Almost cavity-free

Took the kids to the dentist today, and even though both Ethan and Elise had been complaining of mouth pain, both were cavity free! Hurrah! (Turns out they both have molars pushing down.) Only Jonas had a cavity, which was too bad, but not as bad as last time when he had a bunch of cavities and needed two appointments to fill them all. This time it was just a little tiny one that they filled right then and there, and Joe didn't even need a shot of novocaine. So it was a great dentist trip for the Hallstroms, all in all! It's so nice to go and not feel like a bad tooth-brushing Mom.

Spring break has officially begun, and I'm looking forward to not having to wrassle the kids out of bed and out the door every morning. And do homework at night. We're planning on going skiing on Friday as a family--with thanks to Grandma for Wyatt watching duty--and spend the rest of the time relaxin'.

I have the annual AML conference to go to on Saturday, which should be fun. I love the AML (Association for Mormon Letters). It was such a lifeline to me in Minnesota--I felt like the AML folks on the "AML-list" (the email discussion list) were my only Mormon friends at times, and the experiences I've had with Irreantum and with other AML members and writers have been invaluable. Although I've felt a little disconnected from the writing life lately, I'm itchy to get back into it again. I miss writing. This blog doesn't really count because it's more a stream of consciousness, personal journal/family chit chat vehicle. It's fun more than challenging--kind of like the differenc between a pick up game of basketball in the driveway and a playoff game. (See how I couch things in sport terms when I'm writing for the family? ;-). Whenever I read good stuff, though, it makes me itchier to start writing fiction again. I just finished reading "Children of Men" by an English author named PD James. I've never read her before--she writes mainly mysteries and speculative fiction, so not normally my cup of tea--but I'd heard about the movie recently that was based on the novel and thought I'd give it a shot. It's an entirely different kind of novel than any book I've read in a while. Older seeming, slower paced. But the language is striking, and her ability to describe is absolutely astonishing. Here's a couple of examples of how she describes different characters:

"She was older than he expected, with a round, windburned face, gently creased like a balloon from which the air has been expelled, bright beady eyes and a small mouth, delicately shaped and once pretty but now, as he looked down on her, restlessly munching as if still relishing the after-taste of her last meal."

and

"He was tall, with a pale, sensitive face and an etiolated body, the large knobbled hands drooping from delicate writsts, as if in childhood he had outgrown his strength and had never managed to achieve robust adulthood. His fair hair lay like a silk fringe on the high forehead; his grey eyes were widely spaced and gentle."

(and FYI, "etiolated" means "to cause to become weakened or sickly; drain of color or vigor." I had to look it up. I also didn't realize that "knobbled" was a word, but I like it.)

I read stuff like that and I think DANG! It's so hard. So hard to write like that. I have a story coming out in Dialogue soon and I just labored over how to describe a certain character. It took forever to think of something that didn't sound cliched, and even then I'm not 100% certain I like it. But it's nice to be inspired by writers like James.

I'm also not giving up hope on my book. I've had three different publishers tell me they want to publish it ("probably" or "hopefully") and with all three, something has happened to either cause it not to happen or delay it indefinitely. I'm trying to be patient, though. I still have hope for my little collection of stories, my little Palmer family. I'll try to do what Oprah says and think positively about it, put some good mojo out into the future.

So now Wyatt is awake. This is all the writing for today. But I'll close with some good pictures from Jonas's birthday and the Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Sweat's on Monday. (Which is what real life is all about, as opposed to the made up lives that I seem to love so much.)

Birthday Boys!

Today is Jonas's birthday! He's six (unbelievable). He woke up this morning to his brand new bike--a cool green and black number--and hopped right on before school started this morning (even though the seat was still a little high and he crashed into the garage door because his feet couldn't touch the ground :-). We fixed the seat and now he's off and pedaling. We also went to see "The Last Mimzy" as a family after school, and Wyatt was nice enough to sleep through the whole thing. Although now I'm a little sick to my stomach from Coke and popcorn. The movie was pretty good--the kids loved it--and Jonas says he's having the "Best Birthday Ever." He has his karate party with his friends tomorrow, so I'll have to post about that later. Here's a picture of Jonas with the remote control car he got from Aunt Mindy and Uncle Pete:



We also celebrated Forrest's birthday yesterday. Mindy came over during the day so Forrest and I could go to lunch at the new Market Street in South Jordan. Luckily for us, Market Street is our favorite restaurant, and to have on in SJ is so fun. We had a tasty lunch, although my fish tacos had cabbage inside--and I don't like cabbage--and Forrest wasn't in love with his crab sandwich . . . but you've got to try new things and not always rely on the halibut! But the clam chowder was still wonderful. And we had a tasty little barbequed shrimp appetizer. I wonder when they're going to start posting calories on restaurant menus. It will be a sad, sad day. I think it's one of the wonderful thing about restaurant eating: you can have your rolls, your clam chowder, your crab sandwiches with thick European cheese melted inside two slabs of buttered sourdough, and although you realize you're eating a hearty lunch, it's easy to be in denial about the number of calories actually consumed. I imagine clam chowder will be much less fun to eat once the cold, hard truth is made apparent. But enough of that culinary tangent. The important thing is that Forrest is now 36 . . . the age my Mom was when Forrest and I started dating!!! (Ahhh!). To commemorate, I got him a golf shirt and a DVD of the latest James Bond movie, which has quickly become one of his all time favorite movies, along with Teen Wolf, Captain Ron, that historical seafaring movie with Russel Crowe that's cool to watch even though it's impossible to tell what the actors are saying with the wind and the banging and the English accents, Pirates of the Carribean, and Fletch.

And lastly, a couple of adorable shots of Wyatt. Grandma and Grandpa Sweat came over last night and Grandma got him really smiling just before his bath. Nothing fills you up with pure joy like smiling at a baby and having him smile back, don't you think?




Aren't those just the best? He's getting so cute I can hardly stand it.

Wyatt Urp and the Skisters

Wyatt had his 2 month appointment this week and the doctor says he's a Gerber baby--not because he's the cutest baby she's ever seen (he's the cutest baby I've ever seen, but I'm prejudiced :-), but because he came in at 50% weight (11 lbs. 5 oz.), 50% height, 40% head (can't remember those measurements), so he's the average American boy, pretty much. Everything looked good, although the doctor does think that he has acid reflux. I hadn't thought about it because he doesn't vomit, really--just urps, sometimes swallows it, sometimes spits. But as she was watching him at the appointment, she noticed him gurgling and hunching (I'd just fed him) and was pretty sure he had acid reflux, a particular kind that comes about halfway up the esophagus and then back down again. She prescribed some Zantac--not to be confused with Zanax, for your depressed baby, or Zantex 3, for your overweight baby--but he's used it for a few days and I don't seem to notice much of a difference, either with fussiness or urping. (And if you got the little "Wyatt Urp" joke in the title of this entry, good for you :-). So now I'm feeling hesitant to use the medication. First off, it tastes TERRIBLE (put some one my tongue, and Elise went "MOOOM! You're not supposed to take medicine that's NOT FOR YOU!"), and it's medicine, period. I hate putting drugs in my own body, let alone a little baby body, if I can help it. So we'll see if I keep it up or not.

Speaking of drugs in little baby bodies, Wyatt also had his immunizations, and for the first time that I recall I had a baby with a reaction :-(. He had a ton of shots (four needles and one oral vaccine--too many, I think), and when he came home he slept for three hours and then woke up like a shot, screaming. He screamed in pain for about a half an hour, then Forrest came home with the infant Tylenol (only had kid Motrin, and I know, not very prepared of us) and he calmed down after that and slept again. He woke up with a fever of 101 and was sleepy and warm the rest of the day. I know that it's not uncommon for a child to have a fever after shots, but I hate, hate, hated it. And although I'm glad he's protected from polio and measles and all that jazz, I can't get over my distaste for pumping my infant full of dead viruses and chemicals. Ughh. So I think next time I'm going to see if I can do fewer shots all at once and hopefully that will help.

But here's another new picture of Wyatt, since the immunizations didn't affect his cuteness:



I chose this one because it showcases his new hairdo. His baby hair is falling out and his new big boy hair is coming in all at once, like a little chia pet. He looks kind of like a Marine with a buzz cut. We're calling him Sarge.

The other big news of the week was the kids last day of skiing lessons. Although it was a big commitment of time--and not cheap--I'm so glad that we did it. Elise was so scared of skiing the first day she tried it, but now she's a pro. And Ethan and Jonas are both looking great. On the last day they had little races for the parents to watch and all three of the kids did awesome. (Each of them "won" their race, too--even though it was just against one other person!). It was just gorgeous up on the mountain and so fun to watch. Grandma and Grandpa Sweat even came up to check 'em out. Here's some shots of the kids skiing. And sorry they aren't better. I was using the super fast shutter speed, but I didn't zoom in far enough and started taking them too soon . . . sigh . . . not the best action photographer. I should have taken more video, too--I only got Jonas right at the beginning, then I was intent on getting some good stills, which I did NOT do. Bad Mommy. But I tried.









These are various skiing shots you can probably figure out on your own--but it was a fun day. And now it's Spring!

After two years, I've figured it out.

I haven't been a very good videoer (is that word?) since we moved to Utah. During the first six months the camera was in storage, and since then I haven't had the wherewithall to locate the camera and turn it on very often. And recently I haven't been able to find the battery for the camera, so poor neglected Wyatt has had nary a video to his name. Yesterday Jonas was doing great on his bike and I wanted to video him, so I thought I might check out my digital camera and see if it has a video feature. I'd tried it once before, but it didn't work, so I'd given up on it. But after a ridiculously easy amount of fiddling, lo and behold, my digital camera takes videos! With sound! I was so excited. So I signed myself up for youtube and got these puppies downloaded.

This first video is of Wyatt with his best friends in the whole world, the two dangly elephants and dangly lion on his bouncy chair. You can see for yourself how much he loves them (more than us, I think :-);



This next video is of Jonas on his bike. Last Fall he had learned to ride but wasn't very confident, especially about starting. But with our nice springlike weather, he's hopped back on and now has no fear. He even rode his bike into the grassy "pit" across the street at the park without a twinge of fear. So here's the bike rider boy:



I also have a really cute/hilarious picture that I forgot to post a couple of weeks ago. It's of Wyatt all bundled up, getting ready to go out on his first official walk around the neighborhood:



So there's all sorts of media for you to enjoy. Right now Wyatt is asleep in his swing (hallelujah!) and is having a much better day than yesterday. He basically stayed awake--with four or five 7 minute naps--from noon on Monday to noon on Tuesday, punctuated by a night of waking up at 12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 6:00, and 7:30. When he finally fell asleep yesterday afternoon, he slept for 4 hours, which was a good thing because I was about to call Forrest in Minnesota (he's there doing interviews for a salesman he needs to hire) and tell him we've got to sell the Tahoe so we can hire a nanny :-). He's been good today, though--cuddly and smiley this morning, and willing to sleep. Like I said, Hallelujah.

Actually, I don't think I could ever have a nanny, and not because I'm too proud, just because it would be weird having some other non-related person hanging around the house, working while I--what--blog? Maybe that does mean I'm too proud. I remember when we lived in England in the fall of 1999, the furnished rowhouse we lived in had a maid that came once a week and mopped the floors and washed the sheets. I always had to put the kids in the stroller and leave because I felt guilty watching her clean my house.

Also, just finished reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, the Mormon girl with the rags-to-riches writer story that I wish was my own. It's techincally adolescent lit, but I liked it: it was fast paced, fun, kept my interest throughout. Andi and Amy, you might like it (although you don't have as much nursing/reading time as I do!).

Celebration Central

Whew!

It's been quite a week of partying at our place. We had Wyatt's aforementioned blessing on Sunday, then I had the Relief Society Birthday Dinner that I was in charge of on Wednesday, then yesterday was Elise's birthday party. Add to the mix Forrest being gone from Mon to Wed (although he arrived home, blessedly, at 4:40 on Wednesday, just enough time to let me put on some lipstick and get to the church to decorate) and your basic sleep depravation x fussy baby bouncing, and I felt a little bit wiped out last night. But I feel good this morning. I woke up to a glorious sunny day (another one--we've had a great string of them!), and Wyatt was good all morning, letting me clean the kitchen, shower and get ready without being fussy. The rest of the house was clean from the pary preparations, so once Wyatt went down for his nap, I had a clean, sunny house all to myself (the kids and Forrest are at ski lessons). I opened up the blinds and lounged on the couch reading this month's book club book (Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer) for one whole hour. And now I'm blogging and Wyatt is still asleep. Although he's grunting--I can hear him--so we'll see how much more blogging I can do.

Elise's party was at Build a Bear Workshop and she and her little gaggle of friends had a great time. She's getting so . . . OLD. On the way to the party, she and her friends were singing along at the top of their lungs to all the pop songs on the Disney AM radio station, and on the way home, they were playing "boyfriend/girlfriend" with their Build a Bears, having them ask each other out on dates and then break up. Hilarious. Here's shot of Elise and the girs at Build a Bear:



She had two other girls invited, but one had a dance competition and the other got sick and was throwing up. When her Mom called to say she couldn't make it I could tell the little girl was really disappointed to be missing the party, so Elise and her friends built her a bear, too. That's why Elise is holding two. But a good time was had by all, and it makes me glad to see Elise making a lot of cute friends here in Utah.

Also, a Wyatt update. He still has hip up days and his down days. He even has sleepy days and wakey days. Some days he'll konk out in his car seat, in my arms, in his bouncy, wherever, and sleep for a good long spell. Other days he'll only sleep in 7 minute increments every two hours and it feels like I'm carting him around, bouncing him, wrapping him, shushing him, feeding him, all day long. I think today is going to be a sleepy day (hooray! since yesterday was a wakey day, just ask Grandma who watched him while we went to Build a Bear!). He's also broken out SUPER bad in baby acne, worse than any of my others. Poor thing. Hopefully it will go away soon. But he is rewarding me with some wonderful smiles. Just this morning the two of use were sleeping on the couch (where we'd been from 5-7:30) and he woke up happy, not crying, and we were looking each other right in the eye when we woke up with him snuggled right next to me, and he broke out in the most beautiful grin. Makes everythign worth it. His favorite subject for smiling, though, are the toys that dangle on the toy bar of his bouncy chair. That bouncy chair is my lifesaver since he loves it and will stay in it for a long time, and we've taken to calling the little dangly toys his "friends." It's hilarious. I tried to get a picture this morning but didn't get a great one (dang digital cameras!) but you get the idea. The other picture is just cute:




And yes, ding!, Wyatt's turkey timer has popped. Three hours since his last feeding and he's up and crying, so better get him.

Wyatt's Blessing

Yesterday was the big day: Wyatt's blessing. And he was such a good boy! Not only was he drowsy and quiet during the actual blessing, but he was a good boy during all the hubub of the open house afterward. Forrest gave Wyatt a beautiful blessing, too. One of the best parts of new momhood is sitting in the congregation and seeing all the men you love up there in a circle, doing all they can to give your child a good start in life.

We had a lot of folks out to the house (Amy & Dave came out from CO, Tony & Cindy and clan, Mindy & Pete and their kids, Denny and Joe and Emma, Great Grandpa and Grandma Hiatt, and Julia and Chris . . . and of course Grandma and Grandpa Sweat!). All sorts of good food was eaten, Wii games played, babies held--not to mentioned the amount of cookies swiped by sneaky gradeschoolers and toddlers. We missed all of you who couldn't be there! And it was a reminder how nice it is to be in Utah and surrounded by so much family.

Here's a couple of shots of Wyatt on his big day. Of course he's broken out in baby acne (all my kids do in the days leading up to their blessings, like clockwork) but he's still cute:




I love both of those shots. And here's a picture of the fam:



Okay, so Wyatt doesn't look too happy here. But he was happy most of the time!

Smiley

Wyatt has started smiling more--usually right after he gets done eating. I've been trying to snap some pictures of him smiling but darn it if my camera doesn't just miss it. But here are some that get close:







Still not quite getting the full on smile, though! Here's another cute one of Wyatt all bundled up after a bath.



Now that he's hit the six week mark, he's broken out in his little baby pimples. All of my kids hit six weeks and like clockwork, out comes the acne. I think they time it for the baby blessing. He's also been going crosseyed a lot . . . so what with the pimples and the crazy eyes, sometimes he looks a little wiggidy. I tell him not to worry, though--that it's just an awkward phase and he's going to grow out of it by April. :-) And even when he's wiggidy, he's still cute.

Besides Wyatt's blessing on Sunday, I have a few other events coming up that are forcing me back into regular life living. One of them is the Relief Society Birthday Dinner that I'm (supposedly) in charge of . . . but I've been letting the Enrichment committee do more of the work this time since I've been in la la land for the last six weeks. And they're a good bunch, they understand. I'm doing decorations, though, so I need to head out to the Pary Depot or some such place and get some bright ideas. I was just talking to my Mom today and she mentioned that she was going to be making origami bumblebees for her ward's RS birthday party and it made me feel like perhaps I should do something more creative than pay somebody at the grocery store to inflate some multicolored balloons and plop them on the tables. Especially since the food that the committee chose to serve (Hawaiian haystacks--a Mormon favorite, but not the most glamorous of food, but hearty and filling nonetheless) was recently coopted by the Scouts. I went to Ethan's Blue and Gold banquet yesterday and the minute they asked me to bring three cans of pineapple chunks I KNEW they were serving haystacks! And alas, I was right! So the 10 women who were at the banquet yesterday will have to grin and bear it when we serve them more Hawaiin Haystacks next week. But even if I do just end up putting balloons on the table and serving Scout food . . . it's still okay, right??? Homemade pasta alfredo (last year's dinner) and oragami bumblebees notwithstanding???

I also have Elise's birthday coming up on Saturday (the 17th). We only do parties every other year and Elise was due to have one last year, but last year we were at Disneyland over her birthday, and she knew so few people since we'd just moved that we didn't have one. So this year she gets a GOOD one. I had been looking for someplace to have it because I'm too tired to contemplate doing an entire party at the house right now, but everything we found was so expensive, even just to rent out the space. (For example, the LIfetime Fitness was $150, just for a party room, access to the pool, and a cheese pizza. And the kids in this neigborhood don't get too excited about swimming anyway since there's a pool across the street.) So, long story short, we decided to minimize the number of guests and go to Build a Bear Workshop. Elise is thrilled and so are the kids she's invited, so it should be fun. AND I don't have to do a lot of decorating and come up with creative games. So we're all happy.

Now it's 10:20 and I should really go to bed. Forrest is at a ward basketball game . . . I'm kinda waiting for him to get home . . . but sleep is precious. (Wyatt did sleep from 9:30 to 2:00 last night! But then he was naughty from 2:00 to 4:00. So he gets a B. Law of averages.)

Oh! And one final thought. Have still been laying off the chocolate but find that I still need some treats. (Don't we all?? And Andi, you'd better not say that not only do you do Plan of Salvation Scavenger Hunts when your kids are sick on Sunday, but you've also stopped eating all sugar and don't even miss it! Teasing. You know I love you even though you do everything right. :-) So I bought some Brach's Chicks and Rabbits, which are exactly like those marshmallowy circus peanuts but shaped like (you guessed it) chicks and rabbits. Bad, bad idea. Those things are like heroin. Or what I would imagine heroin to be like. And the funny thing is lots of people can't STAND them. When I bought them at Target Jonas made me open the bag (okay, so I kinda wanted to open it too) while we were driving home so he could have one, and he popped it in his mouth and thought it was so gross he couldn't swallow it, but he also couldn't spit it out, so he sat there with his mouth full of Blue Rabbit until we made it home and he could spit it in the toilet. But I love em. Can't buy them ANYMORE!

NOW I'm going to bed.

Transfers

Today I sang at the funeral of the mother of a friend of my mom's, Debbie Solberg. It was fun to sing with a couple of talented singers and the funeral was very nice. (I only stayed until after I got done singing, though, since I had both Wyatt and Jonas with me.) When Debbie was speaking, she mentioned how her son, who is on a mission, sent an email titled "Transfers?", talking about his own transfer in the mission field and his grandmother's "transfer" to another phase of life.

It got me thinking as I drove home about the phases of our life--the stages we find ourselves, and how often we end up wishing our way forward or backward, either to an idealized (and not often accurately remembered) past or to a future that most certainly contains all the elements we will need in order to be happy. Especially in young adulthood I remember spending a lot of time waiting for the future that would make me completely fulfilled and content: college graduation, marriage, a home, a career, children, etc. etc. It was a shock when, once I had all of those things (at the age of 24) I still found myself happy enough, but a part of me was restlessly looking forward to a future in which I could REALLY be happy: when the kids are in school; when we have more money; when we move back to Utah; when I finish my degree; when I get to start teaching again; when I lose 20 pounds; when I get released as Primary President; when Forrest stops traveling so much; when I have another baby . . . and on and on and on.

I know that "living in the present" is a very Oprah-esque, self-helpy kind of word (and, speaking of words, are "Oprah-esque" and "self-helpy" good ones?), but I've been trying particularly hard to apply it to my own life since Wyatt was born. Although I love having a new baby most of the time, it's very easy to wish a way a baby's little-babyhood, particularly when said baby is a bit fussy and when you're not getting enough sleep. There's even a part of me that, although I don't regret having another baby one iota and wouldn't change it for the word, looks backward a tad longingly at the relatively "easy" life I've had for the last few years and wonders if I really knew what I was getting myself into starting over again. But then I have to remind myself how fast this time goes and to savor it and not wish it away; to enjoy all the little details that come with being a mom to a newborn. Like Wyatt's warm, round head tucked up under my chin while he's asleep on my chest. Or the dimple in his cheek when he gives me a little half-smile. Or the uncomplicated, one-purpose life that I truly enjoy: being able to focus on this baby and this baby alone for a few hours each day, keeping my life free all the other distractions I so easily find myself chasing.

So that's my philosophizing for the day. Wyatt's waking up, gotta go feed him--and I look forward to having an excuse to sit in my big green chair and rock him for a half an hour, flipping through the channels, kissing his cute little noggin.

Quick Update

Just wanted to let everyone know that Ethan has decided to start blogging again, after a long absence. So if you'd like to read his latest entry, click on the link to the left.

Things are good here . . . not a lot of time . . . will blog more later!

More Pictures . . . and a helpful hint

Hey guys. Right after I posted my last blog post, my mom came over (she'd taken a half day off) to come see Wyatt for a few minutes. She's always had this desire to take a picture of him in a onesie laying on my arm, so we did it, and the result was really cute. There was also a cute shot of me holding him. Here they are:





Does his hair look red to you? And I'm pretty sure those eyes are staying blue . . . especially if you compare them to mine. And he always looks a bit more piggynosed in pictures than he does in person. Don't know why that is. I think I looked piggynosed in my baby pictures, too. Luckily, I'm piggynosed no longer. Although I do have an aforementioned nose bump. And a really oily forehead, apparently! Sheesh! Don't click on that picture of me to magnify it. (Now all of you will, of course.)

Also, if you want to see the Kiddie Kandids shots, it seems you need a username and password. Because you are all such trusted friends, I'll share it with you: It's ahallstrom, password ethan1.

Shh . . . don't tell anyone! :-)

Plus Three Pictures

I thought I'd throw a few pictures on the blog, too (even though they're not very good!).

Pic #1: As close a shot as we've gotten to Wyatt smiling. His fist is in the way, though, and it's not really a true smile. But you can see his dimples!

Pic #2: Brothers! Cuties.

Pic #3: Jonas took this picture of Wyatt and Mommy. Just like the Kiddie Kandids lady, though, he waited too long and missed the happy shot and ended up taking a fussy shot. Doesn't Wyatt look determined?

Cheetos anyone?

Wyatt has been a very good boy of late. I've also gone SEVEN DAYS WITHOUT CHOCOLATE!! I hate to say that there's a connection between his gassines/fussiness and my eating chocolate, but I'm to afraid to test it out to try, especially now that Forrest is going to be gone for a little stretch. (He left for LA today, gets home Friday night, then Saturday he's skiing with the kids all day, then Sunday is Stake Conference and he has to be there at 7:00 a.m., then he's out of town Monday and Tuesday--so I have a long stretch of alone Mommy time! Luckily he doesn't have any more trips for the next little while.) I'm also nervous about vegetables, dairy, beans and orange juice. Needless to say, I've had fewer dietary choices! I've never considered myself a chocoholic, but it's an eye opener to realize how many little "treats" have chocolate in them and how often you can have just a nibble. So I've had to turn to other types of junk food like peach rings (love em) and Cheetos. So unless I'm banned from eating orange foods, I'm good to go there. How much they interfere with losing my final 10 pounds (and the 10 pounds on top of that I'd like to loose, too) I'm too tired to think about right now. Nursing mothers get an extra 300 calories, right? :-)

This weekend the kids had their first skiing lesson. Jonas and Ethan did pretty well, but Elise struggled some. She has such long skinney legs it's hard to balance on those skis. I think it's almost better to start at Jonas's age because the center of gravity is so much lower and they get to use those little skis. But--good news!--Forrest took Elise up yesterday to have a one on one lesson, and she got the hang of it!! She was so proud of herself, and I was glad, too. I don't have any need for the kids to be awesome skiiers or anything--I mean, I'm not--but just to have the ability so you can go and shush down the hill with the rest of the family is all I care about. I'm sure I'll always be the one bringing up the rear.

While the kids were skiing, I went to lunch with my Mom. Wyatt was nice enough to stay asleep throughout, so we got to eat and chat, which was great. Then we went to Kiddie Kandids and got Wyatt's 1 month picture taken. It's always an "experience" getting a baby's picture taken. One thing that is INFURIATING is when they get the baby all posed, the baby is calm, and you know you have a window of about 7 seconds to take the picture before they start to cry. But instead of taking it they hem and haw and keep fussing over the baby--argghh! Our photographer missed a good three or four shots doing that and it irritated my Mom so much she had to walk away :-). Luckily we did get two semi-good shots, which is all you can ask for with a one month old being scruched up on a scratchy carpet with his fists placed forcefully under his chin. Here's the shots at Kiddie Kandids online:

http://mystudio.kiddiekandids.com/home.asp?page=1

He's looking grumpy in the first shot, but he's looking pretty good in the next two, I think.

I've also gotten a few smiles from Wyatt here and there, but nothing predictable enough to get a picture. But soon!

Well, that's about it. Other than a few quick pop culture observations:

1. I'm glad the boys did better on AI last night. Still nobody I LOVE but at least they're doing better.

2. I'm getting tired of all the torture on 24. When they did the promo for next week's episode and Jack threatened to cut off a Russian dignitary's fingers one at a time, Forrest and I both laughed out loud because it's getting ridiculous. Come on, writers! Think of something else!

3. I did watch the Oscars. Genuinely pained over the weird metallic jacket worn by Jennifer Hudson on the red carpet, but luckily she took it off once she went inside. Also wasn't so sure about Nicole Kidman's red dress with the ginormous bow at the neck--but at least it was memorable! Thought Ellen did okay. Thought the ceremony was mostly boring. Liked the weird acrobat people who formed shadow images with their bodies, though. And the Jack Black/Will Ferrel musical number.

4. It turns out the Britney Spears shaved her head in order to avoid having her hair tested for drugs in a custody battle with K. Fed. And that she was going to kill herself with family sized Tylenol. Normally I don't really care much about Britney Spears, but for some reason I feel so sorry for her.

5. I think Anna Nicole Smith's mother is horrible. Just let your daughter be buried already!

6. I'm glad that Oprah built that school in Africa for all those darling girls, but I still think she's overly self involved. They kept playing the clip for the ABC Special on the show and when Oprah said, "Welcome to the best day of MY life," it bugged a little. But it's okay, I suppose. She's doing a lot of good.

7. Not pop cutural but political: I'm hoping that Mitt Romney can figure out a way to seem more genuine. Not only is his hair stiff, but his answers to questions already seem overly rehearsed and the election is eons away. And I'm uncomfortable with his hard right turn in order to gain sway among primary voters. I suppose that it is possible to have a change of opinion so late in life and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but joining the NRA? C'mon, dude. Not necessary. Just be yourself. And I'm a firm moderate anyway, so if he starts getting too hardcore conservative his going to bug himself right out of my good graces.

Now Wyatt's waking up. Sorry not a lot of pictures!

Also: Everyone in Utah, Wyatt is going to be blessed on March 11th (we have stake conf. on the first Sunday) and you're all invited. We have 1:00 church but our sacrament meeting is last, so be there about 2:45! We'll have dinner at our place afterwards.

The Sale is Off!

Yesterday I was just about ready to sell Wyatt to the Indians. (Yes, I know this sounds racist but it's a family saying that probably goes back many generations--so do I get a pass? Not sure how it started. Can't imagine there are a lot of Indians, American OR Asian, in the baby buying market anyway.) He'd been quite fussy on Wednesday, causing Mom and Dad do do a lot of bouncing and "sh sh sh"ing and making Mom panic that she's going to find herself with a full blown colicky baby. Then Thurs. night he slept his usual--through to 1:00 in his crib--but he was up just about every hour after that and would not be put back down to sleep, and Dad had to leave at 5:45 a.m. to catch a plane to Seattle (his first business trip since the baby--aack!) so when Mom did sleep, it was all crinked up on the couch, patting Wyatt's gassy little bum and humming desperate lullabies. As I was getting the three older kids out the door to catch the bus, Wyatt was screaming in his swing since I needed my hands free to zip zippers and whatnot and Ethan said, "Mom, it seems kind of miserable to be stuck here all alone all day with that baby." Ha.

So yesterday morning I was grumpy. Quite.

But things steadily improved as the day went on. Wyatt decided to NOT scream all day and instead invested some energy in napping and lying on his blanket on the floor looking at sunbeams, which made me inclined to forgive him. He relapsed a little when I had to take the boys to karate and decdided to take Wyatt and Elise to the grocery store during lessons. Wyatt is not a big fan of riding in the car (dang!), and although I've taken him to Target with few problems, he has also decided that he's not a big fan of Harmon's, either. I was irritated to find that his car seat didn't fit in the top part of the cart (what's up with that?) so I tried putting him and his car seat in the shopping basket, leaving precious little space for actual groceries. But he wouldn't stop crying, so I picked him up and had Elise push the cart around and fill up his car seat with bananas and Caffeine Free Diet Coke and hot dogs. Older kids are helpful in such situations.

In order to help remedy Wyatt's gassy problem, I've had to start eliminating things from my diet (hence the Caffeine Free). I think it's a sick joke and rather cruel that one of the things they say can cause a gassy baby is chocolate. A part of me believe that some sadistic pediatrican (probably male! or female and bitter!) made it up just to torture women a little bit more. But I haven't had chocolate or caffeine since Tuesday . . . and (dang it!) I think Wyatt's feeling better.

No fair! Although a non-gassy, happy baby is worth giving up chocolate for. But why couldn't it be, say, eggs that caused problems??? They also say that dairy can be an issue, but I'm not ready to go down that road yet. But last evening he was a pretty good boy--no more extended screaming sessions after the Harmon's debacle--and last night he SLEPT IN HIS CRIB!!! He did his regular 10-1 sleep, then I very gingerly, and with a prayer in my heart, put him back in the crib after his 1:00 feeding and he slept till 4!!! After that feeding he only slept in his crib until 5:45 and we ended up on the couch together until the kids woke up for school, but I'll take it. And this morning has been great. He sat in his bouncy seat and batted around at the toys during my whole shower and even let me get dressed and put on makeup with out crying to be picked up. So he gets a gold star. Right now he's taking a good nap, too, so I've decided to call of the sale. We'll keep Wyatt Dean.

Here's another good reason to keep him. Cuteness:



There's some spit up on his shirt, but he's still cute. Oh, and here's a hilarious picture of Grandma Sweat doing "hairdryer therapy" on Wyatt. When he's crying the hairdryer will always make him stop and go into a kind of stunned trance. It's Grandma's favorite trick.



In his little baby brain, Wyatt's thinking, "So this is what goes on on Earth? Huh!"

Oh, and I have to give a shout out to Grandma who came over Wednesday night and let Forrest and I go out to dinner. It was great. We also stopped by the Sports Authority and got the kids some gear for their ski lessons on Saturday. Jonas has a half-day class and Ethan and Elise have full day (9:30-3:30) classes for the next five weeks. So Mom and Wyatt will be home alone on Saturdays for the next little bit! I think Dad's excited, too, because he gets to snowboard while they ski for the next five weeks and doesn't have to feel guilty about it.

Here's the kids and their gear. We'll let you know how the lessons go!

First Day at Church

Yesterday was Wyatt's first church outing and he did great. He needed to go in an eat immediately after we got there (isn't it hard to get the timing thing down?), but after he ate he was awake and happy for a bit and then fell asleep for the rest of the meeting. So other than ending up with a really sore left arm from holding him, I'd say the day was a success. (Although nursing in the mother's room w/ the other mothers reminded me so well of doing the same thing w/ Jonas and lamenting that I'll never be one of those super-discreet, nurse-anywhere types. I get too self-conscious, and I'm just not that slick at it. I can never figure out how people get their baby's latched on under a blanket without being able to see what they're doing. I always have to put my head under the blanket, too, so I can see, and then end up feeling like a nursing dork.)

To make up for the decidedly unflattering shot of Wyatt screaming in the last post, here's a cute one:



Here's a shot of Jonas, too, hanging out during his last basketball game. I think he had a pretty good time playing this year, and ended up making some baskets along the way, which was cool. For Jonas, though, the most important thing was getting his TROPHY!



Now I'm going to engage in some stream-of-consciousness, blogging minutae. Feel free to respond to any, or none, of the topics below.

-I think it's because I'm a tad post-pardum, but I feel a little bit of empathy for Britney Spears. Poor Brit and her sad little shaved head. I think her mom needs to take her to Montana or somewhere without a lot of paparazzi and make her stay in bed while she brings her hot chocolate and soup. I just think about how tired I am right now (and I am tired--bone tired--more tired than I remember being with the others--tired enough that I'm suprised to be this tired) and I think of Britney with the two babies in two years, barely a year apart, and it's no wonder she's gone off the deep end. Talk about hormones out of whack and a body that's no longer your own, etc. etc., and a part of me can see why she might shave her own head in a bit of misguided rebellion. It just makes me feel bad that people are laughing at her and making fun of her since it's pretty clear she's undergoing some kind of a breakdown. The kid needs some alone time.

-The Amazing Race: All-Stars started last night. Yessss! And we get to have Rob and Amber! I am not ashamed to say that it makes me happy that the two of them are still together and, yes, I'm rooting for them. For those of you who DON'T watch Survivor or the Amazing Race, you will not care about this one whit. But Andi . . . are you for Rob and Amber or against them? I know a lot of people thought they were too ruthless last time, but I can't help liking them for some reason. And it's great to have Charla and Mirna back again. Even though one of them is a midget, I think the non-midget (can't remember which one that is) is the more compeling of the two. She's so . . . well, strange. That Spanish accent that comes and goes. The weird flirting with non-receptive guys. She's great.

-I do not care about the Academy Awards much this year, which makes me sad because I love movies and usually love the Academy Awards. But I have seen so few of the movies this time that it's hard to get excited. I've seen Dreamgirls (liked it fine, didn't love it, but was happy to see Jennifer Hudson do such a good job); The Queen (really a very good movie, but Helen Mirren isn't as fun to watch at the Oscars as, say, Julia Roberts. Or even Renee Zellwegger or Reese Witherspoon). So I say "eh" to the Oscars this year. Too bad.

-What do we think about the Priesthood/Relief Society manuals? They can be very effective in the right hands, but oooohh, when people just read through the quotes one after another it's torture. No?

-On the way to church yesterday, Ethan said that he's been troubled by the idea that even though we "believe in God really hard" (his words), don't other people in other religions believe in their idea of God just as much as we do? So how can we say that they're wrong and we're right? He's had the same deep thoughts about Sadaam Hussein ("we think he's going to hell because he killed a lot of people, but I bet that people in Iraq think that George Bush is going to hell because he's killed a bunch of people, too. So who does God agree with, us or them?") It's wonderful to have a child who can think so deeply and broadly, but it also lets me know that we'll most definitely be having some interesting philosophical discussions with this one as he grows up.

-All Moms of diapered children: The newest version of Pampers are TERRIBLE. They have this awful weave-like material that sticks to Wyatt's behind and gives him diaper rash. Makes me want to write Pampers a disgruntled email. And I bought a big case of them before I knew!

-All Moms, period: Were you as tired as me when you're babies were little?

So that's it for now. The kids are outside sledding since we got a nice dumping of new snow this morning. And last night we made brownies, so I think I'm going to go cut myself a sliver and eat it and enjoy it before Wyatt wakes up from his nap!

Buckets of Fuss

Wyatt is generally a good boy . . . the key word being "generally." I have decided, officially, that he's a little high maintenaince. It's hard to know their true personality until they're at least a couple of weeks old, and although he does have his moments of "quiet alert" time (meaning he's awake, looking around calmly, not grunting or wriggling or crying), these moments generally don't last very long. One of the pamphlets that I came home with from the hospital is called the "Purple Period of Crying" and Elise wanted to know if and when Wyatt would literally turn purple. Well here's a shot I took this morning that he comes pretty close :-).



This shot is what we affectionatly call a "fuss bucket" shot.

He's not like this all the time, though. Sometimes he's nice and quiet, like this shot I took this morning after Forrest had him from 6:00-7:30 and got him all calmed down by lying him on his tummy in front of the fire and rubbing his back:



And this shot, content after finishing a feeding:



Wyatt is ALWAYS happy if he's eating, though. I try not to resort to feeding him all the time, of course--but at least there's one sure fire thing that makes him happy. He also likes to be rocked, which is great since I hate having to "walk" a baby around the room. He'll snuggle right into the crook of my arm and suck vigorously on his binki and be content as can be, as well. The key is that he is being held. I think I've held him, ohh, 92% of the day so far. Craziness! He's finally deep asleep enough that he's snoozing away in his swing and I can get some things done. (So what do I do? Blog! Although I was able to get some other chores done, like cleaning up the kitchen--big accomplishment for the day!!--with him in his baby Bjorn, and I addressed some thank you cards with him in the crook of my leg, but that only lasted about 6 minutes until he was done and wanted my ARMS, thank you very much.) As you can see, blogging only occurs when he's deeply asleep, as both arms are not only helpful, but necessary.

I have to give a shout out to my Jonas, too. Today he came home from Kindergarten at 11:30--and I felt like he's been gone, oh, 25 minutes, that's how fast the morning seems to go and how little I seem to get accomplished . . . I managed to change out of my robe after showering two hours previously 5 minutes before he walked in the door! But when Jonas came home, Wyatt was sleeping for a bit so I could make Jonas his lunch, talk to him about his day, etc., for a bit before Wyatt woke up. But once Wyatt woke up Jonas was on his own. Well his Grandma Hallstrom sent the kids a Valentine's package and Jonas's present was a Lego kit. Jonas Leo sat on the floor in the family room working on his Lego car, piece after painstaking piece, for TWO HOURS. No kidding. This instruction booklet was 30 pages long, and he did the entire thing himself. Every once in a while I would ask if he needed help and he woud say, "No, no, I can get this, Mom." He was so patient and focused, I couldn't believe it. He's definitely the most likely of all the kids to pick a project like this and stick with it for that long without getting frustrated. Here's a shot of the final product:



One final thought. During my many hours in the green rocking chair today, I watched CNN for a bit where Wolf Blitzer was discussing Mitt Romney's announcement of his presidential candidacy. They started talking about the "Mormon Question," and interviewed a rep from North Carolina (this is your dude, Andrew and Andi! Don't know his name, though) who called himself an Evangelical Christian and responded to Romney's Mormonism thusly: "The fact that he's a Mormon gives me pause. As a Christian, I'm concerned about the history of Mormonism and the theology of Mormonism. But what concerns me most is the practices of Mormonism." Cut to Wolf nodding his head sympathetically. The "practices" of Mormonism? What the heck? I could give it to him on the theology part, what with the men becoming Gods, God with a body living on a planet, modern day prophecy, baptisms for the dead,etc. etc. I can see how mainstream Christains would find those things strange. But practices? What practices, praytell, do modern day Mormons engage in that concern him so much? The high levels of tension at ward basketball games? The prevalence of scrapbooking among the women? LDS Miss America contestants who insist upon wearing modest, but unattractive, swimsuits, thereby dooming their chances to win the competition? Come ON! I was surprised that it actually hurt my feelings a bit. Imagine if the candidate was Jewish, or even Muslim, and this dude said the same thing? I felt like, okay, guy, go ahead and raise your eyebrows at my belief system--you can believe what you want (e.g. "check this box on the pamphlet I left under your windshield wiper and congratulations, you're saved!") and you let me believe what I want--but why start casting aspersions on the way we live our lives? I think it just reinforces sterotypes that we have all sorts of weird, secret shenanigans going on that the wider world just hasn't found out about yet. Kind of sad. But I guess we'll have to be ready for it as the presidential campaign continues.

So that's it from here. I've probably used up all my availible two-hand-time for the rest of the day--but what the heck! Who needs a made bed, right? :-)

Newsy

I have been watching altogether too much television, and most of that television has been news. (It's amazing how little there is on television that's watchable, really). So I can tell you all about Anna Nicole's shocking death (and that Stern attorney/Machiavelli is highly suspicious to me); the awful natural gas house explosion in Saratoga Springs; the runaway pregnant teenagers who assaulted their live-in caseworker with a frying pan; Real Salt Lake, Dave Checketts, the mayor of Salt Lake County, Governor Hunstman and the stadium in Sandy; every single person who might be contemplating a run for the White House in 2008, including your more under-the-radar candidates like Chuck Hegel; the national study on skyrocketing Autism rates; and, finally, the wacky diaper-wearing Astronaut stalker lady. I could totally anchor a news show right now.

Last night my mom came and helped us out at night again, which was so nice and which allowed me to get a little bit more sleep. I feel really good today, as a matter of fact. I think that Wyatt has a bit of a cold--he's been sneezing and has some congestion--but nothing too bad (yet! cross fingers and toes!). Today is also the last day of "off track" for the kids. It's been nice not to have to get them out the door at 7:30--as a matter of fact, I'm a bit worried about doing that next week since I'm typically at my most hammered right around then. I'll just have to power through. But it will also be nice to have some peace and quiet, too, and not have to worry about entertaning the kids. I must say that they've been very good since the baby's been born. Not a lot of fighting, and they've all been incredibly helpful with the baby, fetching me things and quieting down when I ask them to. They're good kids. I have had five kids instead of four lately, though, because Ethan's friend Cameron (son of the Salt Lake District Attorney, previously mentioned in this blog :-) has basically been living here all week. He showed up this morning at EIGHT O'OCLOCK!! Luckly Ethan was up and I made him answer the door and politely tell Cameron it was (ahem) a bit early for playing and that he could come back later. I've fed him lunch almost every day this week (turkey with lettuce--he's very specific--yesterday after he finished his first sandwich he asked for another but I told him no--is that mean?) and about 30 minutes ago he came up from downstairs while I was feeding the baby, opened the fridge, poured himself a glass of milk, grabbed some Oreos and started heading back downstairs before I said, "Hey, Cameron? Maybe next time you could ask before you get food?" and he said, "Oh! Sorry! I asked Ethan, though, and he said yes." SIgh. He's actually a very nice kid in a lot of ways, just not a lot of adult supervision. He has a live-in nanny, but she's not the most attentive nanny on the block. Elise has been playing a lot at her friend's house, though--so I'm sure they're starting to feel like she's living *there*. I am at least grateful that all the kids have other kids to play with and aren't lonely.

So here are some more pictures. One is the possible announcement picture that my Mom referred to in the last post, the other is just a cute one of Wyatt, and then there's a shot of Ethan getting his Webelos badge. I felt bad because I didn't go, so he didn't get to give me the little pin! I think I'm going to start venturing out soon, though. Which brings me to this question: Wyatt will be three weeks old on Sunday. Do you think he's old enough to go to church, or should I still keep him home, considering it's sick season? Some people in my ward keep their baby's home for three months (which I WON'T be doing) . . . and I am starting to get antsy to get outdoors again. What do you guys think?

Vote on Birth Announcement Photos

Wyatt and I had a little photo shoot this morning and I want your input about which pic would be best for a birth announcement. Some are in black and white and some are in color--and I'm still not sure what I like best. So let me know.

Today it's WARM in Utah. The kids have been outside playing, which is nice. I can use the quiet! The night before last Wyatt slept pretty well, but last night was a little bit rougher. What made things harder was that Forrest had to go to LA for a day trip today (left at 5:45, gets home tonight), so I didn't get my two hours in the morning, gear up for the day sleep. Wyatt woke up at about 5:30, but was fitful until about 7:30. When I finally got him tired enough to be able to lay down with him and sleep on the couch, I could already hear the kids upstairs and knew they'd come down and wake me up asking for breakfast--but I was so tired that just 10 minutes was precious. Well, to my surprise when I opened my eyes it was 9:30 . . . and the kids were still upstairs!!! Turns out that Elise came down about 8:00, saw that I was asleep, and told the boys they couldn't come down until I woke up because I needed my rest. Is that a good girl or what?? I was so grateful. Now I can function the rest of the day.

Also, my bones are too old for this baby business. My left heel hurts from propping up my leg on the ottoman while I feed him, my left knee hurts because that's the leg I put my crossed right leg on while I nurse him and when I (accidentally) fall asleep while nursing my leg stays like that for waaay to long, both of my wrists hurt from curling my hands around his body while he's sleeping on me, and my left arm constantly aches because that's the arm I use to hold him. I know for sure that I didn't have all these aches and pains when I was a 24 year old mom.

So here's the pictures--let me know what you think!

Light at the end of the tunnel

Oh, hallelujah, I'm feeling a little bit better. Yesterday was a really hard day. Forrest had been planning to go on this snowmobiling trip with the Wilkey family for months and we'd lined up my Mom to stay with me the night he was gone. If I hadn't have been sick, it would not have been such a big deal. I even thought I was better by Wednesday evening. But Wed night was a hard one and I only got about 3 1/2 hours of sleep. I think the lack of sleep thrust me back into the clutches of sickness because the coughing came back with a vengance. Forrest left early that morning without really knowing that I was getting sick again. So yesterday I was sick, feverish, and operating on 3 1/2 hours of sleep--and due to Wyatt waking up or the phone ringing or the kids' friends coming over or the kids basically running crazily throughout the house, I was never able to take a nap. I just kind of moaned and shuffled around. Finally my mom heard the sound of my voice on the phone and decided to leave work early to come and rescue me (bless her). So my mom came and my dad took the kids to karate lessons and I crashed from about 5-7 p.m. and woke up feeling 10 times better. Then my mom took Wyatt until about 1:00 a.m. and let me sleep even more--and even after 1:00 a.m., Wyatt ate and fell right back asleep and I got a couple more good chunks of rest. Now my mom and dad have the three older kids and are taking them on a little adventure today: they're riding the Trax downtown to go to the cool public library. So I just got Wyatt down for a nap, the house is nice and quiet, I'm not coughing much anymore, and I think I just might make it.

When Forrest called yesterday he felt terrible and told me that I get all the sleeping and footrubs and special food I want all weekend. So hopefuly the good times will keep rolling :-).

Here are some more pictures. Babies change so much, so fast, in the first few weeks. I already feel like Wyatt is bigger, although chances are good that he's still just right around his birthweight. We'll see at his 2 week appointment on Monday.

This first picture is of Jonas and Ethan. In the course of 24 hours they both received fat lips (see why I can't nap?). Ethan was responsible for both fat lips, giving Jonas his with a rogue karate move and getting his while flinging himself over something in the basement (I'm still not entirely sure of the whole story):



And of course, here's some more cute ones of Wyatt. The first one is a sweet picture of him sleeping that I fiddled with a bit on my photo software.



"Hey, Mom! Stop taking my picture at 2:00 in the morning!"



And I think he looks like such a big boy in this shot. He's been spending a lot more time just looking around and even engaging with us. It's fun to look into his eyes and see somebody in there!