Hideout

Little Boy and I are hiding; hiding from ghosts, goblins, and princesses alike.  Judge me if you will, but we are not going trick-or-treating.  He's six months old...he won't remember.  Besides, I have a Pharm test to study for (See the trend?  I'm blogging.), the stroller has a flat tire, Tony is working, and I don't have the stamina to carry a twenty pound giraffe all around town.  And on top of all of that, it's a disappointment when all the chocolate runs out on November 2 and you're stuck with hard bubblegum and licorice. 

We did take the Aunties and Uncle to the Trunk or Treat, so Little Boy's first Halloween experience wasn't totally skipped.  He made a pretty cute Little Giraffe if I do say so myself...

Here, There, Everywhere

Since when did our calendar explode?!  This week, or last?  Or maybe it's always been a disaster and I've just been in denial...How did we get through 12 weeks of school easy peasy fresh and squeezy?  

Don't let me talk us into sleeping in.  It won't be a good idea.  Told you so.  Scramble, not eggs.  No time for that.  Just enough time to get out the door.  Kiss goodbye.  Get Hyrum here at this time and I'll get him here at this other time.  In between that, write a lesson, take a test, eat too much chocolate, deal with the trouble maker.  Ride the lightrail, hope there's no weirdies.  Laugh at Brother Janes.  Get Hyrum.  Go to work.  Sorry there wasn't time to eat dinner together.  Get the Aunties and Uncle Hayden from the bus stop.  Study my brains out.  Take care of Little Boy.  Sorry I'm asleep when you get home.  Hopefully I can stay awake long enough to pray.  I just said it?  Totally missed that.  Don't let me talk us into sleeping in.  It won't be a good idea.

How can we survive all the craziness?  How can we find joy amidst the busyness?  I'm not sure, but I'm glad we do.  If I had to guess, I'd say it has something to do with this...

Super Mom/Dad Extraordinaire Convention

Today has been absolutely exhausting.  I'll spare you most of the details.  Just reading about it may exhaust you.

After today, we signed Husband up for the Task Juggling 101 class as well as the How to Get a Good Night's Sleep in 2 Hours class at the Super Dad Extraordinaire Convention.   Feed the babe, put him down for a nap, exercise, shower, dress, lunches packed, call the credit card company because they charged us twice for the bill this month (once on our current account and once on the account we closed a year and a half ago), get the babe to the babysitter, get himself to the seminary, have a heart-to-heart with the troublemaker, teach a rockin' class, book it back to the babysitter's, drive to Downtown Phoenix to pick up Momma from school, go home, change clothes, potty break, kiss Wifey and babe, run out the door for a 5 1/2 hour shift at Home Depot. Whew!

In less stressful news, the Texas Rangers lead the World Series 3-2!  One more win and Husband will be one happy cookie.  Husband has decided that when he serves his Wifey, the Rangers do well.  The other day he vacuumed and did laundry etc. etc. and they pulled off a win in the ninth inning.  See above and you'll know why they won today.  I think wearing his Rangers tie everyday doesn't hurt either. 

As for me, I'm signing up for the College and Mothering class and the How to Grocery Shop with Infants, Toddlers, and/or Children class at the Super Mom Extraordinaire Convention.  [If you want details about the convention, let me know.] 

I had class starting at 7:30 this morning, then another class, then lunch, then open lab, then a mandatory Student Nurses Association meeting.  Long day.  For real.  Luckily, I had my buddy by my side.  We had some good laughs and we suffered the nauseating BO at the meeting this afternoon.  Unfortunately, that's not the worst smell we'll experience as nursing students...

As for the grocery shopping, most of the time I try to finagle* Tony into going with me (or sometimes, if I'm really lucky, he does it all by himself).  This time it didn't work out.  It had to be done today and Husband just couldn't handle one more thing on his plate.  So, after my long day at school I came home, fed Little Guy and then we headed out the door.

Let the excitement begin.

Hyrum has upgraded to a bigger car seat, one that doesn't come out and serve as a means to tote your child around.  He still fits in the littler one, but the big one was already strapped into the car, so I took it.  Well...what am I supposed to do when I get to the store?  Dilemma.  Tote him around in my arms until they fall off OR sit him in the nasty cart and try to keep him from sucking on it?  It was a rough trip and took me twice as long as it should have.  Of course, I couldn't just go to one store...I had to go to Target as well because we were out of diapers and baby food and we still have gift cards at Target and I had a coupon for Target diapers.  Why do we have to be so frugal?  Oh yeah...because we're poor.  Although, we did pick up $0.13 in spare change between Husband and I today.

Shopping behind me, we made it home.  Now, we had to unload the groceries!  I hate unloading groceries.  I can't wait to learn how to gracefully unload the car while toting a six month old who weighs next to 20 pounds.  It took me 3 trips and my arms were dead afterwards.  I don't think I'll be able to move them tomorrow.


Enough excitement.  Time to study. 

*fi·na·gle [fi-ney-guhl] (verb) 1.  to get or achieve (something) by guile, trickery, or manipulation

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies and Service

This past Wednesday, our neighbor across the way, also known as Jeff, came by.  He was in a pickle.  His teenage son had just handed him two pairs of shorts that had lost their buttons.  "I'm a single dad," said he.  "I don't know how to sew on buttons!  Can you help me?"

Who knew that sewing two buttons onto a couple pairs of shorts could make you feel like such a good person.  Seriously.  I wanted to smile and giggle.  Service makes me happy, especially when you serve someone when they're really in need.  This unexpected opportunity to serve made me want to serve even more...

...and everyone knows that nothing says service like homemade cookies, especially cute ones!  I got my recipe for candy corn sugar cookies at Our Best Bites.  I love their food, Tony loves when I make their food, and these cookies are cute AND delicious.

So, my Sunday afternoon was spent making these adorable little cookies.  I made enough to take to the neighbor upstairs who is pregnant (everyone knows that pregnant ladies love cookies), the guy next door, my visiting teacher who is watching Hyrum for us tomorrow, my siblings, myself, myself, my neighbor Jeff and the one and only button boy, Tyler. 

And if buttons and cookies weren't enough opportunities to serve, the Lord granted me one more way.  When I went to deliver the cookies, Jeff explained to me that he had surgery on Friday and is now having complications with healing.  His surgeon wants him to come in again, but won't do any additional surgery without him taking his blood thinners.  Unfortunately, his prescription has run out and he won't have the $20 he needs to refill it until payday this Friday.  I was more than happy to lend him the $20 dollars. 

It made me think of the Primary song Jesus Said Love Everyone.

Jesus said love everyone,

Treat them kindly too.

 When your heart is filled with love,

Others will love you.

Happy Sunday!

Our Story

For those of you who have been waiting in anticipation, you can now check out the "Our Story" page.  You can find out how this...

Turned into this...

Eternally Brown.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Completely unrelated:

A shout out to the poop explosions that have not graced me with their presence as of late (knock on wood)... I love veggie poop because it is not veggie soup.  Sorry if that's gross.  It's true.

I can't wait for Christmas.  I'm mostly excited because of the magic that comes when children are there.  He'll only be 8 months, you say.  It will be magical.  Don't you doubt it.

My beast named Husband is working 11 1/2 hours at Home Depot today.  You do what you've gotta do to stay out of the poor house.  I'm grateful he is working hard.  We miss him.

Next week is gonna be a toughie.  Monday: Quiz, Open Lab, SNA Meeting  Tuesday:  Cardiac, Respiratory, Musculoskeletal Assessment and Self-Breast Exam Competency  Wednesday: Pharmacology Exam and Nursing Theory Presentation  Thursday: First day in long-term care taking care of my very own patient [insert scariness here]  Friday: Nursing Concepts Exam  WOW.  Long week.

Life is good.  I wouldn't want it any other way.

***UPDATE***
My brain lied to me...again.  I don't have a pharm exam this week...
Thanks, Lindsay.

Boot Scootin' Boogie!

The boy has made it to six months old, so the day after his birthday, he decided to learn how to scootch around.  Here he is chasing his favorite target.

One more time just to show it wasn't a fluke.

 

If I were making another video just one day later, you would see that in just one day he is tons better.  My guess is that he will be crawling within a week.  Crazy.

In other happy news, the Rangers executed an unbelievable comeback to even the World Series at one game apiece.  The beautiful videos are here.

Sparkletts

Remember when I was a smarty pants?  Those days are long gone.  I've taken to having my brain lie to me.  Take for example the other day...the alarm clock went off at 6am.  My brain said, "Six?!  Six?!  You can sleep another half an hour and be just fine."  LIAR!  I was not just fine.  I had a granny smith apple, string cheese, and three peanut butter cookies for breakfast because I was not fine. 

I did it again yesterday...not the not give myself time to get ready, but the lying brain thing.  Since when does $5.00 equal $1.25?

Hmmm...never.

The Sparkletts Water man came by.  They told me they would give me a really good deal since I'm an ASU student.  They would give me the cooler for $5 a month and each 5 gallon jug for $5.  Plus,  he was going to give me the first 30 days free, plus two free 5 gallon jugs, plus a free case of water.  I wanted to call Husband to ask him what he thought, but he was in class.  They assured me that I could cancel any time after the 30 days if I wasn't satisfied.  What the heck!  It was a great deal.  We spend $5 for 5 gallons of water anyway!  Well...in a world where when you say $5.00 you really mean $1.25...

After they left, I looked at that cooler and all that free water and I was just happy as a clam.  Husband was going to be so proud of my purchase.  He was going to be so happy that he no longer had to haul the gallon jugs to the water dispensing machine--especially since I got such a whopping deal!  Because $5.00 is equal to $1.25, remember? 

...

Wait. One. Second.  $5.00 DOES NOT EQUAL $1.25!!!

I called Husband.  I told him I was stupid, but I was too embarrassed to tell him why.  When he came home he saw the beautiful Sparkletts cooler and he just laughed and I cried.  He laughed and laughed and laughed and told me I wasn't stupid and it was okay.  And wouldn't you know?  He loves the darn thing...he loves that he doesn't have to go to the water dispensing machine every time we run out.  He loves that it's always cold and super handy.  Now he's trying to talk me into keeping it, even though we are poor folk.  

So, there ya have it.  I'm a ding dong.  (I know you're getting a kick out of this one, Dad.  Laugh it up.)  

And, at least for 30 days, we have a Sparkletts water cooler.  And Husband wanted to take a picture of me with my water cooler, so there ya go.

A Very Happy Half Birthday!

Hyrum turned six months old today!  He started the morning with carrot cake.  It was his first day of carrots and he loved them.  He's now marked sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots off the list.  It doesn't even phase him when we make him try something new.  I'm continually amazed at how much this kid will eat!  [I guess I'll probably be saying that again in about 14 or 15 years.  He'll probably grow out of his clothes just as fast, too!]  

 

Although we didn't do anything real special to celebrate, besides the carrot cake, we did enjoy the time we were able to spend as a family this afternoon.  He spent a lot of time with his dad while I did homework--he even went to mutual!  His daddy loves to play with him.  They have pillow fights.  The stack blocks and knock them over.  Daddy loves to hear happy sounds.  He was also the A#1 putter-to-sleeper tonight.

 

Hyrum also loves the bath!  He likes to sit up and splash and play.  I love that he smells fresh and clean afterwards.  

 

 Our Little Boy is getting so big!  He's scootching himself around.  He loves to jibber jabber.  He's always ready to give you a smile.  We're so grateful he joined our family!

Gilbert Temple Progress

For those of you who are interested, we drove by the Gilbert Temple site recently.  They've made a lot of progress.  We're so excited for the temple to be completed so that we can share it with our non-member friends before they dedicate it.  They'll have an open house and allow the public to walk through, see the finished interior, and learn a little bit about what goes on inside.

To really see how much they've done, visit my post about the groundbreaking and my post that shows temple construction back in July.  If you want to learn more about why we build temples, just ask!

Auntie Brooke's Baptism

Last Saturday was a special day.  Auntie Brooke was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It was really special because Uncle Bryton was the one who baptized her.  I thought it was really neat to see Bryton exercise the Priesthood in that capacity for the first time.

She was so happy that Hyrum could be there to share this special experience with her.  She loves Hyrum so much!  He is definitely one of her favorite people.  We love Brooke.  We're so happy with her decision to be baptized.  She is such a sweet girl who loves to play and have fun.  She is very kind and will serve others.

Besides the immediate family, Papa, Grams, Teonna and a couple of her kids came to share the day with Brooke.  We enjoyed a nice little brunch (chicken salad sandwiches, crepes, cookies, etc.) afterwards and then spent the rest of the day as a family.  I love my family!  I'm so glad they're close and wish Tony's was closer.  We're counting down to when we can see them at Christmas.

Stress

I have found the official answer on why I feel better about things after I blog.

"In its therapeutic meaning, expressive writing involves telling a 'story' about traumatic, emotionally charged, or stressful events and personal reactions...expressive writing is useful in disclosing and processing emotions, and in measurably improving physical and mental health" (Horowitz, 2010).

I'm glad blogging is more than a time-consuming hobby.  Hooray for improving my physical and mental health, and hooray for my happy, rabbit-eating boy!

 

 

Horowitz, J.A. (2010). Stress management. In C. L. Edelman & C. L. Mandle (Eds.), Health promotion throughout the lifespan (7^th ed., pp. 619-647). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.

See how I'm showing off my APA skills? Fun, huh?

A Rock and a Hard Place

I know I'm supposed to be studying for Pharm, but I can't do that effectively until I get this off my chest.

I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock is nursing school. The hard place is being a wife and a mother. [Or vice versa, it doesn't matter.] I have too much on my plate. No matter what I do, I seem to fall short somewhere, but if I jump to catch one spinning plate from falling, I seem to knock the other one off balance on my way over.

I can't not work hard at school. This isn't like high school, where all you do is show up and you get to be valedictorian. I'm working my butt off and I feel like I'm just barely hanging on. Puting forth less time and effort would mean giving up scholarships or even not passing Junior 1. I told my mother-in-law the other day that is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. "Harder than having a baby?" she retorted. Yes. I'll have lots more babies, but I won't ever do nursing school again.

So whilst I spin the school plate, what plate is tottering? Family. I feel like a terrible mother. I say that and everyone says, WHATEVER. Well guess what?! I get frustrated with Little Boy when I need to study but he wants to play. Then, I get frustrated with myself for being frustrated with him. It's not his fault. Then, when he's tired beyond belief but he doesn't want to go to sleep and he's fighting me and he pulls my hair and pinches my face, I raise my voice and tell him to quit. And then I cry because I shouldn't yell.

And then he finally falls asleep and I should do my studying for Pharm...that's why I was so frustrated that he wouldn't go to sleep, but instead I just pick up my spinning plates, throw them out the window and blog.

Time to glue the pieces back together and start spinning again.

What We Believe: Children of God

We are children of our Heavenly Father who loves us and we love Him.  He sent us here to earth to live in families.  He sent us here to learn and grow.  He sent us here to gain physical bodies.  We will return to live with Him again someday.



Your Heavenly Father loves you and is aware of you! 

Girlyfriends

My dad has a set of season tickets to ASU football this year.  [I guess that's what happens when he works for ASU and gets a wicked good deal.]  He's taken his girlyfriend #4 (Mom is #1, I'm #2...and so on) and he's taken Bryton multiple times.  Well, last Saturday, the boys had Priesthood so Girlyfriend #3 and I got to go to the game.

 

We ate at Subway before the game, rode the lightrail, and then watched ASU try to lose the game.  I enjoyed the fireworks and the marching band and was grateful Keila was there to explain things to me.  I know the basics of football but she's a team manager for the Jaguars, so she really knows her stuff.

I'm grateful for this little sister of mine.  We weren't always the best of friends, but now that we've both grown up a little bit, we have a lot of fun together.  I can hardly believe she'll be 16 in a couple months!  Speaking of which, she got asked to Homecoming this week.  I remember being in that same predicament...asked on your first date, not quite 16.  I got asked to go to a play by one of my best friends.  It would have been fun.  I said no and I'm all the better for it, not that going out on my first date a few weeks before I turned 16 would have turned me into a rebel.  I still would have gotten married in the temple.  I wouldn't have become a pregnant teenager (oh wait...).  The principle, however, is that when you obey the prophet you will be blessed.  I was blessed.  She will be too.

Rubber Ducky, You're the One!

Rubber Ducky you’re so fine,

And I’m lucky that you’re mine.

Rubber Ducky, I’d love a whole pond of,

Rubber Ducky, I’m awfully fond of you!

This is Hyrum's unique little rubber duckie.  He is a duck but he is also a lion.  Uncle Hayden got it from the city library's summer reading program and thought Hyrum would like it.  He was wrong.   He LOVES it.  

 This is Hyrum eyeing the duck.

 This is Hyrum plowing his face into the ground as he eats the duck.

The funniest part is that he doesn't just eat the duck, he eats it ferociously.  He growls as he shoves it into his mouth.

Rubber Ducky you're my very best friend, it's true!

Sweet Potato Pie

Hyrum has slept through the night since he was 6 or 8 weeks old, so it was a little weird when he started waking up at midnight or 1am every night.  He would fuss and fight until I fed him and then he'd go back to sleep, snap! , just like that.  He was hungry! 

So, his eat every four hours, sleep for eight every night schedule has been thrown out the window.  He's usually hungry every 3-3 1/2 hours nowadays and we've found a solution to the wake up at midnight problem.  Sweet potatoes!

 

We mix it with rice cereal, which he's been doing for a few weeks and he likes it...pretty much, anyway.  He had it for breakfast lunch and dinner today.  And lucky us, he's sleeping through the night!  Hooray!  Problem solved.

Now, the experts say not to start babies on solids until they're at least 6 months, but experts also say not to starve your child.  He fits all the other "Your baby is ready if..." statements so we're going for it.

Next on the menu?  Green beans.

Like Oppossums to Peanut Butter

Hyrum and I were practicing our sitting-up skills today.  He took a few dives...

But over all, I was surprised at how well he did.  We hadn't really ever tried before and he took to it like opossums to peanut butter. (Seriously, my in-laws have caught 7 opossums in their yard in the last little while...with peanut butter.  Only in Texas...)

Another new development is how much he enjoys the camera.  All of a sudden it's fun to smile when the camera comes out...  This is why I love being a mother.  BIG HUGE GRINS

Later, when Daddy came home, we wanted to show him his new trick.  He sat like this by himself for at least a full minute.  Won't be long until we're calling Little Boy, Big Boy.

We love our Hyrum Joseph Boy.

Monday Musings

Whilst Little Boy sleeps, I shall blog. My brain needs a break from school and I don't want to fold laundry yet and my better judgement is telling me to wait until I cut Husband's hair before I clean the bathroom.

I'm excited for fall. Fall as in autumn. I'm excited for it to be dark when I leave for school. I'm excited to wear hoodies that have become dusty in the closet. I am excited to be able to move the comforter off the cedar chest and back onto the bed. I remember the days when I could snuggle next to Husband at night without sweating. I liked those days.

Hyrum hasn't been feeling well the last few days. He's not his normal happy self. It makes me sad. He doesn't sleep well. I hope he feels better soon.

I got a 90% on my exam this morning. Not too shabby. Too bad in the nursing program at 90% is a B. They expect a lot from us and it's good they do. What would you say if you knew your nurse made it through nursing school with a 1.0 GPA?

We enjoyed conference weekend. Tony's favorite talk was by Matthew O. Richardson. I really enjoyed Carl B. Cook. Did you know that there is a prophet on the earth today, just like Moses or Abraham? There is! I am so grateful for his constant guidance.

I think this week is going to be ok. If you had asked me that yesterday I might have cried, but I think I scared myself into extreme studying. I feel like I might do just fine, if Hyrum will let me put him down for even a few minutes, that is. Happily, though, Tony only works at Home Depot today and Friday this week. That's doable.