TWO

Somewhere in the last few weeks of not blogging, Lil' Miss or little Zelly hit her 2 month mark.  And for her 2-month birthdate, she got . . . . 2 infected ears.  Poor girl had a nasty cold and cough for 2 weeks, so I finally took her in and both ears were infected, which led to over a week of antibiotic-induced stomach cramps and lots and lots of diapers.  

She also got a trip to Vegas for her 2-month mark.  She attended the Conference on College Composition and Communication with me and was a dream baby, sleeping through 5 sessions and sitting nicely through the Religion and Christian Traditions SIG (special interest group).  She did end both days with a blowout in the last session, but we're used to those things, so no big deal.  I thought I'd get a lot of stares, being the woman with the baby, and I was not looking forward to it, especially to break the news to people that, no, this is not my first child, but my fourth.  But I found that everybody oohed and aahed over her (and only 1 person asked if I was having more children because my religion dictated it), and I found that I am getting more comfortable with merging my "home" identity (for lack of a better way to describe it) and my "academic/professional" identity. It's been a long road for me in this regard--I've always worried too much about what people think about me. 

We like it when she smiles with her tongue out.

Enjoying her swing now that my mom sewed a new cover for it--I couldn't find the old one.

At the doctor, waiting to get all those rotten immunizations :)

At the conference

This is what she looked like most of the conference, sleeping all snuggled in her sling. I got mighty tired of hauling all 11 lbs of her around like this all day for 3 days, though

Happy Palm Sunday!

Today starts one of my favorite weeks of the year--the week before Easter. While I love Christmas, the focus on the Atonement and the Resurrection make Easter more spiritually significant to me.  We ended the day with some unpleasant moments, yes, (thanks to H and thanks to my inability to deal with anything child-related after 8pm), but, more importantly, we also ended with a little devotional. We read about Christ's Triumphant Entry, watched the Bible video about it, and made edible tombs.

Most of Palm Sunday we spent in un-spiritual things, but fun family togetherness anyway. We worked diligently on our entries for The Frost Family and Friends Peep Diorama Contest.  Sweetie won it 2 years ago with her "Peeps Just Dance 2".  This year, H and I decided to do "The Tale of Peepter Rabbit" while Mister and Sweetie combined their efforts into "The Wizard of Peep."  It was fun to see them work together on it. Sweetie is quite confident that they will win.  We will see, as last year, the winner used real fire (in the Hunger Peeps entry).

 And we ate well, today, almost managing to finish off 2 racks of ribs all by ourselves.  I'm trying to do at least one meatless meal a week.  This week it was my friend Suzanne's Parmesan Quinoa:
1 T. olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup quinoa ( I usually add in Harvest Blend (from Trader Joes) combination of quinoa, couscous, chickpeas...I love the texture)
2 1/4 cups veggie stock or broth (I use my chicken broth if I don't have veggie on hand)
2 cups zucchini, chopped
2 or 3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
(Sometimes I chop up fresh spinach and throw that in too)

In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 4 min. Add the garlic and quinoa and cook for about 1 min, stirring occasionally.

Add in the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the quinoa is almost tender, about 12 min. The mixture will be brothy. Stir in the the veggies and simmer about 2 minutes longer. Stir in the parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

I liked it, J thought it was "pretty good,"  H (our resident vegetarian) hated it, and the other 2 just tolerated it.  Yet they devour the ribs. Clearly, I am not making much headway in the trying to "eat meat sparingly" (or more sparingly) thing. And, I couldn't decide whether to laugh or be totally disgusted when I came downstairs from nursing Hazel to find Sweetie at the table shirtless because not getting bbq sauce on your shirt is clearly more important than wearing a shirt.

 Little Zelly (as her grandpa calls her) was not impressed with the carnivores at the table:

 And speaking of Little Zelly, she's now crying when she should be sleeping, so this is the end of the blog post. I'm very much behind on blogging lately. I will try to catch up this week.

Blessed

“Sometimes I need
only to stand
wherever I am 
to be blessed.” 
― Mary Oliver, Evidence: Poems

Hazel was blessed 2 weeks ago. It was a fun weekend with family and a humbling opportunity to count our blessings and realize that God is aware of our little family. 

Poor Sweetie had a terrible stomach bug. She could barely stand to take a pic with us.

Love Me, Love Me Not

During the past week and a half, my love has waffled.  First, we had Valentines, a day of full-blown love, which included Valentines for all and takeout Chinese, and, of course, the Valentines pocket pillow cases in which I tucked positive notes and treats.

Sweetie played "Fur Elise" in her class Valentine's talent show:

The kids had worked hard on their Valentines:

Here is my little Valentine girl. (At the time, I joked that the only way she would ever be called an angel baby is by wearing this outfit with the wings on her back, but she seems to be settling down nicely now that she hit the magic 5/6-week milestone.)

The day after Valentine's Day we took off on a last-minute trip to Utah to check out a house we thought we were going to buy.  30 hours in the car severely taxed my love, especially for this guy, who thought it was a good idea to spit, kick the seat, and generally throw fits for a huge portion of the trip. Here he is, practicing "sitting on my head" (in his words):

And so I have been reminded that, as William Shakespeare wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream, "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind."  Sometimes loving this offspring of mine is a matter of ignoring the macaroni-and-cheese-smeared face and the tantrums and the episodes of spray-painting the patio and scratching names into the neighbor's wall (Sweetie's latest endeavors) and trying my hardest to focus instead on the inherent worth, the potential, and the goodness in each of them. I didn't do that very well this week.

Fortunately, Utah is full of cousins and grandparents to take over when I no longer want to be in the same space with them (after 12 hours in the car). And, of course, Utah has snow!! (so very exciting for the desert-dwelling children)

And, in purely practical matters, this week has been a week in which our love for different homes has waffled.  Do we buy  

(1) The house that's a fabulous deal, in a great neighborhood, with perfect bedrooms and baths, but that has no private land/yard (only communal), and smaller-than-desired main living spaces?

or 

(2) The gorgeous, newly remodeled--but much more expensive than the others--rambler with all new (and very stylish--everything I would have chosen myself) flooring, kitchen, baths, walls, etc. and with nice, open living areas on 1/2 an acre, but in a neighborhood with less kids.

or

(3) The very large home with a great main living area and the entertainer's dream of a backyard--pool, swings, firepit, slide, trampoline, large deck, etc. but with carpet, bathrooms, and a kitchen that's in dire need of replacement (think badly-painted kitchen cabinets, linoleum, bathroom with water damage, etc)? 

Decisions, decisions. We can't go wrong with any of them, but the whole process has been--and still is--very stressful. 

So as to not end on a stressful note, here's a pic of Lil' Miss, who went to church today for the first time, now that she is a grand 6 weeks old! (She ended church in this outfit, but went in her pjs. How nice would that be.)

A peek at our week

This week was pretty uneventful, but I tried to snap some pics anyway. 

This happened all week: "H! stop smothering/smashing/touching the baby!!"

Since I am losing my hair by the handful, I figured these 2 shaggy boys could join me.  Since J has had his hair long, the boys wanted to grow theirs out. They were almost to the stage where they had an actual long hair style rather than just being shaggy and then they decided they wanted hair cuts. Here's the before and after. Which do you prefer?

 Someone turned ONE MONTH old. Can you believe it?!

It was a little chilly on Saturday, so I came home from a baptism to find J outside with Little Miss wearing her cute little hat.

I also went up to check on jobs and saw this little act of brotherly kindness--Mister reading to H.

Let the Valentine's begin! 

Early morning church means . . . afternoon fighting, but in the midst of the fighting, there were some good times. I came out from feeding the baby to find them playing games so nicely! So I had to document it.

As for me, I started walking outside this week--ah, the bliss! It's been so nice to get out of the house and turn my face up to the sun, move my body again, and see the start of little blossoms on the trees. Also, in the month since I've been nursing a baby, I've watched a lot of Downtown Abby (speaking of, have you seen this spoof?), Sherlock, and HGTV. I've read a lot of Facebook, pinterest, and done some online shopping. I've also read a lot, including these magazines

• 3 Oprahs
• Self
• People
• Family Fun
• Fitness
• 2 Ensigns

and these books, in order of how I liked them:

• Hallowed, by Cynthia Hand
• Papa Married a Mormon, by John D. Fitzgerald
• For Darkness Shows the Stars, by Diana Peterfreund
• Falling Together, by Marisa de los Santos (I actually liked this book probably the most, when I think about the themes and beauty of the writing, but the characters swear up a storm and that bothered me)
• I Still Dream About You, Fannie Flagg
• Quiet Meg, by Sherry Lynn Fergesen (a regency romance that a friend recommended)
• Merely a Mister (a companion to the above)
• Happiest Baby on the Block
• Scarlet, by A.C. Gaughin (I skimmed this one--didn't like it much)

Next up, waiting on my nightstand:

• Boundless, by Cynthia Hand
• Hallelujah, by J. Scott Featherstone
• Erasing Time, by CJ Hill
• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Will Talk, Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
• A Heart Like His, Virginia H. Pearce

Anybody care to recommend any others?