Bumper Sledding by Josh

I love it. We hadn't even started driving, and Whit had this huge grin on her face like some little kid. That's what Christmas does to you. I believe it's things like this that will keep us young...or else we'll die young. It really wasn't that dangerous especially since we've gotten like 12 inches of snow the last 3 days. Now when I was growing up with a bunch of boys, the driver tried to hit the asphalt spots to see whose bum would wear through the sled and their snow pants first.

Best Time of Year by Josh

So our little girl is so adorable. Now that I've been able to spend so much time with her over Christmas Break, I am convinced that there is nothing cuter on the whole wide world. Growing up with 8 brothers and sisters, I would sometimes wonder why and how my parents could have so many kids. Now I know. They just fill your heart and life with so much joy. I go for a little run and the first thing I want to do is see her. We came out here so family could see her, and we could have some babysitters, but I feel like I have been hogging her for myself. I am realizing that I don't get to see her nearly as much as I'd like with school.

I am already excited to see her grow up. Next she'll be rolling, then crawling, walking, running (with a smooth efficient stride of course), then driving, dating, going to college, getting married, and she'll be gone. So the only way to make sure you have a little cute one is to have more. I am excited for more little munchkins.

We are in Utah and I wanted to post a picture of the snow dumping down right now. It's picture perfect , but since Whit has some of my presents on the camera (we opted to take pics of our gifts that are back home in Memphis so we don't have to travel with them), I will have to wait which means they may not get posted. Needless to say, it will be a dreamy Christmas with all this gorgeous white snow. The only time I like it is maybe all 3 days before Christmas Day, and then it can melt away and be 75 degrees for all I care, or even 100. Just not cold and/or snowy.

This is our Christmas Card that we sent to everyone. The caption said, "Got all we want for Christmas...well almost all of us." We took so many pics and this one really is the only one she was crying in so we thought it was cute. She'll probably find it in 15 years and say we were so cruel. I may feel bad, but then again, I'll probably laugh. J/K!

Sorry that there is still a picture of fall leaves on the top of my blog... but lets be honest, I'm almost positive I won't get around to changing it before christmas.

The good, the bad, and the Ugly... the very ugly

Well, we've been in TN. for a week short of a whole semester! I can't believe we've been here that long! There are some things I like about it here.

The Good

1. shelby farms park
2. the nice big trees
3. mine and millie's doctors
4. Baptist Memorial Hospital
5. our ward
6. the new "atmosphere"
7. way friendly people when ever you go out to the store
8. Howards Doughnuts, "Baby Time" and Reundevous
9. SCO and all the SCO and LDS SCO students and wives!
10. Cheaper gas

The Bad

1. horrible drivers
2. no mountains
3. no snow
4. Chuck Ward (our Morgage officer)
5. Expensive groceries- especially Milk!
6. dumb grass
7. no sidewalks
8. lots of mental-bentals
9. Coachroaches and Brown Recluse spiders all over your house!!!

The Ugly!!!!

see number 9 above.

I could have attached many photos of "The Ugly" for your viewing pleasure but I remember when my Friend Leslie put a nasty picture of a spider on her blog and it is giving me chills just thinking about it... so i decited to spare you. Anyways, this week I found 2 Brown Recluse spiders in my house. I was so disgusted! and so Angry! I spent an entire shower trying to figure out who to be mad at... b/c it seems dumb to be mad at a spider. Then today I had all the SCO 1st year wives over for lunch and we had 2 surprise guests join our luncheon... coachroaches. Kinda embarasing to have all those gals over and in wander nasty coachroaches. blah! (not to mention the night I woke up in the middle of the night to see an earwig on my bed, crawling towards me) oh, the woes!!!

Our little chub-o

Last year we investede in a nicer camera and had been enjoying it, but as fate would have it, it broke a few days before Millie was born (Luckily it was still under waranty). We sent it in to get fixed and just got it back this week. (the camera we were using in place of it was not very great and only worked when it wanted to) Now we can post some more photos of Millie!



I took Millie to the Doctor last week... she weighed in at 9.8 lbs. just 13 days before (at her 2 week check up) she weighed 8.0 lbs. We think it's funny b/c the average weight gain for a baby is 6 0z a week. So, she should have gained almost 12 oz. in that time frame, but she gained 24 oz. Way to go Millie! I guess if she's like Josh and I it'll go straight to her thighs... jk. (Josh always got teased by his running teamates about his big legs. They'd call him cottage cheese legs etc.) We've been having a ton of fun Millie! She's still been a really good baby; she loves baths, "tummy time", and whispers and is starting to learn to lift her head up! Everybody says your kids grow up so fast, it really is true. It makes me kindof sad that she has outgrown her first outfit, and is almost to big for the Newborn diapers. Our little Mills really is just growing up so fast!

Josh's fav. sunday activity... Napping

Time?

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the sam number of hours per day that were given to Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Helen Keller, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."

-H. Jackson Brown Jr.

So, that quote, maybe it's true, maybe we do have enough time, but not enough arms!

Doughnuts

I have a thing for doughnuts. When I was little my mom would take us to "Winchels Doughnuts" in Provo (It was where "The Corner" is now.) I always got the same kind of doughnut... White cake doughnut, with chocolate frosting and sprinkles! Winchels was torn down and crispy cream became the new doughnut place. The problem was that Crispy Cream doesn't have cake doughnuts, so I was stuck with the occasional cake doughnut from a grocery store- good, of course, but not as good. We came out to Memphis and found a place called "Howards Doughnuts." We tried it out. To my enjoyment I found that they had Delicious cake doughnuts with sprinkles! I was 6-9 mo. pregnant so I was in the mode of "I already have a big stomach, so no one will notice if I eat alot of doughnuts" So I'd stop by and get these delicous doughnuts! Sometimes when I was out, but not near "Howards" I would have to get a doughnut at a grocery store... there was a week, I must admit, that I had at least one doughnut a day! It got to the point that the doughnut staff knew me. I went in one day and the doughnut guy says, "oh, I haven't seen you in a while" (not b/c I hadn't been there, but b/c he hadn't been at work when I went :) Man, all this talk of cake doughnuts with sprinkles is making me hungry! I'm off to Howards...

Gas

Taken last night! Amazing! And it just keeps getting cheaper and cheaper!

More Millie

Here are some MORE Millie photos... I wanted to make this post to answer a couple requests

This is Millie 2 days ago... I can't believe how much she's changed in just 17 days! It's been so fun to have her!

Here is a picture that has both me and Millie: There aren't many of these, as I like to avoid the camera... I can't really say that I've been "getting ready" these days.

This Video is deticated to my Nieces & Nephew's of the Miles family. I named off my Nieces and Nephews in the video but somehow left out Nic! How could I have possibly left out someone so important! So Nic, this is also for you :) We aren't getting a ton of action from millie yet, but we did catch her smiling!

It's been so fun to have Millie here. I can't believe that it's already been 17 days! She is such a GOOD baby and we Love her tons! We're excited for more of you to meet her over christmas and Thanksgiving! Also, thanks again to Mom and Tracy for all they did to help me while they were here! and thanks to Josh for being such a great husband and dad!

Our New Obsession

Millie Layne McAdams

Here are some more photos of our cutie. She just gets cuter every day! Thanks so much to everyone for all the support and comments! Also thanks for the good advice- there were some great "words of wisdom" that totally helped. Someone told me that C-sections felt like an Elephant standing on your stomach- it was so true! I would have laughed had I not been so overwhelmed! AND thanks to my mom and sister who have been doing pretty much all the work around here :) We LOVE having Millie ! I'm so excited!!!

Millie is finally here!

Born October 24, 2008 at 9:17am, 7lbs 4 oz.
Here's some pictures...more info and pictures coming soon ha

Busy Week

This has been/will be a way crazy week! As if having a baby isn't enough to fill up a week, we decited to buy a house too! We closed on our first house yesterday! It felt like the time was never going to come. There seems to be alot of stuff that goes into buying a house, it of course turned out to be a little more drama than we were expecting (as many things do.) BUT- we're so excited to have our OWN house! I'm also way gratefull for my little sis. (Tracy) and my Mom b/c they will get to do pretty much all the cleaning and moving :)

p.s. Even though buying a house is exciting, tomorrow will be way better and MORE exciting! thanks to all of you who left me some good advice and comforting words about c sections! I'll test out all the tips tomorrow. Stay tuned for pictures of Millie!!!

Pumpkin Patch

I LOVE the fall, and untill the past couple days it hasn't really felt like fall b/c it's been so stinkin' hot! I love most things about fall, I love the weather, I love halloween, I love the "magical feel" and I have a strange love of pumpkins and gourds! Just looking at them makes my day better! Yesterday we went out to the "Priddy Farms" pumpkin patch and picked out some pumpkins for a pumpkin carving night at our friends house. I just couldn't get enough of the Pumpkins! I might be crazy but I love the sound of a pumpkin when you tap it, I love the bright orange color, I love the twisted stems, I love how pumpkins smell when you carve them, I love the feel of the seeds as you are scooping them out!

Trip to The White House

All the Beijing Olympians were invited to a tour/presentation at the White House. Josh got to go and spend 2 days in D.C. They spent a day at the white house where President Bush addressed them all (basically saying nice job, thanks for representing our country) and they also got a grand tour of the White House! Josh and his group spent most of their time looking for secret passage ways. It's been really cool that Josh has gotten so many great experiences from his hard work and talents!

Josh did not get to talk to or "touch" President Bush this time, but he did get to at the olympics.

Josh also got a chance to address the congregation... ha ha, not really.

I have a friend who moved out here about a month b/f us. She has titled her blog "Living the Memphis Dream (that means not getting shot)" so, this became reality for us as we pulled in from church on sunday only to see 3 cop cars parked- one in front of our house and 2 just across the street. The house directly across from ours had 2 cops in the front yard, one with his gun drawn and aimed. We were like "ahh! lets not get shot" part of me was surprised to see this, but most of me was just surprised I hadn't seen it sooner.

Of course we didn't want to get caught in the cross fire of what ever was going on so we went inside and spied on the situation from the window. Eventually a cop came out from inside the house and motioned the other 2 cops to come inside. Then we went and made dinner and an hour or so later realized there were like 5 cop cars and 8 police. As is customary here, the neighbors had pulled out their lawn chairs and set them up on their drive way and were just watching. So, we asked them what the deal was. Apparently a 15 yr. old broke into the house 2 houses down. Stole some stuff like lap top, and was trying to get into his guns (thanks you neighbor for locking up your guns!!!) Alarm went off so he broke into the house across from us (which is vacant b/c the "known drug dealers" moved out a couple weeks ago) and hid in there. Police found him in the closet with stolen goods. See... not as bad as it looked. why do you need 8 cops for that?

Pregnant Post

Sorry to make a pregnant post, but my sisters have been asking how big I am. So, here you have it. This is me at 37 weeks and 3 days :) Millie will be comming on October 24! less than 2 weeks! Despite Josh's coaxing and other techniques (ice packs on millies head- we read about it on the internet... sad huh?) she does not want to flip! she is still breach, hence the earlier Oct. 24 date for a C-section. I'm actually pretty scared about that, so if anyone has any advice or comforting words about C-sections I'd love to hear them.

This is my new favorite candy... if you haven't tried it, it's delicious. NOT! One of the worst pregnancy maladies I've had is "heart burn" or "acid reflux" (Josh says I should call it acid reflux b/c it doesn't sound as much like a grandma) I wake up almost every night at 2:30 am and get to munch on one of these. blah. Really, being pregnant is just like being old (weight gain, discomfort, heart burn, tiredness, loss of breath, sore back...)

YUM

We watched conference, over the internet, with some LDS friends down the street. We were sad that we were so far away from it all! I've been missing Utah at this time of year... I love Utah in the fall- and the feel of everything around General Conf. time! Everyone is excited to plan their girls nights out or their dinners b/f preisthood session, or what treats they will make and eat during the sessions. We did do a fun girls night during preisthood session, which cheered me up a bit. A bunch of the LDS Southern College 1st year students wives went downtown to this delicous cheesecake place!

We shared 4 pieces between the 6 of us, and could barely finish them... we got white chocolate raspberry, chocolate raspberry, maple pecan, and my personal fav. Chocolate coconut almond! If you come visit, you will want to try their cheesecake. $7 /slice, but so good.

I appreciated this sign

Though my mother is probabally so embarassed and apauled by this picture... but we appreciated the sign so much that we took it's advice :)

Grandma Sycamores Homemaid Bread

Perhaps there are some of you who feel the same as I do? I can't live with out this!

A month ago when we went back to Provo I got 4 loaves and smuggled them back here. We've been alternating between grose loaves and Granny Bread! Nothing can compare with this delicous cuisine... please Leland Sycamore, sell your bread here!

Race Day

Last Saturday Josh ran an 8k race at Shelby Farms. It was with several local/semi-local colleges. He's been training once and a while with Rhodes college down town. He, of course, won. Nice job Josh!

THEN, a few hours later there was a 5k sponsored by Southern College. We BOTH ran that. Josh, again, won and set a new course record. wa-hoo! I was finishing about 1.3 miles and he had finished the race :( BUT- I won my division... the 8 month pregnant devision (which I made up myself to make myself feel better about the experience) I found my competition to be a little bit different than the usual. I really wanted to beat Josh's 65 year old, non-runner, professor. I just couldn't compete with his mean kick and he beat me by 20 seconds... ha ha. I really have to say though, I was a little bit proud of myself for "running" my 35 min. 5k

just pretend I don't look way scary!

To Satisfy 2 Tags... and show you that I have issues

I was tagged by Erin and Bonnie (Erin's said tell 6 quirks about yourself, and part of Bonnies was 4 random things) This should be both quirky and random enough. I even have photo evidences for you to enjoy.

1. I firmly believe in the 10 second rule. I am VERY paranoid about meat germs, but not other germs for some reason. Below is me scooping up my spilled jamba juice from the floor (this was in H.S. I'm not quite this disgusting now).

2. One of my favorite jobs was in H.S. working at "Tube Rental" at Seven Peaks. Before the park opened for the season we had to patch & scrub all the inner tubes- they had bird poo on them from the off season. It was disgusting but fun!

3. I had a serious thing for bald guys, red-heads, and freckles (this guy satisfied all 3 of those!)

4. I enjoy dressing up like a mental and embarassing myself? wow- I should be REALLY embarassed to post these photos!

me during my last year of college. I dressed up like a hunch back with a broom and with a nylon over my face and ran around differnt apartment buildings like Gollum.

I went up to Campus (USU) like this one day and jumped off the High Dive? (spandex, long blue and white striped sox)

I wore this outfit to school (BYU) one valentines day.

5. I'm obsessed with Budgeting (Sorry to Josh for this one, I'm sure it's annoying to have to live with!)

6. I LOVE taco bell mild sauce. I will even eat it plain!

p.s. sorry for the bad photo quality, I had to scan them in.

Lady of the Lake

No, I am not refering to "The lady of the Lake" from Tennyson's writings ... I am referring to the seemingly normal middle aged woman who has been showing up at one of the lakes at Shelby Farms park at 8:00 am. She stands on the edge of the lake, outstretches her arms toward the lake and sings "Hoy-yaah, Hoy-yaah" up and down the tonal range, at the TOP of her lungs. You can hear her from almost 1/2 mile away. I was very confused when I first hear her, but then it made me laugh for about 20 min. I think she must be summoning her powers?

Vandals of the Night

Each night when the sun goes down these vandals come out of their hiding places and begin their works of destruction, terrorizing all who lay in their path... I'm talking of course about the MOSQUITO'S! They are abundant here in TN. Each night before I go to bed I have to bathe myself in "off" in order to avoid these vandals! I wish I could say that "off" did the trick, but I always end up with bites anyway. Don't ask me how they get in our house, but they do! I find them lurking in strange places like inside the toilet, just and waiting for some un-expecting bum to take a seat and recieve a nice little bite in return!

BYU Football

Even though we live in Memphis, we were able to experience the excitement of one more game day in Cougar Town. I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of football, but as we were watching the BYU/UCLA game on T.V. a couple weeks ago (so many miles away) I found myself missing the hussle and bussle of game days... with the crisp fall air and leaves changing color on the mountain. So, to my excitment, Josh was invited to "Light the Y" before the BYU vs. Wyoming game this last weekend. BYU flew us both out there which was SOOO great of them!!! Josh was also honored at half time along with the other 2 BYU Beijing Olympians (Nick Aranius- Shot put for Sweeden, and so and so, who won a gold medal in Volley ball for the U.S.)

We got to go out of the field before the game started, and watched them warm up, then watched Ty Detmer run the flag out onto the field with the team following behind. And of course we got to be front row joe, as they got very serious about the "Hawka" (sp.) (the poly dance)

We went all out to make the most of this game day. I got a "cougar tail" which is basically 3 maple bars in one, as you can see. I ate most of it by myslef (well, millie helped of course.) We also had to indulge in a game day hot dog! Hot dogs are never as good at home as they are at a sporting event, or camping. (on my right, Josh's bro. Clint. We got extra tickets so we got to enjoy the experience with family)

Millie Moo

On our way out to Memphis we stopped and stayed with cousins in Bartlesville OK. It was really fun to see them. Our cousin Amy gave us the cutest baby gift for Millie! Thanks Amy!

Beal Street

Over the weekend Josh and I experienced a little of down-town Memphis. We went down to Beal street, where they have all the live music and stuff. It was way action packed/exciting. Please come visit so you can see for your self...

Video #1: We ate dinner at this place called Reundevous, a BBQ place. Memphis is supposed to be famous for their BBQ. It was really good, but the atmosphere was even better. The entrance is through this little back alley way, it seems scary, but once you get in it's packed!

Video #2: this doesn't need much explination, but please notice the following:

1. the guy is about 70 yrs. old with a cup of beer and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth

2. his shirt says 100- a nigger is a honey slave

3. old guy was dancing up there to the music, and girl decited to join, they didn't know each other

So Far In the South

So we've made the move to Memphis, and we've been here about 2 weeks. We've just gotten internet so this'll be my fist update on the move. We've had a good time so far. It's definitely the south here. Our house is nice, we're just renting till we find a place of our own. You'd go crazy to find out how much house you can buy with a little money. Tracy and I found a house on line for $2,000. If you put 20% down you'd just pay $14 a month! (forget abou the fact that it's in serioulsy bad shape and in a seriously bad area!)

Our ward is great and we've met a TON of nice people and got some yummy goodies from ward members! We really appreciate the warm welcome we've felt from the Ward, and from Southern College! We even have another S.C.O. /LDS couple about 4 houses down! It's been fun to hang out with them.

TN. is a cool place, but the Weather is certanly NOT cool. It's pretty hot, but it's the humidity that gets ya. I feel like I'm in hawaii. It's really green and there is lots of cool wild life! there are lots of Herons, and turtles, and Armadillos that live out here. I've yet to see a live Armadillo, but you see them dead all over the freeway's. We have this really awesome park near by that we like to run in. It's about 5 miles by 3 miles with lots of different paths and lakes/ponds and there are even some buffalo's there! (inside fences of course)

Shelby Farms Park

I have this thing with mushrooms... and they have some really cool mushrooms here.

This Osprey almost took my head off in the park. (It flew about 4 ft. right over my head and gave me a fright!)

These trees are all over here, these balls are about the size of baseballs. We don't really know what they are but josh calls them Monkey Brains. They had them in Ohio and he and his friends would throw them at each other like snowballs.