No Longer a Blond

Garret got a hair cut. He really wanted us to cut it so we finally did. He might be getting another hair cut soon because I am not sure I like this one. He looks so different- I think he looks older.

Oh Christmas Tree

Monday night we went to pick up our tree! We were all so excited to get one, we have never had our own christmas tree before so this was a big deal for us. We ended up just going to Home Depot for our tree (It was a little different then how we did it growing up- we actually cut them down, but fun all the same). Garret was so excited about it. We told him we were going to decorate it the next day and at midnight he woke up ready to get up. It took us three hours to get him back to sleep. At least he is excited for Christmas!

We haven't really gotten out much this week. One day we went searching for the perfect stockings and tree skirt but didn't find them. I guess we need to enjoy the quest but I am ready to have my house all set up! Tyler and I did go on a date. We saw "Enchanted", it was super cheesy but I thought it was cute and it is always fun going out with Tyler. This weekend we have a Christmas party to go to! It is a white elephant party- I think they are so fun- it's nice having something to look forward to.

If I can't find Garret- this is where he is. He loves to sit by the heater. If I ask what he is doing he says "so warm"!

Thanksgiving break

We just got back Saturday from Colorado. Tyler's family lives in Colorado and all of his family got together. We had such a good time visiting with everyone. The kids did really well on the flights, which was a big relief. While we were there we spent time with family, played games, went to a movie, went bowling, ate lots of good food, Garret helped his Grandpa work on the house, we went to Trenton's play, Spencer got two teeth (he was almost 4 and a half months old- No more newborn smile- they change so fast), Garret played in the snow and we found out that Tia was pregnant (Congratulations to her and Michael- we are so excited for them!) .

We were able to see some of Tyler's friends from high school and college. It is fun for me to spend time with his family and friends. I get to learn new things about his growing up years and I love seeing how much he loves his family.

The week went by so fast. I can't believe it has come and gone already. We had a great time and look forward to our next visit with family.

I planned on putting up a bunch of pictures from our trip but its not working for some reason. I'll try again later. It was a great trip and a great week!

Tag

I am pretty new at this whole blogging thing. I guess there is this thing called tag. This is how it works as far as I know; someone starts and then they come up with a topic (example seven facts about yourself, Where were you five years ago etc), they write about themselves and then at the end of their blog they pass it on to the person they want to have write about themselves. It's kind of silly but I have been tagged so here are 7 things about me-



1. I hate scary movies- I can handle jumpy scary but not scary scary- you know what I mean. I have trouble sleeping at night if I watch the really scary ones.



2. I am turning into my Mom. Not in all ways but in a few. My Mom could sing about anything. I was never really sure if she was making up the songs or not. (I just about died when I realized the silly "In the leafy treetops song was in the children's hymn book- I thought it was just some loopy song my Mom made up and sang in the mornings- If any of you see her ask her to sing the tuna fish songs, they are a personal favorite)Anyway Garret expects me to sing about everything now. Tyler laughs because it is terribly off key and nonsensical.



3. I love trying to catch Tyler trying to surprise me. I usually find out about at least some of my Christmas presents before Christmas. It has almost become a game for us. He tries to surprise me -I try to catch him and we taunt each other the whole time. the best was when I found out he was going to propose to me. I started saying things like "forever sure is a long time". . .It was pretty fun to watch his reaction! He has surprised me pretty good a couple of times (the baby shower for Garret caught me completely off guard).



4. I did a report on Thailand in seventh grade and have wanted to go there ever since. It just looked beautiful and so different from what I know here in the good ole US of A. I make a mental note of all the tidbits of info I hear about Thailand- Someday I think I will go there.



5. I was a major Tomboy growing up. At least until high school and in a lot of ways I still am a tomboy. We used to have animals and we lived in the country and get this I had a machete (I am not sure if that is how you spell it but you know one of those big knife things). We would catch frogs and crawdads, build forts, collect bugs etc. So I totally didn't want to be a "girly girl" when my Mom told me I needed to start wearing a bra. I didn't want to so I would take it off and leave it at the bus stop then put it on when I got home. I am sure that was more than people wanted to know!



6. I got drug across the parking lot in high school. It was after seminary in Rebecca (I can not think of her last names) car. It was two door and I went to get out of the back my foot got stuck in the seat belt and I did a lovely face plant. She didn't see me by the car so off she went (luckily she was going slow). People screamed and she stopped. I started off high school as "oh aren't you the girl that got drug across the parking lot?". After that I broke the bleachers putting the backboards up and turned into "I heard you are the girl that broke the bleachers?". Needless to say it took me a while to settle into high school.



7. When I was little, I am not sure the exact age so lets say somewhere between 2 and 4. I was pretty stubborn and so when I got mad I would hold my breath til I passed out. My parents did not know what was wrong with me. So an EKG later the doctor decided that I just had a nasty case of stubbornness!

So there you have it- way more than you wanted to know about me. Let's hope I don't get tagged for awhile because I had a hard time thinking coming up with these seven.

Now on to who I tag- I tag (and yes I know it is silly, but I think you will come up with some noteworthy stuff) Leah and Joe, Anna and Marc and Dan and Heather and I would totally tag Stephanie and Hector if only they had a blog! I love you all!

"Is this what I was born to do?"

Garret brought me Marjorie Hinckley's little mini- book "Is this what I was born to do?" the other day and asked me to read it to him. It was just the perfect thing for me to read. I have so many friends that are new moms like me (I still feel like a new Mom a lot of the time) and I think they should read this. It is seriously so short but after you read it you remember what a significant thing we are doing. Anyway here is one of the qoutes I love- Sister Hinckley is actually quoting Neal A Maxwell; "When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great armistices made by military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and neighborhoods? Will what happened in the cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congress? When the surf of centureies has made the great pyramids so much sand, the everlasting family will still be standing, becuase it is a celestial institution." Another part I love is when she tells a story of an up and coming lawyer who stops working when she has a baby. When asked why she left to stay home with her child the woman replies "Anyone can take care of my clients. Only I can be the Mother of this Child." Don't get me wrong I don't think that women should just sit home all day and lose their interests. I think that it is great to take on all that you can- it is just nice to remember that at the end of the day the important thing is family. It is the only thing that last forever! Sometimes being a stay at home Mom I get sick of people saying "You just stay home with kids". (Why do people define themselves by the careers they have rather than by relationships?) It is so much more than that. (Not to mention that I have tried very hard to be involved in other things) It is hard sometimes because the world doesn't seem to think it is important to stay home with kids and the kids themselves don't really know how to show their gratitude yet so it's nice to read things like this and know that other people recognize how important Moms are.

SOMETIMES I THINK HE IS BI-POLAR

Parenting a two year old is a real roller coaster ride. One moment he is adorable, he wants to snuggle, give kisses, he is fascinated by every little thing, he is giggling and laughing, he wants to be my helper and little buddy- the very next moment he is a little on the evil side. Garret has started this new thing- Tyler or I will ask him a question and he puts his head back and closes his eyes and it's like he is pretending he is not in the room. It is almost more frustrating then when he throws a fit because I know he heard me. At least when he throws a fit I know he is unhappy. He has also become clingy. He has never been to clingy but the last couple weeks he wants to be sitting on my lap at all times, he wants me to feed him and carry him. Sometimes he won't even let Tyler help him with anything. It's weird, I expected it when Spencer was first born but not now. I am hoping it will pass quickly, maybe even Thanksgiving break will be exciting enough he will get it out of his system. Here is a picture of Garret and his new "stubbornness".

Today he found a lady bug and he thought it was so fun. He carried it all around and was all smiles. It was so cute. He loves to make Spencer smile. He always does the same thing he gets right up in Spencer's face and then says "Hi, Hi, Hi" over and over in a deep voice and Spencer actually likes it.

We celebrated our Friend Kandis's birthday with her today! Happy birthday! Tyler has been busy with school as usual and I have not been able to do much lately because up until today Spencer was not suppose to be around other babies. He seems basically all better, he only has a lingering cough. We are getting ready for our trip to Colorado! We are all so excited for a break and we will get to see Tyler's family. Tyler's brother is in a play, we are going to try and take Garret to it- we will see how that goes- I bet he likes half of it! Here is a picture of our "tree"- it's the closest we have to a tree- I think it is beautiful!

Spencer Update

We took Spencer to the doctor again today. The doctor was pleased to see how much better he was doing. He said we should keep him home until early next week then he should be fine to be around other people. He was even doing well enough to get his shots (poor baby). He did really well with them and he does seem a lot better. Hopefully he continues to improve and is all better so we can enjoy our Thanksgiving break.

Book Club

Our little book club met last night to discuss the book The Giver. I picked this book for a few reasons. It is an easy read, it is an entertaining and well written story, anyone can enjoy it and it is as deep as you want it to be. This book is about a futuristic society that has censored things and altered the society to the point that there are very few choices or feelings. People live their lives just to function in the community. They are very organized and there is no crime and no illness. A lot of the things that they do not have like illness seem like good things to not have but as the book goes on you realize how much these people are missing. Nothing really matters because there are not choices. When I read this book I thought of Satan's plan and what it would be like if we all just lived. It made me gratefull for the choices in my life. It makes me grateful that I am surrounded by people that are different than me. I am lucky to have picked my spouse and to understand the joy of children. The book also makes me think about censorship in our society and I question where the right place to draw the line in censorship is. If I had my way I would not want my children to experience negative or immoral things but I can not keep them away from everything and at some point they need to make choices themselves. I enjoy pondering the themes of this book and although the ending leaves you wanting more it is a book I would recommend to anyone.

For book club we met at Stephanie's house because Spencer has been sick. We all brought food we have a memory of (memory is a theme throughout the book). It was fun seeing what people brought and learning a little more about everyone. I brought bread becuase my Mom used to bake bread a lot. She would try to make sure it was hot when we got home from school. Sometimes certain smells bring back memories for me and when I smell hot bread I think of my Mom.

We did not spend too much time talking about the book. Come on we are girls and we love getting together and just talking. We had fun talking about babies and marriage and all kinds of things. We were there for hours! We probably could have talked for a lot longer but we do have to sleep at least a little.

When I got home it took me a while to get to sleep. I have a bad habit of having to process my day before I can sleep. I got to thinking about friends and what makes people close. I decided that it does not matter if people have the same opinions or the same lifestyle or if they are the same age. Those things help but what really helps people be friends (at least this is what I think) is the ability to talk about things, anything and not have to agree. I think people have to be able to appreciate each others differences and love them the more for it. I think of the friends I have now, the friends I had before and even my relationship with Tyler and we are all different but it works because we communicate. I think at least for me that is why I love getting together and just chatting it up with the girls. That may sound like rambling but it makes sense to me and I am glad for nights when the girls get together, even if I am tired the next day!

The Four Month check-up that did not go so well

Spencer had his four month doctors appointment today. I was glad he had an appointment today because he has not been feeling well. Colds have been going around at church so I figured he had a cold- but it's always good to get a second opinion. Turns out the Doctor thinks it Bronchialitis. I guess it is similar to RSV. It is a virus so it kind of just has to run its course. The doctor said to expect it to take a good couple weeks to go away. He said all we can really do is try to make him comfortable (humidifier, nebulizer), monitor his temperature etc. The thing that scares me is that 30% of kids that get this end up with asthma. We are just trying to take good care of him and hopefully it will get better soon. He has to go back in on Friday and if he is doing any better by then they will give him his shots. I felt like the doctor was being very cautious which is good. Tyler gave him a blessing and we are all praying for the little guy- we really feel like everything will be just fine, it just hurts to see your kids suffer. Garret was a good big brother he gave Spencer lots of kiss and said that would make him all better. He was so funny at the doctors. When the doctor said hi he closed his eyes and put his head back and stayed like that for a while. I guess it is better than the "episodes" he usually has when we go to the doctor.

This is Spence with his Nebulizer (I guess it is something that is commonly used for asthma).

Spence weighed in today at 17 pounds 12 ounces, he was 24 inches long so he is a big boy! I will have to post an update after we go to the doc. friday if not sooner.

One more reason Halloween is a silly holiday-

Since my last post I have been reminded of another reason I am not too crazy about Halloween. I got off the computer last night and went to bed. For hours after I heard people make noise outside. It was really annoying but at least the kids did not wake up. Then I heard a loud crash and a lot of laughter. It sounded like it was right outside our door. I was home alone so I was way to chicken to check and see what it was. This morning we realized some kids thought it would be funny to smash this solar address thing we had. It was no great loss but I just can not believe that people are that disrespectful. When I was a teenager I liked to go out and do crazy things but I would have never damaged another persons stuff. I think it is sad that people think so little of others that they would steal or vandalize. At least no major damage was done. Well enough venting about that, I need to go take care of my kids!