Home Again

and ready to resume my post as The Mom.

Until Next Week

I don't know what I was thinking, but I left the snow and my three boys for 6 days.

Here's a clue about where I am and what I'm doing:

This Fiasco Started at 8am

In August or sometime around the end of the summer, Gerret picked up the habit of holding food in his mouth.  When he decides he's had enough, or he just doesn't like what's on the menu, or he doesn't like the color of what's going in... he takes one last bite.  And then holds that bite, swishing around inside the cavity of his mouth, for an indefinite period of time. 

We didn't catch on at first.  Hours after a meal was finished, we'd be playing in another room, or laying him down in his crib, then suddenly the meal would reappear, partially digested.  Gross. 

Now we know what's coming.  We typically make him spit that "last bite" out in the garbage as we leave the table, this so that the partially digested blob doesn't make its way onto our living room carpet or his beloved pillow.  The garbage was where it was at, until the past few days.  The rules have changed again (because PTB is on vacation).  The current law regarding The Last Bite is this:  Gerret will sit in his high chair until the last bite is in his tummy.  Just ask PTB (the lawmaker, himself), who sat in the kitchen this morning for three hours while Gerret worked on swallowing his one and only bite of fried egg.

(Patrick lost by-the-way.  Gerret gagged and threw up)

Just Like it Says

Happy Birthday little man!  I can't believe it's already been 2 years since that fateful snow-filled night when I first kissed your soft cheeks.   I'm grateful for these two short years full of kissing your soft cheeks.  I look forward to many more.  You are a treasure to our family.

my photo yours

i didn't take this photo for myself.

i took it for you. And for every other one like you who'd ever share it with me.
Each moment of my life I experience not only in 3D, but also in five senses—in color. A photo is a second rate recapture of a moment my mind and body still smell/feel/hear/taste/see. Now and again we'll all take that one photo that, years later, will still move us to tears or stir butterflies within us. That, however, is not all photos. Nor is it most photos.
i'll tell you why i take photos: to communicate.
i take photos so that my life and it's experiences become a communal experience. i take them to share. Almost as if the moments of my life become more validated, more real, according to how many people share them with me. If i take a photo and share it with you, then i've done what science has yet to do—i've taken my eyes and let you use them for a moment. Isn't that really what photography is all about?
(and yes that is our bedside clock and yes that is a typical time for party animals like us to finally call it a night)

Late Night Market Gurus

The irony of it all is that we're in the market now at the same time as most college students, but when we were in college i don't ever remember shopping so late. Who knew having kids would make us hip shoppers?


Shopping so late is not always a picnic (just ask Lindsay), but then again what does that even mean? Not many things are like a picnic (again just ask Lindsay). In any case, of all things metaphorically similar to a picnic, late night market exploring is often a vague match at best.


You'll miss out though, if you never do find yorself in the market when everyone else has gone home. When you're one of the few souls with nothing more pressing to do after-hours than shop, you'll find you can explore the market in impossible-to-the-daytime ways.

Like having the opportunity to stand over the spinach bin for minutes on end—uninterrupted—and just amaze at the beauty of it all.





Or find out that Lobsters sleep and that some sleep lounged out like a cat.


Or at the very least explore every beverage option and in the end find out Coconut water is absolutely worth dumping out the side of the truck as you drive out of the parking lot at 11pm.


The world is full of new wonders every new day, and several are found in the market place in the dark.






P.S.  Despite Blogger's insistence that I wrote this post (see below), in all reality Patrick deserves the credit.  I (Lindsay) only contributed the post script.  Thank you very much.

birthday burn-out

These three are all the help I could ask for ...in my never ending battle to stay on top of life/anniversary/holiday celebrations. (yes that is cake batter covering the area surrounding his mouth and believe me, it did make it onto the cat before the end of this episode)

Sometimes I feel like a year off from all observances would really do me some good.  It seems like every other week throughout the entire year supplies an occasion or two for a feast, a cake, or decorations.  Or all of the above.  Nevertheless, I press forward.  There are good reasons for celebrating.

With 500 birthdays in the month of January, I end up making and eating a lot of cake.  I really enjoy making cake.  I also enjoy eating cake.  But by the third party in a week, sometimes I start to feel overwhelmed.  Thank goodness I have such loyal helpers.

Stockings

Dear PTB,


Thanks for these hot mamas.  My legs are in love with them.  And I am in love with you.


From the Big L


P.S.  Are they my reward for being awake at an unearthly hour of the morning to watch Avatar (again)??

Memory of a Milestone

Our firstborn triumphed yet another milestone on his life's journey, which requires our family to promptly adapt.  We do not have a choice in the matter.  As Nolan matures and tries new things, so do the rest of us by necessity.  I'm beginning to realize that this will be the pattern for the rest of my life.

As of January 1st, Nolan attends Primary at church, leaving his brother behind in the nursery.  This two-hour block, once per week is the only time Nolan and Gerret have ever consistently spent apart.  As they have spent every moment of every day together since the birth of Pooka two years ago (they even share a bedroom), you might expect this brief weekly separation to be welcomed and maybe a bit of a relief for everyone concerned.  I thought they would appreciate it, but after today, I believe they prefer the togetherness.

When I finished teaching my Young Women's class this afternoon, I picked up Nolan from his Primary class and headed out to find his brother.  Together, we began crossing the cultural hall on our way to the nursery.  The nursery leader must have seen us coming, because just two steps into the cultural hall, I noticed Gerret's fuzzy head peek out around a corner as he marched into the the room in search of his family.  Once engaged in eye contact, the brothers took off running toward each other at full speed (I was somewhat concerned).  Meeting in the middle, they threw their arms around each other and stood still, enfolded, heads pressed together, hands grasping a sweater or a shoulder, while the rest of the room shuffled around them.

In the car on our way home, I recounted the lovely moment to their dad, who then turned to Nolan and asked, "Why'd you do that, Bud?"

"Because he's my favorite brother."

A Taste of NY for Grandma and Grandpa

I spoke to my grandparents on the phone this morning. Toward the end of our conversation, my grandma asked if I had a lot of pictures of my little boys on my blogspot thing. Being the self-doubting kind of lady that I am, I rushed onto my blogspot thing this afternoon to upload a billion pictures --just in case the billion already on here doesn't qualify as "a lot". And besides, it's good to have an excuse to use another small percentage of the jpg files clogging up my computer.

So here's to you, Grandma and Grandpa, proof that we haven't changed much since October. We love you and miss you lots!

                                  Sisterly Help                        Olivia, Queen of the Bearded Hat

Pookman and the Piano

                                           "Sister It"                                  Copper's First Day

Gerret's Favorite Thing:  His Pillow

                                 Elise the Girl and a pink bowling ball

We LOVE Snow!

"Dr. Nolan"

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning

Don't you wanna kiss this funny face?

A List of 28

These are:

28 Random Things About PTB 
(given no priority or particular order)

1.  He makes up songs on the spot (and a lot of them stick around)
2.  His pronunciation of "pamphlet" and "amphitheater" crack me up
3.  He obeys the speed limit
4.  My sons adore him and wait for him all day long
5.  He let me know that I was really missing out if I didn't read Calvin and Hobbes (and I was)
6.  Among other things, we went sledding at 11pm on our first date
7.  He once bought washable glow-in-the-dark paint, painted some walls, then war-painted his face
8.  He has always put me before himself
9.  When we were still in school, we worked together filling vending machines on campus
10.  I was pregnant for some of the time we worked together and when I would get tired, he pushed me around on a dolly
11.  He cooks breakfast every morning
12.  I love his kisses
13.  He loves Phineas and Ferb
14.  He has been the initiator of many living room forts over the past 5 years
15.  He is my favorite person to talk to
16.  The first year we were married, he crocheted me a scarf for Christmas
17.  He served an LDS Mission in Paris, France
18.  I love to hear stories about his mission
19.  We've attempted to climb Mt. Timpanogos twice together and were successful once
20.  He has never complained about my cooking -even when I know it deserved it
21.  Because of his eyes, I love all brown eyes
22.  In the beginning, it was because of a good movie (Whale Rider) that he worked up enough confidence to ask me out
23.  He always has new ideas and projects to work on
24.  When we went to an Amish farm to pick out our first cat (singular), we returned home with 2 cats (plural) because of PTB
25.  He works all day, sometimes 6 days a week, and still always helps out around the house when he gets home
26.  He never sleeps through the night and probably doesn't enter REM
27.  I was the "Ma" to his "Pa" as chaperones on the 2005 Stake Youth Trek
28.  He has, at times, seriously worried about being too thin and wasting away

That's 28 facts about PTB....because now he's 28!  Happy Birthday PTB!  I love all things about you.

When He Says "Backpack"

...this is what he wants:

And it makes his day.

2,010

...the number of times I expect to restore the cushions and pillows to my couch this year.

Retrospection

I'm still alive.  A little bit slow and not so punctual, but still alive.  So here we have a look at the good of 2009 (because I only want to live the bad once, you know).
Ahem.                                                             

2009

Gerret had carrot cake for his first birthday in January.  Yes, Gerret rhymes with carrot.  Now I've got that out of my system.  This year, I think he'll get chocolate.

It's been pretty amazing to watch him grow up over the course of 2009.  He has become quite the walking, talking, running, jumping, counting, surprising-me-every-moment little man.

Also in January, PTB celebrated a birthday and proved himself an old man with his inability to blow all his candles out at once.  He may never live that down.

Aside from spending the majority of February struggling to remain sane whilst confined to the indoors, we do have at least one other memory: a harrowing drive to Syracuse and some delicious entertainment.

We (well, I) dropped our camera in March.  It took photos that looked green and gooey for a few hours before we ran off and made the impulsive, yet highly satisfying purchase of our new camera.


April forgot the showers this year and skipped straight to 90 degree weather, the warmest we ended up seeing all year.

And this was in April:

May was all about recuperating from our post-winter insanity by spending every second possible outside.


I turned 25 in June.  Yikes!


PTB threw me a surprise birthday "extravaganza", a smattering of where I've been, what I've done, and who has cared.  It was so full of good memories and a sweet like only PTB can do.  
We also spent a 24 hour period up north, away from our children, which was exactly the kind of relief I didn't know I needed as badly as I did.  Included in my birthday festivities was The Bike Mobile.  Thus followed a summer of freedom and adventure.

One last mention for June:  We celebrated 50 years of my grandparents' marriage with family and friends.  There's nothing in life better to celebrate than family and love.


Suddenly it was July.  We enjoyed Pageant, Independence Day, a visit from Jordan and Diana, and then suddenly it was time to hop on an airplane.

Thanks to that airplane (and a few more) we found ourselves in Spokane for the beginning of August, marked 5 years of marriage and ended the month with the 3rd birthday of our first-born son.

With September came success in potty training and two puppy friends.

This was October (for about two memorable days):
Halloween this year saw at least one cowboy and one panda bear.

The most important event in November was his haircut:


And then there was December.  Thank goodness because I am truly falling asleep.