Mike is learning

As i have my name attached to this blog i decided that it needed to be more man friendly. For all you men out there that have a hard time with looking at pretty things like flowers or butterflies. Here is one of the best British footballers and he is also very ugly.

Cute or...creepy?!

Andrew is learning and growing and getting more and more coordinated each day. For example, when he gets up on his hands and knees he can now rock back and forth with such gusto that his legs scoot forward. (I don't think crawling is too far away, hurray!) He can also reach for different people and throw tantrums when I take away a toy his likes. (Yep...that one's my "favorite"....ughhgh) Anyway, that being said...Andrew has also started doing a new "thing" which I believe involves superior motor function and cognition. Why? Because with this particular new talent, I believe that he either has to cleverly calculate it out in his little mischievous mind or else...I'm afraid he just might be a little...umm... creepy.

To explain what I'm talking about, I have to first tell you how this came about. Last week, Mike and I put Andrew down for bed at his usual time around 7:30. At about 9 Mike and I started getting ready for bed and, as usual, before we tucked ourselves in we went to check on Andrew. (I'm sure those of you with little kids can attest to the pure satisfaction and joy that comes when you look at your little sleeping baby at the end of a long day.) Anyway, Mike went in to the dark room first, with me at his heels, but instead of the usual sweet scene of little sleeping Andrew all snuggled in and "out like a light" we were met with a surprise. At first I heard Mike say, "What the... Em, look at him!" and I looked around his shoulders and saw it too.

Andrew wasn't asleep and without a peep, I saw that his chubby little hands were lifting the side bumper pad above his head as he peered at us through the little slats of the crib! Now, this may not seem like a big deal to some, I know, but it caught Mike and I off guard for a couple reasons. One was because, usually, if Andrew is awake...Andrew makes noise but as I mentioned, he was completely silent. Secondly, this act was entirely new...those bumper pads were tied down tight, I mean...tight, but he had somehow unraveled one end and was consciously moving it out of his way so that it would no longer obstruct his line of vision. Our first reaction was to get out of the the room as quickly as possible so as not to wake him up...but as soon as we were out, the "duh" factor kicked in and we remembered he was already awake. So we slowly looked back in and saw that Andrew had put the bumper pad back down. We decided to look a little closer and as soon as the door opened wider, allowing more light to enter, all of a sudden, Bop, up goes the bumper and our little "peeping tom" began to stare us down.

Well, we laughed and laughed because it was pretty funny...and pretty cute. However, at the same time, it was also slightly reminiscent of a creepy movie scene where the main character is in some dark, silent place and then, all of sudden, an unexpected horror pops out of nowhere and scares the tarnations out of you. Know what I'm talking about? Anyway, it's now been about a week and he does it all the time. The creepiness has worn off and I really do think it's cute...like a little "Hello, Mom!"

But I won't forget the first sighting...here are some pictures. You decide, cute or creepy?

Normal

Da, da, dumm..... (imagine scary violin music)

Quote of the Week

So, I decided to start posting a new quote on the blog every week. I subscribe to the "Daily Gems" from the LDS website and there are always some great pieces of motivation and inspiration so I thought it might be nice to add some of them to the blog. So, for the rest of this week and next week, I chose a quote by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin because he expresses the importance of having a grateful heart. Very appropriate for this time of year. :-)

Eating is an Event

Andrew is doing great with baby foods and has even started eating rice cereal and jars of mashed whatever about two times a day! To be honest, I don't really know if his current feeding habits are considered what is "best" but I do know that he sure loves his food and it seems to really fill him up too! Anyway, a couple of days ago I was feeding him and he was being so funny I took some pictures. The following is fairly typical of his daily feedings:

This is ALL his food laid out and ready to go. I found that it is extremely important to be ready and prepared when you have a hungry Andrew on hand because if you are too slow in between shovel fulls then you just might anger the little fella.

This is Andrew all strapped in and ready to go. This is the best picture I could get because there was no way he was going to smile with an empty tummy! (NOTE: Special thanks to Merel Stock for the bib...I find it quite hilarious!)

On the menu...We have for the starter, rice cereal. Here we see that Andrew has thoroughly enjoyed it but he is not yet satisfied so on the the main course...

... peas. Ahhh, this is getting better, see the happy face? He is definitely on his way to being happy and full...the way an Andrew should be.

For dessert we clean him up and give him a few strawberry and banana rice puffs. You can't really see them in this picture but they are there! (probably in Andrew's mouth)

Here is the display after the feeding is done! Lot's to clean up, but notice how Andrew is eager to help out!

After that I make him a bottle (about 4 ounces) and then he is one happy camper! Here is Andrew all fed and ready for bed!

DONE! Andrew is a good eater and he has been from day 1. We are lucky and we sure love him!

Oh foul demons of the infernal pit…

I just wanted to take a moment to vent about my utter loathing towards some of the little creatures I find in our basement. Now that winter weather is upon us I have found a small variety of little beasties lurking in the crevices of our humble abode. Now…the good, and bad, news is that these little visitors aren’t in the clearly obvious places. Good because I don’t really know they are there most of the time and bad because…I don’t really know that they are there most of the time. For example, yesterday I was doing my bi-weekly vacuum and I decided to be a bit more thorough and took the hose to several inconspicuous nooks and crannies and found some not-so-lovely and oh-so-gruesome little crawlies. Although I am no household pest expert I believe we are slowly being invaded by a small variety of earwigs, pill bugs and firebrats. What’s a firebrat you ask? Well, I found out because after I discovered a particularly gross looking fella, I asked a question to a helpful on-line pest man who replied by saying, “Dear Emily - It sounds like you might have silverfish or firebrats, wingless primitive insects in the order Thysanura that sometimes can be household pests.” My response: umm…gross!! Immediately upon reading such a descriptive word I began to conger up a horrific image of some rotten mignon born of the fiery flame who has decided to live under my bed and wait for the perfect moment to leap out and make me feel a little violated. Seriously, I don’t want it under my bed!

Anyway, in all seriousness, the word “invaded” is probably too strong but none the less, the beasties are still NOT welcome AND, although I have been speaking of the other little gross creatures I found, I have still not mentioned the most horrifying of them all…the spider. The spider (in any variety) is my Superman’s Lex Luther, Sampon’s Delilah or John McCains Barak Obama. I hate them, the spider is my arch nemesis and here are a few reasons why:

1. They are creepy. Seriously, multiple eyes…multiple legs, they can jump or crawl really, really fast…towards you!!! C’mon, that is creepy.
2. Their diet consists of bugs. That’s all they eat, not leaves or grass or other variety of plant. No, instead they eat each other or other hard working members of their society. Cannibals!
3. They are sneaky. Yep, they can hide in very inconspicuous places such as your drawer, your bed sheets, your shoes…all the while waiting for you to stumble upon them AND when you do…they attack.
4. I think they smell fear. Yep, there have been not one, not two, but SEVERAL occasions where I found one lurking in some dark corner and I (typically) stand frozen with fear. When this happens, what does it do? It stares back, trying to break me down and then it begins to hastily scuttle towards me. TOWARDS me? I mean, if they really are “more frightened of me” like everyone says, don’t you think it would run AWAY? Just a thought
5. They have fangs. Let’s take a moment and think about what else have fangs: snakes, piranhas, leopards, vampires, chiwawas…not exactly the kinds of things you want to snuggle up to.
6. They use their fangs to poison things. Yeah…as if biting wasn’t enough, they have to inject flesh eating poison too.
7. They stink. Alright…I have never actually sniffed one, but I’m convinced that I would not be met with pleasant smells if I were ever to take a little whiff.
8. They make webs. Ingenious…maybe I will give them that, but it still makes me feel gross because it clutters the place, and it catches bugs.
9. They way they move. Depending on the kind, they can jump (sometimes up to ten times their own height), scuttle, scurry, jerk, fling their body through the air, swing, crawl, stalk or crouch but you never use words like saunter or stroll when describing how a spider moves.
10. They are ugly. I mean…sorry but when it come to the best looking bugs out there, the spider is by far on the lower end of the tottempole.

Well, there you have it…I don’t like bugs in general, but I HATE spiders. Need any more reasons? Check this out...see what I mean? Only a face that a mother could love, right? Maybe if your mom was some kind of beast from the flaming pit of eternal doom...that's what I think.

I Would Die For That

A very touching video

This is a music video that my friend, Stacey, showed me the other day. I was deeply touched by the message and couldn't stop from crying (yeah, I know, I'm a bit emotional). Anyway, it just really made me think about how blessed I am to have a family and how I truly believe it is the most important and fundamental unit that I could ever be a part of. At the same time, I also recognize, and mourn with those, who may not be able to have children on their own. I could never imagine how truly heartbreaking that must be but I am also very hopeful! Years ago I took a once- in-a-lifetime opportunity to live in Ecuador for several months to take care of orphaned children. I loved them as much as I love my own son now. I mention that because I know how much children everywhere need loving homes and that it is a most precious blessing for us to provide these innocent souls with that ever important vital relationship. (Whether it is through adoption or through having them on our own.)

Also, with all the controversy and politics lately about what exactly a family is, I really do feel like I want to state loud and clear how I know that children will be greatly influenced by a loving mother and father and that this is how God intended it. I believe that family is a most essential part of this lives and, without a doubt, it brings more happiness than anything else on this earth. So…thanks to all my families! To my mom, dad, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, to Paul, Roz, Matt and Liz and to Mike and Andrew, I love you all so very much! Thank you for the gift that it is to be a part of your lives.

WARNING: You may need tissues while watching this video.