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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Since having children, I have become more of a home-body.  Let’s just be honest here; it’s entirely too much work to get up in the morning and shower off the previous days’ nastiness, paint on a face, and wear something clean and decent.  When it comes down to 15 minutes of mommy free time, the last thing I want to waste that precious time on is doing my make-up or blow drying my hair.  Because of this attitude,  I know I have to make a conscious effort to socialize my kid, and GET OUT OF THE HOUSE by manually inserting us in public.

This is why we go to “THE POINT!” every Tuesday.  The first time we went to Thanksgiving Point, we ran into four good friends that we hadn’t seen in a few years.  This week, I ran into my good friend Melissa (who I nick-named “Mel-messa” because she is an organizational mess.  But that isn’t the point here . . .) who I hadn’t seen in almost seven years!  She and I were in the Days of ‘47 Royalty together 12 years ago (oh my, did I just write that? YIKES!  We’re getting old!) and we spent the entire summer of ‘96 together.  We did many crazy things, (she tried to set me up with her her future husband who is now an Ophthalmologist because she thought he was a great guy and “didn’t want to waste him”) like almost driving off the freeway (yes, I was driving, and if my mom reads this, then this will be new information to her) and traveling back East together visiting Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

She is as beautiful and tiny as ever, just as I remembered her.  She was also just as organized . . . she pulled out a grocery receipt to write down my email.  (Hey, I’m not saying I wouldn’t do the same, I just happened to have my address book with me.)

Let me tell you something, AM I EVER GLAD I DECIDED TO SHOWER AND PUT ON MAKE-UP that day.  Not that she would have cared, but it is nice to look decent when you see old friends.

It’s kind of like saying, “Hey, I’m a mom, AND I have personal hygiene.  That makes me successful, right?”

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There are 10 kids in my family, all from the same two parents (yes, that means no step or half siblings) who will celebrate their 48th wedding anniversary next month.  We are all married with children, except for Brian, my twin.  Getting all of us together is a huge undertaking since we all have families of our own, and some members of the family live out of the state of Utah.

Two of my sisters, Rachelle and Ang, planned a family reunion up at Bear Lake which is on the Utah/Idaho state line.  Originally, David and I hadn’t planned to attend, but our schedules were worked around and we were able to go.  This only posed a tiny problem . . .

See, my very organized sister Rachelle, rented a Lake House that would accommodate all the families that planned to attend the reunion.  And since David and I kind of decided to attend at the last minute . . . well . . . let’s just say that we were one bedroom shy of perfect accommodations.

My mom rented another condo down the street for my family to stay in so we would have a nice place to sleep.  On the afternoon of our arrival, she checked in to the condo for us and brought back the key.  With a very stressed out look on her face, she proceeded to tell me about the condo.  The unfinished furniture . . . uncomfortable chairs, tiny room, nasty wall paper, etc.  Knowing full well that I might have a gasping-for-air moment the second I stepped foot into the condo, she was positive we couldn’t stay there.  (I totally agreed.  If she thought it was bad, then so would I.  The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.)

In an effort to accommodate us, she asked my bachelor twin if he would give up his room and take the condo instead.  He graciously agreed. I owe him BIG time for that.

(this is my twin, Brian, making his very late grand arrival to the lake)

Poor Brian, the bed was so terrible and nasty, he slept on the couch, which was also nasty.  David mentioned how the place must have really been sub-par if a single guy wouldn’t sleep on the bed.  But then I had to remind him that this was Brian we were talking about.  You see, Brian isn’t just any old bachelor.  This is a guy who is more persnickety than I am.  He lives in Provo’s version of high-rise downtown condos, drives a black BMW, and his condo looks like a model home.  He even took the time to change all the lights in his condo to soft lighting.  It’s the artist in him.  It’s things like this that make the chicks dig him.

Aside from the sleeping arrangement drama, we had a wonderful time at the reunion.  I have 22 nieces and nephews, so the house was certainly busy with activity.  Hannah LOVED every second of it.  She mostly loves kids (of all ages) and all of her cousins were vying for her attention.

This is the Bear Lake in Idaho.  The silhouettes in the picture are my sister’s-in-law and some nieces and nephews.

This is my sister Rachelle playing with Hannah.  Hannah LOVES Rachelle and Rachelle LOVES Hannah. She tells me all the time that she needs a “Hannah Fix.”  I’m sure glad she played with Hannah in the mud because heaven knows I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO THAT.

This is Hannah with her cousin Becky (who is now 18) and Ammon.

Rachelle and Brent brought their sail boat.  I didn’t sail, but David said it was awesome.

This is my brother Ben.  This is one of his classic looks.  You may not be able to tell here, but he is actually having a great time.  He brought up a boat for our enjoyment.  David went water-skiing, and said it was awesome, but kind of like skiing on the ocean.

This of course is Hannah.  She thinks she is the same size as all the big kids.  She tried really, really, hard to boogie board, but her only success was looking cute while trying.

We had a great time and we wish we could do things like this more often as a family.  Our time in Utah is running short, and it was so nice to squeeze in some family vacation time.

Thanks Rachelle and Ang for organizing this, and working out all the details for all 32 of us.

Thank you mom for understanding my standards and making other sleeping arrangements.

Thank you Brian for taking the bullet.  I owe you.  If I made you a cake, would that make it up to you?

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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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Happy Pioneer Day, Utah! (For those of you who are not familiar with “Utah Pioneer Day”, just know that it’s a state holiday, celebrating the day the Utah Pioneers crossed the plains and settled in Utah. This holiday is as big as the 4th of July around here . . .) To celebrate, we lit some sparklers.

I know, we are such party animals.

We had to light the sparklers while it was still light outside so Hannah could enjoy them. Hannah turns into a pumpkin around 7:00 PM, so waiting to light these suckers in the dark was just not an option. Seriously, the sun doesn’t set until 9:30 PM around here. (Isn’t David handsome? I sure think so . . .)

Hannah only had to be told to HOLD THE SPARKLERS OUT IN FRONT OF HER (and not directly at David) 1,298 times.

She sure had a great time. In case you were wondering why she is modeling so many hair clips . . . All I have to say is SHE IS TWO YEARS OLD. SHE WANTED TO WEAR THEM. ALL OF THEM. Need I say more?

Earlier today, I celebrated by leaving the house ALL BY MYSELF to go shopping. I made some great purchases, and found much more to buy than I anticipated. (What can I say? I’m an expert shopper!)

One purchase is worth mentioning, because it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Well, it will change the way you feel in your own skin, which will make you feel better about your body.

SPANKS. Every woman needs a pair. No, every woman needs two or three pairs (you know, one to wear, one to wash, and one to rest). You will automatically lose inches around your waist and they are SO COMFORTABLE. I used to carry these at our Bridal store and I would sell them to every bride. They tighten you in all the right places. They are wonderful. So wonderful, that I didn’t even feel crappy about paying full price for them (I no longer have the luxury of buying them at cost since I no longer own a business). Plus, Nordstrom is offering them at 25% off right now during their half yearly sale. GO. BUY THEM. You’ll be emailing me with how much you love them. I recommend the “Higher Power Spanks.”

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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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I would like to point out the obvious right now. I AM NO LONGER PREGNANT. This fact alone has increased the quality of my life by at least 100%. I now have a beautiful baby boy named Dallin, and this fact has increased the quality of my life by at least a million percent. He is a doll. I am so in love with him. This is crazy, (and trust me, I know this next statement is crazy) but right after I have a baby, I want another one. Insane? Yes. So even though I HATE pregnancy (many of you have read about my pregnancy complaints so you know I TRULY DO NOT LOVE being pregnant) the final product is SO WORTH IT. In fact, I think I have forgotten all about my pregnancy ailments.

This delivery was pretty uneventful (especially compared to Hannah’s birth). I experienced no labor, (I highly recommend this) and I arrived at the hospital last Monday morning at 38 weeks pregnant for my scheduled c-section. At 8:36 am, I delivered Dallin who weighed in at 9 pounds 12 ounces. He was a tank, and I can only imagine how big he would have been if we waited two more weeks to deliver him on his due date!

When the doctor pulled Dallin out, I literally yelled, “Oh my gosh! I’m no longer pregnant!” Yes, I was THAT HAPPY ABOUT IT.

This is my beautiful son just moments out of my belly.

My recovery from this birth has been smooth. It has been SO MUCH EASIER to recover from this delivery than Hannah’s. It is amazing how much easier it is for your body to recover from major surgery when you haven’t gone through labor first. The hospital staff was wonderful, and having a baby in the USA was much more posh than my experience of giving birth to Hannah in the Caribbean.

I have had a very laid back week of recovering, and enjoying the company of friends and family who have come by to see our new addition. Hannah is absolutely in love with Dallin (much to our relief) and she always asks to kiss and hold him.

Here are some pictures from the week:

I am so glad to be home. I am up and around, and sometimes I actually get out of the house and take my kids on a walk. We love this little guy and Hannah so much. It’s hard to remember back to when David and I didn’t have them in our lives.

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Our new little man has arrived! Check him out here.

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