Bear With Me

I have every intention of telling you all about the Mariner's game and New York City. But things keep popping up to keep me from getting around to it. Stuff like working out, going to the pool, catching up with friends, more ball games, sales people presenting very long pitches (we said no), watching friend's kids, trying to figure out preschool for Kendra (ended up saying no to that one, too, come to think of it), visiting teaching... The list goes on and on. It's been hard for me to get my grocery shopping and my laundry done, or even make it to book club, and those things usually get higher priority than the blog.

But I will get around to it as soon as I can. I promise.

In the meantime, please read this blog post. Those of you who aren't stay-at-home moms like me will understand why I have such a hard time getting stuff done. Those of you who are SAHMs will be laugh to see that someone has explained it so well!

Cheers!

Coming Attractions

I have so much to tell you about. And yes, you're going to have to suffer through my obsessive need to over-share in the details department. But I don't have time to write it all out right now. So instead, I'm just going to upload a few pictures to give you the general idea.

First, Ryder. I left him sitting in the boppy pillow and returned to find him happily sucking his thumb, grasping a t-shirt of Craig's that happened to be dangling above him. I guess anything can be a lovey if you can reach it!




Second, last night. My sister Natalie and I got to go to a Mariner's game together! Without children! Despite the heartbreak at the bottom of the ninth inning, we still had a fabulous time together. Many many thanks are owed to all the people who made this possible!

Yes, I heart Ichiro. And this should give you an idea of just how close we were. (YES! I took that picture!!!)

And third. This

is where we're headed this weekend. I can hardly wait!

More later, I promise!

Not Again!

All right, readers. Do you remember back in the fall, when I had some sort of identity crisis and wanted to do crafty things? That feeling never really left. In fact, I just borrowed my mother-in-law's sewing machine and am hoping a friend of mine (the same one who bailed me out with my craft project, actually) will give me a few lessons this summer.

If that were the end of the story, then it would just be old news.

But it's not.

Today, I found myself wondering if maybe I should start running this summer. Cue the scary organ music.

In order for you to fully grasp how weird this is, you have to understand that when I was in high school, I made it a habit of telling people that running was "against my religion." When I got to BYU and could no longer use that excuse, I switched to explaining that I felt that running was an unnatural act ("unless it's to the bathroom or away from bears"). I HATE running. Hate, hate, hate it. My friend Carla tried to get me to run with her, and after a block of gasping for air, I told her that I was done and I wasn't trying it again. She keeps trying to convince me that we should run a marathon together some day, and I always laugh and tell her that maybe when hell freezes over. But probably not even then.

I like most other forms of exercise. I will do aerobics, jazzercize, kick boxing, step aerobics, yoga. I have done ballet, standard ballroom, Latin ballroom, karate and capoeira. I biked my entire mission. And honestly, when I'm not surrounded by my under-four-feet crowd, I even walk pretty fast. I just. don't. run.

But recently, the "yoga" class here at church has turned into a circuit workout class. This means that our instructor, Vangie, has us do 30 seconds of various things-- jumping jacks, weight-lifting, sit-ups, and any other evil, strenuous thing she can think up. And since you only have to do each thing for a short amount of time, the goal is to keep pushing yourself just that little bit longer and you get a really great workout from it all. Of course, Vangie cheats. She claims "30 seconds" but it's always longer than that. Usually we've been jogging in place for a full minute before she gives us our 15 second warning. And when she counts down from 5, she's really counting how many more times you can do each task. It has nothing to do with seconds. I think. I can never actually see the clock...

But it works. The first time I did this workout, I just about died, and I was sore for the next week. (It probably didn't help that I showed up expecting yoga and was wearing flipflops. As devoted as I am to my flipflops, tennis shoes definitely work better for jumping jacks...) But I realized this week that I'm getting better at it! When Vangie makes us do bicycle sit-ups, I can now do it for the full time! (At least, on the first rotation I can.) The same goes for the jumping jacks and the jogging in place. I may be breathing pretty heavy by the end, but I'm still breathing!

And I got to thinking, if I can improve this much so quickly, maybe I should be doing more. Maybe if I began running like the circuit training-- jog a bit, walk a bit, jog some more-- and built up my strength...

I might just have it in me after all. In any case, I at least want to try it and find out.




Who am I any more?

Olly Olly Oxen Free!

Did you ever play tag as a kid? And did you have a "base" where you were safe?

I realize that the shower has become my base, my safe place, my little break during the day. Don't get me wrong-- I have always loved a good, long hot shower. But now, it's my only break from the constant interruptions that come with having two very talkative and inquisitive children and a baby. As my homefree place, it's a part of my day which I try my best to enjoy to the fullest extent. And like any good game, shower time has developed certain rules that I must follow. And with each kid I produce, these rules get more and more complicated. Right now, the rules go like this:

-if Ryder is down for a nap and has been quiet for at least fifteen minutes (and therefore is probably actually asleep), you may shower.

-if you hear Ryder making happy noises, you must get in the shower within 30 seconds of hearing that noise and shower as fast as humanly possible, or else forgo showering until his next nap time rolls around

-if the noise you hear is crying, then you don't even get that 30 second window. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, do not shower at this time.

-for optimal showering experience, Bentley and Kendra should be watching a movie. Otherwise, they will interrupt you several times for reasons that you usually can't hear, but which will make you worry enough to cut your shower time in half

-the bathroom door must be locked during shower time. This is why you won't be able to hear them. If they sound hysterical enough through the muffled door and water noises, you may turn off the water and yell, "WHAT?!?!?!" but you'll probably just tell them to wait until you're out of the shower.

-if Bentley and Kendra aren't watching a movie, you must hem and haw over whether or not to lock that door. Whatever you decide to do will probably be the wrong choice, though.

-if you shower before all of the kids wake up, you will spend the entire time worrying that they are crying in their rooms. This really isn't worth it unless it's Sunday and Craig is home and can take care of them (or tell you that Ryder is hungry, so you'd better hurry up).

-if Ryder has slept through the night, do not bother showering until you've fed him. You WILL be interrupted. Even if you can't hear him, you'll still spend the entire shower worrying about him.

-Ryder will almost always sleep through the night on nights when you have to get up early and shower, thus leaving you completely unsure of what to do.

-showering at night is definitely better than not showering at all. But it's sort of like sitting on base when no one else is playing tag. What's the point?

-when you do step into that shower, sigh with relief. And enjoy every second of it. You deserve it.


So, all this begs the question: what are some of your self-imposed rules?

Sitting Up

Ryder is working on sitting up. Given the right toy to focus on, he can sometimes manage for a few minutes before he'll suddenly face-plant into whatever's in front of him. So we still have to be kind of careful. But he's coming along!

Pictures of Summer

Isn't this just what summer's all about?

(Thanks to Craig for thinking of letting the kids run through the sprinkler AND for documenting it! You're a great daddy.)

Here, here!

I'm not even convinced that I like Mitt Romney as a candidate. (I'm still hoping Christie will run!) But I do like that him running has led to this article by the Head of P.R. for the Church. I think it's about time the Church began sticking up for itself a bit through some of these ridiculous accusations.

Time for another, "It Goes Without Saying" post

It goes without saying that the time my neighbors drop by and actually come inside my house will be the same day that I decided on a whim to organize my pantry. Kitchens look so much better when there are canned goods stacked on every surface!


This same rule of physics was also in motion the day that I decided to "tidy" the kids' room by simply throwing all the clothes on the floor into their closet. This was the same day that my mother-in-law helped Kendra get her sweatshirt. From her closet.

Why do I always get busted on these things?

Or, perhaps more to the point, why do I keep trying to get away with them anyway?

The Riddle

First of all, kudos to both my sister and my Dad who figured out the riddle right away-- they were right on: all three things-- your marriage, your teeth and your testimony-- are things you need to take care of every day if you want them to last. That seems like such a silly thing to be writing about, but I feel like I can't turn around without hearing about someone whose marriage fell apart, or someone who left the Church, and those always worry me. I start doubting myself, wondering, "Will Craig and I end up like that? Are there warning signs that I should be watching for that I'm missing?" (Let me tell you, Craig LOVES it when I start second-guessing us and he gets to spend an evening reassuring me that if there were problems, we probably would have noticed! Fortunately I don't have those freak-out moments too often!) Or I begin to wonder if my testimony is strong enough to see me through everything life has to throw at me.

It makes me think of a day when, out of the blue, one of my high school teachers asked us, "Do any of you ever get depressed at the idea of having to brush your teach every single day?" He quickly back-pedaled a bit, explaining that he wasn't trying to say he liked mossy teeth or anything, but sometimes he just didn't want to have to do something every single day. And I loved him for saying it, because I had felt the same way. What-- I don't get a vacation from taking care of my teeth ever??? Which is silly, because I like brushing my teeth! I'm a big fan of personal hygiene, actually. But every day? For the rest of my life? Really???

And I think sometimes we tend to think about our testimonies in the same way. Those CPR steps-- church, pray, read scriptures-- can seem like a lot to have to do all the time, over and over, for the rest of our lives. But I've watched people who don't do those things struggle so much with their testimonies and ultimately lose them. A testimony is a surprisingly fragile thing. You can never just say "I've arrived!" and be done obtaining one.

A marriage is a little different, because most of the things you can do to keep your marriage alive and well are actually really fun, but as life gets busier (and with each additional kid!), it can be hard to do those things. Add to that the stress of daily life and not getting enough sleep and I can see how it would be easy to let those little things that make for a happy couple go by the wayside.

So here's my soapbox thought for the day: in the same way you wouldn't just stop brushing your teeth because you figure they're good enough the way they are, don't ever stop taking care of your marriage or your testimony. A few minutes of daily upkeep will do wonders for them all!

Cousin Pictures

I already told you that my sister was here with her kids over the weekend. I only got a few pictures from it all, but they're worth sharing.

We'll go with the worst one first:

Is it just me, or do they all look kind of bad in this picture? But what makes it even worse, if you look at each kid individually, they also sort of look way older and snootier than they actually are-- like they're just too cool to bother giving the camera a halfway decent smile. The more I look at this picture, the more it weirds me out... Seriously! Look again! Isn't that paparazzi-esque or something?



This picture, on the other hand, is pretty good of all three of them! If only I'd done Kendra's hair for it...

And then finally, I cannot even tell you how much I love this picture of Ryder getting re-aquainted with Caleb:

I love that Caleb has slapped a wet hand right down on Ryder's face, and I love even more that rather than rescue Ryder, we took a picture of it. We're great parents! Natalie was out of the room, so she cannot be blamed for not controlling her son. This is totally Craig and my fault.

Poor Ryder-- good luck in life with parents like us, kid!

And now, a riddle!

What do your testimony, your teeth, and your marriage all have in common?


Anyone? Anyone?


And bear with me here-- this is something I've been thinking about a lot recently!

Crazy Weekend

This weekend was nuts. Craig and I went on a date the same night that my sister and her family came, which meant I spent all day Friday scouring my house and trying to get it as clean as it was before Ryder was born. We also had friends over for Sunday dinner, we watched other people's kids, we attended a sealing at the temple (well, I attended while Craig kept the kids happy outside) and went to our ward's annual Memorial Day picnic. Somewhere in there we also watched oodles of Glee. We devoured another batch of Nutella ice cream, this time sharing it with my in-laws and my sister. And we had some of Missy's Ugly Brownies (heaven!!!). Craig helped another family move. I spent quite a while talking to an old friend visiting the ward, hearing about her impending divorce. Craig taught the third hour of our ward, so I got to hear him teach, something I never get to do! And somewhere in there I also took a two-hour-nap (and I could use another one). The things I didn't do were laundry and dishes, and I feel like I'm paying for it now! We had a lot of fun and I am wrung out from it all.

But here's the thing. A few days ago, I was re-reading all blog posts (I'm not the only one who does that, right?). And I came across the post I wrote about our crazy-busy Christmas season. And as I relived all those memories, it occurred to me that even though I felt very stressed out by it all at the time, I don't really remember the stress any more. I just remember how fun it all was. So this weekend, I tried to not worry about the stress and just enjoy the fun.

So, when Craig decided 15 minutes before I was leaving for the temple to take the kids and come along with me, I just smiled and thought, "Oh, boy! Now I get company in the car!" And then helped him get everyone dressed as fast as we could. It was a bit hectic, but we had a great time. And when Craig was excited to head out to the picnic, even though it was 97 degrees and humid outside and I kind of just wanted to stay home and do some laundry, I put on my happy face and said, "What should we bring to eat?" and we loaded the car as fast as we could. And it was fun watching the kids on the slip-n-slide, even if I was drenched in my own sweat.

So I guess that's yet another one of my goals (I seem to have a lot of them these days): to not let the stress get to me. And to try to enjoy those moments while they're occurring. Because now that I've had a nice cold shower, the sweat seems like a distant memory, but the smiles and laughter part of the memory still feel great.

Lust

My vacuum, which was never very good to begin with, has slowly been dying. The tab that lets you adjust for carpet height just stopped working and it's at that annoying stage where you sort of hate to just chuck it out, and yet, vacuuming-- which was never my favorite chore to begin with-- is getting really tedious. Especially with the warmer weather now. And the fact that it doesn't seem to get my floors that clean and won't even leave those nice looking lines on the carpet... I'm sort of wondering what the point is. It might be easier to go around picking up lint by hand!

Anyway. I've been looking around at vacuums. And this is what I'm coveting:


What do you think? Worth it?

Oven "Grilled" Vegetables

I made this, from What Einstein Told His Cook, with dinner the other night:

2 large sweet onions, peeled and scored across the top
1 whole red pepper, halved, cored, ribs and seeds removed
1 whole yellow pepper, halved, cored, ribs and seeds removed
1 whole medium green zucchini, stem removed
1 whole med. yellow squash, stem removed
4 ripe plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
3 large whole carrots, peeled
6 thick asparagus spears
1 head of garlic, top sliced off
EVOO
coarse salt
thyme sprigs and basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 400. Wash all vegetables and arrange attractively in a shallow, wide ovenproof dish that is pretty enough for the table. Or arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet with sides. Drizzle all over with olive oil.

2. Roast on a low shelf in the oven for about 50 minutes to an hour, until the edges of the vegetables are somewhat browned. Remove the baking dish or tray and allow the vegetables to cool.

3. If you used a baking sheet, transfer the vegetables to a serving platter. To arrange for serving, cut the onions into quarters. Rub off the skins of the peppers with your fingers, and cut the flesh into large segments. Slice the zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and carrots into chunks or strips. Leave the asparagus and garlic head whole. Be sure to save all the accumulated juices and spoon them back over the vegetables.

4. Drizzle the vegetables with extra olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Garnish with the herbs. Serve at room temperature or warm, with toast made from a hearty bread. Butter the bread with the soft, roasted garlic cloves.

I'm sure there are better ways to arrange this and everything, but you get the idea. I mostly just love how colorful it is! (I think I used way more olive oil than was necessary, also, but oh, well. It was still yummy!) I have to admit, I was kind of proud of this meal-- I even had a loaf of Italian bread for the roasted garlic! Craig had never tried eating roasted garlic like that before and it was fun to watch him eat it and the doubt on his face turn to a look of happy surprise. Roasted garlic is amazing...


Anyway, now I'm just rambling, but while I'm uploading pictures, I may as well share these two, also:

Told you he likes sucking his thumb!

It's hard to catch those smiles on film, so I have to share what I have!

And one last, also unrelated thing: Bentley is coughing again and last night Craig said his throat was sore. Will this never end? I thought we were finally getting healthy! Aggh!

Be Prepared. Or something.

As I was about to head out the door to Costco, it struck me that my diaper bag was ridiculously heavy and that since I wasn't actually rushing to get anywhere on time, now was as good a time as any to empty it. I quickly pulled out everything except my wallet, the diapers and wipes, and all the crumbs that line the bottom of the bag (gross!). Here are some of the things I removed:

8 die cast cars
5 other toys, crayons
10 fruit snacks
4 empty fruit snack wrappers
9 baby toys
3 extra outfits for Ryder, and
1 sock, which I assumed had been eaten by the washing machine, but which I will now happily reunite with its mate

The good news is that my pantry is now re-stocked with fruit snacks. And the diaper bag no longer makes my shoulder ache. Now if only I had the energy to vacuum out all those crumbs...

This and That

I guess it goes without saying that the night Ryder decides to sleep 13 hours straight will be the same night that Kendra is up five or more times because she has caught Bentley's croup. Darn it. I never get any sleep.

On a happier note, I got to go to the temple for the first time since Ryder's birth! I realized that this was the longest stretch of not attending the temple that I've had since my mission! It was good to be back. I don't think I realized how much I needed a chunk of quiet, contemplative time in my life until I had it! (And thanks to my in-laws for being awesome babysitters and watching all three kids for five hours! You guys are brave!)

And finally, also unrelated: check out my Quote For Now. I don't know if people ever look at that or not (I only change it sporadically, so I can't blame you if you don't notice). But the one I just put up is particularly awesome. Don't you think?

P.S. on Solids

Ryder slept GREAT last night! Maybe it's working!!!

Unfortunately, now Bentley has croup, so he's up coughing a lot. {Sigh.} One of these days we'll all be sleeping through the night, right?

Solid Gone

Ryder, who has been the best sleeper in the world, started waking up two or three times at night. So I decided it was time to start him on the rice cereal. I really didn't want to do this yet. I read about a study that linked babies eating solid foods early to obesity, which had made me feel like a good parent for not starting Kendra on solid food until the day before her 6-month check-up. But my reasons for putting it off had nothing to do with that-- it's actually because I'm just lazy. I hate spooning food into a baby's mouth. I think it's my own fault-- I spoon-fed Bentley for way too long simply because I didn't want too big of a mess to clean up. And then by the time Kendra was old enough for real food, Bentley wanted me to keep feeding him because he didn't want the mess, either! So I spent a long time feeding two toddlers and completely burned myself out on it.

Which was why I had no intention of starting Ryder before he hit the 6-month mark.

But getting woken up that much was killing me, especially on some really special nights when Bentley or Kendra (or one time, both of them!) woke up in the night, too. Then I was pretty much a zombie. I think the worst was the morning when I almost cried as I sat feeding Ryder (again). That was the morning that Craig very gently mentioned that, even though I was exhausted, I should really try hard not to yell at the kids all day. I would have punched him if he hadn't been so right. As it was, it was really good advice, and I mostly heeded it.

Looking shocked by the solid food!

So with me slowly losing whatever semblance of sanity that I might have had with each passing night, Craig and I agreed that something had to be done.

So on Saturday I bought a box of rice cereal.

And then happy about it

And Ryder LOVES it. He's my first kid to actually eat the stuff on the first try! The other two both looked disgusted and vaguely insulted by the whole ordeal. I think part of the reason Ryder did so well was because (and I'm kind of proud of myself for thinking of this) I gave him spoons to play with in the last couple weeks leading up to his first feeding. So the feel of a metal spoon in his mouth didn't bother him at all. (I finally had to feed Kendra by putting rice cereal on my finger, she was so confused by that spoon!)

And an action shot

I should point out the irony-- it took Ryder forever to learn how to nurse properly. Even now he gets so easily distracted that I have to shoo the other kids out of the room if I want there to be any hope of him getting a good meal. But give the kid some rice cereal and he just goes to town!

While I'm going on and on about Ryder, I should also mention that he's also been rolling over about once a day. Not super consistent, but he's definitely getting it. These little babies learn so much so quickly!

Conflicting Feedback

Sometimes, this momming gig just works for me. Exhibit A here:



Yes! I had all three kids sitting on the bed happily while I folded laundry! It was so nice that I stopped to document it! They were happy AND I was getting something done!


Exhibit B (which I did not photograph): I managed to get all of us to yoga class today, which has turned into a cardio workout with a little bit of yoga stretching at the end class. And it nearly killed me, but in a good, I-needed-that sort of way. I was kind of proud of myself for accomplishing that. I even did most of the workout, until Ryder had a blow-out diaper that I couldn't ignore. (Bringing us to the question that every parent of a newborn asks: how can babies manage to have more poop outside of the diaper than in? I mean, come on-- the thing is wrapped around your butt for crying out loud!!!)

Those are the times when I'm proud of my mothering skills.

But then other times, like tonight, when it just doesn't work. At all. Exhibit C: after dinner, I read a story to the kids, then scrubbed the tub clean (because Kendra had thrown her muddy flipflops in it), then gave them baths. And for all my efforts, I ended up with Bentley crying, coughing and gagging. He insisted that I had gotten soap in his mouth (I hadn't) and that it was making him cough (soap wouldn't do that) and that I needed to take him to the doctor (um, no). I got so frustrated over the whole thing that as soon as Craig came to my rescue I just walked away from it all. I spent the next little while perusing blogs and wondering why my kids hated me. I didn't even bother to say good-night to them.

How can I be so good at something one minute and so bad at it the next?



My one consolation is that Ryder still likes me. For now.

Just Checking

I just kept my kids up way past their bedtime so we could see bats. This counts as "good parenting," right?

Right?

These are vampire bats that Bentley drew free-hand and cut out. He's never really colored much until this week, and all of a sudden he loves it!
As a devoted doodler, I think this shows a certain amount of artistic promise, for just starting out!