James' first boat ride

This was the first time we took James on a boat--with my bro N, my sis in law M, Nephew L, and neice A. In the Dallas area.

This pic is for all of you out there who turn your noses up at "LEASHES" for kids. We have one, we use it, and we LIKE it. So there!


This pic is to show you that you can indeed grow a pineapple from a houseplant:

This pic is to show my neice's very cute cake that she made for (crazy gardening) papa's b'day. It's an *exact* replica of one of his gardening boxes :)

We all scream for ice cream

Now and Then

These pics are about 9 months apart-in the same shirt. Even though he is certifiably the largest 2 year old in our town, maybe his growth slowed down? Idk. He is 2 1/2 years old next week and is 3'4" and 50 lbs.

Yesterday I did something that I have never done in my whole life: I picked apples.

I know, not terribly exciting (unless you were there in the shadows watching me squeal and fling apples that had creatures on/in them. James thought that was some of the best entertainment he's seen) but I felt all proud of myself, picking all those organic, free apples! A very lovely and generous lady in the ward has 4 apple trees in her yard and announced a few weeks back that whoever wanted to come pick could have them. I dilly dallied for a while and then decided that I'd give it a try.

Most of the apples were within arms reach and 3 of the trees were granny smith apples. I brought home my load and started dehydrating immediately. (No, not me, I drink plenty of water, thank you. I started dehydrating the apples.) This part was not entertaining, except when I would core one, find something undesireable, and squeal and fling again. James was pleased. I dipped them all in pineapple juice and shook cinammon all over them. The first batches turned out awesome BUT THIS IS TAKING FOREVER!

I got on the phone this morning and borrowed another dehydrator and started doubling it up. Ben is a great thin slicer. Yeah, honey! Then I talked to my mom who is coming tomorrow and she said, "Why don't you go get more apples and we can bottle some stuff?" Oh good heavens. So, being the obedient daughter that I am, Ben and James and I went and picked many more apples, I borrowed a canner, bought some jars and we are ready for the impending parental visit. Wish us luck. And if you smell apple cinnamony goodness in the air, it's coming from our apartment!

Some of James' recent 'artwork'. He told us that the first one below was a dinosaur and that the second one was a baby. Poor baby, just through the birthcanal with some kind of cone head, I think. Or an alien baby. Pretty good for a almost 2 1/2 year old!



Now this next pic needs more explanation. For a little while yesterday, I really though somebody naughty had planted mari*juana in our container garden. We have no private area outside of our apartment, but we garden in several rubbermaid containers. I was spraying the tomato plants yesteday afternoon when I pushed some branches out of the way and found this sucker:

I saw it, counted the leaves, and really thought that one of the drug smoking college students was trying to grow some of his own in our dirt. I called Ben out, we took a pic and then went inside to check out google images. I'm pretty sure that it's not 'pot', but for a while there, I didn't know whether to pull it out or call campus police and ask them if they wanted it. But could you imagine that conversation?

Me: Hi, Campus police, we have some mari*juana growing here at our apartment and thought you might like to have it.

Campus Police: Uh, what?

Me: We're growing tomatoes and squash and there's some pot in there, too. Would you like it? Do you want to come see it? What should we do with it?

Campus Police: You're growing pot on campus? blah blah blah blah blah..... Then we'd probably get arrested once they saw the mari*juana and the massive bottle of drugs the dr prescribed me last year. (Except the bottle fell in the toilet and I put all the pills in a plastic baggy.) Narcotics in a baggy in the bathroom, and weed in our garden. This is looking better and better.

Mormon Monday

This is my 200th post, yeah!

If you ever wanted to know what the LDS church says about families, here it is.

And here are some pics I especially love of our family:

Ike Update

I've had contact via cell phone with my parents today and they and my brother's family came through unscathed. My parent's house is just fine and according to my mom the worst of it for them is "ugly bushes". Many of their neighbors have downed trees--with a few of them having fallen on houses.

My brother's house had 3 trees hit it--but from what I've heard, the damage isn't too bad. There's a small hole in the roof where a turbine was knocked off and their back porch was damaged. I *think* that's it, but I'm not sure because I didn't talk to them forever since they have no way to charge their cell phones right now.

All of them will probably be without power for 2-3 weeks. Ugh. Super hot and super humid. But that's better than being dead, right?

All of this was making me wonder what the grocery stores do when there is no power. Think of all the refrigerated and frozen foods. Did everything already melt and spoil and now they have to clean it up? Do they have generators? How do they handle that mess?

I'm glad that all is (relatively) well and now maybe I can actually focus on my talk (speech) for church tomorrow. Ugh.

Ike

Ike is headed straight for my hometown--as in Weather.com names my little city as the direct hit. Great. My Grandma was evacuated with her nursing home, but my parents and brother and his family are all staying put. They all have plenty of places to evacuate to but don't want to bother. They are all going to hunker down together in my parent's new 'hurricane resistant' house. I don't think it's good policy to pray that hurricanes hit somewhere else, but maybe we should all pray that it takes it easy on them.

Elmo

Doesn't he make the cutiest Elmo EVER? I just bought this on Ebay (you know, before demand and prices go up) But they sent the wrong size. We tried it on him anyway before I wrote my complaint email. It would be fine if he 1)Doesn't eat for the next 6 weeks 2)Doesn't breathe while in costume 3) Doesn't intend on moving during Halloween activities. Since we've already got pics of him as Elmo, maybe I'll have him be Blue instead.

Pee

How many of you would be willing to leave a comment and tell me how many times you pee overnight? I'm not pregnant, I don't have any kind of infection, but I swear I've got a pee in the middle of the night problem. Maybe I drink too much water at night time. Maybe I don't sleep soundly enough. I know I'm a poor sleeper. I don't have to pee all the time during the day, just at night. I'm tired, people.

The Dentist-much ado about nothing

Today James visited the dentist for the first time. While I was getting him ready, I was being all cheery and exciting, telling him we were going to visit 'our special friend, the dentist.' I don't know that he's even heard the word before, but he looked at me and my fake enthusiasm and said, "No dentist for James. Dentist for mommy." I told him that I love the dentist and that he had super cool chairs and toothbrushes and surprises at the end. That convinced him.

When we pulled up, James was still excited to go in until a man walked past while I was helping him out of the van. STUPID STUPID MAN THAT HOPEFULLY HAS NO OFFSPRING SAID, "ooooooh nooooooo! You have to go to the dentist? What's wrong with your mouth? Do your teeth hurt? No crying! It will only hurt for a little bit. Have a good day."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I couldn't stop and yell at him because I was too busy prying James out of the van now, thank you very much. I would have liked to kick him in the shin.

I calmed him down and reminded him about the cool chairs and such and he reluctantly went in with me. Once we were in, the deal was sealed! This was a pediatric dentist and he had the goods--fish tanks, play house, disney movie, etc. James ran around and enjoyed all the entertainment and was even eager to "go back" once they called his name.

While the dental assistant talked to me, James got to play a cool video game on the wall. Then he got his new toothbrush to hold on to throughout the appoinment. I was surprised that the room was giant with 8 chairs in it. I've never been to a dentist that had that before. The assistant led us to the purple chair and James climbed up and reclined. She "tickled" all his fingers with her spinning cleaning thingy and then asked James to help her "count his teeth". He was sooo stinkin adorable... Even though she was cleaning his teeth he faithfully counted to 20 with her. When she finished, he declared, "ALL DONE! Surpise now please." He was sad to learn he still had to wait for the dentist. I had to hold him on my lap and sing 'twinkle twinkle' and point out all the many oh so exciting features of the room.

The dentist came over and James FREAKED. He wasn't crying, but he totally had the deer in headlights look and could not 'point to his nose' or anything else the dentist asked. The dentist showed him the mirror and asked him to help count his teeth again. He opened, but he did no counting. The dentist noted a couple of irregularities with James' teeth which I already knew about and happily his teeth are in beautiful, no cavity shape. He quickly brushed James' teeth with some flouride stuff and declared him done.

You have never seen a child jump up and run like that. I was laughing so hard and the assistants were trying to get him back to pick a prize. He tiptoed back, snatched a bouncy ball and ran away again. That ball has not left his sight today. He was playing with it tonight when it rolled under the couch. He started crying, "I don't reach it. I don't reach it. Mama reach it." I got down and said, "I don't see it, James" to which he replied, "Keep looking, mama!"

He has that yellow ball clutched in his chubby toddler hands in his sleep as I type. What a sweetie.

Mormon Monday

Check out the Gospel Topic section of LDS.org


This section provides information about the doctrine, policies, practices, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called "the Mormon church" or "Mormons"). In addition to helping Church members, this section can also be a great resource for answers to questions about Mormon beliefs.

You've got answers, A to Z.

Just because

Just because I've never posted a den of snakes on the blog before... I just got this photo from a friend. NMDOT workers found this too close to where we live. They're probably having a party with the black widows and scorpions.

Sarah Palin's speech

Wow, I really enjoyed her speech last night. I'm not saying anything about her abilities or experience, I just thought the speech was awesome. I guess you wouldn't enjoy it too much if you're a huge Obama fan, but you have to admit it was pretty entertaining. Maybe I'm one of those lame brained people that can be convinced by some zingers in a funny speech.

Here's a link to the text or video

Well, if you're a Stephenie Meyer fan, this will sadden you.

I think it a wee bit silly, to the tune of "I'm taking my dolls and going home." Oh, I know that all artists have rights, and I support them, but her real fans will still buy the fourteen dollar copy at Walmart or even the 20 dollar copy at B&N despite having read whatever online. I seriously doubt she will/would lose any money over this. It seems like her feelings are hurt and she needs to deal with the source.

Mormon Monday

A quote from the prophet Joseph Smith:

“Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.”

Elder Benjamin De Hoyos:

Happiness is the purpose of the gospel and the purpose of the redeeming Atonement for all men.


President Spencer W. Kimball:

Happiness does not come by pressing a button, as does the electric light; happiness is a state of mind and comes from within. It must be earned. It cannot be purchased with money; it cannot be taken for nothing.

Palin Mccain Obama Biden

Now we have double the makings for a very exciting, historical election. Come November (or January, if you live in Florida and can't quite figure things out) I can't wait to see who wins.

You know the main issues for some people will be "black man" and "woman". Too bad they'll be allowed to vote despite never having informed themselves about the merits and such of each pair of candidates.

And why do they keep mentioning that Palin likes Mooseburgers?

Palin has 5 children, including a 4 month old, right? When you're the vice president, are you allowed to take days off when your kids have diarrhea and are puking? Is it ok to come to work with spit up on your suit? Have binkies in your briefcase and cheerios stuck to your butt? It would be really cool if she were pregnant as the Vice President. That would blow my mind. Think about all the potential for Letterman, Leno, Stewart and Colbert.

Mormon Monday

I was a missionary in Panama during 1996-1997. Oh how I loved my time in that country! I've been back to visit a couple of times and even did the research for my thesis there.

A temple was just finished, dedicated and opened in Panama City and it is beautiful! I am so excited for the members of our church there. They no longer need to travel to other countries to attend the temple.

There is a great video on Youtube that has exterior and interior photos of the new temple in Panama. I tried and tried to get the actual video to post to my blog--but I was never successful. Here is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6biooD7GY5Y

You can find out more about LDS temples here.

The one where I'm dumb

So on Wednesday night we realized that James was way past due for a bath--he doesn't have that sweet baby smell anymore, he's full-on stinky boy. Anyway, I was doing some work on the computer while Ben bathed him. Ben went to get a wash cloth and when he walked back into the bathroom he yelled, "aaaahhh!" I asked what was wrong and he reported that James had pooped in the bathtub. Although we always expected to experience that rite of passage, it had never happened up to this point.

I jumped up and yelled, "Don't let him touch it!" (yeah, I am worried about germs and gross stuff all the time.) I ran into the kitchen wondering what I should use to get it out of the tub, because (TMI ALERT) that sucker was NOT going down the drain. The colander briefly passed through my mind, but I didn't want to have to throw it away, so I started chanting 'disposable, disposable, disposable.' Aha! The plastic cups in the high cupboard! I grabbed three cups (yes, 3) and raced to the bathroom.

Ben, holding onto the wet, slippery, laughing, LARGE 2 year old, asked me why I brought three cups. I had no answer, I just thought this was a three cup situation I guess. (Aside: a big, floating poop in the bathtub is WAY MORE DISGUSTING than a poop in a diaper. Why is that?) Anyway, I held my breath (don't know why) and scooped up the big poop in big, red, plastic cup number one. I held tight to cups 2 and 3.

Then I froze.

What was I going to do with the big, floating poop in the big, red cup? My mind started racing and these were my LITERAL thoughts "I could put it in the trash but then the water would probably drain out in the can. I could pour the water off in the sink, and then throw it away in the trash and quickly take the trash out. I could sneak outside and pour it under the bushes where all the naughty (older) kids play but that would be really rude and what if someone got some kind of disease from having human poo on their shoes and it gets on their hands when their mom makes them clean their shoes and then they get sick, that would be bad, I could..." SUDDENLY, something interrupts my line of thinking. It was Ben, and he says,

"Are you going to pour that in the toilet or are you just going to hold onto it?"

Pour it in the toilet? That was the thought that HADN'T occurred to me-despite the fact that I was straddling the toilet in my efforts to reach the poo. I sheepishly poured the goods into the toilet and threw all three cups into the trash, just for good measure.

A few of my favorite things

We're helping James with his two new favorite activities: "Clay doh" and Cooking. Well, if he remains the only child, at least he'll have all the one on one time he can stand. (And, yes, I AM wearing a house dress :p

Stuff

Recommendation for traveling toddlers and little kids:

When we traveled this Summer, we stayed in a lot of different places. I knew we would need something for James to sleep on since the pack n play is waaaay too small for the boy. I researched online and found this inflatable from aerobed. It is a kidsized airbed that sort of resembles a raft--it has raised sides so that the kids can't roll off. James LOVED his 'vacation bed' and slept so well in it no matter where we were. It comes with a pump and a fleece cover and it all fits in a normal sized backpack (included). It has rave reviews on Amazon, and we love it too!

Oh, and Mcdonalds needs to stop pretending that they are like Chick-fil-A. As if.

Mormon Monday

I found these words from President Thomas S. Monson to be particularly inspirational:

"How fragile life, how certain death. We do not know when we will be required to leave this mortal existence. And so I ask, “What are we doing with today?” If we live only for tomorrow, we’ll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays. Have we been guilty of declaring, “I’ve been thinking about making some course corrections in my life. I plan to take the first step—tomorrow”? With such thinking, tomorrow is forever. Such tomorrows rarely come unless we do something about them today.

As the familiar hymn teaches:
There are chances for work all around just now, Opportunities right in our way. Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,” But go and do something today.7

Let us ask ourselves the questions: “Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need?” What a formula for happiness! What a prescription for contentment, for inner peace—to have inspired gratitude in another human being. Our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved."

Like he said, our opportunities are limitless-but they are also perishable. We have to really live today, both in improving ourselves, and in helping others. I hope to never put away a thought of a kind thing that I can do for someone--whether inspired by the Spirit or random thoughts.

You know what our town needs?

A giant piece of fly paper in the sky. Our city has an OUT OF CONTROL fly problem right now. I have never seen such a thing in all my days nor do I hope to see it ever again! They are everywhere! Anytime we come in or out of the apartment 3 or 4 get in despite our pick up James and run method. They are inside the grocery stores, mall, schools, etc. GROSS GROSS GROSS! Forget mosquitos, kill the stupid flies already. Ugh.

And now the kid loves play dough! He sits for an hour at a time rolling and squishing a molding and whatever else he can manage. People keep telling me that they prefer the homemade stuff, but no one has produced a recipe yet...

And to win the parents of the year award: We sold James' Christmas present from last year. On Craig's List. We bought him a nice, big spring horse and he rarely used it. It was taking up valuable space in our living room, which would be fine if he loved it, named it George, petted it, pretended to feed it carrots, rode him all the time, brushed his silky coat, shoed him, etc. But he didn't. He would sit on him about once a week and that would do. Finally after a month someone was interested and was willing to pay what we wanted. I was freaked out about the whole online internet stalker killer craze (its all in my head, you know) So I made Ben load that monster up, and meet the lady in the parking lot of a convenience store. The sight of Ben in a empty parking lot probably was enough to make the lady rethink getting out of her mini van, but all went well and we earned some money back.

James has never, not once, mentioned the absence of that horse.

Isn't synchronized diving the coolest event ever? I have never seen it before and I love it! James will even sit there and watch the divers and whine about the commercials in between.

In other news, this has not been my favorite week. Girl issues (read: not pregnant), Podiatrist cut and burned 12 (yes twelve) plantar warts out of the bottom of my foot and it HURTS to do anything standing, Root canal today was a thrill, swamp cooler issues, and I went back to work. Ugh. I would say I want a do-over, but then I would have to live through it all again. Come on weekend!

My job is newish. I'm still teaching English to Adults and working for the community college, but now I am doing it at an Elementary School as part of the Even Start program. Even Start is Head Start with a crucial difference: Your child can only be accepted into Even Start if you commit to coming to school all day too. While your child (or baby) is in the preschool from 9:00 til 2:30, you are in required classes: GED, Computer Literacy, Parenting, and ESL (if necessary). I think it is an awesome program that changes the lives of those who commit to it. I teach 4 days a week for 2 1/2 hours and go to a meeting on Friday. I'm not thrilled to be working daily, but I am excited to work with this program. We shall see.

Well, that was interesting. I just got a calling that I've never heard of before. Actually, they may have made it up :) They did make up the title...Ward Communication and Technology something or the other. I am to maintain the official ward website, facilitate online communication for ward members (email, blogs, etc) and help ward members use technology when they teach. Sounds really interesting, but I need some brainstorming from out there, loyal readers. What do all of you and your wards out there do that involves the internet for communication and technology for teaching and what not?

Comments, please!

I love you!

This phrase has become very amusing around here. I posted last week about how James said, "I love you too much baby mama." Three days ago I told James, "I love you" and he looked at me and said, "Um, thanks." I died laughing and wondered what non-committal men he had been hanging around with. When I told Ben about it, he, too thought it funny and was "proud" of his little man. This morning I told him, "James, I love you." He then looked at me and said, "Good." As in, 'you better love me, woman!'

I LOVE THIS STAGE OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT!

Sad, but true: This is the ONLY pic from our visit with Karla, Dave and Spencer in Austin. Karla and I would have been in this picture, but we hadn't had showers yet. It's complicated, ok! Spencer was being perfectly amiable and was ready for the pic, but James was too busy checking out Spencer's toys. We were so happy we got to see them once in Texas now that they are going back to UT again!

Our Austin cousins

James is still asking to see his cousins! (All of them, but today's pics are from the Austin branch.) James loved playing with Joseph (who pushed him tirelessly on the swings), Elizabeth (whose help I could SERIOUSLY use around here) and Joshua (who is hilarious and gave James a run for the money.) Please notice that James was attached at the hip to Elizabeth. He LOVED her--and all the endless attention she gave him. He is holding her hand in the two pics we took after church and he would NOT leave her side at the splash park. Thank you Elizabeth!!! (And I love that Joshua looks like he's going to take us all down Ninja style under the tree!)

Ah, sweet karma

Don't be alarmed: It's only the effects of afternoon church.

Oh the days when I was carefree and rolled out of bed just in time to get ready for afternoon church. I made fun of the people who liked 9am church. Ugh. Now that I'm the mama of a 2 year old, I hate 1:00 church. I really, really loathe it, and we've only done it 2 weeks. (We change schedules in July here and since we've been out of town 3 Sundays...) The nursery was a scary place on Sunday. I got wrangled into staying an hour last week (Ben stayed the 3rd hour) and there was 2 year old chewing(and stringing) gum, 1 without underwear, multiple bullies, major snack malfunctions, missing leaders, leaders on cell phones, etc etc etc.

Now that I've written that last paragraph, I have sealed my fate as the newest nursery worker.

But in all honesty, James was well cared for and had fun, so I won't complain anymore about the nursery. I will complain about how miserably miserable he is after church: He was miserable. The end.

Any suggestions out there to make church pleasant for the next 11 months?

I'm not sure which is wackier: James or my mom's Texas themed guest room :)

The artist in our residence

When I came home from running errands, Ben said James had drawn a picture of me. He took a pic to show me because he knew I would want to see it and wouldn't believe it. Isn't it AWESOME!!!?? My little James drew this at 27 months. (Just ignore the tumor in my neck!) He is also way obsessed with something Granny showed him how to do: She taught him how to draw with yellow crayon and then color over it with blue to make green. He is constantly running around the house YELLING, "YELLOW AND BLUE MAKE GREEN!" I would show him that the baggies do that too, but he would probably implode.

Breaking Dawn- no spoilers

Well, turns out my boss made a mistake and I don't have to start work until NEXT Monday. What a happy error! I found that out on Sunday evening and since I didn't have to be all responsible, I made the mistake of staying up waaay too late to finish reading Breaking Dawn. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Um, how about a generic there were good parts and there were dull parts and vampire parts and werewolf parts. I can say there were a lot of FREAKY things about this book. Lots of twists and turns and surprises, but also lots of very predictable cliche-ish moments. What are we expecting though? Its no great american classic novel, but its a good escapist teen/ya novel. Because of various issues, the book was definitely more racy, gory, freaky, etc. I've already passed my copy on to a friend at church :)

A little perspective

I took this picture with my camera phone about a month ago. A bunch of the moms in the ward were at the park and coincidentally three of us dressed our 2 year olds in the "same" old navy shirt from different years. Even though its not a great pic, I love it because of the outfits and because it shows James' size (height, head, weight) in comparison to two other little boys who are 6 and 9 months older than him. Yes, his head IS as big as mine!

Please Stand By, Baby Mama

Ben, James and I just got back from a three week trip in which we ran amuck in Arkansas and much of TX. Since we were nomadic, I didn't update the blog as I should have. I'll start updating and telling about our adventures really soon. Maybe even tonight. Maybe tomorrow since I am without a calling now. (I don't know whether to follow that sentence with ! or :( or :) or sigh or what.) I'm going to miss those young women! Those (almost) 3 years flew by and now I'm a little leary of what might be around the corner. As much as I'd love to be in a room with 12 toddlers (James included) who are missing their afternoon nap... We shall see.

I'll conclude this afternoon's comments by sharing this little story: Like a typical child, James is always extra cuddly after we've been separated for a while. One morning on vacation I stumbled out of bed (at 9am, thank you very much, honey!) and came to sit down in the living room. James saw me and ran over to sit in my lap. He put his arms tight around my neck and said, "I love you too much, baby mama." I think that is the funniest thing he has ever said! He had been calling me "baby mama" occasionally--I'm guessing because I'll often call him "baby James". As for the 'too much' it is probably a misquote of me saying "I love you so much!" Anyway, having a kid makes for some funny stuff.

Fourth of July

Our 4th of July celebration was happy enough for us! The wards that meet in our building were having a 7am flag raising and potluck breakfast. Um, not for me, thank you. I'm not very patriotic at 7am, not to mention eating cold scrambled eggs that somebody else cooked, guacala! I told Ben that we should be patriotic by supporting Capitalism and going to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel with all the tourists. James was happy to oblige and he ate a pancake and bacon :) (This kid loves bacon as much as Leslie H., which is to say, A LOT! Should I tell the Leslie bacon story?) Anyway, we then continued supporting the economy and went to walmart to buy a sprinkler for James to play in. We don't have 1 sq foot of grass, so that's about all we can do. He loved it!

Adulthood, sigh.

I found a gray hair yesterday.

I'm starting to enjoy NPR.

I reprimanded some naughty children at the park.

I think my parents know some stuff.

I shop using the ads.

I've got 3 doctors numbers in my cell phone.

I try to listen at church.

I worry about gas/travel/food/education/healthcare expenses.

I stopped using all "dangerous" plastics.

I reuse my walmart shopping bags and use cloth ones at Albertsons.

I eat vegetables, fruit, and fish.

BUT

If given a choice, I sleep til 9am.

I like corndogs.

and

Presidential candidates don't interest me much.

I LOVE THIS VIDEO!

You have to commit 6 minutes of your life to watch this, but it's awesome! If you're a guy, you're probably not interested...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QujA8YYgTWU

Twinkle Twinkle

Here's a cute video of 'us' singing Twinkle Twinkle little star. He's being kinda shy, but I still think its cute!

James wishes you all a very happy Father's Day! We did nice things for Ben (including making him Eggs Benedict for breakfast. Note to self and others: Poaching eggs in a pot of simmering water is way harder than the recipe book makes it out to be. ) James and I stayed home from church because he is still contagious, but we feel great, yeehaw! Since the Young Women are 'traditionally' in charge of the ward's Father's Day gifts, we gave all the dads beef jerky and a bookmark. All men love beef, right?

Also, I just noticed the photo in this post in a great pic to compare with the one on the right of him eating spaghetti. They are almost exactly one year apart. My baby!

Well, I started teaching a summer class on the 2nd of June. It meets every day, but its only a 2 hour class instead of the 4 hour class I usually teach. 2 hours fly by and I was really enjoying my students--which are the most diverse group ever. I made it through the first week and by Saturday I was ready for a break. We went to a baptism in the morning and ran around doing errands and such. Suddenly, and I mean suddenly, I started feeling like absolute poop on Saturday afternoon. By Saturday night I was running a high fever and asked for a blessing, please. I tried to go to bed, but it was one of those things that you are soooo miserable that you can't even sleep.

I had a raging sore throat on Sunday morning and I thought it prudent to go to Urgent Care while the guys went to Church. I was in and out quickly with a diagnosis of strep throat. (They did a quick strep test on me which in the Dr's words "barely" came back positive, but when they looked at my throat and tonsils they said it "couldn't" be anything else.) I went home and IMMEDIATELY started the antibiotic and tried to have a popsicle in my mouth at all times while staying as far away as is possible from Ben and James while still being in the apartment. (I could hear James calling from the living room, "dake up, mama, dake up!".)

I had another TERRIBLE night Sunday and knew there was no way I could make it in to teach that morning and that I should go back to Urgent Care. I showed up at the Clinic at 8am on the dot, was the first patient, and got a very, oh, not-so-compassionate or attentive dr. I told her that the pain in my throat was so bad that I hadn't slept for 2 nights and wasn't there something they could do? It was seriously the worst pain I had ever experienced besides labor! She glanced in my mouth and said she'd give me a stronger antibiotic shot and a pain shot and that I needed to deal with it. I cried off and on most of Monday and wanted to die. That night I knew I wouldn't be in shape to teach on Tuesday, so I got permission for Ben to teach on Tuesday ( and eventually the rest of the week). I noticed some sores in my mouth that night and thought that was odd.

By Tuesday morning I did feel a bit better, but also noticed I had a few spots on my hands. (Can anybody guess my ailment yet?) I could finally swallow without a death wish, but basically stuck to water and yogurt because everything else burned the heck out of my mouth and throat. I knew I didn't have strep, but I didn't know exactly what was wrong until I looked up all the symptoms and talked to a couple of ladies in the ward: Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease was being passed around a bunch of families in the ward.

James spiked a fever Tuesday night and we braced for the storm. We took him to his Dr on Wednesday just to make really sure that he didn't have "strep" but after she looked in his mouth and at all the dots that were now covering my WHOLE BODY, she confirmed HFM. He actually is doing a lot better than I did. I imagine that right now he is as moody as one would expect a 2 year old to be. We have every kind of popsicle/frozen treat/chocolate milk/'special' drink/yogurt/pudding, etc as to keep him (and me :) ) from dehydrating. I'm over my "spots" now, and James is just getting them. He was complaining a lot: "foot owie, no walk" today. The Dr told us that we could be contagious for as long as 2 weeks, but at least as long as we had the spots/sores.

So, Ben has taught my class ALL week. James and I are trying to enjoy all the freezer has to offer. I've got to get out of the house soon! I'm caught up on High School Musical, The Twilight series (hey, in Spanish, ok?) Wonder Pets, Fox news, etc etc etc. I'm sooooo glad James got a milder version than me and I'm soooo happy that we weren't sick at the same time because Ben would have been exalted after taking care of the house, us, my class, his work, etc.

Ok, so since I installed my little spy tool on the blog, it freaks me out a bit to see what "key words" lead people to our site. In other words, Stat Counter tells me what phrases people googled and then came to our site to find. Its very surprising the number of people from Great Britain who come to my blog looking to answer the difference between a Hamburger and a Beefburger. What's really scary is the number of hits that I get about "vicodin and benedryl". I wonder if people out there made the same stupid mistake I did, or maybe are wondering if they can take both at the same time for their real problems, or if its a common druggie thing and they are wanting to know doses, quantities, whatever. Or maybe its because I always mispell Benadryl and so do the druggies. who knows?

Vicodin and benedryl are a bad idea. Just say no. Dare to stay off drugs. Ask Nancy Reagan.
Vicodin and benadryl are a bad idea. (I spelled it both ways, so all druggies, both literate and not can get the message.)

The most freakiest thing is that two days ago I got a hit from the phrase, "while he's on cocaine, he's always angry." AAAAAAAHHHH!!!! I KNOW I'VE NEVER WRITTEN ANYTHING ABOUT THAT ON MY BLOG. Who knows. Just so everyone knows: Cocaine is NEVER a good idea. very bad idea.

On a non drug related note:

Tonight James was playing with my phone and I borrowed it for a minute to get a phone number. All the while he yelled, "MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE. MY PHONE! MY PHONE!" When I calmly handed it back to him he stopped and said, "oh, thanks" with a surprised little tone as if I had just handed him an unexpected present. Silly kid.