We hosted our first White Elephant gift exchange at our house last night. I dare say it was a rousing success!
I've had many different experiences with white elephant gift exchanges over the years ... it seems that often times my first experiences end up being bad/traumatic ones, so let's get the first story out of the way.
At my first white elephant gift exchange, I received a bag of pencil shavings. I still remember the girl who brought the present. At my first non-school white elephant party, I had to leave early, but instead of keeping the gift I had at the time (some DVD that looked mildly interesting) they kept trading and my husband ended up coming home with the gift he brought to the exchange, and DVD of a truly HORRIBLE 1943 film. I think I was mostly disappointed my husband came home with his own gift and didn't say anything.
Then it was followed by a few hilarious and awesome White Elephant/Ugly Sweater parties, and it restored my faith in white elephant exchanges. Yes, Virginia, there CAN be hilarious white elephant gift exchanges that don't end in bitterness and tears!
When Carmen was a baby, some friends hosted a white elephant gift exchange and we brought a HUGE 2 gallon jar of pickled jalapenos. We brought home a Barbie, and one of the most interesting gifts there was some warming massage lotion from the dollar store. Hmmm ... highly suspect ... we would all know what happened when, late some night, our neighbor busts out the front door screaming, "IT BURNS, IT BURNS! OH MY ... BACK!! MY LEGS!"
So we wanted to host a party where, generally, everyone could go home with something they didn't hate. I'm sure it helped that our friends were more familiar with what kinds of things were appropriate white elephant gifts (ie. NOT pencil shavings) ... and we invited kids, who I think can be excited about ANYTHING if you say it's a gift. ;)
I decided we should pack some extra presents so that either people could go home with a gift if they didn't bring one, or they could take home an un-lame present along with a lame one, or whatever.
So we packed a present I've been wanting to do for YEARS - a goofy autographed self-portrait. I had an 8x10 photo I printed of Mark earlier this year. There is a long backstory behind this ... in short, I have a friend whose little brother went on a mission, so they made this huge blanket of his face and had the blanket with them when they took family photos of major events while he was gone. Imagine something like, there's a wedding, and one of the wedding photos would have his face in it, or he's at a baby blessing, or whatever. I thought it was hilarious so I copied it. Mark was unable to come to a family reunion because he had very little vacation time from work. I ended up never using his photograph in a real picture, but hey! It was a funny thought!!
~~~AAAAAAANNNNYYYWAAAAAYYYYY. I had Mark autograph the photo and wrapped it up. My friend Kirsten opened it and was a very good sport and jealously hugged the photo all night long. She was even upset when her stepson stole the picture from her, and after they brought it home she told me her husband wanted to display it in the bathroom. That is probably the BEST place to display Mark's photo.
We figured if whoever took it didn't like it, they could always take out the photo and have a nice black picture frame!! Mark would never know. ;)
Carmen also has way too many bottles of nail polish. So I took a handful of the brightest neon-colored nail polishes and put them in a bag. SOME little girl would LOVE to have bright neon nail polish, right?
Last Christmas, we got TWO copies of the movie "17 Miracles". So the unopened one got wrapped up in pretty paper.
Several years ago, we went to DI and bought a whole bunch of Living Scriptures movies on VHS. We still don't have a VHS player, and ordered DVD sets of the Living Scriptures. As much as Mark makes fun of the movies, I LOOOOOOOOOVED the Living Scriptures movies as a kid!!! They made me the smartest kid in my Primary class because I knew all the stories!!!
When I was in high school, I had a weird obsession with scented candles. I have a ton of half-used scented candles stored in Carmen's closet ... so when I was at the dollar store, I saw a Skittles Cherry-scented candle and thought, "I HAVE to get one of these! Because I always think scented candles are nice, then I take them home and go WHAT WAS I THINKING?!" And since it was only a few dollars, I decided I had to include some kind of crazy fruity candy with it, so I found one of those fruit-flavored Twizzlers licorice things that is that nasty bright yellow color.
So that was our 5 weird presents we contributed to the gift exchange. Here are some of the things that got passed around:
~A metal combat helmet that looked like it was from WWII.
~A 4000 piece puzzle. It measures 98 cm x 138 cm. It probably weighs 5 pounds.
~A multi-purpose grater (it grates cheese and stuff). There were 5 or 6 of them all together in the bag. LOL!!!
~A set of 4 pretty sake glasses
~An abacus
~A corkscrew
~A set of pink measuring cups/spoons
~A Winnie-The-Pooh puzzle
~A checkers board
We ended up with a puzzle, the checkers board, and the Skittles candle/Twizzlers. Carmen wanted the candle and candy SO BADLY that she hid them under a pillow on the couch and sat on them. When one of the little boys came over and tried to steal it from her, she started crying until he decided to change his mind and take something else. ... Oh, three-year-olds, you are so funny ... At the end of the night, we traded the abacus for a 500-piece Kodak puzzle, because he would probably make better use of the abacus RIGHT NOW than we would.
I figured it would be fun to teach Carmen how to play Checkers. And the Checkers board is perfect - all of the pieces are plastic and cheap and the board will probably disintegrate in a year or two because it looks like it just laminated card board. Whoever brought that gift is a genius. Actually, ALL of the gifts at the exchange were genius! I'm so thankful for all of my friends who made this party AWESOME!!!!
Another great memory from last night is that we invited our next-door neighbors and they were gracious enough to come. When it came time for Richard to open his present, he opened the "17 Miracles" DVD and it was kind of hilarious to watch him read the back of the DVD, which proclaimed, "THE BEST FILM YET FROM MORMON CINEMA!"
"Oh, great," our friend Jonathan chimed in, "We are setting the bar pretty low here!!"
Ultimately, some Mormon who didn't own the movie went home with it. Phew. Glad it's found a new home!!
And our friend Tyler opened up the nail polish. He painted one of his nails neon green. His girlfriend, Gretchen, took home the measuring cups. Everyone was such good sports. I AM SO HAPPY. HAVE I TOLD YOU ENOUGH TIMES THAT I AM SO HAPPY OUR PARTY DIDN'T SUCK?!
But today I have a cold. I am staying home and hoping to rest and drink enough water that I can get better soon. Mark's sitting in with my Primary class (the other teacher is teaching today!) and I'm at home with the baby. Mace always cries during church because he usually takes a long nap after breakfast and wakes up around 10. (This year, church is from 8:30 to 11:30. It was good until Mace developed a sleeping schedule that involved a nap from 9ish to 10ish.) He just woke up from his nap and is happily playing on the floor, so I'm feeling pretty good despite my hot, scratchy throat and general exhausted-feeling-ness.
Showing posts with label anecdote. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anecdote. Show all posts
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Making your own baby food
I'm a cheap frugal person. If I can (easily) do something for way cheaper, I will do it. Since my whole adult life I've either been a student or a stay-at-home parent, so after studying and chores are done, finding ways to produce stuff for less is a good economic use of my time. I'm not a couponer or anything, but I generally cook my own food and shop sales.
That's part of the reason why I nurse (it's so much healthier, and formula makes poop smell gross, and formula costs money, and bottles are equipment I'll have to wash, and I'm just lazy like that!) and that's why I don't buy baby food.
I was at the grocery store the other day, and I happened to walk by the baby food aisle. Now that Mace is eating solids (and boy, is he eating!!) I buy rice cereal to mix in with stuff, but that's it. I figure a couple dollars for a big box of ... powdered rice/oats (whatever!) ... is an okay thing to spend money on. I can't make it myself. But then I look at the baby food, and think, "75 cents for a baby's-fist's-sized jar of ... peas? I can buy a whole POUND of frozen peas for a buck!!" How hard is it to boil some peas and stick 'em in a blender?
I guess then the question is, "If you make your own baby food ... do you have to make it in small batches or something so it doesn't go bad before your baby gets around to eating it? Jars of baby food are preserved." Simple solution: Freeze it! When Carmen was a baby, I read that you can put your homemade baby food into ice cube trays and freeze them. Then when it's time to eat, you just thaw the food cubes in the microwave and feed them to your baby. Voila! I fill ice cube trays with pureed food, then when they're frozen I transfer them into a big plastic Ziploc bag so I can make another batch of baby food. Easy peasy.
This is the website I use as my guide for feeding my baby. I love it, and it gives me ideas of the new foods I can introduce to my baby and when.
Mace started eating food at the beginning of November (he was about 6.5 months old). We started with rice cereal mixed with milk, then introduced applesauce and bananas and zucchini and whatnot. Applesauce is easy because you can buy it in BIG jars. Just be sure to buy applesauce that's just apples and not sugar.
Sometimes Mace wasn't a big fan of the new food I'd introduce to him. So I'd put the new food into a bowl of applesauce-rice and feed him mostly applesauce and a little bit of the new food, then increase the amount of the new food in each spoonful until he was eating the new food without complaint. Other times, I'll take one thawed cube of food (carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, whatever) and mix it into a big bowl of applesauce. I figure the flavors are mild enough that he won't notice the difference, and most of his nutrition comes from milk anyway. Supposedly. That kid eats so much it makes me wonder how he packs it all down (but he refuses to nurse more ... he wants food and squawks for it!). :p
I love how communicative Mace is about food. When he wakes up in the morning, I nurse him, and about 20 minutes later we all have breakfast together. Usually Mark makes bacon and eggs (sometimes I do) and I put Mace in his high chair. He bounces around and kicks his legs and smiles and grunts at us, and when I *finally* have his food ready, he LUNGES at the spoon and gobbles up whatever I'm feeding him. And when he's still hungry, he grunts at me and cries. If we're out somewhere and he's hungry and he sees us eating, he cries and reaches towards the food and growls "Rawwwrr, aaarrrgggghhhh!!! Um-um-um-um!!" until I let him have a little taste of whatever I'm eating that is OK for him to eat (if I'm eating out, I always try to order something that contains something Mace-friendly, or I stick a banana and a spoon in my diaper bag.) and then he lets out this really cute content noise, like, "Aaaahhh, mmmm-nom."
And it kind of makes my heart burst with love for him.
One of my favorite foods to feed him is banana, because we cut the banana in half and scoop the fruit out with a spoon. It's very self-contained and easy to do. Some people like giving their babies solid foods in little pieces to play with in their hands and feed themselves ... but I think that's very messy, so I'd rather be a clean control freak and spoon-feed them myself. When Mace gets teeth, I'll give him little bits of food he can chew on (like red bell peppers) that won't get all mushy and messy and gross.
Our schedule goes something like this:
Morning - nurse, breakfast
Then I try to go to the gym after he takes a brief nap
Noonish - nurse, lunch
Afternoon nurse
He takes a short nap at some point in the afternoon, either before or after the afternoon nursing, depending on when he gets cranky
Evening - nurse, dinner, bed.
Most of the time, the food is some kind of combination of vegetable cube mixed with applesauce, and half a banana. Mace eats 1-2 bananas a day. O.o And yet he still poops (bananas and applesauce can constipate.)
Random fact of the day: applesauce constipates (you lose a lot of the fiber when you peel apples) but apple juice helps loosen things up (because of the liquids and sugar). Both are made of apples, but have different effects. But if you REALLY need to help your kid empty their bowels, PRUNE JUICE. You can either give it to them in a bottle, or mix it with baby cereal. Rice cereal will also contribute to constipation, so you might want to switch to oat cereal.
Okay, enough about poop.
My kid sleeps from 7 to 7. Sometimes even later. HOW DID I GET SO LUCKY?! And he started sleeping through the night in September, after we moved into our house and gave him his own room (instead of, you know, our closet.)
I used to wake Mace up to nurse him around 10 or 11 before I went to bed (you know how cows love to be milked in the morning and feel uncomfortable? I HAVE SO MUCH EMPATHY FOR COWS. YOU MEN HAVE NO IDEA.) but then there were a few nights where Mace was not interested in nursing and seemed cranky that I would wake him up in the middle of the night. Your body adjusts to your nursing times, so now I no longer get SO uncomfortable at night right before I get to bed.
I love having a 7-month-old. They are so much fun, and expressive, and playful, and AWESOME. Sometimes I wish he wasn't so clingy, but the nice thing is that since he has an older sister and two cats, there are bunch of other people around to entertain him. I just can't leave him in the same room as Carmen for a long time, because eventually she leaves and he gets lonely and upset. He can craw, but he hasn't yet figured out how to switch ROOMS. He'll just beeline towards a toy and stuff it in his mouth.
Well, it's either a toy or it's cat food. NOM NOM NOM.
That's part of the reason why I nurse (it's so much healthier, and formula makes poop smell gross, and formula costs money, and bottles are equipment I'll have to wash, and I'm just lazy like that!) and that's why I don't buy baby food.
I was at the grocery store the other day, and I happened to walk by the baby food aisle. Now that Mace is eating solids (and boy, is he eating!!) I buy rice cereal to mix in with stuff, but that's it. I figure a couple dollars for a big box of ... powdered rice/oats (whatever!) ... is an okay thing to spend money on. I can't make it myself. But then I look at the baby food, and think, "75 cents for a baby's-fist's-sized jar of ... peas? I can buy a whole POUND of frozen peas for a buck!!" How hard is it to boil some peas and stick 'em in a blender?
I guess then the question is, "If you make your own baby food ... do you have to make it in small batches or something so it doesn't go bad before your baby gets around to eating it? Jars of baby food are preserved." Simple solution: Freeze it! When Carmen was a baby, I read that you can put your homemade baby food into ice cube trays and freeze them. Then when it's time to eat, you just thaw the food cubes in the microwave and feed them to your baby. Voila! I fill ice cube trays with pureed food, then when they're frozen I transfer them into a big plastic Ziploc bag so I can make another batch of baby food. Easy peasy.
This is the website I use as my guide for feeding my baby. I love it, and it gives me ideas of the new foods I can introduce to my baby and when.
Mace started eating food at the beginning of November (he was about 6.5 months old). We started with rice cereal mixed with milk, then introduced applesauce and bananas and zucchini and whatnot. Applesauce is easy because you can buy it in BIG jars. Just be sure to buy applesauce that's just apples and not sugar.
Sometimes Mace wasn't a big fan of the new food I'd introduce to him. So I'd put the new food into a bowl of applesauce-rice and feed him mostly applesauce and a little bit of the new food, then increase the amount of the new food in each spoonful until he was eating the new food without complaint. Other times, I'll take one thawed cube of food (carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, whatever) and mix it into a big bowl of applesauce. I figure the flavors are mild enough that he won't notice the difference, and most of his nutrition comes from milk anyway. Supposedly. That kid eats so much it makes me wonder how he packs it all down (but he refuses to nurse more ... he wants food and squawks for it!). :p
I love how communicative Mace is about food. When he wakes up in the morning, I nurse him, and about 20 minutes later we all have breakfast together. Usually Mark makes bacon and eggs (sometimes I do) and I put Mace in his high chair. He bounces around and kicks his legs and smiles and grunts at us, and when I *finally* have his food ready, he LUNGES at the spoon and gobbles up whatever I'm feeding him. And when he's still hungry, he grunts at me and cries. If we're out somewhere and he's hungry and he sees us eating, he cries and reaches towards the food and growls "Rawwwrr, aaarrrgggghhhh!!! Um-um-um-um!!" until I let him have a little taste of whatever I'm eating that is OK for him to eat (if I'm eating out, I always try to order something that contains something Mace-friendly, or I stick a banana and a spoon in my diaper bag.) and then he lets out this really cute content noise, like, "Aaaahhh, mmmm-nom."
And it kind of makes my heart burst with love for him.
One of my favorite foods to feed him is banana, because we cut the banana in half and scoop the fruit out with a spoon. It's very self-contained and easy to do. Some people like giving their babies solid foods in little pieces to play with in their hands and feed themselves ... but I think that's very messy, so I'd rather be a clean control freak and spoon-feed them myself. When Mace gets teeth, I'll give him little bits of food he can chew on (like red bell peppers) that won't get all mushy and messy and gross.
Our schedule goes something like this:
Morning - nurse, breakfast
Then I try to go to the gym after he takes a brief nap
Noonish - nurse, lunch
Afternoon nurse
He takes a short nap at some point in the afternoon, either before or after the afternoon nursing, depending on when he gets cranky
Evening - nurse, dinner, bed.
Most of the time, the food is some kind of combination of vegetable cube mixed with applesauce, and half a banana. Mace eats 1-2 bananas a day. O.o And yet he still poops (bananas and applesauce can constipate.)
Random fact of the day: applesauce constipates (you lose a lot of the fiber when you peel apples) but apple juice helps loosen things up (because of the liquids and sugar). Both are made of apples, but have different effects. But if you REALLY need to help your kid empty their bowels, PRUNE JUICE. You can either give it to them in a bottle, or mix it with baby cereal. Rice cereal will also contribute to constipation, so you might want to switch to oat cereal.
Okay, enough about poop.
My kid sleeps from 7 to 7. Sometimes even later. HOW DID I GET SO LUCKY?! And he started sleeping through the night in September, after we moved into our house and gave him his own room (instead of, you know, our closet.)
I used to wake Mace up to nurse him around 10 or 11 before I went to bed (you know how cows love to be milked in the morning and feel uncomfortable? I HAVE SO MUCH EMPATHY FOR COWS. YOU MEN HAVE NO IDEA.) but then there were a few nights where Mace was not interested in nursing and seemed cranky that I would wake him up in the middle of the night. Your body adjusts to your nursing times, so now I no longer get SO uncomfortable at night right before I get to bed.
I love having a 7-month-old. They are so much fun, and expressive, and playful, and AWESOME. Sometimes I wish he wasn't so clingy, but the nice thing is that since he has an older sister and two cats, there are bunch of other people around to entertain him. I just can't leave him in the same room as Carmen for a long time, because eventually she leaves and he gets lonely and upset. He can craw, but he hasn't yet figured out how to switch ROOMS. He'll just beeline towards a toy and stuff it in his mouth.
Well, it's either a toy or it's cat food. NOM NOM NOM.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Apparently this is a post about hats
Okay, so now I really ought to start writing again. Recording the memorable/everyday events of our family. So I'm starting today. Here goes!!
Yesterday was my mom's birthday. I used to always tell people she was turning 21 again, but now that I'm 25, it's getting harder and harder to convince people of that. ;)
The important thing isn't that yesterday was Mom's birthday - it was that she flew to Austin to come visit us!! She was going to come on Halloween and stay for a week, but at the last minute she decided she'd rather come later in the month. It actually turned out really well, because Mace started crawling a few weeks ago. :) I'm pretty sure that makes Mom's trip so much more exciting and fun, to have a crawling grandbaby. <3
We picked up Mom from the airport, then went to Mark's new job downtown, then ate dinner at the taco food truck by Mark's work (SO SO GOOD), then went over to 6th Street to look at hats at The Hat Box. Mark has been asking me for weeks about getting a new hat from that place. He has a coworker who, apparently, wears *amazing hats* and he got them all from The Hat Box. Mark had a famous hat for a few years, but then we last it at Disneyland last year. Funny coincidence: It was a hat we bought from the Indiana Jones store, and we lost it 3 years later on the Indiana Jones ride. :(
Old hat:
New hat:
We actually bought two new hats for Mark, but I only have a picture of this one. The other one looks a bit more like the old hat. Now I'm going to go on a hat tangent ... hats are big in Mark's family. Sort of. His brother, James, tends to wear hats and looks good in them. We might get him a hat for Christmas (I doubt James will read this. phew.) Mark's dad tends to wear fisherman hats. But I don't have a picture of it. Maybe some day!
I guess Mark looks really good in hats. I'm just ... not used to them. I don't wear hats. Dang. He's right. He looks good in hats. I should stop encouraging him to dress like a bum. I'm such a boring t-shirt and jeans-type girl.
Okay, maybe he doesn't always look great in hats. But that doesn't stop him from always trying them on.
Hm, somehow this turned into an entry about hats! Okay! So anyway, Mark got some nice new expensive hats last night as his Christmas present.
Today, I went to the gym in the morning to let Mom have some quiet time to get ready for the day. All week long, Mace has been clingy and has cried (loudly!) the whole time I've been gone ... Usually the people in the gym day care try to let me work out for at least an hour if my baby is fussy, but this week has been so bad they've called me back after 20 minutes. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. I had an appointment with a personal trainer last week who gave me a list of things to do, and this week I learned to immediately hit the machines fast and hard, because I'd probably only have 20 minutes to work out. Hah! But then today, he was pretty cheerful and I got a whole hour in! I was able to do all of the lifting I wanted to do, and I even got some time on the elliptical to read my Book Club book (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks). When I came back to the day care to pick my kids up (I wanted to go home and keep my mom company), Mace had just fallen asleep in the swing. Aww~ <3
Mace took a ridiculously long nap in the afternoon, and when he finally woke up we went shopping with Mom on a Christmas quest to find an elf to do the "elf on a shelf" thing. I hadn't really heard of this until a few years ago, when a friend of a friend posted pictures on her Livejournal of this weird cute little Christmas elf. Apparently it's like a little gnome you hide around the house at Christmas time, and the kids get excited trying to figure out where the elf is hiding. We couldn't find an elf, so Carmen picked out a Christmas puppy. Close enough. ;)
Then we went to the mall to ride on the carousel and walk around. There's a little kids' play area by the carousel and Carmen likes to go play with the little kids. Since Mace is crawling, I set him out on the floor and let him watch the bigger kids play. He is kind of a road block, and other moms are constantly telling their kids to watch out for the baby and be careful. I'm not sure if I'm being helpful (now they are more aware of other people when they are playing!) or if I'm being annoying (why the eff is that weirdo mom letting her baby potentially get run over by packs of 3-year-olds?!) but I don't care if a little kid runs over Mace. It will make up for the fact that he doesn't have a whole bunch of older siblings to maul him! He only has Carmen!
It was really funny to watch the kids play at the mall. They ran around in circles screaming, "AAAAUUUGGGHH IT'S THE BABY MONSTER! HE IS GOING TO GET US!" and they would run away, as Mace smiled at them and got up on his hands and knees and rocked back and forth. He didn't really want to go anywhere, so he just spun around in circles, watching kids and smiling, then occasionally coming over to Mom or me to gnaw on our shoes. Oh, baby Mace, how I love you.
So .... that was our day.
And here's a picture of my mom ... she and Mace were matching today! It was not intentional!
Wow. Writing this was fun. I think I'll do this more often.
Yesterday was my mom's birthday. I used to always tell people she was turning 21 again, but now that I'm 25, it's getting harder and harder to convince people of that. ;)
The important thing isn't that yesterday was Mom's birthday - it was that she flew to Austin to come visit us!! She was going to come on Halloween and stay for a week, but at the last minute she decided she'd rather come later in the month. It actually turned out really well, because Mace started crawling a few weeks ago. :) I'm pretty sure that makes Mom's trip so much more exciting and fun, to have a crawling grandbaby. <3
We picked up Mom from the airport, then went to Mark's new job downtown, then ate dinner at the taco food truck by Mark's work (SO SO GOOD), then went over to 6th Street to look at hats at The Hat Box. Mark has been asking me for weeks about getting a new hat from that place. He has a coworker who, apparently, wears *amazing hats* and he got them all from The Hat Box. Mark had a famous hat for a few years, but then we last it at Disneyland last year. Funny coincidence: It was a hat we bought from the Indiana Jones store, and we lost it 3 years later on the Indiana Jones ride. :(
Old hat:
 |
| Carmen wearing Mark's hat! |
 |
| Mace wearing Mark's hat! ... why do I not have any pictures of Mark in his own hats?! |
I guess Mark looks really good in hats. I'm just ... not used to them. I don't wear hats. Dang. He's right. He looks good in hats. I should stop encouraging him to dress like a bum. I'm such a boring t-shirt and jeans-type girl.
 |
| Jorgen's wedding, February 2011 |
 |
| From our Mexico cruise in February 2010. He tried on my cousin Emery's hat. |
 |
| Taken some time in ... 2007? One of our poor newlywed dates to DI where we bought a $35 couch. |
Today, I went to the gym in the morning to let Mom have some quiet time to get ready for the day. All week long, Mace has been clingy and has cried (loudly!) the whole time I've been gone ... Usually the people in the gym day care try to let me work out for at least an hour if my baby is fussy, but this week has been so bad they've called me back after 20 minutes. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. I had an appointment with a personal trainer last week who gave me a list of things to do, and this week I learned to immediately hit the machines fast and hard, because I'd probably only have 20 minutes to work out. Hah! But then today, he was pretty cheerful and I got a whole hour in! I was able to do all of the lifting I wanted to do, and I even got some time on the elliptical to read my Book Club book (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks). When I came back to the day care to pick my kids up (I wanted to go home and keep my mom company), Mace had just fallen asleep in the swing. Aww~ <3
Mace took a ridiculously long nap in the afternoon, and when he finally woke up we went shopping with Mom on a Christmas quest to find an elf to do the "elf on a shelf" thing. I hadn't really heard of this until a few years ago, when a friend of a friend posted pictures on her Livejournal of this weird cute little Christmas elf. Apparently it's like a little gnome you hide around the house at Christmas time, and the kids get excited trying to figure out where the elf is hiding. We couldn't find an elf, so Carmen picked out a Christmas puppy. Close enough. ;)
Then we went to the mall to ride on the carousel and walk around. There's a little kids' play area by the carousel and Carmen likes to go play with the little kids. Since Mace is crawling, I set him out on the floor and let him watch the bigger kids play. He is kind of a road block, and other moms are constantly telling their kids to watch out for the baby and be careful. I'm not sure if I'm being helpful (now they are more aware of other people when they are playing!) or if I'm being annoying (why the eff is that weirdo mom letting her baby potentially get run over by packs of 3-year-olds?!) but I don't care if a little kid runs over Mace. It will make up for the fact that he doesn't have a whole bunch of older siblings to maul him! He only has Carmen!
It was really funny to watch the kids play at the mall. They ran around in circles screaming, "AAAAUUUGGGHH IT'S THE BABY MONSTER! HE IS GOING TO GET US!" and they would run away, as Mace smiled at them and got up on his hands and knees and rocked back and forth. He didn't really want to go anywhere, so he just spun around in circles, watching kids and smiling, then occasionally coming over to Mom or me to gnaw on our shoes. Oh, baby Mace, how I love you.
So .... that was our day.
And here's a picture of my mom ... she and Mace were matching today! It was not intentional!
 |
| Don't you think she looks 21? |
Wow. Writing this was fun. I think I'll do this more often.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
You can't outsmart babies ...
Pro tip: When you have a baby, never do all of your laundry. That way, when your child inevitably makes something dirty by spitting up or peeing on it, you will be able to wash it without wasting water on a small load of laundry!
I like being prepared for emergencies. When I go out, I make sure my diaper bag is packed with everything I need: diapers, wipes, a pacifier, a blanket, a burp cloth (Carmen didn't spit up. Mace does. I need to get used to this.), emergency outfits, etc. Last week at church, we learned that we should pack extra blankets, too. For some reason, when it's unreasonably hot outside, they feel the need to make the building unreasonably cold inside. That way, your body is always in shock. Maybe it's to keep everyone awake during Sunday School?
Anyway, today I was feeling REALLY PREPARED when I got to church because we had our extra outfits and blankets on hand. But we got to church and I realized I left my burp cloth (just a plain ol' cloth diaper) at home. Oh, well, I guess that's what paper towels are for.
Mace got hungry about 3/4 of the way through Sacrament Meeting, which I think is awesome because then he won't get hungry in the middle of Relief Society (assuming he's not going through a growth spurt). I went into the mother's room and fed him. He burped but didn't spit up on me (hooray!) and I began to change his diaper. Of course, I thought, "The changing table is so cold; I'll just leave his blanket under him for a few seconds while I change his diaper." I had his new diaper on him and everything and was about to fasten it when ....... he peed. Luckily it missed me and his outfit, but the blanket was done for. FOILED!
But! I had the other blanket. Go me! I picked him up and he rested his head on my shoulder while I washed my hands .... and he spat up all over my sleeve. What?! Dude, you ate 10 minutes ago and I burped you; why are you spitting up now?? Foiled again!
He spent the next 20 minutes or so sporadically spitting up milk. He also managed to get my skirt.
Sigh. No matter how hard you try, you just can't win! At least it cleans up pretty easily ... for the most part ... and he is such a happy, cute, quiet baby. I'll take spitting up over screaming any day! ;)
I like being prepared for emergencies. When I go out, I make sure my diaper bag is packed with everything I need: diapers, wipes, a pacifier, a blanket, a burp cloth (Carmen didn't spit up. Mace does. I need to get used to this.), emergency outfits, etc. Last week at church, we learned that we should pack extra blankets, too. For some reason, when it's unreasonably hot outside, they feel the need to make the building unreasonably cold inside. That way, your body is always in shock. Maybe it's to keep everyone awake during Sunday School?
Anyway, today I was feeling REALLY PREPARED when I got to church because we had our extra outfits and blankets on hand. But we got to church and I realized I left my burp cloth (just a plain ol' cloth diaper) at home. Oh, well, I guess that's what paper towels are for.
Mace got hungry about 3/4 of the way through Sacrament Meeting, which I think is awesome because then he won't get hungry in the middle of Relief Society (assuming he's not going through a growth spurt). I went into the mother's room and fed him. He burped but didn't spit up on me (hooray!) and I began to change his diaper. Of course, I thought, "The changing table is so cold; I'll just leave his blanket under him for a few seconds while I change his diaper." I had his new diaper on him and everything and was about to fasten it when ....... he peed. Luckily it missed me and his outfit, but the blanket was done for. FOILED!
But! I had the other blanket. Go me! I picked him up and he rested his head on my shoulder while I washed my hands .... and he spat up all over my sleeve. What?! Dude, you ate 10 minutes ago and I burped you; why are you spitting up now?? Foiled again!
He spent the next 20 minutes or so sporadically spitting up milk. He also managed to get my skirt.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
My Little Mommy
Today, it was quiet (nap) time and Carmen didn't really want to go down. I let her not sleep as long as she stays quiet in her room for at least an hour. Usually I hear her playing for a little while, then come in and find her asleep somewhere. Sometimes it's in her bed, sometimes it's on the floor. So cute!!!
Anywho, today I was really tired and decided I would nap during her nap time, too. We were laying in her bed reading and she leaned over, sang a little song, kissed my face, put one of her little blankets on me, and went outside and drew pictures of the kittens. I had a good hour-long nap.
IT WAS SO CUTE.
I called Dad and told him about it, and he said, "It's good to know someone's taking care of you while Mark's at work!"
Anywho, today I was really tired and decided I would nap during her nap time, too. We were laying in her bed reading and she leaned over, sang a little song, kissed my face, put one of her little blankets on me, and went outside and drew pictures of the kittens. I had a good hour-long nap.
IT WAS SO CUTE.
I called Dad and told him about it, and he said, "It's good to know someone's taking care of you while Mark's at work!"
Monday, August 29, 2011
2-year-olds are hilarious
I love talking to Carmen and hearing her talk. We had a blast on the Oregon coast with all of her Dewey cousins and aunts and uncles.
Mark's sister, Karen, has a sweet husky named Koda. Carmen fell in love with him and figured out how to get along with him. They snuggled a lot and did a lot of chase, and the most common phrase I heard from Carmen was, "Ohhhhhhh, he give me kisses!!!!"
On one of our last nights there, we had the following exchange:
Carmen: Koda's my doggy!
Me: Actually, he's Karen's doggy. Karen is Koda's mommy.
Carmen: *thoughtful pause* No, he's my doggy. We'll buy him!
Ben (Karen's husband, happens to be walking outside at that moment): SOLD!!!
They had offered to trade their dog for our two-year-old. I'm sorry to say the offer wasn't the least bit tempting. ;)
Another time, we were doing a final load of laundry before packing all of our stuff to go home. We got some clothes from Mark's parents, and Mark's dad decided that this might be a good time to sneak off and take a shower. Carmen walks past my in-laws' bedroom and goes, "*gasp!* Grandpa Larry is naked!"
I nod my head a little and try to talk about something else, hoping she's done with her announcement for the day. Sometimes they'll stop if you don't draw attention to it. But this is an exciting deal to her. She continues. "Mommy, Grandpa Larry is naked! HE'S NAKED, MOMMY! Grandpa Larry's NAAAAAAAKED!!!"
Finally, my father-in-law manages to stand up for himself and he squeaks out, "Carmen, I'm not completely naked! I'm wearing a towel!"
"Oh, he's not completely naked, Mommy. Grandpa Larry's wearing a towel!"
"Thank you." and he scurries off to the bathroom without further incident.
You just can't hide anything from a 2-year-old.
Mark's sister, Karen, has a sweet husky named Koda. Carmen fell in love with him and figured out how to get along with him. They snuggled a lot and did a lot of chase, and the most common phrase I heard from Carmen was, "Ohhhhhhh, he give me kisses!!!!"
On one of our last nights there, we had the following exchange:
Carmen: Koda's my doggy!
Me: Actually, he's Karen's doggy. Karen is Koda's mommy.
Carmen: *thoughtful pause* No, he's my doggy. We'll buy him!
Ben (Karen's husband, happens to be walking outside at that moment): SOLD!!!
They had offered to trade their dog for our two-year-old. I'm sorry to say the offer wasn't the least bit tempting. ;)
Another time, we were doing a final load of laundry before packing all of our stuff to go home. We got some clothes from Mark's parents, and Mark's dad decided that this might be a good time to sneak off and take a shower. Carmen walks past my in-laws' bedroom and goes, "*gasp!* Grandpa Larry is naked!"
I nod my head a little and try to talk about something else, hoping she's done with her announcement for the day. Sometimes they'll stop if you don't draw attention to it. But this is an exciting deal to her. She continues. "Mommy, Grandpa Larry is naked! HE'S NAKED, MOMMY! Grandpa Larry's NAAAAAAAKED!!!"
Finally, my father-in-law manages to stand up for himself and he squeaks out, "Carmen, I'm not completely naked! I'm wearing a towel!"
"Oh, he's not completely naked, Mommy. Grandpa Larry's wearing a towel!"
"Thank you." and he scurries off to the bathroom without further incident.
You just can't hide anything from a 2-year-old.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Looking forward to Texas
I promise to have a real blog update some time soon, but I somehow managed to accidentally delete all the pictures from Carmen's birthday party and I've been too embarrassed to post since then. I've also been busy doing things like apartment-huntinrg in Austin, playing lots of video games, watching Sadie, planning vacations, etc. I have another blog I write in that's more like a personal journal in which I ramble about my life and thoughts and opinions and stuff, so this blog kind of gets last priority.
Anyway, in case you haven't heard, in May, Mark got a job offer in Austin! They originally wanted him to start June 6 (haha, no way!) and we managed to get them to push back his start date to July 11th. We went apartment hunting over Memorial Day weekend and found a great two-bedroom apartment to live in. It's about 1.3 miles from Mark's work, about a mile and a half to the gym, and about 2 miles to go to Mark's work via the gym. Score! It's also a mile from the mall and across the street from the backside of Wal-Mart. Could life get any better? Maybe only if Costco were next to the mall. ;)
After going to James' wedding in Rhode Island last month, I've decided I could never live out East. It never really occurred to me before that there could be a place I wouldn't enjoy living. But I guess I truly am a Westerner. Out East, it's too flat and there's too much traffic and the people are rude and the culture is different and they don't drink tap water ... but their accents are awesome! There's a lot of neat history. It's a fine place for a vacation. But I no longer wish to live in Boston or Baltimore or Washington, DC. I like it here, with the mountains and the wide open spaces and the genuinely friendly and easy-going people (who may or may not drive like retards, but hey!) and the non-accents. I was once told that people from Colorado don't have identifiable accents and that tends to be what the national newscasters sound like. SWEET.
But when we were in Austin, there were some definite accents going on. It's not as bad as what I hear out of people from eastern Texas ... I guess it's because they're close to Louisiana and Mississippi and those other Southern places where they've got REAL strong Southern accents. So cute, but ... yikes! What if my kids grow up with Southern accents?! Would that be better than a Utah Valley accent? Anyway. I've been having Carmen practice saying "y'all" and I've been trying to get myself to replace "you guys" with "y'all" in my head so I sound less out of place. ;)
We also almost moved to Austin instead of Seattle when I was a junior in high school. How different life might've been ...
A few things that make me really excited about moving to Austin:
-I've always been a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl. Now I will never feel under dressed around my friends! But I wear flip-flops, not cowboy boots ... hopefully that will be okay. ;)
-I love the genuinely friendly "I just met you but we're gonna be real friendly and pretend we're already friends" attitude everyone has. It's like I'm surrounded by a bunch of people a bit like me!
-I can finally admit I like some country music without shame!!
Mom and Dad like to tell the following story:
When my little brother Logan was a baby, he would turn the radio knob until it was just off a rock station and you could hear the beat through the static. When I was a baby, I'd always turn the knob to country. My parents were convinced I was either a) not theirs, or b) genetically mutated. My self-proclaimed childhood theme song was "She's A Wild One" by Faith Hill ... you know, the one that goes, When she was 3 years old on her daddy's knee/He said, You can be anything you wanna be/She's a wild one runnin' free.
-I still think the accents are adorable.
-FRONTAGE ROADS
Things that scare me:
-I keep feeling like we're going to end up staying and my kids will grow up Texan.
-It's far away from my family (in Seattle). It's far away from EVERYTHING.
-I grew up in Phoenix, where it is also hot ... but dry. Will I be able to handle the humidity? The epic hair battle continues.
Speaking of hair, I've been growing it out for a while and now it's about halfway down my back! I love it!!
Anyway, in case you haven't heard, in May, Mark got a job offer in Austin! They originally wanted him to start June 6 (haha, no way!) and we managed to get them to push back his start date to July 11th. We went apartment hunting over Memorial Day weekend and found a great two-bedroom apartment to live in. It's about 1.3 miles from Mark's work, about a mile and a half to the gym, and about 2 miles to go to Mark's work via the gym. Score! It's also a mile from the mall and across the street from the backside of Wal-Mart. Could life get any better? Maybe only if Costco were next to the mall. ;)
After going to James' wedding in Rhode Island last month, I've decided I could never live out East. It never really occurred to me before that there could be a place I wouldn't enjoy living. But I guess I truly am a Westerner. Out East, it's too flat and there's too much traffic and the people are rude and the culture is different and they don't drink tap water ... but their accents are awesome! There's a lot of neat history. It's a fine place for a vacation. But I no longer wish to live in Boston or Baltimore or Washington, DC. I like it here, with the mountains and the wide open spaces and the genuinely friendly and easy-going people (who may or may not drive like retards, but hey!) and the non-accents. I was once told that people from Colorado don't have identifiable accents and that tends to be what the national newscasters sound like. SWEET.
But when we were in Austin, there were some definite accents going on. It's not as bad as what I hear out of people from eastern Texas ... I guess it's because they're close to Louisiana and Mississippi and those other Southern places where they've got REAL strong Southern accents. So cute, but ... yikes! What if my kids grow up with Southern accents?! Would that be better than a Utah Valley accent? Anyway. I've been having Carmen practice saying "y'all" and I've been trying to get myself to replace "you guys" with "y'all" in my head so I sound less out of place. ;)
We also almost moved to Austin instead of Seattle when I was a junior in high school. How different life might've been ...
A few things that make me really excited about moving to Austin:
-I've always been a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl. Now I will never feel under dressed around my friends! But I wear flip-flops, not cowboy boots ... hopefully that will be okay. ;)
-I love the genuinely friendly "I just met you but we're gonna be real friendly and pretend we're already friends" attitude everyone has. It's like I'm surrounded by a bunch of people a bit like me!
-I can finally admit I like some country music without shame!!
Mom and Dad like to tell the following story:
When my little brother Logan was a baby, he would turn the radio knob until it was just off a rock station and you could hear the beat through the static. When I was a baby, I'd always turn the knob to country. My parents were convinced I was either a) not theirs, or b) genetically mutated. My self-proclaimed childhood theme song was "She's A Wild One" by Faith Hill ... you know, the one that goes, When she was 3 years old on her daddy's knee/He said, You can be anything you wanna be/She's a wild one runnin' free.
-I still think the accents are adorable.
-FRONTAGE ROADS
Things that scare me:
-I keep feeling like we're going to end up staying and my kids will grow up Texan.
-It's far away from my family (in Seattle). It's far away from EVERYTHING.
-I grew up in Phoenix, where it is also hot ... but dry. Will I be able to handle the humidity? The epic hair battle continues.
Speaking of hair, I've been growing it out for a while and now it's about halfway down my back! I love it!!
Monday, April 18, 2011
You know the phrase "retarded cat" is redundant, right?
Random thoughts of the day:
A few things I love:
It's so much fun watching Carmen pick up new words and express her interests and thoughts. Every day, we pass the Mount Timpanogos temple on our way to Sadie's school. I've pointed it out a few times, and today on our way back Carmen pointed out the window and said, "Temple!!! Look!" (Sure, it was "tampoo" but still!) It reminds me of my friend's kid who was watching Star Wars and said, "Hey, it's Moroni!" when he saw C-3PO. Ha ha!
I also like how instead of asking to be picked up, Carmen says, "I hold you!"
Carmen loves the song "Popcorn Popping" and knows two parts: "me" in "Spring has brought me such a nice surprise" and "Soooo!" in "It wasn't really so".
This morning, we stopped at the Wal-Mart by Sadie's school before dropping her off. Carmen recognized the direction we were going, and when we pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot, Carmen turned to Sadie and waved and said, "Bye bye, Sadie!"
I went to the gym last week and when I came back to pick Carmen up from the day care, the ladies said, "Carmen had a rough time this morning. There was a baby crying and she really wanted to comfort it, but every time she would snuggle the baby and try to pick it up, the baby would cry even harder. We had to tell Carmen to leave the baby alone and told her to sit away from the baby, and Carmen sat there and pouted and glared at us." I'm sure that actually it was quite comical.
I love kids' empathy. They are the biggest sweethearts in the world!!!
Also, our cats are hilarious. Every time I open a closet door, Ravis comes BOUNDING across the house and DIVES into the closet. So I shut the door on him, and a few minutes later he starts meowing. I open the door and he's got this confused look on his face, like, "What just happened?" and he comes out of the closet. So our cats are both retarded AND gay.
Some things I love about having a 2-year-old:
~Fewer diaper changes (looking forward to when she's ready to potty train!)
~Able to feed themselves
~Able to talk and express themselves
~HILARIOUS when they talk
~They understand you
~They are independent and can move and climb onto things and do things for themselves. Sure, they can get into things, but exploring is so important for learning!
~I even love temper tantrums. It gives us a chance to learn how to appropriately express emotions and deal with them.
I'm also looking forward to when Carmen gets even older. We found a "letter" Sadie wrote in her kindergarten class, and it says, "Dear SADIE To SADIE From SADIE." Guess what word Sadie knows how to write? ;) It's adorable!!
The first year is pretty hard because it seems like it's all maintenance. But then it pays off for the rest of time!!!! Awesome awesome awesome!
A few things I love:
It's so much fun watching Carmen pick up new words and express her interests and thoughts. Every day, we pass the Mount Timpanogos temple on our way to Sadie's school. I've pointed it out a few times, and today on our way back Carmen pointed out the window and said, "Temple!!! Look!" (Sure, it was "tampoo" but still!) It reminds me of my friend's kid who was watching Star Wars and said, "Hey, it's Moroni!" when he saw C-3PO. Ha ha!
I also like how instead of asking to be picked up, Carmen says, "I hold you!"
Carmen loves the song "Popcorn Popping" and knows two parts: "me" in "Spring has brought me such a nice surprise" and "Soooo!" in "It wasn't really so".
This morning, we stopped at the Wal-Mart by Sadie's school before dropping her off. Carmen recognized the direction we were going, and when we pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot, Carmen turned to Sadie and waved and said, "Bye bye, Sadie!"
I went to the gym last week and when I came back to pick Carmen up from the day care, the ladies said, "Carmen had a rough time this morning. There was a baby crying and she really wanted to comfort it, but every time she would snuggle the baby and try to pick it up, the baby would cry even harder. We had to tell Carmen to leave the baby alone and told her to sit away from the baby, and Carmen sat there and pouted and glared at us." I'm sure that actually it was quite comical.
I love kids' empathy. They are the biggest sweethearts in the world!!!
Also, our cats are hilarious. Every time I open a closet door, Ravis comes BOUNDING across the house and DIVES into the closet. So I shut the door on him, and a few minutes later he starts meowing. I open the door and he's got this confused look on his face, like, "What just happened?" and he comes out of the closet. So our cats are both retarded AND gay.
Some things I love about having a 2-year-old:
~Fewer diaper changes (looking forward to when she's ready to potty train!)
~Able to feed themselves
~Able to talk and express themselves
~HILARIOUS when they talk
~They understand you
~They are independent and can move and climb onto things and do things for themselves. Sure, they can get into things, but exploring is so important for learning!
~I even love temper tantrums. It gives us a chance to learn how to appropriately express emotions and deal with them.
I'm also looking forward to when Carmen gets even older. We found a "letter" Sadie wrote in her kindergarten class, and it says, "Dear SADIE To SADIE From SADIE." Guess what word Sadie knows how to write? ;) It's adorable!!
The first year is pretty hard because it seems like it's all maintenance. But then it pays off for the rest of time!!!! Awesome awesome awesome!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child
Well, I'm back from my vacation in Sammamish! It's fun to go out and see my family, but at the same time it's wonderful to be back home. I have my own bed, my own food, my own neighborhood, my own schedule ... Carmen loved staying up late partying with her uber-exciting aunts and uncles. She also loved sleeping in and napping right before dinner. We're still slowly adjusting her schedule back to normal. ;)
I really appreciated Elder Cook's talk in Conference on Saturday morning. I have to wait until the transcriptions come out online before I can do a lot of analysis on the talk, but I loved how he talked about how valuable mothers are and acknowledged all kinds of mothers (those who work, those who stay at home, and those who are single, etc) and praised them. I felt appreciated and loved, even though motherhood tends to be undervalued (read: unpaid!!) I liked how he talked about telling a nonmember about women serving in the Church and she said, "The last thing women need is another unpaid job."
I've loved and valued work and education so much in my life that it's sometimes hard for me to keep things in perspective. When Carmen was a baby, I had a hard time feeling like I was much more than an unpaid robot. She'd lay there (and cry most of the time ... she was very colicky) and my job was to simply be there and hold and comfort her and feed and change her until ... I don't know. Until she needed something else. I felt like I had very little to offer her different from what anyone could offer her.
Now, however, life is great! Ever since she started noticing the world and crawling and walking and wanted to know things, I feel like I've been able to do a lot and I'm thrilled to be a mom! (So things got much better after 5 or 6 months, then after a year, then after 15 months, then after 18 months, and now she's turning 2 next month! WHAT HAPPENS TO THE TIME?!) She is so expressive and loves to talk and we share such sweet moments together.
It's been wonderful to watch Sadie every morning. I love watching her learn and grow, too. Today, she told me how she can count by 5's and 10's to 100. She told me she doesn't know how to read yet, but I told her at least she knows how to spell her name and loves to look at books together so at least that's a start. She told me the other day that her mom gave her permission to get her ears pierced when she asked, but has decided she doesn't want to get her ears pierced because it will be painful. She and Carmen are learning how to get along together and I get to practice more of my teaching and mediating skills.
I'm enjoying the book Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child. It talks about empathizing with your children and helping them learn to address and deal with their strong emotions instead of dismissing or demeaning them. It requires a lot of intimacy with and attention to your child, so ... I guess I feel really thankful I have the opportunity to stay at home and develop that kind of a relationship with my children without having other major distractions in my life. There is nothing else I'm doing that is more important than teaching my children to be the best they can be! (And yet, I find room and time to do so much and my life is full!)
A few Carmenisms:
Carmen put a sticker onto a piece of paper then tried to pull it off.
"Stuck!!" she complained, surprised.
A few months ago, we got a free broken key from a locksmith. It's got buttons on it. Carmen found it in the toy basket and started pushing the buttons. "Beep, beep!" she said (because that's the noise cars make when you lock and unlock them.) She walked over to the window and looked outside, to see if any of the cars were reacting to her key. "Papa's key." she said. (Grandpa has a key like that to his Honda Pilot.) This is proof that Carmen loves Grandpa Brad and pays attention to him.
Sometimes, Carmen blows her nose with toilet paper, but more often than not, she rips it up into tiny pieces and sticks the pieces up her nose. Then I hear her snort and sniff for a few minutes and she goes, "Stuck! STUUUUCCKKK!!!"
(PS. I remove the toilet paper with tweezers to make the extraction process as excruciating and obnoxious as possible.)
Last night, our friends blessed their baby, Phoebe. Carmen loves babies and has been picking up names really well this past month. While we were getting into the car, she sat in the back seat talking to herself about how excited she was to go see "Baby Pee-Pee." She also learned our friend Sterling's first name: "Durling." IT'S ADORABLE.
I guess while I'm talking about names, I'll have you know she calls Marissa "Sissa", gets ridiculously excited about our friend Ray (and can say his name no problem), and loves her friend Braxton who is 6 months older than she is. She calls him "Bobby". One time we were playing at Braxton's house and the conversation went something like this:
Braxton: Carmen, I am not Bobby. I'm Braxton.
Carmen: Bobby!
Braxton: No, Braxton!
Carmen: Brrrrrrrrrrrr-obby!
Me: *lol*
I love hearing Carmen talk to herself. She walks around the house and plays with her toy kitchen or her tool set and talks about what she's going to cook or fix. She carries her babies around and changes their diapers and puts medicine on their ouchies. (She's got a sad history of diaper rashes and so she is quite familiar with Bordeaux's Butt Paste.) When I was a kid, I'd put my stuffed animals in time-out and spank them for trying to leave. Carmen kisses her babies and gives them medicine. Hmm.
I really appreciated Elder Cook's talk in Conference on Saturday morning. I have to wait until the transcriptions come out online before I can do a lot of analysis on the talk, but I loved how he talked about how valuable mothers are and acknowledged all kinds of mothers (those who work, those who stay at home, and those who are single, etc) and praised them. I felt appreciated and loved, even though motherhood tends to be undervalued (read: unpaid!!) I liked how he talked about telling a nonmember about women serving in the Church and she said, "The last thing women need is another unpaid job."
I've loved and valued work and education so much in my life that it's sometimes hard for me to keep things in perspective. When Carmen was a baby, I had a hard time feeling like I was much more than an unpaid robot. She'd lay there (and cry most of the time ... she was very colicky) and my job was to simply be there and hold and comfort her and feed and change her until ... I don't know. Until she needed something else. I felt like I had very little to offer her different from what anyone could offer her.
Now, however, life is great! Ever since she started noticing the world and crawling and walking and wanted to know things, I feel like I've been able to do a lot and I'm thrilled to be a mom! (So things got much better after 5 or 6 months, then after a year, then after 15 months, then after 18 months, and now she's turning 2 next month! WHAT HAPPENS TO THE TIME?!) She is so expressive and loves to talk and we share such sweet moments together.
It's been wonderful to watch Sadie every morning. I love watching her learn and grow, too. Today, she told me how she can count by 5's and 10's to 100. She told me she doesn't know how to read yet, but I told her at least she knows how to spell her name and loves to look at books together so at least that's a start. She told me the other day that her mom gave her permission to get her ears pierced when she asked, but has decided she doesn't want to get her ears pierced because it will be painful. She and Carmen are learning how to get along together and I get to practice more of my teaching and mediating skills.
I'm enjoying the book Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child. It talks about empathizing with your children and helping them learn to address and deal with their strong emotions instead of dismissing or demeaning them. It requires a lot of intimacy with and attention to your child, so ... I guess I feel really thankful I have the opportunity to stay at home and develop that kind of a relationship with my children without having other major distractions in my life. There is nothing else I'm doing that is more important than teaching my children to be the best they can be! (And yet, I find room and time to do so much and my life is full!)
A few Carmenisms:
Carmen put a sticker onto a piece of paper then tried to pull it off.
"Stuck!!" she complained, surprised.
A few months ago, we got a free broken key from a locksmith. It's got buttons on it. Carmen found it in the toy basket and started pushing the buttons. "Beep, beep!" she said (because that's the noise cars make when you lock and unlock them.) She walked over to the window and looked outside, to see if any of the cars were reacting to her key. "Papa's key." she said. (Grandpa has a key like that to his Honda Pilot.) This is proof that Carmen loves Grandpa Brad and pays attention to him.
Sometimes, Carmen blows her nose with toilet paper, but more often than not, she rips it up into tiny pieces and sticks the pieces up her nose. Then I hear her snort and sniff for a few minutes and she goes, "Stuck! STUUUUCCKKK!!!"
(PS. I remove the toilet paper with tweezers to make the extraction process as excruciating and obnoxious as possible.)
Last night, our friends blessed their baby, Phoebe. Carmen loves babies and has been picking up names really well this past month. While we were getting into the car, she sat in the back seat talking to herself about how excited she was to go see "Baby Pee-Pee." She also learned our friend Sterling's first name: "Durling." IT'S ADORABLE.
I guess while I'm talking about names, I'll have you know she calls Marissa "Sissa", gets ridiculously excited about our friend Ray (and can say his name no problem), and loves her friend Braxton who is 6 months older than she is. She calls him "Bobby". One time we were playing at Braxton's house and the conversation went something like this:
Braxton: Carmen, I am not Bobby. I'm Braxton.
Carmen: Bobby!
Braxton: No, Braxton!
Carmen: Brrrrrrrrrrrr-obby!
Me: *lol*
I love hearing Carmen talk to herself. She walks around the house and plays with her toy kitchen or her tool set and talks about what she's going to cook or fix. She carries her babies around and changes their diapers and puts medicine on their ouchies. (She's got a sad history of diaper rashes and so she is quite familiar with Bordeaux's Butt Paste.) When I was a kid, I'd put my stuffed animals in time-out and spank them for trying to leave. Carmen kisses her babies and gives them medicine. Hmm.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
At least *WE* think we're hilarious
So I'm in Sammamish visiting my family right now and I've been having a great time.
In fact, I'm going to tell you a story.
My sister and I did this today while using the two upstairs computers, and I think we're hilarious. If you don't get it, don't give up. Read on, and maybe gain a little insight into our family's sense of humor ...
Several weeks ago, my friend Jorgen introduced our family to a British sitcom called The IT Crowd. Mark and I had started our free month of Netflix and were looking for a new show to watch. I've got to say ... we love it. We're engineer types, so the environment and the humor REALLY click with us. "Hello, IT, have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again? ... are you sure it's plugged in?" Often times, I can watch things once and be satisfied. I don't have to watch it again. This show, though, I think I will actually buy on DVD so I can watch it repeatedly.
I told my sister about it and now I've got her into watching it. Unfortunately, only seasons 1 and 4 are currently available on Netflix so it will be a while before I can get Marissa to finish off the whole series ...
A few fantastic scenes from the show are in the second episode where they have a NEW (and shiny!) EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM with an easy-to-remember number with a handy jingle ...
I can't embed the video, but here's a link so you can watch it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab8GtuPdrUQ
I think it's ridiculously hilarious. In fact, I have the jingle memorized: 01189998819991197253. When I sing it a few times, Carmen starts dancing around the house singing the "Nine nine nine!!!" part of the song. That girl is going to get voice lessons and become a Broadway star some day. Srsly. Does your 22-month-old sing on pitch?
Later in the series, there's a social networking site called "FriendFace" (obviously Facebook) and there's a scene where the three main characters are sitting on their computers in the office FriendFacing each other instead of having real conversations. You don't know what they're saying to each other, but they're laughing and saying things like, "Oh, that was SUCH a Moss comment! Ha ha ha!"
***Anywho***
Does anyone read Snide Remarks? I first heard of him when someone showed me his fake 'Titanic' screenplay. This has since been followed up by a rejected 'Twilight' screenplay and a few other things. He offered some interesting insights on gay marriage, and it got me thinking I'd like to read more of this guy so I added him to my RSS feed on Google Reader. Now I've realized he also does movie reviews and has his own blog, which is all updated more often than just his "Snide Remarks" column. Click, click, click, RSS, RSS, RSS, check, check, check!
Last week, he posted a Snide Remarks column mocking one of my favorite songs to work out to at the gym.
(Frankly, I never thought of this song as rap ... it's not, is it? Isn't it hip hop or something?)
This song is my favorite part of Zumba. HECK YES. This song and Usher's "DJ's Got Us Falling In Love" are the greatest feel-good songs to work out to at the gym. And it makes me feel like a total dork. But I'm not in high school any more, so I can be a dork and love it, right?! I also make Carmen rock out and dance with me in the car when these songs come on the radio.
PUT YO' HANDS UP.
Anyway. So Eric Snider made fun of this song.
"This is perplexing and perhaps even frightening. Why wouldn't the club be able to handle him? Is he wired with explosives? ... What is it he plans to do that he thinks is going to test the club's limits? Is he accompanied by a troupe of circus lions? Is he currently on fire, or in imminent risk of being on fire?"
I don't know why this article had me in giggling fits, but it did.
Today, I was on the computer in the office and Marissa was on the computer in the hall. Marissa and I were recently sharing our plans for the evening (she's going to someone's house for a game night; I'm staying home and making s'mores with Dad if it decides to stop raining) ... and then I got a notification on Facebook saying my sister had written on my wall. Uhh, aren't we 10 feet away from each other?
This is what happened:
So maybe it makes a little more sense now, if you know of our love for The IT Crowd and Eric Snider.
I'm glad we're related. I get the feeling most other people would think we're just weird ...
In fact, I'm going to tell you a story.
My sister and I did this today while using the two upstairs computers, and I think we're hilarious. If you don't get it, don't give up. Read on, and maybe gain a little insight into our family's sense of humor ...
Several weeks ago, my friend Jorgen introduced our family to a British sitcom called The IT Crowd. Mark and I had started our free month of Netflix and were looking for a new show to watch. I've got to say ... we love it. We're engineer types, so the environment and the humor REALLY click with us. "Hello, IT, have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again? ... are you sure it's plugged in?" Often times, I can watch things once and be satisfied. I don't have to watch it again. This show, though, I think I will actually buy on DVD so I can watch it repeatedly.
I told my sister about it and now I've got her into watching it. Unfortunately, only seasons 1 and 4 are currently available on Netflix so it will be a while before I can get Marissa to finish off the whole series ...
A few fantastic scenes from the show are in the second episode where they have a NEW (and shiny!) EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM with an easy-to-remember number with a handy jingle ...
I can't embed the video, but here's a link so you can watch it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab8GtuPdrUQ
I think it's ridiculously hilarious. In fact, I have the jingle memorized: 01189998819991197253. When I sing it a few times, Carmen starts dancing around the house singing the "Nine nine nine!!!" part of the song. That girl is going to get voice lessons and become a Broadway star some day. Srsly. Does your 22-month-old sing on pitch?
Later in the series, there's a social networking site called "FriendFace" (obviously Facebook) and there's a scene where the three main characters are sitting on their computers in the office FriendFacing each other instead of having real conversations. You don't know what they're saying to each other, but they're laughing and saying things like, "Oh, that was SUCH a Moss comment! Ha ha ha!"
***Anywho***
Does anyone read Snide Remarks? I first heard of him when someone showed me his fake 'Titanic' screenplay. This has since been followed up by a rejected 'Twilight' screenplay and a few other things. He offered some interesting insights on gay marriage, and it got me thinking I'd like to read more of this guy so I added him to my RSS feed on Google Reader. Now I've realized he also does movie reviews and has his own blog, which is all updated more often than just his "Snide Remarks" column. Click, click, click, RSS, RSS, RSS, check, check, check!
Last week, he posted a Snide Remarks column mocking one of my favorite songs to work out to at the gym.
(Frankly, I never thought of this song as rap ... it's not, is it? Isn't it hip hop or something?)
This song is my favorite part of Zumba. HECK YES. This song and Usher's "DJ's Got Us Falling In Love" are the greatest feel-good songs to work out to at the gym. And it makes me feel like a total dork. But I'm not in high school any more, so I can be a dork and love it, right?! I also make Carmen rock out and dance with me in the car when these songs come on the radio.
PUT YO' HANDS UP.
Anyway. So Eric Snider made fun of this song.
"This is perplexing and perhaps even frightening. Why wouldn't the club be able to handle him? Is he wired with explosives? ... What is it he plans to do that he thinks is going to test the club's limits? Is he accompanied by a troupe of circus lions? Is he currently on fire, or in imminent risk of being on fire?"
I don't know why this article had me in giggling fits, but it did.
Today, I was on the computer in the office and Marissa was on the computer in the hall. Marissa and I were recently sharing our plans for the evening (she's going to someone's house for a game night; I'm staying home and making s'mores with Dad if it decides to stop raining) ... and then I got a notification on Facebook saying my sister had written on my wall. Uhh, aren't we 10 feet away from each other?
This is what happened:
I'm glad we're related. I get the feeling most other people would think we're just weird ...
Friday, February 11, 2011
Carmenisms
I love the funny little things Carmen does.
For example, we have this smoke detector in our bedroom right by the bathroom door. If someone takes a hot shower and doesn't close the door, the steam sets off the alarm. My sister, Marissa, is notorious for setting off the fire alarms once every time she visits and spends the night. Often times, it's about 30 minutes after Carmen goes down for a nap, and we feel SO BAD we've woken her up. Sometimes, Mark sets off the alarm in the morning when he gets back from the gym. The cats might push the door open or he might forget to turn the fan on, so when he opens the door to leave the bathroom, all of the steam escapes and our house starts beeping loudly at 7:15. O_o;
You'd think all of these rude awakenings would cause Carmen to have a fear of smoke detectors and the sound of the fire alarm. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to mind it (even though it drives me crazy!) Lately, when Mark's putting Carmen through her bedtime routine, she'll look up at the ceiling and point to one of the alarms and go, "Beep!" Mark says, "Oh, are you looking at the alarm up there?" and she goes, "Uh-huh. Beep!"
It's a beep! So cute! Not a, "ZOMG THAT THING IS SO NOISY IT WAKES ME UP IN THE MIDDLE OF NAPS AND SCARES THE CRAP OUT OF ME!" Phew. One potential psychological bullet dodged!!
Carmen developed a rash on her stomach a few weeks ago. The doctors couldn't figure out what it was, but they prescribed me this antibiotic ointment that seemed to help clear it up. Carmen was terrified at the doctor's office because she KNEW she only goes to the doctor's to get shots (why else go to the doctor when your kid is perfectly healthy all the time?) ... and it was hard to convince her that we WEREN'T going to hurt her that time. Poor girl. But one thing she loves about the pediatrician's office is their aquarium. She loves to watch the fishies, and the SADDEST part about going to the doctor is not getting the shots - it's the having to say goodbye to the fishies. ("FEESHIES! FEEEEEESSSHHIIIESSSS!!!")
Back to the rash. Carmen's been really good about letting me put the medicine on her. She calls it "Memmin." I put it on her in the morning when I change her diaper and in the evening when I put her pajamas on. It goes a little bit onto her back, too, so when I need her to stand up, she stands up and turns around for me. It's so sweet how helpful and obedient she is! <3 She then likes to take the little tube and pretend she's putting the medicine on herself. "Memmine." she says. "Ouchies."
Remember how she calls fingernail polish "candy"? Turns out it's definitely her word for fingernail polish, not just the fact that the shiny colors makes your nails look like Jolly Ranchers. I put clear sparkle polish on my nails the other day for the heck of it, and no less than 2 seconds after I finished, Carmen grabbed my hands, touched the sparkles, and cheered, "Candy!! Hannals!" (She's learned the word for "fingernails" and it sounds a lot like "hang nails".)
Some of her favorite things to do these days are to color (either with real crayons on paper or with this free "Doodle Kids" iPod app) and ... well ... play pretend. It doesn't matter if it's with her play kitchen, a play phone, a real phone, an iPod, a baby, her little doll stroller, her big (umbrella) stroller, or someone's shoes ....... she's really creative! It's fun hearing her sit and chat away about how excited she is about her kitchen, or taking her baby for a walk, or wrapping her baby in a blanket ... and it doesn't matter whether the baby is a doll or a stuffed animal. I'm sure I could convince her a crayon was a baby if I wrapped it in a toilet paper blanket for her. IT'S AWESOME.
Speaking of toilet paper ... she does this funny thing where she rips up toilet paper or tissues into little pieces and wipes her nose with them. It's winter - kids get runny noses. The other day, we were at Mark's work and she was stuffing the tissue pieces up her nose. I heard her inhale through her nose and gasp a little bit. "Oh! Stuck!" she gasped. I laughed and said, "Yup, you've got that stuck up your nose! You probably don't want to put stuff up there!" and helped her pull the tissues out. She looked at me and said, "Yes! Stuck!!"
It will be less funny when they're frozen peas.
For example, we have this smoke detector in our bedroom right by the bathroom door. If someone takes a hot shower and doesn't close the door, the steam sets off the alarm. My sister, Marissa, is notorious for setting off the fire alarms once every time she visits and spends the night. Often times, it's about 30 minutes after Carmen goes down for a nap, and we feel SO BAD we've woken her up. Sometimes, Mark sets off the alarm in the morning when he gets back from the gym. The cats might push the door open or he might forget to turn the fan on, so when he opens the door to leave the bathroom, all of the steam escapes and our house starts beeping loudly at 7:15. O_o;
You'd think all of these rude awakenings would cause Carmen to have a fear of smoke detectors and the sound of the fire alarm. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to mind it (even though it drives me crazy!) Lately, when Mark's putting Carmen through her bedtime routine, she'll look up at the ceiling and point to one of the alarms and go, "Beep!" Mark says, "Oh, are you looking at the alarm up there?" and she goes, "Uh-huh. Beep!"
It's a beep! So cute! Not a, "ZOMG THAT THING IS SO NOISY IT WAKES ME UP IN THE MIDDLE OF NAPS AND SCARES THE CRAP OUT OF ME!" Phew. One potential psychological bullet dodged!!
Carmen developed a rash on her stomach a few weeks ago. The doctors couldn't figure out what it was, but they prescribed me this antibiotic ointment that seemed to help clear it up. Carmen was terrified at the doctor's office because she KNEW she only goes to the doctor's to get shots (why else go to the doctor when your kid is perfectly healthy all the time?) ... and it was hard to convince her that we WEREN'T going to hurt her that time. Poor girl. But one thing she loves about the pediatrician's office is their aquarium. She loves to watch the fishies, and the SADDEST part about going to the doctor is not getting the shots - it's the having to say goodbye to the fishies. ("FEESHIES! FEEEEEESSSHHIIIESSSS!!!")
Back to the rash. Carmen's been really good about letting me put the medicine on her. She calls it "Memmin." I put it on her in the morning when I change her diaper and in the evening when I put her pajamas on. It goes a little bit onto her back, too, so when I need her to stand up, she stands up and turns around for me. It's so sweet how helpful and obedient she is! <3 She then likes to take the little tube and pretend she's putting the medicine on herself. "Memmine." she says. "Ouchies."
Remember how she calls fingernail polish "candy"? Turns out it's definitely her word for fingernail polish, not just the fact that the shiny colors makes your nails look like Jolly Ranchers. I put clear sparkle polish on my nails the other day for the heck of it, and no less than 2 seconds after I finished, Carmen grabbed my hands, touched the sparkles, and cheered, "Candy!! Hannals!" (She's learned the word for "fingernails" and it sounds a lot like "hang nails".)
Some of her favorite things to do these days are to color (either with real crayons on paper or with this free "Doodle Kids" iPod app) and ... well ... play pretend. It doesn't matter if it's with her play kitchen, a play phone, a real phone, an iPod, a baby, her little doll stroller, her big (umbrella) stroller, or someone's shoes ....... she's really creative! It's fun hearing her sit and chat away about how excited she is about her kitchen, or taking her baby for a walk, or wrapping her baby in a blanket ... and it doesn't matter whether the baby is a doll or a stuffed animal. I'm sure I could convince her a crayon was a baby if I wrapped it in a toilet paper blanket for her. IT'S AWESOME.
Speaking of toilet paper ... she does this funny thing where she rips up toilet paper or tissues into little pieces and wipes her nose with them. It's winter - kids get runny noses. The other day, we were at Mark's work and she was stuffing the tissue pieces up her nose. I heard her inhale through her nose and gasp a little bit. "Oh! Stuck!" she gasped. I laughed and said, "Yup, you've got that stuck up your nose! You probably don't want to put stuff up there!" and helped her pull the tissues out. She looked at me and said, "Yes! Stuck!!"
It will be less funny when they're frozen peas.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
My Best Friend's Wedding, Part I
Last weekend, my best friend from school (Renai) got married. She lives in Arizona, and I thought, "You know what? It's really not that far away, it's the perfect time of year to visit, and I haven't been there in a long time. What better excuse to visit Arizona than my friend's wedding?" So I filled out the RSVP card and said I was coming. She seemed pretty thrilled that I was going to come! Apparently, one of her OTHER best childhood friends (from New Jersey) was coming out, too! "How awesome is it that my best friend from Arizona and my best friend from New Jersey are going to be at my wedding!" she gushed.
On Wednesday evening, we drove down to Richfield to stay with my grandparents. It would cut off about 2.5 hours from the total length of the trip, and it's always nice to stop and visit with family for a while.
Kids get restless after spending long periods of time in the car, so we took a few breaks at rest stops to change diapers, eat snacks, and run around.
She's just so cute ... I can't resist!
We got to Phoenix early Thursday evening, and I took the opportunity to go by the house I lived in until I was 8.
We used to have bunch of cacti and stuff in the front yard. It looks a lot like the last time we came by (about 8 years ago) ... I'm disappointed they haven't gotten around to landscaping the front yard. It looks terrible. But they DID put a pool and a hot tub in the backyard. I wanted to peek over the fence to get a good look at the yard, but there were a few ladies in the hot tub out back and that would've been awkward ... "Um, hi, I lived here 15 years ago and I just wanted to see what you've done with the place! Don't mind me ... can we steal some of your neighbors' lemons, too?"
After making that quick trip down memory lane, we went to Ahwatukee and had dinner at my friend Carmen's house. Yes, that is the Carmen my little Carmen is named after. We met her sweet boyfriend, James, and her scaredy rottweiler puppy, Eza. (I'll refer to my friend Carmen as either Big Carmen or CJ from now on ...) Carmen was so excited to meet them both she learned a bunch of new words quickly.
CJ had fun playing with Carmen. She and her mom (Gina) showered Carmen with gifts - clothes, a bead necklace CJ made when she was little, and a pink Beanie Baby bear. Gina tried offering Carmen TWO Beanie Babies, but Carmen soundly rejected one. (Like, smacked it onto the floor saying, "No!") Carmen's favorite activity was bouncing down the stairs with Big Carmen.
Soon, it was time for bed so we went to Jeanni's house, where our family was going to sleep. Jeanni was my piano teacher and Beehive leader when I was 8-13. She's pretty much one of my other favorite people in the world ... but Mark won't let me name a kid Jeanni. Yet.
I had baked a big batch of tasty oatmeal chocolate chip butterscotch cookies (with coconut, too!) to give as a gift to Jeanni when we arrived. The bag of cookies made it the whole trip and Mark and I enjoyed snacking on them ... then something must've happened on that final stretch to Phoenix, because when we got to Jeanni's house the cookies were totally smashed up.
Mark walked into the house with the bag of mooshed cookies and said, "Hey, was I supposed to give these to Jeanni?" and she was standing right there in front of him. I was thinking, "Oh, great presentation there, Marky." and Jeanni looked at him, looked at the bag of cookies, and totally cracked up. She graciously accepted our offering and went into the kitchen to get some milk. "Brian," she called to her husband, "Would you like some incredibly tasty cookie crumbs?" We still managed to find several intact cookies!!!
Speaking of that particular batch of cookies ... when I was making the final pan of cookies, I turned off the oven when the cookies were almost done and forgot to take the pan out of the oven. They weren't really burned, but they were incredibly crunchy. Want to know something I learned from this experience? FEED THEM TO BABIES. They'll be highly entertained because they're getting cookies, but it will take them forever to eat each cookie because they're so hard! Our trip to Phoenix was made a lot easier because Carmen was kept quiet in the back seat with her crunchy cookies. ;)
Or, just don't overcook your cookies in the first place.
You know. Lemons, lemonade.
Recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:
2 c butter
2 c sugar
2 c brown sugar
--cream ingredients together--
4 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
--cream ingredients together--
4 1/2 c flour
4 1/2 c oatmeal
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
--mix ingredients together--
12 oz chocolate chips (if you want butterscotch, make it half and half)
(If you want coconut too, you can put in about 1/2 c coconut flakes. I didn't measure it ... I just added the stuff that was left over from making coconut shrimp the week before. hahaha.)
Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, like you do with just about every other cookie recipe.
I decided to invent this recipe because I bought butterscotch chips at Winco and didn't have the right ingredients for magic cookie bars.
Tomorrow, I'll talk about the wedding and how much I love Renai's new husband!
On Wednesday evening, we drove down to Richfield to stay with my grandparents. It would cut off about 2.5 hours from the total length of the trip, and it's always nice to stop and visit with family for a while.
Kids get restless after spending long periods of time in the car, so we took a few breaks at rest stops to change diapers, eat snacks, and run around.
For the record, scorpions are arachnids, not insects.
We got to Phoenix early Thursday evening, and I took the opportunity to go by the house I lived in until I was 8.
After making that quick trip down memory lane, we went to Ahwatukee and had dinner at my friend Carmen's house. Yes, that is the Carmen my little Carmen is named after. We met her sweet boyfriend, James, and her scaredy rottweiler puppy, Eza. (I'll refer to my friend Carmen as either Big Carmen or CJ from now on ...) Carmen was so excited to meet them both she learned a bunch of new words quickly.
CJ had fun playing with Carmen. She and her mom (Gina) showered Carmen with gifts - clothes, a bead necklace CJ made when she was little, and a pink Beanie Baby bear. Gina tried offering Carmen TWO Beanie Babies, but Carmen soundly rejected one. (Like, smacked it onto the floor saying, "No!") Carmen's favorite activity was bouncing down the stairs with Big Carmen.
Soon, it was time for bed so we went to Jeanni's house, where our family was going to sleep. Jeanni was my piano teacher and Beehive leader when I was 8-13. She's pretty much one of my other favorite people in the world ... but Mark won't let me name a kid Jeanni. Yet.
I had baked a big batch of tasty oatmeal chocolate chip butterscotch cookies (with coconut, too!) to give as a gift to Jeanni when we arrived. The bag of cookies made it the whole trip and Mark and I enjoyed snacking on them ... then something must've happened on that final stretch to Phoenix, because when we got to Jeanni's house the cookies were totally smashed up.
Mark walked into the house with the bag of mooshed cookies and said, "Hey, was I supposed to give these to Jeanni?" and she was standing right there in front of him. I was thinking, "Oh, great presentation there, Marky." and Jeanni looked at him, looked at the bag of cookies, and totally cracked up. She graciously accepted our offering and went into the kitchen to get some milk. "Brian," she called to her husband, "Would you like some incredibly tasty cookie crumbs?" We still managed to find several intact cookies!!!
Speaking of that particular batch of cookies ... when I was making the final pan of cookies, I turned off the oven when the cookies were almost done and forgot to take the pan out of the oven. They weren't really burned, but they were incredibly crunchy. Want to know something I learned from this experience? FEED THEM TO BABIES. They'll be highly entertained because they're getting cookies, but it will take them forever to eat each cookie because they're so hard! Our trip to Phoenix was made a lot easier because Carmen was kept quiet in the back seat with her crunchy cookies. ;)
Or, just don't overcook your cookies in the first place.
You know. Lemons, lemonade.
Recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:
2 c butter
2 c sugar
2 c brown sugar
--cream ingredients together--
4 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
--cream ingredients together--
4 1/2 c flour
4 1/2 c oatmeal
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
--mix ingredients together--
12 oz chocolate chips (if you want butterscotch, make it half and half)
(If you want coconut too, you can put in about 1/2 c coconut flakes. I didn't measure it ... I just added the stuff that was left over from making coconut shrimp the week before. hahaha.)
Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, like you do with just about every other cookie recipe.
I decided to invent this recipe because I bought butterscotch chips at Winco and didn't have the right ingredients for magic cookie bars.
Tomorrow, I'll talk about the wedding and how much I love Renai's new husband!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Crazy Things we do for Love ...
It's funny how much I love Carmen. Okay, so "funny" may not be the right word, but sometimes I'm surprised by the weird things I decide to do because of her.
For example, I was eating a bowl of Special K cereal the other day, and I was picking out the freeze-dried strawberries. I used to pick out the strawberries and eat them because I like them, much like I used to pick out the marshmallows from my Lucky Charms or all of the M&M's out of the trail mix (Mom loved that, let me tell ya!) ... but no, I wasn't picking out the strawberries so I could eat them because I love them so much; I picked them out so Carmen could eat them because it's so adorable how much she loves them!
Today, I got to enjoy the fruits of my labors (no pun intended?) ... Carmen was eating lunch and saw the box of cereal on the kitchen counter. "Cereal?" ("see-yo") she asked. I poured some of the cereal out onto her high chair tray and was pleased that it was mostly strawberries. Of course, she ate all of the strawberries and asked for more. "Strawberries? More?" ("stawbizz? moh?") It was so stinkin cute. Plus the "thank you" is like a cherry on top.
Carmen is so sweet. I love seeing what she loves and how passionately she loves it. Today she carried around this little black Beanie Baby cat and called it her baby kitty. She fell asleep with it in the car when we dropped Sadie off at school. My sister got really sick over Christmas and it was a really stressful time for our family. It was great to be able to spend time with Carmen and experience the pure joy she emanates and brings with her everywhere she goes.
I'm sure there are other weird things I do because Carmen likes it (like the funky dances in the car) ... but the strawberries thing really stuck out today. :)
For example, I was eating a bowl of Special K cereal the other day, and I was picking out the freeze-dried strawberries. I used to pick out the strawberries and eat them because I like them, much like I used to pick out the marshmallows from my Lucky Charms or all of the M&M's out of the trail mix (Mom loved that, let me tell ya!) ... but no, I wasn't picking out the strawberries so I could eat them because I love them so much; I picked them out so Carmen could eat them because it's so adorable how much she loves them!
Today, I got to enjoy the fruits of my labors (no pun intended?) ... Carmen was eating lunch and saw the box of cereal on the kitchen counter. "Cereal?" ("see-yo") she asked. I poured some of the cereal out onto her high chair tray and was pleased that it was mostly strawberries. Of course, she ate all of the strawberries and asked for more. "Strawberries? More?" ("stawbizz? moh?") It was so stinkin cute. Plus the "thank you" is like a cherry on top.
Carmen is so sweet. I love seeing what she loves and how passionately she loves it. Today she carried around this little black Beanie Baby cat and called it her baby kitty. She fell asleep with it in the car when we dropped Sadie off at school. My sister got really sick over Christmas and it was a really stressful time for our family. It was great to be able to spend time with Carmen and experience the pure joy she emanates and brings with her everywhere she goes.
I'm sure there are other weird things I do because Carmen likes it (like the funky dances in the car) ... but the strawberries thing really stuck out today. :)
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Carmen's Shoe Obsession
Last month, Mark and I went to Famous Footwear to find him a new pair of snow boots he could wear to work. We're very cheap frugal and don't often go out to buy new stuff unless the old stuff is completely worn out.
Carmen had a blast running up and down the aisles, chanting, "Shoes! Shoes!" and trying on everything that wasn't in a box - whether it was her size or not.
So I guess it's not surprising that one night she decided she really wanted to put Mark's boots on:
She even tries to walk in them! It's amazing that she can actually shuffle around a little bit in those monstrous boots!
On Sunday, I was reading a book on the couch while Carmen played with her toys on the floor. She was sitting out in the middle of the room, and I watched her take her pants off and put on a pair of the long fuzzy comfy socks Mom gave me for Christmas (my mother rocks. I love the fuzzy comfy socks she gets me for Christmas ... I wouldn't think to spoil myself in that way! She makes up for those mental blocks I have!) They went up to her thighs. I got a good laugh out of watching my pantsless baby run around the house in my big long socks. I didn't have the heart to tell her it's probably not very practical to take your pants off and expect your mom's socks to keep you warm. But then again, what do I know?
Today is another day that's not too out of the ordinary. Carmen decided to put socks on herself again today. (Oh, good, does this mean she's going to dress herself from now on?)
I think she's nothing short of adorable. (I took this picture right after I put her down for a nap ... not sure how I'll capture this otherwise, because when she's awake, she runs around like crazy!!)
Seriously, Universe, having a toddler is just about the most hilarious thing ever. It's funny the things they pick up and fixate on!!
Carmen had a blast running up and down the aisles, chanting, "Shoes! Shoes!" and trying on everything that wasn't in a box - whether it was her size or not.
So I guess it's not surprising that one night she decided she really wanted to put Mark's boots on:
On Sunday, I was reading a book on the couch while Carmen played with her toys on the floor. She was sitting out in the middle of the room, and I watched her take her pants off and put on a pair of the long fuzzy comfy socks Mom gave me for Christmas (my mother rocks. I love the fuzzy comfy socks she gets me for Christmas ... I wouldn't think to spoil myself in that way! She makes up for those mental blocks I have!) They went up to her thighs. I got a good laugh out of watching my pantsless baby run around the house in my big long socks. I didn't have the heart to tell her it's probably not very practical to take your pants off and expect your mom's socks to keep you warm. But then again, what do I know?
Today is another day that's not too out of the ordinary. Carmen decided to put socks on herself again today. (Oh, good, does this mean she's going to dress herself from now on?)
Seriously, Universe, having a toddler is just about the most hilarious thing ever. It's funny the things they pick up and fixate on!!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
De doo doo doo
Last year, my friend Cat let me borrow her DVD box set of Friends. There's an episode where Ross's son is having issues with another child in his preschool class - who just happens to be Sting's son. Phoebe gets really excited about it, and tries to pass herself off as Ross's son's guardian so she can get into Sting's apartment and meet him. His wife isn't too happy about this weirdo who isn't even related to the kid her kid is having problems with, and threatens to call the police.
"The Police? They're back together?!"
After watching this episode, I remembered how I liked some songs by The Police and tracked them down.
Fast forward several months, and I'm dancing around my parents' house to "De do do do, de da da da". I mention to Mom that I'd once forgotten how I liked songs by The Police.
She paused for a moment, listening to the song and humming along a bit.
De do do do, de da da da, is all I have to say to you ...
"You know, he doesn't sound like a very good conversationalist."
"The Police? They're back together?!"
After watching this episode, I remembered how I liked some songs by The Police and tracked them down.
Fast forward several months, and I'm dancing around my parents' house to "De do do do, de da da da". I mention to Mom that I'd once forgotten how I liked songs by The Police.
She paused for a moment, listening to the song and humming along a bit.
De do do do, de da da da, is all I have to say to you ...
"You know, he doesn't sound like a very good conversationalist."
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Vocabulary
Yesterday at breakfast, Carmen was eating her oatmeal and I was eating my own cereal. Carmen looked at me and asked for something, and I had no idea what she said. "What did you ask for?"
"Stabizz." she said, pointing to my bowl of cereal.
"Oh! You want one of my strawberries from my cereal!"
"Uh-huh!" so I fished one out and handed it to her.
I haven't had cereal with freeze-dried strawberries in it for about a month. How cool is it that she remembers words and says them when she's figured out how to form them?!
She also used to use the word "bom" to describe anything with buttons that made noise. My phone? A bom. (Not so great if you're on a plane and your kid wants to play with the phone. BOM, Mommy! BOMMMMM!!") Mark's iPod touch? Bom. The thing you swipe your card on at the grocery store? Elevator buttons? All bom's! I think it's because she's trying to imitate the beeping noise the things make.
But now she's differentiated between the phone and Mark's iPod. The iPod is a 'pod' and my phone is a cross between a 'bom' and a 'pwn'. Yeah. My kid says pwn.
"Stabizz." she said, pointing to my bowl of cereal.
"Oh! You want one of my strawberries from my cereal!"
"Uh-huh!" so I fished one out and handed it to her.
I haven't had cereal with freeze-dried strawberries in it for about a month. How cool is it that she remembers words and says them when she's figured out how to form them?!
She also used to use the word "bom" to describe anything with buttons that made noise. My phone? A bom. (Not so great if you're on a plane and your kid wants to play with the phone. BOM, Mommy! BOMMMMM!!") Mark's iPod touch? Bom. The thing you swipe your card on at the grocery store? Elevator buttons? All bom's! I think it's because she's trying to imitate the beeping noise the things make.
But now she's differentiated between the phone and Mark's iPod. The iPod is a 'pod' and my phone is a cross between a 'bom' and a 'pwn'. Yeah. My kid says pwn.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
If I were bald ...
My maternal grandfather looks a bit like Charlie Brown - he is bald. When my brother was 3 or 4 years old, Mom informed Logan that because her father was bald, he had a chance of being bald when he got older. (The gene for baldness is carried on the X chromosome ... and I have no idea why some women don't go bald like men do. I should look that up.)
A few days later, Mom found Logan checking himself out in the bathroom mirror. He was pulling his hair back, as if pondering what he would look like if he were bald. Mom asked him what he was doing.
"You know, I guess I wouldn't mind being bald ..." he said thoughtfully. "Then I would have more time to wash my armpits!"
I thought of this story because I noticed the kind of shampoo my brother uses:
I won't ask who picked it, because I think my thoughts are funnier than real life.
ETA: So I broke down and asked Logan about it. He said his friend borrowed some shampoo from one of the leaders at High Adventure over the summer and all of the guys thought the shampoo smelled amazing. (Everyone gets really really stinky after a week of camping.) So Logan went out and bought some Head & Shoulders shampoo and now his friends are jealous of how good he smells (he's kind of like the Old Spice guy!) I pointed out that he bought the "Hair Endurance" kind and it cracked him up, too.
A few days later, Mom found Logan checking himself out in the bathroom mirror. He was pulling his hair back, as if pondering what he would look like if he were bald. Mom asked him what he was doing.
"You know, I guess I wouldn't mind being bald ..." he said thoughtfully. "Then I would have more time to wash my armpits!"
I thought of this story because I noticed the kind of shampoo my brother uses:
 |
| Head & Shoulders Hair Endurance for Men |
ETA: So I broke down and asked Logan about it. He said his friend borrowed some shampoo from one of the leaders at High Adventure over the summer and all of the guys thought the shampoo smelled amazing. (Everyone gets really really stinky after a week of camping.) So Logan went out and bought some Head & Shoulders shampoo and now his friends are jealous of how good he smells (he's kind of like the Old Spice guy!) I pointed out that he bought the "Hair Endurance" kind and it cracked him up, too.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Playing with Carmen
Carmen's tons of fun to play with!! I love the random things she does and the stuff she gets excited about.
I was sweeping the kitchen floor the other day, and she wanted to take the broom and help me sweep. Luckily, my parents have approximately 193834 brooms, so we had one to spare. As she ran around the house "sweeping" the carpet, I decided her name should be "CinderCarmen" because she reminds me of Cinderella. And I can't call her "Carmenella" because it sounds too much like "salmonella" ... which is just wrong. ;)
The last of the autumn leaves have fallen from the trees, so at another point last week I went into the backyard and raked up all of the leaves. When all of the leaves are raked up, we put them in the yard waste trash can and dump the leaves into the wildlife preserve on the other side of the fence. While I was picking up the leaves and putting them in the trash can, Carmen would walk across the backyard to another pile of leaves and dump her own handful into the trash can. It was so cute!!
We've started watching a little bit of TV together. I happened to stop on the Disney Channel while Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse was on. It was an episode about giving Pluto a bath, and when Carmen saw Pluto, she got really excited and said, "Doggie! Doggie, doggie!!!" Then there was an episode of Sesame Street where Elmo talked all about bananas. It was pretty much a perfect day. :D
Another time, Logan and Torrey were watching an episode of The Office on Netflix. They were interviewing Kevin (maybe this was the episode where he got Jim and Pam's credit card cancelled while they were on their honeymoon?) and there was a container of M&Ms on the desk. Carmen looked up at Kevin and said, "More? MORE?!?!" because she really really ridiculously likes M&Ms. HAHAHAHA. I think it's fabulous that she wanted the M&M's on TV.
I was at Costco a few weeks ago and found this awesome Dog book I thought Carmen would like.
You can pull on these little arrows and it makes a dog's tail wag, or there are some parts where you can pet a fuzzy dog, etc etc. It's adorable! You can get it used on Amazon for $4, including shipping! It looks like they have a Cat book, too! I'm totally buying another one of these for Carmen! She loooooooves dogs and cats. And she can say "puppy" too. Whenever she sees one, it sounds like she says, "Ooh, issa doddie!"
Yep. Definitely buying myself a zillion Matthew Van Fleet board books ... looks like they've got "Dog" "Cat" "Tails" "Heads" "Frogs" "Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings" "The Alphabet" .... I can't tell you how much I LOOOOVE board books, especially one with fuzzy things in it.
Part of me is still 4 years old. Does anybody remember the Rainbow Fish book? I loved it because it had those pages with the sparkly scales. I loved activity books (also called "quiet books"). I have friends who have made some ... I should go get some ideas from them. I think Carmen's ready to play with 'em. YAY.
I was sweeping the kitchen floor the other day, and she wanted to take the broom and help me sweep. Luckily, my parents have approximately 193834 brooms, so we had one to spare. As she ran around the house "sweeping" the carpet, I decided her name should be "CinderCarmen" because she reminds me of Cinderella. And I can't call her "Carmenella" because it sounds too much like "salmonella" ... which is just wrong. ;)
The last of the autumn leaves have fallen from the trees, so at another point last week I went into the backyard and raked up all of the leaves. When all of the leaves are raked up, we put them in the yard waste trash can and dump the leaves into the wildlife preserve on the other side of the fence. While I was picking up the leaves and putting them in the trash can, Carmen would walk across the backyard to another pile of leaves and dump her own handful into the trash can. It was so cute!!
We've started watching a little bit of TV together. I happened to stop on the Disney Channel while Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse was on. It was an episode about giving Pluto a bath, and when Carmen saw Pluto, she got really excited and said, "Doggie! Doggie, doggie!!!" Then there was an episode of Sesame Street where Elmo talked all about bananas. It was pretty much a perfect day. :D
Another time, Logan and Torrey were watching an episode of The Office on Netflix. They were interviewing Kevin (maybe this was the episode where he got Jim and Pam's credit card cancelled while they were on their honeymoon?) and there was a container of M&Ms on the desk. Carmen looked up at Kevin and said, "More? MORE?!?!" because she really really ridiculously likes M&Ms. HAHAHAHA. I think it's fabulous that she wanted the M&M's on TV.
I was at Costco a few weeks ago and found this awesome Dog book I thought Carmen would like.
Yep. Definitely buying myself a zillion Matthew Van Fleet board books ... looks like they've got "Dog" "Cat" "Tails" "Heads" "Frogs" "Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings" "The Alphabet" .... I can't tell you how much I LOOOOVE board books, especially one with fuzzy things in it.
Part of me is still 4 years old. Does anybody remember the Rainbow Fish book? I loved it because it had those pages with the sparkly scales. I loved activity books (also called "quiet books"). I have friends who have made some ... I should go get some ideas from them. I think Carmen's ready to play with 'em. YAY.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Junk Food
Several weeks ago, we went to Cornbelly's Corn Maze at Thanksgiving Point with some of our friends. The kids started getting hungry, and we decided it would be cheaper and more fun to have corn dogs and s'mores at our house than to have the overpriced corn dogs and s'mores at the corn maze.
Usually, I avoid "frankenfoods" like corn dogs, but let's admit it - they are amazing and tasty. The occasional snack won't kill you, right? So I went to Costco and Wal-Mart and bought the kid-friendly junk food so we could enjoy the evening with our friends. I'm not about to make a bunch of 5-year-olds eat my leftovers.
You'd think that, as adults, we would have some level of self-restraint when it comes to eating junk ... especially when we're eating at home (not out at Cornbelly's) and there is plenty of tasty produce in the fridge, too.
Mark saw the corn dogs and was like, "Oh, great, corn dogs! I'll have three!"
**facepalm**
Usually, I avoid "frankenfoods" like corn dogs, but let's admit it - they are amazing and tasty. The occasional snack won't kill you, right? So I went to Costco and Wal-Mart and bought the kid-friendly junk food so we could enjoy the evening with our friends. I'm not about to make a bunch of 5-year-olds eat my leftovers.
You'd think that, as adults, we would have some level of self-restraint when it comes to eating junk ... especially when we're eating at home (not out at Cornbelly's) and there is plenty of tasty produce in the fridge, too.
Mark saw the corn dogs and was like, "Oh, great, corn dogs! I'll have three!"
**facepalm**
Monday, October 25, 2010
Selfish Love Songs
This past weekend, Carmen and I went up to Lava Hot Springs with Grandma June (Dad's mom) and my sister, Marissa. Mark went to his friend's brother's wedding in Boise. It was a lot of fun to have a girls' weekend out, playing games and reading books and watching game shows on TV ... it brought back lots of good memories.
For example, my grandma *loves* to watch The Price Is Right. I started watching it in kindergarten, after Marissa introduced me to it. I was a retarded kid - I think Marissa introduced me to everything cool (even Pokemon) and figured out everything first (you know how much it sucks when your sister runs up to you in the hall and proclaims "THE EASTER BUNNY ISN'T REAL! AND DAD IS SANTA, TOO!" ??) She was even the first to ask my parents about birth control. What the heck!
Anyway. The Price is Right. We *always* watch it when we visit Grandma. We used to record the episodes in the morning, then watch it again in the afternoon and yell at everyone and tell them what to bid. "NO NO NO YOU'RE OVER!"
Why do we love watching game shows? I have no idea. Maybe it's because we like to think, "Hm, I wonder what it would be like to have that cool hot tub/car/Hawaiian vacation?" Then we watch Deal or No Deal, and we're like, "$64,000? I'll take it!" while they're like, "No freaking way - I want the $200,000!" and then they get it.
It makes me glad my TV's upstairs in our room and we never watch it. Otherwise, I could easily turn into a ginormous couch potato who watches crappy daytime TV all the time. Instead, I hang out downstairs and cross-stitch all day and dance to Billy Joel/Nickelback/whatever.
ANYWHO. On the way home last night, Marissa and I were listening to the radio and some of our favorite girly songs came on, like Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA (you hate it but it's so addictive, you know? I'm noddin' my head like yeah, movin' my hips like yeah ...) and Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me.
It reminded us of a concept one of our friends introduced us to last year: the Selfish Love Song. Basically, you take any old love song and switch around the I's and the you's to you's and I's.
I like what it does to Close To You by The Carpenters:
Why do birds suddenly appear every time I am near?
Could it be they want to be close to me?
We got a kick out of this when we applied it to You Belong With Me. It makes the song sound so ridiculous. Then the next song started playing on the radio and Marissa and I burst into hysterics. It was Don't Wanna Miss A Thing by Aerosmith. I think I reached a new level of Selfish Love Song Nirvana. "Every moment spent with me is a moment you treasure! You don't wanna close your eyes, you don't wanna fall asleep, 'cause you'll miss me, baby, and you don't wanna miss a thiiiiing!"
XKCD shares my sense of humor:
Oh yeah. WE think we're clever!!!
For example, my grandma *loves* to watch The Price Is Right. I started watching it in kindergarten, after Marissa introduced me to it. I was a retarded kid - I think Marissa introduced me to everything cool (even Pokemon) and figured out everything first (you know how much it sucks when your sister runs up to you in the hall and proclaims "THE EASTER BUNNY ISN'T REAL! AND DAD IS SANTA, TOO!" ??) She was even the first to ask my parents about birth control. What the heck!
Anyway. The Price is Right. We *always* watch it when we visit Grandma. We used to record the episodes in the morning, then watch it again in the afternoon and yell at everyone and tell them what to bid. "NO NO NO YOU'RE OVER!"
Why do we love watching game shows? I have no idea. Maybe it's because we like to think, "Hm, I wonder what it would be like to have that cool hot tub/car/Hawaiian vacation?" Then we watch Deal or No Deal, and we're like, "$64,000? I'll take it!" while they're like, "No freaking way - I want the $200,000!" and then they get it.
It makes me glad my TV's upstairs in our room and we never watch it. Otherwise, I could easily turn into a ginormous couch potato who watches crappy daytime TV all the time. Instead, I hang out downstairs and cross-stitch all day and dance to Billy Joel/Nickelback/whatever.
ANYWHO. On the way home last night, Marissa and I were listening to the radio and some of our favorite girly songs came on, like Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA (you hate it but it's so addictive, you know? I'm noddin' my head like yeah, movin' my hips like yeah ...) and Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me.
It reminded us of a concept one of our friends introduced us to last year: the Selfish Love Song. Basically, you take any old love song and switch around the I's and the you's to you's and I's.
I like what it does to Close To You by The Carpenters:
Why do birds suddenly appear every time I am near?
Could it be they want to be close to me?
We got a kick out of this when we applied it to You Belong With Me. It makes the song sound so ridiculous. Then the next song started playing on the radio and Marissa and I burst into hysterics. It was Don't Wanna Miss A Thing by Aerosmith. I think I reached a new level of Selfish Love Song Nirvana. "Every moment spent with me is a moment you treasure! You don't wanna close your eyes, you don't wanna fall asleep, 'cause you'll miss me, baby, and you don't wanna miss a thiiiiing!"
XKCD shares my sense of humor:
Oh yeah. WE think we're clever!!!
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