tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109370012024-03-13T12:14:04.602-06:00Cicada SongCicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.comBlogger814125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-65305604606978021552014-11-06T09:47:00.003-07:002014-11-06T09:47:47.555-07:00Only the Pups Sing ThatOne sure-fire way to tease and get a reaction from Joon is to sing a song that is off-limits. And of all the songs in the world, two rise to the top as VERY CLEARLY off limits: Let It Go and Paw Patrol. There are very specific (although changing) rules to these songs:<br />
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Let It Go, every single girl's favorite song in 2014. Only girls can sing that. Sometimes she will extend this rule to all women (so I can sing it, <i>sometimes</i>). If Murray tries to sing this, Joon first reacts by reminding him tersely of the rule: "Only girls sing that!" If Murray continues to sing it, then Joon's reaction quickly turns into real anger, screaming, crying, and in general an all-out highest-level protest.<br />
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Gulliver also knows this trick (as well as many other tricks that bug Joon) and will use it intentionally when he's in the mood.<br />
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Paw Patrol: This is the theme song to one of Gulliver and Joon's favorite shows. The rule for this song? "Only the pups sing that." Never mind the fact that Joon is a girl, not a pup. The funniest thing about this song is that it gets stuck in Murray's head. So it happens that SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, Murray starts singing, "Paw Patrol, Paw Patrol" and usually very, very quietly under his breath.<br />
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Joon hears it. Every time. Without fail. It doesn't matter how quietly Murray is singing it.<br />
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"ONLY THE PUPS SING THAT!!"<br />
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This has escalated to the point that Joon often simply chooses to HISS like a cat at Murray in warning, before giving him his verbal warning.<br />
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For the records of history, here are the words as sung by Joon: "Paw Patrol, Paw Patrol, be there on the double! W'ever there's a problem, 'round aventure bay, Ryder and his team of pups come and save the day! Paw Patrol, Paw Patrol, be there on the double!"<br />
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(Murray is sitting beside me as I write this, and he corrected me: "Only the pups CAN sing that." So as I was editing the post to reflect this correction, I sang loud enough for Joon to hear, "Paw Patrol, Paw Patrol..." Right on cue, she responded with "Only the pups sing that!" Thanks, Joon for the clarification. But in the next sentence she reminded us again, "Only the pups can sing that." So we are both right. Murray to his credit hears it WAY MORE OFTEN than I do.)Almahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118043306686549844noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-11660670678150428832014-11-01T17:01:00.002-06:002014-11-01T17:01:55.041-06:00Wii U, Wii U, Wii UBack this spring, when we first told the kids that I was pregnant, we made two ridiculous promises. I'll blame Murray. First, Murray promised them that before the baby came, we would take them to Disneyland. Then, Gulliver added to that, "AND we can get a Wii U." And then Murray started agreeing with Gulliver (never mind the fact that I said no to the Wii U last Christmas).<br />
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In August, things worked out that we were able to go to Disneyland with Captain Fabuloso, Tin, their kids, and Ootsie and Potsie. Phew. We made good on one promise. Then there was only the Wii U left.<br />
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As my due date approaches, I have realized, if we wait to have the baby before getting the Wii U, then as soon as the baby comes, Gulliver will focus on WHEN DO WE GET THE WII U. So I decided it was wisest to get the Wii U before having the baby. Thus, a couple of weeks ago, we got a Wii U for the kids.<br />
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The arrival of the Wii U wasn't the big ordeal I would have liked it to be. First a game came in a package, and Gulliver noticed immediately that it said Wii U instead of Wii. And then, Gulliver and Joon and Murray went to the post office to pick up a conspicuously large package. Gulliver is no dummy. He knew what had arrived in the mail. So the Wii U came without much ceremony, and before I was fully prepared with rules. So before setting it up, we sat Gulliver down (Joon is not the problem here) and I started making rules up out of my head:<br />
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<ul>
<li>You get 3 Wii U days a week. You can choose the days and you can write them down on the calendar. </li>
<li>Wii U can only be played after homework is done.</li>
<li>No whining or crying. Gulliver whines and cries a lot. He needs to stop, or we will cross off a Wii U day on the calendar.</li>
<li>No whining or crying when it's time to turn the Wii U off. We will give him warning, like 5 minutes, and then when we say it's time to turn it off, then it's time to turn it off with a happy attitude. </li>
<li>If the kids are playing the game together, there is to be no fighting or cross words. One cross word, and the Wii U is turned off immediately.</li>
</ul>
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So far I have to say, I have been AMAZED at Gulliver's good Wii U behavior. There has been no fighting, despite the fact that Gulliver and Joon have been playing the Wii U together. I thought that Joon would annoy Gulliver because she's not as good as he is, but this hasn't been the case. Also, without exception, he has turned it off when asked with a happy attitude. </div>
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We did have an incident last week where Gulliver refused to do his homework, and was whining because he wanted to play the Wii U. We gave him a couple chances to calm down and do his homework, but when he simply didn't, we told him we were going to cross off a Wii U day. THIS WAS HARD. There was a LOT OF CRYING. A LOT OF CRYING. It took a while to calm down, and it took a while to understand that even though he had calmed down, he still wasn't allowed to play the Wii U. And then he ran and got his homework and did it with me in bed (I was having a sloooooooow pregnancy day and spent most of it in bed), and told me that I was right, it doesn't take him long to do his homework, and he enjoys it. He told me that he understood why he was not allowed to play the Wii U, and he would play it tomorrow (on one of his days). And he apologized. Then he went downstairs, and Murray hadn't crossed the day off the calendar yet. So Gulliver volunteered to cross it off the calendar himself. I was very very impressed and proud of my boy.</div>
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As for choosing his own Wii U days? That has been a comical experience. The first full week that he was allowed to choose his days (which happens to be this week), I showed him the WHOLE WEEK on the calendar and told him he could choose any THREE DAYS as Wii U days. He chose Sunday, Monday, Tuesday: Wii U, Wii U, Wii U. I pointed out to him that that meant there were FOUR DAYS of no Wii U, and maybe he would want to space out his days a little more. Nope. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.</div>
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Again, to his credit, he played Sunday, lost his privilege Monday (the above incident), and then played Tuesday, and for the REST OF THE WEEK, he has not once asked us to please play the Wii U or make an exception. He is doing very very well at accepting this black and white reality. Today, he was asking about next week. I told him that yes, starting tomorrow, he is allowed to pick three new Wii U days next week! Oliver immediately announced, "I will do Wii U, NO Wii U, Wii U, NO Wii U."</div>
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It didn't take him long to figure out rationing. </div>
Almahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118043306686549844noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-47213345233056707602014-10-14T15:09:00.000-06:002014-10-14T15:09:45.883-06:00The Peanut Place and the Popcorn PlaceOur kids have two favorite sit-down restaurants that they request: The Peanut Place (Texas Roadhouse, where they serve unlimited peanuts) and the Popcorn Place (Wingers, where they serve unlimited popcorn). Of these restaurants, Murray and I like the Peanut Place, and I dislike the Popcorn Place. Because both parents like it, it's usually pretty easy to convince us to take a trip to the Peanut Place.<br />
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Recently, Joon requested to go to the Peanut Place. That sounded like a GREAT idea. So we loaded the kids up into the van and drove to Orem to go to Texas Roadhouse. Joon fell asleep on the way there, which she sometimes does between 4:00–7:00. When we got to the Peanut Place, Murray picked up Joon and carried her into the restaurant. We requested an extra long booth so that we could lay her down and she could keep sleeping. She slept through our entire meal. And then she slept as we carried her back out to the van and buckled her in. She woke up on the way home and cheerfully requested, "Can we go to the Peanut Place???" Sad, sad day for Joon.<br />
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More recently, this past week, I wasn't feeling well and spent the day at home in bed, making Murray be my slave and get me anything I requested. (I have a few more weeks of pregnancy where behavior like this is acceptable.) We were all getting hungry, and a grilled cheese sandwich sounded wonderful to me. Joon, in bed next to me, asked, "Can we go to the Popcorn Place?" I said no, I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay home. Again, she asked, "Can we go to the Popcorn Place?" I said no, I just wanted to stay in bed and eat a grilled cheese sandwich. "Well," said Joon, "the Popcorn Place has grilled cheese!" There's no arguing with that logic. Maybe Joon has politics in her future? In any event, I got what I wanted, and stayed in bed with a delicious homemade grilled cheese.Almahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118043306686549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-4876988295437234442013-08-09T09:23:00.003-06:002013-08-09T09:23:39.679-06:00A Miracle Cure!Yesterday Murray took the kids to get their immunizations so that we can get Gulliver all registered for preschool. It was kindof a parting thought I had as I was running out the door in the morning, and I didn't stop to think that maybe we needed to mentally prepare the kids for this.<br />
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Instead, Murray just took our children to a nurse who first stuck big needles in Joon while Gulliver watched. And then Gulliver had to take his turn. Apparently both Murray and another nurse had to hold him down to get his shots. Whoops. We maybe could have handled this differently.<br />
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On the other hand, Murray still remembers going in to get his kindergarten shots with his mom, who DID prepare him for what was to come, and Murray said it made it so much worse for him. So who knows what the right thing to do was.<br />
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Murray and the kids later came to pick me up from work. As I got into the car, BOTH kids wanted to talk to me about WHAT HAPPENED to them. Joon was trying to pull up her shorts to show me the band-aids. Gulliver announced "We got SHOTS, mumma! It hurt!"<br />
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But I was going to make everything better. We took the kids up Payson Canyon to see a really cool grotto waterfall. The trail is easy, but fun with lots of rocks, logs, roots, steps, and bridges (so many bridges!) for the kids to enjoy and for Murray to stress about. At the end of the short hike is a cool little waterfall in a grotto. The water at the bottom is about 4 inches deep at its deepest, and the kids can splash and throw rocks to their hearts' content.<br />
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After visiting the waterfall, we made our pleasant journey back to the car. Here are the kids, holding hands. This wasn't prompted or staged. They just decided to hold hands and hike down together.<br />
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When we finally got to the car, I took off Joon's wet clothes. I had come prepared! I had a nice clean dry cozy shirt for Joon! No pants because I had been too busy to find a pair of pants. But who cares? Joon was nice and dry in her dry shirt and new diaper.<br />
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We drove home and Murray went to get Joon out of the car. When he picked her up out of her car seat, she started wailing and crying inconsolably. This is pretty rare for Joon. She's a tough girl. "It's pretty ouchy!" she cried, again and again.<br />
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Murray brought her inside where the only way to keep her from crying was to hold her on his lap and give her a popsicle. He put on something to watch, and there they stayed.<br />
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If Murray shifted his weight, Joon would cry terribly again. If Murray adjusted Joon, she would cry terribly again. I made dinner and spoon-fed Joon, still on Murray's lap. (And I got her some tylenol!). Poor, poor Joon. It's berry ouchy!<br />
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Bedtime came and we couldn't bear the thought of putting Joon in her crib all by herself. So Murray, Joon, and Gulliver went to sleep in Gulliver's bed. I went to sleep in my bed, and Murray joined me later. Then Gulliver joined us in the middle of the night. Poor, poor Joon was all alone in Gulliver's bed. I woke up at some point, and decided to go and sleep with her.<br />
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When she woke up in the morning, she was paralyzed. Just lying there on her back with her shirt and diaper. Normally she is one to pop right up in the morning. I'd been sure that by morning it would be better. But it was still "berry ouchy!" I got her some more medicine, read her a book, and generally snuggled and loved her. When I was getting her medicine and was in the other room, she cried out, "Mumma! Mumma! Don't go away!!" Poor Joon was immobilized on the bed.<br />
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Murray and I talked about whether we needed to start worrying yet. I said that I was kindof assuming that although it is sore, it's probably still mostly in her head. Murray said, come to think of it, she only started acting this way when he accidentally made a surprised face to see her bandaids when he was getting her out of the car, because he'd forgotten about the shots already.<br />
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So we came up with a cure. Murray carefully lifted Joon from the bed, and gave her a fresh diaper and a pair of PANTS. That COVER the bandaids. She cried during the process. He brought her downstairs and put her on the couch where she stayed.<br />
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Until she forgot about her bandaids and jumped up and started running and playing around the house.<br />
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CURED!Almahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118043306686549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-62298486328354715272013-07-05T16:13:00.001-06:002013-07-05T16:13:12.317-06:00Joon, the ComedianWe have enjoyed Joon's explosion of personality over the last year, and it's been so fun to see it continue to grow and develop. Everywhere she goes she is admired. Of course we think that our kids are cute, but we're the parents. It's also nice to hear our feelings validated by friends, family, and strangers.<br />
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Last night, we came home from a day of fun and fireworks, and because I wasn't feeling great, I asked Murray to put the kids to bed. Gulliver has a double bed, so when the kids are put to bed together, then we all pile into Gulliver's bed, and tell one story and sing two songs. That's my drill, anyway. Murray is more easily coerced into more songs.<br />
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Because it was late last night, Gulliver fell asleep quickly, and Joon, who normally goes berserk at bedtime and is all riled up, was pretty slow-moving. And so it happened that both kids fell asleep, and Murray got to enjoy the stillness and the cuddles.<br />
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This was the first time Joon has slept in a BIG BED all night. Which may account for the fact that when she woke up, she was full of life, vim, vigor, and unbridled happiness.<br />
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She came running into my room (followed by Murray who ended up spending the night in bed with the kids), and I picked her up and brought her into bed with me.<br />
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She said, "I wanna cuddle you." Then she cuddled me very affectionately. Lots of patting, cheek rubbing, thumb sucking, full body cuddling.<br />
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Then she got on top of me, straddling me laying down, and said, "I wanna wiggle you. Wiggle wiggle wiggle." You can guess that she was wiggling while doing this. And I should point out, this isn't anything that anyone has ever taught her. This was her brand new idea as of this morning.<br />
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Then she sat up, still straddling me, and said, "I a coyote! A-woooooooooo!"<br />
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Then she started rocking on me and saying, "Rock-a-moose, rock-a-moose, rock-a-moose!" (Our rocking moose is one of her favorite toys.)<br />
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It was an impressive display of stream-of-consciousness mumma-loving and I enjoyed every second of it. I am curious to see who this little girl becomes, but I can wait. I just want to hold on to today.Almahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118043306686549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-17625545677169885742013-07-03T11:16:00.000-06:002013-07-03T11:22:54.145-06:00Light ClothingIt's summer and it's HOT. Every day is above 100 degrees. I'm dying.<br />
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Murray-bless-his-heart keeps putting the kids in long pants and long shirts. He does this because 1) he's not thinking it through and 2) he's pulling from their drawers instead of the nicely-folded-stacked piles of laundry that are waiting to be put away. (Want to guess whose job it is to put them away? I love you, honey!)<br />
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So as I was folding laundry the other day, and as the children were both naked, I threw Murray a light-weight shirt and some light-weight shorts for Joon. I said, "Here. These are some nice LIGHT clothes for Joon." Emphasis on light. Trying to reinforce the point that in 100-degree weather, we don't give our children sweaters*.<br />
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Murray started to put the clothes on Joon, and she started crying and prostrated herself on the ground. "Noooooo! I want LIGHTS SHIRT, Daddy!!" Oh shoot. Apparently Joon had an entirely different understanding of what "light clothes" meant, and had briefly enjoyed the anticipation of wearing something <i>truly</i> exciting.<br />
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All dressed, Joon was still upset. Gulliver loves to take care of his sister, and eager to help, he jumped up, and said, "No, Joon! Look! It GLOWS!"<br />
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He then whisked Joon away to the bathroom and closed the door where, once again, her clothing performed well below expectations.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">* Murray got a little beat up in this post, so I'll add for his peace of mind and for everyone else's benefit and full understanding, the sweaters comment is a comedic exaggeration. </span>Almahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118043306686549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-71810359708415838562013-07-02T16:05:00.001-06:002013-07-02T16:05:39.570-06:00Shut UpAbout 2 weeks ago, Murray and I were having a conversation congratulating ourselves on being amazing parents. Gulliver NEVER says the following words: hate, shut up, stupid.<br />
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We talked about all the reasons that this makes us <i>really good parents. </i><br />
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Then a couple days later, as we were leaving the house and getting into the car, Gulliver said "Shut up" to Joon.<br />
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I looked at Murray. <i>Did he just say what I thought he said?</i><br />
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"What did you say, Gulliver?"<br />
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"Shut up?"<br />
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"Gulliver. We don't say that. That's a bad word."<br />
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We loaded the kids into the car and resumed the discussion:<br />
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"Where did you learn that word, Gulliver? Who taught you that?"<br />
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He named one of the older kids at the home where he is tended twice a week. The older kids (who are really good boys, and very personable) are home from school now.<br />
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"Well, it's a bad word. We don't say that word, Gulliver."<br />
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"Oh. Okay."<br />
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Then after a few minutes of silence:<br />
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"Mumma? I sorry I say shut up."<br />
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"Gulliver, that makes me so proud that you said sorry."<br />
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"We don't say shut up."<br />
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"No, that's right. We don't say it."<br />
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"T says shut up. But we don't say shut up. Shut up is a bad word. We don't say shut up. But T says shut up. But we don't say shut up. Shut up is bad."<br />
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"Okay... Gulliver, just stop saying it okay? Let's just not say the word at all."<br />
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"T says shut up, but we don't say shut up."<br />
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"Let's not say it at all."<br />
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"Mumma... why we don't say shut up?"<br />
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"It's a bad word. There are good words and bad words, and that is a bad word."<br />
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"Oh. Just like there's good spiders and bad spiders."<br />
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"That's right."<br />
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So that was the end of the story. Except that at Young Men / Young Women the following week, I pulled the boys aside and let them know that we were teaching Gulliver that "shut up" is a really bad word, "So if you use that word around him now, he's going to think you're really bad boys. So you'd better not use it around him."<br />
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Apparently it wasn't the boys I needed to worry about. Murray says "Shut up." Of course he says it <i>totally differently.</i> And the context is totally okay. But now that Gulliver's ears are finely tuned to the bad word "Shut up," he catches Murray every time.<br />
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Like in the car, when I say something incredible, flabbergasting, exciting, surprising. This happens all the time because I am a very interesting person. Murray's first reaction is often to say, "Shuuuut up!"<br />
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Now that is closely followed by a voice in the back that says,<br />
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"What you say, Daddy?"<br />
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We are going to need to break some habits.Almahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08118043306686549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-70025083838055956942013-07-02T01:45:00.001-06:002013-07-02T01:45:48.075-06:00The Great Salt LakeToday for Canada Day, Murray and I promised the kids a fun day. After work. At 4:00 we picked them up from where they are tended and hit the road. Sortof. We were a little slow-going with a few hiccups along the way, but finally by 5:00 we were on the road and headed for adventure, all wearing matching Canada Day t-shirts that we made a couple days before.<br />
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Gulliver was very excited that we were going to Canada. For Canada Day. To go swimming. We tried to explain to him several times that we were not, in fact, going to Canada. But we WERE celebrating Canada's birthday. We had both kayaks (mine and Gulliver's new kayak) tied to the top of the Jeep and we were headed for Antelope Island to try swimming in the Great Salt Lake. It was on my summer to-do list. We've visited Antelope Island a few times, but always in April or October. So today (a particularly hot day!) we were finally going to go swimming.<br />
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After a particularly tedious 3-hour drive there (with slow traffic, and two diapers from Joan that were the result of her drinking bubbles solution yesterday... I don't think I need to say more), we arrived at about 8:00, not exactly sure what to expect.<br />
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To access the island, you drive over a long land bridge. As we drove, we were overcome by the most awful, putrid, rank, indescribable lake stink. This elicited very strong reactions from every one of us. The kids tried to find things to compare it to. Mostly dog poo. But they were so wrong. It was a hundred times worse than dog poo.<br />
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When I had told El Senor that we'd been to Antelope Island in April, he said, "Ew, stinky," and I didn't really know what he was talking about, and figured it must be a seasonal thing.<br />
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There is no way to possibly tell you how bad it really was.<br />
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But the good news is, it cleared up by the time we made it onto the island. Phew.<br />
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We started out by trying to eat food that we had brought, but the kids weren't hungry and were more eager to play in the sand by the picnic tables, which was abundant. So I left the kids and Murray to eat/play while I went to the Jeep to figure out just how exactly to get the two kayaks down to the water, which was 0.34 miles away. I know because I just looked it up. Most or all the journey was over sand, so I figured that dragging would probably be the best method. I took the kayaks down from the top of the Jeep, tied the two front handles together with webbing, and stepped into my yolk. I dragged the two kayaks (40 lbs and 20 lbs) plus gear (paddles, life jackets, phones, clothes, towels).<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RCabs_0EVrY/UdKEbI6--DI/AAAAAAAADR4/lX9x7oOedk8/s577/Screen+Shot+2013-07-02+at+1.41.38+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RCabs_0EVrY/UdKEbI6--DI/AAAAAAAADR4/lX9x7oOedk8/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-07-02+at+1.41.38+AM.png" width="391" /></a><br />
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There weren't many people there (it was late; I'm curious how many would be there during the day, but I don't think many more than what we saw). I got a lot of looks from passersby (European, Indian, Japanese), and I eventually made it down to the beach. Gulliver joined me half way (he is very concerned with 1) not being left behind and 2) beating everyone else). As we got closer to the shore, I could see great black waves of dust being kicked up. Which was a little odd because there wasn't any wind.<br />
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As we got even closer to the beach, I found out what the black waves of dust were. FLIES. I looked up the ecology of the Great Salt Lake on wikipedia after our adventure and learned that there are over 100 billion brine flies. I think we may have seen all of them. As you walk, the ground is peppered with these flies, and small clouds of them fly away to avoid being stepped on. So basically, you wouldn't expect to see anyone laying out on the beach.<br />
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Gulliver and I finally made it, and I could see that Murray and Joon were approaching. So Gulliver and I got in while we waited, and I got some more surprises! First of all, the water was very very warm. I knew that it would be warmer, but this was like a bath tub. Second of all, it was teeming with brine shrimp! I knew, of course, that the lake was full of brine shrimp, but by "full of brine shrimp" I didn't expect to see every bit of water full of them. I would say there was at least 1 shrimp per cubic inch. If there are 100 billion brine flies, how many shrimp are there? (And by the way, that aforementioned stench? Decaying insects. Feel free to go vomit now.)<br />
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Gullie and I scooped up the brine shrimp and let them swim in our hands. Then we went out deeper and deeper. And by "deeper and deeper" I mean "farther and farther" because you had to go VERY far before the water got very deep. I was very very excited to test the buoyancy. Being shorter than me, Gulliver noticed the buoyancy first. "Whoa," he said. "This water is bouncy! It's like in a space ship."<br />
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I finally got far enough to test it out for myself, and discovered that yes, indeed, it is very bouncy. Just allowing my feet to come off the bottom was enough to send my feet floating up to the surface. If I worked at holding VERY STILL with my feet below me, then without any movement or effort at all, my shoulders were out of the water. It was an amazing experience.<br />
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Now, lest you picture this as anything that it was not, please remember that at this depth, the water was STILL teeming with brine shrimp, both the bright orange wiggly ones and the black floating dead ones. And the surface of the water was all covered in brine flies. Lots and lots of brine flies. Occasionally, a feather would float by, and it was like a brine fly cruise ship.<br />
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At this point, Murray and Joon were in the water. Murray was expectedly not exactly loving it. He had also noticed the dead waterfowl at the shore, which I had not, since they were camouflaged under a blanket of brine flies. But he was a good sport, and was helping Joon explore the shallow, warm water, with lots of "wildlife" to look at and enjoy. (Should I add here that we have two bug-obsessed children?) Joon was so delighted, in fact, that she simply explored her new world while singing. Which is something we have never seen her do.<br />
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Gulliver at this time was focused on trying to catch a brine fly. To be clear, "catching a brine fly" was as simple as standing up; you'd have at least 10 stuck to your body. But he wanted to catch a brine fly on his finger. He explained to me that these were good bugs. And that daddy was not coming in all the way yet because daddy didn't like bugs. Gulliver got a bug on his finger, and tried to share it with me, but when I put out my finger, the bug jumped on my finger then back in the water. Which led Gulliver to believe that the bugs didn't like me. But they liked him. So he got a new bug. I asked him, "What's his name?"<br />
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"Bugs don't got names! That's silly!"<br />
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"What's your name, bug?"<br />
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"His name is Franky."<br />
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"Hi, Franky!"<br />
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"Franky don't like you. Franky's scared of you."<br />
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Gulliver held onto Franky for a full 10 minutes, because he was so excited to show him to Murray.<br />
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I had noticed that Murray and Joon were on shore again (remember, there are GREAT distances to travel between being on shore and being out in the water where I could float), and I was a little disappointed that Murray was going to miss trying out the floating. I was also surprised, considering between the shore with its billions of brine flies or the water with its mere millions (and billions of brine shrimp) the more pleasant choice would be the water. Murray obviously figured this out quickly enough, and came back into the water with Joon.<br />
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The four of us finally floated around together, and Murray was able to experience and enjoy the buoyancy of the water. He even admitted that he was having fun. He said he liked about 50% of the experience (it was actually quite pretty and he could very easily pretend he was somewhere exotic or foreign + family time) and didn't like the other 50% (long walk to the beach in sand with a toddler, a hundred billion brine flies, dead waterfowl, and billions of brine shrimp). We floated and played a little bit, but the sun was setting and it was time to head back.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you see the two TINY DOTS in the water way far away? That's me and Gulliver.</td></tr>
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The 0.34 mile trip uphill in sand, dragging two kayaks was not a pleasant journey. Oh, did you forget the kayaks? We never used them. We didn't have enough time. But I'm sure that there and back, I managed to burn enough calories to cancel out every bad thing I have ever eaten in the history of my life. Or at least today's bad food. I can hope. Murray and I switched off on the way back to the car.<br />
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Showering off the kids (and trying to shower out any places on my body that brine shrimp might be hiding... in an outdoor, open shower) and packing up the car was about as pleasant as you would think it might be. The only thing that coaxed them back up to the car in the first place was the promise of fireworks.<br />
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As we loaded up the car, we were treated to a chorus of coyote howls. They were coming from the north, they were coming from the south, they were coming from the east, they were coming from the west. Wait... were we surrounded by coyotes? They're more afraid of us, right? Anyway, as cool as it was, both kids developed a new fear. Of coyotes. For the rest of the evening, we would repeatedly hear from both of them, "I scared of coyotes."<br />
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The grand finale of the evening was "fireworks" in the parking lot. I had brought sparklers. I let everyone have two. And then announced, "Okay! Time to pack up!"<br />
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Gulliver said, "Wait! No! Fireworks go IN THE AIR." Mom's so dumb.<br />
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We gave the convenient excuse of "Canada Day fireworks are like this. When we celebrate America's birthday in 3 days, we will have fireworks in the air."<br />
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Finally, at 10:30 p.m. we made our way off the island. And had to drive over the stinky, stinky land bridge again. If possible, the stench was even worse this time. Bad enough that Murray and I were laughing hysterically because every time we inhaled, we were genuinely surprised all over again at Just. How. Bad. It was. And there was a car pulled off to the side of the road, which made us laugh even harder.<br />
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All in all, it was a very memorable trip. I don't think that Murray is particularly keen to go back soon, but I'd like to do one more trip sometime this summer and share the unique experience with someone else! I was thinking The Boy...Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-42504048787726850802012-03-08T09:38:00.000-07:002012-03-08T09:38:25.279-07:00More JunabunI now bring you a series of photos of Junabun still wearing the same sweater. Unintentionally, of course. Actually, I think that as far as sweaters go, this is almost all she has. We have a couple more choices...<br />
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Junabun is adorable, but doesn't love to keep bows on her head. Too bad because she's even more adorable with a bow!<br />
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Junabun is almost a year now. She weighs 22 pounds and I forget how tall she is... maybe 29?<br />
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She loves to explore. If there is a door that is partway open, she makes a break for it. This girl has speed crawling as one of her major talents. My mom describes her as fierce, and that definitely applies! She and Gulliver are starting to play together more. He loves to cheer her on. Also to play fetch. Also to police her. She loves to pull things out of the cupboards and Gulliver loves to take her treasures away from her and say, "No, no, no, no, no Jun! That's Mumma's!"<br />
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We're enjoying these fun kids.Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-58124067198591599092011-10-27T00:45:00.001-06:002011-10-27T00:45:24.136-06:00Junabun's StatsThis week I took Junabun in for her 6 month checkup. She weighs 20 lbs and is 29 inches, which puts her in the 100th percentile for weight and 110th for height. Way to go, Juju! Her head is 55th percentile.<br />
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She continues to be a delight in our home. She is very good natured and easy going, and has a high tolerance for the abuse she suffers at the hands of her big brother, who just wants to love her to death.<br />
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(Recently I was talking to a friend whose daughter is Gulliver's age and is able to talk much more than Gulliver can. She doesn't have any younger siblings, but when she was shown a baby, and asked if she thought he was cute, she said, "I want to hit him." I laughed about what we would hear from Gulliver if he could articulate his own thoughts so well. "I want to hit her in the head repeatedly with this balloon." "I want to roll over her again and again and again." What we DO get from Gulliver on a regular basis is, "I la loo, June." So sweet.)<br />
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Junabun loves to eat, so when we eat we'd better be prepared to share something with her, or else she eyes us jealously and complains a little. Recently I shared my favorite pineapple Greek yogurt with her. We polished up the container of it, and when I walked away, she got very VERY angry. Far be it to deny her the delicious yogurt, I opened up another one and we ate up all of that, too. Again, when I got up, she got REALLY mad. But I didn't want to see what eating more than a full container of yogurt would do to her, so I called it quits there.<br />
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Juju learned to roll over probably a month ago now (close to the end of 5 months, beginning of 6 months). She does well sitting up by herself, and she's starting to think about crawling. She prefer's Gulliver's toys over her own age-appropriate toys, and loves to stick dinosaurs' tails in her mouth and make me go crazy.<br />
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One of Gulliver's favorite activities is sitting down with the iPhone and looking over past photos and watching videos. He recently found the following video (he was in bed when it happened) and was enjoying watching it, but a little over half of the way through, he discovered something amazing! Junabun says "Egg!" She does say it very clearly although it's never something I would have noticed if Gulliver hadn't. He is BEYOND excited about Juju's first word. Every time he watches the video, he waits for it, and then says, "Egg!" with Junabun. He also tries his best to get her to say it again, coaxing her, "Egg! Egg!"<br />
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We are loving being parents of these two kids! Right now I'm getting ready for Halloween, and I just am putting the finishing touches on the costumes. Gulliver, Junabun and I will be sheep from Shaun the Sheep (Gulliver will be Shaun). We are not sure yet whether Murray will join us as the farmer (if only we could figure out how to do it without buying a bald cap and some red hair...).Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-75452744852136969592011-10-22T00:14:00.000-06:002011-10-22T00:14:10.211-06:00Living the Good Life[First, quick excuses: Work, work, work. But I want to blog consistently again, so here's a fresh start! To catch up on SOME things you've missed, check out my <a href="http://msmcjiggity.blogspot.com/">mom's blog</a>! There are beach pictures!]<br />
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Recently Murray and I were talking about the fact that what we do doesn't require us to be anywhere specific geographically, as long as we can get a good internet connection. So that considered, why didn't we move somewhere more exotic for a couple years while we could! The trouble is: 1) I'm not adventurous like that, 2) I like to be near family, and 3) I'm not adventurous like that.<br />
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This Monday, Murray and I drove the Alpine Loop on a whim. Fall is by far my favorite season. I find it energizing! And I didn't want to miss the opportunity to get outside and see the beautiful fall leaves. So we packed up our little family, packed a picnic lunch, and headed out. The views and the colors were amazing, and it felt SO GOOD to be outside and doing something together as a family. We stopped at Cascade Springs to eat (no food down at the springs, so it was a parking lot picnic) and enjoyed the little hike to the springs. Again, it was beautiful, and everything felt incredibly fresh.<br />
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Gulliver loved being out on the trails and enjoyed looking for the grasshoppers. He brought two dinosaurs with him, so when we saw the grasshoppers, we had to stop and pretend that the dinosaurs were going to eat them, and that would make them jump. Great fun! All week, he's been talking about grasshoppers, dinosaurs, and the sleeping grasshopper (hint: it wasn't sleeping).<br />
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Junabun enjoyed the fresh air and the stroller ride, and I think she PARTICULARLY liked being taken OUT of the stroller to get some more personal attention.<br />
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After our jaunt at Cascade Springs, we started talking about all the wonderful things that surround us here in Utah, and decided that maybe it's wisest instead of moving away to seek a fun experience for a couple years, we should make a list of things to do here and actually do them! (This isn't the first time we had this idea... we thought about this a couple of years ago, but didn't do anything about it officially.)<br />
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So this week, I've had that in mind. Yesterday morning, Murray was working at home, and Junabun was napping. We haven't used our bikes all year. Or all last year. Or really more than once since we got married, if we're being totally honest. In fact, we had decided recently that we should probably just sell them. Well, instead I went out, pumped up the tires of Gulliver's Boot Scoot bike and pumped up the tires of my bike. We tried Gulliver's bike---which he loved---but his legs still are not quite long enough. So I put him on the high bar of my bike and we started riding around. What started out as a little ride around the parking lot turned into a ride of over an hour, and several miles! Gulliver enjoyed ringing the bike bell half the time, and we both enjoyed talking to one another. It was sweet to have him so close (he said, "I love you, Mumma" a dozen times) and to have a little date with him.<br />
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Today, we continued the trend of taking advantage of what we have here in Utah. We planned a fun trip to see Murray's sister's family in Moroni. It was so much fun! We prepared a <strike>healthy</strike> delicious lunch of Navajo tacos that was almost all carried away by flies (they were out in full force!). They allowed me to drive the Ranger (a cross between a four wheeler and a Jeep) up Maple Canyon with Murray and Gulliver. Gulliver loved it and kept pointing forward and yelling, "Gooooo!" He did NOT want to stop and look at the cows, he wanted to goooooo! (Murray, ever the protective father, urged me to not take the gradual turns at my reckless speed of 15 mph.)<br />
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After our little family spin, we went back to the cabin and loaded up everyone onto various vehicles and headed out again! This time even Junabun joined us (Murray, ever the protective father, made sure that both she and I were belted in). Murray, a little out of character for his artist personality, got his very own four-wheeler. After we were on the road, Gulliver looked back and gasped in admiration, "Daddy!" This time I was NOT driving, and we rode up very bumpy terrain. I think that both Gulliver and Junabun were thrilled!<br />
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During our ride, we went to an apple orchard where we were able to pick our own apples. Gulliver was at first interested in the ones on the ground (easy pickings!) until we told him those were yucky. After that, he'd just look at them and say, "Gross. Yucky." Sister M helped him to pick an apple from a tree and wipe it clean, and then he bit into his delicious treat! An apple just perfectly sized for him! I think that he ended up eating at least four! He decided he was a big big fan of the orchard.<br />
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But as good as the orchard was, nothing could prepare him for what was next. Murray's sister's family are turkey farmers, and they got a new batch of baby turkeys last week. So we took Gulliver to the turkey shed to see what he thought. I mostly expected him to be afraid, since he's going through a scaredy-cat phase lately where EVERYTHING is scary. Instead, he was SMITTEN with the baby turkeys and did not hesitate to want to touch one. At first he was very gentle and cautious, but he eventually became fairly confident... so we got him out of there before he could get TOO confident. He did NOT want to say goodbye to the baby turkeys (he saw a "sleeping" baby turkey, too... oh, when do we teach him about life and death??). But that's okay, because next on our whirlwind tour was seeing the BIG TURKEYS. We went to the big turkey shed, and unfortunately Gulliver seemed just as confident with these as he was with the babies... so needless to say, I didn't even let him NEAR them!<br />
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After saying goodbye to ALL the turkeys, it was time to head back to the cabin and order some pizza. What a good day! After pizza, we even enjoyed a bon fire and some star gazing (Gulliver, who LOVES to sing Happy Birthday, performed several rounds of the song and vigorously tried to blow out the fire).<br />
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What a perfect day! We are very grateful for our Moroni family for having us over and showing us a good time all day! I look forward to hearing what Gulliver has to say about everything tomorrow. Tonight, he was so tuckered out, that he only lasted about 3 minutes in the car. (After 2 minutes, he suddenly exclaimed, "Hat!!" and put his hands to his hatless head. I reassured him that we had his favorite hat, and pulled it out for him. He put it on and was asleep within about a minute.)Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-85722470346785198472011-07-13T00:38:00.001-06:002011-07-13T00:38:36.258-06:00The BabysitterSo tonight was a big night for Murray and me. Tonight for the first time, we got a real babysitter instead of just using Murray's parents. We have done this out in Maryland twice, but my parents arranged all of that. This time it was totally us. <br /><br />We chose Miss Precocious, who is basically family. She is eleven and lives relatively close to us. She is also a very smart, very cool girl. <br /><br />The whole experience was revelatory. Like, whoa, I'm totally on the other side of this now. I now know what it's like to be the parent instead of the babysitter. These were my insights as I prepared for our sitter today:<br /><br />1) Parents are not super old. When you're the babysitter, they seem really really old. But now that I'm the grownup, I realize how young (and beautiful!) we really are! We are not old. And we are really cool. I promise. <br /><br />2) Parents are going out and doing interesting, not boring things. A party with other grownups? Fun! A meeting with local artists and creatives? Fun! And the people we are hanging out with are not old! (Okay, I think my main revelation of the evening was that I'm not old.)<br /><br />3) I really wanted to be the cool house. I wanted to have good entertainment and good food. As a babysitter, I NEVER opened the cupboards in the kitchen, even if I was told to help myself. Now I realize that the parents really meant it when they said, "Make yourself at home!" So I hope our babysitter made herself at home... Even if she didn't eat any of the delicious chocolate cookies I left out for her. <br /><br />4) The parent is more worried about their own kids' behavior than the babysitter's behavior. At least that was the case with me. What if Gulliver poops?? Oh no! What if he poops?? (Gulliver kicks and squirms during poopy diaper changes, and it is a very difficult job to change that diaper!)<br /><br />I left a long list of written instructions because I know I would have liked something to refer back to. And I left a Gulliver dictionary to help her decipher his language. <br /><br />All in all I think it was a successful night (but I didn't get to talk to her, since Murray made it home before me and drive her home). <br /><br /><br />-- Posted from my iPhone, with apologies for any typos. <br />Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-10172394718683315272011-07-05T08:48:00.001-06:002011-07-05T08:48:54.325-06:00SurpriseWhat is more surprising than a blog post from me these days?<br /><br />Finding THIS in your kitchen in the morning. <br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=11/07/05/1680.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/11/07/05/s_1680.jpg' border='0' width='400' height='299' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />This means that either the Keebler elves got busy in my kitchen last night, or Murray, who was awake with the baby, got desperate enough for sugar cookies to make them himself. <br /><br />If you know Murray, who never made Kraft Mac n Cheese on his mission because it was "too involved" and who has never understood why you would have to put ingredients in your recipe in a certain order ("they all get mixed in anyway"), then you would understand how incredibly monumental this is!<br /><br />Not only did I find these cookies but I found the ROLLING PIN. Which means that these are not drop sugar cookies, they are rolled sugar cookies. (I bet he skipped the "refrigerate one hour" step.)<br /><br />We don't have any cookie cutters though... So I'm wondering what he did about that part. <br /><br />My favorite part of course is the gigantor cookie over in the corner, which I imagine was made from the dough scraps. <br /><br />Well done, Murray! You've proven you can make sugar cookies! Next up: Dinner tonight!<br /><br /><br />-- Posted from my iPhone, with apologies for any typos. <br />Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-14724478323916426192011-05-03T16:59:00.000-06:002011-05-03T16:59:03.782-06:00The Birth StorySo this is how birth with Baby June went down.<br />
<br />
On Saturday, April 2, I went up to Salt Lake City to watch the morning session of General Conference with my siblings. It was a lot of fun, but on the way home, I was feeling WIPED OUT and really felt like I needed to nap. So I went down for a big, long, luxurious nap and when I woke up, I was feeling a little crampy, which I hoped meant something! (I didn't go into labor with Gulliver, so I didn't really know what to expect.)<br />
<br />
I went downstairs, and we soon realized that I was getting contractions if I sat for a while and then stood up. So my mom and I kept experimenting with this to see how long I needed to sit before standing to bring on a contraction. (For example, at the beginning, if I was sitting for 20 minutes and stood up, I'd have a contraction. If I was sitting for 10 minutes and stood up, I wouldn't have a contraction.) This part was actually very fun, and the contractions weren't horrible. It was pretty fun to feel them climb and get more painful, and then fade away. As they got a little more intense, I'd just close my eyes and breathe, and then as they faded out, I'd announce, "I think that was a 6 on the pain scale!!" Since they weren't happening on their own, we sent Murray off to Priesthood session and dinner, and just told him to keep his phone on him.<br />
<br />
While he was gone, my mom and I continued to bring on contractions by resting and moving. Gulliver was with Murray's mom, so I was free to just labor. And labor was FUN! In fact, we even went out to get some frozen yogurt, and during that trip, the contractions started to come on their own. Still, it was all very manageable, and definitely fun.<br />
<br />
When Murray came home from Priesthood, we put on a movie. Since I was in labor, I got to choose what to watch, so I chose Morning Glory. When one is in labor, one wants to watch frivolous, meaningless, funny, girly movies. Or at least I do. Again, I kept standing up during the movie if contractions didn't come on their own. By the time the movie was done, it was about midnight, and contractions still weren't regular. But we all knew that I wouldn't be sleeping, either. Bummer.<br />
<br />
We sent my mom to bed, and then Murray and I tried to get some sleep while still timing the contractions. We used the iPhone's stopwatch, which has a "lap" function. So I was able to press "lap" each time I had a contraction, and it automatically kept a list of the timing between contractions. Brilliant! While I was lying down in bed, they were still irregular, but I felt like they were getting a little more intense, and I felt like if I were up, they'd be more frequent. So I told Murray that we should just go to the hospital. We woke up my mom and took off. This was about 2:00 a.m.<br />
<br />
There was a storm that night (that put a lot of women into labor... the hospital was pretty busy when we were there) and it started to get bad as we were driving to the hospital. The rain was turning into snow, and it was pretty messy. But I told everyone that there was no hurry, so we drove calmly to the hospital. (Murray drove calmly. <a href="http://msmcjiggity.blogspot.com/2011/04/welcome-welcome-6-days-late.html">My mom hit a pylon.</a>) It was during the car ride, and during a contraction, that Murray asked me a question. After the contraction, I politely told him that probably he should not ask questions when he can see that I'm in the middle of a contraction.<br />
<br />
At the hospital, as we were walking in, I started having a contraction, so I just stopped walking to wait through the contraction. My mom started saying something, and Murray told her, "Cicada needs ABSOLUTE SILENCE during contractions." And then I started laughing in the middle of my contraction. Good times at the hospital!<br />
<br />
To be honest, labor up until now was all pretty fun, even though I did prefer not to be asked questions during contractions. AFTER contractions, conversation could totally resume as normal. We did a lot of joking and laughing. We got checked in no problem. I didn't request the jacuzzi room because I didn't really see myself using the jacuzzi anyway. I didn't have to have an IV since I wasn't getting an epidural, but they did do a hep-lock, which was totally fine.<br />
<br />
I didn't really use any special laboring positions because I didn't really feel like I needed them. I spent a lot of time in the bed because I was tired and because I was comfortable there, but I did get up and walk around the room a little, and sit in the glider chair in the room. The contractions were still all bearable anyway, so I didn't really see any need to try out any special positions.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_rvByqDcLaM/TcCHeVuXCbI/AAAAAAAADL8/-E76Al0Fl-M/s1600/107.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_rvByqDcLaM/TcCHeVuXCbI/AAAAAAAADL8/-E76Al0Fl-M/s1600/107.jpeg" /></a><br />
<br />
At about 5:30, the doctor came in and offered to break my water. She explained that if she did that, things would get really intense, pretty fast. She said that it would be as intense as it would get anyway, but that it would be more intense sooner. So that sounded like a good option. After Murray and I discussed it (because I was just a little bit chicken about the whole "getting intense" part), we decided to have her do it.<br />
<br />
She broke my water, and guess what? Things started getting a lot more intense, pretty quickly. While I had been kindof humming through my contractions previously, now my humming got a little more intense. Maybe kindof groaning. A nurse showed Murray how to put counter pressure on my knees, though, and that was a HUGE HELP. As in, I couldn't have done it without him!! And he was working pretty hard, too. I was the one saying, "Push! Push!"<br />
<br />
I know because my mom was there that this more intense part was an hour and a half, but it felt more like 30 minutes or 45 at the most. The contractions were right on top of one another, and poor Murray's arms were shaking as he was pushing on my knees.<br />
<br />
At least I can say that there was no point that I even considered asking for the epidural. So that I think is a major win for me.<br />
<br />
Towards the end, I started to lose it. The doctor was there. They were saying that I was mostly all the way dilated, but that there was a little lip still, that possibly the baby would be able to push past. They were telling me that I could push when I felt the urge, but I wasn't feeling the urge yet. But just for good measure, I started pushing anyway, because I was feeling DONE. I was really worried that for some reason, things would just STALL right there, and I'd be stuck feeling this way for HOURS. And I think maybe when that thought crossed my mind was the first time that I yelled. It was, I thought, uncontrollable, but when the doctor told me, "Stop yelling and focus on your breathing," then I WAS able to stop yelling and I felt like I could control it. Until, of course, the next contraction, and then I was yelling again. Ha. It really felt like I wasn't myself, and I was definitely a little embarrassed, because I was hoping that magically I'd be able to do the whole thing perfectly.<br />
<br />
BUT. It was only about 5 minutes of hollering (again, I'm going on my mom's word on this, because if you asked me, I'd tell you that I only yelled twice, and the total duration of yelling was probably just 2 minutes), suddenly I HAD A BABY. It was crazy. I could feel her move down, and then all of a sudden she was out, head first and then shoulders! And then they put her on my chest, and there was my baby!!<br />
<br />
I continued making a lot of noise, apparently (thanks, Mom, for letting me know these details) because all I could say was, "Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!" Over and over again. This was at 7:45 in the morning.<br />
<br />
Now, I've always heard about the amazing rush, like drugs, that you supposedly get after natural childbirth. Maybe that rush was the Wow Wow Wow part. Because IMMEDIATELY after, there was the CRASH. The I-Haven't-Slept-All-Night-and-I-Just-Had-a-Baby crash. It was during this crash (and while the doctor was sewing up my very little tear, I might add) that my mom took this choice photo.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KM9eiPPlp24/TcCHejf8QnI/AAAAAAAADMA/iCJ0mdS7feg/s1600/117.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KM9eiPPlp24/TcCHejf8QnI/AAAAAAAADMA/iCJ0mdS7feg/s1600/117.jpeg" /></a><br />
<br />
Thank you, Mom.<br />
<br />
When it was all over, I told Murray and my mom that I didn't know if I'd be able to do that again.<br />
<br />
Two hours later, when my maternity nurse came to get me, she told me, "I heard you when you were delivering! I thought, oh! That must be the natural mom that I'm getting today!" I told her that even after just two hours, I was already starting to forget just how bad it was, and I was already starting to think, I might be able to do this.<br />
<br />
Now, an entire month later, I can tell you, I LOVED it, and I would do it again. Even if it would cost the same (ultimately, between the anesthesiologist and the extra day at the hospital, the epidural would have cost me about $3000), I would choose to go natural. The reason is that I did bounce back very quickly (although I got the shakes, which everyone always said was an epidural side effect, but the doctor explained is just a normal reaction to child birth), and recovered very very well. It's hard to say exactly what was a benefit of going natural or not. I can't say that everything good about this experience was due to natural childbirth, and everything bad about the last experience was due to the epidural. (And for the record, my last experience was a very positive experience. I did have more recovery, but I don't know how much of that was because it was a first baby, and how much of that was because I had an epidural.) But overall, I figure that if what we're really talking about is an hour and a half of pain, I'm happy to forego the epidural. (I TOTALLY would get it if I knew that I'd be experiencing the more intense pain for an extended period of time!!)<br />
<br />
So there you have it. My natural childbirth experience! I recommend it, if you're curious! As far as hypnobirthing goes, I think the two big things I got out of it were 1) I didn't go into labor afraid of the pain, so I know that I didn't bring any of that tension into the experience, and 2) the breathing techniques did give me something to focus on during the contractions and definitely helped me to be calm and have an enjoyable labor.<br />
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And now for a few photos of the baby at 2 weeks, taken by Nicole Hill Gerulat!<br />
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</div>Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-1949879894309716642011-05-03T16:07:00.000-06:002011-05-03T16:07:40.089-06:00I'm Alive!It's been forever since I posted. So let me do the quick recap:<br />
<br />
I had a baby.<br />
<br />
I had a few more gallbladder attacks.<br />
<br />
My mom left town.<br />
<br />
I had gallbladder surgery.<br />
<br />
It didn't go perfectly.<br />
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I was in the hospital for four days (it was supposed to be outpatient surgery).<br />
<br />
Two of those days cost $32,000. I just got the bill.<br />
<br />
Don't worry. While my insurance doesn't cover having babies, it DOES cover gallbladders, so I don't actually have to pay that. But still. $32,000 for two days in the hospital... and that DOESN'T count the actual surgery itself. Wow.<br />
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I stayed a few days with Murray's parents.<br />
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I came back home, but made Murray stay home with me.<br />
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I took lots of naps.<br />
<br />
And NOW, a month after having my sweet adorable baby (exactly one month from today) I finally feel like I'm back to my normal self. I'm taking maternity leave, which is wonderful. Yesterday and today, I've felt like SUPER MOM. I've been taking care of two children, cooking proper balanced meals, cleaning the house, addressing and stamping birth announcements, going on family walks to promote a healthy lifestyle, and generally loving life (the sudden GOOD turn in weather may also be contributing to my overwhelming sense of joy right now).<br />
<br />
And RIGHT NOW... right at this VERY MOMENT... BOTH my children are napping. So I actually have time to update the blog. Let's see if I can write about the birth story while they're still sleeping!Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-89666355052520972902011-04-12T21:21:00.000-06:002011-04-12T21:21:19.033-06:00She's Here!Our little baby girl arrived Sunday, April 3rd at 7:41 a.m., weighing 9 lbs. 2 oz and measuring 20.5 inches.<br />
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I haven't posted about it because I have barely even touched a computer, which has been blissful!Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-12742285956272488382011-03-25T00:52:00.000-06:002011-03-25T00:52:14.083-06:00Serve with Mashed Potatoes and GravyOkay, if you didn't read that last post, PLEASE read this.<br />
<br />
DISCLAIMER: I express strong opinions here which are entirely my own, and I make no effort to be diplomatic. If you have a different opinion from me, my intent is not to offend, but you can hardly blame me for how I feel about this subject!<br />
<br />
Okay. Phew. Now that THAT's out of the way.<br />
<br />
So I know that I've talked about health insurance before. It's tricky when you're self employed. And here in Utah, there's no maternity coverage. So if I wanted to have an epidural, I would have to plan on spending about $2000.<br />
<br />
That seems like an awful lot of money to spend on something that only lasts a few hours. And sometimes they're not even administered properly and so I wouldn't get the relief anyway, and I would STILL have to pay for it. So I may as well spend the money on something I really WANT instead of on the anesthesiologist.<br />
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In this case, this is what I really want:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uZk9SVVSukU/TYwyCPoqBoI/AAAAAAAADLs/rdOGclGmy54/s1600/chair.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uZk9SVVSukU/TYwyCPoqBoI/AAAAAAAADLs/rdOGclGmy54/s400/chair.png" width="360" /></a></div>Isn't it beautiful? It's the only rocker/recliner I've ever seen that I wouldn't be embarrassed to have in my home (that's not the part that I thought might offend some of you... but it might, too, I guess).<br />
<br />
So the point of this whole post is actually to tell you about what we're doing to PREPARE for natural child birth. My doctor and her PA both told me that if I don't prepare, it won't matter HOW much the epidural costs, I will get one. Okay. So I signed us up for a hypnobirthing class. By all accounts, this is an excellent method to help you through natural child birth.<br />
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I had already read the book before going to the first class, so I was pretty prepared. Not only was I prepared for the good stuff that I could buy into, but I was also prepared for the anti-medical stuff, that I don't have as much of a tolerance for. I know that the medical system isn't perfect, but I also know that swinging totally the other way and resisting any and all medical help isn't the answer, either. (It helps that we have a doctor whose opinions we really trust, and who we know has our best interests in mind.)<br />
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What we WEREN'T prepared for was the pot roast.<br />
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At our second class in the home of our hypnobirthing instructor, as soon as everyone was comfortably seated, our instructor apologized for any lingering smell of pot roast, explaining, "I've been processing placenta today, so you might still be able to smell it." She went on to describe what she does. She cooks the placenta, then dries the placenta, then pulverizes the placenta, and then encapsulates the placenta into gel gaps so that you can ingest it as pills.<br />
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(To do all of this, you need a license, and so to my minor relief, she also explained the process of how she then has to clean and sterilize the entire kitchen and any tools used... but you'd better believe I won't be drinking another glass of water in her house again!!)<br />
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This, my friends, is what we call CANNIBALISM! (This is the part where you may choose to be offended if you are a placenta-eater.) Oh my GOSH! There are NO WORDS! Except that there ARE words, and those words are HOLY CRAP, I HAVE SMELLED THE SMELL OF HUMAN FLESH THAT HAS BEEN ROASTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF EATING!!<br />
<br />
I HAVE SMELLED CANNIBALISM!!<br />
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And the rest of that evening, any time we were doing a relaxation exercise, I couldn't actually relax because just as I was relaxing,<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">OHMYGOSH I JUST GOT ANOTHER WHIFF OF POT ROAST!</span><br />
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(If I could make that text flashing, I WOULD because THAT is how I felt.)<br />
<br />
Okay, so the REASONING is that there are nutrients in the placenta. (Which, after we told my doctor about this today, and after she expressed the appropriate amount of horror, she pointed out that there probably aren't very many nutrients LEFT once you process it.) But you know what? There are also nutrients EVERYWHERE in the human body, and it's not as if I'm going to request my gallbladder once it's removed so that I can stew it up. I also didn't keep my bunions (but there was calcium in those boney outgrowths! And now I've lost that calcium FOREVER). And if Murray had to have a leg amputated (because we talk about weird stuff like this), it's not as if we'd roast up the thigh muscle for a family dinner!<br />
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Hey, we talk about burial vs. cremation vs. making dead bodies into diamonds in my family, too. Now this is a FOURTH alternative that we'd never considered. Maybe when my mom dies, we can just process her into pills and then we can all EAT OUR OWN MOTHER! Then we can all benefit from the source from whence we originally came.<br />
<br />
I am scarred for life.<br />
<br />
Have YOU ever smelled the smell of roasting human flesh?Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-35881317229341388362011-03-25T00:02:00.000-06:002011-03-25T00:02:38.218-06:00Some Thoughts on This Pregnancy...Right now, I am 39 weeks pregnant. My due date is Monday, March 28. So I figured I should do a recap of this whole pregnancy, more for my sake than for yours, but feel free to read and maybe even enjoy it!<br />
<br />
So this pregnancy started off a little differently than Gulliver's. I did throw up (once!) with Gulliver, and I haven't thrown up at all with this pregnancy. But I did feel like my stomach would get twisted in knots early on in this pregnancy. It was hard for me to eat much without feeling sick afterwards, and unfortunately it was all the healthiest foods (that I was craving because it was summer!) that were the worst offenders, like fruits and vegetables. I could manage grapes without getting sick. Otherwise, I'd have a lot of plain foods and carbs like breads.<br />
<br />
That cleared up at about 12-14 weeks, which was nice. The middle of my pregnancy progressed without much interesting to report---quick doctor's visits, no problems eating, the assumption that I'd have gestational diabetes during the last third, and very little overall discomfort. I even began to wonder just when it was that I got so sore last time that I couldn't roll over in bed without Murray's help.<br />
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Oh, I did have sciatic nerve pain (not so much that it really interferes with anything I need to do, but it made things like sitting on the floor, bending over, and cleaning Gulliver's toys up a little more challenging). But it actually cleared up for the most part at a certain point. In future pregnancies, when I read back on this, I'll wish I made a note of when it started and when it ended, but I can't remember anymore!<br />
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A pretty common theme with both my pregnancies so far is that I don't tend to look as pregnant as I am. I'll be honest---a lot of that is probably weight. But I've also seen women who are about my same weight, and they CAN look a lot more pregnant than I look. I chalk it up to the fact that I have a long torso and short legs.<br />
<br />
When I entered my third trimester, I was surprised by two things. First, I was surprised to find out that I did NOT have gestational diabetes, and I wasn't even borderline. That was a big shock. I'd been planning recipes and meals to eat during that time AND I was slightly looking forward to it because it would mean that I'd be really really good about my eating. (To prepare for this, however, I ate a cupcake from my favorite cupcake place, Cupcake Chic almost every day.)<br />
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Second, I was surprised that I still didn't need Murray to turn me over in bed, and wondered if I just made that up the first time.<br />
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But by about week 32, I think I suddenly had to always have a pillow between my knees when sleeping, and it's gotten worse and worse. I'm not complaining, but I am saying that definitely the last couple of months of pregnancy is when the discomfort starts kicking in for me.<br />
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Around that same time, all of a sudden EVERYTHING was harder. Bending down, picking up Gulliver, I felt like I could hardly do anything, and that I was going to be like that for the rest of my pregnancy. But then it kindof stopped, and things got easier for me again, so I assume that the baby was just in a weird position for a few days.<br />
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Still, right now, I'm at the point where it really really is a big help if Murray will put on my pants for me.<br />
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At week 35/36, I had my gallbladder attacks and spent a little time in the hospital. And so while I didn't have to follow a gestational diabetes diet, I was put on a low fat diet (25 gr a day) instead. Which, I must say, I am enjoying for the sense of control that it gives me and for the fact that it will help me avoid putting on unnecessary weight at the end of my pregnancy (although I don't regret enjoying every single one of those cupcakes now that I can't... I knew I was preparing for SOMETHING). Also? The low fat diet saves me from MINI EGG SEASON, which is the WORST. Since I have to continue eating low fat until my gallbladder can come out 6 weeks after I have the baby, I'm looking forward to the diet helping me to lose weight AFTER the baby and while I'm nursing. Fingers crossed on that one!<br />
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Right now, I feel like I'm eating the SAME THINGS EVERY DAY. I'm working like a maniac trying to get all my projects done before the baby comes, so that doesn't leave too much time to cook. So to be totally honest, we haven't been having proper meals around here very much. I'll just make myself soup or pasta, have some yogurt and fruit, and call it a meal. I can't WAIT till my mom gets here on Monday and can start doing meals for us!! I welcome her creativity!<br />
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So I guess that basically summarizes most of the physical aspects of this pregnancy. At my first cervical check (guys can stop reading here if they'd prefer), I was about 2.5 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I'm now about 3 cm and 80%. My doctor figures that the baby will come pretty quickly once my water breaks. But since she said that, I have all these dreams about my water breaking. I was talking about water breaking with my mother-in-law and how you don't actually hear about it happening in public THAT often. She said that she always heard that if you're in the grocery store when it happens, just grab a jar of pickles and drop it. Then everyone will just think that all the mess is from the pickles. I told her that I should BUY a jar of pickles and just bring it everywhere with me. So if my water breaks in the middle of church, I can just drop my pickles and say, "Oh no! I dropped my jar of pickles!! Well.... gotta go!!"<br />
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I'm VERY glad that this baby has stayed put so far. I'm getting to the point where I feel like I'm wrapping up most of my work projects, and that everything will be manageable (there's only one project that should go beyond the baby's birth, but it's my favorite project of the year, and Murray will actually be helping out with it quite a bit). And my mom comes out on the due date. So as long as I don't go into labor in the next few days, then my mom will be able to be here and to help. And we MIGHT even have a couple of days for activities like bowling, manicures, and a trip to the dinosaur museum, all of which we did in trying to get Gulliver to come (and none of which worked, by the way).<br />
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On the whole, I actually love being pregnant. Even with the discomforts I'm feeling now. I look forward to doing this a couple more times!!Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-77745453252918231392011-03-21T14:24:00.000-06:002011-03-21T14:24:28.837-06:00Chicken Enchilada Dump SoupToday I am on Day 3 of eating my Chicken Enchilada Dump Soup. When I have a lot going on, I don't like to stop to cook. And I am perfectly fine eating the same food day after day. So I make a big batch of soup, and it covers my lunches (and dinners if needed!) for days!<br />
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A few years ago, we had nothing to eat in our house. It was one of those raid the pantry or go to the store kinds of nights. So I started looking through the pantry at what we had, and put together a dump soup, where I just started dumping cans of food into a pot. I was a little skeptical, but I LOVED what I ended up with! Now this is a no-time staple of our household!<br />
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1 large can green enchilada sauce<br />
2 cans diced tomatoes<br />
1 can black beans, rinsed<br />
1 can corn, rinsed<br />
1-2 cans chicken<br />
1 carton of chicken stock (really, this just depends on how much you want, but I use 32 oz)<br />
1 onion, chopped<br />
rice (optional)<br />
<br />
Saute the onion (I actually skipped this step this last time to save time and to save the fat from the oil that I normally saute the onion in, and it didn't make much of a difference) until transparent.<br />
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Dump everything else in, except rice if using.<br />
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Bring to a boil.<br />
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Add rice if using (when I had gestational diabetes, I added a TINY bit of rice, since I had to watch the carbs... now that I am pregnant and on a low fat diet, then I add LOTS of rice to really bulk up the soup and give me some extra calories).<br />
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Turn to low and simmer for a while (without rice, 20 minutes... with rice, 40 minutes so that the rice gets good and soggy).<br />
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You can garnish with sour cream and cheese (both of which I could do last pregnancy, neither of which I can do this pregnancy, unless I go out and buy low fat sour cream, but the point of this soup is that you are just using what's in your cupboard anyway).<br />
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If I'm feeling REALLY fancy and I'm NOT terribly low on time, then this is also a nice addition:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
TORTILLA CRISPS:<br />
<br />
Cut a few tortillas into eight wedges each. Lay out on a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Bake at 375 until crispy (flip and rotate them while baking), about 15 minutes, maybe. (Also an addition that I can't enjoy right now because it adds fat.)Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-19736511539947259842011-03-08T17:22:00.001-07:002011-03-08T17:22:38.267-07:00Gulliver LovesI thought I'd do a quick post about Gulliver. Murray and I probably talk about ten times a day about how much we are in love with him. He can pretty much do no wrong in our eyes. Except for all the mischief he can get into, but even in those moments, our annoyance doesn't last very long.<br />
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Lately Gulliver loves his hat. He wants to wear his hat all of the time---even to bed if possible. The other night, Murray put him to sleep and took off the hat. For a few minutes there wasn't a peep. And then Gulliver started crying, "Hat!... Hat..." as he fell back to sleep.<br />
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This morning he looked to me like he was standing in a bread line. I was making breakfast, and he came to me wearing his hat, begging for food. He got a measuring cup out of the drawer and brought it over so that I could put some cottage cheese in it. So I let him keep it for breakfast, and he ate out of his little measuring cup this morning.<br />
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Gulliver loves toothbrushes still. This would be great if it weren't for the irrational hatred of ME brushing MY teeth. For some reason, I brush, and he STILL gets very upset, sometimes to the point of throwing a full-on fit. If this continues a little longer, he might even be able to verbalize to me WHAT is going through his head that he is SO upset that I'm brushing my teeth. (He wants the toothbrush, and it doesn't matter how many other toothbrushes I give him, if I'm brushing my teeth, he wants MY toothbrush.)<br />
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Gulliver loves books. The ones we read the most to him lately are Duck on a Bike (he asks, "Guck! Guck!"), Green Eggs and Ham (he asks, "Ham?"), and Drumheller Dinosaurs.<br />
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Gulliver still doesn't love elephants. Please don't ask me why. Murray imitates an elephant for him all the time that makes him laugh. And Gulliver has no problem making elephant noises himself. But if he ever SEES an elephant in a book, on TV, or on the iPhone or iPad, he gets very very very concerned.<br />
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Gulliver loves Mickey Mouse cartoons. Even more than his dad. It's been Murray's DREAM to collect every single Disney cartoon, and we have the complete collection of shorts on our Apple TV (I should write an entire post dedicated to Murray's Apple TV...). He constantly asks for Mee Moush? Mee Moush?(Because we are good parents, we don't constantly LET him watch Mee Moush. But hey... when you need a little down time, a little Mickey doesn't hurt.)<br />
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Gulliver loves to talk. He says a lot of things lately. He is good at saying prayers. This is a sample prayer:<br />
<br />
Ha Far,<br />
Good day,<br />
Mumma<br />
Dadda<br />
Food<br />
(more gibberish.... sometimes a LOT more gibberish... and he's generally good at mentioning others around the table, too)<br />
Amen!<br />
<br />
Gulliver also repeats a lot of questions that we ask him. So when he does something funny and we are all laughing, he'll ask, "Is it funny?" When he's eating something he likes, he'll ask, "Is it good?" On a regular basis, he asks, "Is it cute?" He also will say "I sorry" randomly.<br />
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Gulliver loves kids. He gets excited when he thinks we're about to go play with kids, and he'll say, "Kids? Kids?" He loves going to nursery at church now and we tend not to have any problems while he's there. Two weeks ago, a nursery leader brought him to me because he kept telling her he was "dirty." She couldn't smell anything, but he was insisting that he was, so she thought she'd bring him to me just in case. I thought that was funny because Gulliver usually just says "Poop!" But then I realized that I'd sent him to nursery with his favorite toy, Ghostie, who he calls "Dotie." I realized he kept trying to tell her about "Dotie." And sure enough, he wasn't dirty when I changed his diaper.<br />
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Gulliver loves Grandma and Grandpa, who have been pitching in BIG TIME lately to take care of him. He was able to stay at their house the whole time I was in the hospital. Grandma helped us to figure out how to fix his eating problem---we've had a hard time getting him to eat. But Grandma cut way back on his milk, and suddenly the boy can eat! Not perfectly all of the time, but most of the time, he's able to get in a good meal now. Big improvement! The foods he loves the most are grapes, bananas, canned peaches, yogurt, cottage cheese, and peanut butter from the spoon. He is getting better at eating some messier foods on his own, like yogurt, but he seems genuinely bugged when he spills on himself. And he says "Ow!" when he does.<br />
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Gulliver does have weird food temperature issues, where anything warm is too hot to eat. Most foods get one chance, so I try to make sure it's cool enough before he tries it, because if it's hot once, it's hot forever.<br />
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Gulliver loves riding on his rocking moose. Whenever he does, we sing Bulls-Eye's theme song from Toy Story II (just saying "da da da da da da"the whole time). So now he'll get on and start rocking, and start singing "da da da da da" himself... although sometimes he even sings "ma ma ma ma ma ma."<br />
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Right now, as I'm typing this up, Gulliver is walking around with Murray's shirt over his head so that he can't see where he is going. This is a great game. I wonder how long it's going to take before he hits his head on a sharp corner...<br />
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Gulliver loves pulling all of the shoes out of the shoe shelves. I do not love this.<br />
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Gulliver is affectionate and still loves giving kisses. Whenever it's time to leave Grandma's and Grandpa's, we ask if he can say good bye, and he goes to everyone and gives a kiss. He also continues to give kisses (sometimes VERY INTENSE kisses) to mumma and dadda.<br />
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I think that's about good for now! Gulliver loves a lot of things and we love Gulliver!Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-76309774203132086402011-03-01T07:21:00.000-07:002011-03-01T07:21:03.558-07:00My Sudden VacationHello all! I'm writing you from the priciest vacation resort I have ever stayed in, also known as the Hospital! And now is when you start scrolling down, looking for pictures of my second born. Don't bother---she's not born yet. She is still safely kicking me, even as I type.<br />
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No, I came to the hospital for another, less exciting reason. The short version is that I had a gallbladder attack that made my pancreas very angry, and so I've been here for the past three days and nights, enjoying the most expensive vacation of my life (which, thanks to Aflac, which we had in place for the baby, will be significantly less expensive than it could have been).<br />
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Here are some interesting tid bits and thoughts that I would like to share with you about my stay.<br />
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******<br />
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First of all, after my first gallbladder attack and ER visit on Wednesday, I was not prepared for the two subsequent gall bladder attacks I would have in the three days following. And had I been properly prepared for these attacks, I would have been told to tough it out, and it really sucks, but there's nothing they can do until the baby comes. This is what I was told when we came back to the ER on Saturday, when the pain was unbearable and I was convinced that something was definitely very wrong.<br />
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Until they got the test results about four hours later and said, "Oh wait! Nope! Just kidding. This IS serious and we're admitting you to the hospital."<br />
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My take-home lesson of course, is listen to my body, use good sense, and if I'm 36 weeks pregnant and in the worst pain of my life, there is no need to let pride keep me from calling Uncle and heading into the ER, even if I'll be told for the next several hours that I was just supposed to tough it out.<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">******</div><br />
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During this whole gallbladder ordeal, I have reflected many times on my aunt's gallbladder removal when I was 8 years old (I am the proud FOURTH generation of women on my dad's side of the family to need a gallbladder removal---thankfully it still won't need to happen before the baby comes). There is one main reason that I remember visiting her in the hospital post-surgery, and one main reason that my memory has been the topic of much conversation over the past week. You see, when I was a sweet young 8-yr-old girl, my not-so-sweet, young, 10-yr-old brother told me an inappropriate joke. That we both thought was extremely funny at the time. So funny in fact, that I felt I should share it with my aunt in the hospital in the presence of her guests (none of us can remember who the guests were though). And the joke caused her to laugh till she was crying, and she kept saying, "Cicada! Stop! Stop telling this joke!" which I thought meant that she was REALLY enjoying it, so I made sure to tell it through to completion. Well, I'm sorry to say that the joke is entirely too inappropriate to share on the blog, so you'll never know what it was. But I HAVE repeated it to most of my family members this week as I've shared this memory with them all, and it has brought most of us to tears. Less because of the joke itself, and more because of the image of an 8-yr-old sharing the joke with her poor aunt in mixed company.<br />
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******<br />
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So let's talk insurance! The GOOD news is that I got lazy this year and did not change our insurance coverage, even though it would have meant a reduction in monthly premiums. It would also have meant that we would spend less during the year in overall medical expenses (baby excluded) IF we had a year like we had last year (well baby visits, a trip to the ER for stitches, and a few miscellaneous doctor's visits for me). It would have meant spending MORE in case of serious medical issues or accidents. Well, call it laziness, call it intuition, call it inspiration, I didn't change my policy. So while we still have to meet a hefty hefty deductible (rhymes with sore mouth and collars), that deductible is 1) for me and both children AND 2) for the whole year AND 3) means that everything else (baby delivery excluded) is covered at 100 percent! So now's the time to start making a medical wish-list of things that can be done this year. And if Gulliver needs stitches again, bring 'em on!<br />
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The OTHER good insurance news, as I mentioned above, is that we have an Aflac policy for me that was meant to help offset costs for the baby! We certainly didn't anticipate using it for anything else (besides baby #1, I have never needed to stay in the hospital!) but half way through this process, we realized, oh my goodness, there is a pay-out for this, too! So we can basically cut that [sore mouth and collar] deductible in half! Major bonus.<br />
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******<br />
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About the food. You know that people complain about hospital food. But do you know what is way worse than hospital food? No food! Because the pancreas is responsible for the enzymes needed in digestion, and because my pancreas was terribly insulted, we needed to give my pancreas a rest. For over 12 hours, that meant absolutely nothing. Not even ice chips. And then, over 24 hours after I'd last eaten anything, I was finally granted ice chips and 1/2 a popsicle every 8 hours. Wahooo! The next day, I was upgraded to clear liquids and THEN to full liquids. Bring it ON. I have never enjoyed Jell-O or chicken broth or PUDDING so much in my LIFE.<br />
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You would think that with all these restrictions, and with a baby eating away my body's stores, that I would have lost a little weight. But the bed (which has been secretly weighing me without my knowledge or consent this whole time!) reveals that I have gained three pounds. Who knew! Win for the baby, I guess!<br />
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******<br />
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As you're in the hospital for a few days, you get pretty bored pretty quickly. That is why the realization Sunday afternoon that it was OSCARS NIGHT was a huge and fantastic realization! Murray and I had a two-person Oscars party together, complete with 1/2 a popsicle and ice chips! In fine Murray tradition, he tried to fudge his numbers a little, claiming that he got more predictions right than he actually did, but don't worry. I kept him honest and reminded him of the ones he definitely got wrong. We were both excited that our prediction (and the favored film) won best picture. We loved The King's Speech. We are less excited that the decision has been made to censor it for American audiences by muting 2 of the 5 f-words to make it PG-13. I mean, I'm all about making it PG-13, but I really felt that in context, the language should not have made it R in the first place.<br />
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******<br />
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Murray's family has been wonderful to take care of Gulliver during this time. They live pretty close to the hospital, which is also very convenient. Gulliver has come to visit a couple of times. He cut his ear on his first day with Grandpa, which made me feel more sorry for Grandpa than it did for Gulliver. When Gulliver came to see me, I asked about his owie. Completely oblivious to his ear, he immediately pointed to the IV tubes in my arm, VERY concerned. We think it's funny that he knows this is an owie, because how does he know they're going into my body instead of just taped on top? Anyway, as a very concerned 2-yr-old, he made sure to give them a couple good tugs to see if he could take care of it himself. Much appreciated, Gulliver. Now I've got some good bruising there to show off as a trophy when I get out of this joint.<br />
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******<br />
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Speaking of getting out of this joint! I should get out of here today!! My blood work came back this morning and everything is back to normal. Yippeeeeeeee! Now it's simply a matter of maintaining a low-fat diet (and hopefully avoiding any further attacks) until the baby comes, and until I have the gallbladder surgery 2 weeks later! (So long Mini Eggs! Hello Marshmallow Peeps!)<br />
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(That is SO NOT EVEN CLOSE to an acceptable substitution, for the record, but NOTHING is worth the pain, not even my beloved of all candies, Mini Eggs.)<br />
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So that I think about wraps up my thoughts and feelings so far on my stay here! The staff have been excellent and overall, I've been well taken care of here! Now I just have to get ready to COME BACK here possibly some time this month! And I'll even share some pictures of that hospital stay with you. I think it's okay not to share any pictures of THIS hospital stay.Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-27327267072248966722011-02-01T17:11:00.000-07:002011-02-01T17:11:13.191-07:00Modesty, Thy Name Is CicadaToday I went to Deseret Book to buy some materials for my CTR-5 class at church (Murray and I started teaching the 5-yr-olds in January, and we absolutely love it). Of course, being the self-absorbed design snob that I am, I only purchased materials that I had designed myself (except for some rubber CTR rings).<br />
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It does, in fact, feel a little bit weird to buy something that you, yourself made. (Also? My total came to over $40!! Holy crap! I'm expensive!)<br />
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When I was at the cash register, I had to resist every urge to say, "I made that! I'm a designer and I made all of this stuff! It's mine! All mine! Look at meeeeeee!" Instead, I said, after the cashier commented on how cold it was, "Maybe it's the fact that I'm pregnant, but everyone seems to be complaining today about how cold it is, and I honestly haven't even noticed."*<br />
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And in that fashion, I avoided embarrassing myself like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Iu6E6a1clA">Kathy Proctor</a>.<br />
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Phew.<br />
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Murray asked me if I was going to tell the kids that I made their bookmarks and their stickers, and I told him no, because it could seem like a lie to them. Or if they went home and told their parents that their teacher made their stickers and bookmarks, the parents would think that their kids were WAY off base, and they'd correct their children and say that their teachers just GAVE them the bookmarks and stickers, not that they MADE the bookmarks and stickers, and then the children would just be confused.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">*This was, in fact, another modesty moment, because what I truly wanted to say was, "Maybe everyone in Utah is just a big fat baby because I grew up in much much worse weather conditions that this, and I'm not even wearing a COAT today (sorry Mom and Dad) and when I was a kid, we didn't HAVE snow days, and we walked to and from school in -40 degree weather, and our thighs FROZE and we would have to wait for them to THAW when we got inside (which causes deep tissue itching and much redness of skin)."</span>Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-60208398976985746762011-01-18T16:50:00.000-07:002011-01-18T16:50:36.228-07:00Car SeatOkay, Internets. I'm at work, working hard at a MASSIVE catch up game, after spontaneously leaving the office last Wednesday (or Tuesday?), going home, crashing, and ALMOST DYING OF HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE ILLNESS.<br />
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Not really almost dying, but I wanted to die. Among the downsides of being self employed is that it's actually really hard to just call in sick. Thankfully, my clients were all incredibly understanding, and let me have time off to be sick.<br />
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My brother, El Senor, was not so understanding, and went forward with his wedding yesterday, despite my illness (thankfully by then, it had cleared up enough that I was in fact able to leave the house).<br />
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Congrats to El Senor and La Senora!! I'll come out with a post all about them soon, I promise!<br />
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But this post is about ME.<br />
<br />
ME ME ME.<br />
<br />
Okay, but here's a picture of Gulliver from the wedding.<br />
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Okay, NOW onto me.<br />
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And when I say "me" I mean, the baby on her way, because she is stressing me out a little. Today I had my 30-week checkup, which means that I'm now on the 2-week schedule. And then, just after a few appointments on the 2-week schedule, I'll be on the 1-week schedule. And then, just after a few appointments on the 1-week schedule, I will have a whole new human being for whom I am responsible!!<br />
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And that's if she comes ON TIME!! What if she comes EARLY???? I don't even want to think about it.<br />
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So anywho, we really haven't done much to prepare for her arrival. But I had better make a list soon.<br />
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One thing on my list is to buy a car seat for her. And this is where you come in. I would like you to simplify my process by telling me which car seat I am supposed to buy. Please chime in now.<br />
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To consider: I would like the carrier type so that she can stay asleep when she falls asleep in it. We also own a Honda Civic, and it will be one of two car seats in the back, and will more than likely have to be put on the side, not in the middle seat. I'm okay with buying a smaller type, since I would likely prefer to purchase a Britax seat to match Gulliver's when she's big enough to fit into it and move her into that (Gulliver moved into his around 7 or 8 months).<br />
<br />
Go.Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-17812797014850679682011-01-07T16:05:00.000-07:002011-01-07T16:05:33.601-07:00Merry Christmas!!Okay. So I did Christmas cards this year. Now, ideally, I would have sent these all out on time, and you would have all gotten them, and then I would have posted our Christmas card just in time for Christmas! But as it is we hit a few speed bumps in this, my first year of being a responsible adult and sending a Christmas card (I AM, after all, THIRTY now!):<br />
<br />
1) We kept waiting for snow, and finally by December 12, I realized I could not wait any longer. So my sister-in-law, Tin, took the pictures for us at This Is the Place, which was an EXCELLENT suggestion, as it lent itself to still looking Christmasy. (We have ABUNDANT snow now.)<br />
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2) The NIGHT we had the pictures taken, Murray and I did them up into the Christmas card and ordered them and paid extra to have them guaranteed to arrive December 17.<br />
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3) They didn't arrive on December 17.<br />
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4) They arrived on December 23, which is significantly different from December 17.<br />
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5) I addressed them all and got them in the mail December 24!<br />
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So now that I've heard that my cards have reached the Canadians, I figure it's not spoiling anyone's surprise to post the card to my blog! I did these up as actual post cards, and one friend who received it said that at first, she thought it was junk mail, and then she recognized my face. So... you know... if you didn't get your Christmas card this year, you may blame your significant other for throwing it in the trash...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jLy8qvuJO8c/TSebPfADwtI/AAAAAAAADKk/zwHxPM6Lw_A/s1600/photo-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="337" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jLy8qvuJO8c/TSebPfADwtI/AAAAAAAADKk/zwHxPM6Lw_A/s400/photo-1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>(This is just an iPhone photo of our cards... if you want to see a better version of this photo, visit our <a href="http://singingcicada.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html">about</a> page!)<br />
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The back, of course, has our address and personal info, but I recapped the year in haiku. Here are the poems, adapted of course to our blog names (I used parentheses where our blog names don't fit with the syllables).<br />
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We are self employed!<br />
We take lots of vacations!<br />
The healthcare sucks though.<br />
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Cicad(a) is pregnant.<br />
Gullie will have a sister<br />
by the end of March!<br />
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Gullie got stitches--<br />
seven on his lower lip.<br />
Don't stand in the tub!<br />
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Murr(ay)'s eyes were hurting.<br />
He thought he was going blind.<br />
He just needs glasses.<br />
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And for those who were paying attention, our sentiment was ALSO a haiku:<br />
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Hope you have a great<br />
[insert holiday of choice]<br />
and happy new year!Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10937001.post-4962686933270635032011-01-07T14:35:00.001-07:002011-01-07T14:36:10.513-07:00Belly PictureI know you're all dying for a belly picture, to remind you all that I am actually pregnant. Well here's one! Giving baby all the love she can get at Five Guys!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jLy8qvuJO8c/TSeHF32aASI/AAAAAAAADKg/aCT2qd0J6no/s1600/photo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jLy8qvuJO8c/TSeHF32aASI/AAAAAAAADKg/aCT2qd0J6no/s400/photo.jpeg" width="298" /></a></div>Cicadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992280321382438701noreply@blogger.com4