You Have Stolen My Heart / Thanksgiving

WARNING:  If you're not family you may want to skip this one because it may be a little boring to those who don't innately love Hippo.  Hippo has taken to dancing when he is feeling the music.  He danced to the RS practice hymn last Sunday which proves he loves even church music.

Thanksgiving was Hippo's best day in his eight months of life.  He was given a lot of things to eat including turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied yams, pumpkin pie, apple pie and vanilla ice cream, and stuffing.  He LOVED everything and was the hit of the party.  

No, Hippo is not crawling yet.  I finally bought him a toy that claims it "encourages crawling." Hmph, false advertising.

He says "Ma" and "Mama" for me.  Folks find it funny that he yells these at me already when he wants something or if he is irritated with me.  I think he says "Ba" for food or when he is hungry, not specific to his bottle though.  He hasn't figured out that L is "Dadadadadada" yet.  

Since we ate at a restaurant for L's proclaimed favorite holiday I thought I'd make him a pumpkin pie for dessert last night.  After reviewing pie crust recipes and viewing tutorials online I chose an all butter (for the fat) recipe.  Unfortunately it didn't occur to me that this recipe was best for pre-baked pie shells until after I baked the entire pie.  So when L got home from work I wanted to show him what the bottom of the pie looked like through the glass dish so he could decide if it looked wrong or not. I'm sure you can figure out what happened next...THE PIE FELL OUT OF THE DISH ONTO MY OUTSTRETCHED ARMS!  L laughed and I cried a little.  L salvaged what he could and when I anxiously asked him how the crust turned out he said, "Well, it's a bit on the flaky side."  Despite the falling-out-of-the-dish tragedy and despite L's lack of palate sophistication I guess I succeeded after all. 

Cow Love

Jordan this one is for you!

What A Week, Turning 30 And All

I've had the best week.  Albeit an out-of-the-ordinary one.  Despite turning 30.

It all began Tuesday night when I begged, bribed, prodded, annoyed L into letting me open my birthday presents early. He refused unless I agreed to outrageous circumstances which I refused but continued feeling as excited as I have ever felt for a birthday, as excited as I was when still a kid anticipating Christmas. I kept reflecting on how I should be feeling old and stressed about turning 30.  What's weird is that I haven't felt bothered by it yet.

Wednesday morning L got up with Baby (but known as Hippo from now on) and I slept in until my giddiness, five minutes later, propelled me to jump out of bed and run downstairs to my waiting pile of presents. Hippo helped me rip the paper from my new MacBook Pro and a new printer (I've been wanting one in my office since I started work even though I will have to eat exactly two less mini candy bars per day to make up for calories I will be saving due to not having to walk the 50 yards to the printer 10 times per day).

Then we got dressed and went to breakfast at my favorite diner/dive.  Before my french toast got to me Hippo dumped a cup of ice water onto my lap and pooped making us realize we didn't bring a darn diaper bag.  I didn't even get annoyed and Hippo didn't even get diaper rash.  

Later that day I attempted to alter my body permanently and was foiled; more on that later.

L attempted to have a family party that night but no one could come and so we bought pizza and ice cream cake for the neighbors and plotted with friends to take a trip the next day.

We rose early Thursday morning to pack and shop.  By 10:30 am we were headed to Mink Creek, ID.  The best thing about going to Idaho is the Idaho State Lottery.  I spent $10 only to win $3.  The excitement, anticipation, and scratching is totally worth the extra $7.  I spent the next 24 hours sitting on the Mink Creek couch being entertained by Hippo and our friends' three kids (and eating junk food).  Hippo was completely enthralled by their three year-old spending most of the trip gazing at him and trying to engage him.  

Hippo didn't help L catch these but he sure thought they were cool.

We arrived home just in time to mass clean the house for a friend party.  Getting take out and staying up until 3 am isn't like it was when I was 21 but it was still super fun to have 3 therapists, two nurses, a cop, and a chemical engineer in the house.  You can just imagine the stories!!!

I had to get up early the next morning to get this:

Yep.  That's right.  Your eyes do not deceive you.

Don't worry, if you feel like leaving a rebuking comment you should know I have been thoroughly rebuked by family and friends.  AND, I realized before the needle plunged through the dermis that I was making a mistake, that the prophets have advised against it, that I may regret it (don't yet), and that I am setting a bad example to family members, clients, and prosperity.  I chose to do it anyway.  Though it won't seem reasonable to you (and probably won't to me in the future), a girl who works with criminals everyday of her life sometimes needs to rebel herself and let off a bit of steam, hopefully always in legal ways.  

To answer your questions--it is about 2 inches in diameter on my right shoulder blade.  It will only be visible when I swim and workout.  It only hurt a little bit.  It feels like a cat scratching you over and over again in the same place.  It didn't hurt at all afterward and the only residual annoyance is that it is currently itchy.  It took about 10 minutes to do.  John, my personal artist, had 16 years of experience and yes, had his entire body covered besides his face.  Out of all of us there I think mine was the most tasteful--one guy was getting a huge Virgin Mary on his shin and a girl was getting some Chinese symbols on her muffin top.  Seeing that was probably the worst part of the entire experience.  Hippo went to the Weber State football game while L supported me in my sinfulness.

Shortly after the completion of my body art we had to rush to SLC to watch Hippos Grandpa Ray wed for the 4th time.  Sadly, his new wife was unable to stand during the ceremony as she is currently suffering from stage 4 lung cancer.  What a mix of emotions.  That's all I have to say about that.

Sunday L had to work and I was scheduled to teach RS.  I had to get Hippo up and ready and to church all by myself.  Wow, that was hard.  Since L wasn't at church my mother-in-law held him while I taught and he got so excited to see me up at the front and to hear my voice he kept yelling at me to get my attention and then screatching when I would look in his direction Eventually she took him out because I began laughing at him instead of teaching.  You might be wondering if I had any guilt while teaching knowing I had just had ink done--not at all.  The lesson was about magnifying your calling.

Back to work today after a 5-day weekend.  After an awesome one like that it wasn't so bad going back to work.  For those I've neglected to tell, I have been invited to work part time at my job and so I will not be quitting after all.  And every weekend, then, will be a 5-dayer.  The rest of the time I am going to hang out with this guy:

Eight Months

My mommy is going to be busy turning 30 years-old Wednesday when I really turn eight month and so we have to do an update on me post today.

I should have been busy in my seventh month.  But instead of learning to sit up on my own, rolling from my tummy to my back, getting up on my hands and feet, and dare-I-say crawl I spent this month freaking out and regressing.  It all started with my two top teeth coming in. They caused me a lot of trouble because they hurt really bad and I couldn't sleep very well.

When the teeth stopped bothering me I began to go through what my Auntie Lala says is object permanence.  This is an important time for babies my age because learning object permanence helps children become emotionally well-adjusted.  Kids that don't learn it will develop attachment and other mental health disorders and will show up in Mommy's office in a few years.  They often grow up to have problems being in relationships, have trouble regulating their emotions, have temper problems, and are at a high risk to abuse drugs and commit crimes.  Modern science has shown that kids who do not learn object permanence actually have physiological differences in their brains=brain damage.  Even though my mommy and daddy about went crazy they knew it was important to be patient with me even when I cried all night and was grumpy all day.  This lasted for three weeks and now that it is over Mommy, Daddy, and I are sleeping a lot better and we all are in better moods.  

My Daddy took me to the doctor when I was really out of control and he checked to make sure I was still healthy.  The doctor said I am very healthy even though my acid reflux (which actually should be called GERD due to the painful symptoms I have) is very bad.  The doctor is still not worried about me though and this time the doctor explained patiently to my Daddy that there is nothing that will really help me except growing up and growing out of it.  Even though my Mommy got frustrated with the "there's nothing we can do" answer, it has helped her relax a little bit and feel more assured that I will be okay.  They added a new formula twice a day to make the formula heavier in my tummy so I don't spit up as much--it sort of works but it is even more expensive than my Soy formula which makes my mommy feel stressed out when she goes to the store to buy it for me.  That didn't stop her from buying me this puffy vest though.

  

Today my second cousin, who is 10.5 months-old, came over and crawled around my house like he has been crawling since he was six months-old (oh, he has been) and my mommy told me to watch him to learn how.  I didn't want to watch him and I felt offended that she was comparing me to him. Maybe I won't ever crawl.  Some people say that babies who don't crawl have problems reading which of course makes my mommy worry even more.

I still love my mommy and daddy best.  I really like my daddy to rough house with me and I like it when he throws me into the air and makes me ride on his head.  My daddy says it hurts his feelings that I refuse to allow him to feed me before bed but it's just that my mommy does it so I feel content and sleepy.  I love my kitty and I love books--especially ones that pop up.  I love my babysitter and her son who is my best friend--we give each other kisses.  I play kissy-face with my mommy too.  I like to sit in the front of the shopping cart and in a high chair at restaurants.  My favorite food is cherry and apples mixed together and any type of squash.  My mommy tries to give  me treats to crawl but I still refuse to and then I demand more treats!

I can say lots of different sounds now but I don't really know what any of them mean yet.  My Grandpa Con thinks I am going to be a great intellect but not a very good athlete...which makes my daddy mad and my mommy laugh.  My mommy says it is just too soon to tell.

I am about 20 pounds now and I am busting  out of my nine month clothes.   My mommy doesn't mind because she loves to shop.  Just not for formula!!!

The Month To Give Thanks

November is the time to give thanks. Well, thank you to the following:

Threats—without them I wouldn’t have a job

The lady who cut me off nearly killing me and Baby this morning—because seeing her a mile later on the side of the freeway with smoke pouring out from the hood reminded me that Karma makes life worth it

My company’s IT department—giving me an excuse to have a bad attitude

People with poor hygiene—because they make me look good

Gossip—gives me something to talk about

The 11 fast food restaurants within a mile from my house—for allowing me to give myself a treat each time I don’t eat there

Teenage Angst—earns me a paycheck

Family Feuds—gives me an outlet for my aggression

My Slow Work Computer—the reason I stare out my office window and gaze at the Purple Mountains Majesty instead of completing my paperwork

Other People’s Problems—making me thankful for my own

My Problems—making me thankful I have these problems and not those problems

Idaho, As an Oregonian—75 MPH B……iotch! And that is the only reason Idaho is to be thanked

IPhone—makes me look more important than I really am

Baby crying all night long—‘cause I’m always looking for a reason to miss Monday’s staff meeting

Food Poisoning—A quick way to lose those extra pounds

Politics—makes it socially acceptable to say socially unacceptable things about people

Gangs—without which my current nemesis wouldn’t have had their car tagged last week. HAHAHAHAHA! Nothing beats a large SK on the passenger door, eh?

Dexter—I’ve never had such a good time questioning my morality

V8 Engines—an excuse to never be the driver

L forgetting chapstick in his pocket for the umpteenth time when I do the laundry—the reason I have the most expensive pair of jeans I will ever own

4 year-olds—for saying what we’re all thinking

Good Intentions—for paving the road to hell I’m on, it's a lot less bumby now

My brother and sister-in-laws on L’s side—never a dull minute. And for giving me something to look forward to in Spring and Fall, the bi-annual swimming pool cleaning. You’ve never heard such yelling, swearing, crying, and screeching coming from a neighbor’s yard.

My Father-in-Law’s Twine Pile—looking at it from Google earth is a wonder

What are you thankful for this year?

Roastin

Summer/Fall '08

Now that winter is finally here in Utah I though I would update you all on my adventures and projects. As you can see in the following picture, you might be thinking to yourself; what in the heck is that? 

That my friends is a chile roaster. Built by yours truly and my good friend Andy. Andy and I had been dabbling in farmers markets over the summer only to find our hard work was not paying of in the amount that we wanted it to. About the middle of the season we decided to built this awesome contraption thinking we hit the jackpot. We knew that chile roasters are a huge deal and they are very hard to come by in the state of Utah. Let's just say for legal complications to make it short. Anyways we built this thing, however it took us 3 weeks to build. We both had other jobs so we could only do it in our spare time. That left little time to not much else. Yep you guessed it, that drove M bonkers. She was spitfire mad about the whole thing. The nice thing about it was that we knew a guy (Andy's dad) who is in the steal business and most of it was made from scrap steal. So it did not cost us a whole lot. The bad thing was it took us so long to build that we missed the season and only made about $150. Although this year was a bust, we are ready for next year. Bring on the chile's.

On Monday's I have a morning meeting with my internship in which we meet with all the ICU managers and discuss how the past week went. This meeting goes from 8am-12pm. So after that me and some cohorts decided that would be a great time to mountain bike. I was only able to make it a couple of times due to other chile and baby arrangements. But here are a couple of collateral damage pictures.

We Veto'd the Monkey

Halloween is super fun

Even though the monkey won in the polls Baby's nickname is Hippo.

Hippo and JoseJay. This is only the 2nd time JoseJay has held Baby in seven months.

"Trick or Treat!"

Okay, Okay, OKAY! We know he looks like an idiot and will FREAK out when he is old enough to understand that his parents dressed him as a HIPPO for his first Halloween, but we just could NOT resist!