'Lazy' Summer Days

Whoever coined the phrase "lazy summer days" has apparently never been a mom. Or a Mormon. This week alone we have five piano lessons, two Independence Day parties, one interior design consultation (thanks, Lenae!), 4 birthdays (one of which I'm making the cake for), 1 blood donation appointment, 1 Young Women activity, 1 lunch date in Baltimore, and 1 exercise class (which Marah and I are teaching. Yikes!). And to be honest, I'm not complaining. It's fun stuff, just LOTS of it.

So now I'm trying to play catch-up.

To celebrate Jon's first Father's Day, we had a delicious breakfast of eggs, homemade hashbrowns, and bacon. On Saturday. (Jon refused to let me & Seth bring him breakfast in bed Sunday morning--"I don't want crumbs in my bed"). Then, I gave both of my boys a badly needed haircut.

Before

After

You can't tell, but I really butched Seth's hair. It's really hard to cut a squirming baby's hair. Thankfully he was so mesmerized by the books Jon was reading to him that most of the haircut went fairly smoothly. His hair looks much better now that it's had a week to grow out.

Jon got a Snickers Bar for Father's Day at church, and a delicious chicken parmesan dinner at home (which had to be postponed until Monday because the chicken went bad. Gross, gross, gross). He also got a giant bowl of chocolate pudding which he has been enjoying all week.

Marah & I have been keeping ourselves busy as well. Marah moved out here from BYU with the intention of getting a job to pay for school next year. It was a good plan in theory, but we didn't count on there being NO JOBS for her to take. Not even at Pizza Hut, where she already has a year and a half of experience. It's been frustrating for her, but we've now all accepted the fact that there aren't any jobs.

So I gave her a job--a stripper. That's right; I've put my sister to work stripping our kitchen cabinets. If you remember our lovely pinkish-white cabinets from this post, you'll also remember how much I loathe them. They are easily my least favorite part of our house. After considering many options, we decided that stripping them and restaining them was the way to go. There were a few snags (which is why we started with the inside of the doors first), but things are looking up. I think they're going to look so good when we get it all put together. But then again, as Jon keeps reminding me, they can't possibly look worse than they do now, regardless of how it turns out. So that's what we're up to. It's a lot of boring, back-and-shoulder aching, sweaty work, but it's worth it. As for Seth, he keeps himself busy unloading the dishwasher any time we accidently leave it open. He's definitely mastered crawling and pulling up on things. Luckily he still hasn't tried to go down the stairs (yet).

I'm not going to talk about it.

Our little monkey turned 11 months old yesterday. Which puts him way too close to being one year old. I'm not ready for that, and I don't want to talk about it. :( Why does time have to go by so quickly?

Seth's had a very productive month. His new accomplishments include:

*Trying to pull our lamps over (and very nearly succeeding)

*Drawers, drawers, and more drawers. He is so fascinated by opening and closing drawers that I can actually take a shower and he'll entertain himself. Unfortunately, he's also extremely interested in the drawers on his dresser, which tend to smash his fingers and distract him from nursing.

*Injuries, and lots of them. At the moment he has: three bruises on his forehead, two bruises on his knees, one giant bruise on the back of his leg, and a decent-sized cut on the back of his knee. And to think he did all this in one week or less...

*He spends most of his day cruising around our furniture. He's even stood alone for short intervals, and is getting more and more daring as he moves from one piece to another.

*He's found the power button on Jon's CPU (as I found out while in the middle of a project).

*He likes apple juice and LOVES orange juice. But he still pretty much only gets to drink water.

*We've moved up to size 4 diapers. Hopefully he'll be in them for a long time...

*I've started finding him on his tummy when he wakes up in the morning, usually playing with his stuffed bear at the end of his crib.

*He's progressed from walking in his walker to running in his walker. He's also very good at ramming us in the ankles when he wants something.

*He's started playing games with us (usually with Aunt Marah). He'll follow us around the house in his walker, or blink both eyes at you and wait for you to repeat it, or exchange raspberry-blowings with you.

Seth's BIG ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

#1--He officially said his first word: "light". That was Jon's first word, so he has been diligently showing Seth the lights since he was old enough to notice them. All that hard work finally paid off. We're still not sure if he understands that "Dad" means Dad. But light is a definite one (although he considers anything above him to be a light--shelves, birds, trees...).

#2--He's CRAWLING! Yes, I know. He's almost a year old, but I don't care. He's still pretty clumsy (it's only been a few days since he figured it out) and he whines pretty much the entire time, but he's CRAWLING! I still don't know which he'll do first--crawl proficiently or walk. It's a toss up at this point.

My baby is growing up. Every day he looks less like a baby and more like a little boy, which makes me sad. But at the same time, he is SO much fun, and just gets more interesting to be with. I'm just grateful I'm able to be home to enjoy every minute of this short time with him as a baby.

My ( ) 5K

June 5, 2009

I hate running. I always have. This is due in part to my exercise-induced asthma, as well as to the fact that running is BORING, TEDIOUS, and just plain PAINFUL. Let me do push-ups or crunches instead--I can do those sorts of things all day long.

So why did I decide to do this? First, because the Inner Harbor Ward Young Women needed money for Girls' Camp and this was their fundraiser. Second, because I wanted to challenge myself. Third, because Kara is a bully.

I didn't train. At all. Unless you count running around the church for 8 minutes at exercise group every week as training. In fact, I didn't even stretch before the race. Yeah, I know. Stupid.

I would just like to say that I ran the entire first half, and half of the second half (making 75% in all, in case your math is as bad as mine). I would never have made it without Kara running next to me making me feel like I shouldn't stop, or without my Ipod, which distracted me from the fact that my lungs were on fire.

I won't even tell you my time because it wasn't very good. But keep in mind that I was pushing Mr. Chubbers in a jogging stroller the entire way (Kara had him for a few minutes, but other than that he was all mine). And I would have gotten a prize if they'd had a separate women's stroller division. Stupid dads sprinting with their babies in strollers...

But I did it. And I'm proud of myself. And I might do it again next year. Then again, I might not. I still hate running.

Our group of runners:

Dawn's mom, Me & Seth, Kara, Dawn & Garret, Debbie & Angelina

Grandma Comes to Visit!

May 27th--June 3rd

For Mother's Day my dad surprised my mom with a flight out here to see her favorite (okay, only) grandchild. And, of course, Bethany got to come too. She may think she's old enough to stay home alone for a week, but the rest of us thought differently.

They arrived late the night of the 27th, and then spent the next two days trying to help us have good birthdays despite Seth's attempts at the opposite. I was not happy with the child--here his grandmother flies all the way across the country to see him and he decides to be simply rotten.

Luckily he got over whatever his problem was and went back to being his sweet self. Which meant he was being good enough for us to shove him in his car seat and drive 40 minutes to Kilgore Falls (which is apparently the only place we take people when they come to visit). This time it was warm enough for a little wading, so we packed the swimsuits.

Seth had a grand time. He splashed in the water, threw rocks, and slapped at floating leaves. He would have been in heaven if I'd let him eat the rocks as well, but I figured that was a pretty good way to get a parasite of some kind.

I think Beth had a good time. She even handled it well when I insisted on splashing her with freezing cold waterfall water while Mom was taking our picture. As you can see, she was a little more concerned about looking good than I was (we were HIKING for Pete's sake!).

We rushed home and had 15 minutes to change and get dressed before my piano recital began. Despite the odds, we actually made it there a little early. All my students performed beautifully, even with 3 babies making all sorts of noise in the background.

For FHE on Monday we tried to go to Broom's Bloom Dairy for delicious homemade ice cream, but they weren't open. So, instead, we opted for the local ice cream shop--Rita's (which Jon & I had never tried before). I have to say, it was pretty good. Marah's mango was the best flavor, but Beth was more than happy with her boring old ice cream cone.

I enjoyed having shopping buddies who actually cared about things like mirrors, clocks, and shelves. My living room is looking better and better. Plus it was nice to be able to leave Seth with Marah (and Beth, but she was no help) while Mom & I went shopping.

After much protestation we were able to drag Bethany to Young Women on Tuesday night where she had to suffer through an hour of Debbie's excellent lesson on marriage/chastity/choices/foster babies. I think she survived unscathed. :)

Wednesday was our last day with Mom & Beth. It was a busy morning--we had to make a Father's Day gift, let Seth swim in his new, early birthday gift pool, and say our goodbyes--all before 10:45 am. Luckily Seth cooperated (mostly) and left them with good impressions.

I put Seth down for a nap and drove them to the airport. I hate it when they leave. Babies should never live far from their grandparents. They need someone to spoil them (and their parents need babysitters who will practically beg for the chance to watch them). Hopefully we'll get to see them again in September. Thanks, Dad, for letting them come visit--we hope we'll get to see you soon. And thanks, Mom, for taking care of my baby and keeping my house clean. I feel so spoiled when you're here.

We love you and miss you!

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Birthday

May 28, 2009

(Notice my crazed look? That's the product of a very, very long day)

I guess it's true--as you get older, birthdays seem to matter less and less. This is especially true if your husband is not into celebrations. What am I supposed to do? Throw a party for myself?

This was my first birthday as a mom, and I was surprised at what a difference there was. As in, I kept thinking about Thursday as my busy piano day first, and then only remembering later that it was my birthday, too.

It should have been a good day. My mom and Bethany flew in the night before to hang out with us for a week, and I was super excited about that.

But then Seth decided that the attention needed to be on him. 100%. All day long. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have never, ever seen him as whiny and grumpy as he was on my birthday. He threw the biggest tantrum I have ever seen, refused to nap, and was generally unpleasant all day long. The only time he was happy was when Marah took him on the swings for an hour during some piano lessons.

By the end of the day, I was ready to cry. Luckily my mom was there--she bought me an entire sampler of cheesecake, lit the candles, and made everyone sing. So at least it felt a little like a birthday. All I really wanted was 12 uninterrupted hours of sleep (fat chance of that one).

May 29, 2009
I always knew Seth liked his dad better--he was a stinking angel all day. Well, until we went out to P.F. Chang's for our birthday dinner. I figured between me, Jon, Mom & Beth we could keep him entertained and semi-quiet.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Jon spent the whole night saying, "I told you so. We're never taking him out to a restaurant again." No arguments here.

Overall, it ended up being a good birthday weekend. Jon bought a new set of speakers for his computer and a batch of no-bake cookies (that's what he wanted instead of a cake/pie). I got money to finish decorating the living room (hallelujah! I've been dying for the past year!) and a giant book of classical piano music.

Seth, you owe me big next year. Little stinker.

Seth Swims!

May 23, 2009
They finally decided to open our neighborhood pool over Memorial Day Weekend. As it also happened to be ridiculously hot and humid, we decided it was time for Seth's first swim.

We arrived with all the necessities--sunscreen, hats, towels, and a floating crab-tube-thing for Seth. The first thing the lifeguard tells us as we walk in the gate? "No toys allowed." This isn't a toy--it's a floatation device. "Only Coast Guard approved life jackets." Seriously? A 10 month old in a life jacket? I'm going to have to say that's a bigger drowning risk than a 10 month old in a tube. Stupid rules.So Seth got to hang with us. He had no fear of the water. We started him out in the kiddie pool, where he was more than happy to cruise along the edge (he only fell in once, and not all the way before we caught him). Then it was off to the big pool, which was not nearly as warm as I wanted it to be--oh, how I miss Arizona pools and 90 degree water temperatures.
Seth didn't even mind the water being chilly. He only whined a little when his dad put him in up to his chin (and who can blame him? None of the rest of us went in up to our chins). I think he would have had a blast if he could have paddled around by himself. Grumble, grumble...

When he'd had enough I wrapped him in a nice warm towel with his daddy, where he then proceeded to try to eat Jon's nose. All in all, a definite success.

A Visit to the Motherland

Jon's family is in West Virginia. Mine is in Arizona. But, like most Mormons, our roots (meaning aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc.) are in Utah. Unfortunately, we haven't made it out to Utah since before Seth was even thought about.

So when Jon's work had openings for him to fly out to scenic Dugway and test for a week, we jumped at it. The per diem they gave him was enough to pay for my flight and have money left over. So, with a 10 month old baby in tow, we headed across the country.

May 10, 2009
We had a direct flight, which was fabulous. Seth wasn't too bad. We did try to drug him at one point, but it only knocked him out for 20 minutes. He did remarkably well, all things considered, until the hotel room that night. I'm not sure if it was sheer exhaustion or just being in the same room with us, but the kid was up every hour or so, wanting his pacifier. It was a short night for all of us.

May 11, 2009
Jon had to leave super early. Of course, Seth was up as soon as we were, so we all went down for a (NOT) free breakfast ($10 per person!!). After he left for a grueling few days of 3pm to 3am testing, Seth & I went back to sleep. In fact, we slept so well that we missed my grandparents' three phone calls, despite the phone being right next to my head. Luckily they still managed to find us and shuttle us up to Roy.

Seth had a blast at their house. He ate like a champ (bread and cheese, specifically) and was immensely entertained by Grandpa's antics with Leighton's remote controlled cars. I've never seen the kid more excited in my life! In fact, one car with bright lights got him so excited that I thought he was going to fall over. Instead, he burst into tears. A little too much stimulation...

Seth & I made a quick visit to see my cousins the Noyes in Sunset. I haven't seen my cousin Matt since I got married (I moved away, then he went to Iraq). I got to meet his 3 year old son Kyle, who is going to give his parents a run for their money. Seth had a good time hanging out with Chantry, Scott & Katrina's little guy who's just a month younger than Seth (even though Seth looks like he could eat him for dinner and still have room for dessert). It was so good to see everyone again.

May 12, 2009
Grandpa Bud was kind enough to haul me & Seth up to Logan to stay with the Mikesell grandparents for a few days. The Mikesells had never met Seth before, so I was really excited to see them. They loved him, of course. He was such a happy kid the entire time we were there.

Seth also got to meet my cousin Amber for the first time. If I hadn't been there to stop her, Amber would have taken him home with her. She came to see him every day we were there. He was fascinated by her jewelry--it took him a few minutes to work up the nerve to actually touch it.

May 13, 2009
Seth slept pretty well there--only up once at night, which is amazing for a little person who's used to sleeping in his own crib. He and the Mikesells were on the same schedule--early to bed, early to rise.

Grandma Danice was his training coach while we were there. She had him cruising all around the couches and sofa by the time we left. She was trying hard to get a "mama" out of the kid, but to no avail. He did, however, say "boo", which is Amber's nickname. Punk. He would have been content to spend his entire day shuffling from sofa to couch to table if we'd let him.

Until, that is, he found his very favorite activity--riding with Grandpa on the mower. We thought the noise would put him off. Wrong. He was the most relaxed kid--just lounging there in Grandpa's arms. When the lawn was all mowed, I went to pick him up so Grandpa could put the mower away. He wouldn't even lift his arms for me--he wanted to stay with Grandpa. And since Grandpa's a big softie, he took Seth for a ride up the street on the mower, just to make him happy. Seth watched carefully as Grandpa put the mower in the shed. Any time we approached it after that, he would whine and reach for it. He knew where that mower was and he wanted a ride, dang it.

That night we headed to Garth and Linda's for a delicious dinner. I don't know who had more fun: Seth watching the boys run through the house all evening, the boys; who spent the evening entertaining Seth, or Linda who had Seth in her arms the entire time we were there. Watching their boys made me excited to watch Seth grow up--he'll be a handful, but so much fun.

May 14, 2009
Our last day in Logan. Seth & I went out to see Grandpa's garden. While we were there, Grandpa happened to pull out the mower to refill the tank. Well, Seth was pretty sure he needed another ride, so off they went. What a good Great Grandpa Seth has.

Sadly, we had to leave. We packed everything up, said goodbye to Amber, and headed down the canyon listening to Johnny Cash (Seth is a big fan). The Mikesells dropped us off at the Carnahans where Seth got to hang out with a bunch of people--Aunt Kenna, Uncle Mike, and cousins Leighton and Cameron. He was pretty fascinated by Mike's glasses and Kenna's mouth.

We cousins had a good time introducing Seth to Grandma's player piano. As kids we used to turn it on and dance around to "South Pacific" or "The Lightning Bug". Seth was a little overwhelmed, but I'm sure he'll appreciate it next time we're there.

May 15, 2009

Aunt Kenna spent the night so she could enjoy the cuteness of Seth in the morning. And he did not disappoint. We had a good time hanging out together and even got a visit from cousin Tami Noyes. It's strange to see us all growing up--I guess I still see us as the little monsters running around the Mikesell's yard pestering each other (and my dad, usually).

As Grandma noticed later, we forgot to take any pictures with the Carnahan grandparents. :( But Seth sure had a good time with them. He is one spoiled little man.

Jon called that afternoon to let us know that he was done with work. We said a huge thank-you to the Carnahans and headed to Salt Lake. Seth was so excited to see his daddy again.

We were able to stop by and see Grandma Blood for a little while. She loved Seth and he kept walking up to her and patting her legs. We're not sure she'll remember him, but at least we can tell him that he met her.

After some crazy driving trying to find a restaurant, Jon & I treated Kenna to dinner at Tepanyaki. Seth loved banging on his high chair almost as much as he loved it when the chefs would start up the giant fireballs. We ate until we were stuffed, said goodbye to Kenna, and headed to Aunt Marie's.

We had a good visit with her and spent a long time talking (we were hoping Gary would make it home before we left, but to no avail). Seth blew out his diaper, but was really good until just before we left. We pushed him too hard and boy, did he make us pay. Let's just say it was a long, long night.

May 16, 2009
We enjoyed our free (for real this time) breakfast, visited with Grandpa Carnahan (who dropped off the cell phone charger I'd left at their house), and headed to the airport. To make a very, very long story short, Seth was a monster on our first flight. He was exhausted and couldn't sleep. I am very, very sorry for everyone who sat near us.

The second leg was much better. There was an open seat, so Seth had lots of room to play. By the time we got home we were all exhausted and Jon swore he'd never fly with Seth again. I think he's backed down from that oath by now. Maybe.

I'm so glad we were able to go visit. It's so hard to be so far away from our families. I hope we're able to make it out there again--I want Seth to have memories with our families in Utah.

Catching Up: Cinco de Mayo

May 2, 2009

Jon & I have a tradition of having people over for some good Mexican food for Cinco de Mayo. In the past we've just had another couple over, but this year we decided to go all out. We instituted a potluck "bring your own Latin dish" dinner and invited a bunch of friends--The Atkinsons, Oliveras, Riveras, Finnigans, and Baskins.

Thanks to Caitlin's info, we were actually able to find Sangria and Jarritos this year so nothing was lacking. Except, of course, Carlos, who was studying and wasn't able to come, leaving us without a single Mexican at our party. But I guess that's appropriate, since it's really just an American holiday anyway (no one celebrates in Mexico, or at least only a very few).

The food was absolutely delicious and we were all very fat by the end of the night. After dinner we headed to the open area near our house for some games. Jon & Marah spent two days planning, purchasing and putting together our own game of "white trash golf" (there's no official name--you can Google it for more info). We also had a newly acquired bocce ball set, also purchased specifically for our party. Of course it was a tremendous success. Marley wailed on us girls until we kicked her out to play with the serious golfers (Jon, Ben & Caitlin).

When the mosquitos started chomping we headed back in for some fried ice cream before everyone headed home. It was, by far, the best Cinco de Mayo party I've ever been to.

All the girls:

Krystal (holding Victoria), Sommer, Caitlin, Marley, Megan, Dawn & Marah

Our little family (minus Marah the nanny)

Thank you to Sommer for all the wonderful pictures!

The "Me" Hour

Let me just preface this by saying that I absolutely love being a mom and a wife. I love my family and I love having the opportunity to serve them and make their lives the best that I can.

That being said, I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. Between cleaning, cooking, feeding, washing, folding, playing, shopping, teaching, church, and the other million little things I feel like I need to do, I don't have much time to do things I want to do.

The funny thing is that most of these things I WANT to do are actually things that benefit more than just me. Like refinishing the kitchen cupboards, or finishing our family scrapbooks (I'm in 2006 now, hooray!). Unfortunately, there always seem to be other tasks that take priority, so nothing ever gets done and I feel unproductive.

Therefore, I have officially instituted the "hour of Megan". Basically this means that I get ONE FULL HOUR every day to do whatever I want to do. I don't care if the shower needs to be cleaned or the laundry done--I still get my hour. I can read a book. I can play the piano. I can blog. I can scrapbook. Or I can just surf the Internet and totally waste my time. But it's my hour, and I don't have to feel guilty about things that don't get done.

I feel like this is a good thing all around. When I'm getting my little projects done, I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something (as opposed to the "one eternal round" of household chores Spencer so accurately described). When I feel productive, I'm much happier and have more energy to do all the other things.

Jon is totally supportive of this, and I try to make sure he has his time to play his games (or read, but usually play) so all's fair. And I'm not a stickler about it--if I don't get my full hour because Seth decides he needs my undivided attention all day long, then that's okay. There's always tomorrow (anybody else singing the song from those claymation Christmas movies now? Cause I am).

So excuse my messy house (and messy baby) while I take up part of my hour to blog. And yes, feel free to ask me how this is going to work when Seth stops napping. Answer: no stinking idea. I'm not thinking that far ahead. :)

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