Let it Snow

Sam and Oliver's idea of a good time this past weekend was to create their own styrofoam snowstorm. They of course had a grand time, I on the other hand am still cleaning up "snow" three days later. Oh well.

(Please ignore Ollie's mismatched outfit here, it was a result of him spilling a glass of water on outfit number one and then meticulously smooshing macaroni and cheese into outfit number two. What's a mom to do?)

Snowed In

Oh what do you do in the wintertime, when all the world is cold?
Do you splash in the sink?
Snuggle your blankie?
Or build your blocks up to the sky?
Do you draw with your markers?
Play with your rocks?
Or style your hair in new ways?
Is that what you do? So do I.

How Quickly We Forget

A couple of days ago I was in need of a good read. After scanning all of my bookshelves and finding only the book club book that I had planned to procrastinate reading a little longer, I turned instead to some old journals and notebooks. Among them was a huge binder in which my mom had compiled all of the letters I had written home during my mission. As of yet I had never even opened it and thought it might be fun to peruse. Turns out, it was. I enjoyed reading my accounts about missionary work and mission life. It was the very last letter I wrote home that really got to me. First it made me laugh, then it made me think, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. Which is why I am going to share it with you now. The following is me quoting myself from a letter written home on April 7, 2003.

"I think that I had better give you a little bit of waring so that you can be more prepared to help me enter into normal society again. First of all, remember that my living circumstance have not been the same as yours. I am used to eating my main meal at noon. Any table manners that I once had are gone, instead of a knife and fork I will probably just try to eat everything with a large spoon. Don't be surprised to see me stuffing unwanted food into my purse or throwing out the window when I think that you are not looking. After I am done you might find me washing off my dishes under cold water with m fingers. Please just walk me through the proper dishwashing procedures. If you want to help preserve my sanity please remove all rice, chicken, beans, pasta with mayonnaise and ketchup, powdered milk non-RSDA approved meat and any parts of the cow that should normally be thrown away (i.e. brains, tongues, intestines, hoofs) from the house. If you want to make me happy you can stock the cupboards with ice cream, cereal, real milk, apples, raisins and peanut butter.

Don't be surprised if I spend hours rubbing my fingers through the grass or the carpet. If you find me playing with the telephone please remind me that my calls will actually go through the first time. The first time you see me washing my clothes in the sink kindly remind me what a washing machine is and how it is used. Please be patient with me if I cry every time I see and American flag. Please don't get too embarrassed if I try to bargain with the vegetable man in the grocery store. If you see me standing for hours on the corner it is because I am waiting for the carritos and chicken buses. Gently remind me that you can give me a ride or even let me borrow your car, which may be a bit scary after driving with drunk Venezuelan men for the past year and a half.

Please be understanding about the overwhelming guilt I will feel the first time I attend church without at family of investigators. Try to ignore me when I sing the hymns at the top of my lungs, I am just trying to help everyone hear the right tune. If I start to get paniky before Sunday School, I am just worrying about what kind of false doctrine they are going to teach in the class of new investigators. Every time I enter a room expect to see a round of handshakes for the men and kisses for the women, and another round of each as I leave. The only purfume I wear is bug spray, and I may need some help remembering how to do anything other than a ponytail with my hair."

When I read this I remembered just how excited I was to use a washer and a dryer again. But, I am so darn adaptable that after only a few weeks I wasn't even grateful for it anymore. I just expected it. I complain now that my carpet needs vacuuming everyday without ever thinking of my friends who sit around on a dirt floor every night. I worry about the economic situation our country is in and the policies of our new president without being grateful for living in a free country full of opportunity. I spend plenty of time complaining about the price of gas without ever remembering what a blessing it is to be able to come and go as I please. I grumble to myself about how many dishes I have to load into the dishwasher everyday without being grateful for the clean, hot water that comes out of my faucet. I stress about the price of groceries and never give thanks for the abundance that we have. I don't feel guilty anymore about not taking investigators to church with me. Pretty much the only thing I have going for me is that I am still happy not to have to dowse myself in bug spray every time I walk out the door.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am sorry I have forgotten to notice all of the blessings in my life. The Lord has taken such good care of me, and I really am grateful for my washer and dryer. Here is to hoping that I will remember a little longer this time.

Everyday is a Treasure

My Baby Came Back

I understand that God knows more than I do and I also believe that He knows what is best. Despite my faith in His omnipotence, there are still some things I just don't understand. For example, why did He make it so painful for babies to grow new teeth? Ollie has had a rough time with every tooth. I can handle the runny nose and high fever, but there is nothing worse than a continually grouchy toddler. We have been fighting some new teeth on and off for about three weeks now. Just when I was ready to stop blaming the teeth and accept the fact that perhaps the terrible two's had settled upon us a few months early, those darn teeth finally popped through and Oliver snapped out of it.

It was like having a new toddler overnight. Literally. I remembered that I love being a mom and that my son is an absolute joy. It is like spring in the middle of January. To celebrate my baby's return, Oliver and I met up with some friends at the local gymnastics center. They have a huge room set up with gymnastics equipment for toddlers and children and have open play-time once a day. Oliver loved running, jumping and climbing and trying to do everything that the bigger kids were doing. It was great to find another fun and cheap winter activity.

Product Plug

So, in case you weren't one to count up the weeks on your fingers, let me just tell you that I am only eight weeks pregnant. I had no intention of making an announcement so soon, however my burgeoning belly left me little choice. I can't believe how quickly my belly popped out this time. I had a pooch before I even realized I might be pregnant. Did anyone else experience this with their second?

I came to the conclusion, after my pregnancy with Oliver, that I am predisposed to prenatal obesity. Seriously, I get huge. I was probably only six months along when all of the bellyward comments I received changed from "what a cute bump" to "wow, you look ready to pop." I have been trying to mentally prepare myself to once again look like an elephant, but so soon? This is just ridiculous. To make matters worse I absolutely loathe all of my maternity clothes. The thought of breaking out that box leaves me sick with nausea. I never thought I could hate any clothes more than I hated the tattered and threadbare skirts and shirts I wore home from my mission, but I do. To make matters worse, I just can't aford to buy any new ones right now.

Luckily, I have found a solution to my belly bump battle. It is called a bella band. If you are pregnant or thinking about becoming so, this is a must have. It is just a strechy tube of fabric that you wear around your waist, over your unbuttened pre-pregnancy pants. The band holds them in place and even flattens out the bumps and wrinkles that come with leaving them unbuttoned. Now I can put off digging out my maternity clothes for at least a few more months. Yahoo. I'm not usually one to get so excited over something like this, but really, who wants to wear maternity clothes when they don't have to? Hopefully this post will save someone else out there from the horrors of the belly bulge.

It's a bird . . . it's a plane . . . it's a BABY!

Peay baby number two is on its way with an expected date of arrival on 09/09/09.

A Brief Reprieve

This week we have been enjoying temperatures in the 60-70's. It has been absolutely incredible and Ollie and I have been gobbling up every minute of outdoor weather before Denver remembers that it is January and the cold wind returns with a fury. All the nice weather has made us antsy to be outside all day long. Last night we decided to take a drive up Look-out mountain to Buffalo Bill's grave site and museum. The museum and gift shop were already closed, but the view of Golden (and Denver) was spectacular.

On the way home we stopped at Quiznos for some sandwiches. It was so funny to watch Ollie arrange his drink, chips and sandwich exactly the way his daddy did. My favorite was when he saw Sam wipe his face with a napkin, then crumple it up and throw it on the table. Of course Oliver insisted on doing the exact same thing and requested a new napkin after every bite. We went through a lot of napkins, but it was worth it to watch him and see his little personality. He surprises me everyday. I love it!

Where did Kramer hide the muffin bottoms?

Did you ever see the Seinfeld episode where Kramer has the ingenious idea to sell only muffin tops, because that is the only part that people like to eat anyway? The episode ends with him driving around Manhattan with a bus full of muffin bottoms desperately trying to find a way to dispose of them. Well, we are experiencing a similar dilemma around our house this week. Only on a much smaller scale. Our local grocery store had a sale on miniature snack crackers, i.e. oreos, nutter butters and ritz crackers with cheese. I stocked up thinking that Oliver would like them as snacks. It turned out I was right, sort-of. Ollie likes to pull them apart and will only eat the side with the cream or cheese, the other half gets discarded. I don't want to just throw them away so I am collecting baggies and baggies of "other-halves." I don't have enough to fill up a Manhattan bus so I suppose I will just have to dispose of them the same way that I get rid of all the other food that I don't want to eat - pack it in Sam's lunch. Sorry honey.

On a happier note, I am very excited to report that Oliver went to nursery by himself for the very first time today. He is not officially eighteen months until February, but we started "practicing" last week. Meaning, we took him in there and stayed with him the entire time. This week when we took him there he ran right in and couldn't have cared less if we were around or not, so we left. He is not old enough yet, but they already had his name up on the board and that was good enough for us. I was pretty fidgety by the end of church. Not becuase I was worried about Ollie, but because I haven't actually sat down consecutively for that amount of time in at least ten or eleven months. It will take some getting used to.

Oliver also went in for his shots and check-up this week. The doctor placed him once again in the 50th percentile for both his height and weight. Which greatly confuses me because he isn't average, he is much taller than the other kids his age. It makes me wonder if the way they rank them has anything to do with where they started from, i.e. their birth weight. If there is anyone out there who is more knowledgeable about this than I am I would love an explanation.

Sam took this picture of Ollie after Oliver swiped Sam's ice cream and then his sunglasses.

Purls are a girls best friend

I have recently been in search of a new creative outlet. Lets face it, some days building oddly shaped animals out of Duplo blocks and finding new ways to get Thomas the Train stuck underneath the couch just don't use up enough of my creative energy. I mentioned to my mom that I might enjoy some kind of craft project for a Christmas present. Her solution was a set of knitting needles and some yarn. I admit, the thought of knitting had never really crossed my mind but I figured I would give it a shot - seeing as she went to all the trouble and all.

Three weeks later, I just have to say I'm hooked. I believe I may have discovered the perfect mommy craft. Here's why:

1. It does not destroy my entire house, when I want to work on my knitting I get out my needles and yarn, that is it. No sewing machine, no paint, no sand paper, etc., etc.

2. Your mind does not have to be absolutely absorbed in what your hands are doing. I can knit, plan dinner and listen to a book on tape all at the same time. The multi-tasking possibilities are endless.

3. It is an easy stop and go craft, nothing is going to be hurt by my throwing down my knitting and chasing after Oliver as he scaled up the bookcase.

4. It is totally portable, easy to take along to the park or to play group.

5. It is a good stress reliever.

Best of all, I have discovered the joys of felting. If you are a beginner like me it is a great way to start out because absolutely none of your mistakes show up. Check out my first finished project:


Oliver is modeling the size of my tote bag while it is still on the needles.


Here it is after binding it off and shaping it into a tote bag. (The newspaper is for a size reference.)


And here is the bag after felting it, i.e. washing it the washing machine.


And here is the finished project after being shaped and dried. Pretty cool huh. After finishing I decided that I am really not a fan of the colors that I picked out. But I am pretty proud of the fact that it turned out looking like a bag. It is nice and stiff too and stands up all on its own. So, to all of you creatively deprived individuals out there, I have to say grab yourself a pair of needles and some yarn because purls really are a girls best friend!!