Saturday, April 27, 2013

A Birth Control Kind of Morning

5am: Feed Joe
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6am: Smuggle Joe back in the baby room, successfully not waking Riley. Yesssssssss.
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7am: Riley wakes with major leak in her diaper; strip her and her bed, giver her cereal and milk, start laundry, vacuum cereal out of carpet.
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7:30am: Make blueberry muffins. Yes!
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8am: Joe wakes, also leaked HIS diaper. Get everyone in the shower (steamy to help the snotty colds!), halfway through remember muffins! NOOOOOO! Run down, remove from oven, then dash back up. Riley has befowled the shower. At least it was a shower and not bath...As I haul him over to wash him under the faucet, Joe pees on Riley. Meltdown. Distract Riley with a toothbrush, take Joe to get dressed, return to find Riley happily unwrapping a pack of sanitary napkins and sticking them to bathroom wall.
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9am: Meltdown over tutu choice resolved. Extra-toasty muffins for breakfast.
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9:15am: Call reinforcements (Dave) to see when he will be home.

So no, baby #3 will not be joining us anytime soon.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Sicky-sick-sick

It's quite the snotfest here.  Riley, Joe and I all have this nasty cold, and I tried to tell them that when you are sick you are supposed to wallow and watch movies in bed and take cold medicine that makes you drool into your chicken soup. They clearly don't know how to be sick. I can tell you too, this bug is icky! Sinus headache, sore throat, drippy nose - all that! And yet...

No wallowing there! And I am finding it difficult myself. The babies won't let me. The babies,  the tulips, the sunshine, and the weekend, just are not going to let me wallow!


 Joe had his 9 month check up this week.  He is getting so big! and it is soooo much fun to watch him and Riley interact and play - I am glad we decided to have them close together. They can entertain eachother while I drool over my soup.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Kitchen Therapy

Riley and I get some girl time every morning when big boy is at work and little boy is having his nap. Usually we head into the kitchen to make smoothies or, if we are in the mood, bake some cookies or banana bread or other food of comfort, to be consumed later as an afternoon snack (Bringing up Babe suggested this as a way of teaching patience but we usually sample stuff hot out the oven anyways.) It has been the routine for a while, but I bought Riley a baby-sized apron the other day so now of course we have to have pictures.

 Today we made Energy Bites, or you might call them Cookie Dough Balls, if you want your sceptic of a husband to try them. They are made of oatmeal, flaxseed, honey, peanut butter, coconut, vanilla, and chocolate chips and they taste AMAZING! Plus, you only mix and refrigerate. Done! Recipe here. They are great especially for growing toddlers and nursing moms - I prescribe them to myself regularly.

Then we might load the dishwasher, read some books, do some laundry...riveting stuff, you know? It is fun to get some one on one time with Riley and makes her more willing when she has to share the attention with Joe.

Also, a suggestion for next time you make pizza at home: turn the third part into dessert pizza. So fun and delicious!


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Track Team Munion

It is a good daddy that comes home after an annoying extra-long work day to do this with his babies. Walking a baby around like that is harder than it looks, by the way - Joe wants me to do this allllll day and I kind of have a cramp in my hamstring now...too bad Riley is so darn little, because she is always trying to walk Joe around. Of course she can't so she has taken to just walking hunched over. Its pretty cute.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Decision Made!

We are going to Minnesota! Land of 10,000 lakes! The state I now know how to spell!

My head is so full of preparations for the move but a quick dial back to mention about Dave's trip to Pennsylvania: suffice it to say he was impressed by the campus and the presentations but not really more so than he was with University of Minnesota, when he was there the weekend before. Oh, one of the key note speakers for Carnegie gave an especially rousing speech about the merits of the school, and Dave started talking to him after and realized he was rather drunk. Good job I guess, guy, for holding it together for your speech. Way to hold that liquor! Nevertheless, to Minnesota we go.

We are super excited about this decision. MN is the base for more Fortune Five Hundred companies than you will find anywhere else, and the University works closely with them to get their MBA's great internship opportunities and experience. Also, Dave's full-tuition scholarship will save us $94,000. And yes, I have a legitimate excuse to get new boots - holla!

Classes start in August so come July, we are outta here. The next three months will be filled with preparations for the move and saying goodbyes, as well as finishing off our UT bucket list, so to speak. Utah has been really good to us. Here we got degrees and each other and babies and loved ones and it sure has been a happy place. And I feel certain that God's hand was in all of it, and certain that He will ''guide [our] future as He has the past.'' That was the assurance that I felt at the temple last week and it has really taken the stress out of this whole process for me. God also had my back at church yesterday, by the way - Dave was still flying back from Pennsylvania but Riley and Joe were pleasant and calm the whole sacrament meeting, so I actually got to relax and pay attention! It was weird! I've never seen a two year old sit in her chair with arms folded for practically the whole meeting but that is what the energizer bunny did. Sabbath day miracle!

And now for a Monday treat:

If a baby in footy jammies rocking on a sock monkey rocker doesn't get a smile, all I can say is you must be in a dark, cold place. Doing last minute taxes maybe. Or dealing with people doing last minute taxes, as Dave is; he was not exactly skipping out the door this morning. I guess I  will go make him some cookies.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Spring time puddles

What lovely, warm rain we have been having! I love it, and apparently, so does Riley. It takes me back to my misty, rainy VA childhood. Now sharing a rainy afternoon with my daughter is a little surreal. I hope she always likes to play with me!



   Dave was gone last week to Minnesota and was happy to report that, ahem, "there were not any stupid people there," so that is good. He met some of the faculty and a lot of other MBA candidates and got to check out the campus and city and I guess he got all kinds of good vibes. Later this week he will be visiting Carnegie Mellon so he can make the best informed decision by next Monday, which is when Carnegie wants his answer, and deposit. We feel like both are good options that lead to good futures. If we go to MN, with its full tuition scholarship and wintry winters, we get to buy new boots  - something like this or this I am thinking. If we go to Carnegie, with its smaller scholarship, we get to eat more Ramen than we currently treat ourselves to, occasionally visit VA on the weekend... It is tough to decide. I really like those boots...

hmm...in the meantime, these babies keep me company whilst their Dad is trapsying about the country. As Ander says, they are a distraction and a delight. Riley is currently dancing to the creepy puppet song on Charlie and the Chocolate factory. And Joseph, well he pretends to crawl and makes farting noises with his mouth constantly. Andrea and I walked the mall on Saturday, and I had covered up Joe in his car seat to try to get him to sleep but he wanted to make those noises the whole time. It caused more than one person to raise an eyebrow. Babies.
Riley likes looking at the world through rose-colored tupperware.

 What I got to watch of General Conference, now online here, was beautiful and exactly what my heart needed. Like,"There are few things more powerful than the prayers of a righteous mother," and , "What ere thou art, act well thy part."

I missed most of it because the babies are not too interested yet, but only means I have a date with the ipod whenever we get to go on walks again. Wed, maybe. It is a good way to ingest conference, except when talks make me cry, which is a little awkward.  But I am so grateful for Conference and the increased Spirit in my life when I listen and try to make those changes in how I think and act to be more in line with God. Boy I need it. Interestingly, having babies to care for has made it more of a challenge to take the time to get close to God. Old routines have of necessity made way for new and scripture and prayer, along with showers, lunch, and exercise, get forgotten more than I care to admit. But the spirit you feel in conference makes you hungry, and it lets you know that God is looking out for you, if you take the time to notice. I am grateful for the reminder.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Grandma and Grandpa's 60th Anniversary

Last week we flew to Florida. Vacation blogging is tough, I gotta say. Because you go have a great time with the family, playing and partying and eating, for the LOVE, eating all the live long day. It takes a while to reorient, you know? Unpack, do laundry, clear your face of airport stress acne... but I think we are mostly there. I am still missing the family, though. Our gatherings are never long enough! 

Now here is a slew of pictures in not much order. It is in keeping with vacation laziness that I am not quite over. I only remembered today that people need vegetables and exercise...literally, I had forgotten about all that...

Anyways...


Beautiful Boca Grande. White sand, brilliant blue water, golf carts, and old folks. We loved it.
Riley with Aunt Lora, strolling the beach.
We LOVE the beach!

Evi is wise to the paparazzi.

Family. Isn't it about time? I love them.

Then there was that time baby boy fell asleep in the car and, thoughtful people that we are, we got lunch in the drive thru and then ate at this park so he could nap and Riley could lean into the wind, Charlie Brown-esque, and run laps around the other children.

We had a big family dinner at the Crab House. Mmm, crab...
Games with Greatgrandpa - he lets you make up the rules and gives you endless rebounds when the bottle gets away from ya.
Saturday morning Easter egg hunt.
Evelyn hiding in Grandma's closet to enjoy her spoils.
We took a little walking/biking outing to the ice cream parlor. It was delicious, and Riley was very gracious in sharing her giant ice cream cone with me. Nice of her, since it was originally mine.
Riley's first attempt at riding a bike. We got some work to do.
60th Anniversary driveway mural - there were some pretty creative entries, and the babies were in heaven.
Grandma and Grandpa with grand kids and great grand kids.
It was a wonderful celebration, months in the making. Grandma crocheted little baskets for the place settings, each holding one of the antique eggs she has collected over the years. We all also received a wrapped gift containing a valuable/sentimental item from their home, and more than one person teared up as Grandma explained their significance. Then the grandkids shared memories from Grandma and Grandpas house and everyone was crying then - we are a bunch of babies! But it was a beautiful night.

Finally it was time to go home. *Note: dumdums for babies when you fly!!! They saved our sanity more than once. 

 Baby boy was pretty sad to not be held constantly anymore. But we do the best we can. Ball pits help.



I miss Grandpa!