Tweets for Today

• 09:35 Got on the scale--two pounds less than I've seen so far! Wahoo. #
• 09:37 Running after kids already today. Woke up to finding HY and EZ enjoying pudding in bed. And is that a diaper I smell? Hmm. #

Tweets for Today

• 10:22 Just swept the kitchen. Nothing feels better than a freshly swept floor. I hope it lasts. #

Tweets for Today

• 08:44 New ward, new time, new calling: YW 1st Counselor. #
• 13:00 Flipping little boys over my head again and again and again. Aren't you guys dizzy? Mom is. #

Tweets for Today

• 20:09 Hanging with the in-laws. Eating chocolate. Good day. #

Tweets for Today

• 13:39 Headache. Not enough sleep. #
• 13:42 One more pound down. #
• 19:30 Seven-thirty and boys are in bed. Snuggling in for the night. #

Tweets for Today

• 07:42 Santa Came! Now, for the cleanup, and breakfast. #
• 16:02 Family project to get us out of the house. Putting up the new swing set in the cold sleety rain. Haven't had this much fun in a long time. #

Tweets for Today

• 10:42 Getting on the treadmill. Two kids taking naps. Aaaah, good morning! #
• 13:46 Just ate, like, ten cookies. But I'm swearing off dinner....yeah, right. #
• 23:25 Setting up an elaborate train set and village with Aaron. Can't wait until morning. #

Tweets for Today

• 09:59 Contemplating how to WOW the girls at Aaron's office. #
• 22:22 Merry Christmas Adam! #

Tweets for Today

• 09:18 Cleaning up an entire bag of rice that was spilled on the floor. "I'll make a better choice next time, Mommy." -HY #
• 14:40 Baking soft gingersnaps with the guys. Nothin' like ginger and cloves to get you in the mood. Next project: doughnuts? #

Tweets for Today

• 10:39 Crying for Elizabeth right now. What else can we do? #
• 13:33 One of THOSE days. EZ nap, ASH up, ASH nap, EZ up. No lunch, no exercise. Cookie dough is all I can think about. HELP! #

Tweets for Today

• 14:39 Baking bread with the boys. One batch of cinnamon rolls and two garlicky buttery loaves. Dirty, messy, ooey, gooey fun. #
• 17:22 Dinner tonight: Homemade mac 'n cheese. Well, make that cellentani and cheese. #

Tweets for Today

• 13:06 No snow here, but down one more pound. That is Christmas enough for me. #
• 17:20 Just found EZ up to the sink eating day-old cottage cheese from dirty dishes. (Hey EZ, does that taste a little like Feta?) #
• 17:22 Dinner tonight: Rotini with creamy pesto, summer squash, and baked chicken. YUM! #

Tweets for Today

• 10:01 Cleaning up play dough. Play dough always sounds like a good idea..but isn't. #
• 10:02 Down two more pounds. Skinny-land here I come! #

Tweets for Today

• 13:41 I am having sciatic nerve pain all the way down my leg. Ouch. #

Tweets for Today

• 13:38 Just came into the room to find HY and EZ covered the carpet with toothepaste, then doused it all with a good portion of baby oil. #
• 13:39 Seriously rethinking my "no spanking" parenting philosophy. #

Tweets for Today

• 21:08 Trying to fix the printer. Just finished boiling pacifiers. I need a life. #
• 21:09 This weeks food fetish: toasted wheat germ. Surprisingly yummy! #

Tweets for Today

• 11:54 Wasting time, should be getting ready for church. #

Tweets for Today

• 13:33 Just got music from JMC for my ward Christmas needs. Connections!!! #
• 21:00 Talking Christmas with Aaron. Yeah, I sleep with Santa. #

Here's to Seven

I love you, Honey.

Tweets for Today

• 07:13 Just washed off crusties from the boys eyes. Gotta love motherhood! #
• 15:04 @fuchsiasushi Still good for one week after sell by date! Cultures, yum! #
• 15:05 Just ate three cookies...ok five. Starting that diet in five, four, three, two, one, GO! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Me 'n Ez-Dawg, Yo

The best part about being on vacation is that I don't have to worry about laundry and dishes and bills. I can just play with my sweet little guys. Life couldn't get much sweeter.

Aint it Grand?

I don't think I've ever been happier in my life than now. We are really living the dream.

The Pep-Me-Up

I am on a diet. And the children are throwing up. It's been a bad week thus far.

I keep thinking to myself "where is the cookie dough...if I could just eat some cookie dough I know that I would feel better." But NO! I will trudge on through the temptation to over-eat this diet!!! I will. I will. I can do this.

I am still a babe, it is just that the curves are a tad, well, "filled-out" you could say. The time has come to trim them down to Phenomenal Woman proportions. Phenomenal woman, that's me!

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou

Just When You Think You've Got it All Figured Out

Every birth story is memorable. But I don't think we will ever outdo the surprise we got at the end of this one.


Aaron performing the "push it out, squeeze it out, waaaaay out" pre-birth dance.


Deborah all prepped for vomiting, yet still smiling!


Welcome....baby boy #3, a more masculine arrival than expected, but cute nonetheless.


Welcome to the house of testosterone. I am really outnumbered now.

Woops!

Last night I was so bored that I actually sat down to watch "Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium" It is a strange film. About one hour into it I was completely asleep. This seems to be my pattern lately--boredom to sleep. What I need is a good, gripping book. But whenever I go to the library it is constant work to keep EZ from pulling down every book at his eye level, while the cranky teen-aged librarian mutters annoyances left and right. "Mess..." "Takes forever to clean up...."

Generally boredom leads, for me, to creative cooking. However, I have lately (and, hopefully, temporarily) lost the drive to make late-night goodies. Plus, I have had some interesting cooking mishaps over the last little while.

One morning, several weeks ago, Aaron called me and told me that he forgot that he was supposed to provide the "birthday treat" for a coworker that day. "No problemo," I thought. HY and I will whip up something gorgeous to showcase our excessive domestic talents and WOW the girls in the office. (Oh yeah, and EZ can help too.)

I decided to make individual chocolate tarts. But I didn't want to just fill some pie dough with chocolate pudding and call it good. Yuck. So I spent the morning tweaking a brownie/cookie recipe to fit in as tart dough. Then the boys and I scoured the local grocery haunt for decent chocolate that we could temper in heavy cream. The idea was to come up with something between ganache and chocolate whipped cream (a very light mousse, if you will) that we could pipe into our tart shells.

Well, like every single time that I cook to impress and act all "I'm such an oustanding gourmet," something went very very wrong. We had to have the tarts at Aaron's office by 3:00 p.m. At 2:35 I had the cooled chocolate cream whipping away in the mixer while I grated fine chocolate into beautiful velvety shreds. The next thing I know, HY walks out naked from the bathroom requesting some help with the Charmin portion of his toilette..and I hear EZ splashing away in the soiled toilet water. Ugh.

It turns out that while Mom was busy tempering chocolate, HY went to the bathroom then popped off the toilet to sit on the edge of the bathtub to play with a toy (effectively soiling the shower curtain that was in the way, and allowing EZ ample opportunity to splash away to his little heart's content.)

A round of disinfectant later, I returned to the kitchen to find chocolate butter in the mixer. Yes, I had over-beaten the cream, which had separated into unappealing little balls of chocolate flavored butter. I COULD HAVE DIED. It was now about 2:50 p.m. and I was supposed to be filling little tart shells, but, instead, I was staring at chocolate butter wondering what in the world I was going to do with it.

In the end, I melted some of the chocolate butter and tried to pour some of it over solid chocolate pieces in the tart shells, then cover them in whipped cream and cocoa powder.

I was so embarassed about the whole thing that I made Aaron come out into the parking lot to get them instead of bringing them in myself.

On Love

To my Dear and Loving Husband

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye woman, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the east doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor aught but love from thee, give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so perservere
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Ann Bradstreet

----

In an attempt to de-clutter the garage as of late, I have been thumbing through notebooks of correspondence between Aaron and me before we got married. There are literal reams. I keep thinking that one day all of these letters and notes will be a treasure to future generations in testimony of a great love story. But to me, reading it leaves me with a wealth of conflicting emotions.

One is almost akin to embarassment--like reading entries from your junior high diary, where you felt much but understood little. Another is a surge of nostalgia for the heady days of love unrequited, few serious responsibilities, and, let's be honest, the bloom of physical youth. (Did I mention there are several pictures accompanying these letters--I was a babe!) Not that I'm not still "youthful" as far as age goes, but the bloom does seem slightly tarnished. (And being seven months pregnant probably adds to my woebegone feeling.)

In reading over it all, you can practically feel the drama. Each page literally drips with tension, kindness, hopefulness, anticipation, admiration, and humor. It leaves me wondering if the very ardent expressions of affection belied in these notes really capture the essence of genuine love, and, if so, do I still feel it to the same degree. (Or am I exploring the inevitable surge of irrational emotions that accompany the last trimester of pregnancy a tad too much...)

When I think about it...I almost think that, though it's not captured on paper for posterity, there is more genuine love in our relationship now--captured in small moments like the satisfaction of working together on the yard on Saturday and falling asleep, exhausted, but holding hands.

The Lionhearted

Alright folks, I've gained 12 pounds in 4 weeks. Oh yeah, baby!

Baby girl is now being called "Sissy" or "little sissy" by HY and Aaron. During HY's nightly prayer, I often hear him say "bless sissy, that she will get bigger and bigger." Well, let's just say that his prayers must be earnest 'cause Mommy is feeling like she is getting bigger and bigger. Sweet HY. There is so much faith in him.

Of course, I forget his innocence throughout the day and get after him. It is sometimes only after he is asleep and calm, that I remember how sweet and genuine and good he is. The fun thing (and hard thing) about HY is that he is 1. smart, 2. fiercely independent and 3. sneaky. Basically HY always does exactly what he would like to do. All I can do, as Mom, is distract (for awhile), persuade (if possible), or supervise. Supervision, I have found is the best measure with HY. Because as far as distraction and persuasion go...well it's only a matter of time. Mom will eventually be in the bathroom or be busy putting EZ to bed, then it's HY Time!

"Pour me a drink my head is spinning. I gotta celebrate...a girl"

So I have been singing Shenandoah since last Friday when we found out that we are having a baby girl. Funny thing is, though, after being positive through every previous pregnancy that we were having a girl, with this one I am not sure... The technician at one point said "Oh, wait, maybe there is something more there...well... buy girl clothes, but don't take off the tags." That didn't leave me overly confident in pink purchasing. HY, however, has been telling us about his "baby sister" from the first day. We are so excited.

This One is for Jamie

There are truly few people that I will respond to in this world. Especially when it comes to "pass it on emails" and "blog tagging." But I truly love Jamie (read: wish to be like her one day) so I will make an exception. Here it goes.

A-Z Tag

A - Attached or Single: I've been attached to this boy from the first day I saw him (September 11, 1998). He's just as cute now as then. Married almost 6 years.

B - Best Friends: Aaron, Mom and Mom-in-law, Sisters and Sisters-in-law, Jamie W. AND, though I don't see or talk to them much, Sarah and Happiness will forever be my best girls.


C - Cake or Pie: Oh honey, either. Let's get serious, though. Lemon cake layered with mascarpone cheese then soaked in cream and chilled. Wipe yourself off the floor after that one. Raspberry pie doesn't hurt either. Let's have a little of both, shall we?

D - Day of choice: (Warning: This is a cheesy answer. If you gag easily, move to question E.) I love any day when I get to spend it with Aaron,... especially if we were spending it at a theme park for the day!!!

E - Essential Item: Mascara, jet black, Clinique, any kind. Oh yeah, and a good bra.

F - Favorite Color: yellow, purple, and (this is a real shocker to all who know me) that blueey greyee color that has hints at times of turquoise.

G - Gummy Bears or Worms: neither (It's so liberating to have candy that I don't like for once.)

H - Hometown: Orem, Utah

I - Indulgence(s): Perfume, makeup, Banana Republic jeans (which I haven't worn in years...*tear), and food at really really really expensive restaurants.

J - January or July: July. No contest.

K - Kids: HY, EZ, Baby #3 due in September. 3 down 10 to go!


L - Life is incomplete without: Family, and laughing. And laughing at, I mean with, family.

M - Marriage Date: 2002

N - Number of Siblings: 3 brothers, 3 sisters, 5 brothers-in-law, 7 sisters-in-law--love them all.

O - Oranges or Apples: Oranges

P - Phobias or Fears: Everyone who knows, knows that I am a tad bit on the morbid side and am constantly positive that I am going to die, or Aaron is going to die, or whatever... I am notorious for leaving "last notes" that say "I will love you forever and ever" on a post-it-note on the fridge when I leave. Just in case.

Q - Quotes: "A waist is a terrible thing to mind."

S - Season: Fall. So romantic. Don't even get me started.

T - Tag Three Friends: Honestly it would be fun to have this info on some Sisters--Eliz, Suzanne, Aliesha, Mermer, Amber, etc (Not Susannah. I know way too much about her already. Chopped Spam!)

U- Unknown fact about me: I failed the AP English exam. Ok, I said it. It is out in the open. And everyone can know. But, who cares about high school anymore? Not me.

V - Very favorite store: Williams and Sonoma. Could you just die?

W - Worst habit: Overeating., and saying way more than I should. Discretion is a virtuous ideal. One day I will have it.


X - X-ray or Ultrasound: Ultrasounds. Only x-rays I've had are teeth ones. Joy.

Y - Your favorite food: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Let's talk about what I don't like (other than poorly prepared food): eggs, green beans, oreo cookies, some mushrooms, mussels...

Z - Zodiac: Cancer (compatibility match to the Taurus which I happen to be married to)

See! I always knew that I was a giver..

You Are An ENFJ

The Giver You strive to maintain harmony in relationships, and usually succeed. Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections. Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down. You find the most energy and comfort in social situations ... where you shine. In love, you are very protective and supporting. However, you do need to "feel special" - and it's quite easy for you to get jealous. At work, you are a natural leader. You can help people discover their greatest potential. You would make a good writer, human resources director, or psychologist. How you see yourself: Trusting, idealistic, and expressive When other people don't get you, they see you as: Bossy, inappropriate, and loud

What's Your Personality Type?

This is so true, it's scary. At least the "When Other People Don't Get You" part. Even I think that of myself sometimes! Hahahahahahahahahaha.

Highs and Lows

Well, this year has had many twists and turns already in our little lives. My blog title has become a misnomer as currently I am NOT enjoying food--the taste, texture, or smell...but that is another blog in itself. There is, however, enough information this week to compile a (drumroll) highs and lows list.

Highs then Lows for February

H: Our tax return will pay to finish the back yard of our children's dreams.
L: Our tax return will barely cover grass, sprinkler, and fence...that's it.

H: I am decidedly not hungry for "naughty" foods.
L: It won't last.

H: The boys have finally discovered each other as best buddies.
L: Best buddies in crime... Deborah: "How did EZ get in here to swish in the toilet (play in the garage, sit on the front porch, get in the shower, eat this... etc)?" HY: "I help him...!"

H: Aaron has committed himself to the care of the boys in the morning so that Deborah can go to the gym.
L: Deborah has gone once.

H: HY's ability to communicate gets better every day
L: HY's resistance to being corrected is reinforced by his blooming communication skills.

Deborah "HY, please don't hit EZ" HY (while still hitting EZ) "I'm not hitting him." Deborah "Well please don't bonk him on the head." HY (still hitting) "I'm not bonking him." Deborah "Please stop, HY" HY (under his breath) "...I'm bamming him..."

H: Aaron and I will be participating in a reenactment of the Mormon Pioneers pulling handcarts on a 5 day trek with the youth in our community.
L: One of the necessary skills to have as per our leader handbook is "kill and prepare live fowl"

H: Aaron and I have discovered the wonders of reading Harry Potter.
L: Aaron and I stay up until 2:30 a.m. discovering the the wonders of reading Harry Potter.

H: We're going on a Disney cruise this summer with the entire extended family.
L: Ain't nothin low about that.

Here's Robin

HY as Robin Hood

Doughnuts, Dinosaurs and...Robin Hood

So, for Halloween I agreed to make 150 doughnuts for the annual "trunk or treat" party at the church. In the end, I made more like 180+, about 65 yeast-raised, and 120+ old-fashioned.

Though it seemed a tid bit like "neglect your children day," HY did have periodic fun helping me. "I make the teeny teeny baby doughnuts, ok Mom, the baby doughnuts that cry and cry...(referring to the doughnut holes)"

As far as the acutal evening festivity went: HY won an award (or I did, I guess) for his costume "Best Handmade Costume" which went up on our 2007 Wall of Fame. Everyone loved the doughnuts. And EZ takes the cake for being the best child in the world: stuffed into a hot and humiliating dinosaur costume for several hours past bedtime without making a peep of protest. I love my sweet boys!

Day 2

We wake up at 8:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m. Nevada time) to the phone ringing. It is Sunday, and we are supposed to go to church with Aaron's brother and his family at 9:00. Yeah, not going to happen...

Plan B: "Let's go to the Ward that meets at 1:00."

Deborah runs downstairs in pajamas (and no foundation undergarment) to gather something for breakfast from the 'Hometouch Breakfast Buffet' as all three boys are passed out on the beds and the buffet closes in 10 minutes .

Deborah returns with a shockingly large plate of biscuits with sausage gravy,"Cheerios" (Fruit Loops), milk, and a banana.

Finally the natives stir (minus HY) and we manage to get everybody in church appropriate attire.

Aaron wakes HY.

HY whines and walks around in a daze searching for the "Trains outside" (a carryover memory from a previous stay in San Diego)

Deborah finally coaxes HY into a tie by promising an entire bag of microwave popcorn for breakfast.

12:55, we leave our hotel room.

Aaron mumbles all the way to the car. "We can't EVER get to church on time!!!"

Deborah appoints herself as navigator since she was the most coherent family member when Heather gave directions at 9:00a.m.

Deborah quickly realizes that she was "more tired than [she] thought" when taking directions as we have difficulty finding the first street.

HY munches happily away on his entire bag of microwave popcorn and cup of Fruit Loops.

We pass by the Arlington Cemetery and take the exit to the Pentagon. Read: Away from Arlington, Virginia. "Maybe this exit will go back in a loop or something."

EZ puts in a request for a "morning snack."

EZ's request goes unheeded for the moment.

Deborah's chipper comments about how beautiful the scenery is and how "at least we are having a nice drive" start to visibly annoy Aaron who is intent on getting us to Church before Monday.

Thirty minutes later we are back to our hotel after a lovely drive through our Nation's Capital.

Plan C: Skip church (which is almost over anyway) and go straight to Ashley and Heather's. (Back to Deborah's scrawled directions.)

We find Wilson Boulevard and drive straight for twenty minutes trying to find Manchester.

We take several exploratory excursions away from Wilson trying to jog Aaron's memory of where Ashley's home is. "We're close...I can feel it."

EZ's requests for sustenance start to jangle Daddy's nerves.

EZ enjoys Mommy's finger for the remainder of the trip.

HY + popcorn = happy silence.

We finally pull over and have "Family Prayer."

Minutes later, we pull up at Ashley's home.

We spend the remainder of the day enjoying the cool weather and the fact that we are not feeling our way around Virginia anymore.

Aaron and Ashley mapquest several places so our "Sunday Drive" will not be repeated.

We return to the Hotel happy and rejuvenated.

Family Summer Vacation 2007 - Day 1

Day 1

Deborah dresses HY and EZ in matching outfits in the vain hope that it will charm the stewardesses and other passengers enough to assuage any annoyances on the plane.

HY sits on the table and eats as many of the "special plane treats" as he can find.

Deborah packs for everybody into one giant suitcase.

Aaron re-packs everybody into two large suitcases and three carry-ons.

Deborah stops to feed EZ.

HY stuffs five teddy bears, two stuffed dogs, three blankets and a Thomas the Train DVD into one of the family suitcases while Deborah is barricaded behind the Boppy. "Mommy, I all packed!"

Aaron dilly-dallies, basking in the fact that he is DONE with work for the next seven days.

Aaron quickly sobers when he sees the pile to be greased into the Buick: two large suitcases, three carry-ons, one diaper bag, one Pack and Play, one stroller, and two car seats.

Both Aaron and Deborah wonder out loud how they will get "all this honk to the terminal anyway."

Deborah feeds EZ.

-----

We arrive at the airport in record time and discover the wonder of the "Smart carte"--for three measly dollars you can rent the equivalent of three more adults.

The children cooperate beautifully and we breeze through security and arrive at the terminal with enough time to buy some expensive goodies to eat on the plane. Aaron purchases two Baja Mama burritos and a four dollar bottle of water, while Deborah buys three extra extra large slices of Sbarros pizza and a breadstick.

We board the plane--seats in the very last row.

HY watches movies and eats snacks.

Deborah feeds EZ.

Aaron contorts his body into amazing positions to accommodate EZ's penchant for nursing WITHOUT a blanket, and to shield Deborah from rubberneckers standing in line for the potty.

We arrive without incident at 11:00pm D.C. time.

-----

Deborah feeds EZ.

After picking up our new wheels (a red Dodge Caravan), we drive around for thirty minutes wondering which way might be the way to our hotel.

EZ starts crying.

In a fit of annoyance Aaron declares all maps in our car "D-U-M" and we hop on whichever highway we see first.

Finally, Deborah sees a Courtyard Marriott and implores Aaron to pull over and ask for directions.

EZ screams his guts out in the car.

HY starts whining for milk.

Aaron finds a 7-Eleven and everyone gets their beverage of choice: Aaron-powerade, Deborah-water, HY-milk, Ezra......

HY and EZ finally give up the fight and fall asleep. Aaron and Deborah enjoy the rest of the ride in blessed silence.

1:00a.m., we see the Residence Inn.

1:30a.m., everyone is settled.

to be continued...

Outsourced

Well, if I was ever viciously attacked and kidnapped out of my home, leaving the children stranded, EZ would be sorely out of luck...but HY would do just fine. This morning I woke up at about 6:30 with EZ. After feeding him and putting him back in his bed I decided to skip the gym (alright, the gym was really only a fleeting thought that was quickly dismissed) and go back to sleep. I knew HY would still sleep for about another hour. So at 9:00 I wake up with a start: the baby is fussing on the baby monitor and....what?...is the TV on?

HY had woken up and:

1. Plugged the TV and VCR in and put in a movie to watch
2. Climbed up the shelves in the pantry, retrieved a box of cheerios
3. Climbed up on the counter (with the help of a chair) and got out a bowl which he filled with said Cheerios
4. Climbed up again and got out a sippy cup and lid
5. Got a full gallon of milk out of the fridge, put it on the table and filled his sippy cup
6. Replaced the lid on the milk and on his sippy cup
7. Put the cheerios back on the proper shelf
8. Got out a hand towel to clean up the spilt milk (when I got there there was only a few drips left and a wet towel)

When I got out to the living room he was sitting on the floor proudly watching his movie and eating breakfast. "I do it myself, Mommy!"

And all this from the man that somehow cannot figure out how to actually "go" when placed on a toilet. Hmmmmmmmm.

It's Gone!

HY got his first "real" haircut today with me at our local hair salon. He was a very very good boy and held completely still the entire time with a terrified look on his face. When I took him to see Aaron at work after the haircut, Aaron about started crying. I had no idea how much the baby shag meant to everyone. Anyway, here are the pics of my little boy--a little man now with a real, little man hairdo. Such a cute kid.

Before:


After (spiky styled by HY's new personal stylist "Mindy"):


After (after bath):

Announcing Baby Boy #2

Brand New Baby Boy!


I look just like HY did!


Look at my great hair!


Just came home.


My Daddy scowled in his first pictures too.

A Whole Lotta Shakin and a Bowl of Fiesties

Life is on speed here in our little town. We are buying a house and having a baby this month--two stressful experiences that, when combined, have produced lots of tears (me) and frustrations (Aaron).

I am definately coming up to delivery time. I can tell because I am starting to cry at the drop of a hat. And Aaron is "trying to remember that this is what pregnancy is like..." Blah, blah, blah, blah. Ok, I know that women are irrational, etc, when pregnant. But here is a word to the wise: Don't ever say that out loud (or even hint about it) to your wife. Just go on like normal. No woman wants to hear "Oh....I forgot this is how you are when your pregnant."

Excuse me?

Oh no you didn't just say that...

It makes me want to say "Oh.....I forgot this is how YOU are when I'm pregnant."

I know, pretty fiesty. I said I was almost there, didn't I? All things being said, though, I have an amazingly patient and kind husband that really does try to roll with all the ups and downs of his wife's personality. And he does it with a surprising amount of grace and generosity. I'm lucky.

-------

So I've received like a million fill-in-the-blank forwards in the past couple of weeks. They're like the epidemic that never goes away. Hopefully by posting my answers here and not replying to everyone I can still do my duty in "not spoiling the fun."

Here we go:

1. What is your occupation? Mother/Homemaker

2. What color are your socks right now? Try to avoid wearing socks as much as possible

3. What are you listening to right now? Lion King DVD

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Herbed chicken tortellinni, last night

5. Can you drive a stick shift? of course

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? some sort of tourquoisey blue

7. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? Shannon, the enrichment counselor in my ward

8. Who sent this to you? Mermer

9. How old are you today? 25

10. Favorite drink: Water (seriously), but pina coladas come in second with a really cold Sprite, ginger ale and/or cranberry juice coming in close behind

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football, duh

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Once Happy dyed it for me, and Sushi put "low-lights" in it once

13. Pets? Definately, no

14. Favorite food? Yes

15. What was the last movie you watched? I can't remember the last video I watched in its entirety, but I did this morning watch a few minutes of "Lady and the Tramp"

16. Favorite day of the year? Way too many to pick...July 4th, Thanksgiving, any day that Susannah surprises me with stuffed-crust pizza!

17. What do you do to vent anger? Throw plates, yell and scream, hit random collectibles and antiques with my sons plastic baseball bat. No, really though, I don't know how I vent anger. I probably think of something yummy to make/eat.

18. What was your favorite toy as a child? Anything domestic on a minature scale, dolls, pretend food...

19. What is your favorite Fall or Spring? Fall, the smell of apple orchards, the crisp, cold, sunny days, the football games, the school supplies stocked in every store...it's all very very romantic to me.

20. Hugs or kisses? How about both...at the same time.

21. Cherry or Blueberry? Cherry (we're talking about fruit here, right?)

22. Do you want your friends to email you back? If they would like

23. Who is most likely to respond? Susie (just comments, I mean)

24. Who is least likely to respond? Barack Obama

25. Living arrangements? TBA

26. When was the last time you cried? Yesterday, last night...pretty much all day yesterday

27. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes, bags, (very expensive ties that some two year old finds pleasure in daily pulling down from their hanging spots)

28. What did you do last night? Cried. Signed papers to buy our first home. Made dinner. Rehearsed a 12 voice women's chorus. Brought a birthday gift to a girl I visit teach.

30. Favorite smell? Aaron's cologne, vanilla, butter, etc

31. What/Who inspires you? Family

33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheesburgers, yummmy

34. Favorite car? Don't know...the VW Beetle is fun to drive, though. Maybe a SmartCar

35. Favorite dog breed? Yea, no idea

36. Number of keys on your key ring? Like, five billion

37. How many years at your current job? Hahahahahahahahahahhahahahah

38. Favorite day of the week? Friday

39. How many states have you lived in? two, Utah and Nevada

40. Favorite holiday? July 4th

41. Have you ever driven a motorcycle or heavy machinery? Uh, no

42. If you had a 7 day fully paid for vacation to anywhere in the world, where
would you go? Italy, if at my current weight..., some tropical destination or cruise if I was 40+ pounds lighter

High School: Orem

Favorite fruit: Raspberries, plums

Favorite weather: Sunny but cold/crisp

Like someone: I currently do have a crush on one boy...

Want piercings: no

Want a tattoo?: Only if you do it too

Last person to text u on ur phone? du u txt on ur fn?

Person IMed on-line? IMed?...do you mean IM'd?

Blue or red? Oh, honey, both

Do you speak a different language? Spanish (though "speak" is a genrous term)

How old do you act? Who wrote these questions?

Mood? Happy, yet emotional

The 4 W's Questions:

Whos in the room with you? no one

What was the last thing you ate? Tortellinni

What was the last thing you drank? Water

What color pants are you wearin? Not wearing pants currently

What is the closest item near you that is blue? water bottle

What are you wearing on your feet? nada

What instant messaging service do you use? Oh please, like I have time to IM

What do you wear more, jeans or shorts? Um, do sweat pants count?

Where do you sleep? WHO WROTE THESE QUESTIONS?

Where did you get the shirt you are wearin? Not wearing a shirt

Which is Better With The Opposite Sex __

067. Cute or pretty: Cute

068. Lips or Eyes: I would prefer that they have both lips and eyes, but if I had to choose....lips

069. Hugs or Kisses: Both

070. Short or Tall: Aaron's height

071. Easygoing or serious: Both

072. Romantic or Spontaneous: romantic

073. Muscular or Skinny?: Aaron

074. Sensitive or Loud? Sensitive

075. Hook-up or Relationship: Obviously this is a survey for someone younger than me...

076. Sweet or Caring? Both

___Have You Ever___

078. Kissed a Stranger? Not really

079. Drank Bubbles? When I was little, yes.

080. Lost glasses/contacts? no

083. Got an X-ray? yes

084. Broken Someone's Heart? Every day, pretty much

085. Had your heart broken? Sure

086. Have you been used? no

087. Cried When Someone Died? Yes

088. Cried At School? Yes

___Do You Believe In___

089. God? Yes

090. Miracles: yes

091. Love At First Sight: Yes

092. Ghosts: Whatever

093. Aliens: No.

094. Magic: Sure

095. Heaven: Yes

096. Hell: Yes

097. Cheating: Do I believe in cheating? no

098. Kissing on The First Date: Why not?

099. Horoscopes?: No

Just Go to Bed!!!!!

Well we thought we solved our problem of Hyrum going to sleep in his big boy bed. After talking it over with several parents in Utah we finally came up with the idea to put the child proof door handle on the inside of his door at night. This way I would say "Goodnight sweetheart," hand him his piggie flashlight and a couple of books and then close his door. (Later, after he was asleep I would open the door so he could get us if he needed something in the middle of the night.) This was a dynamite plan and it worked beautifully for three nights--no fussing, no messing around, no Deborah or Aaron camped on Hyrum's floor for half of the night.

However, Wednesday night Mr. Smarty Pants out-thought the system. I put him to bed about 8:30p.m., at about 10:30p.m. I came upstairs, thinking that all was quiet and well with him, and noticed that there was light coming from under his door. The little guy had simply got out of bed and turned on his bedroom light. By the time I got up there he had his entire toy box poured out on the floor, every colored ball on his bed, and he was standing on his rocking chair trying to reach items on a top shelf. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! He cracked the system!!! It's not like I can put a child-lock on the light switch. Now I have to re-think this whole thing all over again.

The Family Car

So the big conversation around the house lately is that we need another car. Maybe it is because I am pregnant and, let's be honest with each other here, out of my mind emotional and irrational, but I can't get my mind around this concept. I think I said something today to Aaron about him "not wanting to be in the same car with us anymore" and that is why he wants his "own" car. Aaron just laughed. "Deborah, I just need to be able to be on time for work without having to wait for everyone to be ready." And, you know, he has a point there. Especially since baby #2 will be arriving shortly. Plus I'm not in love with sitting outside his office for twenty minutes waiting for him to come out, or rushing through something to pick him up, or being STRANDED in this teeny little house all day. Ok, so maybe it is an ok idea after all.

The one thing about it is that I don't want to be lumped into the "Mommy and Kids" car category while Daddy has his car. Although, I guess I should have thought about that before we had Hyrum. When you have children, in a sense, you start to get all lumped together as a category in you husband's mind: wife and kids. It's like we are luggage or something. Notice it is never "Daddy and kids" car. No no no. Yet at the same time, would I want that? No.

I can see that my senses are somewhat muddled by hormones at the moment. Somewhere deep down a part of me wants to think logically and say "yes, poor chap, he needs his own transportation." After all he has basically been dropped off or encouraged to ride public transit for the last four years. By golly! Is giving the man his own vehicle the end of the world? NO! It actually would free us all up.

We'll see how I feel about this tomorrow...

It's a Boy!!!

I think I am more excited for this baby than I even was for Hyrum. I just think of how much fun I have with Hy-guy and dream about having another little guy running around with us too. It will be so fun.

Though, I have several friends in the past couple of months that have delivered with my same doctor and they all had c-sections. Hmmmm... I hope my doctor is not one of those that goes right to c-section at any potential complication. I cannot have 13+ children via c-section! No, seriously though, I am a teeny bit worried about his track record. Now I am going to have to sit down and actually talk to him about it--which will be awkward--and come to some kind of, dare I say, "birthing plan." I know, I know, I shudder at the thought of being so....so....like the kind of mothers described in the book
What to Expect While Your Expecting.

"No, I don't eat cheese that hasn't been boiled first...it may hurt the baby..."
"I sleep only on my left side because if I lay on my back my baby will die"
"I faithfully count every kick and record it in my 'baby movement journal' to speak with my doctor about"
"I've made plans with my nanny so that she will be in the delivery room with me so she can begin to bond with the baby right away."
"I expect my spouse to get up, diaper, and bring the baby to me before every middle-of-the-night feeding, then take the baby back to bed when the baby is finished eating. I need my rest."
"My husband and I have written my birthing plan and have made copies for each member of the staff at the hospital."
"My doula says...."

Seriously, if you really listened to, and followed, all the advice in that book, you would be so psycho. Come on girls, millions of healthy babies are born every day to mothers that blissfully ate cheese while laying on their backs throughout their entire prenancy. Shocking!

Labor Day

Monday started out as a pretty fun day. Aaron and Hyrum and I cleaned out the garage and then "helped" daddy take apart the car door. By the time Hyrum went down for a nap I was ready for one too. Unfortunately, I got wrapped up in reading Truman by McCullough and...three and a half hours later (yes, Hyrum was still asleep) I finally finished it. Though I love to read and it was fun to take such a long break I got up feeling a little dazed, like I had spent the last several hours watching pointless TV. Then things just started going downhill from there. Aaron was at a standstill on the car project and Hyrum had taken such a long nap that there was no chance in him retiring for good anytime soon so we were left with the dillemma of the summer: What can we do in this town for fun?

We had already been to St. George twice over the weekend so that was out, plus we were almost out of gas and short on cash. I flat refused to go back to Walmart, on the basis that we have nothing to buy, nothing to buy it with, and I have every square inch of the establishment memorized. We don't know the sex of the baby so buying baby clothes is still somewhat a guessing game. And we all were hungry, yet not in the mood to eat fast food. Aaron drove us around the town for a little while, then back home. We were SO BORED. Even thinking of going back into the boring house made me want to cry, yet I didn't want to keep driving around the boring town. It really got bad when we went inside, though. Hyrum started pulling every book off the bookshelf while Aaron and I just sat and watched. Then we got this great idea to make dinner together, which would have been fun if we had some meat in the house. Finally we settled for a box of frozen fish sticks, some quick grits flavored with velveeta, and reheated frozen mixed vegetables. You think I'm kidding. I'm not. It was really THAT BAD! While we waited for our fishies to cook we entertained ourselves by Aaron copycating me and me making a spontaneous mixture of cornstarch and water to play with (the same concoction we used to make as kids on boring Sunday afternoons, and yes I did also think of making a "volcano eruption" with baking soda and vinegar). Later I wanted to bug everyone in the house by performing "trust tests" on them. Yeah, pretty much we all reverted back to nine year old siblings with nothing to do but bother each other. After dinner Aaron and I had twinkies for dessert (to balance out our nutritous and well planned dinner), then we went to the river. It was Aaron's idea to go down to the river and it turned out to be the best idea of the day. We had a lot of fun. Aaron and Hyrum splashed in the mud, hunted rocks, and waded up to Hyrum's knees (obviously it's not that deep). Because I had shoes on I stayed on the bank and Aaron taught me how to skip rocks. We got to watch the sunset together and played until we almost couldn't see the other side anymore.

Moral: We need to find some friends in this town. I need to have better ingredients on hand. We need to go explore together as a family more. I need to bring my camera next time.

I'm thinking pink, but Aaron's not so sure

So Monday was the big day with Dr. O. He is waaaay more thorough than Dr. Glenn ever was. Besides the customary first appointment exams, weight check and urine test, he also took several vials of blood for genetic tests and an HIV test; checked my blood pressure, took my temperature, checked my eyes, ears, and throat, listened to my lungs, etc, etc, etc. Then to top it all off he did an ultrasound and we got to see the tiny little blip that is our baby and hear his/her heartbeat. HOW FUN!!!

I already like Dr. O. a lot. He is going to be a little more rigorous of a doctor so I definately have to exercise and stay on a pretty healthy diet so that I maybe won't be diabetic this time. His staff is really nice and it was a lot of fun to be somewhat of a novelty for once--the waiting room was not crawling with pregnant women like it always is in Utah. I'm also excited to deliver in our little hospital here to see how it differs from UVRMC and the huge floor of women delivering babies.

So far I haven't really craved anything in particular, except for pizza (but I crave that always-pregnant or not). Instead, it seems like everything sounds gross and makes me want to throw up (a problem I wish that would last into the post-partum stage so maybe I could lose a few pounds..).

40 minutes and 29 seconds

I did it. This morning I participated in my first 5K. I was supposed to do it with Rachael but I couldn't get a hold of her. (Susannah told me later that she probably was in Park City.) Then I was going to call Suzanne but Aaron said that he wanted to do it with me. But because of some early morning complications (ask Meridith about it), I ended up having to do it alone.

I was pretty sure that it would take me an hour to do the whole thing. My original goal was supposed to be 40 minutes but I knew that that was unrealistic for me so I just did the best I could--hoping that I would get in under an hour. Imagine my shock when I ran over the finish line and looked up at the clock: 40 minutes 29 seconds. I started to cry. I couldn't believe it--the fact that I actually finished it and in time. What in the world? How did that happen? I actually did it. I can't believe it.

My favorite part was grabbing the water from the people handing it out, drinking it and throwing it on the ground with the rest of the cups. I felt really cool--something that hasn't happened since, let's be honest, junior high or high school.

Thank you to Suzanne and Rachael for the inspiration and the encouragement and to Aaron for his constant support.

Next year I'm going to do it in 35.

Let's be honest here, who am I kidding?

Tomorrow I am going to "run" in a 5K race--something I NEVER expected to attempt, on purpose. I keep telling myself "because I didn't train, then I will just have to walk the majority of it." But somehow, that seems more like a copout and I am sick of giving myself exceptions to my goals. What would happen if I actually tried to run the majority of the race? Would I die? Probably. But, maybe not. We'll see.

I think that the real problem here is in my mind. I have always looked at people that run, and like to exercise in general, with a certain amount of disdain and pity. Like, "you poor thing...you've obviously never tried eating...it feels a LOT better than running...you must not have ever eaten well" or "what a fanatic...I'm glad I'm not in any way athletic." But the thing is, when I was little I was pretty athletic, actually. I used to climb to the top of the metal swingset and do flips and twirls like I was in the olympics. Mom would always say "you have great upper-body strength." So why do I have this huge disconnect in my adult life?

What is really funny is that, physically, I actually enjoy exercising--I enjoy running. Who knew? But mentally, I still have a block. I always think to myself "who do you think you are, pretending that you can do this?" "you are just not the exercise type" "you are big-boned, get used to it!" "you will never make it to the end of this race, that is just not the kind of person you are." "you will be plump all your life, you've always been that way and you will always stay that way" "you cannot love to cook and eat and also love to exercise and run" The other day, I was at the gym running on the treadmill and I saw some people outside running. My immediate thought was, again, disdain and disgust. "Oooooo, who would want to ever run, what wierdos, what fanatics." It took me, literally several minutes to make the connection that I was indeed running too. Hello?

Yet writing this all down, I'm beginning to think that maybe I can do this afterall.

"I like you chocolate covered strawberry apple pie a la mode"

Hyrum has thrown up six times now since yesterday morning. Poor little thing. The problem is, it is my fault. I knew that Emma, Caroline and Lukeee had thrown up and I still took the Dude over to play thinking "oh, he'll be fine...I'll just keep his hands sanitized..." Well, obviously, that didn't happen. He's been pretty good about it. He's slightly less crazy then usual, but still smiley and fun. Last night Aaron and I went to Smiths and rented our first "Rug Doctor"--an adventure in vomit clean-up that will surely not be our last as parents.

Yesterday night Aaron was late coming home from work (I found out later that he was driving around trying to find a florist to surprise me with flowers!!!), so Hyrum and I decided to make homemade sherbet. "Refreshing lime sherbet" to be exact. He stood on a chair next to me while we rolled limes on the counter and then squeezed out the juice. Soooo cute! He's my little bud, such a good little guy. He woke up at 6:20 a.m. this morning so I spent the first few hours of the day bleary-eyed and dozy following him from room to room as he played.

Our pool is open!!! I don't know why but there is something different about having your own pool in your backyard. It is soooooo much fun. We went swimming after dinner the other day and it was about 6:00 p.m. and the sun was just starting to go down. There was not a cloud in the sky and it was beautiful. I could really get used to this. I'm thinking of making my Saturday morning workout doing laps in the pool instead of packing up and heading to the gym (the gym opens later on Saturdays). Seriously, I love my life.

"You're Weird, Deborah" "No, I'm interesting...there is a difference."

I'm pretty sure that most people have obsessions. I'm not talking about psycho, stalker, OCD obsessions, or even addictions. All I mean is something that catches your fancy so completely that it becomes part of your everyday living--for a little while. People without them would be boring. I refuse to be boring. My current obsessions (this month) are as follows:

Otterpops (I have already gone through one entire box this month)
The Rec Center pools
Working out/Diet (Though it really needs to be more of an obsession than it currently is...seeing that I can singlehandedly eat an entire box (100) of otterpops without feeling guilty in the least. Plus I still seem to take the weekends off...hmmmm)
Downy Simple Pleasures fabric softener in Vanilla Lavender (seriously, I would bathe in this stuff)
Peppridge Farms Flavor Blasted Cheddar Fish Crackers (an entire family obsession, really)
Agatha Christie and David McCullough books
Avocados (I eat at least half of one a day, YUMMY!!!!!)
The Apprentice (I even have dreams of being on the show and wowing everybody with my amazing skills.....now isn't that funny, hahahahahahahha)

Snip, Snip, Snip, Ooooops

Last night for FHE we cut Hyrum's hair. Yes, the darling shag is gone. He is now a sweet little boy that looks like he attempted a self haircut in a closet somewhere. Seriously. Poor little thing. It was bad enough that he was getting it cut outside in the windy night air, but then we had me and Aaron with differences of opinion about how to go about it. Hyrum screamed and squirmed the entire time. Hence the 'head caught in the blender' hair-do. His bangs go up decidedly to the left, and there is a generous bald spot gash in the back. The only remedy seems to be a nerdy comb to the side look, but even then, we're not fooling anybody. He just plain got a bad hair cut from Yours Truly and Significant Other. He still is cute to me, though. At least he won't be as hot outside any more and when he wears a hat he won't look like a dirty trucker.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

I haven't seen any polygamists lately. It's like they came out to welcome us and then went back to their compound for the summer. Hyrum is up asleep. He had quite the weekend. Friday night we picked Aaron up from work and went to Vegas to sleepover at Elizabeth and Jayar's house. It was a blast. Auntie Sushi babysat the kids while we went to Bucca di Beppo, a tacky and boisterous family-style Italian house. The food was yuuuuummmmmy and I fell right off the 1500Kcal wagon the minute we walked into the door. Then, after dinner, we saw Mission Impossible 3, which was the first movie in several months that Aaron and I have seen. I liked it. The next day we spent driving around (Vegas to St. George then home) doing errands.

Sunday was fun, though it was another "ooops , no dieting" day. We had the fam over for some southern lovin from the oven--roasted chicken, cheesy grits, sauteed collard greens, carrots, biscuits, brownies, peanut butter ice cream and carmel popcorn. After dinner, as if I hadn't had enough to eat, I proceeded to devour about 6 otter pops. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

All in all, though it wasn't a perfect dieters weekend, I am still pretty proud of myself. Thursday night I ran the treadmill for 1.12 miles. That is a HUGE step up from the .14 miles I did the other day and was so proud of. Tonight I am hoping to be able to run the entire 1.5 miles that I am supposed to according to my training schedule. I have got to do this! I already paid the money to be in the marathon and so I cannot walk the entire thing. Rachael (who is going to do the 5K with me) said that our goal should be to do it in 40 minutes. Well, let's just say that I have been doing some calculations and I need to get more in shape to be able to pull that off. In a strange, masochistic way I really am enjoying the challenge. It is actually fun. Even though I haven't really lost more than, like, half a pound, I feel better and look better. I just hope that I can lose some weight and feel healthier before I get pregnant again. Who knows...

I am having so much fun in this little life I have here now. Hyrum and I are discovering the joys of popsicles. Hopefully the pool will be open soon so we can have a daily swim party too. Just another reason to lose weight...Swimsuit Season!!! AAAAGGGGGHHHH!

The ACLU would be proud of my little town!!!

Probably the funniest thing about living here is the "diversity." Really, if you are not standing in the supermarket line behind a seventy-year-old woman wearing booty shorts and a fanny pack, then you are behind a polyg wife in her ankle-length flannel number. All I keep thinking is that she must be absolutely melting in that getup. So it's the polygs and the geriatric club. Really I've seen more old men's pasty white upper thighs this week than you can shake a stick at. Despite that, it is sooooo much fun living here. I am enjoying it more than I even expected to. The only, and I mean only, downside is not having friends or family around. But at least now we have a telephone.

Last night, for FHE, we took Hyrum to the Rec Center Pool. He LOVED it. The kid is so dang independent. He tried, the entire time, to get out of my arms and walk by himself. It was so fun to see him discover the joys of water resistance. He is so fun. I look at him all the time and think "who knew that Aaron and I would produce such beautiful children." He is so handsome. Of course every Mom thinks that about her children, I am sure.

Right now Hyrum has pulled out some cleaning spray bottles and a scrub brush and he is "cleaning" next to me--making ssshhhh sssshhh sounds as he pretends to spray and then wiping the walls with the brush. It is pretty cute. He doesn't know that I am watching. His biggest obsession this week is brushing his teeth. Last week we took a special trip to Walmart to buy him his very own toddler toothbrush and toothpaste. Now every morning I catch him in the bathroom with paste in hand dutifully brushing his teeth. He is such a fun little guy.

Because Aaron works for the city, we have free memberships to the Rec Center. YEA!!! I have gone twice now to work on the treadmill. Yesterday I actually ran for a few minutes (exactly .14 miles to be exact...don't laugh...it's better than nothing!) I am trying to train to run (ok walk/jog/run) the 5K at the freedom festival in Utah this July. I am determined to train well and faithfully and also to stick to a 1500Kcal diet. So far, I am doing OK. It is hard when I make such yummy food all the time.... The only problem with the Rec is that in the mornings when I go (6:00 a.m.) it is crawling with senior citizens. This is good because I definitely don't feel like I need to look nice at all, but they hog the machines. We'll see what finally pans out in July. Wish me luck!

Psalms 18:2

To say that this week has been a bad one would be an understatement. We've definately seen brighter days here at the Baker house. Monday night I had a miscarriage. It was a sweet and teeny little baby boy. He was perfect. Ten fingers and ten toes. It has been hard on all of us. I even have noticed that Hyrum has had a pretty rough week. It is almost as if he senses that something is just not right.

Today has been the first really OK day. The sun came out and I got to spend some of the afternoon outside with Hyrum. He is so sweet. It is healing to be with him. All will be all right. We know that this is all part of the plan and happier days are coming.

"Don't give up boy. Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead--a lot of it--thirty years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come."

You gotta love maternity pants!

I just got finished having my organ lesson--something I always have great expectations about but....seeing as though I am back in the old viola/piano habit of not practicing, it never turns out very well. Yes, I can play it ok. But, no, I will not be asked to play for the MoTab anytime soon. This just drives me crazy. I figure, there must be some talent in there somewhere because I don't practice and I still do ok. Hmmmmmm, I wonder what would happen if I actually did practice?

This morning Hyrum and I attended "Toddler time" at the library for the first time. This is where you take your toddler to a little curtained off area of the library where they get to hear stories, sing songs, and play rhythm instruments. I had some pretty high expectations because so many of the mom's in the neighborhood "just looooooovvvvve" it. But Hyrum, was not in the least interested in sitting still to listen to someone tell a story. (What were they thinking?) Though he was somewhat amused watching a grown man jump up and down singing "Down By the Bay." In the end we spent most of the time exploring the bottom two feet of the library shelves and crawling in and out of a giant tepee. I thought it was a morning well spent, all-in-all.

Right now Hyrum is asleep and I just finished paying all the March bills. Whew! I cannot believe we made it this month--barely squeaked by is more the term I should use. I have to quit saying things like "When Aaron gets a job we will finally buy..." though. More like "When Aaron gets a job, we'll still have bills to pay, and they will probably be bigger than ever." Seriously though, I don't mind paying bills at all. What is money for except to spend it? And it is a great feeling to have all the bills paid and to feel somewhat like a responsible adult. (Knock on wood.)

I am getting more and more excited and antsy-in-my-pantsy for April/May when we will most likely move and start a "real adult life." (read: not married students) It is so funny, Aaron and I look at each other sometimes and have to laugh--we have a child...and one on the way. WHAT DO WE THINK WE ARE DOING? We are not adults yet! But yet, maybe this is how our parents felt, and feel. Life moves faster than we do sometimes.

I just finished reading "Running with Angels" by Pamela Hansen (a lady that lived in my parents ward). It is a story about how she lost over 100 lbs and then ran in the 26.2 mile Deseret News marathon. I thought about Suzanne and Rachael the whole time and how they are normal people (read: not running Nazis, but actually people with lives) and they run marathons. How crazy. Reading it, I could almost feel myself wanting to try running, or at least starting some kind of exercise/training that is really a challenge. Now, I know that I can't do that right now, but I am trying to gear up for October/November when I can start to diet and exercise more rigidly again. I think that I want to change my lifestyle. Even with two kids and a busy husband, I think if I make it a priority then I can do it. I can't believe I am writing, or even thinking, this but I think that I want to be one of those people that LOVE to exercise and that would choose to eat 6 grain cereal with fresh strawberries and a cup of orange juice over a Sausage McMuffin Meal. Wouldn't that be wild? Can you just see me? But seriously, I am sick of eating honky, gross stuff. (And maybe this is all coming about because I am in the third month of pregnancy where I crave fresh fruits...) Though...I think I might be ready for a breakthrough. We'll see how long it lasts.

By the way, Happy birthday today to Aliesha!!!

It's Official - So much for the Diet

I guess I should have known when I started crying during a rousing game of Monopoly. Baby number two is due September 29th and we couldn't be more excited.



Just to "make sure" I had to take three tests. Yep they all came out double lined, albeit faint...it's just early.

Vegas Highs and Lows

Highs

Driving to Las Vegas with my sweet little family
Having 6+ hours to talk/laugh/dream with Aaron (while driving)
Hyrum being the perfect little traveler, hardly making a peep of complaint
Playing word games in the car with Aaron
Making home videos at Elizabeth's house
Seeing Sushi
Lazy mornings talking to Elizabeth and watching the boys play in the playroom
Cheesecake factory at 10:00 p.m. with Elizabeth and Jayar
Spending the day with Aaron on the strip (with no baby!)
Elizabeth babysitting for us, twice
Perusing the Art Gallery of Impressionist paintings
Hyrum going to sleep for the night at 6:00 p.m. because of the time change
Watching Aaron finally relax after months of constant go (He golfed with Jayar two mornings and even got some reading in.)
Watching Hyrum discover the joys of slides at the park
Making Navaho tacos (yummy)
Going to Costco with Sushi and Liz
Changing Hyrum's messy diaper and finding a bright red previous digested game piece amongst the contents
Buying jeans for me and Aaron that actually fit and don't have holes
Watching Hyrum's delight in his cousins
Just having a change of scene and a break
The peaceful drive home

Lows

Sleeping through Hyrum crying in the night (Ooops!, I only found this out the next morning when I joyfully boasted to Elizabeth that "Hyrum finally slept through the night again after a 2+ week hiatus." To which she tenderly replied "Um, he was crying when we came upstairs...we had to close our door so that he wouldn't wake Luke.")
Staying up late and waking up early
Wanting to, but never waking up early enough to go with Liz to the gym
Spending more than we planned
Hyrum waking up in the morning at 6:00 a.m. because of the time change
Wasting time lazing around
Eating more than we should have
Breaking out (yes, zits)
Not seeing Susannah as much as we would have liked
Hyrum waking up in the middle of the night
Once again, planning to, but not going to Hoover Dam
Leaving early and missing the dinner at "Rosemary's" with Mom and Dad and the gang

Tidbits

I am over at Mom and Dad's house waiting for "the fun to begin" but nobody is here except for Meridith, Hyrum and me. It seems like my scheduled little life has been a little off canter the past two weeks. That always happens when it is holiday time and family is up from Vegas and down from Idaho. I spend my days over here and Hyrum has an absolute blast with all of the big cousins running around. Unfortunately, though, I instantly turn into the neglectful homemaker--dirty dishes, laundry, a kitchen that could stand a good bleaching, and an answering machine full of dial tone messages. And I always feel horrible too because I have spent my day eating crackers and cookies and so has Hyrum. Every year, after the holidays, Aaron stomps out of our kitchen yelling "Munchies, munchies, munchies...I am sooooo sick of munchies." And every year we vow to eat nothing but broccoli, brown rice, and grilled chicken.

Today is Aaron's last day of work and I am already feeling nostalgic about how close his work was and the fact that he had a cell phone and that a paycheck came in every other Thursday morning. Aaron was really happy working for Orem City and it has been fun to see him enjoy his job.

Meridith and I, under extreme peer pressure, pierced our ears yesterday. I don't know how I feel about it today. Generally I don't wear any jewelry and it is way wierd to see earings on me. They look out of place. And my ears are stubby so they look funny. Meridith, on the other hand, looks really cute.

Stir Crazy

Hyrum is driving me LOCO today! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. He is really into wanting to touch everything right now...everything he shouldn't be touching. Like the garbage, for instance. What is so extremely exciting about a kitchen garbage? Nothing, I tell you. But if you are Hyrum, it is the unexplored treasure trove of items to examine and then casually drop on the floor. I feel like I am spending my days running after him and cleaning up. Or, if I am not doing that, he is whining and holding onto my legs...only until I pick him up and he immediately demands "dis" (while pointing to some object that he should not touch, like a pushpin)and distorts his body into some unnatural position in an attempt to get close enough to the object to get it. It is about this time of day that I start to get a little annoyed at the fact that I have not been able to get anything done that I needed to (a hot dinner is now something I can only remember, vaguely). So usually I try to take him on an outing (like to Grandpa's office or something...anything), but today we are waiting for Aaron to call so I can pick him up from school...so, anyway, I am impatiently awaiting this weekend when there will be cousins congregated in one place where Hyrum can play with them and be entertained.

Plus, the other bonus is my anniversary. I have some surprises up my sleeve for Aaron and I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to 'get away' for awhile with my husband, and be a wife (read: not a mommy) for a couple of hours.

I am counting down the minutes.

Weekly Recap

Highs

Hyrum taking a few unaided steps
Making cream cheese ice cream (yes, there is a recipe for this, yummy!)
Sharing a twinkie with Hyrum and watching the delight on his face
Finding a new friend in the ward
Getting lots of comments on the food at Evening of Excellence like: "Oh, you guys had it catered?" "Who made the food..." "You should start your own catering business" "Do you do weddings?"
Finishing the Food science book and starting one about George Washington
Having my first official Organ lesson
Hearing Hyrum say "done" all by himself when he is finished eating
Walking the treadmill 60+ minutes and feeling fabulous
Spending Saturday afternoon with Mom, making food (let's be honest, she really made most of it...I chased and consoled Hyrum the majority of the time)
Watching snipets of the BYU game
Re-arranging and deep cleaning my kitchen!
Spending sunny Saturday morning on a drive with Aaron and Hyrum
Enjoying how cute Hyrum looks in stonewashed jeans, a T shirt, and a suit coat (sports jacket)
Bajio's, yummy
Anticipation of Thanksgiving and family visiting
Hearing that Clarke and Aliesha are having a Girl!
Finding out that Amber is pregnant
Watching Hyrum get down from a bed all by himself

Lows

Eating all of the leftover tarts from Evening of Excellence the next day
Eating all of the leftover food, period
Hyrum cutting his finger on my food processor blade (it has since moved locations from a bottom cupboard to a top cupboard)
Trying to but a bandaid on a one-year-old's bloody finger
Buying twinkies...and eating more than I should
Aaron being gone until 5:38 a.m. doing homework
Again, stepping on the scale...no change whatsoever
Wasting Friday night and not being able to spend any good time with Aaron
Being so completely bored on a rainy and cold day
Yet another two weeks without a date with Aaron
Hyrum dropping one of my good glass mixing bowls on the tile--it shattered, of course
Throwing up
Hearing Aaron throw up
A perfume bottle falling off the top shelf and hitting Hyrum just below his eye, giving him a lovely bruise

Who put her in charge of food? Whatever happened to BYU mint brownies and Sparkle?

Well, since I haven't blogged for several weeks, I am at a loss for where to start. Hyrum wetting the kitchen floor with glue mouse traps stuck to his hands and leg? Halloween and the attendant festivities? Winning the "best soup in the world" contest at our Ward Party? Coming home to a dead mouse in the middle of my kitchen floor (again) and little bloody mouse tracks all over my kitchen (and I mean all over)? Hmmmmmmmm. Maybe I'll just stick to Today.

Right now I am putting together the "refreshments" portion of our Young Women 'Evening of Excellence'. This year it is an "Academy Awards" theme so I wanted to make the refreshments more like fancy appetizers. Mom and I have been brainstorming and we came up with the final menu last Tuesday night while watching Martha Stewart's Apprentice. The menu is as follows:

Stuffed Mushrooms
Savory Shish kabobs (skewers of marinated tortellini, olives, zuchinni, and grape tomatoes)
Frosted globe grapes
Lemon cream tarts
Sugar dusted brownie cubes
Sweet bread assortment (pumpkin and banana nut) (not to be confused with a sweetbreads assortment)
Crudite (Fresh veggies)
Chilled sparkling wassail

And all of this for a budget of $30-$40. I love this kind of stuff--trying to come up with a menu of balance between colors, flavors, and textures. It is soooo much fun for me. I can't wait to plate them all and see how it looks. I know, I know, it is a Young Women's function and I am really going to be the only one who even notices this little buffet. Most people will look at it and be like "great, they're serving food." But, who cares. It is fun for me to make it beautiful.

See I am not the crafty type. I don't scrapbook. To be honest, scrapbooking seems like a HUGE waste of time and space to me. And crafts...well let's just say that I am not as talented as I would like to be. Ok, I can't make a stick figure cute. But when it comes to food...now that is a genre I can get into. Happily, it is also a nice diversion from actually eating food. I am just as content (or more so) to plan, cook, plate, and serve beautiful and delicious food to others as to eat it myself.

Speaking of which, I just finished reading Anna Karenina and just started reading What Einstein told his Cook--a funny and captivating book on food science written by a very witty chemist. I think this is my favorite thing about being home--having the time to do things that I love.