Cute Wyatt photos

Just had to share some cute pics of Wyatt. I pulled out the 3-6 month clothes and found some of my old favorites from Ethan and Jonas's babyhoods. I've always loved this little church outfit. Doesn't Wyatt look like a little man?



And here's a good fist-sucker shot:



And a cute tummy time picture. (I think he looks a little like my baby pictures in this one. Wishful thinking?)



Here's Wyatt and his adoring sister. Check out the blue eyes/green eyes contrast:



And last but not least, a smiley picture. He was looking at his dad:



I'm just adoring Wyatt at this three month stage. He slept 7 1/2 hours last night (!!!!) and he's so much fun to play with during the day. Makes me feel like I can ignore all the other boring stuff and just kiss his yummy little bare feet.

Ethan's is on his site!

See sidebar to click to Ethan's

Jonas's Three Things

Now it's Jonas's turn:

Three Things I Love:

1. Candy
2. My brothers and sister
3. My friends

Three Things I Hate:

1. Bullies
2. Hanging my shirts on hangers
3. Broccoli

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:

1. Ethan
2. My Dad
3. My sister

Three Things That Scare Me:

1. When Ethan sneaks up and surprises me
2. The dark
3. Blood

Three Things I Plan To Do Today:

1. Play with my friend Dallas
2. Play with my brother and sister
3. Help Dad go to the store

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Be a good Dad to my kids
2. Get a job NOT as a police because they have to spray that pepper spray
3. Work at the zoo feeding animals and stuff

Three Things I Can Do:

1. Running
2. Karate
3. Soccer

Three Things I Can't Do:

1. Jumping really high on the tramp
2. Like doing my homework
3. Change Wyatt's diaper

Three Things I'd LIke to Learn:

1. Dodgeball
2. How to read better so I can play more video games
3. Clean up Ethan's stuff

Three Favoite Foods:

1. Pineapple
2. French Fries
3. Chicken Nuggets

Three Favorite TV Shows:

1. Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends
2. Pokemon
3. Dragonball Z

Bye Bye!

Elise's Three Things

Ethan read Brandon's Three Things and tagged himself and the other two to do theirs. Here is Elise's:

Three Things I Love:

1. My friends
2. My Mom
3. And Wyatt Dean!

Three Things I Hate:

1. Being picked on
2. Jonas not being nice to me
3. Rice

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:

1. Mom
2. Ethan
3. Hailey

Three Things That Scare Me:

1. Burglers
2. Not being able to fall asleep at night
3. My teacher getting mad

Three Things I Don't Understand:

1. How to type fast
2. How to draw people very well
3. How to take care of Wyatt

Three Things I Plan to Do Today:

1. Play with lots of my friends
2. Spend time with Wyatt
3. Spend time with my Mom

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Bungee Jumping!
2. Train a horse of my own
3. Have good kids

Three Things I Can Do:

1. Read well
2. Horesback riding
3. Sing

Three Things I Can't Do:

1. 12 Times Tables
2. Remember to put away my dirty clothes
3. Fly!

Three Things I Miss;

1. Minnesota
2. Lincoln Elementary
3. Sam the dog

Three Things I'd Like to Learn:

1. Play the guitar
2. Play the drums
3. Play piano as fast as mom can.

Three Favorite Foods:

1. Spaghetti
2. Pizza
3. Chocolate Chocolate Cake

Three Favorite TV Shows:

1. Billy & Mandy (which Mom hates!)
2. Full House
3. Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends

The Horror

Ahh, fitness. A worthy goal. Particularly after one has had her fourth baby and one has lost the first 20 pounds and one's body has refused to lose any more. And even more particularly when one has signed up for a membership at a health club and one is paying dues.

So I decided to get back on the horse. Excercise. I'd gotten into a pretty good rhythm in MN, doing kickboxing and aerobics and Body Pump (a really good weight training to music program), and even though I didn't lose much weight, I had better muscle tone and my clothes were looser and I was IN SHAPE. But now it's been over a year since I have excercised strenuously at all . . . and I was a little nervous to go back.

Fortunatley, my first foray into the frightening world of Group Fitness Classes wasn't too bad. It was at night, Forrest was home with the kids, and it was a little more toned down "let's dim the lights," laides only, we should all feel good about our womenly bodies kind of class. I liked it. Then (cue the ominous organ music: bum, bum, buuuuuuum) I decided to 1. go to a class that was a little more intense and 2. put Wyatt in the child care room.

So I walk into the class (called 50/50, for 1/2 cardio and 1/2 weight training) and I see all these skinney ladies with jump ropes. Should have tipped me off. But undaunted, and with an overinflated faith in both my cardio stamina and bladder elasticity, joined in. Bad, bad idea. The first 10 minutes weren't too awful, but then the jump ropes came out and all bets were off. Needless to say, a woman in her mid thirties who recently had her fourth child and hasn't exercised in a year and is nursing is NOT the prime candidate for sustained and energetic jump roping. Once the instructor started shouting, "Okay, now just one foot! Let's GO LADIES!" I knew it was time for me to slip out unnoticed. Unfortunately, I was in the back corner and surrounded by whipping jumpropes. I stood there for a minute, drinking my water and plotting my escape, when the aerobics instructor (with the microphone) looked over at me and shouted "You Okay?" I nodded back in shame . . . but wanted to say "I'm fine! Just 20 pounds overweight, incontinent, top heavy, out of breath, and worried about my three month old abandoned in what must be, in his eyes, a baby torture room!" Urrggh.

When I made it downstairs, I opened the door to the child care room and could hear Wyatt crying right away. One of the ladies had him and was holding him and trying to give him his binki, but he would have none of it. He had that look on his face--red rimmed eyes, sad, pouty mouth, searching expression--that is baby body language for "my mother has abandoned me." Broke my heart. So not only had I suffered humiliation and various indignities in the jump roping class, but I hurt my baby's feelings to boot.

But today I went to a class called "Rock and Stroll" where you bring your baby with you in his stroller. Went much better. It was a good workout, and even though Wyatt was awake most of the time, he stayed in his stroller and didn't cry until the very end. That class is on Tuesdays and Thursdays and seems like a good bet.

And now he's awake, and gotta make the off track kids their lunch. Bye for now.

Three Months Old

Today Wyatt is 3 months old. This age always seems like a milestone, leaving infanthood and heading into babydom. He's not this fragile little thing anymore: he's a little guy with a personality and likes and dislikes and opinions and tricks up his sleeve. He's gotten pretty flirty in his old age, and loves being kissed on the neck and his brothers and sister making funny faces. He's also taken more of a liking to his floor gym with the dangly toys, as opposed to his bouncy chair with the dangly toys. And last night he did a one wakeup night between 9:30 and 6:00--which is good (for him). The night before he woke up three times (urggh). He also had a tremendous wakey-day yesterday, managing to remain awake from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with about 3o minutes sleep total, 15 minutes of which occured while hooked on to me and supposedly eating. I was getting to the end of my rope as Forrest was gone to MN, driving his parents' U-Haul across the country, and his parents were coming over for dinner (they'd just flown in). Luckily, his nap from 4:30 to 6:30 gave me just enough time to make Lemon Italian Chicken and tidy up. And it was good to see Forrest's parents and Chelle again. They're moving into their new apartment today--and now the whole Hallstrom clan is living in the Utah again for the first time since 1998. Pretty cool.

So in celebration of Wyatt's three month birthday, here's a video of him today:



Then here's another video of him tonight getting his massage. Every night he has a bath and a little rub down as a way to 1. have some bonding time, 2. have some tummy time, and 3. let him know that it's time for bed. We both like it. Sorry it's kind of dark--I was afraid turning on the lights would ruin the ambiance. Isn't his little naked bum cute, though? And doesn't he look big, holding his head up all strong??



Three month old babies are the best.

Zingers and Zoos

First, a funny story. Last week we'd reached a culmination of frustration with Jonas and his (ahem) poor eating choices. We were having a normal family dinner of pork chops and whatnot and we had given Jonas his obligatory banana and yogurt (since the last time he ate pork chops, he threw up, which he does surprisingly often when asked to eat new foods), and he was being a pain about eating even THAT, dawdling and whining and everything. So Dad had to suddenly become mean Dad, which doesn't happen very often. Usually Mom's the bad cop and Dad's the good cop. So when Dad's bad cop, the kids know something serious is going down. Long story short, part of Jonas's punishment was that he couldn't eat any sweets for one whole week. Jonas was surprisingly willing to go along with the punishment--I think even he knew how ridiculous he was getting about eating--but it wasn't easy.

About 5 days into the week-long candy ban, I came home and saw this in the kitchen:



What you see there is a zinger, secured with tape, stuck to the cabinet above the fridge. My first thought was "Why in the world did Forrest tape a zinger to the cabinetry?" But then, later on in the day as Forrest was walking through the kitchen he asked, "Hey Ang . . . why did you tape a zinger to the cabinet?" Didn't take to long to figure out who'd done it. When we asked Jonas about it he said, "There was only one zinger left, and I didn't want Ethan or Elise to get it before my week was over!"

Hilarious. And Jonas did a good job all week long and even tried some new foods: bacon (did a pretty good job), Velveeta Shells and Cheese (not as good--he gagged and spit out three mouthfulls before he finally got one down. I only ask for one), and real chicken, not the nugget variety (he squished it inside a Pillsbury crescent roll in order to hide it from himself. It seemed like a good idea until we realized he'd been sitting there for 20 minutes eating all the roll around it. We finally had to set the timer for 2 minutes and told him if he didn't eat the piece of chicken in that amount of time, we wouldn't be able to go to Leatherby's as a family after all.) We'd been using a family outing to Leatherby's all week as a bribe. So he finally ate the chicken, and the whole fam went to Leatherby's last night to celebrate. Jonas had bubblegum ice cream--no toppings.

We also went to the zoo yesterday. The kids are off track and it was a GORGEOUS day. (It's windy and cold today). We went with some friends of ours, the Bertolas, and Ethan brought a friend of his own so he wasn't the only boy over 6. The animals were out and about and the kids had a great time. Here they are in all their goofy glory, with a peacock they'd chased in the corner of the shot:




And a Wyatt update: he's doing great. Growing hair. He gives this little excited laugh when you play with him that's adorable, and this morning he was mimicking Forrest making this grunting sound (hard to explain in writing). He's getting big, and sleeping better, too, which Mom appreciates. Time flies.

The Many Faces of Wyatt Dean

The night before last Wyatt officially had his first "one wakeup" night. Slept form 9:00 to 3:00, then went back down until 6:30. Woo hoo!! He slept till 3:00 again last night, but then woke up at 5:30 (not as good.) But still! We're heading in the right direction. So here are some pictures of the little dude. He's getting big so fast . . . I'm putting away all his newborn clothes!

Contemplative Wyatt:



Flirty Wyatt:



Done With The Photo Shoot Wyatt:



That's it for now!

Three Things

I was "tagged" by a friend to do this three things email, so thought I'd put in on my blog and tag new people that way.

Three Things I Love:
1. My husband
2. My kids
3. Having my own office

Three Things I Hate:
1. Grapefruit
2. People who are so extreme in their political ideology that they believe Hillary Clinton/George Bush are literally in leauge with the devil and trying to bring down the country.
3. Still not fitting into my pants properly.

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:
1. Forrest
2. The kids (I'm lumping them together as one person)
3. Will Ferrel

Three Things that Scare Me:
1. Dolls that come alive
2. Heights
3. Any kind of disability that affects a person's brain (Tourette's syndrome, Autism, Alzheimer's, mental illnesses of any kind.)

Three Things I Don't Understand:
1. How the bump on my nose came to be and how it can grow back even after a dermatologist has sliced it off.
2. How to make a complicated Jello salad set up.
3. Gangsta Rap.

Three Things On My Desk:
1. The names and email addresses of last year's Irreantum fiction contest winners.
2. A can of caffeine free Diet Coke.
3. An easter egg full of silly putty.

Three Things I Plan To Do Today (or Did Today):
1. Laundry
2. Start editing last year's Irreantum fiction contest winners.
3. Watch American Idol

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1. Publish a novel
2. See all my kids in the temple
3. Travel--to Europe again, to Asia, to Africa, everywhere

Three Things I Can Do:
1. Make good salads.
2. Teach
3. Write

Three Things I Can't Do:
1. Bowl
2. Get Jonas to try new foods
3. Discipline myself to wake up earlier than I absolutely have to in order to exercise/read/ponder/etc.

Three Things I Miss:
1. Dancing. I hardly ever dance anymore, and if I did, it would be embarrassing.
2. Sleep. But I know this is shortlived.
3. Minnesota.

Three Things I'd Like to Learn:
1. What exactly caused World War I? I don't quite get it, beyond that whole Archduke incident.
2. How to swim more gracefully
3. Patience.

Three Things I Regret:
1. Various Mommy-mistakes
2. Not being more diligent about reading my scriptures
3. Adolescent ditziness

Three Favorite Foods:
1. Cheesecake
2. Pasta w/ red sauce and seafood and artichokes
3. Good bread/rolls.

Three Favorite TV Shows as a Kid:
1. Little House on the Prairie
2. Family Ties
3. The Price is Right

Three People I Tag
(and these people can either do this on their own blogs, or comment on this one!)
1. My mom
2. Andi
3. Amy

Sheds, Bad Mommy Skiing, AML Stuff & Easter

To begin, a photo of Wyatt eating his hand, his favorite pastime:



And now, four blogworthy items in the last few days:

1. Forrest is building a shed. From scratch. I give him much credit for the attempt. Although it's been frustrating at times (for him, mostly, and mostly because he's married to me and I come outside and cock my head at it and ask him questions such as "Is this the way it's supposed to look?), now that he's in the home stretch, it's looking good. He's spent a lot of time outdoors working on it--and I must resign myself to the fact that he's going to be spending a lot of time outdoors again, finishing up the yard and other manly type projects--but he's saved us a lot of money doing it himself and it will be great to get some of our big, bulky items out of the garage. Here's a picture of Forrest working on the shed. I was trying to make dinner quickly and had to zip out the door to pick up Elise from a birthday party, so he was on Wyatt duty. He put Wyatt on the new tramp in his bouncy seat, and he really seemed to like it. And, of course, Jonas heard there was a camera in the vicinity, so he showed up as well :-).



2. We went skiing as a family on Friday (the kids have been off for Spring Break). First, let me say that the only time I've skiied since 1998 was an ill-fated family nightskiing adventure a few years ago. Well, it was ill fated for me, since the hill was kind of long and scary, it was DARK, the snow was icy, and I was extremely out of practice. But I decided since the kids are boffo skiers now that I'd better give it one more shot. Well . . . things started off kind of badly. We went on a "real" hill (not the bunny hill), and not only did I totally biff it coming down the first big slope, but I couldn't get my ski on and Forrest had to trudge back up the hill to help me. All the while the kids are standing there yelling, "Come on Mom! You can do it Mom!" and I was feeling like a dodo. As we proceeded down the mountain, I remembered what made my last ski trip so torturous: it was killing my feet. I kept having to do "pizza" with the skis because I was so afraid of going fast, but the outsides of my feet were supporting all my weight and they were cramping up like the dickens. (Should I capatialize that?). By the time I got to the bottom of the mountain I was in pain, embarassed, and exhausted. So Forrest took the kids for one more run while I rested and contemplated whether or not I wanted to ski again, then or ever. But then I thought about Elise and how hard her first day was and how she didn't give up, and what kind of Mom would I be if I did? So after the kids came down, Elise decided she would take pity on her poor mom and head over to the bunny hill. On that hill I started gaining a little more control and confidence and figured out that I wasn't leaning forward into my boots--and once I started doing that, my feet felt TONS better and I actually started having fun. Ethan, Elise and Jonas were all exellent skiiers; it was so fun to see them shooshing around. Jonas, especially, is a little daredevil, speeding around people and showing off, and Ethan was daring enough to try the moguls. Elise is a great little skiier, too. Her only bad luck of the day was on the last run on the bunny hill, a beginning snowboarder (who was a woman in her 30s) lost control and plowed right into her. Elise has bruises on the back of her legs to prove it. Forrest saw the whole thing go down and said the saddest part was that Elise was singing a little song that went "I love to ski, I love to ski," right when the lady slammed into her. Elise went down and started crying and the lady said, "Oh! Are you okay?" and Elise, wailing, said "NO!" At least she's honest. And she has some wicked bruises on her leg to prove that she wasn't okay, too!

3. I went to the annual AML conference on Saturday and had a good time. They surprised me and gave me a "Service to AML Award" for my work on Irreantum, which was very nice. It's always fun to see some of my AML friends again, and, as always, I came away inspired and hoping to do more/better with my writing. I met a guy who's written a YA fantasy novel for Deseret Book called Fablehaven which was just optioned by Scholastic (I think) and they're doing a big paperback release--great advertising, lots of PR. Makes me wish I wrote YA. Or fantasy. Instead I write these book clubby books for people just like me that Deseret Book has no interest in and that are too Mormon for a mainstream publisher. But I'll stop feeling sorry for myself. The Fablehaven guy was really nice--and young--couldn't have been out of his twenties for sure. He kept saying that he mainly just likes writing stuff that's "cool", which is why he thinks he's so popular with kids. Good to keep in mind.

4. Easter. Had a neighborhood easter egg hunt on Sat (which I missed, due to the conference, bad mom) and the kids woke up on Sunday and did the traditional Easter egg / Easter basket hunt. The eggs had been hidden outside (dumb Bunny) and we had a huge rainstorm pass through at about 2:00 a.m. I was sure the candy was all ruined because the eggs had little holes in them and the rain was pouring. But we woke up in the morning, and other than a few sticky jelly beans, we were okay! The kids liked their Easter baskets . . . I think . . . Easter is always so hard because it's not like Christmas or birthdays where they get big stuff, but I end up feeling like I spend a bunch of $ anyway and that the kids are vaguely disappointed. Everyone seemed happy w/ their stuff and didn't complain--I think I just always want the big WOW! But Easter isn't about the baskets anyway. And we had a wonderful day at church--which IS what Easter is about--and a great, relaxing dinner at Grandpa and Grandma Sweat's that night. So it was a good day. Here are some pictures of crazy haired Easter morning chitlins:

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! :-)