The Bad Hair

 

Lots to blog about after the summer hiatus! I will start as far back as The Bad Hair.

 

This summer Cici got a really bad haircut from Sammy. They found forbidden scissors in Grandma's basement, and with Cici's encouragement Sammy gave her this haircut:

 

 

Cici didn't care of course, but I gave Sammy the option of getting her hair cut exactly like Cici's or giving Cici the brand new birthday Barbie her best friend gave her. Just to play with, not for keeps. Sammy's obviously smart, since she didn't experiment with her own hair. Guess which one she chose? There was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth though.

 

Back to the hair, it's kind of hard to tell with the hair brushed to the side, but Sammy took a big chunk out of the middle of her bangs and some mullet chunks out of the side. I decided I would just bite the bullet and trim Cici's bangs all the same length, resulting in this:

 

 It's like a bad Tina Turner wig.

 

I've never been a fan of mullets on girls, so I lived with it for a day then decided I couldn't stand it any longer. We took a mom-daughter trip to Cookie Cutters and got the professional haircut:

 

 

Hooray! They couldn't do much with the bangs but they are growing out now and she's about ready to go in for a trim.

 

Stay tuned for the more important catch-up updates. Big changes have been happening.

Maternity Jeans Don't Count

I recently returned from a weekend jaunt to Tucson and it was great. However, I think it kind of backfired, because my escape to warmer weather has left me in a bit of a funk coming back. This morning was a good morning though, and it helped me think of some things that make me feel happy.

 

My Girls

 

 

They are generally very loving and helpful. It makes me excited to have another one. Plus they are quite the characters, which keeps me entertained on these winter days.

Cici is excited, not only because of her chef's outfit which she randomly wears, but because Sam has gone to preschool and she can finally mess with her sister's new dolls!

 

Country Music

 

 

Sometimes you get tired of music about love/sex. A lot of country music simply celebrates what is good about life. ("There's no dollar sign on peace of mind") Or it reduces life to manageable terms. (e.g.,  "God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy." Not that I condone drinking.) Either way, it makes cleaning the house more tolerable.

 

Living Above the Inversion

 

Photo Credit: Tom Smart, Deseret Morning News

 

Hurray for living on top of a mountain! Every time I have to drive down to the valley I am grateful I live above the pollution. I don't have to breathe this into my lungs on a daily basis. Plus it's actually supposed to be warmer above it.

 

Pregnancy Yoga

 

 

Pregnancy yoga is the best. Sure the kids still like to climb over, under, and on me, but on the whole it's rather relaxing. Unlike normal yoga, where you are actually supposed to exert yourself to feel like you've had a real workout, with prenatal yoga it mostly involves feeling your belly, making big circles with it, laying down, stretching your arms and legs a little, but most of all, breathing and connecting with your unborn child. For those of us who are not naturally inclined to work out, it's pretty much awesome. Disclaimer: I do switch this up every other day with my old person workout routine on TV, which is actually a bit more vigorous.

 

Maternity Jeans That Fit

 

Have I actually experienced this yet? No. The price is a problem. All the really cute-looking jeans seem to be over 100 dollars. The jeans at the maternity stores I can afford are too big and just not flattering. For some reason, maternity designers seem to think women look like this once they get pregnant:  

 

 

The reality is, some of us just put all our weight in front and our legs don't change size!

 

September 2010: A few weeks away from Cici being born!

 

 

I'm not a big fan of shopping online, but my normal jeans are going to fit me for about two more days, so I've made another stab at finding maternity jeans online. I bought size 2 jeans from Gap and was quite saddened when they came and still gave me that saggy-butt look I hate. I was talking to Austin about ordering a size 0, ("Guess what, hun, I haven't been a size 0 since I was 13!") and was summarily informed that maternity jeans "don't count." Whatever. I've ordered a pair of jeans today that will hopefully look cute and up my comfort level with their stretchy waistband. That makes me happy.  

 

Pregnancy

 

Famous midwife Ina May Gaskin said that "Birth matters. The journey through pregnancy and birth offers an irreplaceable way for women to explore their deepest selves." I think most of us have had life-changing experiences that haven't changed our lives. They could have, but they didn't. I didn't want to pass up a life-changing experience this time. 

 

Realistically, I have had pretty much the same complaints as with my last two pregnancies: morning sickness, heartburn, round ligament pain, weird itchiness, etc. But I still tell people that this is my best pregnancy ever, and it is. Why? Because I've prepared and am still preparing this time, and "the essence of childbirth preparation is self-discovery" -Birthing From Within. I've learned so much about myself as a woman as I've prepared for birth, and no matter how the actual birth goes, that has made this pregnancy the best one ever.

 

 



A Permenantly Disheveled State

Cici broke her leg after Christmas, which means she currently lays around the house in her pajamas in a permanently disheveled state, occasionally rousing herself to play with whatever toys happen to be within her grasp.

 

This is our life right now:

 

With Austin traveling I have to be the responsible one and actually put clothes on in the morning, but I do manage to take lots of naps and waste a lot of time. In my defense, I have a lot of time to waste. We don't go out much. It's 2 degrees and hauling around a crippled child when you're already carrying one around inside you gets old fast. So I'm back chipping away at my bête noire, scrapbooking, and while it's depressing how many years behind I am, it's alternatively fun to see how far our family has come in the past 5 years.

                                                                          Sammy

 2009

 

2010

                                     

2011

2012

Cici

2010

2011

2012

Take that, scrapbooking.  I've caught up in one easy blog post.

Walking Marshmallows

Something about little kids in snow gear is just so darn cute. Something about the ratio of width of snow gear to height of child plus hat with ears equals the golden mean of cuteness.

So stinkin' cute.

Okay, enough cuteness. Get to work.

Dad needs some help.

Sammy? Sammy?

The Key to the Case

Call me Nancy Drew. I'm not quite as well-dressed as she is, but like her, I inevitably have to solve mysteries. This week, I've been working on The Case of the Missing Keys. Unfortunately, I have been one of the few people of interest in the case, because Austin was recovering from nasal surgery most of the week and didn't drive. I think I uncovered a vital clue last night though. I put the kids to bed, and exhausted, needed to watch a little HGTV to unwind. But where was the remote? I knew I had seen it right before supper on the sofa, and now it had totally disappeared. I geared up for The Search for the Black Remote. I searched high, I searched low, I dug around in the couch, I crawled under and around things, all the while muttering very un-Nancy Drew-ish phrases such as, "I hate my life."

Then in a flash of brilliance, I remembered a small *thunk* I had heard earlier while the kids were playing, and checked one of the few places I hadn't looked...the trash can. Yes, there it was, buried underneath a few pieces of trash and limp celery. The missing remote. I had just gained a new culprit for my Keys case.

  Not the crazy one, the small one.

 Look at those shifty eyes.

The next morning, I also uncovered a pair of the suspect's socks in the trash can, and my worry that our keys were now buried in our local landfill thanks to my child's new hobby changed to the calm serenity that comes with the certainty of disaster.

Well, I confess--I still have a little teeny-tiny hope left that the keys didn't get sent to the dump on Monday. When Sammy was the same age as Cici, we lost our car keys and thought they had been thrown away. Bleak despair, gloom all around. A few months later, we got out our Yahtzee game and found them inside. Joy, jubilation! In retrospect Sammy was very cute and clever for managing to find such a great hiding place. So I won't close the case quite yet. I've already eliminated the board games we had out this week, but as soon as I find a suitably fashionable frock to wear, I'm off to search my guitar case and the guest bathroom.

Wish me luck!

Dull Winter Days

The morning started out so-so. On one hand, I got to spend lots of time playing games and reading books with Sammy while Cici was napping. On the other hand, I accidentally snapped off a vital plastic piece of the dishwasher while unloading it. Then things went downhill. Cici woke up and started crying, then Sammy started crying too: "Nooo Mom, don't get her!" Over and over. Then she followed me from room to room as I changed a poopy diaper, tidied up a few things, and got lunch ready, all the while sobbing, "I didn't want you to get her!" (Me: "Why didn't you want me to get her?" Sam: "I know she's cute, but I don't like her hair, or her feet, or her shirt, or all of her!") Argh. Crying kids are the worst.

Now most days, I am fully aware that I have the best job in the world. Still, there are some dull winter days when I grow nostalgic for the glamorous days before I got married, when I trotted around campus tutoring adoring freshmen, speaking brilliantly at conferences, and keeping my eyes peeled for that cute boy that could be right around the next corner. Of course, our minds polish the past, making  our memories glow brighter than the reality ever was. And yet, these 13 seconds sum up exactly what I'm feeling today. (Thanks, Kellie)

Perilous Yoga

At Thanksgiving time I was chatting with my sister-in-law, who told me she was taking a yoga class in addition to her super running. It piqued my interest--we've established that I'm not motivated enough to run but I've been wanting to do something in the mornings at home to get the day jumpstarted. I figured I could just check out some yoga videos from the library for some free exercise. Plus, Sammy would probably like to do it with me.

Now, my sister-in-law did say that she was taking her yoga class at a gym with babysitting, and that her kids were a little underfoot when she did yoga at home, but I brushed that aside. My kids are pretty mellow; Sammy doesn't like to over-exert herself and Cici usually just follows Sammy around.

 They look so peaceful, don't they?

Unfortunately, something about the sight of me stretching to soothing New Age music mysteriously whips them up into a frenetic swirl of activity. Mom is standing on one foot? Let's grab onto her leg and try to make her fall over. Mom is doing any stretch that remotely resembles a tunnel? We must crawl under her and run around her. Mom is lying on her back with her eyes closed doing relaxation exercises? We should drop books on her face!

This morning during the latest yoga movie, I was lying on my back listening to someone chant Relax! Breathe! Heal! over and over in a soothing voice when I heard a familiar voice exclaim, "Mom! You're a boat!" followed by the painful whump! of a three-year-old plunking herself onto my relaxed stomach. My eyes shot open and I gave Sammy The Look while Cici giggled in the background. Yogi-like, I calmly went back to Relax! Breathe! Heal! while unbeknownst to me, Sammy circled around for round two. "Mom! You're a bed!" I snapped into defensive mode. Sammy likes to jump on the bed. "Alright," I sighed in defeat. "Yoga time is over." Who would have thought that such a peaceful looking activity could be so dangerous?

Monster Post

I might not be posting for a little bit due to upcoming travels. (My house is fully equipped with a nerve-shattering alarm system, so don't try to camp out here while I'm gone.) Anyway, here are a lot of pictures for you to look at while you pine for more posts.

To kick off our Halloween festivities, Cici cast a spell of cuteness over us all...



We painted pumpkins instead of carving them this year. Is that a cop-out? It was a lot faster and a lot less work for me. Plus Sammy could actually participate. Note: must utilize bobbypins more while growing Sammy's hair out.

Sammy was a ghost for her preschool party. Costume #2 wasn't finished at this point. See below.

Costume #2 was begun when I had too much time on my hands, and promptly abandoned as more interesting projects came up. However, after some marathon sewing a couple days before Halloween, it turned out in time:

I really think my adorable toddler may have a future as a child model. She draws heavily on Derek Zoolander for inspiration.



Anyway...



Cici was a squirmy fairy...

And a wormy apple...(there was a little worm on her apple costume, fyi. It was, however, a cute worm.)

I was crafty and made skeleton cookies from ourbestbites.com. Sammy gave them demonic red eyes. Although I was crafty for my kids, I really wasn't crafty for myself in terms of finding a cool costume. I have nothing against adults and teenagers dressing up. I will freely give you candy if you come to my door, but only if you have a cool costume. If you're throwing on a wig just to get candy, may I advise you to go to Target the day after Halloween and spend 5 bucks on 50 percent off candy to save yourself the hassle. 

And if you wait another couple of days, it will be 75 percent off. Although the selection might be slim.

And with those words of wisdom, I will close mine epostle. Hasta luego!





The Edge of the World

My blog is not really a travel blog or a mom blog or a cute blog. I'm not really sure what category my blogging falls under, actually. It's kind of a potluck blog. On the menu today: road trip!

Cici drives us to the edge of the world.

We look around...

We play in the dirt...

We look around some more...

And rest up on the way home...

So we can party!!!

More Randomness, Please.

Birthday Fallout: So I went to the birthday party with Sammy. I think she had fun, which is the important thing, but now I am dealing with the fallout, which mostly involves policing a toy lightsaber and Austin wanting to join the foreign service so he can get a cool diplomatic passport. Say what?
 

GRE Joy:  I will neither go into that long story nor the story of why I just got done taking the GRE. If nothing else, it was a self-actualizing experience.  But I think I aced it. At least the verbal and writing sections. The math section bubble-marking went something like this:  A, B, C, D, A, B, C, D, etc. Good thing schools don't care about how good English grad students are at math. Anyway, if anyone wants tips for the writing section I came up with a pretty decent formula for success there. Also, I recommend having a Nana visit you and watch your kids so you can study.

Marshmallow Bed: Maybe due to the stress of test-taking, but our old bed was really bothering me. We bought a new bed that is super comfortable, but didn't realize how big it was going to look in our room. Not only is it a king, but it's like 4 feet high. I have to get a running start to get in bed at night.

Secret General Conference Fort: Where is the blanket from the bed, you might ask? Well it is being used for greater purposes. Many thanks to Kellie for the inspiration.

Super Cici: And somewhere in there, Cici has started walking! I know, this is a picture of her new hobby of playing in our shower, but much to my chagrin, I haven't actually got any photographic or video evidence of this new development.

That's all. Happy weekend!

Rainbow Pop

Can you spot the picture that is not like the others?

Why don't they make outfits like these for adults? I think it might be impossible to be sad while you are wearing rainbow stripeys.