Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Something You Regret

In high school I wanted to be in student government. I thought I had a chance at winning student body president, until I found out that Joel Dayton was running, who is only the most awesome guy in our senior class.

Even then I thought I might be able to pull out a win with my friends help and backing. Then Toni decided to run, too. Or she said her dad told her she needed to, even though she didn't appear to be interested in the post and didn't really campaign. Anyway, Toni was one of my good friends and as such stole a lot of my potential votes and support.

So I didn't win. But that's okay, because the student government teacher said that only those who ran for office would be considered for appointed positions. That narrowed the field considerably because not everyone who ran and lost would apply for an appointed post and those who won the elections obviously weren't in the running, either. So I applied.

Then, as it turns out, I think maybe one person appointed to an office actually ran for an elected post. I was SOOOOOO mad. And upset. I guess government at any level is just a popularity game that I wasn't good at.

And here's the part I regret: I didn't do anything. I don't think I would have been able to change a thing. It's not like the teacher would have been like, "Whoops! I guess we can kick out this other guy who didn't run and stick you in his place. Sorry about that!" But I wish I would have at least talked to her.
There's no way to make a difference if you don't try. But even if nothing would have changed for me, at least it may have brought the circumstances to the attention of the student government teacher. And then she could review it, like the ref in this Subway commercial:


Yeah. That would have been good.


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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Your Favorite Birthday

Hmm... This is a hard one. Okay, I've thought about it and it's not so hard anymore.

I don't even remember how old I was turning, but My best friend kidnapped me in the morning and forced me to wear princess garb to school. At school she made sure everyone knew It was my birthday with a bouquet of balloons tied to my backpack. That evening she took me home and gave me a red outfit to wear, didn't tell me much more than that I had to wear it and took me out. Turns out we just ended up at her house, were an entourage of people were waiting in surprise and we played a "How to Host a Murder" type game based on clue characters completely invented by my friends. I was Miss Scarlet.

I think that's right- though I may be blending two birthdays together in my mind. I suppose I owe a thanks to Britt, because I don't think so many people would have come if I had done the planning and hosting and inviting, and it made me feel all special. and not just the party guests, but the whole thing was great. And it's all Britt's fault.


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Valentines Day For Twenty Bucks

Valentines day was awesome this year. We don't usually do much (or anything) for valentines day that costs money, but this year I've been having a really hard couple of weeks, possibly because of the weather, possibly because of burn-out, but definitely a cause for a little extra thought on Valentines. So I (like a good wife) told Will flat out that he needed to do something for me for Valentines, instead of just hoping he would surprise me.

On Valentines morning, he took Reese out with him so I get some one-on-one time with Liam. I've been craving this individual time lately with both the kids, because I don't get the chance often to be with just one or the other. Later Will said that he took her because he needed a "girl's opinion" about what flowers to buy. Reese helped him pick out this arrangement:

Which is better than roses because they will last longer than a couple of days. Will said he thought it might be good for me to have something bright and living to cheer me up. Perfect.

Meanwhile, I snuck a Valentine note and a bag of Will's favorite Chex mix into his backpack to find at school. While he was gone I did some laundry and cleaned up our bedroom (which seems to be the rendezvous point for junk mail, crumpled clothes, knick knacks and lost toys) and the living room (Will has angelically been keeping the kitchen clean) so that we could relax that evening without clutter driving me nuts.

Later, Reese and I went to pick out a special Valentine treat for her. She got a ballerina Cinderella, that has so far slept with her at night and naps, and come on all our errands.


Then, we went out to eat at a USU catered Valentines dinner (buffet style and I stacked up my plate with the fresh green beans- delish! and ate two desserts) with entertainment- child care provided. We came home, put the kids to bed and relaxed with a classic romantic movie, Cassablanca.

It was a fabulously reviving day. Also, the pleasure has been lasting because I like to reflect how we spent around $22 for everything that day, total. I feel like we got a pretty good deal.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Your Favorite Memory

My favorite memory... in recent memory: Reese's quips.

Yesterday, as I was buckling up Reese in her car seat, she stroked my hair, looked at me affectionately and whispered, "Mama, you're pretty." Happy Valentines day to me.

A couple of weeks ago, as our family was walking to church:
Will: Reese, I love you.
Reese: I love you... Mama. (Points to me)
Will: Mama? Do you love Liam?
Reese: I love Mama.
Will: Do you love Daddy?
Reese: (Pause) I love Mama. Sorry.


When I was snacking on some crackers Reese came up and stole a couple. "Mama, I sharing you!" She said. Then she smiled and got her proud-of-myself look, and said with a mouth full of cracker, "Oh! Reesy so nice to share!"
Indeed.


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7 Months

Liam is 7 month old today. Here are some things about him:


Started SCREAMING when he doesn't get his way . enjoying solid foods . can roll over from front to back . doesn't see the point in trying to roll from back to front . still wakes up in the middle of the night, though usually puts himself back to sleep . because of waking up he's still in the bassinet in the living room, instead of the crib in Reese's room . goes to bed around 8:30pm until about 7:30 am . loves to bounce . loves to be tossed . hates to be put down (and so he screams a lot) . wears 6 or 9 month size clothes . doesn't keep socks on . puts his feet in his mouth . good traveler . eats more often then he did before starting solids . takes fewer naps and doesn't go back down to nap after waking up and eating in the morning anymore . likes to watch his sister play and dance . loves rubbing noses . Making me want to pull my hair out with how much he screams .





He's upset because I'm not mixing the food fast enough. This is just his mild, irritated, fussy screaming, as opposed to his "I'm really mad at you and the world" screaming.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Home Videos

Reese likes to move it move it.


Practicing our birthday traditions, so we won't screw it up when the real thing comes around.


Ukulele jam session with Reese and Shelly.




Liam tries to down an entire balloon all by himself.




Liam tries to put his foot in his mouth.

Your First Kiss

Awkward. Okay, so my first kiss with my husband.

We were at my apartment. We had barely been dating for, lets see, I think less than a week. He kissed me. My first thought was "Wow, he moves fast" and my second thought was "Wow, he's got tasty lips." Now I'm married to him and there are lots of kisses. Okay now I'm done telling this story that I never really wanted to tell in the first place.



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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Your Dreams

Okay, my dreams are really obvious and not a surprise to anyone.

I want a house. With a well-organized storage room and a two-car garage.
And I want that Bachelors degree since I only have an associates. The current idea is a writing major.
I want to live someplace warm most, if not all, year round.
Also, I want a good haircut at least twice in a row.



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Monday, February 7, 2011

What You Wore Today

Okay, so I haven't done a journal entry in a while. The reason is because I've already done "What you wore today" and it was pretty boring, so I didn't want to do that again and I put it off. I considered changing it from "what you wore" to "what you dressed" and then dress everyone in my family, including my husband, but Will was a super champ and was already dressed and just finishing dressing the kids when I got home from the gym this morning. So I figure that's a good enough "awe cute!" story that I can be boring for the rest of this post.

Jeans (that' I've purchased within the year after having a baby, so we'll see how long they keep fitting) a teal patterned shirt with matching scarf under a gray cardigan. It was too warm to wear a winter coat today and I didn't want to hassle with a pull-over, so I wore a black suit jacket over the ensemble when we went out. And my black shoes with the weird soles. There you have it, folks.


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Piggy Tails

I finally tried to get all of Reese's hair up in an effort to find a hairstyle that wouldn't fall out easily. The piggy tails fall out, but not as quickly as hair clips and half-pony tails. And they're way cute.





And here are some pictures that my sister Lauren took at the baby shower we threw for my sister, including those of Reese playing with the shower balloons.


Birthday

Happy Birthday, Will. I had to travel on Will's birthday so we did cake and presents the night before, and then went out to breakfast the morning of before I had to leave.

Reese helped wrap, and then unwrap, the presents:





Will asked for confetti cake. It was a beast to frost because the cake kept coming apart. I covered it in sprinkles to hide the terrible icing job and put some of those sugar decorations on it. Reese liked the decorations more than the cake. She left Will three girlfriends when she blew out the candles for him before we finished the birthday song. I think she was worried that we wouldn't let her blow at them if she waited until we were done singing, because she always waits until we're done when we practice blowing out play dough candles.

Breakfast at Angie's:

Thanks to everyone for the fun cards and birthday wishes! Happy Birthday, Will!



(PS: if you're confused about the 'girlfriends' comment earlier, it's the tradition in our family that however many candles don't get blown out on the first blow are how many girlfriends (or boyfriends, depending) you have. I suppose the joke is that you must be hiding them from everyone else. Now that I think about it I don't know why this is funny. But it is.)

Playing Catch-Up

Well, yes. It has been longer than I had planned between posts. So here is some stuff in photo and video form:

Play Dough.

Play Dough Jewelry



Ever since our play group activities, Reese frequently asks to use the glue sticks.


So we cut up what we had around the house




Liam continues to be cute- and has decided that grabbing things is totally in! He's so funny when he wants something because he reaches and squeals like the world will end if he can't grab it.

He's doing well with solids- er, at least the baby food. He's chewing on an apple slice in this video. After the camera turned off, he decided to chew off a piece and then didn't know what to do with it so he coughed it out and I thought he was choking.


Story time.



In this video, you can hear a rousing game of baseball going on off camera, as Liam gives up rolling over.


It's been so frustrating to see him not even try rolling over most of the time when I know he can do it.