Working on that better day

Well, Dean did indeed wake up dry! Early and thirsty, but dry. Still not much of an appetite, but I'm not going to force it since so many of you said it's pretty normal. He only ate 1 peach slice for breakfast, 1 cracker for snack (and drank a little of my Isagenix shake), and an applesauce cup for lunch. He refused the other foods offered (as well as his milk for nap, but he went down anyway without a peep), but I guess he'll be fine in the end. I guess I'm just super worried about ending up with an uber picky kid. Lets just cross our fingers this is just a phase, right?

He was the perfect little angel at the doctor's office. I had my 13 week ultrasound to check for chromosomal abnormalities. It was my second ultrasound since I had one at 6 weeks to make sure everything was ok with me fainting. This was much funner, though, because it really did look like a baby instead of a throbbing blob. The baby was asleep or very lethargic when we were doing it, so I had to cough a couple times to get it to shift to the right position. Everything looked fine and her best guess (they can only be up to 80% sure at this point) on the sex of the baby is male. Before she said anything I looked at the screen and thought, "I really think it's a boy." We don't really have a preference, though it would have been fun to add a girl to the cousin pool on Matt's side. All boys so far. Cheaper this way, though, since we already have boy stuff.

Sad little Sunday

Well, it was kind of a rough day all the way around.

Matt woke up feeling really sick to his stomach. Almost like he had the stomach flu or food poisoning or something. We went to Sacrament meeting, but we ended up going home after that. He's feeling a little better tonight and was able to eat a little dinner.

Dean woke up wet once again. He had very, very few incidents of wetting through his diaper at night before he was weaned. I don't know if he's been dry once in the morning since we weaned him. I'm not quite sure what to about it. We've been using Pampers Cruisers size 3, and he's not really close to the weight limit on either end or anything. It's definitely getting old.

Dean has been having serious eating issues the last couple days. He's not really even eaten his favorite foods very well. Most days he drinks a good amount of milk (3-5 cups) with a little tiny bit of chocolate Isagenix in it, so at least he's getting something. Today, however, he didn't want anything. At breakfast he ate maybe 3 bites of his waffle (he normally will eat 1 1/2 waffles!) and drank most of his sippy. At church he ate 2 small bites of a granola bar. At lunch he ate a peach applesauce cup of his own free will but refused the bagle and cream cheese. He dumped out his snack (marshmallow mateys) on the floor and after eating only a couple marshmallows and pieces of cereal. At dinner I forceably fed him about 5 small bites of mashed potatoes in between cries and protests. He did eat a sting cheese on his own but spit out the corn. He didn't want his milk for his afternoon nap or at bed time. Hey, maybe he'll wake up dry tomorrow. And extremely hungry?

I didn't have a horrible day today. That was yesterday.

Last week I got back my test results from my first OB appointment. Surprise, surprise, I had a mild yeast infection (story of my life!). I also had a bacterial infection in my urine, so they put me on the dreaded antibiotics. I HATE HATE HATE taking antibiotics because it always gives me or aggravates yeast infections. It also messes up my digestive system. The pills they put me on are ridiculous, though. I have to take 4 pills a day for 7 days. It is supposed to be on an empty stomach (when does this pregnant lady EVER have an empty stomach?!), taken 1 hour before a meal or 2 hours after. YEAH RIGHT! I've been trying really hard but boy has it messed up everything. I get hungry a lot and I actually have to set the kitchen timer to remember. I can barely remember to take my prenatal and they expect me to take 4 more pills! It has given me digestive problems (my food just sits in my stomach until it makes me feel like puking) and worsened my yeast infection, but I guess I should be grateful that there is something to get rid of the bacterial infection.

Yesterday afternoon I felt exausted, was puking up the lunch that didn't digest, crying because I felt sick, and the wretching made me pee my pants a little! The weakened bladder control during pregnancy is one of the things that gets to me. Talk about a bad afternoon. But today was a little better. I got to take about an hour nap when Dean slept after we came home from church. That was nice. I made a crockpot dinner so I didn't have to do much in the way of food. My house is a wreck from my little rearranger, but I'm closing my eyes to that right now.

Here's to a better tomorrow.

Don't throw your trash in my backyard

Our weather has been vacillating between delightful (70's) and cold (thankfully not much colder than freezing). On the nice days I've tried to leave the door open for a little to get some fresh air in the house. Dean decided the outside needed a little sprucing up to make it homier.

After I finished cleaning up in the kitchen I looked over and found this:



Our recycle bin is right next to the backdoor. While I try and hit home that he's not supposed to play in the trash, he's still obsessed. Luckily he rarely tries to get stuff out of the real trash and mainly sticks to the recycling. He has also figured out how to get things out of drawers (the pumpkin scraper) and has been a fan of the few unlocked cupboards (where he got the cheese grater).

I also found the sippy that had gone missing the day before.



Later, when we went to the front, he just couldn't resist the shoes by the front door.






I just couldn't resist that face. I let him take a couple pictures pushing the button on his own. This was the only one that turned out.

Minima"izing" again

Well, for the few who still come to the blog rather than use a reader, you've probably noticed the format change once again. I was getting a little frustrated with the 3 column because it just seemed too crowded and I couldn't get my main wrapper centered on a larger screen than my own. So, I decided to clean up my links and keep it a little more manageable with the blogger updates. Since I only have the 5 most recent posts showing per category, I can reasonably keep my links to one side. Back to my minima stretch. I like the clean look better anyway. I did keep my categories because I like everything compartmentalized and in their proper place. hehe. I also renamed most of the sites to the first names (or blognyms) of the blog writer rather than the name of the blog. Any thoughts or complaints?

Belly Beautiful: 12 weeks

If you were here with me during my last pregnancy, you know that I love tracking the belly growth...I mean baby growth. I think pregnant ladies are beautiful and it's just fascinating to me to see how much it can change in 4 weeks. I'm a big fan of wearing fitted clothes rather than the big tent maternity wear. I feel cuter, and personally, I think it makes me look smaller!

The only regret I have this time is that I didn't take a picture when I was down to my thinnest (124 lbs. with clothes on) right before I got pregnant. Between stopping nursing and just plain being pregnant, I weighed in at 131 at my 10 week apt. with the doc. Not bad, and actually better than last time.

I don't have the same shirt I wore last time, so I'm just wearing the most fitted shirt I own.

I've definitely shifted a little, and I'm popping out a little quicker this time around, but I am ok with that. I'm still able to comfortably wear my smallest jeans. At least for now. Gotta love lower rise pants.

If you listen, you will hear: a svithe

This is a long one! Props to you if you actually read or skim it all!

Today I got to teach in Relief Society. I know I've said it before, but I think this is one of my favorite callings ever. It arouses so much passion and excitement for truth and doctrine. Another big reason I love it is because it ensures that I will have 1 child-free hour of church where I can actually focus on the spirit, doctrine, and sisters. I have to be honest, most weeks I don't even bother bringing my scriptures or manuals.

With Dean in tow, church is often like a glorified eating fest during sacrament meeting and a "quiet" playgroup in the other two. I've come to terms with this; it's just a stage that will pass like any other. It used to bother me, and one time way back when Dean kind of slept ok somewhere other than his crib, I had spent about 40 minutes trying to get Dean to fall asleep just to have him woken up 10 min. later by the bell ringing or people leaving Sacrament meeting and going to their classes or something. I stormed into my small Sunday School class and declared that "I hate church!" (To the shock and horror of one of the sisters in that class. I didn't mean it, I promise. I just hate that a 3 hour church is not that easy for children under 18 mo., nor the parents who care for those children. But that's unavoidable I'm afraid. Unless we could talk the Prophet into shortening church, but I like all the meetings so I don' t know what you'd cut out...)

Anyway, soon he will be in nursery and I will have (cross your fingers here with me) a chance to actually listen in class again. At least until August when we start this whole process all over. hahaha. 80D
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On to my original post. The lesson I taught today was on the Parables in St. Matthew 13 and Joseph Smith's insights to those parables. It was such a fabulous lesson to read and I really enjoyed preparing for class. I mean, how many times have I read those parables? Yet I learned new insights from this lesson and my prep. I was a little sad I ended up with only about 20-25 min. for the lesson because of all the announcements and whatnots. Ah well, that is how it goes.

For those interested (mothers who can't really listen while at church? people who have aux. callings and don't get to go to R.S.? Anyone else?), I will share a few things that I loved out of this lesson.

First of all, for the lesson in the manual, click here. I will refer to the section titles and assume you've read it. Everything in quotes will be from the lesson unless I cite something else.

From the life of Joseph Smith
I think it's very important to note that they actively prepared themselves before going for the blessings they were going to receive at the temple. I often hear people wonder about why non-members can't go through the temple, but honestly, members shouldn't go if they haven't prepared and aren't ready to receive. Dedication to and understanding of church doctrine really are necessary to get anything out of the temple.

And reading the Old Testament in Hebrew??? It really amazes me what a man with a 6th grade education was able to accomplish by personal study, hard work, and the spirit. I really think that last one is a big key in learning anything. “Spent the day at school. The Lord blessed us in our studies. This day we commenced reading in our Hebrew Bibles with much success."

The Savior taught in parables so that those who believed in His teachings could gain greater light, while those who rejected His teachings would lose the light they had.
Really, one of the best insights for me came not in what was written in the manual on this one, but what was written in the JST of Matthew 13:10-11. The original in the King James Version reads, "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath." Now, this seems so unfair, doesn't it? Those who have will keep getting and those who have not will have it taken away. Where's the justice?? But the JST clears it up nicely. "For whosoever receiveth, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever continueth not to receive, from him shall be taken away even that he hath."

Light and truth are gifts given to us from our Heavenly Father. If we refuse those gifts, He'll stop giving them to us. How do you like it when you give a gift to someone who throws it back in your face, stuffs it under their bed, spits on it, or won't even open it? I don't think that's ever happened to me, but if it did, boy I would not want to give them another thing! Ingrates. So, when we refuse God's gifts we stop getting gifts and the light and truth we started out with will fade until it is unrecognizable in our dark abyss. "Therefore he that will not receive the greater light, must have taken away from him all the light which he hath; and if the light which is in you becomes darkness, behold, how great is that darkness!"

And how is it that people get to the point that they just close their eyes, plug their ears, and harden their hearts?

Some are lazy. "Men are in the habit, when the truth is exhibited by the servants of God, of saying, All is mystery; they have spoken in parables, and, therefore, are not to be understood. It is true they have eyes to see, and see not, but none are so blind as those who will not see."

I think, however, most are just too proud and self-absorbed to open their eyes and ears. Think of a time you've had an argument with someone and you just stop listening to anything they say. You know you're right, and they're not going to convince you otherwise. And even if, deep down, you know there's truth in what they're saying, you don't want to hear that truth. You want to be right more than you want truth. D&C 136:32 "Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears may be opened that he may hear." We have to want to find the truth more than we want to be right. We have to surrender our pride and ask God to help us listen.

"The condemnation which rested upon the multitude that received not His saying, was because they were not willing to see with their eyes, and hear with their ears; not because they could not, and were not privileged to see and hear, but because their hearts were full of iniquity and abominations;"

The parable of the sower shows the effects of preaching the gospel; it also shows that the Savior established His kingdom in the meridian of time.
A missionary sews the seeds of the gospel. The seeds are all the same. The differences are in the ground where the seeds are sown. So, this parable is essentially about different types of soil.

Here in TX we've been trying to grow a garden. The last 2 years we have had some success, but we've also had lots of failure, often due to procrastination and poor soil prep. We have had good intentions, honestly we have. But we cannot harvest fruit (or in our case vegetables) on good intentions. To be successful you need to start early, research, prep, and work, work, work! It's easy to think, "Oh, I'll just do that tomorrow." But tomorrow often comes too late.

That's also the same with the gospel. It's easy to think, "I'm too tired tonight, I'll read tomorrow." etc. It's easy to put off, and put off and put off because we're too busy or not interested or not feeling it. But when tomorrow comes and you've not prepared, amen to you and your excuses!

There are different types of soil or different reasons people don't embrace the truth. I'm sure we've all seen (or been) one or more of these examples.

1. By the wayside: these are people who hear, but don't understand and don't care to understand. They have no desire for righteousness. So the birds (Satan) comes and gobbles them up.
2. Stony places: Initially these people joyfully hear and understand the truth. However, when they have little roots so when the heat is on, they shrivel up and die. They can't take the trials or burdens that come with the truth.
3. Thorny places: They hear the truth, but they're more interested in worldliness and riches.
4. Good soil: This soil has been prepped and ready for the seeds. These are people who hear truth, embrace it, live it, and are blessed because of it.

Some ground may naturally be more fertile, but that doesn't mean you can't fertilize and perp. less than desirable soil. It means you have to start a little earlier and work a little harder!

The parable of the wheat and tares teaches that the righteous and wicked will grow together until the end of the world, when the righteous will be gathered and the wicked burned.

Wheat represent Children of the Kingdom, those who receive the gospel of Christ and live it.

Tares are a kind of a grass that resembles wheat and its roots often intertwine with wheat. When at full maturity it's easier to distinguish the two. (paraphrased from the New Testament Institute manual.) Tares represent members of the church. They look like wheat, are intertwined with wheat, yet they are not wheat because they have allowed Satan to sow discord in their hearts. It is easier to tell the wheat from the tares as people grow up and make decisions on their own. Many will eventually divide themselves from the wheat before the end.

The literal separation and burning of the tares was a little hard for me to swallow. It conjurs up images of medieval crusades and burning people at the stake. It makes me think of torture and pain and unpleasantness. I mean, the tares grew up with the wheat! They are our friends! They came to church (maybe)! How could we separate and say, "You-Saved!" and "You-Burned!"

The D&C Manual came to the rescue for me on this one. Bruce R. McConkie explains on p.241 "The glory of a celestial being, of which the sun is most typical, is so radiant that to bring that glory to the earth will cause great burning. The cleansing of the earth by fire will be caused by the coming of the Savior to earth. Those who are not changed to withstand the presence of the Savior when he comes in his glory shall indeed perish by fire."

Now let me be clear on my opinion of this subject: It's not just members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who will be changed and able to withstand the presence of the Lord at His Second Coming. There will be good people of all faiths, who have opened their hearts and ears to truth offered them. These people will live on earth during the millenium and have opportunities to gain more truth and light. They received initially and will have the chance to receive more. The people who will not be able to withstand that day are those who have iniquity in their hearts, shut their eyes to truth, and/or openly fight against truth. It's not going to be a rounding up of "bad people" and burning them at the stake. Light cleaves to light and darkness to darkness, so most (if not all) of the separation is done by people themselves rather than a 3rd party saying, "You-Saved!" and "You-Burned!"

The parable of the mustard seed teaches that the Church and kingdom of God, established in these last days, will spread throughout the earth.

Mustard seed=tiny; Mustard tree=huge

"Now we can discover plainly that this figure is given to represent the Church as it shall come forth in the last days. Behold, the Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto it...Behold, then, is not this the Kingdom of Heaven that is raising its head in the last days in the majesty of its God, even the Church of the Latter-day Saints, like an impenetrable, immovable rock in the midst of the mighty deep, exposed to the storms and tempests of Satan, that has, thus far, remained steadfast, and is still braving the mountain waves of opposition, which are driven by the tempestuous winds of sinking crafts, which have [dashed] and are still dashing with tremendous foam across its triumphant brow; urged onward with redoubled fury by the enemy of righteousness?"

I will agree that the church, as a whole, (the tree) has remained steadfast and immovable. But think of this: in a storm it is very likely for branches and limbs far from the trunk to be torn off and lost. When we are on the fringe of the church, not close to Christ, the Prophet, or our leaders, we can easily be lost when storms arise.

(There's one more section to this lesson, but honestly, it just didn't speak to me as much as the rest of the lesson. I don't have any extra thoughts on it more than what is written.)

Phew! You made it to the end of the lesson. Good job.

double stroller giveaway

I generally don't link to giveaways, but this one on I Never Grew Up is looking pretty good to me right now.

The Bumbleride Indie Twin looks pretty awesome. Check it out.

Melt down man

It's been kind of a hard week. While my cold's mostly gone, I've been having a week of insomnia. Grrrr. I've been super exhausted between that and pregnancy tiredness.

Dean's had his own nap issues that haven't helped me out at all. It's just what I feared. I've been feeding him lunch around 11 and putting him down for his nap around 11:30. He's gone to sleep fairly well and hasn't really fought it, but he never sleeps past 1. So he's only getting 1-1 1/2 hours of nap when he had been used to about 3 hours of naps. He's been pretty well behaved in the morning (good thing since I'm half napping almost all morning because of my exhaustion), but the late afternoons during piano have been the worst ever.

He's had major melt downs every day this week during piano lessons. Matt has had to work late to make up for lost hours because of our dentist appointments, so he hasn't been here during the majority of lessons. So when Dean starts melting down and nothing I do helps, I just put him in his crib with toys, shut the door and go back to teaching. He pretty much cries his lungs out until Matt gets home and rescues him the last 15-30 min. of lessons. Good thing tomorrow's Friday and I have no students.

I guess I'm posting this because I'm too tired to think of something more interesting.

A mouthful of dirt and other fun flavors

Today Dean and I were out in our garden trying to figure out how many root veggies we have left so we can pull it all up and prep it for this spring. We are determined to actually get it fertilized, tilled and planted on time this year! Dean was having fun digging in the dirt while I looked at the carrots. When I looked back up at him, he had a mouthful of dirt and a huge smile. I couldn't help but laugh at him. He was so proud of his new discovery. I took him inside and tried to wash out his mouth, but really, how do you wash out the mouth of someone who doesn't get the concept of "swish and spit"? Basically I just had him drink a lot of water out of a glass and most of it went on down.

The other night we were having burritos and he got beans on his fingers. I taught him to just lick it off. Well, ever since then he has been taking his pointer finger of his left hand and running it over a multitude of things and then licking it. The cupboards at church, window sills, fire hydrants, aquaphor, and dirty ground covers. It's hilarious and disgusting all at the same time. It's just so fun to watch how he explores the world, I have a hard time stopping him.

One thing he's had a taste for that I can't allow, however, are the berries on our bushes out front. He is obsessed. I don't think he's ever actually swallowed one, but I have to be dilligent because we found out those are Nandina bushes and the berries are poisonous! We will be pulling them out the next weekend we have good weather.

Some other Dean things I've loved recently:

• When he hurts himself, he always reaches out his hand for me to kiss. Even if he didn't hurt his hand.
  
• When we go into our bedroom when Matt's still asleep, I shush Dean. He then starts mimicking "shhh. shhh." It's very cute.
• When either we or he finishes a drink, he makes the "akhhhh" sound. He's actually been doing it during teeth brushing too. Cracks me up.
• He loves climbing onto things. His toy box, the coffee table, our chairs. He gets such a proud look when he stands up on something particularly challenging.
• His two newest words are "MMMMMik" (milk, always with a very pronounced "m") and "geta"-with a glottal "t"-(get out/get up).
  
• He will fold his arms for prayer, often without prompting. He also often yells something like "aaaa!" when we get to the "amen".
• He likes "sharing" his food with me. Sometimes he'll actually give the food to me, but he often will put it in my mouth, not let go, and then take it back out again and eat it himself. haha.
• The other day when we were outside, he fell on the poky dead grass and started laughing at how it felt. He then moved his head down slowly for the grass to poke his cheek a couple times. He seemed to find the feel of it facinating.

Notice the slight belly? It's actually not that big, but if you know I'm pregnant, you can see it. Some clothes really accentuate it though!

Svithing on passing

I learned sad news today that Tyrel Nichols (age 25), a good friend of my little brother, passed away this week. Also, a little over a month ago another one of my brother's friends, Kyle Garrigus, also passed away (of unexpected heart failure at age 23!). Since they were in my brother's peer group I didn't know them super well, but both of these boys were funny, zaney kids, so full of life. They will be sorely missed by many. Unfortunately, these are the latest in what seems to be a long string of deaths in this peer group. I have never known a set of friends to have lost so many at such a young age. I feel out to my brother and his friends, and I send my love and condolensces.

It's hard to face unexpected losses and easy to wonder why it has to be so. Some questions are never answered in this life.

However, I do know:

When loved ones despart, if we humble ourselves and allow the spirit of the Lord in our lives, our broken hearts can be healed, and our souls can have peace, and we can gain understanding.

And when we pass through this life, because of the atonement, Christ has the ability to loose the bands of death and expand our souls that we may sing the song of redeeming love. I know that there is more to life than this world and that God is just and merciful; He will sort everything out and is more understanding of our life situations, challenges, trials and afflictions than we can comprehend. Of this I am sure.

Well, that didn't last long

We've had 2 nights now with no nursing. The first night was bad, but not horrible. He cried about a half hour and slept fairly restlessly. He woke up once or twice in the middle of the night for a few seconds. The next night he didn't cry at all, but he did talk to himself about 10 min. He seemed to sleep well, but he did wake up at 6:50. So much for the 13 hours of sleep. I guess I'll have to settle for 12. hehe.

It seems to be messing with his napping though. I mean, it's 1pm and he still hasn't taken 1 nap. (update: it's 1:15 and he's at least stopped making noise. He's either asleep or very close...) We had been doing 2 a day. One mid-morning (about 9:30-10 depending on when he woke up) , and one mid-afternoon. But yesterday after we got home at 11:30 from my doctor's apt. I tried putting him down. He laid there and talked/cried until 12:30 before he fell asleep! This morning I tried putting him down at 10:30 since he didn't seem tired before then, and he whined for almost an hour. I tried doing yoga but didn't get through my whole routine. I can't stand doing it while he's crying. So no nap this morning for him and no shower this morning for me. And I'm NOT going in to get him until he's slept this afternoon!! I just hope it doesn't take him forever to fall asleep.

I guess it's time for a shower...

So, when you transition to 1 nap, what time do you guys prefer putting your kids down? And how in the heck do you get showered and ready?? I've been doing it during his first nap.

Old Family Treasures

When my grandma passed away about three years ago, my aunt took all of their family photos and scanned them for the kids. At Christmas I was able to see them all for the first time. She must have spent hours and hours scanning them all in! I'm grateful for her hard work. Most of them were pictures that their kids and grand kids gave them, but they had some of their own in there too. There were some real gems I am happy to now have! I will share with you my favorites of my family.

1940's Dennis and Marion (Dad and Grandma)

1942 Pretty Marion (my grandma)

1948 Denny 3 yrs. (My dad)

1955 Grandpa Grider (the AVID fisherman) and my dad

1982 (I'm the baby. I love this photo.)

1992 Can't beat those freaking awesome glasses.

The End of an Era

Just to forewarn you, this post may contain more info than you'd care to read.

After I found out I was pregnant, I knew I needed to wean Dean relatively soon. I really have loved breastfeeding, and I was sad and scared to stop. Sad because it's the only real snuggle time I get with Dean. (He's not a cuddle bug! Must get it from Matt.) Scared because his meals really need to count for something now! There's no sure supplementing before bed. I mean, he's always on board for a good nursing session. I can't say the same for cow's milk in a sippy!

I cut out day feedings back in November, but I held onto night and morning feedings through the Christmas break. One night last week when I had a particularly hard time sleeping because of my cough, Matt offered to get up with Dean in the morning. It would be the maiden voyage of morning weaning. I took him up on it.

Dean was quite confused since Matt has never once gotten up with him first thing in the morning. He didn't really cry though. And while I didn't actually sleep after I woke Matt up to get him, it was kind of a relief to just lay in bed and not have to take care of anything. The next morning was not so wonderful. When I got up with him and didn't nurse, he was not happy. He cried and cried and rolled around on the floor. He finally got over it and drank a fair amount of milk out of his sippy. Luckily it was only that one day of unhappiness. The next day he was already used to the new routine. And he started sleeping later! Now he's sleeping about 13 hours at night!! (6:30pm-7:40am ish) We'll see how long that lasts.

I didn't want to cut off night feedings until he was over the morning feedings. So tonight was our last night. I am sad, but I can tell my milk is not as plentiful since cutting off the mornings. Both last night and tonight Dean nursed almost 10 min. longer than normal and didn't seem satisfied even with that. And I hurt at the end. So, it's time.

The era of Dean's breastfeeding has officially come to an end. My little boy is growing up. And maybe I am too.

Kicking a Cough

You know, kicking a cough while pregnant seems neigh unto impossible. I've been coughing uncontrollably for almost a week now, and it doesn't seem to be letting up one bit. It's worst when I lay down at night. I haven't had a restful night's sleep in over a week!

I've tried herbal teas, vinegar and honey drinks, gargling salt water, baby vicks vaporub, and cough drops. I've coughed so hard and long I've thrown up two or three times because of it. My chest itches horribly, my nose is stuffed up, I sound like a baritone and I can't stop coughing. I'm getting pretty sick of it I tell you. And I can't really do anything about it. Grrrr...

Washing the Car in January

It was 80* yesterday and BEAUTIFUL! I took full advanatage of the great weather and went jogging, walked a mile to and from the park with Dean in the stroller, and washed the car. I am still getting over a cold, and I'm pregnant, so I was TOTALLY beat by the end of the day!! I did way more than I should have. But it was quite nice to spend time outside. Dean loved it.

And then today we had a cold front move in and our high was 41*. Back to reality I guess.

Goodbye D.I.

When we moved here and were unloading our furniture, our truck driver said something like, "Wow, this couch sure has been around the block a time or two!" I noticed a rip in the back of the couch and said, "I don't think that was there before we left." And the driver said, "Look at this thing, does it really matter?" No, I guess it didn't. We got it at D.I. 5 1/2 years ago and it has been through the ringer. It's still very comfortable and I often sleep on it, but it is UGLY.

Yesterday we went on a last ditch effort to Dallas to find living room furniture. We decided that if we couldn't find anything, we'd stop trying all together and go only once a year from here on out to see if stores had anything new.

We checked The Dump first and I was sorely disappointed. They tout prices as 30-60% off retail and they were supposed to be up to 70% off of their already reduced prices, but they were the most expensive store we checked!

We went to The RoomStore and found nothing (we weren't really expecting to since we've been there before).

When we walked into Freed's, we were a bit shocked. It looked a little more upscale than we were expecting, but at least they had a different selection! We walked around the upholstery (we've been holding out for microfiber) section and only found 1 set we liked. We were there about an hour trying to decide if it would really work for us. The one on the floor was baby blue with chocolate brown welting and some trendy blue and brown floral accent pillows. Nice, but not necessarily timeless. But, it also came in the green we've been hoping for!

Heavenly day! We bought a solid sage green couch with green pillows and green welting. I'll have to pick up some accent pillows somewhere else, but that is A.O.K. with me. We've been looking for furniture for over a year!! We also got a "chair and a half" instead of a love seat, but Matt and I fit just fine on it without being squished at all, and I think it will fit better in our small living room anyway. It was all on sale (even more than the list price on that link), so we got it for a very reasonable price with delivery, tax and warranty included.

It will be delivered in 6 weeks or something since it was a custom order. I hope it looks as good in our home as it did there!

I thought this day would never come.

Ring in the New

2009 already?

We were the lamest people for New Year's Eve. Matt watched Dog the Bounty Hunter (LAME), I started Anne of Windy Poplars, and Dean slept. But the New Year came all the same.

Dean and I caught colds in Snowflake, so we've been coughing up a storm. I knew he was cutting his top and bottom molars on one side, but I just found out today he is also cutting the top and bottom molars on the other side too! 4 molars at once. That could explain all the howling last night before bed. I just thought he was having a hard time readjusting to our house and time zone. He's also had diarrhea and a horrible rash. I think it must be from the teething, though it's never happened before. Poor kid. I was going to start weaning for good today, but I just can't when he's sick on both ends!!

I kicked off the New Year this morning with a rigorous cleaning of my living room and kitchen. Too bad things don't stay squeaky clean more than a couple hours!!

I don't think I set New Year's Resolutions last year, but I think I ought to give it a go this year.

1. Don't leave the dishes undone more than 1 night a week. (I've been pretty good about this, but I can feel my desire to slack off after my nice long vacation.) Also, mop, dust and vacuum more frequently.
   
2. Try menu planning once again. At least for 1 month and then evaluate the effectiveness. I'm going to try to plan the whole month and stick to it. I hate having to think up a new menu every week. I also hate sticking to a menu, but it really does take a lot of stress off me if I can do it.
3. Figure out a good time of day to exercise and stick to it. I'm going for 5 days a week. This will probably require a new video or two. I started out this pregnancy about 10-15 lbs. lighter than when I got pregnant with Dean (the lightest I've been my entire adult life I think! Nursing worked wonders for me.) and I want to stay healthy throughout it!! It makes for a much easier recovery.
   
4. Figure out how to work more veggies into Dean's diet. Once his molars are completely in it should be a little easier...hopefully.
5. Try and at least put some effort into keeping track of our budget. I usually just try and pretend we don't have money, but I know I've gotten a little more spendy than I used to be. I can do better. Especially in the food category. I need to get into better habits before I cut back my piano students this fall!

Christmas Morning in Pictures

This is our classic Christmas morning stair pose.
Our living room door is closed and no one is allowed in until we're all lined up and ready.
We're supposed to be youngest to oldest, but I think Emily got a little excited.

Santa Presents: The fuzzy pickle and a pull along dog.

Feeling a little overwhelmed. Needed a little mommy reassurance.

Brrr it's cold!

The Bras(s) Clan 2008: Celia, Matt and Dean (and baby in tummy)

The Best of Christmas 2008 (don't forget to read the end!)

I didn't get Christmas cards sent before we left on our 15 hour drive to AZ. Such is life.

I have been trying for about an hour to get Christmas pictures to post. I have them on my mom's computer, but her software is different than I'm used to and I'm trying to figure out how to access them. So, you may not get pictures till I'm home. Boo hoo.

The best thing about the trip here was that Matt drove all but 1.5 hours. I am not sure why, but I am fairly narcoleptic in a moving car. When I drive, it is a constant battle to keep my eyes open after about an hour. I have to either drink something peppered with a good dose of caffeine, or I have to constantly be chewing something. I don't prefer the prior, so I chose to do the latter. I pretty much ate carrots and sour patch kids the entire time I drove. Boy do I love sour patch kids. Also, Dean cried all but 1/2 hour while I was driving. Overall, he did ok with the very long drive.

We made it here and stayed with my sister Suzie's family the first night. The next day we came on to Snowflake, hitting the only snow and ice we've seen on this trip. There were some pretty rough spots, but Matt is a master driver and we made it safely.

The best lines in our Christmas Nativity play were from my 3 year old nephew. Just as he was supposed to come as a wiseman he turned to his mom who was narrating and said,

"Mom, I changed my mind. I want to be a sea moose."
"A sea moose? Do you mean a moose?"
"No, a sea moose."
"Well, what's a sea moose?"
"Mom. I changed my mind. I just want to be a moose."
"Well, Sky, I don't think there are any mooses in the Christmas story, so you're going to have to be a wise man."

He ended up riding into town on his camel (grandpa) and at the time of gift giving he said, "NO! That's my gold!"

It was a great play.

One of the other "best" or favorite traditions was my sister Suzie reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." She has told that every year as long as I can remember.

The most useful and fun present Matt received actually came in late October from his parents. He got a gigantic flat screen monitor for his computer. It is now doubling for our "movie theater" since it's bigger than our 20 in. TV. I think it's 26 or 27 inches or something. It is one of those gifts that counts for this Christmas plus our birthdays for next year, but it's worth it!

The most useful present I got was Isagenix shakes from my mom. Matt got me the Anne of Green Gables set, so that will be my fun present since I'll finally get to finish the series!!

My favorite gifts Dean received were awesome classic wooden toys. I love classic wooden toys that help develop motor skills. He especially loved the toy that requires him to hammer balls into holes. He didn't want to open any presents after that. He's obsessed with pounding on things recently, so it was a brilliant gift by Grandma B.

The best present we received, however, was the news that we are having a baby. Yep, that's right folks.

I am pregnant.

About 2 months pregnant actually. I know, I'm not past my first trimester, but I am NOT a good secret keeper and I am amazed I held off this announcement this long. We confirmed that we were pregnant on December 1st. I hadn't paid close attention to my cycle, but I had a good guess as to my ovulation time. I actually accurately guessed my due date from that! I've already had an ultrasound that confirmed my guessed due date.

Remember when I passed out and hurt myself? Well, yes, I was pregnant then, and though they didn't think I passed out because of the pregnancy, they wanted to check and make sure everything was ok. So, I went to the doctor the day after I fell, and at 6 weeks I could hear and see my baby's heart beating. It's just so amazing. The baby was in the right place and was looking just fine, so I was happy about that.

This baby is due August 3rd, but because I'm going to schedule a C-section (I don't want to go through anything like I did with Dean's birth), I'll probably have the baby a week or so early. So, they'll end up about 21 months apart.

I was almost in denial that I could be pregnant because of all our previous fertility issues. It took us 2 years (with the warning from a specialist that it could take us 10 years) to get pregnant with Dean. So 2-3 months was quite surprising! Surprising but welcomed.

I'm still nursing Dean mornings and nights, but I plan on completely weaning when we get home. I've felt quite good but REALLY tired (especially in the mornings) and often dizzy. I go from extremely full to extremely hungry at the drop of a hat. But I haven't been that nauseous, so I am eternally grateful for that.

To the Mattresses

Before we got married, we knew we needed to get a bed. I saw an add in the Daily Universe for a Queen pillow top mattress for $280. I called the guy and it was a "company" that was pretty much run out of a storage facility. The mattresses were so inexpensive, he told us, because he didn't have all the overhead of a fancy show room and employees. Made sense.

We decided we'd give it a try and at least check it out. It seemed a little sketchy, but only BYU sketchy. We ended up buying one of the mattresses that night and he stored if for us over the summer until we got back to UT for no extra charge. I think he even delivered it for $25 or something.

The mattress has served us well the past 5 1/2 years. It was great in the beginning. I don't think we had any trouble with the size or anything until I was pregnant with Dean. A queen's just a little too cozy for my 6'2" husband, me and a 9 month big belly. We like our individual space when we sleep.

In the past year, however, we have both started having back problems. We've noticed that there's a hump in the middle and dips on our individual sides. It was supposed to last 10 years, but I have to be honest that we didn't rotate it and flip it as well or often as we should have, so maybe it's our fault. We're also both primarily stomach sleepers, so that doesn't help our problems at all.

Anyway, we decided it was time to get a new mattress. We figure we might as well get a King this time around, but that was all we knew. We had absolutely no idea what we were getting into. We didn't have a price range since we had no idea how much they ran. We didn't even know what type of bed we preferred. The sales guy at the store was slightly bugged. We just wanted to lay on every mattress and see what we liked. So we did.

We found that we're not fans of the foam like Tempurpedic (too hot) or Comforpedic (WAY too pricey starting at $6K or something for a King). Unfortunately, the bed we preferred the most was normally $5000+ for a King set. It's currently on sale for $2800. Holy CRAP! That's 10 times the price of our original bed! The "cheap" beds on our "keeper" list were still over $2000. That's a lot of money for a bed. We'd pretty much have to forgo living room furniture if we go for the bed. (Not like we're finding any living room furniture that works for us anyway.)

I'm not sure what to do. Is it worth it? If it really does help stave off back problems...maybe. Anyone have more experience with this or tips to share?

Yogurt: a study

This end mom?

I kinda like this "feeding myself" thing.

Oh, I get so much more with this end!
You mean I'd get even more if I didn't turn it over before my mouth?? I'll have to try that.

Hmm...I wonder what happens when you flip it?

It feels so...wet.

Yep. It makes your eyelashes a little heavier.

Interesting. Very interesting.

I wonder if apple sauce is this fun?


Yep!

Daddy's Helper

Matt got a new saw horse for a project he was working on. Dean felt compelled to help put it together.

Christmas Recital a Success!

I was a little worried last week about my Christmas recital. It seemed like no one had practiced enough and Thanksgiving threw things off. But we had it tonight and it turned out great. I didn't require the pieces to be memorized this time (only in the spring), and that helped out a lot. I was pleased with everyone, but like always there were one or two kids who stole the show. Tonight it was a 9 year old student who's only been taking for 1 year. She played Silent Night out of the regular hymn book with the pedal!! And she played it flawlessly. Hers was the hardest song of the night and she's one of my newest students. It's hard to explain to other parents why some children do not progress that quickly. (Especially when the parents think their kids are moving too slowly and that I'm not challenging them enough! I really do try and work with their aptitude. I'm just not sure how to deal with parents who second guess what I'm doing with their kids and are bugged that they're not moving through books faster.)

I ended up playing Good King Wenceslas from Sally deFord's website. I downloaded it and played it last night for the first time! I had it on a Christmas CD from church and liked the arrangement. I was glad I could do it in such a short amount of time. Dean HATES it when I practice the piano, so I wanted something short but impressive sounding. He always wants to play or move the pedals instead of me. Plus it means I'm ignoring him, and he doesn't like that one bit.

It's nice to perform sometimes. That's really what I miss most about my youth. I miss being involved in piano, choirs, and performances. It's sad that I don't have that. I don't even do church choir right now because of the distance from the church and Dean's sleep schedule.

I let the kids pick their songs and this was what we came up with: (I only had to arrange two of the songs, so I was happy about that. Someday I need to figure out how to upload my arrangements so others can use them...)

Recital Program:

Drue H.
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

Lora S.
Jingle Bells

Zoe S.
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Lia S.
Jingle Bell Rock

Payton B.
Away in a Manger

Lexie C.
I Saw Three Ships

Madison S.
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Jake H.
Silver Bells

Rachel S.
Carol of the Bells

Mason S.
Up on the Housetop

Cami C.
Silent Night

There was freezing sleet on my windshield when it was all over. Crazy to think it was in the 70's yesterday! Today's high was 30* or something. TOOOO COLD!!!!

Don't eat baby Jesus!

The things you find yourself saying at Christmas time with a 1 year old...

The only nativity I have is a wooden painted set we bought in Guatemala. The characters are all painted in traditional dress. I love it.

I'd had it set up a couple of days before Dean purposefully pulled out one of my piano buckets to use as a stool (the little smarty pants). Later that day I found baby Jesus in the rice cooker. Time to move the nativity set up on top of my piano! If I wasn't worried about him biting all the paint off the set I wouldn't mind him playing with it.

Blessed

Thanks so much for all the well wishes about my accident. I thought I'd let you all know I am healing MUCH faster than I expected. With how badly I felt on Wed. I was worried I'd be in constant pain for days if not weeks or months. Like I said in my last post, my pain went from about a constant 4-5 on Wed. to about a 2 on Thursday. I now only have moments of pain rather constant pain. I can sit in most chairs, and church today wasn't even torturous! (The metal chairs are much better than pews, I found.) My back did feel a lot more fatigued from carrying Dean, but I'm not sure if that was from my accident or just because he's heavier than he used to be! I feel very, very blessed. It seems like it should have been so much worse. Thanks for any prayers on my behalf.

Also, Matt wasn't supposed to come home until Friday, but on Wed. evening he called and said he'd be home later that night! And I didn't have to come pick him up!! Talk about major blessing.

Dean's lower right molars popped through. Hooray! I thought he'd take a little break from pain and slobber, but I noticed the bulge on his top right molars, more slobber, and he's been waking up for a moment or two around midnight every night this week. He seems to take a couple weeks to get them through the skin, so hopefully this one's not too horrible. Honestly, though, he's not that fussy with his teeth. He just rubs his nose and pulls his ears a lot more (and slobbers and wakes up a little).

Projects completed in less than a month!

Actually, these projects only took me about 3 evenings total (a more experienced seamstress could have done it much quicker I think)! What a relief to have something turn out cute without spending an eternity on production! The bag pattern came from the purl bee's "un-paper bag" tutorial listed on my left side bar. It is my first attempt at making a bag and I was pleased with how doable it was for a beginner. I just made up my own handles since I couldn't find handles I liked (though I honestly didn't look super hard). I definitely plan on making more. I also used fusible fleece interfacing instead of the sew in that it called for. The ladies at the fabric shop talked me into it and I wasn't disappointed. Don't you love this fabric?

This is a part of a page out of a fabric book I made Dean.
I LOVE it. It's called Tiny Tots by Red Rooster.

And lastly, I thought I'd give a little update on my fall and injuries.

Here are a few more details (it's actually the email I sent Matt since he was out of town on a business trip. Luckily he is home now.):

I fainted twice on Tuesday morning when I was trying to get Dean. He woke up at 6 crying really loudly. I listened to him cry until 6:20 and put my head under the pillow for "another 10 min". At 6:45 I woke up again in a panic that I'd made him cry so long. I quickly made it to his room. He was either really quite or had fallen asleep again. While I was standing outside his door I started feeling horrible. My ears were ringing, my legs and arms were weak. I almost felt feverish. Next thing I knew Dean was crying again and I was laying on the ground outside his door (on the hard linoleum) feeling too weak to get up. I think tried to sit down before I passed out and I bruised my tailbone when I went down; it has been hurting horribly ever since.

I laid there a little longer trying to get some strength. I didn't know if I could even lift Dean if I got to him. My body was totally covered in sweat at this point. I got up and got in his room, but I must have fainted again and ended up on the floor. I just laid there a min. trying to reassure a howling Dean. I finally got up enough strength to get him out of bed and us into the chair for him to eat. My butt hurt so badly in the chair and my body was still sweating profusely. I felt totally nauseous and disoriented, so I tried to move us down to the floor to nurse him lying down but that was a total failure. So I got us back up in the chair and reclined it as far back as it could go.

I made it through that feeding and let him run around and play in his room about 1/2 hour while I laid on the bed in his room. I started feeling better and I was able to feed him breakfast and play with him after that. My butt continued to feel worse, however.

I ended up calling my doctor and the advice nurse, after hearing all my symptoms and medical history, decided it was most likely fluid in my inner ear. I went into the doctor the next day as well to make sure nothing was terribly wrong. They said everything looks fine and I should just ice, heat and ice. I did that last night, and today my pain has been cut in half! I still hurt, but I'm not grimacing in pain at ever step and bend. I have hope for driving home in a week.

My back, however started hurting today. After piano lessons I came into Matt and asked him if there was a bruise or anything. This is what he saw:

I must have caught my back on something as I went down. It looks worse in person I think. My rear must have hurt too badly yesterday to notice the pain in my back.

So there are the embarrassing details.

A total pain in my kahooty

Without going into any embarrassing details, I'm pretty sure I bruised my tailbone pretty badly this morning. It hurts when I stand up, sit, lay, pick up Dean, squat, bend and walk. I went out and ran a few errands to get ready for our trip to Snowflake and it was fairly torturous. Getting Dean in and out of the car. Running after him for an hour and a half at the Toyota dealership!! Yes. It took an hour and a half for them to change my oil and rotate my tires. They didn't even seem that busy. I eventually went and asked them how much longer it was going to be and they brought the car around. Was it finished for 20 min and they forgot to bring it around??

I'm a little worried about having to sit in the car for 14-16 hours on the 22nd. I hope by then it will have healed up some. I'm not too hopeful, though, since Matt's had tailbone problems for the past year. If not, maybe the pain will help keep me awake while driving and I can take some of the burden off Matt.

Ta da!!: A skirt fit for a...Tree!

Sheesh. I am done! I have to admit the work I did today was a little sloppy. I had no patience for the stupid bias binding (never done it before and I pretty much just said screw it by the end), and I was so ready to move on to other projects. I figure if I ever figure out how to do bias binding I can come back and redo the little circle better.

It's the first log cabin I've ever done. I got the original idea from Crazy Mom Quilt's Tutorial and I went back to look at her instructions often. I kinda made up the size as I went since I wanted it a little smaller than hers. I put hours and hours (20? 30?) on the hand quilting this past week. I was so done with hand stitching by the end that I machine stitched the binding.

The tree looks much better dressed. Don't you think?

Up to my eyeballs

I just can't get it together! I seem to be currently buried under crafts. I usually don't craft during the day, but I've put off most cleaning and clutter control until I get some of my projects done! It is the first night I am going to bed with a messy kitchen in months.

That tree skirt I started? Yeah, I decided to HAND QUILT it! For 1, I don't have a darning foot yet. For 2, I have never actually machine quilted anything and I didn't want to screw it up. I have been stitching during nearly every nap and every evening this past week. I just have the boarders of 3 sides left. The worst is over, so hopefully I'll finish it this weekend and move on!!

Those cloth ornaments I wanted to make? I think they'll have to wait a year.

But the lights are up. It's our first year to have lights on our house. I love them. They're the multi-colored icicle lights. And our tree is up, it's just sparsely decorated. Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care. And it's only 21 days until Saint Nick is here...
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Dean is in one of my favorite stages yet (though he has had a cold this past week). My new favorite word: Uh oh. Throws the noodles on the floor? "Uh oh." Can't find his favorite blanket that he now carries around the house? "Uh oh." It's often enunciated so well with his little mouth shaping the "o". I love it. The video doesn't do it justice, but it's been awhile since I updated on the little guy.


One thing I haven't yet gotten used to? His running away from me in stores! He is now comfortable to move amongst many people outside of my visual range. ACK! I am seriously considering getting him a little harness for busy places. Oh, and he likes to cross our street. I keep trying to hit home that he can't go in the street without holding my hand, but he fights me on that one! He's an independent little man sometimes.

And the winner is...

JULS!

I put all the names in a hat and pulled yours out. Email me whether you want the cookbook or something on my homemade gift side bar.

Good job to all who participated and especially to all who reached your goals! Sorry if anyone made it but didn't check in!

I was truly amazed at how many people stuck with it. This is a hard time of year to do something like this. I did feel better after reducing my sugar intake, so I think I will say no more often now. Thanks for doing this with me. It helped me out a ton.