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:

Carmen wearing Mark's hat!

New hat:

Mace wearing Mark's hat!  ... why do I not have any pictures of Mark in his own hats?!

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.

Jorgen's wedding, February 2011

Okay, maybe he doesn't always look great in hats.  But that doesn't stop him from always trying them on.

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.

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!

Don't you think she looks 21?

Wow.  Writing this was fun.  I think I'll do this more often.

Personal family things

Now I'd like to take the opportunity to share a few things that have been going on in my life lately.

Mace is 4 months old.  I love him so much!

• He's a super-huge flirt who loves to talk.  He loves attention, and I love looking into his eyes.  He looks back at me, as if searching for some kind of reassurance, and when I smile, he beams at me.
• He loves it when people sing to him - one of the ladies at the gym day care even told me about it. :)
• He loves sucking on his Binky, and when it's not around, he sticks his entire hand into his mouth and sucks on it madly.  It's hilarious.  And for a kid who loves his Binky so much, he sure stinks at keeping it in his mouth!
• He loves to grab and pull at his toys.
• He understands when I'm promising him milk.  If he's fussing and I say, "Wait just a minute, I'll get you some milk, let me sit down..." he stops and looks at me for a while.  And if I get distracted and do something other than start nursing him, he furrows his brow and starts crying at me again. ;)
• He started rolling over about a week ago, and now he can roll from front to back and back to front!  But I think he only rolls over in one direction - when he's on his back, he'll roll over his left arm onto his stomach, then he'll roll over again and be farther away from where he started.
• He loves his big sister.  She is very good at comforting him, and when she got him to stop crying at the end of her swimming lessons a few weeks ago, one of the other parents was like, "Wow, she is the baby whisperer!!"
• Carmen loves him to death, too.  She helps stick his Binky in, she plays with him, she helps him roll over, she brings him toys, she talks to him in the high-pitched loving Mommy voice adults use with babies (apparently it's a natural thing for parents to do - babies are better at picking up the high-pitched sounds and we recognize that they respond to it.  We're not just being super-annoying with our baby talk.)  I love walking into a room and hearing her singing to him, or going, "Baby Mace, you're a cutie, you're a cutie!  Let's keep you forever!  I love you!  You are the cutest and sweetest baby!"  And when he's crying, she caresses his face and goes, "Shh, shh, shh, oh, sweetheart, you're okay, shh~"
• For some reason, I like to call Mace "Stinkerfish."  Sometimes Carmen gets upset when I call him that, and she goes, "He's not a stinkerfish!  He's a sweetheart!"

Carmen loves being a big sister.  I think she's hilarious, too.  I love having a creative 3-year-old!!

Carmen Dewey: Dinosaur Hunter

• For some reason, she is obsessed with death.  I've probably been watching too much Burn Notice with her. ;)  I hear her playing in her room, and she's like, "Hey, everypony, Pinkie Pie is dead."  And a few weeks ago in Nursery, she told her Nursery leaders that one of her friends died, and they were a bit worried about that ... I asked her about it in the hall, and she told me that it was one of her pretend friends that died.  "Yeah, she went out into the street without looking and got hit by a car and she DIED."  O.o;  I don't teach her that she'll die if she gets hit by a car.  I say she needs to be careful because the car might not see her, and if it hit her she'd get "big ouchies".  Apparently big ouchies = death.
• The best part of my day is when Carmen comes up to me and gives me a big hug and says, "Mommy, I just love you!"
• Sometimes, she says, "Ugh, Mommy, if you [do thing I don't like], I will not love you any more!"  (What?!  I don't threaten her with taking away love!  Where does she get this from?!) and other times, when we get frustrated with each other, she glares at me and goes, "But Mommy, I still love you!!"  Hehehe.
• I haven't quite figured out what this means, but sometimes she says, "I am the MADDEST Carmen!"  Usually this is when she's going to go out and kill dinosaurs or something.  I think she also says it when she's recently been scared by a bug (usually a spider/ant/fly).
• We're kind of working on our fear of bugs.  When bugs are inside, it's okay to freak out and get Mommy and Daddy to kill them.  When we're outside, I try to tell her, "This is their home; they're not scary and I won't kill them for you."
• Carmen is very thoughtful and obedient.  While we were on vacation in Utah, my dad and I were both taking naps downstairs on the couch.  I heard Carmen come down the stairs, calling out, "Mommy?  Grandpa Brad??" and when she saw both of us asleep, she sighed exasperatedly (it sounded a bit like Napoleon Dynamite) ... then turned around and went back upstairs, instead of waking us up and bothering us.  Seriously?  Seriously!!  I was so happy!!!!
• My favorite made-up word by Carmen?  "Yestertime."
• She is super-upbeat and optimistic and sweet.  "That sounds super-delicious!" "That is WONDERFUL, mommy!" "Mom, everything in this grocery store is SO PERFECT!" and our favorite descriptor for tasty fruit is, "It's super-juicy!"  Super-juicy strawberries, super-juicy apples, super-juicy pears ... Also, whenever we go to a place that will have kids there she can play with, she calls them, "All of my very best friends!" (I think she gets it from the My Little Pony theme song?)
• Everything exciting that she is looking forward to doing is happening TOMORROW.  I can't wait to go to my swim lessons TOMORROW.  I can't wait to start my dance lessons TOMORROW and wear my tap-tap-tap shoes.  I want to move into our new big house RIGHT NOW.  (or tomorrow. ;)  )
• Carmen reminds me of the little girl from Toy Story 3.  She runs around with her toys and everything that happens to them is SO DRAMATIC.  I love it!!

I want to write more in here about family happenings.  I've been distracting myself too much for the past year or so to write, but I really need to do it!!  (Facebook status updates are enough, right?  Right???)

In other news ... we are moving into a house next Saturday (yaaaaayyyyyy!!!!) so this week should be crazy full of packing and whatnot.  Being OCD and all, I started packing boxes last week to take downstairs to the garage (I don't want to ask my friends to carry all of our stuff down two flights of stairs) ... then Carmen decided she wanted to help and she put all of her ponies and other favorite toys into her backpack.  Ahahaha.  I love her.

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! ;)

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.