Gag Reflex

My brother has the best gag reflex of anyone that I know. I can still distinctly remember a number of meals wherein my mom forced him to eat something which he then gagged on the whole time. Usually this behavior occurred when we were having something new or unusual (like when we had tofu) but was also brought out in the presence of anything with a disliked texture, i.e. eggs. My absolute favorite memory of this is when Mom had to FORCE him to try a strawberry milkshake which he choked on until she allowed him to spit it all out.

About ten minutes ago we tried to get G to eat some sweet potatoes which, I might add, were very tasty. They were blended with sugar and butter and covered with a brown sugar and pecan crust. In other words, they were more of a dessert than a side dish, but G wouldn't touch them. I told him they were a treat, I begged him to eat them. I even ate a few bites to show him that they were good. His response? "No, don't like that." So I convinced him to take one bite. He licked the end of the spoon, tasting for the sugar. When he sensed the sweetness, he opened his mouth a little wider for another lick and I shoved the spoon in. He started smacking his lips while I watched in triumph...and then the gagging began. He gagged and choked the whole thing down as though we were trying to poison him. Afterwards we asked if he wanted another bite. The answer was a clear NO.

Mmmm

If this is the actual Kneader's Bread Pudding recipe then it's amazing. I haven't tried it yet--Christmas?

http://www.food-lists.com/lists/archives/food-on-tv/2004/03/1078745519.php

Raspberry Bread Pudding
Presented on KTVX (Salt Lake City, Utah)
LAST UPDATE: 3/4/2004 10:39:47 AM

Kneaders' Bakery & Cafe Raspberry Bread Pudding

Cream Mix
1 1/2 loaves aged, white bread
1 quart heavy cream
3 cups sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

In large bowl combine cream, sugar, egg and vanilla. Cut bread into 1 1/2"
cubes and add to cream mixture, coating bread well. Let stand 30 minutes
stirring every 5 minutes to allow cream to absorb completely.

Fruit Filling

5 cups frozen raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup apple juice

Combine raspberries, sugar and apple juice, stirring until sugar is
dissolved.
Layer a 9x13 dark baking dish 3/4 full with bread mixture, pour fruit
filling over bread mixture, spreading evenly, top with remaining bread.
Bake 40 minutes at 375 degrees.
Serve warm. Top with vanilla sauce.

Vanilla Sauce

1 1/3 cup butter
5 tablespoons flour
3 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup sugar

Over medium heat melt butter, and add flour stir 10 minutes until it has a
nutty aroma, do not brown. Add salt, cream and sugar and boil till mixture
is thick, reamove from heat adding vanilla. Serve this wonderful sauce cold.

Negotiating with a 2 year old

Yesterday after hours of negotiations with G, I had to laugh to myself. I began to wonder what the world would be like if we had to negotiate every single task the way in which I have to negotiate with G. I mean, could you imagine two engineers trying to build a bridge having a conversation like this:

E1: "Here are the plans."
E2: (Grabbing the plans away) "No, I'm going to do it."
E1: "No it's my turn"
E2: (angrily crying now) "NO it's MY turn!"
E1: "What if I do it first, then you get to do it?"
E2: "NOOOOOO. I'm doing it!!"
E1: "What if you get a piece of candy instead?"
E2: (receiving the candy happily) "Nice"
(E1 begins to take the plans)
E2: "No, it's my turn!"
and on and on and on...

Wait, I'm starting to think that perhaps I'm not too far off with some people. Well, isn't it fun to know that in some ways you will never escape working with someone going through the terrible two's?

A little BAB appreciation

BAB does so much for everyone around him and often goes a little under appreciated. I just wanted to list a few things about BAB that make him the best.

1. He hardly ever gets mad or frustrated with me even though I often deserve it.

2. He never makes me feel guilty about money, and even makes me keep things when I want to return them.

3. Out of the last 20 loads of laundry we've done, he's probably done about 18 of them and hasn't complained once.

4. He collects paper towel and toilet paper rolls just so that he and G can tape together a little track that they can roll golf balls down.

5. Every time someone calls to ask us for a favor his first response is "yes," even if it is super inconvenient for him. (FYI, this is NOT an invitation to start asking him for more favors. I have no problem saying NO.)

6. He is always genuinely happy for others' successes.

7. He doesn't mind sharing, even if what he has is really cool or really good.

8. He can fix anything.

9. He never gets mad when he comes home to a mess.

10. Every time G cries at night, he gets up with him whether he has to work at 5 am the next morning or not.

11. He loves being surprised.

12. He got a perm because I always wanted to date a curly headed guy! (It was fun but I'm glad that my straight haired guy is back!)

13. After I read a book he always wants me to tell him all about it--even if he wants to read it himself.

14. He will watch chick flicks with me.

15. He thinks he is hilarious--funnier than me!! While it is a ridiculous idea, his sense of confidence is admirable. :-)

I love you honey! Thanks for being such a wonderful husband and father!

Holy Snowses

We decided this afternoon that we would make a run to the library. We took our showers, got ready, and walked out to find...a blizzard awaiting us. Needless to say, the library trip was postponed in favor of a fun family snow outing. Here are a few fun pictures and a video of G throwing snowballs at BAB.

Poor Pitiful December Birthdays and Other Tidbits

Some great news from our house, BAB just finished his last class for his bachelors yesterday! YEAH!! He now gets a break from school for (at the very least) 4 months. We are already trying to plan all of the fun things we will do, which roughly translates into working on the house. Regardless, though, we are very proud of his hard work. He is a wonderful husband and dad.

In other news, it is my birthday on Friday. G has been singing "Happy Birthday to you..." for the last two weeks so I think he's ready. Unfortunately he sings it to himself, but at least it's enthusiastic. Growing up I hated my birthday as I always felt like having a birthday in December was such a waste. Now I realize mine isn't really that horrible as BAB's is just a couple of days before Christmas which (as everyone knows) is way worse. Talk about a rip off! So from now on we have decided to celebrate our birthdays together. He asked me if this made me sad because now it wouldn't just be my day. I just laughed, because I love it. For being such a talker I hate being the center of attention, especially when it relates to praise or excitement. I just don't know how to handle everyone looking at me and gushing. I'm more of the sarcastic back row commenter who likes to make their snide comments and retreat back into the safety of the background. So this arrangement works out nicely. BAB gets to have a birthday where people actually care, he shares the spotlight with me, and I get to make snarky little comments and hide behind him. Just another great benefit of being married!

Thanksgiving

Holidays are a funny time. You wait for them all year with an idea in mind of what will happen--how fun the day will be, the food, the company--your pictures are already taken for you in your head. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), those photographs rarely materialize in a way that we anticipate. Life happens along the way and we usually end up a little surprised at the holiday we find ourselves a part of. Maybe this is for the best. In the end, life is about learning and we do it in a very personal way through our relationships with our contexts and one another. I've recently decided that while perhaps this holiday and the next won't be the ones I've had in my plans, I am grateful for the parts that are still in tact and the joy that they bring me. With that in mind, I feel the need to express appreciation for the many blessings in my life. In no particular order except for the first few, I am thankful for:

1. A loving Heavenly Father and my brother Jesus Christ. I am also thankful for my knowledge and belief in them, and the hope that this brings. I have recently developed a love for a new favorite scripture, Mark 9:24 "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." I know that my heavenly father loves me and that he will carry me across the gaps in faith where I falter.

2. My wonderful husband and son. I am also so grateful that I was willing and able to recognize the meaning that being a part of a family, and loving others brings into your life. Sometimes it is frustrating and exhausting, but it fills my life with a purpose and love that money and self interest could never provide.

3. My family--all of it. I am grateful for my parents and siblings and the love and support they provide, as well as for the family that I have gained through my husband. Life is so much richer because of my family. I am grateful for the perspectives that individuals who have gone through these experiences before can provide. I am also grateful for forgiveness. Sometimes being part of a family and loving others means hurting and being hurt by them, but I am grateful that I am part of a family that wants to stick together and is willing to forgive in order to always have one another.

4. Friends. Sometimes it can be hard to find good friends, but once you do you can find a sense of belonging and fit that makes life so much more fun. I feel grateful to have a few wonderful friends who genuinely care about us. Friends can become a family when other family is hard to find.

5. The opportunity to be educated. The more educated I become, the more I recognize my limitations and how little I really know about most things. I'm not sure why with more education some individuals begin to trust only in themselves. If anything, the more I am educated the more I recognize the need for a living relationship with a heavenly father who is, and provides, the truth of all things.

6. All of our material possessions. I realize this is kind of a cop-out but I really am grateful for the overall ability that we have to live in a wonderful home and have the things that we need. We never freeze, or starve, or go without our needs. We might not have a lot of money to fulfill all of our wants, but we always have enough for our needs and that is plenty.

I'm sure I could come up with more things that are just silly and fun like The Office and 30 rock, Krispy Kreme, and Citizens of Humanity jeans (though I'm not grateful for the price). Maybe I'll wait for another day to list all of those silly favorites off. As for now, Happy Thanksgiving!

This is why parents don't sleep in.

Yesterday, in an attempt to sleep in, I turned on the t.v. and instructed G to forage for food out of "his cupboard" which contains a mixture of treats. A somewhat restful hour later (he kept waking me up to open his fruit snacks), I woke up to find the contents of an entire can of mixed nuts covering the floor. So this is why my parents never slept in.

Our cute boy

Here are some pictures of the funny things G has been up to lately.

I found him like this on our bed Sunday, right after his shower but right before church. Tired?


He disappeared while we were eating breakfast and reappeared as a cowboy in pajamas.


Playing in the leaves with Grandma


His new Helicopter Blanket!

Halloween Pictures

I am a little slow getting these up, but if anyone is interested here are our Halloween pictures.
Also, for those of you who didn't know yet, BAB permed his hair! We have had several reactions but I actually like it. His hair is looking pretty crazy in these picts (particularly for Haloween) but if anyone is hot and confident enough to pull this off, it's BAB.

Carving Pumpkins



Dad and G's Costumes. I actually did wear my Cowboy hat and plaid shirt but I was taking the picture. (I'm proud of myself for trying to escape my Scrooge like attitude toward Halloween. I'm fighting my reinforcement history!)

In case you were wondering about the length of that cape, it was G's costume from last year. Weirdo.

Birthday

Here are some pictures from G's Birthday. We were all wearing costumes, just in case anyone was wondering if we dress like this normally.

Somebody said this day would come.

G has always been a wonderful sleeper. He would go down at 7pm and wake up at 7am without a peep. We had the perfect child...until about a week ago. For the last week he has been waking up 3-5 times a night hollering for us. This has resulted in us getting up over and over telling him that it's still sleepy time and re-adjusting a blanket, night light, fan, whatever. It's maddening! So after talking to some friends yesterday and reaching the end of our ropes, we decided it was time to bust out the tough love. We were going to put him to bed and then let him cry it out.

It didn't take long. At about 7:45 he started. We went in once and told him that it was sleepy time and that we wouldn't come back in any more. At about 8:00 the hollering started. First it was, "Daddy...DADDY....DADDY WHERE ARE YOU!?!?" After about five minutes of that it switched over to mommy. Pretty soon thereafter the sobbing began. Wailing and sobbing, calling our names. Any parent knows how hard this is to listen to. BAB retreated to the basement and I started timing it out. My max was 15 minutes and I would go in and comfort him.

It was about 14.5 minutes when I heard a loudish thump. "Is that what I think it is?" I thought, hesitating for a second. The crying had gotten a little louder but not more intense. I went to the door to finally check on him to have my suspicions confirmed. Before I could open it, G was standing with the door open, bawling. He had finally done it, he had decided if we weren't coming to him then he was coming to us.

Well that little stunt landed him a spot in Mom and Dad's bed. We all laid down until he went to sleep and then transplanted him to his crib. We didn't hear him from then on, and everything seemed fine. Fast forward to 1:30am, we wake up to another loud thump and a little whimpering. BAB runs in to find him on his hands and knees on the floor. He didn't even call for us! He was just coming to get us. AHHHHHH!

So the day has finally come. G can climb out of his crib and is not planning on staying in it at all. What the heck are we going to do? Any advice for how to keep a 2 year old in a big boy bed? Wait, we need to buy a big boy bed. What a mess.

You can't surprise him!

For anyone who hasn't heard, tomorrow is G's second birthday. We are very excited, however I'm not so sure that he fully understands what is going on. We have been having conversations that go a little like this:

Me: "G, did you know that your birthday is coming?"
G: "Yeah birthday."
Me: "It's Saturday!"
G: "No, no, no, no, no Saturday."
Me: "Yeah, Saturday..."
G: (interupting): "NO SATURDAY"
Me: "Oh ok."
G: "Happy Birthday to you"
Me: "You want me to sing Happy Birthday to you?"
G: "Yeah. Mommy do it."
Then we sing Happy Birthday to you about 5 times until I tell him we aren't singing it anymore.

Last night, however; we asked if he was excited about his birthday and he responded with, "Yeah, birthday train." BAB and I looked at each other kind of puzzled. We are getting him a little train set for his birthday and he helped us pick it out, but we figured he'd forgotten since it had been last week sometime. So I told him we would think about it. Today when I asked him about his birthday he said that same thing, "Yeah, birthday train." Again, where does this come from? A few hours later the cat was scratching at the door to get into the guest bedroom. G jumped up and happily obliged, letting him in. A few seconds later we hear, "BIRTHDAY TRAIN!" We had left his birthday presents sitting on the bed in the spare room. Apparently he had been going in every day and looking at his train set. No surprise this year, he definitely gets that from me.

Random thoughts

When we were growing up my mom made up all sorts of words that I found hilarious. My favorite was when she would yell, "poo poo pa doo on you boo boo!" when she was driving and angry at another car. I think that there must be something about being a mother, however, that motivates you to generate bizarre language. Recently I have begun to find myself doing it as well. For example you can't just say move, it has to be skootchy poochy. Likewise your stomach is now called a tum tum-a-rum. Sadly, this nerdy way of speech is starting to become so natural I notice myself using these words among individuals above the age of two. It's a little embarassing when you are talking to a professor and you almost say, "alrighty-roo!" Now if I could just turn my obscenities into amusing anecdotale words then I really would be my mother.

Now, I really have no way to transition into this next rant other than to say I did title this post "random thoughts." The more that I think about my graduate school experience and the more that I want it to be over with, the more I have come up with reasons that graduate school kind of ruins your life. In no particular order here is my latest list:

1. It makes you believe that receiving a bachelors degree is not really an accomplishment at all, when in reality there are a lot of individuals who do not have college educations. Further, it makes you believe that a masters degree is only somewhat of an accomplishment but truly unworthy of the PhD which holds all of the power and secrets of life. (And might I include many of the pompous boogerheads of life)

2. It makes you believe that there is nothing more important than the pursuit of knowledge and education. Anyone who has a family can see the fallacy in this line of thinking.

3. It presents language, ideas, and concepts to you in such a way that anyone not in your specialty has no idea about. This speciality of thought creates a sort of distance between you and others in your ability to discuss certain topics and ideas.

4. In relation to #3, your mind begins to be filled with so much information about every topic you've studied that arguments and thoughts become so expansive it is difficult to crystallize and articulate them to another individual.

5. It creates constant guilt. If you aren't planning on using your degree--what's the point? If you plan on using your degree, you should always be working harder and smarter than the next person to ensure your standing. You should publish more, publish in better journals, be a better teacher, go to more conferences, get grants, more, more, more, more, more.

6. It destroys your creativity. They want you to think, but think in a way that is still playing the game. Think in the way that you are trained...and after 8 years of college you do. I used to think I was a creative person, college and graduate school have killed that in me. The best part, though, is that once you graduate they want you to come up with completely original research that will innovate the field. What a laugh.

I must say, in general I really have enjoyed school. I suppose I haven't had much of a conduit for my teenage angst as of late, perhaps this is it. Maybe the solution is to do what my friend from school suggested, start our own college and create our own curriculum. I think my number one class would be napping 101 with an advanced class of hibernation 220. Oh with maybe a side of silly made up words offered every other semester. Sign me up!

Camel begins with C

G has a few alphabet games that he can play on the internet. My plan was to fall asleep while he played by himself, but then I noticed that every time a new letter was announced he would gasp out of excitement. I thought it was so funny I had to take a short video clip of it. Sorry the picture is so fuzzy, I think the camera batteries are on their last leg.



Oh and if you couldn't tell, C was his favorite because the camel makes a licking motion and sound.

Shrek Song

I think by this point everyone knows that G loves Shrek. So being the loving and attentive parents that we are, yesterday we went to the library and checked out the Shrek and Shrek 2 soundtracks and have been listening to "I'm a Believer" and "Livin' la Vida Loca" for the last two days straight. But really, who can complain with dancing as funny and cute as this?

Cute!

G really enjoyed the first five minutes or so of conference every session. In the first session, after the choir sung and we listened to "Pesident Hinky" he turned to me and said, "This is a good show."

Quotable Quotes

So now that G is talking more he has started saying some really funny things. I thought I'd write a few since I always get a kick out of reading quotes from everyone else.

The other day after BAB put him down for bed:
BAB: "Good night, I love you!"
G: "Bye, thanks for coming!"

At church during the sacrament: "Jesus Christ!"
(in his defense we say that a lot during the sacrament prayers)
Later when playing with his cars in sacrament: "Crap, crap, crap"

Today pointing at a zit on my forehead:
G: "Owee mommy!"
Me: "What? Where?"
G: "RIGHT THERE!!"
Me: "Oh my zit, awesome thanks!"
G: "Zit, RIGHT THERE!"
Again, thank you.

Yesterday when I told him Grandma was coming to watch him:
Me: "G, guess who is coming to play with you!"
G: "Aunt A (my sister)?"
Me: "No Grandma"
G: "No Aunt A"
Me: "No Grandma"
G after thinking for a minute: "Mimi?" (BAB's older sister)
Me: "No Grandma, and you will have so much fun!"
G: "No, no, no, no..."
Apparently he thought this was a negotiation. I know that this sounds sad, but as soon as Grandma came over he didn't care that I was there anymore and then wasn't even excited when BAB and I got home. Little stinker.

Well that's all I can think of right now. I will try to keep track of more for later.

Singing and Dancing in the Rain

When I was a kid living in Arizona, I remembered dancing outside every time it rained. I loved the smell and the feel of it, it was amazing. Fast forward through 10 years of being in Oregon. My most prevalent memories of high school are of always feeling cold and wet. In other words, becoming an Oregonian ruined my love of rain. Fast forward another 7 or so years and now clearly have my own little Utahn (not Oregonian), as is witnessed through his reaction to the rain. I did not tell him to do this--it was his idea.



In other news, BAB decided a couple of weeks back that he wanted to grow out his beard. I tried to be a good wife about it and not say anything, but I finally caved. One day I told him, "You can make your own decision, I'm not telling you what to do. However, I cannot kiss you with that on your face. It's just too much. So, if you would like to grow it then that is fine, but just know you can't kiss me." He went straight into the bathroom and shaved it off. But not before he made me take pictures of every stage:

For this last one, BAB said that he was ready to join the police force. I agree.

Primary...who knew?

So apparently there is this whole organization in the church which is devoted to children under the age of 12. It is called primary, and it is a HUGE job. Who knew? I found all this out when I was recently called to be the Primary secretary. We had our first Sunday conducting yesterday where we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off and the kids looked at us like, "what is the big deal? We know what we're doing." Thanks to the timing we also managed to inherit the primary program. I have always enjoyed the program as a spectator--I have a feeling it's a lot less funny from behind the scenes. I'm thinking that once things get going, though, this primary stuff will just be second nature. Change is always like driving a stick shift...when it first happens you think, "how in the world will I ever be able to do this without freaking out and feeling stressed the whole time?" Before you know it, though, you're driving, eating, talking on the phone, and changing the radio station. Until then...

Sad

Ma and Hubbie were telling us about this contestant for Miss Teen USA from South Carolina. This poor girl just has a meltdown. In honor of all my southern friends, however, I'm going to believe that it is indicative of all southerners. Northwesterners RULE!

September

Well, it is officially the start of school again. It's funny how every year time seems to go faster. I remember being a little kid and summer couldn't be slower. Now I'm thinking--what did I do for the entire month of July and August? There is only one benefit to September, however; new t.v. episodes. All I have to say is House, The Office, 30 Rock. There are a few other shows that I will plan on watching regularly, but I'm so excited for these!

Here it is!!

Finally, the post you have all been waiting for...our completed kitchen! I just want to thank everyone who helped, 4+ weeks later we cooked our first meal last night! Hallelujah--isn't it beautiful?!






And just to prove that I haven't forgotten the real reason for this blog--which is to rave about our adorable family--here are some pictures of my boys.

Looking good in Dad's shoes (size 13 mind you!)

Snuggling with the kitty

Dad sweeping--taken by G

Nothing like sitting in a lawn chair and eating popsicles with your Aunt Afton

Baby Tent

We went to Ikea yesterday and bought G this little baby tent for $5. He sat in it while I took his picture, then he put all of his raisins in it--I guess to save for later. I then started working on the computer thinking that he was still enjoying his tent when I realized that he was unusually quiet and self contained. Of course, this meant I had to find him. Lucky me--he was not in his tent, but rather in the bathroom playing in the litter box. SICK! These pictures are, of course, prior to my disgusting discovery

.

Kitchen pictures continued...

More kitchen photos

Kitchen update

Here are some more pictures of everything's progression. The first ones shows where the insulation guys punched a billion holes in the walls. And the last are pictures of it now looking much better. Almost done with our part! YEAH!

More new picts

I just wanted to post some more pictures of my cutie. I know that this first one is a little blurry (and a little naughty), but I just think it is hilarious!

About time

It's about time that I post some more pictures and things about what's going on around here. So here goes...

We went to the rodeo on the 24th which is a story all in it of itself, but it was fun dressing up and G really enjoyed the horsies and cows (bulls). We had a great time and, as always, found that our favorite part was "mutton bustin'" where crazy parents convince their small children to hold onto a sheep for dear life, while it rockets out into the arena only to step on them once they fall. The announcer called it, "the only legal form of redneck child abuse." Amen, yet still very funny.



We also discovered that the Hawaiian outfit BAB's mom brought G from Hawaii when he was just a few months old, actually fits now. I think it's hilarious since it makes him look like an 80 year old American tourist. He liked the fact that his clothes had an animal he could identify on them, namely a "fishy!" This is him saying, "cheese" by the way.



BAB has also started building forts with G. They both enjoy it a ton--as you can see from the pictures.



And finally, we started ripping out our kitchen in preparation for our new one. Yeah! It is such a mess, our house is a DISASTER! Here is what it looks like right now, I sure hope that this all works out because we're kind of at a point of no return!