Oops

I sort of forgot the last few days of NaBloPoMo.  I didn't totally forgot... but the times I did remember I was too exhausted to find my phone and try and think of something to say.  Sorry 'bout that.

For a consolation prize, I now have tons of pics from a trip to post for the next few days.  Here are some highlights:

Thanks to our mother for our festive matching winter gear.

This kids might have been slightly frustrated with the number of photo shoots they were subjected to.  Monkey Bug was mostly just amused by his cousins though.

Day 7: The Gospel (and bonus: my parents)

It seems obvious to write it out, but I am so grateful to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  I'm grateful for the hope that it brings and the chance it gives me to try and do better each day.  I'm incredibly grateful for how central families are to God's plan for us and how much they can help us be better people.  Specifically, I have wonderful parents who do so much for me.  But even with all they do for me, the biggest thing they have done for me in my life is to teach me from day 1 to trust in my Heavenly Father and to try to be more like Christ.  I'm still working on it, but the compass is ingrained.  And I'm hoping that I can do that for Monkey Bug.

Day 6: Zzzzzz

I am a crabby, crabby person without my sleep.  Getting a decent night's rest makes a huge difference in my ability to be patient and optimistic (as it does most people).  But I've always been a person who needs a lot of sleep and since high school I've slept as much as I could reasonably get away with while still remaining a functional member of society.  And having Monkey Bug has made me all the more grateful for a good amount of shut-eye.  So not only am I grateful for sleep, but I'm grateful for the people who helped/help me get more than I would if I were on my own in this new adventure parenting.  Especially my husband and mom.  I'd be all kinds of messed up without my sleep.

Days 4-5: Technology

I am grateful for technology.  Specifically smart phones and skype/video calls.  (That counts for 2 different things, right?)  Smart phones keep me from getting permanently lost, allow me to talk to family far away pretty much whenever, and let me take pictures and videos whenever.  Video calls mean that my baby may actually recognize all his extended family when he sees them in person.  And that my nephew is excited to see me when I'm around him.  So even though we all live too far apart, it's a lot easier to stay close.

Day 3: My Man

I would be highly remiss if one of my days of thankfulness did not include my other half.  He is my sanity saver and keeps me focused on good things.  He is the best guy I could possibly have yoked myself to for eternity.  I mean, look:

Besides being a great husband, he is a fabulous daddy.  A great brother and uncle too.  He does amazing things like taking care of our child when I'm sick.  And every Sunday while I do my calling.  And driving me places so my brain doesn't have to work.  He rocks.

Day 2: Friends

I have some really fantastic friends.  My very closest friends don't currently live near me, which stinks, but I love the fact that no matter how long it has been since I've seen them, we're so close that it doesn't matter.  We just pick up like family because that's really what we are.  And I got to see my dearest friend who adopted me my first year at college and has been family ever since.  Plus her hubby and chitlins, who are all awesome.

Also, my best friend is half the reason I blog at all, so without her no one would be reading this.  We had a whirlwind day of organizing basements, cleaning up broken glass, parenting, and chatting as much as possible in between.  And it was fabulous.  We tried to document it, and got photo-bombed by our children:

Sisters

I'm gonna hop on the Thankfulness Blog Train for just a week.  I figure it's the least I can do since I whine a lot and I'm actually very blessed.

So today I am grateful for my sisters.  I miss my beautiful horse-riding, Zelda-playing, sassy pants, too-smart-for-her-own-good baby sister everyday, but I know she's givin' 'em hell in the best way possible on the other side.  And that she is liberated from all the physical and emotional weights of our mortal existence, which is enviable in some ways.

Meanwhile, I have my sister who is closer in age to me and I'd pretty much give up on life if anything ever happened to her.  She is also the girl who was in band in high school with me (we were both drum majors, although not at the same time), lived with me at college, went on double dates with me, did the same degree as me, played in ensembles with me through college, and then managed to finish her masters well before me and rock the marriage and parenthood thing before me.  So basically she's the older sister now.  Every time I have a question about trying to not kill my son, she's the one I call.  She's the person who's capable of juggling a million things, including too extremely exuberant and energetic children and yet still serves pretty much everybody she comes across.  And we think exactly the same way.  If I could have one wish in the world it would be to live next door to her so we could raise our babies together and be there to put out fires for one another.  I'm still holding out for someday.

Those two are the main reason I am determined to give Monkey Bug siblings.  I didn't really appreciate my sisters growing up, most of the time.  They stole attention, my clothes, toys, you name.  Ask the living one, as I gave her much bodily harm over stolen silly putty once.  But they were my playmates (we only had 2 other kids that lived on our street and they didn't live there our whole childhood either) and my confidants and grew into my closest friends.  So I figure that's one of the best things I can give my kids.  Hopefully.

And to end, one of my favorite pictures from our childhood:

(It was like 100 degrees and we'd been out doing family things for quite some time.  Elastigirl's face on the right pretty much sums up how we all actually felt.)

Movie Sundays at Grandma's

I did a lot today and it was all so boring that I don't think I can talk about any of it.

I think I need this.  I mean, it's read by the cast.  I think it's the closest we're ever going to get to that supposed sequel William Goldman talked about in one of the editions.   It's one of my all time favorite books/movies.  It was one of the beloved repeats I requested when allowed to watch a movie at my grandma's on Sunday.

I grew up going to my grandma's for Sunday dinner most weeks.  I miss that.  I miss living near family and it makes me sad that Monkey Bug most certainly won't have that, at least for his earliest years.  I know my grandparents pretty darn well, especially my mom's mom because they lived nearby and she was fairly involved with us.  For this, I am intensely grateful for Skype.  We may not live nearby but thanks to Skype, Hangouts, and Facetime, Monkey Bug just might recognize his grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins.

But I digress.  My parents started young and humbly.  We did not own a VCR and I loudly explained to people that we didn't because we didn't have enough money, just as I had been explained to (much to my young parents' chagrin).  So my early movie-watching experiences all took place on Sundays at Grandma's.  I had a list of repeat favorites, all of which went through a period of being the "chosen" film.  These are the ones I distinctly remember:

• Mary Poppins
• Wizard of Oz
• Princess Bride
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
• Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (the one with Leslie Ann Warren, old school)
• Darby O'Gill and the Little People (which we loved, yet were scared to death of the Banshee and could only watch that scene huddled under the old parachute army blankets)

There was also an old tape of Loony Toons that was a frequent flyer, as well as The Never-Ending Story (I only found out in the last few years how much my grandpa loves that film, which may have contributed a little to how often we watched it...).   If I realized I forgot any, I'll add them later, but I still absolutely adores all of these movies.  I mean, we watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers just the other night (Bless Her Beautiful Hide has also recently entered into my nephew's top repertoire choices - awesome).  So I'm curious, what are y'all's childhood favorites that still hit home?

Monkey Blanket

Below is my accomplishment for the day: the sock monkey fleece blanket, the fabric for which my mother bought when we moved into this house 2 years ago.  Actually, with how long most of my projects sit on the shelf, this one moved through the queue pretty quickly.  Also I did not spend much time trying to make it an even rectangle.  It was just too unwieldy for me to feel picky.  I think I've gotten to the point with my projects where I've officially traded quality for quantity.

I wanted it is a large soft play-area for the Bug.  He tested and approved:

Blankets are so rewarding to sew.  Straight cutting, straight sewing, minimal time, useful results.  So much winning.

Just a Cold Day Inside

Friends, don't sew when you're tired.  Just don't.  This is what happens:

Yeah, that piping is supposed to be on the right side.  Like the one underneath.  It happened late last night and I still haven't fixed it.  In theory though, they'll be part of my Christmas pillow collection, which I purchased the fabric for about 4 years ago and am just now getting around to.  Here are the only ones I've actually managed to produce so far:

It was bloody cold today.  So I don't think I left the house more than to step on the back porch and pull something inside.  We cuddled a lot.  I drank a fair amount of wassail.  And Monkey Bug had his first taste of carrots.  They were... not thrilling.  Here is his first experience with the IKEA bibs (which are still a bit to big):

"I don't get it.  Am I supposed to eat it?"

Poor Indy managed to lock himself out of the car while it was running today... and illegally parked... in the weather that felt like -1 degree.  Needless to say, we had a better day than Daddy.  

Gopher

I'm not sure how I did so much today and don't really have anything to say about it.  Except that as I was attempting to feed my son sweet potatoes tonight, I suddenly realized how much it was like playing one of those arcade games where the gopher keeps popping out of different holes and you're supposed to hit him before he disappears again. Only that game is much more satisfying than trying to get sweet potatoes in a small human's mouth. Also this new version of the game involves more projectiles and usually ends with the gopher/child triumphantly seizing my mallet/spoon. Only to gag themself on it and throw it to the ground. I feel like I need the same cheat we used to do: 3-4 all focused on one hole. Maybe if there were 4 spoons coming from 4 different directions? I'm sure it'd still end with me covered in sweet potatoes and the spoons all thrown to the floor.

Fa-hoo Fo-reys

I'm honestly impressed I got that far into the month (if you ignore my late start) without missing a day.  It as thoroughly inevitable that I would forget a day.  But considering my typical frequency, anyone reading this should know what to expect.  So I'm just not gonna apologize too much.

Today I led the congregational hymns, did the special musical number in sacrament, and did music in Primary with the kids during the last two hours.  Sort of felt like a one-woman show.  Which is all the more impressive when I know we don't lack for musicians in our ward (ok, more so than we used to, but we're still much more blessed than most places given the large music school nearby).  The end result is that I have no voice.  So instead of going to stake choir practice tonight and singing Christmas music, which I would love to do more than most things, I am blogging.

Really though, I love Christmas carols more than any other music (which I feel is truly saying something).  If I ever lost my mind and dove back into academia for a doctorate in music-related things (like I would qualify for anything else...), I would try to incorporate Christmas music into my dissertation.  No idea if that would be possible but it's currently a moot point because no.  I need a looooong break from academia.  But seriously, I collect caroling books.  I get excited about good 4-part arrangements.  And I dream that I'll have one more son and he and the Monkey Bug will together be able to handle any men's parts I throw at them.  Last year (or maybe the year before?  I don't remember?), I sat down and scribed out the vocal parts to Welcome Christmas from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Because they aren't available anywhere (I looked).  And because I've always wanted to carol it.  Of course, now that the sister and I have started having our children, it'll probably be 10 years before I get the chance.  But whatever, we might need those 10 years to find and befriend a bass to sing that low.

Meanwhile I suppose I'll go practice piano because I still have to prove to the people giving me a degree that I'm capable of memorizing a cheesy little piece and spitting it back to them.  I just might get sidetracked by some carols.

And for your Sunday enjoyment, his church duds:

Interaction

I find myself getting on the F-book less and less.  People are always arguing and posting things I disagree with but there's no point in mentioning that I disagree because I don't want to argue.  All I wants is to know what is up with the people I care about who live far away from me and who I would lose all contact with except for the convenience of the technology that is the F-book.  Unlike the people who complain about people posting life accomplishments/milestones/travesties, I want to know who is getting married, who is having a baby (after years of infertility, some of them!), who is moving somewhere exotic that I can both envy and pity, who needs extra prayers because they lost a job/got a horrible diagnosis/lost a loved one/are simply having a terrible time with life.  (I take praying for people by name seriously, which can mess with my and the husband's brain sometimes as we try to remember everybody every night.)

But people posting things about how awful other people are makes me grumpy.  And people fighting over politics makes me want to punch the screen.  That said, I can't imagine how the Obamas think they are raising a generation to their end of the political spectrum by messing with kids' school lunches.  Every time I see what kids are being offered at school, or an article about it, all I can think is, "Michelle should not be surprised when, over the next ten years the newest voters all go Republican because kids still blame her for starving during middle/high school."

Still, as tempted as I've been, I can't quite quit the F-book.  I've lived in too many different places and have friends/family that I care about deeply scattered much too far to keep track of any other way.  Although if I were blessed to have stayed in one place since high school, with the vast majority of my family and friends still nearby, I think I could do it.  Face to face interaction is so much better.

Speaking of which, here is the cutest face to face interaction I saw today:

(Daddy is jumping out from the bathroom to scare us.)

Golden Monkey

Apparently when I'm sick I'm too brain-addled to think to take pictures.  So here is a video I managed to take... yesterday:

He has long conversations with that little golden monkey.  Most of which sound quite frustrated.  I don't know exactly what that monkey did to him, but it's the one he always focuses on.  I've been tempted to cut it off and give it to him, but then I'm afraid he'll be sad it's not there to talk to/rant at anymore.  So I secretly film his conversations instead.

Sick day dos

My immune system continues to give in to the monsters attacking my throat/sinuses, leaving me even more boring than usual.  I did not put on real clothes all day.  The only reason Monkey Bug ever got real clothes was because he eventually pooped through his pajamas and I was forced to act responsible.  I managed to send a few emails.  That concludes all my accomplishments.

Because breastfeeding comes with a whole bunch of medicinal restrictions and because I'm not a huge fan of going to see my ObGyn (I don't have a gen practitioner currently), I decided to try out the whole homeopathic (I first typed that as "homeopathetic - a Freudian slip, perhaps) turmeric-in-honey thing.   I don't know if it has helped, but boy does it taste awful.  In case you were wondering.  Even if it cures me (which I'm not sure I'll be able to tell because it's not acting fast enough), I'm not sure I can give it credit.  *insert gagging noise here*

Sick day

I have razor blades living in my throat, so I get extra props for managing/remembering to do this today.

Monkey Bug also got his shots yesterday and I know I'm not the only mother out there who thinks the day after shots is always worse than the day of.  Meanwhile, he is a tall, weighty kid with a smallish head.  Who likes to suck on his toes:

Blankity blanket

As for sewing projects, I clearly didn't get much done today.  But I'm in the process of making a bunch of baby blankets.  I can post a pic of the one that I've already given away, but the others will have to wait until they've been gifted.

My grandma made me a few of these flannel blankets - just one layer (although she sent multiples - one layer and two layer are a really nice weight.  Plus super easy because you just narrow hem the edges and do a decorative stitch.  Voila.  Baby blanket in under 30.

I also went insane and made my own piping today for a different blanket. (Actually it wasn't so much insanity as they didn't have enough premade in the color I needed at the store.) I then proceeded to discover that I am definitely not talented enenough to take short cuts like inserting the piping between the layers and sewing the layers at the same time. 1 1/2 hours later, that mess was fixed. Once I give away the result, I shall post a picture of it.

Sunday

First of all, this micro-suit makes me want to buy my son a fedora, possibly a little fake machine gun, and put '30s gangster slang in captions under the picture:

Second of all, my job at church is to do music with the kids, which is pretty much the best job out there.  But it's like pulling nails to find people to commit to substitute for me so on days like today when I feel like crap, I find that I'd rather go to the effort of just dragging myself to church than find someone who will take care of my job for me.  And so we did the Move Cube.  Which is essentially a giant cube that they can roll like a die and it has things like "spin around," "jump up," "high five," "move right/left," etc. on each side.  And we "moved" every time we sang something in the song that was a blessing.  It was a great quick idea, albeit a not very well-thought-out one, since of course I had to lead said moving.  Oops.  The third time somebody rolled "jump up," I made him do it again.  Even though he's 3.

Naptime

This kid does not want to miss anything.  He's been fighting the whole nap thing for a while.  Although I'm probably just an ignorant first-time parent who gives in too easily.  The only sure way to get him to nap is to snuggle him into submission.  He snores really loud and flops around a lot for someone so small (relatively speaking, since compared to other kids his age, he's quite the chunk).   It makes it kinda hard to sleep in the same room as him...

Yes, he did this position himself.  Little contortionist. 

 The Buddha belly is 90% of why I had to share these pics.  It's so squishable.  

Uninteresting

Part of my problem trying to blog is that I can't think of anything to write about most of the time.  I've tried to start writing about a couple of different things and each time I got about 2 sentences in and had nothing more to say.  Or realized it was completely uninteresting (not that I'm hitting the ball out of the park with this intro either...)

Maybe I've just gotten that uninteresting?

I mean, I did get excited at the prospect of invisible zippers for 89 cents each a few minutes ago...  and I have no idea what movies are currently in the theaters... oh well...

More cuteness!!  This kid is a master scooter.

6 Months!

This kid is so cute it hurts.  The new thing this week is exploring our voice, i.e. making pterodactyl sounds.  But we also get super excited when we see Daddy, love to be tickled, and are completely fascinated with the rotating space heater.  We also chew on everything, drool all over, and are very good at blowing out multiple diapers per day.  Pretty sure we almost single-handedly support the stocking of Oxi-Clean pretreat in all local stores.

Grand Plans

Grand plans, people.  Everyday I have grand plans.  Unfortunately, whereas my grand plans used to usually look like:

• Write grad school papers and read 50 pages+ per day of academic enlightening/nonsense articles/books.
• Make lesson plans and email them to all the other grad instructors I coordinate.
• Teach eager minds the basics of music or the essentials of flute-playing.
• Write my own flute tutor and get it published.
• Pass off extra courses for my degree while enrolled in a full schedule.
• Etc.

Now my grand plans include things like washing poop off things and trying to shower.  And the really grand ones are things like cooking and figuring out how to wipe personal information off an old computer that needs to get out because I can't take the clutter anymore, ack.  (And barring success at the latter, tearing into said computer and removing the hard drive so we can smash it with a hammer, Izma-style.)  But given that I have someone smiling and cooing at me much more often than I ever did in school, it is much more fulfilling.

So having baked cornbread twice this week is a big accomplishment.  (I hate cooking - if I'm going to create something time-consuming, I would rather be sewing.  Or at least trying to get better at piano.)  And I'm kinda sad I didn't try to make gluten free cornbread from scratch before.  Because those dang mixes are expensive.  And the stuff from scratch isn't much more time consuming.  In fact, I'm thinking I'll just make some of my own mixes ahead of time once I know I'm thoroughly happy with my ingredient ratios.

And here's some gratuitous cuteness, since I haven't been able to blog from my stinking phone that has all the pictures:

NaBloPoMo

For the record, I attempted to start up posting for NaBloPoMo, entirely for the sake of my best friend. And I thought I was being smart - I put the blogger app on my phone.  But EVERY time I try to publish a post it says post failed.  So apparently I failed before I even started.  And now I'm typing this from my computer so I don't have cute pictures of my baby.  And let's face it, I'm such a bad writer that the only reason anyone would check my blog would be to see cute pictures of my baby.  So double fail.  On the plus side, I bought a Butterfinger peanut butter cups thing today and it was amazing.  I also managed to put up my Halloween decorations before Halloween.  Still riding that high from last week.  Last year they didn't get put up at all thanks to grad school and ongoing morning-that-lasted-all-day sickness.  And I have an awesome potion bottle collection (me MIL asked me to help her make potion labels one year and I just sort of kept making them until I had around 50.  True story.  Now I don't want to take them down so they may just sit out for the next few weeks and then I'll be super lazy and switch them straight out for Christmas decorations.  Besides, Monkey Bug will likely be able to get into them next year so who knows how long it will be until I get them all put out at once again.

That's all the excitement here folks.  Unless you count the number of times I had to wash poop off myself, the Bug's clothes, and various other items today.  It was around 4.

Accomplishments

So I obviously failed at doing weekly updates. However, I successfully grew a cute human and made it through a year of grad school & teaching. No promises, but I'm hoping to at least get pictures on here regularly. In this first offering, Monkey Bug is happily chirping away at his parents until midnight after a long trip home from meeting the Utah Chapter of his Adoring Fan Club.