Winter in April

An Ode to the Uncles

Over the last week I had one thought come into my brain over and over: I'm so thankful for uncles.

You see, Peter and Cooper have eight uncles, with the possibility of two more. I have three brothers, Bryan has four brothers, and one of Bryan's sisters is married. That's a whole lot of uncles. Last Saturday all four of Bryan's brothers were in town. Peter and Cooper were practically swimming in uncles. And they can do things that I can't, like lift the boys up to touch the ceiling and fly them around on their shoulders like Superman. Forts were built, nephews were chased and tickled, and I was able to make dinner without breaking up fights or comforting the injured.

In short, it was awesome.

Cooper, Uncle Paul, and Treebeard the Bonsai

We all went and played miniature golf on Saturday. Before we did that though, Cooper and I watched as the rest of the group drove incredibly bouncy go-karts. Here they are waiting in line:

The men. Except for Cooper. From left to right: Jake (Bryan's brother-in-law), Bryan, Ron (Bryan's dad), Dallin (Bryan's brother that just got home from his mission), Peter, Ben (Bryan's third younger brother), Paul (Bryan's brother just younger than him), Spencer (Bryan's youngest brother).

Oh, there's Cooper.

Much time was spent doing this. Usually they would find something cool and pass the phone around to show everyone else. At one point I reminded Bryan that maybe we should talk to them while they were here, rather than communicate electronically.

The first batch of racers. You can't tell, but Bryan is driving a double car and Peter is his passenger.

This picture is slightly misleading. Peter had a wonderful time and wore a huge, open-mouthed grin most of the time. I just didn't happen to catch any of those grins with the camera.

The second batch of drivers.

Thanks for visiting guys. Whenever you want to come back, I know two little boys that will be very excited to see you.

Lightning Has Struck My Brain

I had something planned for today, but it will have to wait. I just read this and I think you should too. I think my favorites are five and six. And I've been thinking about number one a lot lately, so I appreciated her insight.

A few of my own recent mom epiphanies:

1. Cooper gives the best hugs. Period. He wraps his little arms tightly around your neck and puts his head on your shoulder. It's pretty magical. He also likes to pinch my cheeks, pull my face close to his, and kiss the end of my nose. There are few things in life as sweet as a snuggle from Cooper.
   
2. Life is better when there is sunshine streaming into my home. Double the joy if the windows are open as well. We are all kinder and more patient with each other when we're breathing fresh air.
3. My boys can make their own beds. I need to help Cooper a little bit, but Peter is totally self-sufficient in the bed making department. Persistence pays off. Who knew?
4. If I can make myself laugh and smile, even when I don't feel like it, the day will go better. The boys respond better to laughter and smiles than to scolds and frowns. Before long I won't have to force a grin, it will come naturally.
5. I love having a clean house. This isn't a new epiphany, but it is a recurring one. I feel like I'm a better mom when we don't have to pick our way through junk.
   

Have you had any epiphanies lately?

Photog

Peter got a camera for Christmas. It was practically free to us and pretty sturdy. However, he pulled the memory card out and jammed it in backwards, and it doesn't work now. I think we can fix it, we just haven't yet.

Peter misses his camera; he's developed an affinity for snapping photos. I know because I found him with our camera taking pictures today.

The top of his head

A train he built

Bedding... that's all.

Bryan and In-N-Out

Self Portrait

Seussical

Bryan's dad and brothers leave today. They've been with us since last Tuesday night and we're sad to see them go. We've stayed up way too late every night because we've been visiting, and I haven't had any brain power left for writing in the evenings.

And that's why I'm posting this awesome Seuss Army knife.

Photo Op

It's blurry, but it makes me smile.

Everything Nice

I did a little Amazon perusing last night and gathered a small collection of some things that our next child could wear.
Yup, all but two of you were right, Peter and Cooper are getting a little sister. I'm still in shock. After the ultrasound Peter kept asking, "Are we getting a real baby sister?"

I'm excited, I'm just having trouble wrapping my brain around it. I mean, I'll have things like ribbons and bows and little bracelets to keep track of.

Well, maybe not the bracelets...

Reds? Or Blues?

Today's the day. This afternoon we will find out if we'll be using our blue supply of baby clothes again, or branching out into purples and reds.

Peter has been telling me for some time that this baby was a girl, but just last week he changed his mind.

Peter: Mom, I think this baby is a boy.

Me: Oh you do?

Peter: Yeah, and then the next three are girls. And the three after that are boys. And then there are three more girls.

Me: (Uncontrolled and uproarious laughter for much longer than was polite.)

We know what Peter thinks, now it's your turn. Do you think baby number three is a boy or a girl?

I'll let you know the results, of both the ultra-sound and the poll, tomorrow.

Yoga Mama

No migraines yesterday!

In addition to making sure I ate (a lot), the boys and I did some prenatal yoga when we got up yesterday morning. Peter enjoys the pose down-ward facing dog while Cooper just likes saying yoga (or "yoda") over and over.

We'll do it again today and see if we have the same positive results.

Stay Awake, Don't Go to Sleep*

I have three migraine triggers: not eating enough, not sleeping enough, and not exercising enough. My body basically demands that I make healthy choices. Most nights I have a small snack right before going to sleep.

Oh Thursday, I didn't.

I was so tired that night that I figured I was still full from dinner and didn't need to cram one more thing into my already-sharing-space belly. Besides, I wasn't ravenous, that meant I should be safe from the big scary migraine.

I shouldn't have been surprised on Friday morning when I realized I had a migraine coming on towards the end of breakfast. I medicated myself, cleaned-up from the meal, ushered the boys into their bedroom, and begged them to play nicely while I lay down on Peter's bed with my eyes closed. While it wasn't all smooth sailing, the boys did let me sleep for a whole hour, uninterrupted, in the same room. I don't think that's ever happened before. By the time Bryan came home from lunch I only had some phantom pain left. The boys and I were even able to play outside with friends in the afternoon. I was glad the migraine had run it's course quickly.

The next morning I woke up during the 4 am hour to run to the little girls' room (and by run, I mean try not to walk into the wall because my eyes are half open). While washing my hands I looked in the mirror and couldn't figure out what was wrong with my eyes. One looked higher than the other. After ten seconds of staring I realized what the problem was: I was having another migraine.

I get those totally awesome migraines where I loose part of my peripheral vision, then I get the funky flashing lights (which make things look odd and disjointed, i.e. my unbalanced eyes), then various body parts go numb, then the vice-like pain starts on one side of my head or the other. If the pain is on the left side, I can't speak, at least, I don't make sense. And reading feels like I'm trying to force my brain to comprehend a language it's never seen before. If the pain is on the right, then I fall down a lot and have no coordination.

I prefer falling to being unable to communicate.

I woke up on Sunday with another one. Then on Sunday afternoon I got a fourth one. At first I thought it might just be the same one coming back, but when it switched sides I knew that theory was blown.

Here's the thing that I don't understand: the first migraine followed my normal pattern (I could identify the trigger), but the other three have no discernible source. Bryan suggested they might be caused by pregnancy hormones. I think I would cry if that were the case, because I would have another nineteen-and-a-half weeks to go of crazy pain and an inability to function.

I keep telling myself that the migraines are done. However, due to the fact that most of them have started in the morning, I'm kind of afraid to go to sleep...

*Can anyone name the movie?

Come What May and Love It

We had some trying moments yesterday. Peter spent most of the noon hour sitting in timeout for various offenses. You know, hitting and kicking Cooper, using naughty language (that's a whole post unto itself), refusing to stay in timeout, that kind of thing.

Cooper was doing his part by screaming from his high chair that he wanted his water, then that
he didn't want his water, then that he wanted his water, repeated the whole time I was making lunch. I did hand him his sippy cup at one point and he threw it almost immediately, only to start crying to have it back.

I was getting frazzled.

I sang a few primary songs in an attempt to calm everyone down. They helped, but not much. Then I noticed the open March Ensign sitting on the counter, grabbed it, and started reading aloud the first thing my eyes landed on.

“When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have many fond memories of those days. But not all of them are pleasant. I remember one day after my football team lost a tough game, I came home feeling discouraged. My mother was there. She listened to my sad story. She taught her children to trust in themselves and each other, not blame others for their misfortunes, and give their best effort in everything they attempted.

“When we fell down, she expected us to pick ourselves up and get going again. So the advice my mother gave to me then wasn’t altogether unexpected. It has stayed with me all my life.

“‘Joseph,’ she said, ‘come what may, and love it.’

“I have often reflected on that counsel.

“I think she may have meant that every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result. …

“How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life.

“If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness.”

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (1917–2008), “Come What May, and Love It,” Ensign, Nov. 2008, 26.

I'm not sure how much it helped the boys, but it certainly shifted my perspective. It wasn't until I was halfway through the quote that I realized the significance of it, not for calming the boys, but for reminding me that I can choose how I react to their outbursts. Peter was called out of time-out, somehow Cooper calmed down despite the fact that I still wouldn't give his water back, and we all ate a calm, quiet lunch.

Hello

I sat down last night to do today's post and I couldn't think of anything to write. No, that's not true. I thought of subjects on which to pontificate, but I couldn't get my brain to cooperate in writing anything interesting. And then I fell asleep with the computer still on my lap and woke-up to Bryan gently taking it away. I gave up and called it a night.

The other thing that made it tough was that I've had this song running through my head for the last day.



There's nothing to watch. Just hit play and go about your business. We previewed the clip to make sure it was the right one and by the end Cooper was singing it too.

20 Weeks

My sister-in-law requested a picture of my growing belly. I told her I would take one at 20 weeks. Which is today.


I don't anticipate taking these every week because that would mean making sure I'm camera ready every Wednesday, and I don't think that's very likely. That's a little sad, eh?

Do you like how I'm firmly into maternity clothes? I think this is the first all-maternity outfit I've worn for this pregnancy. I'm still in that in-between stage where I don't look definitely pregnant, but I do look rounder than usual, or like I'm slouching. I assure you, I'm not slouching.

Peek-a-Boo

Last summer the sprinkler outside our living room broke and sprayed our front window with water. Every day. For a week. Bryan finally got a hold of the right person and they fixed it, but until then twice daily we had an awesome waterfall run down the glass.

Which left it looking like the window on the left.

Here's a close-up, in case you need it. However, you'll notice that you can see out of right side beautifully. That's because Bryan washed our windows yesterday, and he didn't scrub them at all. He used vinegar, undiluted and sprayed right onto the glass.


The boys helped by calling out words of encouragement from the patio as they swept. Peter also came inside to gather whatever supplies Bryan asked for. Mostly they just thought it was really cool getting to be on the patio. We couldn't go out there last summer because there was a constant stream of wasps. Hopefully that won't happen this year thanks to Bryan knocking down the six wasp's nests he found in the bushes on the other side of our patio.


It's amazing to be able to see out of our windows again. And a little disconcerting. We had grown accustomed to complete privacy while the blinds were open because of all the hard water crusted onto the glass. Now that they're so clean, people can see in again.

Spooky.

Purging

I go through my Google Reader periodically and purge it. It's like spring cleaning for my brain. Most of the blogs I read are written by people I actually know in real life. Those blogs are whittled down as far as they can go. (You're all safe, don't worry, because I know you were concerned you were getting the ax.)

The other blogs I read are things that have been recommended on your own blogs. I subscribe to a gardening blog, a few cooking/meal planning blogs, a couple of kid-craft blogs, and an organization blog. I also subscribe to NieNie Dialogues. Now, I'm going to be rather unpopular for saying this, but I've decided to let NieNie go.

Why? Well, I've found another blog that I think is more uplifting and rather than just add it in, I'm trading it for NieNie. The new blog is by the daughter of my mom's old mission president, which I think is fairly awesome.

Sorry Nie, I'll check in from time to time, but our daily dates have come to an end.

How do you choose which blogs to read and which to skip?

You Are What You Eat

According to BabyCenter.com, the top ten foods for me to eat in my present condition are:

1. Fruit

2. Raisins

3. Yogurt

4. Make-it-yourself trail mix

5. Salad bar

6. Baby carrots

7. String cheese

8. Orange juice fortified with calcium and vitamin D

9. Whole grain cereal or instant oatmeal

10. Fat-free or low-fat cottage cheese

Would you believe that I've eaten almost everything on this list in the last week? We're out of cottage cheese, yogurt, and orange juice, but I've eaten everything else. It's nice to know that I'm doing something right.

Or course, I've also eaten ice cream a few times this week...

Questions and Answers: Part Two

Amanda asked how I was able to keep our upcoming addition a secret for so long. Well, we told our parents right away, which was just after Christmas. I told my siblings too, but we opted to wait a few days to share the news with Bryan's siblings, mostly because that was the week that his sister got married. We didn't want to pull a "You're getting married? Well we're having a baby! HA!" kind of thing. We told them after the wedding.

As far as telling others, I told a few people in person starting right around twelve weeks, then I had grand intentions of telling a few of my old roommates in person before posting it on here. But I kept getting distracted and never actually did that. (Sorry roommates, I hope you forgive me.) Finally, I realized that I was almost half-way through and should say something soon because eventually somebody who knew would say something in a comment about it, and then I'd have lost the element of surprise.

I do like the element of surprise.

I still haven't said anything about it on Facebook, which, as I read in a status today, means that it's not really official. Yeah, my pants don't fit anymore, it's official.

Also, she commented that this summer was going to be extra hot for me. Here's something funny about me: when I'm pregnant I get really, really cold. I've been surviving the winter wrapped in hoodies and blankets. Seriously. If I have to get up during the night (no no, not if, when) I shiver almost uncontrollably until I get back under the covers.

During the whole first trimester I would sit in Relief Society wrapped in my big, warm pea coat (I mean, my sister's big, warm pea coat, thanks Paige!) praying that I'd maintain enough body heat to keep my teeth from chattering. This was while my friend, who has since had her baby, would be wearing no coat and fanning herself to stay cool.

Summer is looking really good right now. Maybe I'll finally be warm.

Any other questions?

Questions and Answers: Part One

Thanks for the sweet comments on the posts about the upcoming arrival of baby number three. Some of you had questions, and I have answers. Originally I wrote this as one post, but, my goodness, that was one looooooong post. So today you have part one. Part two will come tomorrow.

My friend Krystal asked how the pregnancy was treating me so far and if we were going to find out the gender. I'll answer the second question first: yes.

We chose to be surprised when Peter was born, but we found out with Cooper. Our reasoning was that knowing if a brother or sister was coming would help Peter prepare. We're approaching this one in the same way. In fact, our ultrasound is in two weeks. I'm interested to find out, but I'm also not going crazy wanting to know. Peter is much more anxious about it than I am.

As for the first question, I have actually been sicker this time than I was with the boys. Much sicker. Now, I have friends (some of you reading this) that can't keep anything down for the first trimester. I don't do that. As long as I don't get too hungry, all my food stays in it's place. Doesn't sound bad, right?

However, to quote Strong Sad, "I don't like food anymore." I have been much more nauseated this time around, and it started on day one. None of this nice waiting until I was four weeks along business. Nope, food and I have not been friends for sometime now. With the boys I was only sick in the evenings, but this time it's been an all-day, all-night kind of thing. I've taken to keeping granola bars in my nightstand drawer for when I wake up at 2am ready to hurl if I don't have food RIGHT NOW.

Also, I had aversions with Peter (Chinese food, which was truly tragic), and probably did with Cooper, although nothing stands out. This time the aversions are crazy. I can't eat anything that we ate during the last week of December, which includes carrot cake and my usually delicious homemade spaghetti sauce (wow, that's even hard to type). No, that's not true, I can still eat fruit and chocolate-chip pumpkin pancakes, and we ate those that week too, but everything else is out. Also, we played Beatles Rockband on New Year's Eve, and now the game makes my stomach amazingly unhappy. An aversion to a video game? I've never even heard of that. I'm mostly feeling better, but that familiar sick feeling still washes over me once or twice a day.

I've also been crazy tired, which is to be expected. If I sit on the floor to play with the boys or settle into our big comfy chair with them to read a book, chances are good that I'll either fight to keep my eyes open and head upright, or I'll give-in to the siren song of sleep completely. I woke up one day with my head resting on Cooper's toddler bed. I think I'd been out for a good ten minutes. The boys were still playing, so they either didn't notice or they didn't care. Remember my post about going to sleep at 9pm? Yeah, now you know why that was so necessary. And wonderful.

There are other funny (meaning weird) things about this pregnancy, but I think I'll try to give each of those their own post. I always need something to write about.

Eviction Notice

Dear Bryan's kidney stone,

You are not welcome. Please leave.

Now.

Sincerely,

Bryan's Extremely Worn-Out Spouse

Renewed

I love General Conference.

I especially loved the focus this time on teaching and families. I watched with two perspectives: as a mom, and as someone that works with the youth for my calling. Technically I work with the leaders that work with the youth, but I still need to be in-the-know.

There were a few moments when I wondered if I was going to make it through all four sessions. Peter and Cooper are not the quietest little boys and I didn't catch everything that the speakers said, even with captioning on, which was somewhat frustrating. Add to that the fact that Bryan is going through his fifth round of kidney stones and I only slept for four hours (that's a generous estimation) on Saturday night and then had to take care of the boys on my own all day Sunday, I was very thankful that I stayed awake the whole time. (Bryan was able to sleep most of Sunday, which is a huge blessing considering how much pain he's in.)

You know what? I think if it had been a regular weekend I would not have stayed as calm and alert as I was yesterday. I think that wanting to hear what was said and to feel the Spirit in our home made it possible for me to take care of the boys and pay attention to Conference. Granted, I didn't let myself sit-down until the last fifteen minutes of the first session; that's probably why I stayed awake.

Peter had some good things to say about Conference:

"I wish I were in that crowd."-While scanning the singing crowd during the congregational hymn during the Sunday morning session of Conference.

"I like the car talks the best." -After Elder Cook's talk and the photo of the truck in the tree.

How was your Conference weekend?

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Peter: Did you know that Easter isn't about eggs?

Me: What's it about?

Peter: It's about when Jesus was resurrected. But the eggs are for the game that you play.

Me: That's right. Easter is about when Jesus was resurrected. But you know, not everyone has an Easter egg hunt.

Peter: But they have to!

Enjoy General Conference this weekend and have a beautiful Easter, with or without hunting for eggs.

Great Expectations

Here's a movie a I took a few weeks ago, right after we told the boys about our new addition. Please try to ignore my commentary and pay attention to the real stars of the show.