Galleria Mall

We went to the mall to hear the Sacramento Choir break into the Hallelujah Chorus as a Christmas flash mob. We thought we were just some people who knew someone. Nope. A good portion of Roseville showed up to listen. There were 5000 people shoved into the food court. Something like 50 people called 911 to say they could hear the floor cracking and shifting. I took this video about 10 minutes before the mall was evacuated by the fire department. We never got to hear the Hallelujah chorus. =(

Sweet guy

Yesterday, Caleb and I had a cute conversation. It went something like this.

Caleb: "mommy can I have some m&ms?"

Me: "nope!"

Caleb: "but you always say yes!"

Me: "well I'm saying no."

Caleb: "but...but... But you're the sweet guy and daddy's the mad guy!"

I laughed so hard. What a booger he is to try to work us already.
Ps. I'm definitely the mad guy, they just don't care. They only pay attention when kyle's upset.

They're getting Nuttin' for Christmas!

I don't claim to have perfect children. They are, after all, all boys. Generally, I consider them pretty well behaved. Adam always listens when you tell him to do something. Caleb... well he whines and cries. Still, they don't have any major disciple problems. Even their mischievous i-know-this-is-wrong-but-i'm-gonna-do-it-anyway moments are pretty tame. So, when I tell you my story, keep in mind that for them, this is about the worst thing they've purposely done.
It starts in the bathtub, as trouble often does. They bathe together and I let them play till they get nice and raisin-y. I check on them occasionally, but I can hear them from my room, so I don't worry too much.
They are bathing, having a grand old time. I go downstairs for 2 minutes to sweep the kitchen floor. Dust pan in hand, I hear a pitter-patter from above. Thinking Levi had miraculously grown muscles and coordination, I went to check the noise. I see one, two flashes of flesh. I'm not nearly as alarmed by that as by the things in their hands. What do they have?
Giggles are coming from the bathroom. Giggles, and an awful lot of splashing. I round the corner and they come into view. Both are now laying down in the bathtub, with blankets, pillows, toys, and worst of all: books. Books in the bathtub! They ruined 5 books, including a nice copy of Animalia, which is more mine and Kyle's than theirs. Everything was soaked.
I don't think I've been so mad at them. After getting the riff raff out of the tub, I finished washing the little devils and put them straight to bed. It was barely 6 o'clock.
The books were beyond helping. I tried to wring out the blankets, but eventually gave up. Instead I grabbed a laundry basket, transported them downstairs and put them in the washer. Pillows just had to dry out.
Now that it's been a few days and I no longer want to scream when I think about it, it's actually kind of funny. They wanted to read in the bathtub. It's cute, right?
Right???

New word

Adam used a new word today.

To Caleb, "Fine! Be a attitude!"

To me and Kyle, "I called him a attitude."

He was so proud of himself for using a new word that we didn't have the heart to tell him he used it wrong...

First Date

We have a couple of friends who come over to our house and play regularly. They bring their 3 kids everytime and the boys love playing with them. Last night we turned on Shrek 4 to keep them quiet while we played cards. They were quiet. Maybe too quiet?
It was so funny to check on them and realize that they had paired off. Caleb was with Irelynn, who is 7. They shared a seat. Adam was with Kalaya. She is his age and they are in primary together. Yes, for those of you wondering, this is the girl he was making out with during the Primary program. I had to get a picture of them cuddling.

Hey Santa!

Kyle and I do not push Santa. I don't know why we decided that. I like to think maybe we don't feel right about lying to our kids. That sounds slightly noble right? I think the truth is probably that I don't remember a Christmas far enough back to where Santa would have been the man. I don't remember thinking Santa was coming or spying on me. My earliest Christmas memory is of staying awake until midnight. That's when Santa was supposed to come, but the presents were already all under the tree. The tree was a sight. No green, it was a rod in the middle and tinsel (possibly pink?) wrapped on wire. Think Lady Gaga's dress where she held the star in her hand. That dress is my earliest Christmas memory. Oh what fun, right?
So, at Christmas we talk about presents and about Jesus, but leave the fat guy out of the equation.
Dunno how exactly they came to believe in Santa... probably everyone around us. I think my Dad secretly whispered all about sugarplum fairies and flying reindeer. I'm not anti Santa... just not the biggest pusher of fantasies. I wonder if we'll tell them about the tooth fairy...?
Recently we were walking through Walmart. A sweet old guy was just begging to be recognized. His white beard and red sweater screamed purveyor of presents and consumer of cookies. Caleb said, "Hi Santa!" He was pretty excited.
I am not sure how they came to believe in Jolly Old Saint Nick, but there it is. My kids are suckers.
And you know what?
I think it's pretty great.

I made the boys sandwiches today and sat them down to eat. Caleb starts whining about how he doesn't feel good. It goes something like this.

Caleb: "I don't feel very good right now."

Me: "You're fine. Eat your food."

Caleb; "But I don't feel very good."

Me: "What doesn't feel good? Your head... your stomach...?"

Caleb: "My Sandwich!"


Well played, Caleb. Well played.

The Five Stages of Grief

The Allen twist...

Stage One: Denial. As in, "Not being able to breathe is no reason to go to the hospital."

Stage Two: Acceptance. No one would be entirely shocked and if the person chose to stop suffering, how could you hold it against them?

Stage Three: Laughter. What isn't funny when you are sleep deprived?

Stage Four: Bargaining. Not necessarily for ourselves. As in, "If you get better, Whitney will have a baby."

Stage Five: Dibs. As in, "I get the Kindle!" Really, I do. It has my sticker on it.

Halloween

My family scrapbook pages go something like this. Halloween, halloween, christmas, one fun family day, halloween. That's right. Halloween is the holiday I always chronicle. This year I dressed up three different times. I was a black cat on Thursday, a gypsy on Friday, and an egyptian on Saturday. It was fun. I don't like to buy things for Halloween, I just dig through the closet. That's how I end up dressing different for every party. It's just more fun. Sadly, I have only one picture of Halloween. Total. I suck this year. You can't see my Egyptian make up and barely see the gold braided into my hair. Adam couldn't wear his mask at church. Levi isn't even in the picture. He's on the floor in his car seat. He was a cow. (Imagine that!)




ps. Is Kyle the cutest golfer or what?

Dear Ashley,

Thank you for leaving replys after my posts. I love knowing that someone out there is actually interested in what I am writing. Otherwise what's the point? If no one is listening, I could just use my journal! For those of you who don't know how to reply, (Chris) there is a comment and pencil button right under each post. It's a great place to, I don't know.... Leave a comment! =D

Caleb's ear hole

To anyone wondering, we aren't getting the ear hole closing surgery at this moment. They said don't worry about it too much unless it gets infected to the point of needing antibiotics. It's never gotten that bad so we aren't too concerned. On the other hand, we might get it just so he doesn't have a hole in his head that could cause him problems later on. We shall see.

Daddy Daughter Date

I am very lucky to live by my dad. When I want to visit him I can stop by his work or drive to his house. You would think I'd get to see him a lot that way, but it just isn't the case. Our one car is usually with Kyle, at work. We try to get together for piano lessons, but it doesn't work out very often. Well this last week we went on a date. My mom was funny. She said we were only hanging out together cause she was too busy. Well Mom, I love your guts, but I wanted to hang out with Dad! It's okay. Don't be jealous.
We had a grand time. We ate lunch and went to a movie. Nothing super thrilling. It's the company that makes a date great! We had fun just chatting and catching up.
You know, most people get a Dad and that's it. They're stuck with him. Thank goodness I got to pick mine. My Dad rocks. He's smart. Not in your face smart, like he's trying to show off (except the occasional big word he throws in that you have no idea of its meaning.) He's supportive to an extreme measure. He's strong and when things go wrong he picks himself up and chugs along. And when things go wrong for me he picks me up and shoves even when I dig in my heels. He's always helping and taking care of me. He tries to teach me piano even though I am a horrible student. (I don't practice enough) He calls just to sing Happy Birthday to the boys, even if he is going to see them that day. How cool is that? He is always willing to babysit, even when my mom says no. (Of course, she ends up doing most of the leg work. He takes care of the cuddling and playing. Still, it often includes a little schedule tweaking and he is happy to convince her to do it.)
I always joke that I'm my Dad's favorite child. The great thing about my Dad is that he makes all of us feel that way. Anyone who hangs out with him can't help but feel special. But still... I'm his favorite.

Statistics

All 3 boys had doctor's appointments this last week. The appointments went well, though the boys judged me harshly when I held them down for shots. I could see the betrayal in their tiny eyes. "Why mommy, why!?" Luckily the two older boys don't have to go back for a year. They will have forgotten by then.
Adam looked great. The doc was happy. Levi is a lizard. My poor baby has to be soaked in water a couple of times everyday and then lotioned to death to try to keep his skin on him. The doctor was interested in Caleb's ear hole. He's had it his whole life. We have an appointment with an ear nose and throat specialist on Monday to see if it needs to be closed up yet.

It had been a while for the older 2 so it was kind of fun to see their growth. And now, I will share it with anyone who cares. If you don't... what are you? heartless? Have you seen how cute my kids are?!
Ahem...

Moving on...

Levi:
Weighs 12 pounds which puts him in the 22%
Is exactly 2 feet, which puts him in the 54%
Does anyone care about his head size? This is the most boring category to me. Nevertheless, here it is: 16" which makes him 35%

Summary: Levi is average height, but skinny. Though he had an alien head, it is not big.

Caleb:
Weighs 31 pounds, which is the 50%
Is 3'3", which is 80%
BMI (This is a super cool category that I just found at Kaiser. They never did it at their old doctor's office.) Because he is tall and only medium weight he is in the 9%.

Summary: Caleb is actually skinny for his height. Go figure.

Adam:
Weighs 32 pounds, (only one more than Caleb) which is the 20%
is 3'5", which is the 66%
BMI (ready for this?) is in the 1%. That's right. 99% of children his height weigh more than him

Summary: Even though Poptarts are 9 points in Weight Watchers, I am not a bad mom for feeding them to my kids. Adam is proof that maybe a little fattening up wouldn't hurt!

We Win

RIP Gus Gus

Dear Moms of the World,

Am I the only sane one of you left?!
Do you all use babies as excuses? Or do you honestly not wake your baby up to go places you've committed to be?
You've got to be joking me! I have 3 kids, one is a newborn. I still wake him up if I say I'm going to be somewhere. Do you wanna know why? Cause I run this show, not them! I RUN this show.

Just a cute picture.

This is a one dollar shirt from Target. I love those $1 bins. They are so fun.

Reasons to never take a vacation

1. You are more exhausted when you get back than you were when you decided you needed a vacation.
2. 20,000 loads of laundry
3. (worst of all!) Critters move in while you are away.

We just got back from vacation. I will post fun pictures later. Maybe. If I don't forget or get lazy. First thing I noticed were bugs. Nasty little things that look kind of like ants. I know we are having a national problem with bed bugs, so that was my first thought. I'm not sure they fit the profile though. Either way, whatever they are, I feel my skin crawling all day and all night.
The joyous second discovery happened while Adam and I were practicing numbers. (Mostly Adam. I have a pretty good handle on my numbers.) There was something black in my peripheral vision. I thought maybe it was just my hair, but just to be sure, I went where I thought I'd seen something.
There it went again! Tiny little mouse in my living room. Disgusting.

Reasons to rent instead of own a home:
1. Extermination coverage.
Priceless.

Unnerving

You know what's icky? Having peed underwear.

You know what's worse? If it's someone else's pee.

Ah, the joys of being a newborn's mommy.

If you don't have anything nice to say... please don't grasp at straws!

Piano playing today did not go well. I practiced this week and got semi okay at the songs I was supposed to be playing today. Then I second guessed myself and decided to play the simplified versions, without ever having practiced them. I am not a fantastic sight reader. Okay... I suck.
I got a few very interesting compliments when Relief Society was over.
#1: "I love listening to you play. It's so great when people have to stretch themselves for a calling. You're going to learn so much."
#2: "Thank you for playing. I love listening to you. You're so brave. You just always keep going. It gives me hope that I could learn to play the piano."
What I heard, "I'm trying to be encouraging, but that was just awful."
Thanks.
I hear ya.

Simple Joys

Who knew that such tiny things could bring such great amounts of happiness? My boys needed new shoes. I ended up at Walmart one day.

Regular Tennis Shoes= $10

Awesome Lightning McQueen/Spiderman Tennis Shoes= $15

Sure it cost me $10 extra dollars between the two of them, but those shoes may have made me the coolest mom ever. They have barely left feet since purchased. During nap time, they get tucked in with the little boys that own them.

Who knew that buying shoes could do the job of clothing children as well as providing them with toys?

Two birds, meet my stone!

Gratitude.

I felt the need for some kind of spiritual... connection today. Uplifting isn't the right word, and neither is fulfillment. In fact it is due to the uplifting I've felt recently that I was searching for it. If that makes any kind of sense.
Kyle and I fasted this month for something that we needed help with. We've fasted before as a family, but I haven't been able to in a long time, since I was pregnant. I am not sure I've really appreciated the blessings of a fast before. We were answered so quickly and so thoroughly that I wondered why we don't fast every Sunday. We were blessed in a way that was so obviously heaven sent one couldn't help but be amazed and grateful.
We are a very blessed family. All our children are healthy, they are well behaved and beautiful. We love where we live. Our new ward has been extremely welcoming and those relationships are quickly becoming great friendships. We both have callings that allow us the opportunity to serve and (especially me) to learn. We love each other in a way that neither of us expected or understood when we got married. We have great extended families that love and care about our well being. Kyle has a job at which he excels. The list goes on and on... There are a hundred more ways in which we are blessed. That is just a molecule in the ice of the tip of my iceburg. I'm not trying to brag... I'm just feeling very grateful today.

You've Changed

Kyle and I have always had a certain way of parenting. Our babies learned to cry it out from an early age and no child has ever slept in our bed. When Caleb was 6 weeks old and not sleeping through the night, he got a little shove in the right direction. It included turning on fans and any other forms of white noise so that we didn't hear him cry at night. It may seem mean, but within one week he figured out how to sleep on Mommy and Daddy hours.
A couple of nights ago Kyle and I are laying in bed long past little boy bed time. I tell him, "I miss Levi."
He says, "Well, go get him!" I was shocked. I had felt myself going soft, but I never thought in a hundred years it would happen to Kyle.
I confronted him, "You would let Levi sleep in our bed every night wouldn't you?"
"I totally would. I just want to cuddle him."
I guess it's true that you change the more kids you have. I just didn't think it would happen so soon. I thought maybe when they were teenagers or something. Nope. Kyle and I are now officially soft as marshmallows!

Be Thou Humble

I made the mistake of letting my bishopric know that I don't turn down callings. I never have because it seems to me that if the bishopric is inspired to call you somewhere you ought not say no to the Lord!
Right?
Well, what if the bishopric feels inspired to call you to be a pianist and you don't play the piano? Are you still required to say yes? Probably. I said yes anyway. I'm terrified though. I got the schedule for the hymns for the rest of the year and I've been practicing about an hour and a half every day. It's not going well. I stumbled across this gem while I was practicing and it made me feel a little better.
"Be thou humble in thy weakness and the Lord thy God shall lead thee, Shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers. Be thou humble in thy calling and the Lord thy God shall teach thee to serve his children gladly with a pure and gentle love."
I like to cut off the end after the "Lord thy God shall teach thee." Since I'm in need of literal teaching, it speaks directly to me like this. I figure if Heavenly Father is gonna teach me how to play the piano and I'm willing to practice it can't be a complete failure.
PS. Should you have a little extra time in your prayers, remember me!

Failure?

My plan for Levi was to breastfeed him for as long as possible. My sister Ashley is my inspiration. She is just hitting the 6 month mark with her son. What a champ huh? I haven't done it longer than 6 weeks with either of the first two boys and I was determined to make it!. First off, in case you are a man, let me tell you why this is hard.
1. You must stay within 30 feet of your baby at all times. Going out of the house has to be done in one hour increments just in case the wee one gets hungry. There is always the option of pumping and storing for times when you are away from home, but then you increase the demand and therefore the supply. If you stop pumping there is too much hanging around and that's just not fun.
2. You may have to give up foods you enjoy because your baby doesn't like them.
3. Baby doesn't get as full as formula babies so you have to feed them more often.
4. Hello! That tiny bag of bones already hijacked your body for 9 months. You think once you evict him you can get it back, but the truth is he still runs the show!
5. It's supposed to help you lose weight. For me, it hinders it. I am great at dieting, but you aren't supposed to diet when you are breastfeeding.
6. Public outings. Need I say more?
So, I know there are a million reasons why breastfeeding is good for baby. Hence, why I wanted to succeed this time.
Well, last week Levi was having a super rough couple of nights. I was afraid he was getting colic. He was just miserable and needing to be held all the bloody time! One night it got really bad. I fed him twice within a one hour period because it was the only way to calm him down. My mom suggested giving him formula and I shot it down. Heck no! 5 weeks old and he hasn't touched the stuff yet! I'm doing so good. After 15 or so more minutes of crying I gave in.
What a difference. My baby was immediately happy and full and relaxed. I continued formula for a couple of days and he was happy as a clam. I decided to let the gals dry up and continue formula.
I was sad that it came to this. I had been so proud of myself. I was succeeding! But then not...
I know a lot of people judge formula moms. I have friends who would not be happy and would lecture my poor boobs into shame. But you know who is happy? Me and Levi. So there. It's not failure if both Levi and I are happier because of it.

A poopy post

So, ward campout. New ward. We love it. So welcoming and accepting. We had a ward campout this last Friday. We had decided we would just go for the activities at night and not stay over night. Things were going great. I'd met like 5 new people, the boys had made friends and I'd eaten steak. Sounds pretty perfect no?
A little area had been taped off due to a septic leak. People knew not to pitch tents there. My kids, I'm assuming thought that meant it was a designated play area. Yup. You guessed it. My boys went puddle splashing. In poop. They are the smelly children. Joy

First Pictures of Levi

Levi Daniel Parkhurst

Levi Daniel was born on July 20th, 2010 at 10:28 PM. He weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz and was 19 and 3/4 inches long. He has brown hair and dark eyes that I'm guessing will be brown.
Everything went grand and easy as pie. I will post some pictures soon, but I can't on this computer cause it sucks. =)

Come on!!!!

That's it. I'm officially filing a complaint against the stork. Sure he said between June 28th and July 19th. I know there's that whole 3 week span. But why do delivery people always do that?!?! They expect us to take off work and put our lives on hold because they will show up eventually in that time frame. Just tell me when the frick you are gonna show! Don't give me a giant span of time and show up on the tail end.
With Caleb the stork was so prompt. I know he's got nothing better to do. He's just taking his sweet old time because he can. He's probably parked out in front of my house eating a sandwich in his kidnapper van because he knows he doesn't HAVE to be here yet.
Piss me off....

Stupid Truck

Yesterday I tried to borrow my parents' truck. We recently got our boys bunk beds, but haven't had a way to get them mattresses. I was at their house so I figured I would just drive the truck home. Yeah right.
(Please remember I'm a week away from my due date, it was hot outside, and I had both of the boys with me. Truly this wouldn't have been such a dramatic occurrence if I was alone and not carrying a giant bowling ball in front of me.)
First problem: The truck wouldn't start. Oh, there was nothing wrong with it... I guess turning the key so hard there are indents in my fingers just isn't sufficient. The boys are buckled in and sweating already. My dad finally tries the ignition and of course it fires right up for him.
Problem B: The stupid thing that points of the PRDN23 doesn't exactly work. It goes between two of the letters, so what I thought was Drive was actually Neutral. Stupid truck.
Problem III: The truck had no gas. Or did it? All signs point to empty. When I go to fill it it does the clicking thing and refuses to fill. I'm sweating like crazy at this point, nearly swearing at the frickin thing. I leave the boys in the boiling car and go tell the guy at the register to help me. "The tank is full" he says. Sure, of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?!?!
Fourth problem: A mile down the road the engine starts smoking. I wasn't sure at first. Then I came to a stop light. Smoke is billowing out from under the hood and now filling the car. Adam says, "Mommy, we gotta get out of this place because it smells like hot dogs!" You're right Adam. Hotdog smelling cars are never good.
I pull over and we all get out of the car (lest it does us all the favor of just blowing up.) While waiting for rescue from my parents, I call Kyle. Poor guy. I'm not scared or hurt, I'm just frustrated. But how do you articulate that through tears? He thought I must have gotten in an accident and been hurt or something.
Anyway, eventually I was rescued and got home safe and sound. I know it wasn't as big of a deal as I made it out to be. I knew that while it was happening. I blame it on being pregnant. AHH.. sweet pregnancy, the 9 month long disease for which there is only one cure: the expulsion of an 8 pound parasite! Unfortunately all that excitement didn't put me into labor. I thought at least one good thing might come of it. Nope!

Silly Boy

A conversation between me and Adam.


Adam: "Where is Daddy going?"

Me: "To work."

Adam: "Why?"

Me: "Because he needs to work."

Adam: "So he can make money to get more toys?"


HAH! As if my kids need any more toys! Where would I put them?!?!

Update

We are still settling into our new home. Most of our furniture and things are here and put together. The boys are still lacking mattresses on their new bunk beds and Levi's room is a disaster. His crib isn't set up and the boys are sort of using it as a toy/junk room.
My due date is July 19th. Less than two weeks away. YAY! Levi's just hanging out, having a grand old time in there. I am pretty certain he practices martial arts; from the feel of things, I'd say he's set to be the next Jackie Chan! We're not quite ready for him. I don't have a single diaper in the house. Luckily, I still have a little bit of time left. I'm only a fingertip dialated. I think that means less than a one. I'm kind of happy I probably won't be having him this week since my doctor is out of town. This doctor also delivered Caleb and since he's already seen me inside out, I don't wanna go to someone new.
We haven't been to our new ward yet. We went camping last week and were moving the week before that. I'm sad about leaving our old ward. I'm slightly anti-social, so it took me about 3 years to get comfortable and make friends in the Rossmoor ward. Who knows when I'll be at home again in this new one. Another thing is Levi will be born once we've gone to one week of church. No one will care about him like they would have at my old ward and he will be blessed in a place where NO ONE knows him. I'm just sad. Not to mention, no one will even really be aware that we will be needing meals when he's born. My last ward brought dinners for 4 nights I think. Oh the joy of making dinner the same day I get home from the hospital! I would say Kyle could handle it for a few days, but honestly, I've never met anyone as hopeless in the kitchen. He ruins the Nestle Tollhouse cookies that come prepackaged. No joke. I didn't know that was possible. How he survived a mission at all is a mystery. I'm assuming either his companions took care of him or he ate A LOT of cereal. My money is on cereal. I imagine that's all the boys will eat while I'm in the hospital.
Speaking of Kyle, I just gotta say... I'm lucky to have that guy. We were talking about it the other day, and came to the conclusion that we need each other! He's the ying to my yang, the peanut butter to my jelly, the cheese to my mac! Sometimes people think it would be easier if they were married to someone more like them. Let me tell you, for Kyle and me, that would be a nightmare. Kyle would not get along with a Type A as a spouse and if I'd married someone like me(Someone so Type B, we're nearly C's), we'd be unemployed and possibly homeless! Like a sandwich with peanut butter on both sides, it just wouldn't be right! I'm not gonna lie and say I'm always as appreciative of Kyle as I should. Sure, there are days I would love to shove him full of Ritalin just so I could take a nap, but mostly I just love that guy and can't get enough of him.

Coming soon... pictures of our new house.

"Hey Napoleon, give me some of your tots!"

I know that certain things are supposed to happen when you grow up. You are supposed to do and like certain things. You are supposed to give up or look down on certain others. You are supposed to be an adult.
But I gotta say...
Some days, tater tots are an excellent lunch!
Marred only by their uncanny ability to bring memories of mystery meat and hairnets from your youth, these salty bastardized potato children are nearly perfect!
Just thought I'd share my thoughts on lunch!

Moving!

Yup. It's finally time. Kyle and I are heading to Rocklin to be closer to his work. We're super excited. Our new house is bigger than what we had and our rent will be less than our mortgage was. YAY! I love packing because we've gotten rid of so much crap! Who knew there was so much unused stuff accumulating in our house? Kyle has taken out probably an average of 3 loads of trash every day for the last week. It's grand knowing all that clutter isn't coming to the new house.
Speaking of grand.... you know what's not grand? Packing when you are 9 months pregnant! I have 3 and a half weeks left of being pregnant (though I'm guessing/hoping less). Kyle doesn't have me carry anything. He is awesome. Still, yesterday while he was at work I took apart both of the cribs. It wasn't so bad, mostly just unscrewing things... but today my legs are sore. Who knows what I did. I let myself get way too out of shape just because I'm pregnant....
Tangent, I know... I tend to do that...
Yesterday we sold our old computer desk and hopefully today we are selling the old couch. They just would not go in the new house. I love our old couch, but it was a pain in the butt. Hooray for new furniture! Another tangent.... I LOVE craigslist! Who needs a garage sale when you can get rid of anything online!?
Um... yeah... I think that pretty much covers it: we're moving, it sucks, and it's awesome, and I love craiglist. Done.

Dear Sweet Old Ladies of My Ward,
I love that you are all thrilled that I'm having a baby. I love the congratulations and I love how excited you are at my growing girth. It's sweet the way you look forward to the birth of babies in the ward. It's awesome that my baby has a Parkhurst family and a ward family.
However, just because my tummy sticks out and houses a person, does not make it public property. It's sweet you wanna be a part of my pregnancy, but I don't even know all of your names and you're feeling me up! Before you think I'm being rude, please know that my husband is the only one with an all access pass. Even my mom and sisters ask permission before they get handsy with me. If people who've known me all my life still ask before touching, shouldn't you? Something to ponder...
Christina

Not Failing

Okay, I had to go back and read my Resolutions for this post. I thought I was failing miserably. Good news. I'm actually doing pretty good. I thought I had written how much weight I wanted to top out at while pregnant. Thank goodness I didn't! I went camping for the last week and a half. No scale... lots of food.
The first few days it rained almost constantly. What do you do when it's raining and you're stuck inside? You eat. Well, I eat anyway.
S'mores, cookies, candies... and then there is my dad's dutch oven cake that he makes by lining the bottom with candy bars.
Delicious?
Of course!
Fattening?
Well, I don't know... lets ask my poor, overworked scale.
The last month I was doing so good with my weight gain. A pound a week keeps the doctor away... or from yelling at me anyway. In the 2 weeks that included camping I gained 5 pounds!!!! I felt I had to apologize and explain at the doctor's office when they weighed me today. How embarrassing! I have now gained a total of 34 pounds. I was hoping to gain only 35 this whole pregnancy. I was doing pretty good too... But with at least 6 weeks left, it looks like I may top out at 40. AGAIN!!!!
Ugh. Baby making is stressful. You would think being pregnant gives you free reign to eat whatever you want. Well... you can if you want, but you will suffer the consequences (fat face, no ankles, thighs that jiggle minutes after you've stopped walking... the list goes on and on.)
So, here's to a skinny last 6 weeks!

Caleb the Athlete!

We went camping this last week. It was so much fun. For a few days, all the grandkids were there. There are 8 in our family by the way. Adam is the oldest at 3 years old. While they were all there it rained non-stop. It was kind of miserable at first. One day I begged Kyle to take the boys on a walk so they could get out and play even if it was muddy and icky. He ended up taking most of the kids. It was great! They had so much fun. As an added bonus, by the time they got back to camp they were exhausted and ready for bed.
Kyle took this video of the kids racing. I thought it was hilarious! That Caleb just cracks me up! Watch as he stops to pick flowers, then stops because he drops flowers.... He's just a riot!

Just a typical Sunday after church.....

Me: "Caleb, go put your dirty socks in the laundry."

(Caleb runs off to my closet, where he encounters Kyle undressing after church)

Caleb: "Daddy, get out of here!"

Kyle: "Don't talk to me that way. This is my freaking room."

Caleb: "No, come on, I'll show you."

(Caleb takes Kyle by the hand and leads him out of the closet.)

Caleb: (pointing) "This is your freaking room."

I know that's a totally random post, but we both about died laughing. =D

Update

I am negative for gestational diabetes. Yay! Bring on the ice cream!

And Pictures!

Sorry about the blurriness. Anyone with 2 boys can tell you, it's not easy getting them to pose for pictures. They are monkeys and nearly impossible to get holding still!

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In the second picture Caleb is sitting on Adam's lap in the car (Yes, I'm aware it wasn't safe, but it was a super short distance and it was 100% necessary. Don't judge me!) I thought it was so funny that Caleb was tired enough to actually fall asleep on Adam's lap. So cute. Adam's actually almost out too. Not quite... but pretty close.

Good Morning!

This is my first time posting a video, so I hope it works.

It recently came to my attention that people that I didn't know were reading actually are. (Hi Ray!) Now, my blog is pretty random and may not be all that interesting to some, so I figured I would make it a little bit more of what people wanted to see and less of my everyday musings.

This is how Kyle wakes up every morning. Not 2 times out of 3, not 6 times out of a week. Every Freaking Morning. And he absolutely loves it! I happen to know he's thrilled our next baby is Levi instead of a Levi-tina. He can't wait for him to come out and get to jumping age. (The better to wrestle you with, my dear!) Now, remember I'm in the bed too. Me and all 7 months of Levi inside me. I am constantly in the danger zone, but when you get 3 boys wrestling it just doesn't matter. I become little more than an afterthought. If anything I'm considered collateral damage to their war games.

I hope you like the video!

Gloucose

Stupid blood sugar test. I said I wasn't going to take it. The last two pregnancies I've come in the perfect range. All it does is waste an hour of my super busy life. =) Well, I got in trouble at my doctor's office. I was told it's mandatory.
Whatever.
Don't make me do stuff.
I went anyway. I'm a big pansy when it comes to people telling me I have to do something. I'd rather do it than argue.
Today I got a call from my doctor's office. Yup. I failed a blood test. Of all the tests in the world, I failed one that I couldn't even study for. (I sure hope this isn't a new trend. It's finals week!)
I thought I knew everything. "Oh, I've never had a blood sugar problem. I'm awesome and invincible." Stupid me. Life has a way of reminding me there are lots of things I just don't know, even things I think I'm sure about.
I will be taking the 3 hour blood test on Friday. I will keep you posted.
On a different note, I realize that my blog has taken a turn to focusing all on pregnancy stuff. I'm sure this is boring for some of you. I'm sorry. On the other hand, it's kind of my life right now, so you know... If you don't wanna know, don't read. I promise to keep it clean and what I think is interesting. There will be no placenta, dialating, mucus plugging talk, (<- This being the exception, of course.) so if that stuff makes you feel icky, or if you are a man, at least know you are in the clear for reading.
I will try to post some pictures of the fam soon. The boys are awesome and it's selfish for me to keep them all to myself! I probably won't post any pictures of myself. 30 pound overweight me is not my favorite version of myself...
Now that I've slightly rambled...
ta ta for now!

Pregnancy and High Heels

When I'm pregnant I like to draw attention away from my expanding physique to just about anything else.

Fun colors of makeup make it so people pay more attention to my eyes than to the fact that I've lost my chin in a sea of mushy flesh. Even if some people think it's too much, too colorful, or verging on hookerish, I don't care. It's fun and their eyes are drawn away from other things.

High heels thin out legs. My legs are pretty short for someone my height anyway, but add a couple extra pounds to each of them and you have yourself a tree trunk situation. Again, my shoes may border on hookerish, but I get my ankles back so red light district here I come!

Well, there I went anyway.

Stupid shoes.

You would think just 4 (or so) extra inches wouldn't be a long way to fall if you lost your balance. You'd be wrong.

I'd like to blame it on the floor. Stupid cement was all uneven. Still... I don't think I've ever fallen all the way down to the floor in my heels before, bad floor or not. It was very embarrassing. Not so much falling. Heck, people trip all the freaking time right? Just falling and being pregnant and having people freak out and ask how you landed and if you're okay and to be sure you don't start having contractions and yada yada yada.

For the record, my hip caught me.

And I'm okay.

And Levi's just dandy. I imagine for him it was like the tower of terror. He was free falling, the floor coming at him so fast and at the last second, he was safe in his little cocoon. The most damage it did him was give him a love of amusement park adrenaline. No big deal.

Stupid shoes.

So, should I really go high-heel-less for the next 3 months? That just makes me sad to think about. My shoes are sad too. I think I hear them beckoning me to the closet. I hear their sad pleas. They've past denial and anger. They've reached bargaining. "Your legs will look so much better with us at the bottom of them." "Come and play with us, Forever and ever and ever."

So sad.

For now they are staying in the closet. We shall see what happens. It's taken me 3 pregnancies to fall even once, so I'm thinking it may have been a one time thing. And there was the floor to consider. Can't people just fix their stupid parking lots to be even?

3 months might just be too long to put away heels...

Final Judgment

I have a thought on the final judgment.

Basically after we die our good and bad deeds are measured against each other. Right? Well, this is the very dumbed down kind of explanation. There's obviously a whole lot more, including the fact we couldn't do any of it without Jesus's atonement, even if we were nearly perfect.

That being said...

I think parenthood may be Heavenly Father's way of insuring that he gets as many people back as possible, because it is tough.

Even the most impatient parent who lets their children live deserves sainthood.

Even those of us who send kids to their rooms, not because they were doing anything bad, simply because we need a moment of quiet deserve sainthood!

Everyday that I'm around my children I deserve sainthood!

Mothers of boys DESERVE SAINTHOOD!!!

I'm pretty sure we are given this opportunity to make sure that no matter what else we do in life, the good outweighs the bad.

Everyday of parenting just gives me a small leg up on the bad things I've done. (Now for that bank I've been meaning to rob...)

Yay Procrastination!

I didn't even bother to look at my homework until last night at about 9. When I did, what did I find?

Ooh I only have two major midterms, a major math assignment and 2 outlines all due today. The first test is my very first class, so I haven't even had time to study.

Awesome.

I'm so on top of things!!!!

Way to go me.

Sweet Justice

A few nights ago, Kyle and I had a fight. Not an honest to goodness someone-is-wrong-someone-is-right kind off fight. It was just a stupid little thing. I wanted him to turn off all the lights in the house and get us a snack from the kitchen. He thought I should do it. (Not to try to sway anyone to my side here, but WHO is six months pregnant with a back that screams everytime I so much as laugh? Yeah, I thought so)

Anyway, we went on and on over who was gonna shut the house down before bed. I finally told him I was just not going to do it. Well, if you've ever used this kind of definite shut down, you know it doesn't go over very well. He decided a compromise would be best.

I thought his compromise was stupid, but workable.

The compromise was he would go downstairs, get the snack, and turn off all lower level lights. My job was to turn off the lights upstairs. The reason I thought this was silly was that he was going to pass right by my switches twice: once on the way down, once on the way back. But sometimes, you just have to do rediculous things.

Off Kyle tramps downstairs. Unhappily, I push my gigantic bum out of bed. I turn off the bathroom and hallway light. Kyle turns everything off downstairs and heads back up to bed. Well all the lights in the house are now off and he can't see a thing. He trips over a laundry basket and ends up hurt on the floor.

I, of course, good wife that I am, hold in my giggles till I'm sure he's okay. I even wait till he's in bed and has had a few minutes to recover. I ask, "is it okay to laugh yet?"

"Not yet."

I manage to hold it in for about another 30 seconds.

Not quite an I-told-you-so moment. I thought it was even better. It was instead sweet justice. Karma.

Whatever you call it. It made my night.

Texas Again

UGH! Kyle left town again today. It blows. You know how sometimes you look forward to your spouse leaving if only because you can go to sleep at 7 PM and not feel guilty? Well, I thought maybe it would be a good time to catch up on sleep and laundry. He's been gone about 8 hours and I just want him to come home!! Because he's in Texas the latest we talk at night is 7 or 8. Then I have till I fall asleep to remember that I'm lonely and don't get to cuddle him. If ever you forget how much you love your spouse, just send them out of town. It will quickly remind you.

13

Being pregnant for the third time is very different than being pregnant with a first or even second child. For one thing, I barely notice the weeks tick by. I know I am 22 weeks pregnant, or a nice round 5 months, but that doesn't really concern me a whole lot. Levi will come out when he's good and cooked. No, I don't count in weeks anymore... I count in pounds.
13 pounds so far.
There is a way to figure out if I'm on track or gaining too much weight. For the first 1-12 weeks you're supposed to gain between 0 and 5 pounds. Starting at 13 weeks you can gain a pound a week and still be optimistic. According to this I could be 14 pounds and still not call myself out of control. YAY!!!! 1 pound under is still a win!
Sure, I'm not the lightest pregnant woman on the face of the earth... I am on track to hit the top of the weight requirements. It's still an improvement! Having gained 40 pounds back to back for Adam and Caleb, I know I can safely go all the way up to 175 before adding tiger stripes to my already decorated hide. Mind you... I don't intend to get up there...
On a related note, I watched Kendra last night. She's one of Hugh Hefner's ex-girlfriends. She moved out, got her own show, got married and had a baby. Last night she was sad about her weight and got depressed about how much she is still carrying from her baby. She talked about wanting to be sexy for her husband and such. It was so sad! I'm not gonna lie, my face leaked just a wee bit. I know it's silly, but I totally feel her pain. Your spouse can tell you you're hot all they want... you've seen the changes, and they are not for the best! (small exception is the great baby feeders sprouting from your chest.)
I love my kids. And I love baby making. (Practicing, growing them, feeling them kick, the whole works!) But sometimes it's freaking hard! Why do I have to be ugly just to have a baby?!?!
I could deal with the big belly. But really now! The fat arms, the ankle-less legs, the teenager skin? Is ALL of it necessary?

Daylight Savings

Daylight Savings is hard on a little dude. Great for parents... hard for kids. Our boys have been waking up consistently at 6:30 AM the past 2 or so weeks. Daylight Savings is gonna put them right and give me my extra sleep. Hooray!
This picture is after church yesterday. Caleb has a hard time on Sundays since church moved to 1. It is right during nap time. Occasionally he falls asleep in nursery, either on someone's lap or just on the floor.
After church, Adam came upstairs to watch TV with me and fell asleep in 2 minutes. I texted Kyle cause it was so rare that it made us laugh. He asked "Do you have Teens too?" (Caleb is teens BTW. Sort of an ironic ode to his cheeks.) I said, "No! I thought you had him!" This is how we found him. I honestly am not sure how he is balancing . He seems to be more off the chair than on it.

Taxes Part Deux

So, I finally sat down to finish my taxes today. I had everything. Kyle had a few forms from work that took me a while to get my hands on and I had a form at my parent's house that I couldn't seem to remember to get whenever I was over there.
Here it was, all together, for my taxing delight (or misery) I sit down, put in all the information, and send it away to the evil minions of the IRS.
I call Kyle and tell him about our refund. He says "why did it go down? You had already entered the forms I sent you."
OOPS
From filing to amending in less than an hour... this is why I HATE taxes!

PICTURES!!!

I know I haven't posted pictures in a long freaking time. This is today with their cousins at Wendys and Fairytale town.

They posted backwards. This is the end of the day. They are lined up so that I could put them in the car one at a time, in hopes of reducing the chance someone will become roadkill. It seems to work.
Adam and Andie were best friends for the first year of their life. Andie moved away, but it's never really changed their friendship when they are together. They walked around Fairytale Town holding hands almost the whole time. I told them to put their arms around each other for a picture. I thought it was kind of cute the way Andie did it.
...Until she was strangling Adam. =)
Peyton was also with us, but she was in line getting food at the time of this picture. This is almost all the cousins in my family. Eva wasn't able to come. Parker will be born in a matter of days and Levi (what we are naming our son) will be here in July.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Sorry I don't post them more often. I kind of like writing better. Plus my camera battery was dead and I'm lazy. These pictures are to prove that I am doing my resolutions. Fairytale Town is one big park. I rock.

Adam

Just when you thought it could not get worse than your well going dry on the 4th of July!

Adam caught it. Whatever "it" is, "it" is ruining my life and my sheets! Adam hasn't kept any food down since lunch yesterday. I thought he'd already been sick. He had the runny nose crusty eyes thing. Apparently that was just the warm up act. *sigh*

I know this is sort of a downer to blog about, but it's consuming my life at the moment so it's this or nothing. =)

I'm sick of being sick!

Thursday was the beginning. I found that if I thought about any single part of my body, it either hurt or didn't feel good. For instance: my throat hurt, my head hurt, I was nauseous (Stomach?), my back (tailbone area) was killing me... If I focused hard enough on my fingers I'm pretty sure I would have found something wrong with them. We have a girl's night type thing here at my house every Thursday. Well, it started as girl's night. Now it's girls-and-if-you-have-a-spouse-close-by-bring-him-on-in night. I started feeling so icky that I wanted people to go home. I NEVER want people to go home. I love having girls/whatever night at my house every week.
Friday I wasn't really better or worse. The day started off fine, but as my fatigue increased, so did my discomfort.
Saturday was awful. I haven't been sick enough to throw up in at least a month, so I was shocked to be this nauseous. First went the poptarts. Next the soup. Then cookies and milk (at 3 in the morning, I might add). Lastly, the water and clementine that I had tried to eat for breakfast on Sunday.
Sunday, as I already mentioned, lost my clementine. Needless to say, we did not make it to church.
The worst part of my personal sickness, was that Kyle was sick this whole time too! He got a flu that made his sinuses clog up so bad he could barely stand to move his head. So, besides not being able to take care of myself, he and I had to take turns trying to take care of each other. Saturday morning I got up and made him breakfast in bed and stayed up with the boys so he could sleep. Sunday I laid on the couch next to my poor baby the entire day while he took care of the boys and trying to feed me.
WHAT A NIGHTMARE! As a piece of advice to anyone out there who reads this: If you are planning on getting sick, make sure your spouse isn't going to be out of commission at the same time, particularly if you have kids. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

Why I love Boys

#1. Boys have very high energy. I love watching them run and play. They are always up for a good time.
#2. is an extension of #1. Little boys bring out Kyle's inner child.
#3. Boys love their mommies and tell them they are beautiful.
#4. applies only to second and third children: I don't have to buy whole wardrobes of new clothes.
#5. I love fat boy baby legs in shorts. Girls just don't even come close to the edibleness of boy legs.
#6. Boy names are way easier to pick out.
#7. Boys need only 2 pairs of shoes. 1 for church, 1 for play.

I made this list in keeping with my resolutions. Yes, I had my ultrasound today and found out we are having another boy. I am happy he is a healthy sucker, but I am working a little bit on the being happy he is a "he" part.

REASONS I WANTED A GIRL
See above numbers 1, 2, 4, & 7.

On a slightly more upbeat note, how cool are ultrasounds?! Today I learned that my baby doesn't have Down Syndrome, doesn't have a cleft lip, and doesn't have a club foot. No ultrasound technician before has explained all the cool things they are looking for. They did move my due date back though. I think he's just small, like Adam, but my new due date is July 28th. Way out at the hottest fricken time of year. Hooray for babyhood.

Options

I got my Anthropology Lab test back today. If you read farther down, you know all about the struggle I had with it. Well, I got a 50 out of 50. YAY! Perfect score right? Well, not quite. See, there were 55 points possible, 5 of which were extra credit points. So, am I happy that I got 100%? I'm not really sure.
I have two options. Be happy that I got a perfect score, (Which I would say is the one most people are hardwired to accept) or be unhappy that I missed 5 questions and would barely have gotten an A (as I am slightly inclined to do.). I think I'm inclined to be unhappy because of my genius, overachieving mom. If you read past posts you know all about her. She recently got a test back with 73 out of 75 right. She was mad that she missed 2. I laughed so hard at her. What a silly thing to be mad about. And here I go... Like mother, like daughter.
DANG IT! HOW IN THE FRICKEN WORLD OF DNA MRNA AND TRNA DID I MISS 5 POINTS?!?! I SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN EVERY SINGLE QUESTION RIGHT! I KNEW THE ANSWERS! I SHOULD HAVE STUDIED HARDER!
Ugh. Well that's out of my system. Now I will have to accept that I'm not a perfect student. Maybe it will help to look at my email from my English teacher. He sent it out to everyone in the class. He put exerpts of essays he liked. There were only two. Mine was the first one. You win some, you slightly less win some, and then you lose.

Taxes

Wow, do taxes blow or what?! I spent most of my Monday morning figuring out forms and credits and other tax crap. I'm still glad I do my taxes myself cause it saves me a lot of money, but really.... it is worth it? The headache I get every year courtesy of the IRS can hardly be worth the few bucks it would be to have a pro take on my paperwork. On the other hand... I do love watching that refund number go up or down as I enter things. I love the excited feeling of "OOOH What am I gonna do with that money!?" or "Oh crap, do I really have to enter that?" haha. Don't worry. I always do. I never lie on my taxes.
Well, the boys are up from their nap. Guess I can procrastinate finishing taxes for a while. (I have been desperately looking for some excuse, you know!)

Fat pants.

UGH. Today I wore my biggest fat pants. It was the last time. It's time to tuck them away till July. I'm depressed.
Old Navy delivered with a pair of maternity jeans for $20. They aren't too bad. No giant blue panel, just a scrunched top. Like something your grandmother would wear. If I wear a long shirt you can't tell, except of course for when I sit down and they just don't stay up. Such is the curse of baby-making.
Even though you can't tell from the outside, I know. I know I'm wearing the pants of a fat girl. Not just because my belly is big, but because the first 8 or so pounds that I gain are subjected to gravity in a pretty terrible way. Those first 8 land right on my hips and gigantic butt. *sigh*
I know it will be worth it. I love my little babies and I wouldn't trade all the stretchmarks or skinny jeans in the world for them. But for now, while I can't see her (this is what I'm assuming until Wednesday, when hopefully I will find out) it's tough being happy cause all I can see is that I'm getting chubby!!! Maybe if she would move a little and let me know she's in there I could be a little happier about this whole thing.

Hello Hubs!

Kyle has been out of town since Tuesday morning. (And I mean morning. I helped get him out the door at 2 AM after a 2 hour nap. Poor thing) He has been in Texas at a conference for work. He was excited to go because he got an award and got to stand up on stage and have everyone ooh and ahhh at how awesome he is. It's true, he's awesome. He is great at selling insurance. He gets people good deals and everyone that has him is happy with him. Especially me!
So, I think he's had a fun time. Me not so much. I say "I think" because Kyle is not much of a phone person. When he is here and he gets home from work I get a good rundown of his day. He tells me all about the interesting, cool, disappointing, even the boring things. And then we get in bed and cuddle most of the night. We sleep like two halves of a pretzel.
Well, apparently, my husband is not much of a phone talker. He could have fooled me, since we dated long distance for about five months, the phone being our main communication. Anyway, on this trip he has called me twice a day, at the most, and had 5 minute conversations, at the longest. UGH. It's like he's been gone off the face of the planet!
I have been missing him and am excited for him to come home tonight! I woke up and even with a headache I still managed to clean the whole house. Then out of pure faith I moved a mountain. Laundry, of course. I'm still working on the real mountains, though I think I've seen some movement on the hill outside. Point is, there is little that is better than coming home to a clean house. The one thing that is better is coming home to a clean house with clean sheets and a hot wife (still working on the last part, but I got the rest down.)
The boys are excited for him to come home too. Poor things have been trying to wrestle me all week. Caleb came in this morning looking for him cause he wanted to "Play with Daddy." By the way, "Play" is spelled "phlegm-w-a-y". Adam just reminds me "Daddy's out of town." As if I could forget!
He needs to get home quick cause I miss him and I'm just no Daddy!

My mommy!

I don't really call her mommy. I don't remember calling her that ever. Maybe when I was super young and it was mami. I have to say, my mom is the most amazing person I know and I'm so grateful for her every single day. If you read my last post you know that she saved my butt on my anthropology test because she is a smarty pants. I'm not sure I know anyone smarter than her. That's not just child-parent worship. I'm realistic. I can see flaws. My dad for instance (another super smart person) has the biggest vocabulary of anyone I know and yet can't spell worth poo. I think it's cute. My mom is a terrible essay writer. We all have our weeknesses. Still, my mom seems to know everything there is to know about everything. If she doesn't know it, she can read it and understand it automatically. She's one of those people you have to envy. They just get brains.
But the point of this post wasn't actually to worship my ma. It was to be grateful for her. She's there when I need her to read my homework (even though I am a grown woman who hasn't lived in her house for years), she's there when I need a babysitter, she's there when I need someone to vent to. She's there whenever I need my mommy. And how she does it all I just will never know. She's one of the least selfish people I know. She hardly has time during the week to catch her breath and yet she takes time off work to watch my kids. She goes to school full time, babysits full time, works part time... Where does she find the time?! Honestly, I"m tired just writing about it. My mom is my hero. She is superwoman. I love her.

School

This semester has been so overwhelming for me. I'm only about 6 weeks in (optimistically) but I'm already reaching my emotional breaking point. I am not sure what it is. Maybe it has to do with the classes I'm taking, maybe it has to do with being pregnant, maybe it even has to do with getting fat. I know that's a silly thing to blame a rough semester on, but anyone who has been pregnant can tell you it's a struggle every single morning to get dressed. I often wind up in sweats because I know no matter what I wear I just won't look good, or jeans that when buttoned leave a major indent in my ever expanding belly and make me uncomfortable all day. Either way I am uncomfortable or ugly all day long. I digress..
So, a few nights ago I had a major meltdown. The kind where you cry and your husband worries that you're losing your mind. My sweet hubs told me maybe I should pray for a little motivation and comfort. I told him I wasn't ready to end my pity party. I got a good laugh at myself for that. If there is anything more pathetic than having a way to fix a problem and not taking it because you enjoy your misery, I just don't know it.
Then Monday night I had another meltdown. Stupid Anthopology is trying to kill me. I like school, but I'm not a sciences person. I don't speak math and chemicals and such. UGH. I was being tested on the subject the next day and was trying desperately to figure out what the %&$#* was going on. I cried. No subject has ever made me cry. It's the first time a concept has defeated me ever. (In school I mean) I felt stupid. I HATE feeling stupid! I went to bed angry and depressed and hopeless.
Tuesday morning I wake up and decide to give it another try. I skip my first class of the day to have my mom take a stab at understanding what I am trying to do. She points out the major part I was missing and it all clicked into place. I went to school, took the test... I'm pretty sure I aced it by the way. I will tell you tomorrow if she hands the test back. Then I got feedback on my essay for an online English class. My teacher said something to the effect of "You didn't follow the instructions for the essay, but it was so well written that I didn't care." I got an A. HALLE-FREAKIN'-LUJAH! Those two things had me walking on air.
Went to math class. Learned a new concept. Figured out the problem first in the class. Had the teacher check it. Got it wrong. Crap. Couldn't figure out where I screwed up. Teacher comes back and told me I did it right. I rock again. At this point I'm pretty sure I'm border-line genius. You know, the kind that cries when they don't get something.
And now you're wondering what the point of this post is. Right? Well, so am I! I guess the point is that I'm always amazed how life seems to have perfect symmetry. One day I hate school and never want to go back because it's stupid and I'm tired. The next day I love it and can't wait to learn more.
I really do love learning. There was a good article about life long learning in the Ensign this month. Side note.
I'm rambling. Goodnight

Resolutions

I know it's a little late to be making New Year's resolutions. Maybe if I call them something different though they won't offend tradition. How about the I'm-already-behind-so-here-come-February-resolutions? I like it. I think it has a nice ring of truth about it. And if you can't make resolutions late what CAN you procrastinate. Speaking of procrastinating, I am a huge fan. If there was a fan club for procrastinating... I probably wouldn't have signed up in time to be president... but I would have PLANNED on doing it. Or maybe the last person to sign up would have gotten the job as they are obviously the most dedicated to their craft. IF that was the case I would be a shoo-in. So,
#1 Lay off procrastinating! Especially in school. It seems I can't write essays till 2 hours before they are due. I don't know why. Something to do with my brain liking pressure. It is very strange. I got pretty good grades last year and I was really proud of myself. Still, the two B's I got could have easily been A's if there was just a tiny bit more dedication to doing things on time.
#2 Take my boys to the park more often. I know that goals are supposed to be more specific than this so you are more accountable. I hope my wishy-washy-ness doesn't fail to get them more exercise, but the truth is things come up! (Plus since I can't procrastinate my homework it will depend on my teachers' workloads.)
#3 Do more with my kids learning wise. I have some great preschool books where they trace the letters in pen that wipes off the page.... They look great on the bookshelf collecting dust.... So this year I will try to get them a little bit ready for school (Adam might start preschool in the fall. WAHHHHH. I don't want my babies to grow up!)
#4 Make the bed at least 3 times a week. Do you like the specific-ness of this goal? I figured just make the bed more often wouldn't cut it. My real goal is to do it everyday, but since I hardly ever do now I figure I should start slow.
#5 Read a few inspirational/uplifting books. I read so much vampire and fantasy junk, I figure a little balance never hurt anyone.
#6 Get good grades. I would settle for 3 A's and 2 B's. This is what I got last semester and as long as I don't do worse than that I figure I'm okay. We'll see though... already Anthropology lab with all it's Biology crap is trying to kill me.
#7 I know it's a little bit early to make this one. It doesn't kick in till the middle of the year, but here goes anyway. I'm gonna put it out there, so if any of you see me looking a fatty once I've had my baby you can get on my case. The goal is to lose my baby fat within 5 months of having the baby. That means... very specifically, I want to weigh 125 again by Christmas. (ahhh 125, how I miss your bony hips, your love handle-less waist, your ankles.)
#8 Be happy if "she" turns out to be another boy.
#9 This is a two-fer. Maybe a three-fer. Family prayer. Every night. Not every other night. Not every night that I'm not tired. EVERY night. I should tattoo this on my hand so I remember... In fact... THERE. It's sharpie-d on. That should last a few days to get me started. Part B of this is FHE. We do okay on this. Need to do better... but I'm not terribly ashamed yet. C. Scripture time. DA NA NA NA NA NA-NA NA-NA Scripture time! I don't think I'm ready to read every day, but I could certainly be more consistent. I could try for 3 times a week. It's about as hard as making the bed, so that makes sense.
#10.... I don't have anymore. I just thought I should reach a nice round number. Good luck to all you folks and your resolutions. If you see me failing, elbow me in the ribs. Just not too hard, there's a baby in there!

Thought of the Moment

Lettuce does not taste good in reverse.