For My Father

Today is my dad's birthday. I have learned so much from his incredible example. He has given me so much wise counsel, taught me so much, and loved me thoroughly.

Here are a few of the many qualities I love about my dad with accompanying anecdotes:

-He let me exercise my agency as I grew up, but then he also helped me learn from my mistakes. One time, when I was 13 or so, I got on the Internet and a box popped up that said I won an X-Box! I was so excited and decided I wanted it. My dad didn't really want me to try, I'm sure, but he did. About half an hour or so later I asked for his help after realizing I had been sent on an endless string of forms that required me to fill in my address, phone number, and e-mail address. He explained to me about the lies that abound in the online world and the junk mail and e-mail I should expect. Sure enough, I was spammed a lot, but I learned a valuable lesson without resenting having my agency restricted.

-He always seems to have the answer. I still haven't figured out how, but my dad seems to know almost everything. It seems that I can ask him about any subject and he will always know the answer. Just recently, he was explaining to me the different types of internet connections and how our webcam works in extreme detail.

-He can fix just about anything. Whether it be cars, computers, toys, phones, appliances, decorations, bikes, tools, or even broken hearts, as a favorite children's book says, he can fix it. If he doesn't know how, he will find out how. He has sacrificed so much of his time learning how to fix things and then fixing them. Once when I was in college, my computer got infected with a virus. I didn't know that was what had happened, but it wasn't working, so I called my dad. He talked to me for a while, asking me about the problems, and then asked if he could call me back. After a couple of hours of researching various virus removal programs on his end, he called me back and talked me through the installation, explained how it would work, and helped me clean up my computer.

He is so generous with what he has. I remember one time my parents had been out while we kids were at home. They came home with a couple and began preparing the hide-a-bed. It turns out their car had broken down and they were stranded on the side of the road. My parents stopped to help, and they brought them home to spend the night at our house until they could take their car to get it fixed in the morning. Another time he spent countless weeks installing an automatic sprinkler system in the yard of a single sister he home taught. He has been such a good example to me of being completely selfless with time and means.

He is a worthy priesthood holder. My dad has been able to give me blessings in times of need, and he has presided over our family in righteousness. I am so grateful for the solid spiritual foundation my parents gave to me.

The list of things I admire about my dad goes on and on, but I want him to know that I love him and I am so grateful for his steady example and continued influence in my life. Happy birthday!!!

Four Months!

It is crazy to think that it has already been four months since we welcomed our sweet little Talmage into the world. Thursday marked his four month birthday, and he also had his doctor's appointment then. That meant, of course, more shots, and more breaking of my heart as I had to hold my baby down to be injected with stuff that apparently burns as it goes through his system...they could have spared me the details!

Anyway, he is 14 pounds, 1.5 ounces (almost 50th percentile), 25.75 inches long (almost 90th percentile), and his head is 16.5 inches around (almost 50th percentile). The doctor said we could start him on solids! I was so excited to see how he would like his rice cereal that I gave him some that very day. There were requests for videos, but alas, pictures will have to suffice. Sorry some of them are kind of blurry...

Here, buddy, try some cereal!

"What is this??? It has a weird texture!"

"I don't think I like it!"

"But then..."

"...maybe..."

"...it's actually kind of good! Who would have thought?"

"Thanks, Mom!"

He was so cute as I fed him. He would pull this awful face every time I fed him a spoonful, but then he would swallow it down and act like he liked it. I would hold up the spoon where he could see it, and he would open his mouth, expectantly waiting for more. It only took one or two bites before he stopped trying to lick the spoon and instead opened his mouth for it, and his tongue thrust isn't bad at all! He actually chews his cereal before he swallows it. Sometimes when I'm not even feeding him I see him practicing his chewing. It's so fun to see him experience new things and see his reactions.

Here are a few facts about the four month old Talmage:

-He is loving peek-a-boo. He gets such a kick out of it and will pull his blanket or spit cloth over his face and wait for us to pull it off. The other day I had been playing peek-a-boo with him and then left to take care of some things. A minute or two later he started fussing. I went over to him, and he had pulled his spit cloth over his face and was waiting for me to pull it off, but he got frustrated because I was never coming!

-He is sleeping from 8:30pm or so until 6:00am and usually has 3 good naps each day. He often sleeps with his eyes halfway open and you can see them darting back and forth. If you walk past him, he will track your movements! It is so funny to see him watching us even in his sleep.

-He always tries to sit himself up when he is laying down. He can get almost all the way up, too, but then he loses his balance and topples back down. So he ends up doing a bunch of sit-ups all day long. It must be a good ab workout!

-He loves being outside, going shopping, and seeing new people and new scenery.

-He is all over the place! He is always leaning, reaching, lunging, kicking, and trying to be more capable than his body allows him to be.

-He has learned to laugh (like here), and we have found that one of our top daily quests is to get him to. Baby laughs are the cutest!

-He isn't thrilled with being on his tummy, but he insists on standing. If he can grab your hands, he will stand himself up, and it is next to impossible to get him to unlock his knees and sit down if he is determined to stand. He will stand independently for quite some time if he has something to lean against. In light of this, I'm curious to see if he'll learn to walk before he learns to crawl.

We love him so much! Sometimes the joy I feel with my life overwhelms me and I feel like I might just burst with happiness. I know it sounds cheesy, but it really is true. Life truly is beautiful.

Dynamic Duo

I just love my boys...how could one girl get so blessed? :)

Stretch!

Talmage loves to stretch. Whenever he wakes up, when I lay him on my lap in the middle of his feeding, when we lay him in his crib, when we get him out of the carseat, and during almost any transition, he will arch his back, stretch his arms up in the air, and stretch! It is so cute. I have never seen a baby stretch as much as he does. In the morning he will do it over and over again. On this particular day, we were going to go pick up Sam, and I wanted him to have his nap on the way. So I got him to sleep and then put him in his carseat. I laid him down in the seat and he instantly began stretching...then fell asleep mid-stretch!

Those Hands!

These days, Talmage just can't keep his hands out of his mouth...

My sweet little monkey! Love that goofy grin!

Little Doggy

Last week I put Talmage's doggy jacket on him, and when we got home he was sleeping soundly in his carseat. I loved the little puppy face peeking out at me! :)

More Than We Bargained For

This story needs some background. Sam and I have one car--a 1993 Toyota Camry. It's old, but we got it about 10 months ago, and it didn't have very many miles on it, so we thought it would be reliable. We got a manual transmission to reduce the likelihood of the transmission going out, to get better gas mileage, etc. When we bought the car, we were informed the clutch was new. Yet last week the car began having a lot of trouble accelerating. Upon further investigation, we discovered the clutch was going out...already! A clutch is supposed to last around 100,000 miles, and we had only gone 10,000. We don't even "ride the clutch!" So almost $1,000 later, our car is working again.

Anyway...while our car was in the shop, we essentially ran out of food. A trip to the grocery trip was definitely in order, but that was somewhat difficult without a car. Finally, desperation gave way to the abandoment of logic, and I loaded Talmage into the stroller on a cold, wet day.

I figured that the grocery store wasn't that far away, and that I could use the exercise anyway. So we set off. When we first went outside, the air was filled with mist, but it wasn't really raining, so I decided we could brave the weather. Well, shortly into our expedition, the rain really picked up. We were walking through mud and puddles of rain water, and I had to take one of the blankets off of Talmage and drape it over the stroller in order to keep the rain out of his face. The blanket was bright green, so it was very visible. Talmage decided that was not fun at all and started fussing, which progressed into crying, which progressed into screaming. As we journeyed on, I realized the grocery store was a lot further away than I initially thought.

I turned down a road where the speed limit was 50 mph and there were no sidewalks. Smart, huh? But the shoulder was wide enough that I figured it wouldn't be much of a problem. So we continued on. Suddenly an old truck pulled into a driveway ahead of me. The window went down, and I saw a somewhat unnerving couple. The woman asked me if I needed a ride. I quickly refused, assuring her I was fine. I kept walking down the road (or highway!), and they watched me for a while before getting back on the road and driving off.

I got to the main road on which the grocery store is located and pressed the pedestrian button to cross. While I was waiting, another truck pulled into the driveway of the gas station next to me. Once again, the window went down. This time a man was sitting behind the wheel, and as I glanced up I heard, "Ma'am, do you need a ride?" I once again refused, and as he questioned me as to whether or not I was certain I didn't need a ride, the semi-truck behind him honked angrily, as the truck bed was blocking one of the lanes of the road. Nice. By this point, many pairs of curious eyes were watching the woman bundled up in her coat with her hood on, pants soaked almost up to the knees, pushing a stroller covered in a bright green, sopping wet blanket. I hurriedly crossed the road and started walking briskly through the parking lot.

As I approached the grocery store, yet another car-a white cadillac-pulled up, the window went down, and a large man stared at me, stared at the stroller, and then stared at me with a look on his face that said, "What kind of a mother are you, bringing your baby out in this weather?" He said slowly, incredulously, something like, "It's...wet!" I simply nodded and explained, "It's fine," and went on my way. (For the record, Talmage stayed warm and dry throughout the entire trip.)

I then made a spectacle as I wandered into the grocery store, and realized they didn't have any grocery baskets you could carry, and there wasn't a reasonable way I could push a cart and a stroller at the same time. Thankfully, Talmage had stopped crying, and I decided I would simply load the groceries into the stroller. I'm sure I looked like a little thief as I placed bread, milk, and other essentials into the lower basket. I ran out of room there, so I began piling things on top of the stroller. They teetered back and forth as I made my way to the checkout register, and the clerk watched curiously as I unloaded my items. As if I didn't already feel enough like a spectacle, after she filled the bags, I began loading them back into the stroller. I got a few too many groceries, however, and ended up having to tie bulging bags to the stroller handle. Dreading the rainy walk home, I ventured out into the parking lot.

I was about halfway through the parking lot when another truck pulled up and the window rolled down to reveal a man who sent shudders through my spine. "Ma'am, do you need a ride to your house?" he inquired. I think I was shaking my head no before he even started his sentence! I bolted away, crossed the road, and set off once again down the 50 mph road, speed-walking down the rocky shoulder, trucks and trailers splashing up large amounts of water as they passed. A car on the opposite side of the road honked about 10 times as it passed. I looked up, and it was a white cadillac! Coincidence? Perhaps. But I think it was the same man I encountered on my way into the store. How embarrassing.

I was relieved when after about a mile on that road I could turn the corner and walk on a sidewalk again. I was passing a school when a woman turned into the parking lot, rolled down her window, and uttered those now familiar words: "Honey, do you need a ride somewhere?" When I said no, she said, "I was just as scared of you as you are of me. I just didn't want the baby getting wet." I nearly laughed out loud when she said that! Scared of me??? As I continued on my way, I realized why. With the bulging grocery bags tied to the stroller, the basket full of bags, and my completely wet pants and the wet blanket, I really looked like a bag lady! After that realization hit, I actually did start laughing out loud, which made me look even crazier.

When we were almost home I saw something in the sidewalk. I realized it was Talmage's shoe, which he had apparently kicked off early on our walk without me noticing. Wondering if the trip could get any more random, I finally arrived back at our apartment. I realized there was no way I could carry the stroller up the stairs with Talmage and the groceries in it, so I took Talmage out and took him up to our apartment, then returned to bring up the stroller with the groceries, which must have weighed something like 50 pounds. The only way I can carry the stroller up the stairs is by holding the handle and the bar between the front wheels, so it puts me in a somewhat awkward position anyway. But the fact that it weighed so much more than usual made it quite a task to get it up the stairs to our apartment.

Finally, I clunked it down at the top of the stairs and I heard a faint, "Lock the door!" I realized someone must be leaving their apartment and assumed they were below me. But as I started to push the stroller, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned, and there was a man walking right next to me! I was so startled I nearly jumped out of my skin. It didn't help that it was one of the guys Sam told me I should stay away from because he had seen him when he appeared drunk or high or something. He said hi, and I nervously reciprocated as I opened my apartment door, pushed the stroller inside, and went to crash down on the bed where I had laid Talmage. What an experience!!!