Resolutionista

A lot happened over Christmas, but with the new year a day away I wanted to make some resolutions. Well, sorta.

I'm not really a resolutionista (I love how anyone can be described as anything by adding "ista" to the end of it: fashionista, bargainista, frugalista, eat too much chocolate-ista). In the past I've actually failed to realize that December 31st had rolled around and woke up January 1 without having made any plans on how I was going to improve my life for the new year. And on years that I did make a list of things I resolved to be better at doing, by the third week in January I had forgotten them. I'd find the list in my journal mid-year and think, "Oh ya, I was going to learn how to knit this year. And not eat fried foods. And run everyday. Hmm, I think I'll go eat some bacon and sit on the couch and not knit."

And this year isn't going to be any different. Because let's face it, you can't really make resolutions and expect them to come to fruition if you never planned on changing the way you lived your life in the first place. Yes, it's nice to say, "This year I'm going to lose weight". But if you never really had a plan as to how you were going to lose said weight, come February you probably will have gained ten pounds. Believe me. It's happened to the best of us.

So why disappoint yourself with a list of unattainable goals? Just do like Amber did. Her resolution list made me laugh. And you know she's keeping every one of her resolutions this year.

In reality I have lots of resolutions I could make for 2011:

eat healthier
exercise more
become a couponer
be more organized
have family home evening more consistently
read more
serve other people
smile
become a scripture-ista...I mean scripturian
go to the temple more often
learn to knit...haha

But if I actually tried to do all of those things starting January 1, I'd get too overwhelmed and quit. So for now, I'll resolve to pick one and work on it. And I won't be surprised if by July I have forgotten what that one thing was.

Happy New Year!

So this is Christmas...

I've been away from the keyboard for a while because I'm having so much fun with my family. But I thought I'd post a picture from this morning.

So this is what our Christmases will be like from now on: lining up all the gifts for Blake and making him take a picture with them. And that makes me happy!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Reasons I Hate Flying

1. Fear of the plane crashing. It's happened before and I'm sure the people on airplanes that have crashed thought it could never happen to them. But it did.

2. No matter what I do, by the time I get to my destination I look and feel like crap. I don't usually get dressed up to fly on an airplane. I try to be as comfortable as possible. But no matter how much time I spend on my hair, make up, and outfit I usually stop in the an airport restroom only to look in the mirror and wonder what happened.

3. Turbulence.

4. The headache and nausea I experience 75% of the times I fly.

5. Smallest bathrooms known to man.

6. No leg room.

7. Disgusting airplane air.

8. Possibility of my baby a)crying the whole time or b)barfing all over the place 5 minutes before the plane lands.  Blake did pretty well on this trip considering it was an all day adventure. Because Jetblue discontinued their direct flight from JFK to Richmond we have to go from JFK to Boston and then to Richmond. And that basically took us 11 hours to do yesterday. So I was pretty understanding when Blake was antsy the last half of our second flight. But when he projectile vomited right before we landed I decided that an all day flying adventure would not be in our future after this trip unless absolutely necessary. It was disgusting. And sad. Let's just hope that doesn't happen on our flight back when I'll be going solo. I'll keep the barf bag ready just in case.

honesty of the brutal kind

Yesterday Blake didn't nap very well. While I don't have a rigid schedule of when he eats and sleeps, he generally follows a pretty set pattern:

wake up at 6:30 and eat
go back to sleep until 9:30
eat and play until noonish
short nap
eat lunch and play until 5ish
nap
eat dinner and play until bedtime

The times in his schedule aren't really set. I just try to watch him and when he gets fussy and shows signs of being tired then I put him down for a nap. I know not everyday will follow that schedule and I don't expect it to (especially on Sundays). But yesterday my little one didn't go back to sleep in the morning like he usually does and hardly napped at all the rest of the day. He was awakened by a neighbor who had locked himself out and rang our doorbell. Then later in the day he just decided he only needed a 20 minute power nap.

He finally took an almost 2 hour nap last night, which ended at 8. So you can imagine that when his bedtime rolled around he was pretty wired and I was ready to sleep for 3 years. And of course this morning he decided not to go back to sleep again, so I figured today was going to be about as exhausting as yesterday was. In all honesty, that's when I thought I'd be crazy to have another child. I don't know how my mom did it and I don't know how anyone else has more than one child. I felt bad thinking that, but it's truly how I felt. And I always wanted to have a big family!

But then as I was typing this blog I noticed that Blake was unusually quiet. When I looked down at him, this is what I saw:

And then I honestly thought that I'd miss that cute little baby when he was a big boy and would probably want another baby after all.

Mary and the baby Jesus

Whenever I think of the birth of Christ, certain pictures pop into my mind.

 And while all of those pictures are lovely and better than any picture I could personally create, they don't match what I think it was actually like to see Christ as an infant.

But then I saw this picture, and I instantly fell in love with it. It's my new favorite painting and I hope one day to own it and hang it in my home.

I love the way that the baby Jesus is looking up. Haven't you seen little babies do that, struggle to lift their head up and look around? It just seems so true to life. Liz Lemon Swindle is the artist and her words about this painting are better than my own. Here's what she says: "I remember a moment after the birth of my first child when everyone had left and I was alone with my son for the first time. I looked at him lying on the bed and realized I was responsible for this new life. How could I teach him everything he needed? I was terrified.

I held him close and the two of us cried. Those were tears of fear and tears of joy, but most of all they were tears of love. Looking into his little face that day I made promises to my Father that I have tried very hard to keep.

Was it different for Mary on that night in Bethlehem? Like any first-time mother she must have felt all the fear, all the joy, and all of the love that comes with a child. This painting reminds me that we are never alone when we look heavenward."

Amen.

funny things kids say

Remember that post about how I couldn't remember any of the good times when I was teaching? Well thanks to Facebook I remembered some of those good memories and the hilarious things kids say. Enjoy!

During morning meeting when we share what we did over the weekend:

Student A: My hamster died this weekend. My mom said he had a blood clock.

 Me: Oh, haha. Ok, well it's blood clot, with a t. And I'm sorry your hamster died.

Student B: My aunt has a science infection.

Me: I hate those! And it's sinus, not science. Tell her we hope she feels better!

Student C: My aunt died of cancer!

Me: Ummm, I'm sorry.

Student C: She died a few years ago so it's ok.

During social studies:

Me: Does anyone know what the word "Deseret" means?

Student: Bookstore?

Me: Hahahahah no, but good guess!

During a Christmas discussion with the class sitting on the floor in front of me:

Me: Ok, take one big scoot backwards. You are making me claustrophobic.

Student A: What does claustrophobic mean?

Student B: It means you're afraid of Santa Claus.

During a book group meeting with second graders:

Student: We have a lots of Mexicans in our class and they like to talk and get in trouble.

Me: Oh.

Student: But I'm not Mexican. I'm Mormon.

Me: Oh did you know that you can be Mexican and Mormon?

Student: Really? Oh ya. We do have a temple in Mexico.

Baby it's cold outsiiiiiiiiiiiide!

I always forget how much I hate winter. It's probably because when I think of winter I think of Christmas and I love Christmas! But the Christmas season is only a small part of winter (and if you live in Utah where your winter seems to last for 7 or 8 months then it's a reeeeally small part).

Naturally as the weather turns colder people tend to bundle up, including babies. Blake has a cute blue gummi bear suit that I usually put him in when we are outside. But he is quickly outgrowing it and by the end of winter his little toes will be peeking out. So thanks to a recommendation from a mom who has weathered a few Brooklyn winters with a baby, I got one of these.

When I first saw how much they cost I decided it wasn't really worth it and we'd just have to wrap our baby in a blanket and deal with it falling out of the stroller every few minutes. Then I thought I could make one. Then I laughed at myself for thinking I could actually make something like that. Then I got an email from a lady selling her slightly used BundleMe so I went the second-hand route!

Blake and I went for a stroll today and it kept him nice and warm. It's amazing/weird how happy baby accessories make me. Seriously. Now if only I could find a bigger stroller and adult sized BundleMe for myself. Oh and someone to push me around the city.

nervous

I don't like flying, mostly because boarding a big metal bird o' death isn't at the top of my to-do list. But, I'd like to spend Christmas with my family and since driving there really isn't an option, I have to fly. I guess if I had a true fear of flying I'd just drive...or never go anywhere that was far enough to fly to. Look, I just don't like flying, ok!

Sorry, flying makes me nervous and now that the airports I'll be flying through have the new "this is what you look like with no clothes on" scanners*, I'm even more nervous. I've flown with Blake a lot and have a routine when it comes to making it through security. But that routine allowed me to carry Blake through the metal detector. With these new "hey she's got cottage cheese thighs" scanners*, I don't think I'll be able to hold Blake. Whenever I see people going through them they have their hands above their heads. Ummm, I have a baby and he currently doesn't possess the ability to hover in mid air so does that mean I'll have to go through the pat-down procedures? Honestly, I don't think I really care if someone looks at a black and white image of my love handles and other lady bits on a computer screen in a secure room. But, I do care if someone has to do a groin check on me, even if it's a lady.

On a recent trip I had to have a full body pat-down because something in my diaper bag... looked suspicious? The question mark is because no one told me why they were patting me down and rifling through my stuff. So a lady gave me the standard pat-down. But that was a few months ago and I think the new "standard" pat-down involves a lot more patting. So I'm thinking the hubs is going to have to take one of the team this time and get the pat-down (if necessary) because I'm flying back by myself with Blake so I know I'll probably be getting one that time around. I shouldn't have to be violated twice at Christmastime, should I?

So if you've flown with an infant and had to go through the new "Dang! Baby got back!" scanners*, let me know how it worked. Did you have to get a pat-down?

*I'm referring to the new full body scanners at airports that a lot of people consider an invasion of privacy. Check out the images they produce here.**

**I think they chose 2 really physically fit people for those images because I know my images aren't gonna look like that!

Can I just say

that people really need to be more cautious when waiting for trains. In the last week I've heard of 3 people who fell onto the track and had to be rescued by someone that was brave enough to hop done there and grab them. Yes, I am one of those people who leans out to see if a train is coming because I've probably been waiting for an eternity and a half. But I keep my feet a safe distance away from the edge and just lean over slightly to look.

I guess in their defense, two of the people that fell onto the tracks had seizures. Maybe it's just me (and I haven't ever had a seizure so I can't speak from experience) but it seems like if you know you are prone to seizures (i.e. epileptic) you would just not go near the edge of the platform. You would  keep a safe distance (like as far away from the edge as possible) just in case you had a seizure. Then you'd have a good 5 feet or so to not fall onto the tracks. (Like I said, I've never had a seizure so I guess you can't really be aware of what is going on when you are in the middle of one.) But I guess epileptics want to look for oncoming trains too.

The other guy was intoxicated. While I'm glad he wasn't harmed, I was more afraid for the guy who jumped down to save him. He literally pulled him out of the way seconds before the train entered the station.

So people, please stop falling onto subway/train tracks! Because as much as I want to save you I won't be jumping down there, for 2 reasons:
1) I have a baby who needs me and while it would be nice to be considered a hero, I'll take being Blake's regular mom any day.

2) I'm pretty sure I'd just be making the situation worse because there's no way I can lift an adult back onto the subway platform.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be up on the platform ready to pull you up and help you get to safety. Just don't expect me to jump down and save you. (Is that terrible? I don't know.)

memories

Have you ever had a bad memory pop into your head and you feel like you're experiencing it all over again, with all the associated emotions? I hate that. It happened to me this morning as I was lying in bed.

I was waiting for Blake to wake up and started thinking about my teaching days and how the end of the school year played out for me. I was returning for the last two (long) weeks of school after having Blake. Evan had already moved to New York and I was still dealing with all the emotions of a new mother, which included recovery from a c-section and a failed attempt at breastfeeding. To put it lightly, the last place I wanted to be was with a group of 4th almost 5th graders who were trying to get used to their old teacher. I really loved my students, but I had a little baby at home who needed me and a husband across the country who hadn't held his son since he was a week old.

My students were excited to see me, but after the third, "When our substitute was here she let us (fill in the blank)" I was ready to head for the door. I politely told my students that I knew all about what they were allowed to do and that informing me of said activities was only going to make me cranky (or something like that). I was surprised at the new attitudes that had formed when I was gone. I couldn't tell if some of the students (mainly girls) were angry at me for being out longer than I had planned, or if it was just a result of growing up.

By the second to last day of school I had been totally offended by one student and jumped all over by a fellow teacher for not awarding her student a medal for winning a relay race. (Not even kidding.) The last day of school was bittersweet. I was so excited to have survived my first year of teaching AND pregnancy (which I do not recommend doing simultaneously), excited to be reunited with Evan, but sad to say goodbye to my students (well except the one that was so rude to me).

So that's why this morning I was so annoyed that I could only remember the end of the school year and the bad memories that were associated with it. I thought my first year of teaching went as well as it could have and I wanted to be remembering the fun times with my class, not the icky moments that made me question my career choice. And as much as I tried to remember the good times, my mind just kept going back to that one student and her thoughtless comment, and that one teacher who seriously needed to take it down a notch or two.

Now I'm wishing I had actually kept a teacher journal during my first year so I could look back on the good times. Because I know there were some really good times! (And if I remember them I'm going to compile them and blog about it.)

Hey, it's okay!

Here's my list of things to be okay about this week:

to wonder who the source is when gossip sites refer to getting a story on a celebrity from an "insider".


to have entered a giveaway for this high chair. It costs over $200 and we really need a high chair. Come on random.org! (Ugh, I didn't win it. I really thought I was going to win it!)


to want hunt down the person who rear ended my sister last night while she was driving and decided it was ok to drive off. JERK!


to be excited to address envelopes and send out our Christmas cards!


to be so totally overwhelmed when I try to learn about couponing. I can't even get started because just learning how to do it effectively makes my head hurt.


to wonder why we have to get old.


to be contemplating moving...again. That would make it twice in a year.


to wonder why teenagers act so apathetic. Was I like that? Probably.

Seeing New York-Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Inflation

A few weeks before Thanksgiving I thought it would be really fun to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. That is until I found out that we'd have to be at the parade around 7 am. So we decided to do the next best thing: go the day before the parade and watch the parade balloons be inflated! We got to see a lot of the balloons up close and personal. (And we even got a backstage view of the balloons, even though we weren't supposed to. More on that later.)

Blake and I hopped a train (well, a few) to Manhattan to meet Evan. (I make it sounds so effortless. I guess in a sense it's not really difficult to ride a subway train. For me it can just be nerve racking when I have a stroller and never know if the train will be packed or not. People aren't too happy to see a lady and a baby roll up on a train when they're already packed like sardines. Oh well, get over it, people.)

We were able to find Evan in the sea of people and off we went to look at balloons. As we pointed out Sponge Bob and Po (Kung Fu Panda), Blake seemed to be more interested in the leaves and buildings. You'd think huge colorful balloons would catch his attention. Apparently not.

 

(Click on the collage to enlarge it.)

Balloons from top left to bottom right: Greg (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Kermit theeee Frog, Kool Aid guy, Hello Kitty, Snoopy

After looking at the balloons we decided to stay and eat dinner at a delicious/over-priced Mexican restaurant. We had a seat by the window and Blake had fun eating his crackers and waving to people as they passed by. As we ate I could see the crowd building. Evan and I decided on a plan to avoid the crowd on our way to the subway. We shuffled along with everyone else (and I mean literally shuffled and bumped into people the whole time. Zero personal space.) until we arrived at the street we needed to cross only to find out it was blocked off and the police weren't letting anyone through. When people started to complain the police officer standing guard told everyone that wanted to cross that they'd have to turn around and go the other way. One man yelled, "No, they aren't letting people out that way. I just came from there. I've spent an hour walking around trying to get out of here! We're trapped! We're trapped!" His dramatics were kind of funny, but I really didn't want to have to walk the entire balloon route again just to find a street we could cross.

As we stood at the corner quietly, a gentleman crossed the street from the opposite side and told the police officer that several of the people were with him. I have no idea who this guy was, but Evan took the lead and just followed the people that random authority guy pointed out. I was sure the police officer was going to stop us, but he didn't and we crossed the street. We just kept following the people in front of us and that's when we got a backstage view of the balloons. Only people who lived on that street and their guests were allowed to enter, but no one stopped us so we just kept going. The street wasn't crowded at all so we took a few pictures of Kermit, Snoopy, and Greg from Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Finally after being turned away at a different crosswalk, we made our way to the subway a few streets away and headed home. All in all it was a great experience. We even made it into the Daily News! And one day when Blake is older and says he wants to go to the parade, I'll let his dad get up early and take him!