HELP ME, PLEASE!

I need ideas. The new year is fast approaching and I need some help. Those who have known me for a long time are aware that each year I give up one type of food (just for the year; I start eating it again the next year). This tradition started when I was in high school and all my Catholic friends were giving something up for Lent. I decided to join in and gave up chocolate, and then I decided to just keep going until the end of the year. Thus the tradition was born. I love doing it because it reminds me that I have self-control.

I've been doing this for so many years that I'm running out of ideas though. So far, I've given up: chocolate, soda, candy, chips, ice cream, peanuts, donuts, cookies, yeast breads with 100% white flour (I was really running out of ideas!), M&M's... Can't remember every single one, but that's most of them.

So I need some ideas. It has to be something that is unhealthy and also a food that I would miss (i.e. I'd have a hard time giving it up). So not something like pork rinds since I don't like pork. Also, it can't be overly inconvenient to give it up--like sugar--I'd never be able to eat anything made outside my house...

Anyway, help me out, people!

Been Doing a Little Bit o' Yoga

I've always wanted to get into yoga. Really get into it. Especially after having Micah for a roommate. She is so centered, so healthy, so strong. Back in those days, I was always training for a marathon or triathlon, and one can only dedicate so much time to working out. I was already doing two workouts most days... Ah, the excuses! I did some prenatal yoga while I was pregnant with Squeak, but not often enough to really feel like I was getting into it.

So there's a new yoga studio nearby, and they were offering one week of free yoga. After about a month, D and I were able to figure out a time when he could be here almost every day so I could go for my free week. So I started going. WOW!! I was hooked after one class. I felt so energized! I felt such a connection between my body and my spirit. I felt so alive. I came home and D said, "Wow, what happened to you there?"

Sumits Yoga is a hot yoga studio. It's awesome! The room gets heated to between 102 and 105 degrees. It's like working out in a sauna. You're able to stretch more deeply because of the heat. They also use great music as part of the routine--very loud and with a strong beat during some parts, and more slow and meditative at other parts. I especially enjoyed the warrior sequence. I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try.

Squeak had a blast posing with me after I got home.

If you practice yoga, you'll notice that my warrior 1 and warrior 2 are kind of sloppy. Yeah, I've got some work to do!

All I want for Christmas is a 9-inch Zipper

This Mother's Day special is a bit old, but if you haven't seen it, you'll love it. "I'm not a woman anymore...I'm a mom!"

My Favorite Little People

Squeak has become quite maternal with her job as big sis!


The jury's still out about those eyes...


And that baby tub--Squeak thinks it's so fun to take a bath in it because it belongs to Pip.


Wrestling in the crib--it's the funnest part of bedtime!


Squeak was never in love with the Exersaucer as a baby--she got bored within a few minutes. But now she puts herself in it. I love how she's trying to spoon feed Pip from the Exersaucer.


Every day we thank the Lord for our fun, happy kids. They are such a delight! I'm grateful for the things I'm able to learn from them. Hopefully I can teach them a little something too.

"A little more of this, a little less of this..."

OUR awesome friend Travis sent this warning to D. He is such a wonderful friend to BOTH OF US. We laughed and laughed and laughed. It takes a few minutes to load, but it's a great one.

Para que sepan, I'm not a fan of diamond jewelry. Actually, one of my favorite gifts from D was a set of dumbbells. Just to make this fun, what is the least romantic gift you've received? My former boss told us he gave his wife a bathroom scale as part of the 12 days of Christmas--see if you can beat that!

Celebrating Physical Fitness

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is to celebrate physical fitness. For many years, I ran the International Thanksgiving 4-mile race (not sure how it got to be "international" in Orem, Utah, but that's what it's called). We decided to do one of the local hikes here in Phoenix this year, Squaw Peak. Loved it! We were especially grateful for our new hiking boots and the mostly-overcast day.

Our munchkins loved the ride

There's D with his 50-pound pack (about 30 pounds of Squeak, 10 pounds of backpack, and 10 pounds of water and other hiking essentials). My pack was only about 20 pounds.

It was a nice, challenging hike--kind of like doing a continuous stairmaster (1200 feet of climbing in 1.2 miles).

An Announcement

Just wanted everyone to know that I know that I'm a lazy blogger. And my kids don't like me sitting at a computer, so I try to avoid doing it when they're awake. And I've been using their naptime for other important things (although if you asked me what I've gotten done in the past month, I'm not sure I could tell you...)

Tagged: Six things that Make me Weird

Yeah, yeah, according to Ash, it's actually supposed to be "Six Quirks" but let's face it, we're all just dying to know how weird everyone else is. So, when my friend with OCD informed me that she'd tagged me, I thought (and even said aloud), "I don't really have any quirks..." and D was quick to exclaim, "The toilet paper roll--you always want it on a certain way!" OK, I have never told him how to put the toilet paper on; I guess he just picked up on the fact that I do like it a certain way. Whatever... Anyway, so after my initial denial, I realized, "Wait! I have lots of quirks! I am so weird that I have trouble seeing eye-to-eye with almost everyone!!" So here I am, in all of my weirdness:

1. I like the toilet paper roll with the end coming over the top, not under. The reason for this is very logical--if you use a one-handed-quick-rip to rip off a piece, it comes right off. When the toilet paper roll has the end coming underneath, you try and do a clean rip, and it causes the roll to unravel, thus making you use two hands to hold and rip, and then you have to re-roll the part that unraveled. What a waste of time!!

2. I like to sleep with covers over part of my body (mostly just my trunk), but I hate having my feet covered and prefer my arms out too. This is true whether it's 60 degrees or 80 degrees in my house. I also have the habit of putting a shirt or other soft piece of clothing over my eyes to block out any light, but I can't use those sleeping masks--they're too tight!

3. I choose a different path because I want to, not because I have to. That's right, I would use cloth diapers even if someone offered to buy my kids a lifetime supply of disposables. Natural birth was my choice--I paid out of pocket for my HypnoBirthing class because I wanted NO EPIDURAL for my births, even though insurance covered epidurals 100%. I carry my baby on my back (or front) because I love doing it (and my baby loves it too!). I make my own baby food because that ensures that he gets exactly what I put in it--pure food! No TV in our house because that's our preference. The unique path I have chosen might seem strange to most people, but it has been very rewarding to our family.

4. I don't like to cook. At all. But I make all our bread (sometimes D helps with that) and yogurt and pretty much everything else from scratch. WHY? Well, I look at the myriad of ingredients in processed (store-bought) foods and I think, "That can't be good." I also have trouble finding anything from the store that doesn't have either MSG or high-fructose corn syrup. Seriously, start reading labels and you'll see what I mean. At the moment, I'm totally unmotivated to cook anything, although I did make eight loaves of bread last night.

5. I can't stand having stuff on my kitchen floor. I go barefoot inside, so if there's anything on the floor, especially the kitchen floor, it really bugs me. I have to sweep it right away if I feel little particles on my feet.

6. I'm constantly editing things in my mind--whether it's a magazine or newspaper or book or website or blog, I am always finding little grammatical and spelling errors. They just "jump right off the page." This is no surprise to former co-workers. It's what I was trained to do. I also can't bear to write anything without re-reading and revising. Even a quick email. Or a blog post. I think I've already revised this one three times.


Who better to tag than anyone who has lived with me?? So I tag my family members and any former roommates, including mission companions.

Our Boy

What a prince!

Hiking in New England

We went on this beautiful hike in Connecticut. Not really, but our friends who took us said it reminded them of Connecticut in the fall. It was the Preston Valley Trail in Logan, UT. I loved the colors and picked up lots of leaves to press. We thought these photos would make lovely family Christmas photos, but if I'm not organized enough to send anything out, here we are!

Pip look so pensive in this shot!

We packed the kids on our backs and Squeak's backpack broke in two places on the way up. The first time D was able to rig a quick fix, but the second time we had to switch to the mei tai which I had luckily brought along.

I love the dribble on Pip's chin in this photo

This one shows the telltale Rocky Mountains in the background. What an awesome hike! I realized how out of shape I am as I was huffing and puffing up the mountain. We'd like to hike the Grand Canyon next summer--I better get my act together!

The Most Romantic Spanish Love Song

One of D's friend's emailed this music video from YouTube. I am so amazed by the lyrics, I just had to post it so other people could be amazed too. D is busy memorizing the song so he can sing it to me next Valentine's Day.

Why not TV?

Ooooh, how I love a little bit of controversy! I had no idea there were such strong feelings on this topic until I read my last post's comments. So I was kind of joking about the "I hope she recovers" bit, but I wasn't kidding when I said that too much TV at an early age leads to ADD/ADHD. Studies do say that because on the screen things are generally shown to be more fast-paced and more dynamic than real life, little children begin to expect their reality to be what they've seen on the screen. So when it comes time to sit still in a school setting and their teacher isn't zipping all over the classroom with color/environmental changes every nanosecond, the child is "bored."

I read those studies before I became a mother, and D and I decided it would be better for our kids if we could avoid TV exposure under the age of two (this was the age the studies cited as kind of the cut-off age for the results mentioned above, although I suspect attention problems could develop at any age if there was too much TV exposure). Then I had my firstborn. I noticed in her first few months how fascinated she was with the screen. I also noticed that she would not self-entertain. She didn't want to sit there and play with toys by herself, no matter how interesting the toy was or how often I switched toys. As a result, I spent most of my days doing everything with her. Sure, I could've given in and used the screen as a babysitter, and it would have left me free to do other things with my time, but guess what? She has learned to self-entertain! She has an active imagination and now she isn't very interested in the screen (although we're not totally in the clear as you may have noticed from her fixated gaze in the last post). What she needed was to experience REAL LIFE, so I gave her that gift despite the sacrifice of my own personal time. My second baby isn't nearly as interested in the screen as his sister was. I don't know that he needs the same "no TV before age two" rule, but I figure that it can't hurt to have him experience real life also, so that's what we do.

We don't have a TV in our house and I love it! D and I occasionally watch movies on the computer, but I've found that life is better when more of it's real. I don't know that things will always be this way--I've been very fortunate to have healthy pregnancies and births so I haven't yet needed to use the TV as a babysitter--but since we're currently able to live without a TV, we do.


A little P.S. (even though this isn't "script"):
"Where's the research?" This is what I say when I hear people claim, "Studies say..." When I first published this post, I didn't feel like finding an article to link to this, but I found this one today by googling "TV ADHD."

First Haircut (finally!) and DVD

The stars finally aligned themselves and I was able to cut Squeak's hair. D was the photographer, I was the stylist, and a Baby Einstein DVD (gasp!) was the distraction from the scissors. Yes, I am such a bad mother for letting my child watch a DVD, even with the knowledge that too much TV time for youngsters contributes to ADD/ADHD problems. We hope she recovers!

Here are some "after" shots
Squeak's pretty excited about her new 'do! We also think she looks even more like her dad (and his sisters) now that she has bangs.

Some "before" shots. She didn't inherit the hairy back from me!

Notice how fixated she is on the DVD. Yikes!

I had some trouble rearranging the photos. That is to say that after I uploaded the photos, I couldn't switch them around. Too bad!

Tagged--"What Makes You Happy?"

I am so excited about being tagged--this is an awesome tag! It's from one of my dear mission comps. I affectionately call her Hermana Barbie (did you know that, Darci??) because she's so beautiful and I was the Queen of Frump on my mission. We had a great time together. Here are the rules from her blog:

If you get tagged, you have to list 10 things that make you happy. What are the things that tickle your fancy, make you smile or still give you that butterfly sensation? What things do you seek out and truly enjoy? The only rule is that you can't say your kids or your spouse...it's too easy.

1. Returning to the Motherland, i.e. taking a trip to Panama. I long for the next moment when I can see the beautiful rainforest, walk along almost-deserted beaches, go birdwatching, hear the nighttime chorus of insects, and bask in a delicious tropical rainstorm.

2. Training for and completing a challenging race like an olympic-distance triathlon, a half-marathon, or a marathon. I'm planning on another birthday half-marathon in February. If you're interested, it's a great time to come to Phoenix!

3. Traveling anywhere outside the U.S. I love experiencing culture, which means I usually steer clear of tourist trap towns. I'd rather see people as they really are.

4. Being outside when the temp is not too hot and not too cold--hiking, camping, running, biking, etc. I'm all about the outdoors. And along those lines, here's another one: Rain. I love the smell, the feel of a good, hard rainstorm, and the accompanying thunder and lightning.

5. Being a finisher: I've been working on completing projects I've started (or meant to start) long ago and it's pretty satisfying.

6. Reliving my mission. I loved being a missionary, so when I talk about my mission or read my mission journal or look at mission photos, I really feel happy. I was in the middle of working on my mission scrapbook when I took a break and found out about this tag from my comp!

7. Finding a bargain. I'm such a sucker for a good deal. Part of that is out of necessity because of our current situation with D's tuition being $40,000+ per year. But really, I was a bargain-hunter before (it's a genetic trait passed on from my dad and grandma), and I'm sure I always will be. I just love showing D a bagful of stuff that I got for free!

8. Hearing about a positive, intervention-free birth experience. This is such a rarity these days, but I love hearing about natural birth from people. Also, teaching people how to have a positive natural birth. That's why I certified as a HypnoBirthing instructor--it really makes me happy to give people the tools they need to achieve natural birth with a smile.

9. Writing: I'm an avid journal writer, and I enjoy writing in general, including writing poetry. I have a hard time coming up with something good unless I'm truly relaxed and stress-free.

10. People: I'm definitely a people person. I enjoy being around other people, especially happy people.

So, now I tag Lauren, Susan, Cami, Aimee, Melinda, Brenda, Aneesa, Maria, and Meemer. What's up with all the girls on my list? OK, Lincoln, I'm tagging you too.

The No-Document Baby

Pip has started doing this funny tongue thing--he sticks his little tongue out all the time. It really cracks me up!

Pip rolled over onto this little basket and got it stuck on his big head. At first he was really frustrated, but when he noticed us laughing at his plight, he, too, decided it was funny.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE DOOR STOPPER!! It happened at about 12:30 one night. D was not amused (he was trying to go to sleep), but I was.

Fun times with feet!

I'm on hold right now with the Social Security office again. I'm working on getting some documentation for my baby. My (almost) eight-month-old baby. Because right now I have no documentation that this baby exists. No joke. I have no birth certificate, no social security number, no passport. Not even a blessing certificate. (We recently got our Church records transferred, and Pip was not included in our family.) I have spent many frustrating hours on this issue. I haven't yet filed 2007 taxes because I don't have an SSN for Pip. How did this come about?

I felt awesome after Pip was born and would've been thrilled to leave the hospital that very day, but they wouldn't discharge Pip (hospital policy requires that all newborns stay for 48 hours). By a stroke of luck, the next day was New Years and because of the holiday (and short-staffing, I imagine), they let us go after 24 hours, yippee! A few of the procedural things fell through the cracks though...like Pip's weight at the time of discharge (who cares??) and the form for the birth certificate (again, who cares, since we didn't have his name picked out anyway).

So two weeks later when we were sure about his name, I called the hospital birth recorder and asked for the form, which she sent, we filled out, and returned. A few weeks later I received a sample copy of what Pip's birth certificate would look like. Oops, it had a mistake on it! Apparently, no woman has ever kept her maiden name after she got married--well, the fact that I kept my maiden name is apparently too difficult for the forms or the county or the people typing in the info to handle, because my name on the form came out like this: First Middle Maiden Maiden Last. I IMMEDIATELY called to rectify the situation; supposedly it was corrected, and I waited to hear back, and nothing. I called again, explained, supposedly corrected the situation, waited, and nothing. And again. And again. Etc. And here I am again. I've spoken with the hospital birth recorder, vital records, and social security probably two dozen times. Wow, the incompetence astounds me!

But, hey, this post isn't about incompetence anyway. It's about the No-Document Baby. I just can't believe that he doesn't exist. I mean, I get to see his sweet smiles and hear his giggles every day. I get to watch him splash in the tub and laugh at his big sister. I get to listen to him coo and watch him bat his eyes at me. Who could ever believe that he doesn't exist?

I Married an Artist

Watching Ratatouille was like watching my husband and his sister in the kitchen. (Actually it's like watching all of my in-laws in the kitchen.) I never thought cooking was an artistic expression before, but now I see the light. It's not just about making delicious food (which is also a talent); it's about making beautiful and delicious food. D used to talk about the presentation and it was so funny to me. Now I can say that he's right; it does make a difference. Instead of handing me a peach, D slices and arranges the peach in such a way that it looks like a flower. A flower for dessert! The funny thing is, he does this naturally, without even thinking about it. It is something that makes my husband (and his whole family) truly endearing to me.

Wow, LOOK at that!
Fresh basil, tomatoes, zucchini, and broccoli with sauteed mushrooms and sundried tomatoes and homemade olives.
It really made me smile!

A flower of chips with an exotic dip for the breastfeeding first-time mama (see the boppy and Squeak's little ankle?)

Oh, how I LOVED this zucchini herb and cheese dish!

The aforementioned peach flower (look, there's the boppy again!)

This was D's birthday pie (he prefers pie, so I always make him a birthday pie). This is one of my most beautiful and delicious pies ever. Four years ago, it wouldn't have occurred to me to create this. See how much I've seen the light?

Babywearing 101

I thing it's really important to wear my babies as much as possible for as long as possible. Squeak is learning this important part of parenting from an early age. She likes to wear "Mo" because she sees me wearing Pip. What a gal!

I LOVE the mei tai D's mom made for us! Check out the tiger eyes!

Squeak loves having Mo in a sling

I have all kinds of babywearing accessories--front packs, backpacks, mei tai, sling, hiking backpack--but I'm mainly posting this to enter a contest for MORE babywearing accessories. You can enter too! Here's the link: Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)
http://www.alongfortheride.biz/contest-s/49.htm">

Freedom

We're in Tucson for a month. D got his first rotation down here because my brother and his fam live here and they knew of a family who was taking off for the summer and was cool with us staying in their house... We brought about six changes of clothes each and a few luxury items like the laptop (so D could study in his free time) and the double jogger (so I'd have a way to get the two kids around). Everything is suddenly so simple! I'm freed from all my STUFF in Phoenix, stuff that complicates my life and makes me too busy to really enjoy life. Maybe it's Tucson, maybe it's my newfound freedom, but I suddenly find myself enjoying life more in the past few weeks than I had in the past few years. I'm almost to the point that I could write poetry. I take the kids running almost every morning, followed by a little swim with La Squeak (the pool is just a few minutes away). I walk to the supermarket or Walgreens or my brother's house. We head out for a sunset walk at night and I've been reveling in the rainstorms typical of monsoon season here. We're still a one-car family so most days I don't have a car, but I don't even care. I love being outside and enjoying the beautiful weather and my kids' company. I love walking everywhere. I love not having to live with all my stuff. I almost feel like that moment in time when I was a jumper-clad 20-year-old in the Dominican Republic. Ahhh, to relive those days!

The Princess is Two!

I'm so good at doing late posts! I started this one almost a month ago and I still haven't posted it. The photos are out of order to make it more exciting! I didn't make Squeak a birthday cake this year because she was really constipated, so I decided to make a special "pan de mono" (whole wheat bread that looks--sort of--like a monkey) and serve it with fruit preserves. Mmm, lots of fiber and also very healthy. It was such a hit, I don't know if I'll ever make her a cake again!! She's STILL asking for "mas pan de mono" almost daily. What a girl!

Squeak on her Birth Day

A birthday run for La Squeak
(I LOVE the double jogger!!!)

Pip enjoyed the consumption of the "pan de mono" from the sidelines

Pan de mono
She was so excited about her monkey bread instead of a cake!

Baby Squeak

"Silla de Pip"

Family Hike

Squeak's Blessing

My baby turned two a month ago. She has brought us so much joy these past two years, and she has been a great companion for me. She is also a sweet big sister and she makes all of us (including Pip) giggle with her antics.

Here are some of her favorite things:

Favorite shape: estrella--she notices them everywhere and constantly points them out to me
Favorite color: azul! (I haven't had much luck teaching her most of the other colors because when I ask her what color somthing is, she almost always responds, "azul!")
Favorite food: banana, cheese, yogurt, peas, bread, milk, grapes, all fruits.... well, she loves food
Favorite thing to wear: it's a toss-up between her flip flops and her wild butterfly skirt
Favorite letter: "A"--she also notices them everywhere and constantly points them out to me
Favorite animals: mono, moma (mariposa), pajaro, gato, perro. She also likes hormigas (we've recently had an ant infestation and she squeals with delight when she sees one crawling across the table or floor)

Favorite little friend: Emma

Favorite toy: toys have almost no appeal when Mama's around, but she does enjoy her little kitchen, on loan from cousin Sara

Favorite book: probably Libro de Mono (that's "Hug" or "Good Night, Gorilla")

Favorite comfort object: "Mo"--that's what she named my Care Bear that I gave her for Christmas