Poor Dash

Dashiell woke up last night at midnight throwing up. Three hours later with 11 messes cleaned up, we got a couple hours of sleep before the other end kicked into gear. I have lost track of the number of diapers changed, but there is still one sore bum and a grumpy little boy who hasn't kept any food down. So, will he wake up tonight starving or throwing up again? Michael said he isn't feeling all that great either... It may be a long week. (I have refrained from using my new camera to capture any of these precious moments, and even if I did, I wouldn't share them with you no matter how great the picture lighting and clarity turned out.)

Baby Names

Nels just told me that he thinks his baby sisters name should be Tidi. Two years ago when I was expecting Dashiell, he thought that baby's name should be Tido, but now he says Tido is a boys name and Tidi is a girls. He also explained that she would have to change her name because Tidi is a baby name so when she grows up she will have to choose a new one. I actually considered Tido as a viable option a couple years back, so... Help! Names are so hard for me. Come up with some suggestions or Tidi may be it!

So...

Michael and I got an early birthday/Christmas/everything for the rest of the year present the other day. Both of us are very excited about it. I am hopeful this will get me motivated to take lots of pictures which will result in more things for me to tell you about because I have pretty pictures to go with the stories. So here are some of our first shots. (I have a lot to learn, but it is nice to be learning with a nice camera.)

Just my two cute boys!

So, are they allowed to eat the gingerbread house?
Nels has asked at least five times since last night when we made it.

I love that Christmas is well on its way. The house is mostly decorated (I will have to take some pictures. :)), we'll get to see Santa at the ward Christmas party on Saturday, we're singing Christmas songs in Primary, and the kids get to wear their Christmas PJ's. I love it all!

How was your week?

Michael was in trying to calm Dashiell down to go to sleep the other night when Dash ran from one side of the crib to the other and used the edge of the crib to catapult himself out. Michael caught him with his head half a foot from the ground. Need I even say that Michael took the crib down the next day and put it in storage. Dash is now on the crib mattress on the floor. Nels is so extremely jealous of Dashiell's bed; he wants to trade with him. What a funny couple of kids.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We were home with my parents and my mom and I cooked a great meal if I do say so myself. Probably about 10 years ago while I was in college I decided it wasn't worth the trip home for the couple of days I had off, so I had dinner with some friends. The food was wonderful, I am sure, but the dishes were prepared slightly different than those I grew up with. Thanksgiving to me is so much in the food that the slight differences in the preparation made it difficult for me to enjoy the delicious meal as "Thanksgiving". I know that is so lame. The other thing that is lame to me is if I so much enjoy the Thanksgiving meal what keeps me from duplicating the meal at other times throughout the year, but it won't happen. I will try to remember this when I have guests to my house for Thanksgiving in the future. Well, anyway, it was a wonderfully calm and peaceful Thanksgiving. Hope yours was as grand.

Friday

Friday was an anxiety filled day. In the morning we had an ultrasound and found out we are having a GIRL! Then we watched the clock all day until 6pm to check on Michael's bar results and were so happy to see that he PASSED. What a happy day!

We're not celebrating birthdays in 2008

Michael's birthday is April 16th. Nels' birthday is April 18th. Dashiell's Birthday is April 30th. I am due April 12th. Nobody gets birthday presents this year!

I have been feeling great, other than I am tired all the time. I think I'll go take another nap.

A month is too long

We have been busy.

My mom and dad have been in and out of town for the last month and a half and are finally back for the week at least. They are leaving again next week and taking Nels on a train through the Grand Canyon. He is so excited.

Me... I have read three books, all great reads. Lisa See probably best known for her book Snowflower and the Secret Fan was in town last week and my book club went to hear her speak. It was very interesting to hear where she got her ideas from and a little history of her life and the life of several of her books. We read Peony in Love and all really enjoyed it. It was an interesting look at Chinese afterlife. I also wanted to read Snowflower as well, a book about relationships and misunderstandings. Snowflower was the better of the two books, but both were well written and interesting reads. Lisa made a comment that I thought was interesting relating to how she hoped she inspired or touched people with her books. It was something to do with women wanting to be heard...I don't remember the comment exactly, I just remember thinking is she really trying to be altruistic with her writing or is she just trying write a good story and sell lots of books? Are authors just trying to make a buck? I also busted out a third book this weekend. Apparently the new rage in some circles, particularly LDS teenage girls. Twilight was another good read, but I don't think it was worth all the rage. I will read the second and third books in the series and probably the fourth when it comes out next year. I usually hope to make it through one book a month, but this month I read and read and read and wondered why I didn't like reading when I was younger and had more free time.

About two weeks ago we went to Arizona to visit family and see my nephew Zac baptized. It is always a fun trip to visit Michael's brother in AZ and get to see my good friends Shauna and Emily We also got to see Emily's sister Sarah. I think it has been about 10 years since I have seen Sarah and she is still as beautiful as I remember. (Just a side note, sometimes if I ever feel down on myself, I think about the awesome friends I have and realize that I can't be that bad if they want to hang out with me! Is that some weird thinking or what.) Michael and I will often get in the car and drive away from a visit with good friends and just comment to each other about how lucky we truly are.

I also gave a talk at church on Sunday. My topic: Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. Our Stake has been asking all the members for the last several months to invite friends and family to come worship with us and they had asked me to speak that particular week. The bishopric wanted there to be no doubt that any visitors to our ward would leave knowing that we believe in Jesus Christ and charged me with this task. What a tough topic to prepare for and speak on. Michael gave me several good quality hours away from the boys and I feel like I did a pretty good job. There were actually about 25 visitors at Church on Sunday so hopefully they left knowing how I feel about Jesus Christ.

This week Joy School was at my house. Although I am much more relaxed and comfortable than I was last year, it still takes some prep time and paper cutting to get things ready for the five - three and four year olds I had at my house. We had a good time, but I am always glad when I am done with my week.

I stopped running. The girl I go with hasn't been feeling well and I used that as the lame excuse to not get up at 5:45.

I started running again. I decided I could do it on my own, so Wednesday I actually woke up and went running by myself. I only missed 2 days of running. Even more than being proud of myself for waking up early to go, I am proud of myself for waking up early to go by myself. I do have some will power. Not much but some.

Does that make up for a month of no posts on my blog? Probably not, but it will have to do for now. Nels wants to play Chutes and Ladders. Yipee!