wise words

"Never let a problem to be solved
become more important
than a person to be loved."
Thomas S. Monson

the weirdest thing

So I went out later this evening with a friend and when I came back, Sprout was already asleep. I got in bed about 11:50, and he started waking up. It had been about 3 hours since he last ate, so I expected him to be hungry. But he wouldn't latch on to nurse. Weird. He also was making these little "blowy" noises periodically. He didn't seem at all distressed, and he has been teething, so we thought maybe his teeth were bothering him and made him not want to nurse (though this has never been the case before.) I go down to get his teething drops and bring them up. He happily takes them, seems fine, but still no nursing. I check his diaper--he's damp but not very wet, but I decide to change him anyways. So I go change his diaper. Finally, we are in the hall and he makes his blowy noise again, and I think I see something in his mouth. I stick my finger in and fish around and I pull out a wrapper. What?? I smooth it out and look at it. It's a temporary tattoo wrapper from one of the kids' tattoos, a 2-ply plastic pouch about 1.5 inches sqaure. It had been in his mouth WHO KNOWS how long, but he'd slept with it in his mouth! He wasn't at all bothered by it, apparently. I'm very thankful that he didn't swallow it. Now I'm wondering if he'll be another orally fixated infant/toddler like his brother was. Spud ALWAYS stuck stuff in his mouth, but NEVER choked on anything, and only once swallowed something (a tiny metal marble that was only found because I dumped out the diaper [we use cloth diapers] in the toilet and I heard a "plink"). We actually gave up trying to stop him from doing it, and opted to just watch him closely. Crazy boys.

still cute

What a relief, huh?

I don't know if it is just because I'm busier with 3 than I was with 2 or 1, or if it is just because I'm older, but the 7 1/2 months of Sprout's life have flown by. He's starting to crawl and I'm excited to see him learn new things, but part of me wishes I could slow everything down.
He continues to be an amazingly happy little guy. He loves to play with everything. His top 2 incisors are about ready to come through, so he is extra drooly, and he loves to stick his tongue out all the time. And he is so fun to hug! I think that's one definite advantage of big babies--they are big enough to really squeeze!

baby + cat toy

= happy, content, self-entertaining baby.

Yes, I did take pictures but I'll have to upload them later.

Happy Birthday (yesterday) David!

It was a pretty low-key day. We actually didn't get around to having cake until this morning. We put all the candles we had on the cake, and it wasn't close to 32, but I think it accomplished the same purpose (looking festive and enabling The Wish).

I am so grateful for David. One of my favorite things about him back when we were dating was how much fun we can have together. I remember driving along University Avenue (I think we were going to a movie at the theater up by the Riverwoods) and we were just having a great time being ridiculous in the car. I told him that I felt just as comfortable with him as I ever had with any of my girl friends, which was a new experience for me. We had (and still have!) romance and passion during our courtship, but the foundation of our relationship has always been friendship, and that friendship has largely been built on fun. He still makes me laugh (a lot) and I still make him laugh.

When we first got to know each other (on the airplane trip down to Brazil), neither one of us could sleep and most other people on the plane were asleep or at least dozing. The lights were dim/off (you know how they do that on airplanes at "night") and it was even more annoying to be awake. We were sitting in the back of the plane, so people had to walk by on their way to the bathrooms. We put the mini pillowcases on our heads (a la chef's hats) and started doing dances in our seats, and possibly lip-synching to our head phones. Did I mention we were very tired?

So, Happy Birthday my Love! You are 32 years AWESOME!

crikey!

More than a week with no fabulous musings from the mind of Mindy? How doth one survive?

Seriously, this is my life: Get up (not as early as I need to). Do some household chores (not as many as I need to). Have breakfast with the kids and David & get ready. Have devotional with the kids & David. Start school with the kids. Do various school stuff until early/mid-afternoon. Do more chores or some work (photography stuff) on the computer. Have dinner with family. Get kids in bed. Prep homeschool for the next day/do chores/study scriptures with David. Go to bed. Repeat.

I am enjoying most everything we are doing, but the routine really wears me down. I have never been one who enjoys a routine, so I am trying to come up with things that will add a bit of fun variety to the days and weeks. Theoretically, I understand that routines are good and productive, but I sometimes can't wrap my heart around one. Oh well! Tomorrow (if the weather cooperates) we are going to start off our homeschool day with a walk on the river trail. Should be nice.

I think the other part of the routine that gets to me presently is that no matter how nice the routine is, babies haven't read the memo! I'm not a fan of trying to schedule babies exactly with naps and feedings, so I guess it's my own choice, but it is hard to try and get things done with an adorable little ball of chaos around. Who knows when he will feel sleepy, cranky, be teething, have an "explod-o-poo" diaper, stay up really late (and causing you to sleep in the next morning), get sick, etcetera etcetera. But such is life. And it's good. I need to cultivate the art of finding happiness and joy during the busy, full days as well as on the more relaxed days. Just now, as I was typing that, I realized my shoulders were all hunched up. Do all moms feel that "burden" on their shoulders all the time, that makes you feel like there is something else to do and makes it so hard to "enjoy the now" for more than five minutes? Is there a solution? Would love to hear your thoughts on this....

who doesn't like free?

Free food from Schwan's! clicky-clicky

the fruitiest post

I just had to take a picture of some of the nectarines from our tree, and I ended up taking pictures of other fruit around the kitchen as well. The nectarines aren't as big as they were two years ago, but last year we had none, so it's a vast improvement. And. despite their small size, they are juicy and delicious. David and Noodle hand pollinated this year since it was too cold in the early spring for the natural pollinators.