Big Boy Bed

Jared (almost 22 months) is now sleeping in a "big boy bed." We decided to make the move when Jared nearly climbed out of the crib. He had one leg over the top and looked like he was about to take the plunge over the side. So for his safety, we moved him out. He's sleeping on a mattress on the floor in Nathan's room. Nathan was more excited than Jared. We weren't sure how he'd do...the first time we tried to put him down for a nap, he walked in and pointed at his crib. After I laid down on the mattress, he didn't want me sleeping there, and laid down on the bed. The first nap wasn't successful, but he went right to sleep at night, without getting out of the bed. He's been napping and sleeping in his big boy bed since Saturday. He's such a good boy- ever since the first nap, when it's time to sleep, he gets in the bed and stays there. He still clings on to "Raffe," of course!

Tagged...

I was enjoying reading the facts about Liberty, until I saw that I'd been tagged! Thanks... I'll see what I can do.

1. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
2. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.
3. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Here goes...

1. My ears aren't pierced (neither is anything else on my body!) - I haven't worn (clip) earrings for a long time. I don't wear much jewelry in general.

2. When I start cleaning, Nathan asks who is coming over. I love to have a clean house, but I just can't bring myself to clean all the time. And it is amazing what 5-10 minutes notice can do - we can go from totally embarrassing to respectable when I need to. If you do drop by without notice, I'll probably be very embarrassed...

3. I talk in my sleep and often push Alex, telling him to "get off the kids" or "where are they?" (I have dreams that I've lost the kids or that he is rolling over on top of them).

4. I was the giver of my first kiss, not the receiver. I kissed him (not talking about Alex...) on the cheek at the end of our date (this is more like true confessions!).

5. One of my favorites is orange juice and ice cream blended together. Yum! I love dessert! We had to establish dessert nights on Monday and Friday, so that I wouldn't go overboard on sweets.

6. I have no fashion sense. My idea of fashion is comfort. My sisters would love to do a makeover on me... I have made some strides though. Alex even says my choice in clothing is better now than when we started dating. Good thing he wasn't worried about marrying a tomboy.

7. Alex and I backpacked to the top of Mt. of the Holy Cross in Colorado on our honeymoon. We camped in a tent for a few nights as well.

So Holly, Sarah, Jessica, Audrey, Mike, Kathryn, and Naomi are now TAGGED.

links

So I finally put some links to blogs on the side. If any of you don't want your link on here, let me know (redsdirt@yahoo.com). I wasn't going to, but I thought of all the friends who I have connected with by links on someone else's blog. And it's easier for me to just click the link. I really enjoy keeping in touch with everyone and up-to-date on your life and thoughts. I'm not very good at commenting, but I do enjoy checking in. You know how it goes...

Invisible Mom

This was on a friend's blog, and I had to pass it along. Enjoy!


I'm Invisible

"It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.' I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone! One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime, because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and dresses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.' As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women."

locked out

Well, an interesting thing happened this afternoon...

A friend dropped by to return a couple of things to us. I couldn't get the door open. Our house was built in 1956 and so there's a lot of things that need to be replaced. Anyway, it sticks when you open it and you have to push it hard to get it open. I couldn't get it open this time, but I eventually ended up getting it open. So the daughter came to the door and I wanted to run out and say "hi" to her mom waiting in the car. We also had borrowed their carseat and still had that, so I got that out of our van and returned it to them.

She started to head out and I headed back inside- only I couldn't get the door open! I didn't think about not being able to get the door open to get back inside....

Luckily, my friend Mary hadn't left yet, because I didn't have keys, no phone, and I had my socks on. And the temperature was 38 today -the driveway was dry, but it snowed this morning. There wasn't much we could do though. The back door was locked and the boys were inside taking naps. I called Alex, thinking he could come unlock the back door. Well, I guess you can't unlock the back door from the outside. So how were we going to get inside? I tried to knock on Nathan's window to wake him up, but I didn't have any luck with that. Meanwhile, I had walked on the wet ground and my feet were wet and cold. It was nice to be able to sit in Mary's warm car. Alex came home and tried to get the door open (we still thought it was just stuck). No luck...so our only hope was getting Nathan to wake up. Alex went and pounded on his window. We went back to the door and started ringing the doorbell. Then finally Mary saw Nathan peek his head out from behind the blinds. Nathan came to the front door, with a strange look on his face (a "what are you doing?" look).

"Nathan, go unlock the back door for us."

"Why?" (he always has to question everything)

"Because we can't get the front door open."

"Why?"

"Just go unlock the back door."

"Okay."

So we watched him try to unlock the door, and he did it. Luckily, he learned how to turn the lock a few months ago.

Yeah for Nathan! 4-year old saves the day!

So it turns out that somehow I'd locked the door trying to open it. I didn't even know there was a lock on it. There's a little latch on the bottom of the handle. I'll have to be more careful with that next time...and maybe put some shoes on before I go out...

books

I'm trying to read more. I've always enjoyed reading, but I haven't neccesarily read the famous books. I pulled some book recommendations off of some aqcuaintances "GoodReads" accounts. I recently read "Night" by Elie Wiesel - it was an incredible account from a holocaust survivor. It's amazing to think about that horrendous event (if that's the right word)- such a tragedy. It makes me wonder how one can get to that point where they could follow a leader that stands for something so wrong. It would be interesting to get inside the head of one of the Nazis who directly took part in the killing of the Jews- what were they thinking? Were they so past feeling that they ignored their natural instincts towards the value and sanctity of life? I just don't understand it.

The other question that comes out of the Holocaust is suffering and why God allowed it to happen. I've been thinking about that lately- why does God allow suffering? One thing I know is that we all have agency, even to the point of choosing to harm others. Agency is such an important part of the plan of God that without it, we wouldn't be able to grow, to learn, or become all that God wants us to be. It's the "refiner's fire"- we have to be tried and tested and refined. And that means suffering. I like to think of a pearl. It doesn't start out as a pearl. It becomes a pearl through irritants within the shell. It's the same with a diamond - it gets refined through high pressures and temperatures.

I came across a quote from President Kimball:

"If pain and sorrow and total punishment immediately followed the doing of evil, no soul would repeat a misdeed. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of the good, there could be no evil- all would do good and not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency. There would also be an absence of joy, success, resurrection, eternal life, and godhood."

So, God allows us to suffer so that we can be strengthened and ultimately have joy. It doesn't make it any easier when we have to suffer, but at least we know it serves a greater purpose.

Any thoughts on this? I was also wanting to get some 5-star book recommendations. Any suggestions?

My 100th post!

I just noticed that this would be my 100th post. I can't believe it. It seems like I just started blogging. Anyway, I probably should be doing a 200th or 300th post, but it's hard to post frequently. So, I was going to just say that we're still trying to recover from the flu, but that seems so lame for a 100th post...

Hmmm...

How about 100 of my favorite things? No, too boring...

Okay, it has to be about my family. I just love talking about them. Meet my family (and their favorites)...
Alex- my main guy, which without him, there would not be the next 2 cute boys...

Loves backpacking, geology, M&M cookies, nachos, and cherry-red VW buses. His favorite music is Tom Petty, but currently he is driving me crazy with his twangy country music. If he wasn't a geologist, he'd probably enjoy being a meteorologist, realtor, or waiter in Aspen, CO (dream on!).






Nathan! Nathan! Nathan!

Our little gift from God. Nathan is 4 years old now. He loves Thomas the tank engine, being outside, digging in the dirt, and playing with his friend Garett. His favorite foods: steamed broccoli, tomatoes, and at least 3 apples a day. He has the memory to prove it (apples are supposed to improve your memory- can't remember where I heard that, but then again, I don't eat apples very often). Nathan also loves watching videos and reading books.



Jared...my little "Jare Bear"...

Jared is 21 months old. He sleeps like a champ (we put him down and he sleeps for 12 hours).
Jared loves planes, trucks, balls, fish, and ducks. Loves reading books, esp. about the previous mentioned favs. He carries a giraffe around called "Raffe" (Ra-ra). He follows Nathan around everywhere. Jared also likes steamed broccoli, but he has a major sweet tooth- loves chocolate and ice cream. He generally is not very cuddly- he doesn't like to be held.




In random order...

Alison (hope I get the ages right!) - 23, one of my beautiful sisters

She got back last summer from a mission to Belgium. She continued a semester of fashion design and then took a leap of faith and headed out to Utah, in pursuit of a guy. It did work out, as she got engaged about 1 month later to Micah (see below).
Alison is the "heart-breaker," :) leaving a trail of guys behind in the dust (until now). Alison loves soccer, basketball, football, etc. etc. She also likes singing. She has an eye for design- she's a good seamstress and has a creative mind.


Micah (22-23??) - the soon-to-be brother-in-law. He is one lucky guy and hats off to him for snagging Alison.

Micah loves backpacking (Alex is excited about that...) and climbing trees, apparently. He proposed to Alison when they were in a tree. He seems like a pretty bright guy, studying mechanical engineering. He helps save lives, with a mountain rescue team. He's also good with kids- he spent one whole morning digging in the sand box and playing with Nathan and Jared. Nathan loves "Alison's boy Micah."



Audrey! 25! Another one of my beautiful sisters (and the only one with blond hair).

Audrey is the life of the party- very outgoing. She loves to laugh and keeps things on the light side. She is easy-going, yet adventuresome (she went sky diving!). Audrey loves basketball, soccer, and is the racquetball queen. She went to nationals in racquetball... Audrey also loves to sing- She sang at her high school graduation. Audrey graduated from BYU and now works as an auditor for JC Penney's. She's waiting for her prince charming to come... she's a good catch!


Carrie...30! My gorgeous sister-in-law, with the dark hair and eyelashes that I always wished I had...

Carrie is a wonderful wife and mother. She loves to exercise (there better be a good gym around!) and eat right. She loves to be at the beach or pool, in the water or with a good book. She loves traveling, to places like...oh, Venezuela (that's where she is now). She speaks fluent French and learning Spanish. Carrie is a hard-worker and very bright. She did master's work to become a dietitian, before devoting all her time at home to sweet Nicholas (and Mike and Cheerio, the dog).


Mike...30! My one and only brother. I grew up watching Mike's every move (and not repeating his mistakes!) ;)

Mike will tell you his greatest accomplishment was snagging Carrie... (he's right!). They're a good match- both very intelligent. Mike did an MBA at Duke and then went to work for Chevron-Texaco in CA. Mike loves being a dad to his little "nickle man." Mike also has a good singing voice, and he grew up playing basketball and soccer. He likes exercising, working on his computer, watching OU games, and hanging out with Carrie, Nicholas, and Cheerio.



Nicholas! The cutest 9-month old around...

Nicholas is a very happy kid. He likes being outside and watching what's going on. He likes to stick his tongue out. He got nicknamed "Nickel man", which went to "Pickle"- Mike and Carrie's little "pickle." He likes to hear his dad sing, "My little nickel man, my little nickel, nickel, pickle man..."
I hear he's a good sleeper as well. And he loves the water just like his mom.




Ashley... 21! My youngest sister, a little "hottie"! (sorry Ashley, but you know you are...)

Ashley is a wonderful and courageous mom to Jaden. Jaden is Ashley's world... Ashley has always had a very compassionate personality. And she is a hard-worker- she has a job, goes to school, and takes care of Jaden. She grew up doing gymnastics, soccer, and volleyball. She can "dig" with the best of them... Sweet Ashley also has a bit of a wild side to her- she went skydiving with Audrey! Ashley is a little bit taken though... she may not be single very much longer...



Jaden! The cutest 3 year old around!

Jaden has a wonderful smile and loves keeping Ashley on her toes. Jaden loves to go to primary and loves his friends at daycare. He's a happy, out-going boy and loves hanging out with his mom and Aunts Audrey and Alison. He likes to play with cars, and he loves stickers. He loves to drive his mom crazy at the store...especially if he wants stickers.




Mom... (we won't tell her age!)

Spends all of her time in her store, The Silver Hanger. She loves helping women find the perfect MODEST dress. She's a very talented seamstress and artist. She also has a very creative mind. When she's not at the store, she likes to hang out with her husband and her mom. She loves to spend time with family and is always spoiling her kids and grandkids. She is always serving.




Dad...

Dad can't resist a game of basketball (or flag football or volleyball), despite a bad knee. He's got a stubborn, competitive side to him. He's a hard-worker. He works as a geologist for Phillips Petroleum Company. He likes playing board games and card games with his kids. And he loves singing and spending time with family.





Fay... my sweet mother-in-law

Fay loves her red-headed grandkids! She loves to spend time with and take pictures of her kids and grandkids. She is very intelligent and tender-hearted. She enjoyed working in the NSU library and teaching paleontology. She loves snakes, lizards, and other animals. She enjoys going on walks. Fay is enjoying retirement, at their new house in New Mexico.





John... my stalwart father-in-law.

John loves model trains, ships, and has a thing for railroad collectibles. He especially loves it when he can get out the trains and boats to show the grandkids. He loves watching "Master and Commander" with Nathan. He loves teaching geology, although he is enjoying retirement. John also likes to practice on the shooting range. He's a proud and concerned father, who likes bragging about his kids.





Jim! Saved the best for last... my brother-in-law and Alex's best friend.

Jim, along with Alex, is one of the brightest guys I know. He can out debate anyone. He loves sports, economics, politics, and law. He's a lawyer now... good to have a lawyer in the family. Jim is about as down-to-earth as it gets. He's easy-going and could care less about what anyone else thinks of him. He likes watching TV, hanging out with friends, going to games, and going back to his hometown- Tahlequah (the "Quah").