Cameron's Coming

Keller and I have the same kind of haircut lately.  (I just thought that was interesting.)

My little brother, Cameron, is coming home from his mission tomorrow.  I almost can't believe that the two years are over.  I'm so excited to see him and give him a big hug.  

He's never met Keller, which is crazy to me.  The whole process of birth and everything is crazy, really.  When Cameron left, there was the beginnings of a baby in my tummy, and now, such a short time later, there is this full personality occupying my life.  It really is a testimony to me that we existed before this life.  Keller (and all my other kids) came with his own little bundle of likes and dislikes, his own stubbornness, little quirky traits-- there is just so much wrapped up in that little body.  

Life changes quick.  And now here I am with another little baby secretly hiding away his/her own special personality.  (It hope it's a nice baby, cuz I'm getting pretty outnumbered around here.)

I'm so glad that fun things are happening: homecomings and holidays.  Summer in general is good for my brain.  Sunscreen, popsicles, and flip flops!  Can't wait for tomorrow!

Good Things to Come

Baby-ness

My baby is the size of a lemon right now.  He/she can make all kinds of expressions with his face and can suck his/her thumb.  His/her body is growing to catch up with his/her large head.

I don't get nauseous anymore unless I'm rinsing off really disgusting dishes.  My baby gives me a headache at 8:30 every night and says, "Go to bed, Mom."  But I don't mind too much because it soooo beats nausea and dizzy spells.  We get to find out the gender of our baby on July 16th, so I am very excited.  Still hoping for/expecting a girl.... we'll see.  He/she is a good little lemon.

UTBA

The trick with reviewing is that I’m not allowed to say, “The play was amazing,” and simply leave it at that.  Apparently the general public wants more information than that.  So I dissect the acting, the directing, the lighting and such—but even that is not enough.  If you know the details of each theatrical element in the show, but weren’t actually there to experience the feeling of the show, you are still missing something.  As a reviewer, above all else, I most want to portray the intangible/the essence/the vibe to those who may read this.  I want you to feel, like I did, how amazing a show really was.  This is my challenge.

www.utahtheaterbloggers.com

(The other trick is that my brother is my editor.)

Notice

(Some new photos on the About page, just so you know.)

She hates when things change, but she's a'changin'

Last September when I sent my daughter out into the world--k, just to preschool down the street--she seemed like such a tiny girl.  It was scary to hand over my child to her teachers; it felt like a big big deal to me.

Sep '09

But she's had such a wonderful time there and I was beyond pleased with her teachers.  Taesya graduated with flying colors and even received a Kindergarten Readiness Award.  I feel like she's grown so much this year: her self-confidence, her love of learning.

June '10

I'm so glad to have a daughter like Taesya.  She is a good person, with oodles of love and energy.  And as I see my family grow, I think of her in 5th and 6th grade...  What will she be like?  Hopefully a lot the same.  What a special child I was sent.  I love you Tae.

"But I'm already on a quest..."

I received some good counsel today and also remembered a scripture that struck a chord with me a few Sundays ago.  I'm in a place right now where I'm wondering about my role as a mother and I have begun a quest to gain knowledge and understanding about this job that I have chosen.  So today, for now, this is my focus:

1.  Love Them
2.  Teach them the Gospel
3.  Feed Them
4.  Clothe Them


"Be thou humble: and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answers to thy prayers."  (D&C 112:10)

On the menu today...

I scraped myself out of bed with a giant spatula.  I was stuck pretty good; I think I might have even left some pieces behind.  Can't seem to find my energy or my happy face, must have left them on my pillow.

At the gym today, I hope to work myself hard enough that I temporarily stop thinking.  Then I can get a break from the guilt of totally missing Taesya's friend's birthday party yesterday.  No, we weren't busy or anything--I just 100% forgot.  Tae hasn't been informed of this mistake yet, and I'm debating whether or not to even bring it up.  (She gives me such grief over my mishaps.)  So yes, I'm going to do enough reps on my biceps and triceps that I completely forget my mommy mistakes.

Mornings are so very difficult.

Not quite done

It's been a long day of mommy-ness and it is not over yet.  My energy is gone; wish I could just lay my head down for a little while.  But I have to take Taesya to tumbling at 5:00, then off to preschool graduation.  Canon has teeball orientation at 6:15, which hopefully Ben will be able to take him to.  It's Ben's first day at his new job and I'm not sure when to expect him home.  As long as it's before teeball...

And somewhere in there, I should probably feed my family.  No idea really how that's going to work.  Maybe we could grab a couple Jamba Juices and call it good.

I got through the day pretty well, for me.  I'm not really awesome at this mom stuff currently, but today was above average for me, I'd say.  So I just gotta get through this evening, get those busy kids into bed, and then I can crash.  I'm reading a new book, so I'm excited to get back to it.  It's called Pillars of the Earth.  Just finished The Book Thief and cried a river at the end.  (Did you finish it, Ash?)

Just keep swimmin'.

Happy Benny Bday

Taesya blew up her very first balloon today.

Canon tried.

I have to tie the balloons for her, and they are slobbery, I tell you.

We are celebrating Ben's birthday a little late.  With decorations and cake mix cookies.  This morning Ben and I played tennis together; it was a fun time.  More pictures to come later, I think.  Happy Benny Bday, everyone!

*Update: Nope, no more pictures.  We are in a digital dry spell, sorry to say.  My parents gave us a camera when Taesya was born and it served us well for a while.  She's five now, so yeah, the camera is dead.  Ben had an Iphone there for a spell and I leaned on that for necessary digital documentation.  Alas, the Iphone is no more.  So my very lovely Canon SLR is our only camera, not digital.  I take a few photos here and there and when the roll is full, develop and put on a CD.  That's our only option as of right now.  Not the end of the world, just a lesson in patience.

*We do have the ever trusty tool of photo booth, which provided the above balloon/tongue image.  A camera is in my future, but it is not on the top of the "Things we will buy when we have the money" list.

*The cookies were quite yummy, by the way.  I took a picture.  :)