New Callings

Today Rick and I got our callings! I was so nervous about going in this morning, and the Bishop asked us to be in Primary. Rick and I smiled at each other, then the Bishop said, "Oh no, wait. Brother Chappell will you be the Youth Sunday School Teacher and Sister Chappell will you be the 2nd Counselor in the YW Presidency?" I was like "uh.... Are you serious?" Bishop smiled and nodded. We accepted of course.

I am totally nervous about being in Young Women's! The last time I was in there was when I was a Laurel! It's a really small group of girls, but I am so excited, especially about helping girls transition from Primary to YW and to help introduce Personal Progress!

This is going to be a fun calling for the next 7 months or so (we leave Mississippi in April!)

Sew Awesome

So, I love to sew (ha ha!)

But seriously, I just picked up sewing and I am really enjoying it. I "zone out" when I sew and I am having so much fun using sewing as a stress reliever (besides exercising, which I've recently started doing quite a bit again).

In July, I bought my very first sewing machine--- without any idea of how to use it! I mean, I sewed a quilt for a Laurel project, but honestly, I think my mom did most of the sewing. So here's my awesome baby: I picked this lovely machine up from Hancock Fabrics for about $5o off it's normal price. So far, I love this machine (not like I have anything else to compare it to!)

My mom, since she's not here with me in Mississippi to help me learn how to sew, sent me a book for my birthday, and it's an awesome book. It's called Sew Everything Workshop and it's by this lady named Diana Rupp. It's a great beginner's guide to sewing. She covers not only sewing and stitching, but material, embellishments, patterns, preparing your fabric, handstitching, etc. And she also has about 60+ patterns in this book for you to try.

My very first project was sewing a hand towel. Very easy. The point of it was to try the different types of stitches on your machine, and since my machine has about 20 different stitches, I had a ton of fun doing it! Sorry no picture!

My second project was making a pin cushion. I had one of those super tiny tomato ones, and in my book, she gives you directions for making your own pincushion. The bottom fabric is denim (from Rick's old jeans). The top fabric is cotton. It's embellished with embroidery floss and a button. Sorry if it's a little blurry!

Then, I just spent a few hours today making myself a shoulder tote bag. It took me forever to find the material that I really wanted, but I persevered, and in the end, I came up with this: Love it. I am so glad that I chose these fabrics, because I can definitely see myself toting this around! My mom is going to help me with the embellishments when I go to DC and meet up with her at my sister's place later this month. One of the pieces of advice that Diana Rupp gives in her book is to only buy fabric that you love. I spent about an hour and a half choosing these fabrics and I am glad I chose the ones that I love!

"So why do you cloth diaper?"

A while back, (like, when we were pregnant), Rick and I were trying to decide if we wanted to use cloth diapers. We decided against it at the time, because we didn't have enough money to invest in to getting a bunch of cloth diapers. So we've used disposable diapers for a while. Toward the end of July/ beginning of August, Evan began having a pretty nasty diaper rash, and we tried several creams, with none working. And then I remembered that we had been thinking of using cloth for a while, because of the cost efficiency, and I thought to myself, "I wonder if the disposable diaper is what's causing Evan to have this diaper rash?".

We did a TON of research again to make sure it's what we wanted to do. And to tell truth, I was not sure at all if it was something that I thought I could stick with, but I was willing to try it out. We looked into all the cloth diapers out there. There are so many around, besides the old school prefolds, that at first, we really didn't know where to start. We decided on two types of diapers to try. They were the cheapest to invest in (until I found this uber-cheap website where they have knockoffs of Fuzzi Bunz, Bum Genuis,, and Kissaluvs). They are the Econobum and the Flip Diaper System. I really liked the idea of these two, because they are one size, which, theoretically, means that the diapers will grow with the baby and fit them from 8 lbs to 36 lbs. I cut up some flannel receiving blankets (Evan has a ton) to use as wipes, made my own wipe solution, and bought a diaper sprayer (this hose thingy that hooks up to the toilet that helps with cleaning up the poopy diapers).

So far, we've had smooth sailing. Evan's rash is completely gone now! Which makes me very, very happy that we decided to switch over to cloth diapers. A lot of our friends think we're crazy for wanting to cloth diaper, but honestly, it's going to be saving us a ton of money, and Evan's skin looks so much better. They're so much softer than disposable diapers. And the actual process of cleaning the diapers, and getting him into a new one, is so much simpler than I thought it was going to be!
I think we may start investing in some All-in-one diapers next, because these ones have a type of insert or a prefold and a cover. Until then we're very happy to be using our current set. Plus, doesn't he just look so stinkin' cute?

Small and Simple Things- Evan

Evan is learning more and more each and every day. He is growing strong, is curious, and very healthy. I thought that I'd right down a few of the small, simple things that I absolutely love about Evan.

1) When Evan wakes up in the morning, and I go in and get him from his crib, he always has the biggest smile for me. And then he does this funny little stretch while he's smiling, and makes me laugh because of how weird he looks.

2) I love watching Evan when he looks out the windows in our house. He just loves looking outside, especially when it's raining. He'll just stay there for about 20 minutes, usually once a day, looking out the window.

3) Evan is really independent. He usually crawls around, gets into everything, pulls things out of shelves, and about once an hour or so, he comes up to me, pulls himself up to wherever I'm sitting, and smiles at me. Just a big smile that feels me with so much love for this little boy. I always take him in my arms and cuddle with him for a few minutes. Sometimes we read a book, sometimes I sing him a primary song.

4) "Wherever I'll go, I'll go there too. Anywhere, any place, always with you" - My Personal Penguin, by Sandra Boynton. Evan is my personal penguin. He loves just being able to see me. He follows me everywhere, which can be very annoying (umm... bathroom?). I think he has a mommy honing mechanism somewhere in his brain and is always able to spot on to my location.

5) I love his laugh. It's so easy to make Evan laugh now. Making funny faces, making funny noises, pretending to crawl around after him, and barking like a dog. I think it's so funny the things that you're willing to do to hear that tinkling laughter of an innocent child. When I say "Bow-Wow-Wow", I'm sure I look like a complete idiot, but it doesn't matter because it makes my Evan happy.

Evan's First Hair Cut

BEFORE--- Shaggy-haired little boy. He looks like a surfer.

DURING-Evan and Rick in their matching capes. He is just so stinkin' cute! And he was bribed with a sucker.

AFTER---What a great transformation! Love this little boy.

I can't believe how well behaved he was during the haircut! He was just so cute and didn't cry or fuss at all!

I'm 25!

I turned 25 on Sunday. We celebrated on Saturday by going shopping! We also went out to eat on Saturday to a really famous seafood and barbecue restaurant called "Blow Fly Inn". I had BBQ Shrimp (Which was New Orleans style, so pretty spicy). And then we relaxed on Sunday. Rick took good care of Evan for me most of Sunday so I could have a break. Evan got me a beautiful mommy necklace. Rick got me a sewing book called "One Yard Wonders", a gift card to Hancock Fabrics, Bath and Body Works stuff and hand weights for working out. He also bought me all the stuff that I got on Saturday as well. Needless to say, I was sufficiently spoiled by both of my men.

The best part of my birthday was when Rick made me a 3 course Fondue dinner. It was my first time having fondue and it was so good. I definitely liked our appetizer, which was a cheddar and crab fondue with bread and broccoli. For our main course, we dipped steak strips and pork into broth. It took a while for the meat to cook though (I'm kind of ADD, so that didn't help at all).


This is Rick and I while we're waiting for our meat to cook (hence the steam rising up).

Then for dessert Rick made a Toblerone chocolate fondue that was really good. We dipped strawberries, apples, marshamallows, and even grapes. I don't have any pictures of the dessert at all, because we were too interested in eating! And was it good! Yum. It was about time that we opened up that Fondue Pot. We've had it since our wedding!

Book of Mormon Challenge

On Sunday, Rick's Elder's Quorum President challenged all the men to read 3 pages of The Book of Mormon every day until the end of the year, when we finish the book. Rick and I talked about it and decided that we definitely could spare 5-10 minutes each day to read together, on top of our own personal scripture study. So we started on Sunday and we decided to start in the Book of Ether, since that is, chronologically, the first book.

We had some challenges on Sunday with starting, because Evan was getting into everything, and talking very loudly. And then, we had the giggles the entire time because of some of the names. I've read the book before, but the way Rick said the names Moron and Ahah, I thought I was going to die from laughing so hard. And then, as soon as I was settled down and ready to begin reading again, I read something about Nimrod, and we both just lost it. (I blame it on teaching 7th grade for 3 years!) I thought that Heavenly Father was going to smite us with lightning because of how hard we were laughing. But, I think Heavenly Father was just happy to see that we were reading our scriptures together.

Yesterday we read about the Brother of Jared, and how his unwavering faith allowed him to see the Lord in the flesh. How amazing. But to tell you the truth, my favorite part of the story has always been how the brother of Jared came up with the solution to the problem of not having light in the barges himself. I know Heavenly Father helped him, but to me, it shows that we have to do a lot of the legwork ourselves. We can't just sit and wait for things to happen. But we have to make things happen for ourselves.

I've always been a person of action. (or at least I like to think of myself as that type of person). After Rick was laid off last year, and I was still working, and we were having a baby and all these other crazy changes going on in our lives, I remember telling myself that Phoenix was not where we were supposed to be. Heavenly Father has a way of telling you, through promptings of the Spirit, what you're supposed to be doing. I honestly think that He does this for all of His children, whether they're members of the church or not. It all comes down to whether you're listening or not.

I am so grateful for the discernment that I've been given as a gift. I've always had an easy time knowing whether something was right or not, whether an idea was from the Spirit or my own mind or Satan. I've had the blessing of Heavenly Father affirming to me through blessings and promptings, the places where I've needed to live, the jobs that I've needed to have, the education that I needed to get, and the man I was supposed to marry.

Most recently, He guided us into the Air Force. Rick wanted to get in as an officer, and that didn't work. Then I remember when we both came up to each other the same day in December and said, "I think we need to look in to enlisting in the Air Force". Some people will say that the timing of incidents, the people you meet, the jobs that you work at, and the places you go are only acts of coincidence. I look at these things and I see tender mercies. I see the friends that I've made at BYU-Idaho and Mountain View School; I've seen the children that I've helped; the wards that I've served in; my visiting teachers and visiting teaching companions that have served and helped me in my times of need; meeting my husband and having my baby. Those are all things that I never would have experienced if not for the sensitivity to the promptings of the Spirit.

I know this post is on The Book of Mormon and I am getting off subject, but I know that this book is the most perfect, influential, and accurate book out there in regards to our Heavenly Father, our existence on earth, our faith and Savior Jesus Christ. I challenge all of my friends to read it. Right now I am reading it on my own and with my husband. I know that you will be blessed as I have been.