Yikes!

What a month it's been. I had the best intentions of finally getting off Christmas cards for the first time this year--I really wanted to do that. Those golden intentions have turned into the ideal of getting a baby announcement out in February.

The rundown for this month . . .

The good:
Guy is counting to 6. On a good day he doesn't forget 7 and 8 and gets to at least 10, but most the time he goes from 6 to 9.
He knows a lot of the alphabet, but C, T, and a few other letters all sound like D.
We're rid of the naptime and bedtime bottles.
Finished with the pacifier immediately after the plane ride home from visiting Rob's family.
Into his own bed, with sports sheets (he loves balls!).

Verdict's out (not sure where to classify this yet):
An invitation to participate in the Midvale Stake Days of '47 float commitee--lots of drawing, which I haven't done for years--a little bit scary, to say the least.

The bad for Guy:
Coughs and colds disturbing all hours of the day and night. Thank you "Hands Hands Fingers Thumb" for the line: "Hands with handkerchiefs Blow! Blow! Blow!" At least that's made things easier.
Guy missing nursery twice so far--we have, at least, gotten to sacrament meeting (I'm ready to keep him out now 'til April since that's where he seems to get sick in the first place).
Night waking, screaming, and opening his own door to come pound on our at all hours of the night.
Refusal to drink milk - even strawberry and chocolate.
Stomach sickness causing us to go through the fastest pack of diapers ever.

For me:
Lots of blood test pain and bruising. A diagnosis of gestational diabetes, just in time for the holiday season. Fortunately, that has since been changed, however, that was after 30+ finger pricks/blood sugar checks, aggressive carb counting for seemingly forever (though it was only about 4 days), and just a lot of hassle.
Also, a couple of colds and bit of a stomach virus, myself.

All the while Rob's working hard at the two jobs and being amazing as he fills in all the holes I try to not leave, but sometimes can't fill.

Here's hoping next month and year are better--however, I certainly realize that things could be harder/worse. I know we're blessed and though we have troubles, they are minor and/or insignificant in comparison to what they could be.

Before Christmas I will post a few photos we've taken recently . . .

A little catch up

Snapping a few photos, but not as many as I could. Life's been pretty hectic and busy.Story time had Curious George. Guy was a little scared at first--this was his first costumed character experience--but he warmed up okay and gave George a few high fives by the time we were done. Please excuse the bags under my eyes--this was about 3 weeks ago now, and sadly, I think the bags have gotten worse.
Guy's first time on Trax-we went to the Children's Discovery Musuem with Guy's friend Chloe and her mom, Jessica. Chloe is a little more than one month older than Guy and they love playing together. Guy can't say Chloe--he calls her "Bobo." The kids seemed to be content with the thrill of the train and probably wouldn't have missed the museum. I'm glad we went to the museum once, but more glad we did it for $5 total, rather than the "real" price of $8 each for both Guy and me. The Sunday before Thanksgiving we got a lot of snow--more than they warned for with the blizzard that was supposed to come later that week (thankfully it didn't make much of an appearance and we were able to get out of town no problem). Rob built a snow fort for Guy and they both had a great time. Since then we've gotten gloves for Guy, so now there will be no more hands in socks and plastic bags. But hey, it gave them over an hour of play time, so it worked.Eating the goods. He does almost every time he sees snow. I know I did that as a kid, too.I just love this shot.
Action shot by Rob. Sometimes I think we need a trampoline for the kid already.

Edible Play Dough

Reading through a cookbook (a hobby of mine), I found a recipe for edible play dough. I know Guy is too young to do play dough (the real stuff), but I decided to give this a shot. It's a simple recipe made up of creamy peanut butter, powdered milk, flour, and powdered sugar.

I made it while Guy was napping on Sunday. When he got up, we played. It's been a long time, and my creative juices weren't flowing. To start off, I gave Guy a ball I shaped (pretty decent sized), and he immediately ate about 1/2 of it. Yum.Then Dad came to help--making this little man.Obviously Guy had no problem pretending to be a dinosaur and eating a man. Dad then made this, and told him it was a horse. Remember how Guy loves horses? Well, he was done eating. Even after Dad told him it was a dinosaur, Guy still wouldn't eat it.

Next time I think I'll dye some/all of it.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

3/4 c. dry nonfat milk

1/2 c. flour

3/4 c. powdered sugar

Mix peanut butter and dry milk together. Stir in flour and powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Our Cowboy

I wanted Guy to be Zorro for Halloween (fitting, right?), but nobody makes that distinctive round hat in his little size. So, another year . . .
Rob found the above photo online, and we liked it, but decided to make a few motifications. Right now Guy's favorite animal is a horse. So, I whipped out my paper mache skills--in second grade I won 2nd place and $25 to an art store for making a paper mache squid. These skills haven't been honed since then, but I think my horse head turned out okay (free handing it). It took a lot of work, and I've now decided it's going to be Guy's costume for the next 10 years. I don't think I'll ever spend so much time on a costume for a one year old again, but it did work out well and he had a good time. The morning he saw it all put together, he couldn't stop neighing.

Oh, and I had the extra jeans and fake boots for him too, but the costume just got too heavy for him, so maybe another year. Really, it won't be his costume for years on end, but I will reuse it--whenever it is that we move next, the horse head is coming, we'll just make it a new box. :)

Best Apple Crisp Ever

I'm not a pie fan--I don't like pastry crusts. I know, I know, I'm weird. Rob reminds me of that every time he gets to eat pie somewhere else. Fortunately, he's even pleased when I do something with a graham cracker or Oreo crust.

My favorite fall dessert is apple crisp. I've enjoyed it for years, but it really became my favorite after my sister-in-law, Sara, introduced me to a new version. Hers calls for a little butterscotch pudding in the topping--that caramelizes into the apples. Yum!

I like mine extra "crispy," so I actually do 2 toppings for apple crisp now. I tried putting the 2 topping recipes together, but one calls for melted margarine/butter and the other calls for softened margarine/butter. After experimenting, I've decided it's best to do both separately.

In a 9x13 pan mix the following:
8 cups peeled, sliced apples (if you make lots of apple stuff, this is a must)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 T flour
1/2 cup milk
1 cup water

Topping 1:
1 1/3 cup flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup sugar
1 c margarine, melted
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 packages butterscotch pudding (cook 'n serve)

Topping 2:
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oats
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg

Bake at 350 for 45-50 min.

I know, it's a little bit labor intensive because of the 2 toppings, but it IS worth it. It's fabulous!

Notes:
I use a pastry blender to mix the toppings
Pudding topping goes on first, then the other crispy one on top
I actually never measure the apples, I just fill the pan up with apples and mix the other ingredients in
You're welcome to borrow my apple corer/slicer/peeler tool :)

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday was a busy busy day, and we didn't even go Trick or Treating. We did, however, visit a pumpkin patch and then buy a new car. Yea! It's actually a nice looking Chevy S10 SS truck. Rob found it on KSL so we are now a two car and one motorcycle family. Yea for that second car in the winter, what a difference it will make. More costumes photos to come later. . .

Yesterday

I was at Savers thrift store with Guy. Walking through the aisle of clothes Guy's size, he had been jabbering for quite a while. After one particularly long and completely unintelligible string of rambling, I said to him, "Okay--even though I don't have a clue what you just said. Okay." Then, a sales clerk, who had been working in the aisle the whole time we were there turned and asked, "Does he speak English and Spanish?" I said, "Nope, just English."

Her response: "Good."

?!?!?!

What a move!

Things are going pretty well in our new place. I'm so grateful for the space, for the added lunches it gives us with Rob, and that we are able to use all our stuff that has been in storage for the past 2+ years (though I am surprised how much we seem to be missing).

But holy cow, even though it was only 20 min away, moving is hard. And I'm not talking about the physical strain (most of which I couldn't do). Getting settled in, finding a routine, and making new friends takes energy and time. On top of being 22 weeks pregnant with a 20 month old that now climbs out of bed and mostly refuses to take naps (when he was recently still taking 2 naps a day), I'm struggling with allergies, migraine headaches, and other pregnancy discomforts.

Moving 5 days before your birthday just isn't fun either--just in case anyone was wondering. I know birthdays are over-rated, but it's still just a strain.

A few kind people from church have introduced themselves, but overall, we really don't know many people (and we're both trying, I promise). Yesterday capped off a difficult and exhausting three hour block when my visiting teaching supervisor came up after sacrament meeting (why that's last, I'll never know--so hard on kids!), introduced herself, and gave me my list of 5 sisters to visit--with a companion who just had a new baby within the last couple of weeks (icing on the cake, right?).

The RS Presidency has literally not spoken one word to me--I don't even know any of their names. I'm frustrated that they don't have a clue who I am or how I'm doing but apparently showing up at church one week warrants the longest visiting teaching route I've ever seen in my life (not an exaggeration).

So, now that I'm done venting, how's your Monday?

Our Latest News

Yesterday I hit 20 weeks-fun to hit 1/2 way on my birthday. :) Today we got the 20 week ultrasound. And this baby's a mover--kicking like crazy while we were looking.

Guy's been coming up and kissing my belly a lot, especially today. He holds his hands out (reaching for my belly), but when I tell him the baby isn't ready to be held yet, he leans in for a kiss or two. My stomach isn't even that big yet (photo to be taken soon), he just knows it's there because we ask him where the baby is. He's going to be a great big brother.

It's been a busy week--last Friday we moved into our own place (finally). Yea! The move-in and transition for Guy has been easier than I thought it would be. Today Guy learned how to climb out of bed AND open the front door, all in about 5 minutes.

Never a dull moment. Wow.

My new favorite

I mean the photo. But also, Rob surprised me with a new lens. It came on Monday and I started snapping away. Good thing that last week I deleted about 10 gig of photos off our computer. Need more room. This new lens is a portrait lens and it was pretty inexpensive. I'm really enjoy benefiting from all the research that Rob does on camera equipment (especially from this surprise buy). Isn't he great? :)

Some Catch Up

I love these guys. Because Rob works so hard (and so late T-Th), we don't get much daylight playtime outside all together. But when we do, Guy really wears Rob out. I'm not sure who sleeps best on those nights. Here he's wresting with Dad (as Dad's multi-tasking-taking the photo)

Running around, just happy.

Shooting hoops--and he even makes some of them. But this one is up cause it looks like he's hanging from the net.Guy loves to come up from behind and give me a hug. He sometimes does it a few times a day. It's one of my favorite things that he does.He loves being thrown in the air, too. It seems like more and more often there are games/activities that are classified as "Daddy things." It seems that Guy is starting to understand that, and taking full advantage of the time he gets to play these games.A couple of weekends ago Rob and I spent Friday night downtown in a hotel. My parents watched Guy Friday night, and Eden had him Saturday until we came home (thanks, again). It was nice to relax and spend some time together. Ironically, I went to bed and woke up earlier than usual, but it was still refreshing. Walking around downtown (after getting caught in some rain), we saw these rainbows. The second one, to the right, is faint, but it's there.

And this last one is for Rob's mom--this little red jacket was one that Rob wore growing up. Also, though, it's his current usual pose when I ask him to smile. Not so much a smile, but a cute head tilt. At least I caught him this time before he closed his eyes.

Oh . . . and the latest good news--though I'm still getting a little morning sickness almost daily (sad at 17 weeks), it IS getting better, not lasting most of the day. Hopefully it'll be gone soon enough. . .

Lately I've learned that . . .

Magazines are best kept out of reach of the pack n' play.

Even some good treats take convincing to try.

Dry erase marker comes off the wall with the dry erase marker spray (more effectively than hairspray, rubbing alcohol, and a few other attempted remedies), thankfully!

And, sometimes when you tell a kid to smile it's just awkwardly funny.

Maybe this one is a girl . . .

????

I've pretty much been struggling since June--lots and lots of headaches, and well, an upset stomach for weeks now. Last pregnancy it just wasn't this bad. I know I had my moments, but it just wasn't this bad.

Food never sounds good, I just have to eat sometimes or I feel worse. I've discovered the comfort of shaved ice with juice concentrate as a topping in the past few days and that's been a treat I treasure.

I'm 12 or 13 weeks along, so at least I know the discomfort will surely end in February (within a week of Guy's second birthday-Feb 7), and that I get one more live in camera subject out of the deal. :)

And really, I AM excited--it'd be fun to have another boy so he can pal around with Guy, and the fact that we have all boy stuff already makes that idea very appealing, as well. If it's a girl, I'll be excited to do ribbons and bows, and all the lacy stuff I've really never even looked at much in stores. I'll even pull my sewing machine out for that stuff, and I'd love it.

Rob's a great dad, and Guy will be a loving older brother--he's already baby hungry, for months, he's been holding out his arms, trying to hold every baby that he sees, and if he sees a crying baby, it's worse--tears stream down his cheeks as he reaches for him/her, he wants to help so badly.

I know in some ways, the discomfort will get worse (as I get bigger)--I just hope the morning sickness (that has lasted all day for me) stops soon. Regardless, I am grateful--it's an amazing blessing that we get to increase our family with another one of God's children, and being the woman that gets to carry the child is a pretty special experience, too.

I certainly feel tremendously blessed.

Happy Birthday Rob!

July flew, and if August has a chance, I kind of hope it will, too.

Rob's been working hard for our little family every day, and he never seems to get rest. Monday through Friday he has his "real" job, the one with benefits that covers all our expenses. Tuesday through Thursday he also works through the evening, until 10:30 pm most nights. Then, he's doing the work that he likes better--seeing clients as he fills the role of counselor to those with marriage problems, substance abuse and pornography addictions, as well as other issues. He enjoys that, helping people one on one and seeing them make changes for the good. It's a good thing, too, that the second job is earning him hours towards his LCSW.

When he's home, he spends a lot of time helping out with Guy. This morning, for example, he got Guy up, fed him, and didn't wake me up until he had to leave for work. I still feel bad that his birthday morning started like that.

We were able to meet up for lunch and give him the first of a few gifts, though.

Always up for a good deal (remember the donuts?), Rob's goal is to get as many birthday freebies as he can this week. A lot of restaurants share offers like that, so we'll start redeeming them tonight, for dinner. Easy enough for me, yea. :)

Some of the latest

Last week I snapped away at my family reunion. Here are some of my favorites: