Thursdays

Thursday is trash day in our neighborhood. Maybe a month ago, the truck noises started scaring Hunter so I have been telling him about the garbage man and what he does. We started watching for the garbage or recycle man to come by and I would take him out to see him. It seems to have calmed him understanding it more.

So yesterday, I told Hunter, that today was Thursday, and today the garbageman is coming. He was SO excited. I haven't seen little kid excitement in him until that day. He was clapping, jumping up and down, even squealing with joy. "GARBE MON! GARBE MON!" Deciding to test his devotion, I asked him, "Hunter, do you want Grandma or Garbageman to come visit today?" "Garbe mon!" (Sorry Grandma, get a bigger truck!)

I looked out the window and noticed the garbageman had already come, but the recycle truck had not, so I gathered a few empty bottles up and Hunter helped carry them to the bin outside. We sat on the sidewalk and waited for a few minutes. I convinced him we could open the blinds and watch from the inside. So we went in and waited... all morning the excitement built.

Lunch came around and it was nap time. I laid him down in his bed and I laid down to get a quick nap in my bed. During the nap I noticed Winston ran outside and started barking - oh no. The recycle truck had come during nap time. I decided I would deal with this in a way most 2-year old issues are handled - distraction.

So all during the evening I didn't mention the garbageman. Then halfway through dinner, a loud truck drives by the house and Hunter looks up and remembers, "Garbe mon?" I decided he was old enough start learning about disappointment, although I was dreading it, so I sat down to talk to him saying softly, "Hunter, the Garbageman came during your nap, so you don't get to see him this week." I wasn't sure if he understood so I waited. I could see the meaning sink-in on his face. I expected a 2-year old tantrum next, but it was so much worse. It was pure heartbreak. He hung his head and started to cry softly, "garbe mon... no garbe mon..." I was near tears too, so I thought quickly. "But! We can watch a video of a garbageman on the TV!" (-insert distraction).  So we watched videos of raging garbageman and neighborhood dumpsters being emptied for 30 min, and he was satisfied. Thank you, youtube.

Playing Together

I love it when Hunter interacts with Cami. Sometimes he does well.

Sometimes he doesn't.

Some recent successes: Hunter sometimes will walk up to Cami and pretend to give her a sip out of his empty cup. Today he pulled her play mat out from behind the Christmas tree and set it up. He then tried to push her across the wood floors to get on it. After I helped, they both played on the mat with Hunter mimicking her every move. He also loves to play in her excersaucer with her. I have to keep an eye out because he will crawl very carefully on top of her and try to slip in the seat behind her, which usually means sitting on top of her. For some reason, she never makes a peep when this happens. Today I found him trying to "duck tickle" her which involves quacking while tickling someone else. I really need to take more pics of them together. I've learned that if I don't force him to play with her, he will play nicely when he feels like it.

I'll save the stories of them not playing as nicely for another day.

Seeking Happiness

I head a talk on Sunday that gave a long story about a servant. Summed up, a servant with a poverty-driven lifestyle was happy. His happiness was challenged when he was given 99 gold coins. He felt he'd been robbed 1 short and devoted the rest of his miserable life striving for that last coin. At least that's the summary I got from it.

I thought a lot about this. I really liked it and tried to apply it to my own happiness. I struggle being happy. I always have, to be honest. Long-lasting happiness. But I really don't feel it's because I am seeking riches I don't have. So I've broadened it.

I remember thinking to myself, I can't wait til I graduate high school and get out of the house! I can't wait til college! I'll be happy when I get married. I can't wait to get out of college and get a real job! (What was I thinking!) I'll be happy when I pass my CPA. Own a house, have babies, etc!!! All of these things are good things and did bring me an apparent happiness as I checked them off my list. And there's another list that isn't even checkoff-able off but my constant "seeking" causes me much disappointment. Things like having a Home and Garden house, looking beautiful everyday, a problem-free marriage, being a spiritual giant, having perfect children, etc. There are days where I may hit a few of these, but when I fail the next day, it'll often destroy me for a few more. Even if I could somehow do everything, there's other lists of things 100% out of my control. I obviously am doing the whole happiness thing wrong. The joy I have found has been fleeting as true happiness and that sense of peace, must come from me, regardless of my situation. Happiness is not sought, but had. Looking back, I can't believe how much time I wasted "seeking" things I didn't yet have. I have had so much to be grateful for and often have looked right past it to the next big adventure.

I think that being happy and content are strongly correlated. I think being content comes with a strong sense of gratitude and acceptance for the present. So that's where I'm at. I am going to manually and very consciously try to change my mindset. I'm going to try to accept my current situation for what it is, learn from it and enjoy the little things along the way. One day at a time, right?

Want to Remember

I've been really emotional recently about my kids getting older. Has nothing to do with listening to Taylor Swift's "Never Grow Up" and "Ronan" all the time... It has made me much more sentimental than I've ever been about silly things like a onsie or certain toys. So I'm trying to combat the feelings of time passing so quickly with keeping better records of the moments I love.

So this will be a quick blog of small things I don't want to forget about everyone's current stage:

Cami: Well she doesn't do much. But there are a few things I love. I love when I tell her we're going to be best friends forever she just smiles at me. A huge grin! I also can get her to grin whenever I start singing. I love that. I love her dark hair. I hope it stays dark, just like mine. Right now she's balding. Mostly on one side which I for some reason find so funny.

Hunter: Everyday it seems Hunter is doing something new and awesome. I love his sweet voice when he says things like "Mom" and "Apple." The other day I was trying to get him to stay in his bed, trying to show I was very serious about this and said, "Hunter, one!" In his sweet voice he said, "Two!" Of course I grabbed him out of bed for a big hug and cuddle. Too sweet. His new thing is "No!" I love this too for now. He shakes his head when he says it. Right now the only thing he says no to is when I say, "Do you want to go to your crib?" This is timeout area now that he's in his toddler bed. So that's okay.

Hunter also LOVES to dance. Anytime he hears music he starts bopping to the beat. We were grocery shopping last week. I put him in a hiking backpack we have as he won't sit still in a cart right now. He heard a song on the over speaker and started bouncing in the backpack drawing lots of attention. He's too cute.

Spencer: Spencer is working super hard at his new job. I poked fun at him a little the first few weeks as he wanted to talk about work CONSTANTLY. One night when I was sitting up in bed feeding Cami at like 3 am. He sits up straight and asks, "What controls do you think I need to put in place around the accounts payable process?" I told him to go back to bed. The job chattiness has calmed down to where I have to ask questions now. :)

Spencer is such a good dad. He's so patient with the kids. Especially when compared to me. Some nights when Cami starts to cry I kind of just kick my legs in frustration and he'll get up and hold her for a while until I am awake enough to feed her. He'll ask me in the morning if I remember this. Nope. He also plays with Hunter so well. They dance together often and Spencer will put him in the backpack when he needs to get things done around the house and can't entertain him. Spencer can always be counted on to take care of the kids when I need a nap or want to go garage saling, alone.

I get sad when I have to pack away baby clothes but at the same time get to pull out new bigger clothes. I am so grateful for our past times, but even more excited for the things to come.

Good Day

Today has been a great day. Nothing especially special. I have just had one of those days where I have done more in the past few hours then the past week combined. I even thought about working out pretty seriously. And the kids have been great so far. Cami is 2 months old and starting to show some personality. She loves to smile at me. I love watching her grow, but wish she'd slow down.

Hunter is starting to do what I call room shuffle. I usually have something pressing to do so I let him play however he wants as long as he's not getting hurt, which usually involves shuffling all the items in the house, and then I clean it all up. I find the dishwasher silverware tray in the closet, the calculator in the stroller, etc. Thankfully I can clean faster than he makes messes at this point.

Every once in a while he'll be quite for too long. Anything over 1 minute is too long. Usually I find him in the bathroom exploring as this is the room he's not allowed in. He's always on the search for a razor since its the one thing in the shower I won't let him touch. The other day he was helping clean Cami's bouncer by rubbing the toilet brush on it... (Cami wasn't in it thankfully). I am also starting to find trucks in the toilet. This all happens within 1 minute of not being watched. Perhaps I need to reduce the time to 30 seconds.

Again.

Here we go again. I won't suck this time. I've been reading a lot more blogs recently which has made me want to do my own again. Cuz I got ideas. I think they're good. So what if I got it from another blog. :)


So, update on family. Hunter is here now. He's pretty awesome. Honestly, having him didn't change much in our lives for a few months. It's kind of like a puppy, that you can't leave at home alone. Lots of naps, snuggles, grooming, and feeding. Then they start moving and you realize you got to keep up. It just keeps getting better. His personality is independent and happy. He loves to watch others. Winston didn't eat him, which we were all pleased about. They're just starting to get to an age where they can play together. I need to take a video, because it's too cute.




I remember before Hunter was born, Spencer and I would play a game when falling asleep in bed. One person would start and say, "He'll have your eyes." Then it was the other person's turn to pick which feature he'd inherit from each person. "He'll have your lips." It was fun to imagine all the possibilities he could be. Now that he's here.... He's pretty much all Spencer. It's interesting to think that our next baby could be all me, and look nothing like his/her sibling.

Which reminds me... We're expecting another baby in June! Why yes, it was planned, thanks for asking. As I just went through all the pregnancy experiences, it was hard to get excited about this baby like I was for Hunter. So... we've decided not to find out the sex of this baby. Well, until they're born, then we'll know. It adds a little mystery to it for us and made me gitty all over again thinking about another baby. This week I've started feeling the kicks consistently. So neat, every time.


I don't want to overload this post, so I will be done. For today. Hopefully not the next year though.

!

I really want to get better about posting updates. So here.

Spencer and I have a contract on a house! We're so excited. It's close to where we currently are, so close to work and other businesses that we regularly use. The realtor took the house off of zillow, so I can't show everyone pictures. Gene has taken a lot of pictures, so I will have to get a few from him. Blogs are better with pictures. We did the inspections last Friday and they went really well.

Spencer and I are enjoying deciding what we are going to do with our Obama money for being a first time home-buyer ($8,000!). He wants a new vehicle if he gets his internship (totally understandable), I want these amazing couches, and we're also tossing around the idea of visiting his mission, North Carolina. It's one of those things that if we don't do soon, we'll never do it. There's also talk of visiting Utah which would be so fun. Oh yeah, and then saving or paying off debt... lame, jk, =). So we're not sure yet what we're going to do, but most likely some combination of awesomeness.

Oh yeah! I passed the last part of my CPA! I now am just in the process of filing the paperwork and paying people money to get my official certificate.