For Christmas I got a makeover!

Christmas was fun. Nathan didn't really get opening presents. So we helped--a lot. We'd rip the paper so he could see what was underneath. Sometimes he'd get interested and pull at the paper. Then he'd either get interested in the paper, or uninterested in the entire process, so we'd have to unwrap it a little bit more. So, better luck in four months. Actually, closer to three...time is going fast.

It was also good to see family. We miss the ones that couldn't come (and hope the presents got there in time!). Christmas evening, after all the presents had been opened and leftover pie eaten, nieces Hannah and Emily put their Christmas presents to good use. Namely, the REAL play makeup they had earlier unwrapped. Yes, that's right. I was very glittery and beautiful when they finished. Luckily, they stuck to putting glitter in my hair and pink, red, and purple lipstick on me, so my entire face was not purple (as three-year-old Hannah's had been earlier in the day).

The day after Christmas we went to Christmas Village in Ogden. I've never been during the day before, but it turned out better because it was (slightly) warmer than it would have been after dark.The kids had a lot of fun, the adults didn't complain (a lot) about the cold, and Nathan was remarkably happy. I think he's just happy to get out of the house with just two boring adults. Never mind that it's below freezing, just give me something else to look at!
I've gone to Christmas Village almost every year I've been alive. Some of the displays change, but there are other mini-building replicas that appear year after year, reminding me of the years when the animated Santas and elves seemed magical and almost-real.

And here's a few shots of the the other family's progressive breakfast, done the Saturday before Christmas.

Today I gave Nathan a bow to play with. Then I looked away, so I'm not sure how in ten seconds it got stuck to his bum. Impressed?

There and Back Again

Hi all. I posted these pictures yesterday but didn't add any description because, well, my keyboard was typing BACKWARDS. I don't know why. But today all has straightened itself out, so here we go.

We had a lot of fun, and overall, Nathan did really well. The plane ride there was in the evening, so he got overtired and overstimulated and screamed for the first little while. We eventually got him calmed down and he slept for most of the trip, which meant that we could also get a decent amount of sleep. When he woke up he made friends with an Australian baby sitting behind us.

When we got there we weren't very tired, which was wonderful. When we went to Amsterdam last year we were exhausted the entire first day. Adjusting to the time change wasn't too bad. Nathan was an angel baby and slept good in his crib and stroller (until the end of the week).

We had a good time exploring the city, either walking around or taking the train. Nathan loved the train. He'd get really excited when the train pulled into the station. He also loved riding the train because there were a lot of people to smile at. On our last day we had to ride the bus back to the airport and he fell asleep while playing with the bracelets the girl next to me was wearing.

My favorite part was wandering around the old part of Sydney, right around Sydney Harbor and close to the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. There's an old observatory they've turned into a museum on a hill overlooking the harbor. The view was amazing. They built the observatory to keep the time so the entire city could be on a standard time, and also so ships could get the correct time for their navigation calculations; there is a ball on the roof that raises to the top of a pole and drops at 1 pm. There was also apparently a personal fitness company that uses the park for its classes--there were groups running and dong kickboxing all around us. I can't blame them the location though. The views were amazing.

While we were walking around the Opera House, there were (I think) four Blackhawk helicopters doing maneuvers, and another helicopter looked like it was taking video. They weren't the only ones taking video, though. There was one of our group who was very excited. I'll give you two guesses.

Then we went to the Royal Botanic Gardens and walked through. It's quite huge. And lovely. There's good views of the harbor, lots of trees and flowers, and...flying foxes. Which we assumed were the bats that were thickly hanging from the trees. We also sat on Mrs. Macquaries' chair. She was the wife of one of the early governors of New South Wales, and had a bench carved into the stone on Bennelong Point so she could sit and watch the harbor.

That was our one sunny day. The rest of the days were overcast and not a little (but not a lot) rainy. It wasn't a cold rain, or a heavy rain, but it was a rain we didn't walk to walk around in for hours with a baby. So we went to museums. Not that we minded that, of course. We're big museum people. We just would have liked spending time at the beach as well. It was not raining our last day so we tried to go to the beach. On the map, it looked pretty close to the train station, so we figured we could walk it. Well, we did walk it. And we had just enough time to rest, take a few pictures and enjoy the view, and hurry back to the train so we could pick up our luggage and go to the airport. Our swimming suits, sadly, stayed quite dry.

Oh. And Levi did go to at least some of his conference every day. He'd go to a morning session for a couple hours, and I'd either go out by myself or, the last couple days, let Nathan get a decent morning nap. We all got colds, probably from the airplane ride. So the end of the week was a little more ornery.

My other favorite thing: We ate dinner at a little cafe overlooking Darling Harbor. Then, as we walked home, we stopped to listen to some Christmas carols. They had a group on a little stage singing a'capella. It was fun and kind of surreal to sit on the warm pavement and listen to the same Christmas songs I've sung and heard my entire life. Christmas is Christmas, even when it's summer.

And now I've got to go. I've got two babies here, one of whom is awake.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since my last post, and it will be a couple of weeks before my next post, so I'll overload you with pictures for this week. Be sure to ration them so you don't gorge on pictures today and then go through withdrawals next week.

The week of Thanksgiving the entire clan was in town. It's the first time we've all been together since June, so it was really great to see everybody. Tyler, Emily, and Hannah got a hold of our camera and had a ball. Which was good, though, because we meant to take pictures and didn't get around to it. So our memories of this Thanksgiving will be solely thanks to our helpful nephew and nieces. Here's a sample of what they got:






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We are truly grateful for (all of) our family(ies). Family is one of the greatest blessings of this life.

This is an unrelated picture of how helpful Nathan was during the raking leaves process. It took several days to finish the backyard, mostly during naptime.


It's always a sad day when you come home to find your son hiding in an upstairs bedroom, eerily quiet, guiltily indulging in...Dickens.

I left Nathan sitting, playing with toys, and came back to find him underneath the Christmas tree. He didn't even try to touch it, though. He's getting better at scooting around, although it's usually in the opposite direction of where he wants to go. But we're thinking the tree and soon-to-come presents might be just the motivation he needs. If he'll just hold off on crawling for a couple weeks, though, we'll be satisified.

Have a good next week! We sure will!

Sorry, Robyn!

I'm not sure why, but Robyn's blog was not updating on my list. So every time I checked my blog, I'd think, "That Robyn sure is not keeping up on her blog." So today when it finally updated there was quite a bit to read...and she had tagged me twice. So, here you go.

Five things about Nathan that you don't know:

1. He is awake in his crib even though there is 45 minutes left of naptime.
2. He's started giving "kisses" lately. Sometimes when he sees me, he'll get really excited, open his mouth, and breathe loudly. Then when I pick him up he'll grab around my neck, usually getting two fistfuls of hair (or just a handful of skin). Then he'll bite my jaw. How sweet. Good thing he doesn't have teeth yet.
   
3. He doesn't like green beans. So far, all other foods have been delicious. But green beans are not delicious.
4. When you put him in his crib, he has to have his binky. Then you have to give him an afghan to snuggle against his face. He'll turn onto his side, arch his neck back, and go to sleep. It doesn't look comfortable.
5. He is kind of a showoff baby. Last night he was super ornery. But, when we had to go to a song practice at a neighbor's house, he was sooo good. Did not make a peep. Everyone in our ward thinks he is a superhero, and his superhero power is to be the best-behaved baby in the WORLD. They don't believe us that he really is a normal baby. But I guess that's a pretty good problem to have.

We tag...Super D (who has a superhero baby name. He must have some superhero baby powers, right?)

And here's the Three Things tag.

3 Joys

1. family
2. my testimony
3. being able to be a stay-at-home mom
   

3 Fears

1. spiders
2. taking Nathan on a long plane ride
3. the phone. It's not that I don't like talking to people, I just don't like to call them. So don't be offended if I never call you.
   

3 Current Obsessions/Collections

1. Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount Jr.
   
2. poking people on Facebook
3. hearing about good deals from my sister and sister-in-law. They're so nice to pass the word along (see here).
   

3 Surprising Facts

1. I've never been to a game at Yankee Stadium, but I did get to use the bathroom there once.
2. I once considered being a nurse. For about five seconds.
3. Nathan is up (early) from his nap and is trying to type.
   

From a couple of hoo-hoos

Excerpt from Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount, Jr.

"Back in the early eighties I was to make a speech in some out-of-the-way place in Pennsylvania. A driver picked me up and the Pittsburgh airport. He was an affable sort, but he kept saying things that seemed oddly off, somehow. We were going to pass by Gettysburg, he said. That didn't seem right, especially when he said, 'That was where they spent the winter, you know, without any shoes. Feet wrapped in rags, if they even had that. And we think we have it hard.'

"Oh, I thought, he means Valley Forge.

"I asked him about a sign in front of a private home we passed: BARB'S BIG PIES!

"'Oh yeah,' he said. 'That lady bakes famous lemon pies. They're real big. Like a chef's hat. The meringue part alone is this thick!'

"He held his fingers about an inch apart, which didn't seem particularly thick for meringue, especially on a pie comparable to a toque.

"Then he started talking about his wife. 'I made her a Valentine for her birthday. Out of Styrofoam and copper wire? The heart went right through the middle of the arrow.'

"Well, you could, after all, look at the depiction of a pierced heart that way, but I was still trying to sort out what seemed askew about the image--in fact, I was beginning to wonder about being way out in the middle of nowhere with this man when he said, 'She's smart, you know. We grew up together. I wasn't good in school, at all. She was. Oh yeah. She was a hoo-h0o.'

"'I'm sorry?' I said.

"'A hoo-hoo. You know. Hoo-hoos Among American High School Students.'

We got where we were supposed to. He was good at what he did. But I hadn't realized that anybody's dyslexia extended as far as pie.

But back in the day when New York cabdrivers were much more likely to chat nonstop in English with their passengers than in some exotic native tongue over their ear-clip phones, I did have a cabbie who, after nearly running over an elderly lady, said in a reassuring tone, 'Nah, you don't wanna hit a pedestrian. 'Cause you have to fill out a form. And if you don't dot all your t's and cross your i's...'"

...You get utter hilariousness. Who says a book needs a plot to be entertaining? Good old Roy loves language just as much as I do. He may just become one of my new favorite authors. Along with the author of Ella Minnow Pea, of course.

Hoo-hoo. It kills me every time. My poor husband thought I was nuts because I was cracking up as I was typing this for you all. He's used to it, though. I keep interrupting him to tell him the etymology of a particular word, like grisly (comes from the same root as the words Christ and cream, of all things). He just says "wow" and then is free to continue his pursuits until I interrupt him again. He's pretty nice about it.

It's not what you think.

We have paid our heating bill.


But isn't it nice to know, if the situation were to arise, that your son is outfitted for an Arctic expedition?


What happens when mom leaves for the afternoon?


Food everywhere! To be fair, Nathan was going through the stage where food came out of his mouth just as fast as it went in. He's a much cleaner eater now. So his face, clothes, even his hair, were caked. Dad cleaned him up pretty good, but...when I came home I found food in his eyelashes.

On another note, I just wanted to share with you all what our relief society lesson was about yesterday. This life is hard. Hard with about seven capital H's. The world is a scary place, and it's not getting any easier. But our teacher testified pretty powerfully that Heavenly Father knows each of us, knows what we face every day, and blesses us with the capacity to handle it all. And he'll send the people and the circumstances that will help us out. I know we all hear this a lot, but it never gets old. The world is a pretty scary place most days, and it's nice to know we live the way we do for a reason. And that we never have to do it alone.

Master of Disguise

Yep, that's him.
Mild-mannered baby by day, international master of disguise by night.


Dragon/Dinosaur


Ballot-wielding adult


Baby with teeth

We had a good time with Halloween this year. We celebrated by walking to the library and voting. We figured we'd save a lot of time and hassle by voting early. Too bad about a bijillion other people also decided to save time and hassle. The line snaked through the stacks, with bored waiters snagging books as they spotted an interesting one. Luckily I had a couple books on hold so that I didn't have to search for something to read. I perpetually have books on hold at the library; it's kind of getting out of control. I hear about a book I'd like to read, and request it. Then all the books I've requested become available at the same time, and it's a mad rush to get them all read in time. It's not an option to just return a book unread.

Anyway, back to voting. We voted. We are responsible citizens. And I am so excited for this election season to be over. The end.

I know you've been thinking it. You didn't want to say anything; it would be impolite. And you didn't have to. We know that boy of ours sure is getting shaggy.

Well, no longer. We figured six months was old enough for his first haircut. He didn't like the clippers very much, so we ended up with me holding him while dear father wielded the clippers. We all got hairy.


But what cute hair it is. I wasn't at all sentimental about the first haircut until it was over. Then, "What have I done? My little boy looks so BIG!"


And he also looks clean cut. No more wisps sticking out all directions, up, out, over his ears. And if you'd like to, you may join me in bidding a fond farewell to the ever-famous baby mullet.

And if you someday find yourself missing the baby mullet to the point where you can no longer cope, just come on over. You can sigh over times gone by with the plastic sandwich bag that is the mullet's final resting place.

We just couldn't throw cute hair like that away.

Baby, it snowed outside.

Oh, buddy, did it snow. I was expecting a little sprinkling when I got up Sunday morning, but there was already a few inches. There were a few more inches by the time we got out of church. And it just kept on snowing. We watched the neighbors shovel their (north-facing) driveway, and the neighbor kids had a snowball fight. Luckily, we knew our (south-facing) driveway would melt the next day, so we could be lazy and avoid shoveling.

This wasn't Nathan's first snow, but he wasn't really into snow the day we brought him home from the hospital. He was busy sleeping, or something. Lazy kid.

So, what else could we do but initiate him into the world of winter wonderland, through that time-honored tradition, the Polar Bear Challenge?



No. We. Didn't.

We're not bad parents. We bundled him up carefully, wearing all manner of warm clothing.



He seemed to be mildly interested by the snow. He looked, and touched, and looked, and touched. Then he started to complain. Thought it was cold or naptime or something. I told you, he's kind of a lazy kid. Always taking naps and stuff.



So we brought him inside and further exploited him by dressing him up and taking cute pictures.

The snow made it seem like Christmas. We bundled up, ate soup, and did all sorts of wintery things. In fact, it seemed so much like winter that...

(Being married to a man who would listen to Christmas music ALL YEAR long, I usually try to hold off the holiday-themed entertainment. Moderation in all things, you know. It's for his own protection, really. If I had to listen to "Jingle Bells" all year long, I can't vouch for what I would do.)

So, with that explanation, you will understand the extreme winter-ness of the day knocked my good sense out of whack so much that I actually suggested we watch Elf.

And that husband of mine was delighted, and so we did. It's one of my favorite Christmas movies. I did clearly state, however, that this did not give him free rein for all Christmas, all the time. We have to give fall its due, you know. If only the weather would cooperate.

Welcoming Autumn

Warning: this blog contains no gossip. So don't look for any. (Just to let Michael know we're taking his advice to heart.)

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. It's not hot, and so you get to unpack all those sweaters, fuzzy socks, and flannel sheets. Last night it got so (unseasonably) cold in our house we had to turn on the heater, and I got a little giddy. I never realized before how much I love the smell of warm air coming out of the vents. I didn't even remember that warm air coming out of the vents had a smell. I am such a cold weather nerd. Anyway, it was wonderful.

Last Friday (the day before the torrential rain) we went hiking up Taylor's Canyon (see slideshow below). It was beautiful and crisp. We almost turned back when it started to sprinkle, but luckily we held out, and it stopped after a few minutes. So we kept going. And going. And then the ridge looked so deceptively close that we kept going some more. We kept going so high and so long that before we knew it, Nathan was hungry. Oh, dear. Luckily we were so far up the trail that no one saw us as I fed him while sitting on a rock.

By then it was getting dark so we had to turn back. The ridge that had looked so close got farther away the closer we got (does that even make sense?). So we left our dreams of hiking up and over to Snowbasin for another day. We'll make it sometime.

It was almost dark by the time we made it back to the car. But Nathan was a trooper through it all. He loves being outside, so even though we interrupted his nap, he was happy. He looked and looked and grabbed at whatever he could. I don't know how, but he got hold of a leaf and played with it for a long time, until he finally fell asleep. We're training him up to be another hiking, mountains, outdoors-in-general enthusiast.

I love hiking in the mountains, especially in the fall. It makes my soul feel clean and alive. We'll have to do it more often. Too bad it's SNOWING in the mountains this weekend. Darn winter storm warning.

I've tipped over, but I don't mind

I guess I better start with a disclaimer: I take no responsibility for the content of this blog inciting small children to undertake dangerous activities, such as, but not limited to, driving the car. Parents need to fully discuss with their toddlers the consequences of such activities and maintain an environment where harmless blogs do not give children such ideas.

That was for Jon. Apparently a picture a couple of posts ago gave his two-year-old daughter a very good idea. She started plotting with her five-year-old sister to get the car keys so that she could drive. So, all you parents of small children with big ideas, take my disclaimer to heart.

***

We have a USB drive for copying pictures onto our computer, and it's wonderful. Not only does it make transferring pictures to the computer so convenient, it's also shaped perfectly for playing with it. It's got a little lid thing that I love to play with. Pop it off, snap it back on. Pop off, snap on. You get the picture. Unfortunately, I love to play with it so much that when I'm done at the computer, I carry the very-convenient card reader with me throughout the house, popping off and snapping on. And then I forget where I put it.

So this post very nearly had no pictures. That would be a horrible thing, having to be entertained solely by my writing and not being able to see any pictures of a very cute baby. Oh, dear, indeed. But luckily, I found another card reader on the floor under the computer desk that isn't nearly as much fun to play with. So it's at least close to where it should be. And now you all have an idea of how organized we are, that we keep important computer/camera implements under the computer desk.

***

Last night we decided to start Nathan on food. He's been very intent on watching other people eat food, that we decided he's ready. So, here we go.
He had such a good time. He got really excited and kept trying to grab the bowl. And he loved chewing on the spoon. The only thing he doesn't love about eating, apparently, is swallowing.

Pretty much everything that went in his mouth dripped right back out. But we had a good time. And then we had a bath.

***

One morning Nathan got up about 6:00. He ate, then I put him on his tummy to play. But he was still sleepy, so he just put his head down on his arm and started to fall asleep right in the middle of looking at a picture of a baby (this is usually a very exciting activity). He woke back up when I got out the camera, though. So we took a few pictures and then we both went back to bed. It was great.

An Opportunity Squandered

Today I called Levi at work and told him, "I ruined one of your shirts." He laughed and asked, "One of the Lake Powell ones?" And that's when it hit me: Why am I not a genius? Because that would have been a genius thing to do.

Here's the story. Once upon a time Levi went home for summers and worked for the concessionaire at Bullfrog. His uniform was cream polo shirts with a Lake Powell logo, and denim shorts also embroidered with the logo (you may have seen him still wear these). So you may be thinking "Lake Powell logo, polo shirt, what's the problem?" The problem is that Levi could fit into one shirt approximately one and three-eighths times. It's not a small shirt. After we got married I tactfully suggested maybe he should start wearing clothes that fit him. And he took the suggestion very well, but he still hangs on to those (now reserved for dirty work projects) shirts.

It's become one of those continuous married-couple jokes. So much so that it's come up at dinners with other people. So much so that his first thought when I tell him I've ruined one of his shirts is the much-beloved, much-maligned Lake Powell shirts.

So I'm mourning my missed opportunity. Because the shirt I ruined was the Hillary Fan Club t-shirt (here's a shoutout to all those who still have their Hillary Fan Club shirts). It's not terribly ruined, just a couple small stains, and it's not like he really wore the shirt in public anyway. But still.

On to other news: I ruined the shirt while... staining some tables. I love finishing (or refinishing) furniture. It's very fun. The next time you come to my house, compliment me on the table in my living room. I got it for free from a yard sale, and I rehabilitated it from its dilapidated, water-stained state. And now it looks awesome. They don't make tables like that anymore. At least not that you can get for free.

The latest craze: face-grabbing. All the babies are doing it. So be prepared--if your face gets within range, small fingers are going to probe all available nooks, crannies, and teeth. Nathan even tried to suck on Levi's nose today. Grossness. i guess Nathan has to learn about allergies sometime, right?

Alfresco Living...Idaho Style

I'm not sure where Levi took this picture, but I'm pretty sure it was Preston. And I liked it, so now all you all have to look at it. Anyway, this past weekend was the now infamous Holliday family reunion. It's usually an idyllic weekend full of relaxing, a minimal amount of socializing (you mean I have to talk to people I'm kind of related to?), and a whole lot of good food.

And there was relaxing, socializing, the usual reunion what-have-you. And lots of good food, if you didn't mind that it was cooked in...what used to be a chicken coop. Starting Sunday afternoon, it rained. Our relaxing weekend got cold, dark, and wet. After we got tired of watching the tent drip onto our bedding, we moved to the back of our truck. Which worked admirably--we stayed dry and warm. It was definitely a reunion to remember--I'm sure there'll be skits about it next year.

So this is the Nathans all bundled up. If you've noticed that in many of these photos he seems to have the same expression, his face is not frozen this way. When he's being cute, though, and I get out the camera, he stares: "What is that thing you're pointing at me?" So he usually looks vaguely alarmed in pictures.

He loved camping, by the way. There's so much to look at outside that he doesn't get bored, or even very fussy when he's tired. The first night in the tent he slept great. And he slept almost as great in the truck. He loved camping so much, in fact, that he's staged his own sort of living-indoors strike. He has not slept good all week since we've been home. Not good naps, not good sleep at night. Thus, he's been ornery and I am far from chipper. Sorry to Levi.

On the way home, Levi got a little tired, so we figured Nathan was old enough to learn to drive. He is taller than 97% of babies his age, you know. Driving will probably come very naturally to him as a result. (Precocity in height means that he will automatically excel at everything he tries.)
And I had to throw this one in as well because it's just cute. And he doesn't look scared of the camera.

Typo Eradication League

Some things are just too good to make up...

"I figured, Steinbeck had his dog and Kerouac had his drugs. I'd have my typos," said the 28-year-old Deck of what he calls his Typo Hunt Across America tour.

These seem like my kind of people. I was checking up on one of my favorite sites, Stuff White People Like (who knew I was so white?), and lo and behold, I found my soulmates of grammar. A couple of guys decided to travel around the country fixing typos on signs. Apparently their quest crossed the National Park Service's path, though. They got fined and banned from national parks for one year after their zeal defaced a historical sign at the Grand Canyon.

I still like people who don't know grammar. Usually I don't mention it (although I'm sure my poor dear Levi is tired of my triumph every time I find a mistake in the newspaper) because I know people find it annoying. And I don't like to make people feel stupid. But every now and then, I wish I had the chutzpah to go and fix other people's (very visible) errors. Because if you're going to put up a sign, you ought to put in the effort to make it correct.

Anyway, if you'd like to be inspired, check out the article here.

On a related note, once I saw a sign on a veterinary clinic that said:

Father's Day Special
20% off spay and neutering

Oh, the irony.

Don't worry; we're getting Nathan's education started early.

Nathan loves to hike!

Well, at least he doesn't mind it. He slept most of the time. I'm posting some pictures of our trip to Bryce Canyon and Bullfrog, since it's been a month and a half since we went and I haven't shown anyone our pictures yet. Sorry.

We weren't sure how Nathan would handle sleeping away from home, but he did great. He was a good sport for most of the trip. He didn't even mind when I changed his diaper in the trunk of the car, which is a lot safer place than on the hood. Which we also did when the trunk was full.


We went to Bryce Canyon first, and stayed there a couple of days. It's been a long time since I'd gone, so it was very fun. We did some hiking and enjoyed the scenery. Nathan slept most of the time in the backpack, so he was a well-rested baby.

Next we drove to Bullfrog to visit some of our favorite grandparents. It was nice to spend a few days there relaxing and, of course, hiking. We were there over the Fourth of July and Nathan enjoyed the fireworks out over Bullfrog Bay. I liked them too. Hundreds of boats were out in the water to see the fireworks, so Nathan didn't know whether to look at the lights on the water or at the lights in the sky. He opened his eyes really wide to see them (of course, he does that all the time, but we know he still enjoyed them). And Nathan was initiated into the time-honored family tradition of swimming in Lake Powell. He wasn't sure about it at first, but got really into it at the end. He kicked those little arms and legs as much as he knew how. Erin and Mike were down visiting at the same time and Nathan loved to watch Ethan. Cousins are so neat!

All in all, it was a good trip. I think we'll do it again sometime.