What I wish I was great at

A little while back, well 8 months ago, I posted a list of things that would be fun to write down for posterity.  My dad is turning 60 in two weeks and I just realize that, while I know a lot about him, there are a lot of funny stories that I don't know, and quirks I don't know the back story of, etc.  So in an effort to not have that happen with my children, back to this list.  I'm not doing them in order, so this is just the first that strikes my fancy.

So this one is to explain what I wish I was great at.  Uh.  Easy.  Hip Hop Dancing.  Like hands down.  I religiously watch So You Think You Can Dance, which I affectionately call SYTYCD and I just wish I could hip hop dance.  The other dancing is pretty, yeah, and makes people cry, but I really just want to be able to shake my hips.  NOT in the twerking sense of the word, let's get that straight.  But like, good, popping, hip hop dancing.  I even took a class back when I was in Ann Arbor with a friend.  A free community hip hop class.  I only made it two classes before we both decided that we be too white for that.  So... my dream died.  But I still fake it along with SYTYCD and I occasionally have dreams when I'm a good dancer.  I wish they were reality.  It would complete me.

18 Months

So.  I admit it.  I've been a little of a failure at blogging recently.  Well a little more than recently, we'll try the last two years.  BUT!  I would like to be better, because I would like to share more about my little baby's life with the people that I love and care about.  Plus we all know my baby smarter than yo' baby!

But really though.  Look at this little face:

Back on track though.  I was thinking a good way to get back into this blogging this is to post little updates on our little family now and then!

So here we go.  Since most of my life is about Ryan, and honestly the most changes, we'll begin with him.

My goodness the boy is 18 months old!  That means he's started nursery at our church and, it took three weeks, but last week he went all by himself the whole time and had fun!  The first few weeks he was good for about half the time then decided that it was a little risky and that other children are basically untrustworthy.  But we're warming up to them and trying not to hit too much.  Yeah, he's a hitter.  But he mostly hits out of excitement so that makes it better right?  He also loves to throw things.  And if he gets angry he will, with forethought and calculation, look around for what he can throw that will do the most damage.  Too smart for his own good.  His grandma just told me today that he will now, knock over the kitchen chairs, drag one over to the kitchen counter, stand the chair back up, and then climb up on to the counter.  I thought problem solving came later???  He loves animals, especially the many dogs and horses that are our immediate neighbors.  He needs to feed the horses carrots quite often, he opens the fridge and gets the carrots out, then comes and grabs your hand to take you to the door.  He has an array of animal noises, including the normal dog, cat and pig, and also, rabbits.  He's just beginning (in the past few weeks) to talk a lot and he will mimic pretty much anything you say.  He says lots of things pretty clearly, including drink and ba-ba, for bottle.  He has also started saying "ow" which is about the cutest thing I have ever seen.  He even makes a sad face when he says it.  I'm going to film it but I haven't yet.  He is the epitome of a wild child, very often making me tired just looking at him and watching him run around and yell and scream and wrestle with daddy.  He is also fascinated with bugs.  As you can see from the pictures he just loves them all.  And as we have a situation bordering on plague status with all the grasshoppers around our house, he has lots of opportunities to pet them and chase them.  And last but not least, he has mastered the fact that if he's too scared to touch something, grabbing mom's finger and having her touch it is an excellent litmus test for how dangerous it actually is.

Andrew and I are good, but just as boring as ever.  We just go to work and go to school and chase Ryan around.  But we're good!  And really liking this marriage/family thing, most the time :).  I've read so many of these articles that friends have posted on facebook about how to be happy, and you didn't really love your husband when you married him, and how to be the perfect parent.  And basically I disagree with 80% of all them...  But I don't post any of those opinions on facebook because I don't want my friends to hate me haha.  If you want my opinion I'll always be happy to give it, especially on those three subjects... but let's not ruin a happy moment :).  I'll just end with more pictures!!

I did something...

So I did something today.  But it started yesterday.  Yesterday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

First I (after being warned) tried to go up my parents driveway in the snow.  Well it didn't work, I slid back down, hit my dad's gate post, and completely destroyed my side mirror.  Like it's gone.  Like "hey that's a pretty ghetto looking car" type of gone.  It's very disappointing.  What was more disappointing was my trepidation at telling my dad that I hit his gate post.  Before you worry about my safety (because I did), the gate post has no damage.  Like a scratch that's an inch long and that's it, kind of damage.  But still, not a good way to start off the day.  Then nothing was working correctly at work, and to top it all off my baby had to go to the doctor where we found out he had a mild case of croup and a double ear infection!

Anyway, not an awesome day.  So today we went to Target where I got to spend my Christmas gift card on stuff only for me!  Well.  Here's where it gets iffy.  First, I'm not a fashionable, bold person.  I wish I was.  I think about the outfits I would wear and how cute they would look, but I'm just not that brave.  I'm the, 'showers faster than my husband', pulls my hair up every day, prefers black slimming shirts kind of a girl.  But I took a chance.

I bought colored jeans.

They still have the tag on them though, so they could go back to the store.  We'll see.  I haven't even had the courage to try them on yet.

But in other news, my son, the extreme flirt, has a new method for reelin' in the ladies.  When he's showing off he makes this face (dubbed by his father as his "sexy face"):

Who could resist this face?!

Way more than 30 Things my Kids should know about Me

I like to read random blogs when I find them on Pinterest.  One I found lately put into words my thoughts on why you keep a blog or why you write a journal (both of which I do, not with extreme regularity, but... that's not relevant).  I write them as if my children or grandchildren or anyone would like to know about me later on down the road.  I try to explain my motivations, talk only about the interesting things in life (sometimes haha) and share lessons I've learned.  So I came across this list and I thought it was pretty good!  It's 30 things that your kids should, or probably more likely, just might find interesting about me.  I figured I would do a blog post for each one.  But here's the list.  Some look far more challenging than others... but it should be an interesting journey for me and whoever reads it.

1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your spouse.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
6. If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrassing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. What’s the hardest part of growing up?
14. Describe 5 and weaknesses strengths you have.
15. Describe when you knew your spouse was the one or how I fell in love.
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What do you think your spouse loves most about you?
19. How did you feel the moment you became a parent?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood
21. Describe your relationship with your parents.
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. What’s your favorite holiday and why?
24. What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about parenthood?
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What’s your favorite quality in your spouse?
29. What are your hopes and dreams for your prosperity?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

I'll try and link to them when I finish each one!

A Week(end) in the life of Ryan

If you were to look in the window of my little life on any given Saturday (did you like that reference?) here is what you'd see:

First I have to amuse myself while mom and dad do something in the kitchen.  Whatever it was it must have been important because they didn't notice me over here planning to use the oven.  I almost made it too.

Come to find out they were making waffles!!!  And they made me my very own little waffle.  This is the first time I've had waffles.

They were pretty tasty!

After breakfast mom started some sewing project and completely ignored me.  Well not enough to let me go out the doggy door but that's beside the point.  So I just stood at the window watching the sleet come down.  I thought it was hail but I was quickly corrected by grandpa and schooled in the difference between sleet and hail.  Turns out it comes down to the shape of the particle.  But that's a lesson for another day.

 Then mom told me we needed to go to Costco.  Initially I was resistant because I wasn't jazzed about going in the car seat.  But once we got there I saw tons of people to watch.  So as we walked around I could just sit back on my throne and observe.  Pretty good subjects on a Saturday afternoon.

After we got home it was time to play with Daddy!!  One of my favorite things to do.

I guess I tired him out though...  I tried to wake him up but he was snoring.

Daddy tickles in his sleep though!!  He got me totally unprepared.

Bath time - perhaps my favorite time of day - was especially good because I got bubble bath!  AND TWO NEW DUCKIES!!

Then it was time for pj's, a story from my "boys only" storybook, scriptures, prayer, and bed.  All in all a pretty quality day.

On Sunday morning there was this new stuff on the ground.  Not sleet or hail, it was snow!  Dad told me I'd seen it before but I don't remember.  They put me down in it and I was baffled.  Why was I here and what is this stuff on my hands?

Well then it got cold and that just wasn't cool!!

 Then the rest of the day was just chillin' at church looking so handsome and yet relaxed at the same time.  It's a hard balance to pull sometimes.

And there you have it!!  Pretty cool huh?!  You want my life.

(BTW this is me clapping obvi)

What's Really Important Here

Have you ever really thought about the sheer magnitude of things you should be doing with your life?  I know most people don't obsessively list like I do, but even then, there's lots of reminders about the many things you should be doing to enrich your obviously lacking life.  Just take a look at pinterest sometime if you don't believe me.  Fastest way to feel like an underachiever, trust me.

Here's just a sampling of the things that could be on the list:  Maybe you have a job for ten hours a day, not including travel time.  Maybe you don't have a "job" but you've got a gaggle of children at home to watch, ensure they eat, grow, learn, becoming functioning members of society  (I fully subscribe that this is a job and would never assert that these people have "never worked a day in their lives" as some others might believe).  Maybe you have both those things.  Maybe... you want to lose that 75lbs of baby weight you gained when you had said gaggle of children (may or may not be an estimate of what I actually gained) so you want to work out at least once a month, give or take.  You may have some aspirations of sleep every once in a while.  You may also be taking graduate classes (although why is BEYOND me, psh PhD, who needs one).  You may even have hobbies you would like to persue to stave off psychological breakdowns, for me this includes photography, crafting, hiking, and soccer.  Other things that cross my mind occassionly are scripture study, prayer, writing in my/my son's journal, updating his baby book since he grows so fast, etc.  ALSO there's actually playing with said son in the three hours he may be awake after I get home from work, talking to my husband, OH and cleaning my house!  (Cleaning may sound superflous when in this context but it's actually something I really need for my sanity)  Forget eating actual meals.

Also those stupid pins on pinterest of the six-pack-ab girl telling me that an hour workout is only 4% of my day.  You know what I say to you?  Nothing because I just punched you and my computer screen in the face.

Faced with this list, I think about the things I really want to do (after my bebe has gone to sleep of course):  Watch So You Think You Can Dance and White Collar.

I'm sure there are people out there who are better at prioritizing then I am.  They probably do all these things and think it's ridiculous that someone could even think this is a lot!  Well to them I say, nothing.  Good for you.  But anyway, this is an incredibly long build up to the fact that I'm going to try and begin blogging regularly again.  Maybe one day my children will want more from their childhood than their memories, my journal, their journal, and the probable millions of pictures I've taken of them.  It's possible.  I mean who knows, kids these days are never satisfied.  (So many tangents on parenting that I could go off on here but I'm having a little self restraint).

Basically I look at this little mug every day:

And I feel a great need to do all of these things, and do them well, so that he can have everything he needs for the rest of time.  No pressure.

Well here we go.

Cheers to reaching as high as possible!  I think my high school motto for the year I graduated was, "Shoot for the stars, because even if you miss you land among stars."  Or something equally cheesy.  Here's to that :).

5 Weeks

It's strange being pregnant and then having a small baby because you measure you life in weeks.  15 weeks pregnant: you're out of the first trimester!  20 weeks: you can know the gender.  32 weeks: your baby would survive if born.  38 weeks: full term - have the baby already!

Then after they're born it's a weekly, almost daily change, in the things they can do.  My baby sneezed 5 times in a row just now and then smiled at me.  He's five weeks old yesterday and he's changed so much.  And I take so many pictures I just need to share some :)

Three days old

Week and a half old

Three weeks old

One Month Old!!  Look at that little belly :)