Seth goes to Girls' Camp

July 21-23, 2009

I'm 2nd Counselor in our ward's Young Women Presidency, which means I get to help out with the 12 & 13 year old girls. Which just happens the be the awesomest group of girls. I have 14 girls and we see 13 of them if not all the time, most of the time. So, of course, I was so excited to go up to Camp with them.
I didn't spend the night up there primarily because of Seth, but once I saw the cabin I realized there wouldn't have been room for me anyway! So instead I drove up and back every day. Jon & Marah were kind enough to watch Seth on the 21st so I could go up without having to worry about him.

The next day was a bit more complicated. I was helping Catherine with the First Years' dinner (tin foil dinners), and Jon was home sick. Which meant Seth & Marah got to come with me! Of course, he didn't sleep on the drive up like he was supposed to, so he was ridiculous. Luckily Marah was kind enough to push him in the stroller until he napped. It still wasn't a fun day for the little man--it was humid, raining, and he was tired. But our food was delicious, even if it did take a horribly long time to cook, thanks to the rain.
Day #3 started out terribly. I had a semi-emergency visiting teaching responsibility that ended up taking about an hour longer than I planned. Then I got home and Seth refused to nap. While I was downstairs listening to him scream, my computer froze up. Combine all that with the stress of needing to be up at camp? Yep, I had a mini-meltdown. Jon was very sweet--he came home from work even though he'd only been there a few hours (he'd taken the morning off because he wasn't feeling 100% yet). Which meant I got to spend all afternoon and evening with the girls.

I really had a good time. We played a LOT of volleyball (okay, we played with a plastic kid's ball and had no rules, but whatever) and enjoyed a delicious dinner that included potstickers. I was in heaven. I'm so glad I was able to go up and spend some time with them--the girls in our ward are amazing!

Favorite moment: While playing volleyball, the girls were invoking their "inner men" in order to perform the necessary grunts as they hit the ball. Cristin was having a hard time getting the ball to go over the net, so she made the following declaration:

"My inner man is a pansy."

Dear Mary & Elizabeth,

I was supposed to put this up about a week ago. Sorry, Mom Blood!

Here's the newly-refinished Blood living room:Another view:And here's Joanna in the living room:

Timmy says we need to buy her new curtains for Christmas so she'll feel like she has to put the new ones up. But she's pretty proud of her old ones, so it will be a tough battle.

New Phone Numbers

Jon has finally parted with his ancient T-mobile phone and has joined the modern world. Which means we have a new phone number. If you want it, email me at calabasa@gmail.com. And if the phone number you have for me doesn't start with 520-260, then let me know and I'll send you mine, too.

Oh, and we have unlimited texting, if you care...

Seth Stories

Seth's Post-Lightning Storm Hairdo

Here's what Seth's been up to lately:

Stairs. Oh my goodness, he loves those things. Except he still can't go down. He knows how to go down two steps, max, then he immediately heads back up. Basically what this means is that if I bring him down to the basement, he usually ends up on the top level where he squawks at me until I trek up there and bring him back down. Repeat.

Cheese. It's official--"cheese" means food. Or drink. Or "I'm hungry." Anything to do with eating or drinking. So now if Seth's hungry, he just says, "Cheese." And we feed him.

Lightning. We had a pretty impressive storm here the other night and Jon took Seth outside to watch. Of course, just after they stepped outside there was a tremendous flash followed immediately by a deafening clap of thunder. Next thing I know, my baby's screaming his head off. I've never seen him look that terrified before. Now he's always a little nervous when there's a storm outside. Poor kid.

Chapstick. The teething continues, which means Seth is still putting things in his mouth. Our favorite is when he steals our chapsticks, plops one in his mouth, and crawls away. It looks like he has a white cigar sticking out of his mouth. Now we have to be careful when we open them--more likely than not we get a good spray of Seth slobber from inside the cap.

Our son is adorable. Even if he is a whineyface (I am SO looking forward to the day when all those little teeth are in).

Rehoboth Beach

July 18, 2009

The day after Seth's crazy birthday party we loaded up the Taurus and headed to Delaware. After all, we've now lived here for two summers. It's about time we hit the East Coast beaches.

We had planned for a 2.5 hour drive. Unfortunately, Google Maps wasn't aware of the fact that EVERYONE in the states of MARYLAND, DELAWARE, and PENNSYLVANIA were also going to the beach. Traffic added at least another hour to our drive. Grrr...

Of course, there was no parking. Jon threw me, Marah, & Seth out (along with the giant cooler) and cruised for a spot while we staked out a sweet patch of sand on the beach.

Marah & I have both grown up on California's beaches, so we were AMAZED to see how many people there were crammed onto this stretch of ocean. It was insane. Luckily most of them were just sunbathing--there was plenty of room right along the water (and in it, of course) for us to play.Seth was okay with the beach. Not a huge fan, but not terrified. Big waves crashing on the shore made him cry. And getting practically knocked over by waves hitting unexpectedly far up the sand? That just made him spitting mad. Luckily it only happened once. Okay, maybe 3 or 4 times. I was just too busy digging him a pond to notice that everyone in front of us was screaming and running away...We each watched Seth in shifts while the other two headed out to the water. The water was nice and warm, but incredibly salty. As in more salty than the Pacific. Occasionally a patch of jellyfish would float by, which made me nervous, but no one got stung that we saw.

There were some pretty great waves on the beach. All three of us came home with some scrapes and bruises from getting thrown down onto the sand/rocks. But it was totally worth it.
After a few hours we decided it was time to go (mostly because our parking meter was running out). Seth finally fell asleep on the way home, despite having sand all over him. In fact, there's still sand in his car seat (and my purse, and the trunk, and the beach bag...). Hopefully we can make it back to the beach again before summer's over!

(Please excuse my white belly and legs, which never see the light of the sun)

4 Cakes in 4 Weeks

This past month has really put my cake decorating skills to the test. I love being able to do this--it's somehow become my only really creative outlet (scrapbooking is a chore for me, not a creative process).

First off, Marah's 19th birthday cake. Princess Jasmine was always her favorite, so I whipped up a cake. I'm pretty proud of myself, considering I got all the decorating done in just over an hour.

I had fun with the sides, too.

Next, Lilly's cake. This was for my friend Amberly's daughter. The icing ended up brighter than I wanted it to and my attempt at a buttercream transfer failed miserably, but Lilly loved it. And that's what matters.

Third, Amber Lee's cake. Lenae has been helping me decorate my house (pictures will come when we're done) so I offered to make cakes for her kids' birthdays. Knowing Lenae, she could have just done it herself and it would have been perfect, but she asked me to make Amber Lee's cake. I'd never done a 3D cake before and was a bit nervous. But after one disaster where the cake didn't come out of the pan, the rest went fabulously. I'd like to thank the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack for keeping me awake until 1am so I could finish. I was really pleased with how it turned out. My favorite part was when I dropped it off at their house. Amber Lee examined the cake, turned to me and said, "How did you know exactly what I wanted?" I told her I read her mind, and she ran back into the kitchen and told her dad, "Did you hear that? She read my mind!"Last cake: Seth's. I wanted to do a train cake since he loves the book Freight Train by Donald Crews (if you haven't gotten this book for your child, give yourself a good talking-to and then go buy it. It's great). I was just going to do a drawing on a round cake, but then Heidi showed me a train cake she'd made out of pound cake and Cool Whip. So I did that instead, and I LOVE how it turned out.Seth seemed to like it, and I know Sommer's boys LOVED it, so I guess it was a hit. Now I have to wait until December to make another cake (sigh).

Seth's Parties

Our little monster man turned one on July 12th. Crazy. Since it was a Sunday (and since there's no family nearby to celebrate with us), his actual birthDAY was pretty mellow.

Jon & I ran to Shoprite the night before and grabbed a balloon for him, figuring he'd really enjoy it. Once he realized he could whack it and it would float back for more, he was in heaven.
I made him blueberry muffins (his favorite) for breakfast and put a candle in the middle. He wasn't sure what to do with the candle, but he sure loved the muffin. And, of course, we had to flip the carseat around before we left for church. He didn't actually care as much as I thought he would, but it's nice to turn around and talk to him.For dinner we had Seth's favorites--mashed potatoes, rolls, squash, and orange juice. He was a happy kid. Then it was present time! Unfortunately, it also happened to be Stake Priesthood Training, so his dad missed the grand opening of the gifts.

His Grandma Mikesell spoiled him rotten (she bought him a portable DVD player so Jon will consider flying with Seth again), as did his Aunt Marah. His parents? We just bought him a camping chair that he will appreciate more when he gets older.Riding his scooter bike from Aunt Marah (to replace his walker)

He was so enthralled by his gifts that he wouldn't even turn around for the picture

We had to postpone Seth's actual birthday party until the 17th because Marley and Carlos would be out of town. And heaven forbid his honorary aunt & uncle miss his first birthday!
We ended up having quite the group at our house for the party. Since we weren't able to have our families here to celebrate with us, we invited all Seth's friends (meaning some of the babies in our ward who are close to his age). I expected not everyone would be able to come, but, surprise!, they all made it. Which meant we had 15 adults, 3 kids, 3 toddlers, and 6 babies at our house. I think it's because we started with dinner instead of just your typical cake-and-ice-cream party. :)

Of course, things can never go as planned. We told everyone we'd be playing ladder golf, bocce ball, and croquet after dinner. It hasn't rained here in almost 3 weeks. It rained at 4pm that evening. The party was at 5:30. Which meant we were ALL inside the ENTIRE time. Luckily we all like each other.
Seth was pretty shell-shocked when everyone starting singing to him. But he was sure enthralled by the candle (Jon didn't help things by passing his finger through the flame. I'm sure all the moms in the room wanted to smack him for showing their kids that trick).
Mom, I needed you here on video camera. I was so busy feeding Seth the cake that I completely forgot to video it! Sad day. Luckily I hired Krystal to be the official birthday photographer, so everything is very well documented. His cake was pound cake with Cool Whip icing, so it wasn't as sweet as usual. He was chowing down. By the time he was done there was frosting all over him and me.
He was a very spoiled young man. I told his friends not to bring gifts (this kid has more toys than any other baby I know) but they broke the rules. He LOVES his gifts. Thank you so much!

Sierra, Victoria, Seth, Alexander, Angelina & Brie

My favorite part of the evening was trying to get a picture of all the babies. We have quite the batch of babies Seth's age in this ward (and now Susquehanna Ward). Bree is the oldest at 14 months, then Angelina at 13 months. Sierra is 6 days older than Seth. Alexander is 11 months old, and Victoria is the youngest at 10 months. Lots of girls, and of course Alexander is the only one from the other ward, so it's Seth and all these girls on Sunday.

It was definitely a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who filled in as our surrogate family. We just wish our friends AND family could have been here. Maybe next year.

My One-Year-Old

I can't believe this is the last monthly update I'll be doing for Seth. From here on out you'll all be subject to random updates when he decides to do something especially awesome. Like learn how to walk or say "Mama" (yes, we are STILL waiting on that one).

So here's Sir Setherus at one year:

*Official stats: 20 lbs. 6 oz. 30.5 in.

*He loves, loves, loves to play in the open fridge. If he sees you open the door, he'll run over there in his walker and shove you out of the way. At least, he DID, until...

*He graduated from his walker, per his dad's dictate. Apparently it's time for him to learn to walk without the walker. I can't say I miss all the cuts and bruises on my ankles, but it was nice to slap him in there and let him go...

*Now that he's pulling up, the dishwasher is a blast. He's always pulling out the silverware (clean or dirty) and putting it in his mouth. He also likes putting his cereal pieces into the bottom of the dishwasher so I have to stick my head in there and pull them all out before I can start it. Unfortunately, Seth thinks he should have the same access to the oven, especially when I'm putting something into/taking something out of it.


*He's learned some sweet new tricks: smacking his lips, giving high-fives, and waving (sporadically).

*New vocabulary words: "cheese"--means "cheese", "trees", and/or "geeze". Also, "deeeeeeeeeessssss" which apparently has something to do with dogs, since he makes that noise every time he sees one.

*He can turn off lightswitches. This is actually very helpful: now when I have Seth in one arm and laundry in the other, I don't have to perform any precarious balancing acts to turn off the light.


*He FINALLY figured out how to lay back down from a sitting position. Now we ignore him when he wakes up at night (until 5:30 am, that is. Then he STILL thinks he needs to eat).

*He is an official stair-climber. Can't get down them, but he can go all the way up!



*Forward facing carseat. Oh, yeah.

*He has invented his own game. He grabs a washcloth, puts it on his head, and then laughs hysterically until he takes it off. Repeat. Repeat again.

*Peanut butter--tried it, loved it, no reaction. Hallelujah.

*He's weaned. I'm happy because it's so convenient to just give him a bottle, but sad to know he's forever past that baby stage.

*He's taken his first steps! Granted, they were a little drunken since he gets giddy every time we let him practice, but it's a start.

One year old. I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast.

June. And a little July, too.

The last cabinet is stripped, stained, and waiting to dry. Which means I have time to scrapbook again! I slapped one picture on, reached for my tape squares and realized they were gone. So no more scrapbooking (although I am now an official BYU grad in scrapbook years). Which means I have time to blog!
First off, Marah's birthday (June 28). My little sister is officially 19 now. Crazy. I tried to make her birthday fun (it's hard with none of your friends/family around) and I think things turned out pretty well. She got some Frosted Flakes for breakfast and chicken cordon bleu for dinner (yep, still your recipe, Kellie). We had Carlos & Marley over and played Bohnanza and ate Marah's cake and Butterfinger ice cream (pictures to come). Mom sent her lots of good stuff, and we took her to eat at Fiesta Grill on Saturday--delicious! So, hopefully, a successful birthday (even if it was on Sunday, which is always a little lame).
Next, Jon's work party (June 30th). My super-social husband invited us (me, Marah, Seth) to join him and his co-workers for a free lunch. Which meant that we pretty much hung out with no one else and ate all the food that Jon didn't contribute to. To be fair, he did introduce us to two of his co-workers (although he introduced me as "my wife", not "my wife, Megan" so I think his friends were a little unsure of what to call me).They had some vehicles parked by the luncheon for kids (and adults, I guess) to investigate. We got some cute pictures of Seth driving a Hummer and a tank. Of course, driving Hummers and tanks is serious business (as Seth's face in every pictures clearly shows).Jon got to leave early with us, and just in time. We had a torrential downpour on the way home (and, of course, we had some cupboards drying out on the deck. Luckily the sealant had already dried and did a great job). Marah & I left the boys at home and went to go face one of Marah's greatest fears: needles. The local fire department was having a blood drive, and she built up the courage to go after driving past the sign every day. She did fabulously--no dizziness or anything. In fact, she started after me and finished before me (but only by about 30 seconds). At the moment I've got her convinced to give blood again when she gets back to BYU. What a brave Marah!On July 3rd I got to meet up with one of my good friends from Tucson--Jen. She and her boyfriend, Ryan, were out visiting his sister in Baltimore and we met up for lunch. I'm pretty sure she was more excited to see Seth than me. :) We had a really good time catching up and stuffing ourselves. Seth even cooperated until the end, when anti-social Jon was more than happy to take him outside. It was so good to see you, Jen (and if your picture turned out better than mine, please share)!

We had a pretty sweet 4th of July this year. We started off with the ward pancake breakfast at 9am, which was delicious (I even ate the sausage, which is an extremely rare occurance). Then we had a delcious barbeque lunch with some friends. It was a gorgeous day, and I forgot to put sunscreen on my son. His poor little arms and cheeks were pretty red, but luckily it faded (like his dad's skin) instead of darkening (like mine).

(See my crazed look? It was a LONG parade)

The grand finale was the Bel Air parade. Our ward had a float in the parade, and Marah was conned into, I mean invited to, participate. Which means she got to march behind the float and flip a sign all around. And I mean marching quite literally--they were all in sync. And yes, they did have marching practice (don't worry--Marah got her fair share of teasing for that).

Jon absolutely, unconditionally, refused to attend. I'm sure he'll correct me, but I'm pretty sure his exact words were "Parades are a relic from a pre-technological era when people couldn't entertain themselves." So he dropped me & Seth off and went home.

I didn't realized until it was too late that I didn't have Seth's pacifier. And boy, did he make me pay for it. He was pretty good--the fire truck horn set him into hysterics once, but he recovered quickly. Until the semi trucks, that is. Stupid truck--it was quite literally blowing its horn every ten seconds. And it was LOUD. And Seth LOST IT. I wasn't even the one holding him--sweet Catherine Washburn had offered to hold him, totally unaware of what the noise would do to him. She would get him calmed down and then the driver would blow the horn again. By the time it was finally past us, Seth was ANGRY. If we'd had a baby translator nearby, I'm absolutely positive that we'd have heard some serious cusswords coming out of that sweet little mouth. He only calmed down when a sweet lady offered him a hot dog (which he ate. Entirely).So the parade. It started at 6pm. By 7:30pm we were expecting to see the float any minute. By 8 we were texting the marchers to find out where they were. By 8:30, when they finally made it past, we cheered loudly, packed our stuff, grabbed Marah and left (Seth was exhausted and screaming at this point). No fireworks at this house. Not sure we'll ever do that parade again...

(Look closely--Marah's center back doing some fabulous marching)

To My Sweet Baby

Dear Seth,

How is it possible that you're already a year old? I've spent every single day of the past year with you--changing diapers, playing games, rocking you to sleep--and time still managed to slip by too quickly.

I've known since we were driving home from the hospital the day after you were born that our lives would never be the same again. It hasn't always been easy--there have been (and still are) long nights, fussy days, and tears that I can't stop. But those moments are easily overpowered by moments of joy--watching you learn a new skill, seeing your cheesy little grin, and holding you while you sleep. And you're just getting to be more and more fun every day.

I love being your mom. I've never felt so contented with my life before. And I love watching you and your daddy. You love him best of all and I don't blame you one bit--he's the best daddy in the world.

Before I know it you're going to grow up and leave me. But I want you to know that I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. I'm excited to watch you grow--to watch you take advantage of all the good things life has in store for you.

Happy 1st Birthday, Mr. Chubbers. I love you more than you'll ever know.

Love, Mom