I Love Harry

The other day I finished Harry Potter 7 (I'm in CA right now - it's hard to keep my blog current when I'm visiting my family).

I love JK Rowling. She's brilliant.

And I love my mom for sending me back to bed when she woke up the morning I finished the book (Sam's CA wake-up time is 5:30am) since I had stayed up until 2am reading.

To those of you out there who haven't found it necessary to read the Harry Potter series (my husband included): you're a bunch of wackos.

Sam Lost His Cookie

Astros Game

Monday night Ben and I went to an Astros game. It was really fun, and so nice to have a long evening alone with my hubby. Ben's company had reserved a section and had catering included. Now, that's the way to watch a ballgame! I forgot my camera (yes, we finally bought a new one) so no pictures. Well, unless you want to go to the Astros website and look for the ones that the ballpark-camera-lady took and posted on the fansite (I tried to save them to my hard drive to post here but it wouldn't let me. Copyright, schmopyright). Our pictures are here (6th row) and here (3rd row).

Truth be told, the Astros suck. They got creamed by the Dodgers. It was still fun just to be there though. I actually really enjoy watching live baseball. I was bummed when, going into the 9th inning, the Astros were down 10-0. Not that I care about them losing (because I really don't), but Ben told me that when an Astros player hits a homerun, the train that sits on the back wall of the stadium does a celebratory run across the wall. So I had wanted to see that. Well, they came through for me and someone (I haven't a clue who) hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th. The train started a-chuggin'. Chug... chug... chug... And that's it. The slowest, most anti-climactic chug across the wall that you can possibly imagine. Maybe it realized there was no chance the team would make up another 8 runs before the game was over and just thought, "What's the point?" That's what it seemed to say anyway, as it made its obligatory ride across the wall. What a let-down.

Still, fun night. Yummy food. Great date.

Model Employee

I do a good job working at Pottery Barn (really, I do), but I keep expecting the managers there to finally decide that I'm just not worth being on the payroll. I must use the phrase "on the payroll" somewhat lightly - one of my bi-weekly paychecks was for $25. And I've definitely given way more money to the company than it has given to me since I've started working there. One of my managers was giving me a hard time the other night because, all in one conversation, I reminded her of my 2 night/week availability (she had scheduled me for 4 - no can do), that I would have to miss the upcoming mandatory staff meeting, and of my 4-week vacation (I'm going to CA on Thursday). She asked if I'd like her to schedule someone to come with me on my trip so I could have a break. :) (In defense of my limited availability, I will remind you how I was completely up-front about it so it's not my fault if I'm scheduled more than was agreed upon).

Then there's the damage to company property. I seem to become destructo-girl when I work. One night I was gift-wrapping something and accidentally cut the phone cord, which was laying beneath the wrapping paper. Oops! Another night I had a little mishap with the fax machine. There was some speculation that I was involved with a broken cabinet too, but that one wasn't my fault (I just wrote the warning note about it so no one would get hurt). Luckily I'm friends with all the managers so everything is just funny but I still wonder sometimes how long they'll put up with me. Especially when I ask them about going down to one night a week. Although the scheduling manager did say that she likes to schedule me on the days she's closing so that must say something, right? Right??

Speaking of Pottery Barn, look at this beautiful ottoman (I HIGHLY recommend the oversized-ottoman-as-a-coffee-table-route for anyone with little kids) which my mom and dad bought us as a housewarming gift.


Thank you SO much, Mom and Dad! We LOVE it!

More Noah

*Updated again (because Noah won't stop saying cute things)*

Because I can't seem to go more than a couple of weeks without posting some of Noah's sayings, here are the latest:

• This morning Ben was holding Sam as he was about to leave for work. Noah looked a little worried and said, "Daddy, you leave Peanut here."
• These days Noah precedes most requests with, "Excuse me, Mama, may I . . . ?" It's darn near impossible to deny him things when he asks so politely.
• Tonight I got Noah in his jammies and then starting cleaning up the toys in the family room. Noah emerged from his bedroom, saw me with the toys and said (while wagging his finger at me), "C'mon Mama. It's time to brush my teeth. It's not time to play with toys!"
• These days he likes to answer our questions with a very emphatic, "Of course!"
• On the mornings when Noah is awake before Ben leaves for work, goodbyes to Ben usually include the firmly delivered warning, "Daddy, I am NOT going to work with you," as though Ben had been hounding him about it and just wouldn't let up.
• One night as we were getting the kids to bed, Noah heard Sam fussing a bit in his crib. A very concerned Noah ran out from his room and said, "Daddy, can you please go rescue Peanut?"
• As I've mentioned before, when I ask about Noah's dreams he always picks a color or two and says he dreamed about that. Yesterday morning, however, he said he dreamed about Donald Duck.
• When Noah has extreme 2-year-old moments, I will often suggest (or demand) that he go spend some time in his room until he can calm down and be happy. This morning, he was sent to his bed for a time-out after throwing a toy train at Sam's head (sadly, his aim was dead-on). I went in a few minutes later to have him apologize to Sam. Upon doing so, Noah was told he could come out but he said, "No, I have to get happy," and opted to remain on his bed for a few more minutes.
• Earlier today we were watching The Little Mermaid. After the show when the music video for "Kiss the Girl" came on, Noah ran to me and said, "C'mon Mama, it's time to dance!" After dancing and singing through the song (Noah joined in on some of the lyrics) we sat down to catch our breath and Noah said, "I like dancing with you, Mama. That's a fun song!" When I echoed the sentiment Noah replied, "Why, thank you, Mama!"

Let Him Eat Cake

On Saturday we had some friends over for a cupcake party for the Birthday Boy. Sam, of course, had his own private cake to indulge in.

Here is the progression of his first taste of cake:

All clean!

Twelve Months

On Thursday, we started Sam's first birthday off with a trip to the pediatrician for a well-baby visit where he received 3 shots (Happy Birthday, Little Guy!). His one-year-old stats:

Height: 29 inches (25th percentile)
Weight: 19.1 pounds (5-10th percentile)
Head: 18 3/4 inches (75-90th percentile)

So, apparantly he has a big head now. He doesn't really seem like he has a particulary large noggin to me, but look at the percentile difference between his head and the rest of him! Hopefully he'll start to even out a little so he doesn't end up like the little brother on So I Married an Axe Murderer. He's still a light little fella but his pediatrician isn't concerned so I guess I'll try not to be either. (Except that I am. I checked back through Noah's records and he weighed more at 7 months than Sam does now at 12 months.)

Anyway, here are my tiny-man's froggy pictures (please forgive the lighting - I was borrowing a friend's camera again and I was obviously unfamiliar with it but my squirmy child didn't allow me the time to figure it out!):

And, in celebration of my baby boy's first year, here is a collection of his froggy pictures month by month:

Church Stuff

A couple of months ago Ben was asked to be the Scoutmaster in our ward. I didn't love the calling. Mostly the weekends/week away at camps, lots of meetings and stuff. Anyway, I prayed that he'd be released (don't judge me). Well, he's going to be released from that calling because he was just called to be the 2nd counselor in our ward's Bishopric. I think I should be more specific when I pray. :)

We're a little nervous but I'm actually feeling pretty good about it all, which is kind of surprising to me. The other men he'll be serving with and their wives are really great. The hardest thing will probably be sitting in the church meeting with the boys by myself since Ben will be up on the stand. But as soon as Ben went up to the stand after being called today, a really sweet teenage girl moved over to sit by me and the boys and she was a huge help. After the meeting she very nicely asked if she could sit by us every week. What a sweetheart (and a lifesaver!). So I think it'll be good.

As far as I'm concerned, I used to teach a Primary class but now I'm the choir director. I've never done that before and it's kind of fun actually (another surprise)! It's a recent thing so today is only our second practice but last week we had a good time. I'm having practices at my house with goodies afterward so we just sing for a bit and then eat and chat for awhile. The plan is to sing in church once a month. If anyone knows of some good songs I could have our choir sing (or good alternate arrangements of hymns), let me know!

My Sam

I'm not sure what the precise definition of "infant" is, but in my mind it refers to a baby under a year old. In that case, today is Sam's last day as an infant. At this time tomorrow (almost to the minute), he will be a one-year-old. I know people say this type of thing all the time, but I honestly cannot believe that my baby will be one tomorrow. His first year went by so fast. It's so amazing how much he has grown in such a short time. Yet, even though he's only been here for a year, I feel like he's been mine forever and I can't imagine our family or my life without him in it. He's made quite an impact for such a little guy. I'm thinking right now about the moment, exactly one year ago tomorrow, when I gave one final push and reached out for my tiny son. I remember it so well and it's bringing tears to my eyes. I was the one who proclaimed "it's a boy!" and that first moment I held him he was all I could see. We looked at each other and he was just so familiar and I could tell that he knew me too.



Now an entire year has gone by and I don't know where it went. It's so fun to watch him grow and see him develop and learn and see his fun personality emerge, but it's hard in a way too. He doesn't fit completely in my arms anymore. When I sat down at the computer I actually intended to just post some cute pictures of Sam and that's it, but now I'm totally crying. I just love this baby so much it's ridiculous. Well, here are the cute pictures:

(Lately Sam loves to crawl around with things - he very carefully balances himself so he doesn't have to let go of his book or toy)

(Sam thought this was a very funny game)

Happy Birthday Missy!

Today is my sister Melissa's birthday. I think everyone needs a sister. Mine is awesome.

Happy Birthday!!!

I love you!

Here is me and Melis a couple of years ago with Noah and Abby:

Note to self: when I'm in CA in a couple of weeks, take a picture with my sister.

Spooked

My little Noah has started getting a little spooked at night. It all started on the 4th of July. We met all of our neighbors in the center of our cul-de-sac with drinks and lawn chairs to talk and watch the neighborhood fireworks. All the kids ran around, played basketball and rode their bikes. Sam was fond of crawling on the pavement (seemed like it would hurt but he didn't seem to notice). Once the fireworks started up Noah came over to sit in Ben's lap. He said he liked the fireworks, but he started acting overly concerned about Sam not wanting to hear the fireworks (Sam was completely oblivious to the sparklers and was happy as a clam crawling on the ground). So we think he was projecting. Anyway, when we came inside to go to bed Noah insisted on me cuddling him until he fell asleep. He was so spooked - very sad. The problem is that every night now he grabs me when I try to say goodnight and says "No, you stay here. You cuddle me." When he adds a frantic, "Please! Please!" it's just too sad to say no. So if anyone has any tips on how to un-spook a little boy, I'm all ears.

Speaking of Noah and cuddling, yesterday Ben was cuddling with him before nap and Ben started to doze off. A minute later he was awakened by Noah poking him in the arm, saying, "Hey, Daddy. You go to your bed. And say 'hi' to Mama."

A couple of other things he's been saying a lot lately:

"I'm so proud of you." He says this a lot. My favorite time he said this was a few weeks ago after he'd had a completely embarassing public meltdown at the food court in the mall. He finally calmed down and started eating his lunch. Mid-bite, he turned to me with the cutest expression on his face and said, "Hey!! I'm not sad anymore! I'm happy now!" and then, "I'm so proud of you, Mama." Like he was so pleased with the way I handled his meltdown.

"I love my boys." He'll say this when we're all snuggling on the couch or something.

He also likes to point out opposites. Like in the meltdown story above ("I'm not sad - I'm happy!") or he'll say things like, "It's hot. And it's not really cold" or "That's loud. But it's not really quiet."

Funny, funny boy.

Last Week in (lots of) Pictures

Here are lots of pictures from last week when Ashby and her girls were here. Highlights included puddle-jumping, the pool, and the Children's Museum (fun after the dozens of school groups went home and it wasn't so crazy-busy).

My Internet Friend

I have a really good friend, Ashby, whom I met online. Really. Since it sounds a little weird (both our husbands like to tease us about it) I'll explain the whole story. When I was newly pregnant with Noah basically everything revolved around my pregnancy. I would research anything and everything regarding pregnancy symptoms, fetal development, baby products, etc, etc. I was obsessed. I found a website that talked about each week of pregnancy in detail and, of course, started checking it daily. The website has reader forums set up for each month so I started reading on the July birth club. Well, one day Ashby posted kind of an introductory post on that forum. She was due the same day I was, we're the same age, and she lived in Provo, UT. Since I went to BYU in Provo, I posted back that I had gone to college there. She emailed me saying that she had gone to BYU too and we just started emailing back and forth. It turned out that we were at in the dorms at the same time, and even had a mutual friend. We had so much in common and just became really good friends. Plus, it was really fun to have someone due the same day as me because we could talk pregnancy and kind of go through it all together. If I were to print out our emails I would have an awesome pregnancy journal because we talked about absolutely everything relating to our pregnancies and babies. Anyway, a few months later Ben and I both attended a recruiting event for work out at BYU. While I was there Ashby and I met in person (Ben came with, just in case she was a weirdo in person, but she wasn't!).

The next year, Ben and Noah and I went out to Provo again for a friend's wedding so Ashby and I met up at the park with our babies.

Anyway, so we've met a couple of times and emailed a ton and talked on the phone and we've just become really good friends over the last few years.

I tell you the whole story because this past week Ashby and her girls (she had her second baby a few months after Sam was born) came out to visit me! Ben was at Scout camp all week (he was asked to be the Scoutmaster in our ward) so I had some company. It was so much fun having her and the girls here. We just hung out and went to the pool and had some girl time. I'll post pictures and stuff in another post (this one is getting a little long). Oh, one funny story though. Ashby and I were looking through my BYU scrapbook one night and every once in a while she'd see someone that she knew too. So we're laughing about what a small world it is and then she flips the page and points to a picture of me with a couple of girls at a bonfire and says, "That's ME!!!" So evidently we met over 10 years ago when we were freshmen at BYU and she's in my scrapbook! How funny is that? Here's the picture - I'm hugging her roommate, Becca, and Ashby is behind us:

P.S. While she was here, Ashby also updated my blog header. And she gave me a crash course in digital scrapbooking (apparantly I already have a program on my computer that can do it - yippe!). Thanks Ash! For all you digital scrapbookers, she used the "summer fun" kit from heatheranndesigns.com.