Twohead

Not on purpose we exposed Andrew to counting backward before much counting forward.  As we've made progress with his teeth brushing (hallelujah!) he still needs something akin to a three ring circus to keep us all sane.  After we get whatever amount of brushing seems reasonable before we're all going to die done we count down from 10 - then he knows his torture (and ours) is almost over.  He's heard it enough, I guess, that he started to apply it to other situations.  I had him in the shower with me once and he looks forward to when the water is "down low" out of the tub faucet so he can play in it.  He has to wait until I'm done, though, and just play with his other tub toys while he waits.  He was getting impatient once (5-6 weeks ago?) and after petitioning repeatedly ("water down low", which sounds more like "wa dow low") I hear him take matters into his own hands: "Ten, one, zero!" haha : )  When that didn't work immediately he tried again several times and I realized what he was saying and trying to get me to do - my turn was over and it was going to be time for his water down low! ha  We've  continued to make some progress as I've had the shower to myself for the last couple days and he prefers to "play toys" simultaneously.  As convenient as it is to bathe him at the same time, I'm not complaining!

In the last month or two we've talked a little more about numbers and counting forward.  This is mostly with numbers or counting books, but some other times, too.  As a totally biased and proud parent I can report that Andrew can generally successfully count things to 2.  : )

He often refers to groups of things as being 2.  It seems that "2" refers to 2 or more.  If he is counting with you he is actually getting pretty good and can often stay with you (plenty of room for improvement, though).  We really don't try to push anything,  just count when it's in a counting book or other natural times.  He enjoys it and now will initiate the counting on his own.  You can hear his cute little voice, "One, two, one, two, one, two," etc... ha : ) 

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Somehow as he learned all sorts of body parts we never really talked about the forehead much.  So in the last few months he's learned about the forehead, elbows, etc.  He'll point out elbows at the most random (to us) times.

With all this numbers talk, though, I can see how it's easy to get confused... I've heard him several times in the last few weeks refer to not his forehead,  but his "twohead"....... hahahahaha : )

Captain Moroni: A worthy hero

This morning we went right when the library opened at 10 to sign ourselves up for the summer reading program.  Not because you can't sign up any day of the summer, but because they had a "free gift" for the first 25 to sign up (for adults at least, but I thought I'd read that for kids) and we like freebies and what if it was a free book??!!!!  I'm pretty sure I saw them give a kid a cellophane bag with a bookmark and pencil in it saying it was his "gift" so then I really didn't want one for Andrew because, let's be honest, it would come home and just sit here because he doesn't need a bookmark and I try to keep most writing utensils away from him right now unless he's under highest levels of supervision.

We filled out Andrew's little registration slip, his first raffle ticket, and he colored a picture for the display.  They had lots of different little sports related pictures and I took the liberty of choosing the bike for him.  He liked it, dumped out his box of crayons and actually sat there for at least 5 minutes using a variety of colors to scribble all over it.  I was really impressed.  I'm sure it helped that all the other kids were older than him and so he was just doing what the big kids were doing.  He also told me about the "airplanes" he was adding to the picture, which is one of the specific things he says he's drawing so far (the others being trains or cars, of course).  He also got to eat a cookie after all that.  I did show him his three options and then was happy that he was happy with a vanilla sandwich cookie (seemed least messy).  After he opened it and ate the filling he told me he was all done so I finished it.

We spent some time in one of the other rooms reading some, playing with toys, and him inserting himself into the KidPix play of some kids on the computer.  By the time we left his little picture was already up on the bulletin board.  We went upstairs to sign me up and she gave me a plastic summer reading program bag and told me it was  my free gift.  After we were home I saw that it did actually have a "READ" pen and three mini York Peppermint Patties in it.  Ok, I guess that's a decent "gift" after all - consumable!  Jeff, remember when Mom used to get us big Yorks while we were out running errands and then we'd get to go home and eat them in the back yard??!

We ended up being there longer than I had anticipated - I didn't really know they were having activities.  We were back home just after 11 to get the grocery bags and take a picture of the shopping list.  We do it that way now after I'm pretty sure I lost our old notebook in the store or left it in the cart.  It's really just one more thing to carry.  Anyway, we drive to Aldi and by the time we're there he's asleep!!!  I didn't realize he was that tired already, but we were there, so I woke him up to shop.

We did our shopping there and Walmart and then headed home.  I thought if he had been that tired there was a good chance he'd fall asleep again, but he didn't.  Pros and cons.... Great that I could feed him lunch before his nap, but it makes carrying in all the groceries a little trickier - lots of small trips (to the porch, inside the font door,  then the final leg to the kitchen).  A few bags, a watermelon, two milks, and ice cream to worry about in the heat of the day, but we made it.  Luckily he was cooperative to come inside easier than sometimes...  I worked on getting things put away while he ate his bean soup and applesauce.  (I like that my toddler likes bean soup, by the way : )

The routine is after he's washed I take him straight up to his bed for a nap.  Today, probably because he was overtired, he was upset about something and I realize he's asking for Go Dog Go!  So we get the book, sit on the couch and read it.  During the book he reaches over to grab the Friend magazine.  I try to slip it away while he's enjoying all the dogs and cars because I don't want to stray too far from the routine and it was getting later.  We finish Go Dog Go! and he now is wanting the Friend magazine.  This is our first Friend magazine ever.  It just arrived on Saturday and we pulled it out for the first time yesterday.  He already knows he likes it, though, which is good.  I open it up and he points out several pictures.  We turn the page and we're to the little simple story about  Captain Moroni.  Still trying to keep it short I'm just letting him point out things.  Then I decide I should take the opportunity and it has so few words anyway so I read it to him.  He likes the flag and he likes Captain Moroni.  He sees a mom and a dad and some kids.  He's asking for a flag like Moroni's.  I tell him we can get one after his nap and he's satisfied enough.

I take him upstairs and he's happy to see his bed and pacifier.  Like usual he requests some songs.  Last night he went into his bed in a wild tantrum over wanting The Wheels on the Bus over and over, which Will did a few times and he had already done the little board book of it before putting him in his bed.  This afternoon he's requesting Wheels on the Bus again so I sing each verse he suggests.  Then I switch to some Primary songs.  Somehow Moroni comes up again and we're talking about his flag.  Then he requests a Moroni song...... I can't think of one.... He's distressed so I check the LDS music app searching "Moroni."  That only brings up songs that have a Moroni scripture at the bottom.  He's escalating and I tell him I'll try to find one for after his nap.  I see there's a song about the angel appearing to Joseph Smith and it works to sub Moroni's name, so I try that but by now he's irrational and it's not good enough.  I even try singing "Moroni, Moroni, Moroni" to my own tune and he won't accept it... hahaha.  I turn on his CD with Primary songs, tell him I love him and to have a good nap, and I leave while he's in mid-tantrum over me not being able to provide a Moroni song... all while trying not to giggle.... Don't worry, he calmed down after a few minutes.

I texted Will what was going on and he reminded me of the song on the Seminary CD (but it never actually mentions his name).  I kept thinking of the one from From Cumorah's Hill that has the line, "I stand with Nephi and Moroni."  But I was blanking beyond that.... And in all my searching in the last little while as I've had lunch I can't find a song about Captain Moroni.... He gets such a nice scripture about him - can we please get a song about Captain Moroni????!!!  Alma 48:17 says, "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

I guess I could work on one myself, but this is not my area of expertise.... Lindsay??? Brett???? Help a sister out, here!  And help a nephew out... hahaha

But if we're going to have tantrums I guess it makes it a little easier when your sweet not-yet-two year old is so distraught over his desire for something Captain Moroni related... haha  I guess now I know which scripture hero figurine to get him for his birthday!

Who on earth is she talking about???  Here is a link to the same story that I've read Andrew a few times in his brand new Friend magazine about Captain Moroni.  Here is a different link to the same story, but another version from a different issue that has a little bit more detail.  He was a great leader who loved God and stood up for important things like religion, freedom, peace, and families.

Watch out Betty!

One day last week I made strawberry freezer jam (yum!!) with strawberries that Andrew and I had hand picked.  That very same day I made crock pot veggie lasagna that turned out excellent.  It included fresh basil that I trimmed off our own plant!  The next day I made a pound cake to eat more strawberries with.  All so good!

You: How very domestic of you!
Me: I KNOW!!

Adoption is Wonderful : )

Posted by a friend on facebook along with some old family pictures: "[so and so] found proof that I wasn't adopted!"

So tell me..... what's wrong with being adopted?

Absolutely nothing.  We could not love Andrew any more if he were a biological son.  He is definitely meant for our family and will be a fantastic big brother.  Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for all of us and in our case that meant adopting Andrew.

I'm fairly sure that most people, if asked, would say great things about adoption whether they were personally touched by it or not.  Somehow that doesn't stop people from making jokes like this, though.  Maybe you, as an adult?, can discern what's meant to be a playful joke (or not), but what about children, teenagers, or even young adults feeling confused or trying to figure out their own thoughts and feelings.  All children are blessings from heaven - whether they come to you biologically or not.  The implication that an adoption is second-rate can be harmful and is untrue.

This reminds me of the meme that I won't pass on here because it irritates me.  Two babies - one teasing the other about being adopted.  In several years when he can understand more what would my son think when he saw that?

There are enough questions and emotions that can come for an adopted child.  There are enough negative ideas, stereotypes, and comments made to and about those involved with adoption.  Please don't fuel it!

Instead, celebrate the beautiful people and relationships that we are all blessed by because of adoption!  If you aren't touched personally now, I'm sure you know someone who is or will be touched some day.

Adoption is wonderful : )

Book Club Love

For whatever reason our "new" ward doesn't really have relief society meetings, activities, or whatever you want to call them.  When we first moved here I either figured one would maybe come up soon, or it was just a busy time of year.  Really it didn't take long, though, to get a feel for many of the ways things are different here and while I remained hopeful, I became more and more sure that they just don't happen here.  When there finally was a stake RS activity in March I was thrilled.  There's also a regional women's broadcast next week that I'm looking forward to!

We do have, though, a small but decent group of moms with young kids that like to get together sometimes more sometimes less often.  It's nice to be able to do that during the day sometimes - get to know the other moms better, the kids get to know each other better, etc.  Sometimes that's announced in RS, but it's usually just organized among ourselves and nothing official about it.

The one thing that has been consistently announced and happened monthly is a book club meeting.  It sounds like the ward has had one off and on over time, and this time around it was started up again not long before we moved in (maybe?).  As soon as we were out of Jersey City and closer to everyone in the ward I started going.  I must have had a conflict in December, that or they didn't meet, but since January I've made sure to go every month.  This being the only "relief society activity" I can expect and count on, it's pretty important to me to take advantage.  I know you know why: once a month I can have an evening with other women and I get a break.

It's not a large group.  Sometimes as few as four (I don't think it's been down to three), and last night it seemed like a big group at six!  One friend there is seven or eight years older than me, and with her youngest being four, sometimes she's at play group, but not always. (Andrew adores her boys, though!)  Anyway, after her, I don't know how many more years, but we jump up to women around my mom's age and then one or two beyond that.  I like playgroup and relating with people in a similar situation to me, but I LOVE going to book club and spending time with these "older" women.  Sure, I like reading, and it's nice to discuss the books, but I really love going to talk with, listen to, and learn from these women.  And they're nice enough to talk with me too : )  They're definitely all different and each has unique things that I enjoy, but I really look forward to it and am sad if they aren't coming.

In January we talked about books we might read this year.  Then I read the books for February and March.  April's book was long and tedious, though I still liked what I did read (My Dearest Friend: Letters of John and Abigail Adams).  The book that we read for last night was even longer.  It was nearly 1,000 pages and I decided not to read it and instead work on other books (like more of the John and Abigail book).

Will knew that I wasn't reading it.  He also knew that book club was coming up for last night.  He knows how much I love going to be with those women and what it means to me to have a night each month to go.  Last night we cleaned up dinner and had some family time before I left (doesn't start until 7:30) then he happily distracted and calmed Andrew as I was leaving, cheerfully telling him that mom was going to book club.  He told me to have a good time and not to worry that I hadn't read the book.  What a guy : )  I love book club and I love Will!

Viva la cake!

You would have thought it was Thanksgiving week the way I've spent a good chunk of nap time today looking over recipes and Pinterest and making a shopping list.  I also made a small sample size recipe to test something out.  I super love just about all Thanksgiving foods and consider the group of them to be on my top 10 favorite foods list.  Not that I've ever really had a list... : )

But no.  Thanksgiving will have to wait a while until it's getting cold again and we go back to leafless trees.  And really, after living in a place of practically perpetual summer, this girl is already wrinkling her nose at the thought of next year's winter.  ("But this year it was so mild!" they've told me.  And, "Just wait until it really snows more next year," they say.)  Now that we're back to leaves on the trees my soul feels lighter.  Green is good!  At least winter brings Thanksgiving food : )

What a tangent!  Anyway, this week we're taking advantage of our American right to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with our southern neighbors!  I enjoy cultural things from other countries, but I especially love the excuse to eat the food.  Mexican, or American Mexican, is also on my top 10 favorite foods list.  Guacamole, salsa, chips, cheese, etc!  I like to take the opportunity to make a tres leches cake and I plan to make horchata.

How fun it would be to listen to a live mariachi band like we got lucky to hear in Balboa Park last summer or to see some dancers with those pretty dresses that I love... I suppose we could have a pinata, but since I'm also making food for the ward chili dinner/YW camp fundraiser the next night, likely not.  Perhaps we will watch one of those old south of the border specials - The Three Caballeros or Saludos Amigos!  I'm pretty sure I've blogged in years past about how I got Will to watch them with me years ago when we were dating, probably for Cinco de Mayo... what a good sport!  That's how I knew he was the one... ha : )  Actually, it couldn't have been then - must have been earlier.  I remember specifically that he was gone to New Mexico and I had made a tres leches to share with my roommates and begrudgingly shared some with one of Will's former roommates who had come by for some reason.  Cake?  (I had known this guy actually longer than Will and he'd just about used up all his extraneous-goodwill-from-Ashley cards for things like eating my precious tres leches.... he had probably used them up before I'd even met Will.... haha...)

Anyway.  We've been missing taquerias from California, so this will have to do for now.  And you can't go wrong with horchata and tres leches.... and chips and salsa and guacamole and cilantro!!  Unless you're Will.... then you give all your cilantro to meeee! :

"Salsa is now the number one condiment in America.  Do you know why?  Because people like to say 'salsa!'"

Sodiyum!

I admit it... I like salt....

There, I said it.  Ok, I've said it before : )  I had a good friend my freshman year of college who would shake salt onto just about everything she ate.  I didn't grow up with that habit, and thankfully didn't adopt it.  I just really like salty foods.  I think I more often am craving salty things than sweet things, and like the sweet/salty taste of things like kettle corn, too!

I've been sitting here for about an hour doing computer things that needed done - writing back to so and so about this or that, looking up my next library book, etc.  About 20 minutes ago I got a snack (because of the small salad dinner I had because of the large lunch I had with Will at his work today).  What did I grab for a not long before bed snack?  My generic brand triscuts!  My woven wheats : )  I don't often have these around, but they were impulsively purchased last week on a shopping trip on the afternoon that I had planned to nap while Andrew did, but due to him napping only about 15 minutes I did not get my nap. : (  I was very tired, and so was he.  After I tried to get him back down I did what I should have done a lot sooner: strapped him in and taken him for a drive.  Of course when we arrived at the store and I realized he was asleep I was somewhat annoyed (mostly that I didn't do it sooner or have something along to read - please note that at this moment I resisted the temptation to go one parking lot over to get myself a milkshake!), but glad, too, that he was getting more rest.  When I tried to loosen his coat after about 20 minutes in the parking lot (as the sun came in) he woke up.  Ok, fine, I thought, we'll go in and shop.  I was tired (and hormonal) and he was being "such a good boy" (but really), so there I am in Aldi trying not to cry........... This is real, people.  I went on to buy myself the woven wheats and him a 12 pack of pre-packaged cheese-filled mini-sandwich crackers (think ritz-bitz, but also generic brand).  He had never had them before, I don't think, but judging by the packaging was interested right away.  He's had them twice now since then.... and loves them.  So that's how and why I have my woven wheats.

Anyway, as I have been sitting here "working" and snacking I noticed something (that I'm pretty sure I already knew I did).  As I pick up a cracker I inspect both sides to see which side has the salt.  Then I make sure to put the cracker salt-side down on my tongue to fully enjoy the salty flavor with the oily wheat.  Delicious : )

Wants vs. Needs

A few years ago (or so?) there was a blog-based challenge of sorts to tell interesting/quirky things about yourself.  You were probably supposed to say a certain number of things - 10? 100?.  Was it on your blog, Jeanette?  Anyway, I've had in the back of my mind, for a few years now, the question on what sorts of things I'd say about myself.  At one point I had reached 3 weird things about myself, but only remember one really... and it drives Will (somewhat) crazy... hahaha

I have this weird need to scroll back to the top of a page before I leave it.

It can be via keypad, scroll bar, scroll wheel, etc, but I NEED to get back to the top before leaving the page.  Why?  I don't know.  I guess it just feels more complete that way.  It bugs me if not.  So if Will is watching me navigate, he knows it's coming so he can question my sanity, and he reminds me that I really don't have to go all the way back to the top, you know.  But it doesn't take that long and I just feel better!

I think one of the other things was that I need to have my hair pulled taut upward while lying on my pillow to fall asleep (while I'm conscious and can feel it).  To have your hair just swimming all around underneath you is just weird and not comfortable.

If I remember that third thing I'll definitely let you know.... : )

Where are your eyes?

Sometimes Andrew notices that his toy or a picture in a book has eyes and he'll point them out.  You can ask him where his eyes are, but he's not very likely to show you.  He does, however, point to mine (or Will's).  More accurately, he pokes me in the eye.

Sometimes he will also show me my hair, or maybe my nose or ear. These are less common, though. The eyes are much more interesting for now.  For the most part, the one he's most willing to show you of his own is his head.

Since Will and I both wear glasses, Andrew gets told a lot that we don't play with glasses or pull them off someone's face.  He's getting pretty good at reaching under my glasses to poke me in the eye when we're talking about eyes.

Yesterday he was showing me, again, the eyes on a toy.  I asked him where his eyes were.  He reaches toward my face, per usual, and I close my eyes, ready to squint to protect myself from the poke. Then what do I feel, but a little finger go straight up my nose!! Ha! Quite the sensation when unexpected.  We'll keep working on our body parts : )

Cook book

Here's my next million dollar idea: a book (or website, whatever) that gives directions to make a meal with multiple recipes and tells you the order to do things across recipes.  It's hard to put it into words...  I know, I know, I just have to use a little critical thinking and analyze the recipes before I start and think about efficiency, but that doesn't always happen.  Real life always happens though.

I'm making two new-to-me recipes tonight.  Because I want to and that's fun to me.  But they're for feeding to other people, too, so there's a time deadline.  I've tried to think about what I can do ahead of time, as both of them are to be served right away so I want to get the timing right.  I'm still a little unsure when exactly to start and how I'll decide to go back and forth between the two.

Maybe my book would also have tips that tell you that it's ok for something to wait a little bit longer while you attend to this other thing, or if that would surely give disappointing results.

Maybe the answer is don't make new recipes for other people because you don't even know if it will be good! ha!  And that doesn't even include the gluten-free brownie mix.... (at the request of one for the other as a birthday surprise... even though her birthday isn't for a couple weeks, but she's going home next week...)  But (un?)fortunately I can mix a brownie mix in my sleep, so I'm not worried about that!

Toothpaste Chicken

We're really "money's-worth" and "bargain" kind of people.  We try not to be wasteful either.  When someone might classify a food container (peanut butter, for example) as empty and toss it, I would feel remorseful if I hadn't used a scraper spatula to get the last bits out before taking care to recycle it.  Waste not, want not, right???  I was taught well. : )

So someone else likely would have tossed our tube of toothpaste days before we did, but it just kept on a'givin!  You think you've squeezed it enough, but have you re-squeezed from the bottom and sides??  And then re-re-squeezed?  There are more little crevices to pinch and squeeze than you think!  It got to a point where I thought surely it must almost really be all gone every morning and night.  It became a game of toothpaste chicken - who was going to give up first?!  I think most people make a good effort, but this time, for whatever reason, it seemed to stretch out for many days.  Finally on Saturday night I found the new tube of toothpaste waiting for me.  I could say that I won, but we both got clean teeth out of it : )

On a related note, please send all your tried and true methods for successfully brushing a toddler's (what??!) teeth -- short of strapping them to a board.

Happy old year! Happy new year!

2015 was a good year for our family.  Andrew's adoption was finalized and we were all sealed together to be an eternal family in the Oakland temple.  Those two things were by far the best parts of our year.  Though every moment wasn't rosy, there were plenty of other good things that happened that we look back on fondly.

After putting off recruiters for well over a year (because we knew it wasn't the right time, especially after Andrew was born), Will surprised them by applying for a job early 2015.  The next several months brought hours and days of preparation and sacrifice for the whole family.  (I wondered how my friend could be surviving having her husband working full time and in school and gained a greater admiration for her.  Lucky for me this wasn't a semesters or years long commitment.)  It helped that we both knew that it was all for our good.  After many interviews, other proceedings, and just plain waiting (sound like adoption, anyone? : ) Will was offered a job different than he had originally applied for and certainly a different location.  Rural New Mexico vs. New York City.

We made all the necessary preparations to leave California and begin again on the East Coast.  We were really excited to experience new surroundings and it's proved excellent so far.  There have been many adjustments, but we're loving this grand adventure so far.  Never having moved growing up this has been my first real experience moving away from people and places and not really having plans to return to visit.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around that.  BYU was different, I guess, because everyone planned to move on.  I have some dear friends in Tracy that I miss a lot, but thanks to the internet and phones I can keep in touch easily.  Now we're working on getting to know new friends out here.

Adoption/sealing, new job/moving.  Those are the main ways we'd sum up 2015 and it was all totally awesome.

Now, the new year is here!  I always love the talks and lessons in church about goal setting and the new beginnings that everyone thinks about with a new year.  Looking forward to new opportunities and planning to become better is exciting!  It's true that through our Savior's Atonement we can begin again and try to become better at any time - what a blessing!  But I also think it's great that we can collectively reflect and look forward to improvement with a special time of year.  All that along with enjoying the life experiences that come our way makes the new year an exciting time!

Here's to the next happy year!  We haven't lived it yet, so we can't give any spoilers as to how it turns out... But we can say that we celebrated the new year eating treats and making it to midnight.  Except Andrew.  He went to bed as usual, and then woke up at about 12:05 (thanks neighbors? who are really very nice!) so then got to sleep in mom and dad's bed snuggled up with us and made sure we didn't sleep in the next morning.  We hung around home new year's day morning, then in the late afternoon/early evening we went to see some mini "homes" that were decorated as different homes or other buildings from A Christmas Carol.  They were neat, but it was pretty cold.  Those were only about 15 minutes away from a zoo we went to see the holiday lights at after.  Of course it was even colder there, but we had a good time seeing the handful of animals we could and the lights.  We also got to ride on their cute little zoo train with lights and Polar Express music.  Andrew loves trains, so that made it fun, but with the breeze I think we all haf second thoughts once the train was going.  When we couldn't stand the cold any longer (and we really were done otherwise) we left.

Yesterday's fun was satisfying our (nearly) life-long curiosity to see the Harlem Globetrotters!  Will said we were going to see a game.  I said we were going to see a show.  We were both right : )  Not exactly what I had expected, but we had a good time.  Andrew just thought it was great to see so many basketballs!  We got to go to the new arena in Brooklyn to see it, so that was nice.  And how convenient that there was a Shake Shack right across the street!  We're looking forward to the rest of 2016!