In Her Garage

Our old neighbors moved out a few months ago.

Then we took over their driveway parking in it all the time because we're too lazy not to.

Then our new neighbor came and asked us to get the heck out of her driveway, please! introduced herself. I sheepishly confessed we were driveway thieves, but only because we hate to see a good thing go to waste and we'd knock it off now. She was sweet and kind.

She was also cleaning out the house, so I ran into her 3 or 4 times over the next 2 days.

Then she disappeared.

Then our friend saw her moving stuff into her house out of UHaul.

Then she disappeared again.

Then we saw some guys coming to lay carpet.

Then she disappeared again.

So I asked Josh if he thought she really lived there or not. Did she just buy the place as a cover to sell drugs? Or a hideout from her drughouse? Or perhaps a super-secret-storage-unit for her drugs? You should know she looks almost exactly like every other 30-something year old woman in the great state of Utah. She's probably going to be the next Relief Society president. 


Josh asked why I thought she didn't really live there.

"Because her car is never there and I never see her there either!" I explained in my best talking-to-a-kindergartner voice.

"Maybe she parks in her garage." He said in his best you think you're so smart, but really you're an idiot voice.

Now that he mentions it, I'm definitely hearing someone pounding nails into their walls over there...it's probably her. And not a drug dealer.

he is my sunshine

Tommy woke up the other night around 10. Josh was working, so we were both up anyway.

Tommy was a bit stuffy and a bit weepy. My mommy-heart couldn't refuse snuggling that boy back to sleep.

I carried him back into his bedroom and tucked him in under the covers. Then I laid down next to him and he put his face right next to mine - foreheads touching. Then he looked me straight in the eyes (in the dark of his room) and asked for "one mo' song?"

I "petted" his head, moving his hair off his forehead and started

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy, when skies are gray.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.


I paused and Tommy started to pet my head and whispered into my nose "mo' sunshine pwease?"

There are a lot of days that being a mom is nothing like the glamorous picture of motherhood I had in my head. Far more poop, far less play-dough.

But there are certainly moments like these which are far more glamorous than I ever could have imagined.

In My Own Little Corner....

....in my own little chair.

I was recently talking to a woman whose ability to communicate with God is astounding to me. She can receive revelation more clearly than I can read billboards - and it seems to be easy for her. I'm confident this is a skill she practiced and practiced and practiced, (and one I have admittedly not practiced...) but I think she is also naturally good at it. She spends a lot of time (like 30 minutes daily!) praying and listening for answers.

Given my attempts to "meditate" this month, I'm not sure I can ever work my way up to 30 minutes, but I've seen people on The Biggest Loser run marathons so I bet it's possible....

Anyway, she has a special chair in her bedroom. It's HER chair. And everybody in her family knows that when she's in HER chair, they are not to bother her. Nobody else sits in it and it doesn't get used as a trampoline or diving board or wall of a fort. It's a chair she think is comfortable and attractive. But most importantly it's HER chair.

I'm confident she has made significant sacrifices for this to be the case. I'm positive there are days she's too busy, but does it anyway. I'm certain there are times it is impossible for her, but she has made it a priority.

She asked me when/where I spend MY time. Uninterrupted. Quiet. My time.

Short answer? I don't.
Ever. except for the 2 times this month when I have "meditated".
"You don't have to have a whole room you know." she reminded me. "It could be just a chair."
"I live in a 2 bedroom townhouse with 3 boys." I shot back.
"You could spend some time anywhere, it doesn't matter where." she moved on to the "time" issue.
"I have a newborn, a 2-year-old, a husband, a calling and a business." I reminded her. "Time is just one of the things I honestly don't have."
"Even if you have to wake up early and just have a special pillow...." she started.

I'm not sure how that thought ended though, because I sortof tuned out and wrote it off because waking up before my kids means setting the alarm clock for a time that begins with 3 or 4. And I'm simply too tired.

Seriously, I live in a 2 bedroom townhouse.

The kitchen/living/dining/office area is all one big room. (Which I love, but affords ZERO privacy.)
Our bedroom doubles as Josh's office - there's just enough room to walk around the bed.
The boys' room is packed with bed, crib, toys, clothes and other storage.
Technically there IS a seat in the bathroom.....but that's really not about meditation now is it?

As I look around my house, I honestly don't see a space for an extra, special chair.

I reminded myself that her kids are older, understand how to leave people alone, and are not as physically clingy right now. (They are 8 and 13 years old.) She is in a season of her life where 30 minutes alone is a significant sacrifice, but not impossible.

But that idea of a special pillow won't leave my head.

So I'm looking.
For a special pillow.

One that is comfortable and cozy and beautiful. Beautiful matters. Because it's going to be MY pillow. And I simply must love it.
One that can move around my house to whichever room is the quietest when I need it.
One that is large enough to comfortably sit on.
One that is beautiful. Seriously. It matters.
But one that can easily be stored under my bed or behind my couch.
One that won't fall apart after just a year of use.

My requests of you are two.
1) When & where do you spend time alone every day? Am I up in the night for thinking that is a luxury?
2) Show me a floor pillow (or pouf as I recently learned they are called) that you love? Pretty please?

Tough Call

There are a lot of parenting decisions that are really easy for me to make. I'm fairly confident in the things I want my kids to learn.

But some are really hard for me.

Yesterday was really rough for Tommy. There is a little girl in our neighborhood that Tommy just can't seem to get along with. Any toy she has, he must have immediately. And he screams and takes it from her and then throws an enormous fit. I always go over to him and we talk about sharing, say we're sorry, and dry the tears. She's a sweet girl (having some sharing problems of her own) and I really like her. Her mom is a fantastic person and I lover her too! Her mom always joins in with the "let's not fight over this toy and learn to share" action. But I simply can't understand why Tommy picks on her. There are 5 other people in the room and he's fine with all of them but he picks on HER.

When he does this with other people I can usually talk him through it, everybody apologizes and goes on their way, but for some reason he doesn't calm down with her. He screams and flails and freaks out. And sniffles and sobs and shouts his way through an apology.

I said something to her mom about how I was sorry he was picking on her in an attempt to let her know that I knew he was being unreasonable but I didn't know what to do about it. Now I keep going over and over what I said and I hope it didn't come out wrong and sound like my kid hates her kid. I'm hoping I didn't stick my foot in my mouth (which I usually do...chances aren't really in my favor here) and I hope she wasn't hurt.

Why does he do this?
And how do I find out when he simply lacks the vocabulary to explain?
And what am I supposed to say to him about it?
And what am I supposed to say to my friend about it?

Go ahead experienced and wise people, advise me.

Best Love Note Ever

I've always been attached to my daddy.

Always.

My daddy has a gift. The ability to make people feel loved in an incredibly powerful way effortlessly.

I remember snuggling into his shoulder/armpit while he read me stories until we both fell asleep.

There are probably 10-15 primary songs that he sang to me a thousand times in a row, and now they're the only songs I can think of when I'm tucking Tommy in. And I can only hear them in his voice.

Every time I go home I get a "Poppi Hug" that makes me feel like I'm still 7 years old and he's fixing everything that's wrong in the world.

He bought me roses one Valentine's Day when I was in high school. He brought them home to me when he brought some for my mom. And in that moment I was certain he loved me every bit as much as he loved her.

He helped me do a million things, has given me a million things, and taught me a million things and I love him for all of them.

But today I love him because he writes the perfect love notes.

I e-mailed him saying that I didn't know what I'd do without him.

He responded beautifully and simply: "Nor me without you, so lets not even try it. lovepopi"


And for the 10,000th time, he melted my heart. 

Mr. Lonely

Dad fell asleep in the chair and Tommy thought he looked lonely.

A problem quickly remedied I assure you.

Good Morning John!

After a few days in a row of John greeting me with smiles every time I come into the room,

Sad John has started going by Guy Smiley. 

And what a lovely change it is.

Walking the Plank

We were watching a show about pirates, and they had to walk the plank - so I thought it would be fun to practice walking the plank with the boy.

I showed him how once and I guess I over-exaggerated the "whooaaa!" factor. Because this is what he did every time.

Then we got out a longer (and therefore better) plank. And Tommy continually reminded himself (and me) that "A pirate says 'arrrggg'" while he walked.

Then each toy (balls and animals included) had a turn to walk the plank.

Man I love this kid.

Today's Numbers

5: episodes of Blue's Clues

3: bowls of cereal

12,476: facebook updates about the football game (was it the Superbowl? why am I the only one who doesn't care about football)

14: times I've tried to convince Tommy that he wants to go shopping with me this morning

15: times he's convinced me that if I force him to go I'll regret it. I always do.

3: pounds gained since I bought an entire Costco cake for no good reason on Friday.

26: miles I'll have to run to make up for that. *dreamy sigh* totally worth it

78: animals dumped out on the living room floor

360: minutes of wakefulness. It's only 11am.

4: poopy diapers - what are we feeding these children?

29: tiny car accidents. did you know that a tiny matchbox car can take out a dump truck 20 times it's size? true story.

6: requests from Tommy for a nap. 

6: "Sure, you can have a nap"'s from mom.

0: naps

Significant Sleep Improvements

A few weeks ago Tommy stopped sleeping through the night.

Since he started sleeping through the night (way back when we measured his age in weeks and not months or years) he has never stopped. We can put him down for bed at 7(ish) every night and know we won't see or hear from him until morning.

I know I know...spoiled little white girl problems.

Still...

Over the holidays we were all sleeping in, and got into the habit of letting him come in and snuggle with us in the mornings. He'd wake up at 6:30 and come in and we'd all (even John) snuggle in bed for 15 minutes before starting our day. It was heavenly. I loved it.

The first few times he woke up in the middle of the night, he came into our bedroom to find me with the light on watching tv on the laptop and nursing John.

I told him it was the middle of the night, but for some reason he didn't believe me.

"John awake? Mom awake? Good mornin'!" He responded.

Maybe I'm sleep deprived (and therefore stupid) but I really couldn't refute his logic. It was 2am, not morning. But still, what do I tell him? Yes. John's awake. Mom's awake. The lights are on and we're watching tv. But go to bed. And my ability to physically put him back in bed was seriously compromised by the fact that there was a small child attached to my chest.

So once he won that debate, he'd crawl into bed with daddy (who had no problem with the situation) and snuggle for 15 minutes then think it was time to get up and have breakfast.

I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but the holidays are now over, sleeping in is no longer an option, and I'm seriously sick of being up all night. So I have become the snuggle nazi.

This week John started sleeping through the night, which simply highlighted how rotten it was for Tommy to stop sleeping through the night. Once John had slept all night long 3 times in a row, we (I) decided we should just put him in the boys' room officially since Tommy was getting up and coming in here every night anyway, it couldn't hurt.

So we did.

And now we're all sleeping through the night. The boys go to sleep by 7:30, Josh goes to sleep at 7:45 (I'm only partially kidding here...) and when I wake up with John at 5 or 6, Tommy and I are up for the day. John goes back down until 8, and Tommy and I get to bond a little before the day officially starts.

Tommy is a whole new kind of cute when he's well rested. He's not a monster who head butts me and makes me cry. He's a sweet sweet boy who climbs into his carseat and asks me to buckle him. He says "lub-ewwww" and "sawwy mom" at least 10,000 times a day. He entertains himself and is soft with Little John. He is kind. and smart. and important.

I simply love it when we all sleep through the night. It's only been 3 nights, but my whole world is better. WAY better.

Highs and Lows

Within 24 hours of this post which made me feel like wonder-mom, I picked a fight with Tommy about his fingernails.

Sometimes he doesn't mind having his fingernails cut but other times he really really hates it. But it was Saturday night and it simply had to be done. 

He cried and whined and whimpered. 

But I was strong and determined. 

He wiggled and wriggled.

But I held him tighter.

And then he grabbed my hair with both hands and head butted me. I swear I saw that in ultimate fighting once...

I pushed him off my lap, onto the floor and left the room crying. 

Not even one fingernail cut. 

I went into the boys' room where John was boycotting his wardrobe change for the evening. I told Josh I'd gladly trade him the noisy infant for the indescribably beast in the living room.

I think this might have been the first time I was genuinely mad at my child. Mad mad. Spitting fighting CRYING mad.

I kissed him goodnight anyway - but I didn't like it.

Of course the next day he was sweet and kind and smart and important. He was handsome and funny and loving. He woke me up with a kiss and he never whined at me. He gave me hugs and cuddled his daddy after their naps. He showed us a "Jesus picture!" and sat quietly by himself during the RS musical number in Sacrament Meeting. 

He was a perfect angel and I love love LOVED him. 

Of course I always love him, but man I love it when I like him too.

Meh

Mom: "Aren't you so glad to be awake today?" (in the most obnoxious mommy-talking-to-baby voice you can imagine)
John:

I'm not even kidding.

Can't Get Up

I thought I'd take the plunge and do the hardcore "yoga burn" section of the video I've been doing. I won't lie, it looked hard in the little preview, and considering that the "flexibility and relaxation" section is hard for me I figured yoga burn would do me in.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I was pretty easily keeping up with her.

Until the last move.

Deep knee bend until you sit yourself down on the floor, roll back then using your abs lift your legs up into the air (I'm good until this point). Then roll forward and stand up. (Without using your hands.)

I suppose I blame the pregnancy for the fact that I can't stand up like a normal person.

After months of getting out of seats belly first, I have totally forgotten how to stand up.

And now it simply isn't possible.

But on my first try I didn't know I couldn't do it, so I tried.

I thought the momentum from the rolling would simply lift me into a standing position (like it did for the lady in the movie!), but it only lifted me like 2 inches off the floor and I came right back down on my booty, legs in the air.

I had fallen and I couldn't get up.

I'm gonna be the most awesome old person EVER.

Word

I got dis.

Man I love that kid. 

Even if he does need a haircut.

Sad Commentary

Sometimes I can judge my life based on the status of my dishwasher. 

Totally empty usually means the sink is full and I haven't done dishes in a very long time. (Or that Josh is in trouble and I'm saving them all for him.)

Totally full means I'm on top of it. Wonder-mom. Super-wife. Totally Awesome Human Being. (I've only seen this like once...)

Running means John is crying and I'd rather not hear him.

But this? This is a whole new world.

Bottom tray: (home of cooking dishes, plates and all "real food" evidence) Empty.

Top tray: (home of cereal bowls and sippy cups) Full. 

I don't really need to explain, do I?

How YOU doin'?

Hey there.....

How you doin'?

Meditation: Part 2(ish)

Last week I tried meditating again.

I thought that if I got a little more comfortable, and had finished all the house stuff and the boys were down before I started I'd be wildly successful.

The problem came when I had cleaned the entire house, caught up on my work, put all 3 of my boys in bed and sat alone in a dark room with my eyes closed.

I looked at the clock at 11:43pm. And when I woke up it was 2:45am. I'd love to count this as a 3 hour session and say I rock at meditation....but the truth is I'm certain I was entirely unconscious by 11:44pm.

So this week I figured I needed help.

So I googled guided meditation and picked the first youtube video more than 12 minutes long. Since Josh thinks I need to calm down, I picked the anti-anxiety version.

I ignored the dishes in the sink and the dirty laundry on the floor. I pretended my work was done and my house was organized and I turned on the video.

Things were going fine until the voice told me we had walked up a grassy hill and that I should (mentally) look for a place to lie down.

As I looked around the beautifully grassy knoll for an appropriate place to lie down, my heart rate picked up, I looked and looked and looked and all of the spots had dirt-patches in them. The grass wasn't even, and there were dandelions and gopher bumps in the ground. In my head I was dressed in something pretty and I wasn't about to lay in the dirt.

Suddenly the voice was telling me I was doing a great job and that now that we were on the beach I should hear the waves crashing and the feel the light breeze on my face.

I'm not sure what else happened (or was supposed to happen) on that hill, but I kept my eyes closed through the entire session - that counts, right?

Resolutions for other people

I'm still thinking about making New Year's Resolutions for other people. This might be my new favorite tradition, because I think I'm pretty dang good at it.

Here are my New Year's Resolutions for people I have no control over:

Macey's (the grocery store, not the clothing store): You should resolve to build a store on the empty lot by my house. OK?

Owner of the empty lot by my house: You should resolve to sell that lot for less than the price of a small country so someone, ANYone can by it.

Josh: Put your socks in the hamper so I can stop cussing so much. We're all gonna be embarrassed when Tommy repeats the things he's heard.

Ben & Jerry's: How about a $.99 pint eh?

Tommy: Let's re-learn how to sleep through the night shall we? Waking up between midnight and 3am every night is not cool. John can show you how it's done if you need a lesson....

Hawiian Airlines: Keep that $175 airfare year round for the next 10 years so I can afford to take advantage of this insanely awesome deal sometime.

Running: Wouldn't it be cool if you didn't suck so much? I think you oughtta work on that.

Weather: Listen. At some point you're gonna have to snow. Let's do it now and not in April when everyone will hate you for it.

Little John: Just try to survive. With your brother around it might not be easy....

Who do you wanna make resolutions for?

Sunday In Photos

I came home from my afternoon meetings to this beautiful sight. 

And when all the boys finally came out of their comas we made this beautiful sight.

When Daddy gave Tommy a choice of which bathroom to take his evening bath in
"dis one? oooooooor dis one?"
it resulted in a 10 minute streaking session that simply had me in a fit of giggles. 

Have you ever seen a cuter bum?

<<picture removed for the protection of the innocent at their protector's request>>

And wrapping up my tiniest baby in all that love and laying him down for what could potentially be his 3rd straight night of sleeping clear through it.....was simply the perfect end to this day.

Today I really love my boys.

New Years Resolutions

Josh and I were watching an episode of The Middle (go watch it, just the beginning part before the credits) where the family decides that since they never keep their own resolutions they ought to set resolutions for each other instead.

So I asked Josh if he could set a resolution for me, what would it be. (A dangerous question - I don't recommend asking it.) After I threw out his first stupid, ridiculous, and inappropriate for a family blog suggestion he said "Calm down. Just calm. down."

I like to think that could be my motto for the year, but I'm busy cleaning out my cupboards, organizing my closets, and freaking out about the crusty spit-up stains in my carpet.

Maybe next year.

The Future

I'm just wondering, will iPod headphones still be cool when he's a teenager in 12 years?

Here's a Twist

Sleep deprived mommy of two complains about exhaustion.

That's the boring part.

Here's the twist.

The boy keeping her up at night is not the newborn. It's the dirty rotten (and slightly adorable) 2 year old who has decided that staying asleep and in bed all night is for lame-sauce sissy-pants.

He gets up at 5 am.

And at midnight.

And at 3.

So, sleep-deprived mommy had a sleep over with Tommy in his crappy 2 year old bed last night.

Meanwhile Dad took over "baby duty" and slept THROUGH THE NIGHT (for the second time in a row) in our room.

Where's the justice?

Oh yeah, right here.

Snowman: Crafted

When Tommy wakes up early we watch a lot of tv. Because I'm too tired to think of anything else. 

And by 11am he's grouchy and I feel guilty and we're ready for something cool. 

So I bust out the construction paper and glue and magic happens.

"What do you wanna make Tommy?"

"Tall tall TALL!!!" aka snowman

I grabbed a fist full of cotton balls ignoring the desire to douse them in nail polish remover and give myself a much needed pedicure. 

I'm calling the cluster of googly eyes down there a belt. Just go with me on that OK? 

It's amazing what construction paper and glue will do for my self-esteem.
I suddenly feel like a VERY VERY good mother.

A Station Wagon Memory

Flashback
Scene: American Fork, Utah. One Amy Egbert (16 year old girl and inexperienced driver) is driving the family vehicle home from her new(ish) job showing her independence and maturity.

I guess there's supposed to be dialogue after you set the scene, but seeing as how I was alone in the car there really wasn't any. I'll just tell you the story instead.

I was driving home from work one day, in the family station wagon (born the same year as me, sporting some awesome wood paneling and crusty seat-belts) thinking I knew everything about driving on the snow.

I figured I lived in Utah so I was probably naturally good at driving in the snow. Besides, the station wagon had to weigh at least 3 tons, and somehow in my 16-year-old girl brain, that made it better in the snow. That much weight must simply crush through the snow and make immediate contact with the road effectively negating the ice and snow.

These were my thoughts until I hit the first stop sign.

I braked exactly as I should have, and it worked. At least for some of us (in the driver's seat) and the front of the car stopped. But the back end of the car didn't get the memo and slid around the rest of us.

I suddenly realized that:
a) I know nothing about driving in the snow.
b) I seriously needed some physics classes.
c) I needed to buy a cell phone so I could call my daddy and have him tell me what to do when my car was turned the wrong way. (The simple answer, "turn around", is significantly less simple when you're driving Noah's Ark and you're a stupid-16-year-old-girl.)

Flash Forward:
Yesterday the sun was shining and the boys were weeping. So I did what any good stir-crazy mother would do. I bundled up my boys and got out the stroller.

The plan was foolproof. "Walk it out kids. We're gonna walk it out." And maybe we'd rub some dirt on it.

And then, in a move that hasn't been seen since the Titanic hit the Iceberg, the front of  the stroller hit the hunka unshoveled ice-snow about 10 minutes before the back of the stroller would have. (Are you getting that a double stroller is long? Ridiculously, unimaginably long? It is....) and the front slid around the back and we were suddenly stuck. Very. Very. Stuck. In a double stroller.

I now have 10 years experience driving in the snow and all I've learned is that you shouldn't do it.

I've spent one day walking the equivalent of a station wagon stroller in the snow, and I've already learned that you shouldn't do it.

On the other hand - the view of the station wagon stroller is significantly more awesome than that in the station wagon.

A Thousand Times A Day

When we took the doorknob blocker off Tommy's bedroom door I discovered that I could boss him around.

He starts to come out of his room when he should be napping and I tell him to go back in there and go to sleep and he does.

I tell him to stop dangling that heavy object above his brother's head and he does. (Eventually.)

I tell him to eat his peas and...well sometimes he does. Other times he throws them on the floor.

Anyway, I tell Tommy what to do pretty much all day long.

"Now we're going to get dressed."
"Eat your lunch."
"Time for a nap."
"Put the car at the TOP of the ramp and drive it down."
"Color like this."
"Blue blocks go on yellow ones."
"Eat."
"Don't eat."
"Sleep."
"Don't sleep."

And every now and then I throw in a really stupid one - just for good measure.

"Don't eat any more chocolate candies or you won't have room for cookies."

Really, I said that. And THEN realized that it's stupid.

So now I'm wondering - how many things am I making him do that really make no sense. And naturally I'm wondering about the dumb things you make YOUR kids do, just because you accidentally said it out loud and then had to follow through.

Please share. Ready? Go!

A Crib

I left Tommy in Josh's care for no more than 5 minutes and this is what he had to show for it.

Things you should try not to notice:
The dust flying everywhere. Nobody has touched that crib since Tommy got a bed.
Tommy's unbuttoned shirt - he stuffed some cars and balls and dinosaurs down his shirt and couldn't get them out, so I unbuttoned him and left him unbuttoned for the rest of the day.
Tommy trying to blow the dust out of the air. Seriously, the crib was dusty.

Since Daddy and Tommy spent their time dusting off the crib for me, I figured I ought to put it to good use today.

That's why John is sleeping in his crib right now.

A month ago I don't think I was confident that John would ever sleep. Period. Much less in his own crib in what can now only be referred to as "the boys' room".

In other (and much more exciting) sleep-news.... John slept ALL through the night two nights ago. Last night he woke up at about 3, but I suspect that had more to do with the state of his diaper than the state of his stomach. But now that I've blogged about it I fully expect him to wake up at least every hour tonight. I hate it when I curse myself.

I Just Need Diapers!

Every December I wish there was a line at the store for people who are just trying to live their normal lives. They are not shopping for parties or presents or anything red or green. They just need milk and diapers.

Somehow I think living normal life - needing milk and diapers - earns me a right to not wait in line with (or drive through a parking lot with) all the people buying chocolate oranges, cookie cutters, and stocking stuffers.

I'd gladly wait in the Holiday Shopping line when I was holiday shopping.....just not when I'm buying diapers.

That's fair, right?

It's this same logic that makes me believe that if I worked out in August I shouldn't have to share the treadmill in January.

I hate the gym in January.

Tommy Helps

Everybody told me that when John was born Tommy would become enormous. 

And he did. 

Like the first time I changed his diaper post-John I said outloud
"holy cow, you have the biggest bum I've EVER seen!"
And he said
"bum! bum! bummmmmmm!!!!!"
and collapsed into a fit of giggles.

But over the last 2 months he's grown up even more. 

He puts his own clothes in the laundry hamper and runs around the house being "nakie Tommy!" before baths. (You should come over around 7 for the show, it's a-freakin-dorable.)

He regularly follows me in to change John's diaper and waits for me to ask him for a favor, to which he emphatically replies "poop bucket!"* 

But, by far, my favorite way that he helps is by unloading the dishwasher.

He's been blindly chucking the silverware into the drawer for me to sort for weeks now, but today it finally occurred to me that given the opportunity he would likely sort it. 

I was right. Beautifully correct.

I love it when I'm right!

*"Poop bucket" is his cue to dispose of the dirty diaper in our diaper pail, which we affectionately call the poop bucket. My mom just cringed. I know it.

I Bought A Hat

On the third straight day of undone hair, I caved and bought a hat.

This is a lifetime first for me.

Once when Josh and I were dating I wore a beanie to the grocery store. He inadvertently told me that I look like a man when I wear a hat. In his defense I was probably wearing sweat pants and a hoodie, I'm fairly certain my hair was pulled back and there was little to signify that I was a woman.

I've avoided hats like the plague since then.

But I figured if my sisters can pull off hats, I can too.

Verdict's still out on the man-look....but that hasn't stopped me from wearing my new hat. 

SNOW!!!

The big news around here today is that it snowed.

I know what you're thinking "Isn't she in Utah? Isn't it January? Why is snow news?"

Well I'll tell you why. On Friday we were certain that winter was never going to come and bought sunglasses and got out the swimsuits and made plans to go to the park. 

So at 5:30 this morning when Tommy woke up and Josh opened the blinds to show him that it was "dumping snow!"  (the last line in one of his current favorite books which has no name and is not for sale online....) Tommy's eyes lit up (at 5 freakin' 30 in the morning) and Josh instantly decided they'd be going out to enjoy the real winter. 

Tommy was thrilled - and when Dad told him they had to come in so Dad could go to work Tommy was heartbroken. He came up the stairs whimpering and sniffling because he wanted "mo' more mittens please?!?!" I couldn't say no. So I threw a jacket on over my jammies and we played in the "backyard".

"THREE!!!!"

"A big one!"

"Git chooo mom!"

We only played for an extra 10 minutes before I bribed him with hot chocolate and his "dinosaur tent" so we could go in and get warm. A deal he was happy to take. 

Why is it that over the past 3 weeks it's practically been spring here and we've only gone out to play in it once - once - but the second it snows we're out in it within hours? I guess we're just that kind of awesome.

Yoga

I think we've established that I suck at meditation.

But I have been kicking the Yoga booty this week.

That's because I don't have $50 to give to Josh.

Also because I really like doing yoga with my oldest sister, Sarah.

Turns out that a guided personal session with someone you love on the back porch with the sun shining on your face in a beautiful place.......

........ is not the same as a 10 minute Netflix video in your messy living room with a 2 year old "I helping!" the whole time.

So yesterday in an attempt to distract the toddler, I told him he could do it with me and even laid out a "yoga mat" just for him because he loves to do downward facing dog ("I see you!"), and he REALLY loves to lay on his back and lift his legs straight up in the air. 10 reps for him is nothing, but the counting to 20 is difficult, so he usually maxes out somewhere around fer-teen or nineteen or snenenteen (in that order).

Either way, he was excited to "seh-ser-size mommy!" last night.

I left the chocolate on his face because I thought it wouldn't be very zen to make him scream right before out workout.

Man I love that kid.

Just 3 more weeks in January.....and Josh has dared me to do at least 1 session of meditation during the month. We'll see if I take the dare.

John: The 2 Month Stats

John has been looking awfully large to me lately so I was naturally curious about his stats.

Oh, what's that you say? You were curious too?

At 2 months Little John
weighs: 11 pounds 2 ounces (50%)
length: 23.2 inches long (55%)
noggin: 15.3 inches large (25%)

I say he's straight up HUGE. I've packed away all newborn clothes, and he's starting to be too long for 0-3 month clothes. I'm starting to get out 3-6 month clothes. Partly because they are starting to fit him and partly because we have 9 million outfits that size and I'll be sad if he doesn't wear them enough.

Poor John got shots. And oh how he cried.

Poor Tommy thought he was getting shots. And oh how he ran to the corner to hide.

Poor daddy held John during shots. He took it like a man.

I might be the only person who escaped unscathed.

And satisfied that Little John is huge.

And beautiful.

Date 1: Dinner & A Movie

Josh's big Christmas present from me was a year's worth of pre-planned pre-paid dates.

There is 1 envelope per month filled with the necessary gift cards and explanation of the plans for our date that month.

So because January is Josh's birth-month I thought I'd cater to him a little bit.

I already knew we'd do dinner and a movie because there are a few movies out that he wanted to see in the theater. Also because there are a few things I know he'd like to eat.

OK Mostly just meat.

Also I knew we'd get some meat for free because it's his birthday. Thank you Tucano's Birthday Club

Since school doesn't start for another week, we thought we'd take advantage of a Tuesday "weekend" and go see a movie in the middle of the day then do dinner after. Besides, that would get us home to our boys by bedtime-ish.

Doing things in the middle of the day is my very favorite thing in the whole wide world. Nobody else is doing them because grownups have jobs. And I love doing things when nobody else is.

I started getting ready to go at 11am so I (and the boys) could be ready by 3ish.

After feeding John one more time, we were finally ready to go at 3:30, but Josh swore I looked nice enough to make it worth the wait.

I guess that much hasn't changed - he still doesn't mind being late.

We dropped the boys off at Stella's house, where Tommy was thrilled to play with her new Christmas presents (coolest. kitchen. ever!) and John was thrilled to be held by someone who would feed him no matter what time it was.

Knowing that our boys were in the best of care and the clock was ticking, we headed out for our hot date.

We saw the newest Mission: Impossible with something about a ghost in the title. They don't put numbers at the end of Mission Impossible movies anymore because it would be embarrassing to say "part 9,483". But I'm not going to lie, I seriously loved the movie. It was ridiculously unrealistic, but just close enough that I could pretend he really did survive being hit by a car THAT many times.

Josh and I used to be the couple at the back of the theater all snuggled up together whispering sweet nothings in each other's ears through the whole movie.

Now we're the couple at the front of the theater so we can put our feet up on the rail. We laugh out loud when it's funny and groan loudly every time Tom Cruise smacks his face on something (a lot). I ask questions out loud "Wait - so THAT guy is the bad guy?" and Josh asks me to repeat them because he's half-deaf and the movie is LOUD.

Maybe I like empty theaters because I'm obnoxious and I don't like it when angry mobs come after me. Sorry mob.

After the movie we ran over to Tucano's because
1. It was freezing in the theater and we wanted to eat warm food as soon as possible.
2. We were on a timer. Remember I'm nursing my baby? Josh was on strict "watch the boobs" orders because I don't trust nursing pads. I put on my coat before leaving the restaurant and not because I was cold. Have I mentioned lately that nursing is hard? It is.

After a lovely (if slightly rushed) dinner we raced home to our boys and put them to bed.

6 years ago we would have watched ALL of the credits of the movie and sipped our drinks until the wait staff kicked us out the restaurant. We would have wandered around the mall after dinner because there might have been someone playing a guitar somewhere. We would have driven home trying to hit every red light because the longer it takes to get home the later we get to stay out. We might have made it home by midnight. If we hurried.

Last night we were home with both boys asleep in bed by 8:30 so we could do dishes and laundry until we were too tired to stand.

I like to think we're just more efficient than we were 6 years ago.

New Years

I went to Costco last month and the entryway was decked out with snacks and sweets and gift baskets and chocolates and decorations and pots and pans and kitchen accessories you simply can't live without.

I went to Costco this morning and thought I had accidentally gone to the gym instead.

The entrance is crammed with treadmills and inversion tables and muscle milk and protein bars and workout clothes and running shoes and diet pills and gym passes.

Just sayin'.

In other New Years news....last night I tried to meditate.

My attempt was laughable.

I set the timer for 15 minutes, then came to the living room to get situated. After at least 20 seconds of adjusting and trying to sit comfortably on the floor, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my breathing.

In......
Out.....
In.....
Out.....

Both boys were asleep and Josh was in the kitchen trying to find real food to eat.

In.....(Why is Josh getting out a pot? He doesn't cook....)
Out......(Oh, that must have been a bowl, I can hear the microwave....)

In......
Out......

In....(Let's see, John has been asleep for 1 hour.....
Out.....(That means he'll wake up to eat again in the next 2 or 3 hours......
In.....(and if I spend 15 minutes sitting here....
Out.....(Wait! I'm not supposed to be thinking.)
In......
Out......
In.....
Out....
In....(my legs are asleep)
Out....... (It must have been at least 10 minutes by now)
In...... (It's horribly quiet, I wonder if Josh is looking at me)
Out....(He is. I know it. He's 2 inches from my face.)

In......
Out......

In......(I can feel him breathing on me!)
Out.......(my nose itches)
In.......(stupid nose.)
Out.......

I stretched my arm clear out in front of me on my way to scratch my nose to be sure that Josh wasn't really there.

In.....

"Forget it. I can't do this. I give." I told Josh.
I opened my eyes and looked at my timer. I still had 14:02 left.

90 seconds. I couldn't even stay quiet and still for 90 seconds. Not even with cheating and thinking about things, spending 20 of those seconds sitting down and scratching my nose.

90 seconds.

Fortunately I know I can do 15 minutes of yoga....otherwise Josh just got $50 richer for each week I don't meet my goal.

Dear Josh,

Dear Josh,

Today is your birthday and you're older than you've ever been and now you're getting older.

1984 was a long time ago, did you know?

Cue the list

In 1984

• Movie tickets only cost $2.50.
• The first - FIRST - Apple computer was for sale.
• Tina Turner, Wham & Jeopardy were cool.
• Scott Hamilton was skating - not narrating.
• The first CD Players were for sale.
• First infomercial. The world thanks you for bringing infomercials with you to this earth.
• Stonewash jeans.
• You were born.

There now do you feel sufficiently old? Good because you are.

But I still love you. Even after all these years. 

Good job being born - now let's go celebrate eh?

Love,

me

Resolved

I read somewhere that instead of making goals for the whole year (which would inevitably be forgotten and boring by about March, someone made 12 monthly goals. They scheduled all 12 and wrote them on the calendar and then worked through them as the year went on.

Since 30 days of commitment is much more reasonable than 365 in my world, I stole the idea and have some exciting goals for the year 2012.

I asked the general population (er...facebook) what their goals were for 2012 and I have to say I'm impressed with my friends. They are doing some pretty incredible things and I secretly hope that I do cool(er than this) stuff too. But for now here is my schedule of goals.

January - Meditate or do yoga 4 times / week. Each "session" must last at least 15 min.
February - Track every penny we spend (even "free" money)
March - Run a 30 minute 5k
April - Spend 10 minutes in prayer daily
May - Write in a gratitude journal daily
June - Study the atonement
July - Read 2 GOOD books (not trash books)
August - Enter a challenging race (secretly I hope this is a sprint triathalon or something that sounds equally cool - but I'm hesitant to commit to something that intense since I have no idea where we'll be at this time of year. More school? new job? new home? still in survival mode - as I feel we are now? maybe a 1k walk with both boys will be a challenge in August....we'll see...)
September - Give away something significant
October - Attend the temple 6 times
November - Cook 4 dinners/week
December - Teach Tommy a new skill

What are you doing this year?