I'm thinking of starting a blog. A real one. One that makes money. I'm still a stay-at-home mom, but instead of one kid I have 4 now. We are in dire need of some extra money. Looking at our budget, we need about $700 extra a month to stay within a very tight budget. I really don't want to eat rice and beans at every meal for the rest of my life; survive without really living. It reminds me of "Croods", when Eap says, in response to her dad saying that he was keeping them alive, "we weren't living, we were surviving, there's a difference!" And there is a difference. If I can't enjoy my life because I'm sucked dry of all the fun things that cost any kind of money now while I'm still fairly young, whereas in 20+ years when and if we can retire, too old to do anything... It just stresses me out. I feel for my husbandh who works a 9-5 job at a brick and mortar company and spends 2-3 hours in traffic roundtrip everyday, too tired to do anything when he gets home.

So, to bring me back to my original point, I want to help my family earn an extra income, and I'm thinking of starting a real blog. However I have no idea what to blog about, how I'm going to make the took me to write (it's 3am, I'm sitting in my daughter's room with her on my lap, as I type this up on my mobile-not ideal). 

I've been reading & researching. It looks as though starting a blog you need $, about $500-$700, need a good niche, need a good feeling/traffic, post to Pinterest, have ads & affiliate links, and possibly write an ebook, offer an online course or start a YouTube channel. I feel very inadequate. What could I possibly offer that isn't already being offered with more experience and know how. If you have any advice, any would be helpful right about now.

I don't get on here anymore... it is way too hard to find the time to write, when I'm juggling two babies - trying to get Mason potty trained (which isn't working out AT ALL! - I may just give up and let him potty train himself) I'm always tired and I try not to be cranky.  I go on fb ever so often, but upload all my photos via instagram to facebook.

at the pumpkin patch - bout ready to "pop" 

(next morning, Sunday, 3:30am water broke)

So for those of you that don't know... I had a baby! another boy! he goes by "baby Logan" but his name on his birth certificate is Logan Eli Smith. He was born 10/20/13 at 8:07pm 7lbs 13 oz 20 1/4"

Mason loves baby Logan very much, he tells me so every day... "I love baby Logan everyday Mommy" (Oh good I was afraid... and actually I kinda was afraid that Mason would be jealous and at times even mean to him... but luckily that has not happened.)

We recently got our photos taken by a friend professional and they turned out REALLY well. 

Thanks EMILY CHILTON!!!

This Christmas season has been good.... we bought a house back in September so its been fun decorating and trying to figure out the living room layout (our fireplace is in the worst possible place and there isn't even a fireplace or mantle... it originally had a wood burning stove on the bricks but that has since been removed by the bank or previous owners. So now the brick stays and the living room is awkward... no matter how we lay out the furniture, the room still looks strange... and I hate it... as an interior designer I should be able to make something work... but huh... any tips or ideas? any would be helpful.

Can I just tell you how AWESOME it is to have our own house, even our OWN SPACE and to not be confined to a single bedroom anymore!!!??? IT is WONDERFUL! (even if I am not 100% happy about the living room & kitchen - trouble)

So back to "this Christmas season"... we cut down our very own Christmas Tree it is very sparse but at least we have the memories of tramping through the woods trying to find a tree that wasn't gangly before it got dark, cutting it down, carrying it down the mountain to our car, strapping it to our car, and driving home to show it off to my parents who came over unexpectedly...  good times.

This year we'll be staying in Nevada for Christmas, my parents will come over Christmas morning for presents and then the rest of the day is ours... I'm not sure how it will pan out, I want it to be more than just "any other day"... any suggestions? Jeff gets a half day Christmas Eve and goes back to work the day after Christmas.  What are some traditions you have?

 Mason's first gingerbread house ever!! NICE JOB!

Hook Family in town Logan's Baby Blessing

"What do you want for Christmas?" asks Santa

"Candy!" Mason says

Santa gives him a candy cane

Mason is SOOO Happy! 

 My BOYS

pictures of us.. update

We celebrated Mason's 2 yr Birthday at McDonalds... it was small, but it was fun. He had vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting, sprinkles, and race cars on top of each one.  The party favors, whistling lips - made the night all so fun... here's Grandma & Grandpa having a good time!

Yes, both my sister and I are Pregnant!!

We did NOT plan that! 

I'm only 3 days ahead of her, but we'll see who goes first! 

Over Thanksgiving we got our photo taken by a professional: Luxe Photography - a good friend of mine, Charlotte Hines!

Listening to the Spirit...

Today, I had just come back from the park - a play date.  I didn't necessarily want to come home right away, but it was still too early to take a "nap drive" for Mason, but I felt that I should still drive on.  We passed our house, I drove down 80, then took Centerville back towards Lampe Park.  Right before the bridge I saw a lady wearing heels walking in the gravel.  My first thought was, "that's odd. Why would she be wearing those kind of shoes..." so I turned around as quickly as I could, pulled over on the side of the road behind her, and honked two times.  When she turned around she looked relieved, she walked slowly to the side of the passenger side and looked helplessly in, she walked as though her feet could use a break.  I offered her a ride.  She hopped in.  Dana was her name, her car broke down at the CVIC hall which was probably 3 miles away, she had been walking over an hour in high heels all through town and not one single person had offered her a ride.  She started crying, a feeble "thank you" was heard between sobs of joy that someone had finally heard her prayers!

I dropped her off at home, just off Tillman; luckily she had another car she could use because she had an appointment up in Tahoe in less than an hour! I handed her a pass along card, said she was welcome any time she wanted to come - that it would be good to see her again. She said that she's talked to a few mormons before, and that they've always been really nice people.  Who knows, maybe this time she'll actually come...

I'm glad I listened to the Spirit, I'm glad I was able to help someone today - to serve them.  I thank the Lord for allowing me to feel His Love and that hopefully I can help others feel His love too.

And Mason did fall asleep in the car... he's asleep now in his bed, which is where I want to be too... in bed.. I need a nap too...

Later!

life in the Mason Home...

Well, recently, within the last few weeks, I got stitches... again.  Only this time it was on my right index finger.  And here's the story on how I got it.  Grandma was wrapping gifts to give to her employees on her birthday, the scissors were out, and Mason got a hold of them (he is so quick!). He had them in both hands by the handle, and he's making cutting motions.  I don't even think about it, and I try to grab them out of his hands before he cuts himself or worse.  Instead, he yanks them upward in a cutting motion, and my hand gets stuck between the blade. One swift motion and I'm bleeding all over the place! I rush to the kitchen and quickly run my bleeding finger under the water...OUCH! I would say that I was really calm, it was my mom, on the other hand, that was freaking out! And honestly, Mason was not being very helpful... he's under grandma's feet trying to grab the first aid kit off the counter, while she's trying to get it open. Once she gets it open, he's right there tearing all the contents out of the container... I grab him by the arm and sternly push him out of the way and tell him, "No Mason. Grandma is helping, not you!"  granted he is only 18mo, but he just stood "out of the way" and slowly his face went from shocked to sad, lower lip quivering and tears running down his cheeks.  I felt so bad... among all the chaos, I open up my arms for him and he comes running into them.  We both fall to the floor, him on my lap... hugging.  I told him, "it's OK sweetie, Mommy is hurt and Grandma is fixing me up. You sit here and watch, no hands."  and after that he was VERY good. And after that, I was very good too... I went to Dr. Cottrell and got 6 stitches.

A few weeks later... now my finger is pretty much healed, there's entire spot where the scar is, but just right around it where the skin is peeling back... I can't explain it very well... so here's a picture.

Let's see, what other fun things have we done... Monday, Labor Day, Grandma, Grandpa, Jeff, Mason, and I went up to Reno (40min North) to go do the Ultimate Rush Tower... only Grandma, Jeff, and I went.  My dad is extremely fearful of heights, so he watched Mason, on the ground.  It was like free falling 180 feet and then being flying upward 160 feet, back and forth like a swing, but lying down in superman position! It was soooo much fun! scary but so thrilling!  We went twice. The first time was $25/person then right afterwards it was only $10/person. SWEET!

After we did the Swing, we rode go-carts. Dad, Jeff, and I.  Even though I was first for most of the way, at the very last second a girl slipped in front of me and her boyfriend was rear ending me and passing me enough to see my face and then slipping back behind me to laugh.  It was really rude... It doesn't bother me that she got first place, but it bothers me how she and her boyfriend went about doing it.  Afterwards, after we drove our cars to park, she jumps out runs over to her bf, gives him a high-five, and then shoots me a dirty look, then smiles and laughs... Maybe they weren't talking about me... but they didn't make it seem that way! stupid people. I tried not to let that experience ruin the fun that I did have up until that point. I just couldn't keep up to her after she passed me, my engine kept flooding! excuses? perhaps, but it makes me feel better!
Then as a family we went to "King Buffet" and Chinese/Japanese buffet... I had an endless supply of really good sushi... light and filling.  About $40 worth but got it for $10.  YES!
Mason wasn't the best, but he wasn't the worst either.  He was loud, not eating very well, and most of it landed on the floor anyway! He was entertaining though... Jeff got him a baby squid to try and surprisingly he ate half of it (a tentacle or two) and then spit it out! I wouldn't even look at it!

Mason is the party of our life! right now he is into everything! and I mean everything... he is tall enough to grab things out of drawers and stuff off the counter tops, he's even figured out a way to climb up onto the counter... he opens the drawers and then steps on them like stairs. We definitely need to better child-proof the house.

He LOVES to Hop... and he hops everywhere and on everything: his high chairs, the chairs (booster seat) couches, play yard, stairs, getting in and out of the car... everything. 

He gets so excited when he sees Grandma and Grandpa (my parents)... especially Grandma, he sees her and he screams like a little girl and hops in place and runs to her! now if only he'd do that for Daddy and Me.  Sometimes he'll do that for the rest of us, but not like Grandma! they've got a special bond.

My parents have told me that it will be a SAD day when we no longer live in the same house as them... sad because it's been so wonderful, and yet it will be happy too because we're "moving forward"... I wonder how it will affect Mason when we do move?

Some other fun things that I've been up to... I've started my Interior Design Consulting Business.  My first client is/was my parents. They bought a home out in Gardnerville a few months ago.  It had been rented out to tenants... and boy it was disastrous... they had pets... to say the least we had to replace everything.  Originally my parents were going to turn it into another rental, but then they decided to turn it into a Vacation Home Rental... so if anyone is interested in coming to Northern Nevada for a vacation, we have a home rental for you! Plus, I got to design everything! choose all the colors, textures, patterns, furnishings, everything! It is a Contemporary Home with Contemporary and in some rooms Victorian Contemporary Style.

Also, I helped my friend Becki make a headboard for her bedroom.  We made it from a door, put foam and fabric on it.  It is gold, matches her bedspread.  Next we'll have to get new (or new to her) furniture- dressers, night stands, mirror.  And then find some other decor pieces for her room, as well as her living room! we just barely rearranged the furniture... and that made a huge improvement, now the seating allows the fireplace to join the room.

Lots more happening and soon to come...

Thursday Sept 20 @ 7pm I am hosting a Jewelry Party for Premiere Designs, anyone who is interested in coming or would like to browse the catalog to buy something (before the 20th) leave me a comment, and we'll see what we can do.    Thanks.

Also, I'm curious to see just who reads this blog????

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Relief Society and other stuff

I was in charge of all the decorations for the Relief Society Birthday Dinner, 170th anniversary.  The theme was Relief Society History and the Restoration.  I decided to take glass mirrors and put them in the center of the table with 3 glasses of varying sizes with jewelry inside and dangling off the sides of the cups.  Also inside I put colored glass gems, some glasses I only put jewelry: necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and broaches.  I also put colored gems on the glass, and I made bubble magnets with the RS Logo.  I got a lot of compliments, one of which, "I hope this is what heaven is like this!" (not exactly sure what she meant by that, but I'll take it nonetheless.) 

Other things I made, as you can see by the photos, I put bows on the backs of the chairs, to make it a little bit more elegant...  I used plastic table cloths and cut them to make them a bit smaller.  I also took an old picture frame, painted it and added foam core painted with chalkboard paint.  I put it on an easel and displayed what the menu was for the night.  I had a lot of fun being creative... 

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After the RS Dinner I came home to put Mason asleep, 9:30pm an hour late, but after he fell asleep, I went back in to make sure he had a blanket on him and this is what I found.... 

The latest

Now for some fun things that Mason has been up to in the last few months: growing, traveling, growing, teething, gaining weight, visiting family and friends, learning, having birthdays, dressing up, growing, and teething some more, and did I mention growing?

He loves the bathtub, anytime he hears someone in the bathroom running water he pounds on the door to let him in, once and if you do let him in, he goes straight for the bathtub and will try to get in.  One day I was in the tv room finishing up watching a show with my dad when I noticed it was too quiet. "uh oh, where's mason?" we came out of the room and down the hall in the bathroom was mason sitting in the bathtub, he had climbed in somehow and with no water in the tub just sat and played with his toys.  He loves the water as well, puddles, cups with water in them, the hose, the toilet, he will do whatever he can to get that water on his hands, head, and mouth. He used to play in the toilet, putting Grandma's shoes in there, and pretty much anything else he could get his hands on... it was probably him who made the toilet overflow....

Mason is super strong, he pushes his high chair all over the kitchen, and when he wants to go somewhere, like outside he will grab your hand and pull you to where he wants to go, and he can move you. He loves to be outside, no matter if it is blizzard, snowing, raining, sunny, hot as ever, no matter, he wants to be outside and he wants to explore... so mommy needs to be prepared for every kind of weather so she can stay out there with him and not complain.

He now has 4 teeth on top and 4 teeth on the bottom.  And the Dr. said his molars will be coming in shortly (well anywhere from now till about 2 1/2 yrs old).

Mason loves to eat... we try really hard to feed him healthy food and in moderation, he loves bread though... which is probably why he is so solid.  Carrying him has become a workout for me... so funny story, I've been trying to work out, to Shawn T... Hip Hop Abs and Mason will come in and all he wants is for me to pick him up so we can dance together... It's like carrying a 25 pound weight while trying to dance... it's a bit hard, but who can resist a face like his!

His favorite foods are: grapes, peas, bread, lasagna, spaghetti, noodles, peanut butter, muffins, eggs, cheese, graham crackers, sweet potato puffs, strawberries, yogurt with either rice, barley, wheat, or mixed grain in it, applesauce, multi-grain cheerios cereal, oatmeal, and french toast. He will practically eat anything, and so far, he isn't allergic to anything.

Mason is ticklish in his inner thighs, rib cage, the back of his neck and in between his shoulder blades.  We just recently purchased a carseat convertible, and he is now sitting front facing, partly because our car is just way too small for him and I to fit in when he is sitting rear facing.  So now, when Jeff is driving I can reach back and tickle his legs and make all of us laugh! :) love it.

Grandma and Grandpa Hook are just so pleased and awed by him and how smart, clever, and persistent he is, so glad that we are here. Mason does this new thing, he will go into a closet and grab matching shoes and give them to their owner, then he'll walk away... sometimes the owner of the shoes will be all the way in the kitchen, the other side of the house, he'll carry them all that way just to give you your shoes then walk away.  Sometimes though he'll give you your shoes, once you've grabbed them, he'll take them from you again and then either try to put them on your feet, his feet, or he'll take them back to the closet... and then he'll repeat the process 5 or 6 times, each time getting faster and faster... it's an interesting game.  And he'll not only do this with shoes but also dvds, cds, remotes, pillows, etc.

Oh how time flies! I can't believe how fast my little baby boy is growing up, seems like just yesterday I was taking him home from the hospital.  Valentine's day Mason had his year check up and my how he has grown.  At birth he was 8 lbs 6 oz. and now he is 24 lbs.  His height was 20 1/2 in long and now he is 31 1/2 in long.

Feb 7, was his 1st birthday, we kept it small and casual.   Grandpa was able to cancel or move around his bishop meetings at last minute to attend the party.  I made a two layer moist devil's chocolate cake with whipping cream frosting (I think I made too much, should have gone with a pudding cake or something).  And we ate lasagna for dinner, I guess that's Mason's favorite, at least until he can tell us differently.  He ate so much lasagna that when it came time for cake he wasn't really that interested, plus we don't really let him have dessert most of the time, maybe a few bites here and there, but to get an entire slice all to himself was very different for him; so all of these factors may have been why he wasn't that interested.  However, to make matters more interesting because he was just sitting there poking at it, I sat behind him and fed him a little at a time, then I got a bit more aggressive and stuck his hand into the cake, made him grab some, and stuffed it in his mouth... I'm a horrible mother, but it sure was funny!

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Finally he is sleeping through the night! He has a routine; which I think was part of the problem.  He now goes to bed between 8-8:30 pm (depending on how tired he is) and he'll wake up between 7-8am.  Our routine for the night is: bath, lotion, pjs, milk, sing, scripture, book, bed.

Getting to this point of sleeping through the night was no easy task... we had heard from a friend a Super Nanny tactic and we decided to try it, I mean it wasn't going to make our situation any worse, we had nothing to lose (we already weren't getting any sleep).

The tactic
1st night: do routine, then put him in his crib at his bedtime (ours was 8:30pm), kiss or hug goodnight, turn off light, leave the room.  Let him cry (which was the hardest part for me, I wanted to make sure that I had done everything I could do for him, letting him cry made me feel like a bad mom).  let him cry for 5 min, then go back in his room. Do not take him out of crib.  caress his back, talk to him quietly to have him lie back down, whatever....  Time limit is 2min max to be in there, then leave the room and shut the door.  Wait 10 min this time before going back in there, if he is still crying.  (the first night we went into his room 3 times)... do the same thing as before, caress him, soothe him to sleep with a song or words, but remember time limit is 2 min max and you never pick them up or take him out of his crib) Leave room and shut the door.  Wait 15 min before going in there again if still crying (the baby not you)... You can alternate between parents, first Dad after 5 min, then Mom after 10 min, and so on and so forth (we alternated because we thought it would be too stimulating for him to see us both in there with him)... so you go in again after adding 5 min to each stent.  Eventually he will cry himself to sleep (after the third time going in.. he finally fell asleep and didn't wake up till 4am... which then we did the same thing, didn't take him out of crib, didn't touch him, just soothed him with our words or song and left the room.  He went to sleep after we put his binkie back in his mouth.  but for other parents who don't use pacifiers, eventually your child will learn not to wake up, and if they do, to soothe themselves to sleep)
2nd night: do routine, then put him in his crib at bedtime, kiss or hug goodnight, leave the room and shut the door. (if possible, this time when you initially put him to bed you both should be in there... then when he starts crying and you go in throughout the night, only one of you should go in, alternating if possible).  When they start crying, again wait 5 min before going in.  then add 5 min to each stint  until your baby falls asleep and you don't have to go in there all.
3rd night: do routine, put in crib, leave room, shut the door. by this time your baby is thinking that you won't follow through, so instead of getting easier, it just got harder, but you do this tonight and it will get easier here on out.  5min, 10min, 15min, 20min, etc. each time you go in try and do one less thing than you did before and cut your time in his room by a few seconds, that way by the 5th night all you have to do is open his door and stand there, it becomes reassuring to him knowing you are there without even having to say anything.
4th night: do routine, put in crib, leave room.  if he is crying wait 5 min then go in and do routine of the last 2 nights... 5min, 10min, 15min, etc... and if he wakes up during the early hours of the morning do the same thing as you would when putting him down the first time.  Set a wake up time when it is alright to take him out of crib, for us it was 6am, anything earlier he would just have to cry himself to sleep, but after 6 we were allowed to take him out of his crib and put him in our bed or just get ready for the day.
5th night: by this night, baby should be falling asleep after 10 min of crying and only having to go in there 1 time. If not, then perhaps this method is not for you or your child.
Holidays, weekends, vacations, people come to visit, try to keep the schedule and routine as much as possible, and for the first night you and one visiting relative can put baby to bed, then perhaps the second or third night relatives can put baby to bed.
Hope this method works for you, if you aren't already getting sleep because baby is waking up in the night, seriously what have you go to loose from trying this method.... if baby still isn't sleeping through the night by night 5 then this isn't the method for you, but now you have one less method to try. I think what it comes down to is routine and follow through.

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Belated Christmas

 gift from my parents, a tunnel. 

  Here he is just barely learning how to throw a ball... 

              Daddy thought it would be fun to put dvd stamps on Mason (which is was, fun and funny)

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Christmas in Utah... we stayed for part of the time with Jeff's parents in Clearfield and the other part of the time in Vernal and the other rest of the time at Jenni's in Bountiful.

Here Mason is playing with bubbles in our make-shift room 

 I took some photos in the car while on the way to Vernal

 Mason is meeting Great Grandma Gerri Carroll for the first time, Vernal UT

 She is bed-ridden, but today she was in good spirits, Mason can put a smile on anyone's face. 

 We went to the shooting range out in Morgan, UT for a fun activity... I look like a cop from the 70's with those glasses on...

 even though I was in the military, it doesn't mean that I know how to shoot a handgun very well... at least I hit the target... sometimes I got pretty dead on and other times not so much...

 Jeff was an extraordinary shots-man. 

 Mason wrestling with his tiger he got from Ashley as a Christmas present. 

Just chillin at Jenni's condo 

 Got to hang out with my BFF Karissa for a few hours! It was so awesome to see her and hang out, she works wonders with the Mason child. 

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In Nevada, Jeff and I went on a hike... it was rocky, and there even was a bit of a mountain climbing we got to do, unfortunately I wore the wrong kind of shoes, (like always) my rubber shoes are just too slippery for rocks. 

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Virginia City getaway for a day... this car was just sitting in front of an old building, thought it would make a great shot.

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Halloween... 

this picture he is wearing Mindy's binnie she made for him, this is the first time he's ever worn it, and the first time he didn't try and take it off. 

 For Halloween we went to the Trunk or Treat put on by our ward, my dad, the bishop was a pirate sheriff, Mason a sailor, mom "spider-woman", me a Dame or woman knight, and Jeff a mime (although not a very good one, he wouldn't shut-up!)

 The actual day of Halloween, we were eating dinner while the trick or treaters were coming to the door, each time the door opened a swarm of bugs would fly in, attracted to the light, would rest on the ceiling, and one by one would drop dead in our food, drinks, on the table... eventually we all lost our appetites, and here, dad is vacuuming the ceiling and we're all standing around watching. 

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I got a haircut! This is Ashley, Me, Mason, and Jeff enjoying fireworks up at Tahoe for Labor Day! Ashley came to visit with a group of her friends... how random.

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When we first arrived in Nevada, we went to go see my brother Jesse.  Mason is giving jesse loves, this is the first time they've ever met!