Baby Cuisine

Danielle is starting to eat human foods.  She is always very eager to try a new one, but always quite shocked at the different textures.  So far she's had sweet potates (not from a jar), rice, oatmeal cereal, smashed peas, applesauce, and...er...ham.  Joey REALLY wants to feed her a radish because that is currently his favorite.  I'll have to be very watchful!  When Adam was only 2 months old I caught Joey stuffing pieces of steak into his mouth...

In any case, she doesn't appear to be lacking in nourishment.

Self Portrait

Feeling a bit down these days...

It is normal, but not pleasant, for me to feel this way when I have a 6 month old.

Anytime you can cry over things like dishes in the sink, it is appropriate to blame hormones.  It's temporary, and part of the price of having a whole new kid.

James has a kind face, don't you think?

Whoever said that laughter is the best medicine has never been hugged by this guy.

The Christmas Present

How was your Christmas?  I hope you felt like this on Christmas morning:

(Sam 12/25/09)

I know I sure did. 

Santa brought me the best toy EVER!  A DSLR camera--a Nikon d3000, to be exact.

*Sigh* This is the camera I knew in the pre-existence.  It was love at first sight.  THIS is a camera that will command respect at little league soccer games.  THIS is a camera that will translate my baby's ethereal loveliness into a true likeness that all can appreciate. 

THIS is a camera that will show me at all times in a lovely and photogenic light, right?

(The first picture I ever took with it, with him, with Charles.  Charles the camera.) 

EW!  And when I saw how crappy I looked, I felt like this:

  (Adam being ALL BAD in his new policeman costume--happy birthday little one!)

NO FAIR!

But I immediately launched into taking about 300 pictures that have little to zero relevance, like this:

(A Christmas Bow, I like the color.)

and this:

(the staples in my mom's head from a recent injury--STAY OFF THOSE LADDERS, MOM!  I missed the focus a little, but still!  My old camera would never have shown this detail.)

And this cow that is soon to be hamburgers:

(Tardy, may she rest in pieces--in my parents' freezer.)

And I even tested its limits by taking lots of pictures of my Mom's pictures--straight out of the photo albums.

 

(My mom as a baby.  Not too bad for a picture of a picture!  Isn't she cute?)

So...nothing is certain but death and taxes, but it also seems quite likely that you shall all be subjected to a lot of extremely amateur photography by a certain madwoman photographer in the near future.  Merry Christmas.

Guess who's about to turn 6 months old?

How can it be?  Seems shorter, and yet seems like much much longer.  Was she ever not a part of this family?  Awareness flinches at the thought.

Dearest Danielle,

Thank you, darling, for consistently being the bright spot in my day.  Nobody can coo like you. 

And your smiles are worth a golden Buddha, every one.

Even if you do klonk me in the face with your chubby mitts every time I feed you...

And claw me with the little nails that are so nerve-wracking to clip.

I love you so!

Love,

Mommy

(maybe I should spell it Mahmi, it is afterall, a nickname....)

P.S. Small one, it is time to start growing some hair!

Trouble in Christmas Town

We made this little Christmas village out of gingerbread.  It was a nice little town, simple yet homey.  Unfortunately it had very little time to live out its short destiny--less than 24 hours as a matter of fact.

Oh, the carnage!

Absolutely unconscioncable!

(By the way, notice Joey's completely ridiculous eyelashes...it's amazing the child can even keep his eyes open under the weight of those puppies.)

P.B.  (Post Blog, of course) All the credit for this year's gingerbread event goes to James, who made these with the guys while I was down with the flu.  Thanks hon!

Role Reversal

A couple of nights ago I had a nightmare.  I was swimming with Adam (who is a non-swimmer) and he had slipped under the surface of the water.  And I couldn't find him.  Trauma!  I awoke in a panic--EXREMELY agitated.  There was to be no falling peacefully back to dreamyland.  I tried to re-enter my dream and give it a happy ending, but it didn't work.  (How come that never works?) 

So after laying there, miserably awake for a good long while, I finally decided to go check on him.  I laid down on his bed and just watched his little chest rise and fall with each breath.  He is okay.  He is fine.   Finally he rolled over and looked at me.

"Mommy?"

"I had a bad dream," I explained.

"Well, Mommy, it was just a dream, and now it's time for you to go back into your own bed."

And so I ended up walking back down the hall, scratching my head and thinking that something seemed just a little out of place here...

All hail the indisputable King of Precociousland.

Long live the King!

Who Does She Look Like?

People often ask me who Danielle looks like the most.  They mean James or I, of course.  But look:

Danielle 4 months

Sam at 4 months

She looks most like her doting big brother!

The Best Thing About Homeschooling

My 2 favorite things about homeschooling:

1.  It works--the kid can learn a LOT, fast.

2.  I have a lot more time to spend with my kid.

Sam's favorite 2 things about homeschooling:

 

1.  Recess between every subject, and

 

2.  There is no penalty for excessive celebration. 

He likes to do a happy dance every time he gets 100%.

It Happens...

What is this lovely hardware doing on the floor of our bathroom?

Just ask Adam.
"How come TOWELS get to hang on these, and I don't?"

Someday I will tease him about this.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Danielle and I have a lot in common...

Blue eyes...

Double chins/chubby cheeks AND


We are in love with the guy behind the camera.

P.S. I hope she doesn't get my konk.

"Awesome"

I just love the way Adam says "awesome" like he is a teenage surfer dude instead of a 4 year-old kid. You have to listen carefully because he was feeling camera shy.

By the way, I think he got all the information about these guys from a book.

We don't watch this show.

With the killing...and the violence...and being a preschooler and all.

Let's Put This One in the "Tragedy" Column...

Here's the thing. I can sing. I mean, I've got a decent set of pipes and my parents forked out dough for four years of private voice instruction. I've even sung in LDS General Conference and the General Relief Society meeting and everything. And MAN, you should hear me in the shower...just like Gloria Gaynor, almost. So surely, SURELY it should be no big deal to sing in front of a few ladies for a Relief Society board meeting. Cake, right? WRONG. Depite all my preparation and prayers, I avoid singing solos at all cost. Scares the dickens out of me and alters my voice beyond recognition. Duets baby! Or better yet, a double quartet.

So why did I say 'yes' when they asked me?

I am 32. That 's old enough to leave basically all my inhibitions behind me (and I didn't have very many to start with). I thought I was old enough to move past this ridiculous fear of solo singing, and what could be less threatening than a relief society meeting? What's the worst that could happen, right? Well I'll tell you...

You could be standing there starting to sing and have a noise like a migrating Canadian Goose come out of your throat. Your normally pleasing, gentle vibrato could morph into the affectations of an extremely old woman--who is being ELECTROCUTED. At times your voice might actually resemble the plaintive calls of a newly born GOAT. And even then it could get worse...

You could start blubbering.

You could start squeaking as tears come out and grimaces seize the muscles of your face.

You could start staring at the ceiling and try to think of anything other than singing about Jesus Christ, and then start seeing spots.

The entire piece could be recreated using only the words "honk, and blubber" and have it not sound very different from the original.

And then, when the public humilation phase of the horribleness was over, and you were in the bathroom, crying in earnest this time because you feel so ashamed, and everyone, EVERYONE who heard you "sing" might come and tell you what a fabulous job you did.

And in their over-eagerness to make you feel a little better about it all, they might stumble over themselves and ask you to sing the same piece on Thursday at the Relief Society meeting formerly known as "Enrichment."

And in your eagerness to end the conversation, you might accidentally say "yes."

Bubbly

I am a Mormon. We don't drink alcoholic stuff...

But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy a little bubbly now and then.

P.S. This is what happens when a 4 year-old starts learning to pour his own shampoo. Gotta love it.

Sneaky

Notice anything unusual about my freezer?

Possibly the 80 superdoughnuts plus, & the 80 breakfast bars?
*****

Remember that I have a super skinny child, Joseph. Said child likes these doughnuts & breakfast bars that are part of public school breakfasts. They are chock full of vitamins, made with whole wheat flour, and infused with protein and fiber... all my favorite things. They are fattening, but in this case, that's a plus. The only problem is that they are not sold in stores! You can't get 'em, so don't even try! They are only made for the schools. So I went to a school and bought a case of each. (Did you know you can do that?) It was like my own personal Costco, and parking was a dream! No lines! Now I feel so darn sneaky...and today Joey weighed 41.2 pounds. That's the first time he's cracked 40. Life is good.

Grow, Joey grow!

P.S. 4 Year-old Adam weighs 42 pounds.

Dolled Up

I never played with dolls as a child. Too girly. But I'm making up for it all now! I feel the need to dress up Danielle over and over and find matching accessories etc. etc. Poor thing. Here are some of my favorite outfits:

4 Days old in her birthday suit. Sweet!

One month old in the bathtub. Okay, so it's not an outfit, but I like to see how she changed over time. Look at that lil' belly!

Six weeks old and looking pretty.

Seven weeks old and hangin' out.

3 Months old and getting glitter everywhere from this little number.

Today I thought she looked especially fetching. Salmon instead of pink, what a relief!

I made matching bracelets for us. You see what she has to put up with?!

But she doesn't seem to mind.

Happy Halloween!

Are you wondering how our Halloween went?

***

Pumpkin seeds were baked and eaten....

Jack 'o Lanterns were carved...

Jengo Fet and Bobo Fet "shared" a baby (they both wanted to hold her, so I said one could hold her and the other one read to her)

Costumes were worn...

(He is a clone who can't find his helmet)

Han Solo made an appearance...

Another holiday was successfully executed!

Game Face

I see this face every single day. This is Sam's game face.

The game, of course, is chess.

The following is an actual transcript of...well, every single day.

*****

Sam: Can we play chess now, Mom? I'm all done with my school work.

Me: Uhhhhh...

Sam: You promised!

Me: Okay, but just so you know, I am going to win! You're going down!

Sam: [Game Face]

Then, as often as not, he proceeds to beat me at chess.

Unquiet

Danielle hardly ever cries, but that doesn't mean she's quiet.

Warning, there are about 10 seconds of fussiness. Don't let them deter you.

She loves to make these sounds when I take her shopping. Then people throughout the whole store think that Mariah Carey is somewhere close by...and being jabbed with a red-hot poker.

Talented...

Adam is talented. He is a lego master.

He makes very complicated "creations." They are always perfectly symmentrical.

He explains the function of each of the parts: shooters, jets, and machinery nonsense words like "the motranator." He looks at me as if I have a very tiny brain.


He has been making these humongous things since he was very little. He was three when he made this one. Symmetrical...and bigger than him. Just the way a battleship should be.

Trouble

I am in trouble. I have received threatening calls, guilts trips, bad karma, and severe looks...

All because it took me so long to post this:

...so cute in pink and brown...

and this:

Danielle was blessed in this vintage blessing dress that was hand-stitched by Bubby (maternal grandmother). I wanted to do a big photo shoot with her in it, but her little arms were so deliciously plump that the dress almost didn't fit. I had to take it off right after the blessing because I thought it might cut off the circulation to her hands.

More atoning to follow. I am much too tired to fight the computer just now by adding new images, which violates some intergalactic cyber code...apparently.