"Go to bed!"

In the 2 1/2 years that we have been parents we have used a lot of tactics to get our kids to go to sleep. At times, we have found ourselves stooping pretty low--lower than we ever thought we would as parents. Here are the top ten tactics we've used to get them to go to sleep: 

6. "Lay down on your bed or your Thomas the train pillow goes in the garbage forever." (This tactic works best when you have the trash receptacle in your free hand with Thomas dangerously close to the brim). I think we've only used this once, and it was awfully late, if that's any excuse. 

5. "If you don't go to bed, mom will email Santa and tell him how naughty you've been. Then you won't get any toys. Is that something you want?" (Just used this one for the first time tonight. Thus far, mixed results.)

4. "If you don't go to sleep, daddy can't get the sleep he needs to finish his dissertation and we'll be stuck in West Lafayette forever. You don't want to be a Hoosier forever--trust us." Ezra and Annika are too young to understand the ramifications involved in this threat. 

3. For about 3 months, Ezra would not go to sleep until one of us (usually dad) made a bed on the floor of Ezra's room where dad would lay down and pretend to fall asleep, while Ezra rolled around for a while before falling asleep.  By this time, dad usually fell asleep as well. These months are what we call "rock bottom." 

2. Last summer, we would take Ezra for drives since that was the only thing we could do to get him to go to sleep. We would get in the car, and he would ask to see the horse statue on campus for about 30 minutes, then settle down a little and fall asleep. It was a blast, as you can imagine. Of course, current gas prices impede us from continuing this method. 

1. Recently, we have taken to walks to get them to fall asleep. As previously mentioned, Annika requires anywhere from 1 to 3 walks per night (the first usually around 8, then 10, then perhaps midnight) while Ezra will usually fall asleep on the first walk if he didn't nap earlier in the day. If he napped, even for 3 minutes, there is no way he's going to bed until at least 10. He has an excuse arsenal that includes: "my leg hurts," "my ear hurts," "there's a tiger in my room," "I'm scared," "Annika is in the living room, I want to go in there," "I'm hungry for treats," "I want milk," "I want water," "I want to read more stories," and, if all else fails, the cry that wakes Annika and sends the apartment into a frenzy. That's our favorite. 

For those who expressed jealousy that we got the kids to sleep at 7:30 a few nights ago, there are a few things we neglected to mention: 1) it was a total fluke and 2) Annika woke up 20 minutes later, and didn't go back to sleep until 11:30. Clearly, we have no idea what we are doing in this department. If anyone cares to share their tips, warnings, horror stories, etc., we would love to hear them!

Annika at Eleven Months!

As promised, here are some pictures of Annika at eleven months...

It's really hard for us to believe, but our little bundle of joy is getting awfully close to being a year old! Yesterday was Annika's eleven month birthday, and we can't believe how she's grown. I took some pictures of Annika to post on the blog, but Christina deemed them "atrocious" so we will have to wait until a later date to add pictures. Nonetheless, here is the text-only celebration of Annika at eleven months: 

-She loves to talk. All of the time. She has a high-pitched squeal that is really her favorite mode of communication. She does it when she's happy, sad, angry, content, bored, interested--really any time she can. It is unbelievably loud--like we would imagine a baby stegosaurus would sound. As far as regular words go, she will mimic pretty much anything you say, but she doesn't know what the words mean. We're pretty sure she knows what "daddy" and possibly "Ezra" (pronounced "er-uh") mean. Beyond that, we're not entirely sure what she is saying. 

-She blew a kiss the other night, which was a first. We were trying to get her to go back to bed (on the day we posted that they were asleep at 7:30, she woke up around 8:30 and stayed up until just past 11:00) and she clearly had other plans. Instead of being a grouch, she simply put her hand up to her lips and blew both of us the sweetest little kisses. Of course we let her stay up another 1.5 hours afterward, trying to get more kisses blown our way. It never worked, but she knows what she's doing. 

-She is an unbelievable eater. Ezra wasn't super picky, but he mostly liked to eat vegetables by themselves, usually cold, and any kind of fresh fruit. He didn't really like junk food and is only now venturing as far as to try a sandwich. So, when we started feeding Annika food, we were totally unprepared. She will eat ANYTHING. Vegetables, fruits, meat, cheese, carpet pieces, toys, pasta--to this point we've determined only two things she does not like: french toast and tapioca pudding. She's the best eater ever. We just put the food in front of her and let her do her thing. 

-She no longer likes to sit on the floor. Every time we sit her down she finds the nearest prop so she can stand up. She won't even sit in the bathtub anymore. She wants to walk so badly but she doesn't have the leg strength yet. Every time she stands up on something she's so proud of herself. 

-She remains the cutest 11 month old on the planet. Some of you may know (or even have) other 11 month old babies, but Annika is certainly the cutest. She still has blue eyes and she has the cutest little smile. Just adorable!

-She displays uncanny patience--mostly with Ezra. His latest game is to grab some toys, go up to Annika, and say "Hey Annika, you want to play with these?" and then hand them to her. She reaches for them, and Ezra yanks them away, saying "You can't play with those. You're too little." He must think this is the best game on earth (it is a game that allows him to boss someone around, something he happens to enjoy a great deal) but Annika usually just laughs it off. Of course, when she's had enough, she knows how to pull hair to settle the score. 

-She loves music. Anytime she hears music she starts bouncing around like crazy. It's hilarious to watch!

-She likes books a lot more than she used to. She has a particular fondness for books with the faces of other babies on them. She likes to try to poke their eyes out. We can usually sit and read 5 or 6 books before she's had enough, which is pretty good. 

-She loves to go for walks in the stroller to fall asleep. She'll generally fall asleep during the first nightly walk at around 8 o'clock but sometimes will wake up again, making walk number 2 a necessity, usually around 11 or so. She loves to look around at everything and then just collapse backward, falling right asleep. 

-She's a blast to be around, has a hilarious sense of humor, and is more or less the perfect little girl. She's just perfect and we love her so much!!!

Wagon ride

Yesterday we borrowed Dylan's wagon and took the kids for a ride in it. Thanks Dylan, they loved it! It is so much fun for us to do little things like that for them because they really appreciate it. They display this innocent happiness or jubilation that is hard to replicate when you are older. I guess that's why we have kids, to remind us of all the little joys in life. Bigger, newer, faster is not always better and in most cases it is usually just more headache than happy. We love that our kids remind us to be grateful for the things we have and most especially-for them! (I'm a little more in love with them than usual tonight because they both went to bed at 7:30!! Hurray!)

Nauvoo Trip

This past weekend Ezra, Annika and I were able to go with my mom, my brother Brad and his family, and my brother Alan and his wife Anahi to Nauvoo, Illinois. We had a great time and I learned a lot. This was the second time I have been there and I could go again and again. There is a lot to learn and to think about there. 

This is the Nauvoo temple. It is so beautiful. It is different than other temples I've seen and I think it is my favorite one. Here is some history of Nauvoo, Joseph Smith, and the Nauvoo temple (by Pres. Hinckley in 2002).

Many of you participated in the dedication of the Nauvoo temple last June. It was a great and marvelous occasion, one to be long remembered. We not only dedicated a magnificent building, a house of the Lord, but we also dedicated a beautiful memorial to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

In 1841, two years after he came to Nauvoo, he broke ground for a house of the Lord that should stand as a crowning jewel to the work of God.

It is difficult to believe that in those conditions and under those circumstances a structure of such magnificence was designed to stand on what was then the frontier of America.

I doubt, I seriously doubt, that there was another structure of such design and magnificence in all the state of Illinois.

It was to be dedicated to the work of the Almighty, to accomplish His eternal purposes.

No effort was spared. No sacrifice was too great. Through the next five years men chiseled stone and laid footings and foundation, walls and ornamentation. Hundreds went to the north, there to live for a time to cut lumber, vast quantities of it, and then bind it together to form rafts which were floated down the river to Nauvoo. Beautiful moldings were cut from that lumber. Pennies were gathered to buy nails. Unimaginable sacrifice was made to procure glass. They were building a temple to God, and it had to be the very best of which they were capable.

In the midst of all of this activity, the Prophet and his brother Hyrum were killed in Carthage on the 27th of June 1844.

None of us living today can comprehend what a disastrous blow that was to the Saints. Their leader was gone—he, the man of visions and revelations. He was not only their leader. He was their prophet. Great was their sorrow, terrible their distress.

But Brigham Young, President of the Quorum of the Twelve, picked up the reins. Joseph had placed his authority upon the shoulders of the Apostles. Brigham determined to finish the temple, and the work went on. By day and by night they pursued their objective, notwithstanding all of the threats hurled against them by lawless mobs. In 1845 they knew they could not stay in the city they had built from the swamplands of the river. They knew they must leave. It became a time of feverish activity: first, to complete the temple, and secondly, to build wagons and gather supplies to move into the wilderness of the West.

Ordinance work was begun before the temple was entirely completed. It went on feverishly until, in the cold of the winter of 1846, the people began to close the doors of their homes and wagons moved slowly down Parley Street to the water’s edge, then across the river and up the banks on the Iowa side.

Movement continued. The river froze over, it was so bitter cold. But it made it possible for them to move on the ice.

Back to the east they looked for the last time to the city of their dreams and the temple of their God. Then they looked to the west to a destiny they did not know.

The temple was subsequently dedicated, and those who dedicated it said “amen” and moved on. The building was later burned by an arsonist who almost lost his life in the evil process. A tornado finally toppled most of what was left. The house of the Lord, the great objective of their labors, was gone.

Nauvoo became almost a ghost city. It faded until it almost died. The site of the temple was plowed and planted. The years passed, and there slowly followed an awakening. Our people, descendants of those who once lived there, had stir within them the memories of their forebears, with a desire to honor those who had paid so terrible a price. Gradually the city came alive again, and there was a restoration of parts of Nauvoo.

Under the prompting of the Spirit, and motivated by the desires of my father, who had served as mission president in that area and who wished to rebuild the temple for the centennial of Nauvoo but was never able to do so, we announced in the April conference of 1999 that we would rebuild that historic edifice.

Excitement filled the air. Men and women came forth with a desire to be helpful. Large contributions of money and skills were offered. Again, no expense was spared. We were to rebuild the house of the Lord as a memorial to the Prophet Joseph and as an offering to our God. On the recent 27th of June, in the afternoon at about the same time Joseph and Hyrum were shot in Carthage 158 years earlier, we held the dedication of the magnificent new structure. It is a place of great beauty. It stands on exactly the same site where the original temple stood. Its outside dimensions are those of the original. It is a fitting and appropriate memorial to the great Prophet of this dispensation, Joseph the Seer.

How grateful I am, how profoundly grateful for what has happened. Today, facing west, on the high bluff overlooking the city of Nauvoo, thence across the Mississippi, and over the plains of Iowa, there stands Joseph’s temple, a magnificent house of God. Here in the Salt Lake Valley, facing east to that beautiful temple in Nauvoo, stands Brigham’s temple, the Salt Lake Temple. They look toward one another as bookends between which there are volumes that speak of the suffering, the sorrow, the sacrifice, even the deaths of thousands who made the long journey from the Mississippi River to the valley of the Great Salt Lake

.Here we are at the Family Living Center where the missionaries explain to you how the people made rope, barrels, candles, bread and other things. I was exhausted just hearing about it. Needless to say, our lives today are pretty easy compared to theirs. I love how all this history is kept and preserved and made so easily available. 

Annika wishing she could get up and join in the fun.

This is the cool house that we stayed in while at Nauvoo. It was built right on the side of a bluff over looking the Mississippi River. I was a little nervous about it sliding into the river while we were there but luckily it didn't. I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time though...

A sunset overlooking the river from our rental house. It was really breath taking.

Ezra and I on the banks of the Mississippi.

Ahhh. How cute!

This is my mom. She was super helpful to me while Jon was gone. What would I have done without her? Thanks mom!

Here are some other highlights of the trip:

Here is Ezra announcing to the world that he went #2 on the toilet. (We had a party!) I know there are some things you should keep to yourself, but come on, it was his first time!

Annika is super excited to be in her big girl car seat that we tried out for the first time on this trip. She looks good in it!

Jonathan is now home. We all really missed him and don't think we will let him go again next year. Five weeks is too long!

Also- to everyone out there who was rudely dismissed by Ezra while trying to get him out of his car seat, I now join your ranks. Since Dad has gotten home, all I've heard is "NO! Daddy do it!" He has yet to learn social graces and say politely "No, Mother, I would prefer it if Father would come unbuckle me from my car seat. I have not seen him in so long and wish to spend some extra time with him." to which I would kindly respond "But of course my darling, whatever you wish!" Instead I open his car door and hear "NO! Daddy do it!!" quite rudely and see his legs and arms flailing about while I try to get out of the way to retreat over to Annika's side of the car and hold her while licking my wounds and reassuring myself that at least one of my children still thinks I'm the coolest. Of course I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she does the same thing! Oh well, I try. 

Remember me?

Since everyone else is doing it!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you! reminisce away...

Makeshift Daddy

We went to Nauvoo this past weekend and had a great time. I will upload some pictures of that later but I wanted to quickly show Jonathan how much he is being missed. Ezra went up to this statue and hugged and kissed it all on his own. There was a mom on the other side and he ignored that one. I guess he really really misses his dad. Last night he was crying "I want my daddy!" That just about broke my heart. Come home soon Jon!!

New York City!!!

Hey everyone,
I had the wonderful opportunity to go to New York City and spend the day with my great friend Daniel. We spent hours upon hours walking through Manhattan, seeing some of the great sights in the area. Here are some pictures and stories of what we did...

I can't remember the name of this building, but it was pretty cool. I think Dan said it was in the Spiderman movie, but I really can't remember why we took pictures in front of it. Hmmm....

After walking for 9 hours or so we were really hungry. We went to a pizza place and got authentic New York Style pizza, and it was great! The one on the right was mozzarella and basil and it was the best pizza I've had since Christina and I went to Italy.

These pictures are really out of order, but I guess that doesn't matter. After eating dinner we went to the building where CBGB was (CBGB is the music venue where the Ramones got their start). We went inside and found ourselves out of place pretty quickly, since CBGB is no longer a punk venue but a sort of hipster store that sells 3000 dollar suits that look like 10 dollar suits. After walking out we were on Joey Ramone Place, which was pretty cool.

I caught the bus at the Southside Seaport so we walked through Chinatown (where we were enticed by the smell of fish and urine) and along the East River (which, coincidentally, also kind of smelled like fish and urine). Anyway, this picture is on the river in front of the Brooklyn bridge. There was a public art installation along the river of man-made waterfalls that was kind of cool.

This is actually our first stop. I got to Manhattan around 9 am and Daniel was waiting for me at the library. We were right next to Central park so we walked through there for a while. After walking through this area we went to the strawberry fields area where they have a memorial for John Lennon. Next to the memorial was a panhandler who had the funniest sign ever: "All you need is love. And cash. And beer. I want beer. I'm a christian" It almost enticed me to give him a little bit of money for his honesty.

This is Times Square, I think. One of the coolest things about Manhattan was that you could see buildings and architecture for miles in every direction. It was unbelievable. It was really at this point, pretty early in the day, that I really fell in love with this city. By the end of day it had replaced Washington DC on my list of favorite US cities.

Here's Daniel in front of David Letterman's building. We had just had breakfast at the Galaxy Diner where the waiters and waitresses all sing. Some guy was singing on a table right above us which made it kind of difficult to talk. It was fun though.

This is kind of a bad picture due to the crazy lighting but this is inside the New York City Public library, which was amazing. I would love to go back here and spend a week or so. It was so beautiful on the inside...

We spent a little bit of time inside the United Nations building but they really don't let you get too far inside (unless you want to pay a lot of money, which we didn't). Anyway, here's Dan in front of various flags of countries I don't recognize.

All in all, it was one of the best trips I've ever taken and probably the best day I've had without Christina ever. I had a blast walking through this city (I think we saw most of it) and my legs are killing me this morning. Many thanks to Daniel for being a hilarious tour guide (he even embarassed a few of my students who were attempting some sort of awkward romantic moment) and a great friend. Thanks a lot!

Some more pictures of the kids

Here are some pictures I took today of the kids.

By the way I love you Jon!

I tremble to think what might have happened if fate had not sent you to me. I owe everything: Life, the chance to pursue freedom- that hitherto unattainable ambition, and such abundance of good fortune as had never occured to me even in dreams.
I read your post with gratitute and love too strong for expression in any medium but oil. May I be able some time to express it thus!
Dear Jon, may you keep well. I wish it for you more than for myself. I want my life henceforth to be a source of joy and consolation to you, and with all my strength I desire for you a spirit of well and calm.
Yours,
Tink

Oh, and by the way, I love you Tink!

I found this quote in the most unlikely of places, Walter Lippmann's 1922 classic "Public Opinion." It contains an understanding of companionship that I think exemplifies the ideal person that Christina already is:

"those whom we love and admire most are those whose consciousness is peopled thickly with persons rather than with types, who know us rather than the classification into which we might fit. For even without phrasing it to ourselves, we feel intuitively that all classification is in relation to some purpose not necessarily our own; that between two human beings no association has final dignity in which each does not take the other as an end in himself or herself. There is beauty in all contact between two people who affirm as an axiom the personal inviolability of both."

I thought this was great. I love you and miss you!

Great band!

I was going to do a list of the great things about New Haven, but since I already took a picture of the library I'm sort of out of things to say...Anyway, I did get the opportunity to see a great Danish band called "The Fashion" and they were amazing. They call themselves European punk/techno/pop/r&b, which is a pretty good description. If you want to hear them, here's a video clip:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VEHUAlk0-Pk

Man About Town

Today I took a walk around New Haven and the Yale campus with another faculty member. He showed me a lot of the interesting sights in the area (such as "Murderville" and "the places you don't go after 7 if you want to live") so it was a very informative trip. We also went to the Yale Art Museum and the Center for British Art, both of which were amazing. The Yale Art Museum happened to have Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" on display as well as a lot of other great impressionist work. They didn't take too kindly to cameras, but I managed to sneak in a photo of this great Francis Bacon work which you can see here:

After looking at art we went to find the Yale "secret societies" which turned out to be large fraternity-style buildings without any windows. This is the first building we saw, called the "Skull and Key" (at least I think that's what it is called). I think these are just like fraternities but for those who are too wealthy to belong to fraternities.

And this is the famous "Skull and Bones" society building. Many famous people belonged to this group, including both George Bushes. Allegedly, everyone is given a nickname and George W.'s nickname is "temporary" because they couldn't think of anything else permanent so it sort of stuck. At least that's the story. So, in addition to my dorm building, this marks stop number two on the tour of "places our current President likely lost his lunch following a long night of heavy drinking."

All of that walking makes one hungry, so it was time to stop for the most unifying of treats, the "black and white cookie." The black and white cookie features prominently in one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes. I must say, I felt closer to my fellow man after eating a bite of this treat. Then I threw the rest away because it didn't really taste good at all. I guess that explains my lack of faith in the unifying powers of humanity...

Finally I wanted to stop by and see how real Yale political scientists do their work. I was shocked to see the department housed in what I will affectionately call "Little Rock Springs"--the Political Science department is housed in a little tin building reminiscent of the trailer houses of my hometown. Luckily, the huge neon sign alerted you to the fact that it was a "political science building," which I thought was a really classy touch. This is probably how I would have designed a building if I had never heard of architecture and been surrounded by shady bars my entire life; in other words, if I had never left Rock Springs. Ha, ha.

The five best things about Lovell

Since this is likely my last trip to Lovell, I've started thinking about all the reasons I like coming here. I guess I'm sentimental...sue me! Here are the top five.



1. Burritos with cheese. This is easily worth driving 1200 miles for. You start with a Reeser's Bean and Cheese burrito. Cook it in the microwave for a minute then pour a scoop of Que Bueno melted cheese on top. Add to that a small packet of taco sauce and you have heaven on earth! Of course this is extemely unhealthy and shouldn't be abused, but that's easier said than done!


2. Chinese buffet. There is a really good chinese restaurant in Powell that we love to go to when we are here. My mom and dad go so often that when they go in there and sit down the waitress brings them a Pepsi and a Diet Pepsi without them having to ask for it. One time I went there with my mom when dad was at home. The owner asked my mom if he had died. I thought that was a riot that the only reason in her mind for him missing a meal there was if he was dead. After she found out that he was okay she sent us back with a to-go meal for him, on the house. How nice!


3. One stoplight. You can get anywhere in Lovell in one minute-walking! There is the one stoplight, but that's just for show. The town folks like to say "we're the town with the stoplight!" Last summer when I was home I was saddened to see that they had taken out the stoplight. My mom assured me that they were just working on it and that it would be put back in. I thought it was pretty sad to go from a 'one stoplight town' to a 'no stoplight town.' Rest assured...the stoplight is back and it does turn red at least once an hour!

4. Mugs. The funnest thing to do in Lovell is to go get a mug. You have to drive clear across town to Saveway but it's only 50 cents! A mug goes perfect with reason number one. There's nothing better than a Pepsi with your bean burrito with cheese!


5. Twin bing candy bars! These little beauties are plentiful out here in Wyoming but very hard to find other places. It is creamy cherry filling covered with nutty chocolate yumminess. Everyone needs to try one. If you haven't tried one, leave a comment and I will send you one. It's that important! You can even buy them in the grocery store here by the box full. I must not be the only one who likes them!






So needless to say, since four out of the five reasons that Lovell is great have to do with food- unhealthy food- when I get home I'll be spending most of my time on this: