Orange Dinner

Tonight, after a fun filled day, and a BYU game (on TV), Nolan and I came home by ourselves and had a little late supper to supplement the pizza we had at Jer & Emily's. Dinner consisted of 2 things Nolan likes to eat by himself, because I didn't feel like feeding him.

Goldfish crackers and fresh peach. (both orange, of course)
I love fall. I would live on peaches if I could.

Here are a few moments:As you can see, he's pretty much embraced strawless sippy cups, as long as there's just water in them. Which is fine, because it was 100 degrees today. He needed some hydration.

I love the intense concentration it still requires for him to pick something up with those little fingers.

Wash Day

We've already had an eventful weekend, so I thought I'd get a jump start on the posting . . . especially since it's been so long. . . Sorry. I got wrapped up in all of the bidding for NieNie. For this post, I will tell you a little story. . . It may only be amusing to me, but I did take the pictures. . .

So, Ben is in a play right now. He's playing Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Castle. Incidently, this is the the theater where we met (sort of). It's owned by the State Mental Hospital, down the hill, so he always tells people he met me at the mental hospital. . . but I digress.

As any actor knows, especially those that have done outdoor theatre, costumes, especially the under layers of costumes, get pretty. . . fragrant. . . after a while. Falstaff is, by definition, a very fat character. VERY fat. And Ben is not very fat. So he wears a fat pad. Totally makes sense so far, right? Because the show is in it's second week of performances, and there are two more weeks to go, Ben decided that the washable portions of his costume needed to take a spin in ye old washing machine. Great idea, in theory. Except that fat pad. . . the stomach part is a pillow, but the man boobs (which made it look much more authentic, truly). . . more like loose batting stuffed between two shirt layers.

Turns out, those two layers were not so sturdy as far as holding in the batting during the spin cycle. . .

This was Ben, just outside our laundry room this morning. . .

And a pile of the rogue batting on the counter

We're basically just hoping that the washing machine survives this attack. It was pretty entertaining to clean up, at the very least.

Auctions Abound

I know everyone's hearing lots and lots around the blog world about the fund raising efforts for Stephanie, Christian and their family. They are going to be in the hospital for a VERY long time, and these sweet people are going to need all the help they can get on medical bills and supporting those 4 kiddos in the mean time. SO, a TON of people are doing silent online auctions this weekend to support the effort. I decided, for the sake of my sanity, to bid on the auctions, rather than host one. I hope you'll do the same. (unless you ARE one of the awesome hosts already)

You can see an initial list here. A lot of these people have already started their auctions. But TOMORROW (Thursday), head over to Design Mom for a complete list and bid your little hearts out. There are such awesome things being offered up. I'm certain we can all find something we can't live without.

If you are too lazy to sift through all those auctions, or are just feeling generous, you can also go straight to the source and donate here:

The Great Sippy Cup Debate

The little dude is growing up. . . there's no question. He also has some strong opinions. He has been pretty good, over the last 7 months that I've been back at work, to drink his milk from a bottle when I'm not home. He's had the same bottles (Avent) the whole time, and he's never fought them too badly. Until recently. . . I have been trying to get him to drink juice/water out of a sippy cup for some time now, to help with some... ahem... other issues. We tried this one first:

(Nuby) It has a kind of camelback sort of spout. When Nolan bites down on the silicone, the 3 little slits let the water out. He liked it fairly well. He would drink out of it a bit. But if he pressed the spout against anything, including himself, the carpet, or the coffee table, it would leak. (though it's true that it doesn't leak if you just turn it upside down) I needed another option, for the sake of that table.

(Gerber) had one that looked promising. Some days it works great for him. He has to work harder at it, and sometimes you just have to take the valve completely out for him to be willing to drink from it. But he can hold it by himself, and it doesn't leak, so when the valve is in, he can carry it around with him. (Boon) I wanted this one to be his favorite. The hipster snob in me that loves the look of these and the spoon made by the same company, wanted it to be the go to sippy. But alas, he has to work too hard. He just isn't willing to at this point. . . hopefully later. It definitely doesn't leak.

(Gerber) We borrowed one of these really basic ones from grandma for the weekend, and he did OK with it. He needed the handles for holding on, though. It was pretty much the same success rate as the other Gerber one as far as willingness to drink from it.

And then things got really complicated. Nolan went on a bottle strike last week.

I know it's because he was getting a tooth, but now that the tooth is through, he still doessn't want the bottle. So I ran to the store again. None of the other options was working. We needed something he'd drink his milk (and, PLEASE PLEASE, some formula) from. So the following options were added:

(Avent) An adaptor you can add to a regular avent bottle he already has. . . in theory, I thought this would be a great option. No dice. SCREAMED at Tamera when she tried to give it to him. Even when it was just his regular milk, no formula added.

(Gerber) These have the same kind of spout. SO not interested. I liked that he wouldn't have to tip this one as much. . .


And my last resort. . . (Nuby) He doesn't really know how to suck through a straw, I thought. He loves straws, but he doesn't get anything up through one. . . oh well. . . it's worth a try. Yeah, this one is the winner. It was the one and only way Tamera could get him to drink milk on Friday. So I went and bought 2 more. . . because, as you can see, what we need is MORE sippy cups in our house.

I'm hoping that as he gets older he will be less picky. I've heard that happens. . . I'm hoping that all of these brightly colored plastic cups don't go to waste. . . I'm hoping I'm DONE buying sippy cups. Apparently I'm done buying bottles, at least. . .

Ben and I were laughing the other night about how funny it is that Nolan is a total brand loyalist within each category. But it doesn't cross over. He is Avent bottles, Nuk pacifiers, & Nuby sippy cups.

And don't try to get him to change his mind.

Butterfly Cupcakes

My cousin Matt and his wife, Hillary, blessed their little baby girl yesterday, and one of our family assignments for the lunch afterward was dessert. And though our original plan was to get a cake at Sam's club, we didn't manage to make it over there on Saturday. SO, Sunday morning, I experimented with some of the stuff I had hanging around the house.

The cupcakes were yellow butter cake with chocolate pudding in the middle and milk chocolate frosting. And then I decided to try something out of my Hello, Cupcake! book. I used melting chocolates to make butterflies for the tops of the cupcakes. I was really excited with how they turned out, and very grateful to Ben and my parents for hanging with the boy while I made the darn things. They took a while.

By the time I finished it was time to run out the door, so I didn't get great pictures. But I thought I'd share anyway.

Family Fun

It was a fun filled family weekend.

Jeremy & Emily are back in Utah!! After moving them in on Saturday morning, we went to the park to play. Nolan didn't last terribly long in the swing. It was REALLY hot out in the sun. . .

And he wasn't at all sure he liked the slide (though I suspect it was just a little warm for his taste)
But he DID dig Emily's sunglasses
And he really REALLY liked his cousin Ethan

Chick Magnet

I sent matching onsies to Stefanie & Emily's boys months ago with the theory that we'd all take pictures of them and make a series. . . And then I never took the pictures. (I think they may still be working on them too)

When I put Nolan in this outfit this morning, I decided I would take a few pictures , before I forgot and it was in the laundry again. We went out in the back yard where the light was better DESPITE the fact that I STILL haven't mowed the lawn. (in my defense, it's WAY longer over here in the shade than it is in the sun) It made it easier for him to perform his standing trick anyway. . .

New PJs

My mom and I went to Babies R Us yesterday in search of a better diaper garbage situation. . . and while I didn't decide on or purchase one of those (if you have a great idea that really works, PLEASE feel free to share), we DID buy a lot of clothes. It's a sickness I seem to have inherited. . .

Nolan needed new PJs, and we found several pair. Tonight, after a much needed bath, we put them on him. I had to take pictures, of course. These will also demonstrate a couple of other things.

When my camera needs more light to auto focus, it shines a little yellow light before the photo is taken. Nolan has taken to squinting before it even happens, because he knows it's coming. Even if I take the pictures quickly, at least half, if not more, look like one of these:

Nolan's newest trick is standing on his own, without holding on to anything. I counted tonight and the longest he lasted was 23 seconds. He's not trying to walk, and if you point out that he's not holding on, he immediately drops to the floor. That made capturing this picture tricky, as he needed me to hold him up to get his balance before he would let go. But I finally managed it. Here is the series:



He's going to be walking so soon. . . I can't believe it.

Lolo's Visit

OK, now it's time for a happier post.

Our dear friend Loraine has been here in Utah visiting for the past 3 weeks. She was my teacher and my mentor in stage management at BYU, but has since gone home to inspire the college students on the other side of the pond. We all miss her terribly, and we were so excited to have her come visit us.

Over the weekend, we joined some of our other friends and had brunch at the Grand America. It was SO good. We had to take a few pictures when we were done. The lighting was AWFUL for picture taking in the lobby, and I didn't adjust my settings on my camera very well to adapt. . . so the lighting is not the best. . . I had to make a couple of them black and white so they didn't look hideous. Sorry. :(

The group of us. Ben, Me, Loraine, Nolan, Marcie, Carrie, Jensen, Peter & Trish

Nolan LOVED his auntie LoLo. The first day he met her he jumped into her arms, and he didn't stop loving her the whole time she was here. They were good buddies.

Hanging with Peter. Nolan really does like Peter, he was just DONE having his picture taken.

Loraine, Jensen & Carrie

Thanks for visiting with us, Loraine! We will miss you!

LeRoi Moore

I spent a lot of time in high school listening to the Dave Matthews Band. We were loyal followers, going to every show we could (and that was quite a few in Southern VA at the time) I still love their music today.

The sound of DMB will not be the same without their wonderful saxaphone player, LeRoi Moore. He was way too young to be leaving the world without his genius.

RIP

Prayers

I stalk a lot of blogs. A LOT. And one of my daily reads is NieNie. I don't know her, though I know a few of her family members. As you may or may not have heard, she and her husband were in a plane crash this weekend. There were 3 people in the plane, Stephanie, her husband Christian, and the flight instructor. The flight instructor has already passed away from his injuries. Stephanie and Christian are still in the hospital in very rough shape. They need as many prayers as possible today. Their family and friends are holding a fast for them as well, if you are so inclined.

Though I don't know this couple personally, I don't think it can hurt for all of us to pray for them and their 4 young (and adorable) children right now. You can follow updates on her sister's blog.

Swingin'

The Ohrans have an awesome swing set in their back yard. While we were there tonight, Nolan got to try out the baby swing. He sat in it contentedly for a good long while, just watching everyone else play.


Thanks for having us, Mark & Marianne! I have some great pictures of Clara I'll send you.

Creamsicle

For our BBQ with the Ohrans tonight, I tried an experiment. Creamsicle cupcakes. They are white cake with orange jello injected (with a syringe) topped with white chocolate/orange frosting.


There are a few things I'll do differently next time, but they turned out pretty well!

Cuteness In The Grass

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments and emails in response to that last post. I can't tell you how much they meant to me.

Back to our regularly scheduled bragging, I thought I'd share some fun pictures we took today in our back yard. It was the only way I could make myself feel better about how very very long it's been since we last mowed. It's rather ridiculous, really. But Nolan loved it!


And his reaction when his dad offered to let him wear his Falstaff beard:

Doubt

I have to warn you in advance that this isn't a happy, look-how-cute-my-kid-is post. It's more of a vent. I know you'll indulge me, because what choice do you have?

My friend Emily did a post a while back that she called "Dark Corners" (Em, I hope you don't care if I share), and ever since then, I keep thinking that although my house IS a mess, and although there are plenty of places (like my office and the trunk of my car, and, for heaven's sake, the inside of my shower) that I don't want people seeing because of the mess they've become, REALLY, the problem for me right now is actually bigger than that.

I waited until I was 30 years old to have a baby. I did it by choice. I did it for plenty of really good reasons. In the Utah/Mormon culture, that's really kind of late in life to get started (although thankfully it's less weird than it once was) I spent almost 10 years with a real job, a crazy busy life, and LOTS of hobbies. And I liked my life. I knew who I was pretty well before I got pregnant, for good or for bad.

One of those things that I was, was type A. I spent most of my pregnancy, between bouts of nausea, planning. I wanted everything to be perfect when the little man arrived. I wanted the perfect nursery. The perfect wardrobe. I wanted him to feel welcome in our home. What I didn't really REALLY think about or plan for, in more than general terms, was being a mother.

I knew my life would change. Everyone tells you that. And I really was prepared for the fact that I wouldn't go to a movie in a theater or play pinochle into the wee hours for many years to come.

But the frustrations are SO much deeper than that.

I wasn't ready for the lack of sleep the way I have experienced it. I wasn't ready for all of the minute details I would both have to remember and have no brain cells to remember at the same time. I wasn't ready to simultaneously love and want to throttle a tiny little person. As has been said 5 million times before, there is no handbook. There are no instructions. And I don't really do well with that kind of fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants living. But once you dive in, there's no getting out.

I read a blog post yesterday that spelled out what I've been feeling lately SO well. (there is some colorful language in it, just so you're warned) I wanted to go find this woman and HUG HER. I know that I do not have full fledged post partum depression. I'm not sure how I know, but I do know that. But I do feel like I live in this crazy grey area every single day of my life right now that I can't possibly explain. A lot of times, I'm pretty sure I don't LIKE being a mother. And then I feel HUGE amounts of guilt for even THINKING that way. My son is adorable and sweet and wonderful. So what if he's a crappy sleeper? I probably trained him badly. So what if he tries to steal my computer off my lap 100 times a day? I don't pay enough attention to him while I'm working from home. It's not HIS fault I'm a useless mother. He doesn't deserve that! He's still this perfect little person. He didn't get to pick me. It's not fair!

Probably, those of you that are moms are well aware of all of the warped and broken logic that flows through my head on the 8th attempt to put Nolan down for a nap every day. I'm POSITIVE I'm not the only one who thinks this way, feels this way. . . and even knowing that, I don't totally feel better.

How do people do it over and over again? How do you not go crazy? HOW do you know what you're getting in to every time you have a baby, and you do it anyway?

These are my questions right now. . . while I try to convince myself that Nolan won't be an only child.

Thanks for indulging me.

My Little Cleaner

I was doing laundry the other night while we were watching the Olympics. When it comes to folding clothes, Nolan really likes to help me. And when I say help, I mean he pulls the clothes off of the couch onto the floor and drags them around the room. Incredibly good for newly clean clothes.

SO, to try to distract him, I gave him the dryer sheet to play with.

This is what he did with it:
He "cleaned" his Leapfrog play station. He wiped the thing down for about 10 minutes while we watched swimming.

Both of his grandmas will be so proud.