my little helper...etc...

I think I've mentioned before what a great little 'helper' Garrett is. He wants to do laundry, wipe off his high chair, scrub the tile floor, sweep, organize the fridge, cook, organize the pans, feed the fish, anything I'm doing, he wants to try, he even sometimes pushes on and holds the back of Addie's head while I'm nursing her- just to make sure she's getting enough I guess... and his new one is pushing the shopping cart. I keep reminding myself to be patient, because although right now my little helper makes each project take (at least) twice as long, maybe one day he'll still love to help and it will actually help! If I ever have to take him to a store and we get a cart, I try to be prepared with distractions so he won't remember that he wants to push the cart. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It's really hard work, and he is so focused when he's doing it that it's actually really cute and he always gets a lot of smiles and attention from other shoppers.I love these kids. Last night I asked Paul if he even remembers life without Addie and if he can image life without her. Even though she was even more of a surprise than Garrett was, we just feel really complete with her in our family. (And Mom, by 'complete' I just mean complete for now...and probably for a really long time.) And look how big Garrett is next to her!I went to the dentist yesterday for a crown on a tooth. I've known about it since last June when I had my emergency root canal, but they told me to try and wait until after Addie was born to get the crown, and now she's 4 months old, but I was actually pretty proud of myself for getting in there as fast as I did. And I got the lovely news that the tooth next to it has an old filling in it that has, over the years, expanded and cracked the tooth, and it also needs a crown. Sigh... it's just money...

I saw this snack on Pinterest. I made some about 2 minutes after I saw it because Garrett has started liking yogurt less and less these days but he LOVES anything frozen. Sometimes the only way to keep him happy at a restaurant is to give him a cup of ice and let him play and munch the ice. Anyway, this is just yogurt poured into a ziploc, snip the corner, then squeeze drops on a pan and freeze. They freeze in less than an hour and they are yummy. A huge hit with Garrett, too. I freeze a couple things of yogurt every couple days and it's the perfect snack. The only problem is they melt fast so I only give him a few at a time and just keep refilling his bowl, otherwise it gets really messy!We went to a birthday party over the weekend for some friends Paul grew up with (twins). It was a roller skating party. Garrett was so amused with all the flashing lights everywhere. He didn't make a sound for about 15 minutes, just walked around and took it all in.Garrett and I went on a lunch date. He asked for more so I said, "let me see in your mouth first" and he gave me a full shot of chewed up food. I heard people laugh at the next table.I think Addie gets sick of me munching on her cheeks, but they're just so yummy! Addie is doing really well, by the way. Done with colic. And we're working now on feeding her and putting her to bed awake and letting her self-sooth to sleep. It's going well. I'd say about 75% of the time she's asleep within 5 minutes with little or no fussing, and then she sleeps for 7-8 hours, then I feed her and she sleeps for 3 more hours. This morning when I got up to feed her I was a little frustrated because I was so tired, but I have to remind myself that I go to bed 2 or 3 hours after her, and if I'd like a full nights sleep I need to go to bed when she does. It will never happen. I need my alone time.Well, I'm guessing that by now I have sufficiently bored you to death, so I'll stop there. We're all happy and well. And although life isn't too exciting, we're enjoying it.

The Hunger Games

If you haven't read The Hunger Games trilogy and you plan to, you should probably stop reading this post. In others words, SPOILER ALERT. (I'll try to be as vague as possible, but I probably wont be. And if you haven't read them I really think you should, so stop reading this.)

I read all three books in 4 days. I'm not a big reader, especially of fiction. I feel like the three big...is 'trendy' the right word?... series' that everyone was supposed to read over the past few years were Harry Potter, Those ones about the Mormon vampires, and The Hunger Games. I successfully avoided all of them. But after hearing too much about how The Hunger Games are a 'must read', and 'you won't be able to put them down' and 'it's the best series I've ever read'. And also hearing a VERY, VERY minimal description of the story, (Which by the way, now that I've read them, I think people who say "It's about teenagers who kill each other" have probably never actually read the books) I decided I'd read them. The night I bought the first book I remember saying to Paul, maybe even after a dramatic sigh... "Well, I guess I better just do this." I'd also heard from 2 people that they wished the main character was more likable. I had to laugh after just a few chapters, and I told Paul if he reads these I bet he'll see a lot of me in Katniss. (The main 'unlikable' character.) I fell in love with her...like, borderline girl crush. She has the perfect amount of awesome sassiness. She's independent. Doesn't care what people think of her. And she's not a conformist. What's not to love?!? I had a friend (who I really like, by the way) tell me that she also related to Katniss as well. This was before I read them, so when I heard that I thought, well then Katniss can't be that bad. But at the same time, I can see how some would maybe not love everything about her at first (or ever).

Moving on... My favorite of the three books was Catching Fire, the second book. I was so emotionally connected to all of the characters by the time I got to that book, and then as new ones were introduced, and their stories were told about their time as tributes in the years past, my heart just hurt. I cried a few times. And when President Snow read the rules for the Quarter Quell, I put the book down and sat there starring at nothing. Paul was looking at me and I think all I said, because I didn't want to ruin it for him was, "President Snow is so happy right now..." He had no idea what I meant, but at that point I really did have to take about an hour break to remind myself that it was fiction.

The thing I didn't like about the actual games, were the parts that the gamemakers could add. Wild dogs, monkeys, jabberjays, waves, fog, fire, poisonous berries, etc. Although, what if Foxface was just highly allergic, and now we're all just missing out on some really delicious berries? Anyway, I get that it was their way of showing the ultimate power and control that the capital has, but I hated it still. Some tributes didn't stand a chance because of those elements. I cried when 80 year old Mags walked into the acid fog. So sad.

It took me longer to read the third book than the first and second books combined. It was still pretty fast, but it was my lease favorite of the three. It didn't end how I thought it would, or maybe how I wanted it to...but I don't really know how I thought it would or wanted it to...just not how it did. I'm feeling better now that I've had a few days to digest it. I've thought about the book a lot. A lot. In fact last night I almost ruined something about book 2 for Paul. I barely caught myself, and I said, "Will you just hurry and read the rest of the series so we can start talking again?!" I saw a funny quote online yesterday that said something like, "I'm sorry, did you say something? I could tell when you started talking that it wasn't Hunger Games related, so I tuned you out." Haha! I feel like that a lot lately, and there's not enough people around me who have read them, so I'm limited to text and email!

I feel like I need to read some commentary (because I haven't read any yet) and/or talk about it more with people before I can say that I love how the series ended, because I don't love it, and maybe I never will, but the whole story was so riveting that I really do want to love it. Mockingjay got really dark. A lot of 'no hope in sight' feelings for me. I couldn't even begin to pick up what might happen, which I guess was kind of good, but really heavy feeling too. I was so discouraged when no one would talk to Katniss about Peeta's propo, that's when I saw real trouble starting in District 13, but during that time I liked that Katniss got close with Finnick, I didn't see that coming. But even after Katniss' 'honest' talk with Snow, I was still shocked at Coin's death. Wow, it was all just a lot.

And finally, my thoughts on Gale and Peeta. There was honestly never a time that I was pulling for one over the other. I could never decided who I wanted her to pick. (And I didn't know if she'd have a choice.) I thought once or twice that Gale would die. And at one point during a tracker jacker rage of Peeta's, I wanted Katniss to kill him. I know. It was rough for me. (The only thing that kept me from thinking that Peeta was poisoned to the point of no return while imprisoned at the capital was his, "you..in 13...dead by morning." warning.) There were three things looking back that I see now are the reasons why it had to end how it did. One- Haymitch getting upset at Katniss and telling her to image how Peeta would be treating her if she'd been the one captured and tortured by the capital. (Well played, Haymitch). Two- The conversation in District 12 when Katniss kisses Gale again. And he says, "I knew you'd kiss me." And Katniss says, "How? Beacuse I didn't know myself." And his response is, "Because I'm in pain. That's the only way I get your attention." (Ouch) And lastly, Katniss' thoughts about the dandelions that mean rebirth instead of destruction. That life can go on no matter how bad our losses, and can be good again. And she says, "only Peeta can give that to me". It's true, I guess.

I could go on and on... I'm slightly obsessed with all things Hunger Games right now. I can't wait to see the movie. And I give the series a 9 out of 10. Incredible work.

catching up...

I really don't feel like much has gone on since I blogged last, two weeks ago. But I just uploaded pictures from my camera, and between mine and the ones Jordon put on my computer from their visit last week, I have 434 pictures to go through and add to this post. Don't worry...that number will be cut WAY down.

Paul and I went to a Lion's Club sweetheart dinner around Valentine's Day. It was a fun evening and they went around the room and introduced every member and their date. I sound judgy here, but I was really surprised at how many people there were still married, like just about everyone, and for 30, 40, 50 + years. It was kinda cool. Paul's the young one, or as the guy in charged introduced us, 'the young horny couple who are probably pregnant with number 3 by now'. Kinda awkward, but it made me laugh because the next youngest guy still has about 15 years on Paul, so we're the odd couple but they love us. The table we sat at happened to be full of the ones who's spouses had past away and they'd found new love and friendship again much later in life. I love old people who have cute little crushes.Cute right??Jordon, Kate and Baby B came to visit from Salt Lake! We had so much fun. We hung out in Long Beach the morning they arrived, wandered through shops, and had lunch. That night we had a yummy dinner at Sandy's Bar and Grill. That's our new favorite beach restaurant in Huntington Beach. Saturday was mine and Kate's day. We went shopping and had lunch, and talked and talked and talked. Sunday was golfing day for the boys. Kate and I stayed home with the kids and watched 'The Help'. The whole weekend went too fast. We barbecued, caught up on missed time together and forced our kids to dress alike and pose. And that's pretty much the only thing we took pictures of the whole weekend.As soon as they left I got the crafty bug. I pulled out my sewing machine that I've never used, as well as some paint, frames, paper, fabric and I had so much fun. I made some flag banners just for fun, a couple frames for a friend, fabric braid necklaces... I was on a roll and it was great to be crafty again. But then a couple days later I found myself in a couple facebook conversations about 'The Hunger Games'. I knew the series caught on like wildfire, and that's kinda why I steered clear of it. But finally I decided I better just read it. I bought the first book on Thursday, started it Friday afternoon and finished Saturday morning. I went right to the store and bought the second and third books and pretty much fell off the face of the earth until yesterday afternoon. I read all three books in less that four days. I think my thoughts on the books will be a different post for another day.

And a couple other things we've been up to.Oh, and if you're wondering how ditching the bottle and getting sippy cup trained is going, just take a good look at Garrett's face right after I handed him his cup. I decided going cold turkey won't work because I don't really want Garrett to be hospitalized and hooked up to an IV for dehydration. Sigh...baby steps...

Parenthood

Things I love about parenthood right now:

Addie rolled over today for the first time! (Actually Paul said she did it once at 3 weeks, but it was a fluke.) Today may have been a fluke too, but I saw it and it's just as exciting with kid #2! Glad I was watching, cause it happened on the couch and could have easily resulted in an injury. She went from back to tummy. She's been pushing with her feet and leaning to her shoulder a lot, but I didn't think she'd make it all the way over this soon.

Garrett has this new vigorous marching in place, arms swinging, giggling dance thing that he does and it is so darn cute.

Addie watches me wherever I go in the room, and smiles whenever I look at her, which is a lot, because I love looking at her.

Garrett stands by the fridge and holds onto the handle when he's thirsty, if I don't respond fast enough he smiles and points over and over. Not so looking forward to when he can pull the door open.

Addie takes long naps now! Like two 3+ hour naps a day. Yesterday her second nap was 4 hours. Makes for a happy baby and a happy mom. The nights are still the same. Usually one wake up that just requires a binky and she's right back to sleep, and one early morning feeding and she falls back asleep when she's full.

Garrett walks out to the living room when I get him out of bed in the morning and let's out a big dramatic sigh as he looks around. Kind of like a "Ok-I'm-well-rested-and-these-toys-aren't-going-to-play-with-themselves-so-I-better-get-started" kind of a sigh. I love it.

Addie's done with colic. (Knock on wood/she probably was getting over it by the time we made it to the doctor, or never really had it. OR, the medicine works great.) She's a content, happy little girl. She fusses less now than she ever has and the days with her are very peaceful. We still give her medicine, usually once, at the most twice in 24 hours and we could give it to her 6 times, but never have. She's very curious and likes to see what's going on, just like her brother, but she's really become 'chill', just like I (used to) describe her brother.

And the other 'Parenthood'... Do you watch it?? If I had to pick one show to watch and give up everything else, I would absolutely choose 'Parenthood'. Brilliant writing, incredible acting, amazing dialog style. I love everyone in it, and everything about it. It really gets me thinking about real life and makes me want to be a better parent. As I was sobbing while watching last nights episode, I looked at Paul (who was also crying), and said, "I can't believe I have to wait a week for the next episode!" I felt so happy for Jasmine and Crosby, and so heartbroken for Joel and Julia. Like I know them personally and like it's a true story or something! ...That's good TV. Today when Paul came up for lunch he said, "So... have you been thinking about Parenthood?" I said, "Yep, all morning. I even feel like I need to blog about it." I can't even begin to explain the family it's about, each of their stories, and how they all intertwine, (except that it's about a couple, their 4 adult children, and each of their families), but it's worth checking out.(There's a baby, a boyfriend, and (hopefully...we'll find out next week) another baby missing from this picture.)

half of my life

I remember when I was taking the driving test with ol' what's his name who had Narcolepsy and would fall asleep while I was driving so I'd lightly tap the brake to get him to wake up. We were driving north on 1900 and I went through a yellow/red light that I had plenty of time to stop at, but I just didn't. He was pretty cool about it, but made sure I knew that he knew I had plenty of time to slow down instead of speed up. His qualifying statement was, "I know you had time to safely brake, because I've been driving most of my life and have a lot of practice." I was too nervous to make a joke, but a lot came to mind like, "How much of your life have you been awake while driving?" I know I'm not that funny, but I thought I was when I was 15. And he really did have Narcolepsy. You can't make crap like that up. It's a wonder I'm still alive considering I learned to drive from a dude who was asleep most the time, and I got an "A" even though I ran a red light (and slammed into a curb because I was trying to not run over a ball that bounced into the street, but that's a different story for a different time). And, I've only had one minor accident at age 16 in my aunts car that wasn't my fault, and I've never got a ticket...lots of warnings, no tickets. Knock on wood...

Anyway, I've now been driving half of my life. 16 + 16 = 32. (I barely passed math too, but I think my numbers are right.)

I'm trying not to feel old. And for the most part I don't, but every once in a while I have a mid-life panic. Like, man if I want more kids we need to hurry. Or, I can't have any more kids cause I'll be like 95 when they graduate high school. (See what I mean about the math?) Most of my feeling old has to do with being a mom and giving birth, but I'm really happy with where I'm at with that right now, so I think 32 will be an ok year.

I had a fun weekend leading up to my birthday. I went to a girls day crafty/brunch party in Pasadena. Forgot to take pictures, but had a great time and this is what I made.Paul watched the kids. When I left I told him, "It's supposed to last 3 hours but I doubt I'll stay the whole time." 6 hours later, I got home. I guess I really needed a day out! I came home to a clean house, clean dishes, laundry done, happy kids, and enchiladas for dinner.

Paul and I also had a date day. We went to see The Vow. Great movie. A couple things I didn't like about it while I was watching it, but by the end I loved it. The last 20 seconds of the movie made the whole story real to me. And all the end is, is a conversation about where to go to dinner, but it makes you realize how long the road ahead is, but how committed and patient the husband is. Good flick.

We also did a little birthday shopping. And we went to dinner. It was yummy, but a little too fancy for me. The restaurant was Cat in a Custard Cup. I told Paul, I thought it would be like burgers and custard and maybe the owners pet cat walking around. But it was leather menu holders, cloth table clothes, drizzly stuff and greenery on all the plates, dim lighting, and music. We happened to be there at Happy Hour and all the appetizers were half price. Paul insisted that I get whatever I wanted, but we were totally that couple that ordered a couple drinks, 4 appetizers and no entrees. It was plenty of food, and half price! And they gave me free creme brulee for my birthday!

And today, (my birthday), I made french toast for all of us. Then Paul went to work. Addie had a great nights sleep and then took an epic nap. Garrett and I baked cookies with my new cookie press. He more smashed cookies, got sprinkles everywhere but on the cookies, and ate dough. I didn't think about the raw egg until after, but the batch made over 100 little cookies and it only had one egg in it. He probably only ate about 4 cookies worth of dough, so I'm sure he'll be fine.For dinner we met up with Paul's family and Poppy at Ruby's Diner. I hate being sung to at restaurants. Some people say they hate it but they really love it. I really hate it. Somehow the restaurant manager found out it was my birthday so he wrote Happy Birthday with a marker on a rubys hat, came to our table with a sundae, then walked to the middle of the dining area and got everyone in the restaurants attention, told them my name and that it was my birthday, came back over and put the hat on my head, and made everyone join him in singing to me. It seemed like the longest. song. ever.We put Addie in a booster seat at dinner. She's getting so big!Chowing down.Garrett rocking my birthday hat. I just love this pretty little girl.

After dinner we went to PetSmart to buy fish food and let Garrett run around and look at all the animals. We were there for probably close to an hour and he was freaking out, pointing at everything, and so excited the whole time. So easy to entertain. Then we stopped for ice cream before we headed home.The older I get the less awesome birthdays are, but I can't complain about this one. It was a good day.

And in the past I've made my new years resolutions on my birthday instead of Jan. 1. This year I made one, but I can't tell you what it is, because some of you may be on the receiving end of my resolution and I don't want to ruin it.