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.