More Video

Sorry to keep posting so many videos, but I just came across this one and realized that grandparents would probably get a kick out of it. If you're not a grandparent, don't feel guilty if you don't want to bother!

Anyway, this is from back in October when Bentley & Kendra decided their tent poles made excellent drum sticks. I imagine that some day this form of drumming will be the cool new way to exercise-- much like zumba, tae bo, and spin classes.

Drumming: Exercise of the Future

Self-Portrait

One of the Christmas presents Bentley and Kendra got was the Pixar movie WALL·E. Craig and I hadn't seen it before, so we decided it would make for a good Friday movie night for the whole family. And considering that there was hardly any dialogue, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it! (Although I've like every Pixar movie I've ever seen, so it wasn't a huge surprise or anything...) Wall-e and Eva's very sweet relationship was especially fun to watch.


I was a little surprised by Craig's reaction to it, though. At one point in the movie where Eva suddenly gets angry and blasts something with her laser arm, Craig busted up laughing. "I like Eva!" he announced, "She reminds me of you!"

Um, okay? But for lack of any better options, I decided to take that as a compliment.

But what really made me laugh was the next day when Bentley asked to watch the movie again. As I was getting it loaded up, he told me, "I like Eva, she's nice. Except, sometimes she's kind of scary."

{Sigh.} That's me, I guess.

Politics As Usual

Every so often, I just can't keep my opinions to myself. So I have to share this video with you, which explains what exactly President Obama's promise to cut $100 million from the budget means. Thanks to my friend Neal (who doesn't read my blog, but oh, well) for sharing this on facebook!

January Isn't Even Over Yet and I'm Giving Up

I hate to admit defeat, but I think this winter might just be too depressing to really stick to a diet. I won't let myself go crazy like I did in December, but I just can't be as good as I had planned and hoped to be. If the only thing that can cheer me up on a cold, white depressing day is a hot bowl of creamy soup, then so be it.

Apologies to my body. When the weather warms up I'll begin earnestly trying to win back the skinny me. Really, I will (I do want to be able to wear a swimsuit without feeling embarrassed, after all)! But not just yet. Besides, I think I need those fat layers to try and keep warm.

The Education of Ryder

Craig captured this video the other day. Looks like Ryder's education is taking off with a roaring start!

Run-On Sentence

Just when I'm beginning to think that I can't possibly survive one more day of this cold, colorless depression that is winter, we get a surprise snow day and Craig gets to stay home and suddenly I find myself sitting in the kitchen with my sweet husband while the cinnamon rolls he just threw together rise on our heated bathroom floor (is that totally weird to let bread rise there? but it works!), planning things like shopping for a new vacuum at Bed, Bath and Beyond and getting the baby toys out of storage for Ryder and putting away the plates my mother-in-law gave me-- all things we have time for now that we have an entire day together-- and life, even on cold depressing winter days, seems just a teensy bit more manageable.

All Aboard for the Potty Train

I've known for a while that Kendra was close to being ready to be potty trained. And all her little friends (and more importantly, all their mothers) have been in the throes of potty training for the last several months. But I just. didn't. want. to do. it.

Can I even begin to tell you how much I hate potty training? I mean, seriously. I would much rather just change a diaper than have to stand hovering over the toilet for hours on end giving pep talks about bowel movements, only to have to clean up any big messes that don't make it to the toilet (despite all those pep talks). Even when it goes fairly well, it's still a big hassle and a big mess. And until your child is REALLY well trained, it's nearly impossible to leave the house, AND it makes getting out the door that much harder. So I've become a firm believer in procrastinating this chore as long as possible. And with a new baby in the house and all, I figured no one could accuse me of being too lazy for not getting Kendra out of diapers just yet.

But Kendra had other ideas.

First she began holding it in, only to leak out of her diaper when she did finally go. Craig suggested that since I had a mess to clean up either way, perhaps it was time to try putting her in underwear. I reluctantly agreed to let her use the potty on Saturday. After a few accidents, she got it right once and was very proud of herself. Progress!

But I put her back in diapers the next day. I figured there was no need to worry about this stuff while we're at church. I haul enough junk around in my diaper bag without an extra church outfit, too! But when I picked Kendra up from nursery at the end of the day, her nursery teacher had a surprise for us.

"Do you think you could just put her in a pull-up next week?" this very hard-working volunteer asked, "She had to go to the bathroom twice, and it's a pain getting her diaper off and on."

Yup-- Kendra had managed to go to the bathroom twice without us even knowing. I was too surprised by all this to explain to her teacher that these bathroom trips comprised her second and third time properly using a toilet!

So I guess there's no holding her back now. She did have some accidents yesterday after church, so we're by no means finished. But we are off to a great start* this morning! So rather than fight it any more, I'll instead allow myself to be dreamy-eyed at the idea of having only one child in diapers.



While I'm typing, I have to mention this-- I've often thought that Kendra's birth was something of a metaphor for her personality. When she's ready for something, she is ready, and there's just no stopping her. It's how she learned to walk, too. She refused for months to take a single step, and then, when Grandpa finally convinced her to try it, she was done with crawling forever. It looks like it will be the same thing with diapers.

Kendra was born on President's Day. I can't wait to see where she goes in life!



*In an effort to keep this blog from degenerating too much, I am not going to disclose all the gross details. If you're really that curious, just call me and we can discuss poop to your heart's content. And I will think you're really weird.

I'm Sorry, in Advance.

Because I can't help but brag about this. Because I know it won't happen again for another month. So this is my way of enjoying it while I can.



Because last night

Ryder

slept through the night.



And it was AWESOME.

I fed him around 9:00 at night. We kept him up way too late (oops). And then he slept until 8:30 the next morning. It's gotten to the point where I feel selfish keeping him all to myself. I think maybe we should clone him so scores of other people can have such an easy baby.

Let me know if you want one.

My kids: Too cool for school.

FYI

I was looking for one of those gadgets that tells you where the people who read your blog are located. But then I got totally distracted by this completely random and worthless fish one that I have now added and should be just to the left of these words.

Aren't my fishies cute? And if you wave your mouse over them, they'll follow you around! And if you click the mouse, it will leave bits of food for them! How fun is that??? I'm so incredibly amused by my fish it's actually pretty pathetic. Which is why I'm proudly showing them off to you! Enjoy my fish!

Expectations

All right. I'm just going to come right out and say this:

I hate surprises.

There. Does that make me a not-fun person? Probably. But I can't help it. I hate it when someone says, "I've got a surprise for you!" and then you have to wait until whenever to find out what it is. I am always disappointed. If you just tell me out-right what you've got, the odds are really good that I'm going to be totally excited about whatever you've bought/done/planned. But when you leave me not knowing, I always end up disappointed.

Sorry I'm so lame. I really can't help it.

It's something I never gave a whole lot of thought to until last night when Craig and I were discussing-- of all things-- Kendra's new toy horse. Its tail has been shedding hair all over the place and I was telling Craig that I really needed to vacuum up those creepy long black hairs.

"Or," Craig suggested, "You could buy a curry comb!"

"Great idea." I said.

Craig, though, was surprised that I even knew what a curry comb was. He took horseback riding lessons as a kid, so he thought he'd have the edge on me since I didn't.

"No," I explained, "like most little girls, I went through a stage in my life where every Christmas I secretly hoped for a pony. But it never happened."

It was Craig, insightful guy that he is, who took this to the next step.

"Is that why you hate surprises? Because every time someone says they have a surprise for you, you're secretly hoping that they're going to give you a horse?"


Yup. He nailed it. I couldn't even admit to him at the time (but I'm admitting it now) that later, after I'd gotten over my love of horses, my infatuation with whales began (and never really ended) and my expectations rose even higher. That's when I began hoping for a pet killer whale. How could any surprise ever hope to live up to such expectations?

Craig assured me that he would never ever surprise me with a horse, so I could give up on that notion.

But I'm not giving up on the killer whale.


Some day. It's gonna happen!

Art

The BYU Alumni email recently pointed me towards this short animated film, "Thought of You" by Ryan Woodward, which I find absolutely beautiful. There's this part of me that always wonders if I had it in me to be either a dancer or an artist-- forms of art that I pursued at best half-heartedly and way too late to ever be particularly good at. Rather than sitting around regretting my life, I prefer instead to appreciate what those with more dedication and talent can do. This short combined the two so gracefully I can't help but love it. Go ahead and watch it now, then you can read my thoughts about and watch it again and see if you agree! (If the link doesn't work, you can always go here instead.)

Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

There are so many things here that I love, like the very beginning when the boy wakes up. It's sad to admit, but that's how I feel most mornings as I get out of bed. At 1:16, when the girl leaps and the whole thing goes into slow motion for just a moment. Why can't life do that for real? At 1:50 when the boy's arms suddenly grow long and weigh him down. I have definitely had times when I felt like that. And then right after that when the girl sprouts wings. I have had those moments, too, and they are amazing. This was such a perfect way of expressing those times.

Craig and I both sort of hated the ending to this, with the girl curling up and collapsing all alone. But as we were discussing it, he said that if he were still single, he would probably like it. I asked him why, and he said it was because the girl "deserved it for playing hard to get!" I wondered what exactly she did to play hard to get, and he answered, "Well, she kept disappearing on him!" Good point, good point. It reminded me how glad I am that I am incapable of playing hard to get-- Craig and I never would have worked out...

Goals

It seems that with each kid, I set the bar a little higher for what I want from their birth. Before Bentley was born, all I wanted was a healthy baby. Before Kendra came, I wanted a healthy baby, delivered vaginally. Before Ryder, I wanted a healthy, vaginal delivery in a hospital. (Is this starting to sound like "The 12 Days of Christmas" to you, too?) Now, for my next child (which is still far off in the future), I would like a healthy baby, delivered vaginally, in the hospital with no one yelling at me AND born in the spring. ("Five gooooooooold rings!")

I realized yesterday that my children, with their September, February, and November birthdays, all get stuck with colds when they are WAY too young. And they also spend the first few months of their lives wrapped up so tightly in blankets and sleepers that I hardly see their little feet until they're about six months old! These have both got to stop. Those feet are way too cute to cover up so much. And I am so fed up with taking my kids to see the doctor.

It really hit me yesterday, as I took Ryder to the doctor for the second time in twelve hours (urgent care the night before, and then a follow-up visit with his usual pediatrician): one of my kids has had to see a doctor every week since Ryder's birth! First Ryder has his usual 2-day-old check-up. Then Bentley was sick. Then Ryder had his 2-week check-up. Then Kendra was sick. And now Ryder is sick. Seriously! This has GOT to STOP. First of all, I hate going to the doctor unless it's for a good reason. Going for a prenatal appointment? Good reason. Going because you have a cold and feel like you have to double check that there's nothing else to be done? Bad reason. Even worse is bringing the other kids to the doctor with the sick kid. It's just so much work to get them all in shoes and coats, and then try to herd them in the right direction, even more so when I don't have a shopping cart in which to keep them contained! (Yes, yes, at this point, you're probably thinking that I am the one who wanted three kids so I shouldn't be complaining. And you make a very good point. In my defense, my gripe here isn't about the things I knew I'd have to do with three kids, like going grocery shopping. My problem is all the stuff that I didn't think I was signing up for. Like an extra doctor's appointment every week!)

So. My goal for now is to get everyone healthy. And my long-term goal: a baby born in the spring. Vaginally. In a hospital. With no one yelling at me that I'm doing it all wrong. Wouldn't that be delightful?

In the meantime, my main task is caring for poor little Ryder who has "just a touch" of RSV. He doesn't have most of the truly terrifying symptoms, but he does occasionally sound awful when he's breathing. But his oxygen levels, despite the wheezing, are very good, so I'm not too worried. For now, I just have to keep a close eye on him in case things get worse, give him saline drops (he loves that, let me tell you) and use our brand new nebulizer that we bought for him. I had never even heard of one of these machines before Tuesday, and now I sort of think its name is way too cool for the actual machine. I think a nebulizer sounds more like something Dr. Horrible would be working on that turns his enemies (Captain Hammer, mostly, but also Johnny Snow) into clouds. Or perhaps creates clouds of cover while he pulls off his famously successful heist? Something like that. Not just a little misting machine that you breathe in medicine with.


But yes, Ryder has a nebulizer and I'm getting pretty good at holding him in a sitting position while holding the mask against his face. He makes it easier by being pretty good up until the last minute or two. He's a pretty chill baby (thank goodness!). Unfortunately, this cold is messing up his amazing ability to sleep through the night. He'd been only waking up once at night (occasionally as late as 5:00am!!!*), but now the coughing will wake him up. Grr.


Only two and a half more months until spring.




*Having a 9 lb. baby is turning out to be a blessing in disguise. Sure, it hurt like crazy pushing him out, but he sleeps better than my other kids by a long shot. So I guess 20 minutes of pain makes up for hours of extra sleep down the road, right? By the way, this kid is now weighing in at 11 pounds! Whew!

Ha!

It turns out that I'm not the only one! At least, "I'm not the only one" who really hates the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. That blog post was ages ago, but someone else just said so here, too. It's always so nice to have my opinions validated!

The Dreaded New Year's Resolution

For several years now, I have enjoyed not making New Year's Resolutions. I hate them, I never stick to them, and I always figured that if there was something I needed to change about myself (and when isn't there at least something that I ought to be working towards?), there was no point in putting it off until January to do it. So I just didn't bother with resolutions.

But this year-- and hopefully only this year!-- it's different. At least, a little bit. A few weeks before Ryder was born, I realized that I was going to have an awful lot of weight to lose after he made his appearance, and I was going to be trying to do this during the holidays. That seemed about as cheery as an ingrown toenail, so I decided I wouldn't even think about my weight until after the holidays. And believe me, I have enjoyed myself immensely in the food department. Just to ring in the New Year, Craig and I made cookies, fudge, and chocolate peanut butter fondue, complete with Rice Krispie treats, angelfood cake, and a host of other things for dipping. (We did have bananas, too. That's healthy, right?) And that was just the stuff that obviously fell into the "dessert" category. And it was all delicious.

But now that the holidays are over, all that ends. So I have effectively saddled myself with a New Year's Resolution, even though I hate those. But I guess I hate diets, too, so why not combine the two?

I keep meaning to come up with Rules for my Eating that will help me lose weight, but every time I started to think about it, I fall asleep. (I told Craig this yesterday and I've never seen him laugh so hard. How is that funny?) So instead, I'm asking for your help: what are your most successful weight loss strategies? Lay 'em on me!

The time to start shedding these baby pounds has officially begun!