Things

I don't know why I have been so absentee. I guess I am following the advice of Thumper: "If you can't say nothing nice, don't say nothing at all..." Although I don't know why I would be doing so now since I don't generally live by that creed anyway. Mostly, this pregnancy is not very fun. That is the most positive way I know how to put it. And while I can't wait to NOT be pregnant, have two boys, expand our family, solve the name issue, etc. etc. I find myself somewhat saddened by the impending loss of my status as a mom of one.


You all know that I am no particular fanatic fan of Disneyland. This is Eli and I enjoying Dumbo, and my wild animal in his cage on the Casey Junior train; incidentally, Jennifer Garner but in front of us in line for Peter Pan yesterday. Brat. Anyway, our passes expire on Feb 19th and I find myself somewhat sad...don't jump to any conclusions people. I think it has more to do with the fact that the timing coincides so closely with the birth of our second child, putting an end not only to MINE and ELI's ability to just buzz down to Disneyland and spend a few hours, but to do ANYTHING like that with relative ease. I mean, once you have two kids, it's like you are a real mom. And it's no longer just you and your little shadow, but TWO little shadows. For almost three years, it's just been Eli and me. (And Duane, but he kind of doesn't count....soon he really won't count.) Disneyland, for me, has represented mine and Eli's ability to improvise, to go with whatever the day presents, and to take off pretty easily if we wanted to. I am sad to lose that. And to lose the one on one time I have thus far been mandated to spend with my only child.

I know a lot of other things are going to change; for most of them, I am very excited. But I find myself a little bit sad that it's not just me and Eli during the day and not just the three of us when Adam is home and not just our easy little routine to which I have gotten so used. And I am not really sure how Eli will react. Ultimately, it's a net positive for a kid to have a sibling. But I nonetheless worry (frivolously, I know,) how the one that has been my sole focus for the last three years will react to NOT being the sole focus anymore. And it is just the tiniest bit sad. Mostly happy, but the tiniest bit sad.

Anyway, not much has been going on. I am mostly just trying to get through the days. Eli is doing a lot better since his potty power relapse, and for that I am grateful. I feel like my life paradigm has reversed from trying to maximize my calorie burning potential in a day to doing absolutely anything to avoid moving because it just hurts. I am not a good sedentary person (as you may or may not be able to tell from the somber tone of this post.) Life is not nearly enjoyable as a crippled invalid, it turns out. I am thankful that under normal circumstances, that I am a healthy, high functioning person. Here is to exercise and the ability to move freely-seven more weeks!

Potty Power no more

We have a domestic disaster on our hands. And I am not talking about health care. I am talking about Eli's complete abandonment of his potty powers. Does anyone else have a child who regularly poops at least two times, sometimes three, a day? Ok, that's annoying enough even when he is doing it in the toilet; when he decides to completely revert back to pooping in his underwear...I won't even say it lest I offend you or encourage you to call CPS. I did not realize how integral me arranging my entire day around Eli's bathroom schedule contributed to him being "potty trained" until we went to Utah for two weeks-which was wonderful- and I allowed other people to worry about it. I am so completely frustrated and sad that all of the hard work we both did for 3 months has been obliterated. HELP.

And here are our Christmas pictures. We didn't take very many. I feel sort of bad about it but I am not in a particularly picture happy mood at almost seven months pregnant. We had such a good time. We spent two days in St. George hiking and hanging with Ben, Olivia and kids. And then a week at each of our parents' houses which was wonderful. Adam's brother got his mission call to Argentina so we went through the temple with him and that was really nice to be there for that. I miss the snow and all of the people I love in Utah, but I must say I am glad to be back home. Happy new year...I will just say at this point that I hope 2010 gets better than it has started out.

Hellthy holidays everyone

Cheers to government mandated health insurance and no idea how to pay for it!

I won't say much about this lovely Christmas present from the United States Congress but here was my favorite comment (I wish it was my own) from this article:
Let me get this straight. Obama’s health care plan will be written by a committee whose Chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress which hasn’t read it, signed by a President who smokes, funded by a Treasury Chief who did not pay his taxes, overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese, and financed by a country that is nearly broke. Democrats in action. I’m impressed.

Merry Christmas

So I guess we were bad this year. Instead of just getting a lump of coal (that we didn't have to pay for,) we get to choose between spending a lot of money to fix our thirty year old broken garage door, or even more money for a new one. Oh, and we have had two break-ins in our complex in the last two weeks- and a freaking wild boar(what the??!!) wandering around three houses up from us today; so before we even decided about which of the bad options we would like to do, we had to spend 150.00 JUST to get it down so that we could leave our house secure for two weeks while we go to Utah. HO HO HO!

Hopefully you have all been on better behavior, or at least will just get something crappy for Christmas that doesn't cost you any money! Adios and Merry Christmas to all my peeps in Loma Linda, and I can't wait to see all of you and the snow and the cold in Utah! Adam has two more finals and then we are out of here. Let the festivities begin-wahoo!-can't wait for things like this:

Reasons why I should adopt some older children:

They can be helpful and adorable...and you already know what you are getting!





...Sometimes they turn out to be professional football players AND terrific big brothers! btw, this story/movie was phenomenal.




And they entertain your younger children without being asked because all they are really doing is entertaining themselves.


We had a blast over Thanksgiving. We went down to Phoenix to my aunt Wendy's house. Perfect group, perfect size, perfect food, perfect relaxation and perfect company. We swam, played a new game that the boys made out of PVC pipe and golf balls, went boating, running, watched football, watched movies about football and generally enjoyed the company of people we really, really like-which in my mind, is precisely what Thanksgiving is about. It's my favorite holiday by a long shot.

Reminiscing

Can you believe Eli wore this little "up to 7 lbs" outfit? Abeit, not very long...he weighed about 20 lbs by the time he was six months. But hey, that's fine with me: Come out tiny and get huge quickly. Oh man, I sure hope I get another six pound baby!

Today I am pulling out all of Eli's baby clothes; that boy was well dressed from day one! I am so excited that I get to use all of this darling stuff again. Unfortunately, I am not a laundry wizard like my mom or mother in law yet, and most of the stuff has yellow stains. They aren't bad...but for a newborn baby you just want everything perfectly fresh and perfect you know? I am going through and spot treating all of it and then I am going to wash it in Dreft and Oxyclean. If this doesn't work, does anyone else have any stellar suggestions?

Question

Are you and/or your child(ren) getting the HINI vaccine? If not, why not? I was flabbergasted when I read yesterday that of the thirty something percent of people who said "no" to this question, that 76% thought that it was unsafe...and that reason was only one of like eight different possible responses.

We don't even have access to it yet-except at the public health office, which I have pretty much ruled out since I think there is a greater chance of contracting the swine flu just by going down there than by not. But there has been SUCH an uproar at Adam's school over having the shot mandated; I say it's just an inconvenient part of being a health care professional and people who chose that profession should buck up and take one for the team...I really don't see what the big deal is.

But are any of you who have the option really worried about it?