The Neal Family

Well, it's happened folks. We've officially reached the point where eating is the primary holiday activity and I can no longer tell if I am hungry or not at any given point. It's been another successful holiday, I think.
We've had a full house here in Idaho. There's my maternal grandma from California, my paternal grandpa, Sean Patrick and I here from Reno, brother Chad and his wife Amy and new daughter Emily, brother Brady and his wife Jessica from California, brother Micah and his buddy Jim home from BYU Idaho, Marissa home from college as well, and Mom and Dad and Tanner and Kearis who live here full-time. That's right...17 people, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two crying babies, and a partidge in a pear tree.
It's actually been very nice and peaceful. Patrick has done OK with the traveling, especially after my mom started feeding him pears in mass quantities to combat the cheese situation that keeps cropping up when we travel. He's been especially entertaining the last 24 hours and is VERY cute when he wants to help hold baby Emily. He's surprisingly gentle and intrigued by the little doll that moves. He doesn't even seem especially jealous, since there are plenty of people to pay attention to both babies.
Speaking of my new baby niece, let me just say that she is indeed an "angel sent straight from heaven." She's a keeper, according to Kearis. She's very mellow and makes me want one that sleeps like she does. I've only heard her cry once in three days and it was more like forceful mewing than real live crying. Chad and Amy are properly proud and completely exhausted. Ah, the memories.
So there, you go. There were presents and people and fun and family and lots and lots of food. Tomorrow, Sean and I are taking two of the clan (Mimi and Jim) back to the airport and then heading to Park City for some post holiday clearance shopping. The Gymboree outlet is having a Big Red Balloon sale and you all know how I feel about that place. So happy...

Patrick and I arrived safely in Bear Lake last night. We had a great flight to SLC. There were only about a hundred people on the plane so we had our own row which helped Patrick immensely. He entertained people the whole way there, played toys on his bench, and ate his weight in fruit snacks. Of course, he fell asleep as we landed, but did promptly go back to sleep when we got to the car. My dear friend Nemesis was kind enough to pick us up so that we could go to Provo, have lunch with our friend Jamie, and visit the McCulloch family. My dad drove down from Idaho and met us there and we stopped for a short visit with our friends, the Stroms, over at Wyview. It was a lot of fun to see everyone again and be in Provo for a little while. ALSO, they have A LOT of snow! It's unreal.
In other news, while we were traveling all day, my brother Chad and his wife Amy were busy having baby Emily! I don't want to steal their fun, fun announcement, but hop on over and congratulate them if you get a chance. Hopefully they'll put pictures and details up soon! Congratulations to them!

There were even games to play while you waited in line...

Then there was this weird guy in a red suit...

He was pretty funny, I guess....

Until my mom tried to ditch me with him. That's when I had to object!

I'm having one of those trapped-in-my-own-apartment days. Patrick's sleeping has been whack all week, after he stayed up way too late Sunday night. We had friends over for a dinner night, and thought that since we hosted, the little monkey could easily go to bed on time. But, NOOOOO, did I really think that the life of the party would willingly turn in? Long story short, he stayed up till everyone left at 9 PM, we layed him in his crib as they walked out and he conked right out. No matter that I had tried to put him down no less than five times while they were over. He was hamming it up and feeding off the adult attention and NO WAY was he going to bed. Anyway, it's been an odd week and it seems to have caught up with him today. He's been totally tired but we've spent most of the day "trying" to take a nap. The last time I went in there he was throwing his binky across the crib and then lunging for it again and again and laughing hysterically. And when I say hysterical, I mean bordering on the insane. So, I did another round of sooth-the-baby, there was quite a lot of screaming when I left, but finally I'm hearing blessed silence. Thank heavens--now maybe we can go outside, or walk to the park, or something. Get me outta here! :)

Feel free to hum along to my title. Or sing. Whatever you feel is best.

A few weeks ago I blog-hopped to a cool site/blog called largerfamilies.com. I thought it was interesting reading since I grew up in MUCH larger family, especially since "larger" seems to be defined as more than three kids. I'm also fairly interested in having my own larger family one day, provided that the thrice daily high-chair battles cease soon.

It's interesting to read the contributing writer's blogs, since most of them are more experienced mommies than me, for sure, and even more experienced than you, my dear readers and friends. It's interesting and a little frightening to read about the challenges that lay down the road. However, that is not what this post is about. It's about traditions, since I just read a huge thread about all these families holiday things that they do. I love traditions, and am a firm believer that they help kids find a sense of self and feel at home in the world. Sean finds my obsession mildly amusing, especially when it finds us frantically searching for 0-3 month old Christmas jammies (for a baby obviously too young to remember anything) because I forgot to purchase them in my postpartum/mastitis induced haze last year. Albeit, I think he's on my team as far as creating lasting memories and rituals for our kids to look forward too all year, but especially at Christmas. Here are a few of my plans:

1. The St Nick's Day new pajamas--may or may not be left near shoes set out and filled with treats. We'll see.
2. The Christmas books. I have a lot but need a few more. The best idea so far is to gift wrap them all and read one every night from Dec 1-24. One mom even sewed Christmassy bags that tied to hold each book and not waste paper. Love the idea, and the anticipation. Also love reading presented as a gift. I need more books that explain the symbolism of Christmas and get at the real meaning. Also, maybe we could do the same with the Christmas movies, and unwrap those on Friday nights to watch as a family.
3. The winter Solstice party on the 21st. My mom and her friends started this after I left home. They have a soup/salad/bread potluck night, with goodies and all, and the kids write Santa one last letter with a reminder of thier little hearts desires and they light a fire, starting with the letters. My mom used to use this method, I guess to save on postage? She told us that the ashes flew to the North Pole and reassembled themselves for Santa to read.
4. Santa presents are laid out unwrapped with filled stockings, for immediate enjoyment. Even though no one is technically allowed downstairs until everyone is awake, I remember sneaking down early nearly every Christmas and that magical feeling of seeing all those presents laid out, waiting, in the glow of the tree lights. When Kearis was 4 months old, I even snuck her out of her crib to go appreciate things with me and then spent an hour trying to get her back to sleep without mom knowing I woke her up.
5. Some years, Santa managed to wrap the entire doorway with Christmas paper, requiring a battalion of little ones to rush through to the bounty. That could be fun.
6. The present unwrapping happens one at a time. We try to take turns somewhat and appreciate every item before moving on. I like the idea of designating an "elf" or a "santa"--the child who does the handing out for that year.
7. We always had the BIG dinner on Christmas Eve, and then a big special breakfast on Christmas day. The rest of the day was laying out leftovers and noshing pretty much continually, until you couldn't really tell at any given point whether you were hungry or not. This time was usually occupied playing with new gifts, playing in the snow in some way or another, and squeezing in a nap at some point.
8. I know I want a special day-after-Christmas tradition. Ice skating, or something. I hated that let-down day when I was a kid and I think if you planned a simpler, family time to transition down from the high, that would be nice.
9. I really want some kind of set Christmas Eve thing. One family I read about had a "program" that everyone just had to contribute to in some way. They could sing, they could read, whatever. That could be fun since it would change as the kids grew. There obviously needs to be a reading of Luke 2 and the "Joy To The World" DVD.
10. One family had a surprise day in the middle of December called "Cookie Hooky." They pulled the kids out of school at lunchtime, dad (and/or mom) came home from work early and they did the Christmas baking as a family. That's be fun, and since I know about the craziness that goes on at school between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I wouldn't even feel too guilty about it.

That's what I have so far. The problem is that it seems like it will be forever before our kids are old enough to appreciate the fun, fun things I have planned for them. I'm sure it'll be shorter than I think. Any ideas you guys have? What did your families do that you definitely want to continue?

Against letting the boy feed himself oatmeal at 7 AM and then "forgetting" to wash the tray until noon, at which point your wife will be forced into hours of scrubbing and soaking in order to remove the cement that is old oatmeal.

"I opened and closed my shiny scissors real fast."Now I can start my years and years of practice!" I whispered very thrilled.I skipped to my bed where my stuffed animals sit. 'Cause I needed volunteers, of course."Who wants to go first?" I asked my animals. "Who wants to get their fur trimmed at my beauty shop?"My bestest elephant named Philip Johnny Bob raised his foot."I do! I do!" he said.I hugged him very tight. 'Cause that guy is always a good sport, that's why.I picked him up and put him in my beauty chair.I sat him on lots of pillows so he would be tall.Then I kept on looking and looking at his fur."Yeah, only here's the problem," I said. "Your fur is made out of softie gray velvet. And softie gray velvet is short and smoothie. And so I can't even trim you."Philip Johnny Bob did a sad sigh.I patted his head and put him back on the bed.Just then, I accidentally stepped on something.I looked on the floor.And guess what?It was my slippers that look like bunnies!"Us! Us! Trim us!" they said real squealy."Hey, yeah! 'Cause you have the beautifulest long white fur I ever even saw! And so you guys will be perfect, probably!"I quick picked them up and put them in my beauty chair. After that, I skipped all around them. And I snipped their long white fur.I singed a lovely song. It is called "Snipping, Snipping, Snipping Their Long White Fur." It was the funnest fun I ever even had. After I got done, I holded them up to the mirror so they could see theirselves. They did not smile. We're baldies," they said real soft. I did a big breath at those guys. "Yeah, only I already know you are baldies. But that is not my fault. 'Cause you kept on wiggling while I was trimming you," I said. I petted their heads very nice. "Don't worry," I whispered. " 'Cause bunny fur probably grows back, probably. I'm almost positive, sort of." Then I hugged them real gentle. And I throwed them under my bed. 'Cause I didn't want Mother and Daddy might see them, that's why. After that, I got in bed and did a sigh. This job was going to take more practice than I thought. "

I just had to call my office manager and the police due to a nasty domestic dispute happening next door. Can't a girl just clean her bathroom in peace anymore? I was actually quite annoyed by the noise, worried that Patrick was going to wake up from his nap early, and a bit startled, since we've never heard any of our neighbors before. Only then I realized that the screaming and swearing were escalating, someone threatened to kill someone, there were a series of heavy thuds and then lots of crying noises. And that's when I thought, "That's it. We have to move. Only first I'm calling some people to take care of this mess." So I called the office manager. And even though he promised to head right over there, I called the police as well, just for good measure. Things got quiet and then about an hour later loud music started blasting through the wall, along with the sounds of someone vomiting, forcefully and repeatedly. Fun. And even though I gripe about our apartment, it's really not that bad and things like this just shouldn't be happening.

Yes, yes it is! I'm insane. The sounds of crying babies makes me want another? Please lock me up now! So, one of the few days I miss Oprah (she usually helps me cook dinner while Patrick systematically destroys our house), and she does this interesting segment on baby language. Check out this link. It's pretty cool, and I do recognize those sounds, but the funny thing was that I'm sitting here watching and going, "Oooh, me, pick me! I wanna hold that baby!" I have problems.

I am! I'm nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine days old today! (Also, I can still write numbers in standard form--go sixth grade) Check out this day and date calculator . Kind of random but interesting to know.

Last night, I had taken Sudafed for my cold, followed by some Tylenol PM. Sean had to work a recruiting night, Patrick was out for the night, and I decided a warm bath and an 8 PM bedtime was in order to kick the cold. Unfortunately, those dumb people at Sudafed have changed the medicine in order to keep it on the shelves (you know, the meth business) and apparently the new formula makes me loopy and wide awake. Only Tylenol PM knocks me out, so between the two meds, I was extremely sleepy and unable to get up or read of anything but unable to cross that thin threshold into the land of nod. Didn't get to sleep until about 10 PM after all, I missed House for nothing, and I still feel icky this morning.

While I was laying there though, I was doing a little life inventory. I started with the usual: I really should be reading my scriptures more, getting to the temple more often, appreciating my husband more for putting up with me, losing 15 pounds, keeping my house cleaner, and the list goes on. Only then I was thinking about the big picture, of where I wanted to be at 27 years old. And I thought, OK: college degree, check. Teaching career, check. Temple marriage to husband that I love, check. Darling baby hopefully followed by at least a few more, check.

And then I started to think; so, what now? What are my big rocks, the goals to frame life around now? Is it just to hang on to all I have? I was never the kind to make list of goals like skydiving or travel to Cozumel--I've been pleasantly surprised by those kind of fun things cropping up as opportunities, but they aren't my life goals. And of course we have goals for our family, like owning a house, and that ever elusive second car, and family traditions we want to have, vacations to take someday. But, and I know this isn't making much sense, but I don't seem to have goals about My Purpose On This Earth. Anyone know what I mean? I got myself all kinds of concerned that I'm just numbering days without a master plan, and then I finally fell asleep.

Then this morning, Sean was getting ready for work and brought Patrick and his morning yogurt to my bed and while I was snuggling with the baby and talking to Sean about his day, I thought, "What if this is enough? What is this IS as good as it gets and it is more than enough?" I don't know what I'm saying exactly. I think I'm just so used to concrete, measuraale goals and outcomes that I struggle to know that this is the right place, time and circumstance for me and my family, at least for this season of our lives.

Besides, how do you measure the fact that my son can now sing "Cookie, Cookie, Cookie, starts with C?" Okay, so it's more like "Coo-ee, Coo-ee, Coo-ee.....Sea!" Don't laugh--it's the official diaper changing song!

I'm not sure how to get the pictures in the right order now! I sucked it up and upgraded to the new blogger but hadn't posted pictures since! Does anyone know how to work the photos into the order I want?
Anyway, the two train pictures were taken over Thanksgiving--the train is Patrick's early Christmas gift from his great-grandpa Neal. The other pictures are our handiwork from the rest of the weekend, getting out our Christmas stuff. We've been burning yummy candles and playing Christmas CD's all day! I love it! It's also helping to keep our minds off the nasty cold we all seem to have picked up in the nursery at church. Since Patrick's underage, we go and stay with him so we're not in the hall the whole time but apparently this system also has drawbacks!

We made it through the Turkey Day weekend. It was a pretty hectic whirlwind of relative visiting but we had a good time and enjoyed the holiday. Patrick had fun and behaved himself, all except the last night when he was up with tummy troubles, crying for about 2 hours. We'd totally forgotten how to deal with such screaming but eventually he got over it and fell asleep. You know, the kind of shuddering, sobbing, cried myself to sleep thing. It was like having a colicky newborn for the night. I think the main problem was new foods and too much cheese and bananas!

Ooh, also, it's finally starting to snow outside! Yay for snow and Christmassy looking trees! I love the first snows of the season. Course, I hate the snow in March deal, but let's not look forward quite that far. Anyway, we finally sorta solved our Christmas scheduling issues. The problem is that Sean's work schedule is still up in the air. If they have the yearly numbers met, they get the whole week between holidays off. If not, they have to be back in the office on the 26th of December. We were really torn about what to do, but finally settled on this plan.

Patrick and I will take a $79 dollar flight (thank you, Southwest airlines) to SLC on Monday, the 18th of December. We'll spend that week with my family. My dad is off work that week, my college sibs are home that week, and my mom and the youngest set will be home in the evenings--a chance to spend time with them in case we can't stay the next week. Sean will drive to Idaho as soon as he can--at least by Saturday the 23rd. We will at least be there until about noon Christmas day. That weekend, Brady and Chad's little families will be there, I assume, so we'll all be together. Then if Sean has to go back to work early, we'll all drive home together on the 25th but if he gets that week off we'll stay in Idaho a bit longer and then go to Utah to see all our friends, heading home to Reno on the 30th.
So that's the plan. We leave in just three weeks, which means I have to get a move on and change some Dr appointments, pay the bills, deal with our apartment manager regarding our crappy apartment-- you know, all the fun stuff. Time out--here's another happy news: Sean just called, he won the Gandolfo's free lunch for the week! I get to be his business lunch today! We were so happy to find a Gandolfo's here, and the new hip mall just got a BJ's. If we could just get Cafe Rio to expand west, our dining lives would be complete, I think. Well, I'm gonna wrap up this random post and get to work now.

We're off t0 assorted Grandmother's houses for the weekend! We'll be spending part of the holiday with Sean's maternal Grandma and family and part of the time with his paternal Grandparents and family. Both sides live fairly close to one another in Northern California. We're excited to see everyone, especially since a lot of these people haven't had a chance to meet Patrick yet. It should be fun--wish us luck in the car with a 13 month old kid. Good thing we sucked it up and went for the portable DVD player! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Enjoy your families and turkeys and leftovers!

(* Please note that this post is not a shameless plug for presents. It's mostly for entertainment's sake and to provide a list for each other and for long distance family members. Thanks!)

All Amy Wants For Christmas:

• "While You Were Sleeping" DVD
• "Sense and Sensibility" DVD
• "First Meals" by Annabel Karmel
• Black, multi-photo picture frames like these
• Real Simple magazine subscription
• Family Fun magazine subscription
• Scrapbook store giftcards
• Pilates/Yoga workout DVD
• a Bosch or a Kitchenaid (I don't even care which is better at this point)
• the new Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas CD
• JC Penney Gift Card (have you seen their new A.N.A line of clothes? Totally!)
• L.L. Bean travel toiletry bag

All Patrick Wants For Christmas:

• Bath Toys
• Leapfrog Little Touch Leapad
• Leapfrog Fridge Phonics playset
• Gymboree gift cards
• Spring/summer clothes size 18-24 months
• "What Do You Do?" by Mandy Stanley
• a baby sister (haha--just kidding!)

All Sean Wants For Christmas:

• 97 Boy/Cub Scouts so we can all go home for Christmas
• King of The Hill DVD's Season 1,2, and 7
• Kohl's Gift Card for business casual clothes
• Cars DVD
• a RAZR cell phone
• Leatherman Wave
• Norelco electric razor

That's all I can think off and my clicker finger is tired. Also, the boy is about to wake up from his nap and I'm still sitting here with wet hair and have had no breakfast. Gotta get it together!

I'm reading an interesting new book called Sleepless In America by Mary Kurcinka. Many of you know of my obsession with healthy sleep for babies, kids and all of us really. This one's a real find of case studies and compiled research. I'm really liking what she says so far. Basically her premise is that most misbehavior can be traced to sleep issues.
One interesting tidbit--she talks about a mother working overseas whose children were enrolled in a Dutch elementary school. Apparently much like the Swedes, those Dutch folk are very vested in the wellbeing of the next generation. She speaks of a school imposed mandatory bedtime for all students. Once, a school play ran an hour past the students bedtime and when she and her kids showed up the next day for school she was shocked to learn that all the other parents were implicitly aware that because the function ran over the might before school start time would automatically be pushed back and hour to allow the children to catch up on sleep.
I know that I lucked out on my sleeper of a baby. He's almost 13 months now and consistently sleeps 12 hours at night (7 to 7) and usually takes 2 naps a day for at least an hour apeice, often more. He puts himself to sleep and hardly ever cries anymore. In fact, remember when I talked about giving him instructions before laying him down? That's what I've been doing at every sleep time since then and have not listened to one single cry from his room this week. The only real exception and crisis comes whenever we travel. That boy does not like the Pack N' Play! He's a total mattress snob. I keep trying to figure out how to tie it to the car for Christmas... But other than that, he's been easy. Now I'm just praying that the rest of my kids can pull this off because I really don't know how to teach the things he does to a baby who is sleep resistant. Hopefully my book will teach me some good ideas! :)

Not hopeful at all about how today is going to go. It's our first rainy day in NV and it looks ugly. No going outside to play, no long walk to the Marina park, a dirty house and piles of laundry to deal with, and a baby/toddler who is cutting four teeth at the same time and has been fussing since he got up this morning. Yeah, I think I'll just crawl back in bed and pull the covers up over my head and wait for it to be over.

I've been doing better with the SAHM deal lately, even though today feels depressing. I've gotten into more of a routine and am keeping busy in more contructive ways. Those of you who know me well won't be surprised to hear that it involves a daily routine (feel free to use Jo Frost's british accent), a chore list for each day of the week, and a whole lot of library books. We still haven't found a cheapo car to buy, and are trying to decide if it's even a good idea at this point. We've been doing some major budget analysis and trying to work on our long term financial goals, like a house, for instance.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll make it through the winter without transportation but we'll see. We had a good gig going where once a week my friend Katie would take her husband to work (they also share a car) and then she and her one year old, Anna, would come get us and we'd go to story time, which usually led to park time, or mall time, or something. Only now she's going to start babysitting another baby and be pretty housebound as well. We're trying to set up a late afternoon playdate on the day that she is done sitting early. Hope it works out for both of our sakes.

I just keep trying to remind myself of how unhappy I'd be if I was still dragging myself out of bed at 6 AM to rush off to teach other people's kids and leave my baby in daycare. I know it's not a choice that everyone has, and I need to feel grateful that we are making it work. It can only get better financially over the years and if we can make it work now, then I feel like we'll be able to continue making it work. It was always so important to me to be here for my kids and I'm realizing more and more that it is a job, and no one loves every single minute of their job. I don't have to love every second of every day, but I do have to do a good job and put on a happy face while I'm doing it.

As I look back, I do feel like overall I love being a mom. I'm sickeningly smitten with my baby and I am so excited when he changes and learns. One of the reasons I know I appreciate it more than I would have is that I had to wait awhile to get here. Nemesis and I used to hypothesis about whether a longer wait to marriage and family would make up appreciate it more and for me I think it has. I seem to forget that in not-so-fun moments, but overall I am happy and blessed.

Okay, I feel better now. Besides, I have an hour while Patrick naps--what's better than a book and hot chocolate on a rainy day? Wouldn't have that perk if this were any other job. How's that for Polyanna?

Note: This post contains many LDS terms and references. If you're confused, I apologize. It also contains many controversial topics. If you're offended, I again apologize. Okay, here we go.

Last Sunday the Young Women's president at church invited a member of our bishopric who is also a physician, to present a lesson on the Word of Wisdom and nutrition/excercise. At the beginning of the lesson he gave the girls a handout with fill-in-the blank statments. Just by scanning the thing, I knew there was gonna be trouble before it was all over.
The first part of the lesson was a very short review of what the Word of Wisdom prohibits (coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco)and what it encourages us to eat (grains, fruits and vegetables, meat in moderation. Great, grand, wonderful. No big controversy there, provided you have always lived and abide by the church's teachings.
Only then... The nice man decided to get on several soapboxes the comprised the rest of the lesson. Ahem.

Soapbox A: We should all cut out all dairy products after the age of two. They are no good for the body in any way and make us all fat anyway. Eat lots of broccoli instead for calcium. Don't you people know how many white blood cells, which are really pus are allowed in milk? Go look up "pus-milk" on the internet and you'll give up milk forever.
(Here's me: Hmm. That's an interesting idea. I've heard a lot about that in the medical world but it's still controversial. I can see cutting back on dairy but isn't this as bit extreme. Also, where again is this idea found in the scriptures? Oh, yes, it's NOT.)

Soapbox B: We should all stop vaccinating our children. It causes all cases of Autism you know. All kids who are vaccinated get autism eventually. There's still mercury in the mercury free vaccines. You can still send you kids to school and as all of you will someday be mothers you should know how bad it is to have those shots. Also, polio wasn't that big of a deal and you kid won't get any of those other diseases anyway. They don't exist in our society anymore.
(Here's me: Ummmmmm, also an extremely controversial idea, NOT proven in the medical world, and have you ever HAD polio? Also, I'm guessing you were vaccinated, as was I and neither of us has had to deal with autism. While I can deal with you personally deciding not to vaccinate your own child, I have weighed the risks an benefits for myself. Church, and especially church youth is not an appropiate place to share your own opinions about this. Again, where in the scriptures or words of the brethren can I find this. That's right, I CAN'T. That's because it isn't doctrine! This is where I start spitting nails.)

There was also the fun part where he told a leader (who is a mom) that because her baby drank soy milk, he'll probably have luekemia. Nice.

Anyway, as you can tell, I went home incensed with everyone and their dog. I later heard from several mother's of Young Women that they were understadnably upset when their daughters got home and started dumping milk down the drain. I finally spoke with the Bishop (after the ward temple trip, he and his wife went out for ice cream with us) and he gave me permission to set those nice girls straight the next time I teach. He said I should just reteach the lesson and talk about what's IN THE SCRIPTURES and what's not. He also said that I could talk about health fads and the benefits of immunizing wieghed against the risks. So that'll be fun.

Every once in awhile, Patrick does something that reminds me that he's a little person, not just a baby pet to keep around the house. Lately he has more and more moments like this--the way kids begin to comprehend amazes me!
Tonight, Patrick was having a meltdown due to the one nap situation (only 11:45-1:00 total sleep today). I had put him in bed and he was screaming and carrying on in there. Finally I went in and picked him up and we had a little heart to heart.
"Listen son," I said, " I love you lots but you and I both know that I can't put you to sleep as well as you can put yourself to sleep. Here's what I want you to do. In a minute Mommy will be putting you down in your crib. She wants you to roll over on your tummy and then she will give you your blankie to snuggle and curl up with. She will also give you your binky. Then Mommy is going to leave and Patrick is going to go to sleep. No crying and fussing. I love you. Goodnight."
Let's be honest--this pep talk was for me, not him. But when I put him down he rolled onto his tummy, looked up for his blankie and binky and closed his eyes. I left the room and have not heard one peep in the last 1/2 hour.
I am amazed at the way such a little person begins to think and understand. Earlier today I asked him to get his shoes from his bedroom and he came trotting back out with them. I told him to pick up the apple and he said "ba-bapple" and brought it to the fridge. He couldn't do those things a week ago, I swear. It feels like there are these leaps sometimes in cognition that totally catch me by surprise.
Finally, the ultimate funny from earlier this week--apologies to those who have heard this story already. One of Patrick's great loves in life is playing with kitchen utensils, spatulas, wooden spoons and so forth. The other day he kept taking them down the hall. I was in the middle of fixing dinner and he seemed fine so I wasn't paying much attention. I did notice he was giggling a lot the whole time though. Finally he came and dragged me by the hand to the bathroom. He whips open the shower curtain and is laughing himself silly because all the kitchen tools are in the bathtub! Then he takes me back to the kitchen and opens the drawers where the kitchen things go and shows me how he has put all of his bathtoys in the drawers! The irony and the humor! He thought he had cracked the best joke EVER.

Just got back from Patrick's pediatrician. Everything seems great, apparently he's well on or ahead of schedule on all his milestone things. The one that makes me laught is when they ask how he eats, how he sleeps, does he pull up/walk, what words does he have, and then they ask "does he show love?"

It's the one that always makes me stare at them. Are they asking if he regularly says "Mommy, I love you" and then kisses my cheek? Then no, we're not quite there. Or do they mean he comes running if I leave the room, and helps me pick up the food he throws, and collapses in my lap when he's tired, and twirls his hand in my hair when he's bored, and says "ma-ma" all day long just so I'll respond? If so then, yes. I think he shows love.

Again all seems healthy. Patrick now weighs 22 lb 1 oz and is 29 inches tall, or 2'5". Sort of amazing when you think about this being a baby that started out at 8 lb 12 oz and 19 inches tall. Can you even imagine almost tripling your weight and doubling your height in a year? It's no wonder the kid has to sleep so much! His weight puts him at the 55th percentile and his height is at the 40th percentile, which is good and means his size is becoming more standard over time.

There was quite the meltdown happening while we waited at the office. Patrick's still toying with me a little regarding how many naps he should take, one or two, and this morning was a refuse to nap morning. So of course by 11:00 he was exhausted and running on a pretty short fuse anyway. Then we had to wait a long time with a naked to the diaper, exhausted, hungry child. Not fun. When the doc finally showed, he screamed through most of the exam, only to be silenced while watching the nurse give him his shots. After that he took his binky and curled up on my shoulder. Wierd kid!

So, in keeping with my trend of bodily harm and crisis, this week's episode involves a broken tooth/almost root canal. I've had this toothache for awhile but have been procrastinating until open enrollment so I could sign up for dental insurance. Then open enrollment arrived and we find out that since I let my dental coverage lapse, they won't be covering me until January of 2008. A quandry, at best.
Only then on Sunday the side of my tooth caved in and hurt like crazy. So yesterday I called several places trying to find out how much these things cost without insurance. I also got some stuff called Dentemp that is basically a filling that you give youself until you can get to the dentist. It's strange stuff but did make the pain go away.
Sean was good enough to work from home this morning while I went to see the dentist. They took about 50 x-rays all of which were gagging me and making me almost puke. Then they told me that I had SIX major, must be dealt with cavities. It's only been a year since I went to the dentist last. The tooth that was so messed up had actually lost it's old filling and was full of "active decay" which is why it hurt so dang much. So, I spent 3 hours in the chair, getting drilled and prodded and sprayed in the face and lectured about flossing (which I do every day, almost) and then I paid them $565 for the privelege. And that was AFTER the 40% SafeSmile discount for people with no dental insurance. And I still have to go back for the last cavity and a normal cleaning.
The only good news of the day is that she told me I did a great job with the temp filling and it probably would have stayed in there for a few months even. Go me. Maybe I'll go to dental school now. Anyway, it's been a day but I promised myself I'd actually do some housework today so I need to get going. Everyone go brush and floss, OK?

We keep finding these little tableaus all around the apartment. Do you think my son is:
a. telling me he's ready to learn colors?
b. making sure we know he's a boy?
c. giving non-verbal support for his dad's favorite football team?
Vote!

Pics for Nana-this jacket was one of Patrick's Christmas gifts last year and he finally fit and the season is right! Also, the walking shot is one of my favorites ever and I just had to share the new walker's mad skills!

I finally got around to reading it, finished LATE the other night, and am wishing I had a book club to talk it over with. Will you be my book club?

"The Kite Runner." Discuss.

Here's a few shots of the cute dalmation puppy dog boy! Some are from last night and some are from the ward trunk-or-treat last week. Patrick and his one year old buddy, Anna, didn't much understand the trick-or-treating concept at the party so we decided to skip it last night. Instead we took him to Target in costume to buy candy since we had used ours at the party and he got more mileage out of the costume there than he would have anywhere else. One lady said he looked "cuter than an Anne Geddes photo." Compliment or insult? Who knows? :)

To bring you this ruptured eardrum! That's right, kids, it's time for another little pity party. I have a ruptured eardrum. I think. I'm going to see an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor today at 1PM.
My self treatment was going so well, my ears were feeling better, and then yesterday after church I sneezed/blew my nose and heard this loud popping sound in one ear and then I couldn't hear in that ear anymore. Also it feels like it's been tamped full of cotton. Also it hurts like crazy and there's this crazy ringing noise like I've been to one too many loud and crazy concerts. Only I don't even go to concerts. And the internet tells me I have a ruptured ear drum and will probably be deaf forever as a result. Greeeaatttt. Just what I wanted to hear today.
So, I finally found an ENT specialist willing to squeeze me in today (they usually book way out) and am going to spend many hours in his waiting room this afternoon. And then I intend to demand that he make it all better, right now. Hope that works out for me.

Remember this little guy? Yeah, me too. What a year--I can't believe it's already passed! Just wanted to wish my baby boy a happy day. As for my dad? Remember me mentioning that I started having a baby on the 27th and finished having a baby on the 28th? The only neat thing about that was that the 28th was my dad's 50th birthday. So now he and his first grandbaby will always get to share this special day. So, it's happy 1st birthday to my baby and happy 51st birthday to my daddy. How cute is that?

And before Halloween--that's a new record for me! I'm sure I got this tendency from my mom to hoard and stockpile in advance of major holidays. Somehow I feel much more peace on earth and goodwill to men during the holiday season knowing that I don't have to brave the mall crowds, and get charged too much for stuff just cause it's Christmas. So betweeen Amazon and my other online favorites (most of whom were having free shipping events) everything should be on it's way to ME, instead of me trekking all over creation to find it! Yay me! Ya'll better get on it. There's only 60 days 10 hours and 57 minutes till Christmas.

In other news, we're all still dying here. Actually, Patrick is feeling much better and more able to destroy my house. Lucky thing seems to have escaped the ear infection curse. He hasn't had even one. By the time I was one, I was immune to Amoxicillan I'd had so many rounds. Sean is still feeling crummy but hanging in there for the work day and then collapsing when he gets home.

I'm just dealing with the aforementioned ear issue. I'm taking lots of Ibuprofen and Tylenol (did you know that if it's really bad you're allowed to alternate the two kinds every two hours?) and using lots of hot compresses and garlic oil drops in my ears. I'm trying to avoid the doctor cause I know what they'll say. First they gasp in horror at the state of my eardrums (they've punctured a few times and there's lots of scar tissue from my ear tubes as a kid) and then they'll go through all the antibiotics trying to find one that I haven't had a million times and then they'll suggest that maybe I should look into having ear tubes again, and in the end I seem to recover just as quickly on my own. Also I don't know any good doctors here yet, at least for me, and the last thing I want to do when I'm sick is hunt for a new doctor. Aren't I just a whiner?

So, how do you call in sick when you're the mom? How many sick days do you have a year? And where do you find a substitute to take care of the sick baby and hubby? This job has a crummy sick leave package!

We all have drippy noses, hacky coughs, minor fevers, and I have my ever present earache to go along with it. It's been five days now...how much longer? Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to give Patrick some Triaminic and myself some Sudafed/Ibuprofen and pray that we both get a nap this afternoon.

After I went to the Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze with the Young Women last week, I decided we should take a family trip. We didn't undertake the corn maze with Patrick (even though I knew the trick to get out) but did pick out a Halloween pumpkin and visited the sheep and goats and sat on a tractor for awhile. Unfortunately my camera battery quit midway through the outing, but these are a few of the shots we did get. "A good time was had by all..."

Patrick's original due date. On this day last year, I was shaking my fist at the heavens so-to-speak, over my still pregnant condition. I was huge, achy, uncomfortable, nervous as all get out and all I wanted was to get that baby out! It was actually a UEA day at school and my grand plan was that the baby would come and we'd get an extra couple of days of maternity leave. Like all new mommies, I had hitched my wagon to that due date. It was the most important date ever and of course I would have a baby to hold that day. Right?!?!? Yeah. Not so much.

As many of you know, Patrick didn't make his debut into the world for 8 more days. Even though I had been halfway to having a baby in terms of dilation and such for almost a month, my doctor insisted that I wait until 1 week after my due date to induce labor. I had been having contractions on and off during that previous month but on the 20th the baby almost seemed to settle in for another long stay. The contractions stopped coming and I knew I would be waiting the week out. I am sure I was a very unpleasant person to be with, most of all for my poor sixth graders. They were mortified by the very thought that I might have a baby RIGHT THERE and had planned all sorts of escape contingencies, just in case. Lucky for them, baby held out and Thursday morning, 6:30 AM, found us making our way to American Fork hospital to induce labor.

They got me all hooked up, contractions started, I held out for three and a half hours, at which pointboth Sean and I asked for an epidural. They gave me one, my mom arrived from Bear Lake, gave Sean a lunch break, and we spent the rest of the day dilating and feeling icky but much better on account of the drugs. Around 7 PM, the nurses started telling me to gear up for the pushing part. Around 10 PM they actually let me start pushing. That was a rough three hours. Then there was the three hours of pushing, trying to have a baby. Only the little darling was stuck you see. My doctor and nurses and mom and husband were all wonderful and supportive but I admit I started to question the wisdom in having a baby at all. Then around 1 AM my doctor told me that the baby was in distress and I needed to make some decisions. As if I was in any position to make decisions!

He told me that I had to decide whether to try forceps or have a c-section. Since I had worked so hard, I gave him to go-ahead to try forceps. Those things are really scary looking. He tried once, said it wasn't going to work and shifted into c-section mode. Although I hadn't noticed, there had been people gathering in my room all along--specialists for me and the baby in case things didn't go well. Good thing I didn't know--it would have freaked me out. After Sean had a minor panic attack, he and the anesthesiologist (only in Utah, I know) gave me a blessing and off we went to surgery.

The surgery part was pretty standard, lots of drugs and crying husbands, and shaky shock-like feeling. They finally pulled baby Patrick out at 1:37 AM, Friday October 28th. Then I hear my doctor saying something about no wonder he was stuck, he's huge! Huge apparently being 8 lbs 12 oz. Only then, before I even got a look at him, I started having all this pain because it seems that my epidural had a "patch"--a spot where it wasn't working. So they dumped this drug called Ketamine (street name Special K!!!) into me. Well, if that wasn't an acid trip--I had those horrible hallucinations and freaky sensations. It was bad. I'm told that most people don't remember the hallucinations but let me tell you, I do.

So you know, stitched back up, off to recovery, held and nursed baby, all in a bit of a drug haze. Later that night, we were all situated in a recovery room, Sean passed out on a foldout couch, me all rigged up in my hospital bed, and Patrick laying next to me in his bassinett. I couldn't sleep. I just laid there and stared at this beautiful dark haired baby boy next to me and suddenly it was all worth it. The tears were just streaming down my face when the night nurse came to take my vitals. The poor thing wanted to put me on some anti-depressants right away but I managed to convince her that I was just happy and mostly in awe of the whole experience.

Anyway, it's been quite a year. Apparently I needed to reminisce. If you read this whole post, well thanks. And if not, I don't blame you! :) I just needed to remember my little one's birth-day, on his due date that he chose to ignore.

I read an article in a magazine today that claimed to list the top ten must have baby gear items. I agreed with some and seriously disputed others. Since I recently compliled a similar list for my brother and sister-in-law who are expecting in December, I decided to share may top ten must-have-can't-live-without baby products, in no particular order.
1. The Fisher Price Baby Papasan Cradle Swing Patrick slept here when he was tiny and played here when he got big and we cried the day he was too big for it.
2. The Baby Bjorn Bib This is the greatest bib ever made. It catches all the food and goes in the dishwasher. We bought ours at Shopko for 8 bucks--what a deal.
3. The Boppy--a classic for nursing, bottle feeding, tummy time, playtime, etc. Patrick still lays on it to read books.
4. Land's End Do-It-All Diaper bag. It does it all--we especially love it for church and travel. We have a smaller bag for short errands.
5. Kirkland Diapers, Wipes, and Formula. The nice people at Costco have saved us a bundle over the past year. Although I did love those soft newborn Pampers while he was tiny.
6. The JJ Cole Bundle Me. Skip the snowsuit, and bundle the carrier. We used it from November to March last year.
7. MAM pacis. First off, I think they look the cutest. Second off, baby's love them. And hey, pacis are back in vogue for preventing SIDS.
8. Fisher Price bouncy seat. I'm sure any bouncy would do but this was a lifesaver. When my colicky newborn started screaming on his first night home and didn't stop, my mom swaddled him up and bounced him for hours. Love you, mom!
9. Avent bottles. They worked, the first time and every time. Even though my goofy kid never really wanted to be a bottle baby, they got the job done and I never her to mess around with trying 15 different bottles.
10. Carter's Swaddle In blankets. We have three that we've been using since birth. They're jsut stretchy enough to really bundle a baby and so soft that he still snuggles with them to got to sleep. Ours will be threadbare before we give them up.
There you have it. If you're having a baby anytime soon or know anyone who is, now you have my semi-expert opinion on what you need!

Today when Patrick and I took our walk to the park at the Marina (which is the only true park within walking distance by virtue of it's having baby swings) we met this dad who was pushing his one year old girl on the other swing and supervising the running around of a three year old boy. We said our pleasantries and then he commented on Patrick's little mouthful of teeth that are rapidly arriving. This led to a discussion about teething and night-waking and baby Tylenol v. Motrin and nap patterns. All through the discussion I was thinking "wow. What an informed dad. He must actually listen when his wife tells him stuff." Only then finally the penny drops as he tells me that his wife has a hard time keeping to the schedule on weekends when she's home from work but he tells her that if he's with them all week, he gets to be in charge of the kids schedule. He was like super dad. He's even read the sleep bible, even "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." And then I realized that even though he was the most interesting person I've met at the playground, he probably has even less of a social life just because he's a guy. It's probably just not very appropriate for him to be setting up playdates with the other mommies and I very much doubt that he shows up for strollersize class. So the whole way home I wondered about the up and coming world of the stay-at-home dad. Anyone know one?

We all are. Home, that is. And happy to be here. Poor Patrick collapsed in his crib in a grateful heap. He's always been a bit of a mattress snob and never sleeps as well anywhere else. Hopefully he sleeps all night and catches up so I can too. He's been up with teething troubles most of the time we were at my parent's house. Sean is happy to be home and have his family back. He was especially excited to see his little boy walk to him in the airport. So, all is well with the world.

PS My cell phone is officially in two peices. So, don't be offended if you call and get no one for a few days until we get it all worked out. Sorry!

This isn't the greatest video---I'm strongly in favor of Google Video after today but it wasn't accepting new uploads. This isn't even the whole clip and you'll have to forgive my loud family. That's my dad, talking incessantly in the background. No one was listening, he was just talking. On second thought, feel free to turn your sound down. It's a miracle Patrick can concentrate with all that chaos!

Table Decorations

Patrick Making Root Beer

Donuts On A String

Tanner Bobbing For Apples

Kearis's Decorations

Marissa and Patrick On The Porch

My mom's teacher friends and their assorted children are over today to visit--mostly to see Patrick. They decided we needed a Halloween kickoff party. It's a little early, we know, but lots of fun!