Making dinner

...is not all that bad. Once you decide what to make. I dislike deciding what to make. I suppose part of the problem is I have kids clammering all over me for one thing or another and Richard is a pill to cook for.
I remember when I was growing up and my mom would say, "Hey, Lucille, what would you like for dinner?" I thought, "Oh, what a considerate mother! She wants to make what I want to have." No, no. She's like me! She hates deciding what to make for dinner! I have tried asking Richard, but he will tell me one of three things EVERY time. (Considering he likes about three things in this world, that shouldn't be a suprise.) He wants either hamburgers, chicken nuggets, or pizza.
So, my daily dilemma is, "What should I make for dinner?" I do try to make relatively healthy, low-cost meals, and so maybe that's the problem. I don't want to do pre-made, high-fat, costs 4x as much meals. I've even asked my sister what I should make that night! So, if any of you have fabulous dinner ideas that might fit those criteria, let me know. It would be slightly nice if Richard would eat it, but since he has a limited acceptable menu, I often don't adhere to that.
For now, we're having leftovers tonight! Scott will be so pleased.

Binkies

My kids love binkies. I have no problem with that. I try to make sure they don't use them excessively, but I didn't make Richard lose his until he was over 2 1/2 years old.

Audrey loves her binkie just as much as Richard did. However, her attachment might be a little stronger. Richard took ANY Nuk binkie. He didn't care. Audrey must have a size 1. Yes, folks. The "newborn to 6 months" size. We try to go bigger. No, no! She won't have it. Last night, Scott noticed that her current binkie is getting a wee bit disgusting. Binkies tend to do that. We tried to give her a new one. It was a cute yellow and blue. However, it was a size 2. She pulled it right out of her mouth and gave it back to me. We tried another. It's the same size. It's just blue, not white. She was furious! She wouldn't take it. She got mad when we left her without one, though. So, we weren't in the mood to listen to her cry all night because she didn't have a binkie. We have resigned ourselves to the fact we must buy a white and yellow binkie. Now we just have to hope she won't care that it's not disgusting. She may just pitch a fit!

Ah, how liberating!

I hate teaching babies how to eat. I hate putting the same food in their mouth 5 times. I hate that I have to spend 30 minutes getting them to eat a tablespoon of food. I also like to eat. I like eating when everyone else is eating. I don't like that I have to feed my child and then eat when everyone else is done and my food is cold.

Isn't it GREAT when your child gets to the "I do it" stage and they can feed themselves? Now, admittedly, there are some definite irritations to accompany the "I do it" stage. However, this is not one of them! So, she gets a little messy. Oh, well. This particular food will not stain. She probably would have anyway as she swats the spoon away or tries to grab it from me. She got to eat her way. I got to eat my food at the same time. How is this not a "win, win" situation?

Can the light just come?

Scott received comments on his thesis from his professor yesterday. He was very overwhelmed and discouraged. He did seem better when we went to bed, however.... I just want the thing to be done! Is that too much to ask?

Audrey in all her glory!

Audrey has so much energy! She loves to be chased and tickled. She loves to give cheesey grins. She loves to play peek-a-boo.

She loves to point out facial features. She is just so cute!

Richard's opinion

So, if you know me at all, you've seen that some days I slick my hair back in a pony tail of sorts. Usually that means I'm going to work or have worked the night before and am way too tired to care about fixing my hair. Other days, I try to look slightly fashionable and leave my hair down (like in the formal family picture). Richard apparantly has an opinion! When I was showering the other day he said to Scott, "What hair will Mommy do?" If I come down with my hair down, he'll say, "Oh, Mommy! I like the down hair. You're so pretty!"

On that note, he also has an opinion about his own hair. I see so many cute boys with their hair spiked. I've tried to convince Richard to let me do that. His reaction is, "No, not crazy hair!" as he flattens his hair as best and quickly as he can. "Just down hair!" So, if you've wondered why I never bother to "fix" his hair. This is why. He won't let me.

Keeping things in perspective

I found out today that a woman who works on my floor had her baby pass away this last week. She works during the day and works more of an 8-5 job, so I don't know her. In fact, not until I asked someone did I even find out what had happened. Her baby was born prematurely and lived at the hospital until this past week.

I complain about Richard not being potty trained, temper tantrums, interrupted sleep, sibling spats, etc. Then, I hear about things like this and remember to count my blessings.

I have to wonderful, loving, healthy children. They bring me great joy. I can't imagine what it would be like to have the entirety of your child's life to be in the NICU. I can't imagine not being able to cuddle with your child in the wee hours of the morning and just gaze at their little face. I can't imagine only seeing your child connected to tubes, wires, monitors, etc. with all the beeping and the bustling that accompanies an ICU. I can't imagine burying my baby. I can't imagine the grief she must be experiencing. My heart breaks for her. 

So, tonight, I express thanks for my children, their health, my health, Scott's health, and the great blessings we enjoy. Really, what do I have to complain about?

Sensitive Audrey

I don't know what the difference is. I don't know if she justs eats different foods. I don't know if it's because she often poops 3-4 times a day. I don't know if it's one of her rotten lots in life. However, poor Audrey develops diaper rash so easily! This morning it was so bad she was bleeding. For reference, yesterday, she hardly had evidence of anything! Richard, on the other hand, will avoid diaper changes and so sometimes sit in messy diapers for quite a while. He RARELY gets diaper rash. I currently have A&D ointment. I'm not convinced it's working all that well, because she's still bright red. I've not really experimented much with stuff, because I never had to with Richard. I've just used what I had on hand with Audrey. I'm not sure if she just has sensitive skin or if the A&D is really just worthless, stinky stuff. I've used Desitin (the creamy, not pasty variety) and it didn't seem that much more impressive. For anyone out there who may have experience, have you found something that works REALLY well?

Free. Free is good.

We were blessed on Saturday. Scott came up while I was making dinner and mentioned the neighbors were giving away furniture. I asked how he knew that. He said because the furniture was sitting on the driveway with a sign that says "free." I first called them up to make sure it was still available to be taken. I was told it was. Scott carried the first piece over by himself. He got another neighbor to help carry the second over, and they were totally exhausted! I am so glad I didn't try to carry it!  We now have an arm chair and a hide-a-bed sofa! We're mostly excited because it was free. Secondly, they aren't too shabby. Thirdly, we now have a place for visitors to sleep besides the floor, which is convenient. Lastly, we actually have furniture for the living room! I love free stuff!

The light at the end of the tunnel....

...is getting closer! Scott e-mailed 80-some-odd pages to his advisor on Saturday! Well, I guess technically Sunday as it was almost 4:00 a.m., but as we had not gone to bed yet, it still seemed like Saturday! Yea! He still needs to put together the appendices and write the abstract and conclusion. However, he e-mailed it to his advisor, which is a HUGE milestone! He has until this Friday to schedule his defense in order to say he's offically graduating this semester. He has encountered so many delays, that we are praying everything else goes smoothly.

So, what is the recipe?

LeAnne asked for the recipe. I haven't tried it. I just know it looks divine! So, here it is for those who are suckers for desserts.

You've got to love the Internet!

So, I had a magazine subscription that I was getting caught up on reading. Each issue has an outer cover that advertizes their latest cookbook. I was showing a fabulous looking cake on that cover to my Mom. However, it's supposed to get you to buy their cookbook, so the actual recipe is not listed. She recommended I google it. Now, why didn't I think of that? There were other delicious looking desserts on other covers... Those magazines have long ago meant their doom.

Anyway, I googled it and found it! Yea! I didn't have to buy a whole cookbook for one recipe!

Valentine's Day

So, I don't really get into a lot of the hype of Valentine's Day. Yea, Scott and I acknowledge it and give each other small gifts. However, I think it's an overcommercialized holiday and a way for stores to get us to spend money on things we don't need. Chocolate that's overpriced. Jewelry we have no occasion to wear (at least at my house. Scott has never breached this area). Stuffed animals that just collect dust. Little trinkets that are worthless. Flowers that are four times more expensive than next week. Etc. In fact, when Scott asked me what I want this year, I told him I want a note.

Perhaps part of my attitude comes from my pratical approach to spending money. Or perhaps it comes from having to give cards to every child in my class while growing up even if I didn't care much for the person.

However, last night, a woman from my ward and her two children braved the snow storm to bring us a plate of frosted sugar cookies. Then, today, they brought over a Valentine's Day bag of treats and a card for Richard. No overpriced items you'll never use. No overpriced chocolates. Just homemade cookies to recognize that we are friends. That's the meaning of Valentine's Day! Just expressing friendship and love to those important in your life. That's my idea of Valentine's Day! That's why I've only asked Scott for a love note.

A humble, but ever so helpful, neighbor

We received approximately 10 inches of snow last night. I can't complain. It wasn't extremely windy like other portions of the state. We have received a TON of snow this year. It's been a long time since I remember having snow this consistently through the winter. I don't think we've had a day without snow on the ground since December 1. I am ever so grateful I broke down and actually bought snow pants and snow boots for Richard. They have been so valuable since, unlike Audrey, Richard loves to walk through the snow. He's used them a lot.

So, on to the point and the title of my post. Through all these storms, my neighbor has tirelessly plowed the little cul-de-sac I live on. The city ignores our little circle, and we could have a huge, icy mess to deal with. However, with every storm, our neighbor gets on his four-wheeler and plows the circle. He even has helped me plow the end of my driveway a couple of times! He has used who knows how much gas, and as you all know, gas is not the cheapest these days. I know he'll never read this, and I know none of you has ever met him. I just want to applaud those in our lives who take the time to serve other people with no thought of reward or recognition.

True maturity

I am of an age that you'd think I'd be mature enough to overcome certain high school tendencies. You'd think. However, I must continually berate myself for my even slight notice of certain realities. Life has too much to enjoy to worry about popularity contests, right? Right. So, I must grow up and remember I graduated from high school.

A girl after my own heart

I didn't start teaching Richard to clean up his toys until after he went to nursery. I then realized it was a task he was capable of and wondered why I hadn't been responsible enough to teach him yet. Then, there is Audrey. I don't know if she learned from watching Richard or if she just likes order. She'll randomly start cleaning up.  Richard will actually get mad and say, "It's not night-night time!" because I don't make them clean up until right before bed. When teaching Richard to clean up, I had to put a toy in his hand and then bring his hand to the bucket and then make him drop it. Audrey needed no guidance or direction. She just does it! She must be my daughter!

My thespian parents

My parents are in a community play in Gunnison, and I went down to support them. I was with Annette and Thamina. I left Scott with the kids, because I knew the play was way beyond their attention span and their bedtime. I figured if we brought the kids, neither of us would really see it or enjoy it. So, at least this way, I got to enjoy it! Oh, the joys of having fun without someone crawling on your lap, crying for milk, whining because they're bored, etc. 

The play was called "She Loves Me," which is based on the same origins "You've Got Mail" is based on. I enjoyed it and thought they did a nice job! My dad played the comic side-kick to the main character. He was quite entertaining! The audience frequently laughed at what he'd do. My mom played a small part as a shopper, but she performed with gusto! It's fun to see your parents do things like that.