About Me

I have a great degree of disdain for the "About Me" section of my Blogger profile. If you have known me for long you may realize that mine has always been blank. How in the world does Blogger expect me to classify myself in that little box. My personality is replete with nuance. I am a woman of contradictions and distinctions. I have to be understood in context, not in a brief blurb.
Really, I just don't know where to start. And for that matter once I get started I am way too long winded to fit in the space provided.

I could go with the technically factual things; I was born in the Chinese year of the Snake, and under the astrological sign of Aquarius and that I am a Middle Child. And even though I find these kind of vague but colorful classifications of large groups of people to be intensely fascinating, I am not sure I really believe it either.

I could go with things that are also factual such as I am a wife to a wonderful and loving husband and mother to three spunky and tender kids. I love my parents and have a fantastic relationship with my in-laws. I am an only daughter with five brothers, who are some of the coolest human beings on the planet. I love to read and write, exercise and eat. I keep a decently clean house and I have a few pretty things on the walls. But even these collection of things don't really explain who I am. (Actually I may stew on this paragraph for a few days. I might even commit.)

Since I can't tell you who I am... All next week I will be doing a series of posts about my brothers. One post for each day, how convenient to have five brothers!

Really, Tiffany's tribute to her little brother made me all warm and fuzzy so I though I would follow suit.

Thankful Thursday -- The Good News Train

• Wedding Bells - My super cute and super sweet sister-in-law Jillian is getting married to an equally cute and awesome guy Joe. Jill and Joe at the happiest place on earth.
  

• School Days - My brother Victor is going back to school at BYU in their MBA program. He and his lovely wife and adorable daughter are moving to Provo in the fall. Little Fiona was surprised at the news!
• Two for One - That is right, the teaser from last week is TWINS! My best friend Amanda is having twins this winter.
• The Snores - Blake has now successfully slept for 12 hours twice. Not twice in a row or anything, but we are moving in the right direction.
• Summer time - It's SUMMER TIME!!!
  

The battle of who could care less

Blake is not a smiley baby. He did not smile at 6 weeks or 8 weeks or even at 10 weeks. Smiling is not his thing.

I though I caught a half smile out of the corner of my eye on Mother's Day. But I realized in retrospect that I made it up in an effort to salvage a rather crummy day.

Don't worry, my friends tell me. He will smile soon enough.

I'm not worried. Blake has met all of his developmental milestones. He tracks with his eyes and turns his head toward voices. He even lifts his torso off the ground when he is on his stomach. I'm not worried, I simply want it.

Apparently the "soon enough" that my friends keep talking about has come, for everyone but me. Blake has one smile to give per day, on rare occasion two. Every day for the last week the ritual has been thus... Ernesto comes home from work and takes his obligatory fifteen minutes to put his work stuff away, change into his casual clothes, and check his personal email. Then Ernesto swoops in to take Blake out of my arms so that I can "have a break". Now this is where the timing is important, just as soon as I have rounded the corner, or am elbow deep in dinner or some other chore I will hear, "Are you smiling for Daddy? What a big smile!! Yes, I love you too."

But of course I could care less that Blake smiles for his daddy and not me.

I would assume that Ernesto was making this up just to torture me but alas twice in the last week the scenario has been such... I blast my favorite play list on my iPod, put Blake in his bouncy chair so he can be close, and I hop in the shower. Zoey will run in to the bathroom hoping that I will mediate her latest squabble with Reed just to get distracted talking to Blake. And I hear this, "Mom, Blake just smiled at me!! You are so cute Blake-y-rake-y. Yes, I love you too."

But of course I could care less that his sister seems to be higher on the totem pole than me.

Last night Ernesto had Blake snuggled in his arms watching TV. I came up the stairs and rounded to corner to peer at the pair. I smiled down at my handsome men and cooed at my baby. I was gifted with the biggest, two dimple, wide and gummy smile. It was more than sunshine in my soul it was the lifeblood of being a mother.

"See!" Ernesto said, "He does smile."

I do see. My little boy loves me. Yes Blake, I love you too.Those smile are a rare commodity, but I will try and catch one on camera. It will be kind of like getting a picture of Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster...

Thankful Thursday

• Coupons- Several of my girlfriends have been forking over their Similac coupons! Thank goodness too, it allows me to afford to feed my other children ;)
• Omaha-schmomaha- Ok I'm not really thankful for Omaha, except that it exists and by the mere fact that it exists it has employment there. This employment as of this week extends to my brother in law, and for that I am thankful. Even if I have cried over them leaving at least once twice a day since Monday...
• Good news times TWO- I am simply giddy. While this is semi-public knowledge, lets not name drop just yet!
• Long weekends- No plans other than painting the house, but I love any time spent together as a family.
• Fantastic Hair- We all have something we love about ourselves and I happen to love my hair. It helps that I just got a great cut :)
  

Click Twice

What do you post when you have nothing of your own to post?!?!? You post a post about helping out a friend.

Let's call this Click Twice, because you need to... you got it, click twice.

CLICK ONE-- Go to Renee's blog
CLICK TWO-- Click on the picture of the bike on her side bar.There now your internet good deed of the day is done! Don't you feel good about yourself :)

Votey Vote Vote Vote

I am sure many of you know the funny and talented Jennie of Beehive and Bird's Nest. Not only is she an excellent writer (you can find her on Segullah as well as her own blog) but she is a fantastic baker (so I have heard, not that she has actually sent me any baked goods hint hint ;) and cake decorator.

See!!


There is this crazy cool craft desk, that I would LOVE for myself (if only I did any kind of crafting...). The company that makes the desk, Scrapbox, is GIVING one away! Jennie entered her amazing cake as her craft for a chance to win. So go get your vote on and help Jennie win!

Cheese!

We're almost all looking at the camera in this one. Reed's smile cracks me up.

Ernesto refuses to take a picture where we are kissing. I keep trying anyway. Reed has escaped already and Zoey is looking for a way out.

Awwwww. Think Blake takes after his papa?!?! Love this picture, especially Blake and his papa.

Fleeting

My big girl, who was just my baby not too long ago, graduated from preschool. There are those glimpses in parenthood that emphasize how fleeting this period of time will be. The day in and day out routines, schedules, chores and drudgery are swept away by a mere moment.

My itty bitty girl in an itty bitty cap and gown marching along to Pomp and Circumstance. Where has the time gone?I will blink and we will be doing this all over again, from elementary school, middle school, high school, and college.And when the last round of Pomp and Circumstance has played you will no longer sit in my lap but you will still be my big girl who, not too long ago, was my baby.

Thankful Thursday

• People- The hubs. The kids. The family- extended. The girlfriends. The preschool teachers. The dentist. The pediatrician.
  
• Places- The comfy corner of my couch. The front yard. The Thompson Station Grill. The rec center. The Target.
  
• Things- The kid kisses. The kid smiles. The kid summer haircuts. The iTunes. The lawn mower.
  
• Happenings- The dentist appointments (I really do love.love.love the dentist). The 2 month check up. The preschool graduation. The birthday lunch get together's.

So what are you thankful for? As always thanks for the logos Tiburon.

Revealed

I love that so many people guessed in my little picture game. Thank you! For some reason I get a huge giggle out of the fact that they do look so much alike. I love my kids and I love that I see so much of their father and a nice sprinkling of myself when I look at them.

When I was getting these pictures ready on Saturday I showed Zoey the picture of Reed and her own picture. She guessed that they were both Blake. Then I showed her a picture of her father as a baby. She asked, "Do all babies look like Blake?"

When I had them all black and white and in the collage she could correctly guess her own. "I'm wearing the towel over my shoulder. Cause I'm a lady."Just for comparison here is Ernesto as a baby. I don't have any of my baby pictures on my computer. Sorry :)

Guess the babe

Happy Guessing!

Thankful Thursday

• Ernesto's desk drawer- It is deep enough to hide the bowl of peanut M&M's. The kids don't know the bowl is in there so I don't have to share. His desk is across the room from me so I have to make an effort to get up and get more M&M's meaning I eat fewer than I would if they were in my desk drawer. I guess sharing would save me from eating so many too...
  
• LaLa Land- Thank goodness I was in LaLa land at the green light this morning. Saved me from hitting/getting hit by that lady who ran the red light cause she was texting while driving.
• The Honker- I am also thankful for the man behind me who was Quick Draw McGraw on the horn. I was so spaced out I didn't even have time to "honk" out her error. Oh, you were honking at me?
• Season Finales- Oh wait no I'm not. Would it kill ya to work year round like the rest of us? What am I supposed to do all summer long? Read a good book or my scriptures you say... wellll maybe.
  
• Upgraded Shipping- The package I shipped slow fee, got there today. The package I paid the big bucks for, still out there. If it isn't there by tomorrow, I want my 2 bucks back. You think by reminding me the package that got there today was actually sent 7 months late will make some point about my own tendency to procrastinate causing me to need to pay for upgraded shipping? It won't.
• zoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoeyzoezoeyzoeyzoeyzoey- Five year old who insists on typing her own name over and over again.
• reedb/m/.uig fj cefhvj grchjgirhbfiuefrgebffnhguyhgreuhfhgrerfberuitgrugnntgrtrygfrhe- Three year old who thinks he is typing his own name over and over again.
• Blake- 2 month old who has no idea how to punch buttons on a computer and sleeps blissfully through the chaos that surrounds him.
  

Strength

I went to my first postpartum body sculpting class today. My step was on the lowest setting, I had the lightest weights and body bar, and the smallest weight ball. The class still tore me up, worked me over, and left me whimpering like a little girl.

I am not without vanity. I will never be so evolved or progressed in my self esteem and self worth as to be completely comfortable in my own skin. I have come leaps and bounds from where I was five years ago. I've come so far from where I was as a teenager that my teenage self might not believe we are the same person. So it is with total honesty that I say, I could care less about the last pregnancy pounds I need to lose.

What I care about is my strength. I want to be able to lift my kids up over my head without my arms or back giving out. I want to be able to chase my kids around the house without my legs screaming and my lungs heaving. When I laugh at my husband's jokes I want to feel my muscles tighten instead of my belly shake.

I have no guarantee of growing old gracefully. I often joke about my faulty genetics (that I happily passed on to my kids). I have a strong family history of cancer, diabetes, auto-immune disease, and about ten other things that I have to check off on the doctor's "Family history of..." list. But even more important than that, there is no guarantee for tomorrow.

So while my body still works, I will love it best I can. I will do what I can to make it strong. I will embrace being healthy. I will not be embarrassed that the grannies can step twice as high and lift twice as much. Instead I will look to them as inspiration on how to grow old gracefully.
Want to meet me at the gym tomorrow? I just need a nap first...

I may watch too much tv

"One of us is going to have to stop putting up Spock!"
T-shirt at ThinkGeek