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!