I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts

We have been starting to cook with coconut oil after reading about its many, many health benefits (you can read about them here). And after my mom and brother/sister-in-law sharing their great experiences with it.
Tonight we had popcorn with coconut oil and sprinkled with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and a little bit of organic cane sugar. It was the most absolutely delicious thing I think we have ever eaten. It was so good I didn't even think to take a picture of it before it was all gone. I'm thinking this will become a regular thing in our house though, so I'll post a picture next time! I highly recommend it.
And I highly recommend the general switch to coconut oil. It can be used to replace butter and oil in a 1:1 ratio in pretty much any recipe. The flavor of it isn't strong enough to really effect the taste of most things.
AND you can use it as a beauty product. It's the most easily absorbed oil by skin and hair because of its chemical make up, and it feels amazing as a facial moisturizer.
The only downside is that it can be expensive. We bought ours on Amazon and used the "Subscribe & Save" and Amazon Mom Free Prime Shipping discounts. That made it about half the cost of buying it at our local grocery store. I love Amazon. I might have an unhealthy obsession with it actually. But that's a topic for a different post...

I haven't been to see a movie at the theater since I had Mason. That's 10 months for those who are counting. Austin and I used to see movies ALL the time. The double feature was our favorite date--seeing back to back movies. And when I wasn't going to the movies with Austin, I was seeing all the girly stuff with my besties Rache and Jess (Twilight, Jane Eyre, Leap Year...the stuff I would never force Austin to see with me). It has felt like a void in my life, but at the same time, there haven't been any movies that I felt like I just absolutely had to see.
And then The Hunger Games came out. I thought I could just wait and rent it in a few months. But then EVERYONE on facebook was posting about going to see it and I was dying with jealousy. I wanted to see it.
So I went with a group of girls from my ward on Tuesday night and l.o.v.e.d it. It was the perfect movie to break my no theater streak. I thought the casting was so great. And even though some stuff wasn't exactly like the book of course, everything was done so well that it didn't even make a difference. Jennifer Lawrence is my new idol.
And I am especially grateful for the sweet girls in my ward who have welcomed me into their group of friends so warmly. It's hard to be the new girl, and I don't have much experience in that regard. I'm also weirdly shy until I feel comfortable with where I'm at. I'm glad these girls have been able to see past my awkward loser new girl phase and have helped me feel at home here.

The Gift of Time

I have a watch. I love this watch. My dad bought it for me in Switzerland when my parents took me on a Senior trip when I was 17 years old. I have only had to change the battery once 3 years ago, and other than that, it's still like new.
It has been with me for almost 8 years.
It traveled with us through Italy.
It walked across the stage with me at High School Graduation.
It got me to classes on time at BYU.
It came with me on study abroad to London.
It timed thousands of patients' pulses and respirations at Peak ENT for 3 1/2 years.
This watch has been a very influential part of my life. Like Harold Crick in Stranger Than Fiction.

Problem is, Mason loves this watch too. Whenever I wear it he hooks his little baby fingers under the band and crams it into his mouth, constantly rendering my left arm useless. This was the exact scenario on Tuesday as we walked into Costco. It was pouring rain and I couldn't get my card out to show the lady at the front. Amidst the chaos I made the fatal mistake of slipping off the watch and giving it to Mason, and of course I completely forgot about it. Until last night when I realized that I didn't have it. And that I didn't remember taking it from him again in Costco. And I couldn't find it anywhere in my purse, the diaper bag, or the Jeep.
And because it's me, I started to cry.
I didn't realize how much I loved this watch until I realized it was gone.

I told Austin it was karma for the time when I was a baby and my mom had my dad's wedding ring in her purse and I threw it out at the grocery store.

My mama taught me well though. I did what 7 year old Shanna did when I lost my CTR ring, and I prayed and prayed that I would find this watch. Yes, it's just a watch. But I know that Heavenly Father knows how much little things like this can mean to us.

I called Costco this morning and they had it in lost and found.

I'm grateful for my dad who bought me this watch that I love so much.
I'm grateful for my mom who taught me to have faith and pray when I need anything.
I'm grateful for Heavenly Father and his tender mercies.
I'm grateful for Mason, who means more to me than a watch ever will.
Nonetheless, no more playing with watches in the Keaton house.

Mason got this adorable outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Keaton for Christmas. He looks destined to be a farm boy.

Makeover

A huge THANK YOU to the ever talented Ashton for designing my blog for me. With the tiniest little description of what I wanted, she made me something that is so perfect and better than anything I had in mind. It truly is motivation to blog more often. You can even check out my tabs on the top, I'll fill them in over the next several days and continue to update them. Now that I have a blog worthy of posting in, I will do so more often! =)

If your blog needs a facelift, I highly recommend having Ashton do the work for you.
She saved me from numerous google searches of things like:
"how to change my font in blogger"
"how to upload a picture into my header in blogger"
"free blog background codes"
"where do I paste background codes into my blog"
You get the idea.

I hope you'll enjoy the new design as much as I am!

Confessions of an Internet Ignoramus

I don't tweet.
I don't pinterest.
I don't stumble.
I don't instagram.
I don't yelp.
I don't link, trend, or follow.
I barely facebook.
I only know how to type in my blog like it's a Word document.

So what do I do all day?

I sing Primary songs to the babe
I make our baby food
I go for walks with Mason along the river and to the duck pond
I window shop the antique stores on Main St.
I enjoy fresh cookies at Sage Cafe
I show Mason the bird's nests in our trees
I read books about breastfeeding
I read books about birth
I read books about how to teach my baby to read
I read my book club books
I read poetry to Mason
I volunteer at the hospital
I go to La Leche League meetings
I exercise
I mop my kitchen floor daily
I make dinner for my husband
I write in my journal five days a week
I write letters to Mason in a notebook to give him when he's older
I write on my blog once in a blue moon
I write letters to my missionary brother
I skype with our loved ones
I work on our Quiet Book
I drink green smoothies
I paint my nails
I go for drives with my family to look for houses to buy
I sit on the back deck and watch Mason discover the backyard
I send care packages to my sister
I make an effort lately to be present in my present, not my internet presence.
Facebook has gotta go.
We'll see if I have time to get around to deleting it this week. I have a lot of other stuff to do. =)


What do you do to be present in your immediate life?
(and avoid the grips of the tyrannical internet monster)

Outlaw

I had my first run in with the Lewiston law. I got pulled over yesterday. For the first time in five years.
It was one of those really frustrating situations where I was actually consciously going the speed that I last saw posted. And he pulled me over in a school zone, after I had very deliberately slowed down to 20 MPH when I saw the flashing lights. I like kids. I don't speed where they're walking. Apparently there was ANOTHER school zone three blocks back that does not have flashing lights, that I was doing 35 MPH in.
I explained to him that I was new to the area, the last sign I saw was 35, and that I obviously don't speed in school zones because when he pulled me I was doing 20.
Then he asks me for my license, registration, and insurance card. What? Insurance card? I have never been asked to give my insurance card. Is that something new, or just Idaho?
We usually have it with us regardless, but again, we just moved here. We switched to a local agency and just barely got our cards in the mail a couple of days ago, and I haven't gotten them in the car yet. Plus I was driving the Corolla, which Austin usually drives. So nothing was easy to find and I was so flustered.
He was sort of nice to me and didn't cite me for being in a school zone, saving me $150, and from having to appear in front of a judge. But he gave me a regular speeding ticket. And he had to cite me for not having my insurance card. He said that when I go to pay my ticket I can bring my card and they'll waive that portion of it.
Then he said, "Welcome to Lewiston, thanks for wearing your seat belt."
As I drove away I said, "Thanks for not noticing my expired tags."

=)

9 Months Old

Where has our tiny little newborn gone?? I can't believe he has been out as long as he was in! He just keeps growing and growing into the most darling little boy. He has always been a sweet, content little baby, and he just continues to be a joy to be around.
He has the funniest little sense of humor, and makes funny little jokes in his own way. He also understands when we're being silly, and he'll laugh at just about anything. He loves to turn his head to the side and lean waaaay over until we copy him, and then he sits up really fast and laughs and laughs.
He loves to feed himself now and particularly loves spinach & kale puffs, grapes, blueberries, bananas, crackers, and oven fries as finger foods. He'll eat and love just about any fruit or vegetable we give him. Beets, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, spinach, peas, nectarines, pears, green beans, everything! I still can't get him to like oatmeal or any other type of cereal. I think he hates the mushy texture.
He is crawling faster than we can keep up with now. He loves to get into any type of cords and we are constantly trying to pry electrical plugs out of his hands. He still loooooves sock monkey and has now started to go to sleep with one hand hanging onto monkey's leg or tail. And when he wakes up he'll sit and talk and laugh with him for twenty or thirty minutes if we let him.
Mason also loves his books. He put them on the bottom of the bookshelf in the living room so he can get to them himself, and it's the first thing he does in the morning when I bring him downstairs. He pulls all of them off the shelf and then sits and reads. His favorite is Hello, Bugs and his Tractor book.
He loves to Skype. Whenever he sees the laptop open he starts smiling and chatting and looking for someone on the screen. And the other day he was in the kitchen when I started to call my family in California. He heard the "beep beep" that it does and he started crawling into the living room full speed, practically hyperventilating. He loves his family!
He now has four teeth, and numbers five and six are about to break through at any moment! He definitely uses those teeth too. He loves to give big slobbery baby kisses, but now they are usually followed by a big bite out of your cheek.
He can pull himself up on just about anything and loves to be standing. He can walk along furniture and can stand for a few seconds without support. Whenever he is around bigger kids that can walk he just stares longingly and enviously. He is just dying to do it!
The weather has been gorgeous here lately, in the high 60's, so we've been going outside for walks and in the backyard to play. It might be my favorite thing in the world to watch him get excited about all the things around us when we're out. He'll hear a dog bark far away or a bird chirping in the tree or just leaves blowing in the wind and he just has the most amazed look on his face. His big wide eyes remind me how magical the world really is. I'm so grateful to have a little child teach me how to be excited about those things all over again.

Now for the pictures and videos. We finally got decent phones so we've been using those to take all the pictures and videos lately, so I'm going to have to figure out how to put them up. So I'll post this now and add them all this afternoon. =)

I should be blogging more. The problem is that one of my New Year's resolutions was to write in my journal more. By the time I've done that each day, I feel like I'm just repeating myself! BUT. Here is my solution. I am going to spend this weekend re-doing my blog design, set-up, etc. Then I figure I'll be anxious to blog. Like when you get new workout clothes and it makes you way more excited about going to the gym. So forgive the many times I have let this blog gather dust.

I will also be re-doing my blogging attitude. Our family resolution is to have a positive home. Only uplifting TV, movies, music, words, actions, thoughts. Not just non-negative stuff, but actual sunshiny happy bright cheery things! So my blog is going to follow suit. No more complaining. No more judgmental or controversial things. Just a record of all the sweet, joyful moments that inevitably happen for us each day. My goal is to do a post a day, like people do a picture a day. Short and sweet and hopefully uplifting! Starting Monday. =)

I hope you haven't forgotten about me. I promise to do better.