Back to the Grind

I'm sad to report that my Spring Break is officially over. It was still a busy week but I did manage "to free oneself or escape suddenly, as from restraint" of school by not doing an ounce of homework for statistics or biology. So you see, Webster agrees that I had a "break". Here's the highlights.

Tuesday:
I had my friends Doris, Nancy, and Victoria over for lunch. My independent study food preparation course from BYU required me to cook a meal for 3 people and have them critique my cooking. I made crêpes and we filled one with roasted chicken, butter lettuce, tomato slices, sautéed mushrooms, swiss cheese and Brianna's Rich Poppy Seed dressing. It was marvelous! The second crêpe was filled with the holy and beloved Nutella and sliced bananas. Everyone had a good time and I enjoyed hearing of Doris' adventures. She's in her 80's and moved here from Scotland many years ago. She has the best stories of serving in the Queen's army and all her adventures. I love her to bits.

Thursday:
At noon I hosted my book show/luncheon. For the meal we had a salad that I'm trying to perfect so I can enter it in the Cooking Light Ultimate Recipe Contest. I'd give you more details than that, but an impostor could duplicate my recipe and steal my glory. We wouldn't want that now would we? Along with the mysterious salad, we had spinach artichoke dip and homemade bread. That's right, I made the bread in the picture below and will post the recipe some time or another.

And for dessert we had a lovely lemon poppyseed cake from the Cake Mix Doctor cookbook that Dave and Jo gave us. (Thanks! It was delicious!)

Note: The daffodils in the above picture were grown in my yard. My flowers are blooming!
Tammy did an excellent job telling everyone about Usborne books and it was really fun. I'm not a sales party person because I usually think they're selling cheap stuff at expensive prices and I hate feeling pressured. But Tam, and the company, I presume, had a no pressure approach and their books sell themselves. I had 10 friends that came and about 12-14 kids. Needless to say, my little house was rather full. But it was loads of fun and will be a yearly tradition for me from here on out.

Ethan was especially happy because his girlfriend, Arden, came to the book show and he got to wish her a happy first birthday! Thanks to Arden's mommy, Nicole, we have pictures of the book party and the cute little couple.


Thursday night I sang in a ladies' barbershop quartet at the Stake Relief Society Birthday Party. We sang a piece called "The Beauty Shop Quartet" which is a medley of old barbershop songs. It went well and I was happy to be able to sing. I'd gotten a little sore throat on Tuesday night and after the book show my voice left entirely. Travis watched E when he came home and I took a nap. When I woke up a had a little voice back and was really blessed that my voice worked at the R.S. party.

Friday - Saturday:
Friday after I cleaned Mel's the sickness really hit me and I was wiped out till Saturday night. Not very exciting, but at least it happened when I didn't have class or lots of homework.

Sunday:
Ethan got his very first haircut. He has wispy, crazy hair and it was getting long on the top (think: Mohawk) and longer in the back (think: Baby Mullet) . That morning during his bath I trimmed it down and our camera worked for a couple minutes so we got a few pictures.



Sunday night we went to Steve's house and played games with my family that lives in Utah. We're starting a tradition of getting together one Sunday night a month to play games and eat dessert. It was a blast! Our teams tied and "everyone was a winner", though Steve is still suspecting foul play surrounds the final verdict. After all, our team was ahead and our final Pictionary clue was, "Something Rumpelstiltskin might say." for the answer of, "I'm cuter than that Leprechaun!" Right... Suzie was in charge and the judge and Steve says the problem with having a peacemaker be the judge is that they make it so everyone wins. It was a lot of fun and we're looking forward to the next one.

Ethan Update

Here's some things that you may not know that Ethan's doing. Since we want you all to know, we knew we'd better make a list.

• Giving high-fives when you ask for one.
  
• Saying Da Da when he sees Travis or when he picks up a phone.
• Saying Duhh when he gets in the tub and wants his rubber ducks.
• Saying Lehhh when we call Lexie together.
• Army crawling around and sitting up when he wants to.
• Eating anything and everything, especially trying to intercept any food I'm trying to put into my mouth.
• Putting his toys back into the basket when we get them out.
• Saying Na Na, which I think is the beginning of mama!!!
• Looking through books and squealing.
• Drinking out of a sippy cup by himself.
• Clapping!
  

Well, there's the highlights. We can't believe how much he's growing and every day we're more happy/excited/blessed to be his parents. We'll keep you updated with any future developments.

Blessed Spring Break

Does anyone know what time it is? That's right, it's beloved Spring Break. Yours truly has no, read it, NO, classes all week. This means I get to finish up my BYU foods class, crank out some curtains, finish sewing my Easter skirt, and my personal favorite, host a book party!

My sister, Tammy, has become an Usborne books consultant which is a very good thing since their books are absolutely awesome. If you happen to be unfamiliar with Usborne, they're quite the company. The real clincher about them is their dedicated to educational, moral books that can capture children.
(Warning: You are about to read a rant, if you wish to avoid this section please skip ahead to the following paragraph.)
Even more since I became a mom, I've realized that battery operated toys can be the bane of a s.a.h. mom's existence. Even our bouncer and playpen came with battery operated attachment. They're everywhere and I can't stand it! Who cares if a toy can spout out 10 pre-programmed phrases? I thought the joy of being a child was using your imagination to make a toy say whatever you wanted it to. But, alas, society today tells us kids are so high maintenance that if your children want you to play with them you should promptly buy an automated Dora the Explorer doll to take your place before your child takes over your life. Ridiculous. A few electronic toys are fine, but roam the toy aisle at Target and tell me how many engaging toys you can find that aren't battery operated. And heaven forbid your child want you to read to them! In this case you need to put on some Baby Einstein as quickly as possible and exit the room.

Well, Usborne books are the kind of books I want to read to my kids and that I want my kids to read. They were the first book company to offer internet linked books and continues to do so with sites that are constantly screened for any inappropriate material. Their baby books are darling, sturdy, colorful and exciting. I don't have a girl yet, but I love that the fairies and mermaids in their books are darling and don't have cleavage bursting out of their sea-shell bras or dresses. They have sets geared towards teaching values and helping kids with first experiences (ie: new baby, moving, etc.) I fell even further in love with Usborne when I saw their section dedicated to teaching kids to cook that including books on children's vegetarian cooking and healthy cooking.

Anyway, you're all invited to my Book Party/Luncheon this Thursday at noon. What's that you say? You live too far away? Well, then you visit my virtual open house at:

www.ubah.com/hos80648

That way, you can still see their quality books and get some for your son, daughter, future son or daughter, brothers, sisters, grandkids, friends, spouses, really anyone! My online open house ends this Friday, so hurry on over and take a look-see!

In other news, our camera broke so our site will be picture-less for a while. Sorry. Hopefully, you'll keep reading anyway. I might surprise you with pictures from the past. Happy Spring Break to you, my friends!

Top Ten Reasons I Haven't Been a Reliable Blogger

10. Being a Mom is a Full-Time Job

• I remember when I was working part-time, taking a couple classes, trying to finish the house and was pregnant that I would think, "I can survive this. Everything is crazy right now, but soon I won't be working, life will settle down and Ethan will be here." Yeah right! Now I'm taking more classes, still trying to finish the house, running a small business of sorts making custom curtains, cleaning my sister's house once a week, and trying to be a good mom/wife/daughter/sister/friend. Considering that being a mom is a full-time job in and of itself, my life is having far too many moments when I feel it's spun out of control. Then I tell myself, "In less than a year, Travis and I will done with school and things will settle down." I'm holding on to that dream and ignoring the fact that I've been saying that for over a year now.

9. Sleep is a Precious Commodity

• I have class Tuesday and Thursday nights from 8-10 p.m. and because Travis is wonderful and puts Ethan to bed while I'm gone, I get to go to the gym after class. That means that I get home around 11:30 and since I've just worked out, I can't relax and fall asleep for another hour. The interim period between work-out and bed is thus homework/project time. I'm either sewing curtains or doing stats homework. Writing anything coherent is out of the question. Thus, sleeping wins and I try to squeeze in as much as I can before E wakes up at 6:15 a.m.

8. I Have to Wrangle a Wiggly Worm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqTn58FB_8E

(Once again, I can't get blogger to embed the video so just click on the link above until I can get it worked out)

• He moves now! I took this video this morning and my favorite part is when I tell Ethan, "Come Here!" and Lexie comes to me. She's just so obedient all the time! (insert laughter here)

7. I'm a Fool for School

• I'm truly tired of being a student. It demands every spare minute I can get. The other day I was thinking about my schooling and remembered the classic line in Tommy Boy that goes something like this:

• Richard: Congratulations on graduating. That took you what, like, 9 years?
• Tommy: Lots of people take 9 years to finish college.
• Richard: Yeah, they're called doctors.

I want to graduate so bad. I want to prove to myself I'm tough enough to stick it out. I want to give my kids and my husband the benefit of an educated wife/mother. I want to be able to tell our kids, "You can graduation from college, no problem! Why, I finished school even after we'd married and Ethan was born and I had to move away from Dad and go back to school for a semester and I walked all the way barefoot... " You get the idea.

6. Cleaning a Baby is Another Full-Time Job

• Did I mention Ethan loves hummus? Good thing we have a tub, because the aftermath of this meal required total immersion.

5. Blogging Takes Time (and I don't know who really reads our blog other than Anne, Jared, Liz and Meghan since they're the only ones who leave comments)

• If I weren't such a perfectionist I'd video blog because then I could tell you about my adventures really quickly and you'd still get to see us. But alas, I know myself well enough to know that I'd watch it and say, "I sound retarded. Redo." Then I'd watch the second take and say, "Eww, my hair is lopsided. Redo." Then I'd watch the third take and say, "I forgot the funniest part of that story. Redo." You get the picture.

4. I'm Too Busy Rescuing Stray Dogs

• Yesterday I rescued the third stray dog in 4 weeks. The picture above is of the first dog I rescued. I named her Skittles and that was a terrible idea because then I became attached to her. These stray dogs without collars or tags saunter into our yard to meet Lex and then I go get them. They'll all malnourished and parched and it breaks my heart. When the lady from animal control came to pick up yesterday's dog she said, "Fixmer, right? Okay, we've got the rest of your information." It just makes me mad at irresponsible people and sad for helpless animals.

3. Cooking is More Fun and We Have to Eat

• 

• Asparagus was on sale last week and it made me squeal with delight that spring is nearly here. As you can see, E loved the asparagus! In case you may not know, I love cooking and since we have to eat this works well. I get a sense of balance and satisfaction from being in the kitchen and we eat well. So really, cooking is my therapy. Right. My daily visit with Dr. KitchenAid and Dr. Kenmore.

2. I'll Take Any Time I Can Get with My Honey

• We have so little time together. Literally from 4-5 p.m. on Monday - Thursday and then Friday or Saturday Travis usually has a study group one or both days. Sunday T has meetings and preparation from 9 until around 1 when church starts. We're home at 4:20 and then we get some family time. We fudge as much time together in there as we can, but usually one of us is watching E so the other can get homework/calling/house duties done. I like this picture because it reminds me of when we were dating and we had all the time in the world together. I chuckle remembering when I worked part-time as a student and felt robbed of that time that I could have spent with Travis. *Sigh* The good ol' days.

1. I'd Rather Play with His Royal Cuteness

• Enough said.

Will Sing For Cheerios

This is my second attempt at getting this video to post and I'm getting a little frustrated with Blogger. It's a short video, but it shows how we're already enjoying the first fruits of Ethan's vocal lessons. Did I forget to mention that Travis is teaching him to sing? Just listen. I'm sure you'll hear the amazing similarities in their vocal stylings.



All joking aside, I find how both Ethan and Travis sing to be completely adorable.

Things here have been their crazy usual, with the added bonus of Ethan cutting six new teeth in the last 4 weeks. That's right, six, 6, seis, sechs, sei ! He now has all four top teeth and four bottom teeth. The top ones are still dropping down and the two on the bottom are still coming up, but the poor little fella has been miserable. It got so bad that one day Travis said, "Do you think that maybe this is just his temperament?" We had gone so long without happy giggly Ethan that we almost forgot he existed. Luckily, the last teeth came through and he's a little irritable from time to time, but for the most part he's back to himself. This also means that I'll resume taking pictures. He's some proof of afore mentioned teeth:


And here's a darling photo of Ethan after he fell asleep in the stroller on our nap yesterday. Yes, his left hand is hugging a carrot. He loves carrots and finds chewing them to bits to be his favorite past time of late.


Now that the misery of teething is mostly over I'll resume taking and posting pictures. I wasn't about to post pictures of Ethan during the teething phase. Not only would it make me look like a horrible mother with a miserable baby, but it would discourage all pregnant women and women hoping to ever have babies. This way, you see the darling teeth without the pain.

In other news, check your mailboxes. Ethan's Valentines will be arriving shortly!

Back Blogging: Picture Style

I still haven't quite caught up on back blogging our latest adventures, but after this installment I should be done. Here we go!

The first weekend of the month we went down to my mom's and met up with our friends Peter and Kristina. Travis set them up and likes to take all the credit for their happy marriage. Well, not all, but he does like a handsome cut. P&K are on break from school in Wisconsin, where Peter's getting his PhD in Chemical Engineering. We enjoyed a delicious Greek meal at Ultimate Broiler in Orem and had fun catching up!

Ethan enjoyed lunch as well because he got to bring Grandma's measuring cups along. Maybe he'll be like mommy and love cooking. It looks promising!

After lunch we headed over to Kristina's parent's house so we could see their darling daughter, Kaylee. She had been napping, but we woke her up and didn't feel too remorseful for being nap destroyers. Look at how cute she is! If she'd kept sleeping we would have missed out on her fun personality and all the joy of the toddler stage that we have to look forward to.

Ethan and Grandma hanging out at Grandma's house.
Watch out ladies, he's already a hot date!

One of these things is just like the other... It just so happens that both Travis' Aunt Claudia and my mom bought Ethan the exact same outfit! What are the chances? Aunt Claudia bought it for E to wear this winter and I immediately fell in love with it. She got a 9 month which should have been perfect, but E is a little on the shrimpy side, so it doesn't even fit him. I've been sad about it and wondering if there's any non-geeky way I could make it fit him next Christmas. That is, of course, when mom called and said she found the cutest Christmas outfit at the after Christmas sales and couldn't wait for E to wear it next year. She excitedly pulled it out when we got to her house and I said, "Oh my gosh! It's the one we have!" So, Ethan's cousin Robert will be modeling the 9 month version this year and E will model the 16 month version next year.

How do you know he's my baby? Look at him devour that hummus!
How do you know he's Travis' baby? Look at the mess he's making!
:o)

We're sorry you couldn't join us for dinner tonight, but we ate Saffron and Rosemary Focaccia with roasted garlic, caramelized red onion pearls and kalamata olives for you. Believe it or not, this was actually my homework assignment. I've had a crazy last week because my academic plan came to a screeching halt. The local university where I take my language classes let me know that they had canceled my Spanish class this semester and didn't know when/if they'd be offering it again. Uber bad news considering I have 3 more semesters to go. So I spent a lot of time researching, praying, asking for advice and trying to figure out what to do. And then, just as they say, when God closed a door, he opened a window.

Instead of finishing my BA in English from BYU, I'll now be getting my BS in Home and Family Living from BYU. This Spring and Summer (May 1 - August 18) I'll be living at my mom's in Spanish Fork and attending BYU again to get some classes that they don't offer through Independent Study. Travis and I will alternate driving to each other on the weekends and he'll be taking his two capstone courses on his Masters. (Translation: Even if I were home we would have no time together) It's going to be hard, but I feel blessed to have a way to finish school. It means so much to me to graduate and I've been lingering at the "Near Graduation" point for so long that it's tiring. The degree has been funny to me because I've never even taken a Home Ec. class. I've kind of felt that there's no need to study life. But now I see how what I'm learning will be implemented every day, such as my edible homework assignment.

Bad News:
All the classes I've taken the past year don't count toward any of my new graduation requirements.

Good News:
It isn't grueling, study-your-brains-out material, which I'm particularly enjoying at this stage in life.

Wish me luck. I just want to graduate.