Blessing

What a good Christmas! We had lots of fun hanging out with family and using our video camera which means we didn't take any pictures. Whoops! Well, maybe we have some--I haven't downloaded yet, so you can all just sit on the edge of your seats waiting.

Since my parents were able to come visit for Christmas, we decided to bless E. Here he is in his fancy little tux (which was too small for him so it wouldn't close at the top).

Our family

Much happier after his wardrobe change. So cute!

And afterward we got to be Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. He was hungry and therefore grumpy. Oh well, Jesus had to have cried sometime, right?

I tell ya

Who wouldn't want to kiss this face?

Or pinch those cheeks?!

Oh, and here is our family as marshmallow snow people. Apparently the boys are Russian and I am Chinese (or so says hubby). 

Our house is a very fine house

We have been having some fun lately celebrating. First was my birthday. Hubby's kind mother made us dinner and she and her husband, along with my sister and bro-in-law, came to celebrate with us. It was food, fun, and presents--what more could anyone ask for? Here are some lovely pictures.

Sadly, I have long surpassed one box of candles.

 

E likes to show his cute little Sumo tummy.

Also in the spirit of celebrating, I've been promising G that we would make a gingerbread house together, so last night I made good on that promise. It pretty much devolved into my making an ugly house with G just eating candy. Oh well, we had fun anyway.

This is a plate hubby made when he was about 6--I thought the resemblance was pretty spooky. I don't think anyone else agrees. 

Don't you love how kids never cooperate for pictures?

Why sleeping kids are cute but scary

You wouldn't know it, but little kids are scary when they sleep. This is mainly for two reasons. First you are terrified that when they are asleep something might happen, and they will never wake up. Consequently, you feel the need to check on them a million times a night. Second, you are afraid that while you are checking on them they will wake up (which they often do--darn squeaky hardwood floors) and you will never sleep again. You can see what a quandary we are in at our house. Luckily teaching intro to psychology has taught me that sleep deprivation doesn't really make you crazy, it just feels that way. Isn't that comforting?

Regardless, I would now like to take the opportunity to apologize to my parents for EVERYTHING. That's right, all of it--but especially making you sleep with me all the time when I was little. Just so you know, the mother's curse has worked and my good sleeper is turning into an insomniac while my newbie is not a great sleeper altogether. Ahhh, the sweet smell of payback. 

In regard to #2, Hubby and I once discussed the idea of baby straight jackets--which seemed a little cruel, but now I'm considering this:

This product is called "the woombie" and is $25. It's supposed to help your baby not startle itself awake. I was ready to buy ten of them at 4:00 this morning, then I began thinking that I could sew up the arms of his sleep sack pajamas and basically have the same thing for free. This led to a whole winding thought process of how to do it, everything else I need to do, what I should buy people for Christmas, when to make a gingerbread house, if it was too early to eat a grilled cheese sandwich, etc. Finally I just let the little wriggler beside me win, and got up to start the day. (By the way, I ate grilled cheese for breakfast, yum!) And now you see my genetic gift (which I have apparently passed on) for insomnia. 

In other news I keep debating about making our blog private. My major concern, however, is that our parents would no longer look at it. Let's be honest Mom, how many times have I told you my login and password to my Costco photo account? (Still love you, and still very sorry!) I haven't decided, but I'll announce it if I do. 

Finally, I have a few reccomendations if you want to kill time.

first, G and I looked at this downright stupid sight for hours while we laughed and laughed at dumb things pets do (beware there can be language, I just look at the pictures): http://www.cuteoverload.com/

This story is going all around the web. I have been addicted to this family and their extended family since August:
Her: nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/
Her sister: cjanerun.com/
Her hilarious brother: thejollyporter.blogspot.com/

I wish this woman would be my best friend. Please read the one where she hit their own car in the driveway: borrowedlight.blogspot.com/

I actually have quite a few other people I read regularly who are funny and fun, but I don't know that they would like the exposure. So if I didn't mention you, it's only in an attempt to maintain your privacy. Aren't I polite?

There is no natural end to this post. Out.

Truly Thanksgiving

Since we have a new baby and RSV season has officially begun, we got to stay home and have our own little Thanksgiving this year. here are some pictures of the festivities. 

Here's a hungry G waiting to begin. (It's hard for a 3 year old to keep seeing yummy pies but not get to eat them!)

These were our placemats that G and Dad made for us.  (They're turkeys if you can't tell.)

Little E performing a Thanksgiving miracle and allowing us to eat without holding him.

The turkey 

You can't really see, but G and Dad lined up pilgrim hat cookies and little turkeys we had made out of apples and gum drops along the back of the table. 

This is what E thought about everything...

The next day we welcomed in Christmas. 

I spent about half an hour putting this little bow corsage on our wreath, then when I closed the door, it completely smooshed it. Oh well, at least there is a picture, right?

We were so happy to have dad here (not at the hospital working) and celebrate as a family! What a good couple of days!

Saturday Activities

Saturday at 1:00 pm, our house.

This is what he was doing:

This is what they were doing:

This is what I was doing.

Any questions?

The insight of G

So, G and I were sitting at the table eating breakfast the other day and he asked:

G: What do the sky and the clouds mean?

B: Well, I don't know what they mean, but I know what they do . . . they protect us from space because we can't live in space.

G: Do you know what else is in space?

B: Stars.

G:That's correct Daddy!

(I'm so glad he could teach me that!)

We continued on . . .

B: Well, I need to get a lunch ready for school.

G: Oh, can I get you some chips?

B: Well, I am going to have some left over dinner from last night.

G: OK, do you need to make lunch so that you can stay awake in school?

B: Yes, as a matter of fact I do!

(Where does he pick up on these things?)

This is for Lisa...

4th folder, 4th picture, right? 

If you know him, this needs no explanation.

Thanksgiving Fun

I've been looking online for fun things to do with G for Thanksgiving to get him into the spirit. Here were a couple of fun things we found and really enjoyed:

These are little pilgrim hats made from marshmallows and fudge striped shortbread cookies

Here is our "Thankful" tree. My favorites? Naptime, and a toddler who is basically potty trained.

I told G that he could wear his Super Why outfit as much as he wanted after Halloween was over. Here he is taking me up on my offer. 

One thing that I really enjoyed about making our "thankful tree" was that it forced me to try to think of a lot of things that I was thankful for, and the more I thought the more I realized how blessed I am. It was also fun to get G into the spirit. My favorites of his: green, crayons, slippers, treats, kisses, Santa Claus, and people. I am also grateful for all of those things, but would like to add: my Prince Charmings (Hubby, G, and E), my parents and siblings, my other parents and siblings (in-laws), and my religion. Like I said, the more things I think about the more I am thankful for--like indoor plumbing, hot water, and zippers--so you can see why I can't list everything. Anyway, I will just quit rambling and say I love my life so THANK YOU to everyone and everything that contribute to it! 

Happy Thanksgiving

ChapStick on the Kitty (as titled by G)

I was playing the Josh Groban song "Thankful" yesterday to which G asserted: "Mom, will you turn that off? It's creepin' me out!"  

Is it wrong of me that I told G that Super Why likes celery so he should eat it too? In my defense, the stake president told our primary that Nephi ate his broccoli. If God gets mad at me I guess I'm pinning it on the stake president. 

So sometimes I tell G that he can't have certain foods but then I want to eat them. This is how I ended up scarfing down a mini bag of Cheetos today and being caught by G orange fingered and guilty, trying to shake the last crumbs out of the end of the bag. He didn't call me out for my hypocrisy, he merely walked in a minute later with his own bag of Doritos (I had denied him earlier) which I opened with chagrin. 

One thing that I really like about E is that every time he performs some sort of bodily function he looks genuinely surprised. Like, "Oh, was that me? That was WEIRD." I also like that right before he starts nursing he acts as though he's never done it before. Really kid? We do this like 10 times in a 24 hour period. 

I was just thinking about going to the library and it sounds like a lot of work. How do you get the book mobile to come to your house? think I could easily become a hermit. If stores would let me shop online without charging for shipping costs I think I could easily never leave my house. Mmm...recycled air. 

Except for Costco. I LOVE COSTCO. 

I always think that everything should cost half of what it does. Seriously, I'll be shopping and say, "hmm...I'd buy that if it was like $15," then we'll look at the price and it will be $30. It's almost spooky how reliable my sense of pricing is. As you might expect I am pretty good at "The Price Is Right." 

Speaking of game shows, who doesn't love Family Feud? I would seriously think about going on that show. Who would be on my Family Feud team, though? Hubby and I have already determined that we could not do The Amazing Race together for a couple of important reasons:

1. I would invariably yell at him at some point (because I am ridiculously competitive and impatient with anyone who is not my child) and would forevermore be edited as the horrible witch of the show. We really don't fight very often, but I'm sure the Amazing Race is a situation (i.e. stress + competition + possibility of fabulous prices and money + physical and mental exhaustion + lack of food)  that would bring out all of the raunchiness in me. 

2. I am terrified of pretty much everything so I would be useless in the challenges. Sky dive, bungee jump, fly an airplane--are you freaking kidding me? 

So anyway, that decision has already been made. Not that we have ever seriously considered or tried to get on a game show, these are just the kind of important decisions that we have made together as a couple. 

And the decision that neither of us is EVER allowed to run for public office. Why don't we just let people rifle through our underwear drawers right now?

Why skinny husbands are hot, but sometimes annoying...

So my hubby has been concerned lately that as he is getting closer to 30 he might be getting a little bit of a tummy. This is a conversation we had yesterday after I had just exercised for half an hour on the treadmill and done 100+ sit-ups (which I realize is not a lot of exercise but who do I look like, Arnold Schwarzenegger?):

Me: "Hey honey, your tummy is looking smaller. It looks really good."

Him: "It does? Thanks!"

Me: "Yeah it does, have you been doing anything?"

Him: "Nope. Well I thought about doing some sit-ups. Maybe that helped."

I'm sure it did. 

Pictures of our chubber

So far we have been kind of slow in the picture department, I think it has something to do with being sleep deprived. Anyway, little E is turning into quite a chubby little guy. Here are a few recent pictures. 

My sister told me about this cool site where you can scrapbook online. Here is one page I got done. Of course I wasn't patient enough to do all the pictures this way. 

G had to have his picture taken because we were taking too many of E. 

My sleeping boys (and of course the faker). What a good actor. 

I think he's praying that he can eat some more when he wakes up. 

I don't know if you can tell from this picture but E's cheeks are about the size of Texas and he has a double chin now. According to our scale he is 11.5 pounds. Of course bathroom scales aren't totally accurate but I wouldn't be super surprised!

Question

Ok, so I'll admit it, I love clothes. I love shopping. If I could, I would buy things non-stop. Buy, Buy, BUY! But the truth of the matter is that we do not have the money for that sort of a lifestyle, so I have to restrain myself. I have my dream stores that if I were rich would always be where I would shop. Again, however, these are my DREAM stores/clothing lines. This means that I only buy from them occasionally and usually from sale or clearance if at all. A few that come immediately to mind are:

Banana Republic

J. Crew

Nordstrom

Anthroplogie

Ann Taylor

Ann Taylor Loft

White House Black Market

BCBG

Hey, I never said that I dreamt big! When I say DREAM, I mean that it is my dream to someday walk into these stores and buy whatever I want without blinking an eye. That means not looking at a shirt and saying, "$50 for a SHIRT!? That's ridiculous!" I mean seriously, do I need to pay $75 for a sweater to sit in at home and have a baby spit up on?

I have noticed as of late, however, that many seemingly young or middle class people shop these stores frequently. My favorite recent comment was when Michelle Obama wore J. Crew clothes on the Late Show and was credited for being so accessible (so middle class American). **This is not a political statement about the Obamas, merely a question regarding the accessibility of a store like J. Crew. 

So here's my question: am I really that out of it? I mean, I consider $300 for one dress (thank you very much Anthropologie) to be a little excessive. In fact, I consider $90 for one dress to be excessive. I can barely (and often don't) pay $50 for shoes. Does everyone really shop at these places all the time like it's no big deal? Am I really that much poorer and less tasteful than the rest of America in that I don't buy my clothes at these places without them being on sale or saving up? What do you guys think? Do I need to loosen the purse strings or am I just watching a ritzier crowd?

Eating Crow and Celebrating

You know how when you are single and you've been in relationships you think you know everything, and then you get married and think, "Holy cow, I had no idea how hard being married is!" Then you judge everyone and their parenting until you have a kid and you think, "Holy cow, I had no idea how hard being a parent is!" Well we are currently at the stage where we thought we were pretty good at the parent thing and are now thinking, "Holy cow, I had no idea how much harder it is to have more than one!!" This is closely followed by the thought, "HOW DID OUR PARENTS DO THIS?! Oh wait, maybe that's why they are a little crazy." (Haha, we love you guys! Thanks for not stopping at one or we wouldn't be here.)

So anyway, we apologize for falling off the face of the planet. Team B is undergoing a huge, fun, snuggly, grumpy, confusing, tiring, and loving transition right now. We are grateful for it, but we bow to all of you parents who have been here and done it. Clearly we have (and had) no idea what to expect as our family expands. For anyone interested, here are a few pictures from Halloween, G's birthday and other random times...

I just thought this was a cute picture (don't you love his little jeans?!)

Here is G with our Jack-o-lanterns (the smaller one was E's but he was sleeping).

And now we see why G loves Halloween!

The boys in their costumes--Super Why, Super Dad, and a baby pumpkin.

G and I made a Jack-o-lantern pizza together (it looked much better before it was cooked).

Isn't G ridiculously big?

These pictures are from G's birthday. Opening his presents...

His helicopter cake.

And my favorite, our first full family picture so far.

A few more pictures

Our little glow bug (otherwise known as the bili lights)

Hangin' with Grandma

My cute boys