Praise the Man

Today at church since it was the 5th Sunday, Priesthood and RS met together and we watched the Joseph Smith movie, "Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration". What an incredible man he was. Watching Emma clean his tar and feather wounds and watching him bury their children just makes what they went through so real for me. He gave his everything to be the instrument that God needed to restore His gospel. Sometimes I wonder, especially after watching movies like that, if I am doing enough to help others come to the knowledge of their God and the Plan of Salvation that He has made for them.

I didn't tear up too much during the movie since I had seen it a thousand times and knew what was coming, but at the end, it depicts his martyrdom and then has some text that talks about how the effects of what Joseph did has spread through all the world. As I watched, and read those things and looked around me at all the teary-eyed Korean men and women, my heart just swelled with emotion. What an amazing work this is. It really has spread through all the world. How could it have such a strong-hold throughout the world and not be true?

There is one element of my testimony that, as long as I can remember, has always been very strong and that is that I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. Every time I read about him or read his words, or even think about him, it is confirmed to me again and again that he really was/is called of God. My testimony of other elements within the gospel wavers from time to time, but these questions are often overcome by the knowledge that I have that Joseph Smith really did receive those things in revelation and even though I don't understand them now, doesn't mean that I never will and that they are not true.

The movie posted above has scenes from the Joseph Smith movie and is accompanied by a 2005 EFY song entitled "Praise the Man" that I would listen to full blast while I was on my mission (remember that, Sister Owen??). As those of you who have served missions know, it can be very difficult to maintain your energy, bravery and confidence day in and day out. That song, which evoked thoughts of Joseph and the many sacrifices he made to bring the message to the earth, helped keep my testimony burning bright. I just love it! Praise the Man!!!

And the worst mom EVER award goes to...

So the unthinkable happened. There's a sister missionary serving in our ward right now who was a hairstylist in her previous life. I really need my haircut so she was going to do it for me yesterday. She asked me to have my hair dry and straight cause she thinks dry-cuts turn out a lot better. So, I was straightening my hair, making sure that the flat iron was not within little buddy's reach. I was nearly done and stepped into the bedroom to grab my brush and turned around to discover that Lincoln had managed to grab the cord and consequently the flat iron. He was holding onto the hot plates firmly, scalding his hands, shrieking in pain and not letting go. He was literally one step away from me. I just feel awful. At first I couldn't tell where he got burned or which hand got it or if both did, so I put both his hands in cool water as he bawled his eyes out. I felt like bawling my eyes out. Not too long after, a big blister which has doubled the size of his left thumb appeared. I didn't have any burn cream so we took him to the doctor to get some. Trying to keep a bandage on the kid is a real challenge.

The Korean lady at Matt's office who got the appointment for us with the doctor told Matt to tell me that I need to watch the baby every second. Really? I didn't know that... thanks for the tip! Anyone else have any other helpful parenting advice for the worst mom ever?

Hold the crisp, please.

On Sunday, we had Matt's home teaching companion (a Korean man that works for NuSkin) and Matt's home teachee (a Japanese man who is a professor at Michigan who's here for research) over for dinner. I'm not so good at making Korean cuisine and to be honest, I don't really care to, so we had spaghetti, salad, bread and apple crisp for dessert. As many of you know, most Asians do NOT have a sweet tooth. All their cakes at the bakeries here are just BEAUTIFUL but when you bite into them, it leaves you wanting... more sugar that is.

Anyway, we warned our guests that the apple crisp might be a little on the sweet side for them. After a bite they both assured us that it was just fine. The Japanese man has lived in the states long enough that he's acquired a sweet tooth, but above is a picture of the Korean man's plate. A crying shame!!! Doesn't he know that the crisp is the best part? At least he managed to eat the apples. Matt and I were drooling over his leftovers after they left, but we exercised some self control and managed to not finish what he started.

Happy Birthday, Buddha!!!

Here's how we celebrated Buddha's birthday:

How about you?

Everybody Clap Your Hands!!!

Lincoln has recently started to respond to things that I say. The first time was a two weeks ago or so. When I'm showering and he's awake, I'll put him in his walker so he can cruise around in the bathroom but not get into any trouble. On his walker, there are a bunch of little buttons that make all sorts of different animal or car noises. Since we have had that walker, I would tell him to push the buttons but he never would and then I'd show him how. A couple of weeks ago, I did the same, but this time he got his little pointer finger ready and pressed a button so hard that his arm shook. Then looked up at me with a little gleam in his eye and a smile on his face. What a little cutie. I thought it might just be a fluke, but I tried it again and again and he would do it. I was so excited, but of course he wouldn't repeat it for Matt when he came home that evening.

I've been trying my best to teach him to clap his hands a wave hello and goodbye. It's kind of boring to talk to an unresponsive child and I often wonder if what I do even matters, but a couple of days ago, he started to clap his hands when I'd ask him to. I was elated. It is so satisfying to know that the wheels in your kid's head are turning and that what you do really does make a difference. When Matt got home, I told him to ask Lincoln to clap his hands. Lincoln was ready to perform this time. Matt got a huge smile on his face and said, "WHAT??? When did he learn to do that?". "Today", I said. I'm looking forward to many more moments like this in the future.

Here's a bonus video. I've been trying to get this noise that Lincoln makes on video for months now but every time I pull the camera out, he gets too distracted and stops making the noise. This time I hid the camera under the table. You can't really see his mouth (which is the best part), but at least you can hear it. We get a kick out of him.

Stevie Wonder

My sister recently posted this pic of my dad on her blog in honor of his birthday. Thought I'd post it as well for your enjoyment. Freshman year at the U of U... lookin' good, Steve-O.

ps. I think he still has that bike that's on the left.

32 Weeks

Matt is so funny. Every four weeks he gripes about having to take my picture. Seriously, is it really such a sacrifice? I'll admit, I do have him re-do it a few times so it fits in with the others but it doesn't take more than 5 minutes. I'm just trying to help him develop the Chirst-like attribute of patience. He wants to know what my obsession is with my belly. I'm not obsessed... I just think it's fun to see how big of a whale I'm becoming. I was so bummed at 16 weeks when my belly was already so big, but now that I look back at that photo I think... "Man, I was so skinny!". Whatever... it is what it is. I do wonder though if my belly can possibly get bigger. It seems to sit on my legs much more than I remember from last time. NOT COMFORTABLE. I've resorted to sitting like a man... yes even at church. Do whatchya gotta do, right?

I'm sure you're all sick of these ultrasound pics. I have started to take them for granted myself since I get them every two weeks now, but these are pretty cool, nonetheless.

Pig Nose and Facial Profile

More face shots

Leg and Umbilical Cord

Bottom of the left foot (already 7 cm or 2.8 in long) and another profile shot of his face, hand and knee

Lincoln's Album

So I'm not a scrapbooker... never have been and pretty sure I never will be, but recently I decided that I should put together at least some kind of album for Lincoln. Snapfish did the trick. They've got some cute backgrounds and layouts so you can just throw an album together. This album is hard bound and linen covered. I'm very excited about it. Probably more so than Lincoln ever will be. Anyway, if you wanna make an album I'd highly suggest this route.

(ps. Click on the album if you care for a closer look)

An Afternoon at the Beach

We finally found a non-rocky beach nearby. Hooray! This is how much Lincoln liked the beach:

It was a sensory-overload experience for Lincoln. He fell asleep in the car 2 minutes after we left. This is right before he dozed off:

Seoul... good for the soul.

It's been a while since Matt and I have been able to go to the temple. It's nearly 5 hours away now instead of 5 minutes, so it takes a little extra planning to get there. Matt took a couple days off to make a long weekend. Our car is a company car and we weren't allowed to drive there, so we decided to fly. GREAT decision. By the time they served us beverages and cleaned up, we were there... right as Lincoln was maxing out on sitting in one place. Anyway it felt really good to make it to the temple. I have a bazillion family names that need work done. Matt stayed at the hotel while Lincoln napped and I went and did some inititories. I printed a map out so I could figure out how to get from the subway stop to the temple. Unfortuneatly, I realized as I was walking that the map only had landmarks instead of street names and I wasn't seeing any of the landmarks. I was gonna be late or maybe not make it at all. I just decided to walk the way I thought I should and then low and behold, the missionaries were on my path and confirmed that I was indeed headed the right way. Pretty sure that wasn't a coincidence.

Later that afternoon, Lincoln and I played on the grass there and ate lunch while Matt did some baptisms. Not only was it nice to make it to the temple and feel of the spirit there but I have an intense sense of duty to get my family names done, and it was really satisfying to help several of them get one step closer.

So Saturday we went to the temple and then to Seoul Tower which is a tower on top of a hill in the middle of Seoul. We waited FOREVER to get on the tram to go up and then there were just herds of people everywhere. We spent 5 minutes at the top and then waited another FOREVER to get on the elevator to get back down. Maybe a week day would have been better. Here's a view from the top:

Sunday, we went to the English branch. It was SO refreshing to be able to understand all the speakers and each lesson without a traslator. Here is a little video of what the building looks like:

Later that night we went window shopping at a place where there are a bunch of little antique shops. The Paparazzi was there in full force. It was OK if we were moving, but if we sat down, crowds would gather. I thought that in Seoul Lincoln wouldn't be as big of a deal since there are so many more foreigners there than in Ulsan, but I was wrong. Everywhere we went, especially on the subway, people were ooing and awing, kissing his hands, giving him candy (which I ate) and trying to get him to wave. Once he figures out how to wave on command, he'll be even more of a charmer. One lady that was a professional phtographer took a bunch of photos of Lincoln and us and asked for my email so she could send them to me. I thought she was gonna charge me but she said "FREE!". SO here are a couple that she took. Matt and I are trying to pretend the crowd isn't there, but Lincoln was hammin' it up for everyone.

Matt and I realized after we got home that we didn't really take many pictures while we were in Seoul except of Lincoln being funny. I think both of us have spent too much time in Asia to be impressed any more, so I guess you'll just have to come and visit to see what Seoul is really like. Seoul really isn't what I had imagined. I thought it would be more like Hong Kong with skyscrapers everywhere but it is really spread out and not so tall. The only indication that it is a big city are the crowds of people on the subway and roads. The main highlights of the trip aside from the temple and church were finding maternity pants for me and western style kids clothes for Lincoln. The lowlights include hauling Lincoln and his giant diaper bag up and down the subway stairs all day, every day, and walking everywhere while pregnant. My feet did NOT appreciate the "vacation". Anyway, here is Lincoln in Seoul:

Sleeping while waiting for the subway

Chillin' in the stroller. He never sits straight in his seat... always leaning to one side.

Sleeping while waiting for the subway... some more.

Lookin' studly in his new clothes

Munching on his sock. It was a real challenge to make sure he didn't ditch a shoe or two on the subway. I even double knotted.

Giggles with dad, the tickle monster, in the hotel room.

THE END.