Marieasaurus

We interuppted this regulary scheduled brag fest to give you a special report. Marie is a brat. I'm so sad. She was an angel when I left for Hawaii. She was good for everyone, she loved nursery and had babysitters lining up to tend her. Now she hates everyone, except me. And I am pretty sure she resents me even though she only wants to be with me. She's throwing tantrums left and right, mostly if I put clothes on her or don't let her put syrup or honey on everything she eats.

I'm so sad. What happened to my baby? It's as if I traded an angel, who people would babysit FOR FREE (just because they loved her!), for 1 trip to Hawaii. Is that fair? Didn't I earn Hawaii? And would I have gone had I known what I was trading.

Also I would like to shamefully report that she has a 6 pack. I saw it during her morning diaper-freak-out-fest. She was screaming, every muscle in her body twitched and flexed, and there it was. Staring at me, as if to say, "Well there you go, you are a crappy mom. You can't even feed your baby." But it's weird, I know she eats something. How else could I explain the 8 poopy diapers I change everday? Also it seems she can't eat dairy anymore. Too bad, because dairy is her #1 food group (besides sugar).

I am hanging on to my whits as best as I can. I've been reading the "Super Nanny" book and that has been aptly timed considering I started reading it before my Hawaii trip.

But I can't end the post this way. I was telling someone just the other day how I pride myself on the fact that I don't have negative blog posts (I was asking for it).

Marie said "Please" for the first time yesterday.
She shared with Preston by her own free will.
She has been actually helping me do chores: putting dishes away, supervising me make my bed, and offering to help with laundry (like really help- not just pull out clothes of her dresser).
She held up two green beans (yes! She eats green beans!) and said "two"- then pointed to another and said "three."
And she's probably done alot more that I am to ungrateful to notice. She's growing up and i guess I can take the bad with the good.

p.s. Still missing my camera. :(

HAWAII (Unabridged): Part 1

Los Hicimos! We did it! We finally made it to Hawaii. I've been salavating over this trip for years and we made it happen last month. Join me as I explore the exciting and technical details of our trip..... hahaha like you really want to hear about our trip... but this is my offical record of the vacation so please excuse my excess of detail and maybe you can enjoy the pictures.

I had been salavating over Hawaii ever since I found out that military can fly for free in the extra space of cargo planes. And given that Travis AFB does the most "hops" to Hawaii than any other AFB I couldn't let this go to waste. I would like to first publicly thank my mother for helping this trip happen. She babysat Marie for over a week. What a woman. Marie is sweet, but she's a handful. Thanks mom.

Also, given the fact that she was one of the few members left out of this trip I owe her big time.

Brett and I had always planned on going, but once we found out that we were moving to Japan we decided to cancel it so we could spend the time between our families. Then I got a radical hunch that somehow I could combine the two ideas. Thanks to my mom and oldest brother Jesse (neither got to go on the trip) who made this trip happen. Thanks so much.

So here are the details (you can stop biting your nails! I'll get to them!)

My mom flew in and Brett and I tried to get on a Saturday morning hop. It was cancelled. So we tried again Sunday morning and got on. BRRRR! Riding in that plane was freezing. It felt like my feet were in the snow. I should have brought a blanket. We flew a KC 135 with a medical crew. A KC 135 also refules jets mid-air. Brett made some buddies on the crew who took us to the tail end of the plane and showed us how a "Boom Operator" does his job- that is the person who refules the jets.

Almost six hours later we got off and made our way to The Bellows Military Resort.

We pitched our tent and got comfy. Yes, thats right, we camped in Hawaii. I'm cheap and proud.

We checked out the beach and then headed to Waikiki to get some grub. We found it at the Hale Koa Retirement Home.... jk. We did eat at the 5 star Military hotel "Hale Koa"- but the food was ridiculously lame and we were the youngest one there by 40 years. The sunset was beautiful though. I wish we hadn't lost our camera before the trip. If anyone sees a pink Polaroid camera let us know :(.

The next day we rented golf clubs for $1 and hit the driving range. What a view! It looked like something from Jurassic Park. We then rented body boards and hung loose until we had to pick up my dad and brother Nigel from the airport....

Just Grateful

Grateful for little Gooses...

And all her Goosey Friends.

Grateful for all my friends...

Especially my best friends.

I hope she's grateful for a mom and a dad that love her so much.

Life is good ya'll!

Lucille

Stunning, isn't she? This is my beautiful Grandma. Today at 8:15 she passed on. Her name was Lucille and she was really a lady. It may seem a little awkward that I am blogging about her passing so soon, but she's been "in between" for a long time now. Years ago her kids sold her house and my amazing Aunt Elaine took her in. From then she would often rotate between my aunts and my mom homes, until that became too much and she settled with Elaine. My mom is so amazing for giving so much of herself, her time, and all her energy to help take care of her. At any time I would never know if my mom was at home in Idaho or in Utah taking care of my Grandma.

My memories of my grandma are sweet and innocent. When I was young I would often look forward to sleep overs at her house. That's where I first saw "It's A Wonderful Life" and had my first bread with butter and honey. Her back yard was huge with a big hill and a million places to hide when we played "sardines." She was a hard worker who kept a fruitful garden and always had beautiful roses. In the summers the kids would pick honey suckles and suck them bone dry. My parents lived with her for the first few years of their marriage and it was with her I collected my first memories of life. And there was no better place to do so.

I love my Grandma, she's the only one I ever knew. But I'm not shedding one tear, if not for joy, because about 3 years ago I got the opportunity to say goodbye. She'd had dementia for a while so she often called me by other names and never knew what to actually say to me when I talked to her. But this time we really talked, about nothing really, just about something on TV. And then as I left for bed she said "goodbye" and said my name. I knew then, that she was really saying goodbye to me. She knew who I was, she told me she loved me, and said goodbye. I started to cry, but she just smiled. I think she was glad to just speak her heart and be understood. I know she is so happy right now. So many people she has missed for so long- she gets to be with them now. What a great idea. Getting to be with those you have missed. I love this Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Plan of Salvation that lets me know with surety where she is. Any other thought or question of "what could be" after death can't even penetrate my mind because I know in my heart it's true, and I'm glad she did to.

Love you Grandma.

"Dance Party" & "Ode to the Dude"

She does this a lot. I think that makes me officially a "crappy mom."
And so close? Really Marie? Do you have your Daddy's eyesight?

But sometimes I have good ideas. Like when Brett left for Scout Camp we had a DANCE PARTY!!!
Gucci eat your heart out. This is a "Marie Original" design.

Did she dance on the table? Yes. Did she love it?

What do you think?

But reading always out-trumps dancing. Reading really trumps everything for her. Watching TV, eating, Me, ...really none compare to the joy of reading. Somewhere Lavar Burton is shedding a tear of joy.

Had a great weekend with Marie. Brett is out of town for "Trial Advocacy Training" now though. Wow. Sounds like a snoozer. But Marie and I will keep it rocking while he's away. P.S. The house is amazingly clean. I guess we know who the messy one is...
I think I have a huge crush on this guy.

hmmm... just maybe?

OK. I do. I love this guy. And I'm so lucky to have him. I'm such a huge mess of a person and he always just keeps me together. He keeps our lives running smooth and occasionally comes home with flowers.

He looks good in a suit. Anything really. He even makes my sweaty pregnant lady bangs look good. (That picture was from a while ago, I'm not prego, I just needed to clarify why i look drunk.... as opposed to the person in the back ground who really is, at least, getting drunk).
But I cannot WAIT for him to grow out his hair. How I wished we had a better camera the summer we got married! Check out those locks. Samson couldn't compete with that. Would that make the military Delilah? Possibly, but possibly just a bad analogy. ... alright I'm rambling here... time to turn in and dream of Brett's hair all shaggy!

The Princess and the Frog

We finally built up the nerve. The last time we took Marie to the movie theater was when she was about 7-months old. She was not interested in sitting still, she was not interested in being quiet, she was not interesting in being courteous in any way, and most surprisingly, she was not interested in Will Smith's quest to donate a bunch of his organs for transplants. Rachel and I took turns walking around the hallway with her. She liked that much more.

Yesterday we decided to try out luck again. This time with Princess and the Frog. It was playing at the base theater, which is pretty enormous. So we discussed our strategy of sitting way in the back where nobody could hear Marie's commotion. When we pulled up we saw two million little kids running around. We were put at ease, realizing she couldn't be any louder or worse than these other kids.

We got in the theater and decided to try our luck with the second row. Marie wanted her own seat, so she sat in between us. And was mesmerized for the entire show. I don't think she blinked. She would bob her head and swing her arms throughout every song. Only once did she make a loud "ooo" sound and that was when some bird was trying to eat a bug, so I couldn't blame her. She was so good that I feel asleep through half of it. I woke up and suddenly the frogs were in love. Weird. Then the movie was over and Marie got up and danced to the credits.