25 new things while 25

This has been a good year. It was a relatively quiet year mostly marked by both good news and good weather. And really cute kids.

To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to make a list of things I did for the first time this year. There are lots of great things I did that didn't make the list because I'd done them before. There are also probably other, more exciting things I did for the first time this past year, but here's what I remember so far:

1. Went to Holland, Michigan.

2. Visited Huntington and Porterville, Utah. (Both off the beaten path, though not close to each other.)

3. Learned how to swallow large pills without trouble. (This was a big deal.)

4. Went to the Henry Ford Museum.

5. Spent the night in Canada. (I had been to both Niagara and Palmyra before, but this part was new.)

6. Gave birth with no epidural. To a really, really, really cute baby.

7. Went on an airplane with an 11-day old, and then 11 days later, with a 22-day-old baby.

8. Taught preschool to 6 cute kids. (I ended up teaching A, I, L, U, and Y.)

9. Went to the Hands-On-Museum. Finally.

10. Visited Frankenmuth.

11. Regularly attended a Zumba class. (there are existing pictures . . . but I won't share them haha.)

12. Purchased both a Kindle and a smartphone. Big changes for this Luddite.

13. Boarded a bus with two children and a double stroller.

14. Encouraged a child to play in the sprinklers in November.

15. Traveled through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama.

16. Ate mushrooms knowingly and almost willingly.

17. Replaced the lightbulb to fix the blinker.

18. Stayed in Michigan for Christmas.

19. Became a Primary teacher.

20. Purchased asparagus. (It's become a staple now.)

Sadly, this was also the day the dishwasher broke.

21. Sang a solo in Sacrament Meeting.

22. Attended the Church Music Festival.

This was right before the concert, I think.

23. Took care of two kids by myself for more than a week.

24. Broke a smartphone. (silly gravity.)

And also a silly mommy for letting someone play with the phone.

25. Read Middlemarch. (And Northanger Abbey and Silas Marner and some Sanderson books and  skimmed enough of the last few Cinder books to get the point of them all.)

I am so grateful for wonderful family and friends who have made this year so enjoyable. I am looking forward to 26!

Six

If I had to use one word to sum up dating during my freshman and sophomore years of college, it would be "awkward." I didn't like it, but I didn't know what to do about it.

And then Kevin and I started dating. I liked him because he was smart, funny, attractive, hardworking, and goodhearted. I grew to like him more because of how I felt when I was with him -- capable, beautiful, appreciated, calm, comfortable, and never weird or awkward.

And let me tell you, that's quite the feat to accomplish. Especially when you have the same last name as someone and people think you're holding hands with your cousin. (okay. maybe that one did feel a little awkward. that's beside the point.)

Anyway, since I felt comfortable enough to no longer worry about what he was thinking of me all the time, I was able to devote that energy to building a relationship and learning to care about another person. So, naturally, we fell in love.

And after 6 years of marriage, I'm sure glad we did.

Better out than in

It's time to talk about Matthew! We're about at the point where he's been out of me longer than he was in, and goodness how the time has flown! (Except the nights. Still. We've had quite the combination of his gaslighting approach to teething for the past 4+ months [0 teeth so far], his colds, two bouts of stomach bug, and his increased appetite, all of which makes him less inclined to sleep well.)

But still. Such a delight. We sure love our bright-eyed, curious boy. And since it looks like it's been a little while since I've posted much about him, I guess I'll start where I left off!

Food: While Kevin was in China, Matthew figured out that he does not have to accept what we offer him with a spoon. Ever since, he's been much happier to just feed himself. For about a week, he wouldn't even do that and would just throw everything on the ground for later consumption (we call those Floorios), but he's been better about not doing that so much lately. Since he doesn't have teeth, we feel a little limited in what we can give him, but he's still tried lots of foods and liked them.

Even limes. (This was at Rubio's in Utah.)

We do put bibs on him sometimes, but not usually for the last meal of the day.

He loves to suck on asparagus

On the hunt for Floorios.

Head shaking: Kevin usually takes care of mornings, so while he was in China I had to get creative with finding ways to sleep in. It would usually consist of nursing Matthew on one side of me until he fell asleep and then convincing Joseph to snuggle on the other side while I scratched his back until we both fell back asleep. That usually worked, but one day Joseph and Matthew didn't sleep but just spent the whole time laughing at each other. I managed to sleep through a lot of it until Joseph woke me up by saying, "Matthew's shaking his head!" I finally decided to open my eyes and watch these cute boys shaking their heads at each other, laughing hysterically. It never gets old.

Clapping: Also the best thing ever.

Crawling: He spent a long time rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, so it was pretty exciting when he finally propelled himself forward. I guess all it took was the proper motivation.

His favorite things to crawl toward are

-Us (especially when we are headed toward the stairs or in the kitchen)

-The spring door stop (not so much now, but he definitely knows where they all are now and is sure to play with them each time he passes by)

-Anywhere he can bonk his head

-Toward most anything that can go into his mouth.

He had just stuck a whole pretzel twist into his mouth and was pretty pleased with himself.

-And really, most anywhere we'd rather he wouldn't go. But that's how it goes. :)

Music: We love our music baby! Sometimes he can get really, really sad and I don't know how to help him. Then I remember to turn on an upbeat song and the world is right again.

When there's any sort of beat he starts bobbing along. When there's music in the car I can hear him singing right along with Joseph. And of course, he doesn't need music to sing.

Standing: He likes to pull himself up to standing now. Let me tell you, it's made bath time a lot more exciting.

He really is standing in this one.

Smiling: Sometimes our nights can be a little rough. But every morning we know we have this bright smiley boy to look forward to, and everything is okay again. It's just his default expression, especially when Joseph is around.

Rain does awesome things to his hair

We count on this fun every day

that's not a carrot

He is such a delight! It is always an adventure, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

ps -- there are a dozen or so movies that I didn't upload. If you want to be inundated, just let me know!

Sunbeam Waltz

Sometimes people ask how long it takes me to make a mashup for my YouTube channel.

I've had a little trouble answering because there are a few steps. I have to come up with the idea of combining two or three songs with the same theme, throw them together, tweak them, practice them, and then find the time to record them.

But I think I have a minimum answer now of start to finish: one week.

Last week I was thinking about how it would be nice to do a mashup with a nice calm Chopin piece. But then I thought, what if I did it with an upbeat Chopin song instead?

So I started playing the Minute Waltz and realized Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam could possibly work with that. But what if there was one that worked better? I opened up my big Chopin book and right on the first page was his Grand Valse Brilliante, better known as the Flamingo song at our house thanks to Sesame Street.

And bam! They worked together so well! And Joseph and Matthew let me practice! So within a few minutes I had a skeleton of what I wanted. Over the next week I found a few minutes here and there to practice, and by Saturday I figured I ought to just throw the whole thing together (it was hard enough that either I had to do it then or practice it for another month to get all the tricky spots) while everyone was playing outside.

So here you go.

A few interesting side notes;

• It is sort of fitting that I was able to play this piece with my cute Sunbeam and his cute friends in mind, because the first time I really tried to play Grand Valse Brilliante was right before he was born. Over the next almost 4 years, I've practiced it here and there, which was a huge help to me this week.
• I have played the real song through just a handful of times. It takes a lot of stamina for me. The first time I played it through was for our Airbnb hosts in Paris. I'm not sure how that happened, and I still wish I had picked something else to play. Ha.
• This was one of the few times I wish I had a real piano with real action and better dynamics. Someday . . .

Nursing Mom Observes Monthly Fast

A Mormon mother in Ann Arbor, Michigan has found a suitable method of fasting -- abstaining from nutrition but not calories.

"There's no question about it -- when I'm nursing, I need all the calories I can get," she said as she fed her 9 month old son, pulling a candy wrapper off with her non-dominant hand and teeth. "But I still wanted to make sure I observed the fast somehow!"

Traditionally, Mormons abstain from food for 24 consecutive hours the first Sunday of every month and donate the money they would have spent on food to the poor and needy. Those who are medically unable to do not have to fast, but they are encouraged nonetheless to participate however they can.

"If I were to participate in a traditional fast, I would abstain from calories, Vitamin C, calcium, and riboflavin, among other vitamins and minerals" she continued as she put two attached Twizzlers in her mouth. "Since I'm nursing, I can't abstain from calories, but I can abstain from Vitamin C, calcium, and riboflavin."

"But not necessarily iron," her husband interjected.

"It's only 2%  per serving," she shot back. "It would take 50 servings of Twizzlers to achieve the recommended amount!"

Her husband had mixed feelings on how she observes her fast. "At the rate she eats the candy, I'm sure she gets more than enough iron." He wondered aloud if the spirit of the fast, or at least the Word of Wisdom, proscribes such gluttony.

Following a heated response including the cryptic phrase "Moderation in all things," the wife reminded her husband that she is still making a sacrifice to undertake such a fast.

"I'm not even taking my prenatal vitamin that day," she said.

Although she is planning to wean her son in the next six months, she admitted it is tempting to keep this type of fast once she is no longer nursing.

"If it has no nutrients, does it really count as food?" she mused.

Scripture Study

"Okay, Joseph, time for scriptures," I said this evening.

"I don't like reading scriptures," he told me.

"Is it because they have lots of words you don't know?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Well, you can ask lots of questions and I'll help you understand the story better."

He seemed to be satisfied with that, so we started Alma 35.

"Why did Amulek make an end?"
"Where's Jershon?"

I answered his questions quickly and we kept going. Then we read verse 3:

"And it came to pass that after the more popular part of the Zoramites had consulted together concerning the words which had been preached unto them, they were angry because of the word, for it did destroy their craft; therefore they would not hearken unto the words."

He gasped. He knows what crafts are! He has done one every single day this week!

"What kind of craft did they destroy?"

I didn't want to redefine the word craft right then. "The bad guys liked to make bad guy costume crafts." Which is basically what was going on.

"Why were they destroying them?"

"Alma and Amulek made it so the good guys didn't want to buy bad guy costume crafts anymore. So they were really mad."

After a few more clarifications, we moved on.

Maybe I just made things worse by taking liberties like that. But kids come up with misconceptions with or without their parents' help. Once we were reading scriptures and came across the word "whoredoms." I am certain my mom didn't define it this way, but based on whatever explanation she gave, for years I thought that meant a woman selling pottery for more than it was worth. Which I guess is still not a good thing to do.

After a few more verses and a few more explanations, we made it to verse 8.

"Now the people of the Zoramites were angry with the people of Ammon who were in Jershon, and the chief ruler of the Zoramites, being a very wicked man, sent over unto the people of Ammon desiring them that they should cast out of their land all those who came over from them into their land."

Joseph wanted to know what was going on. After I explained what happened with the bad guy kicking out the good guys, he asked, "Did they throw the bad guy into the river?"

Like I said, kids can come up with misconceptions all on their own. I can't figure out where that one came from.



Wait. He just watched Up yesterday, and the dogs fall in the river. Would that be why he thought of a river?

After we finished, he asked if there were any pictures, so we looked at pictures of cabins and wagons at the back, and he seemed satisfied that this was a picture book after all. So I would consider scripture study a success tonight.

Sponge

Lately, Joseph has been soaking in every bit of knowledge that he can. Every day Kevin and I are overwhelmed with questions, observations, and cute quotes.

-"Does U make a "wuh" sound like W?" (if double-u does, single-u should too, right?)
-"Why don't we see Jesus on Easter?"
-When Kevin said he was doing math, Joseph looked at it and asked, "Where are all the numbers?"
-I told him he needed to change out of his Superman shirt that he'd worn the day before, and he countered, "But 'conference' has an 'S' in it!"
-"These are Captain America pants, but when I put my Superman shirt on they turn into Superman pants because of magic!"
-I ask, "Who's someone you know that's cool?" He says, "You." (I was not expecting that.) "What do I do that's cool?" He spins around to demonstrate that that's something cool I do. I'll take it.
-"Matthew sure likes me."

It takes a lot longer to read books to him now because of all the questions. "What does 'polish' mean?" "What's a 'silly tail-of-a-thing?'" "Why did the animals climb on Snow White's coffin?" "Why can't the bears have all the candy they want at the store?" We've had AlphaOops and AlphaOops Halloween checked out for more than 5 months now, and he still has questions about why letters other than 'A' get to go first. Every plot point and unknown word is important right now.

I didn't realize it until now, but this is what I live for. I found I only moderately enjoyed building towers or couch cushion forts with him, and I don't really get the point of toy cars driving around or crashing into each other.

But getting to teach him . . . it's really exciting! Yesterday he told me he wanted to read our book about classical music with its accompanying CD, and even though it took up all of Matthew's nap it was still worth it. I love that he wants to sit down at the piano to go through a piano book. I love that he was excited to learn how to clean a bathroom today (we'll see how long that lasts). I love that he is willing to put up with a little bit of "reading time" most every day. I feel like I can really talk to him about most anything, and he soaks it all in like a sponge.

His Conference setup. He did pretty well!

And speaking of sponges . . . He has suddenly gotten way into crafts lately. I am not the most crafty person out there, but somehow we've managed to make them work. I wanted to celebrate 4/4/16 yesterday since it was a very square day, so I roped Joseph into the holiday with me. He was happy to do a square craft and other small things to celebrate. (Especially the square pan of rice krispie treats. Of course. Even though they turned into rocks almost immediately because the marshmallows were too old.)

Because of this craft, we now have a sponge that's shaped like Utah. 

But the crafts haven't stopped there. He's discovered the joy of scissors

Adios, Conference Bingo

and wanted to use them as much as possible for the craft we opted for today.

(we used them maybe once.)

With Matthew crawling around trying to put everything in his mouth and Joseph following me around trying to put everything in his brain, we rarely have a dull moment.

But it sure is fun!