Camping With Daddy

Scott got to take Stephen on a quick overnight camping trip last weekend. They went with our friend Jon and his son Anden up to Payson. From the reports they all had a great time - the daddys enjoyed the cooler weather and getting to bond with their sons. And the boys enjoyed getting good and dirty, sleeping in a tent, and killing bugs. Scott said that Stephen was FILTHY dirty and he had to wipe him down with wet wipes before he could put him to bed. Stephen had so much fun and he can't wait to go again. His favorite part (he still talks about it) is building a "bug fire" with Anden. Apparently, a bug fire is a pile of rocks, sticks, and grass, with a few bugs on it for good measure. Add a good does of imaginary fire and TA DA a bug fire.

In the car on the way home.

Stephen and the tent.

Stephen and Anden smashing bugs near the lantern and creating their bug fire.

Hot dogs and S'mores around the camp fire...can't get much better than that!

Boston Social

Boston now weighs 20 lbs 8 oz (99th percentile) and is in the 91st percentile for his height. He is getting more social and has a fuzz of dark hair growing all over his head. He has finally started laughing and loves to be tickled and to "wrestle" with daddy. Boston absolutely LOVES Stephen. Stephen is becoming more and more helpful with entertaining Boston, and likes to bring him toys or give him his pacifier when he cries. I love to see the two of them interacting and building sibling bonds. The above picture demonstrates Stephen's efforts to entertain Boston while I was making dinner one night. He gave him toys, the pacifier, and the burp cloth. Finally, Stephen put his own flip flops on Boston's feet. I am not sure how this was meant to calm Boston but it seemed to work! Boston became distracted by the strange things on his feet and was so involved in trying to get them (he couldn't actually reach) that he forgot to cry!


Boston also has another friend - his two year old cousin, Atley. She is facinated with him and mothers him as much as we will let her. She is so sweet and loves to tuck him in with blankets and will "hold" him whenever she gets the chance. As you can see from the picture, Boston isn't too much smaller than Atley! They look a little dazed in the picture but they both really enjoy each other. I love seeing Boston winning over the hearts of those around him!

On my mind...

BE ADVISED: This post is long, possibly sappy, and some might even consider it cheesy. Just know that I wrote it at 12:00 am and it is the result of a mind allowed to roam free in an empty house. (Okay, Boston is here but he is asleep and Kloie is here but she never says much). Scott took Stephen camping and I have been gleefully running around the house doing all of those little things that take "just a second" but never actually get done. Somehow I wound up writting this totally random post. Mostly it is for my benefit, but if you want to learn about my inner workings you might like it too.... Read at your own risk.

I have a cardboard box stored in the closet with the words "dance stuff" written on the side. Such a simple phrase, "dance stuff." What this box contains is far from simple - to me it represents thousands of dollars spent, countless hours of grueling hard work, and more blood sweat and tears than you can imagine. It is what remains of the 16 years of my life that I devoted to dancing. If the average observer were to open the box they might see faded old leotards, a few pairs of ragged tights, and at least 30 pairs of old pointe shoes. A strange odor will waft through the air - not upleasant - just different. I love that smell - it is the smell of old leather, satin, dust, and reisin and if I close my eyes I can imagine I am there in the studio....

I am stretching on the dirty floor and listening to the music roll through the hot room. My friends are nearby and we chat as we begin to lace up our pointe shoes. This pair is getting soft - darn, there goes another 60 bucks. Another ballet class is about to start and I groan inwardly, "pointe class again??" I whine to Anna. I cap my toes with the lambswool toe pad, arrainge it carefully, and gently slide my foot into the shoe. There is that raw feeling, caused by the box of the shoe pinching and rubbing on my toes in the spots where they already have blisters. "How long is rehearsal after class?" "Another three hours." Connie calls us to the barre and begins the torture. As my muscles stretch and flex I feel more and more alive...

I really can't expain very well in words what ballet and dancing meant to me as I was growing up but it is a huge part of me still. Even though class and rehearsal was often grueling it was all worth the effort when I got to step out on stage. I was addicted to the overwhelming joy I felt as I danced for an audience. I would get goosebumps waiting in the wings and then when I was on stage it was like my heart was on fire. Dancing was my first true love! I can't even write about without tears in my eyes.

One day I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. I knew it was time to stop dancing so that I could finish up my degree in education. I cried about loosing dance as much or more than I cried over boyfriends. You can ask my roommates at the time - they probably remember.

I still dream about dancing. I dream that I am supposed to know some choreography but I don't know it and I am wearing a costume that I have never seen and the other dancers are pushing me out on stage telling me to "wing it." I wake up frustrated because I can't enjoy my performance! These dreams are telling me that there is a frustrated dancer hiding inside of me. I will go back someday...when money isn't an issue (ballet is a rather expensive dance form to pursue)...when I have time...when I loose a few more pounds.

I have to say that one of the things I miss the most from my dancing days is my svelt figure. I never thought it was svelt at the time because staring into a mirror all day while wearing form fitting clothing is not very good for one's self-image. Looking back, I realize what a fool I was! I was in great shape and could eat anything I wanted and not gain a pound. Unfortunately, the eating habits have remained and the metabolisim is gone...grrrrr.

I know that the choice to stop dancing at that time was right because of what it brought me. Ballet was so consuming that I rarely dated and was often too tired to socialize. I never had a serious boyfriend until after I stopped dancing. Who knows how long it would have taken me to meet Scott and get married? I loved dancing with all of my heart and it will always have a special place in my heart as my "first love." But now I choose to be a wife and mother. My sweet husband and sons bring me a mature joy and happiness that will be with me my whole life, whether I look good in a leotard or not.

Smile!

Ward Photographer - that is my new calling. I didn't know that was a calling until they asked me to do it! I laughed (maybe outloud) as I said yes - my photography skills are not so good...but luckily I only have to take pictures of couples in the ward to post on the ward website. Those are simple and clear responsibilities - easy. I even have help from the ward webmaster. Ha! I have learned after two weeks that people DO NOT want to have their pictures taken for the ward website. My attempts so far:

• Announcement from the bishopric at the beginning of sacrament meeting, instructing people to go to the foyer before Sunday School and have their picture taken....result - one couple on my side, one on my partner's side. I had to accost the couple.
• Phone calls to 10 families on Saturday inviting them specifically to be photographed during Sunday School the next day - left seven messages and got three definite "yes I will be there." We got those three "yeses" and one or two more random couples that I had to accost in the hallway.
• Resorted to interrupting Primary and Sunday School lessons to take pictures of the teachers (our ward calls couples to teach all of the classes). We got the most pictures from this method but I managed to totally offend a lady in the ward. I walked in the room and saw a man and woman teaching the class and thought "they totally don't look like a couple." (in order to protect their identities I will not describe them but I will just say that they are an odd couple). So I said something stupid (I don't remember my exact words) but the message was "you don't look like a couple." If I had thought for about 2 more seconds I would have realized that of course they are a couple or they wouldn't be teaching together. Duh. Well, the look on the woman's face was not very happy - she looked pretty ticked off - must be a sensitive topic for her. :( I was feeling pretty stupid at this point but luckily her husband had a better sense of humor about the whole thing - he kept cracking jokes about it and laughing it off. When I finally got around to stating my purpose for interrupting their class, the woman flat out refused to have her picture taken! I told her I wasn't going to force her but the bishopric would really like to have pictures of all of the ward members. "Well, the bishopric already knows who we are!" She sounded so irritated. OOO Kaay. I didn't really know what to say and so I tried to leave as graciously as possible - complementing their class on their good behavior, etc. Sooo embarrassing! I felt awful for offending her and a little irritated that she wouldn't let me take their picture!

So, I am a little discouraged with the lack of progress I am making on my assignment. If anyone has a suggestion for a better method, I would love to hear it! If your ward has a photographer, support them and go get your picture taken! It isn't hard - all you have to do is smile!!

The Playground

Lest you begin to think I only blog about poop (or the lack of) and cockroaches...here is something normal!

Summers are so hot here in Arizona that we don’t play outside very often. You either have to be soaking wet or get up at 5:00 am to enjoy the great outdoors – waiting until the sun goes down doesn’t often help either – sometimes it is still over 100 degrees at 10:00 at night! This makes going to the playground pretty much never an option which is not happy news for a toddler who LIVES for the outdoors. As a result we become a little stir crazy and watch a lot of movies. Stephen was so desperate for fun that he built his own playground out of the couch with the cushions pulled off – I have to give it to him for creativity….

Yes, he is wearing jeans in the heat...it was laundry day.

Not a good way to wake up

This post is not for the faint of heart.


Cockroaches




In case you can’t see, there are two of them, maybe husband and wife on a holiday?? FYI they were ON my toothbrush when I first opened the cabinet.
This is where they came from. (It was left unplugged for all of ten minutes after Scott got ready for work before I went in to shower.)
The cleanup: Dustbuster (not enough suction), tongs to move things around so I didn’t have to get too close, big vacuum…and finally the toilet (not pictured). I flushed at least five times.

Good news…and still waiting….

We finally heard back about Boston’s test and he doesn’t have anything “apparent” on his x-rays to indicate a problem.  In other words, he doesn’t have Hirschsprung’s Disease!  Hooray!  I am glad to know that we don’t have to face surgery or any of the stress that goes along with that.  Dr. Ciminello said that he still thinks it is not unusual for a breastfed baby to go 7 to 10 days between bowel movements but if he continues to go 12 to 15 days between, we will do some blood work.  It is still so frustrating to wait around for a bowel movement to come!  How am I supposed to know if he will go as long as 12 to 15 days between bowel movements if I am giving him a suppository every 7 days or so to relieve his discomfort?  Sigh…and the one who really has to deal with the misery is Boston!    

More about Boston…

I forgot to mention that Boston weighed 19 lbs 9 oz when we went to the doctor on Tuesday.  It was his four month birthday and to celebrate he decided to roll over for the first time on the exam table at the doctor’s office!  Fun!  I also forgot to mention that I really like the pediatrician we go to.  His name is Dr. Ciminello and no matter how silly my concerns are he never brushes me off (I was so worried that he would ignore my concerns in this case).  He always addresses all my worries and even if they really ARE ridiculous, he never makes me feel dumb. 

Surprisingly, they were able to get the test scheduled for the very next morning.  I took him to Banner Desert Hospital to the radiology department where they did an enema using Gastrografin.  (Luckily for those performing the test at the hospital, Boston was able to find relief the night before the test with the use of a suppository. If not, there could have been a nasty mess for them….)They had to put a catheter in his bummy and then put the Gastrografin into his bowels and took a live x-ray to see how his bowels are working.  The Gastrografin creates contrast in the bowels so that they can see everything.  Needless to say this was a rather unpleasant experience since he was strapped down on a board.  I felt so bad for the little guy.  He did quite well despite all of the tape they stuck to his rear and then had to rip off.  (OWWW!)  I got to stay in the room the whole time and hold his little hands and talk to him throughout the procedure.  It is never fun to watch either of my boys in pain.  We should find out the results at the end of this week…more waiting. 

Now, what is it they are looking for? I finally found what the name of the disease is that we are hoping Boston doesn’t have.  It is called Hirschsprung’s Disease.    Hirschsprung’s Disease is basically, when the nerve cells that are normally in your intestines don’t develop in the womb. The only way to correct it is surgery.  Here is a link if you want to read about it.  I feel quite confident that he doesn’t have Hirschsprung’s – I have had so many people tell me that their baby “used to do the same thing” that I am becoming more and more convinced that he is normal.  Thanks for the advice – I appreciate it and I am willing to try anything.  :)

Waiting

This is common attire for Boston these days. We dress him in a diaper and wrap him in an old towel when we are waiting for a bowel movement from him. The poor little guy only relieves his bowels oh, every 10 days or so (this week we are up to 12 days). As you can imagine he gets quite uncomfortable during this time. He gets so gassy and fussy and then when the flood finally comes, it is a HUGE mess - guaranteed worst blow-out in history.

Yes, he is strictly breast-fed.

No, he is NOT constipated - it is definately liquid when he goes.

Yes, we went to the doctor today.

Apparently, it is not unheard of for a breastfed baby to go as long as 14 days without a BM. However, if they are going over 10 days without BM the doctor said they like to have them tested to see if everything is working right inside. This is where we are with Boston, so the test was ordered.

The best news for the day was that it is ok to give him suppositories once or twice a week. Hopefully, Boston out grows this problem soon as it is difficult to go anywhere when waiting for the flood. Also, we can't let anyone hold him without an explicit warning of the possible consequences.

Coronado Trail

The weekend of the 24th of July we went to a Smith family reunion in Alpine, Arizona. Alpine is a tiny little town in the middle of beautiful pine forest in North East Arizona. We loved the beautiful weather and scenery and Stephen was on cloud nine with all of the dirt and flowers and sticks and rocks.... We went to Big Lake one day and threw stones in the water (this is suprisingly relaxing). We also rode a quad around on a dirt trail through the woods. Scott took me through several mud puddles and so I got splashed with mud all over my legs, shorts, and IN my shoes. It was so fun!

Once again, these pictures are in random order - I can't seem to make Blogger work for me the way I want it to anymore - that is part of why I haven't been blogging lately!

On our way home we went down the "Coronado Trail" which a beautiful scenic drive running down the border between New Mexico and Arizona. Incidentaly, Scott and I drove this same exact road exactly 6 years ago when we were dating. We had been in St. Johns for the 24th with some friends and we got a little lost on our way home. What should have taken 4 hours took us 9 hours. We didn't care - we got to spend the entire day talking and driving through spectacular moutain views. (If you want to know more about the Coronado Trail click here.) So this road trip was a little anniversary of when we fell in love. It wasn't quite the same with two little babes along for the ride but still fun. The boys were so good in the car; very little crying or whining!

We are still here!

I have taken a break from blogging, but I will come back... Here are some pictures of my boys to hold you over:

Boston's shirt is 12 month size and the shorts are 9 month. He LOVES Stephen and gets so excited when we set him next to Stephen in the chair. Stephen loves his baby brother and is VERY protective of him. The two of them keep me so busy - especially now that Scott is at work all day and I am a "real" stay-at-home mom. :) More to come soon...