sweet, sweet, you

Boston.  how can I love you so much already and yet have only known you for four months?  i can already sense a distinct vibe of your gentle nature and patient personality.  how can something so small fill my world with so much love?  my world is truly sweeter and more lovely with you in it.  i love you this moment and forever.  

photography by jennifer anderson 

visit her website at photographybyjennifer.net

We love the potty! . . . at least sometimes we do.

We have entered a new frontier ladies and gentelmen, that of trying to coerce a two year old that going to the bathroom in the potty is cool. Luckily, he thinks that being like his Dad is pretty cool, so we ask "Does daddy go poo poo in his pants?" We hope not. I knew it was time to start weening him off the diapers when one day after he took off a load he promptly stuck his hands down the back of his pants came up with a little more than expected and said, "icky". You think? Nasty is more like it. Well, needless to say I wish my kid was the angel child that is potty trained in less than a week. Not a chance. Some mornings are good days and we make it on the pot a few times before we go in our pants. Other days, he could care less and it's all diaper again. A few days ago we had a decent day and he went actual number two in his "big boy potty". However, the funny thing about Camden is that he already wants his privacy when he braves this new potty adventure. The minute I get him up on it he looks up at me and says, "Close door mommy, go out." Because I'm so happy that he is even trying to go I allow him this one wish. A minute later I ask through the door, "Are you finished?" He says, "me done". I walk in and to my surprise he has gone poop in his small potty but felt it imperative that he take his poop in hand and transfer it to the big flushable potty. Wow.

By the way, I wrote this entry a few weeks ago and now Camden is wearing the big boy undies everyday. He really has surprised me. Although, he has become even more particular about his routine of going number two. Not only does he tell me to "go out, close door mommy" but now he demands to have a book while he unloads. "Get me book mommy." I wonder where he gets that from? hehe

The dreaded Fwd: a pet peeve.

 

This is going to be a short little entry and may offend a few

people but it must be said.  What is with the pathological forwarders?  We all have them, one or two people in our Contact list that forward every little thing they can get their clickers on.  I don't know about you but I surely don't have time to read every little hallmark sob story or email fear scam or even the somewhat witty but forgettable joke.  News flash for these offenders:  i don't read forwards! Now please don't get me wrong, this entry is not for the one or two time forwarders that occasionally get something of actual interest and pass it on for others to benefit.   

Another thing is this whole forwarding activity really plays with my emotions when I open up my email and I see "Inbox (3)".  A little silent "Waa-whoo" goes off in my head, a little flutter of my heart says "did someone think of me today?,"only to discover the dreaded "Fwd: blah blah blah blah blah blah"  It's similar to getting a hand written envelope addressed to you and getting a poopy advertisement inside (sorry about the "poopy" adjective but amidst potty training it was all I could come up with).  What's worse is that the advertisement is from someone you know!  These forwards are coming from people we know that lack the ability to use the keyboard to write a personal line and instead opt for four pages of  a big waste of time.  Aaah.  Okay enough whining, I'll jump off my soap box now and call it a day.    

One lucky little boy

You are definitely one lucky little boy Camden. Your Dad took you fishing for the first time at the wee age of two. Now that is some serious love kid. Shane said that it was a little difficult because you constantly wanted to, "Me do it, me do it, me do it" but he was happy to oblige such a cute request. You may notice the different expressions on Grandpa's face as you fling that pole around. Back home when cooking the fish you were extremely proud of your catch, petting and practically kissing the dead things which truly grossed your mom out. I wouldn't want my boy any other way.

What the chub?

I just thought you all might like to know that my son is 14 pounds at two months. That means he has doubled his birth weight, which means that only 6 more pounds and we have to move him into a bigger carseat, which means he is already in size 3-6 months clothes, which means 29 dollars down the drain because all those size one diapers are useless now, which means he is darn heavy, which means I get to kiss those juicy cheeks everyday, which means he is the cutest thing in the world. Here is a before and after picture of him at birth and him now. . . Phew all that growing makes him sleepy. . .

The Before:

And now for the After:

Confessions from a "Pop" Addict

I never thought that I would say this but I went to a Jordin Sparks concert. And I really never thought I would tell the blogging world that I went to a Jordin Sparks concert. But I'm telling you now-- I went and by gosh I liked it. There.

I'm not going to lie, I've always been a little ashamed to admit that I like pop music. Why? Is it because "real" musicians think it's plagiarized mindless crap or because if you listen to it you're labeled as shallow, immature or stuck in high school? Or is it because music is like fashion in that you can't be a Gothic wearer on Monday and a preppy sweater wearer on Wednesday, just as you can't head bang to hard rock on Monday but listen to country on the weekends. That would make you a phony. At least that is the impression I've always had. Well, whatever my reason was, I've always kept my love for pop music on the down low and I'm ready to come out. I like the crap they call pop. And I've liked a lot of it. Justin Timberlake, Christina Augulierra, Kelly Clarkson, I've even been caught listening to a few older Brittany Spears hits. Ohh, that one was a hard one to confess. Okay now I need to feel cool again and so I'll tell you that I like other genres of music too. I love alternative, rock, whatever genre Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, and Indigo Girls fit into, punk, some country, blues, Broadway, and classic rock. Continuing on. . .

My sister-in-laws were all in town and we needed a reason for a girls night out and when we discovered that Jordin Sparks was coming to wittle Orem Utah (I know, I hope her career is still working out) we jumped on it. Although I know none of her songs it was fun just to get out and dance especially because I haven't been to a concert in ages, since right before I got married. That my friends is totally lame! I've decided that must change because I really love live music and just because I'm a mom doesn't mean that I can't party too! Actually I told Shane that concerts would be even more fun now because it's totally legal for us to dance dirty (mom don't freak out I'm kidding about that).

Katie Lila decided that to spice up the night we should all dress up like 80's rockers. When that wasn't a go with my mother-in-law we opted for a toned down version and all wore side ponytails! I took Boston with me and he slept through most of it until the very end when I took him out of his car seat to jam with me as she sang her hit single "No Air" (which I have to say I really like.) She has an incredible set of lungs, is a decent performer, and all in all we had a great time. Because she doesn't have a large repertoire of songs yet she sang quite a few from other artists that we knew well, Traci Chapman, Alicia Keys, and Stevie Wonder to name a few.

So now that I've come out of the pop closet, it's time for you all to admit to your sinful music loves. What or whom do you really like that you have never fully embraced? Now is the time, now is your time to come forth. .. da dun duh.

Here are a few pics of the gals at the concert. Don't mind my crazy face!

How clean are you?

I grew up in a really clean house. So clean that you literally could eat off the floor and it was probably more sanitary than most peoples kitchen counters. My mom is a nut about cleaning. Last year she spent an entire 3 days cleaning out the grout between her kitchen tiles. She put foaming bleach on every single grout line and scrubbed until it was abnormally white. And for her birthday all she asked for was a power washer to clean out the concrete seams in her driveway. Who does that? Apparently my mother. Well, because of her crazy obsession I've always wondered what is normal or sufficient in terms of cleanliness. How often do you clean your bathroom? How often should you change your sheets? Carpet cleaning? When do you replace your rugs? My mother said you should never go a week without deep cleaning your bathroom (for those who are not familiar with her standard of "deep", we are talking about soft scrub, sponges, down on your hands and knees scrubbing the floor clean). Changing your sheets is the same-- not a day over a week. Do people really pay attention to grout? These are the questions that are driving me insane with worry when I don't make it to cleaning my bathroom for a week and a half. So please share with me your feelings about cleaning and what you were taught.

p.s. A little note for my former roomates: You are probably thinking, "Katie clean?, her room was a fire hazard with all her clothes strewn about, but I have to say those years were my rebellion from so much cleaning as a child. I'm much better now!