A Double Whammy

In one post, I will attempt to update you about the following topics:
#1--Seth's 8 month accomplishments
#2--Seth's 9 month accomplishments

8 months
(Excuse me while I rack my brain, trying to remember...)

*Seth is very much into his little customs right now. We must bang on the key box every time we go down the stairs (but not up). We must play with the door knocker any time the front door is open. We must take a good whack at our crib after Mom picks us up after a nap, etc.

*We have some legitimate babbling going on now. "Da da da da da" is a pretty consistent noise around our house.

*He learned how to roll over (again)--Hooray! Then he forgot (again)--Boo! Now he just plain refuses to try...

*He will now feed himself crackers instead of insisting we do it for him. He's also started on a sippy cup. Generally it just frustrates him because he wants to suck on it like a pacifier and water keeps coming out.

*This kid loves schedule. You mess with that second nap, you will pay for it for the rest of the day (and night, usually).

*Sometimes we can get him to play peek-a-boo, and it's adorable.

*He has determined that he has an inherent right to pound on any keyboard, anywhere. This was especially nice when the teenager next to us on the plane whipped out his laptop...

*His favorite thing to do is bang things on other things. Banging things on the floor=fun. Banging things on Mom=boring.

*Loud noises that scare Seth: weed whackers, toys with marbles in them, blenders
Loud noises that make him laugh: dogs barking right next to his ear, kids shrieking

*When he sees himself in the mirror, he gives himself this coy little smile. Then he proceeds to silently mouth "da da da da da" for a good minute or two, until he catches his own eye and starts smiling again.

9 months

*He can officially put his pacifier back in his own mouth. Oh, how we would have loved this skill at around 4 months old...

*He is very adept in the arch-my-back-when-I-don't-want-to-do-something skill. This is loads of fun while nursing.

*We've progressed from raspberries to full-fledged spitting. You'd think all the spittle flecks landing on his face would dissuade him, but, no.

*He now complains when you take something away from him that he wants. Namely, his pacifier.

*We are officially in round 2 of teething. Round 1 was a breeze. Round 2 has been going on for a month now and those suckers still aren't through. I personally think he's dragging it out because we feel sorry for him and let him use his pacifier.

*No more pureed baby food here--he wants the good stuff. Specifically, he wants bread, in any form. He'll even eat 2/3 of a banana for breakfast.

*We are making a little progress in the crawling arena--when he's on his tummy, he can lift himself up into a push-up stance and then spins around in a circle. When he's angry, he's pretty good at scooting backwards.

*He's started making a half-hearted attempt at reaching for us when he wants to be picked up.

*He spontaneously starting clapping last week.

*He's graduated from being a carseat shopper to an official sit-in-the-cart shopper.

*His new favorite toy is our glass chess set. Who knew chess pieces made such great substitute pacifiers? They're also good for throwing across the room and scraping along the sidewalk.

*He LOVES his walker (or to be specific, Sommer's walker--thank you, thank you, thank you!). I love it when he lumbers over to us, grabs our legs, and whines to be picked up. Adorable.

*At Jon's insistence, Seth got his second haircut--more off the top, plus around the ears and back of the neck.

His 9 month appointment is Tuesday. We're taking bets as to whether he breaks the weight boundary on his carseat (22 lbs.) or the height boundary (29 in.). My bet? Both

Sucked In

I have a confession to make.

For two full days this week I neglected my husband, son, and chores. And I'm embarrassed to tell you why.

Here goes...

(buries head in shame)

I am a book snob, as I've mentioned a few times in the past. And as any legitimate snob will tell you, we snobs hate to admit that we like the same things as the majority. To put it more succinctly, popular=bad.

So a year and a half ago when my friend Mindy mentioned the Twilight books to me and how all these girls (and married women) were going nuts about them, I instantly decided that I could never like these books.

Nevertheless, I didn't want to give an official opinion without having read at least one. So Mindy let me borrow Twilight. And I read it. I think I may have stayed up way too late so I could finish it. And when I was done, I returned it to her with my official opinion: "Meh. It was okay."

Mindy, I must apologize. I LIED. That book sucked me in like a Hoover. But I couldn't admit that I actually liked the book--that would undermine all my alleged authority in the area of literature. So I refused to read the rest of the series (although I did get on Wikipedia and read the plot synopses, I confess). And I continued to inform anyone who asked that I had read the Twilight books and didn't like them. I felt superior--I was above the spell that had enchanted everyone else.

Then I saw the movie. Three times (and never by choice). And I was thinking that maybe the books weren't that bad. After all, I had read some pretty stupid books in my desperation for new material, why not give these another try?

I attempted to check them out from the library, only to be told I was #46 in line (the genius of requesting the books the week the movie was released). In desperation, I asked Kara if she had copies. Being a good book snob, she didn't, but she referred me to Sommer, who not only had them, but was literally THRILLED that I wanted to read them.

She handed me off the 4 books after Young Women on Sunday. By the time I got home from church, ate, and had Seth down for a nap, it was 1:30pm. By 2:00pm on Tuesday, I had read all four books. And I didn't even stay up past my bedtime reading (only because Jon wouldn't let me).

And guess what? I liked them. See, I admitted it. Are they the best thing I've ever read? Not even close. Would I define them as good literature? No--not even good young adult literature (Shannon Hale and Cynthia Voight are far superior). Do I have issues with the content, like Bella's age and Edward hanging out in her room all night, every night? Absolutely. But I still liked them. And I think the biggest reason is...(SPOILER ALERT--Stop reading right here, Aunt Lori!)

...that they end up married, with a baby, and they're HAPPY. Do you have any idea how rare that is in literature? Usually the novel begins with marriage and babies and then proceeds to describe how the characters are disillusioned by society's version of happiness. Well, you know what? I'm married, I have a baby, and I am happy. Not just content, I am HAPPY. And it's nice to see that happiness portrayed in fiction. So there.

Now excuse me while I go read some Tolstoy to atone for my transgression into popular literature.

Trying to make sense of it...

I found out yesterday that Bishop Dan Howells, my seminary teacher, was killed in a car accident in Utah. This took my absolutely by surprise and made me a terrible mess most of the afternoon. I don't know if I've ever met a more humble, gentle man.

Bishop Howells was my seminary teacher for 3.2 of my 4 years at CDO (and you have no idea how mad I was when I found out he wouldn't be there for all 4 years). I will never, ever forget how his lessons impacted my life. The ones I remember in particular were sweet, solemn occasions where the class was invited to share their testimonies. He had a gift for bringing the Spirit to a discussion that I've rarely seen paralleled.

I know how much he cared for each one of his students (there's no way he would have put up with all of us otherwise). One of the rare times I saw him get upset was when Laura managed to break the microwave (again) by trying to microwave her shoe (didn't work). But he could never stay mad long--he was so naturally happy.

The lessons he taught me in seminary laid a firm foundation for my testimony. I am eternally grateful for his patience, long-suffering, and absolutely pure charity. My one regret is that I didn't pay nearly as much attention as I should have. If there were some way to go back, I would just sit and listen for hours, absorbing everything. I still remember how I teared up when I realized he had come back for our seminary graduation--it didn't matter that he'd ditched out on my senior year; he was still my seminary teacher and the occasion wasn't complete without him.

I hope that his family can understand how much he touched my life and how I will never forget him. They will be in my prayers.

Home again, home again...

I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I'm officially thinking of Maryland as 'home' now (although Tucson will always be 'home', too).

It was lovely to be in Arizona--80 degrees, sunny, and the whole world smelled like orange blossoms.

Now it's back to reality, which at the moment includes a jet-lagged, teething, sick little baby and a gigantic pile of dishes, which Jon let accumulate over a couple of days while he worked diligently on an extensive honey-do list.

A preview of posts to come:

*Seth's official 8 month post
*Arizona Vacation post
*Finishing up 'our story' post(s)

Now I'm off to a Young Women's Meeting...

Part 5: The First Date

Friday, April 1, 2005

Eventually Jon got around to informing me about our date plans. It was pretty typical date fare: making dinner at his apartment, then going to a movie. Except it wasn't just going to be us--we were double dating with his sister Elizabeth and then-boyfriend (now husband) Kade.

I have to admit, this made me nervous. Like a first date isn't awkward enough--now I had to impress his sister at the same time?

To be totally honest, the night did end up being a little awkward, at least at first. Everything was great while Jon was there, but at some point he had to run out and grab something he forgot. This left me, Elizabeth and Kade. We sat there and awkwardly asked each other the standard questions for a few minutes, and then sat in silence until Jon got back. Looking back now, I just laugh at myself--I was so nervous about impressing Elizabeth that I didn't have anything to say (and ended up looking stupid). Go figure. I actually brought this up to them last Christmas and they didn't realize it was our first date. I hope that explains a little bit, Kade & Elizabeth!

After our dinner of fajitas, we went to the dollar movie . I wanted to see "Phantom of the Opera", but Elizabeth had already seen it, so we decided on "The Work and the Glory", round 1 instead (I don't know the official name). No offense to fans out there, but Jon & I absolutely hated the movie. Instead, I kept myself entertained by trying to get Jon to hold my hand.

You'd think that a guy who would kiss before the first date would have no problem holding hands on the first date. Not Jon. I'm still not sure if he was nervous, or if he was just so absorbed in whatever he was thinking about (not the movie) that it didn't even cross his mind. I went through elaborate movements to make my hand free, noticible, and accessible, but to no avail. Finally, I just gave up and grabbed his hand. Little did I know that this was just the beginning of my problems with Jon and holding hands...

We survived the movie, but I honestly can't remember what we did afterwords. I'm just glad that my terrible first impression on Jon's family didn't have lasting consequences.

PART SIX

Part 4: First Kiss

March 28, 2005

Monday night I casually called and invited Jon over to watch "The Mask of Zorro" at our apartment. He accepted (along with all the other people we we able to cram into our living room).

I distinctly remember wearing my neon green exercise pants and a black oversize T-shirt featuring a broken heart and the words, "Raging Chester is My Hero" (thanks, Maegs!). Obviously I was going for comfort, not style. Jon wasn't too embarrassed by my outfit to cuddle with me during the movie (or maybe it was too dark to see what I was wearing).

The movie ended just before the magical midnight hour when all visitors of the opposite gender must exit our apartment--how we love BYU and the Honor Code. Eventually the living room was empty except for me and Jon. Being the good boy that he is, Jon noticed the time and started to get up. I was NOT having any of that. I had spent all weekend working up the nerve to talk to him about asking me out and he was NOT going home until I got a date out of him.

I pulled him back down, and the next thing I know he was kissing me. I have never been so surprised in my life. Jon had come across as the 'slow and steady' kind of dater--date for a few weeks, then MAYBE think about a kiss. So this--kissing me before we'd even been on a date--was a complete shocker.

Not knowing what to say, I fell back to my original plan of demanding a date (but I was much nicer about it since he had just kissed me). How romantic, I know... I got him pinned down for a date that Friday with more details to come, and then I let him go home.

Of course, my roommate Sagers (and some friends) had been about 2 feet away in the kitchen during this little incident. As soon as Jon left, she asked if he'd kissed me. I smiled, walked back to my bedroom, and burst into tears. Yep.

I'm not usually very emotional, but this was a big step for me. A little more than a year previous to this, I had broken off an incredibly difficult relationship. Realizing the emotional toll the breakup had taken on me, him, and our families, I promised myself that I wouldn't seriously date another guy for an entire year. I figured that would give me enough time to understand who I was and what I really wanted out of life. My semester at Nauvoo was a huge part of that development, but I honestly couldn't say I was ready to date again until just before I started liking Jon. So in some ways this was a huge relief, and in others it terrified me--did I really want to seriously date someone yet? What if it didn't work out? I spent most of the night calling various friends to discuss the issue (I'm such a girl sometimes).

Jon, on the other hand, went straight to bed without telling anyone (including his roommate and best friend Erick). He told me later that as he was walking to my apartment that night he thought to himself, "I could probably kiss her tonight." How's that for self-confidence? True to his character (as I would soon find out), Jon lost no sleep over the matter. I, on the other hand, didn't sleep for a good week.

PART FIVE

Part 3: The Evolution

March 2005

In mid-March, several things happened that paved the way for a potential relationship:

1--Jon's relationship with girl-in-the-ward sputtered out and died
2--Immense amounts of drama (which I loathe) made me drop all contact with boy-at-another-school
3--Jon & I ended up spending huge chunks of time together, despite making no effort to actually spend time together (if that makes any sense)

It's hard to believe that when a guy & girl spend as much time together as Jon & I did that there really was no crushing going on. At one point I distinctly remember thinking, "Could I ever date Jon Blood?" But I quickly smothered the thought because it was Jon Blood! He was the apartment boyfriend! And I certainly didn't want to interfere with my friend who was crushing on him--no more drama for me, thank you very much.

In re-reading my journal during this time, I have little snippets of the things we did together:
*eating dinner at his apartment
*watching him dance at a ward party and being surprised that he could
*being on his team in Trivial Pursuit--we (plus Chris & Lynda) dominated the game
*passing a deflated balloon back & forth for a week or so (no idea why this was so funny at the time)
*watching March Madness with him & Lynda at Carter's apartment
*taking a personality test with him (we had the exact same results--it just took him a good two hours to take the stupid test)
*playing Frisbee at the park
*going to Guitars Unplugged with him & Jamie

At one point I wrote the following sentence in my journal: "hung out w/Jon Blood for 7 HOURS straight! Funny kid."

Sunday, March 20, 2005 (thank heaven for journals--no way I would remember dates otherwise)

A perfectly normal day. I sat next to Jon during a ward musical fireside (which he slept through). He came over to our apartment that evening to make a card for Lynda, who was sick. If I remember correctly, the card said something about "the sun shining on [her] beautiful Mexican face"...

Since he was over, I dragged him with me to deliver cookies to my friend Christine who had hurt her back at work. I introduced him to her like you would any friend, dropped off the cookies, and headed back to my apartment.

It was on the one-block walk back to the apartment that I developed a crush on Jon Blood. It was the strangest experience--one minute everything was normal, and then suddenly, BAM! I had a crush on him.

Of course, this made things awkward. I have a terrible poker face--if I like a boy, it's pretty obvious. Jon's a smart kid, so it didn't take him long to realize what was going on (not that it was difficult to decipher--I don't think it was possible for me to sit any closer to him during the game of Nertz/Pounce that night).

Suddenly I found myself in that terrible "does he like me?" phase. It seemed pretty obvious that the feeling was mutual--he'd wait for me at church, he'd sit next to me on the couch, etc. One night he finally got up the nerve to put his arm around my shoulders--that was when I knew for sure that he liked me, too.

Unfortunately, that was as far as it went for a week or so. He'd come over, cuddle with me on the couch while everyone sat around chatting, and then go home. One day he asked me what I was doing the next night. When I replied, "Nothing", he said, "Good." I was thrilled--he was finally going to ask me out! I waited, and waited, and waited...but no.

At this point I was getting annoyed. Did he think I was one of those girls who'll snuggle with any boy, just to have someone to snuggle with? Not me. I wanted a commitment (or at least an official date).

After venting to my roommates for a few days, I finally decided that I was going to pin him down--if he wanted to keep cuddling, he'd have to ask me out. We planned a movie night for FHE on Monday just so I could invite Jon over and then force him to ask me out.

(Sorry, no pictures! More to come.)

PART FOUR

Part 2: The Apartment Boyfriend

From that point on, I saw a lot of Jon Blood. A LOT. (And he was referred to as 'Jon Blood', not 'Jon'). His friendship with Lynda soon became a friendship with all 6 of us. It wasn't long before we had ourselves an apartment boyfriend--a guy who everyone in the apartment likes, but no one likes, who is at your apartment all the time fixing your computers, talking to you about boy issues, and eating all your leftovers. That was Jon.

I couldn't have set up the situation better if I'd tried. The first time you meet a guy (if you're single, and especially at BYU), your thoughts eventually stray towards "Could I see myself dating this guy?" If the answer is yes, (and you're like me), then things can be awkward right from the start.

There was no awkwardness with Jon because I wasn't even thinking about whether I could date him. He was chasing another girl in the ward, plus one of my friends had a crush on him (which made him officially untouchable). At the same time, I was crushing on a boy at another school. Our friendship was strictly platonic, and there's no better way to start a relationship than with a solid friendship.

Jon, Lynda & I spent a lot of time just hanging out. Our apartment liked hanging out with their apartment, so we saw a lot of each other. I remember him body-checking me at a ward ice-skating party and then trying to teach me to spin on ice skates. I teased him about his dates with the girl in our ward, and he teased me about the guy in our ward who liked me (I was definitely not interested).

PART THREE

A Little Love Story--Part 1: The Introduction

I realized that I don't have the full story of how Jon & I met, dated, and married written down anywhere. I figured if I'm pestering my friends to tell their stories, I should tell mine, too.

Dec. 2004
I had been living on-campus (Heritage Halls) at BYU with my good friend Val. We LOVED our roommates, but figured it was about time we got off-campus with the rest of the non-freshmen. At first it didn't look like we were going to get out of our contracts, but two girls bought our contracts in December and we were free (thanks, Cori!).

Unfortunately, this didn't leave much time for apartment shopping. Val already had a place, so I was going solo. One night I just sat down in front of Val's laptop and ran through hundreds and hundreds of apartment listings, trying to narrow things down. It was frustrating and completely overwhelming. I was about ready to just give up and head to the Elms when I felt a VERY strong prompting to look at a listing in a complex called The Northwoods. I had never heard of the place and it was on the opposite side of campus from where I was focusing my search, but I clicked on the link anyway. Much to my surprise, the listing was posted by my friend Juliann from Nauvoo.

The next weekend I headed out to check out two apartments: one, the listing by Juliann, and the other an apartment in my friend Dawsha's ward. I checked out Dawsha's first--it had a nice big room, only 4 girls, and it was in a house (so no neighbors above/below/next door). The price was fabulous and I would already know people in the ward through Dawsha. It seemed like a perfect choice, but I decided to check out the other listing, too.

The Northwoods apartments had six girls shoved into tiny rooms. The apartment I looked at was on the top floor (so no one to wake me up by jumping around), but that also meant I had to walk up two flights of stairs every day (and move all my stuff up the stairs). The whole complex was supported by pillars, so it swayed when the wind blew. It was more expensive than the other, and I knew absolutely no one. It seemed like an easy choice, but for some reason I knew I needed to be at the Northwoods. I don't think Dawsha ever forgave me for that...

January 2005
After a nice Christmas break in Arizona, it was back to Provo to meet my new roommates. I was nervous because my roommates were all older than me by at least 3 years, which meant they were either graduated, almost graduated, or working full time. Three of the 5 were returned missionaries. It didn't take long for me to realize that they were so much fun. I especially loved my roommate, Lynda, who became one of my best friends. I figured that was why I felt prompted to move there--to meet these girls, especially the RMs (I was convinced I was going on a mission).

One night, soon after I moved in, I was alone in the apartment unpacking my stuff. There was a knock at the door and I answered it to find a guy from the ward there, looking for Lynda. I told him she wasn't home and expected him to leave, but he just stood there. Not knowing what else to do, I invited him in.

He introduced himself as Jon Blood (I thought it was 'John' for a long time). I distinctly remember making a stupid joke about how he should have been a doctor--Dr. Blood--that still makes me embarrassed today. Like he's never heard that one before... We'd met before, but it was in a big group and I didn't remember him. We ran through the perfunctory questions about ourselves--where are you from, what are you studying, etc. I found out he was from the same small town in West Virginia as another guy I'd dated (go figure). I remember being slightly annoyed that he wasn't leaving--I had unpacking to do, dang it! After an hour of chatting, he left and I called my mom to tell her about this weird guy who just showed up at my door and wouldn't leave.

PART TWO

Guess what we woke up to this morning?

Well, first there was this cute little thing who needed to be fed at 3:30 am and then decided 6:18 am was a perfectly cromulent time to wake up for the day......and then there was this:

Our first decent snowfall of the season (which is still coming down, 2 hours later). And yes, that is Jon outside scraping the car because APG didn't close down like I wanted them to. Stupid uncooperative government.

And finally, a question. This is our 7.5 month old baby, who spends 80% of his life BORED OUT OF HIS MIND!
He won't crawl. He won't roll over. He won't even get on all fours. How am I supposed to keep this kid entertained? Notice the plethora of "toys" around him, including two onesies and a pie tin (as of this moment he also has a serving spoon, a newspaper, and a bag of egg noodles)? I'm running out of baby-safe kitchen equipment.

Suggestions, anyone?