One thing I love about not being in Montana

Remember when we were thinking about going to Montana?

To live there?

Forever and ever?

Well, if we had gone to Montana, this morning would not have gone like it did. No quiet Sunday music while preparing RS stuff for church.  No leisurely walk to and from our building (1 mile and 48 perfect degrees away from home). No perfect lesson provided by Katie. No thought provoking comments from ward members. No joking about "penalty for noisy baby" with Medinas.

None of that.

Of course we could've listened to our music in Montana, but I bet we wouldn't live a mile away from the church and I know it was not "48 perfect degrees" there.

Besides, Josh is a total stress case when he's acting as the Regional Operations Supervisor, and having that be his permanent job would not be good for our marriage.

Did you know?

Did you know that 1/2 an avocado has 161 calories while a spinach salad loaded with veggies that takes up my entire dinner plate is a grand whopping total of 45 calories?

Did you know that a house in my sister's neighborhood exploded this week?

Did you know that that Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise? Apparently that means we're rotating counter-clockwise....do you think that's why I have no balance? Maybe my body wants to rotate clockwise and it's the planet's fault that I can't walk in a straight line....just a theory.

Did you know that my Jr. High Geometry teacher required us to write a letter to him every quarter? We had to tell him how we used math in our lives that quarter. Every quarter I told him I cross multiplied fractions to double recipes. I'm pretty sure that every quarter that was a lie. And every quarter I got an 'A'.

Did you know that most of my favorite family traditions are ones that are relatively new? (lunch with the girls for birthdays, Fontanini on Christmas Eve, Black Friday, Josh's birthday cake boycott, etc.) I know that.....but for some reason I'm terrified of starting lame traditions for Thomas now (as if he'll even remember). Somehow I think that whatever we do now, we'll have to do every year for the rest of his life. We don't.

Did you know that we've lived in this house for 2 years now, and the basic furniture structure hasn't moved even once? We've added and removed and put things in other rooms as necessary. But the sofa has always been on that wall, the tv always on the other wall, the bed always facing South, and the dresser always facing North. I'm totally going stir crazy and feel the need to rearrange all of the furniture in the whole house.....but there's really only one way to have it. *sigh*

Did you know that I can run 1.5 miles without stopping? True story. It wasn't just a fluke.

Sometimes I like getting up with the Babe

Because sometimes it's 3am and I like the quiet.

And sometimes it's 3:15 am and I needed a drink of water.

And sometimes it's 3:30 am and I like doing the dishes.

And sometimes it's 3:45am and I like checking my e-mail.

And sometimes it's 4am and I like rocking with my baby and whispering "I love you more than anything" in his tiny little ears.

And sometimes it's 4:15am and I'm glad for the moment's peace.

And always at 4:30am I like getting into bed with Josh and freezing him with my toes.

And always at 4:31am I like hearing him say "thanks for taking care of our baby" in his half-asleep stupor.

One the I love about the internet

One the I love about the internet is that I have friends all over the place. And friends of friends that I love dearly that I don't know "in real life".

Nutrimirror has expanded that feeling by about 10 million.

Karynd (who is amazing) sat by some nice lady on a plane and based on the few things she said, I'm 95% sure she's LDS. (Stay at home mom of 4 kids flying out of Idaho to visit family in Texas. She sells Scentsy. She has to be mormon, right?) So not only do I love Karyn (who I've never met) I also love her new obscure friend (who I've never even TALKED to) who even she will probably never see again.

That, my friends, is one great thing about the internet.

Some signs I'm doing well

Fitness has never been my thing. But I'm working on it and slowly improving. Here's how I know (about the improving part not the slow part.....):

******************Exhibit A******************
This morning I had a Dr.'s appointment. I talked to him about some concerns I have with the PCOS diagnosis. When I asked him how else this would affect my life (you know, other than not being able to have a baby any old time I want), he said "well typically people with PCOS are overweight and have a hard time getting out of that. They also wind up with diabetes a lot of the time."

So we talked about it, and I asked him if I should be doing anything (more than I'm doing). His response: "Well, if you were extremely overweight I'd worry. But you're nowhere near my worry-radar."

Now, before you jump down Dr. Man's throat for being blind and stupid you should know that he wasn't telling me I'm a healthy weight (I'm not), just that I'm not "extremely overweight".

I don't care, I'll take it.

******************Exhibit B******************
I got a training schedule online so I can run that 5k instead of walking it.

OK really a training schedule fell into my lap (thank you nutrimirror) and I printed it and stuck it to my fridge. That's just my style of ambition.

Although I walk 3-4 miles every day, I didn't really think I could run a significant distance without stopping.

I was pleasantly surprised to run my 1.5 miles today without stopping (this is the first try).

When I started I promised myself that if I ran through song #1 I could walk through song #2. (I also make deals with myself about napping on Sundays. "If you get up and get ready for church, I promise you can take a nap after church...." Do you make deals with yourself like that?.....chirp chirp........ No? ...... Just me? OK....) By the time I got to the point that I would want to walk through the next song I was close enough to done that I wanted to say "I ran the whole thing" more.

Yay for running!

******************Exhibit C******************

I spilled salad dressing instead of oreo crumbs on my keyboard today. 

It's all about the little victories people.

He screamed his pants off

It's been a really great day.

Thomas laughed and smiled at me.

He giggled and cooed.

He sat up for 15 seconds without help from me!

We had a great morning.

On an entirely different note: I hate listening to him cry. I hate shutting the door while he screams in his crib. I hate that I can hear him through the walls (and so can the neighbors). I hate that his face gets red and his fists shake and he gets tears in his ears.

But more than that I hate holding him when he's screaming.

So I tell him (all the time) "if you're gonna cry whether I'm holding you or not, I'm gonna choose not".


So when I just went in to check on him he had literally screamed his pants off. O. F. F. off screamed them off.

I'm relatively certain I'm NOT the world's best mother. However, I'm probably not the world's worst either.

Rice Cereal

We fed Thomas rice cereal today.

Josh was more excited than Thomas.

But that's because Thomas didn't know about just how tasty rice cereal is. So at first he kinda rolled his eyes at us.

But once the goods hit his tongue he was all over it.

And he wasn't about to give it up. Not for anything!

Halfway through he even begged for more. This is his "I'm being so good. please pretty please?!?!?!" face.

I suppose we shouldn't really be surprised the kid likes to eat.....he is my child after all.

Did you know?

Did you know that in the US, Americans eat about 18 acres of pizza per day?

Did you know that having a baby was the greatest thing that ever happened to our taxes? True story.

Did you know that when Josh has to work on Saturday, Thomas and I pretty much always go with him. There's just something wrong with him being not with us on a weekend. Because of this I've probably been spotted napping in gas station parking lots more than most gypsies.

Did you know that my brother-in-law called me a gypsy on last weekend's trip? I was wearing tennis shoes with a skirt. I looked like a gypsy, but I didn't care because it was the first time my baby had slept in 2 days and changing into pants would've meant waking him up since I was wearing him too.

Did you know that I'm officially finished reading sleep books? It's true. I don't care if I never pick up another again. Maybe someday I'll do a "sleep books book review", but not today. I'm busy. Josh needs to get his butt kicked at Monopoly.

Did you know that my baby is old enough for "solid" foods? True story.

Did you know that my family is gonna have a book group now? This month we're reading The Underneath and the rest will be online. I'm excited about it. I like my family. And I like books. And I like it when we're all talking about the same thing. So this is a win-win-win-win situation.

They sure fall down a lot

Yes, I'm still talking about the Olympics. That's because I'm still watching. What, like you have something better to do?

Here's what I noticed.

They fall down a lot.

All of them.

The snowboarders, the skiers (did you SEE that lady land on her head and slide down the mountain?) the figure skaters, the speed skaters (yeah...you go ahead and take each other out Italy and France...go right ahead), the bobsledders (who are only 2 inches off the ground), I'd be willing to bet that even the "I bet people care about my opinion so I'll just talk through the whole thing" people fall down.

But here's the thing. They are at the Olympics! What are they doing falling over? If you can't do it, why are you trying? If you fall down when you try, how the heck did you get here?

It's not like I think they're doing something easy (they're not. One time I tried to move like they do while they're hanging out waiting for the competition to begin...you know the resting/stretching position? I couldn't do it. That's right, when I'm trying my hardest I can't do what they do while resting.) I'm just amazed that these Olympians who can do anything attempt things during the competition they aren't sure they can do.

I don't think Mariah Carey goes to a recording studio hoping she can hit that high note.....I'm relatively certain Dr. Man didn't walk into our delivery room unsure of how to use that vacuum.....and I know the guy who mixes the ingredients at the Dr. Pepper lab doesn't just hope he can properly meausre whatever it is that's in there.

It's not that it's bad. It's just that I'm baffled by how many people try and fall down this year. Has it always been like this at the Olympics?

Someone else for a change

Do you read this blog? If not, you should. Specifically this post. She's funny. Of course you already know that if you LRS. Which you should also read. 

I like to pretend I think pee stories aren't funny if you're more mature than a 12 year old boy, but also like to think I'm more mature than a 12 year old boy.....I'm torn. Sometimes grownups have to make hard choices.

*All you non link clickers out there really should go back and read that post. I know I've lost some credibility to admitting to listening to SSB, but just do it. I'll even offer a money back guarantee. If you read that and don't laugh out loud and you're less mature than a 12 year old boy, I'll give you all your money back.

Dance Party

Confession: Sometimes I open the Seriously So Blessed blog just for the music and Thomas and I have a dance party.

Then "A Window To His Love" turns on and I immediately regret my decision.

I want an official sponsor

1. I know zero Olympians who could honestly tell me they eat Chicken McNuggets just before the big race. Or ever. Yes, I could've put the period after the word Olympians but we're going to pretend that's not true.
2. Just because "The Olympics" only accept Visa doesn't make it better than any other card. I know because I care more about which card Costco will take than which card "The Olympics" will take. Besides....what are you paying "The Olympics" for anyway? At least at Costco I come home with more stuff than I have room for.
3. Lean Cuisine will not make you ski faster. That's a scientifically proven fact.

Even though I know all that, I still want to have an official sponsor. I'd like to nominate the following for my sponsors:

1. Old Navy. Of course I'm assuming that would mean loads of free stuff. Including jammies for my baby, t-shirts for my new and improved mommy wardrobe, and a lifetime supply of flip flops.
2. Scott Hamilton. Mostly because he's been narrating figure skating for longer than I've been alive. I hear him say things like "beautiful!" and "flawless!" more than any other words, except maybe "this is a really tricky move". I want him to narrate my life.
3. The Olive Garden. Because just like Lean Cuisine won't make you ski faster, The Olive Garden WILL make you a better, happier mom. That's also a scientifically proven* fact.

*Scientifically proven = I conducted a study of my life and I'm happier when I eat Olive Garden. Particularly items ordered off the dessert menu. 

Sometimes I trick Josh

Like this morning when I begged him to stay home and take care of Thomas until after I had showered even if Thomas woke up before then.

He promised because I begged. Literally begged. And bartered.

Now I'm blogging (pre-shower) and I know he has to stay until I shower. Who knows how long I can drag this out - laundry needs to be done, the bed needs to be made, I need to work, the Olympics need to be watched......

This is the sweet life.

Bwa ha  ha ha ha ha ha! [this is my evilest laugh]

Emotionally invested

First of all we're all going to need to agree to ignore the dirty socks in the background of these pictures. Also the spots where I wiped up the spit up but didn't wash the blanket yet. Also the fact that it's 3:45 and we're still in our jammies. And that there are 2 dirty burp clothes on the floor which we'll play with later. OK we've all agreed not to judge? Alrighty then, moving on.

Now that Thomas is all grown up, he's started entertaining himself a little more. 

That means I can set him down, leave the room, and come back before he starts screaming. Oh sweet freedom!

But sometimes I set him down, leave the room, hear the giggling followed by silence and sortof start to panic. 

Then I catch this view from the hallway:

Whatcha lookin' at babe?

Really. Is it that interesting? 

Oh no! What happened?

Early start in the men's biathalon. According to the announcers that throws off the whole dynamic of the race since it's based on "racing in the pack".

Don't worry babe, if you get too emotionally invested in the Olympics and you can't stand to see one more second of it, you can always return to your favorite hobby.

Who knows, maybe someday they'll turn this into an Olympic event. If so, you'll win.

In other news, while playing "One Mississippi" today we made it all the way to 3 Mississippi before I had to catch him. How long does he have to be able to sit up by himself before I get to say "he's sitting up"?

The Mailman

Remember how my baby has blue blue eyes?

More lip sucking....

Remember how Josh and I both have brown eyes?

Remember how sometimes we joke that Thomas got his eyes from the mailman? (He brought them to him in a package...what were you thinking sicko?)

Well, today I met the mailman. He's nice. He listens to an iPod while he delivers our mail and when I asked if I could add to his outbound stack he said "Absolutely! (yes, with an exclamation point, he was very excited about the mail - I think he has the right job) Have a great day."

It's good to know that the man responsible for my baby's eye color is so nice.

Tubing

Some pictures from our tubing adventure.

Josh, Kate, Ryann & Randy on the way down the hill.

Mom & Grandma Huggie in the lodge.

Josh being towed UP the hill. Yes, this is tubing in style.

Me, Logan, Clint & Josh int he lodge.

Kate & Lucy

Dad on the way down the hill. Cute huh?

Nate & Wendy. How come we were never in your group down the hill huh?

If you wanna go tubing, but you're not so much into the hike up the hill, or the ride down is too short, or there's nowhere to get warm or you don't know what to do with your kids while you're having fun....this is the tubing hill for you. Just bring your whole family and take turns watching all 4 babies. Let the machine tow you up the hill and enjoy the warm lodge when it's your turn to watch the 4 babies.

Good times.

Love Day

We ate homemade Cafe Rio.

We had a Sunday appropriate dance party (thank you Inside Out).

We got adorable valentines.

We saw the ice castle (because it's easier to pretend you're a princess on the day of love if you're wandering in a castle of some sort). As a side note, you should definitely go see this. It's cool.

And oh did we laugh!

We came home to some BEAUTIFUL flowers, chocolates, AND chocolate dipped strawberries.

Valentine's Day just gets better and better every year.

One thing I love about home

Is that even though my child is screaming (and has been since we set foot in the door) I know that we'll have a better night sometime this week than the last 2 nights were.

Josh and I will sleep on the bed and not the flat air mattress.

Thomas will probably sleep through the night at least once.

I will definitely be able to listen to his screams from the perfect distance (close enough to know they're there, far enough to ignore them).

So even if he never stops crying tonight (heaven help us all!) I am confident that it won't last all week.

And that's a beautiful thing.

Did you know?

Did you know that this (Midway) is one of the most beautiful places on earth?

Did you know that there are only 13 blimps in the world? 9 of those 13 are in the US. This kinda blows my mind because I don't think blimps are that cool....maybe that's why there are only 13.

Did you know that I don't have to ask Josh how school was for at least 6 more months?

Did you know that I started having my personal scripture reading e-mailed to me (via Read The Scriptures)? I'm 5 chapters in and 8 days behind. But that's improvement.

Did you know that God invented snowshoeing just for me? He made pink tulips for Aundrea and snowshoeing for me.

Did you know that Soldier Hollow has the greatest tubing hill ever? It's true. Anytime a machine will haul you to the top of a hill, it's the greatest thing ever.

Did you know that my dad makes the best breakfast potatos on the planet? We don't even call them hash browns because they're that much better than regular old has browns.

Did you know that of all the "Did You Know's" this is the one that says "best" the most? That's because this is the weekend of the bestest things.

Zumba, or The night she made a fool of herself.

I'm not curvy, just tubby.

I'm not "shakin' it" it's just "jigglin'"

But when you're in the Primary room at the church surrounded by signs that say "Jesus loves you" it's hard to have an issue with that.

Halfway through I figured out that the instructor wasn't taking a full step every time she put her foot down. It's more of "toe touch" move. (Which for her activates the hips.)

Three-quarters through I figured out that you're not supposed to move on whatever beat it is that white people naturally gravitate to.

Just in time to cool down I figured out that I'll never be good at this. (I'm white. I can't even hear that other beat.)

And on the way home I figured out I didn't care.

I'm going back anyway.

*Bet you wish there was a picture with this post huh?

It's gonna be OK

Sometimes I forget that it's OK.

For some reason yesterday felt long. It was good (Dr. visit, grocery shopping, Costco, food put away, walk, visit with family, etc.), but by bath time at 6:30 I hadn't done any work (bad when you're supposed to manage your own time properly) still had visits to do, dinner to cleanup, my own dinner to eat, laundry to do, and the baby to put to sleep. PLUS I clearly needed to finish watching The Biggest Loser.

Do you ever feel like you've already put in a full day before you've even started your own stuff?

That's how it was.

Fortunately my incredibly intuitive husband noticed that I was bawling my eyes out while bathing Thomas and asked if I'd like him to put Thomas down for bed. (Nothing gets by this one I tell ya...)

Miraculously I survived the night but I give the credit to Dr. Seuss.

The monitor was on (because it always is) and while I worked on the computer, I listened to Josh read to Thomas about "the places he'd go" and suddenly I didn't think I'd die before 7pm.

And you know what? I didn't. (Die I mean.)

4 months

That's how old my child is.

This is what he does and is:

• He's grabby. Not so much in a "you have that and I want it so I'll reach for it" kind of way. More in a "there's something near my hand (blanket, binkie, burp cloth, finger, fist, hair, face) and I will close my fist around it so that thing will never EVER escape" kind of way.
• He "chews" things and bites his fists all day long. (Josh is convinced he's teething....I'm not convinced.)
  
  
• Also, he just discovered that he can suck on his lips..and that's cool.
  
  
  
  
  

  He doesn't know yet that this is the fishy face, but don't you worry. I'll teach him.
• He's the Drool Prince (only because his cousin, Taege, owns the title of Drool King and will probably never give it up.)
• He is in the 50th percentile for height (24.5 in) and 25th for weight (12 lbs 11 oz). Dr. Lady is not concerned about that. Even though "he's slimmed down considerably" there no need to worry. It's all good with me because it means we can call him "squirt" a little longer. Plus it means I can use the rest of that CASE of diapers.
• He sleeps through the night 75% of the time. Other times he wakes up at 1am starving and totally soaked. And by "other times" I mean "last night". That's when he and I "nap" on the love sac together.
• He rolls - but only if it's his idea. Like when we're at the Dr.'s office and she only has one hand on him and is trying to shine a light in his eyes, that's when it's his idea. But if it's my idea, like when we're having tummy time, or I've convinced myself that he's never really done it and I need him to prove it to me, he wants nothing to do with that rolling business.
• He squeals. Particularly when I'm trying to meet with people in my living room and Josh is doing whatever it is he does to him 2 feet away in the bedroom. He still only does this regularly for Josh. And Josh is still the only one who can turn this:
  
  
  to this:
  
  
• He has no concept of  Stranger Danger. As long as someone is paying attention to him he's happy (and no what's-her-face from Signing Time does NOT count...not that I've tried).
• He likes to be in the kitchen with me. Cooking, cleaning, dishes, it's all good as long as we're moving and I'm holding him. One-handed cheffing is now on my list of "really great skills nobody cares you have".
• He sits up. Sortof. He likes it when we play "One mississippi" where I hold him up until he's stable, then let go and count until he falls. He doesn't know what comes after "2miss". He still prefers standing to sitting.
  
  

Here's more of what my child looks like. You know, in case you forgot already.

Did you know?

Did you know that this is Josh's last week of classes? Until fall when "real school" starts and who knows what will come then....

Did you know that even though Signing Time is on at our house at least every other day I've never actually seen it? Josh was here while it was on this week and said "whoa! why are there monsters in this show?" I turned to look and there were no monsters. He was just checking to see if I monitored what our child was watching. I don't. A bad habit I swear I'll break before he's old enough to go to the movies without me.

Did you know that the world's largest flower is the Rafflesia Arnoldii? It weighs 15 pounds and it's petals are an inch thick. AN INCH!!!

Did you know that it's been more than a year since I went to the zoo? A tragedy I have every intention of righting before too long.

Did you know that for a romantic Valentine's getaway Josh and I are headed to a cabin in Heber where things are beautiful and covered in snow and romantic and amazing? Yep. We're going with my ENTIRE family and all accompanying children. That would be 8 kids, 3 of whom are 6 months and younger. Should be a blast - snowshoeing, tubing, eating, movie-ing, puzzle-ing, sledding, snowman building.... *sigh* I can't wait. (For a recap of the visit 2 years ago see here. Somehow last year's visit got lost in the "I'm gonna have a baby!" drama....)

Did you know I clean the lint out of the dryer thing EVERY load? Even if it's too little lint to stick to itself and pull off I get old lint to pull it off. On the polar opposite side we have Josh. Who will do a load of towels, blankets (the ultimate lint-creator) , AND denim before I clean the lint thing. On the plus side I always know when he's done the laundry so I can thank him properly.

Did you know it's the Super Bowl today? I didn't (until I got on Facebook). That's because I don't care.

An empty day

Well, I've been up since about 5 which means the dishes are done, the laundry is as caught up as it's gonna get, and I have the day off work.

Josh left for school at 6:30 and won't be home until 7:30 (tonight)

It's just me and Thomas all day long. Except for a very exciting date with Stella later on.

It's weird (because this is how it is EVERY day of the week) but I feel like I've got nothing going on. What do you do when you're bored? I kinda feel like I should make cookies or something.

I haven't had a day that felt this empty in a long long time, so I haven't a clue where to begin.

I'm open to suggestions. :)

Cool toys

Sometimes we spend our mornings playing with the coolest toys on the market

Other times we just sit around

Or have an impromptu photoshoot

Or remember that we're really an airplane

So really, it's not all bad.

After closing the door on her screaming child for what felt like the 900th time in 24 hours, she slowly buried her head in a pillow and started to cry.

Because nobody cries alone.

New hair

Before:

Cute earrings huh?

After:

That's a good 10 inches off (her measurement, not mine).

After a lengthy discussion with my hair lady about bangs and my irrational fear of them extending back to 5th grade (it wasn't pretty) and her study of my lovely cowlick....I went without. While I stare at my forehead thinking "cover it cover it cover it!" I think it was the right choice.

It's still long enough to pull back, but it's much shorter, and I like that about it.

You know you need a haircut when

The end of your hair doesn't fit in the same picture as your head.

I'm totally scared of the mom haircut because I'm just not good at short hair (my face is not the right shape). But today is the first time I have done my hair since....OK I honestly don't remember when. And that's because it's too long to "do" and it makes me crazy!

So the uber-long hair has to go. I'm thinking maybe bangs of some sort....and at least having it brought up to my shoulders.....any suggestions? The appointment is tomorrow so speak now or deal with my ugly hair for another 6 months....

It's 4am and I'm blogging

Because my child woke up at 2:23.

Since then the longest period he's gone without screaming is exactly 1 minute and 3 seconds and that's the longest by about 1 minute and 2 seconds. I know because I've been timing his cries so I don't go in there every 10 seconds trying to sooth him when it's impossible.

He screams.

I set the timer.

I go in 10 minutes later. He's screaming.

I try his binkie, but you can't suck and scream at the same time, and we all know that when the sun is down and the world is asleep screaming is far superior to sucking.

I "sooth him" (which really just means I hold his clenched fists) for 2 or 3 minutes at which point my brains start to leak out of my ears.

I leave closing the door on me screaming child and set the timer again.

His throat is gonna hurt tomorrow. And he earned every second of it.

My eyes are gonna hurt tomorrow. And I earned every second of it.

Did you know that since I woke up an hour and a half ago I'm the only person I know who has updated my facebook status?