Bryan and I were cheap before it was cool. Actually, we lived it up a bit in college by going to movies and out to dinner. Sometimes I kick myself for all the money we could have saved, but then I'm reminded that we won't be able to do that again for a LONG TIME, so it was okay for a little while. Although, not going to movies might have had us into a house by now...
Anyway, frugal is now in. And Bryan and I do frugal very well. I bought a ham for $7 on Friday, cooked it on Saturday, and have eaten it for lunch and dinner everyday since. I would say that we have enough meat left to make two more distinct dishes. And I'm going to use the ham bone to make beans. That ham has gone a long way.
I know that I still have a lot to learn about pinching pennies, but I am much better than I used to be. And I know that I'm not the only one trying to save money. Target's new batch of commercials seem to have frugality in mind as well. They talk about the "new" way of doing things. The "new commute" is a bike. The "new trip to the salon" is a bottle of hair dye. Okay, I can get behind trying to help people in their quest to live within their means. But I don't think they've gone far enough. They call the "new home addition" six throw pillows. But the pillows are $20 each! At my house that would equate to $120 dollars in very small trampolines.
No, they need to appeal to the truly miserly. Instead of a new bike, show someone climbing onto a bus, reading the target ad. Instead of the bottle of hair dye, let us see someone in severe need of a root touch-up, buying a hat. And the new home addition? Curtains made out of plastic target grocery sacks. That would be really cheap.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Peter and His Imaginary Friend...Cooper
As the oldest child I often spoke for my younger siblings. When they were asked a question, I would answer. I think Peter takes it to the next level:
Peter: (Looking at Cooper) Cooper, how are you doing?
(Pause) You're doing well?
(Pause) How am I doing?
(Pause) I'm doing great!
Me: Peter, you need to eat your dinner.
Peter: No, Cooper tells me to NOT eat my dinner.
Peter: Oh, Cooper wants eat my food.
(Looking at Cooper) No Cooper, you can't have cheese yet.
I will be glad when Cooper is big enough and verbal enough to play with Peter. And to answer for himself.
Peter: (Looking at Cooper) Cooper, how are you doing?
(Pause) You're doing well?
(Pause) How am I doing?
(Pause) I'm doing great!
Me: Peter, you need to eat your dinner.
Peter: No, Cooper tells me to NOT eat my dinner.
Peter: Oh, Cooper wants eat my food.
(Looking at Cooper) No Cooper, you can't have cheese yet.
I will be glad when Cooper is big enough and verbal enough to play with Peter. And to answer for himself.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Adieu
Saying goodbye can be hard. When I visit with my family it's hard for me to leave, or to see them leave. It's even hard for me to leave Peter at Primary, even though it's temporary. On Saturday we said goodbye to my grandpa. It was a very sweet service. I learned a lot about my dad's dad. I never knew that my grandpa built the building that housed his dental practice in Long Beach California. That's interesting, but more so is that he invited his father and father-in-law to help as well. That building provided retirement funds for both. He was a hard worker. My dad shared the following story:
While I miss my grandpa, I'm not weighed down by sadness. He lived a good life and it was his time to move on. We took Peter and Cooper to the funeral. I know that not everyone thinks it's appropriate to bring to children to a funeral, but we felt that it was important. We told Peter that Grandpa Alvin had died and that his spirit had gone to live with Heavenly Father while his body waited here for when he would be resurrected and his body and spirit would be reunited. It was a wonderful opportunity to teach him about the Plan of Salvation. Our goodbye to my grandpa is temporary. We will see him again. For the time being, he has work to do on his side on the veil, and we have work to do on ours.
This picture of me, Peter, and my grandparents was taken September of 2007.
Related to work, I remember one project my dad undertook while I was home from college one vacation. He had a storage shed that had stood at the back of our property for some years. It was falling apart and needed to be demolished. As we took it apart, we found that under the floorboards a six-inch layer of humus had accumulated, the work, my dad said, of rats. As a result, this project consumed many hours. I was young and active. I took pride in the fact that I was tearing off more boards and moving more shovels full of dirt than my dad. At noon we took time off for lunch. Then I took a nap. Dad went back to work. At about two, I returned to the job that Dad had never left. By five, when the job was finally done, I was beat. Dad had not worked fast; he had just worked relentlessly. He never reprimanded me for slacking off. He just worked me into the ground.
While I miss my grandpa, I'm not weighed down by sadness. He lived a good life and it was his time to move on. We took Peter and Cooper to the funeral. I know that not everyone thinks it's appropriate to bring to children to a funeral, but we felt that it was important. We told Peter that Grandpa Alvin had died and that his spirit had gone to live with Heavenly Father while his body waited here for when he would be resurrected and his body and spirit would be reunited. It was a wonderful opportunity to teach him about the Plan of Salvation. Our goodbye to my grandpa is temporary. We will see him again. For the time being, he has work to do on his side on the veil, and we have work to do on ours.
This picture of me, Peter, and my grandparents was taken September of 2007.Saturday, January 10, 2009
Sleep: The Saga Continues
Cooper finally went to sleep last night. We discovered that after he's stopped crying he stays awake for a while. And checking on him starts the crying up again. At fifteen minutes after midnight I finally gathered up my courage and went in to check him. Asleep. He still sleeps in our room and I was exhausted, so I was glad that I could finally go to sleep without interrupting or distracting him. I went to tell Bryan, which is when I heard Peter wake up. Then Cooper woke up to nurse at one in the morning. So Bryan spent the night in Peter's room trying to get him back to sleep and I held Cooper all night. So much for everyone sleeping in their own bed.
We're trying it again tonight. He's quiet, but I have no idea if he's asleep. And I'm too afraid to go check. Maybe five more minutes and I'll sneak a peek.
At least it's not midnight.
We're trying it again tonight. He's quiet, but I have no idea if he's asleep. And I'm too afraid to go check. Maybe five more minutes and I'll sneak a peek.
At least it's not midnight.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Wall
We've hit a wall. A sleep wall. Or, more accurately, a non-sleep wall. The same thing happened when Peter was about the age Cooper is now. They just. Won't. Sleep.
I always thought the "cry-it-out" method was barbaric. Why would anyone let their child cry them self to sleep? Wouldn't that intrinsic parental instinct kick in and send them running to their baby to comfort them?
This was my philosophy until Peter was 10-months old. I would nurse him to sleep and when that didn't work Bryan would hold and pat him to sleep. Sometimes he also had to rock while holding and patting. It was a rather athletic maneuver. Peter has always been tall and strong. It got to the point that Peter would fight so hard that Bryan could barely hold him, let alone lull him to sleep. And that was when we hit the wall with Peter. We agreed that we would let him go to sleep on his own. It was torture. We would do a nice little bedtime routine, say family prayers, put him down in his bed, tell him that we loved him, and walk out. Cue crying. We couldn't tell if he was just upset or if something terrible had happened in the 5 seconds since we'd left the room. Our solution was to set up a video camera in Peter's room and wire it through our apartment so that we could watch him from the living room.
The first night it took him six hours to go to sleep. Six. I talked to other moms at the same time trying to get suggestions about what we could try and heard things like, "Oh, well it's hard at first. That first night he cried for fifteen minutes, but then he calmed down and settled to sleep after twenty more minutes or so." Yeah, that sounds really hard. During that six hours we discovered something. Peter can act. He would cry for a minute, then stop and wait. This went on for a while. By the end he really did just drop off to sleep. But, six hours people!
We're at that point with Cooper. Truth be told, we've been there for some time, we just didn't want to admit it. Neither of us likes this method. Bryan told me the other night that he doesn't want to damage Cooper. I asked him if Peter was damaged. He said no, but he didn't remember Peter crying it out. I reminded him. I don't want to damage him either. And Cooper's problem isn't the same as Peter's. Cooper will sleep beautifully, as long as he's being held. The minute we put him in his bed he wakes up screaming. I would hold him day and night if I could. I realize that childhood is fleeting and that before I know it he'll be too big to hold. I'm choking up a little as I type this. I want to savor being able to snuggle him. But I also know that I need to be able to function the next day. Those nights that I hold Cooper I wake up hardly able to move and my patience is not what it needs to be.
So this week we've tried letting Cooper go to sleep on his own. We do a bedtime routine, make sure he's drowsy, and lie him down. We don't even make it out the door before the screaming starts. And Cooper's screams are angry and insistent. He will have none of this. We go in to try to comfort him, but that just exacerbates the situation. I realize that some people would tell us to just soldier on, but tonight we couldn't take it anymore. Bryan has been holding him in our room the whole time I've been writing, during which he's been sound asleep. Bryan just came out, which means that Cooper is now in his bed, crying.
There has to be a better way.
I always thought the "cry-it-out" method was barbaric. Why would anyone let their child cry them self to sleep? Wouldn't that intrinsic parental instinct kick in and send them running to their baby to comfort them?
This was my philosophy until Peter was 10-months old. I would nurse him to sleep and when that didn't work Bryan would hold and pat him to sleep. Sometimes he also had to rock while holding and patting. It was a rather athletic maneuver. Peter has always been tall and strong. It got to the point that Peter would fight so hard that Bryan could barely hold him, let alone lull him to sleep. And that was when we hit the wall with Peter. We agreed that we would let him go to sleep on his own. It was torture. We would do a nice little bedtime routine, say family prayers, put him down in his bed, tell him that we loved him, and walk out. Cue crying. We couldn't tell if he was just upset or if something terrible had happened in the 5 seconds since we'd left the room. Our solution was to set up a video camera in Peter's room and wire it through our apartment so that we could watch him from the living room.
The first night it took him six hours to go to sleep. Six. I talked to other moms at the same time trying to get suggestions about what we could try and heard things like, "Oh, well it's hard at first. That first night he cried for fifteen minutes, but then he calmed down and settled to sleep after twenty more minutes or so." Yeah, that sounds really hard. During that six hours we discovered something. Peter can act. He would cry for a minute, then stop and wait. This went on for a while. By the end he really did just drop off to sleep. But, six hours people!
We're at that point with Cooper. Truth be told, we've been there for some time, we just didn't want to admit it. Neither of us likes this method. Bryan told me the other night that he doesn't want to damage Cooper. I asked him if Peter was damaged. He said no, but he didn't remember Peter crying it out. I reminded him. I don't want to damage him either. And Cooper's problem isn't the same as Peter's. Cooper will sleep beautifully, as long as he's being held. The minute we put him in his bed he wakes up screaming. I would hold him day and night if I could. I realize that childhood is fleeting and that before I know it he'll be too big to hold. I'm choking up a little as I type this. I want to savor being able to snuggle him. But I also know that I need to be able to function the next day. Those nights that I hold Cooper I wake up hardly able to move and my patience is not what it needs to be.
So this week we've tried letting Cooper go to sleep on his own. We do a bedtime routine, make sure he's drowsy, and lie him down. We don't even make it out the door before the screaming starts. And Cooper's screams are angry and insistent. He will have none of this. We go in to try to comfort him, but that just exacerbates the situation. I realize that some people would tell us to just soldier on, but tonight we couldn't take it anymore. Bryan has been holding him in our room the whole time I've been writing, during which he's been sound asleep. Bryan just came out, which means that Cooper is now in his bed, crying.
There has to be a better way.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
What I Did on My Christmas Vacation
Bryan and Peter built a snowman.
We opened some presents...
...and began using said presents.
Peter turned three and wanted sushi for his birthday lunch. We obliged.
He opened some birthday presents...
...and enjoyed a volcano cake that Bryan made...
...and wore his new helmet far more than he actually rode his birthday bike.
The final adventure of the break was a last-minute visit from my parents and my brother Jordan. I was preoccupied with spending time with them and therefore have no photographic evidence of their stay. They came to visit with my grandpa, whose health was failing. It was a good thing that they made the trek (which involved driving through Vegas on New Year's Eve) because my grandpa passed away yesterday.
We opened some presents...
...and began using said presents.
Peter turned three and wanted sushi for his birthday lunch. We obliged.
He opened some birthday presents...
...and enjoyed a volcano cake that Bryan made...
...and wore his new helmet far more than he actually rode his birthday bike.
The final adventure of the break was a last-minute visit from my parents and my brother Jordan. I was preoccupied with spending time with them and therefore have no photographic evidence of their stay. They came to visit with my grandpa, whose health was failing. It was a good thing that they made the trek (which involved driving through Vegas on New Year's Eve) because my grandpa passed away yesterday.
Be Careful What You Wish For
I only asked for three things for Christmas:
I opened the box that arrived and found this:
And this:
My first thought was, "Oh my goodness. Did Bryan get me scrapbooks? Has he met me?!" I may be alienating a few friends here, but I don't scrapbook. At all. In fact, when I started this blog Bryan told me it was another form of scrap booking and he earned a rather vicious look from me. No offense, I'm just not into it.
Anyway, I pulled them out of the box and looked at Bryan quizzically. You know that thing you do when you've been given a gift that you really don't want, but you want to appear gracious. Picture that look on my face. He quickly said that he'd found these photo albums online and knew that I wanted to replace the one I had, so he'd gotten them. Now I'm thinking, "Okay, so they're not scrapbooks. They're photo albums. I can just slip my pictures into those handy little plastic sleeves and be done with them. That was sweet of him."
Upon further inspection however I discovered that they are actually hard covers with lots of photo paper on which you can print your pictures after you have artistically arranged them on your computer and added text and maybe fun backgrounds.
What does that sound like to you? A scrapbook? Yeah, me too.
When I (very sweetly) told Bryan what they really were he felt bad. At least it's for digital scrap booking, and that's kind of like playing around in Photoshop, which is fun, and doesn't require fancy scissors, hole-punches of various shapes and sizes, or stickers. I figure I'll use them somehow. Maybe to print my blog from last year. Hmmm...
My favorite part is that Peter was convinced that one of the albums was for him. He kept looking at the book and saying, "Oh Daddy, thank you for my photo album."
*Thanks to my Dad for my after Christmas present of a book light. I love it!
- Thread and patterns for sewing. (No, I don't really sew, but I'm trying to learn.)
- A book light*
- A replacement photo album for an old one I have that's falling apart.
I opened the box that arrived and found this:
And this:
My first thought was, "Oh my goodness. Did Bryan get me scrapbooks? Has he met me?!" I may be alienating a few friends here, but I don't scrapbook. At all. In fact, when I started this blog Bryan told me it was another form of scrap booking and he earned a rather vicious look from me. No offense, I'm just not into it.
Anyway, I pulled them out of the box and looked at Bryan quizzically. You know that thing you do when you've been given a gift that you really don't want, but you want to appear gracious. Picture that look on my face. He quickly said that he'd found these photo albums online and knew that I wanted to replace the one I had, so he'd gotten them. Now I'm thinking, "Okay, so they're not scrapbooks. They're photo albums. I can just slip my pictures into those handy little plastic sleeves and be done with them. That was sweet of him."
Upon further inspection however I discovered that they are actually hard covers with lots of photo paper on which you can print your pictures after you have artistically arranged them on your computer and added text and maybe fun backgrounds.
What does that sound like to you? A scrapbook? Yeah, me too.
When I (very sweetly) told Bryan what they really were he felt bad. At least it's for digital scrap booking, and that's kind of like playing around in Photoshop, which is fun, and doesn't require fancy scissors, hole-punches of various shapes and sizes, or stickers. I figure I'll use them somehow. Maybe to print my blog from last year. Hmmm...
My favorite part is that Peter was convinced that one of the albums was for him. He kept looking at the book and saying, "Oh Daddy, thank you for my photo album."
*Thanks to my Dad for my after Christmas present of a book light. I love it!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Singing, Dancing, Carpet Picking...
Yeah, it's in his blood. The singing and dancing, not the digging in the carpet for stuff.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Eight
1. 8 TV shows I watch
1. Chuck
2. Heroes
3. The Office
4. Samantha Who
5. Burn Notice
6. Friends (on DVD)
7. I'm thinking about checking out The Mentalist
8. 30 Rock
2. 8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Happy Sumo
2. Goodwood
3. Costa Vida
4. Old Spaghetti Factory
5. Kneader's
6. California Pizza Kitchen
7. Tucano's
8. Mimi's Cafe
3. 8 Things that Happened Yesterday
1. I took a nap.
2. We went to the library and got a new library card.
3. I cleaned the kitchen. Twice.
4. Peter announced he wasn't going to ride his new birthday bike anymore because he kept falling off.
5. Peter rode his bike.
6. I took down the Christmas decorations.
7. Bryan and I made odd, though still edible, taco soup.
8. The boys and I read books.
4. 8 Things I’m looking forward to
1. Peter being potty-trained
2. Sleeping through the night
3. Meeting my niece. (I borrowed yours Beth. My niece is coming in February!)
4. Finding homes for the last few items that need to be unpacked
5. Spring
6. Summer
7. Having our own home.
8. Eating sugar-free goodies again. (Artificial sweeteners upset Cooper's stomach, so while he's nursing I have to avoid treats. It's worth it.)
5. 8 Things on my Wish List
1. A house
2. Watermelon (This is always on my wish list.)
3. A cure to food allergies so that Peter could eat at friends homes, and school when the time comes, without having his Epi-Pen nearby.
4. To not live in Utah. (No offense Utah, but I really miss California.)
5. Endless energy and creativity so that my boys have the intellectual stimulation they need to build their brains.
6. Endless patience (I’m stealing this one too.)
7. New clothes that don't have holes in them. (We're working on this one.)
8. Friends that I can actually hangout with. Facebook and blogs are great, but I need some real interaction.
6. 8 Things I Love
1. Bryan, Peter, Cooper and the rest of my family
2. Music
3. The library and reading
4. Learning
5. The scriptures and the Ensign
6. Warm weather
7. Laughing
8. Watermelon
7. 8 Things I Can’t Stand
1. Peas
2. That I can't reset my internal clock and become a morning person.
3. Drivers that don't watch for pedestrians in crosswalks.
4. Poor grammar
5. Rachel Ray (I don't know why. I'm sure she's a very nice person, I just can't watch her for more than a few minutes at a time.)
6. Drivers that don't use the turn signal.
7. That Bryan and I live so far away from our families.
8. Parents that have abdicated their responsibilities to their children and don't teach them.
8. 8 People I’m Tagging
1. Amanda
2. Ian. That's right, I'm tagging you separately. You can both answer these on your blog.
3. Gretel
4. Mom
5. Janet
6. Krystal
7. Derrik
8. Becky
And what better way to end than with the King of Eight from Sesame Street.
Happy 2009!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Paranoid
This might sound crazy, but I have a request. If anyone that reads this has a link to my blog, would you please make sure that my last name is not included? My first name? Fine. The title of my blog? Great! But my last name? I'd rather not.
Thanks for indulging my paranoia.
Thanks for indulging my paranoia.
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