A Few Things

Last night at Family Home Evening, my mother-in-law told me that once when she was watching Ethan, there was another little boy over at her house. He's about a month younger than Ethan. Anyway, she had a couple of hot wheels she'd recently bought, and she brought them out for the boys to play with. The other little boy played with his car as most kids do, "driving" it around the floor. But she said that all Ethan wanted to do was fit it back in the package. :) That's my boy. He's very interested in how things work together. Take it out, put it back in. Twist it off, twist it on. Flip the switch. Spin the wheels. Figure out the flip top.  Stir the spoon. Take it apart, put it together.

So far this week, I've pretty well beaten the haze. I've been much more productive, and much more satisfied. Gotta keep chippin' at that to-do list. I've been focusing on Ethan's sleep again the past couple weeks, and it's paying off. We're establishing a rhythm here, and it's very helpful. I tried some of the same things several months ago, but I guess he's just more ready for it now because it's working better. And I've had a few nights of better sleep too. Also very helpful.

Since I felt pretty on top of housework, today I decided to do a little sewing. Most of Ethan's clothes are previously loved. My sister Lisa gave us some jeans that Ethan's been wearing for a little while now. (Thanks again!) One of the pairs was really baggy in the bum, and the snaps kept coming undone.  I don't like to bother with the snaps anyway, so I just sewed along the inside of the legs and took a bigger seam up by the bum. It turned out pretty wonky the first time, so I had to do some unpicking and try again. Much better results the second time, but the crotch area still looked a little funny. Since I'm not a seamstress and I didn't really know how to fix it, I called it good enough and finished it off. I decided they still look better than they did before since they fit him better now.

Over the weekend, we finished our taxes. (Hooray!) I also finished the series of books I mentioned I was reading last week. It was a pretty good series. The author isn't mormon, but she is Christian and the overriding theme is how people get through their trials by relying on God. It made me want to do as Elder Scott advised us last conference and make the scriptures my friends by learning them by heart.

Backlog 9

Here's the beginning of Day 2 of our reunion.

Lamanites

Just before Primary today, the Primary President found me and told me that the Bishopric had just asked for the kids to sing "Book of Mormon Stories" in sacrament meeting next week. I was a little worried about it because we haven't sung it this year and we have new kids. Well, as we were going through the second verse, I stopped and asked the junior primary kids if they knew what "Lamanites met others who were seeking liberty" meant. One little boy answered, "It means they were spying on the ones who were doing liberty!"

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One of the stories Terral's family likes to tell is of a Family Home Evening when Jaymon and McKade were teaching the lesson. They were pretty young at the time and had decided to use sock puppets to portray Nephi and his brothers getting the gold plates. At one point Nephi (Jaymon) had to rebuke Laman (McKade).  Jaymon's version of rebuking is now oft repeated. "You. . .you. . .LA-MA-NITE!"

Tax Day

We've been doing taxes pretty much all day. Oh, the joys of being self-employed! I think after this we're going to cave and hire an accountant.

Lazy

All week I've been half-heartedly fighting it. It seemed to gain strength as I weakened, and today my lack of motivation pretty well got the better of me. I don't really know if lack of motivation is really the best description. There's kind of a haze that's settled in my brain, and it keeps me from thinking clearly about what needs doing and how best to do it. Adding to the problem is the fact that a book that I've been on the waiting list for became available this week, and I was already in the middle of a series. So whenever I have a moment when I think, "Okay, what should I be doing now?" the books seem so willing to fill up my time.

I think the haze would start to clear up if I could sleep better. Ethan has been doing much better and we've been getting into much more consistent routine *fingers crossed*. But the quality of my sleep still just stinks. I wake up sore all the time. And that's really frustrating because we just bought our mattress last year. I will never again buy a mattress while pregnant.

Looking on the bright side, in spite of the motivation-less haze that's been haunting me, I have managed to accomplish some things every day that help me to feel I'm not a lost cause. Today I went grocery shopping, did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and. . .hmm. . . I swear there was something else. Shoot. Oh yeah! I crossed off a couple of items that have been weighing down my to-do list for quite some time. That felt good. I also read (quite a bit), played with Ethan, fed Ethan, changed Ethan, and well, you get the picture. All that mommy stuff.

Well, now that I write it all out, it doesn't sound so bad.  I just felt so dang lazy for most of the day. Thanks for this chat today, blog. I feel a little better now.

And in any case, tomorrow is a new day. 

Hairdo and Sillies

Terral made cinnamon molasses waffles for dinner yesterday, and we ate them topped with yogurt. Ethan loved them. He got a little creative with his yogurty fingers and used them to try a new hairstyle. I'm not one for fauxhawkes in general, but I thought this one was pretty cute.

 

Later, he pulled one of his diapers out of the dryer and came into the living room with it on his head, laughing because he knew he was being funny.

Then this morning he came in wearing this "cape". He found my nursing cover and put it on.  He even put his arm through the neck hole.  So funny! This kid never ceases to amaze me.

Speaking of him amazing me, Ethan's latest trick is pointing to your nose when you ask him where it is. It's so exciting to see his communication and understanding increase. Here are some of the words he's said so far: more (he hasn't said this one for a while—it's been replaced by pointing) backpack, vacuum, breakfast, bath time (these four all sound very similar) diaper (added just yesterday), yuck, and two phrases: "What is it?" and "I did it!"

Ethan is at such a fun age right now. His personality is coming through more and more.  He loves to be silly, which is not too surprising when you consider who his parents are. He loves "scaring" us and playing the chasing game.  He's fascinated by the vacuum, and it cracks me up every time I turn it on because he jumps so much. I swear he likes the adrenaline rush. He runs away at first, but then follows me around watching it intently. He also points at it and smiles. Even when it's off, he'll sidle up to it, touch it, and back away quickly.  It's like he's daring himself to touch it. It will be interesting to see what activities he's drawn to as he gets older.  Note to self: make sure Terral teaches him to *get his dumb out the safe way.

*Terral has a theory about this. I'll have to get him to explain it to y'all sometime.

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Day One of our summer Reunion.