Christmas Party

This is the absolutely true story of our Baby Hero.

Last Saturday was our Ward Christmas Party. Our Baby Hero wanted to eat before, so we willingly fed him his entire dinner before we left. A half hour later, we got our dinner. The Baby Hero demands that we feed him again. So we do. We share some of our rolls and potatoes with him.

Once we finish, I take the Baby Hero around with me to go visiting all our friends. As the Baby Hero sees that other people are still eating, he cries and moans and acts like he's never been fed in his life. My friends all laugh. And feed my baby.

Anyone surprised at his Thunder Thighs and Budda Belly?

On a side note:

Explains a lot about driving in Downtown.

P.S. I had a sister visiting me for a week. I had a good reason to ignore the internet.

Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful time visiting with family! My sister, brother, an aunt and an uncle all converged on another Aunt and Uncle's home. Their son is also living with them so I had a cousin to play with, and to keep me laughing uncontrollably. It was loads of fun!

The Baby Hero was extremely heroic and played and loved the attention. He had a little trouble sleeping the first night, but then adjusted to the new settings rather quickly. So once again, I praise the Book and thank everyone for helping me and encouraging me to teach my child how to sleep well. It made it so much easier for everyone! They all agreed that the Baby Hero is Heroic and adorable and cute and sweet and gave him so much love and attention. It was awesome!

The Baby Hero also got his first ice cream introduction. Boy, he was so funny on his sugar high! We love that little kid.

Coming back from Thanksgiving, this past Monday was a little rough on Mom and Baby. We were worried about traveling a lot longer over Christmas. To our surprise, the Baby Hero is now sporting five new teeth. So I just need to be better about giving him tylenol, because it doesn't hurt him and it could have solved part of our problems on Monday.

So, I have a posed candid, but the camera and computer have decided that they are not friends, so you'll have to wait to see it.

We also have our first visitor, and the Baby Hero is meeting his first international Aunt. We have my sister, Aunt L, the Hong Kong Hero visiting us for the next two weeks! It's loads of fun to have her here!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Baby Hero and I went to visit our best friends, the Dang Heroes. We love visiting those Dang Heroes. We have lots of fun. However, this time, we played a game--similar to peek-a-boo.
The Baby Hero is not sure if he wants to play this game. It involves a Stitch Hat. And the Baby Hero's Head.
Here we go!Trying to get it off!Repositioning it, so it's easier to get off!And now it's off.

Much to the Baby Hero's pleasure, we played this game a lot. It doesn't look like he's having fun, but he really is!

And I caved. Not that it was a hardship to cave:
1. I am grateful for the Baby Hero. I love being a Mom and playing with him. We have so much fun together. Also, since he's turned 9 months, he's gotten a little people shy, and it's a big payday for me to have him cling to me as he watches whatever is going on. I love his curiosity, and his joy.

2. I am grateful for the Bug Hero. He takes great care of both of us, and is always willing to help. He does my dishes! I like doing dishes (mostly) but they are the last thing I get to and he always does them. I'm grateful for his willingness to serve and help out.

3. I am grateful for my three years as a middle school teacher. I learned so many things about parenting and discipline and love from the middle school students and I am grateful that many of the mistakes I made (not all the mistakes I will make) are not on my own eternal children. In the last two months I received a huge blessing of perspective. Finishing out the year with Baby Hero at Home was hard, but I am grateful I did it, because now I know that motherhood will be hard, but I am choosing it.

4. I am grateful for the Gospel. I am grateful for the truths it teaches and that it is always encouraging me to be a better person.

5. I am grateful for my Savior. I love Him and I know that I can never repay Him for His gift to me. He is my real Hero and I want to be just like Him.

9 Months Old

It's Official! Today, the Baby Hero has been out for longer than he's been in! It's amazing to think that he's only been with us for 9 short months. He has completed the family and is a joy to have around!

His 9 month stats:
19 lbs, 4 oz
27.25 inches

Growing like a weed. They say he's slowing down and is now on the slender side for his age, but we still call him our Chunky Monkey. He's got plenty of energy and loves to eat big kid food!

Happy 9-month Day!!

Thanksgiving Art Project

Hey Baby Hero!
(Yes Mom?)
Let's Do an Art Project!
(Wow!)(What's an Art Project?)
That's where I am going to paint your hand and you get to stick it on a T-Shirt.
It will then look like a Turkey for Thanksgiving.

(You're going to put paint on MY hand?)
Yes, Baby Hero, I am.

(I am TOTALLY IN!)
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
(Yeah! Love my shirt! Paint is fun!)

Weekend

Our Weekend had quite the adventure:
The Pipe in question. It has been removed, part of it shattered, and the rest broke off while the repair man came to try to take it apart.
Unfortunately for us, he broke a part they didn't have on hand. Our complex only lets one person buy supplies and so all weekend long we have been without our kitchen sink. The repairman promised me that he would be back to fix it this morning. As of 10:20, no repair man.

Editor's Note: As of 12:10, the repairman has fixed the pipe and my dishwasher is running!

On a happier note, the Bug Hero got his lego X-Wing. He's been playing with it ever since, so our weekend wasn't a total bust.
And the Baby Hero, chilling in a grown-up chair. He thinks he's so grown up! It's cute!

Inch Worm Crawl

The Baby Hero has had a long, amazing week! Mine was all about The Hunger Games as you have heard. The Baby Hero has three teeth now! It's pretty cute, even though the top tooth is still really hard to see.

He's also almost crawling. It looks a lot like a caterpillar or an inch worm. I guess he's just trying really hard to impress his dad. Here's the first video for everyone in the world except Grandma C. Grandma, you can still watch the first video. It's short (15 seconds) and you can see the action.


This second video is for Grandma C. The Baby Hero does his action, but there's long breaks where he smiles at the camera and forgets to crawl. (1 minute 20 seconds) Pretty much the only person interested in this besides the parents would be the Grandmas.



Oh, and we now own a convertible car seat. The Baby Hero is getting bigger and bigger!

All Consuming

This is my week:

Monday: I started The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, because it had been recommended to me and the Baby Hero was breaking his third tooth. So I needed some distraction.

Tuesday: I start a book club and inform them the first book we will read is The Hunger Games because it is that good and I need someone to talk to about it with me. No, I can't post anything here about it because I'd give the plot away, and some of the powerful twists and surprises that Suzanne Collins puts in her writing. I reread The Hunger Games.

Wednesday: I reread The Hunger Games, anxiously waiting for my hold on the sequel, Catching Fire, to come due.

Thursday: I check the website at 4:00pm and realize that Catching Fire is waiting for me at the library. I stop making dinner and the Baby Hero and I go to the Library to get the book. I read the book--and when my brother calls to catch up on my life, I try really hard not to hate him for interrupting my reading. (Yes, it's that good. Normally I'm not really upset if someone interrupts my reading, and it takes a really awesome book for me to hate someone for interrupting.) I think I barely succeed. I have to put the book down at 9:30pm to go to bed. I cry in bed for about an hour. I stopped reading at the absolute lowest point in the book. I couldn't possibly see how Suzanne Collins could possibly change the plot enough for me to enjoy this emotional book.

Friday: I finish the book by 8:45am. Peace, and slight frustration. I mean, the third book is slotted to come out Early Next Year...no exact date, and I can't wait for the final resolution. That, and I really, really, really want to discuss this book with people.

Suzanne Collins is a wonderful author. I have read her other series, Gregor the Overlander, and they were good. They are young literature, so the emotions are there but they are not extreme, the right level for a 4-6 grader. It's imaginative and wonderful to talk about the growth Gregor goes through. But not stunning. Fun and engaging, but not really worth talking about with your last dying breath.

The Hunger Games are her teenage series. And they have me stunned. She packs the book full of action, suspense, love, self awareness (the characters are teenagers), pain, despair, hope and joy. In short she captures life and the will to live. In these books, there is only one ending that will make you happy and I still don't know if she can pull it off--but she has surprised me on every level. I'm getting to the point in my reading that I can predict at least part of the ending and how it will happen by the middle of the book. I still like to read and see if I'm right, but it's getting to the point where I'm right about 90% of the time. It's a really good book if I can't predict part of the ending by the middle. In these two books, I couldn't predict anything. I could hope, but I didn't see if she could pull of my hopes and wishes.

All I can say is that the journey is worth it. You should read these books. Then you should call me up and we can talk about it, because I have this need to discuss both books.

These two books have consumed my week. (I've done other things, but even in my journal, I wrote about these books and my thoughts on different parts three times. I haven't written about a book in my journal for at least seven years.)

Baby Hero is healthy and happy, now that his tooth is fully cut away from the gum. Bug Hero is presenting at a conference today. The books are all consuming.

One lone Halloween Party

This year, we only had one lone Halloween party to celebrate. I think the biggest reason is that our ward isn't having one because of Stake Conference. Stake Conference is today and tomorrow. (Lame-O!) But that isn't this story. That's another story.

Anyways, we got a flier on our door on Mondayish, and it announced a Halloween Party on the 28th. Free Pizza and Candy. Oh, and a costume contest. I looked at the flier--"Free Pizza?" I smiled, that means no cooking that night! We are so totally in! On the 28th, we realize there is no other party so we throw together costumes really quick. The Bug Hero pulls out his net and some old pokemon balls and goes as a Pokeman Catcher. I pull out my "costume" aka, Uniform. My low slung calculator holster, Super Pi Shirt and Red Cape. We look at the baby hero. He doesn't have a costume. I hand him an abacus (yes, I have one) and say, "Here, be my sidekick."

Not really costumes, Mine, I wear just for fun. I love wearing a cape, and it's great to have my low slung calculator holster out again. We appear for free pizza. I eat the pizza, the Baby Hero has plenty of people to look at, and the Bug Hero--he found a few ten year olds in Star Wars costumes. He goes back and gets his lightsaber and they duel it out in the lawn while I put the Baby Hero to bed.

All in all, worth it if not a little sad for the lameness of our Halloween celebrations this year. I'd forgotten about it, until this Morning. In the midst of our applesauce canning, (I really like doing that. Don't judge me.) I receive a phone call. It's the office informing me that I won third place in the costume contest. My "costume" that is not a costume, with side kick won us $25! We were totally stoked! Makes our Halloween a little less lame.

And gives me a great story to blog about. The Baby Hero is still really cute, but I can't really blog about him talking to me. "Baby Hero Talks. It's Cute" would be the post. Fun for me, not for you.

Happy Halloween!

Our Little Magpie

The Baby Hero has a new (mostly) adorable habit. He is a magpie. It started last Friday. The Bug Hero and I were doing something in the morning, mostly watching our Baby Hero roll around on the floor.

Until we noticed something--the Baby Hero rolled right up to his Dad and picked up a video game off of the floor. He looked at it, waved it around, and it apparently passed his inspection, because off he went, with the video game. Across the room and over to his pile of toys. The Baby Hero was smiling the whole time. Once at his toys, he deposited the video game and patted it. He then left to see what else he could scrounge up.

Now while it is the truth that he loves the Bug Hero's stuff, he also has taken some of my things. We have noticed that he has taken the video game, the Bug Hero's Lab notebook, my flip flops, several pieces of paper he finds on the floor, and my pens. He loves pens or pencils. I think it's because he sees me use them so much.


Here's his current loot. Pen, Pencil, Paper and Box. He's talented, and attracted to a lot of stuff.

Baby Hero

I felt bad, because I know so many of you just want to see pictures of the Baby Hero, and I posted about emergency preparedness. (Worthy topic, yes, but not Baby Hero.) So here is a video taken the other day of Reading to the Baby Hero. He loves it! He laughs, squeals, and coos the entire time.

Enjoy Grandma! Editor's Note: The Bug Hero, also lovingly known as the Grammar Nazi in our home, has pointed out to the Math Hero that it should read: "Enjoy, Grandma!" My defense--I'm a MATH Hero. Not that grammar isn't important--it's just not my super hero power.

Food Storage Anaylizer Review

The food storage anaylizer was interesting. I found it informative, and easy to use (mostly). I think my biggest problem was that I needed to think about what I had saved up as what they wanted. You could find almost everything you had saved up, but it had to be their brand. (duh! They want you to use their stuff) So I mentally needed to convert what I have saved up to their quantities.

According to their calculations, I can live happily on my food storage for 22o days. But if I want to feed Baby Hero and Bug Hero, it goes down to 73 days. I tried to get the calculator to calculate it for three people, but it didn't listen to me. (I wasn't afraid, because I was able to divide 220 by 3 and figure it out. It's what I get for being a Math Hero.) We're slowly building it up--we'll have a complete 3 month storage built up in a few more months.

Anyways, it was informative and kind of fun to play with--will I always use their calculator. Probably not. But was it worth it to get $10 free? Definately. You should play with it to get a free $10 to spend at their website. I like their website. It's got great stuff to be prepared.

$10 free gift certificate from Emergency Essentials

So, I just found out a way to get a $10 gift certificate to Emergency Essentials--twice! There are two different ways to get one and you can end up with both. See http://preparednesspantry.blogspot.com/2009/09/add-our-button-to-your-blog-or-website.html for details on the first entry.

See here http://preparednesspantry.blogspot.com/2009/10/food-storage-analyzer-gift-card.html for details on the second free gift certificate. So, I'm going to do it. It looks good.

Happy Anniversary

About a week ago, The Hero's celebrated their wedding anniversary. It was really nice, because the Bug Hero was able to take most of the day off and then we could play lots together. We exchanged gifts, and the Bug Hero got me several books. (Bliss!) I think the best book he got me was Alcatraz versus the Knights of Crystallia. Absolutely laugh out loud humor. I loved it!

To go along with the humor, I made the Bug Hero a Tauntaun Sleeping bag. As seen below:Complete with tail and pillow head.
A close up on the head.

All I have to say is I'm amazing! I rock! And yes, I made up the pattern by myself. I'm awesome!

Needless to say, the Bug Hero loves it! He is now itching for a chance to go camping or have a cousin sleepover so he can use his sleeping bag.

And another humorous picture of the Baby Hero. This onesie is thanks to The Bug Hero's Sister. She sent this to us, and we love it.

The only question we have is, if the Baby Hero is the spawn of evil, which one of the two of us is evil? Or is it both of us?

Baby Hero in Action

We have enjoyed teaching the Baby Hero to like new foods. Some days he loves it and eats it right on up. Other days, he makes funny faces at us. Peas, he doesn't like, he gags on them until he spits them out. We love to feed him peas. Yes, we love to watch him struggle. Are we bad parents? I don't think so, I just think we love to find humor in everything. Here's the first time we introduced Green Beans.

This other video--playing with Dad and the Lightsaber. He is laughing. I promise you.

Wish you were here!

Yesterday we went for a family walk. We walked through our favorite park and enjoyed all the fall colors. It makes you wish you were here with us!Baby Hero laughing at the leaves falling.
All the colors! I love fall!
More colors!

Here are a few other places the Baby Hero wishes you were here for.
Chilling with the Bug Hero during Conference.
Exploring underneath the Math Hero and Bug Hero's Bed.
Bye! Thanks for visiting! Don't you wish you were here with us?

Side note: I love making presents. But there is a down side to making presents. You can't brag about how cool you are until after you give the present. I've been busy making presents, and I can't show them off. You'll just have to wait in suspense to see what I've been up to!

Walk Down Memory Lane

I found out a place to get free apples. Having grown up on an orchard, I lept at the chance to get free apples to turn into applesauce. The people adveretizing the free apples said they were perfect for applesauce--one catch. You have to go pick them yourself.

So I took a walk down memory lane. I went with a friend and we picked about five bushels of apples. I loved it! Even the part where the people told us, "we just shake the trees." I'm sure Grandma was rolling over in her grave, when she saw me shake the branches.

As we left the orchard, they told us they hadn't sprayed the trees. I looked at most of the apples and they looked good, so I thought, no big deal. Except, as I went and started cutting my apples at home--only about a third of the apples were usable. Most had little tiny worms/tracks of worms all throughout the apples.

Today I spent the morning cutting (and throwing out most of them), and saucing the apples. My hard work yielded 7 quarts of applesauce.

Worth the trip down memory lane? Yes. Worth it enough to try and go back, to get enough apples for my 52 quart desire for the year? No.

Rumor has it, that there are going to be free apples by the bushel load coming through the Entomology department. These apples are sprayed and the bugs are kept in check. Am I excited? YES!

I want to be like Dad

When I grow up, I want to be just like my Dad. He has these cool toys.They require flexibility to explore.
And they don't quite fit in my mouth.
But they are lots of fun!

Also, I think it's the best thing in the world when Dad or Mom uses this new toy of Dad's to beat the floor or the plush sea turtle toy. That's all for today.

First Quilt!

I did it!! I finished my first quilt! I am proud of my achievement! It looks incredible--SEE!
I'm glad that I have amazing cousins who helped out with the actual quilting and giving me ideas for the binding. Here's a close up on the squares.
It was loads of fun! And now that I've finished this project, I'm looking for another project. (I always try to have three going on, one in the works, one close to finish, and one to start.) Any ideas?

I'm so happy I can't stand it Dance

The Baby Hero really does have a flare for cuteness. He takes after his mother, in the fact that he dances and gets excited about almost everything.

Unfortunately, for part of the movie, the Baby Hero is intrigued by the video camera and just looks at it. But here is a minute of his, "I'm So Happy I can't Stand It Dance"

Enjoy!




P.S. This is for H-Dog Windizzle!

Rumors: Fact or Fiction?

Rumors have been flying around the West Lafayette, and family circles. Some of them are about our trip Indianapolis, and some are about the Baby Hero. The first Rumor: Can the Baby Hero sit up by himself?
Fact! He is an independent sitter, and loves to look around. Another Rumor: Is he the Gerber Baby? (You have to decide that for yourself.) The Bug Hero is convinced that he is going to grow up one vain kid. Everyone stops to tell us how cute he is.

Rumor: Did the Unexpectedly Ordinary Hero Come to Indy with the family?
Fact! (This was the only picture of her though.) She's gorgeous and takes great pictures!

Rumor: Is there a Star Wars Movie Prop in the Indy Children's Museum?
Fact! Rumor: Did we go to Indy just to see it? (No, we came to see Dad. Did we drag everyone else to see it, while in Indy? Yes. We did. Some people needed more dragging than others. Thanks Dad for coming with us!)

Rumor: Did Grandpa love spending time with the Baby Hero?
Absolutely a Fact! Were everyone else in Brazil jealous of Grandpa? Definitely! Did the Baby Hero love Grandpa? Of Course he did!

Rumor: Does Richard Owe Jabba the Hutt money?Fiction! (We were so excited that Richard had no qualms about getting his picture taken, even if it makes it look like he owes the notorious Hutt money.)

Rumor: We are a family of Jedi-Heros
Unknown. We are a family of Super Heroes. Why not add in the Jedi part? We're definitely good enough to be Jedi.

Rumor: I am a dinosaur.
Fiction! But the Children's Museum has really cool dress-ups. Come visit, and I'll show you! I'll even dress up for you!

Rumor: The Baby Hero loves his Bug Hero.
FACT! The Baby Hero Loves Both of his Heroic Parents. And We love him. Isn't he cute as he reaches for his hat?

Rumor: The Baby Hero is eating solid foods!
Fact! He loves carrots and sweet potatoes. I think he liked the salt on the chips. He licked the chips and then didn't want to finish them.

Rumor: We had fun in Indianapolis, two weekends ago. Fact! We had a blast! Rumor: The Math Hero is slow to post events like this. Unfortunately, a fact. But Hey! Better late than never!

Rumor: Does the Baby Hero have two teeth? Yes he does. Does he let me take pictures of them? No, he doesn't. You'll just have to trust me, unless you want to come and visit and see for yourself!

Favorites

We have loved being in our new apartment! It is now feeling like home, and like every home, there are favorite spots. I decided to show you a few of our favorite spots, divided off by person, because everyone has their own favorite spots.

The Baby Hero:
This is his dinner chair. He loves to eat and sit with us. Also shown, is his favorite table toy. (Yes, it is a clone trooper. Dad loves Baby Hero enough to share his toys with him.)

This is Baby Hero looking at his favorite wall. He ends up there often. I think he's telling the wall, "Wall, you're my only friend."

The Bug Hero:
His toys are out of their boxes.
This is our front door. I asked him his favorite part of the home and he said "the door, because when I reach this, then I'm with my favorite people."

The Math Hero:
I love stairs. I have a stair fettish. I make the bug hero laugh, because if I read, it's on the stairs, if I do hand sewing, I do it on the stairs. Here are our stairs, complete with my project along the sides.
I love my washer and dryer. I'm so glad that we rescued them from underneath the tarp and are able to use them. It makes it home to use my washer and dryer.

Most importantly, our favorite people live in this apartment! We love being home!