get full on homemade pasta instead of french fries.  i love french fries.  wait!  what have i done?  i can't do this!  see ya at my next update!

Cheers!

this cake was a ton of fun!  it is a marble cake with marshmallow fondant.  gareth made the fondant.  making cakes with gareth is one of my favorite things to do.  i also liked painting on the cake.  everyone was happy with the end result and i can't wait for the next one.  i'm putting a few more tiny sculpted cakes in the shop.  so, we have a fun filled couple of days coming up.  i'll keep ya posted!

my bump...

well fRiends, it has been Requested by a few of you that i show you the belly.  i REalized the otheR day that this time aRound i have baREly taken any pictuRes of myself.  time is just flying by!  i can't even believe that in a couple weeks i will be going to my 8th month check up.  

in these photos i am weaRing ouR fRiend eddy's chaps.  he weaRs them on his motoRcycle.  i also added a pictuRe of lilli in a biRThday outfit she got fRom heR bestie Reese.  all jonas bRos!

i am in heaven.  it is fall in the ozaRks and the leaves will change soon.  the best paRt?  today we got bRand new living Room windows put in.  huge.  i can sit at the window and look at the Rad view.  i am just so stinking lucky.    

also, my sisteR-in-love kathie  has some pRetty cool news.  go to heR blog (on my blogs i Read list [RamonsteR blog]) and you will see that she is in a supeRdope film called handmade nation.  the oscaR buzz has alReady begun foR heR peRfoRmance.  she is just too AWESOME!  and pRetty easy on the eyes if ya know what i mean.  

Set in Stone. i mean Skin!

befoRe i go too faR on this post, i must tell you that ouR computeR is only pRoducing big ol' RRRRRRRs.  annoying.

gaReth got a new tattoo today fRom ouR favoRite tattoo guy, mikey at Ragin' Rhino.  i am so veRy flatteRed and in love with it!  my favoRite paRt is the chubby little Robin biRd... designed by me!  it is located on his right aRm.  sheesh.  i think he likes me a lot.  i love him too, so i've decided to deliveR anotheR baby foR him fRee of chaRge.  

i had a nice weekend.  i got to talk to my big sis, Kenna.  she happens to be one of the raddest people i know and i wish we talked moRe often!  she said something veRy inteResting.  we weRE talking about my dixie sun bathing post and she said that one heR favorite things is a cheRRy limeade.  dRinking a cheRRy limeade.  i love that!  so simple but something she pRobably doesn't do often.  was i looking in the wRong diRection foR my "thing"  pRobably.  so that got me thinking... and gaReth pointed out that he thinks it is making biscuits.  (not aiR biscuits although i am good at that!)  i love love love making whole wheat biscuits.  i tRy to look foR any excuse to make them.  as i seaRch for my bath in the sun, it is fun to see the simple pleasuRes that make me me.

well fRiends, i am definitely feeling pREgnant.  veRy pregnant, and sooo tiRed.  like just want to be in bed all day type tiRed.  i also want to spend as much time with just lilli.  but she doesn't want to hang out in bed all day.  we've been playing dice and dRess up.  she is the funniest peRson in the woRld.  Really.  

i am staRting to Read eckhaRt tolle's "the poweR of now"  stay tuned people!

My dog likes to bake herself.

i was in the kitchen doing the dishes this morning and something caught my eye.  my old lady dog, dixiemae, was outside sunning herself.  this is her favorite thing to do in the whole entire universe.  i've seen her lay (or is it lie? hmmm) in the sun a million times.  but this time i stood there staring out the window at her happiness for a little while.  she gets sooo hot and her tongue sticks out and luckily she is panting so you can tell she is alive.  she is on her back.  and she is smiling with her eyes closed.  when the wind blows she sits up and enjoys it hitting her face.  she can only do this a few minutes at a time.  she comes back in and cools off and then goes back outside for another dose.  she doesn't do it every day, only in very hot weather.

watching her do this, i realized that this is her thing that gives her extreme happiness.  woah.  do i have something like that?  do you?  it is something that she looks forward to and when she gets to do it, there is nothing else in the world she'd want to do.  not even come in for some cheese.  

this is a toughy.  i thought it might be sewing, but every project i start i get tired of working on.  cakes?  paintings?  hmm nah.  i love to do them, but extreme happiness?  it must be something simple.  the obvious:  hanging out with the family.  duh.  but what else?  i know what gareth's is:  tap dancing.  lilli:  dance class.  i'm talking about the thing that makes you excited.  when you know you get to do it, you have an extra spring in your step.  perhaps it was crossfit.  when i used to work out all of the time.  who knows, but i am excited to find that thing that is equal to dixie's sun tanning.  inner peace.  no thinking of every day worries.  

what is yours?  perhaps i can steal it.

So in love, we might cause barfs.

G and i had a wonderful anniversary weekend.  just splendid really.  sheesh.  we went out to dinner to the bleu olive, a nice barely lit eating establishment.  i got all dolled up and headed out for a night of silliness.  we aren't too used to being all alone when we go out.  even before lilu we usually went out as a group.  this was fun.  we giggled and tooted and held hands.  we were the couple that sat right next to each other instead of across.  we shared a weird dessert. (even though we had left over ice cream cake waiting for us in the freezer)  as our dinner ended, one thing became clear:  i missed lilli.  not too much, but enough to go and meet her instead of going home and waiting for her to get there.  she was having the time of her life with the Wurst family.  out to dinner at the macaroni grill then ski ball where they won her over 1500 tickets to redeem silly prizes.

so our celebration is over right?  wrong my friends.  the next night we cashed in on our fancy shmancy condo stay at the hilton on the landing.  this was family style.  i for sure recommend the condos over the rooms.  i stayed out on the balcony watching a fiddle contest and all the many shoppers walking down below.  it was wonderful.  lilli loved it too.  the best part?  we were right above the buckets n boards action.  sooo fun!

the main moment that sticks out is this:  a lady was walking around with a 4 monthish baby.  the exact way i used to carry lilu.  my heart melted and then i realized that i get to do that soon.  i'm having another baby!  one that i can carry!  so many people point out to me that it is tough with 2 kids (like 1 is cake)  and boy i do believe them, but it is nice to see a reminder of the good stuff.  and then i remember that gareth had a lot to do with me being pregnant so that sparked multiple text messages of gratitude.  man.  i love my family.  and sending text messages.

K.S. & R.S 4ever

need i say more?  really!  

Sweet Magnolia!

we have a brand new niece!  and she is quite the beauty... much like her mom, Amanda (g's sis).  her whole name is Magnolia Christine Warren.  but you can call her nola for short.  she arrived safe and sound after a very long labor.  what a super strong mama!

there are a couple interesting coincidences that amanda and i have.  her birthday is feb. 11th and mine is the 12th of feb.  we both got married in the month of august and had our first baby a year later in the month of august.  nola's bday is aug. 2 and lilli's is aug. 4.  i'm sure there are a couple more tidbits and i will add them after i bug gareth.  

one cute thing is that another name for the teeny one that we'd been considering is Lola.  (lilli and lola... awwww)  so we'll have to see if she looks like a Sanoii or a Lola.  just think:  cousins Nola and Lola!!  

and p.s. my eyes have been teary through this whole post.  i just love amanda too much!  

ballerinas and cowgirls!

here is what's been cookin' in the sever house this week.  besides cupcake orders from pinky dinks, i made these ballerinas for lilli to take to her dance class yesterday.  dudes, fondant is my new therapy.  i loved making these tiny gals!  i wasn't going to make lilli a cake this year but after just about everyone asked what type of cake i was doing for lilli... i had to show off something!  i guess my dream was that i could go get lilli an ice cream cake from dairy queen.... how can something be soooo delicious?  hmmm we'll have to see what lilli wants on monday....

also, i made this cute cowgirl hat!  i hope raelin likes it.  she is a super cute curly blondie of a gal!  we shall be meeting for her mama to pick it up sometime today.  

well i hope everyone has a rad weekend.  ours will be crazy.  G has 4 shows tomorrow and i have a big ol' cupcake order to do.  today my parents drop off the Nutch for a few weeks.  as soon as i get him i will be putting his hair up in pony tails and taking him shopping with me and lilli.  he weighs 4lbs and is a sweet yorkie.  stay tuned for pictures..... speaking of pictures, i am the WORST camera gal.  sorry for the inconvenience.

one lining please. color? silver!

i am happy to give you all this quick update on my truck meets van incident.  the insurance claims lady called and said that the damages were very little and that they were probably under 500 bucks.  but here comes the best part:  when we asked about the claim G told the lady that the people were just so nice and that we're just happy to get it fixed for them.  the lady said that that was the same thing they said about us!  and, they are now big fans of missouri! sometimes when you do the right thing you find yourself wondering what the point is.  it's nice to have an answer sometimes.  perhaps... could it be that the sever family is changing the world?  one car accident at a time!

ding. dong.

gareth got a new truck on friday.  it is just about the dopest, raddest truck i've seen.  it is a black decked out honda ridgeline.  so saturday i went to dixie to pick it up and drive around town with lilli.  and then i went to park it back at dixie and.... well.... rubbed the brand new van parked next to me.  yeah.  and dinged up the side of the truck a bit.  i could give you the billion excuses for this.  here are a few: * the honda truck is actually pretty chunky but when you drive it, it feels like a tiny car.  (so, it's hard to judge the pure fatness of the truck when pulling into a space)  * i was parking at the same time as the guy next to me was and he was over in my spot... he evidently knew that because when i got out to handle my "rub" he and his family decided to return to their car and leave.  * i am a pregnant lady.  does that count for anything?  well, that is the reason why i was sobbing.  turns out that they were nice people.  gareth went out there to wait for them to return to their van after the show.  our insurance wont go up since we've had em for awhile and it'll probably be less than 500 bucks to fix since it is a thin strip of paint removed from the bumper.  it is about the same as if you opened your car door and hit the person next to you.  this is something i could have easily just left without doing anything.  esp. since that has happened to me.  someone dented my bumper in and took off.  i just sort of shrugged it off, but had it been my brand new car i'd been... very upset.  as for the dent in G's truck, it has to go into the honda dealer anyway to have a couple other dents removed so we'll just throw that one in.  it's not big so we'll see.  i am so happy everything worked out surprisingly perfect.  i was just so sad yesterday.  i felt worse because gareth was so sweet about it.  (really, could anyone imagine him not being so kind about something like that?) so then i kept crying because i have such a sweet hub.  lilli kept hugging me, so i kept crying.  a hannah montana concert was on last night and i cried when she sang "nobody's perfect" i'm a freak, dudes. 

but on a happier note, lilli turns 3 soon!  aug. 4th.  we have no plans this year except that i want to take her shopping all day and then to dixie.  i'll make her a cake but this month flew by and i just ran out of time to get a party set up.  i was going to invite a couple of her pals and moms to go with us to dixie but i believe i will save that up for next year.  i can't believe how sweet and girlie she is.  she loves all jewelry that sparkles and pink and getting her nails done and the jonas brothers.  i am also making her a dance bag.  bright pink and sparkly.  

above are some pictures:  lilli took the one of me and G.  please try not to notice my chubby face.

hey girlie!

we found out last week that we are having a girl again!  at first i was shocked because, much like last time, i thought we were having a boy.  after a few hours of shock, i am totally TOTALLY excited to have another teeny girl!  i just can't wait to meet her.  i think it's so cute that it'll be gareth and a house of girls.  lilli calls her Noey because her name will probably be Sanoey.  or Sanoii.  i love the way our friend Kodii Moriuchi spells her name, so i'm leaning more towards sanoii.  why not have a rad spelling since most people will think her name is snowy.  i just love lilli so much and to add another person to love like this... sheesh, i must have done something right in my past to be so lucky.  

lilli is all better from the whole strep throat situation.  hot doggies.  she sort of turned into someone i didn't recognize.  cranky.  poor tiny girl.  but the real lilli has returned and i am sooooo happy.  she's chowing down on a quesadilla  (much like her daddio) and being silly right now.  the other night she decided to give me a massage as i was falling asleep.  a real massage.  how did we end up with such a sweet little monkey?  we took her to the springfield mall and she hit the jackpot with a bunch of very girlie things.  the best thing is that she loves to brush her hair now thanks to breanna who is staying with us and is the girliest of all girlies!  we just love her.  she works a lot so we look forward to her getting off work or waking up in the morning.  i'm glad her parents let her stay!

let's see, what else... oh i went to the new ben n jerry's at the landing 3 times last week.  so?  i also got a pair of chaco sandals.  bomb diggity.  they are completely adjustable which is good since my feet have been swelling.  google them.  they'll change your world!

i started planning our off season trip to the west coast.  january will be good to travel since the new baby will be tiny and sleep a lot.  i'll get to see my big sister and her family in the san francisco area and also to oregon to see gareth's family.  i'd like to be gone for the whole month.  if anyone has any ideas for an adventure let me know!  if anyone wants to join us, let me know!  perhaps we could rent an RV!  if anyone has an RV, let me know!

the people have spoken.

... and they want to hear the "my best friend broke both wrists" story!  sorry becca, here goes!

it was a beautiful summer saturday.  garage sales aplenty.  we were young and free.  we each had garage sale cash in our pockets and a set of perfectly functioning wrists.  becca and i had never roller bladed, so when we each found a pair of roller blades for the low price of 5 american dollars we could barely get home fast enough.  with visions of skating along gareth while he skateboarded and our new ripped bodies we would have from our new way of exercising we eagerly put on our new  skates.  

roller blading is hard.  we were trying to skate around our kitchen and we could never let go of the counter.  in the midst of the falling we decided we were ready to take this outside.  this is where the story gets blurry for me.  it seems like the smart thing to do would have been to skate on the driveway until we became pros or at least until we stopped falling.  but somehow we both decided that we were ready to go down a hill.  a hill that gareth and i would regularly street luge on our skateboards.  but would never do it standing on a skateboard.  but the summer wind was calling me and becca.  i followed becca up the hill.  i looked ridiculous.  i was pretty far behind her taking baby steps up this hill, then rolling back a little.  i remember thinking about taking my roller blades off until i reached the top.   and then...  

a blond flash streaked down the hill past me.  i immediately thought "woah... uh oh".  she was pretty much going down the middle of the street.  and bless her heart, she was reaching out for every mail box she passed.   i started giggling about that since obviously there was no way she'd be able to grab one.  and then it happened.  she landed in our front yard.  she tried to catch herself and put her arms back straight behind her.  my giggling turned to laughter because i am a major jerk and didn't realize she was hurt.  i made my way down the hill which wasn't very far for me because i couldn't really get up the hill in the first place.  poor becca.  we went in the house and got all of the rocks out of her hands.  and basically after a visit to the ER and then a follow up check she was in 2 bright green casts.  poor becca.  strangers were always walking by her saying "did you break BOTH of your arms?"  "why?" "how?"  poor becca.  but on a lighter note, whenever i think about her speeding down that hill.... i giggle.  a lot.  

she and i have a bunch of stories like that.  not bone breaking ones, but the mere reminder of these moments have me laughing.  like when our friend Eddy was over and singing something like henry the eighth i am i am and becca thought for no reason at all that he was singing the chili's theme song and chimed in with " bar b que sauce "  the lesson learned from that is to never give eddy something to make fun of you about.... okay, and me.  

or how mad she'd get at me when she'd be driving and i would sneakily put a boogie on her gear shift so when she'd put it in park, well, she'd get a boogie on her hand.  and i'd get a bruise leaving punch in the arm.  

isn't it great having a best friend?  or 2 or 3.  these people in your life are the cherry on top.  a funny hilarious cherry on top.

falling asleep with a cheesy grin on my face.

these past few days little Lilli has been under the weather.  it is double unfortunate because her buddies are in town!  the highlight of her ickies was last night.  she got to feeling "just great mom"  and put on an outfit and brought me my  sandals and announced that we needed to go to the store.  it was 10pm.  in our family that is not late at all.  so, we hopped in the car and headed to the only place open at 10pm.... the brand spanking new supercenter.  i actually dread going to that place but it is the only place that i can get cake decor stuff until michaels opens.

i turned the radio on and flipped through the stations and my heart skipped a beat.  John Secada was on.  he was pretty big in the 90s and used to be part of miami sound machine.  the best thing about his music is that it is very easy to belt out.  lilli was in such a great mood that she didn't "ask"  me to stop singing!  a song from the good ol' days of early high school is just the best.  which brings me to the point of this blog entry.  here lately i have been falling asleep giggling.  ya know, thinking of stories that are just hilarious in my mind.  and i'd like to share a few with you.  and they have to do with some of you as well.

Lunch With John Secada... well...

on my last trip to new york city, my close friend kim and i kept running (following and sneakily taking pictures)  into "stars".  we had just sat down to eat our glamourous lunch of wendys at the airport when a family sat right next to us.  like at the end of our table.  the lady had a huge rock on her finger and seemed wealthy but down to earth.  her 2 kids were cute.  they were eating wendys too.  (it was a food court)  the dad showed up eating sushi.  i smiled at him and he smiled back.  kim and i finished our salads, just kidding our enormous fried chicken sandwiches and biggie fries, and were sitting there chatting when it hit me that i was sitting next to john secada.  i tried to whisper to kim what i had just discovered but i am sure i was obvious.  the next dumb thing i did was even more obvious.... she didn't know who he was (which many of you might not know who he is as well)  so i started whispering/humming one of his songs............ while sitting next to him.  like a freak.  and then we began to be like-is that him? yes. wait, no.  stop, he's looking at you.  so are his kids. so i got my phone out to try to take a picture of myself with him in the background but he was too close.  then it became quite obvious that he was indeed the real john secada when people came up asking for his autograph and getting pictures with him.  when we got up to leave i gave one quick glance and he gave one last head nod.  looking back i know that he heard me the whole time humming his songs and telling kim that i'll just sneakily take a picture of him!!!  if you're reading this john:  i'm a huge fan and i just bought a bunch of your songs off itunes.  and i'm a weirdo!

up next:  when your best friend breaks both wrists.  and its hilarious!

i love this cake!

i had the opportunity to do this sculpted cake for a birthday party.  i must say that i am extremely happy with the result.  there are a lot of tricks to the trade to learn.  the best advice that one cake lady said was that this is a fun art form to do.  a cake.  that will be eaten.

and fun it was.  gareth was off from work and our other family is in town and watched the cake being made.  i actually work better with an audience.  i tend to over think stuff when i'm working on some things alone.  and gareth is the best of course, at speaking up with ideas and helping.  i guess i'll have to start charging enough for him to quit dixie stampede so he'll be around for every cake!  i feel like this is something that i really want to do.  no fancy serious wedding cakes, but celebration cakes for people  with a sense of humor.  which is who this birthday cake is for.  she had reconstructive surgery on her ankle and can't play sports next year.  i hope she likes it as much as i liked making it!  (the picture with the dr. pepper is to show how big it is)

also, a new spaghetti cupcake.  one of my favorites so far!

up to my forehead in frosting.

for those of you who hadn't noticed, i have a huge forehead.  good.  i got that out of the way.  

 every time i watch ace of cakes i get a major hankerin' to do a huge sculpted fondant cake!  hmmm.  we'll see.  i am actually happy with the first and only one that i have done.  the best part of that cake was that gareth and i worked on it together.  he comes up with these ideas that i think would never work...and then they ALWAYS do!  he is way smarter than i give him credit.  i find myself daily thinking to myself:  i'll ask gareth what he thinks.  sniff sniff.  to be pregnant and emotional and totally crushing on my hub....

perhaps something more enlightening next time... 

lilli and pals

these are more pictures of lilli with her other family the Wursts.  she sure loves these guys! 

this picture is after she had an entire bowl of ice cream and was putting on a "show" for her people. 

hurry back you guys!

hello midwife! you rock!

we finally made a choice on when/how/who/whatnot our next baby was going to be delivered.  as most of you probably know, lilli's birth was downright interesting.  (perhaps the story in its entirety will be blogged one day.)  basically, she was born at home in the water.  we (me, my mom and gareth) were by ourselves.  no help.  the end result was a sweet-tush perfect baby.  sigh.

since it is illegal in missouri for a midwife to delivery a baby, we had to search the great state of arkansas for other options.  my great friend kim highly recommended the midwife in her obgyn office that assisted in the delivery of her daughter, reese.  i didn't pursue her at first because she only delivers babies at the hospital.  but after meeting a midwife in berryville that was less than desirable, i decided to give debbie a try.  and yippy skippy!  first off, the office is the fanciest office i have ever been in!  and the staff is really nice.  and she shares the same views on birth that we do.  which is very refreshing.  another cool tidbit:  on monday the new "tower" opens at the hospital with some fancy shmancy birthing rooms.   

oh and she said i am measuring large for 17 weeks and she thinks i am more like 20 weeks.  we'll know for sure next month!  if so, that's like 1 free month!  hot doggies!

if you are trying to picture this wonderful lady, she looks sort of like a younger blond version of george costanza's mom from seinfeld.

on a cupcake note.  orders are coming in for highly decorated cupcakes.  i made a few samples and took them in and i told them they were at least 3ish days old and to just throw them out after they looked at them or set them on the shelf for the rest of the day.  and they ended up selling some!  i was like: ewwwww!  they told the people not to eat them and they were fine with that!  so with orders comes the problem gareth and i both run into:  what are you supposed to charge for your art?  it's so easy for everyone else to say you shouldn't take less than this or that.  but in reality, you barely want to charge more than selling yourself short!  the owners really want me to be treated fairly which is cool.  we'll just have to see.  i have an order that i get to do tonight for a 35th birthday.  flower cupcakes.  fun and easy!

well folks, it's been a great day!  and sara, we made it home safe and sound from harrison!  thanks for the concern!  you totally love us!

I love Branson. There. I said it.

it is 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  green trees are aplenty.  (so are ticks)  and although lilli has been cranky with poop soup(diarrhea)  and my head is still stuffy, today has been one wonderful day! why?

today buckets n boards did the preshow for the show SIX.  they did such a great job and the crowd was very much into buckets n boards!  and then the main show....

SIX is pretty badass.  i mean really.  there are obviously some seriously corny shows in town that you leave screaming at intermission.  we didn't get to stay for the whole show since gareth had to get to work and i had to get to billy bobs (another reason why i love branson) to chow down on a cheeseburger and fries...and gareth's fries.  Anywho, SIX is a group of six (duh) brothers that use no instruments.  just their voices.  one bro is the drums and the rest of the guys sing in perfect harmony.  google them.  i was pretty impressed.  i even laughed at their "funny" jokes.

another reason why i'm having a great day is that a long lost friend called me today!  dr. wilson.  he is getting ready to go to uganda to visit the community where the watoto children's choir is from.  i couldn't believe the wonderful coincidence!  we love that choir!  he asked me if i wanted him to bring me home a ugandan baby.  honestly, i once thought that that was the path for me and my family.  i wanted to at least foster a child from uganda.  and then... you know how things go.  perhaps there will one day be a ugandan in the family.  there are over 3 million children in uganda that need families.  i just can't believe dr. wilson is a part of that relief effort.  he is going there to set up a fish hatchery.  (he is a retired veterinarian) when i heard his voice on the phone.... my eyes teared up!  he is just someone that you feel fortunate to know.  he said perhaps we can get together when he returns from nicaragua.  (he's going there right after uganda)  what a life!  what! a! life!  i worry about a trip to utah and he's changing the world one country at a time!

i guess it just goes to show that there are people that make things happen and people that think about making things happen.  i'm somewhere in between.  i'm going to strive to be more of a make things happen type of person.  i have tons of ideas that i get passionate about but i rarely follow up on them.  we'll see how this goes.  i'll keep you posted.

another busy week

i wanted to wait and do a new post until i finished a project i was working on for this very blog.  but, i still have a couple pictures i am looking for so here is just an update.  

lilli had her first recital on sunday which ended up being her first taste of show biz.  she decided at the last minute to add some impromptu bum shakin'.  my eyes began to tear up as the crowd laughed so she gave them more!  she happens to be the youngest gal in the whole dance academy, so she looked so tiny up there on that big stage.  we are waiting for the dvd to come in, so i will put it up here then.  

my mom brought me some childhood pictures of me and i am still looking for my 3rd grade jc penney young lady mullet picture.  so when i find it, my collection of me through the thin-chubby-then thin then chubby years will be posted.  

our friends the Wurst family is in town from arizona.  i expect lilli to sleep until noon today since she had been going bonkers playing with the wonderful kids til midnite last night.  one reason she loves them so much is that they laugh at her "jokes" but also, they play with her even though she is quite a bit younger than them.  cheers to rad kids!

lilli loves kim stern and i love documentaries.

we've had a pretty busy week here at the Sever house.  gareth's good friend kim stern visited for a couple days from new york.  we took kim to the table rock lake visitor center where lilli got up close and personal to stuffed dead animals.  we went out to eat at thai thai of course.  and last night we went to the new steak place at the landing.  it.  was.  delicious.   

lilli really loved being around kim stern.  (she called her by her whole name all of the time)  she became attached to her immediately.  partly because of the huge lollipop she brought her but mainly because well, kids just love her.  they sang all of the time and lilli danced for her every chance she got.  we went to see dixie the night she got here and the next gareth was sick so we had a "ladies day out"  with shopping and lunching.  she left this morning and it was nice to have her here.

last night i watched a documentary called New Year Baby that was amazing.  i cried throughout the whole movie!   it is about a lady my age who was born in a thai refugee camp.  her family had been in a labor camp during the genocide of cambodia.  she travels with her parents back to cambodia to see for herself what they went through.  her journey leads her to many discoveries and an even stronger love for her parents.  it has stuck with me because it made me realize how important it is to know your culture and history.   my goal is to know more of this in me and to teach lilli.  i'll keep you guys posted!  i wonder how many people don't know about the many genocide that have happened in this world and how many actually happened in our lifetime.  i was pretty clueless about cambodia.  i do know of the rwanda genocide.  and there is even one going on right now in the sudan.  it is very hard to grasp the thought of wiping out races of people.  go here to learn more about the documentary: 

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/newyearbaby/index.html?campaign=pbshomefeatures_3_independentlensbrnewyearbaby_2008-05-27.