Emily’s Musings

You know you’re desperate when you pack a toiletry bag, and load up your two kids and drive a half hour to your parents house, JUST TO TAKE A SHOWER.

This is my life.  I am desperate.  Desperate to keep on top of my personal hygiene and my sanity.  As I walked into the door of my parents’ house, my mom said, “Oh!  I’m so glad to see you!  I’m so glad you brought your babies!  I have missed them!”

Yeah, okay.  You can have them for the next hour while I find some mental clarity in the shower.  Please, remember that Hannah is around.  She is so easy, taking care of her is like watching grass grow.  Dallin is what we call “high maintenance” so if he screams a lot, or the whole time, just know it’s something he does.  He likes to be heard.  You know, HE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO FORGET ABOUT HIM.

Mmmm . . . It’s always nice to know your kids are in good hands.  It kind of makes you want to take your time while getting ready . . .

Okay, back to reality.  I had a girls night out with some of my best friends from high school.  A couple of the girls I hadn’t seen in almost 10 years.  We all think we look the same (although we ALL know we were skinnier and younger looking 10 years ago) and picked right up where we left off all those years ago.

Anne Wilson Copeland (who now lives in Texas) Katie Trent Renslow (who lives in Colorado) Me (who lives like a gypsy with no place to call home) Katie Corrigan Broadbent (who lives in Utah) and Ashley Huish Tobler (who just moved back to Utah after living in Nevada)  I would also like to point out that Ashley’s baby is four days younger than Dallin.  (And no, Dallin was not invited on my mommy night out.)

We had such a fantastic time.  I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.  It was so fun to see my friends after so many years.  We ended up talking entirely too long and could have gone on all night if we didn’t have little people to get home to.

Thanks for the great night out.  It was the shot in the arm I desperatly needed.

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The other night, as Dallin was screaming uncontrollably about something major or insignificant (You see, he doesn’t actually tell us what his problems are.  He just SCREAMS AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS, informing us that he does in fact, HAVE A PROBLEM.) I was whispering in his ear “It’s okay” and “Mommy loves you” again and again while rocking him back and forth.

David overheard what I was saying and he piped up and said, “Um . . . I don’t think that’s his problem.  You know, the part about you loving him.”

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This is an apology going out to everyone, and no one in particular.  You see, before I became a mom, I secretly thought new parents were suckers for every baby gimmick invented.  I actually remember the shock on my face when I learned that there was such a thing as a “wipe warmer” and I was in even more shock that my friend bought one.

I have since given birth to Dallin, and I am now POSITIVE that the “wipe warmer” is one of the best inventions since the computer.  Both of our lives are much quieter, and relaxing since purchasing this lovely item.  I have also purchased other essential items that I didn’t need with Hannah such as: The Pee-Pee-T.P. (you know, so you don’t get sprayed in the face with pee), a bouncer seat, and Gripe Water.

I have been enlightened.  Every baby gimmick out there is of use to someone, so I will not gasp and judge anymore when I hear of some lame invention that everyone has to have.

I would also like to say I’m sorry to all moms out there that I gave crusty looks too (you know, in my head) when they said their kids go to bed at 8:00 P.M.  People who aren’t parents don’t understand that KIDS NEED TO GO TO BED.  EARLY.  In fact, the earlier, the better.

I put Hannah to bed at 6:30 every night.  Religiously.  Go ahead and gasp, or give me a crusty (please, do this in your head) because I totally deserve it.  How could I be so inconsiderate of kids’ bedtimes before I had one of my own?

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Dear Dallin,

You are now one month old. I have enjoyed your company so much more outside of my belly than inside.  You are a BIG BOY, and that reason alone is probably the primary factor why I enjoy your company so much now.  You came out a whopping 9 pounds 12 ounces at 38 weeks.  I can only imagine how big you would have been (and how uncomfortable and miserable I would have been) if we allowed you to bake an additional two weeks.  At your two week check-up you grew two inches (so you were 22 inches long) and were back to your birth weight.  You are an excellent nurser, and I am happy to report that I have had no problems nursing you.  Thank goodness for that.

We don’t know much about your personality yet, but we do know that you like to eat, sleep, poop, and cry.  You are quite the pooping machine, and your first night in the hospital you pooped 11 times.  Yes, count that again, 11 times.  Your dad was 100% on poop duty (since I had my abdomen sliced open to get you out, I wasn’t really in any position to help you since I couldn’t even help myself) and boy did you let him know what to expect for the next few weeks!  The good news is that all of your piping works properly.  It works VERY WELL.

You do enjoy sleeping anywhere, anytime.

Dallin and mommy sleeping . . .

Dallin and Grandpa Lesher sleeping . . .

Dallin and Grandma Gloria

Dallin and Daddy

Dallin and Grandpa Probst

You have a talent at blowing bubbles when you sleep.  We think it’s darling, and we just know you have some hidden talents up your sleeve.

Your big sister Hannah LOVES you to pieces.  She ALWAYS wants to hold you, kiss you, or play with you.  She is so good to you.  She is still working on being gentle with you, but you couldn’t ask for a better older sister.  She is thrilled to have a baby brother. We are equally excited that she accepts you and hasn’t asked us to return you to the hospital.

We can’t wait to see what you discover and learn and who you become in the next few months.

We love you so much.  We’re so glad you finally made your debut!

Love,

Mommy

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It is “two dollar Tuesday” at Thanksgiving Point (per person, per venue) through the month of August.  We decided to take advantage of this great deal (normally, the venues are $15 per person) and left the house early on Tuesday to have some fun.

Let me clarify the term “early” when it comes to my family with two small kids.  Leaving the house before 1:00 in the afternoon is considered early.  I’m not kidding.  You would think that our early alarm clocks (well, Dallin is an alarm clock that goes off religiously throughout the night and especially the early morning) would get our butts out of bed and moving, but let’s face it, we’re slow moving parents.

So, now you can imagine the turbo speed our lives were thrown into when we decided to be at Thanksgiving Point when it opened at 10:00 A.M.  Hannah was COMPLETELY WOUND UP and WIRED yelling “THE POINT! LET’S GO TO THE POINT!”  As if she even knew what “The Point” was . . .

I rushed around the house, packing everything we needed, or might need, for a toddler and a newborn for several hours.  You know, thinks like the washer, dryer and kitchen sink to name a few.  By the time we got into the car, WE WERE ALL WIRED.

Dallin was screaming his guts out, and Hannah was yelling “THE POINT!”  I was rolling around in the front seat while I tried to shave my legs (with an electric razor of course) in the six inches of allotted space between my knees and the dashboard, while David took a deep breath and turned up the classical music in the car to drown out the crying.

Why do we go anywhere?

As we pulled out of the driveway, Hannah stopped yelling “THE POINT!” and started sympathy crying because Dallin was crying so hard.  WE ALL WANTED TO CRY.  David reached his hand into the backseat and stuck his finger in Dallin’s mouth (the binkie was lost in the car seat, and Hannah couldn’t reach it) and asked me to shift.

Remember how I was shaving my legs?  Since I am the MASTER OF MULTI-TASKING . . . I shifted with my left hand (not awkward or anything) and shaved with my right hand.  In between “shift commands” from David (Second gear now!  No!  That’s fourth!  I need SECOND GEAR!  Whatever.  Do I look like a left handed shifter?) all I could think about was getting the two day nasty leg hair growth off my legs in the 20 minute car ride.  What if someone saw me with HAIRY LEGS?  I could possibly be confused as a tree hugger, and honestly, that’s not exactly the image I shoot for.

David’s patience was completely taxed (maybe it was because he only had three hours of sleep the night before because HE HAD TO STAY UP ALL NIGHT AND READ THE LAST TWILIGHT BOOK.  Maybe that’s why.  I mean, I’m not trying to point fingers here and say, Hey, you chose to be tired and ornery.  I’m just not one to to point out the obvious to my spouse.) and he looked at me and said, “WHY ARE WE GOING ANYWHERE WITH SCREAMING KIDS?”

Obviously, because I said so.  And everyone knows that moms call the shots. 

Thank heavens, 20 minutes was enough time to shave and I arrived with silky soft legs.  (Not that anyone besides me noticed)  And Dallin FINALLY stopped crying.  Which meant that Hannah stopped her sympathy crying.  Really, I think we should have a moment of silence to recognize the moment of silence.

We decided to attend the gardens (we’ll do the museum and the petting zoo anther week, if I can convince David the kids won’t cry all the way there) and they were beautiful.  It was totally worth the crazy crying, rushing around, and frustration to get there.

I took entirely too many photos, but I couldn’t stop. It was like Saba, everywhere I looked, there was something else to take a picture of!  This post is a little heavy on the pictures, but the gardens were so beautiful.  Check them out:

Hannah, the little follower.  Always one step behind.

The Roman gardens

Our cute little Hannah Bear, checking out the fish below in the water.

The lily pond.  It reminded me of the park on Saba.

Hannah ran, and ran.  She covered three times as much ground as we did.

Emily, Hannah, Dallin (yes, he actually was there although this picture is the only evidence) and David

Hannah and Grandma Gloria

Hannah and Grandpa Dennis

Hannah in the secret garden . . .

The entrance to the secret garden

Hannah acting as gate keeper at the entrance

The Italian gardens

For such a crazy start to our day, it ended up being so calm and serene.  Dallin slept the entire day (yeah, I knew he and I were going to have a party staying up all night after all that sleep) and Hannah loved exploring as much as we enjoyed walking and looking.  We will certainly go back.

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I’m not exactly known as a “super thoughty person” who always plans really cool stuff for birthdays, anniversaries, and other important events. (People like me for other reasons, like for shopping and fashion advice and every once in a while, someone actually appreciates my knowledge of useless celebrity facts). So this shouldn’t be a surprise to many of you, but two milestones worth mentioning went unmentioned.

The first was our 11th anniversary. It’s not that we didn’t celebrate, because we totally did by power shopping (which is my least favorite kind of shopping for the record) and getting a yummy shake at Iceburg. Fun, huh? It’s not that we didn’t want to celebrate, and it’s not that the 11th anniversary is lame, it’s more like WE’RE LAME. Dallin was home sick, (we had three doctor appointments that day, NOT KIDDING) and I just didn’t feel like leaving my 10 day old newborn for an entire evening. Especially since he was sick! Next year, I promise to celebrate better. Hear that David? Mark your calendar, because our 12th anniversary is going to be AWESOME!

One detail worth noting: I got my original wedding ring sized to fit me (it was like eight sizes too small). I haven’t worn it in about seven years (I’m embarrassed to admit this) and I’m glad to have it back on my finger.

Also, David had a birthday last week. Not a significant one (you know like, entering a new decade) but a birthday none the less. Too bad for David, his birthday was completely overshadowed by Hannah’s birthday party. He better get used to it right?

On his birthday, David gave me a hug and said, “I want to grow old with you.” And I was all, um, that already happened.

David bought himself a golf club (one he really wanted, or needed, or whatever) and told me it was his birthday present from me.

THANK YOU FOR GETTING ME OFF THE HOOK.

I know he loves this specific golf club, because he thanks me for it every time he comes home from playing golf. I just smile and and give him the look that says, I’m an awesome wife. I let you buy your own presents, and then allow  you to thank me for it. It’s kind of like saying, hey, I’M TOTALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUR NEEDS.

I’m pathetic. I’ll try harder next year.

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For those of your needing a baby fix . . .

Our little man Dallin likes to sleep. A lot.

Sometimes, all this sleeping makes him stinky. And we believe in personal hygiene . . .

He also likes to suck his thumb. A LOT. It’s darling now, but I would much prefer that he suck on a binkie. I’m not a fan of jacked up teeth, and if he keeps up with this habit, he will be on the fast track to owning JACKED UP TEETH.

But I agree, it is SO CUTE right now.

We sure do love this guy!

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Happy birthday Hannah! You are two years old today! We celebrated your birthday on Saturday (July 19th, which happens to be your daddy’s birthday) and we all had a wonderful time! You are such and angel, we love you so much!

As we were setting up for the party, you got VERY excited when you saw the balloons. You kept saying, “Happy birt-day party for Hannah?” And then you would squeal, “PARTY! FOR HANNAH!” You have never been to to a birthday party, so I’m not sure how you knew what all the fuss was about.

We set up an event tent and filled up your swimming pool and you went nuts. When Malaya arrived, you were both ready to hop into the pool with your clothes on.

You LOVE Nemo and marshmallows, so your birthday cake consisted of the two. YOU LOVED IT. It turned out to be a great “kid cake.” The adults ate your dad’s cake which was a rich silky chocolate cake.

Dallin was at your party as well. He is not much of a partier. He LOVES to sleep, and since he wasn’t feeling well (he caught a cold) he slept in his bouncer chair while you and your cousins partied.

You recieved several nice gifts from family and friends. You weren’t that excited about opening presents, and it was almost a chore to get you to focus on opening your gifts. You wanted to join your cousins, Malaya and Savannah, in the pool where they were playing. They weren’t interested in watching you open your gifts, and they started swimming instead. In this photo you are actually watching them swim and saying over and over again, “Go swimming? PEAS?”

After the exhausting task of opening all your gifts, you joined your cousins in the warm pool. (Thanks to your dad for making the water warm) On your left is Malaya, (AKA as “Alpha Toddler #1) and on your right is your cousin Savannah (You used to refer to her as FADANNAH! and she is AKA Alpha Toddler #2) The three of you had a wonderful time playing in the water. You were all so cute to watch!

Happy birthday Hannah! We love you!

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It’s a good thing we don’t have jobs because we wouldn’t be able to work and fit in all these doctor appointments! Almost every day for the past two weeks, one of us has had a doctor or dentist appointment. Today, Dallin went to the doc, I went to the OB for my post c-section check-up, and David had to go to the dentist. David and I both need some dental work done (living in the Caribbean for 2 1/2 years without dental care can certainly ring up a big bill for you) and honestly, all I want to say to the dentist and endodontist is: GET IN LINE. Everyone wants a piece of us (or more accurately, OUR CASH).

Did I mention I had a root canal done last week? Yes, LAST WEEK. The very week I had major surgery. FIVE DAYS AFTER BIRTHING A BABY. I absolutely had no choice, (other than cutting off my head, but then I couldn’t kiss my darling babies, or see them for that matter) and I HAD TO GET THE TOOTH TAKEN CARE OF. The endodontist was so nice, he gave up part of his Saturday morning to drill a hole in my tooth. I was SO HAPPY to be out of the mind numbing pain, I almost felt good about paying him $900 for ONE hour of his time.

But, secretly, I am kind of bummed that I had to spend $900 on a tooth. FOR MAINTENANCE. Honestly, I don’t have a problem spending that much money on any given Saturday, but it is sort of depressing to spend it on something you have to have done. You know, SO YOU DON’T DIE OF PAIN.

There are so many other things I would have liked to spend that money on, like a new SLR Camera, (Yes, we are still obsessed with Nikon cameras) a new post pregnancy wardrobe, a plane ticket to Hawaii, or a new piece of jewelry (hey, it is our 11th anniversary today). Hey, I wouldn’t even mind spending that money at the dentist for teeth whitening, or Invisalign. But for a root canal? There is no buyer satisfaction in that. In fact, I may even have buyer’s remorse.

Moving on . . . I went to the OB today for my post c-section check-up. The nurse was a little surprised to see David and me there. ALONE. WITH NO CHILDREN. I guess that probably did look weird. But Hannah was sleeping (not that we would have taken her anyway. How BORING for a toddler) and Dallin was sleeping and I didn’t want to expose him to nasty doctor’s office germs because I am a teeny, tiny, bit of a CLEAN FREAK at times. Please, don’t tell anyone. I checked out okay, and they nurse noticed I was in REGULAR jeans and she said, “Reguar Jeans? WOW! 10 days after major surgery? That is great!” And you know what? THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING AS I HEAVED MY FAVORITE JEANS ON OVER MY OVERWORKED POST PREGNANCY BELLY THIS MORNING. It’s nice when others notice. I have five pounds to loose to be at pre-pregnancy weight. This weight should not be confused with pre-Hannah weight. I have certainly have my work cut out for me in six weeks when I can start vigorous workouts again.

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It’s a good thing this shirt is made out of polyester. You know, the kind that never-wears-out-regardless-of-how-much-you-abuse-it. This is David’s “lucky shirt. He wore this shirt when Hannah was born, and said he planned to wear it when all of our kids were born. True to his word, here’s the proof:

This is David with Hannah shortly after her birth in 2006.

This is David and Dallin last week.

David has also worn this very-special-tourist-looking-shirt to other important events like the Kaplan exam (the last exam he had on Saba) at the end of last semester. He also wore this shirt three weeks ago when he took the United States Medical Licensing Exam - Step One.

One thing is for sure, this shirt will be in many more pictures in the future. We all better get used to seeing it.

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