James, Tiffany, and Co.

For Prosperity

2012-01-16T17:37:00.003-07:00

I suck at blogging. I've accepted this about myself. But today, I was thinking about all of the silly and cute and frustrating things Little Mas does these days and thought I should record them somewhere. So here we go.

In no particular order, here are some amusing things he has done in the recent weeks.

A few days ago, I lost LM at Wal-Mart. After 15 minutes of frantic searching for him, I finally had a manager help me find him. They got on the intercom and shouted out his description. Less than 30 seconds later, someone called the manager on the radio saying they'd found him. He had been in the men's room, and had buckled himself into the child seat in one of the stalls. On the way home, I was trying to explain to him that someone mean could have stolen him and he would have had to live with a mean family. He said, "Well, Mom, I would just teach them how to be nice!" That kid has no fear. He also has a solution for everything.
LM LOVES his Mama. And he has some hilarious ways of telling me. In the last week, he has said to me: "Mom, you're a beautiful woman," "Mom, you are my popular lover," and "You are the mom of my dreams." He sure has a knack for compliments. He'll make his wife very happy someday.
LM is growing up. Today, I had to get out the 4T clothes I've been saving in the closet. After I said that I wished he would stay little forever, he told me, "Don't worry, Mama. I'll always be your Love Bug and I'll still cuddle with you, even when I'm big."
LM has started reading. He can sound out very simple words. He gets frustrated fairly quickly with it, but he's definitely on his way. Heaven help his Kindergarten teacher.
I've been thinking more and more about what it will be like when he's in school and getting more and more nervous for it. He's very smart and very outgoing. And he's not scared of anything. He told me the other day that you only have to follow the rules if a grownup is watching. Is this normal for a 3 1/2 year old?? I keep imagining the trouble he's going to get himself into at school one day.
LM got a haircut last week. He kept telling me that he wanted his hair to be short as can be, so I took him to the beauty college for a buzz cut. He loves it. His hairy is always nice and flat now, just how he likes it.

To end, here's a picture of LM taken this fall. I think I'll keep him.

A Conversation

2011-05-15T08:46:00.003-06:00

I know I haven't blogged in a long time, and I have lots to catch up on, but that will have to wait. I just have to record the conversation I just had with Little Man.

LM: One day Daddy will die and there will be a new Dad!!
Me: What?!!
LM: Uhh... Just kidding. There will be two Daddies!!
Me: What?!! .... Wait, who will be the new Daddy?
LM: ME!!
Me: Umm... sweetie.... when you're a daddy, who do you think your wife will be?
LM: YOU!!
Me: I'm already Daddy's wife. I can only be the wife of one boy. A different girl will be your wife someday.
LM (with tears in his voice): But how will I find her?
Me: You'll have a long, long time to look. You'll find her one day, I promise.
LM: But I don't know where the temple is!!
Me: Oh, sweetie. Finding a temple will be the easy part.

The things this child worries about. He's such a little sweetie. It is starting to make sense why he wants to be a Daddy when he grows up. I think he thinks he'll get to stay with me forever if he's a Daddy. I am going to enjoy this time, when he still likes me and thinks he'll get to marry me one day. I know it won't last forever.

How did this happen?

2011-03-06T21:44:00.003-07:00

Wow. My baby is three years old today. I can no longer even pretend there is anything "baby" about him, though. He's a full-fledged pre-schooler at this point. He is fiercely independent, cares about other peoples' opinions, and is curious about everything. He is finally starting to do some "boy" things... his most recent obsession is Spiderman and he runs around shooting webs and fighting bad guys. He jumps off of things and climbs things. He is also very, very sweet. Earlier this week, after he expounded on the Solar System, I asked him if he wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up. He said, "No, I'm going to have a special job." I asked him what kind of special job he wanted to have and he replied, "I just want to go on missions and be a dad." I love him more than I even knew was possible. He is a wonderful, smart, sassy, loving little man.

UPDATE: I just remembered something that I meant to blog about the big birthday bash. After LM blew out the candles, he exclaimed, "I made a wish about a dinosaur, Mom!" Super cute by itself, but I was also impressed because I hadn't coached him about what to do with his flaming cake at all. He just knew that he was supposed to blow out the candles then make a wish. What a kid!

Song and Dance

2011-02-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here are a few videos of Little Man singing and dancing. I think he's got a future!

Special Boy

2011-02-06T21:34:00.002-07:00

This is the conversation I had with Little Man this morning as I was putting him in his car seat:

LM: Mom, I really like your hair.
Me: Oh, thank you. That is really nice of you.
LM: Do you have some earrings on? Which ones do you have? (I then showed him my earrings.) I really like those earrings, Mom! I really like all of the earrings that you make!

I am feeling very grateful for my little guy today. He can be sassy and a general stinker (like any kid his age), but he is really a sweet, loving little person. He notices when I have a new pair of earrings or a new shirt and always compliments me on them. He notices when I give an exasperated sigh, and always asks why I'm feeling frustrated. He is so sensitive and so quick to notice things about people. I hope that he never loses that gift.

And have I mentioned lately how smart he is? He knows all of his letters by sight now and most of their sounds, too. He loves looking for letters ("Hey, Mom! That sign says S-T-O-P!") and figuring out what letter different words start with ("Vacuum...vvv...vvv... vacuum starts with V!"). He knows how to spell his name and can even write the first three letters of it. He's also got a great ear for music. One of the little games we play involves me humming the tune to a song he knows and him telling me what song it is. He's also really good at listening to a song and telling me what instruments he can hear. He's a big fan of jazz right now, can pick out a John Mayer song after hearing just the first few notes, and walks around singing Black Eyed Peas a lot of the time ("I've got a feeling... ").

Now if I could just get him to stay in his bed at night...

Spanish Lessons

2011-01-29T21:33:00.002-07:00

Little Man has been doing so well on the potty. Except for today (well, yesterday wasn't great either, actually). Today was the most terrible day we've had in quite awhile. The day started off with him crapping his pants. But at least I didn't get smeared with poo like I did yesterday. Later, we were at the craft store when I looked down and noticed that he was standing in a puddle. Have you ever had to walk up to a store employee and say, "Excuse me. My son just had an accident and now there is a puddle in the bead aisle." It is mortifying. Then, as I was dragging him out to the car, I noticed that his tiny little fist was full of beads. We had to turn around and march back in to the store and return the stolen beads. Again, mortifying.

On the way home, I was very calmly asking him why he hadn't told me he needed to go potty.
LM: "But I did, Mommy."
Me:"You did? I didn't hear you say anything about the potty."
LM:"Well, I was speaking in Spanish!"

Boo-boos

2011-01-18T20:52:00.003-07:00

Little Man is turning into quite a little artist. I just love his picture of his family and other things from around the house. He's really into Blue's Clues right now, and spends a large portion of his day walking around with his handy, dandy notebook and sketching things. On Saturday, he drew a picture that will go down in history.

LM: Look, Mom, it's you!
Me: Really? You drew a picture of me? Umm... what are those circles on my body?
LM: They are your boo-boos!

That one's going in the "To be shared with his prom date" file.

Knife to the Chest

2011-01-10T20:42:00.002-07:00

Ugh, it's Monday again. I hate Mondays. We had a basically terrible weekend, with James playing with his band both Friday and Saturday night. We'd had a such a busy week that I really made a huge effort to just stay home and relax with Little Man. The only time we left the house was to get groceries on Saturday and to visit Grandma and Grandpa for an hour on Sunday. We rested and played and made cookies and watched cartoons. I thought I had done a good job making the weekend fun for Little Man, even if nobody else had enjoyed it. Then, this morning, as I was doing one last check in mirror before ushering everyone out the door, LM came and stood in the doorway of the bathroom and asked, "Mom? Can we just stay home and be a family today?" Ouch. I forget how perceptive he is sometimes. And how he always knows just what to say to make me melt into a puddle.

Sleeping in the Middle

2011-01-06T20:42:00.002-07:00

There aren't alot of parenting issues that I feel strongly about, but letting kids sleep in Mom and Dad's bed is one of them. I firmly believe it should be avoided if at all possible. (I know not everyone agrees with me on this one.) Only in the last couple of months has it really become an issue in our house. Little Man has finally realized that he can choose to get out of his bed if he wants to. It gotten especially bad over the last couple of weeks. Several nights a week, we hear the pitter-patter of his little feet and then he asks, "Mom, can I sleep in your bed?" Most nights, I'm just too tired to fight about and so I pull him up and in. I was complaining to James about this last night, and he said he didn't think it was so bad, and then he started to sing this song:

Let Them Be Little by Billy Dean

More Billy Dean music on iLike

In case you don't want to watch the whole video, the chorus is

So let them be little,
'Cause they're only that way for a while.
Give 'em hope, give them praise,
Give them love every day.
Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,
Let 'em sleep in the middle,
Oh, but let them be little.

I rolled my eyes and moved on to other topics. Then, this morning, just as my alarm was going off, I heard that pitter-patter. I pulled him up into bed, and as he pressed his warm little body against mine, he whispered, "Thanks for saving some room for me, Mom." If I didn't know better, I'd think these boys were out to get me.

And a Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T21:42:00.003-07:00

Ah, the holidays. There is so much frantic preparations, eager anticipation, and then *poof* it's all over in about 20 minutes. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but the actual day never quite lives up to the all the planning that goes into it. But, don't get me wrong. We had a wonderful Christmas, full of family parties and presents. Christmas with an almost-3-year-old is an experience that everyone should have. The great part is, Little Man gets excited about everything! As we were sorting the presents Christmas morning, he looked at his pile and exclaimed, "Holy cow, Mom! That's a lot of presents!" It was a dinosaur-themed pile of presents, but his favorite gift was his set of Tinker Toys. We've played with them nearly everyday since Christmas and Mom and Dad are definitely glad to have some new toys in the rotation.

Also in recent weeks, Little Man has found an new friend... an imaginary friend. I've been waiting for this day, actually. He's got such an imagination and is always acting out scenes from his favorite stories. And he has no one to play with her besides boring old Mom and Dad, so I've been thinking it was inevitable. His friend is a baby T-Rex named Baby Cass and LM is his momma. Whenever Baby Cass is about to make an appearance, LM sits himself down (on his nest, you know), says "Cwack, cwack. My eggs are hatching!" and Baby Cass spends the next hour or so with us. Baby Cass likes to sit in your hand and be petted, play on the Tinker Toy playground, and eat hot dogs. Today in the car, I corrected LM and told him that he would not be a Mommy when he grows up. He proceeded to have a complete break-down. James later explained to me that I had essentially told LM that he couldn't be Baby Cass's mommy and that was the reason for breakdown. I think I'll still chalk it up to the terrible threes.

Our silly little Christmas tree.
Mommy and LM getting ready to go to sledding.
Making Christmas cookies in our jammies.
Christmas morning... and the pile of presents.

Highlights

2010-11-13T23:17:00.006-07:00

Here are some of the highlights from our life over the last few months:

I have been canning like crazy! It all started when we discovered grapes growing on our fence. So, of course, I had to bottle grape juice. Then, mostly because my mom got me a screamin' deal on some apples, I also put up a bunch of applesauce and apple butter. It has been a lot of work, but its very rewarding to have a pantry full of food that was basically free. And, by the way, homemade apple butter is DIVINE. You should try it sometime.
Little Man is FINALLY using the potty ALL BY HIMSELF! All of a sudden, he's just doing it! I have never been more proud of him!
Little Man's current obsessions are Buzz Lightyear (Don't let him get started on his "Buzz Lightyear shoes that light up the dark!" He's had them for months now and he stills talks about them nearly everyday.), dinosaurs (more on that later), Spider-man, anything spooky, including ghosts, monsters, skeletons, and jack-o-lanterns (he can't get enough of Halloween, even though its been over for weeks!), and Harry Potter (yes, I'm turning my kid into a total nerd).
Last month, we visited the Natural History Museum at the University of Utah. We made it just in time for the Dinosaur Show. At the end, when the kids got to come up and ask questions, Little Man walked up the guy and asked, "Is that a Utahceratops?", referring, of course, to the skulls that were recently discovered in Southern Utah. The guy looked at him, and said, "Yes, it is. How do you know that?!" Again, my kid is becoming a nerd.
Little Man dressed up as Buddy the T-Rex from the show "Dinosaur Train" for Halloween this year. I guess it is now a tradition that I make all of L.M.'s costumes. This one took me nearly 20 hours (including much unpicking), but he loved it, so it was worth it. My favorite Halloween-night quote was when L.M. saw a kid dressed up the "Scream" killer, complete with sickle. When he saw him, Little Man pointed and said, "Look, Mom! A paleontologist!"

Besides that, life is pretty much same-old around here. We have enjoyed the fall very much and are now looking forward to the Holidays. Little Man can't wait for Santa to bring him every toy he's ever seen advertised. A kid can dream, right?

Completely Spoiled

2010-08-28T22:17:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was my birthday. And, seeing as how I'm no longer 8 years old, I didn't really think the day would be all that spectacular. I was planning on spending the day working, going out for dinner, then having a piece of cake at my mom's house. A good day, but not spectacular. Well, the day completely exceeded all of my expectations. It started with a very early phone call from my mom, wishing me a happy birthday. Then she called back 5 minutes later, telling me to hurry and turn on my radio so I could hear the Birthday Round-up. Oh, geez....
Once I got to school, everyone seemed to know it was my birthday. All day, co-workers and students were very enthusiastically wishing a happy birthday (my 2nd period class even burst into song!). My two good friend at work got me a cake, complete with candles, that we dug into at lunch, and they even ordered me some Harry Potter action figures for my desk. During the last class of the day, an office aide walked into my room with a bunch of balloons and roses and told me that a man with a long white beard had just dropped them off for me. The card was signed Professor Dumbledore. I eventually got my mom to confess that it had been her.
Later, we went to dinner at an Indian restaurant (this is the one day of year that James can't veto me, so I went big!). Dinner was lovely and afterward, everyone met at my mom's for cake. I got more presents, more good food, and spent most of the evening laughing so hard with my sisters that I couldn't breathe.
It was such a lovely, lovely day. It really made me take a step back and realize how many truly wonderful people I have in my life, and how lucky I am. I felt intensely loved and very blessed. I'm not sure I deserve any of it, but I am so, so grateful for people that make me feel so special.

Summer Fun

2010-08-13T23:28:00.005-06:00

Although summer has been VERY short this year, we have tried our best to squeeze in as much fun as possible. There have been camping trips (well, one anyway), visits to the park and the pool, family get-togethers, and trips to Salt Lake. Here are a few pictures:

For some reason, we keep thinking its a good idea to eat ice cream cones in the car. What are we thinking?!

The highlight of the summer for Little Man (and possibly his life), was our visit the the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point.

My new favorite photo:
Can't you just hear him telling us all about the dinosaur he's looking at?

Posing with the brachiosaurus.

A Boy's Prayer

2010-07-15T10:21:00.003-06:00

Warning: This story might be offensive and cause intense laughter. Proceed with caution.

This actually happened a couple of weeks ago, but every time I tell this story, I end up with tears rolling down my face because I'm laughing so hard. And I keep thinking... I need to blog this!

We were saying the prayer at bedtime, and Little Man was repeating the words that James was saying. Here's what was said:

James: Please bless LM to grow big and strong.

LM: Please bless LM to grow big and strong in his wiener.

And now you know the deepest desire of Little Man's soul, and I would venture to guess, the soul of every male on the planet.

Trying to Be Grateful

2010-07-03T23:19:00.003-06:00

Some reasons why I am (or should be, anyway) grateful today:

Even though my car is probably totaled, nobody was injured in the accident I caused today.
We finally got our deposit back from the old apartment. (But, who charges $165 for carpet cleaning?!? Ridiculous...)
I got to spend some quality time with Little Man watching Toy Story 3.
Little Man only had one accident today (and it happened at home), even though we had a couple of long car rides and a long movie we sat through. Yea!
We were able to visit family today and enjoy a delicious barbecue.
Tomorrow is Sunday, and I have no plans!

And, just because it has been so very long since I posted anything, here are a few pictures of what's been going on around here.

On the first official day of summer, Little Man fell at the park and broke his nose. He was very swollen and colorful for several weeks and ended up needing to have surgery to set it. He's all better now, and although I don't think his nose looks quite the same, at least it's not crooked.

We've been spending lots of time with the cousins now that summer's here. Here's Little Man and Cousin E, bathing together. This picture will come in handy someday, I'm sure. Mwahaha...

Little Man's favorite activity these days is playing in the water. He loves to play in the canal in front of the house, get sprayed with the hose, and run through the "sprinkles." Here he is with Daddy, running/being dragged through the sprinklers.

Showing Off

2010-04-16T15:22:00.001-06:00

Here's a video of Little Man "reading" one of our favorite books at bedtime last night. Enjoy!

Baby Animals and Fighting Dinosaurs

2010-04-10T21:08:00.006-06:00

Oh, Spring Break? Where have you gone? This has been the fastest week of my whole life, I think. I spent most of the week scrubbing walls and cleaning out cupboards; after being stuck inside all winter, the house was feeling really yucky. I think having a toddler has something to do with it, because I've never felt the urge to Spring Clean before this year. I just really wish that the whole house could be clean all at the same time. I think I could make a full-time job out of chasing my boy and cleaning the house.

I did manage to get out to do a few fun things this week. On Thursday, my sister and I took our kids to the annual "Baby Animal Days" at the American West Heritage Center. It was much busier than I had anticipated, but we all had a lot of fun petting the animals and eating the greasy food, even if we did have to wait in line for a little while. The only pictures that I managed to get before my camera died were of Little Man petting the baby goats. I really wish I'd had a picture of him holding a chick all by himself. He almost squished the little thing to death, but he was thrilled.

This morning I was feeling like I really needed to DO something, since it's the last real day of Spring Break. At the last minute, I decided that Little Man and I were going to go to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. We drove down, had lunch at Burger King, then proceeded to the Park. Little Man was in heaven! If you've never been there, it's a little museum, plus a huge park full of life-size statues of dinosaurs. They also have a dinosaur-themed playground, which Little Man couldn't have cared less about. He just wanted to keep walking around and looking at the dinosaurs. For the rest of the day, he kept asking when we can go back to see the "fighting dinosaurs." I think we'll be spending a lot of time there this summer.

And one last picture. Tonight, while getting ready for bed, Little Man said, "I do it all by myself." Here's the result:

Did somebody say Easter candy?

2010-04-04T19:58:00.003-06:00

I realized today that I made a significant parenting mistake. While we were watching Conference, anytime "Easter" was mentioned, Little Man's ears perked up and he would say, "Candy? Easter candy?" We had a talked about why we celebrate Easter, but I know all he'll really remember is eggs and candy. Any tips on how to teach a little one about resurrection?

We did have a fun Easter, though. The Easter Bunny visited us in the night and left eggs to find and a few small presents in Little Man's bucket. We had a leisurely day watching Conference then went to my sister's for dinner, another egg hunt, and, of course, more candy. Seriously, we have more candy in our house than we did at Halloween! And since Little Man is a candy fiend, there have been many temper tantrums at our house today.

Little Man has had a few rough potty day in a row. Tonight, at my sister's, he was playing by himself in his cousin's room. I went to check on him, and walk in to see him with his pants pulled down. Upon closer inspection, I saw that he had pooped his pants. When I asked him what he was doing with his pants down, he pointed to the doll house toilet he was trying to straddle, and said, "I go potty, Mom." Close, honey. How can I even be mad?

Gotcha!

2010-03-28T22:39:00.004-06:00

I'll bet that you thought I died, right? Fell off the face of the Earth? Or maybe you just thought that I'm a full-time teacher who is also the mother of a 2-year-old and that maybe blogging rarely makes it to the top of the list anymore?

I realize I haven't blogged in two months, and I really wish I had been. Little Man has been growing tons and tons and I haven't documented any of it. Shoot. Here are the highlights that I can remember:

He had RSV (we think) at the end of January. James called me at work one morning to tell me that Little Man had thrown up and couldn't breathe. I left work early and ended up spending the afternoon at the doctor's office getting albuteral treatments and x-rays. He was fine in a couple of days, but it was very scary. The best part of the experience was what good boy he was about the whole thing. He wore his dinosaur mask with gusto! And when we got the x-rays, the tech told me all about how Little Man would probably cry, but only because he was uncomfortable and that it would actually make the x-ray turn out better. Little Man didn't even complain at all. I had told him we were on a "Dinosaur Adventure" and made a game out of the whole thing, and it worked. I've got a great kid.
Little Man turned two! If you ask him how old he is, he will tell you that he is six. Sometimes he acts more like a six-year-old than a two-year-old. He is very, very smart. He's learning his letters now. And he still loves dinosaurs. At his two-year-check up, he told the doctor that his favorite dinosaur was brachiosaurus, and then she started talking about skipping kindergarten. If he wasn't already small for his age, we might actually think about it.
He got a big boy bed! Yea! He's been sleeping in it for almost a month and it still hasn't occurred to him that he doesn't need someone to come get him in the morning. I think this is hilarious.
He's very nearly potty-trained. In the last week or so, he's only had 2 or 3 accidents. I'm sure he'll regress again, but he seems to be on an upward swing for now.

Also, and this is just for posterity, here is a list of some of Little Man's favorite things right now:

Favorite Book: Mr. and Mrs. Noah by Lois Lenski
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Food: Fruit Snacks (or, as he calls them, fruit candies)
Favorite TV Show: Handy Manny
Favorite Thing to Do: Look for airplanes in the sky
Favorite Word: Mommy (Or any variation thereof. He often refers to me as Mom, Mama, Ma, Mother, Tiffy, and Honey. All of them are getting old.)
Favorite Movie: The Land Before Time

And, finally, here are a few pictures.
With Daddy.
Reading a story with A and Uncle David. He LOVES his cousins!

He went through a phase where he liked to lay in the pack and play and read stories. Sadly, this was a short phase.
I'm not sure, but I think he's being a T-Rex in this picture.

The Life of Little Man

2010-01-27T21:53:00.003-07:00

I have no "news", per se, but thought I'd quickly update you on the world of Little Man these days. This is mostly for my own memory; feel free to skip this one.

He is still obsessed with cooking. Getting him his own kitchen did not help to get him out of mine. And now he pulls the step stool over to the drawers and takes everything out of there, too.
He really likes to sing. He personally sings "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Who Stole the Cookie," and "Mr. Alligator Can't Catch Me." He often requests me to sing "Bee Song" ("I Caught a Little Baby Bumblebee"), "Happy Song" ("If You're Happy and You Know It"), "Child of God," and the "Grumpy Song" (which I made up).
He is bilingual! Last night, after helping him with something in the bath, he looked up at me and said, "Gacias, Mom." All of those hours of Dora are really paying off!
He know his shapes. I discovered this last night at story time, when he rattled off all twelve shapes in the book we were reading.
His new favorite word seems to be "Don't." I hate this.
He asks for a piece of candy almost immediately after waking up every morning. He even tried to order candy at a restaurant last night.
Our bedtime routine has a new ritual. Instead of laying on the floor very nicely while I rub his lotion on him, he now does a running jump onto my lap, throws his arms around my neck and proclaims, "Tall Mountain!" while I quickly try to slather him up. I'm still not sure if I'm the tall mountain or if he is.
In order to go to sleep at night, he has to has Osie (his stuffed dog, whom he named himself), Duck, Tigger, Froggy, and Mike Wazowski in his bed with him. These stuffed toys must be laying down and be covered with a blanket before I am allowed to leave.
Every afternoon, he gives us a running dialogue of everything he both said himself and heard others say while at daycare that day.
He loves dinosaurs. He will often "roar" at us while pretending to be a dinosaur. And he can pick out and name T-Rex and Triceratops.
He really likes reading his stories. Most evenings, he will climb up in his rocking chair and read stories to himself for at least half an hour.
He loves to count. He can count from 1 - 3 and from 8 - 11. I'm hoping he'll get the ones in the middle someday soon.

I know I've said it before, but I really think I've got the cutest, smartest, and funniest boy around. I sure love that kid to pieces.

My New Favorite Picture

2010-01-25T22:33:00.004-07:00

Little Man and I spent a good chunk of our evening together drawing and coloring. Maybe it's been a long time since I sat down and watched him color, but all of a sudden, he's COLORING! He's concentrating very hard and only coloring certain parts of the picture; suddenly, those lines on the page mean something to him! I was astounded, but you probably aren't. This is a picture right before bath time tonight. The sight of Little Man in big-boy unders makes my heart flutter a little. Also, notice the marker on his belly and the Coco Puff sludge on his face. Does it get any better?

The Evolution of Little Man

2010-01-11T21:55:00.003-07:00

Has it really been a month since I blogged?? I won't bother to make excuses... I'm sorry.

In the last month, my Little Man has really grown up. He kicked the sippy-cup habit, and more importantly, he said bye-bye to diapers. Most people think I'm absolutely nuts for trying to potty train so early (including my husband, I found out two days ago) but he had his first accident-free day today, exactly two weeks into the process. Not bad, I say. He still hasn't got the hang of telling us when he needs to go, but as long as you get him to the potty, he'll sit and do his business (and then exclaim, "I did it! Pee-pee potty toilet!"). I'm so, so proud of my little guy.

Christmas has also come and gone since I last posted. I just found out that someone **clears throat and casts a meaningful glance across the room at James** deleted all of our Christmas pictures. I'm feeling pretty devasted about losing the pictures of Little Man's second Christmas. He got a play kitchen which he adores. We had it set up when he walked out into the living room Christmas morning, and he walked straight to it, grabbed the play food, and started "cookin' ". A few days later, I asked him if he liked his new kitchen, and he looked at me and said, "Mom, I lub it!" He also got lots of other presents, including some new blocks (which he uses to build "Gramma's house" and "tall mountains"), a Magna-Doodle, some books, a potty and underpants, and lots of candy. And now that we've lost the pictures, there is no evidence to prove how overboard I went, so there is nothing to prevent me from doing it all over again next year.

I do have a few pictures of life around here from the last week or so. Isn't he a cutie?

Showing me his big smile.
Hugs at bedtime.

One of Little Man's new favorite foods is pudding. He would eat it all day if I let him.

Lookin' sharp in his new Sunday clothes.

A Very Quick Update

2009-12-08T19:20:00.004-07:00

I haven't updated in awhile, mostly because I've been deathly ill two times now in less than two weeks. Here are a few pictures of what's been happening around here.

Little Man has turned into quite the monkey these days. He climbs on everything and has even figured out that he can drag baskets and boxes around to help him reach things.

We had a lot of fun playing in the snow on Saturday.

On Sunday, we put up the Christmas tree. Somehow, Little Man knew just what to do.

Thanksgiving Tricks

2009-11-23T18:55:00.004-07:00

These days, Little Man...

is obsessed with markers.
is learning to count. He gets all the way to two!
loves cooking. He gets the bowls and cans out almost daily.

is starting to pretend. The other day, he brought me a stacking cup with a block in it, and said, "Eat. Nugget."
is obsessed with barbecue sauce. He is SO is father's son!
calls his drink a "voom voom." I have no idea where it comes from and I wonder how long he was calling it that before I figured it out.
love scaring people.
thinks the snow on the ground is bubbles.

Here's some quick videos that prove just how smart, sweet, and silly my little one is. Enjoy!

Thankful Turkeys

2009-11-08T18:41:00.003-07:00

Tonight, we did a family craft. We made turkeys out of our hands (well, actually, we all used James' hand) and wrote what we were thankful for on them. This activity kept Little Man occupied for much longer than I expected. Here's what they look like:

Little Man is thankful for candy, colors, family, and outside.

I am thankful for my family.

James is thankful for Mommy, Little Man, Duane/Jimi (as in Duane Allman and Jimi Hendrix), and his guitar.

And here's a video of Little Man from this week. He learned to tippey-toe and what a baby says.

A Very Harry Halloween

2009-11-01T22:13:00.006-07:00

Halloween is way fun when you have kids. I just decided that. And I've also decided that we should have Halloween at least twice every year. It is way too fun to have to wait all year!

Little Man dressed up as Harry Potter this year. I made his costume myself and my friend Jodi let us borrow the glasses and the wand. Personally, I think he's the best Harry Potter there ever was. I'm think about sending a headshot to Warner Brothers.

Little Man actually got really into the festivities yesterday. By the end of the day, he was saying "Trick or Treat" and "Potter." He was even waving his wand at people and casting spells on them.

We took Little Man downtown yesterday to go trick-or-treating at the stores on Main Street. Everyone that saw him just gushed over him and said that he was the favorite costume of the day. It made me wish I'd entered him in a costume contest!

We made lots of visits to family and friends yesterday. Little Man got candy everywhere he went. "Candy? Please?" was the most uttered phrase of the day.

My niece (who was a scary black cat, not a cute black cat) was not having as much fun as the rest of the kids.Posing with the Jack o' Lanterns after all of our visits.
Hanging out with Mommy at our friend Liz's.
Little Man had his first high-level dose of sugar this weekend. My goodness, that kid is a candy fiend. He was bordering on obsession. My favorite candy moment of the weekend happened on the way home on Friday. He had gone trick-or-treating at daycare and threw a fit when I set his pumpkin bucket next to him, not in his lap. So I caved and let him hold it, thinking he couldn't possibly do any damage. Within thirty seconds, I heard a squeal of laughter coming from the backseat followed by a shriek of "Candy!!". He had managed to get a Twix bar opened and was shoving the whole thing in his mouth.

Boy Genius

2009-10-23T19:46:00.002-06:00

In the last few days, I have become convinced that my son is a boy wonder. He is learning so much, so fast. Things I don't think kids his age should have a grasp of yet. Here are a few examples:

Earlier in the week, when he had a sore throat, I gave him some chocolate milk and he learned to say "choca". Last night, we had gone to the store for a treat and ended up with some mini Hersey bars. James gave Little Man a small piece of one, and he said, "Mmm... choca." I thought it was amazing that he recognized the flavor of chocolate in an entirely different form.
During this same chocolate episode, when he was done with his piece and wanted more, instead of yelling at us, he simply said, "peas" (please). We gave him some, of course, then he said "tanks." Amazing!
Tonight, I was looking at a book with Little Man. At the end, there is the music for the song that goes with the story. When we got to the page with the music, he pointed to it and started saying "Daddy," then took the book to James. He has figured out that James knows what to do with all those lines and dots!
Also, he is extremely interested in the potty. He can say the word "potty," he asks to sit on it (although he has yet to actually do anything on it), and he knows what mommy and daddy are doing on it. This makes me very excited!

For reals, though, is this a normal amount of smarts for a kid his age or do I need to start saving for the Ivy League tuition now?

Sick Day

2009-10-19T19:47:00.004-06:00

All weekend long, I watched Little Man rub his ears and jam his fingers in his ears. Then, he woke up with a slight fever this morning, and that was all the excuse I needed to take a sick day! Turns out, he doesn't have an ear infection, but he does have cold sores on the back of his throat. He's in some pain (he won't eat anything!) but he's still pretty cheerful, so it wasn't a terrible day. We had macaroni and cheese (with hotdogs!) and chocolate milk for lunch, played in the leaves outside, and even squeezed in a quick Family Home Evening lesson before bed.

I'm not sure if it's because I've now spent three solid day with him, or if it's because he hasn't been feeling well, but Little Man is suddenly very... enamored... with Mommy. He will not let me out of his sight! He's constantly grabbing my hand and dragging me off to "pay" (play) and even when I'm sitting right next to him, there is a constant stream of "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?" coming from him mouth. I love him dearly, but I was ready to hide by bedtime tonight!

And here are some pictures from the weekend...

Last night, my mom and dad came over to help decorate Halloween cookies. We all had lots of fun. Here's Little Man sneaking a taste.

Every night at bath time, Little Man helps take his clothes off, then puts his dirty clothes in the basket (his future wife will thank me!). Here he is with his shirt stuck on his head. When you take his hair away, he sure looks different!

Little Man loves bubble baths! Here he is posing for the camera.
Even though there was no water left, he was determined to keep enjoying the bubbles!

Busy, busy, busy

2009-10-11T14:46:00.004-06:00

Sorry for taking so long to update here. Life is busy! I've been working six days a week, 10-12 hours a day, just trying to keep my head above water at school. Blogging has fallen to the bottom of the list. My few hours of free time every day get devoted to spending time with James and Little Man. Have I mentioned how much I love my family? They get me through it all...

I don't have tons to mention here, but I did want to share something that happened at church today. It was probably my all-time favorite thing Little Man has ever done, and I hope the feeling translates as I try to put it into words. At the end of sacrament meeting, Little Man starting giving kisses. He'd give me a big kiss, then give James a big kiss, then he'd push me and James's faces together until we kissed. Then we did it all over again. We did this half a dozen times, all the while trying to contain our giggles and not interrupt the singing. It was so, so sweet. We are a family and we love each other. And Little Man really gets it, without ever being told.

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a scene from our house last weekend.

Progress

2009-09-02T20:32:00.005-06:00

Wow, a lot has happened since last time I posted. It's kind of been the best of times and the worst of times around here. My family has been going through a... transition. It's been hard and sad. I'm not going to talk about it here, but I'm hopeful that things will work out ok in the end.

A lot of happy things have been happening, too. Little Man is learning so much these days. It seems like he learns a new word everyday. He has a whopping 10 teeth now. (That means that 5 teeth have erupted in the last 6 weeks or so, which might explain why I wanted to sell him to the circus for most of August.) He also started at his new daycare last week, and it's been wonderful. The lady we picked is fabulous! Since he started going, he's been eating, sleeping, and... wait for it... he kicked the binky habit! She doesn't let kids use them at her house, and we tried to cut it back to bedtime only, but it was just too hard on him to know that it was in his crib and he couldn't have it. So it went bye-bye. The first two days were a little rough, especially at bedtime, but it was way easier than I thought it would be. And did I mention he's eating? He's eating! He's actually become quite adventurous in his food choices. He's been trying lots of new foods and has finished his dinner every night. James and I just stare at him and wonder where our kid went, because the change has been so sudden. We're not asking questions, though. Maybe he'll put on a few pounds and get back on "the curve!"

Here he is eating a bowl of cold cereal in his new booster chair.

School started for James and I last week, too. James is being challenged by his classes, but he seems to enjoy it. And I love my new school more every day. It's such a different atmosphere than what I'm used to, and that's a good thing! The staff is great, the kids are great, my department it great. I'm in heaven.

Also, in other happy news, we've been enjoying the fruits of our garden this week. Our green beans are finally ready and we even picked a zucchini last weekend. Our pumpkin plant has 3 lovely little pumpkins that we are really hoping are ready in time for Halloween. And remember the great tomato massacre of earlier this summer? Well, I'm pleased to report that one plant seems to have made it and it even has a blossom. Whether or not I ever get an actual tomato or not remains to be seen, however.

If you know James and/or his family at all, you will not be surprised to hear that Little Man has some OCD tendencies. One of his new obsessions is coloring. He does it for hours a day. At daycare, the other kids have started to bring him a crayon when ever he cries. He's usually pretty good at keeping the crayon on the paper, but every once in awhile, he extends his artwork to other areas. Here is one of his masterpieces.

Little Man in also obsessed with sprinklers. It takes us 45 minutes to walk up the street and back because he has to stop and touch every single sprinkler that he sees.

James's new obsession is Harry Potter. (Oh, he's going to be so mad at me for telling everyone!) I read all the books over the summer, and am more than a little obsessed myself, and I challenged James to try them. He said he'd read 50 pages and now he's already well into the 5th book. Here he is looking particularly engrossed. (He was finishing the 4th book. If you've read it, you know why he's on the edge of his seat.)
Here are my boys enjoying their daily cartoons-and-cuddling ritual.
More to come soon. Here's to a happy Labor Day weekend!

Making Mischief

2009-08-11T20:27:00.005-06:00

It's never a good sign when Little Man is quiet for too long. This afternoon, I went searching for him, and this is what I found: (Please ignore the camera strap in the pictures.)

(What does it say about me as a mom that instead of getting mad, I pulled out the camera?)

I guess I'm mostly glad that he only scribbled on himself and not the carpet or walls or something. A quick shower with Daddy took care of most of it, but I'm afraid it will take a few days to get it all off.

Little Man's Menagerie

2009-08-03T22:23:00.004-06:00

I've been bragging about Little Man's animal sounds and I finally got a video tonight. Little Man has turned into Little Monster these days (he's working on at least two molars) and tonight in the bath was the most cooperative he's been in days. So please forgive the nudity. Hopefully Little Man will forgive me, too.

A day with the girls

2009-07-30T23:17:00.002-06:00

As a favor to my sister, I kept her two cute girls for a sleepover last night. I'd been craving some girl time (does anybody else ever get tired of living with boys?!) and they were the perfect fix. We did a craft (glass magnets for their mom), ran through the sprinklers, played a board game, watched "Coraline," went to the park, colored, and listened to Hannah Montana. Little Man loves the girls and wanted to be right in the middle of everything we were doing. The girls were mostly patient with him and tried to include them in their play when they were sure he wouldn't mess anything up. Here's my favorite Kodak moment from this morning: all the kids brushing their teeth.

Where We Are

2009-07-28T23:00:00.008-06:00

I found a cheap copy of "What to Expect: The Toddler Years" yesterday. I have a love/hate relationship with these books. Sometimes, when Little Man is surpassing even the "might even be able to" things I love the book; other times, like when he hasn't even attempted the "should be doing" things, I hate them and vow to not look at them anymore. So, mostly for my own remembrance, here are the things Little Man is achieving these days:

He can say Dad, hi, bye, shoes, cheese, hot, and Jesus.
He can make the sound a duck, a cow, a sheep, a rooster, and a monkey make.
While looking through books, he can find and point to lots of objects. Some that he knows especially well are grapes, ball, guitar, and fish.
He is showing some early signs of potty training-readiness. When you ask him if he pooped, he will look down at his diaper, then shake his head or nod.
He has mad dance skills. When he hears music, he starts bouncing up and down. Sometimes he will grab my hand so that we can dance together. And my favorite move is the turning-in-circles move. He giggles the whole time he's spinning, then falls down with dizziness.
He's getting good at scribbling. We try to keep him away from crayons (he eats them) but he does very well with colored pencils.
When we say that it's time to have a prayer, he folds his arms (for about 5 seconds).
He's very close to running. He has perfected prancing, however.
He's very good at building with his blocks. The book says he should be able to stack two blocks, but he's been building towers for awhile now.
He knows several "commands." When asked, he will throw something in the garbage, shut a door, go get his shoes, hold hands, give kisses, go to his highchair, and go into the bathroom when it's time to brush teeth. We're still working on "Come here" and "Stop that".
He will drink his milk cold. Since we switched him to cow's milk, the only way we've been able to get him to drink it is by warming it up. Finally, just in the last few weeks, we've been able to get him to drink it straight out of the fridge. (In a related story from the week, the other morning, James got him a cup of milk when he got up. Little Man handed it back to him and said, "Hot." So maybe we haven't completely broken him of the habit.)
He had a molar break through. He's still missing the two teeth in between the front one and the molar, so hopefully those don't end up crooked. The molar seems to have stopped moving down, but there is a tiny sliver of sharpness back there.

Although it is not an achievement by any means, he is still enjoying his baby food. He is such a picky eater! Mostly, he's unwilling to try anything new. Last week, while having dinner at my mom's, he tried bread (in the form of a roll) for the first time. We can usually get him to eat noodles, corn, beans (as in dried beans), tomatoes, and graham crackers. And don't even mention the word "yogurt" unless you plan on giving him a bowl-full.

Making mischief.

Playing guitar with Daddy. We tried to go camping a few weeks ago, and ended up packing up and coming home at 11:30 because Little Man had been crying for about two hours. He doesn't like to sleep anywhere except in his crib.

Every night after his bath, Little Man enjoys running around the house with his cape. It is one of my favorite parts of the day.

Brown Thumb

2009-07-26T19:54:00.004-06:00

Several of my blogging friends have posted pictures from their gardens this week, so I thought I'd join in. We have a HUGE (to me) garden space (it's about 30 feet long, and about 6 feet deep) and we spent two straight days getting it ready to plant. Everything was coming up so well and growing fast. This is what is looks like now:

I refuse to believe that this carnage is my fault. There is a very old tree that is next to the garden and I think it has a disease. Trees aren't supposed to ooze, right? That tree is definitely sick, and I think it's contagious. All of my plants were beautiful and the tomatoes were getting blossoms, and then, one by one, they started dying. The things that are doing ok are the things that are at the ends of the garden, away from the gross tree.

There's corn,
and pumpkin,
and watermelon,
and green beans.
I guess there is something to be hopeful about, but I'm really, really sad about my dead tomatoes. I mean, that's the whole reason to plant a garden, right? So, when your tomato plants are weighed down with more fruit than you can possibly use, remember me and my sad garden. I promise to be your friend for life if you let me taste one.

Magical Clown

2009-07-16T23:29:00.004-06:00

Last week, my best friend from forever was in town (for her wedding). I went to visit her and we took Little Man down to the toy closet to look for something to keep him entertained. While we were down there, I found some of my old toys! I didn't even know they were missing and it was a very happy reunion. Among the treasure was "Cown," a wind-up musical clown I got when I was one year old. Little Man immediately took a liking to him. I've gotten into the habit of putting him to bed with Cown. Whenever I wind him up, Little Man's eyes light up, he hold out his hands, then he gives Cown a big hug. I'm so happy that my old toy makes him so happy. I was thinking about it the other day, and I realized that since he's been introduced to Cown, Little Man has not given me any trouble about going to sleep, whether for a nap or at night. That's no ordinary clown; that's a magical clown.

Little Man News

2009-07-08T22:30:00.004-06:00

So much has been going on around here. We're all settled into our new place, and loving it! Little Man is growing up so fast! His fifth tooth broke through today (hallelujah!) and he's been saying lots of new words. His favorite word is "Hi" but in the last few days, we've heard him say "doggie," and "Jesus." He even said "Hi, Dad" yesterday. Does that count as his first sentence? He knows most of his body parts (he always gets a kick out of sticking his fingers in his ears) and just learned to "moo" like a cow. He's stilling quacking, too. Every time he sees water or a bird or a place he remembers seeing a duck, he quacks. The quack has evolved into more of a clearing-the-throat noise, but it's hilarious. Part of our night-time routine at our new house is to water the garden. Over the last few days, Little Man has been fascinated with sticking different body parts in the stream of water coming from the hose. He'll stick his hands, his torso, and his head in, and laughs his head off every time. And we had a Little Man first tonight: he pooped in the bath for the first time! Aren't kids awesome?

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a video of Little Man enjoying his first-ever ice cream cone. See if you notice another new skill: sighing.

Top 5 Ways I Know I'm the Mother of a Toddler

2009-06-17T21:41:00.004-06:00

5. It is not unheard of that I will spend my morning wiping applesauce off of the walls.

4. In my purse, you will find a binky, a container of cheerios, and a book with Elmo on the cover.

3. I probably couldn't tell you the top news story of the day, but I could tell you what Dora explored and which letter brought us Sesame Street this morning.

2. There are certain words I won't say aloud anymore; if I need to use them in conversation, I spell them.

1. My heart melts every time Little Man learns something new, which seems to happen several times a day.

5 Things I Did Today

2009-06-04T16:03:00.002-06:00

Inspired by my sis-in-law, here is my list of things I did today:

1. Gave hugs and handshakes to lots of graduating seniors. I'm so proud of those kids!

2. Took a long afternoon nap. Delicious.

3. Cried at Jon and Kate Plus 8. (Happy tears; it was an old one, not a new, sad one.)

4. Read several chapters of Harry Potter. I've never read it before, so my sister sent it with me for the week. It reminds me a lot of Roald Dahl. I'm quite enjoying it.

5. Talked to my boys on the phone several times. I think Little Man must think I've turned into a cell phone. I miss that kid so much.

What did you do today?

Quack, Quack

2009-05-25T09:05:00.002-06:00

For the last week or so, Little Man has been making a new noise. Last night, James finally figured out that he is quacking. We're not sure exactly how he learned this. One of the apartments that we looked at last week had ducks in the back yard and he loved them! (Sadly for him, that is not the place we picked.) But we also visited my sister last week and she has a quacking duck stuffed animal/puppet thingy, which he also loved. Now whenever he sees a duck, he starts quacking. It is adorable.

I might say it but...

2009-05-20T21:26:00.004-06:00

Several times a day at our house, James and I can be heard saying "I am going to beat that child!" Of course, we never actually would. It just something we say to express our extreme frustration with whatever mischief Little Man is causing at the moment. Do you still believe me after seeing this?

I'm not really sure how he got this monster bruise. It sure looks like it hurts.

In other news, we found a place to live! Three bedrooms, new carpet, a fabulous kitchen, a nice washer and dryer, a two car garage, and a yard with a garden spot! We can't wait. The countdown has begun!

Miracle

2009-05-17T13:52:00.002-06:00

I've tried to write this post a few time now, but there is just no way to adequately described the perfection of the miracle we have experienced. I went to Logan to interview for their chemistry/biology teaching position they have for next year and on Thursday they called and offered me the job. Everything has worked out so perfectly for us. We know we are so blessed. And I am so excited about this new job. I'll be teaching Biology, which will be a challenge, but I'm so excited about the wonderful people I'll get to work with. Now we've just got to find a place to live...

New Habits

2009-05-09T21:01:00.005-06:00

Little Man has picked up some cute (and some not-so-cute) habits lately. The not-so-cute habit is that he has become a VERY picky eater. He won't eat anything but cereal, yogurt, fruit, and Gerber Lasagna. No veggies, no bread or crackers, nothing with any texture; he won't even eat cookies or graham crackers. It seems like he's regressing. He used to eat things that required chewing, but not anymore. So imagine our surprise when we saw this yesterday:

In case you can't tell, that's dirt all over his face. He ate a big handful out of a plant and he liked it! He doesn't like cookies, but he likes dirt. What kind of weird kid did we get?

He has also become a climber this week. Today, he climbed up on to our bed all by himself. I'm not even really sure how he managed that. His favorite thing to climb on, though, is the shelf that is supposed to store his toys. He pulls the baskets of toys off, climbs up on the shelf, scoots himself around so that he's facing forward, then sits there and reads a book. It's pretty cute, even if it means a big mess.

Happiness and Tacos

2009-05-05T19:41:00.004-06:00

So if you are a very avid reader of my blog, you might notice that my most recent post got deleted quickly after I posted it. James told me he "didn't want everyone knowing our business," or some crap like that. Oh, brother. What are blogs for then? In case you missed it, the gist was that we're hopefully moving to Logan at the end of the month. For those of you that did catch it, that's still all we know. I will be sure to keep you all updated.

It has been a (mostly) happy few weeks. (It is, however, possible that I've blocked out all the really bad stuff, because it does seem like it's been a fairly stressful happy week, although I can't recall why exactly.) We've spent lots of time with James's family (all of whom I am going to miss dearly when we move) (Does anyone else think I'm using to many parentheticals?), seen three very sweet kids get baptized, Little Man had his fourth tooth break through (We were all glad when it finally broke through; this was the hardest tooth yet and I think he's already working on his next one.), and I think most of my AP Chem kids are going to pass their big exam next week. In one week from now, school will slow down quite a bit, and soon after that, we should know more details about where we'll be working and living in Logan. I can't wait.

And finally, since my punk little sister tagged me on her blog, here's a favorite recipe of ours. If you're reading this, and you have a blog, 1) make sure I have a link!, and 2) consider yourself tagged. I'll be checking "my blogs" daily to see what you guys post. (Who am I kidding; I check them all everyday anyway. I'm a little OCD about it.)

Navajo Tacos

Fry Bread:
2 c flour
1 T baking poweder
1 t salt
1 c milk
oil for frying

Beans:
2 can beans, drained and rinsed (I usually use 1 can of kidney and 1 can of black)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 palmful of chili powder (how's that for accuracy?)
1/2 t each oregeno, cumin, garlic powder (I don't really measure, though. Just through some in until it looks good.)

Toppings:
shredded cheese
lettuce
salsa
sour cream
other normal taco fixins'

1. Stir together dry ingredients for fry bread. Stir in milk and mix until dough comes together. (Add more flour if necessary.) Knead for five minutes, then let rest for five minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine ingredients for beans in a saucepan, cover and let simmer for... as long as it takes you to get everything else ready.
3. Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a heavy skillet until... gosh, do you really think I use a thermometer? Just heat it up till some water flicked in it sizzles. Break off a hunk of dough, shape into a relatively round, flat piece, then fry in hot oil, turning once. Drain on paper towels.
4. Top fry bread with a scoop of beans and whatever fixins' you like. Yummy!

Tickle-Me-Little Man

2009-04-19T19:45:00.004-06:00

Today has been a lovely day. It started out rough, because James was sick and Little Man and I had to go to church without him. It's always tricky trying to teach a class of 7 year olds and watch a toddler at the same time. That part actually went ok; things got iffy in sacrament meeting, when Little Man's hunger and exhaustion got the better of him. We ended up leaving a little early. When I got home, I joked that James can never die, because I am not cut out to be a single mom.

After everyone took a nap, we went to Bryanna's for dinner and cake for our nephew's birthday. It was lovely to spend the afternoon outside in the sunshine enjoying our family.

One of the highlights of Little Man's week was getting his Elmo Live. A lady I work with got one for her daughter, but won't let her play with it any more. Elmo is a little addicting, it seems. She was grateful to unload him on us, and Little Man was thrilled to receive him. I let him play with it for about 5 minutes before I decided Elmo was a "sometimes" toy.

Little Man has also taken to laying down in the bath tub. He loves to lay there and kick his legs and splash. Here's a picture from tonight's bath. (Please excuse my crappy editing job.)

Little Man is slowly but surely learning to feed himself. Here's a video from breakfast this morning.

And here's a video from tonight. Little Man has really developed a great giggle. Enjoy.

Communicating

2009-04-14T21:45:00.003-06:00

Little Man did something amazing today. He hadn't been feeling well, and hadn't had much of an appetite because of it. By the early evening, though, he started to finally get hungry. I could tell he was, but was trying to hurry and fix dinner so we could all eat together. Little Man was intent though, and started pointing to his high chair! Ok, maybe it's not as big of a deal to you. It was the first time he really communicated what he wanted in some way other than crying and whining. Or maybe it was just the first time that I understood what he was telling me.

Today was also the first time that he puked as a big kid. Toddler puke is much yuckier than baby spit-up. Actually, I wouldn't know, because James was the one home with him when it happened. By the time I got home, Little Man was in his forth outfit of the day. Poor Daddy!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T22:02:00.005-06:00

What a great Easter it has been. Little Man really had fun. He loved his Easter basket this morning. There were a few little gifts, but he mostly just loved playing with the eggs. He spent most of the morning opening them, hiding stuff in them, then opening them again. We spent the day at my mom's where we had a little Egg Hunt. I didn't think Little Man would "get it," which is why I didn't hide eggs at home, but he really got into it. He needed a little help to spot the eggs, but when he did, he grabbed them and dumped them in his basket. By the end of it, he just wanted to sit down and open all the eggs. Unfortunately, Grandma didn't really think he'd "get it," either, and only put girly prizes like hairclips and bracelets in the eggs. Oh well.

Fun Day

2009-04-09T20:36:00.003-06:00

I got to spend the whole day with my Little Man today. What a treat. Some fun things that happened today:

He took two good naps. That's a feat that even Dad doesn't accomplish very often anymore!
He successfully fed himself his afternoon snack and his dinner! My friend Mary suggested getting him some crackers to dip. I wasn't sure if he'd understand the concept, but he ended up loving it. For dinner, we had a Mexican soup. He ate all of the beans, corn, and bell peppers all by himself. Yea for being independent!
Because I was so proud of him for eating his dinner so well, I gave him part of a REAL cookie for dessert. He happily munched it. James felt left out of the cookie sharing, so he gave him part of ANOTHER cookie. Within about half an hour, he was spinning around in circles la-la-la-ing at the top his lungs. It was hilarious.

By the way, has anyone seen the charger for my camera? I'd love to take some pictures to show you all.

What did you just say?

2009-03-19T17:12:00.002-06:00

This story is getting old, but I've got to record it, so that I don't forget...

Last Saturday, while Little Man and I were at Target, we were wandering around the toy section. Whenever we're over in that area of the store, I try to show him the Elmo Live and make Elmo talk to him. Little Man gets such a kick out of it. So I made Elmo do his thing, and Little Man laughed, then Elmo went back on the shelf. We walked away, and I stopped to look at something else. From where Little Man was sitting, he could still see Elmo. Then, as clear as could be, he said, "Elmo." I stared at him, wondering if I really heard him right. He never repeated it, but said "Mm-mo" a couple of times, which is pretty close. I don't know if this really counts as his first word, because he does toddle around the house saying "Ma" and "Da-dee" and every once in awhile it actually seems like he says it at an appropriate time. He also says "Hi" sometimes, too (I think).

My favorite new Little Man trick this week is that when you say "kisses" he opens his mouth, slams it into yours, and makes the "mmm-mah!" noise. I love it! But don't ask for one if you have an aversion to slobber. They're sweet kisses, but messy.

Happenings of the Week

2009-03-13T21:44:00.004-06:00

What a crazy couple of weeks we've had. I've been deathly ill, Little Man has cut two teeth (finally!), and we weaned Little Man from his bottle (those were a few particularly rough days!). We are really looking to some R and R around here this weekend!

Little Man went to his 12 month appointment earlier this week. He's 19 lbs. (5th percentile) and 29 inches tall (about 50th percentile). The weird part is that he only grew 0.2 inches since his last appointment. The doctor wasn't concerned about that, but was concerned about the lack of improvement with his droopy eye. He referred him to a pediatric ophthalmologist. We go in about a week!

Little Man has also discovered the outdoors. I let him walk in from the car yesterday, and I think it blew his mind. Ever since, he just stands at the door and cries. He'll even grab a set of keys and try to pry the door open with them. We tried to take him to the park to play this afternoon, but by the time we got there, he had fallen asleep, so we just went home.

Here are a few pictures from the last several weeks. Better late than never, right?

Little Man has been enjoying more and more table food with us lately. Here he is having some mac and cheese for lunch. The picture reminds me of Yankee Doodle.

We have now weaned Little Man from his bottle, but here he is lounging on the couch with it . He looks so comfy.

Eating some spaghetti.

My cute, skinny baby.

Little Man got a big set of blocks for his birthday. He loves them! He'll play with them for minutes on end.

Playing with another birthday present. He loves these so much that I have a hard time getting him out of the tub.

Our attempt of a family photo on Little Man's birthday.

Opening a birthday card.

This is my new favorite photo. We desperately need to do laundry and these were the only jammies we could find tonight. They don't really fit; notice how the top snap can't be done up. Plus, that face is priceless.

Numero Uno

2009-03-06T21:17:00.005-07:00

One year ago from this moment, I was lying in a hospital bed downtown, writhing and screaming in pain. I was six days past my due date, and my water had broken that afternoon as I walked in the door from work. I was determined to have a natural, drug-free delivery (hence the writhing and screaming). I did have a moment when I wavered and asked for the epidural. In the time it took the anesthesiologist to get there (a mere 15 minutes or so), I had gone from a 4 to an 8, and I was feeling the urge to push. I sent the anesthesiologist away, figuring I'd done the worst of it. The nurses quickly called my midwife and by the time she got there, I was at a 10 and ready to push. I pushed for less than half an hour, and then my beautiful son was here! He was blue and slippery, but absolutely gorgeous. In the matter of about 5 1/2 hours, I had gone from a miserable pregnant woman to an elated new mother. We had gone from a married couple to a family. It was miraculous.

And today, my baby isn't really a baby anymore. He's a little boy, who toddles around the house, exploring, investigating, and learning. But he's still miraculous. Sometimes I catch myself watching him, my mouth hanging open a little, in awe of all that he has become, and is becoming. I am so proud of him every time he fits two blocks together, or makes a new hand gesture to communicate what he wants. I know every mother must think so, but I'm convinced everyday that my baby is the cutest, the smartest, and best all-around kid that has ever been born. I love you, Little Man. Happy Birthday.

The Week in Photos

2009-02-15T18:32:00.003-07:00

Little Man has been "talking" on the phone lately. When he holds it up to his ear, he starts jabbering "Lalalala." Cutest thing ever.

Today we gave Little Man a mixing bowl and a spoon to play with. I have never seen him so excited about a toy.

Here he is with James' hat on his head. He put it there himself and he sure was proud of it.
I left him alone for a minute last night while I was cooking dinner. When I came back, he'd dripped formula out of his bottle all over the living room. My shoes got the worst of it.
Little Man getting a guitar lesson.
Little Man has been loving his daddy this week. Here they are cuddling.

If I had any energy...

2009-02-09T20:10:00.003-07:00

Here's a list of things I would blog about if I wasn't completely exhausted:

Little Man is walking! He's not just taking steps, he's walking across the room now.
Little Man is very sick. He's had a fever all day, and a cough for about 2 weeks. The doctor says he has a little bit of an ear infection, so he's on antibiotics. He made it almost a year without needing them.
James is going to start watching Little Man instead of taking him to daycare on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. I got fed up with not being in control of Little Man's day, plus we're super poor these days.
My car is still not fixed from the accident. It probably never will be.

Now I'm going to bed.

A Quick Update

2009-01-28T21:52:00.002-07:00

A few very exciting things happened today. First, and most importantly, Little Man took a step today! Well, he actually took several, they just weren't consecutive. Yea! He'll be 11 months old in a week. I'm sure he'll be running circles around me by his birthday. (Can you believe my baby is going to have a birthday! Crazy...)

Also, on our way home from work tonight (for the second time; don't ask) somebody rear-ended me while I was stopped at a light. It turned out that the other guy didn't have insurance, so I think they impounded his car. My bumper is cracked and I have a bit of a headache, but I think we'll all be ok.

How's that for a crazy day?

2009-01-26T20:27:00.004-07:00

What an exciting weekend we had around here. Nikki, Kade, and their new tiny baby came down to tour the Draper temple with us. (Sadly, Mom and Dad didn't make it. We missed them!) It was an adventure from the beginning. Right after we got on the bus to take us to the temple, a car turned in front of the bus (I think that's what happened, anyway), the bus driver slammed on his brakes, and the tour guide who had been telling us all about the new temple, flew into the windshield and then fell down the stairs. We all just sat there with our mouths open, wondering what just happened. The poor guide got up after a moment (he said he was fine, but I noticed he was not our guide on the trip back), and the tour resumed as if nothing had happened. The tour of the temple was wonderful. If you haven't been, you should go!

The other big event of the week is that I've been trying to ween Little Man. I just decided one day last week that I was being selfish by continuing to nurse, because my milk had dropped off to the point where he wasn't getting enough. I realize now that I tried to stop too quickly. Within just a few days, I was down to once a day. He was finally getting full, but, holy cow, my hormones went berserk. I didn't even know that weening could wreak such havoc with the mom. So I've struggled emotionally, because all of the sudden my quality Little Man time has decreased significantly, and then, on top it all of, my hormones have been raging. Poor Jamesy thought he was going to have to admit me yesterday. I feel a little less volitile today, and Little Man seems to be adjusting quickly, too. And the good news for all of you, is that this means an end to all boob-related discussions. I promise.

One last thing: I'm so dang proud of Little Man tonight. Since we've been weening, I've been trying to get him to take the cup. I decided today that we needed to get serious. I tried post-poning lunch until he'd drink his formula from the cup, hoping that he'd get hungry enough to give in. After two hours, I was the one that finally gave in. Whenever I would pull out the cup, he'd scream and shake his head no. So while we were at Target today, I picked up some new cups (the super cheap, throw-away kind) and tried it at dinner. He picked it up with both hands, put his mouth on the spout, and tipped it back. He drank it all! I've been having visions of bottle-feeding a 3-year old, so I'm super proud! He's getting so big!
Little Man is also getting very good at walking with his push-toy. It won't be long before he's walking without it.

Hurray for new jammies!
All ready for bed!

Back to the Grind

2009-01-18T20:46:00.005-07:00

I don't have much news to report, but I've been experiencing blog-guilt again, so I knew I'd better post something. Everyone is back to school and work now, which is good and bad. I'm glad to be back, mostly just so I can get it over with. I've been very overwhelmed with everything I have to get done at work the last few days, so I've been even less enthusiastic about work than normal. James is still looking for a job, but he is going to start giving guitar lessons and lined up his first student this weekend. Hopefully, it works out. Also this week, James tried out for the guitar program at Utah State and was accepted! Yea! He'll be able to earn his (2nd) degree and get a teaching license at the same time. The program has 100% placement, so he's guaranteed to have a job at the end of it, which is reassuring. So, if all goes according to plan, we'll be moving to Logan this summer.

Little Man continues to amaze and frustrate us. He has once again gotten into the bad habit of getting up in the middle of the night. And we've fallen into the bad habit of giving him a bottle in the middle of the night, not because he's hungry, but because it's an easy way to make him sleepy. We've got a game plan for tonight, though, so hopefully we can all get some sleep soon.

He's been learning to do so many cute things lately. He's cruising like a pro now and has started to play "chase" games with us. I spend a lot to time crawling after him on my hands and knees. The best, though, is when he'll chase me. This weekend he learned to clap his hands. I'd never even seen him try to do it before, but yesterday, he just did it like it was something he'd always known how to do. And at church today, he was waving at the family sitting behind us. I didn't know that he knew how to that either. He sure is a sweet little guy.

Here's Little Man looking sharp for church. He's had a haircut since this one was taken. I forgot what beautiful curls he had.Here he is climbing on James's guitars one morning.We also discovered last weekend that he can climb stairs.
We welcomed a new little man to our family this week. Our Little Man was pretty un-interested in his new cousin most of the day, but got curious toward the end of our visit.

Giving Little Man a bath used to be one of my favorite parts of the day. Now, it's so much work that I dread it. The moment I lay him down to lotion him, he flips over and speed-crawls away. Here he is cruising along our headboard.
A happy picture from tonight. Doesn't he look so much like his cousin "Tricky" in this picture?

Looking Ahead

2009-01-01T21:54:00.002-07:00

2008 is over. It was a good year, wasn't it? We were blessed in March with the birth of our first-born son, Little Man. He really is the sweetest baby I've ever seen. My favorite new thing he's doing these days is giving kisses. They are open-mouthed and slobbery, but very sweet. I cherish every one of them. I feel very blessed to be his mother. I've become a "mommy" this year. It's something that I always wanted to be, but never really understood how it would change my life. I would do anything for that kid. It reminds me of that part in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"; my heart has grown at least three sizes this year.
The year ended with some stressful news; James lost his job yesterday. The guy he works for sold the route James had been doing, and met him at the terminal last night with the news. James was going to give his notice on Monday, anyway, but he feels a little betrayed. We were hoping to at least be earning a paycheck for a couple of more weeks while he looked for a job that would work with his school schedule. James is a hard-worker and I know he'll find something. It makes me grateful for my recession-proof job. I've been pretty grouchy about my job lately, so it's been kind of a reality check for me. I have a job when a lot of people don't right now.
Looking ahead to 2009, I'm hoping for an even better year than this year was. Little Man will continue to grow and learn, delight and confound me, I'm sure. James is scheduled to graduate in May, and after that, who knows? I'm hoping that I can be successful at my job this year, especially with my AP students. My resolutions are to be more organized, do a better job of fulfilling my callings at church (did I mention that I just got called to the Primary? I'm excited, but unsure how I'll juggle Little Man while I'm in the Primary for a two-hour block), and, most of all, be a better wife to my dear husband. I hope that you all are safe and warm on this New Year's Day and wish you luck with all of your resolutions!

Little Man's First Christmas

2008-12-27T20:08:00.005-07:00

Merry Christmas! Ok, so I'm a few days behind. But you're all used to that by now, right? We had a great Christmas around here. It was very relaxing. On Christmas Eve, I made the traditional Funeral Potatoes and Ham dinner (my grandma makes it for her Christmas Eve get-together every year, but since I couldn't be there, I made it myself), watch "It's a Wonderful Life" on tv, and made some pies for the next day. It was wonderful. Little Man woke up early the next morning (5:30), so I let James sleep while I fed him and made some Gingerbread Waffles for the two of us. After that we opened presents. Little Man didn't really get it and I found myself wondering why I had even bothered to wrap anything for him since James and I were the ones unwrapping it all. Although we didn't buy him much in the way of toys, our living room now looks like a toy store. He got spoiled by his grandmas and aunts. He stills prefers to play with his bottles or other weird things rather than play with all the wonderful toys, though. Figures... After a leisurely morning of playing with new toys, we made it out to Rush Valley to spend the day with James' family. We had a wonderful time. By the time we headed home, the snow was just starting. It was a very long ride home.

Little Man is busier than ever these days. He's constantly either getting into something he shouldn't, or he's climbing up my leg. He's gotten very attached to me lately, too. He won't play in a room by himself anymore. If I walk out of the room, he follows me to where ever I'm going. He's also been really struggling with his teeth. He's had a very runny nose and been very slobbery, and very grumpy, but nothing has broken through yet. It seems like his teeth are taking a lot normal than average to get through. He's struggled on and off for the last few months but its been fairly constant for the last week or so. I feel so bad for him, but he won't let me do much for him.

Also, in other news, I made my first batch of homemade baby food today! James got me the book "Super Baby Food" for Christmas, and I read almost the entire thing yesterday. I got some kale and some broccoli at the store today, steamed it, pureed it, and put it in the freezer. I was so proud of all of my super green, healthy-looking "food cubes." I stirred some of the broccoli into a jar of Turkey with Rice for Little Man's dinner, and he loved it! Yea!

Here are some pictures from the week:

We went to see the lights at Temple Square last Sunday. We bundled Little Man up and headed out early, before it got super cold or super busy. It was a wonderful evening.
Please ignore the family posing for their picture.

Maybe I'm just not very observant, but I don't remember them putting the nativity on the reflecting pool in years past. Do I just have a faulty memory, or was this new? Either way, I thought it was stunning.Little Man got spoons in his stocking. I think they were a hit.
You know what I hate? When you think you're going to get a super cute picture of your first born's first Christmas, only to discover that your baby had a HUGE BOOGER when the picture was snapped.

Guilt

2008-12-15T21:07:00.006-07:00

Ok, so I'm a really, really bad blogger. I've tried posting several times, but there's so much going on that I instantly become overwhelmed and give up. Rather than try to catch up, I'm just going to post a bunch of photos and call it good, deal? Deal.

Little Man, not wanting to sleep.
Can you see what I've had my hands full with?
I love that they both have the same squinty eyes.
Again, the squinty eyes.
Who needs the comb??
Out of all of his toys, Little Man's been choosing to play with his books lately. It makes me proud.
Pulling himself up to play with the toys.
Pulling up in the crib.
Little Man graduated to the big tub a couple of weeks ago. It sure has made my life easier having all that extra room.

Getting bundled up for school.

This is the story of my life these days. Daddy's home!

Little Man's new hobby is pulling everything off the shelf in the dining area. He only pulls things off the middle shelf, which is fine, because it's all his stuff anyway. I just about die laughing every time he finds one of his bottle nipples and starts sucking on it.

And now, the real reason for my guilt. Little Man crawled off the bed this afternoon, which actually wouldn't be that bad normally. But he landed, face first, on one of James's guitars. The strings cut his nose pretty badly. I ran him to an InstaCare, but the nurse at the desk told me to put some Neosporin on it and sent me home. I'm still sick to my stomach over it.

The Amazing Little Man

2008-11-23T15:42:00.003-07:00

What an exciting week we've had. Little Man has learned so much! This morning, James said, "He's only supposed to learn one new thing a week, not five!" Here's the run down of his amazing feats this week:

1. He is sleeping through the night again.

On Tuesday night, Little Man was up from 1:30 to almost 3. I've never been so mad at my baby. He didn't seem to want anything in particular, just to be awake and with mom. I never really got back to sleep after I got him back down. The next day, I went to the library and checked out every book they had about how to get your baby to sleep and bought myself some earplugs. In one book, I read that if he was getting up at the same time every night, to try to rouse him an hour before he was due to wake, just to disrupt his schedule. So I set my alarm for 1 am, got up and rubbed his back until he started sucking on his binky. And he's slept through the night ever since. (We did have a little bit of a rough night on Friday, but he ended up crying himself to sleep after a while.)

2. He is crawling.

On Thursday, I was very excited because Little Man scooted one knee while we were practicing crawling after school. When James got home, I wanted to show him the progress, so we put Little Man on his knees and put his binky out in front of him. And he just crawled over to it! We tried again, and he crawled again! It's like something just clicked for him. He's still a little wobbly, but he's getting better and better.

3. He is pulling himself up.

Today, when I went in to get him up from his nap, he had pulled himself up and was balancing on his knees.

4. He can move to a sitting position from his tummy.

This might not seem like a big milestone, but this means that I no longer have to sit him up and that he can get to his hands and knees without falling down first.

5. He can dance.

The lady that runs the daycare has been playing the "Mama Mia" soundtrack a lot this week (James is not thrilled about his exposure to ABBA), and one night at home, I noticed Little Man bouncing up and down to some music. I have a super cute video of it, but for some reason I can't get it to upload. (Does anyone have any idea why? It seems like every time I try to upload something, it never works.)

That's all for this week. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ups and Downs

2008-11-12T20:10:00.004-07:00

The last few days have been a bit of a roller coaster. I've experienced such sweetness and joy and such frustration and anxiety. Let's start with the joy...

Little Man is really growing up. I've spent a lot of time with him the last few days and every moment I realize a little more what a sweet little person my life has been blessed with. I love it when he reaches for me to pick him up and then wraps his tiny little arm around me and holds me. I love it when he laughs at the funny face I'm pulling or at the silly song I'm making up. There's even a small part of me that secretly loves the fact that the only thing he wants in the middle of the night is for him mom to hold him.

And he's getting so smart! Watching him play has become one of my favorite things. He's really mastered the "cause and effect" thing. He'll push the buttons on his toys on purpose now. I didn't even realize he'd learned it, but then one day, he pushed the button of a toy and when the little animal popped up, he pushed it back down, then pushed the button to make it pop up again. I couldn't be more proud.

And so strong! He's "this close" to crawling. We keep practicing with him and he gets better and better every day. Tonight, he was sitting on the floor, then he leaned over and got on his knees, rotated himself to point the direction he wanted, put one hand out in front of himself, and scooted one knee. And then he fell down. But he is so close! Even though he's not crawling, he can still pretty much get into anything he wants. When he's on him tummy, he can use his hands to turn himself any direction, then he'll scoot or roll to get the object of his desires. Today, he got himself into the basket of baby care items (mostly, its full of diapers and wipes) and I found him with the bugger sucker in him mouth. It was yucky, but I was impressed that he'd made it that far across the room to get it.

Tonight, we were practicing his crawling before the bath. I stripped him down, then set him on his knees to try one more time. We were playing and having fun, then he grunted. I knew what that meant, so I quickly grabbed him. But I was too late. He had already pooped on the floor. When I picked him up, his foot got in the mess. He was very intrigued by the poop on his foot, so he reached down to grab it. Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out the best way to clean this up. James was still at work, so I was on my own. I didn't want to leave him while I went to grab something to clean it up, because I knew he'd make a bigger mess. But I couldn't carry him either, because he was covered. Luckily, there were some wipes in the hallway from this morning, so I grabbed those. But while I was wiping him bum, he continued to play with the poop. I looked up just in time to see the poop covered fingers headed for his mouth. I yelled at him, then picked him up and put him in the tub (which, luckily, I'd already ran). I no longer cared about the mess carrying him would be. When James got home and saw the scene, he was totally grossed out by the pile on the floor and my stained clothes. We were laughing pretty hard about the situation by the time it was all over. Only a mother could still laugh when she was covered in baby poop.

And the frustrations... First of all, if you've seen me lately, you may have noticed that I have lost a lot of weight. I've barely noticed it myself; I only know that my pants are barely staying up these days. But I stepped on a scale at a friend's house and realized how much weight I had actually lost. I weigh almost 15 pounds less than my pre-pregnancy weight, which is a lot on my short body. My sister convinced me that I needed to see my doctor and make sure my thyroid was normal, especially given the fact that I've been consuming over 2000 calories per day. So I took the day off Monday to go see my midwife. She did order a thyroid test, but thinks that it's probably just because I'm breastfeeding. She put me on a 3000 calorie per day diet. I know, I know. Poor Tiffany... But it's not as cool as it sounds. I feel like all I do is eat now. It's not even fun. My blood pressure was also incredibly low (85 over 50), which probably explains the lightheadedness I've been experiencing. Hopefully, I'll feel better soon.

And the biggest frustration has been Little Man's sleeping habits. I'm pretty sure he was having a growth spurt last week. He was eating like crazy, getting up in the night to nurse, and taking marathon naps (his morning nap on Saturday was 3 1/2 hours!). I think he got a little too used to having mommy time in the night, however. Monday night, he was essentially awake from 11 until almost 3. I nursed him, gave him Motrin, rocked him, and nothing was good enough. The only way he'd sleep was if I would stand and hold him. When the alarm went off at 5 the next morning, I knew there was no way I was going to make it to work on only 3 hours of sleep, so I stayed home again. Last night, Little Man started doing the same thing. Whenever I would lay him down, he would start screaming. I decided that he was going to have to "cry it out." I am generally very opposed to "Ferberizing" but I didn't see any other choice. I convinced myself that it's only really bad for tiny babies, but not so bad for older babies that have learned to expect Mommy to come running at the smallest whimper. I still don't know if I really believe myself, though. So we let him cry. He was crying so hard that he was having a hard time breathing. He did that for about 10 minutes and then... he stopped! He went to sleep! He woke up once in the night, but before I could even get to him, he'd found his binky and was quiet again. He did get up very early this morning (5:15), but I'll take it if he sleeps through the night.

I promise this is my last story... This one is very scary! One day last week, when I got home from work, there was a strange man sitting at the top of the steps in front of my door. I thought it was weird, but I thought maybe he was waiting for someone to get home or something. On Saturday night, though, when we got home from our friends' house, he was sitting there again. This time, though, he was surrounded by beer cans and was listening to a little radio very loudly and muttering to himself. Once I got in the house, I called 911 to report him, but before the officer could get here, he took off. Later that night, James got up to use the bathroom and could hear him (and his radio) outside again. I called 911 again, and this time they were able to get him. They knocked on our door a minute later, so they could get our info to file a complaint, and told us that he's a notorious burgler in our neighborhood and also a know pedofile. Isn't that so scary! I was totally freaked out. It makes me a little nervous to be here alone in the evenings.

Ok, I promise I'm done. Here are some pictures from the week...

Here is my cute baby, cuddling with Daddy. (Please ignore the dirty house and the camera strap)
Family time before bed.

My boys, all cleaned up for church.

Cutie Patootie

2008-10-31T21:03:00.004-06:00

My goodness. Where has October gone? I can't believe tomorrow is the 1st of November. I'm sure I lost a week somewhere...

We've had a busy week around here. School's been rough. This was the last week of the quarter, which always makes kids antsy. A lot of my AP students also saw it as an opportunity to jump ship. I had long, serious talks with some of them, but to no avail. Out of 18 kids, 7 dropped. I was feeling quite crappy about myself (it's the first time my job has made me cry), but, today, I found not one, but two, notes from kids that dropped telling me that I'm a good teacher and their decisions weren't personal. It did make me feel a little better, but at the same time, I know that it does have something to do with me. But what's done is done and all I can do it try to get it right the next time around.

Little Man still wasn't feeling well for most of the week. I spent a lot of time cleaning up blow outs and bathing him at random times during the day. Yucky.

I suppose the biggest event of the week was Halloween. I had decided a while ago that I wasn't going to make a big deal about dressing Little Man up. I was just going to find a cute Halloween shirt for him to wear and call it good. Then, the night before he was supposed to dress up for daycare, I changed my mind. I spend about 2 hours going from store to store trying to find a costume. I eventually found a super cute penguin outfit, and I think it was perfect. He looked dang cute and was a trooper about wearing it.

We went up to Jon and Bryanna's for pizza and trick or treating tonight. It's become something of a tradition. Bry offered to hold Little Man so I could eat. I thought the sight of her holding the two babies, both sucking away on their binkies was hilarious.
Here's a cute picture from daycare the other morning:
This is Little Man's George Costanza pose. He's getting so... busy. He won't even sit still for a bath. He's trying to reach the overflow thing on the tub here.
I was alone with Little Man this afternoon and had to go get a load of laundry. I didn't have enough hands, so he got to ride in the basket with the clean clothes.

So much for that flu shot I got...

2008-10-26T15:35:00.003-06:00

What a miserable weekend we've had around here. We've all had the flu. Little Man woke up with diarrhea on Friday, but I didn't think too much about it. He's been blowing out of his diapersevery 4 - 6 hours ever since. I've never seen so much poop, or gotten so much poop on myself, in my life. The bug hit me on Friday night, and I woke up puking at about 2 am. I figured it was food poisoning, forgetting about Little Man's similar symptoms. Unfortunately, I had to get up and go to work on Saturday morning to do a lab with my AP Chem kids. I got up, took a shower, drove all the way out to my school, and sat there like a lump while my kids worked. Then I drove myself home and laid on the couch for the rest of the day. I was feeling better by the evening, which is about the same time James started feeling sick. He was up all night long last night and he's still feeling pretty rough today. Fortunately, we weren't sick at the same time so someone could take care of Little Man. The saddest part of all is that we missed the blessing of our newest little nephew. I hate missing family stuff.

The other news around here is that Little Man is getting very close to crawling. He got up on his knees for the first time on Friday. I propped him up the first time, then he started doing it on his own. I've been practicing with him all weekend and he just keeps getting better and better at it. He'll be on the move in no time.

Hypocrite

2008-10-09T20:32:00.002-06:00

Shh.... don't tell the La Leche League. I gave my baby formula today. I've bumped up Little Man's intake of solids this week and now that he's getting extra cereal, I haven't been able to pump enough milk to mix with it. So I mixed up some formula tonight to make his cereal with, and as an experiment, I gave him the bottle to see if he would drink it. He took it and starting chugging. He even cried a little when I took it away. I'm not sure what to think of this. I can see the potential of having some options, but it also makes me a little sad that he doesn't "need" me as badly as I thought. Oh, and I feel like a huge, shameful hypocrite. I've been a total judgemental mom, turning up my nose at those other mom's who feed their babies formula. To them, I say "I'm sorry. I get it now." Don't get me wrong; I'm not weaning Little Man. But I promise to not be a crazy, breastfeeding nazi anymore.

I hate being old

2008-10-05T20:14:00.004-06:00

Ok, so I'm a really, really terrible blogger. I have sat down to post several times in the past few weeks, but I couldn't think of a single thing to write about. We've been very busy, but only doing boring things, like working and changing diapers. That's all.

There are a few things that have happened over the last few weeks.
1. Little Man is officially sitting up. He's such a big boy. He'll sit on the floor and play by himself for quite a while now. He's very good at "catching" himself if he's about to fall over and will even put a hand down to support himself if he's leaning to get a toy that's out of reach. So big!
2. James and I went on a date this week. We haven't been on a date without Little Man since before I went before my maternity leave ended (about 6 months ago). So, I called a girl in our ward and asked if she would come sit here while Little Man slept so we could go out. It was really nice, even if it was weird, to go out and have James to myself. We had planned to go to dinner and a movie, but by the time we were done eating, the movie we had wanted to see had already started. We wandered around the Gateway for a little while, stopped at Smith's for a gallon of milk, and were home by 10. We're so old. I felt a little jipped, because we go out to eat all the time with Little Man in tow; we should have gone to do something that we couldn't bring him along for. Ah, well. It felt very easy leaving him with the sitter, though. He slept the whole time and the girl we hired is super responsible. We'll definately hire her again soon.
3. Our apartment was quasi-flooded. Somehow, the drain line for the building got clogged right below us, so all the yucky water from the apartment upstairs' kitchen backed up in our sink and in our dishwasher. It overflowed and flooded our kitchen and even part of our (carpeted) dining area. It happened very late Thursday night so it didn't get taken care of for quite awhile. I spent Friday afternoon bleaching the kitchen down and we shampooed carpets yesterday. The carpet is still a little damp and it's starting to stink pretty bad in here. It doesn't smell like a sewer anymore, but that smell has been replaced by musty, mildew-y smell. And I don't even want to think about what kind of bacteria the carpet is teeming with and how far across the apartment we've tracked it. Not good for a family with a baby that plays on the floor for a good chunk of the day.
I guess that's all for now. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

No rest for the weary

2008-09-14T19:27:00.004-06:00

I can't believe another week has gone by. I feel like I've been sprinting through the last few days. We've been very busy around here. School is still the same. I actually had to work on school stuff today just to be ready for tomorrow. I can't remember the last time I worked on a Sunday. I don't know if I ever have. I hate that I feel like I didn't get a weekend. Ah, well. I'm putting the hours in now so that next time around, it will be easier. Or something like that.
James has had a big week, too. His band played out again this Friday, and my mom and dad were able to make the trip down from Logan to hear him. Little Man is still not sure about Grandpa, but we had a good time visiting. I'm so glad that we've been able to see them so often since Little Man has been born. We've all really made an effort to see each other at least once a month, if not more.
Little Man had the biggest week of all. He went in for his 6 month check-up on Tuesday. He's now 27 inches long (between the 75th and 90th percentile) and weighs 14 lbs 13 oz (10th percentile). He keeps getting longer and longer, and isn't putting on the weight to match. The doctor didn't seem very concerned about the drop in the weight (percentile wise, anyway), especially because he's a lot more active now, but I'm stressing out about it. He's a good eater, and he seems like he gets full, but I'm convinced he's not getting enough. We've doubled up on the solids this weekend and Little Man seems just as content as always. Once again, I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing.
Little Man also had to get shots at his appointment, which meant I finally had a good reason to give him some Motrin, which means that, for the first time in a week, he slept straight through the night. He's been getting us out of bed up to 8 times a night. He usually takes his binky and settles right back in, but then he's up again in an hour. I'm dying. I think he's teething (ok, I'm pretty sure he's teething, but I don't know if that's the reason for the sleeplessness) and when we gave him medicine for the shots, I think it helped his mouth, too. The most frustrating thing is that he's completely fine during the day; he's happy, takes good naps, and is an all-around awesome baby. I hate giving him medicine when I don't know if he really needs it, so now that he's feeling better, he's been getting up again. How bad of a mom would I be if I "drugged" my baby so that we can all get some sleep?

Little Man got to try using a sippy cup for the first time this week. I handed it to him and he knew just what to do with it. He grabbed it by the handle, then tipped it up to his mouth. He didn't drink much (I think more went down the front of him than went down into the tummy) but we're going to keep practicing.
Little Man is getting so much better at sitting up. He can sit independently for quite a long time now and can even manage to play with a toy while he's sitting. Here he is playing with one of his new toys.

The doctor told us that Little Man was old enough to try feeding himself a teething biscuit, but when I went to the store to get him some, I was unimpressed by the selection and by the ingredients list of the ones that they did carry. (Am I the only one who is slightly nutty about what I'll feed my baby? I hope not.) Instead, we tried a rice cake. No artificial ingredients, and we already know he doesn't have any allergies or anything with rice. Plus, they dissolve really easily. I gave it to him, and for the first time ever, he didn't put it directly into his mouth. He played with it more than anything. Again, we're going to keep practicing.

We tried giving Little Man some peas for dinner last night; his first green veggie! I thought for sure he'd pull a face, but he just gobbled the whole container down like always. We haven't really found anything he won't eat yet. He's a good eater!

Growing up so fast

2008-09-06T20:52:00.006-06:00

Not much is going on around here. School is going ok still, I guess. I feel a little like I'm drowning, like I'm barely one step ahead of the kids. We're still having fun, I'm just not as organized and prepared as I like to be. James is super busy with classes, keeping up the apartments, working, the band, etc. Little Man is hanging in there, too. I think he's starting to teethe. Earlier this week he had a fever and he'd also been waking up several times during the night. His gums were never red or swollen, and he's always slobbery anyway, so its hard to say for sure what was going on.

My main reson for this post is to put up some pictures. I downloaded what I had on my camera to my computer tonight, and out of 40 pictures, 39 were of Little Man being cute. The other one was of James and Little Man being cute. Here we go...

Cheese!
Little Man and I have an afterschool tradition of lying on a blanket together and playing. We play with toys, practice sitting up and scooting, cuddle, and make each other giggle.

We were playing with one of his new toys and it kind of got away from him.

What is this? This looks much more fun than that ball Mom gave me...

Oh, no! Where did he go?
Whew! There he is!
He disappeared again!At this point, I finally put my camera down and rescued the little guy.

Little Man is so dang close to sitting up. He can do it if he's on a soft surface (like the couch or my lap) and if he doesn't realize he's doing it.

This is the one picture on the camera that isn't of Little Man all by himself. James took it early yesterday morning. My boys are not morning people.

Tonight at dinner time, Little Man decided that his own toes were more appetizing than the cereal I was trying to feed him.
Today is Little Man's half-birthday. I can't believe how fast six months has gone by. It's amazing how much he's grown and how much he's learned in such a short time. James's sister had her baby yesterday (she went overdue, too. I've decided that her baby and Little Man must have gotten together and planned it out before they got sent down here.) and we visited them today. I can't believe my baby used to be that little (littler, actually). They really do grow up so fast.

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-08-27T20:54:00.003-06:00

I know, I know. I've been a bad blogger. Forgive me. I've been terribly busy, with conferences, prepping for school, and now actually teaching. Very busy, but not with anything that anyone would care to hear about.

Anyway, I'm sitting here on my 25th birthday wondering about this crazy journey we're all on. Because I refused to do any real work once I got home, I laid down on a blanket with Little Man this afternoon and just watched him with complete awe. He was completely content just watching his own hand open and close. He'd take a break and suck on his toes for a minute, then roll over and play with the ties on the quilt. Being a mom is the most fulfilling, rewarding, heart-wrenching experience I've ever had and I'm so grateful for it. Being a part of this beautiful family is my greatest blessing.

I have to brag about my sweet husband for a minute. He accidentally scheduled band practice for tonight and just realized last night the mistake he'd made. But he really made up for it in every possible way he could have. He sent me flowers at work, and when I got home, he had baked me a cake, there was ice cream in the freezer, and there was a present waiting for me. He also put a very sweet note in my lunch box this morning and even called me at lunch time to say happy birthday again. I've decided that birthday's are completely un-special when you grow up, but he really did a great job of trying to make it a good one for me. You're the best, sweetie.

The school year is off to a great start. I feel like I'm doing a great job, for once. In my regular classes, we've drawn pictures, sang songs, done several hands-on activities, and haven't wasted one single moment of class time. Kids are actually waiting even after the bell rings to hear my final instructions. It so exciting. I feel like I'm that fun teacher, that class that kids can't wait to get to (let me pretend, anyway). AP Chem is also off to a good start. I jumped right in to the content, and we're already through the the first chapter. Most kids seem to be keeping up and doing just fine so far. The question will be whether or not I can keep my own head above water. I knew it was going to be a lot of work, but I didn't know it would be this much work. Besides that, I'm really enjoying teaching the "smart" kids who are in my class because they want to be. It's a pleasant change.

Little Man is adjusting quickly to being in daycare. He's sleeping better there than he usually does at home. He was pretty cranky yesterday (he wouldn't even crack a smile). James and I decided he must have been mad at us for ditching him, but he was more like himself tonight. He had lots of smiles and giggles for me. He's almost sitting up, too. Tonight, he sat up for 5 - 10 seconds by himself. He was even able to bend over and pick up a toy without falling over. I've also discovered that if you put your hands on his feet while he's on his tummy, he'll push off, one leg at a time, and scoot across the floor. It won't be long before he's doing it all on his own.

James is not adjusting to school as well as the rest of us. He's feeling very uninterested and unmotivated by his classes. Hopefully, the learning bug will bite him again, and he'll be able to buckle down and finish quickly.

And finally, a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Who does this remind you of?

Mom, Lindsay, and her girls came to visit us last Friday. Little Man really thought the girls were great. He kept beaming and giggling at them.

I can't get enough of this messy face. We've now switched to oatmeal cereal, which he loves. I'm not sure how much I should be feeding him. Anyone have any ideas? He gets a half serving of cereal and a full serving of veggies or fruit at dinner time. Is this enough? Is this too much? How do you know?
This one is from this afternoon. He had been sucking on his toes, but as soon as he saw the camera, he got distracted and stopped. He's still a cutie, even without his toes in his mouth.

Pride and Joy

2008-08-10T09:05:00.006-06:00

Yesterday was James' big day. His band played at the Kids Carnival at Wheeler Farm, which was a bigger deal than I thought it would be. There were a lot of people there! He was so nervous but everything turned out really well. Once they started playing, I just sat there and beamed. I was so proud of James. He has such an amazing talent. He was a little critical of his own performance, but I don't think the average person could tell when he messed up. (I only noticed once myself, and that was only because he stopped playing for a minute to let the rest of the band catch up; if he wouldn't have stopped, I never would have known.)

One of the songs they played was Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride and Joy." The singer even told the crowd that this song "featured" James on guitar; it really is his song. Here's one of the solos from it:
(Disclaimer: James wants me to make sure everyone watching this knows that the tone is crappy and that he didn't do it on purpose. He accidentally left a pedal on and didn't realize it until the song was over. He keeps saying, over and over, "It sounds like I was trying to sound like Cream, not SRV." And I keep telling him, over and over, "I promise nobody could tell the difference. You sounded great.")

There really isn't much in the way of Little Man news today. He was very good yesterday, considering that he only got one 45 minute nap yesterday afternoon, instead of the usual two 2 hour naps. He also ate more last night than I have ever seen him eat. Normally, you have to do all sorts of tricks and sound effects to get him to look up and open his mouth for the spoon. Last night, he gobbled up all of his cereal, half a container of carrots, plus half a thing of applesauce with no tricks required, then nursed. Needless to say, he slept very well last night!

Daddy and Little Man in their hats:
My little (slobbery) heartbreaker:

A weeks worth of news

2008-08-07T20:39:00.007-06:00

I've been feeling slightly guilty about not posting anything lately. Part of the problem is that it's been so long that I don't really know where to begin. The other problem, my dad reminded me, is that I've been reading whenever I have a spare moment instead of blogging. But my book is finally done (sigh), Little Man is sleeping, and James is at practice. So here we go...

Noteworthy Item #1: Little Man is officially on solids.
Little Man had been unusually fussy last Wednesday and Thursday. I thought that he might be hungry, like that last time he was fussy for several days. So I did an experiment and gave him some sweet potatoes (he hadn't been a fan of the cereal). He loved them! I started with just a tablespoon or so, but he ended up eating the entire container! He was kicking in excitement and cried when the bowl was empty. It was really cute how he was sucking and chewing on the spoon. Since that first experience, I've added extra solids, since he was obviously ready. So now he gets half a serving of fruit in the morning, and cereal (organic brown rice cereal now; he seems to like it much better) and sweet potatoes for dinner.

Noteworthy Item #2: Little Man and I spent last weekend in Logan.
We spent last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with my parents. I'm a bit of homebody, so I'll admit that I didn't have high expectations for the weekend. I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed spending time with family, though, especially my parents. Since Little Man was born, I've really come to appreciate my family, in-laws included, so much more. It was wonderful to just relax and chat with my family. I was also glad that they all got to spend some quality time with Little Man. I was also very struck by how much love my parents have for each other. I've really noticed a difference in their relationship lately (or maybe I'm just finally noticing something that's always been there). They are so patient with each other and so loving. I am so grateful for their example.
The reason for the big trip was to go to Idaho and celebrate my aunt's birthday (I won't say what number it was, Aunt Bea. ;) ) It was a surprise party and she really was surprised! I hadn't been up to visit in about 6 years (I'm a homebody, remember?) and I really enjoyed myself. It was the first time most of my extended family had got to meet the little guy and I do love to show him off. He was surprisingly good, probably better than he should have been considering he barely had a nap for two days.

Four generations:

Noteworthy Item #3: James went camping while I was gone.
James has been back-packing into the Uintas practically every summer since he was 3. He wasn't able to go with his dad this year, because of work, so him and his brother went on their own over the weekend. He didn't say much about the trip, other than he was bored because they both forgot to bring anything to do and he got eaten alive by mosiquitos. I'm just glad he was able to go when I already had plans to be gone so that I didn't have to spend two weekends away from him.

Little Man was so happy to see his daddy when we got home!

Noteworthy Item #4: Stephenie Meyer's new book, Breaking Dawn, was released.
Although I was responsible and skipped the mega release parties, I did get a copy of the book the next morning. I spent the next 5 days savoring the last book of the saga. I went back and forth about whether I was liking it or not, but when it was over, I decided it was wonderful. Everything got tied up, even if it was in a slightly, anti-climatic way and I feel good about how the author left it. Part of the reason why I didn't like it at parts was because, last winter, a student of mine told me about a "theory" she'd heard about the new book. Somehow, the "theory" was actually what happened. I was slightly disappointed that it was spoiled for me, especially because I'd been so careful to not read anything about the new book at all before it was released. But I ended up liking it well enough once I got over that, and have pledged my undying love for Stephenie Meyer and have promised to own any book she ever writes.

Noteworthy Item #5: I have mastitis.
Sometime on Tuesday, I noticed that I still felt "full" after I'd nursed Little Man. I didn't think that much about it, but by evening, it was obvious that I had a blocked duct. I rubbed, and massaged, and applied heat, but I couldn't get it to un-clog. I finally just went to bed and when I woke up, it was all red and swollen and very painful. I called my midwife and she diagnosed me over the phone. She called in an antibiotic and told me to plan on spending the day on the couch. I never felt very sick, just very, very, sore. Things are a lot better today, but things are still a tad tender.

I think that's about it. Do you see why I've been putting this off? Sorry about the novel. Just as a reminder, James's band has their first gig this Saturday at Wheeler Farm, from 12:20 to 1:20. I hope you can all come!

Here are some more random pictures from the week.

Little Man is already a couch potato, just like his parents. He loves to watch TV.

Little Man is getting better and better at rolling around. He's even getting to the point where he'll roll to go get something, versus rolling just for the sake of rolling. He started in the center of this blanket
Little Man has a new habit of grabbing your face while you hold him, especially when you're trying to get him to sleep. He was being so soft and sweet this night, just patting me and staring into my eyes. It makes it all worth it.

As an experiment this morning, I just handed Little Man his bottle. He knows what it is, but I didn't know if he knew how to work it. He took it with both hands, then tipped it up and put it straight into his mouth. He didn't hold it up by himself for very long, but he certainly knows how to.

Up and running

2008-07-31T17:56:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm irritated. I dropped my computer off on Monday and the guy told me it would be 2 -3 days. I called after 2 days, just to tell them I'd changed my mind about having my data backed up; the guy who answered said it was just about ready and they'd call me as soon as they were done. I waited patiently for their call all day yesterday. I finally buckled today and called them myself. Sure enough, it was ready. I went to pick it up, and the sheet they had taped to it said that the work had been completed the same day I dropped it off. I wonder if they would have ever called... Oh, well. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, ehh? I've been surfing all afternoon, just immersing myself in anything mildly interesting that I can find online. What a wonderful way to waste an afternoon.

There isn't much news around here. I finished re-reading the Twilight books yesterday (they have completely consumed my mind, again, so its all I can think of to talk about right now). I am so dang excited for the new one that comes out on Saturday. I'll be in Logan and, even though its completely irresponsible considering I have an infant to take care of the next day, I really want to drag my sisters to one of those midnight release parties and stay up late reading the book. I know I won't really do it, but wouldn't it be fun? James and his brother are taking off to the mountains for the weekend, so Little Man and I are spending some quality time with the folks. I wish that they saw him more. He gets bigger all the time. He has a new habit of crying whenever I walk out of the room. I was thinking he was a cool, independent baby, who liked me well enough, but didn't mind being on his own, either. Wrong. He is just becoming so aware of his surroundings that he's finally noticing that I'm not around. He sure is a sweetie, though. He's had a good week, all in all. He was struggling to stick to his schedule, but once I kind of gave up on it and tried just listening to him, he got right back on it, all on his own. Funny how that works.

Crashed

2008-07-29T22:39:00.002-06:00

No, I'm not dead. My computer is very sick. It's at the computer doctor right now. Hopefully it will be healed soon. My days have been very empty without the Internet. What did people used to do with their time? I've been scrapbooking, reading (stupid Twilight books), and I'm still more than a little bored.

More later. 'Night.

My Favorite Rock Star

2008-07-22T09:36:00.005-06:00

Last night, I got to go to the John Mayer concert. I love me some John Mayer. Oh my goodness. It wasn't quite the show I'd expected, though. John Mayer is a guitar player at heart, not a pop star. (I've been saying this for years, trying to convince certain members of my family that he's not a "fairy".) So when he plays live, its not like listening to his CDs. He really likes to jam. Which is fine, but I wanted to hear all of my favorite songs and sing along. Oh well. While I was there thinking impure thoughts about the man on stage last night, I had a little epiphany. Every time John Mayer covered a song, I thought to myself, "James can play that song." When Nikki commented that she really loved John Mayer's white t-shirt and khakis, I thought, "That's what James wears." When John Mayer would sing in that wonderful, smokey voice, I thought, "James could do that if he wanted." I finally realized that I have my very own rock star at home and I don't appreciate him or his talents nearly enough. Why was I swooning over this guy when I'm married a man that can do so much more? My guy is certainly nicer, kinder, and funnier. He's just as good of a musician. He's got smoldering good looks. So, darling, if you're reading this, know that YOU are my favorite rock star. I love you.

Speaking of James being a rock star, I mentioned a while back that he's playing in a band now. They have several gigs lined up for the next couple of months, and we'd love it if you would come support him and the band. (But, ladies, remember the sexy guitar player is already taken. No swooning, please.) Here are the dates:

August 9th at Wheeler Farm, 12:20 pm to 1:20 pm (This is the one I'd come to, if I were you)
August 23rd at West Jordan Nat'l Guard Facility, 11:15 am - 1:15 pm
September 12 at Cruisers, 9:00 pm to 1:00 am

If you need addresses and/or directions to any of these, leave a comment or call us.

And, finally, some pictures from last night.

Here are my beautiful sisters:
Here is Lindsay's hubby. He didn't have as much fun as we did.

Colbie Callait opened for John Mayer. (That's her on the right with the white shirt and straw hat.)

My 2nd favorite rock star.

And since you've all so patiently read through the last two entries with barely even a mention of the baby, here's a silly picture of my Little Man.

My new favorite chili recipe

2008-07-17T20:35:00.004-06:00

Not much is going on around here. Little Man is struggling with the solids and still wants to nurse all the time, sometimes every hour. It's getting old. He did take some nice, long naps today, though. We're going to try to get back on a good schedule tomorrow. I can't keep this up much longer.

The real reason for this post is to brag about the awesome pot of chili I made for dinner tonight. Inspired by my bro-in-law, Jon, I recently purchased a pressure cooker ($12 on clearance. Score!). I made the whole thing, using dried beans, in about 45 minutes (and that included having to put the baby down for a nap and dealing with a plumbing fiasco in a couple of the units in our building in the middle of cooking). And it tasted SO good! Here's the recipe I used/made up as I went:

2 cups dried beans, quick-soaked in pressure cooker (Put 2 cups of beans, 6 cups of water, and a little oil in the cooker. Bring up to pressure, then remove from heat. Let sit 10 minutes, then quick-release the pressure and drain.)
3 T oil
1 onions, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 lb ground pork
2 T paprika
1 T oregano
2 t cumin seeds
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 t chipotle chili powder
1 bay leaf
1 c water
2 cans (14.5 oz) tomatoes
1/2 c cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in pressure cooker. Saute onions and peppers. Add pork and cook until no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients, except cilantro. Lock lid in place, bring to full pressure, then cook for 2o minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 - 10 minutes before quick-releasing pressure. Stir in cilantro and season to taste with salt (I used about 2 t). Serve with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips. Yummy!

A Big Day of Firsts

2008-07-15T17:11:00.005-06:00

Little Man has had quite a day. He was being a complete stinker, again, this morning. He had been playing on a blanket while I showered and was fussing when I got out. I picked him up, and he immediately latched on and started nursing. I decided that all the fussiness was because he's been super hungry. So, going against the doctor's advice, Little Man got his first taste of cereal today. I'm not sure if he liked it or not, but I sure liked him a lot better when he was done. It was like we flipped a switch. Suddenly, he was smiling and laughing again. And he even took a long, 2+ hour nap. I'm not sure if he's really ready for solids or if he's just having a little growth spurt, but it sure made a big difference today.

Little Man also got his first haircut today. I had decided yesterday that it was time, but James wanted to enjoy his long hair one more day. He also requested that he not be here when I did it. He's a little attached to the long hair. I had no idea what I was doing, but I really think it looks great! We should have done it a long time ago. You can still tell he's got a lot of hair, but it doesn't look all straggley. And doesn't he look so grown up? He's quickly looking less and less like a baby, and more and more like a little boy.

The Before.
He actually fell asleep for a minute during the haircut. At least he wasn't wiggling.

The aftermath. Look at all that hair!He had a break down near the end.

The After. Doesn't he look good?!

St. George and Lots of Poop

2008-07-14T16:51:00.005-06:00

We took our first family trip with Little Man this weekend. We drove down to St. George on Friday. I have to admit that it wasn't that fun. Not that Little Man wasn't a complete angel. In the whole three days, the only time he cried was yesterday when he got startled awake. Even though he didn't get his normal naps and spent most of the weekend in his car seat, he was happy and pleasant the whole time. But even though he was super good, there just isn't that much to do in St. George in the middle of July with a baby. We went to the outlets on Saturday afternoon, then drove to Mesquite to eat at one of the buffets. We planned on getting there right at 4 when it opened, since we hadn't had lunch. We got there about 3:30, so the guys went and bowled a game while we waited. We went back to the buffet at 4, and it still wasn't open. Greg peeked his head in to see what was going on, and then we realized the time changes when you cross the border into Nevada. So we drove around Mesquite for awhile, and ended up hanging out at the Family Dollar for about half an hour. Wa-hoo! We went back to the condo when we were done eating and James, Greg, and Amy went down to the pool while I put Little Man down for a nap. They returned quickly, though, because the pool had been closed because it was getting stormy. So we ended up playing cards for a little while then going to bed. Good times.

The most exciting part of the trip happened yesterday while we were packing up to go home. I was changing Little Man on the couch at the condo. It had been almost three days since he'd pooped (too much info?) so I was poking his tummy, trying to feel if it was hard and bloated. He seemed ok, then all of a sudden, I heard a gurgling noise. I looked down just in time to see "the eruption," as James is calling it. Poop was oozing all over the couch. The couch that didn't belong to us. The couch that someone else would have to sit on later that day. Yuck. I kind of flipped out and James started gagging. We got most of it cleaned up but I really feel bad for any future occupants of that condo.

We did take a detour on the way home through Zion's Park yesterday. We went on the Overlook Trail and it was really wonderful. It was overcast, with a slight breeze. It was actually cooler down there than it was here at home. Our short detour ended up making our trip an extra 3 -4 hours long. I don't want to ride in the car for a long, long, time.

Little Man's streak of being good is definately over. As if he's getting us back for neglecting him all weekend, he's been a complete stinker all day. He's only taken two 20 minute naps all day, and had a huge blowout while I was rocking him. He's tired, and ornery, and cries every time I put him down. It's been a rough day.

Little Man in his car seat Friday night.

One advantage of the long car ride was the quality time James and Little Man got to spend together. Here they are talking and laughing.

James and Greg playing checkers while we waited for our breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. Little Man playing at the condo.

Since the pool was closed, James and Greg played basketball. Notice the flip-flops. Hiking in Zion would have been much more fun (and safe) if I hadn't been wearing a skirt and flip-flops.
The blow-out. Notice how the poop goes all the way up to his shoulder blades.

Don't let that cherubic face fool you. He's a stinker.

"Strong Little Man"

2008-07-09T12:17:00.004-06:00

That's how the doctor described my sweet boy at his appointment yesterday. We got an A+. He's doing everything he's supposed to be by this age, and then some. The doctor said he's perfect, and not to change a thing we're doing. He even recommended not starting solids for another month, because he's thriving so well on just breast milk. He was impressed that he's rolling over (Little Man even demonstrated his new trick) and said that I'm in trouble, because he'll probably be crawling soon, but I already knew that. And everybody that saw him remarked on how happy he is. I had to keep telling them, "Yes, he's really this happy all the time."

And then he had to get his shots. He tried so hard to be brave. He flinched a little with the first one, but didn't start crying until the second one. He wailed for a second, but he settled right down. I can tell he doesn't feel good today, because he hasn't been wiggling and rolling over, and he's letting me cuddle with him. I makes me remember how he used to be, when he was really little. It's kind of nice. (Does it mean I'm a bad mom when I enjoy it when my baby doesn't feel good?)

Added Thurday, July 10th:
I feel like a dork. I didn't tell everyone about the most interesting part of our Dr's visit. Apparently, Little Man has had a little growth spurt. He now weighs 13 lbs 5.5 oz and is 25 3/4 inches long. That puts him in the 75th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight. (Remember, at his 2 month appointment, he was in the 50th percentile for both.) Who would have ever thought that James and I would have tall, skinny baby? Go figure.

On the move

2008-07-08T07:37:00.008-06:00

Holy crap, time goes by so fast. I can't believe my summer is already more than half over. I have so many projects that I haven't finished, so many projects that I haven't even started. Part of my problem is that I've had my nose stuck in a book most of the last week. Do you all share the same love for Stephenie Meyer that I have? I hate that I love her so much. I've got 150 pages left of "The Host" then maybe I'll be able to get something done around here. I guess this is what summer is for, though, right? Right?

Little Man is officially mobile. Yikes. Last week, he learned how to roll over. Once he figured it out, it was like something clicked, and now its all he wants to do. Then, on Sunday, he figured out how to roll from him tummy back to his back. And he can put the two motions together. So he's been rolling around our tiny apartment. He's never made it too far in the few times he's attempted it, but its just a matter of time. And this morning, while he was on his tummy, he was pushing off with his legs, like he was trying to scoot. I'm in so much trouble.

Little Man turned 4 months old on Sunday. I can't believe my baby is 4 months old! But that means that we have to go to the doctor today. I'm excited to see how much he's grown, but he'll have to get another round of shots. I can't even think about it. James will be at work, so I'm on my own this time. Its going to be rough.

I'm realizing that I take a lot of pictures of Little Man sleeping. All babies sleep like this, huh?
Whoops, here's another one.

Here are James and Little Man sleeping. These photos were taken at the same time. I thought it was interesting that they were sleeping in basically the same position.
James snapped this one of Little Man and me taking a nap together on Sunday afternoon.

Bathtime. Don't you love little baby bathrobes??

James was in charge of bath time last night so that I could run a movie back to the RedBox. I got home and James thought that he had made Little Man look like a rock star. I thought he looked like one of the Three Stooges.
To those of you that I promised a video of Little Man rolling over, I really do have one. I've been trying and trying, but can't get it to upload. I'll try to get it up in the next few days.

A week in the life of Little Man

2008-07-03T08:35:00.004-06:00

This is going to be a short post, mostly because I'm grumpy and tired for some reason. But I did want to share some pictures of Little Man. He's been awfully cute this week.

Here he is playing with Grandma on Sunday.

Rockin' the curly hair.

Look at how long his hair is getting. He kind of looks like a girl.

Here's my baby sleeping. Yes, he really sleeps like this.

Doesn't he look so precious?

Yesterday evening, I put Little Man down on floor to play while I made dinner. I came back into the room a few minutes later to check on him. This is how I found him...

He rolled over! And I missed it! He's been dangerously close to rolling over for a while now; he's been able to get his bottom half over, but couldn't quite get that arm out from underneath him. He must have figured it out, though. Hopefully, he'll repeat the performance soon and I'll get to see him in action.

Roll Call

2008-06-30T16:37:00.002-06:00

I clicked on my profile the other day and noticed that over 60 people have viewed it. Holy crap. Unless every member of my family have each looked at it 15 times, there are people reading this silly blog that I don't know about. If you're reading this, please leave me a comment, just so I know that you stopped by. To leave a comment, click on the "# comments" link at the bottom of the post, then type away. If you don't have a Google account, click the option that says "Name/URL" and type in your name so that I know who you are. Also, you'll have to type in some random letters for verification before it will let you save. I know, it's complicated.

My Sweet Boys

2008-06-28T22:37:00.003-06:00

I have the best husband ever. I'd been (not so casually) mentioning that I'd really like to get the new Stephenie Meyer book, "The Host." We've been to Barnes and Noble twice in the last two days (don't ask) and I keep longing for it but I refuse to spend money on books for myself. While I was getting Little Man in his jammies tonight, James said he had to run to go get some quarters for laundry. I thought it was weird, because he went and got laundry money this morning, but I thought maybe he didn't get enough to do as many loads as he needed to or something. Then, when he got home, he presented me with my book. He'd gone back to B&N and bought it for me. I thought it was so thoughtful of him. He does nice stuff like this for me every once in awhile, but not very often is it "just because." He sure is a sweetie. I think I'll keep him.

In other news, Little Man was a complete stinker today. It wasn't all his fault; we were out and about today, and his napping schedule got all messed up. I don't know if I've ever heard him scream as much as he did today, though. He hardly ever cries, and when he does, it's more like fussing than real crying. He was doing the ugly cry today, though. Tears and snot and everything. Poor baby. He settled down and is now sleeping peacefully, hopefully until morning.

Little Man Laughs

2008-06-23T21:36:00.004-06:00

Little Man is now good enough at laughing that he'll laugh when is just super happy, rather than when we act super silly. We were able to get some of these giggles on film yesterday. Enjoy.

Little Man The Acrobat

2008-06-21T10:36:00.004-06:00

Take a look at this picture...

This is how I found Little Man yesterday morning. Now, it might not look too extraordinary to the casual observer. But let me point out a couple of things. First of all, when I put him to bed the night before, his head was at the other end of the crib. Secondly, notice that he is sucking his thumb. I've mentioned before that he sucks his thumb from time to time, but never for more than a few seconds. I've had the suspicion, though, that he sucks it pretty frequently in the night and I just don't know about it. He's gotten better and better at popping it in his mouth; you can tell he's been practicing. Here is my proof. He'd been fussing, but in the few seconds it took me to get to him, he'd popped that thumb in and had gone back to sleep.

Later, when he was supposed to be taking a nap, I snapped this picture.

He refuses to just lay there anymore. He's always got those monkey toes on the bars of his crib. During one nap yesterday, I laid him in his crib, then when I went to go check if he was sleeping (he wasn't), he'd flipped himself around again. I put the binky back in his mouth and left him. When I went back in a few minutes later, he had flipped around again, so that he was laying the direction I had put him originally. Crazy baby.

The Showdown (or, Why I Love Breastfeeding)

2008-06-19T21:06:00.002-06:00

Ok, this might be too much info for some of you. I'm turning into one of those La Leche League women. You know the type: lifting up their shirts in public to nurse, and continuing to do so until their baby is not a baby anymore. Oh, and they probably think they're better than you for it. I used to think these ladies were super crazy. I decided to breastfeed my little one for lots of reasons (we'll get into those in a minute) but I totally understood why someone would choose not to. Over the last few months with Little Man, however, I've decided that breastfeeding is far superior to formula and bottles. Last night, I gave Little Man a bottle (of expressed breast milk, of course) before bed. My midwife warned me to make sure to keep him in the habit of taking a bottle over the summer; otherwise, he might not take one again when we go back to school. He starting eating from it, but then he started acting strangely. He was wiggling, and turning his head, and pushing me away with his hands. (Now that he can grab things, he can also push things away.) Figuring that this was a response to the bottle, I decided I had to stand my ground. He was not going to nurse, even if it meant he went to bed without a full belly and woke me up in the middle of the night. The stage was set for a showdown. And sure enough, Little Man woke me up at 2:45, just as I'd predicted. I tried the bottle again, and he took about an ounce, then started refusing it again. Acting on a hunch, I got another, fresher bottle (the one I'd been trying was out of the freezer). He sucked it down with no complaining whatsoever. So much for my showdown, huh?

While I was feeding Little Man this bottle last night, my love of breastfeeding was cemented even further. Bottles are such a pain! While my baby was crying, instead of just unsnapping my bra and snuggling him up to me, I had to 1) fill up a mug with water and put it into the microwave to heat, 2) put bottle in said hot water to warm the bottle (this take several minutes)and then, 3) hold my baby in an upright position with only one hand, since the other is holding the bottle. Very uncomfortable. Last night was especially bad, because I had to do the whole thing twice.

So now that I've told you all about why I hate bottle feeding, let me expound a little further on why I love breastfeeding so much. Some of these reasons I knew about before Little Man was born and some of them I discovered later.
1. It's free! Do you know how much formula costs?? I think its, like, a bazillion dollars or something.
2. It's super convenient. Just lift and unsnap. And you never run out of it, its always the perfect temperature, there are no bottles and nipples to sterilize. Can you imagine going through that ordeal that I described above 6-8 times a day? True, no one else can breastfeed for you. And sometimes you have to banish yourself to a mother's room or dressing room somewhere. These are small details to me now.
3. The bonding that you hear people talk about really is wonderful. While I'm nursing Little Man, there is a real connection that we have. Its a truly beautiful thing.
4. Its super good for the baby. It's the perfect nutrition, plus it gets them used to different flavors so they will (supposedly) be less picky when they get older.
5. It's super good for mom. Did you know that women that breastfeed have a lower incidence of breast cancer? It makes perfect sense, but somehow this information isn't really "out there." I think its a cover-up, master minded by the formula companies.
6. It really does help mom lose the baby weight faster. I'm fitting into things I haven't fit into in over a year. Of course, the instant I found out I was pregnant, my butt got huge, so there are lots of things I haven't fit into in a long time.

So do you think the La Leche League will accept my application?

Little Man's New Groove

2008-06-16T14:14:00.004-06:00

Can I just say that I love being home? How did I ever have time to work? One day, I hope this turns into a permanent situation.

We've had a very fun week around here. I feel like I'm doing a good job of getting out of the house and doing something everyday. I get a little stir crazy if I don't get out of the house. We've been going to the park, and the library (I've recently discovered how awesome the children's floor of the downtown library is. I love all of the secret rooms; the Crystal Cave is my very favorite, so far. Also, I really appreciate that they have a mother's room, although I haven't had to use it yet.), and visiting our families. And Little Man is getting on a very predictable schedule. Have I mentioned that he's sleeping through the night now? He goes down at 9 and doesn't get up until 6. He's usually back in bed by 6:30 and sleeps until 8:30 or 9 again. How did I ever function getting up several times a night? Oh, yeah; I didn't.

James started his new job Thursday. He'd been training for a couple of days before that, but Thursday was his first day on his own. He didn't have a very good day. He was supposed to done at 6 and when my phone finally rang at a quarter to 8, I knew it had been a very bad day. He hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day, was coming down with a cold, and on top of everything, was supposed to be at band practice at 6:30. He's hanging in there, but hopefully things start going better for him.

Little Man has also had an exciting week. He has decided that he's way too big to lay down anymore and insists on being held upright or being propped up at all times. If things aren't going his way, he starts yelling. Not crying, but real yelling. He's also started reaching for things. We bought him some toys earlier this week and we've been practicing with him. The first day or so, we'd dangle a toy above him and he's get super focused on it. His hands would move, but they'd usually go straight into his mouth. If they did go the right direction, he'd still totally miss. That hand-eye coordination is a tricky skill. But he's getting better and better at it and most the time now he can get it on the first try.

We had a wonderful Father's Day. (Well, I thought it was nice. I hope James did, too.) We gave James his presents and his card (that Little Man helped write) and had a nice breakfast. Little Man even got to join us at the table for the first time. I've been thinking that I wished there was a way he could sit with us at the table, and then thought "Oh, duh. The highchair!" So we took it out of the box and set it up for him. It was nice have the whole family around the table. After that, we lounged around for awhile, then we went up to Logan to spend the day with my family. We had some really good hamburgers (I'm still thinking about them, Mom) and played some games. I really enjoyed myself. Little Man was pretty good. Nobody else probably thought he was being a stinker, but James and I both thought he was being grumpy compared to how he normally is. Don't you wish babies could tell you why they're being grumpy? I don't know if he wasn't feeling well, or was tired, or was just feeling out of sorts because he was in a new place. He was his normal smiley self this morning though.

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears....

2008-06-10T21:54:00.003-06:00

We sure are having a fun summer. Today, our good friends Matt and Mary called us and asked if we'd like to go to the zoo with them. It was a blast! I know Little Man didn't know what was going on, but James and I had fun, and we took some cute pictures.

School's Out!

2008-06-08T21:24:00.004-06:00

Wa-hoo! School's out! I am loving my summer break so far. James, on the other hand, is probably ready for me to go back already. I've kept him very busy that last few days. On Thursday, I was finally able to dig in and really clean the bathroom and the hall closet. It's been bugging me for months, but I just haven't had the time or energy to tackle it. Once that was done, we went to Ikea and got a new wardrobe so we'll have some extra closet space around here. Friday James worked in the yard all morning then I made him put together the wardrobe all afternoon. Saturday was spent doing the grocery shopping and getting my lesson ready for church. Today has been nice and relaxing. I didn't even make dinner. We did the the chance to go downtown and walk around Temple Square for a little while. There was some sort of meeting happening in the Tabernacle (anyone know what it was?) so it was extra busy. I always love to see the sister missionaries working. There were protesters standing around at the entrance tonight, but as soon as you enter the grounds, there is a sister there, smiling, waiting to greet you. I love it.

Little Man has also had a busy week. He spent the first part of the week with Lexi's mom, and she just raved about what a good baby he was. She had her hands full with two little ones, but I didn't worry too much, because I know just how easy Little Man is to take care of. The last couple of days he's turned into a real chatter box. He's always squawking and squealing and cooing and gurgling. My favorite is when he looks into your eyes and quietly coos at you. I like to think he's telling me that he loves me. No matter what he's trying to say, it sure melts my heart.
Most of the week as been pretty nice, but this morning was a little rough. We were running late for church and Little Man was napping anyway, so we ended up skipping the first meeting. Little Man was due to eat at the exact same time I was supposed to be teaching, so I pumped a bottle for James to feed him. James dropped me off at the front door and I ran to class. Class went well, until half way through, the only 3 kids that were helping to read and discuss left. I was left with one girl who is mentally handicapped and 4 Burmese refugees that don't speak English. That was rough. Anyway, I kept waiting for James to come up with the baby, but by the time class was over, he still wasn't there. I found him in the foyer and Little Man was wearing a different outfit than what we left home in. Apparently, I hadn't put the lid to the bottle on tight and most of it ended up down the front Little Man. James, not realizing that I had a clean outfit in the diaper bag, went all the way home to change him. Just as I found them, Little Man was working on filling his diaper. I whisked him off to the rest room to change him. By the time we got there, the poop had soaked all the was through his onsie and his shirt, but it wasn't up the back (like usually happens at least once a day) it was up the front!! How in the world does that happen?? Right then and there I made an executive decision that we're switching him to bigger diapers. He's kind of between sizes right now, but since the smaller ones are cheaper, I've been holding off moving up. Not anymore. Hopefully we'll have less poopy laundry. So to sum up the church-going experience, we missed the first hour, I taught my lesson to five kids that didn't understand a word that came out of my mouth, and Little Man went through two different outfits. Luckily, Sacrament Meeting was uneventful.

We caught Little Man sucking his thumb again today. He's getting better and better at finding it. I probably shouldn't think its cute, but I just marvel at how much control he's getting over his little hands.

On Thursday while I was busy cleaning, Little Man wanted to be cuddled. I rigged James up with the carrier and he packed the baby around for awhile.

We bought Little Man a book the other night. Here we are having our first bedtime story. There are no words to the book, just simple black/white and red/white pictures of animals. He seems to love it. He stares at the pictures and tonight he seemed like he was talking to the picture of the bird.

Ho-hum

2008-06-01T20:12:00.005-06:00

I'm racking my brain to try to think of something to blog about, but its been a pretty ho-hum week around here. Nothing too exciting. James started his new job on Wednesday, delivering for Fed-Ex. I'm just about done with school; Friday was essentially the last day, but we're not officially done until Wednesday. The last day of daycare was on Friday, however. I don't know what they think I'm supposed to do with my baby for three days. My friend Lexi from work is having her mom come into to town to watch her little one, and her mom volunteered to watch Little Man, too. I'm a little nervous, only because I've never been away from him for that long. He's always been in the daycare down the hall. For the next three days, I'll be away from him for 8+ hours. It will be very strange.

The only other thing to talk about is just how big Little Man is getting. It seems like he's grown by leaps and bounds this week. He's gotten so good at holding up his head this week. I don't have to cradle him in my arms anymore; I can carry him on my hip now. He's also gotten very good at turning his head to find you when you talk to him. I've also noticed that he really does know who I am and gets excited to see me. Today, while I was teaching my Sunday School class, James was rocking him to sleep. He said he was just fine whenever anyone else was talking, but as soon as I would talk, Little Man would jerk awake. Also at church today, I was rocking him during Sacrament meeting. I had him cradled in my arms, and he turned his head to look at me. I'd smile at him, then he'd give me one of his big cheesy grins and bury his face in my arm. Then he'd to it all over again. It was really cute. Oh, one more cute thing he did today. He sucked his thumb for the first time. He's always got his fist or his fingers in his mouth these days, but he's never figured out how to get just his thumb in his mouth before. Super cute. Oh, and another thing. Little Man slept a full eight hours last night. He went down at 9 and didn't even stir until 5. And when he did wake up, he didn't even cry. He just started talking to himself. He ate, then went right back to bed and slept until 8:30. Now if he'd just sleep like that on a school night, when its really important that I get a good night sleep.

I've recently figured out how to take video with our camera. Here's a video from last week of Little Man talking to his animals that dangle above him in the bouncer.

Here's a picture from tummy time the other night. Look at him hold that head up!

Here he is before church this morning. It won't be long before he's sitting up all by himself!

Long Weekend

2008-05-26T20:25:00.005-06:00

Wow, what a busy weekend we've had. As I sat down to write this, I realized that I haven't just sat in a few days. Saturday was spent running errands, then we went to Jon and Bryanna's for dinner. Sunday we went to church, then up to Layton to Matt and Mary's for dinner and to play Rock Band. We had tons of fun and Little Man was so good! Even though we were being loud, he just laid on the couch and watched us jam out, then when he got sleepy, he fussed a little then fell asleep in my arms. He's so sweet. Today, we went up to Logan to visit the fam. I was feeling a little sleepy and I wasn't very fun to hang out with, I'm afraid, but it was good to see everyone. I always love to show off my cute baby.

I'm not looking my best here, but I wanted to remember this moment with Little Man. He'd woke up from a nap still sleepy, and just wanted to cuddle and sleep in my arms. He was so sweet and peaceful. I know that one day in the not-too-distant future, he won't want to cuddle anymore and I'll really miss these times.
Here's my little guy all dressed up to go to Logan. He's becoming so aware and alert. He is making lots of eye contact and really watches everything we do.

Worse and worse

2008-05-22T14:41:00.003-06:00

It has been a terrible week around here. Well, just terrible for me. The rest of the family is just fine. This cold is totally kicking my butt. I've been sick for a week now. On Tuesday, I woke up and my eyes were bright red. I thought that it was just because I hadn't slept is about 4 days (I can't sleep because of my cough, then the coughing wakes up the baby, and then we're all up). I ended up going to the doctor and it turns out I have given myself pink eye. Somehow, my nose must have drained backwards into my eyes and the same virus that gave my cold is now infecting my eyes. I didn't even know that could happen. And since it viral, there not a thing anyone can do for it. I ended up staying home from work today, just so I could get some rest and try to beat this thing. I stayed in bed until 1:00 and it was lovely. James would bring the baby in every 3 hours, I'd nurse him, then hand him back to James and go back sleep. I'm actually feeling much better now. Hopefully I'll be all the way back to normal by the weekend.

The only other news to report is that Little Man is doing much better this week. He's been so cranky the last few weeks, mostly because he doesn't sleep in daycare. I decided to try putting him down earlier and it seems to have fixed the problem. He goes down at 7:30 now instead of 9:00. He wakes up earlier in the morning, which in inconvenient for me, but then he still has time to go back to sleep before we go to school. Since he hasn't been so overtired, he's actually been sleeping better in daycare, too. A well-rested baby makes everyone happier.

One of those days

2008-05-19T20:19:00.005-06:00

It was not a good day around here. It felt like those early days, right after Little Man was born. I was just so tired, and I couldn't figure out why he was crying. I was so overwhelmed that I just started crying, right there in the daycare. One of the workers came and asked if she could take him for me, and the other lady gave me a hug, then led me to the back room and handed me a pillow and a blanket and told me to lay down on the couch and try to rest. There are a lot of things I really hate about daycare but they were very good to me today.

I don't have much energy to share all of the miserable details of this weekend. I was sick, I missed the family BBQ in Logan, etc, etc... James did manage to make it out to his mom's today and brought the camera home. These pictures are over a week old now, but hopefully these will tide everyone (Dad) over until I can get some new ones tomorrow.

Little Man got to wear his MESA shirt for the first (and probably only) time a week or so ago. MESA is the club I advise at school (Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement, if you were wondering. Its not as nerdy as it sounds. Ok, fine, maybe it is.)

I think he looks so dang cute sitting in his Bumbo. Isn't he a doll??
Me and my baby. From the looks of it, this was right before bed. I'm hoping it is anyway; I hope I don't look that bad first thing in the morning.

These are my handsome boys on Mother's Day. I'm a lucky woman.

Giggles!

2008-05-15T19:04:00.003-06:00

Little Man definitely giggled today. We had just got home and he was laying on the couch after getting his diaper changed. He was grinning like crazy, then just started giggling. At the ceiling fan. I was so excited that I didn't even get jealous.

Eventful Week

2008-05-14T19:54:00.002-06:00

Its only Wednesday and already its been a long, eventful week. Let's begin.

Monday. The day starts pretty normally (besides the fact that my normal parking spot at work had been painted red over the weekend-- that was annoying). I dropped Little Man off at day care like I alway do, but they called me at 8 to come nurse him, which is a little early. I went down and fed him and rocked him to sleep, then continued with my normal-so-far day. At lunch, I had an extra minute or two, so I snuck back down to the daycare to steal a snuggle. Little Man had apparently woken up fairly quickly after I had put him down and had been a little fussy, so they put him in the swing, where he's been peacefully sleeping for the last couple of hours. No problem. I took him out of the swing and cuddled him for a minute. He stirred a little, but the bell rang before he woke up all the way, so I put him back in the swing, figuring I'd leave him there while the workers fed all of the big kids. I returned to the day care at about 3, which is a little later than normal. Little Man was awake, and was just hanging out with one the the workers. Since he seemed content, I started gathering our things before I grabbed him to go eat. I was putting the milk I pumped at lunchtime away and I noticed that the bottled I'd left for the day was still there. Yes, that's right. My little, helpless baby had not been fed ALL DAY! He had been left to sleep in the swing for almost 7 hours. Somebody had written down that I had nursed him at noon. Whether they thought I fed him when I checked on him at lunch or had him confused with another baby I'm not sure. They finally thought that he might need his diaper changed sometime after 2:30 and, since he didn't seem fussy, they didn't even think that he might need fed. My theory is that his blood sugar had dropped so low by that point that he didn't even have the strength to be fussy. I was very upset. My inner Mama Bear started growling, but somehow, I was actually pretty nice about it. I mentioned what had happened to the lady that's in charge the next day (she'd been gone on Monday) and she was very apologetic and, besides not being fed, felt really bad that he didn't get played with or talked to all day. I think he's been getting a little extra attention since.

Tuesday. No drama, only exciting stuff. We were playing with Little Man, getting him to smile, and I think he laughed! He made this little giggle-like noise, and James and I just looked at each other with big wide eyes. If it wasn't a giggle, it was close. He'll be giving up big belly laughs in no time, I think. Then, after the bath last night, I laid him on the bed for some tummy time. He was doing really well, lifting his head up and turning it side to side. Then I noticed that he was wiggling and shifting his weight like he was trying to roll over. I yelled for James and we watched him struggle for a minute, then all of a sudden, he was on his back! My baby rolled over! Now I'm convinced that he's advanced, because he seems to be doing everything earlier than The Book says he should.

There really isn't anything to report about today. I'm just exhausted and Little Man wouldn't take his nap this evening. Totally normal stuff. More updates later.

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T20:13:00.003-06:00

Today was my first Mother's Day. Whoever invented this holiday deserves a medal. Little Man woke up at 4:30 and I made James get up and feed him a bottle. While he was eating, he pooped through his clothes. (This, unfortunately, is becoming an early morning routine around here. Any hints on how to keep the poop in the diaper?) Poor James. I'm not sure what happened after that, but Little Man was up again by 6:00. I got up and fed him and put him back down. James got up with him again at 8. When I finally got out of bed at 9, James announced that we were sending Little Man back and getting a different model. He was mostly kidding.

In celebration of Mother's Day, James (and Little Man, too) bought me some new socks. Is it super lame that I was excited about them? Then we went to Rush Valley for church and dinner with James's family. It was a great day. My little sister called me on the way home and told me that she had a Mother's Day present for me, but that I couldn't have it until January. She's having a baby!! She just found out this morning (I really hope that everyone knows by now... Sorry if I ruined any surprises!) I started crying, she started crying... I'm so excited for her. Being a mom is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me and I'm so excited for her to experience it, too. She's going to be a great mom.

I took the camera to Rush Valley to take some pictures today, but I left it there when we came home. Hopefully, we'll get back out there sometime this week and I'll be able to put some pictures up.

Two Months Old

2008-05-06T19:43:00.007-06:00

Little Man is two months old today. I can barely believe it. Its gone by so fast, but feels like a million years all at the same time. I can't even remember what our lives used to be like. And he just gets cuter everyday. He's learning and growing so much. He's starting to really notice his hands and get a little control over them. He also has a new favorite "toy:" the ceiling fan. He just lays there and stares at it and smiles and coos. James and I were talking about how it makes us feel so special when he smiles at us, but then he smiles at some inanimate object and makes us feel not so special anymore. He sure is funny, though.

Little Man had his 2 month checkup today. He weighs 10 lbs 7 oz and is 22 3/4 inches long. He's in the 50-percentile for both height and weight. He's perfectly average. He's in the 25-percentile for head size, though. We thought he had a tiny head. The doctor also commented on how alert and engaging he is. Then he had to get his shots. James had to turn away and I cried big crocodile tears. Little Man screamed louder than I've ever heard him cry before. He eventually calmed down and went to sleep. We gave him a bath and put him down early tonight; hopefully, we don't have too bad of a night.

As promised, here are some pictures from Sunday.

Blessings

2008-05-05T22:09:00.002-06:00

We had the most wonderful weekend. Yesterday was one of the best days of my whole life, I think. It started Saturday morning with James taking me out to breakfast (which we never do!) then we went to Shane Co. and I got to pick out a new wedding band (I'll post some pictures after I pick it up later in the week!). The rest of Saturday was spent running errands and doing chores. Yesterday the whole family (minus my sister and her family) came to Little Man's blessing. James gave him a the most beautiful blessing. It was also such a neat experience to see how many priesthood holders we have in our family. For some reason, I've always been worried that we'd be the family that only has 3 guys up there in the circle. I had been planning (practically since I found out I was pregnant) on bearing my testimony after the blessing. I had all of these beautiful things I wanted to say about the joys of motherhood and the blessing of knowing that my family can be together forever. But we had such a busy sacrament. After the blessing, someone was confirmed, then they called a new 2nd counselor in the bishopric. After the sacrament, they asked the old 2nd counselor and his wife to speak as well as the new counselor and his wife. By the time they all got done speaking, we were already out of time. The 1st counselor stood up and was getting the meeting wrapped up. The old 2nd counselor must have seen the disappointed look on my face because I saw him lean over to the bishop and tell him that I wanted to bear my testimony. The bishop stood up and whispered in the 1st counselors ear, then they called me up to the stand. I was so grateful for the opportunity to bear my testimony in front of my family. I was grateful for a bishopric that was sensitive and willing to be flexible. It really meant a lot to me. The day continued with lunch at Jon and Bryanna's. We all just sat and ate and enjoyed the sun and each other's company. It was absolutely wonderful.

Because my testimony didn't come out exactly how I wanted it to in my rush and because some of you weren't there, I do want to say how much I love my family. I truly have a fabulous husband who takes such good care of me. My love for him grows more and more everyday, especially as I watch him with our son. I am so grateful for the sweet spirit that has joined our family. I know that the opportunity to know him and to care for him is a gift from my Heavenly Father. Since he's been born, my testimony of Heavenly Father's plan for us has grown so much. I know that this is what its all about; to be a member of a family is the reason why we are sent here. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for all of the many, many blessings he has given me.

I took tons and tons of pictures yesterday, but I don't have time to post them tonight. Its already way past my bedtime. I promise to get them up later in the week.

Happenings

2008-05-02T22:34:00.004-06:00

Sorry its been so long since I posted. Here's what's been happening.

1. Little Man slept through the night for the first time on Monday night! He went down at 9 and didn't get up until 4. I'm counting it as "through the night" even though it was only 7 hours because I didn't get to go back to bed; it was 5 by the time he was done eating and getting changed. What a difference a solid chunk of sleep makes!

2. James took his last final on Tuesday. He's not taking summer classes (for the first time in 3 years) so he's done with school until the fall. Hallelujah! My hubby needs a break!

3. Little Man got sick on Wednesday. He was so congested that he could barely eat or sleep. He seems like he's finally feeling better today. He's pretty much slept all day, but his snot seems to have subsided a little. He even gave us some smiles during and after his bath tonight. It had been a few days since we'd seen that big toothless grin.

4. I got sick yesterday. It started with lots of sneezing and a runny nose and progressed into aches, chills and a temperature of 101. I would have stayed home today, but I'm out of sick days. Luckily, my fever was gone by this morning. So, with only 6 hours of sleep (Little Man has not been repeating his "through the night" performance) and feeling like crap, I went and put up with teenagers all day. Joy.

I think that's about it. I'm glad its the weekend, but we won't be resting much. Its our anniversary tomorrow (5 years!) and we're blessing Little Man on Sunday. I might actually be glad to get back to work Monday after the weekend we're going to have!

And now, the reason why you all bother to read my ramblings: pictures of Little Man.

Joy

2008-04-26T22:00:00.004-06:00

Today has been a joyful day in so many ways. I think Little Man must be the happiest baby around. I lost count of all of the smiles we saw today. After every time he ate, he would just beam and coo. Sometimes he gets so excited, I'd swear he's trying to laugh. I really don't think it will be long. Usually, there's about a 10 minute window where, if you act really silly, he'll give you a couple of smiles. Not today. We barely had to try at all. Earlier this morning, he was just staring at the wall (he might have been looking at the clock; we couldn't tell for sure) and grinning. Even when he was completely exhausted, he still had smiles for us. Tonight there was a point that he was crying and smiling at the same time. It brings James and I so much joy to see him happy. I hope he stays this happy; hopefully he's got his dad's disposition.

Looking GQ in one of his Calvin Klein onesies that Aunt Nikki gave him.
My boys cuddling before we left for work the other morning.
I can't get over this kid's hair! Look how curly it is when it wet!
Some of the smiles we saw today. These were the "staring at the wall" smiles.

I Watch Way Too Much Food Network

2008-04-24T18:55:00.003-06:00

I stumbled across this fun quiz online today as I was blog-walking. Since I know many of you are Food Network addicts as well, I thought you might enjoy it. I'm embarrassed to tell you my score, but I'll just tell you that I did pretty well.

Check it out here: Food Network Quiz

Tomorrow's Friday. Wa-hoo!

Milestones

2008-04-22T19:43:00.002-06:00

We experienced another miracle here last night. Little Man slept for 7 hours straight! Granted, the seven hours ended at 3 am, but I'll take it. It felt wonderful to get so much sleep. I was so excited I felt like I should do something nice for him to say thank you, like buy him a present or bake him a plate of cookies, or something. I really would have if I thought he would have appreciated it at all.

When James got home on Saturday, he couldn't believe how much Little Man changed in just four days. It made me realize all of the little milestones he's reached in the last little while...
1. He is a great burper. In the beginning, I felt like I'd pound on his back forever, and still not get the burps out of him. Now, all I have to do is sit him up and pat him once or twice, and he gives big belches. A couple of days ago, he belched so loud he startled himself.
2. He is holding his head up all by himself. My favorite is when I've got him on my shoulder to burp him and he holds his head up and looks around. Every once in a while he's a little wobbly, but most of the time, he's a pro.
3. He has mastered smiling. For the last few days, he just grins and beams at us everytime we talk to him. I love it. He's even started smiling at things besides us. When we put him in his bouncer, he grins at the animals that hang above him. He also grins at my boob alot, but I kinda hate that.
4. He's starting to make lots of cute baby noises. He's cooing and gurgling. It's nice to hear noises besides crying and screaming. I actually think he'll be laughing soon. When we smiles, he makes some really cute noises that you can tell would be giggles if he could just get them out.

My little baby is growing up so fast!!