My awesome and extremely talented cousin-in-law (is that a thing?) is hosting an amazing giveaway that I would be absolutely delighted to win. Seriously, this girl has some amazing sewing skills and I'm sure that's an insult to her since her talents lie in so much more than just sewing. At any rate, check out her blog and enter her giveaway:
http://cathgrace.com/2014/02/its-my-birthday-so-i-have-an-exciting-present-for-you
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
10 Things about James
Oh James. Where do I start with this kid?
1. He turned four at the end of November. I have no idea if he is a typical four-year-old or not. All I know is he is about the most creative, imaginative little guy I know, which is awesome but often frustrating. When we're trying to do something that should be basic black and white, he finds ways to mix in a million shades of gray. For instance, I've been working on reading with him. Every day during Livy's nap we have our "reading lessons." James' ability to be distracted by anything else other than what we're working on makes me want to pull my hair out. Instead of just sounding out the sounds like he knows he's supposed to, he'll find ways to make the words do silly things, make little characters out of each one, find various patterns within the letters, etc. Each day I try to stay calm, only feeling my blood pressure rising more and more as we get further into it. Since Brian and I long ago determined that he'd help the kids with math and I'd help them with reading/writing, I've been excited to share with them my love for reading, but some days I want to throw in the towel and tell myself he can learn in kindergarten from someone more patient than myself who can deal with him unleashing his creative shenanigans.
2. I can't believe how fast this kid is growing up. Not only physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. He's always been verbal and expressive but he's reached such an astounding level that sometimes I mistake him for a 12-year-old rather than my sweet little four-year-old. Brian went out of town last week and told James man-to-man that he was in charge of the family while he was away and had to take care of us. James really took this to heart and every day would help me out with Livy and do kind things for me. At the end of every day he'd remind me that he took care of us that day.
He is so loving (most of the time). He still loves to give hugs and kisses and I dread the day this stops. He tells me at least once a day "Mom, I love you so much that I can't stop loving you." Sometimes I think he says it to butter me up when he's done something wrong, but I love to hear it anyway.
3. This kid is such a social creature. He loves being with other people, young or old. He's the youngest in his primary class by quite a few months (some days it's more obvious than others) but you can tell the kids in his class look up to him and adore him. As a mom, that makes me so happy. I've already been told by several moms that their daughters have a crush on my son. I don't know what he does to warrant this, but it makes me laugh.
4. He's starting to really get into spiritual things, is super inquisitive (just now he asked me why Jesus didn't live in Israel anymore and if he would now be considered an angel). I don't know if it's just him growing up, me being more conscious of teaching him concepts, or primary, but he talks about God and Jesus all the time and requests primary songs to be played on the piano or sung to him daily. The other day he was playing with some blocks and was quite serious about building a temple (pictured below). When Livy destroyed it out of retaliation later that day, he was quite distraught about it and was worried he wouldn't be able to rebuild it just like he did before. Now he requests that I take pictures of everything he builds in case it needs to be rebuilt later.
6. He's getting to be quite helpful with housework and, luckily, is still quite enthused about helping. Laundry is his favorite. He loves for me to ask him to be the delivery boy and he delivers the laundry piles with great pride. If he knows something is helpful for me, he'll happily do it.
7. For the most part, he's pretty well behaved in public and we don't even have to worry about him anymore. Although he still has his moments, I feel like I can now count on him to be the dependable, helpful one and I love that. So while I have to wrestle Livy at the grocery store, hurry and get my shopping done while she screams with me holding her down with one arm while I push the cart with the other arm, I can totally depend on James to sit quietly and patiently until I'm done. If I ask him to help make Livy happy, he'll do it the best he can (with her it's sometimes an impossible task) and try and talk her into calming down. Sometimes all it takes is him holding her hand and there is instant peace. He has that effect on her and it's amazing.
8. He still goes to bed around 8 and wakes up around 7:45 on the dot every morning. Some days he'll come stand by my bed until I wake up. Other days, if I'm up before him, he'll sneak out and hide from me then jump out and pretend to scare us. Naps are almost nonexistent, although maybe will happen once every couple of weeks or so. I can't decide which is worse though, him not napping on days I wish he would, but then going to bed early, or him falling asleep for a nap, being happy the rest of the day but not being able to fall asleep for bed until after 10 or 11 and then being grouchy the next day because of it. It's a vicious cycle. I know on the days driving home from preschool that it'll be a nap day when he sits in the back and says "Mom, my head is too exhausted to hold itself up."
9. He's finally out of his super picky toddler nightmarish eating phase. As Livy's getting progressively worse, he's getting that much better. He likes meat now, eats salad like its candy, and can pretty much be convinced to try anything and finally loves healthier food more than sweets. There is hope in the world.
10. He's super into "I Spy" books and mazes right now. Unfortunately, he could also play games on the iPad all day if we let him (which we do not--Andrea, I know you're worried). He loves playing games, too. Nothing fancy. Candy Land and Operation are favorites. But even more than games, he loves anything we all do together, whether it be going to the park, watching a movie, playing sports (bowling is a new favorite, if you can call that a sport), etc.
That's our James. Thank goodness for him.
1. He turned four at the end of November. I have no idea if he is a typical four-year-old or not. All I know is he is about the most creative, imaginative little guy I know, which is awesome but often frustrating. When we're trying to do something that should be basic black and white, he finds ways to mix in a million shades of gray. For instance, I've been working on reading with him. Every day during Livy's nap we have our "reading lessons." James' ability to be distracted by anything else other than what we're working on makes me want to pull my hair out. Instead of just sounding out the sounds like he knows he's supposed to, he'll find ways to make the words do silly things, make little characters out of each one, find various patterns within the letters, etc. Each day I try to stay calm, only feeling my blood pressure rising more and more as we get further into it. Since Brian and I long ago determined that he'd help the kids with math and I'd help them with reading/writing, I've been excited to share with them my love for reading, but some days I want to throw in the towel and tell myself he can learn in kindergarten from someone more patient than myself who can deal with him unleashing his creative shenanigans.
2. I can't believe how fast this kid is growing up. Not only physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. He's always been verbal and expressive but he's reached such an astounding level that sometimes I mistake him for a 12-year-old rather than my sweet little four-year-old. Brian went out of town last week and told James man-to-man that he was in charge of the family while he was away and had to take care of us. James really took this to heart and every day would help me out with Livy and do kind things for me. At the end of every day he'd remind me that he took care of us that day.
He is so loving (most of the time). He still loves to give hugs and kisses and I dread the day this stops. He tells me at least once a day "Mom, I love you so much that I can't stop loving you." Sometimes I think he says it to butter me up when he's done something wrong, but I love to hear it anyway.
3. This kid is such a social creature. He loves being with other people, young or old. He's the youngest in his primary class by quite a few months (some days it's more obvious than others) but you can tell the kids in his class look up to him and adore him. As a mom, that makes me so happy. I've already been told by several moms that their daughters have a crush on my son. I don't know what he does to warrant this, but it makes me laugh.
4. He's starting to really get into spiritual things, is super inquisitive (just now he asked me why Jesus didn't live in Israel anymore and if he would now be considered an angel). I don't know if it's just him growing up, me being more conscious of teaching him concepts, or primary, but he talks about God and Jesus all the time and requests primary songs to be played on the piano or sung to him daily. The other day he was playing with some blocks and was quite serious about building a temple (pictured below). When Livy destroyed it out of retaliation later that day, he was quite distraught about it and was worried he wouldn't be able to rebuild it just like he did before. Now he requests that I take pictures of everything he builds in case it needs to be rebuilt later.
5. He wants to be just like his dad. He's constantly reminding me that he wants to grow up to be a doctor and fix people's faces "just like dad." When Brian is gone, I can tell how much he misses him. The bright spot of his day is when Brian comes home and rough houses with him. Those two have a special relationship and I love to watch it unfold.
6. He's getting to be quite helpful with housework and, luckily, is still quite enthused about helping. Laundry is his favorite. He loves for me to ask him to be the delivery boy and he delivers the laundry piles with great pride. If he knows something is helpful for me, he'll happily do it.
7. For the most part, he's pretty well behaved in public and we don't even have to worry about him anymore. Although he still has his moments, I feel like I can now count on him to be the dependable, helpful one and I love that. So while I have to wrestle Livy at the grocery store, hurry and get my shopping done while she screams with me holding her down with one arm while I push the cart with the other arm, I can totally depend on James to sit quietly and patiently until I'm done. If I ask him to help make Livy happy, he'll do it the best he can (with her it's sometimes an impossible task) and try and talk her into calming down. Sometimes all it takes is him holding her hand and there is instant peace. He has that effect on her and it's amazing.
8. He still goes to bed around 8 and wakes up around 7:45 on the dot every morning. Some days he'll come stand by my bed until I wake up. Other days, if I'm up before him, he'll sneak out and hide from me then jump out and pretend to scare us. Naps are almost nonexistent, although maybe will happen once every couple of weeks or so. I can't decide which is worse though, him not napping on days I wish he would, but then going to bed early, or him falling asleep for a nap, being happy the rest of the day but not being able to fall asleep for bed until after 10 or 11 and then being grouchy the next day because of it. It's a vicious cycle. I know on the days driving home from preschool that it'll be a nap day when he sits in the back and says "Mom, my head is too exhausted to hold itself up."
9. He's finally out of his super picky toddler nightmarish eating phase. As Livy's getting progressively worse, he's getting that much better. He likes meat now, eats salad like its candy, and can pretty much be convinced to try anything and finally loves healthier food more than sweets. There is hope in the world.
10. He's super into "I Spy" books and mazes right now. Unfortunately, he could also play games on the iPad all day if we let him (which we do not--Andrea, I know you're worried). He loves playing games, too. Nothing fancy. Candy Land and Operation are favorites. But even more than games, he loves anything we all do together, whether it be going to the park, watching a movie, playing sports (bowling is a new favorite, if you can call that a sport), etc.
That's our James. Thank goodness for him.
10 Things about Livy
My awesome sister-in-law did a "10" things about each of her kids post awhile back and I liked that idea so now it's my turn.
My little girl will be two-years-old in a couple more months. She's getting so tall and when I actually take the time to fix her hair (and she'll keep it in) she looks so grown up. I've long thought this about my Liv, but especially lately it seems that I can't help but think what a gift from God she is and that I need to treasure each moment.
1. She's getting to be so beautiful. Her facial expressions are priceless. I could stare at her all day long. She readily offers hugs and kisses and has such a sensitive soul. If she knows she's done something to make me angry (like dumping the entire bottle of fish food out on the counter), her lower lip gets so pouty, tears well up, she'll run off and then come back a minute later so apologetic. I sometimes wish I could freeze time with her and don't know what I'd do without her.
2. She is always on the go. Everything is a jungle gym to her (furniture, even people, etc.). A couple weeks ago we went to our first hockey game. She wouldn't sit still for a second. During the breaks they had a bounce house set up for the kids. When the breaks were over and they'd shoo everyone out, she'd sob uncontrollably and scream, "JUMP! JUMP! PLEEEEASE!"
3. This little lady loves animals (as well as her new baby cousin Marin). One week she'll be obsessed with dogs, the next week bunnies, the next cats, etc. During last week's arctic tundra cold freeze, I took the kids to Pet's Mart because it was too cold to go to the zoo. She could have sat in front of the cat cages all day pretending that cat was her best friend. Again, she screamed when we had to leave. I really think she thought that cat wouldn't be okay without her.
4. As with James when he was her age, we are moving toward a slow but steady potty training. Livy's is mostly self-motivated. She hates having a wet diaper, will take it off herself if I don't get to it fast enough and most importantly, this girl will do anything for M&Ms. Anything. We've had a pretty awesome week with the M&M's bribing. I'm hoping she'll be as great as James with the night training too (knock on wood--he hasn't wet the bed in a year and a half now).
5. She is so concerned whenever someone is sad whether it be in real life, on TV or in stories. If someone is sad, so is Livy. It's quite sweet. When reading stories, she is not satisfied until I can convince her that the once sad character is happy now.
6. She is still super shy and totally attached to her mama. I both love this and am frustrated by this. I love that she is my girl and loves me so much but sometimes I wish she would open up and love others a little more, too. See #7. But for as attached at the hip as she is to me, she's also super independent. "I do! I do too" is a phrase heard constantly at our house. If James can do it by himself, Livy has to do it by herself, too.
7. Even mentioning the word "nursery" gives her anxiety. She will scream like she's being tortured the second we walk near the nursery room. Luckily, after peeling her away from me and handing her off to a nursery leader, she is usually fine after a few minutes . . . unless she sees me peeking in on her from the hallway. She'll hyperventilate and have a meltdown and climb over anyone and anything to get to me. Last week when I went to pick her up she squealed with delight, jumped into my arms, put her head on my shoulder, squeezed me tight and repeated over and over "Happy! Happy! Happy!" It melted my heart.
8. She loves to be outside. It doesn't matter how cold or wet it is, she will beg to go outdoors until I give in. We just can't move fast enough. Of course, being the finicky toddler she is, she'll want me to hold her most of the time and then beg to go back in 15 minutes later. Go figure. She also has a really strange fetish for putting things down her shirt, food mostly.
9. She used to sleep from around 8 p.m.-8:30 a.m. every day and then have a 2.5 hour nap. Lately, she'll only sleep from 8-7:30 and take a 1.5 hour nap. It's driving me nuts. I miss those later mornings and longer naps. I'm praying that she doesn't stop needing naps early like James did. She's also not quite as picky as James was at this age, but I fear she is getting there. She's starting to resist foods she once loved and sometimes is perfectly content not eating anything at all. She's refused to sit in a high chair (or thrown complete tantrums and refused to eat if we've forced her) for at least six months now. Needless to say, mealtime is an adventure with her.
10. I asked James what he likes best about Livy and he said playing with her and that "she makes me laugh." The girl has quite the contagious laugh and sense of humor. She loves to be chased and will laugh and squeal in the cutest way whenever you get close to catching her. James is her best buddy. Often, the first thing we hear from her in the mornings is a scream for her "JAAAAYY!"
How we love our little miss Liv.
My little girl will be two-years-old in a couple more months. She's getting so tall and when I actually take the time to fix her hair (and she'll keep it in) she looks so grown up. I've long thought this about my Liv, but especially lately it seems that I can't help but think what a gift from God she is and that I need to treasure each moment.
1. She's getting to be so beautiful. Her facial expressions are priceless. I could stare at her all day long. She readily offers hugs and kisses and has such a sensitive soul. If she knows she's done something to make me angry (like dumping the entire bottle of fish food out on the counter), her lower lip gets so pouty, tears well up, she'll run off and then come back a minute later so apologetic. I sometimes wish I could freeze time with her and don't know what I'd do without her.
2. She is always on the go. Everything is a jungle gym to her (furniture, even people, etc.). A couple weeks ago we went to our first hockey game. She wouldn't sit still for a second. During the breaks they had a bounce house set up for the kids. When the breaks were over and they'd shoo everyone out, she'd sob uncontrollably and scream, "JUMP! JUMP! PLEEEEASE!"
3. This little lady loves animals (as well as her new baby cousin Marin). One week she'll be obsessed with dogs, the next week bunnies, the next cats, etc. During last week's arctic tundra cold freeze, I took the kids to Pet's Mart because it was too cold to go to the zoo. She could have sat in front of the cat cages all day pretending that cat was her best friend. Again, she screamed when we had to leave. I really think she thought that cat wouldn't be okay without her.
4. As with James when he was her age, we are moving toward a slow but steady potty training. Livy's is mostly self-motivated. She hates having a wet diaper, will take it off herself if I don't get to it fast enough and most importantly, this girl will do anything for M&Ms. Anything. We've had a pretty awesome week with the M&M's bribing. I'm hoping she'll be as great as James with the night training too (knock on wood--he hasn't wet the bed in a year and a half now).
5. She is so concerned whenever someone is sad whether it be in real life, on TV or in stories. If someone is sad, so is Livy. It's quite sweet. When reading stories, she is not satisfied until I can convince her that the once sad character is happy now.
6. She is still super shy and totally attached to her mama. I both love this and am frustrated by this. I love that she is my girl and loves me so much but sometimes I wish she would open up and love others a little more, too. See #7. But for as attached at the hip as she is to me, she's also super independent. "I do! I do too" is a phrase heard constantly at our house. If James can do it by himself, Livy has to do it by herself, too.
7. Even mentioning the word "nursery" gives her anxiety. She will scream like she's being tortured the second we walk near the nursery room. Luckily, after peeling her away from me and handing her off to a nursery leader, she is usually fine after a few minutes . . . unless she sees me peeking in on her from the hallway. She'll hyperventilate and have a meltdown and climb over anyone and anything to get to me. Last week when I went to pick her up she squealed with delight, jumped into my arms, put her head on my shoulder, squeezed me tight and repeated over and over "Happy! Happy! Happy!" It melted my heart.
8. She loves to be outside. It doesn't matter how cold or wet it is, she will beg to go outdoors until I give in. We just can't move fast enough. Of course, being the finicky toddler she is, she'll want me to hold her most of the time and then beg to go back in 15 minutes later. Go figure. She also has a really strange fetish for putting things down her shirt, food mostly.
9. She used to sleep from around 8 p.m.-8:30 a.m. every day and then have a 2.5 hour nap. Lately, she'll only sleep from 8-7:30 and take a 1.5 hour nap. It's driving me nuts. I miss those later mornings and longer naps. I'm praying that she doesn't stop needing naps early like James did. She's also not quite as picky as James was at this age, but I fear she is getting there. She's starting to resist foods she once loved and sometimes is perfectly content not eating anything at all. She's refused to sit in a high chair (or thrown complete tantrums and refused to eat if we've forced her) for at least six months now. Needless to say, mealtime is an adventure with her.
10. I asked James what he likes best about Livy and he said playing with her and that "she makes me laugh." The girl has quite the contagious laugh and sense of humor. She loves to be chased and will laugh and squeal in the cutest way whenever you get close to catching her. James is her best buddy. Often, the first thing we hear from her in the mornings is a scream for her "JAAAAYY!"
How we love our little miss Liv.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Fall Randomness
Fall has been busy. The first week of September, my dad visited for a quick trip. James was in heaven having a grandparent shower him with attention. I'm jealous of any kid who has a grandparent within a thousand mile radius. But on the flip side, it's such a treat anytime someone visits and makes seeing family that much more exciting. We definitely don't take it for granted.
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The day after my dad left, I got sick. I've been sick so many times since that I already don't even remember what it was I had. But thus started my two week bout with an awesome case of Insomnia. I've had sleep issues on and off my whole life but this was by far the worst cycle I've experienced. Every night for nearly two weeks, I literally could not fall asleep until at least four in the morning and then would wake up at six and not go back to sleep. I felt like a zombie, an emotional wreck zombie. It was a nightmare.
Not sleeping literally made me the worst, most boring mother and wife on the planet. No patience, no energy to function let alone do anything extra. I felt so bad for my kids.
Brian had to be in New Orleans for eight days at the end of September. I begged him to give me a blessing before he left. That night I slept soundly for the first night in weeks and I slept the entire time Brian was gone. I know it was a miracle because the second I dropped him off at the airport, even though I hadn't slept in weeks, I felt like I had energy and that I could handle life without him. The second I picked him up at the airport, I felt that energy slip away again.
Right after Brian got home, I got sick with a cold and a nasty cough. Even my voice went away. I sounded like a smoker for about a week. It was actually pretty humorous. A couple days later, Brian's dad and brother came for the weekend. It was so much fun having family here again and James was on cloud nine having more family visit. Having people come visit us makes me so happy and grateful. I know traveling to Knoxville is totally inconvenient. There are no direct flights and it literally takes a full day to get here, so that people take the effort to do it just to see us is so humbling. I'm grateful for every single one of our visitors.
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The morning we dropped the visitors off at the airport, we left for Orlando. Brian had a conference there, so we tagged along since Brian's work was paying for the hotel and rental car. To make it even better, an oral surgery organization was offering spouse scholarships for the conference. I applied a few months ago and was lucky enough to receive one of them. With that scholarship, mine and James' plane tickets were completely paid for (Livy still flies for free for a few more months), making the entire trip totally free. That is my kind of trip!We decided against all the usual-Orlando hoopla since we'd just done the whole Disney thing in May. The kids loved swimming at the hotel pool and playing in the kid's area and that was really all they needed to have a great, exhausting vacation.
My favorite part of the trip was our exclusive access to Harry Potty World at Universal Studios one of the nights we were there. The conference Brian was attending had rented the place out for a night. It was amazing. The streets of Harry Potter World were lined with tables heaped with amazing food, free butter beer (yuck!), and other goodies. It was so much fun. The afternoon of this event, I felt a sore throat and sinus pressure coming on and prayed my heart out that it would stay at bay until the next day, just so I could at least enjoy this one thing we'd been looking forward to. The next morning I woke up so sick I could hardly lift a finger. I stayed in bed most of the day while Brian did fun stuff with the kids. I felt so helpless and so sad that I was sick on our last day of vacation. Thus started my second round of Insomnia.
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Some how I made it through traveling the next day--after a lot of medication and prayers. The entire next week I was feverish and so tired and sick I could literally do nothing but sit on the couch in agony. Thankfully, I finally made it into the doctor on Friday and she provided me with some meds to start clearing out whatever it was I had.
To top it off, last Sunday I had to play the piano in our ward primary program. That Saturday was a rehearsal and just to get myself there was a chore. As I've mentioned before, I am not a good piano player and I usually dread having to play on a normal day. The rehearsal felt like a disaster. My head was so foggy and my nose so runny, I couldn't make my fingers do what they needed to do. I prayed that the next day would be better, but oh my goodness, it was so much worse. In fact, it was so bad that I laugh just thinking about it. I messed up majorly on every song but the last one, which, ironically, was the most complicated to play. The only thing that got me through and kept me from being totally embarrassed was that I was so sick I just didn't care. I felt like my mind was floating off in sick land and my fingers were doing their own thing, even though I'd practiced so hard for weeks that I'd been counting on muscle memory kicking in. I just wanted to get it over with. I felt bad for the primary president and chorister who probably thought I was a total mess and didn't practice at all. Sometimes, even with lots of prayers, things just don't go your way anyway. And you know what, that's okay. It's over and I don't have to worry about it again until next year! :
Yesterday was Brian's birthday. I've finally been feeling better the last couple days and had the energy to make all his favorite foods, decorate a little, visit him at work, take him out to lunch, and go bowling last night. We had a really fun day together and all went to bed exhausted. I sure love Brian and all he does for our family.
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On the way home from our lunch together Brian and I were discussing our future and how most OMFS residents in their final year already know where they're going at this point and what does it say about us that we still don't know? We're in total panic mode. We started wondering how it is that things came together so easily for everyone else. They just knew where they wanted to go, or even if they didn't know a location at least contacts came together and things just worked out. We can't even seem to get contacts to pay us any attention. It's so frustrating. At any rate, it reminded me of my single years. How I would watch all my friends/roommates one by one date their future spouse and then get married and through the midst of it all I remained single and would think about what a foreign concept even considering marriage was to me and I wondered how in the world they had made it come together so effortlessly. I just didn't understand it. Then I met Brian and it really did just happen and come together. When things work out it is just a miracle in so many ways. I know one way or another, things will work out for our future. It may be frustrating waiting and trying to figure it out, but once it happens, it will be the right thing for us. The point of sharing that, really was to convey how grateful I am to have met Brian so unexpectedly that summer day seven years ago. He makes my life happy and everything about it better. The best part of all our day is when Brian comes home from work. I'm grateful that wherever we end up, that we'll all be together.
But until we figure it out, I'll keep enjoying what could be my last fall in the South.
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Not sleeping literally made me the worst, most boring mother and wife on the planet. No patience, no energy to function let alone do anything extra. I felt so bad for my kids.
Brian had to be in New Orleans for eight days at the end of September. I begged him to give me a blessing before he left. That night I slept soundly for the first night in weeks and I slept the entire time Brian was gone. I know it was a miracle because the second I dropped him off at the airport, even though I hadn't slept in weeks, I felt like I had energy and that I could handle life without him. The second I picked him up at the airport, I felt that energy slip away again.
Right after Brian got home, I got sick with a cold and a nasty cough. Even my voice went away. I sounded like a smoker for about a week. It was actually pretty humorous. A couple days later, Brian's dad and brother came for the weekend. It was so much fun having family here again and James was on cloud nine having more family visit. Having people come visit us makes me so happy and grateful. I know traveling to Knoxville is totally inconvenient. There are no direct flights and it literally takes a full day to get here, so that people take the effort to do it just to see us is so humbling. I'm grateful for every single one of our visitors.
.JPG)
The morning we dropped the visitors off at the airport, we left for Orlando. Brian had a conference there, so we tagged along since Brian's work was paying for the hotel and rental car. To make it even better, an oral surgery organization was offering spouse scholarships for the conference. I applied a few months ago and was lucky enough to receive one of them. With that scholarship, mine and James' plane tickets were completely paid for (Livy still flies for free for a few more months), making the entire trip totally free. That is my kind of trip!We decided against all the usual-Orlando hoopla since we'd just done the whole Disney thing in May. The kids loved swimming at the hotel pool and playing in the kid's area and that was really all they needed to have a great, exhausting vacation.My favorite part of the trip was our exclusive access to Harry Potty World at Universal Studios one of the nights we were there. The conference Brian was attending had rented the place out for a night. It was amazing. The streets of Harry Potter World were lined with tables heaped with amazing food, free butter beer (yuck!), and other goodies. It was so much fun. The afternoon of this event, I felt a sore throat and sinus pressure coming on and prayed my heart out that it would stay at bay until the next day, just so I could at least enjoy this one thing we'd been looking forward to. The next morning I woke up so sick I could hardly lift a finger. I stayed in bed most of the day while Brian did fun stuff with the kids. I felt so helpless and so sad that I was sick on our last day of vacation. Thus started my second round of Insomnia.
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To top it off, last Sunday I had to play the piano in our ward primary program. That Saturday was a rehearsal and just to get myself there was a chore. As I've mentioned before, I am not a good piano player and I usually dread having to play on a normal day. The rehearsal felt like a disaster. My head was so foggy and my nose so runny, I couldn't make my fingers do what they needed to do. I prayed that the next day would be better, but oh my goodness, it was so much worse. In fact, it was so bad that I laugh just thinking about it. I messed up majorly on every song but the last one, which, ironically, was the most complicated to play. The only thing that got me through and kept me from being totally embarrassed was that I was so sick I just didn't care. I felt like my mind was floating off in sick land and my fingers were doing their own thing, even though I'd practiced so hard for weeks that I'd been counting on muscle memory kicking in. I just wanted to get it over with. I felt bad for the primary president and chorister who probably thought I was a total mess and didn't practice at all. Sometimes, even with lots of prayers, things just don't go your way anyway. And you know what, that's okay. It's over and I don't have to worry about it again until next year! :
Yesterday was Brian's birthday. I've finally been feeling better the last couple days and had the energy to make all his favorite foods, decorate a little, visit him at work, take him out to lunch, and go bowling last night. We had a really fun day together and all went to bed exhausted. I sure love Brian and all he does for our family.
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On the way home from our lunch together Brian and I were discussing our future and how most OMFS residents in their final year already know where they're going at this point and what does it say about us that we still don't know? We're in total panic mode. We started wondering how it is that things came together so easily for everyone else. They just knew where they wanted to go, or even if they didn't know a location at least contacts came together and things just worked out. We can't even seem to get contacts to pay us any attention. It's so frustrating. At any rate, it reminded me of my single years. How I would watch all my friends/roommates one by one date their future spouse and then get married and through the midst of it all I remained single and would think about what a foreign concept even considering marriage was to me and I wondered how in the world they had made it come together so effortlessly. I just didn't understand it. Then I met Brian and it really did just happen and come together. When things work out it is just a miracle in so many ways. I know one way or another, things will work out for our future. It may be frustrating waiting and trying to figure it out, but once it happens, it will be the right thing for us. The point of sharing that, really was to convey how grateful I am to have met Brian so unexpectedly that summer day seven years ago. He makes my life happy and everything about it better. The best part of all our day is when Brian comes home from work. I'm grateful that wherever we end up, that we'll all be together.
But until we figure it out, I'll keep enjoying what could be my last fall in the South.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Truth
I shared this over at Just Cook Already but thought I'd share it here, too.
In the past few months that I have been contributing to Just Cook Already, I've experienced so many failed recipes that you'd think I would have given up by now on documenting anything I cook. The truth is, with every recipe I post, there are at least two or three that either just didn't turn out as I expected, were something I'd made before and loved but yikes, what happened this time? Or, it turned out so disastrous that my husband took one bite and stalled, trying to figure out how to proceed in a tactful manner. Like the chicken adobo I made last week that seemed more like salty soy sauce soaked chicken than something that was supposed to be gourmet. Is that how it's supposed to taste? Or like the pasta salad I've made dozens of times but somehow this last time it ended up so dry and bland that trying to doctor it up only made it worse. It sat in our fridge for a week, taunting me every time I opened the door until I finally sighed and threw it out. I hate wasting food (see Mom, you did teach me something). Or, like the flourless chocolate torte I recently made. How could I go wrong? The pictures online looked gorgeous and the recipe looked totally doable. I knew I had to make it the next time we had guests for dinner. But when we all took our first bite, the overly dense and sickeningly sweet torte made me mortified that I had served it to anyone, let alone people I actually like. I knew it was a failure when even my sweet toothed three-year-old pushed it away.
So, I give kudos to all those amazing food bloggers out there. Because behind the scenes, I know is probably a messy kitchen, major stress, and possibly even a few failed attempts before the impeccable looking piece of art that is shown as the final result.
Someday I'd love for my kitchen to look this blissful and have everything turn out perfectly:
But the truth is, I kind of like it the way it is:
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Even if a recipe doesn't turn out, I've got a little team of helpers on my side who don't care if it gets published or not, don't care if what I make isn't perfect and who make being in my kitchen fun no matter what.
In the past few months that I have been contributing to Just Cook Already, I've experienced so many failed recipes that you'd think I would have given up by now on documenting anything I cook. The truth is, with every recipe I post, there are at least two or three that either just didn't turn out as I expected, were something I'd made before and loved but yikes, what happened this time? Or, it turned out so disastrous that my husband took one bite and stalled, trying to figure out how to proceed in a tactful manner. Like the chicken adobo I made last week that seemed more like salty soy sauce soaked chicken than something that was supposed to be gourmet. Is that how it's supposed to taste? Or like the pasta salad I've made dozens of times but somehow this last time it ended up so dry and bland that trying to doctor it up only made it worse. It sat in our fridge for a week, taunting me every time I opened the door until I finally sighed and threw it out. I hate wasting food (see Mom, you did teach me something). Or, like the flourless chocolate torte I recently made. How could I go wrong? The pictures online looked gorgeous and the recipe looked totally doable. I knew I had to make it the next time we had guests for dinner. But when we all took our first bite, the overly dense and sickeningly sweet torte made me mortified that I had served it to anyone, let alone people I actually like. I knew it was a failure when even my sweet toothed three-year-old pushed it away.
So, I give kudos to all those amazing food bloggers out there. Because behind the scenes, I know is probably a messy kitchen, major stress, and possibly even a few failed attempts before the impeccable looking piece of art that is shown as the final result.
Someday I'd love for my kitchen to look this blissful and have everything turn out perfectly:
But the truth is, I kind of like it the way it is:
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Even if a recipe doesn't turn out, I've got a little team of helpers on my side who don't care if it gets published or not, don't care if what I make isn't perfect and who make being in my kitchen fun no matter what.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Instablog
Does anyone blog anymore? Since my discovery of Instagram, my blogging has gone way downhill. That's okay. I don't have much to say anyway.
Actually, I do. Just a few things though.
Summer is half way over. Or, if I was more of an optimist I could say that we still have half of summer left. I guess that does sound better. Here's what's going on with us this summer:
James and Livy have a complicated relationship. Most of the time they adore each other. James can be bossy though and our little lady is developing quite the temper/attitude and if James so much as takes one step toward her if she doesn't want him to, be prepared for a scream. Oh boy. She's been on one lately and as much as I hope it's just a phase, I'm afraid she's going to be our little diva. Watch out world!
James has been loving playtime with friends. He can't get enough of the Fisher kids. When he and his best bud are around each other, you can hear them calling each other "buddy" and it's pretty darn cute. He has developed an over the top fear of bugs (especially bees) and doesn't love playing outside like he used to, which I suppose is okay for now since it's so blasted hot and humid outside. I pray he'll get over it quickly though.
We also went blueberry picking for the first time with friends last week and Livy hated it and James loved it. I failed to get a single picture of it. We've also been doing the Dollywood thing and James can't get enough of it.
As hard a time as I've been having with Livy lately, I've also loved this age with her. I specifically remember when James was 15 months thinking that it was my absolute favorite age so far with him. He could communicate but was still so sweet. Livy has her sweet moments. She still cuddles, she babbles hysterically, and she is pretty much the cutest little thing I've ever seen. Although she tries hard, her language isn't where it was with James at this age. He could pretty much say anything and you could understand him perfectly. Not so with this one. She does have at least 20 things she says consistently and is learning new words all the time, so I'm not too worried, just more frustrated since I can't understand her well yet. She finally got to two word sentences (can you call two words a sentence?) and that was a relief. My favorite things she says are "All done," and "bear." My heart melts every time. She's getting to be more selective with what she eats and where she eats (she's already hating high chairs! Nooo!). If I stick her in her high chair (most of the time I have to force her in there) she will not eat. The second she's on my lap, she'll do great. There's got to be a remedy for that.
Brian is chief. CHIEF. Do you know what that means!? We're down to our final year of residency. I would say "hallelujah!" except part of me isn't ready yet for the real world. I've been trying to remember to enjoy this phase of our lives and I think I'm already getting nostalgic about our "Tennessee days." There is so much I love about it here and yet so much I long for elsewhere (i.e. closer proximity to family) that I know when it's over, it'll be time. So I'm going to enjoy this last year as much as I can because I really do know we'll look back on this time with extreme fondness and probably even miss it.
As for me, I'm just staying busy with the crazy kids, trying to get them to enjoy a fun-filled summer. I'm still trying to cook up new things and failing horribly at posting them on my food blog (just-cook-already), which is probably the most ghetto food blog around since I'm terrible at taking photos of food. I've been reading a ton (just finished "Okay for Now" and "The Rent Collector." I highly recommend both) and am open to recommendations!
Brian and I celebrate our 6th anniversary on Sunday. Good times. :)
Actually, I do. Just a few things though.
Summer is half way over. Or, if I was more of an optimist I could say that we still have half of summer left. I guess that does sound better. Here's what's going on with us this summer:
James and Livy have a complicated relationship. Most of the time they adore each other. James can be bossy though and our little lady is developing quite the temper/attitude and if James so much as takes one step toward her if she doesn't want him to, be prepared for a scream. Oh boy. She's been on one lately and as much as I hope it's just a phase, I'm afraid she's going to be our little diva. Watch out world!
James has been loving playtime with friends. He can't get enough of the Fisher kids. When he and his best bud are around each other, you can hear them calling each other "buddy" and it's pretty darn cute. He has developed an over the top fear of bugs (especially bees) and doesn't love playing outside like he used to, which I suppose is okay for now since it's so blasted hot and humid outside. I pray he'll get over it quickly though.
We also went blueberry picking for the first time with friends last week and Livy hated it and James loved it. I failed to get a single picture of it. We've also been doing the Dollywood thing and James can't get enough of it.
As hard a time as I've been having with Livy lately, I've also loved this age with her. I specifically remember when James was 15 months thinking that it was my absolute favorite age so far with him. He could communicate but was still so sweet. Livy has her sweet moments. She still cuddles, she babbles hysterically, and she is pretty much the cutest little thing I've ever seen. Although she tries hard, her language isn't where it was with James at this age. He could pretty much say anything and you could understand him perfectly. Not so with this one. She does have at least 20 things she says consistently and is learning new words all the time, so I'm not too worried, just more frustrated since I can't understand her well yet. She finally got to two word sentences (can you call two words a sentence?) and that was a relief. My favorite things she says are "All done," and "bear." My heart melts every time. She's getting to be more selective with what she eats and where she eats (she's already hating high chairs! Nooo!). If I stick her in her high chair (most of the time I have to force her in there) she will not eat. The second she's on my lap, she'll do great. There's got to be a remedy for that.
Brian is chief. CHIEF. Do you know what that means!? We're down to our final year of residency. I would say "hallelujah!" except part of me isn't ready yet for the real world. I've been trying to remember to enjoy this phase of our lives and I think I'm already getting nostalgic about our "Tennessee days." There is so much I love about it here and yet so much I long for elsewhere (i.e. closer proximity to family) that I know when it's over, it'll be time. So I'm going to enjoy this last year as much as I can because I really do know we'll look back on this time with extreme fondness and probably even miss it.
As for me, I'm just staying busy with the crazy kids, trying to get them to enjoy a fun-filled summer. I'm still trying to cook up new things and failing horribly at posting them on my food blog (just-cook-already), which is probably the most ghetto food blog around since I'm terrible at taking photos of food. I've been reading a ton (just finished "Okay for Now" and "The Rent Collector." I highly recommend both) and am open to recommendations!
Brian and I celebrate our 6th anniversary on Sunday. Good times. :)
Friday, June 14, 2013
May Days
I had an entire blog post drafted on my phone (first and last time for that) this week but it appears not to have saved anywhere so lets start over . . .
Aside from an amazing week in California, May was not my month. Lest everyone start to think I'm a total narcissist based on my last couple posts, I'll spare every detail because I definitely was not exercising the power of positive thinking.
Just days before we left on our trip, I came down with something totally bleh. Instead of getting better, it kept getting worse until some very unpleasant symptoms showed up one morning. I was in so much pain I could hardly function and didn't have a clue how I was going to take care of my kids all day. Of course all this happened on one of Brian's on-call days where he isn't allowed to leave the hospital and wouldn't be coming home that night. I knew I needed medical attention but I had no idea what to do with the kids, etc. I laid on my bed in tears and pleaded in prayer for help and 30 seconds later, Brian called and said he was on his way home to get me to take me to the hospital. Total miracle. So, I spent the next several hours in the hospital but by that night I felt worlds better. We're still not entirely sure what I had, but I don't care as long as it never comes back.
Right after we returned from our trip, I went on a walk with the kids (on another night Brian was working late--see a pattern here? Bad things happen when he doesn't get to come home.) and totally biffed it on some wet sidewalk. My left leg was all bloody and battered and I must have twisted my right ankle going down, because when I stood up I couldn't put any pressure on it. I thought for sure it was broken. I'm not sure how I made it home, it hurt so badly. James was a good helper when we got home, but I knew I couldn't take care of our wiggle worm Livy while hopping around on one foot, so I had no choice but to put her to bed way before she was ready and listen to her cry in her crib for awhile. Poor girl. Luckily, my foot isn't broken and every day the swelling goes down and it feels a little better. I feel so lucky this didn't happen before our trip. There is no way I could have walked around theme parks all day like we did.
Speaking of our trip, it was one of the most exhausting trips I've ever taken, but it was also a little slice of heaven. Just being on the west coast was pure bliss. What is it about California that speaks to me that way? The ocean, the perfect weather, the atmosphere. Mostly the ocean. It was so hard to leave. Of course, it's always nice to come back home and sleep in our own beds.
Thanks to his recent growth spurt, James was barely tall enough to ride the new Cars ride. Surprisingly, he didn't love it like we hoped he would. He was in heaven playing with all his cousins though. I feel like I barely saw him the entire trip. Even little Livy, though more tired than any of us, was surprisingly pleasant the entire time. You just can't escape the magic of Disney.
Notice James laying on the stroller in this picture. The poor kid was so worn out. So is our stroller, by the way. It's totally broken now from his lounging on it like that.
So, that was May. I'm totally going to try and embrace what will probably be our last summer ever in Tennessee. Here's to good times!
Aside from an amazing week in California, May was not my month. Lest everyone start to think I'm a total narcissist based on my last couple posts, I'll spare every detail because I definitely was not exercising the power of positive thinking.
Just days before we left on our trip, I came down with something totally bleh. Instead of getting better, it kept getting worse until some very unpleasant symptoms showed up one morning. I was in so much pain I could hardly function and didn't have a clue how I was going to take care of my kids all day. Of course all this happened on one of Brian's on-call days where he isn't allowed to leave the hospital and wouldn't be coming home that night. I knew I needed medical attention but I had no idea what to do with the kids, etc. I laid on my bed in tears and pleaded in prayer for help and 30 seconds later, Brian called and said he was on his way home to get me to take me to the hospital. Total miracle. So, I spent the next several hours in the hospital but by that night I felt worlds better. We're still not entirely sure what I had, but I don't care as long as it never comes back.
Right after we returned from our trip, I went on a walk with the kids (on another night Brian was working late--see a pattern here? Bad things happen when he doesn't get to come home.) and totally biffed it on some wet sidewalk. My left leg was all bloody and battered and I must have twisted my right ankle going down, because when I stood up I couldn't put any pressure on it. I thought for sure it was broken. I'm not sure how I made it home, it hurt so badly. James was a good helper when we got home, but I knew I couldn't take care of our wiggle worm Livy while hopping around on one foot, so I had no choice but to put her to bed way before she was ready and listen to her cry in her crib for awhile. Poor girl. Luckily, my foot isn't broken and every day the swelling goes down and it feels a little better. I feel so lucky this didn't happen before our trip. There is no way I could have walked around theme parks all day like we did.
Speaking of our trip, it was one of the most exhausting trips I've ever taken, but it was also a little slice of heaven. Just being on the west coast was pure bliss. What is it about California that speaks to me that way? The ocean, the perfect weather, the atmosphere. Mostly the ocean. It was so hard to leave. Of course, it's always nice to come back home and sleep in our own beds.
Thanks to his recent growth spurt, James was barely tall enough to ride the new Cars ride. Surprisingly, he didn't love it like we hoped he would. He was in heaven playing with all his cousins though. I feel like I barely saw him the entire trip. Even little Livy, though more tired than any of us, was surprisingly pleasant the entire time. You just can't escape the magic of Disney.
Notice James laying on the stroller in this picture. The poor kid was so worn out. So is our stroller, by the way. It's totally broken now from his lounging on it like that.
So, that was May. I'm totally going to try and embrace what will probably be our last summer ever in Tennessee. Here's to good times!
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