You know how I was relying on my positive mental energy to remain healthy in the midst of all this sickness? Didn't work. Sick. Now I have one of those lovely deep chest coughs and I feel terrible having to turn my head and hack whenever I'm feeding Wyatt. I also feel totally drained, much more drained than I did after having him. I'm also entirely sick of television and Wyatt's sleeping and I tried for 30 minutes to take a nap and it didn't work so now I'm posting on the blog. The other three are at friends' houses so the house is nice and quiet. So maybe you all can send me some of YOUR more effective postive mental energy that I recover quickly and that poor Wyatt doesn't get sick. The threat of RSV doesn't go over too well when you're prone to the post-pardum anxiety like I am (see, I'm the woman who got all worked up a week after Ethan was born because I thought his soft spot was too small).
Hey! Now Wyatt's awake. Luckily Forrest came upstairs from where he was working downstairs and he's changing his diaper while I finish this and before I start feeding him. Nice to have a husband working from home, for sure.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
Okay, so more like 5,000
So Forrest has said that 10,000 weeks is something like 200 years, so even though I guess there will be a lot of medical advances in the 21st century . . . hopefully we won't live THAT long. So I'll downgrade it to 5,000. Strange to think that if Wyatt lives to be 100, he'll be alive for almost all of the 2000s and into the 22nd century!! Wow.
One week down, 10,000 to go
Ahhh, motherhood. Wyatt is a good boy. He's happy and content just as long as two conditions are met: 1. I am holding him and 2. he is eating. Actually, right now he is asleep in his swing, instead of in my arms, which has freed said arms up for other activities, such as typing. It took about 11 tries to get him to stay asleep in his swing . . . but he's so dang cute I forgive him. He's not a terrible crier (in that he can always be consoled if I nurse him :-), but he definitely hates having his diaper changed. It's also been fun to see his gassy little smiles and catch the dimples peeking out.
So I'm going to post some pictures, but first I'll give you a few highlights of the last week. First of all, Wyatt has successfully fought off the sickness that seems to be ravaging all of Salt Lake City (not only have Elise and Jonas been sick in the last week, but so have Aunt Mindy, cousins Bella and Ayva, Uncle Tony, cousins Reagan and Eli, and Grandma Sweat.) I'm feeling a foreboding tickle in my own throat, despite the twice hourly application of Purell (but not to my throat, of course), but I'm hoping my mental willpower can chase any illness away.
We've received dinners every day since I came home, which is so nice. Our ward is really great about bringing in dinners and it's been wonderful to see all the love and support from our family and neighbors. Wyatt has had his share of visitors, with the dinner makers as well as lots of family (including some great help from Grandma Sweat), and even some friends of ours from Minnesota who were in Park City skiing with friends and dropped by yesterday. He's also been spending more time awake and looking around, which is fun. You feel like you're starting to connect with that little person inside there as you mutually try to figure each other out.
Myself, I feel a little more worn out today than I did last week. I think the second week can actually be harder than the first: all the endorphins and other "let's climb Mount Everest" hormones that the body releases are starting to wane and the sleep depravation begins to take it's toll. Even though Wyatt hasn't done much inconsolable screaming in the night, and he seems to like to sleep in a good long chunk from 12:00 to 4:00 or thereabouts, he really only does it if I'm holding him--so we've been doing a lot of couch sleeping, the two of us. I know that it would be better if I didn't let him do that and got him used to his cradle, but you know how it is at 1:00 in the morning. You'll do anything to go back to sleep--so, so far, my longest stretches of sleep have occurred either on the couch in the family room or leaned back in the green La-Z-Boy we brought up from the basement. Forrest usually takes him until about midnight so I can sleep in the bed then again at about 6:00 so I can sleep in the bed, which helps. It feels so good to get under those sheets and stretch out my legs, I can't even tell you.
Having Wyatt has also reminded me how much T.V. is watched during a baby's first month or so. I swear, if I see the "2.99" Wendy's commercial where one guy has a teeny tiny combo meal and the other guy has a Wendy's combo meal, I'm going to scream. I also think that it should be illegal to run the "Girls Gone Wild" infomercial late at night on regular cable. Makes me mad every time I flip past it, even if things are blurred out. It is an interesting peek into humanity to scroll through the channels at 3:00 in the morning, though. I usually find myself watching either TLC or Discovery or the Home channel (what is that one? HDTV or something like that??) There was this really great reality show about cake decorators on the other night that I was mad at myself for falling asleep in the chair because I wanted to see the end and how they ended up making the dog cake.
So that's it for now. I am grateful every morning that the kids are off track so I can sleep until 8:30 or so and don't have to get them out the door; I am grateful to not be pregnant anymore so I can roll around in the bed (whenever I'm in it, that is); and I'm grateful for my papasan baby swing, as it's the only place we've found any success in putting Wyatt to sleep. And I'm grateful for Wyatt. And the other three kids. And Forrest. And you guys.
Here's some pics:
Notice the red on his chin? I'm thinking it's from breastfeeding and his binki--like he's sucking so vigorously he's rubbing it a little raw. What do you think? I started putting some of the Lasinoh ointment (for nursing mothers, if you know what I mean) on his chin to see if that will help heal it up.
Gotta love the papsan swing.
Looking like a big boy in his bouncy seat. He already like's to look at the little toys hanging down from the bar. (Probably a genuis, no?) :-)
So I'm going to post some pictures, but first I'll give you a few highlights of the last week. First of all, Wyatt has successfully fought off the sickness that seems to be ravaging all of Salt Lake City (not only have Elise and Jonas been sick in the last week, but so have Aunt Mindy, cousins Bella and Ayva, Uncle Tony, cousins Reagan and Eli, and Grandma Sweat.) I'm feeling a foreboding tickle in my own throat, despite the twice hourly application of Purell (but not to my throat, of course), but I'm hoping my mental willpower can chase any illness away.
We've received dinners every day since I came home, which is so nice. Our ward is really great about bringing in dinners and it's been wonderful to see all the love and support from our family and neighbors. Wyatt has had his share of visitors, with the dinner makers as well as lots of family (including some great help from Grandma Sweat), and even some friends of ours from Minnesota who were in Park City skiing with friends and dropped by yesterday. He's also been spending more time awake and looking around, which is fun. You feel like you're starting to connect with that little person inside there as you mutually try to figure each other out.
Myself, I feel a little more worn out today than I did last week. I think the second week can actually be harder than the first: all the endorphins and other "let's climb Mount Everest" hormones that the body releases are starting to wane and the sleep depravation begins to take it's toll. Even though Wyatt hasn't done much inconsolable screaming in the night, and he seems to like to sleep in a good long chunk from 12:00 to 4:00 or thereabouts, he really only does it if I'm holding him--so we've been doing a lot of couch sleeping, the two of us. I know that it would be better if I didn't let him do that and got him used to his cradle, but you know how it is at 1:00 in the morning. You'll do anything to go back to sleep--so, so far, my longest stretches of sleep have occurred either on the couch in the family room or leaned back in the green La-Z-Boy we brought up from the basement. Forrest usually takes him until about midnight so I can sleep in the bed then again at about 6:00 so I can sleep in the bed, which helps. It feels so good to get under those sheets and stretch out my legs, I can't even tell you.
Having Wyatt has also reminded me how much T.V. is watched during a baby's first month or so. I swear, if I see the "2.99" Wendy's commercial where one guy has a teeny tiny combo meal and the other guy has a Wendy's combo meal, I'm going to scream. I also think that it should be illegal to run the "Girls Gone Wild" infomercial late at night on regular cable. Makes me mad every time I flip past it, even if things are blurred out. It is an interesting peek into humanity to scroll through the channels at 3:00 in the morning, though. I usually find myself watching either TLC or Discovery or the Home channel (what is that one? HDTV or something like that??) There was this really great reality show about cake decorators on the other night that I was mad at myself for falling asleep in the chair because I wanted to see the end and how they ended up making the dog cake.
So that's it for now. I am grateful every morning that the kids are off track so I can sleep until 8:30 or so and don't have to get them out the door; I am grateful to not be pregnant anymore so I can roll around in the bed (whenever I'm in it, that is); and I'm grateful for my papasan baby swing, as it's the only place we've found any success in putting Wyatt to sleep. And I'm grateful for Wyatt. And the other three kids. And Forrest. And you guys.
Here's some pics:
Notice the red on his chin? I'm thinking it's from breastfeeding and his binki--like he's sucking so vigorously he's rubbing it a little raw. What do you think? I started putting some of the Lasinoh ointment (for nursing mothers, if you know what I mean) on his chin to see if that will help heal it up.
Gotta love the papsan swing.
Looking like a big boy in his bouncy seat. He already like's to look at the little toys hanging down from the bar. (Probably a genuis, no?) :-)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Wyatt Dean Hallstrom is Here!
For the first time in (what seems like!) 24 hours, we've been able to put Wyatt down in his swing instead of holding him in our arms and/or nursing him (which, of course, only applies to me), so I might have a bit of time to post some pictures and tell you a bit about Wyatt.
I went into labor on Sunday morning, about 3:00 a.m. All three of my previous births were induced, so I've never gone into labor on my own . . . and was pretty much convinced I never would. So imagine my surprise when I noticed contractions that were close enough together to warrant going to the hospital and they kept me! We got to the hospital at about 7:00 a.m., they broke my water around noon, and by 2:30 I was ready to push. It only took two pushes and Wyatt arrived. It was an amazingly easy and stress-free birth. The epidural was wonderful--powerful enough to take the edge off, but not so powerful that I felt completely numb and helpless--and Wyatt's heartrate was good and strong throughout.
As soon as he was born, I thought he looked like Ethan as an infant. Here's a picture and you can see for yourself:
Here's another hilarious picture of Wyatt fighting mad (he came out swinging):
It took us a while to decide on a name, as most of you already know, but after thinking about it for a day and spending a good long time checking him out, we decided that he was definitely a Wyatt. We'll have to get back to you in a couple years and let you know if we were right.
We're home now and Wyatt is spending a LOT of time eating, a reasonable amount of time sleeping (although I was begging to differ last night between midnight and 4:00 a.m.) and more and more time looking around and checking out just exactly what he's gotten himself into. The kids are thrilled to have him in the house . . . but the biggest wrinkle now is that both Elise and Jonas are sick. I can't believe it. They've been healthy all winter long, but on Friday Jonas threw up. I just thought it was a 24 hour thing and that he was over it, but yesterday he started up with a nasty cough, as did Elise. So this morning as I was stumbling blearily into the family room, Ethan informed me that Jonas was covered with a rash. Yep, wouldn't you know it, Jonas woke up covered in hives. So I had Forrest take Jonas to the instacare to make sure he didn't have the Ebola virus--and while Forrest and Jo were at the Dr., Elise came downstairs, sat on the couch, told me her stomach hurt, and promptly threw up. So I put Wyatt down--screaming--and tried to help Elise without getting any germs on myself and remembered that this parenthood thing is definitely not easy. Luckly the Dr. said that Jonas just has a run of the mill virus and the rash was hives, but I'm supposed to keep Jonas and Elise away from Wyatt for 5 days. It's so hard, not only because I'm worried about Wyatt getting sick, but because I feel so bad that I come home from the hospital with this new baby and have to tell my other kids to keep their distance. Luckily they are old enough to understand why . . . but it just broke my heart after Elise finished throwing up and she said "I'm really sorry, Mom." Uggh. So pray for a speedy recovery for Jo and Elise and that no one else gets sick.
So here are some other pictures of Wyatt you might like:
And last but not least, Wyatt has dimples. Two of em'!
We think he's pretty cute, and plan to keep him even if he forgets to sleep from midnight to four. :-)
I went into labor on Sunday morning, about 3:00 a.m. All three of my previous births were induced, so I've never gone into labor on my own . . . and was pretty much convinced I never would. So imagine my surprise when I noticed contractions that were close enough together to warrant going to the hospital and they kept me! We got to the hospital at about 7:00 a.m., they broke my water around noon, and by 2:30 I was ready to push. It only took two pushes and Wyatt arrived. It was an amazingly easy and stress-free birth. The epidural was wonderful--powerful enough to take the edge off, but not so powerful that I felt completely numb and helpless--and Wyatt's heartrate was good and strong throughout.
As soon as he was born, I thought he looked like Ethan as an infant. Here's a picture and you can see for yourself:
Here's another hilarious picture of Wyatt fighting mad (he came out swinging):
It took us a while to decide on a name, as most of you already know, but after thinking about it for a day and spending a good long time checking him out, we decided that he was definitely a Wyatt. We'll have to get back to you in a couple years and let you know if we were right.
We're home now and Wyatt is spending a LOT of time eating, a reasonable amount of time sleeping (although I was begging to differ last night between midnight and 4:00 a.m.) and more and more time looking around and checking out just exactly what he's gotten himself into. The kids are thrilled to have him in the house . . . but the biggest wrinkle now is that both Elise and Jonas are sick. I can't believe it. They've been healthy all winter long, but on Friday Jonas threw up. I just thought it was a 24 hour thing and that he was over it, but yesterday he started up with a nasty cough, as did Elise. So this morning as I was stumbling blearily into the family room, Ethan informed me that Jonas was covered with a rash. Yep, wouldn't you know it, Jonas woke up covered in hives. So I had Forrest take Jonas to the instacare to make sure he didn't have the Ebola virus--and while Forrest and Jo were at the Dr., Elise came downstairs, sat on the couch, told me her stomach hurt, and promptly threw up. So I put Wyatt down--screaming--and tried to help Elise without getting any germs on myself and remembered that this parenthood thing is definitely not easy. Luckly the Dr. said that Jonas just has a run of the mill virus and the rash was hives, but I'm supposed to keep Jonas and Elise away from Wyatt for 5 days. It's so hard, not only because I'm worried about Wyatt getting sick, but because I feel so bad that I come home from the hospital with this new baby and have to tell my other kids to keep their distance. Luckily they are old enough to understand why . . . but it just broke my heart after Elise finished throwing up and she said "I'm really sorry, Mom." Uggh. So pray for a speedy recovery for Jo and Elise and that no one else gets sick.
So here are some other pictures of Wyatt you might like:
And last but not least, Wyatt has dimples. Two of em'!
We think he's pretty cute, and plan to keep him even if he forgets to sleep from midnight to four. :-)
Thursday, January 18, 2007
More Listiness
So I haven't had a baby yet. Sigh. I went to the dr. on Tuesday and had my membranes stripped (although she ended up delivering TWO BABIES while I was waiting, sitting on the examining table with a sheet over my lower half for two hours--every twenty minutes the nurse would pop her head in and say, "She should be here in 10 minutes!" Read two entire People magazines.) Now I'm a "good 4 plus," says the doctor . . . but the membrane stripping was a no go and here I sit. I'll have to do a running tally of how many people ask "Are you still here??" at church on Sunday.
Since the only two things I have left to do are 1. housework and 2. waiting to go in to labor, I figure I'll avoid #1 and distract myself from thinking about #2 by adding to my list. I'll pick 'er up at #31.
31. I developed a mysterious bump on my nose about 5 years ago. I went to a dermatologist to have it removed (and they had to give me a shot--on the tip of my nose!) but it grew right back. Jonas calls it a "witch bump."
32. I also developed a mysterious keloid (is that how you spell it?? it's bumpy scar tissue) on my upper left arm a few years ago, too. The reason it's mysterious is that I don't recall ever cutting or injuring myself there, which is how keloids come about. It freaked me out so the same dermatologist who tried to fix my nose bump did a biopsy on it--but it's just a keloid. Weird.
33. When I was a teenager, I had a sneaking suspicion that some of my friends liked my mom better than they liked me. Some of them even wrote her notes when I was in Jr. High.
34. My first college major was history, but after taking my first history class I decided that what I really loved was my high school history teacher, Mr. Jones, and not history itself, and switched to English. It really makes no difference to me whether stories are true or false, and when you major in English there's not nearly as much memorizing.
35. The worst grade I ever received was a D in "Philosophy of Logic" that I took to fill my math requirement at BYU. Long story, but I thought I could game the system by taking the introductory course to Philosophy of Logic independet study, getting the textbook, then dropping the course and getting my tuition money back and reading the book on my own to prepare. Like that would actually happen. Plus I always liked philosophy (Plato and Descaretes and all that). Little did I know that the Philosophy of Logic was actually an entirely new language, this weird math/philosophy hybrid, and on the first day of class I felt like I'd stepped into Mandarain Chinese 301. The professor told us that this was one of the most often failed classes on campus and that we could drop out as soon as we had enough points for the grade we felt comfortable with. I felt comfortable with my D and happily dropped out after 3 weeks of torture.
36. My favorite class at BYU was a Contemporary Lit class taught by Darrel Spencer, an amazingly smart and thrillingly left-of-center-for-BYU fiction writer. He would type up page long, single spaced commentary on everything we wrote. When he told me I was "bright" it literally made my year and reminds me to this day how much a few encouraging words from a teacher can mean.
37. When I started student teaching, my supervising teacher came in for a surprise visit and I was sitting cross-legged on a book cart in front of the class whilst talking about To Kill a Mockingbird. Apparently sitting crosslegged on a bookcart is bad teacher protocol, because some of the folks I knew in classes she taught afterword said she used me as an example of "how to remember that in order for the students to think you are older than them . . . . don't do THIS."
38. I hate going to the dentist.
39. The older I get, the more irrationally afraid of heights I become. It's gotten so bad that I can't even walk out on hotel balconies and if I'm in a mall on a high level and the railing is that see-through plexiglass stuff, have to stay a few feet away from it. What is that?
40. When I got married at the age of 20 (and I'd been 20 for two whole weeks) it never crossed my mind once that I might be a little young.
41. I love watching reruns of "100,000 Pyramid" and think that Dick Clark is by far the best game show host ever.
42. I love playing board games, particularly word games, but Forrest usually beats me at Scrabble. I, however, usually beat him at Boggle.
43. I like wearing slightly high heeled shoes, but it makes me feel guilty and self-conscious, too, like people will think I'm being inappropriate and overly flashy.
44. Same thing with big earrings.
45. I prefer my six-year old, slightly-musty-smelling, denty van to our new Tahoe.
46. My back actually hurts less when I'm pregnant that when I'm not.
47. I rarely feel guilty about reading too much.
48. My three culinary specialties are salads, cheesecake, and chocolate chip cookies. Everything else I leave to Forrest.
49. Donald Trump makes my skin crawl.
50. Even though I think that Rosie O'Donnell has gone sligtly cuckoo in the last 5 years, I still have soft spot for her, probably stemming from my early days as a stay-at-home Mom watching the Rosie O'Donnell show (back when she was nicer).
51. I love going to church on Sunday now that I'm no longer the Primary president.
52. I really don't think I like to snow ski. I'm going to give it another whril after I have the baby . . . but I really don't think I'm going to like it. Sorry, hon.
53. I do like waterskiing, though.
54. The only excercise routine that I've found that I enjoy (after attempting jogging at home, treadmill at home, treadmill at gym, weights at gym, aerobics tapes at home, and elliptical machine at gym) is group aerobics classes. But only if they're really full and I can stand at the back.
55. I'm convinced that my body wants to weigh what it wants to weigh, pretty much no matter what I do. I know this sounds like a cop out. But it's true, I swear!!!
56. Although I do love Oprah most of the time, sometimes I wonder if she realizes how self-involved she is.
57. I love watching Meet The Press on Sunday mornings and would talk about politics more if it didn't bug or bore almost every single person I know.
58. When I wake up in the morning, the thought of a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats makes me really, really happy.
59. I still make my kids get in bed by 8:30 every night and wonder how much longer I can keep this going until Ethan figures out that 8:30's a bit on the early side.
60. I can't not answer the phone when it's ringing and let it go to voice mail.
61. I love Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving.
62. The three male celebrities I find most attractive: John Cusak (smart, soulful, funny, not so physically attractive as to be intimidating); Kurt Cobain (Kurt! The pain in your eyes! The artistic angst! Let me save you!); L.L. Cool J. (I know. He represents a side of me that I rarely acknowledge). So I know my Grandpa reads this blog, but I'm leaving this anyway.
63. The female celebrites I like best are: Meryl Streep (so talented, and so fun to listen to in interviews); Julia Roberts (such a happy smile, and I like her even more now that she's married to the camera man and has babies); and anyone who has recently been given newfound fame and is grateful for it and not jaded (like Jennifer Hudson at the Golden Globes).
64. Angelina Jolie scares me. She looks like she's made of wax.
65. Although I love reading stuff by Sheri Dew, she kind of scares me when I look at her, too. (Hey, that rhymes).
66. Even when I shave my legs in the morning, they are as stubbly as sandpaper by the end of the day.
67. I love anything marshmallow. Peeps, circus peanuts, just plain marshmallows from the bag. Back in the "low fat" days this was an eating bonanza, but now that carbs are the enemy I can't feel so guiltless about it.
68. I have to read at least some of the newspaper every day.
69. I like to turn on lots of lights in the house. Whenever I go to someone's house who doesn't turn on lights, it's all I can do to restrain myself from standing up and flicking them on.
70. After living in Minnesota for 7 years, I can't wear shoes in the house.
Okay! So that's enough! Now you all should know everything about me.
I am not blogging again until this baby is born. So there. Induction, Tues. morning 7:30 a.m. Or sooner?!?!?!
Since the only two things I have left to do are 1. housework and 2. waiting to go in to labor, I figure I'll avoid #1 and distract myself from thinking about #2 by adding to my list. I'll pick 'er up at #31.
31. I developed a mysterious bump on my nose about 5 years ago. I went to a dermatologist to have it removed (and they had to give me a shot--on the tip of my nose!) but it grew right back. Jonas calls it a "witch bump."
32. I also developed a mysterious keloid (is that how you spell it?? it's bumpy scar tissue) on my upper left arm a few years ago, too. The reason it's mysterious is that I don't recall ever cutting or injuring myself there, which is how keloids come about. It freaked me out so the same dermatologist who tried to fix my nose bump did a biopsy on it--but it's just a keloid. Weird.
33. When I was a teenager, I had a sneaking suspicion that some of my friends liked my mom better than they liked me. Some of them even wrote her notes when I was in Jr. High.
34. My first college major was history, but after taking my first history class I decided that what I really loved was my high school history teacher, Mr. Jones, and not history itself, and switched to English. It really makes no difference to me whether stories are true or false, and when you major in English there's not nearly as much memorizing.
35. The worst grade I ever received was a D in "Philosophy of Logic" that I took to fill my math requirement at BYU. Long story, but I thought I could game the system by taking the introductory course to Philosophy of Logic independet study, getting the textbook, then dropping the course and getting my tuition money back and reading the book on my own to prepare. Like that would actually happen. Plus I always liked philosophy (Plato and Descaretes and all that). Little did I know that the Philosophy of Logic was actually an entirely new language, this weird math/philosophy hybrid, and on the first day of class I felt like I'd stepped into Mandarain Chinese 301. The professor told us that this was one of the most often failed classes on campus and that we could drop out as soon as we had enough points for the grade we felt comfortable with. I felt comfortable with my D and happily dropped out after 3 weeks of torture.
36. My favorite class at BYU was a Contemporary Lit class taught by Darrel Spencer, an amazingly smart and thrillingly left-of-center-for-BYU fiction writer. He would type up page long, single spaced commentary on everything we wrote. When he told me I was "bright" it literally made my year and reminds me to this day how much a few encouraging words from a teacher can mean.
37. When I started student teaching, my supervising teacher came in for a surprise visit and I was sitting cross-legged on a book cart in front of the class whilst talking about To Kill a Mockingbird. Apparently sitting crosslegged on a bookcart is bad teacher protocol, because some of the folks I knew in classes she taught afterword said she used me as an example of "how to remember that in order for the students to think you are older than them . . . . don't do THIS."
38. I hate going to the dentist.
39. The older I get, the more irrationally afraid of heights I become. It's gotten so bad that I can't even walk out on hotel balconies and if I'm in a mall on a high level and the railing is that see-through plexiglass stuff, have to stay a few feet away from it. What is that?
40. When I got married at the age of 20 (and I'd been 20 for two whole weeks) it never crossed my mind once that I might be a little young.
41. I love watching reruns of "100,000 Pyramid" and think that Dick Clark is by far the best game show host ever.
42. I love playing board games, particularly word games, but Forrest usually beats me at Scrabble. I, however, usually beat him at Boggle.
43. I like wearing slightly high heeled shoes, but it makes me feel guilty and self-conscious, too, like people will think I'm being inappropriate and overly flashy.
44. Same thing with big earrings.
45. I prefer my six-year old, slightly-musty-smelling, denty van to our new Tahoe.
46. My back actually hurts less when I'm pregnant that when I'm not.
47. I rarely feel guilty about reading too much.
48. My three culinary specialties are salads, cheesecake, and chocolate chip cookies. Everything else I leave to Forrest.
49. Donald Trump makes my skin crawl.
50. Even though I think that Rosie O'Donnell has gone sligtly cuckoo in the last 5 years, I still have soft spot for her, probably stemming from my early days as a stay-at-home Mom watching the Rosie O'Donnell show (back when she was nicer).
51. I love going to church on Sunday now that I'm no longer the Primary president.
52. I really don't think I like to snow ski. I'm going to give it another whril after I have the baby . . . but I really don't think I'm going to like it. Sorry, hon.
53. I do like waterskiing, though.
54. The only excercise routine that I've found that I enjoy (after attempting jogging at home, treadmill at home, treadmill at gym, weights at gym, aerobics tapes at home, and elliptical machine at gym) is group aerobics classes. But only if they're really full and I can stand at the back.
55. I'm convinced that my body wants to weigh what it wants to weigh, pretty much no matter what I do. I know this sounds like a cop out. But it's true, I swear!!!
56. Although I do love Oprah most of the time, sometimes I wonder if she realizes how self-involved she is.
57. I love watching Meet The Press on Sunday mornings and would talk about politics more if it didn't bug or bore almost every single person I know.
58. When I wake up in the morning, the thought of a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats makes me really, really happy.
59. I still make my kids get in bed by 8:30 every night and wonder how much longer I can keep this going until Ethan figures out that 8:30's a bit on the early side.
60. I can't not answer the phone when it's ringing and let it go to voice mail.
61. I love Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving.
62. The three male celebrities I find most attractive: John Cusak (smart, soulful, funny, not so physically attractive as to be intimidating); Kurt Cobain (Kurt! The pain in your eyes! The artistic angst! Let me save you!); L.L. Cool J. (I know. He represents a side of me that I rarely acknowledge). So I know my Grandpa reads this blog, but I'm leaving this anyway.
63. The female celebrites I like best are: Meryl Streep (so talented, and so fun to listen to in interviews); Julia Roberts (such a happy smile, and I like her even more now that she's married to the camera man and has babies); and anyone who has recently been given newfound fame and is grateful for it and not jaded (like Jennifer Hudson at the Golden Globes).
64. Angelina Jolie scares me. She looks like she's made of wax.
65. Although I love reading stuff by Sheri Dew, she kind of scares me when I look at her, too. (Hey, that rhymes).
66. Even when I shave my legs in the morning, they are as stubbly as sandpaper by the end of the day.
67. I love anything marshmallow. Peeps, circus peanuts, just plain marshmallows from the bag. Back in the "low fat" days this was an eating bonanza, but now that carbs are the enemy I can't feel so guiltless about it.
68. I have to read at least some of the newspaper every day.
69. I like to turn on lots of lights in the house. Whenever I go to someone's house who doesn't turn on lights, it's all I can do to restrain myself from standing up and flicking them on.
70. After living in Minnesota for 7 years, I can't wear shoes in the house.
Okay! So that's enough! Now you all should know everything about me.
I am not blogging again until this baby is born. So there. Induction, Tues. morning 7:30 a.m. Or sooner?!?!?!
Monday, January 15, 2007
My List
Both my sister (Valinor blog on sidebar) and sister-in-law (Sweat Family Adventures on sidebar) have written a list of things folks may or may not know about them, so I thought I'd chime in with my own. Don't know how far I'll get . . . so we'll see!
1. My first vivid memory is of picking up a rock by my friend's swingset and seeing a bunch of earwigs wriggling underneath it. I think I was about 2.
2. I used to wish that Laura Ingalls Wilder could be zapped to the future to become my friend and I could show her all the cool things about the late 20th century, like slurpees and television and airplanes.
3. Once I was old enough to notice them, I hate, hate, hated my freckles. I used to say that if a genie would give me three wishes, one of them would be to take away my freckles. Luckily they don't bother me anymore. (Freckles--not genies.)
4. I had a longstanding fantasy that a director of Broadway plays would come to my elementary school, see me on the playground, and just KNOW that I was the little girl he'd been scouring the country for and whisk me away to play Annie.
5. I started reading Stephen King books when I was about 10 years old. Stole them from my Dad's stash. They never really scared me, either.
6. The first boy I ever had a crush on was named Mark Rydalch and he gave me a wooden apple pencil holder in the 4th grade.
7. I was a messy child. I would leave congealing bowls of ice cream on my nighstand for weeks on end, and in the 6th grade my teacher Miss Anderson gave me the "Messiest Desk Award," which was highly humiliating since the next boy I had a crush on, Keith Evans, was in my class and I was convinced he'd never like me after that.
8. Also in the sixth grade, I hid in the p.e. equipment closet in order to avoid getting my eyes checked because I knew they would tell me I needed glasses. I successfully fooled everyone until the 8th grade when my Dad noticed I was squinting when I played basketball with the Young Women. It wasn't until then that I realized trees had individual leaves.
9. I am a terrible athlete. My dad thinks it's just because I didn't care enough about it and that if he would have been able to work with me, I would have been like the rest of my siblings and lettered in things in high school. But no, really . . . I'm just a terrible athlete.
10. I started writing stories and poems when I was a little kid and kept many of them in a journal my primary teacher gave to me because she wanted to encourage me. My first really good story was about a girl who desperately wanted to play Annie, but she botched her audition and ended up in the chorus instead. It won the district reflections contest. Interestingly, I never ever dreamed of being a writer--just an actress-until I was about 18 years old.
11. I really hated it when people would say that my hair was "dishwater blonde."
12. I've twisted my right ankle quite badly two times: once when I was racing my brothers up in the mountains at our annual "Mirror Lake" family photo shoot and I was wearing some kickin' (but impractical) white boots and stepped in a pothole; the other when I was in the 9th grade in student government class and I jumped up to show my enthusiasm for the perm I'd be getting that afternoon and landed on my (already damaged) ankle wrong. Both times, the pain was so intense I fainted. Those are the only times I've ever fainted, too.
13. From the age of 14 to the age of 16, I kissed eight different guys. But of course, I didn't date until I was sixteen.
14. Soon after we met, I was pretty certain that I was going to marry Forrest someday. Of course, I was also pretty certain that I was going to marry four of the other seven guys I had previosuly kissed as well. But this time, I was more mature and knew what I REALLY wanted. :-) Luckily, in retrospect, the only person out of those eight who would have been at all right for me was Forrest, and he's still the most right for me guy I've ever known.
15. When I was in the 9th grade, I wouldn't tell any of my friends my standardized test scores because I thought they wouldn't like me anymore if my scores were higher than theirs.
16. The only time I remember flat out lying to my parents was when I was 15, working at Hardees, and this cowboy guy named Kurt wanted to take me to the "Boot Boogie" on a Friday night and I knew my parents wouldn't let me. Although I hated country music, Kurt was apparently "cool" so I told my parents I was going out with my friends and went with him instead. We promptly went to his brother's house where he drank a beer, offered me one (I indignantly refused), then he drove me to the Boot Boogie (and all the while I was terrified he would get in a wreck because he was "driving drunk") and I was so mad I wouldn't dance with him--and I didn't know any of the dumb line dances anyway. We both had a terrible time. I decided it was God's way of punishing me for lying to my parents, and I never lied so blatantly again.
17. In high school, I had Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and a Dr. Pepper for lunch almost every day.
18. I used to be able to do the splits.
19. My Grandma Ranquist bought all my school clothes every year until I graduated from high school. We'd go on these fantastic shopping trips every August and eat lunch in ZCMI's Tiffin Room. One of the highlights of my year. (I think I was the only member of my family she did this for. Should I feel guilty about this? She also bought me a complete set of bedroom furniture--white Victorian with a canopy bed.)
20. I used to hope that the second coming wouldn't happen until after I was married and less inclined to be sinful.
21. Of all the things I did in high school, Madrigals was the most fun.
22. Of all the things I did in high school, being a Student Body Officer my senior year was the least fun. Mostly a lot of work, and I was in charge of assemblies and got in big trouble for one where I'd asked Lucius Matalii to be the emcee (he was our version of Arsinio Hall) and for some reason, he started throwing out condoms to the assembled students during his opening monologue. How this was my fault I wasn't sure, but I did get in trouble.
23. Cheerleading was fun, but I wasn't a very good cheerleader. It always amazed me how quickly my cheerleader friends would catch on to routines. Also, being a base in cheerleader pyramids runied my back, and when I look at my old J.V. cheerleader uniform it amazes me how small my waist used to be. I also vividly remember a fight that the J.V. cheerleaders were having with the Varsity cheerleaders and when we met to talk it out I told the Varsity cheerleaders to stop "patronizing us" and they got even madder at me for using arrogant vocabulary words.
24. I finally got to play the lead in a musical my senior year of high school (Cinderella), which ended up being the last time I ever performed in a play despite all my childhood dreams of Broadway fame.
25. A ginormous publicity photo of me as Cinderella is still hanging in the halls of Cyprus High School (so I'm told).
26. I've never liked my hands.
27. I've always liked my feet.
28. I don't recall ever really fighting with my siblings.
29. Every year a company called Union Carbide selected a student from Cyprus High to send to Washington D.C. and my junior year they selected me. I went to D.C. with students selected from each state in the country and apparently learned a lot about our government, but mostly remember having a ton of fun with these strange kids from places like New Hamshire who drank COFFEE in the morning.
30. Our high school graduation was held outside, and somehow the sound system picked up a Latino radio station and Mexican pop songs played over all of our commencement speeches.
Okay, that's it for now. And I just got through high school! We'll see if I have the wherewithall to add more another time. As you can see, I'm a bit more longwinded than Andi or Amy. Sorry. But there are so many details that must be explained!!
1. My first vivid memory is of picking up a rock by my friend's swingset and seeing a bunch of earwigs wriggling underneath it. I think I was about 2.
2. I used to wish that Laura Ingalls Wilder could be zapped to the future to become my friend and I could show her all the cool things about the late 20th century, like slurpees and television and airplanes.
3. Once I was old enough to notice them, I hate, hate, hated my freckles. I used to say that if a genie would give me three wishes, one of them would be to take away my freckles. Luckily they don't bother me anymore. (Freckles--not genies.)
4. I had a longstanding fantasy that a director of Broadway plays would come to my elementary school, see me on the playground, and just KNOW that I was the little girl he'd been scouring the country for and whisk me away to play Annie.
5. I started reading Stephen King books when I was about 10 years old. Stole them from my Dad's stash. They never really scared me, either.
6. The first boy I ever had a crush on was named Mark Rydalch and he gave me a wooden apple pencil holder in the 4th grade.
7. I was a messy child. I would leave congealing bowls of ice cream on my nighstand for weeks on end, and in the 6th grade my teacher Miss Anderson gave me the "Messiest Desk Award," which was highly humiliating since the next boy I had a crush on, Keith Evans, was in my class and I was convinced he'd never like me after that.
8. Also in the sixth grade, I hid in the p.e. equipment closet in order to avoid getting my eyes checked because I knew they would tell me I needed glasses. I successfully fooled everyone until the 8th grade when my Dad noticed I was squinting when I played basketball with the Young Women. It wasn't until then that I realized trees had individual leaves.
9. I am a terrible athlete. My dad thinks it's just because I didn't care enough about it and that if he would have been able to work with me, I would have been like the rest of my siblings and lettered in things in high school. But no, really . . . I'm just a terrible athlete.
10. I started writing stories and poems when I was a little kid and kept many of them in a journal my primary teacher gave to me because she wanted to encourage me. My first really good story was about a girl who desperately wanted to play Annie, but she botched her audition and ended up in the chorus instead. It won the district reflections contest. Interestingly, I never ever dreamed of being a writer--just an actress-until I was about 18 years old.
11. I really hated it when people would say that my hair was "dishwater blonde."
12. I've twisted my right ankle quite badly two times: once when I was racing my brothers up in the mountains at our annual "Mirror Lake" family photo shoot and I was wearing some kickin' (but impractical) white boots and stepped in a pothole; the other when I was in the 9th grade in student government class and I jumped up to show my enthusiasm for the perm I'd be getting that afternoon and landed on my (already damaged) ankle wrong. Both times, the pain was so intense I fainted. Those are the only times I've ever fainted, too.
13. From the age of 14 to the age of 16, I kissed eight different guys. But of course, I didn't date until I was sixteen.
14. Soon after we met, I was pretty certain that I was going to marry Forrest someday. Of course, I was also pretty certain that I was going to marry four of the other seven guys I had previosuly kissed as well. But this time, I was more mature and knew what I REALLY wanted. :-) Luckily, in retrospect, the only person out of those eight who would have been at all right for me was Forrest, and he's still the most right for me guy I've ever known.
15. When I was in the 9th grade, I wouldn't tell any of my friends my standardized test scores because I thought they wouldn't like me anymore if my scores were higher than theirs.
16. The only time I remember flat out lying to my parents was when I was 15, working at Hardees, and this cowboy guy named Kurt wanted to take me to the "Boot Boogie" on a Friday night and I knew my parents wouldn't let me. Although I hated country music, Kurt was apparently "cool" so I told my parents I was going out with my friends and went with him instead. We promptly went to his brother's house where he drank a beer, offered me one (I indignantly refused), then he drove me to the Boot Boogie (and all the while I was terrified he would get in a wreck because he was "driving drunk") and I was so mad I wouldn't dance with him--and I didn't know any of the dumb line dances anyway. We both had a terrible time. I decided it was God's way of punishing me for lying to my parents, and I never lied so blatantly again.
17. In high school, I had Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and a Dr. Pepper for lunch almost every day.
18. I used to be able to do the splits.
19. My Grandma Ranquist bought all my school clothes every year until I graduated from high school. We'd go on these fantastic shopping trips every August and eat lunch in ZCMI's Tiffin Room. One of the highlights of my year. (I think I was the only member of my family she did this for. Should I feel guilty about this? She also bought me a complete set of bedroom furniture--white Victorian with a canopy bed.)
20. I used to hope that the second coming wouldn't happen until after I was married and less inclined to be sinful.
21. Of all the things I did in high school, Madrigals was the most fun.
22. Of all the things I did in high school, being a Student Body Officer my senior year was the least fun. Mostly a lot of work, and I was in charge of assemblies and got in big trouble for one where I'd asked Lucius Matalii to be the emcee (he was our version of Arsinio Hall) and for some reason, he started throwing out condoms to the assembled students during his opening monologue. How this was my fault I wasn't sure, but I did get in trouble.
23. Cheerleading was fun, but I wasn't a very good cheerleader. It always amazed me how quickly my cheerleader friends would catch on to routines. Also, being a base in cheerleader pyramids runied my back, and when I look at my old J.V. cheerleader uniform it amazes me how small my waist used to be. I also vividly remember a fight that the J.V. cheerleaders were having with the Varsity cheerleaders and when we met to talk it out I told the Varsity cheerleaders to stop "patronizing us" and they got even madder at me for using arrogant vocabulary words.
24. I finally got to play the lead in a musical my senior year of high school (Cinderella), which ended up being the last time I ever performed in a play despite all my childhood dreams of Broadway fame.
25. A ginormous publicity photo of me as Cinderella is still hanging in the halls of Cyprus High School (so I'm told).
26. I've never liked my hands.
27. I've always liked my feet.
28. I don't recall ever really fighting with my siblings.
29. Every year a company called Union Carbide selected a student from Cyprus High to send to Washington D.C. and my junior year they selected me. I went to D.C. with students selected from each state in the country and apparently learned a lot about our government, but mostly remember having a ton of fun with these strange kids from places like New Hamshire who drank COFFEE in the morning.
30. Our high school graduation was held outside, and somehow the sound system picked up a Latino radio station and Mexican pop songs played over all of our commencement speeches.
Okay, that's it for now. And I just got through high school! We'll see if I have the wherewithall to add more another time. As you can see, I'm a bit more longwinded than Andi or Amy. Sorry. But there are so many details that must be explained!!
Monday, January 08, 2007
Good News
Okay, so some good news to share:
1. First, baby news: I went to the doctor on Friday and found I was dialated to (almost) a three and 70% effaced. Even though I'm ALWAYS right around a three at 37 weeks, it was still good to hear. Also, the Dr. decided that if I haven't had the baby by Tues., January 23rd, she'll go ahead and induce. (She says it's because of the borderline Gestational Diabetes and not wanting to go overdue, but I'm sure it's also for her convenience--and mine :-). I always say that I want to be a trooper and wait until I go into labor, an experience I have yet to enjoy having been induced w/ the other three, but once I get to this point it's too hard to wait. I just want to get the baby out and meet him!
2. Jonas had a basketball game on Saturday and scored THREE baskets! One of the best things about watching Jonas play sports is that he doesn't get all angst filled and worried whenever things don't go his way. He'll shoot, miss, smile, shrug, and run down the court happy as all get out. So it makes it even MORE fun when he actually scores! I was excited about the one basket . . . but three? Pretty cool. I think it's because Grandpa Sweat was there, the biggest basketball fan I know (and I know a lot of them). When the game was over, Forrest went over to congratulate Jonas and Jo said, "Yeah, Dad. Where's Grandpa?" Although Grandpa does think that Jonas's super-short John Stockton shorts and light up shoes communicate a less-than-incredibly-serious stance regarding Jonas's basketball career. (Yeah, he was kidding--but it was funny to see some of these little kids in their stylin basketball clothes and expensive Nikes, and Jonas in his light-up Target tennies and size 4T shorts I pulled out of the summer clothes bin.)
3. Irreantum came in the mail today! Okay, so there were a few glitches with the shipping of the magazine, because it seems that nothing can go absolutely smoothly (the printer delivered it to the wrong place and it, well, sat there over the holidays) but it has arrived safe and sound and looks great. I did catch a period at the end of a line in a poem that I should have caught . . . sigh . . . but I knew that would happen. Can't catch everything. A member of the Irreantum staff had a connection with a circular put out by the Salt Lake Tribune that did a review of the magazine, as well. I was a little worried when I was asked to send the reviewer a PDF copy of the magazine (i could see the headline, "Interim Editor Stumbles Badly" or something equally scathing), but the review was actually very favorable. Here's a link, if you'd like to read it:
http://www.inthisweek.com/article.asp?id=848
4. Discovered a way to help Elise with her times tables. They do timed tests in the 3rd grade (and it's made very obvious who has passed their 2s or 3s or 4s and so on), so for kids like Elise who don't, ummmm, techincally "enjoy" math can get pretty stressed out about it. I'm conflicted over the methodology, frankly, because although I understand that it's important to get kids to learn their times tables, the shaming element of it really rubs me the wrong way. (And I also think, why oh why don't they make the kids stand up and do oral or timed spelling tests? Elise ROCKS on those, and, of course, those scores are completely private.) Anyway, Elise is on her threes and has been under a considerable amount of stress regarding her timed tests. She can do it if she has enough time, no problem, but she has to do 20 questions in 2 minutes, and she would invariably take too long. Last night, Forrest and I sat at the kitchen table with her for almost an hour thorugh much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth on her part, and we were pretty much stumped as to what to do. (And, I must admit, the looming prospect of having a newborn and getting from the 4s all the way through the 12s wasn't very thrilling.) So we decided to give her a break and let her go watch "Full House" and chill out, and in the mean time I found this website that had mnemonic devices for memorizing times tables. For example, for the threes, there are a bunch of stories about "trees." For three times four, there was a story about a "tree" and "door" and an "elf" that eventually wound up to be three plus four equals twelve. (Tree plus door equals elf. Get it?) It sounds like it makes memorizing even more complicated--but I called Elise down and lo and behold--she could finally memorize the hard ones!!!! (4,6,7,8, and 9). I can't even explain the relief that both she and I enjoyed that we found this method. I even get why it works--I can see an elf walking through a door on a tree much better than I can memorize anything mathematical. So she had her test today--and didn't quite pass--but she got 17/20, which was MUCH better than the 9/20 she got on Friday. So we're going to drill again for the Wednesday test and keep our fingers crossed. Mostly she feels much better about the whole process, which is the most important part.
So that's it from here for now. Is it too much wishful thinking to hope that the next time I post, I'll have pictures of a new baby to share???
1. First, baby news: I went to the doctor on Friday and found I was dialated to (almost) a three and 70% effaced. Even though I'm ALWAYS right around a three at 37 weeks, it was still good to hear. Also, the Dr. decided that if I haven't had the baby by Tues., January 23rd, she'll go ahead and induce. (She says it's because of the borderline Gestational Diabetes and not wanting to go overdue, but I'm sure it's also for her convenience--and mine :-). I always say that I want to be a trooper and wait until I go into labor, an experience I have yet to enjoy having been induced w/ the other three, but once I get to this point it's too hard to wait. I just want to get the baby out and meet him!
2. Jonas had a basketball game on Saturday and scored THREE baskets! One of the best things about watching Jonas play sports is that he doesn't get all angst filled and worried whenever things don't go his way. He'll shoot, miss, smile, shrug, and run down the court happy as all get out. So it makes it even MORE fun when he actually scores! I was excited about the one basket . . . but three? Pretty cool. I think it's because Grandpa Sweat was there, the biggest basketball fan I know (and I know a lot of them). When the game was over, Forrest went over to congratulate Jonas and Jo said, "Yeah, Dad. Where's Grandpa?" Although Grandpa does think that Jonas's super-short John Stockton shorts and light up shoes communicate a less-than-incredibly-serious stance regarding Jonas's basketball career. (Yeah, he was kidding--but it was funny to see some of these little kids in their stylin basketball clothes and expensive Nikes, and Jonas in his light-up Target tennies and size 4T shorts I pulled out of the summer clothes bin.)
3. Irreantum came in the mail today! Okay, so there were a few glitches with the shipping of the magazine, because it seems that nothing can go absolutely smoothly (the printer delivered it to the wrong place and it, well, sat there over the holidays) but it has arrived safe and sound and looks great. I did catch a period at the end of a line in a poem that I should have caught . . . sigh . . . but I knew that would happen. Can't catch everything. A member of the Irreantum staff had a connection with a circular put out by the Salt Lake Tribune that did a review of the magazine, as well. I was a little worried when I was asked to send the reviewer a PDF copy of the magazine (i could see the headline, "Interim Editor Stumbles Badly" or something equally scathing), but the review was actually very favorable. Here's a link, if you'd like to read it:
http://www.inthisweek.com/article.asp?id=848
4. Discovered a way to help Elise with her times tables. They do timed tests in the 3rd grade (and it's made very obvious who has passed their 2s or 3s or 4s and so on), so for kids like Elise who don't, ummmm, techincally "enjoy" math can get pretty stressed out about it. I'm conflicted over the methodology, frankly, because although I understand that it's important to get kids to learn their times tables, the shaming element of it really rubs me the wrong way. (And I also think, why oh why don't they make the kids stand up and do oral or timed spelling tests? Elise ROCKS on those, and, of course, those scores are completely private.) Anyway, Elise is on her threes and has been under a considerable amount of stress regarding her timed tests. She can do it if she has enough time, no problem, but she has to do 20 questions in 2 minutes, and she would invariably take too long. Last night, Forrest and I sat at the kitchen table with her for almost an hour thorugh much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth on her part, and we were pretty much stumped as to what to do. (And, I must admit, the looming prospect of having a newborn and getting from the 4s all the way through the 12s wasn't very thrilling.) So we decided to give her a break and let her go watch "Full House" and chill out, and in the mean time I found this website that had mnemonic devices for memorizing times tables. For example, for the threes, there are a bunch of stories about "trees." For three times four, there was a story about a "tree" and "door" and an "elf" that eventually wound up to be three plus four equals twelve. (Tree plus door equals elf. Get it?) It sounds like it makes memorizing even more complicated--but I called Elise down and lo and behold--she could finally memorize the hard ones!!!! (4,6,7,8, and 9). I can't even explain the relief that both she and I enjoyed that we found this method. I even get why it works--I can see an elf walking through a door on a tree much better than I can memorize anything mathematical. So she had her test today--and didn't quite pass--but she got 17/20, which was MUCH better than the 9/20 she got on Friday. So we're going to drill again for the Wednesday test and keep our fingers crossed. Mostly she feels much better about the whole process, which is the most important part.
So that's it from here for now. Is it too much wishful thinking to hope that the next time I post, I'll have pictures of a new baby to share???
Monday, January 01, 2007
Whew!
It's been a busy couple of weeks, but a fun couple of weeks, too. Christmas was great, the kids had a good time, and we were able to enjoy spending time with lots of family members. Hauling this baby around has taken its toll, though--today I'm beat, and I still haven't taken down the decorations (tomorrow?). So here are some pictures from the holidays:
Elise and her cousin Lauren dressed up as angels for the Nativity at Grandma and Grandpa Sweat's on Christmas Eve.
Yessss!
Mounds of Christmas everywhere.
The kids and their cousins banging pots and pans on the front porch on New Year's Eve. This was the first year that we've let the kids stay up until midnight. The grownups stayed up until 2:30 playing "Singing Star" on the PlayStation--although I finally gave in and curled up on the loveseat at about 1:45. When Andi and Tony started in on (what seemed like!) their 45th rendition of Sweet Home Alabama (see photo below), I think I started moaning in my sleep. We had a great time that night, though. One of the best New Year's Eves in recent memory. Made me feel like I was 24 and not 34, which would make it 1997. 1997 seems much more reasonable to me than 2007. Who woulda thought time would go this fast??? When Forrest reminds me that this baby is going to be graduating high school in 2025, it does give me pause.
Hope you all had a great holiday week and are ready to take on the new year. I have the baby's room *almost* ready, Jonas is moved into Ethan's room, I've washed all the baby clothes and sterilized the binkis, so I think I'm good to go. C'mon baby! We're ready now!
Elise and her cousin Lauren dressed up as angels for the Nativity at Grandma and Grandpa Sweat's on Christmas Eve.
Yessss!
Mounds of Christmas everywhere.
The kids and their cousins banging pots and pans on the front porch on New Year's Eve. This was the first year that we've let the kids stay up until midnight. The grownups stayed up until 2:30 playing "Singing Star" on the PlayStation--although I finally gave in and curled up on the loveseat at about 1:45. When Andi and Tony started in on (what seemed like!) their 45th rendition of Sweet Home Alabama (see photo below), I think I started moaning in my sleep. We had a great time that night, though. One of the best New Year's Eves in recent memory. Made me feel like I was 24 and not 34, which would make it 1997. 1997 seems much more reasonable to me than 2007. Who woulda thought time would go this fast??? When Forrest reminds me that this baby is going to be graduating high school in 2025, it does give me pause.
Hope you all had a great holiday week and are ready to take on the new year. I have the baby's room *almost* ready, Jonas is moved into Ethan's room, I've washed all the baby clothes and sterilized the binkis, so I think I'm good to go. C'mon baby! We're ready now!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
