Couch Flying

Just a few images of my active little 2-year old while he's still two. I was just downstairs having a (rare) quiet moment, reading the Sunday edition of the Wall Street Journal in the living room. Gavin decided to start "flying" between one couch and the other. Most unseasoned parents I'm sure would discourage this but I've learned that it's futile with little boys. Threre's something about the liberty of the underpants and the tempting two-foot distance between the arm of one sofa and the soft, welcoming cushion of the other that makes it irrestistable. Plus, I'll admit it... It's Sunday evening, I've been fighting the fight all day long, and I'm exhausted! Let him have his thrill. At least I'm within close range if it all goes bad.

Oh, and I couldn't resist photographing Gavin's toenails. He begged me to paint them earlier when I was doing mine and Jolie's. When Dan balked I informed him that unless my news from the ultrasound tech tomorrow is that we're having a girl, I'll be painting the toenails of the next boy, too. He didn't say anything.

So tomorrow is a big day for us! Gavin turns three and we'll know some exciting news about our new addition... can't wait!

My Masterpiece

Success! Thank you to Nancy and Julia Child, my pastry chef mentors.

Sometimes Demolition is a Beautiful Thing

In case anyone has been wondering what Dan's been up to in his spare time (there's so much of it, you know!)... this is it.

We hired a landscape architect to draw a plan for us in the spring and we're now in the second phase of our demolition. Doesn't it look great? Dan made a lot of progress on the demolition while his Dad was here. They pulled out the fence and basketball standard, the concrete surrounding it, and a LOT of bushes. Yesterday we continued the destruction. The kids helped pull out the curbing with a sledge hammer and pry bar.

The good 'ol pickup truck has been an essential tool in this process. It's amazing what a truck and a big strong chain can do. Not to mention a lot of backbreaking manual labor. It's amazing to look at the root ball on some of these shrubs. We're more sure than ever that our former homeowners paid someone a lot of money to design and install their yard in 1985 and then thought that was all that had to be done for 20 years.

We've apologized to all of our neighbors for the noise and ugliness and promised that things will soon be looking a lot better. To most I'm sure it looks horrible but to me me it looks great because it means that we're finally on the road to beautifying our yard and the exterior of our house. Hooray!

Captain Underpants

Gavin has decided that he's ready to be big. It's been rather sudden and quite a surprise because we tried the potty training thing last winter without success. We jumped up and down and clapped our hands every time he produced. We had a great sticker chart with treats and rewards. We hurried off to Target for him to chose a Thomas engine whenever he filled a row on the sticker chart. Once we even ventured out in a pretty significant snow storm because as they say, consistency is key! We were determined. The Potty Watch played it's tune and flashed its lights when it was time to go.

It didn't last.

One morning about three weeks ago, after contentedly peeing and pooping in diapers night and day, he went into his room and put on some underpants (which had been in his drawer for 6 months). I asked him if he was going to be big and go on the potty. He said "Yah.". Amazingly, he stayed dry the whole day. And the next. He's had just two accidents in three weeks and he's often dry in the morning after sleeping all night. Unbelievable!

It seems that he's been capable all along but simply needed to make the choice that he was big.

A Special Treat

I spent the weekend in San Diego with Lisa. It was so much fun and such a special treat. Several weeks ago she mentioned that she was going to visit Dad and Nancy. Since I knew my in-laws were going to be here and would be able to help with the kids, I decided to invite myself along. I'm so glad I did. We did all of our favorite things: dinner at the "grassy knoll" (see photos), Del Mar racetrack and our favorite Mexican restaurant afterward, the open air market and other fun shops in La Jolla, we saw "Hairspray" (we all gave it 4 stars), dinner with Celeste and Steve, a individualized pilates session with Nancy, the beach....

No trip to San Diego would be the same without amazing food. Dad worked his magic on the BBQ, including pizza on the grill (it was unbelievable.) We had great Chinese takeout at our favorite spot on the water, I had the BEST chile relleno and chile verde in Del Mar, warm popovers in the morning, and per my request, Nancy gave Lisa and I a lesson in the art of a successful pie. I was so inspired by her apple pie and homemade vanilla ice cream that I wrote down her recipes and came home inspired to make them. I've been home less than 24 hours and I'm almost ready: I bought 5 lbs of apples today but I still need to get a pastry blender. This is monumental for me: although I'm pretty good baker, I have a very bad history with pies. I gave up on making pastry years ago after my strawberry pie turned out to be strawberry soup. Another time I caught my oven on fire while baking a key lime pie. I'll never forget that one because I had the neighbor kids over at the time. The house was filled with smoke, my smoke alarms were going off and I had flames jumping out of the oven. Baking soda saved us all that day!

I was also able to read my book club assignment while in San Diego (Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf). I'm so glad that I took it with me because it was a bit of a hard read and required a lot of concentration. Virginia Woolf's stream of consciousness writing style (some sentences take up nearly a page) requires an unusual attention span. I'm afraid I wouldn't have gotten as much out of it if I had tried to read it here. I'm looking forward to discussing the book with my friends.

The weekend was great. It was so nice to get away after being home all summer (most of it while feeling horrible), the weather was gorgeous (when is it not in San Diego?), Dan and the kids were having a ball with the in-laws, and I was able to do some things that I haven't done in a long time. It was a very rare and special treat!

Train Ride

Grandpa and Grandma are visiting from Virginia and we spent last weekend with them in Park City. Saturday they treated us all to a fun train and hay ride. Gavin was absolutely beside himself. He's obsessed with trains, particularly the one that lives on the Island of Sodor. At least we can justify the hundreds and hundreds of dollars we donated to the Thomas empire 6 or so years ago.

We sat outside in an open car for most of the train ride, ate a great dinner, and stopped for a hay ride. The kids got to watch a ferrier shoe a horse and even got a chance to sit on the horse (who was named "Rowdy"). We ate cobbler out of a dutch oven and listed to some cowboy poetry.

We all had a lot of fun!

What's up with the Toothfairy?

The toothfairy has been making frequent visits to our house. Jolie yanked her front tooth out on the 4th of July and then her brothers helped the other one come partially out a few days later. They were down on the floor wrestling (what, people roughhouse and wrestle in this house? really???) and one of them head-butted her on their way up. It pried one corner of her remaining front tooth loose so it was hanging a bit slanted. I have to say that I was glad to see that one go a few days later. Dan had to do his dental-floss trick to help her with it. Thank goodness for Daddy. I made them go upstairs and I was still cringing and doing deep-breathing until she came down with the tooth in her hand. That kind of stuff is just NOT for me.

Tristan twisted another loose tooth out on Saturday so we had a lot of surprises for the toothfairy Saturday night. Unfortunately, she didn't come. We're not sure why, but there was a huge wildfire raging in Southern Utah along the I-15 corridor so we think maybe she wasn't able to fly that night. Dan told Jolie he didn't think the toothfairy would come on the 4th because of the fireworks, so all the teeth were saved until Saturday. What a disappointment that she didn't come. Fortunately she made good on her responsibilities Sunday night. This is a photo of the letter that Tristan wrote to her.



"Dear Toothfairy,
I twisted my tooth out on the 4th of July. My dad thought you would get killed in fireworks so I had to do it today. My dad pulled out another tooth today.
Sincerely,
Jolie
P.S. Tristan wrote this note and he has a loose tooth."

(Note to self: Practice spelling with second grader during summer vacation!)

Back in the Life of the Living!

Yes, it's true... Michelle is back in the life of the living!

I'd like to apologize to all of my blog admirers (numerous as they are) who have been disappointed my my absence over the past 2 1/2 months. I'm sure they've all gone elsewhere for their entertainment by now.

The good news is that I'm back, literally, to the life of the living! I can't tell you how hard May and June were for me. It was really, really bad. For those who have been through this horrible sickness, you know that it's more than just throwing up here and there. Let's just say that my life has been completely dysfunctional and it's a miracle that we made it through. The blog is only a small example of what I've neglected the past eleven weeks because I've been focused on one thing and one thing only: surviving through the day.

I would have loved to post some cute photos of the 4th of July, kids holding sparklers and all that, but I'm afraid the 4th holds another significance for me this year: it was the last time I threw up. Strangely, I'd like that to remain my memory of the 4th... Dan pulling over on our way to an Independence Day breakfast so that I could vomit in a vacant lot on the side of the road. It's only a good memory because it was the last and final time. I'm determined for it to be!

Uggghhh!

Wow, it's been 21 days since I posted anything to the blog. For those of you are wondering whether I've dropped off the face of the Earth, the answer is yes. I'm suffering from a pretty bad case of "hyperemesis gravidarum". That's what my doctor calls it, anyway. For the less technically-minded, that means that I'm puking my guts out night and day and I spend most of my time lying on a bed or couch or recliner somewhere, staring at the wall and wishing I were dead.

Sorry to sound so bleak, only those who've been through it will understand...

Nature vs. Nurture

Remember that lecture in college about "Nature vs. Nurture"? I'm sure we've all been a part of it. It usually takes place in psychology 101 or child development; maybe even criminal justice or English class. Anyway, the professor begins the class by posing a question about whether people (or one person in particular) is the way he is because of his genes or because of his environment. A long, heated discussion ensues in which students offer compelling arguments for both sides.

I have to admit that before I had children, I was on the side of "Nurture". I was convinced that the little brat running uncontrollably down the aisles of the grocery store was a turd because his parents made him that way; they were bad parents and they should be ashamed of themselves. Now that I'm a parent (and have a few of those uncontrollable children myself), I'm afraid I find myself at the other end of the spectrum. I'm a big proponent of the "Nature" argument.

The activity that I found Gavin engaged in this morning is a good example. Who the heck conditions little boys to find their toy garbage truck, turn it on it's side, go to another part of the house to get the toolbox, put the drill bit on the toy drill, and "fix" the lug of the wheel of the toy garbage truck? NOBODY!!! They come this way!! I've witnesses it first-hand! All toddler boys do this stuff!

OK, I know there are some exceptions but we won't go into what's down the road for those little boys...

The Performer

Jolie performed with a group of kids in a little talent show at the church last night. They did a medley that included "Zippity Do Dah" and "I'm a Mormon". It was very cute. Our neighbor, Lonna, invited Jolie to perform because she's such a good singer in Primary.

Earlier this week I took Tristan and Jolie to see "The Sound of Music" at a local theater. It was a rare thing for us since we knew we'd be out late on a school night. I'm glad we did it because they both enjoyed it. It was a great play for them to see because they both know the story and we all love the music (notice the title to my blog).

This week I've decided that Jolie's talents lie in the area of singing, dancing and performing rather than competitive sports. Last weekend she sat out half of her soccer game (by choice) and when she's on the field she doesn't like to take the ball away from other players because she feels that it's a mean thing to do. On the other hand, she LOVED the musical, LOVES dancing, LOVED performing at the talent show, and she even asked if she could take acting lessons. Maybe that's where we should concentrate our energies...

Spring Break II

One of the highlights of our trip to So Cal was Legoland. It was amazing! We hadn't really planned to go but the concierge at our resort gave us the idea by offering us free tickets if we went on a sales tour. Dan and I were able to get 2-day tickets through AAA which made it worth our time to go to Legoland and NOT go on the tour. Although it's tempting to get free stuff, Dan and I have decided that vacations are too short to spend 2 or 3 hours having our arms twisted while our children are stuck in a hole somewhere watching TV. Yes, we've learned this from experience.

It was hard to decide which photos to post since we took so many. I had to include the one of Jolie holding onto dear life while on the Safari ride. This is basically a little train that wound very slowly through some trees and brush. The safari animals, all built out of legos, were amazing! It was not scary at all but, you see, Jolie is afraid of amusement park rides. She won't go on anything that leaves the ground or has any speed at all. This started two summers ago when we were at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Grandpa D. and Daddy decided it would be fun to take Tristan and Jolie on a little ride called "The Big Bad Wolf." It turned out to be a terrifying roller coaster that Jolie, at 3 years old, shouldn't have been allowed on in the first place. The result was that Tristan wet his pants (I'm not kidding) and Jolie developed a pathological fear of amusement park rides. Dan and I have tried various treatments for her disorder, including force (picking her up and carrying her onto a ride), logic and reasoning, guilt, threats, etc. but so far none of our treatments have been effective. The two times we've tried the "force" approach, she started kicking and SCREAMING hysterically, convulsing and acting as if her life were about to end. These were kiddie rides, by the way! The other patrons of the park looked at us as if were were child abusers. In the end, she got out of line or off the ride and we determined that this particular approach was not effective. IF THERE IS A PSYCHOTHERAPIST IN THE HOUSE, PLEASE ADVISE!

Spring Break I

Now that we're finally completely unpacked and all the laundry is washed and put away (and washed and almost put away again), I thought I'd post some photos from our trip to San Diego over spring break. For those who haven't heard the story, we left in a bit of a hurry because our timeshare became available at the last minute. We stayed at an awesome resort near Escondido where there was a lot to do. We spent one day at Carlsbad beach. It was a bit cool for swimming but that didn't stop Tristan and Jolie from going in the water. Gavin also put his feet in but he was rather preoccupied with the sand and his trucks.

The Hunt

Just a few more photos from Easter. We had our annual egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa D's house on Sunday. Gavin has been gearing up for this for weeks and weeks. I've been telling him an "Emily and Peter" story about an egg hunt at nap time. At the end of the story we eat a few jelly beans and then he goes to sleep beautifully for me.

Lisa labelled the eggs with the kids' initials so that they'd all have a good result. The photo of Tristan says a lot since he was moving so quickly! Trying to get a photo of him was like photographing a sporting event.

Happy Easter!

Dan and I took the kids across the street after church this morning to take some photos. It's taken a few years but we've learned that the Easter "look" doesn't last long around here. By the time we've gotten around to taking photos in the past, the little buggars have either destroyed their clothes or they're angry and impatient because we're getting ready to have our egg hunt. Hey, I'm a girl who learns from her past mistakes! None of that this year.

Jolie had quite a dilemna this morning. She had three Easter dresses to choose from. Grandma I. as well as Grandma D. ended up giving her dresses. She didn't want either Grandma to feel sad about her not wearing their dress, so it was quite a decision. She even mentioned this in our family prayer last night. Like the fashion diva that she is, she decided to go with the one that went best with her gloves.

We're trying to finish unpacking from spring break while Gavin is napping and the other two are having "quiet time". In an hour we'll head to my mom's for Easter dinner and Aunt Lisa's egg hunt.