My Happy List

The Misty occasionally posts on her blog a list of the things that are currently making her happy. I have noticed that I have a happy list also these days and so I'm going to copy.

What's making me happy?

Kid Music! I have found that listening to great kids' music in the car greatly reduces the back-seat brawl. Our very favorites are the Snacktime album by the Barenaked Ladies, various Laurie Berkner CDs, and the music I'll listen to even without the kids, Justin Roberts. I especially love his Pop Fly album, though Meltdown is climbing the charts. It's so funny to see and hear the kids singing along at the top of their lungs, and Bitty will often do a very energetic lip synch.

A baby who sleeps! Never before have I experienced the miracle of having a baby whom you can put down for a nap or to bed at night and who then goes to sleep and stays asleep. I'm really not sure what the trick has been, but I'm loving my sleeping Bundle like crazy. She went like 8 1/2 hours the other night, and most nights are close to 7!!! (Please tell me I didn't just jinx myself...)

Waiting for nieces! Both of my sisters-in-law are due any moment now, and I really can't wait to meet my two new nieces. Of course it will be a while before I meet the LA baby, but I hope it isn't too long. I love this picture of Sheri, Peter's wife, holding Bundle. You can tell she just can't wait for her own baby to arrive. Plus she's got that convenient little shelf to rest the baby on. Wish I had that too...oh wait. I do. Mine just isn't so firm anymore.



Swimming Lessons! We've had many weeks in a row of swimming lessons. It's kind of been our major summer activity since I'm not really in a good place to do any big trips. The kids have both really come quite a long way. I think my favorite part of swimming this year is maybe all the teachers. They're all these adorable young adults - probably in college or late high school, and they all flirt terribly with each other. It's kind of fun to sit at the side of the pool and watch. They're great with the kids and apparently enjoy each other too!

Wednesdays! The Becky and I don't get to do many playdates during the school year so in the summer time we end up getting together a lot. This summer we've had a standing Wednesday lunch date while the kids play. Sometimes lunch lasts until dinner, which is a bonus. Our kids play so well together, thank heavens, because Becky and I play very well together too. Then on Wednesday evenings comes my show. I'm really only into one show right now - So You Think You Can Dance - the title of the show is kind of lame, but I absolutely love it. Great great dancing, for the most part. Becky plus SYTYCD make me really look forward to Wednesdays.

Blueberries! I just love buying that big box of berries every couple of weeks at Costco while they're in season. I can not get enough of them. Try this - equal parts fresh blueberries and Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal with milk and a sprinkle of brown sugar. The cereal claims to have "just a hint" of brown sugar but Troy taught me that a hint just isn't enough. Tasty. Now I can't wait for breakfast.

The "Hawk"

Oh boy. Stomper's friends' mommies are not going to like me very much, I'm afraid. Too bad. What is summer for, I ask you? Weird haircuts, that's what! Stomper asked me if he could get a mohawk. I thought about it and decided that if Stomper wanted a mohawk he could darn well have one! Well, that is, he can have one from Monday to Saturday night. I don't think I'm taking Stomper to primary with a mohawk. So tonight Troy took him on the back porch and tried to give him his desired hair do. Frankly, it looks a little weird. Okay, trashy. It just needs to be a bit more of a mullet in back and he'd be set. And truthfully, Stomper was a little disappointed. Troy finished shaving his already very short hair off and Stomper asked, "Okay, now can I have a mohawk?" I think he was thinking of the big tall punker-varieties, and we had to explain that just because we shaved the sides of his head bald doesn't mean that the middle part will be long and spikey. We'll save that look for next summer, I guess! And now I kind of can't wait for Saturday night to get rid of the thing.

The Dark Lord

You may think I'm referring to "You Know Who," lately of Harry Potter fame. But I am not. This dark lord is much more powerful than that old Voldemort guy. It's got me in its throws, and my husband too. And now it seems to be roping in my sweet little three year old daughter. You may recognize that cunning little silver label in the photo above. Oh how we love the diet coke at our house.

Bitty has been getting chomped by the mosquitoes lately. You may notice in the picture that she's got a huge red welt on her elbow. That's from ONE bite, poor little thing. She's been doing a lot of moaning about her terrible itches. Troy asked her what he could do for her and she said that the only thing on earth that would help her was a drink of diet coke. Having felt the same way so many times before myself, how could we deny her?

And last week at the store Bitty was in the cart pretending to be a munchkin. She already has a pretty cute little squeaker voice, but when she tries to speak 'munchkin' it really goes up a notch. It was so cute. I was the queen munchkin, and she was the princess munchkin, of course. As we wound our way through the isles conversing in munchkinese, we eventually strolled pass the drinks. She squeakily asked me if diet coke was good for you. I replied that it really isn't, but it's a little treat for grownups sometimes. She assured me that diet coke is actually very good for munchkins and we should go get some. Done!

Just so you know, I don't actually let my children consume diet coke outside the occasional sip, (okay, swallow...s...) and I try to not have more than one or two every week myself. But why oh why does it have to be so delicious and refreshing? I will forever be enslaved, my dark master!

Holy Green Thumb!

Troy took over the gardening this year, and I don't think he's going to get out of doing the job ever again. He's terrific at it! We've had so many bad tomato years lately; everything from seemingly "failure to thrive" plants to big plants that just produced no tomatoes all. Well, check these babies out! They're almost as tall as I am and are covered in hundreds of little green promises of wonderfulness. They're our favorite variety: the brandywine. Oh, baby. We'd better start stocking up on bacon right now!!!

And take a look at these:



Our neighbor gave us two seeds. Two measly little seeds. We planted them, thinking that with our track record we'd be lucky to get even one plant to grow. Well, both the plants flourished, and now we've got two enormous pumpkin plants taking over both our house and our other neighbor's. When I say "enormous pumpkins" I don't mean it is an enormous plant that produces pumpkins, I mean that it's a plant that grows enormous pumpkins. You know, those 500 lb. monsters? Well, so far it looks like we're going to get four of them. It's only July and they're already as big as a regular pumpkin at Halloween, and we've got three months to go! We're really pretty excited. I'm sure you are too. We'll keep you posted.

The Corker

Remember that movie, Far and Away, with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (before she had her face rearranged?) Sure you do! Who didn't see that? Well, it actually has entered our 'most quoted movies' list lately, all because of one little line hollered by Tom towards the end of the show. "You're a corker, Shannon Christie!" You'll never guess who we shout that at around here! Yes, Bitty could be classified as a true corker. Here's her latest:

"Mom, if you get it wrong, you're fired." (We were playing a game and in the game she asked me a question. I know she meant that I wouldn't be allowed to play anymore if I answered incorrectly (promise?) but taken out of context I thought it sounded pretty awesome. Yay! I'm fired! Can I go to bed now?)

In a very concerned voice: "Mom! Your leg has so many slivers!!!" Getting a sliver removed is quite a production around our house - poor Bitty thought my little leg hairs would all have to be removed with daddy's pocket knife while someone held my hand and told me a story. That would have to be one seriously long story. I guess I'll just go shave instead.

Bigger Bundle

Well, in that irritating habit children have, Bundle is insisting on growing up. She has passed her six week milestone, and I can't stand it! Time is racing like never before, I'm sure partly due to Bundle's calm and flexible nature. She's just not making life that hard. Of course, we've had a couple of rough evenings recently, (most notably last night,) but I've tried to gently remind her that we've already settled on her good sleeping habits and she isn't allowed to go back on it now. We'll she what she says about that tonight. We're getting smiles on demand now, and I especially love squeezing her ever-thickening thighs. Ooooh, they're juicy. I love them. She has a very nuzzle-able neck. I think she'll be keeping her blue eyes, though her hair color is still up for debate. It looks lighter some days and darker on others. Mostly, she is adored by everyone in our household. Well, everyone but the dog, who ignores her in as dignified a way as he possibly can.

Money Well Spent

I think it must have been about 8 years ago, before we had kids, that Troy and I decided to invest a whopping 40 dollars into an inflatable swimming pool. I guess we just wanted something somewhat substantial that we could cool off in on a hot summer evening. I was hoping it would last a year or two, but I'm happy to report that the thing is still going strong. I can't believe we still have it, actually. It serves us well year after year. Yesterday was our city's first day in the 100's and we were so happy to have that pool! We invited some friends over and the kids had an absolute ball. The water was kind of grey and very grassy by the time we emptied the pool last night, which is always a sign of a good time had by all. I have to post some pictures of my friend's boys because they are a trio of future heart breakers.

Stomper Updates

How cute is this picture? I'll tell you. It's very cute, in case you were wondering. I did feel like a bit of a sucker when I was writing out a check for the soccer pictures. After all, this little summer soccer league isn't especially glamorous or super competetive or anything. But it's Stomper's first soccer experience and he's loving it. I just had to have the pictures, and I'm so glad I did because this picture turned out 10 times better than his school picture. I just love it!

Stomper was playing around on pbskids.org the other day and I guess one of the games is a little cooking thing where you help find the ingredients for something. Stomper got so excited because at the end of the game you can print out the recipe for the food you made. He really wanted to make this recipe for tuna salad. It had these strange ingredients in it. Things like green pepper and tomato. Honey, you recognize that there are actual vegetables in this, right? Well, I'm no dummy. I didn't actually ask him that. I just got him the ingredients and we made it together and then, (you'll never believe this,) he ate it. Well, most of it. I love you, pbskids.org.

Totally Hosed

I am in so much trouble! What am I going to do? I'm going to need some help, that's all I can say. Especially in about 10 years.

What's all the fuss about, you ask? This is what. Yesterday morning Bitty had ballet class, and it overlapped her swimming lesson by about 5 minutes. I was trying to get her to wear the bottom half of her swimming suit under her ballet leotard so the change could happen really fast. She refused, and when I asked her why she said, "Because all the kids in my class will think I look funny." (Oh man! Already?) I tried to assure her that she wouldn't look funny at all, that her leotard would cover the suit bottom. Then, get this. She says, "But mom! It will make my bottom look big!"

Oh crap. She's three.

A Baby Blessed

As was noted on facebook, I was still working on Bundle's blessing dress at 11:00 the night before her big day. Luckily the dress had been mostly finished since before she was born. I just had to add a lining, ribbon and a button. The reason I was doing it at 11:00 at night was because I had spend the rest of the weekend getting ready for the lunch after church at Peter and Sheri's place. Thus the procrastination. I suppose I couldn't possibly have done it any sooner than this weekend, right?

So yes, on Sunday, July 5th, we had the opportunity to give Bundle a special baby blessing in church. I really missed having my parents there. I was so happy my brother Peter was there to represent both my Dad and other brother Adam in the blessing, both of whom are far away right now. Peter is a rock. Troy's family were almost all there, and I thank them for taking the time to make it to us from near and far to be there. It was a lovely meeting, and the time spent afterwords eating and talking and being with beloved friends and family was wonderful. Unfortunately, my sweet mother in law was ill and couldn't be there. You were missed, Carol.


I'm so grateful that Bundle is here, safe, sound and sweet. I feel like I've learned a lot about faith in the past couple of years. When I got pregnant with Matthew and then when he passed away, I felt like Heavenly Father put the floor under my feet before I could even take a step. Does that make sense? The spirit was around me and Troy and helping us before we even had the chance to ask. I knew of His love for me and my family without a doubt, so much so that I actually treasure the experience of losing Matthew. And then when I felt that it was time to try for one more baby I learned (again - it's a lesson to be learned over and over) that sometimes I'm asked to take a step ahead before I know if there's a floor there or not. Bundle's pregnancy was much harder than I expected it to be, as far as trusting that she would make it here to our family if she was supposed to. And there was nothing I could do to control that, just trust in my Heavenly Father and put my fears in His hands. And now here I am with this warm pink Bundle and I am just thrilled. Matthew was certainly on my mind more than usual on Sunday, and in a good way. I celebrate what he gave me as much as I celebrate what Bundle now brings. I'm very grateful.

The First Annual, The...Fourth Annual?

I hope everyone had a lovely Independence Day this year - we did. Frankly, at this point in my life I was just hoping for a low key day that made my kids happy but didn't require much out of me. I'm pathetic.

This year we had a first. It was the First Annual Neighborhood Pancake Breakfast, hosted by our church. I think a lot of other churches/neighborhoods host something like this on the 4th of July every year, but with Troy being in our ward's bishopric he was quite involved in the planning and carrying out of the breakfast. Sorry honey, it was a total success and I'm sure you'll be doing it again next year! It was a lot of work for a lot of people but I really thought it was fun and went really well. Face painting, a 5K, pancakes and sausage and fruit - how could it go wrong?

We also enjoyed the ongoing (third? fourth?) annual tradition of spending the afternoon and evening at the home of The Becky. It's so mellow there - the kids just play and Becky and I can sit and....just sit. That's all we want. Her hubby grills up some burgers and then we have a lovely 7 p.m. fireworks display. It's not dark yet, but we're not telling the kids that the fireworks look better at night. It's not worth staying up for. Okay, maybe someday it will be, but not yet! Other years we have come home and had front-yard fireworks with our next door neighbors, but their son is growing up and spent the holiday with a friend, so we missed out on that impromptu tradition this year. Also in other years we've climbed up in the attic and watched the fireworks at the stadium from our attic window, but they didn't have them there this year. Fine by me. It was a nice day without a ton of hoopla. Just enough for the kids to enjoy it, for sure. We'll have more hoopla-filled Independence Days in the future. And for a funny and sort of true history lesson on the 4th of July, check out The Misty's Blog. I enjoyed that quite a lot.

The Hairdo

Oh Bitty. I love this picture. She was plugging her ears because Troy was on the back porch using a very loud chop saw. But that's not why I took the photo. I took it because it was about five in the afternoon and she still had a hairdo. You may not consider this to be miraculous, but around here it is, for a couple of reasons. One is that she let me put something in her hair in the first place. Most mornings it's all I can do to get a brush through her hair, not to mention any sort of accessory such as a pony tail or clip. And she's got this kind of thin straggly hair that always manages to look quite unkempt. It's lovely, don't get me wrong, it's just that I'd love to keep it out of her face. That would have been a whole lot easier since her bangs finally grew out except that I, for the second time, caught her red-handed with scissors in hand and hair on the floor. This time it was her freshly grown-out bangs. But that's another story.

The second reason that a hairdo is miraculous is that on the days I do convince her to have a clip or something, it generally lasts about an hour. Tops. That is because she has this funny way of coping when she gets really distressed about something. If she gets sad or upset, the first thing she does is tear out whatever is in her hair. I can't tell you how many times I've walked into the living room to see her standing there, tears in her eyes, absolutely enraged and pulling out whatever rubber band I had put in there along with a few hairs and stating, "I am never going to ________ again!" What's really funny is that if it's a no-hairdo day, she'll shed her clothes. What is it about removing clothing and/or accessories that helps her express her extreme sorrow and anger? It's pretty funny. And also frustrating.

But yesterday she went the entire day with her cute little ponies! I love them. I love how she looks with her hair pulled back. I'm so glad I caught this photo because it all got ripped out about 10 minutes later.

Afloat

I am so happy to report that my nose is above the waterline. It has taken a dip under a time or two, but since I foresaw eyeballs only above the line, I'm feeling pretty good. Bundle is 4 weeks old today, and it feels like I've never been without her. What a good baby. She has been our easiest baby by miles. I don't know if it's because I have mellowed out a great deal since we brought home Stomper, who was 4 lbs. 12 oz., 6 weeks early and born in the winter, (I was a little tense!), or if I've learned so much about baby care that I'm just better at it, or if Bundle is just naturally calm and a good sleeper. I think it's a combination of all of the above. (Okay, I have to admit that both Troy and I are a little alarmed by how little of Bitty's infancy we remember.) I'm just grateful that I get to enjoy Bundle as much as I do. And I SWEAR she is smiling regularly now. Anyway, things are good. Of course I do have those days where I'm all excited because everyone is dressed, I managed to shower and eat breakfast, and the dishes have not piled up beyond the top of the sink when I suddenly realize around mid-afternoon that I never brushed my teeth. But hey, that's still accomplishing an awful lot, even if I may be emitting offensive odors.


In an unrelated story I do have to report a statement made by Bitty. We were at her ballet class when I saw her doing a little mining. We've been doing battle over her booger consumption, but perhaps being in her lovely ballet clothes changed her image of herself because she pulled out a big gooey one, looked at it, handed it to me and stated, "Mom, this one is too yucky to eat." Whereupon the woman behind me promptly started choking.