It Works For Now

Right now I'm smarter than Ian. At least I think I am. And I don't know how long life will be like that, so I have to use my superior intelligence to my advantage.

I was rocking him before he went to bed and he was SO tired, but he wouldn't settle down. I told him that we were going to have a contest and see if he could keep his eyes closed until I sang a whole song. I put my hand over his eyes just to make sure he wasn't peeking, and he fell asleep before I finished the second verse of "Mary Had A Little Lamb". So great.

A First!

We had dentist appointments today. This was the first time I had wished I had brought my own dental cleaning tools.

Goodbye, ghetto! I won't miss you.

On Sunday in Relief Society (the women's organization of our church) we usually take a minute or two for a "Good News Minute", where people tell about happy things going on in their lives. This last Sunday our activities coordinator announced that she had lost 40 pounds over the past few months, that she needed two bags of candy from everyone planning on going to the ward Halloween party, and that she needed them as soon as possible.

How could I be the only one who thought those two things announced at the same time was funny?

Odyssey

This:

And this:

Are going to move here:

In two weeks!

Thanks to getty images for my picture above; also, Jesse and Kellan do not have more fun than Ian and I do, regardless of what these pictures may lead you to believe.

Five Years

Jesse and I started dating almost five years ago! Thanks for making it a sweet five years, Jesse! Now take me out on a date.

That's not what I started writing about. I tried to log in to some secure websites to pay some of our bills and our computer must have updated or something, because I kept getting Jesse's security questions. You know, the ones that ask what your first pet was, what your favorite color is, etc. and I couldn't pay any of our bills because I can't get any of his questions right. Does this indicate something about our relationship? Do we not talk about things that matter? Do our minds work differently? What's wrong here?

I feel so disoriented. Does anyone else out there have this problem?

DJ/Budge Reunion!

Jesse was telling me the other day that his mission reunion will be coming up in April, and that he really wanted to try to get out for it. Which made me start thinking.

Not about his reunion, obviously, because I only have one job to do there: try to look cute so he can prove he was a good missionary. Ha! Joking, completely joking!

No, I started to wonder how mission reunions go. Do they have them every year, or just in intervals of five? If husbands of friends and friends and their wives will all be in Utah attending conference, wouldn't it be an easy time to have a get-together with all of our friends? Wouldn't that be so fun?

Please don't tell me that they only have reunions every five years. You don't want to be responsible for breaking my heart.

It's Not Me. It's You.

That's what I wanted to tell Ian. He wouldn't take a nap today. He wouldn't go to bed earlier than normal. It's now 7:30 p.m. and he is still awake.

Sweetheart, it's not me. I gave you dinner early and made sure you ate a lot. I gave you a bath. We rocked and read and rocked some more. It's all you.

Okay, fine. When I put Kellan to bed and he cried for five minutes, that didn't help I'm sure. But he cried for five minutes and then went to sleep.

Make a note, Ian.

Beef

Don't people realize that they can't take a recipe out of a recipe book and call it their own?

Why We LOVE Mondays

This is how Ian spent his morning:

They were mowing, edging, and blowing outside, and when they do that Ian is glued to the window. He was so distracted that he didn't even notice me taking pictures. He absolutely loves anything with a motor or legs/wings. Pure boy. I have a feeling Kellan will love those things, too, but only because Ian does.

Anyways, that's how Ian's morning went. This is how MY morning (and day) went:

Kellan went down for a nap. Ian woke him up early.

Ian went down for a nap. Kellan woke him up early.

Kellan fell asleep for the night. Ian woke Kellan up when I put him (Ian) down.

Kellan woke Ian up when I put him (back) down.

Ian woke Kellan up after he had fallen asleep while I was nursing him.

Jesse woke me up when he came home from REI, after I had fallen asleep trying to get the kids to sleep.

During Kellan's hour-long wake period I put him in his swing and decompressed by reading some blogs. I wold look over the computer screen at him and he would just be sitting there watching me, waiting for me to acknowledge him. As soon as I looked at him he would get this HUGE grin on his face. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, and took him out to let him crawl around so I could pinch his cheeks while I had some Ian-free time.

He didn't want to cuddle, though. All he wanted to do was chew on his frog.

Mormon Messages

Since it is General Conference this weekend, I will use this time to confess something that I have wanted to say for a long time.

Our church has made some "Mormon Messages" videos that feature one of our apostles or the prophet speaking, along with music. Each video has a different focus. They're very good, and I am addicted to them. They make me cry, but in a good way.

Here are some of my favorites:

Restoration

Hope Ya Know, We Had A Hard Time

O Remember, Remember

Watch a video. It will make your day better, and who doesn't need a better day?

OCD

When Ian takes off his shoes, he places them neatly side by side right in front of the door, in the exact middle of the door. Facing the door. It's like he wants to be able to just step into them and continue out the door.

He also insists on opening the door that leads out of our apartment building. There's a fake deadbolt and he has to turn the deadbolt to the exact upright position before he opens the door. We'll try to get it right at least four or five times before we can leave.

And, just for fun, I caught Kellan trying to eat the dust bunnies in our closet this morning.

Fall!

The trees here are starting to turn red--just the very tops of some, but it's the beginning of fall! Which brings me to wonder...why don't the grocery stores out here have good hot cocoa? All they carry is Nesquick and individually packaged Swiss Miss with marshmallows. Gross.

One other thing this area lacks: Cinnamon bears. Nowhere to be found.