Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Other Peoples Toys, take 2.

Hi, It's me, Baby J! I don't know if you noticed but I was gone for a couple of days. My Mommy and Daddy took me to Cache Valley to visit Uncle Paul and Aunt Diane. I really liked visiting them because they have lots of toys for me to play with, for example this wonderful toy right behind me, isn't it AMAZING!


It took me a while to figure out how to play with this toy. I thought about climbing through here....


I guess I must have looked a little confused because Uncle Paul came to my rescue. He put me up on the bench and pressed a button that made some pretty lights come on. I immediately started pounding on the toy and BEAUTIFUL sounds came out. Mommy clapped and cheered for me, so it must have sounded good to her too.

Uncle Paul collects toys from all over the world. I don't know if he knows this, but I discovered that all of his toys can be used to make loud loud noises, especially if you hit them! This is me with a small hitting toy. It was pretty easy to figure out how to play this one.

I got to hit this toy with a stick. Really! They gave me a stick and when I sucked on the stick they took it away and told me that it was for hitting the toy with, then they showed me that it made a loud noise, I liked that, so I started to hit the toy with it too.

This one was as big as me, but I was still able to play with it. Sometimes I just petted it because it felt hairy like a doggy and I like doggies.

I was happy to see a toy that I already knew how to play with, and so I put on a show. I didn't think anything could sound better than my piano at home, but this toy sure did.

I decided that I like visiting Uncle Paul and Aunt Diane. I think next time I will ask to play the didgeridoo.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Spectacular Failure

I am starting to notice something about myself that I am not sure I like. I don’t believe it is intentional, I don’t sit around trying to figure out ways to impede my own progress in life, but I do have a talent for failure. I am 99% sure that most people are like me, and I am also pretty sure that what I consider my failures wouldn’t be considered problems to others.

None of us are perfect; we all know that, we all try our best to hide it, pretending that we are the one perfect person to be found. Being imperfect, we all have failings and failures. I like to think that it is possible to fail one day and get back on the horse the next day without much remembrance of the previous days failures. The baby does this all the time with his naps, he will have a bad nap day, but it won’t affect him much past that one bad day, he will go on to have a wonderful weeks worth of naps. It is a little failure, a little bump in the road; nothing to worry about it will all be better tomorrow. He did not inherit this ability from me.

No, I fail, but everything I do must, absolutely MUST, be spectacular! I think my secret motto must be “If you are going to fail, FAIL BIG!” In High School I failed at least one class, and got really close to failing a couple more. I had to go to summer school for the history class that I failed my freshman year and I got an A very easily. The summer school teacher was confused by how well I did. I guess he expected mediocrity. I was embarrassed, but embarrassed or not I still continued down my path of. …Spectacularity? (I may have just made that word up, pretty good work I think) I have lead a good life, but it is as yet an unfinished life, I hope in the end that I can look back at my life, the good and the bad, and see that I triumphed spectacularly much more than I failed.

My most recent failing? Falling of the Healthy Food Wagon. I am working hard to get my hopes back up, telling myself that I can do this, I can be healthy, I can eat my vegetables and not want that Pizza, those cookies, the bowl full of Peanut M&M’s. It is just super hard. I am pretty sure that I have addictive jeans. Just one taste of the not so good for me stuff and I am off and running, I found a bunch of yummy pizza slices that I had frozen a few months ago, they were intended to be my lunch at some point but I had forgotten about them. Well after making the discovery, I ate them. It took 2 or 3 days, they were so yummy, but it was like half a pizza. It was a vegetarian piazza, but still, Not Good For Me! Why didn’t my Fairy Godmother remove them from the freezer, didn’t she know I would eat them if I found them? Didn’t she know that I am an addict? Truth is I don’t even know if I knew. But I am sure feeling the addiction today. OH, Those Swiss Rolls are calling me, and all of the babies Easter candy. It is Horrible!!! ARGH!!! This is why I am glad that I have never been tempted by Alcohol or Drugs because I am pretty sure I would treat them like I treated the pizza, difference being the pizza will kill me, but much, much, much more slowly than an Alcohol or Drug binge. Addictive Personality, that is me.

So I am starting to see what I need to do to get back on the Healthy Food Wagon and to turn my Spectacular Failure into an Amazing Triumph, I need to get addicted to apples and oranges and pears (…oh my…) and I need to never, ever, ever purchase peanut M&M’s (unless it is a very small package of them).

Oh this has been good therapy. I have missed this over the past few days. Thanks for being here for me.

P.S. for those of you who were really looking for updates about Little Baby J’s exploits, pictures of our trip to Logan will be coming within the next few days.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Joy in the Morning

Since the weather has been so nice, we have been trying to spend time outside each day, you know, just so we can get some vitamin D. Today we saw this Daffodil, it is very very small, and it is a twin, two flowers on one daffodil stem. It made us so happy to see such a cute flower.
See, we really were very happy. Spring has sprung all around, the baby just has to applaud!

Monday, April 20, 2009

He learned it from watching me....

I have been a little worried about my parenting skills over the past few days. You see, my son has started to do things that make me realize some things about myself, because after all, he had to have learned it from watching me.

#1- He uses the computer every chance he gets, which means if I leave the room, he climbs on to the chair and them up onto the desk. I am amazed at how many programs he can open. He is an Evil Baby Genius and I love him, but does this mean that I spend too much time on the computer?

#2 This one surprised me, I don't talk on the phone very much, we maybe get 1-2 phone calls a day. The baby has been intrigued by the sound the phone makes when you press the buttons but yesterday he started putting the phone to his ear and jibber jabbering as he walked around.#3 This one is most definitely my fault. I believe I have spoken about how I keep the TV on, much of the time just to provide background noise, well since I have some new music I have turned of the TV a little more and put music on to provide the needed background noise.
The baby quickly discovered that he could turn the TV on himself, so if it is off, he will turn it on, and then if it is on, he will turn it off. On, Off, On, Off, On, Off, he loves it. But I feel bad that I have trained him to love the TV at such a young age. Now, After all that, some good things that my son had learned from me.
#4 He loves books and recently I have found him sitting by himself, with a book, turning pages and pointed at things on the page. That is how I read, you know the stories get boring after a while, so I turn pages and point at the pictures and say their names. My heart melted when I saw him pointing at everything on the page before he turned to the next one. In fact he is doing this right now! Oh, I am not too horrible of a mother, am I!
#5- I think my mothering skills can also be redeemed because my boy is so loving, OK so maybe it doesn't have much to do with me, maybe he is just loving but I like to think that he loves me because I am a good mommy. This picture is from this last weekend. He was, as usual, climbing the walls, but then he climbed up on the couch and climbed up on to me- I was prepared for him to use me as a ladder to get to the pictures on the wall, but no.....he found a nice place to cuddle and stayed there for 10 to 15 minutes!!!! Such a sweet boy!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Talent.....

The Baby usually stands in front of the piano and reaches up to play, but the past couple of day he has demanded to sit on the piano bench when he plays. I think it is cute how he reaches up and moves the magazines around, like he is rearranging the his sheet music.

I think we will start piano lessons sooner than later, that is if he still likes to play in a couple of years.

Where have all the Flowers gone?

Under the Snow! Tell me, does this look like spring to you?

This is the view out my kitchen window, sure it is only 2-3 inches, but the 3 beautiful crocuses that finally bloomed in my pots out front are now covered with snow. I think winter hates me!

So we have to stay inside (I guess we could go out into the snow, but I just don't like snow too much today, since it is trying to kill my flowers). Luckily, I bought some diapers from Diapers.com and they came yesterday in a GIGANTIC box.

And everyone knows that GIGANTIC boxes are the best forts. This fort just happens to be super absorbent as well.

See the happiness! Take That Snow! HA! (Speaking of Happiness, I got the same amount of diapers I usually get at our local Costco, for 2/3 the price and free shipping!)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

New Music- new to my collection at least

I love music, I used to buy Cd's all the time, but that kind of stopped when I got married, I am not sure why, weird how that happened. But anyway, Ken knows that I love music and he was sweet enough to get me an iTunes gift card for Christmas. As I had fallen out of the habit of purchasing music I hadn't used it yet, and then my Sister A reminded me about a great song, and so I decided I would buy it, and a U2 song I have been wishing I had, and a few more. Here they are.....















.....What do you think? I like them. Very happy with my purchases, but now I think I am addicted to the iStore, must get more iMoney.......hmmm, I wonder where iMoney comes from.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Fruits and Vegetables are My Friends

Why hasn't anyone told me this before! So here is your weekly update. I have been eating in a more healthy manner, I have cheated, but that is OK, I am allowed just as long as I try the majority of the time to eat mostly Fruits and Vegetables.

We bought a new scale last Saturday. I can not remember if I used it for the first time on Saturday or on Sunday, but since that day I have lost 5 pounds. That is more than 1/2 a pound a day (pretty close to 3/4)- I would say that is pretty good, considering that I also have not been working out, just eating better. Did I mention I am eating a whole lot more too, I have plenty of fruit in the house to snack on in between meals and my meals have filled me up enough that I don't snack nearly as much as I previously did.

I am pretty happy with my progress.

Speaking of progress, check this out-

Not only is he walking, all the time, all the way across rooms, but he is also multitasking! I wonder where he learned how to multitask?

Thursday, April 9, 2009

I love Ken Wheeler

He swooped into my life in 2002 and within a few months he was my best friend. I liked him, but he didn't like me- that way. So friends we were and friends we stayed, for years. Eventually Ken found love and my heart broke.

I prayed that God would bless me with the ability to be happy for my friend. I prayed that he would make it so I didn't like him any more, so that my heart would stop hurting. I cried and cried and then I slept. When I woke up, my heart didn't hurt, but I still liked Ken Wheeler. I was confused, but went on with life.

Months later I would find that God had always inteded me to like, and to love, Ken Wheeler.

And I really, really, really do love him so much, see here is a picture of me sneaking up behind him.

It takes an amazing man, full of patience and goodness, to love a woman as silly as me. Ken knows how to love me!

Happy Anniversary, My Sweet Love!

I love you.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Eggs are filled with CANDY?!!!!?

Hi, It's Me, Baby J! I wanted to tell you about eggs. You see I went to My Grandma T's house on Sunday and I discovered that her backyard is filled with Magical Eggs! I didn't understand at first, Mommy and Daddy helped me find a small clump of grass that had an egg in it, they told me to pick it up, but I wouldn't and so they put it in my hand, I shook it and discovered that it made a great rattle. Happy with my new rattle, I sat down, Magical Eggs kept appearing in the pot next to me

I collected them all and put them into my Elmo head basket.

One of the eggs broke open and I discovered the source of the Rattling.....CANDY!!!!!! My Mommy let me eat two pieces! She is such a nice Mommy, I rewarded her for her kindness by not taking my nap, you know, so she could spend more time with me.......she loves it when I spend time with her.
Grandma made us all go out onto the grass, I like grass, after all, grass is where you find magical eggs filled with candy...... Oh, I wonder if this brown thing on the ground is candy......

Here is a picture of Grandma T's Grand Baby Brood. T is the oldest and the tallest, he is 13, then there is C-11, S-6, E-8, Q-5, Ch-4, E-3, P-2 and me., I am 1!

Something Wondra-ful

In October of 1998 I met the Wondra's and for the next year of my life they watched over me. He was my Mission President, in fact to quote him, he was the first and the last Mission President of the Austria Vienna South Mission. (Does anyone remember that zone conference?) He was telling the truth too, because the mission (under that name) was created when he became the President, and when he was released they renamed the mission- Slovenia Ljubljana Mission. I think it is currently called the Croatia Zagreb Mission. The name changes a lot, but the people and the countries- Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, stay the same.
Here is Ken, the baby and me with the Wondra's. After being released from his mission, President Wondra was immediately called to be an Area Authority Seventy. That was October of 1999. Usually people have that calling for 5-7 years. I am so happy that he has not yet been released because that means he will come Visit us here in America once a year.

In celebration of their visit, the Baby thought he might do a little table dancing! He is a very good dancer. You can see Sister D there on the right, we love her lots too.

I learned a lot from the Wondra's in my time with them. Basically, Love the Lord with all your heart, Trust in him, Follow him. Believe that he is the Son of God and your Redeemer. Seek Him all your days.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Barley & Me

Yesterday was the big day, the day we started eating mostly fruits and vegetables. I picked a Wednesday to start our new healthy diet because Wednesday is also my weekly shopping day and so I would be able to shop with a purpose- Fantastic Health!

I followed the example of a weekly menu from the “Eat to Live” book with exactness. I made a shopping list (typed, two columns, it filled the entire page), and after nap time was over, the Baby and I headed out for our weekly shopping.

Several things quickly became apparent to me.
First- a weeks worth of Fruits and Vegetables fills up a shopping cart- to the brim if not slightly over flowing.
Second- I have a very inquisitive child, who wants to touch anything he can get his hands on, this has always been easy to deal with in the past (just keep the cart in the middle of the aisle, well I guess I had never filled the cart full of food before).

Third- I should have picked up my Bulk Food Items first, as the little ties on the bags, apparently, are not to hard for a 1 year old to get off and the bags are not “Teeth Proof”. Who would have known that my son would want split peas so badly that he would rip a whole in the bag, only a few peas escaped and I was able to get a new bag, no harm done. Two minutes later I realized that there was Half a pound of Barley on the floor…and a very happy little boy holding a bag which had once held a pound of Barley (…I twisted the twist tie, I really, really did, I twisted it several times…) It is very, very, very embarrassing to have to tell employees of a store that there is a clean up needed on Isle 3. (Isn't the little culprit cute, I decided that it was the Babies April Fools Joke, it was funnier this morning)

Fourth- Healthy food cost too much. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a $400-$500 food budget per month, it is more like $140-$150, so as I was at the checkout stand, and the clerk was praising me for what a great job I had done, purchasing so much good food so cheaply ($90 is cheap?) I actually wanted to cry- I didn’t because who wants to explain to the clerk at the store that you just realized that you are too poor to eat healthy foods.


I had 3 other stores to go to, I decided that it would be better for the Baby to stay at his Grandma’s while I finished shopping (she actually lives in between all the stores so it was easy to drop him off) and I went to the next store- realizing that I was truly on the verge of tears each time I crossed another item off my list, and as my 2 hour shopping trip had already reached 3 hours and I was less than half done, I decided that I would pick up the baby and go home, we would get the remaining items later in the week.


I was able to get home and start dinner, I actually had to make a concerted effort to get started before I told Ken my stories from the day because I felt like as soon as I started to talk, I would break down and be good for nothing. Ken took care of the baby and me, he hovered near me helping me stir, finding the right ingredients for the dinner I had planned to make. By 6 pm, we were eating dinner- I had only messed up once during the preparation process- forgetting to toast the sesame seeds before making the Orange Sesame Dressing (which is amazingly yummy even when the sesame seeds are not toasted). Ken, bless his heart, did not say “Yuck, I hate it, What is it?” in fact he said that a couple of the items we had for dinner were good. (Here is what we had- Roasted Bell Peppers, Portabello Mushrooms and Beans, and Spinach Salad with Orange Sesame Dressing)

I told Ken about my main frustration- that I really feel like this is something we need to do, for the health of our family, I know that it will work, that I will be able to lose and then maintain a healthy weight. I don’t want to get Diabetes and Heart Disease and I feel like, unless I make a drastic change, I am going to be on the express train towards those two diseases. But I just didn’t know if it was possible to do, unless by some spectacular miracle, the food I bought today lasted for the majority of the month. He listened, and reassured me that we would be able to make it work, whatever we had to do, adjustments we needed to make to our budget over the next 6 weeks (I wanted to follow the instructions strictly for 6 weeks and then we would make our own adjustments), we would do what we needed to do. I felt better after he reassured me, as I chopped I started to realize that there are little things I could do to make the grocery bill a little smaller. Like using canned diced tomatoes instead of fresh-diced tomatoes- especially if the tomatoes are going to get cooked anyway.


So, this morning I am back on track, praying for a miracle and hoping that any change we are able to make will be good for us, because we are trying and sometimes all you can do is try. I know, Yoda said, there is no try, only do, but I don’t think Yoda ever had to shop for healthy food, you’ve seen him, sure he lived for something like 800 years, but did he look healthy to you?


Anyway- by adding 1-2 large Salads and a good amount of fruit to my diet last week- I lost at least 3 pounds but I think it was actually 5 if not a little more. More updates on further weight loss to come, I am sure!