Bath Time With Grandma

CLEARLY THEY BOTH ENJOYED IT

Memorial Day 2012

Growing up, Memorial Day was a really important.  Most of my relatives are buried in the Santaquin Cemetery, the rest in Nephi which is close by.  My grandparents made a big deal of the day, turned it into an occasion.  My grandma Childs would start by going to the cemetery to clean the headstones.  She grew peonies and snowballs in her yard and would cut and make her own arrangements to take to "decorate the graves".  From Saturday to Monday lots of relatives from out of town would stop to visit and we spent a lot of time at the cemetery - it was kind of a macabre party.  Last year we were in Hawaii on Memorial Day and it seemed so strange not to go to the cemetery.  Yesterday we had dinner at my parents and then walked up to pay our respects.

My mom puts pictures of my grandparents by their graves
I love having the visual for everyone to see
This is my Grandma and Grandpa Childs,
My mom's parents

This was a cool "Broadbent headstone
In the corner you can see the grave and picture of
My dad's parents

It's too small to see in the picture but
This is the grave of William F. Broadbent,
One of the relatives for whom Luke was named

Hanging at my parent's house
Cory told Calvin not to pull a face
Guess Cory forgot the instructions.

Today Tim and I took the dog and the baby
On a walk to Bridal Veil Falls
It is so beautiful, I miss running the upper river trail.

Luke loves the sling.
And loved the walk.

Schmamping

Definition of schmamping: "Fancy schmancy camping that may involve in-tent bathrooms, flooring, even real furniture.  Not quite roughing it-but you still get points for being outside."

I saw this in my magazine and loved it.  I grew up camping but as an adult finally came to the realization that I just don't like it.  Actually, I really like the activities of camping-the hiking, fires, exploring, I just want a shower and a bed when the day is over.  I might have to go once this summer, but for right now, the baby is a perfect excuse to keep me fancy.

Six Weeks

The time is passing so quickly, it seriously feels like just yesterday that Luke was born.  We are absolutely loving having him in our family and getting to know his personality - yes he has one already.  He has definite ideas about what he wants to do or not do and isn't easily convinced by our ideas, Tim claims he is going to be stubborn like his mama.  Over the last week or two he has discovered his smiles.  I spend a lot of the day hanging out with him, talking crazy and trying to get him to smile.  When my mom was here the other day she had the magic touch and got him to smile for her, already a ham.

Green Thumb

When we did our landscaping last year we wanted the yard to look great, but we also wanted very low maintenance.  We love the plants and trees we chose, and with a new load of bark and a lot of plant growth, I think it looks even better this year.  We chose not to plant any flowers in the ground areas and instead get our color through flower pots.  I don't know a lot about flowers, planting, etc., I just know what I like.  Every year I get a lot of joy picking out flowers and planting the pots.  I love how they look now, and they just get better with time as they grow together.  It just makes me happy to go outside.

Luke went with me shopping
Thanks to Hailey and the Moby sling.
One little boy wondered if I was carrying a baby or a dog.
Funny

The view today

Good Job!

Last night I went to see Ada and Miles perform at a dance review/concert.  Ada has been taking dancing/singing lessons and Miles takes hip hop.  It was one of the most entertaining concerts I have been too.  The kids were great and seemed like they had so much fun with the classes.  Miles had some sweet hip hop moves, already a better dancer than me.

They are both such natural hams.

I can see why moms get so tired at this time of year.  After last night's performances, Miles graduated from pre-school today.  It was funny being there because I kept thinking of when Ada graduated three years ago - Tim went with me to see her graduate, we were about to get married.  It seems unreal that so much time has passed, this time I was there with my own baby.  I'm afraid it will be another blink of the eye before he is on his way to school.

The graduate.

I think they only invited me because they wanted to see Luke,
Not that I can blame them.
Check out his mohawk, soooo cute.

Swingers

Saturday we took the dog, the stroller, and all the kids and went for a walk on the river trail.  Our favorite place to go is an area where someone has put a large swing next to the river.  The kids love it there.  Luke loved swinging with Tim but was pretty sure that he didn't want an underdog like the rest of the kids. What a great way to spend an afternoon.

First Picnic

Everyone at work has been asking when I am going to bring Luke in, I've been to the office a few times but never with him.  He doesn't get out much.  Other than to the doctor's office or my parent's home, he really hasn't been anywhere.  I am not at all a germaphobe, but it's amazing how much a baby changes the way you look at things.  Everyone seems like a potential disease carrier so I would rather keep him protected as long as possible.  Yesterday my work had a BBQ at Rock Canyon Park and we decided this was a good place for his big coming out party.  For some reason it doesn't seem like the germs can get you the same when you are outside.  Of course everyone loved meeting him and he seemed happy to be there.  He has slept all day today so I think the adventure may have worn him out.

Luke and Amy



Luke and Tracie

This is how Tim keeps him safe, very limited access

One Month

April 14th, I cannot believe it has been a month already.  Most of the time it feels like Luke was just born yesterday but other time it feels like he has already been a part of our lives.  I cannot believe how much he has changed already,  Tim and I keep looking at these pictures and saying how old he looks.

Jami made me these great tie stickers to mark each month.

So, one month and Luke already has made such an impact on our lives.  Here are the highlights:

*Has crazy hair (as you can see from the pictures).
*Smiles at mama when I talk to him.
*Starting to eat a lot and more often, growing out of some newborn clothes and has graduated to size 1 diapers.
*Sleeps 4-5 hours straight at night, eats and then goes back to sleep.
*Likes to be swaddled to sleep, Tim is good at wrapping him like a burrito.
*Loves it when dad sings to him.
*Still struggling with the baby zits, hopefully he grows out of these soon.
*Has completely stolen mine and Tim's hearts.

And me, I'm getting pretty good at hanging out and loving on my boy.  I think I have seen almost every episode of Say Yes to the Dress and A Baby Story-not the best choices for post partum, way too much emotion.  Mostly I just love sitting with him and basking in the blessing of his life.

Lemon Garlic Shrimp & Vegetables

Staying home has some serious perks, like plenty of time to read recipes and cook.  The biggest problem is that I still can't eat chicken which really limits what I can cook.  I stumbled onto this shrimp recipe that I saved a long time ago but never made.  Perfect.  Tim said this is one of the best shrimp dishes he has ever had.  I have to agree, it was pretty amazing.  I doubled the broth and cornstarch so it was a little saucier and served it over linguine.  Definitely hanging on to this recipe.

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp & Vegetables

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/lemon_garlic_shrimp_vegetables.html

From EatingWell: March/April 2008

Here's a healthy twist on shrimp scampi. We left out the butter and loaded the dish up with red peppers and asparagus

Ingredients

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 large red bell peppers, diced

2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound raw shrimp, (26-30 per pound), peeled and deveined

1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers, asparagus, lemon zest and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to soften, about 6 minutes.  Transfer the vegetables to a bowl; cover to keep warm.

2. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk broth and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth and add to the pan along with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened slightly and the shrimp are pink and just cooked through, about 2 minutes minutes.  Remove from the heat. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. Serve the shrimp and sauce over the vegetables.

My Love is Your Love

The other morning at the gym this song came up on my IPod.  I had forgotten how much I love it.  

If tomorrow is judgement day
And I'm standing on the front line
And the Lord asks me what I did with my life
I will say I spent it with you

Cause your love is my love
And my love is your love
It would take an eternity to break us

Thanks Whitney for the great song.  As I listened to the lyrics I couldn't help but think about all of the loves in my life.  Top of the list are these two guys and the scene I had left at home.  Love these boys!

Red Tape Run Around

After three years (married in June 2009), I decided that maybe it was time to legally change my name.  Now seemed perfect since I have a lot more free time than normal.  My first step was to get my drivers license renewed.  With the new laws in Utah I knew that you practically have to give a DNA sample and your first born to get a license.  I went on the official state web site and looked at the list of necessary documents.  I left today armed with what I thought were all the right papers.  Clearly I got a little too cocky about it all. Turns out that even though the web site says that a drivers license serves as proof of ID, they have a different list there which says you can only use a birth certificate of passport.  I brought a pay stub, as directed, to prove that I have a valid social security number.  Too bad I didn't realize that the stub only lists part of my social security number, fail number two.  Final problem, I was supposed to bring proof of residency.  Again, I foolishly followed what the web site told me and took only one item of documentation, my bank statement.  But...according to the nice man behind the counter, two separate items were required.  Are you serious?  There was obviously no reason to argue, I knew who would win that one so I gathered my documents and tried to figure out if I had enough time to get home and back with all my documents.  Since that was unlikely, I headed to the Social Security office to change my name with them.  Let me just interject by saying that I hate the Social Security office.  I used to have to go there regularly for work and I hated it, there is a weird smell, strange people, and way too long to wait.  I got there and found a seat away from the unwashed masses.  During my half hour wait I again got cocky...I had downloaded and filled out the name change form and had my original marriage certificate.  What could go wrong?  After reviewing the documents, the agent asked to see my drivers license which I happily handed over.  He looked at it and said that he couldn't use it because my license had expired.  This had to be a joke.  I mentioned to him the cruel irony that I had just tried to get a valid drivers license.  Clearly today was not the day to get any of my errands accomplished and I am currently no closer to officially being Monica Whitesides.
Monday I need to start over, try again with all my new documentation.  I hope it will get done net week.  Turns out that everyone would like to see my passport - and of course I can't find it!

Aislinn

My friend Aislinn got married on Saturday, whoo whoo!  She and Mitch have been dating for about two years and are so great together.  It was so exciting to see them married and I feel honored to have been a part of their amazing day.  It was extra special for me and Tim because they got married at Heritage Gardens where we had our wedding.  It was fun to be back there for a wedding and hard to believe that it has been almost three years since we got married there.
I feel bad that I didn't take any pictures of her dress, luckily her mom posted some on Facebook.  The dress was absolutely beautiful, she looked stunning.  Hopefully they are off having a fabulous honeymoon.  Congratulations!

They had a photo booth at the wedding,
Everyone had a great time taking fun shots, even the bride.

Her shoes were fabulous!

This was Luke's first outing that did not include a doctor's office.
He did great and we loved having a chance to show him off.

Week Three

It is so hard to believe that my boy is already three weeks old.  He went to the doctor this week and is up to 8lb 10 oz, the doctor was really happy with the weight gain.  While there he got circumcised which was traumatic for all of us, but he only seemed to feel better pretty quickly.  In the last few days he has changed so much.  He is getting bigger and his features are different. Tim and I just keep looking at the differences in him and already feel like he is growing up too fast. He is very reactive and follows voices and movements and is soothed by singing and shushing noises.  Other than when he is super mad,he is very snuggly, my favorite part of the day is just holding and loving him.

My friend Amy came to visit,
I think Luke loved her and I loved the company.

These clothes are still slightly too big,
But when he came home from the hospital they literally
Fell off because he was so skinny.

Keep eating Luke!

When T holds him Luke looks even smaller.

The Woman Who Wasn't There

I watch a lot of morning TV when I am at the gym - I used to anyway.  I saw the authors of this book interviewed on the Today Show and the book just sounded fascinating.  Amazon and I have a fabulous relationship so when I asked, my good "friends" there shipped the book right to me.  

What's it about, well thanks for asking...

It was a tale of loss and recovery, of courage and sorrow, of horror and inspiration. Tania Head’s astonishing account of her experience on September 11, 2001—from crawling through the carnage and chaos to escaping the seventy-eighth-floor sky lobby of the burning south tower to losing her fiancé in the collapsed north tower—transformed her into one of the great victims and heroes of that tragic day.

Tania selflessly took on the responsibility of giving a voice and a direction to the burgeoning World Trade Center Survivors’ Network, helping save the “Survivor Stairway” and leading tours at Ground Zero, including taking then-governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, and former mayor Giuliani on the inaugural tour of the WTC site. She even used her own assets to fund charitable events to help survivors heal. But there was something very wrong with Tania’s story—a terrible secret that would break the hearts and challenge the faith of all those she claimed to champion.

Told with the unique insider perspective and authority of Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr., a filmmaker shooting a documentary on the efforts of the Survivors’ Network, and previously one of Tania’s closest friends, The Woman Who Wasn’t There is the story of one of the most audacious and bewildering quests for acclaim in recent memory—one that poses fascinating questions about the essence of morality and the human need for connection at any cost. 

I have to admit I read some parts of it while up with the baby in the middle of the night so a few parts are fuzzy, but overall I thought the book was fascinating.  I am intrigued by people and why they do what they do, so this true story was especially interesting.  The only thing missing was an interview with Tania.  I really wanted her version of the events and an explanation for her actions but I'm sure I'm not the only one.  I would give it a solid B+

If anyone wants to borrow the book let me know and I will send it to you.  I won't read it again and am trying to limit the books I keep to books that I absolutely loved.

Jesse Prom 2012

Seriously, how cute is this girl.  I hate that she lives in Dallas, way too far away for me to be there for all of these fun moments.  Thank goodness for email, cell phones, etc. so I can at least be a part of everything from afar.

Jessica and TJ

Megan, Jess, and AV
These girls have been friends and played soccer together
Since they were little girls.

Week Two

Week 2 of Luke's life passed so quickly.  I was exhausted at the end of each day, but not sure what I had accomplished other than keeping the little man fed and changed.  And really, what more could I want than time to love and snuggle my boy.  Wednesday I ventured out of the house for an appointment and a quick trip to the grocery store.  It was the first time I had left Luke and it felt strange to be out on my own.  My friend Melissa came to visit that afternoon, sorry Lis, I'm not sure how I missed getting a picture with you.  Wednesday night we attempted newborn shots with Jami.  She tells me that he is not the hardest baby she has ever shot, but it was a little rough.  He was not a fan of the outfits she put him in, or being posed.  He spent way too much time without a diaper and seriously peed on me at least 5 different times.  Ada was the best helper and had to stay up till we were finished to do her work at Jami's "assistant".  By the time the session was over, we all were exhausted.  

It's been so fun just getting to know Luke's personality, although I'm already a little worried that he may have inherited a little of my stubbornness.  We are all adjusting to each other and our new (and improved) lives.  It still sometimes feels like a dream that he is really ours, but I can imagine any better dream.

Hailey and Roman surprised us and came from Arizona to visit.
Hailey also brought a cooler full of milk,
Seriously, the most generous gift ever.

Roman is no longer the baby in the family,
I can't believe that he has turned into such a little boy,
He spent most of the visit playing with the basketball,
Foootball, exercise ball, etc.

Saturday Tim's sister Shauna and her family
Came from Syracuse to meet and visit Luke.
Jordan and Joshua were so good with the baby.

Carl was such an old pro.

Not only did they come to visit, but
Shauna brought us some amazing muffins.
Thanks for the visits!

The first week

The time is passing so quickly, I love having pictures to document how quickly Luke is growing.  The first few days we were home were kind of a blur.  He had jaundice when we left the hospital so on Tuesday, the day after we brought him home we had to go back to the hospital to get his bilirubin checked - luckily it was fine so we didn't have to have any more follow up.  That night I got really sick with a 102 degree fever and chills that made my entire body shake.  So, Wednesday we were at my doctor's office first thing and then off to the pharmacy for medication for the infection trying to ruin my day.  Later that afternoon we had to take Luke to the pediatrician's office to make sure he was gaining weight and eating ok.  It's amazing how exhausting all of that can be a few days after having a baby.  The rest of the week was pretty mellow comparatively.  The kids came on Saturday morning which was great - the first time they met their new brother.  Sunday afternoon we all went for a walk - a very slow one - but it was great to be outside and moving.  Hard to believe we already had one week with our boy.

Grandma and dad gave him his first bath.

I think grandpa kind of likes him.

After a long night, this is where I found my boys.

So fun to have a visit from Cory and Jenna,
Calvin brought his Batman for Luke to play with.

Luke loved Cory,
All of my brothers are kind of baby whisperers.

First time meeting their new brother.

B was so cute with Luke

Even T got a chance to feed him.

It was so sweet,
B brought several of his toys to see what Luke liked best.

These monkeys think the baby is pretty great,
They are just so excited that he is finally out of my belly.