Children's Books

I know, I know, what I should post about is Christmas. But I acknowledge that Christmas should be posted about with pictures and I don't have any pictures on my computer, so for now I will postpone updating you on our (FANTASTIC!) Christmas week in favor of another post I've been thinking of for awhile. (You can read this as: Soon Christmas will be very passe and I have so many other outlets for keeping this information for myself that you may never actually see much about my Christmas, but, hey, now you know it was great.)

Anyway, the truth is, like most of you, I love books. Furthermore, I would like to be a published author someday. With that in mind, I'd like to make a shout-out recommendation for some children's books that we've loved. Though we do love them, I won't be listing well-known authors like Sandra Boynton, Dr. Seuss, and Mercer Mayer or others like them because you all know them.

1. Edward the Emu and Edwina the Emu by Sheena Knowles [Rod Clement, illustrator]

My mom (not surprisingly) introduced us to these books. Patrick prefers Edwina. I prefer Edward. We both like them both a lot, though. The illustrations are fantastic! The people have such distinctive lines and curves. The visual comparisons between Emus and lions, snakes, seals, etc. are just incredibly fun. And the rhythm is wonderful too-- it makes the stories easy to learn. The plot is unique. Definitely check these out.

2. My Name is Not Alexander by Jennifer Fosberry [Mike Litwin, illustrator]

My mom and I stumbled on this in a Barnes and Noble in Phoenix. Great stumble! It's sort of whet-your-appetite educational. With a three-year-old, I love the chance to introduce him to people, ideas, history, etc., but I don't want to be obnoxious about it. This is a great kind of story-- it makes the introduction and he can ask more about these historic people if he's interested. Plus, I admit, I'm sort of a sucker for dad books because I noticed at some point that we had collected tons more mommy-loves-you books than daddy books. Obviously, I was so pleased when we received this for Christmas from my mom. Someday, if/when I have a girl, there's a girl/mom one that we'll be acquiring, too.

3. A Very Hairy, Scary Story by Rick Walton [David H. Clark, illustrator]

So Caleb really got into this book about eight months ago (around 2 1/2). The illustrations, again, are stellar. And the concept-- the girl's imagination running away with her-- may not be original in itself, but it's done in a unique way. It can be scary for kids when they first read it, but it becomes fun when they begin to see that the monsters aren't real. My son loved to tell people, "It's not really a spider. It's a grill." I think he was trying to prevent them from being scared; plus, it's awesome when you start seeing the connection. I guess I ought to recommend this for Halloween, except that we love it all year long. This is another great Dad book; in fact, it was part of the assortment I got Patrick for Father's Day last year.

There are more that we love, but I'll leave it at these three for now. Maybe later in the year, I'll recommend some more. We love books, so share some of your favorites with us. And if you're on Goodreads and we're not friends, "friend" me because I'm nosy like that.

What Do You Do When You're Sick

Wish You Didn't Get So Many Sale Notices

Well, one thing you do is look longingly at the amazing ads that are going up for Thanksgiving weekend and think, "If only I had the energy . . . and if only I didn't care about spreading sickness."

Call and Cancel Your Plans for Thanksgiving

And feel inexpressibly grateful that you have such nice friends that they offer to bring you dinner on Thanksgiving even though they tell you not to worry about contributing, and even though they are already feeding eight adults at their house, and even though their family is coming into town from north and south to share this meal with them so they could be covetous of their time with them.

Look Longingly at Your Birthday Gifts

Um, this has more to do with the fact that my parents' gifts arrived six days early than it has to do with me being sick, but the fact that I may be lounging around the house for the next six days will make the temptation to open them ever so much greater. Not that I will do it, of course . . .

Sleep a Lot

The kiddo has been sick since about Saturday. Yesterday, I went to the doctor and she gave me decongestant for him. Huzzah! (This did not happen last season when he was sick because he was too little for meds like that; there are just so many things to love about having a one-year-old.) Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I was lucky to get him to sleep a half hour 2-5 times a day. And when he wasn't sleeping he was right on the brink of tears about 90% of the time. Happily, now that he has medication, he sleeps (and isn't an emotional mess) and his daddy and I get to sleep too. Thank goodness that Dad has a vacation. I have already taken two naps today, and I am lucky to ever manage one nap when I'm healthy because my body revolts against "laziness."

Read! Read! Read!

A while ago, I looked at my Goodreads.com list of books to read and thought I should start whittling away at it, so I put a bunch of books on hold at the library. I have now read The Book Thief and The Hunger Games. I am currently reading The Professor and the Madman and have started The Tipping Point, though I haven't been impressed with the second one. Gilead and Catching Fire are now sitting in the house, waiting in line. Patrick is reading Catching Fire, and since that ones a sequel to The Hunger Games, it may get moved up in front of The Tipping Point for me, which, honestly with all these other books waiting in my house, might be tipped right back to the library.

Reading has been a relief because I was starting to get stir crazy. I wanted to get out of the house but I didn't want people to hate me and my sniffly baby. The kiddo has gotten stir crazy too, but he's holding up better now that he's getting naps. So, all in all, life is working out all right for us despite pounding headaches, runny noses, and achey bodies. Even so, we do hope they pass soon, especially for Patrick who has exams starting in exactly two weeks and feels an urgent need to study but not an urgent enough need that it overpowers his even more urgent need to sleep and rest.

Exciting Things Happening In Our Lives

To encourage active participation in our blog and to avoid any accusations of completely boring posts (which I've been told are ones that have no pictures -- Sorry, I'm guilty, Kathleen!), I have decided to make this a multiple choice test. Sorry for those of you still in school who totally dread these things.


1. What is the latest exciting development in our lives:

A.) I'm pregnant
B.) As the epitome of a normal, healthy family, we've been asked to start a settlement on Mars.
C.) Caleb has taken a few steps on his own.

Answer: C.

( When you read just the first two, I know you were like this is easy, obviously it's Mars, who would have two kids while in law school anyway. Then you read C and were like, oh, shoot, which one is it. Well, yes, it's true. Caleb has started walking. No, I'm not pregnant, but I will someday have two kids while in law school. And, well, Patrick's not all that interested in traveling to Africa or Asia, so I'm pretty sure that even if somebody were fooled into thinking we were normal, we would turn down the offer to stay on Planet Earth in the good ol' USA.)


2. My attitude towards books is:

A.) They're lame and I'd rather watch TV.
B.) I'm an addict who has to read boring books so I don't neglect my child.
C.) I think they're useful for some people.

Answer: B

(How is this exciting? Well, I gave up on Williamsburg books which are mostly dissertations, and, hey, I'm not in school; I don't feel the need to drudge through dull writing when there are things that spark my interest and are valuable creatively or intellectually out there for me to read. So I've gone towards biographies for awhile: Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. The library has enough biographies to keep me busy for awhile, but I don't think this phase of interest will last long enough to get me through that. I'm enjoying learning about these important people in our history though. Be my friend on Goodreads to share what you're reading with me and learn about my introduction to important American figures. By the way, John Adams still remains my favorite, but, hey, he had Abigail and they're a hard team to beat.) -- Honestly, I was kind of just making a plug for goodreads because I'm nosy and I like to know what other people are reading. Join it. Be my friend..


3. What is the coolest word that Caleb is working on

A.) hippopatomus (I don't even know how to spell that)
B.) supercalifragilisticexpealidocious (you'll be suprised to know that I don't know how to spell that either)
C.) Jesus

Answer: C.

( I know, it was a toughy. You were like, well, he is a genius. But then he's so far more of a people/face critter than he is an animal critter -- shhh, don't tell my mom. I am working on teaching him animal signs, but I don't even know the sign for hippopatomus, so that's not one he's likely to pick up on anytime soon. No, instead of animals and random meaningless long words he tries to say Jesus while also trying to do the sign. He loves pictures, and we have quite a few pictures of Jesus on our walls so it's nice to be able to point to them while I'm carrying him and say, "Jesus" while doing the sign. It's all a mush of sounds and hand wiggling, but he'll get there. He's also starting to sign baby (though what he says is more like "didi") and he signs daddy while saying it very clearly. He also signs milk and tries to sign drink. We ended up with a pretty verbal kiddo which is interesting since I didn't talk until I was a bit old, maybe even like three-years-old.)


4. What do Mom and Dad have to look forward to on the weekends now

A.) 3 Date nights a month while friends watch the kiddo and 1 weekend where we watch our friends' kiddos.
B.) Weekend flights to BYU to watch the football games.
C.) Broadway moving to Williamsburg and giving tickets to students of William & Mary for free.

Answer: A.

( I know, shocking. To be honest, I'm not really a big football person. I know, you thought I was. Now the cat's out of the bag. Recently a friend explained the game to me and, not surprisingly, that made the BYU/Oklahoma game much more interesting to me. I would love Broadway of course, especially for free. Specifically, I really, really, really would like to see this show I've heard tell of named Wicked which it seems everyone in the world has seen at least once but me. But, while that is not to be any time soon, I do get to go on other dates that involve an exclusive one-on-one period of time with my favorite person in the world. If you have date ideas, by the way, we would love to hear them.)


Okay, I know you were enthralled by that glimpse into our startlingly exciting lives, but that's all for now. And, well, I have to go feed my kid something before he has a conniption, so there are no pictures. Don't hate, Kathleen. It ain't nice.

Things That Make Me Happy

What Takes Me Out of My Happy Place

Okay, truthfully, I'm going to start with something that frustrates me like crazy: putting Caleb to bed. That is right, I absolutely hate it. I feel myself almost getting angry because it takes more than an hour a lot of time even when I know he's tired! I set him in his crib, and he stands up again, and again, and again, and again, and . . . well, you get the point-- argh! Patrick sometimes holds him down and has success with that, but I'm not much good at it, and either way, it doesn't always work either. Sometimes, now I've started to leave after I've laid him down from standing up five or six or seven times. And then he just stands in his crib and cries until I think he's going to make himself sick (the longest I have left him is ten minutes). At first, it sort of seemed to make him tired enough that at least he'd finally relax and go to sleep, but now when I come back in and lay him back down he just stands up. I am going out of my mind! I thought I might ask the doctor for suggestions since he is supposed to call me Monday with some results on blood work Caleb had done, but I'd be interested to know if other people have had similar problems and what they have done. I am going out of my mind.

What Puts Me In My Happy Place

Two quick points 1.) This is another list. Sorry if you hate them. 2.) These are not all equal in worth and they are not in any sort of order.

1. Going to the Temple: Since we've been married, Patrick and I have been able to go to the temple every month. I doubt we'll be able to manage that once we move and the temple is more than 5-20 minutes away (5 to Provo, 20 to Timpanogos). Also, we have been fortunate to have aunts and friends who have been so kind about watching Caleb so we could go together. We went today, and it felt so good to be in such a beautiful, peaceful place.

2. An Adventurous Baby: Since pretty early on, Caleb has been a mover, and now he is into everything. Even though I joke about the messes he makes, they don't bother me that much. I love how curious he is. I love watching him explore. I think it's fun that he climbs the entire flight of stairs, that he tastes all the rocks in the rock garden, that he opens and closes the drain while taking a bath, that he puts his hand under the faucet when it's running, that he knocks things down just because they're there.

3. Writing: Aunt Mickie called a few months ago to tell me about the BYU Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Conference. I went to the afternoon sessions of the conference and felt really enthused about writing. I won't say how successful I've been about doing it consistently since then, but I learned a lot and I was inspired by all the authors who are moms while also being successful writers. Many of them gave good tips on how to manage it. And I felt like, if they can do it, so can I.

4. Houses Growing and Changing: Since marriage, Patrick and I have laid silent claim to houses that were going up near where we lived. There was one right next to our old apartment that we watched go up and felt some possession of, and there's one nearby here with a round room on the second floor that has a steep, pointed roof. (Disclaimer: I don't know much about architectural terms.) We love that room even though we've never been in it. We like to think about what our house would look like if we were to build one. There's something very refreshing about a new house. It's like a clean piece of paper-- very hopeful--waiting to be filled.

5. Walking in the Rain: Today, what made me think about making a happy list (which I know I've done before) was that I went walking with Caleb in the rain while Patrick was at work. I put a cover over the stroller and then went walking over around the park and around our neighborhood. It was a warm (slightly dusty) rain, and quite a few people were out so that two different women visited with me a little bit and were very friendly and kind.

6. Books: Recenlty I've read Larger-Than-Life Laura and Heartbeat, two middle-grade books which had good messages and didn't absorb too much of my time and energy (which is a plus). Although, before that, Patrick and I got into the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and it did absorb a lot of time and energy, but it was fun and somewhat educational as well.

7. Packing: We're not leaving until the end of July, but since we'll be out of town for two weeks before that, I've already started loading stuff in boxes. It might be a little premature, but I am enjoying it. It's nice to get things done before your stressed about it. And it's nice to be filing down our stuff and making friends with DI. And it's nice to watch our lives get simpler and simpler as I pack away more and more of our stuff and our house begins to look like we're leaving, which we are. And I'm happy to say that I think "unpacking" will also be something that makes me happy once we reach Virginia.

8. A Fresh Start: I am so excited for something new! I have loved my time here in Utah, but I am so ready for a change. I am ready to be around new people in a new region of the country with new weather (where the rain doesn't smell dusty), and a new stage of life for our family, living in a new apartment, and making new friends (though I love the friends we have), with new adventures ahead. I don't kid myself that it will be completely easy, but I still think that all-and-all it will be a wonderful thing for me personally and for us as a family.

Personal Improvement

On Writing

First of all, in an effort to "make my dreams come true," I've made a goal to write something every day (and that isn't including the blog, though it did include my journal one day when I wrote a novel). Mostly, it's been terrible stuff and it's been disappointing to feel I lost the gift I had when I was a kid. Yesterday, I ruined my goal by not writing at all and having no excuse for it. So today I was thinking about my thoughts on writing and this is what I thought:

"I myself don't even want to go back and read most of the things I've written during this goal and most of it isn't even much preparation for writing more. It's awful. That's what I've been thinking--am thinking, but I've been reading The Hiding Place and, like Yearning for the Living God, it motivates me to yearn for and dream for big things. It also motivates me to put my trust in One who is greater and wiser and more talented than I am. I have been given a gift and a passion. There must be a reason for the feelings we have. If we want something badly that is a worthwhile thing then that desire must be from God. But we must rely on Him to use it for a purpose.

"I have usually recognized that my writing is a gift. At times when I've written beautiful things and my pen has flowed eloquently across the page, I can't pretend that the source is my own mind. Things move so fast from my brain to the page that I've barely registered them--they pop into my mind and pop onto the page with a swiftness that isn't rational. Realizing this has reminded me that writing isn't exactly 'mine.' I love it and I even love the recognition that comes with writing well, but I can't actually claim it.

"This feeling is something that I've always related to other fields. Some dancers must feel this way when their bodies move gracefully and flawlessly beyond their own comprehension of the art or artists when something comes from their paintbrush that they could hardly envision and even scientists when inspiration hits and a new comprehension of the physical worlds takes root in their minds. God works in a way that if we'll be a bit introspective we have to recognize that what's happening in our lives--the very best that we have produced--isn't ours to claim. If we're honest we have to recognize that our passions and desires and our courage to use those feelings become His tools to express, create, and improve our mortal world.

"So my thought is that if I want to write things that aren't trash I'll have to rely on Him to help me. And I do want to write things that aren't trashy. I want to contribute worthwhile things to the world and I can't do that by myself."

I know it's kind of awkward to be publicly religious sometimes, but the things I've read lately lead me to believe there can be great power in doing it sincerely and so I thought I'd share these thoughts I had.

On Reading

I recently found a book called Yearning for the Living God in Thayne's room. I won't give a big review of it here (be my friend on goodreads if you want that), but it was a powerful book that shared so many stories of people who live by the Spirit. I was touched by the examples and felt that I could have a lot more power in my life if I made changes in the way I live. After that one, I finished Population: 485 (a book my dad sent me by a Wisconsin author which doesn't have to do with the theme I'm discussing here but is interesting), and when I finished that I was trying to avoid too much reading again so I decided to read The Hiding Place which I've read at least twice (maybe three times) before so I thought moderation wouldn't be an issue. It was. That book just amazes me. It's hard to believe that it's a true story, that there are such strong, faithful, loving Christian people in the world in such terrible circumstances. After reading these books I've felt motivated to be better. I know I have a long way to go to be the type of person I want to be, but it's motivating to recognize that there are a lot of people out there who are working on it too and who are doing better than I am right now.

On Health

"Strange things are happening to me . . . " (shout out to Toy Story music). So, Patrick recently got introduced to the government website MyPyramid (which I haven't looked at yet) and he decided he wanted to eat healthier. This includes eating fish, which he's always resisted before, and eating fruits. The fruit thing should be easy. The fish thing should be easy but it might not be. I really haven't tried to cook fish much before and the one time I did try I burned the things to a crisp. My mom never cared for fish so I never saw it prepared growing up either. I love fish--salmon is one of my favorite things to get at restaurants--but I'm not sure where to begin in our own culinary experiments. Any ideas or recipes would be most useful. If you've got anything good for us to try, email me or send me a message on Facebook (whichever is handy).

Also, our friend Michelle told us she goes running on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the university's track. When she said that, Patrick said he'd like to get in shape. I fully support this goal and I look forward to the time with Patrick working on it together, so today we went to meet Michelle. This meant I missed Mother's Group (very sadly since it's wonderful), but I convinced Patrick that we should go when it's open early in the morning and we committed to do something physical every day together. So tomorrow we're setting the alarm for 5:00 am (admire me since I'm still getting up at least once a night around 1:00 am to feed Caleb). We'll see how the baby (not to mention us) handles the new arrangement. Wish us luck!

Surge of Gratitude

I know that I haven't posted pictures in awhile, but, well, it will have to wait. I am writing because last night I was sitting in the rocking chair in the living room, rocking Caleb and singing him Primary songs, waiting for Patrick's mom to take him as she offered to watch him during the night again. While we were sitting there, Caleb brushed his little fingers over my face and I felt that that was a moment and a feeling I didn't want to forget. Somehow, too, the way I felt just overwhelmed me and I started just feeling happy and blessed and I felt that way last evening and this morning.

That's not to say it's been an absolutely perfect evening and morning. At 3:00, Mom brought Caleb down to feed and asked if I could keep him the rest of the morning since she hadn't been able to sleep at all (not really because of Caleb, although she said he had been fussy). Since that time (3:00 am), he has been trying to sleep, but he wakes up coughing a good deal. So neither of us got a lot of sleep since 3:00 am. Happily, he has fallen asleep for a nap in the car seat Dan and Michelle are loaning us and seems to be sleeping pretty soundly now. I am pretty frustrated that he doesn't seem to be improving very quickly. I am glad the fever is over (it only lasted last weekend), but I wish that we could get rid of his congestion and coughing. Also, this morning, he wet all over himself when I was changing his morning diaper. It wasn't a big deal since I wanted to give him a bath anyway, but it still wasn't very pleasant.

In any case, those things didn't ruin my good mood. I just wanted to share some of the little things that make me happy.

1. Baby fingers brushing my face. I already explained this above. It's possibly my favorite feeling ever.

2. Baby giggling. I never realized what a beautiful sound this was until I had a child. I love it! Yesterday, Mom was playing peekaboo with Caleb and he giggled for about five minutes straight while she played with him. So far that's a record.

3. Making up dog names. Whenever I hear a funny word I will say, "That would be a good name for a dog." The two latest are Zerbert and Zamboni. For those who don't know, "zerbert" is what my family always said for when you blow bubbles on someone's stomach or face and "zamboni" is the machine at an ice rink that smooths the ice. I think it sounds like a good pair, so we need two dogs to use these names-- two big dogs, I think.

4. Warm things. Specifically paper right out of the printer and laundry right out of the dryer.

5. Making lists. Um, that would explain why there are lists in so many of these entries. Plus, on to-do lists, it's so nice to cross things off.

6. Autumn. I love the season-- all the colors, especially in Wisconsin. I also love this word; I think it's much prettier than plain old "fall." I also love my niece of this name.

7. "Scumbag." I actually hated that Patrick said this when we first got married. He would call people "scumbags" and it seemed so mean to me, but I guess I've been desensitized to it because now I think it's funny. It's such a silly word, it shouldn't be taken too seriously. Plus when you're married to a tease, you need some word to use when he's driving you crazy!

8. Facebook and blogs. It's a guilty pleasure and I admit that it can be a waste of time, but I do love finding out who's getting/gotten married, who's having babies, and how people are doing. This is probably about the same as saying that I'm nosy.

9. Chocolate. I think I am gaining discretion in this area, though. I like chocolate cakes, chocolate brownies, and chocolatey ice cream in particular. Chocolate candy bars are best when they have the creamy filling (Lindor chocolates are good this way) or caramel filling (as in Caramellos). I generally prefer milk chocolate, but I think I like dark chocolate more than I used to since having a baby . . . strange, huh?

10. Games. My family didn't play games much when I was growing up, but since marrying a gamaholic I am realizing that there are some games I love. For instance, I am not good at Rook, but it's pretty fun. I guess I like getting ulcers because that game stresses me out but I like it. My favorite of course is when I have a hand with a ton of one suit and the rook, so maybe I don't like stress (since a hand like that doesn't stress me out too much), I play mostly for the good hands. I also like Clue and Catchphrase and Scrabble a lot. Recently we played a game called Blokus with some friends, and I think I like that game quite a bit too.

11. Listening to people's stories. This, too, might translate into nosiness, but so be it. It also could just be the sign of being a writer at heart. And some of it is due to my parents. They always taught me that people are important. There's a lot you can learn from listening to people and there's a lot of good you can do them when they know they're being heard.

12. Beehives. I haven't participated in Young Women's while we've been sick and I miss it. I was pretty intimidated when I got called to teach the 12- and 13-year-old girls at church, and they are pretty darn silly, but I feel like I've learned a lot from this calling and I have come to love the girls in my class. I wish I could take them with me when we move and keep teaching them and watching them grow. And I wish great things for them and I worry about some of them.

13. Compliments. Okay, that's a no-brainer, but I love compliments. My father-in-law gives the nicest compliments in the funniest way. (For instance, I got a haircut and he was studying me afterwards and said, "That really frames your face differently than we've ever seen before. It makes your face look puffier.") I've enjoyed those during their visit, and I'm not being sarcastic either-- they're flattering while making me laugh since I know he means well. Also, a while ago one of my Beehives' moms told me in the Mothers' Room at church how much her daughter enjoys my class and I haven't forgotten even though that was about five months ago.

14. Stormy, windy warm/cool days. I have lots of beautiful memories in the rain. (Also, lots of fun memories of water fights when it's not rainy.) I'm honored that my dad thinks of me when they have these sorts of days in Wisconsin.

15. Snow on my birthday and on Christmas. Snow from December 1-January 10 would be ideal.

16. Writing. I don't do this much right now except on this blog, and I don't know what will ever become of it. But it does give me such satisfaction to say things in the perfect way-- in a way that causes emotion in a reader, in a way that makes me remember what I thought or felt, in a way that brings something to life. I admit that I'm a little discouraged because I don't know where to go with it and I feel like there are a million people in the world who want to write and be published and not all of us will, but I love the process of writing and I appreciate my parents' encouragement to do something with it. They keep telling me I'm good, and they're pretty honest and well-read, so, yeah, I believe them.

17. Anticipation. I think I thrive on anticipation. I know this might seem like being discontent with life right now, but I think it's not the same. I just love to look forward to things. I look forward to when Caleb starts solids (at 6 months), I look forward to seeing people again once we're all not sick anymore, I look forward to the trip we have planned with my parents this summer, I look forward to introducing Caleb to his extended family in Arizona and Wisconsin this summer, I look forward to the new adventures of a new place and a new school in the fall, I look forward to having more children, I look forward to lots of things, and I think it keeps life interesting.

18. Being married. Sometimes I'm afraid that I come across negatively about this, but I love being married. I got married sooner than I expected in my life, but I wouldn't change it for anything. And it's not just "being married," but who I'm married to. I have a wonderful, funny, good husband. Patrick is just the type of person I want to be with forever. We are not the same and in some areas we don't even seem compatible, but we are learning together. It is true that marriage is a great teaching ground; we've both learned a lot already and we haven't yet been married three years. It keeps getting richer with time. That sounds like a silly thing to say when we've been married such a short time, but so far that's my experience.

19. The Gospel. I love the Gospel. I love the Savior. I love the scriptures. I love having hope and direction in my life. I love the Plan of Salvation. I love our prophet. I want to be good. Sometimes I'm not and in little ways sometimes I'm even a little rebellious and I'm still trying to make myself want to be good, but overall I want to be good. Not just good, but perfect and Christ-like.

20. Punctuation and language. I don't mean "grammar." I mean punctuation. I love periods and commas and exclamation points. I love playing around with them in writing and puting them (occasionally) where I know they probably shouldn't be and neglecting them in places they probably should be. I also love language. Patrick plays with words all the time and that's one thing I love about him. He throws on "-ifying" (as in "I'm pillowifying you" when he's beating me with a pillow) and other suffixes with abandon. It makes me laugh.

21. Friends. Some friends I had as a kid were Wittney, Krista, and Christopher. Two good friends I had as a kid were Debbie and Christine. We've all kind of spread out and moved on, but they are two amazing people and I'm grateful they were there when I was a teenager. In college, Michelle and I became great friends when we were roommates and I would like to think that we've been friends through an important period of our lives (all through college, and dating, and marriage, and our firstborn children) so we'll be friends forever. I know we will even if we don't keep in close contact. Since being married, I've made friends with Tara and recently with Libby and these friendships have been such fun. They've been important to me because being married has taught me that a woman always needs women no matter what a great man she has beside her.

22. Extended family. Patrick's family has just embraced me from the start. All of them-- aunts and uncles, cousins, parents, and siblings. This is especially amazing to me since we live so far from most of them. It makes me feel unconditionally like part of a rich community. My family is fantastic too. My aunt Jennifer, my uncle Roger, and my grandma Billie have all been especially important in my life for the support and attention they've given me since I was very young even though I've never lived that close to any of them. And my parents, of course, have been wonderful. I feel so blessed that I was born to them.

23. Hymns. I think the hymns and the Primary songs are actually my favorite music. They are certainly the music I know the best. It's been especially important to me during the first few months of having a baby. I'm always singing to him.

24. Adventures. My family has done some great adventures: driving around the country, taking trips without my parents telling us our destination, going kayaking with my dad (twice), white water rafting together, hiking the Grand Canyon, and various camping trips (especially daddy-daughter trips). I look forward to continuing this tradition and maybe expanding on it with our family.

25. Sign language. All right, I don't actually know it well myself. But my mom's passion has made it beautiful to me and I wish I knew it better. Really I love all languages, but this one has a special place in my heart.

26. Books. I love books. I love children's books lately because they are fun to read to Caleb and he already seems so interested. I love historical books and fiction of all kinds. Some of my favorites: Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Giver, Fahrenheit 451, Much Ado About Nothing, John Adams, A Tale of Two Cities, and many others.

There are many other things that make me happy, but these are some. And Caleb's awake now, so it's time to go.

Becoming Mom

I find that I either have time to write or to post pictures but not really both, so today is a writing post. Those of you who are only interested in this blog for the photos, be warned. Probably the next one will be mostly pictures, though.

I feel as though I am finally fitting into the role of a mom. I manage to take care of Caleb, as well as keep my mind fairly sharp with reading, go for walks with a friend in the ward, keep up with the laundry, wash dishes, vacuum occasionally, write a little everyday, practice playing Christmas carols out of the Simplified Hymnbook, and serve in my calling. Besides these things, I have also gone to the temple with Patrick, gone on a certifiable date during which we left Caleb with the Curtises, and decorated our apartment for Christmas. And this weekend Patrick invited the Teachers over after the ward Turkey Bowl to have homemade pizzas. (Math question for the day: How many pizzas do we need to make for for 0-9 fourteen- and fifteen-year-old boys?)

Taking Care of Baby

Truthfully, this just gets more and more fun. I gave a lesson not long ago at church on individual worth. I was trying to teach the girls that Heavenly Father loves them perfectly; they don't have to earn God's love and they can't lose His love. To illustrate, I explained that in however many weeks we calculated that we had been through more than 500 diapers, I had been spit up on, peed on, and pooped on, I had gotten as little as three hours a night of straight sleep, and I was regularly awakened at 4:00 am for the morning. I followed this up by asking, "Do you think I regret having Caleb?" To which the girls responded, "No!" I asked, "Do you think that I love him?" And the girls chorused wisely, "Yes!" And then I correlated that to how if I feel that way as an imperfect parent than how much more does their Heavenly Father love them than I love my little son even though I love him a lot.

And, while I loved him intensely in the midst of that phase, and in fact he still does some of those things, he also responds to me and smiles sometimes just because he sees me smiling. And he sometimes calms down when he's upset just because I pick him up. And he looks so much like an angel when he's not unhappy or angry. And he is mostly a very pleasant baby except for on difficult days. And last night, he went to bed at 10:00 and woke up around 4:30 and then went back to sleep until 7:15, which was amazing and blissful, and one other time he slept for seven hours straight. And he has started to look like he's looking at the pictures when I read him books. And he has started sucking on his hand sometimes and it's oh-so-cute. And he babbles, saying "oh" and "ah" and variations of those. And he sometimes lays on the floor and just waves his arms and legs widely looking like he's ready to get up and go any minute now. And, in essence, I do love him and I'm so grateful for him and proud of every little development and excited to see what kind of person he develops into.

Reading

I decided not long ago that I needed to read all the religious books on our shelves. Patrick bought a ton of different ones on his mission which neither of us have managed to read yet. I started out with Trusting Jesus by Jeffrey R. Holland and I enjoyed reading it very much. It's made up of different talks he has given at General Conferences of the Church. I ordered the books to decide which I will read when. However, I also decided I needed some variety-- which I'm sure will be more true when I arrive at Nibley, McConkie, and Talmage. So I will also be visiting the library and double-checking our shelves to read plenty of other things too.

After Trusting Jesus, I read Digging to America. I really enjoyed this book. I felt like it took a look at some really interesting and relevant issues. However, it looked at these issues using very normal, very real people, so it will probably never be considered a classic. And, while I like some classics, there is definitely something to be said for real characters who readers can relate to. The story is about two families who adopt daughters from Korea and become good friends. One family is what I've dubbed "organic American" and one is Iranian-American. While they're distinctive and have funny character flaws, they are healthy people with healthy relationships with their spouses, extended family, and friends. I enjoyed reading about the interplay of interactions between people; that's really what this story was about.

I then read The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks. I previously enjoyed A Walk to Remember (before the movie ever came out), but I frequently feel that Nicholas Sparks is too mushy for me. I'm not enough of a romantic maybe. Sometimes it just feels too fake and sometimes too sensual to me. It's the same way I feel about a lot of LDS romances. Anyway, my mom recommended The Wedding, and since I had really liked A Walk to Remember, I decided to give it a try. It is really good. Maybe I could relate to it a little more than some of his other characters because the main character is supposedly not that romantic. To illustrate this part of me, I will just refer back to the days when Patrick and I were dating and I asked, "Patrick, will you write me poetry?" And he responded, "Are you out of your mind!" While you may think that says more about Patrick than about me, you can note that I married him knowing that's how he is, so I clearly found his down-to-earth approach to life more attractive than swooning and rhyming.

Following that, I read Sarah, Plain and Tall. Pattie has the movies and I enjoyed them, so I decided to read the book. I remember having it as a choice to read in elementary school and thinking the name made me feel like she was "Sarah, Plain and Boring," so I opted out at the time. The dialogue seemed awkward to me both in the book and the movie because they don't use contractions, but I suppose they haven't always been around. Nevertheless, it feels awkward. But the story was cute, anyway.

And next I'm reading John Adams. As I've mentioned before, 1776 used to be my favorite movie and the portrayal of John Adams-- particularly singing "They want me to quit. They say, John, give up the fight, but still to England I say, Good night, forever good night!" and corresponding back and forth with Abigal, who also fascinates me (though my interest in their relationship may suggest I'm a bit of a romantic after all)-- has always stirred me. I think he must have been a really interesting man. My grandma got me this book ages ago and I don't know why I never got farther in it because it is a well-written biography, but I intend to remedy that now.

Walking

This is the last of my accomplishments that I plan to dwell on, but I do want to mention it, particularly for those of you who thought I sounded a bit pathetic in the last entry. I had been walking regularly by myself, motivated by the need to get out of the house and by the need to lose some post-pregnancy weight (because I'm not as fortunate as three or four other women I've met or heard of recently who already fit back into their pre-pregnancy pants) and I was enjoying my walks, especially because I get the feeling that Caleb likes to be out of doors too. However, the other day while walking I ran into a woman my age from the ward with a baby born the same week as Caleb who suggested we begin walking together. And we did this week. The plan is to go everyday. And the two times we actually went this week were so pleasant. It is nice to have company sometimes, especially the company of a woman. Some other women from the ward may join our company and I think that would be fun too, especially since I hardly know anyone in the ward who isn't involved with Young Women's.

That's all for now. I just wanted all my friends and admirers to know that I am becoming SuperMom and I am actually loving it, though I was starting to wonder if I ever would. Hurrah for getting past post-partum emotions and for getting a handle on the changes in life!

Note: For some reason the i-button on Patrick's computer has been flakey and required a firm push which I haven't always managed to achieve. This may mean that I am missing some i's. Just thought you might like to know why if you see that it has happened.

Grateful for Distraction

Waiting on Baby

Bethany asks me pretty frequently lately, "Aren't you afraid?" And I understand because definitely when I was thirteen the whole concept of giving birth seemed awful and unjust to me. And, in fact, I had that sense somewhat again when we went to the prenatal class, but at this point, as I tell Bethany, "No! I just want this baby out!" In some ways, I am looking forward to just not being big and heavy and uncomfortable again (even though I know that things aren't "back to normal" possibly ever again and certainly not for several weeks/months) so that getting another little person out of the deal just seems like this amazing bonus. That may not make sense, but I still sort of feel that way.

As for being big, heavy, and uncomfortable, I have another funny story about that. I was in my office later than normal last week and a student custodian came in to collect the trash. He was friendly, saying, "Hey, you're not usually here when I come in. What's your name? And when are you due?" I said, "Any day now," and he said, "Well, that's good because you look like if you were any bigger you'd fall over." I guess my sense of humor is improving because I just thought that was hilarious! I think I said something like, "Yeah, it's true" and laughed, though he probably didn't realize that I was laughing more at his insensitivity than at his cleverness.

Anyway, I realize that I can't complain. This pregnancy has been the easiest pregnancy possibly in the history of pregnancies, so if I have to wait longer than some other people, then it's not as though I have anything serious to complain about. Besides, it really could happen any time. When we went in for the exam this week, the doctor examined me and said the baby is in place and that when he comes any lower it will be because I'm giving birth. This was comforting because several women have said, "You really don't look any lower. I don't think the baby has dropped yet," but apparently he has. I haven't dilated much, but he said that it doesn't matter; I could still go into labor any time. To be honest, even if that was a lie (which I don't think it was) I am so grateful for it. I am happy to have even an unfounded reason to hope right now.

Various Distractions

Ender's Game

Last week was Patrick's first week off of two between semesters/terms. For a good deal of the week, we didn't do anything productive. Patrick read Ender's Game, which I had read the week before, and I read Orson Scott Card's Saints. First, Ender's Game.

I liked it, and I'm not even sure what it is I liked about it. One thing was that it was unique. It really wasn't like any other book I have ever read, and the war room, in particular is an interesting element. I liked that a lot took place from the main character's perspective so that you could get into his head and understand what he was thinking. That meant that that even when he did things that weren't good, he was still good and likable. I liked the complex simplicity of the story. I mean, there aren't that many characters to keep track of and the plot isn't difficult to follow, but the relationships are interesting and multifaceted. Patrick read more of the series, but he said Ender's Game was his favorite, though he did get pretty caught up in some of the others, as well.

Saints

I have been curious about this book since seeing it in the BYU bookstore a few years ago, so when we passed it on the shelves at the library, I thought I'd check it out. I had mixed feelings about it. The beginning is terribly depressing and hopeless. When the family converts to the LDS Church and comes to America, a lot of that stifling hopelessness is gone, so that the story becomes more bearable. I had a teacher of Doctrine and Covenants point out that Mormons in the 21st Century tend to think that Mormons in the 19th Century were the same as we were, but in reality they were more rugged, living in frontier America. I think that most historical fiction writers taking on the subject get caught up in the illusion, and I admire that Card didn't. I think in many ways his portrayal of Joseph Smith, for instance, may have been more real than any others I've ever read. Still, it was jolting sometimes and, although I respected that about his writing, it made it harder to embrace the story when the characters so clearly didn't match my illusion.

Also, polygamy is a major element of the story. This is a complex subject for many Mormons and non-Mormons alike. I was going to say that a lot of LDS historical fiction writers might simplify it, but I don't know that I've ever even read a work by an LDS author where polygamy was "the story," and particularly not where the beginning of polygamy was "the story." I admire that Card took on something so challenging, and I admire that he gave balance to the perspective. On the one hand, it was not an easy law for the people to keep. I liked his emphasis on their background-- they were not that far removed from the Puritan mindset, so adultery was loathsome to them. They obviously weren't just living this way for kicks; they were doing it out of obedience. On the other hand, the people found joy in the practice and even made it into something beautiful, a possibility I don't think I had really considered until reading this book.

So while this definitely wasn't my favorite book and I think that Card may have gone beyond what "frontier America" called for in some places, I like that it made me think about things in a new way and that he treated the subject with respect.

1776

I love the musical 1776 and would even have considered it to be one of my favorite movies in the past. So I watched it last Saturday while folding laundry and cleaning up because I know so much of it by heart I didn't expect to get lured in. And, in fact, I did get a lot done, but at the end, I just sat there and watched it. I just want to say that this was the first time I'd ever watched the movie and had a serious sense that these men didn't know that they were going to succeed. I mean, all the debates about liberty and the Declaration were real. They really didn't know that they were forming the basis of a new nation. They had a sense that they were doing it. They (some of them anyway) had a hope that it could happen. They had a vision of what they believed should happen. But the odds were so much against them that the fact that they wrote and signed a document severing their allegiance to England in the middle of a war with that country that seemed impossible to win is incredible! For some reason, after watching this movie so many times, this was the first time I had a true sense of their fear and of their courage.

Miscellaneous

My boss has agreed that I can work pretty much until the baby comes. I sent him an email asking if I could work into September if the baby hadn't come, and he replied that they'd like to keep me as long as they could, but if the pregnancy goes into the 18th or 19th month, they'd probably have to get approval to keep me on. I replied, "If the pregnancy goes into the 18th or 19th month, I'm going to shoot myself, so I won't need employment. Thanks." So I have work as a good distraction besides everything else I'm doing to keep myself occupied.

Yesterday, Patrick and I went to see Indiana Jones at the dollar theater. Some of it was pretty gruesome and Patrick thought it was pretty weird right afterwards, but later he pointed out that it wasn't much weirder than the other ones. We think we might see Ironman on Labor Day and sometime I'd like to see Prince Caspian. We figure if we're waiting on the baby, we might as well enjoy the movie theater while we have the liberty to do so.

We have also watched the Olympics (especially gymnastics, swimming, diving, and other prime time events). While watching, we started a puzzle, which we just finished yesterday. We have cleaned up the apartment and gotten more organized, and I attended a class on installing a baby seat correctly at the Department of Health and Justice. And we have gone for walks. And I have written disgustingly long blog entries in order to distract myself and keep busy doing something.

Reading Books

Oh, the Irony

Before I discuss the books I've been reading this summer, I would like to share (because I noticed how popular my last blog was) the really funny thing about that blog for those of you who hadn't heard the story. So I wrote that last Wednesday and then I went to a Young Women's activity at church because I teach the 12- and 13-year-olds. All the girls (12 to 18 years old) were together for this activity and it didn't involve a lot of participation from me since they were planning for Girls' Camp (which apparently I can't attend when I'm pregnant), so I was sitting visiting with another woman.

One of the Laurels (16-year-old girl) came and sat down beside us while we talked and said very directly, "You're all ready to go. You're sticking out just like a turkey. You're all set!"

I replied a little tensely, "Actually, I have three more months to go still."

"Well," she said, completely oblivious to me personally and to the situation socially, "You're fat. No offense."

First, I was slightly offended. However, I couldn't think of any proper response, so I just sat there and took that. Second, I made myself accept this as a humbling situation and swallowed my pride. Third, I was so amused. After all, the timing and the things she said just made the whole thing very, very ironic. So maybe I got a little worked up about it all in the blog. In the end, you might as well laugh because you can't control what people say. And it makes for a great story. (The other funny thing about it, was the flashback to my teenage years when I wanted to slug people who said "no offense." I wanted to inform them, "If you have to say 'no offense' you're probably being offensive. So shut your trap!)

Books

The first book I read was The Bonesetter's Daughter. I liked it. It was a good way to start the summer. It was different and a little challenging. I really had to use my imagination for some of it because the culture was just so different in some respects than ours. The read wasn't a challenge, though, so that was perfect as my transition from school to summer.

I then read A Thousand Splended Suns by the author who wrote Kite Runner (which I still haven't read). I really liked it. Some of it was very sad, but I thought the characters were well-developed. Also, there was a glimpse into the history of Afganistan from a civilian's perspective, so it was informative without being overwhelming (since what I wanted was a novel). It's a book that made me think and ask questions.

Now, I'm reading New Moon with Aunt Pattie. We read Twilight already and are almost finished with this book, too. Part way through Twilight I was getting pretty sick of the stupid teenage romance and we gave it up, but we picked it back up again after encouragement from a friend. I have really mixed feelings about this book. To be honest, I really hate some things about it. This is nerdy, but from an editor's perspective the number of really obvious errors in the book really bugged me. In the first book, the errors were excusable, but by the second book they knew these books were huge and were going to sell so you'd think they would have devoted more effort to making them as error-free as possible. I'm interested to see what happens in the third book in that regard. If we weren't borrowing the books, I think I'd probably be marking the errors in red. It's not a matter of commas, either. I mean, it's repeat words or missing words and it's way more than should have been allowed, I think.

Even more irritating to me from an editor's perspective is the substantive edits that I wish they would have done. I mean, come on! Let's cut out about 75% of the references to Edward's beauty and perfection. She could have made the point just as well without actually saying it so stinking much. It got to the point where you just want to roll your eyes and gag. So, the book is read by thirteen-year-old girls and maybe it doesn't bug them, but it wouldn't hurt them to use their imagination and just remember that, okay, he's supposed to be extremely good-looking. Let's cut the adjectives, my friend. It's killing me.

I'm also annoyed by the teenage romance. The girl says things about how you don't do rational things when you're in love and the she compares her love life to Romeo and Juliet. When Romeo and Juliet came into the picture, that didn't bode well for me. I have never liked that story. Give me Merchant of Venice or Much Ado About Nothing or The Tempest or Julius Caesar or Henry V, but dang it I want to shoot Romeo and Juliet myself a good deal of the time. The story loses me near the beginning when Romeo's mooning over Rosaline one minute and then gets spurned and falls madly in love with Juliet. And then the constancy and the whole drama of the thing just annoy me. So throw some of that into a modern setting and, again, I'm gagging. This character is so morose and obsessed and says all sorts of stupid things about being irrational in love (and she's seventeen by the way) and she's dying to become a vampire. Psh!

So, you ask, why am I still reading this book? Why am I probably going to finish the entire series? Because the action is pretty interesting. Because the author really does have some fun ideas in the plot. For example, the vampire (unknown to the Italians) who is considered a saint for getting out all the vampires . . . even though he's still living in the city with quite a large little society of vampires with him (again, unknown to the citizens)-- I mean, that's kind of funny. And because the plot keeps you coming. Those are the reasons. And I just push my way through the main character's long bouts of depression and shrug off her stupid ideas about love. I don't, however, think that I will read these books more than once and they definitely won't make "My Top Favorites" list.

Our Summer Schedule

Well, we've started to get into a routine with me working thirty hours a week and Patrick working in the afternoon instead of having to get up at 3:30 in the morning as well as going to school.

So, we get up at 6:00 am now. While Patrick showers, I toast waffles for us to eat for breakfast. We trippled a batch and made them using Pattie's waffle iron. I also throw together some snacks for us to eat while we're on campus. When Patrick gets done showering, we eat breakfast together. Then I go take a quick shower and try not to use up all of Bethany's hot water. After we're both ready, we go for a walk around the neighborhood. It's always pretty much the same route-- to the park and walking around the park if we have enough time. Then we come back and head up to campus. I have a parking pass to park at the Maxwell Institute so we get to park right on campus, which is so great!

Patrick goes to class and I either read a book waiting for my building to open since we get there before 8:00 am or I go to the library and wait for the Interlibrary Loan office to open up. I have already finished The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. At first I didn't love it, but by the end I thought I'd probably like to read more of her work. It turned out to be a good story.

Anyway, Patrick goes to class at the Tanner Building and I start work around 8:00 am. He gets a three hour break between classes in which he does homework, gets his hair cut, makes phone calls, deposits checks, and other useful things like that. Then he has class. His early class is personal finance, which he likes, and his later class is economics, which he doesn't like very much. At 2:00, Patrick comes to my office (where I have been posting articles, proofreading, source checking, and other fun editing things like that) and picks me up to go home.

At home, we eat lunch and usually play backgammon. Then Patrick tries to get to work around 3:00. He's there until around 7:00 and gets home at 7:30. While he's gone I try to straighten up, I read, and I do projects that I've been wanting to do for some time. We save dinners for when Patrick gets home so we end up eating kind of late these days, but it's nice to have him there with us. We still have a couple hours now before we go to bed, so we play a game or relax and then go to bed around 9:30 or so. This schedule is working pretty well for us, so it's a nice change from the exhaustion of the past two years. (No matter how much sleep you actually get, when you wake up at 3:30 in the morning, you are always tired.) That's all for now. Off to work!