Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life

I wish I could say that Peter had a splendid first day of Kindergarten.

But I can't.

He was extremely nervous about the other kids eating peanuts or items containing peanuts and then touching him. On the walk to school he was begging me to let him stay home another year so that maybe he would grow out of his peanut allergy and be safe around the other kids.

A little piece of my heart broke when he asked that.

Peter, looking extremely nervous before school, clutching his year supply of safe snacks to give to his teacher.

When I picked him up at the end of school he was sullen and didn't want to talk to me about what had happened. Over the course of the evening he told me. Apparently there were some treats handed out to the other children that Peter didn't get. His teacher was trying to be cautious, which I appreciate, but she didn't have any safe substitute for Peter. He knew he couldn't have what the other kids were having, but he still felt left out.

I have a meeting with his teacher today after school and I've purchased two bags of safe candy for her to give to Peter when she gives the other kids M&Ms. I think once we're on the same page about the peanut allergy then Peter will have a much happier school experience.

Some good news about yesterday: Cooper had his first day of Joy School and loved it. He told me one of the rules he learned ("Be nice") and I heard him playing a counting game they had done. So at least one boy had a positive first day of school.

We did take some happy pictures before school started.

Peter has started posing for pictures and Cooper has followed suit. We have maaaaaany pictures of me posing for the camera when I was Peter's age, so this new behavior amuses me.

I asked the boys to show me their backpacks. Peter seized his opportunity and rang the doorbell. What is it about little boys and doorbells? Do little girls love ringing them too?

Outside Joy School.

Phoebe, being very patient and completely adorable.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

We've been working toward this day for five and a half years. We've prepared, we've purchased the needed supplies, we've practiced important skills. We should be ready.

Peter starts Kindergarten today.

He's both apprehensive and excited. Last week he told me that he wants to stay home for another year, not so he can spend time with us, but because he wants to devote as much time as possible to playing with his toys. Then yesterday he proudly announced to my brother and my sister-in-law that he would be starting Kindergarten tomorrow. I think he can't quite make up his mind about how he feels.

To be honest, neither can I.

I've been thinking that it will be good for him to go to school and learn to follow someone else's rules. I don't mean someone other than me. I mean someone other than Peter. Peter likes to call the shots, so this whole Kindergarten thing might take some getting used to. Or maybe he'll do great.

Peter is not an easy kid. Brilliant? Yes. Social? Extremely. Easy? Not at all. This three hour break we'll have from each other should be good for both of us.

And yet... I'm going to miss him.

Practically Perfect

Today was nearly perfect.

Why?

Cooper and Phoebe both got lots of sleep and were happy and sweet when they woke up. We did bedtime just a little bit early last night and I was afraid they would wake up before the sun, but they slept in much more than usual. I'm going to see if I can replicate the results tomorrow.

I was able to fold and put away four loads of laundry and prepare something other than cold cereal for breakfast, all before Phoebe awoke. Usually I can't fold laundry when the kids are awake because they love to come running through my piles of neatly folded clothes. This does not a happy mommy make. Today the boys sat and read and talked to me. No running. It was a nice change. And Peter has been requesting oatmeal for days and I was finally up early enough that I could make it. I love that we consider oatmeal a fancy breakfast.

We went to the park and enjoyed warm sunshine with a cool breeze, a splendid combination. During the walk to the park I breathed in the delicious late-summer smells and thought about how idyllic our path was, covered with shadows from overhanging branches. The boys loved it because we saw a huge earthworm, a grasshopper, a leaf bug, and many ants. It was almost as good as going to the zoo.

We played with friends. The park is always better when friends are there.

I actually made dinner, something that I haven't done much of lately. I think that may be the only thing about summer that I don't adore: it's too hot to cook. But Phoebe had a fantastic nap during Cooper's quiet time, so I seized the opportunity and got dinner going before the dreaded four-o'clock-crazy that tends to descend upon my house.

The boys were pretty well behaved up until five-thirty, well past the usual bewitching hour. I'm sure that helped with the perfectness of the day.

We did have a little trauma with bedtime. (Peter said he'd rather disobey and sit in time-out than obey, so I granted his wish. Don't worry he's back in his bed and, hopefully, asleep.) But even with a rough end, today was still wonderful. That's why I'm writing about it. I'll need to remember on difficult days in the future that days like today exist.

Pintastic

My friend sent me an invitation to Pinterest last week. Essentially, it's a way to organize bookmarks, but instead of a list you have bulletin boards organized by topic and you can see everything you have pinned (yes, that is the technical term for it) in one place. It's pretty cool actually.

I've learned some things about myself in the week that I've been pinning.

1. I like food. This isn't a new revelation, I just didn't realize how much I like food. Most of my pins are of recipes. Actually, most are for desserts, which I really shouldn't eat. I do like changing recipes for treats into things that I can eat, and that's what I tell myself every time I click the repin button on a triple-chocolate monstrosity.
2. For someone that doesn't like doing crafts I've certainly pinned enough of them. I respect the practical crafts, the ones that make something useful out of something else. Like this homemade chalkboard (although I would make mine simpler, without the flower embellishments) and these denim roads made out of old jeans.
3. The time has come to really learn to sew. It would help with repairing clothes over the next two years. And I want to be able to make this dress for Phoebe out of one of Bryan's old dress shirts. Does one of my skilled friends want to teach me how to do more than sew a straight line?

Anyone want an invite to Pinterest?

Budding Equestrians

Boys and Girls

Recently I've had a handful of people comment to me that Phoebe is so petite. But here's the thing: she's not. She's certainly not a chubby baby, so maybe that's what people are talking about. Other than that, she's in the seventy-eighth percentile for height and her head size is off the chart. So in reality she's not petite at all.

On the flip side we have Cooper. I've had people (most of them strangers in grocery stores) say that Cooper is tall. If you lined up one hundred three-year-olds Cooper would be taller than twenty-four of them. He is not tall.

I've been trying to make sense of these comments. While it's possible that those that think Cooper is tall are used to Lilliputian children and that giants are remarking on Phoebe's petite-ness, I don't think that's the case.

I do have a theory though. Boys are tall and girls are short. At least, that's a common gender stereotype, right? I wonder if people just assume that Cooper is tall because he's a boy (and because his brother and dad are both so tall) and that Phoebe is little because she's a girl. Is this why short boys and tall girls have such rough time? People have been telling them what they should look like since they were babies.

And maybe these are all isolated incidents. Perhaps I've just run into the few people that think this way.

Thoughts?

In The Beginning

Embassa

Bryan has completed the first week of orientation for his MBA program. He was home every night for dinner, which was a delightful change from when he was employed. He has another week of orientation before classes start.

The BYU MBA program puts a large emphasis on families. In fact, there's a very active spouses association. They call it MBASA. As a joke one night I said the name as if it were a word: embassa. Bryan informed me that that's what the members actually call it, so I guess that means the joke is on me.

I've been getting emails from the MBASA for a few months, things to motivate me to join the club, get us excited for school to start, offer help to anyone that needs it. I've read forum threads from outgoing members saying that these are the most amazing women they've ever met and that all the first-years (like me) are so lucky because we'll be making lifelong friends in this group. I feel like I should be excited to get started with all the activities and friend-making I've been promised.

My dilemma: I'm afraid of the MBASA.

No, not afraid so much as nervous. Anxious. Trepidatious.

We all had to write a one-liner about ourselves so we could be matched with a second-year "guru" to guide us through the rough sea of the first-year of graduate school. Most of the women wrote about how they loved to make crafts, run, participate in sports, shop, and do various girly-things that I have no interest or ability in.

I think I'm afraid that I'll be the weird girl in the corner watching the mass of trendy, organized, sporty, frilly MBA wives making scrapbooks while running marathons.

Yeah, I know that I'm totally judging this book by it's cover and that I'm overreacting. I hope that in two years I'll be the one talking about what an amazing time all the incoming wives will have.

But I'm still nervous.

Footloose

Ten Years in the Blink of an Eye

The Beginning:

Just married at the San Diego Temple.

1 Year Later:

Washington, D.C.

2 Years Later:

Galveston, Texas

3 Years Later:

Graduating from BYU.

4 Years Later:

Central Park, New York City, expecting Peter.

5 Years Later:

Oceanside, CA

6 Years Later:

Oakland, CA, expecting Cooper.

7 Years Later:

The Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT.

8 Years Later:

The pier in Oceanside, CA.

9 Years Later:

Watching fireworks in Provo, UT, expecting Phoebe.

Today, 10 Years Later:

Home.

Happy Anniversary, Bryan!

A Little Friendly Competition

Competition has been the name of the game around my house recently. Peter and Cooper want to "win" at everything. The first one dressed in the morning is the winner. The first one up the stairs is the winner. The first one in the car is the winner.

I have yet to convince them that the first one to go to sleep is the winner.

Sometimes the winner depends on me. How fast can I bathe each boy? Who will I serve first at dinner? Who will I let out of the car first?

Today we pulled into the garage after playing at a friend's house. Before I even turned off the car, the competition started, but this time Cooper raised the stakes.

Peter: Mom, let me out of the car first!

Cooper: No, me first!

Peter: NO, ME FIRST!

Cooper: But Mommy, I love you! Peter doesn't love you!

Me: (shocked and trying not to laugh) What?!

I let Peter out first.

Here We Go-Go-Go-Go on an Adventure!

A year and a half ago I wrote about waiting. One of the things I was waiting for started today.

Yesterday was Bryan's last day at his job. Today is his first day at orientation for the MBA program at BYU. He's studying Marketing and will be in the program for two years. He actually was accepted for last fall, but after much prayer he decided to defer for a year. He was concerned that starting Graduate School the same week Phoebe was due wasn't a great idea. I think he was right.

Back in February we decided we wanted to live by BYU to cut down on Bryan's commute. I've been looking for an apartment or a condo or a house since then. We've seen many scary places and at least one really nice place, but nothing that was right for our family. Part of the reason the blog has been heavy on pictures and light on words recently is that I've been spending so much time looking for our next residence.

Peter starts school in two weeks, which means we have a week and a half to find a place and move. If we haven't found anything by then, I think we'll have to stay where we are and hope that Bryan doesn't mind spending more time in the car driving to and from school. I don't want to start Peter in Kindergarten and then pull him out because we finally found a place to live. And, unlike our last two moves, this one would be by choice, not because we've been told we have to go.

I'm really excited for this adventure we're undertaking. Peter thinks it's awesome that he and his dad are starting school at the same time. I think it's pretty cool too.

Wedding Bells

We've spent the last two days recovering from the weekend. I didn't post on Friday because we had so much going on and I wasn't organized enough to post in advance. What were we doing that took so much time, you ask?

We were celebrating these two.

Isaac, my youngest brother, got married on Friday evening.

I've gotten to spend some time with my new sister-in-law and she's swell. She's a good match for Isaac. And the small people at my house happen to think she's fantastic. Last week they stopped asking when Uncle Isaac was going to come over and started asking when Falisha was going to come play.

I helped with the family dinner after the sealing and spent the better part of Friday morning and afternoon getting ready for it. And I didn't take any pictures.

Blargh.

Just know that it turned out well. For centerpieces I covered mason jars with tissue paper in the wedding colors (half in teal and half in cream) and tied a ribbon around it to hold the paper in place (like this, but my bows were much smaller). Then my amazing visiting teachers (who had helped us setup that morning) came while we were at the sealing and filled the jars with wildflowers. It was simple, but it was nice.

We had the dinner catered by Kneaders. It was superb. I highly recommend them.

At every table was a stack of 4x6 cards and a few permanent markers. Each guest was instructed to write marriage advice for Isaac and Falisha. After the dinner we

gathered them all up and I put them into a photo album for the bride and groom. Most of the advice (which I read while I was compiling it) was sweet, some was funny, and at least two contradicted each other. My favorite was Peter's. He included an epilogue.

We all had to be gussied-up on Friday and then again on Saturday for the reception. All four of the sisters (between Isaac and Falisha) were bridesmaids. Our outfits were really cute, I actually wore mine to church yesterday. But of course, I didn't take pictures of it either. Well, I took this picture while Cooper was throwing a tantrum (that happened a lot this weekend) (tantrums, not me taking pictures during tantrums) so at least you have an idea of the color scheme.

All the men had teal ties, including the miniature men.

The best pictures I have are of Phoebe. And, next to the bride, I think Phoebe was the most popular girl at every wedding function. (Thanks to Paige for letting me use some of the pictures she took.)

Phoebe was fascinated by the goldfish in the centerpieces at the reception, can you tell?

Congratulations Isaac and Falisha!

Bittersweet

We've had a number of sleepless nights recently. Well, not entirely sleepless, but they're pretty darn close. None of our kids are sleeping well, which means the parents aren't either.

I've been trying to identify the culprit behind the lack of sleep. Here are the suspects:

• Our house is too hot for them to stay asleep. We keep the thermostat at 80 degrees in the summer, so maybe they're waking because they're uncomfortable.
• They're thirsty. We do live in Utah after all. It's crazy dry here.
• They really, really love us. The boys wake up most nights saying that they want to snuggle. We love to cuddle them too, so we're torn between walking them back to their own beds and scooping them up and tucking them in with us.
• We've taught them to be awful sleepers.

I have a sneaking suspicion it's a combination of all of the above.

Add to the sleeplessness during the middle of the night the fact that Phoebe has had trouble going to sleep on her own since we got back from vacation. Her naps have been short and at odd-hours due to various family stuff we have going on (more on that later) and when I do put her down for the night she prefers to stand and scream angrily at me rather than sleeping.

Last night I let her cry. Bryan was working late and I could only split my attention so many ways. I still tried to do her bedtime routine (which involves nursing her, then holding her while I sing to her) without distractions from her brothers. After I laid her down I went out and read to Peter (Cooper was the first one down for the night) while she cried.

I set my time-limit at an hour. With Phoebe if you go in to comfort her, but don't rescue her, well, then she gets REALLY angry. When the hour finished I could tell she was winding down, so I waited just a few more minutes. At an hour and six minutes she was asleep.

I remember feeling a sense of relief when the boys would finally go to sleep on their own at this age. Not so with our Miss. I went in to check on her and when I saw her slumbering in her bed I felt a huge pang of sadness. I wanted more than anything to scoop her up and snuggle her. This was surprising to me. I spend most of my time everyday holding Phoebe, why did I feel so guilty that I didn't hold her as she fell asleep?

As much as I think I need that time in the evening to put my house back together and work on other projects, I really enjoy the quiet time I often have when I nurse her and snuggle with her before bedtime.

Maybe the sadness came because while she might be ready to learn to sleep on her own, I'm not.

Acknowledgement

I failed to give appropriate credit for the pictures I've been posting from our trip. I only brought my phone, so all the pictures that are lower in quality are from me. The better pictures were taken by various members of Bryan's family. They used a real camera.

And thanks go to my mother-in-law for taking the time to send me the pictures so I could post them.

Thank you!

One Last Post of Vacation-Photo-Goodness

Expressions of Love

I watched this last night just before I went to sleep. It made me ask myself, "What more can I do to express my love for Bryan?"

What do you do to show the important people in your life how much you love them?

Aw Nuts

Peter was retested for his peanut allergy yesterday. Since his blood test score was so low, the doctor thought there was a good chance that his skin test would be negative, or at least small. If that was the case then we would move on to the next step and do a challenge at the hospital.

Here's a picture that I took at the appointment, just before the nurse came in to read the results.

See the plus? That's the control. See the giant, angry welt below that? That's the test site for peanuts.

Yup, he's still allergic.

The doctor sent me home with a thick pack of papers to read regarding Peter starting Kindergarten in a few weeks. I am so scared for snack time. And Halloween treats. I have to meet with his teacher and make sure there's an Epi-Pen at school for him and possibly provide posters for the classroom. And she told me to volunteer often, especially on holidays when the chance of treats is greater.

If people think I'm obnoxious about protecting Peter from peanuts now, just wait. I have a feeling I am not going to be popular among Peter's classmate's parents.

Cabin

Our second night in Idaho we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. As I followed Peter in afterward he said, "You know, I really love camping."

Yup, I love this kind of camping too.

Slip N' Slide

One highlight of the drive up through Idaho was our visit to Downata Hot Springs. I had never been to a hot spring prior to this and the picture in my head did not match reality. I thought it would be a series of warm ponds that people could wade into, but it was more like a warm community pool.

Peter loved this little water slide. He was highly disappointed that we weren't stopping here on our return trip. He's definitely getting braver in the water. I haven't decided if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Cooper loved it too, despite the look of terror on his face in this picture.

I got in on the water slide action too, but I chose a slightly longer slide.

Phoebe may have ended her feud with the water. Here she is lounging in the pool with Uncle Dallin. I must say, Uncle Dallin, Uncle Ben, and Aunt Kate were huge helps in wrangling the small people. In fact, I think we wore both of the uncles out about two days into the trip.

Long Time Gone

We now interrupt your regularly scheduled vacation recap to show you what I did tonight. Remember way back in February when I decided I wanted to do something with my hair? Well, I finally followed through.

Before:

Wow, this hair is insanely long.

After:

I went short, can you tell? And I realize that the picture is blurry, but I'm too tired to go take another one.

Look! I have a neck!

Rather a bold move, don't you think? I've been wandering around my house, swishing my hair because it's so light and fun. I went with the suggestion that a few of you provided on that post five months ago and am donating it to Locks of Love. I have the twelve inches of hair that were cut off all braided and bagged and ready to send.

I've had my hair this short before, but not since Bryan and I have been married. He's still getting used to it. I'm curious to hear what the boys will say.

Oh! It just occurred to me that Phoebe might not recognize me without my hippie-length hair. Gee, I hope she likes the cut as much as I do.

It's Always Fun At Grandma's House

We spent last week caravaning with Bryan's family up through Idaho, crossing a tiny bit of Montana (a new state to add to my list), and then basking in the National Park-iness of Wyoming.

We started the trip off staying at Bryan's grandparents' house. It's only an hour from our house, which doesn't sound like a real trip kick-off, but it was nice to be with his family an extra night.

Cooper and "Grandma-Great" (as she sometimes calls herself) enjoyed a few of the adventures of Stuart Little.

Peter discovered one of the many treasures that they have decorating their home and happily pounded away at this very old typewriter for quite a long time.

And Phoebe, who started pulling herself up to a standing position and cruising while we were in California, decided it was time to crawl. She still only does it occasionally, but it's nice to know she has the ability.