Odds and Ends

As is often the case these days, I find myself with a plethora of different blog topics on my mind, but none of them quite merit their own post. So you get the hodgepodge mess instead. Here goes nothing!

-Tuesday morning I went in to Ryder's room to find him standing up in his crib! I was very excited for him to have figured this out, and quite relieved that he hadn't managed to fall out of his crib, since we hadn't put it on the lowest level yet. We remedied that situation the same day. He's a regular stander-upper now!

-Scary news: six houses in our neighborhood have been broken into in the last few weeks. So much for our lovely safe neighborhood. Not only did the kids doing it steal a bunch of stuff, they also ransacked each place, destroying everything in sight just for the fun of it. We really don't have anything particularly valuable, but if someone messes up my beloved only-one-year-old carpet, heads will roll. I'm sort of afraid to leave the house for any length of time or have any sort of schedule any more. And I hate feeling like that. The good news is that-- thanks to the kids and their early bedtime-- we're pretty much never all away from the house at night. I've never been more thankful for that fact!

-I've been continuing to run and work out. This morning, my friend and I ran 3.1 miles! There were some fairly significant walking breaks, but that was more because we were talking too much and it made me out of breath (and thus unable to converse-- which meant of course that I chose talking over running. I may be going completely against my nature to start running, but come on!). When we run during the week at 5:45am, my brain is too sleepy to talk much and I run a lot better.

-Bentley is continuing to be my own little version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One second we're having a shouting match and I'm wondering if I can have him shipped to China. The next second he'll be completely sweet and-- for example-- offer to let his cousin borrow one of his favorite toys, since he knows his cousin likes it so well. What am I going to do with this kid?

-I finally got to see the latest X-Men movie-- X-Men First Class. Dang, I love these movies! Yes, they're absolutely ridiculous in so many ways, but they're just so darn fun and interesting! I love all the different mutants and I love the soap opera story line of love and betrayal and loners who get pulled into a cause... And when your cast includes greats like Hugh Jackman and James McAvoy, plus the kid from About a Boy (who is so super tall now that it took me a second to recognize him), how could you go wrong??? I'm glad Craig indulges me.

-Ryder is suddenly very attached to his mommy. I think my trip to San Fransisco started it all, but now he gets very angry with me if I get more than about ten feet away from him. It can be annoying. He's happiest when I just sit on the couch and read and let him play on the floor by me. I don't actually mind that, but it does make it hard to fold laundry or (heaven forbid!) take a bathroom break...

-I just realized recently that Kendra (and I think Bentley, too) likes to call Ryder, "Gago." I have absolutely NO idea where this nickname came from. I think it's pretty weird.

-Now that Bentley is in school, Kendra has finally accepted her role of "Older Sister" with remarkable aplomb. She is wonderful at playing with Ryder and keeping him happy. This, in turn, makes me really happy. I have very peaceful afternoons these days, even if my evenings-- when Bentley is tired, hungry, and at his grumpiest-- are hectic and full of drama.

-I have a new favorite, guilt-free recipe, much thanks to my friend Erin for sharing it. Peanut-Broccoli Stir Fry. It was so good, I didn't even notice that I was eating brown rice. That's the legacy of my mission: tofu doesn't scare me, but brown rice does. This was so flavorful and yummy-- go make it! Don't put it off for two months like I did!

-And speaking of recipes, here's another one I just made: Vegetarian "Meatloaf." It was pretty good. It didn't particularly taste like meatloaf, but it was still yummy. Craig thought to put barbecue sauce on his, and then you could even pretend that it was meat! The funny thing is that I enjoy these recipes, but in the back of my mind, there's this voice that keeps screaming, But you're not even a vegetarian!!!!! Why are you doing this?!?!?! The answer has to do with those stubborn last ten pounds. And the cupcakes we made this weekend.

-Our ward's Super Saturday is next week. It's a sign of how far I've come that I'm actually looking forward to it, and even hit the Habitat for Humanity store yesterday in order to get cheap supplies for myself. It's amazing how fun something can seem when you no longer have to plan it!

-And last but not least: Ryder suddenly loves loves loves splashing in the tub. He'll get you completely soaked, but he's just so happy kicking those little legs it's impossible not to laugh while he does it. Plus, I'm sort of impressed that he can kick so long and hard-- flailing his legs up in the air over and over again-- against the bathtub without bruising his heels or something. This is the kind of move we do in my aerobics class, but with more control and a lot more sweat! How does he manage it? Anyway, we took video of it, and it's hilarious. But it involves a lot of frontal nudity, so I'm not going to be posting this one. If you're really curious (and not just some sicko-- you know who you are!), ask me and I'll show it to ya!


All righty. That's all I can think of for now. Hope your weekend is rocking! Pray that our house isn't broken into!