Knock on Wood

Whenever we move to a new location we slowly but surely learn our way around and find all of the new places we will need to visit regularly. Usually, we start with the grocery store. Here, we shop mainly at two large stores called Marjane and Aswaak Asalam which are only about five minutes from our house. Occasionally we shop at the small embassy commissary for things that we feel we can't live without (like bacon). We found all of these places within the first few days here.

After that, we find the school. We visited the school on our first day here, and I will do a whole post on that another time. I adore the kids' new school!

Next, we usually find a pediatrician. That was easy here. We see a nurse practitioner at the embassy health unit like all of the other embassy families here. They can treat 80% of the problems, and usually only send people out for things like injuries.

After that, we usually find the library, but that wasn't an option here, at least until I learn to speak French better than I currently do. It's hard to believe that at one point I was able to read Le Petit Prince and Camus' L'etranger in french! Now, I can barely order lunch meat at the deli counter. But I am calling a tutor tomorrow!

It is a good idea to find a hospital, especially one with an emergency room. I have been meaning to do this for a couple of months, being the worrier that I am. I am on my own so much, and I like to be prepared for everything.

Well, I can now check that one off my list. The nearest ER has been found, visited, patronized . . . you get the picture. Liam caught his thumb in a heavy metal door on our house today. He cried and cried, and it started to really swell up. I gave him Tylenol, iced it and called the health unit. They suggested that I take him to the ER. Morgan is gone right now, and this was one of my worst fears.

On Sunday, some of my friends from church, knowing that Morgan would be gone all week, offered to help. I told them that I thought I had everything taken care of, but that I would definitely call if something came up. Then, I said it. I actually said "hopefully nothing will come up. Usually we have some sort of health problem when he is gone." I jinxed myself (and poor Liam)! But I said "knock on wood" right after, and I even knocked on real wood, not particle board! I knocked on wood!!

(deep breath) Okay, I feel better now.

But everything worked out beautifully. I called my friends who live nearby, and their teenage son came over to take care of Braden and Lydia. Amina was leaving for the day, and offered to come with me and show me how to get there. She held Grayson while I tended to Liam. Liam was such a good boy during his x-rays, and he is fine -- no broken bones. And now I know how to get to the ER! Check.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow
I can't believe Grayson is already one year old! This year flew by.

Each moment with this little man is a treat. He has an infectious smile, an incredibly cute giggle, and the kind of personality that makes you just want to be with him.

The beginning of his life was marked by health scares that made us even more protective of him than we would normally be. Because of that, many things were set aside in favor of cuddling our sweet guy. Now, at one, we are not worried for his health, but out of habit (his or mine?) we still cuddle a lot. Like all night. But as you can see from the slideshow, they grow so fast, and he won't always want to be in my arms, so I am enjoying it while I can.

He has seen quite a bit for such a young man. When he was three months old we took our big trip to Paris. Later in the year we went on a trip to Garmisch, Germany, and then back to Paris (Disney!) for Thanksgiving. He traveled through Germany, France, and Spain and arrived in Morocco when he was nine months old. An American citizen, Grayson has never set foot on American soil.

At one, Grayson's preferred method of transportation is the "bum scoot." He loves Cheerios (at almost $6 per box at our little embassy commissary, I certainly hope he loves them!), yogurt, and nursing. He loves his Daddy, and lights up at the mere sound of his voice. He has just recently developed a love of anything on four wheels, and spends a lot of time rolling toy cars back and forth on the floor. He excitedly says "ball" whenever he sees one. He loves his bathtime, which he shares nightly with Liam. He currently has eight teeth, but two molars are cutting through, and two more look like they are getting ready to emerge.

Today we spent a quiet day at home playing, doing exercises (he is a little behind in development, and my friend, a physical therapist has been helping him catch up), napping (okay, he was the only one napping). We did his 12 month photo shoot this morning, but only one picture turned out, so I will try again tomorrow. I showed him this slide show this morning, and at exactly 8:02 a.m. (10:02 Germany time) I gave him his birth minute kisses. We had a little party with his brothers and sister tonight, and will celebrate again after Daddy gets home from his trip. Of course we had our traditional carrot cake. This time I made it with oat flour and it is really soft. And he got a new car -- his first very own car.

I am so grateful for my sweet guy! Happy Birthday, Grayson!

Morocco Monday

Life here is so different from anything I have ever experienced, and I want to share it all with you. So I had the idea to post something about the culture, food, lifestyle, etc. in Morocco every Monday.

Morocco is one of those countries that I knew existed, but never really gave much thought to before finding out we would be living here (much like Romania before I got my mission call). I'm ashamed to say that I probably couldn't have even pointed it out on a map! So every day so far has been an adventure, learning about the customs, tasting the new foods, seeing the beautiful architecture and colorful clothing. Everything is still so new, and I hope I can remember how it feels to be experiencing it all for the first time when it is all more familiar than Wal-Mart and Sonic to me (oh, how I miss my cranberry limeade slush).

There is so much to share, but if I pace myself, maybe it won't seem so overwhelming. So for this installment of Morocco Monday, I am going to introduce you to Couscous.

Perhaps you have eaten couscous before. It is a grain dish consisting of round granules made from semolina flour. It is a staple here, and when you refer to couscous in Morocco, it is much more than just the grain. It is meat (usually chicken or beef) and vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, turnips, cabbage and squash on a bed of steamed couscous. It is delicious! The kids first tried it at school (much like Friday pizza day in American school cafeterias, Friday is Couscous Day here). Then I had our maid, Amina, (yes, I said "maid" -- another post for another day. Patience, all will be revealed in time :)) make it for us, and we all love it!

Amina made couscous for us again today, and she showed me how to prepare the grain. I had bought a couscoussiere, a traditional steaming pot for couscous, but didn't know how to use it. It surprised me to learn just how involved it is to make. I had assumed it was similar to making rice, but it is not. It involves moistening the granules, rubbing oil around in them, then steaming. Then you remove it from the couscoussiere, and knead some more water in, and then steam again.

You don't serve couscous on individual plates with forks. It is eaten from a communal dish with your hands (Braden is in heaven when we eat this!), or maybe a spoon, if you prefer. You use your spoon to pour a little bit of the broth from the vegetables and meat onto your coucous, and it makes it easier to pick up and swallow.

Couscous is just one of the delicious new foods we have experienced here, and just like our beloved Romanian dishes that we still make years after returning from Romania, it is going to be a part of our family life from now on.

I'm Baaaaack!

Wow, I think that's the longest blog break I have ever taken! I was seriously beginning to wonder if maybe I should just leave up that Halloween template for a few more months until it was October again. I also began to worry that if I did, indeed post something after so long that I would send one of my devoted readers into a life-threatening state of shock. I considered giving up the blog entirely, but the subtle (and not-so-subtle) hints from family and friends requesting an update did the trick. So here I am -- back in the game!

There is just too much to write about to give you a full run-down of the last few months (a daunting task, that no doubt contributed to my avoidance of the blog), so I am just going to start out by getting my feet wet again.

This is the best/worst/only picture of the kids on Easter. Notice their matching outfits that I was so excited about. Also, notice the expression on Liam's face. It says it all, and is the reason there is only one picture. Oh well. I will try and get a better portrait of them when there is better light and Liam is not so tired.

Compare that picture to this one, taken at Christmastime when we were still in Germany:

They have grown so much in such a short period of time.

Okay, these have nothing to do with the above photos, but I thought you might like to see our monkeys feeding the monkeys. We visited the village of Azru with our friend, Sofiane, and fed the wild monkeys in the cedar forest.

Until next time!

We are here! We are here! We are here! We are here!

After a stressful pack-out, cleaning our house from top to bottom, busy week of outprocessing, sad good-byes and four harrowing days of driving we have finally arrived in Rabat.

This has probably been our most stressful move for many reasons. First, we were only allowed to bring 4500 pounds (for those of you who have no idea how much your possessions weigh -- count yourselves lucky. In the military we are obsessed with the weight of our belongings because we have to pay for any weight over the limit we are given. 4500 pounds is not much, especially for 6 people). The movers estimated that each crate they filled with boxes would weigh approximately 1000 pounds, and when they started filling the fifth crate, we asked them to hold off. They insisted on filling all of the crates they brought with them, and sure enough, we went over our limit by 500 pounds. Normally, preparing for a move is a lot of work, but when you have to go through everything you own and decide whether it is coming with you, going into storage for the duration of your next assignment, or given away, it is even crazier.


After we were completely moved out of our house, we moved into a hotel for ten days, during which time we payed final utility bills, outprocessed from base and school, went through our things to prepare for packing up our car, etc.

Then, the big day arrived. On Sunday, January 18th, we loaded up our two cars and started our trek from Germany to Morocco. Yes, we drove. I can hardly believe we did it, myself! Because we took two cars, we both had to drive all day long each day. We decided to take it slow, and planned to only travel 6 or 7 driving hours each day. Anyone with children knows that that would equal out to approximately 10 to 12 hours on the road each day. Once you add stops for food, potty breaks, diaper changes, nursing the baby, naps for exhausted drivers who didn't sleep well the night before and the fact that I don't always drive the actual speed limit (I really don't like to go 130 kph on curvy roads when the wind is whipping my car around), you have the recipe for a really long day. Morgan had reserved hotel rooms at each of our stops along the way. Here is the run-down:

Day 1: We started in Rodenbach, Germany and drove all the way through France. Our GPS took us on an interesting detour right along the outside of a beautiful medieval walled city. We stopped near Marseilles for the night around 1 a.m. We had rented a small apartment. In the morning we were amazed at how much warmer it was than in Germany, and there were palm trees.

Day 2: We drove halfway through Spain. We had never been to Spain before, and it was interesting to see the landscape change. It reminded us of New Mexico, actually, because of the vegetation and architecture. I wish we had been keeping track, because we must have seen at least a dozen beautiful castle ruins along the way.

During this stretch, I almost got us killed when I quickly had to pull off on the shoulder to try and remove a Dorito from Grayson's airways. He was fine, but it was scary at the time. I am very strict about what I let my babies eat, and don't even start feeding them rice cereal until they are six months old at least. Then, a month or two later, I start them on vegetables, but always wait three days in between new varieties. But Liam is such a big helper, and loves to feed his baby brother, so Grayson has now sampled Ritz crackers, Goldfish crackers, and Doritos (that I know of). In this case, he was eating chips, and wanted to share, and I panicked when I heard the baby choking. But we survived!

We stopped for the night in Valencia where we stayed in a very interesting hotel that reminded me of a dorm room. The room service was good, though, and I got to sample some authentic Spanish tortilla (Spanish omelette with potatoes in it).

Day 3: We drove the rest of the way through Spain. We got lost early in the day, taking a scary detour through the city of Valencia. Because of that, our GPS ended up taking us on a different route than originally planned. It was a long travel day as we wound our way through snowy mountain passes. I was so relieved to finally arrive at our hotel that night in Algeciras, Spain.

Day 4: Algeciras is a port city, right on the coast of the Straits of Gibraltar. I remember learning about the Straits of Gibraltar in elementary school geography lessons, but never imagined I would actually cross them! First thing in the morning, we drove our cars onto a ferry. I had never travelled by ferry before, and didn't know what to expect. We drove onto the ferry and were directed to something like an underground parking garage. We locked up our cars and went up to the deck, which was an enclosed area with comfortable seats, a restaurant area, gift shop, and completely lined with windows. The actual ferry trip only lasted less than an hour. Toward the end of the trip, we went back to our cars and prepared to disembark. We arrived in a little village that is still part of Spain, but on the other side of the straits. From there we went through customs, which took about an hour, and then started our journey to Rabat.

The roads in Morocco were much less-travelled than the autoroutes throughout Europe. People avoid the autoroutes because they don't want to pay the tolls. What struck me, though, is how much foot traffic there was along the highways. People were walking along the sides and in the medians. At one point I even had to slam on my brakes because some sheep were grazing at the side of the road, and one of them started to run down the hill toward the highway.

When we arrived in Rabat, we went straight to a beautiful hotel called the Villa Mandarine, where we stayed for a week and a half. It is built on an old orange grove, and it is stunning. Under other circumstances (like without a two-year-old who tried to swim in the fountain) I would have loved to stay there. The embassy had actually found us a house before we got here, but it fell through. I was really looking forward to being able to just drive up to our house and move right in, especially after the very stressful move. So we were disappointed to have to stay in a hotel, but grateful that it was such a nice location.

On Saturday, we moved into a temporary house. It has four bedrooms, a dining room, living room, family room, garage and small yard. It really is nice, but we qualify for a larger house with a bigger garden, so we are only staying here for a few weeks until the house they have for us is ready. Like all of the houses here, it is completely enclosed by a gate, so I am relieved to not worry as much about Liam running into the street. I am also happy to be able to do laundry here without having to load up the car and take it to a laundromat or a friend's house. I haven't been able to do that in almost a month. Last night I cooked my first meal in almost a month as well. It was nice to be able to do that again after such a long break.

Life here is really good, and I think we are going to be very happy. I look forward to being able to post more now that things are starting to settle down a bit. I have so much to tell you about school, church, trips, driving in Rabat, and life in general here. I am unable to post pictures with the internet connection I have right now, but I will add some to this post when I can.

I want to thank everyone who was so helpful to us in Germany as we were leaving, in Morocco as we were arriving, and everyone who prayed for our safety. We are so grateful for all of the people who love us and are concerned for us. We are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives and hope to be able to share it with you through this blog.

Big News!!

Believe it or not, we are moving again. I definitely have mixed feelings about this development. I love Germany, and am sad to leave. I feel like we haven't seen very much -- I wanted to travel much more than we have been able to. And I have made some dear friends who I will miss very much.

This move has been looming over our heads for over a year now. At first, its possibilty was my excuse for not settling into my house and becoming something of a hermit. I didn't want to hang pictures, unpack boxes, buy curtains, make friends, etc., if I was going to have to leave everyone and everything behind in a matter of months. I wasn't very happy.

When it began to look like we might get to stay I started to settle in. I made friends. They have been such a blessing to me. I haven't shared a lot of what I have been going through on this blog recently, but I have been having a hard time. Whenever Morgan is gone (which is more often than not) something big happens. Just this week I have been flat on my back for days because I injured my back. My friends, when they found out, have been helping with my kids, bringing me meals, making sure my kids make it to and from the bus stop safely, etc. Other friends have helped me through medical scares (I recently had a CAT scan while Morgan was out of town. I am fine, but it was scary, and I am so grateful for my friends who were there for me).

But on the other side of the coin, this move will definitely be an adventure. If you thought Europe was exotic, just wait for the posts from our new home.

It wouldn't be as much fun to just come out and tell you where we are moving, so I am going to give you a short quiz. If you happen to know where we are going (because I told you about it), you are disqualified from the game. :) Okay, here goes:

(A) Morgan is fluent in its two official languages.

(B) This hat is named for one of its most ancient cities:

(C) This movie took place in one of its most well-known cities:

Good luck!

Willkommen

Welcome to our German "castle." Houses in Germany are constructed from cinder blocks, and I imagine them standing in ruins in a few hundred years much like the castle ruins we love to wander around. They are very sturdy, but somewhat cold and damp. And those blinds on the outside of the windows are called roladen. I love them. They can black out a room at high noon, making naptime much easier for little ones. They also come in handy in the summer when it doesn't get dark here until 10 pm.

Come on in . . .Like many single family homes in this area, our house was built as three separate apartments. There is plumbing and electric on each floor to accomodate a kitchen, but only on the main level do we have actual appliances and counters. As you enter our house, you have the choice of going upstairs or downstairs. Let's start up on the main level, shall we?I show you this picture reluctantly, because it was taken quite a while ago, and doesn't look so cluttered now. This is our conservatory. I'm not kidding. That is what the landlords called it, and so we like to call it that in a snooty-sounding voice. Usually we just refer to it as our library. We have two desks for the kids to do homework, our piano, and bookshelves in this room. We also keep our guitars and other musical instruments in here. There is a sliding glass door (that is what the kids' pictures are hanging on in this picture). From this area, if you turn left you enter the main living area, walking directly into our kitchen:Most German houses don't have kitchens like this. They are usually separate from the living area. But we have a more open floorplan. Everything is black and gold and shiny -- not what I would choose if I were decorating, but I can't complain. It is a nice big kitchen with lots of space. Except for in the oven. German ovens are notoriously small. I can't fit most of my pans in it, and roasting a turkey is out of the question. German refrigerators are also very small, and ours doesn't even have a freezer. The base gives us American appliances, so we have a refrigerator in our basement as well. But the part of my kitchen I love the most is behind that slightly opened sliding door:

The butler's pantry! (I know, I know . . . conservatory, butler's pantry . . . don't worry, we haven't forgotten our humble roots. But we can probably host a pretty fun "Clue" themed murder mystery party). Seriously, though, I love this pantry. It doesn't have a lot of shelving for food storage, but I love having the extra counter space. I don't like keeping small appliances on my counters, and usually keep them in cabinets and take them out when needed. But in this house I have them out on a counter and ready for use, but I don't have to see them.

From the kitchen, if you turn around, this is what you will see:

Turn slightly to the left:

Keep walking past the fireplace and you enter our dining room:
The armoire to the left is my computer desk. I love it, because all of the wires, bills, electronics, office supplies, etc. are hidden by the lovely mahogany doors.

Also on this floor are the master bedroom (which is rarely picture-worthy), Liam's room, and two bathrooms. Here is our tub:

Come with me, back out into the stairwell, and up to the top floor. I am not going to show you all of the rooms upstairs because we have recently rearranged some rooms, and they don't look the same now. But to give you an idea of what the upstairs is like, here are a few pictures:

This is the upstairs living room. We use it as our toy room. It is a great space, and I love having a room just for toys. To the left of this room is the "kitchen" for the upstairs, but we use it as our craft room. And just off of the craft room is our laundry room. Through the arched doorway is a hallway where Braden's and Lydia's rooms are, along with a bathroom. Braden's room:This floor also has a guest room with its own bathroom.

The basement is finished, but we don't use it very often. It is a small apartment with a living room, bathroom, kitchen area, storage room, and bedroom. We have used this space for many things. When this picture was taken, I had it set up as an indoor playground for the winter with a slide and ball pit. I have since moved those toys up to the toy room. We completely emptied this space so it could be used as the Jedi Training Academy for Braden's birthday. It was so nice having a separate party room. Right now, it is set up as my photo studio with my backdrops and a tripod.

All in all, we are very happy here. It is fun to have space to spread out. We know that we won't always have such a big house, so we are trying not to fill this one up.

I hope you enjoyed your tour. It was fun to be able to share with you a little bit of what our life in Germany is like.

Grayson at Seven MonthsHere is our sweet little man. Everyone always remarks on how happy he is. He brings us all so much joy. This month he started eating rice cereal. As is our tradition, Daddy got to feed him his first solid food. So far, he likes it. But nothing can take the place of nursing, which he still does on demand, day and night.

He loves his exersaucer, and has just started jumping in it like a little maniac! He looks so cute, and he can actually slide it across the floor when he gets going.

People frequently tell me how much he looks like me. Recently we were at a fun indoor children's play place for Lydia's soccer party, and someone commented on how strong my genes are because my kids all look just like me. Not 15 minutes later, a friend from Scouts that we ran into there remarked that Grayson looks just like Morgan. I guess they are all a really good mix of both of us. Or else we are starting to look alike as so many couples eventually do.

I am so grateful for this sweet little guy.

Long Time No Post

Life has been so crazy lately! Morgan has been gone so much, and when he is not here I go into "survival mode" which unfortunately can't always include blogging. As much as I love keeping up with my family and friends through their blogs, I normally read them while nursing the baby. Which makes it difficult to comment or write my own posts. But Morgan is home (in the kitchen making homemade cranberry sauce with Braden and Lydia), Liam is napping, and Grayson has a full tummy and is happily playing in his exersaucer. It seems that the planets are in alignment, and I actually have both hands to myself to post! So I am going to post several pictures and try to catch you all up on our lives.

Halloween

This year we decided to do a family theme for our costumes. I have been wanting to become a better seamstress, and was hoping to make some of the costumes. Unfortunately, the only theme we could all agree on was Star Wars, and I am just not that ambitious yet. Morgan was going to grow his beard out and be Obi Wan Kenobi and I was going to be Princess Leia. Something you may not know about me is my strong desire to dress up as Princess Leia. It all started in 1979, when my kindergarten class was preparing to put on a Star Wars themed play for our parents, and I was cast as Princess Leia (probably because I was the only one with long enough hair to do the side buns). I was thrilled. But to my disappointment, a sting which I still feel some 29 years later, my class was naughty, and was punished by not being allowed to do our play.

So this year, was going to be my year. Then we found out that Morgan would be gone for our church party, and I decided to be a Halloween Scrooge and not dress up. Bah Humbug! But Lydia made a beautiful Leia. Her costume actually came with a wig, but she was scared of it, so I did the buns with her own hair. I didn't realize Lydia was so afraid of wigs. I knew that Braden has a face paint phobia, but I didn't know about Lydia's fear of fake hair. My childhood would have been a nightmare for them. I was constantly dressing up with my mom and grandma's old wigs, make-up, etc.

Here is Liam (aka C3PO) trick-or-treating. He was so cute, and actually said "trick or treat" and "thank you" at most houses. He was thrilled with his haul. Braden was Commander Cody, and Grayson was the cutest little R2D2 ever. On Halloween night we met our friends on base for trick or treating, then came back to our house for "Halloweenies" (hot dogs), apple cider, baked beans, veggies, chips and dip. We (well the kids) watched Charlie Brown. I also made "Ghost toast" -- ghost shaped pieces of white bread with cream cheese. Instead of just giving the ghosts eyes with the craisins, I put them all over so they would be Charlie Brown ghosts. Thank goodness we didn't get any rocks in our buckets (although they may have the same effect on their teeth as all of the candy we have been consuming).
Cooking Fun
The kids had a day off from school a couple of weeks ago, so we had fun making a special lunch together. We had seen these snacks in a magazine recently, and they were anxious to try it out. Hummus is one of our favorite snacks. We always make our own with canned chick peas, garlic, olive oil and tahini. I had these flower pots from a "dirt" dessert that I made a while ago. Lydia ran out to our herb garden (which sounds much more impressive than it really is) and harvested a handful of parsley. I let them poke holes into baby carrots with toothpicks, and insert the parsley into the ends of the carrots. We then put the carrots into the "soil". It was really fun and tasty.I have a few more posts in the works for this week, so come back! I am planning a virtual "tour" of our house here in Germany. I also need to warn you that we will be going private soon. I will invite as many of my readers as I have addresses for. If for some reason you don't get an invitation, please let me know at melodiehanners@msn.com. I may not have your correct address.

I have hesitated about going private for quite a while now. I don't want to make it difficult for any of you to access our blog. I have also enjoyed finding old friends through their blogs, and being found, as well. I love the internet for this reason. But Morgan would prefer that we make our blog private. I hope you will all still visit us here in cyberspace after the change. As incentive, I am going to announce some big news (no, I'm not pregnant) after the change, so please come back!

You Wouldn't Want to See Me AngryHulk in training. This is what happens when you give Liam a marker and then sit down at your computer for a few minutes. Oh why couldn't it have been a washable marker? Is it too late to change his Halloween costume to the Incredible Hulk? Or maybe in keeping with our Star Wars theme he could be Yoda.

Grayson is 6 Months OldAnd in keeping with tradition, I took rubber duckie washtub pictures! I normally get these taken at Sears when they are six months old. The tradition started because I had done this pose with Braden at six months, and then coincidentally did the same pose with Lydia at the same age. So we did it with Liam, and now I am doing all of my own portraits, and couldn't go to Sears even if I wanted to. So I bought a wash tub at a local garden center, and did a little photo shoot with my cute guy. I know I still have much to learn as a photographer, and this picture isn't perfect. But I will always remember that my Baby Gray was smiling for ME in this picture, and not for a stranger, and that makes it special.

Just in Time for Halloween I don't think there is anything quite as cute as a pumpkin-faced little girl. Isn't it funny, though, how this wouldn't be quite so cute if she were, say, 26. But at the tender age of six, Lydia couldn't be cuter missing her two front teeth. I just hope they don't grow in too fast, because I know just the song for her to sing at Christmas time!

I always knew that I would make a terrible nurse because I am really squeamish around blood and needles. We have several friends who are dentists, and I have a whole new respect for them. I now know that I could never do what they do. Nothing makes me cringe and wince quite as much as seeing one of their teeth hanging on by a thread, or the bloody pulp of the inside of a freshly removed tooth. Lucky for me, my kids are good at removing their own teeth. But they like to get a good laugh at my expense by saying, "Mommy, look!" And I always look. Why do I do that?

After a two year hiatus, Braden has started losing teeth again. He just lost a molar last night. The tooth fairy has been busy around these parts!

I just had to post this picture of Liam. I took it during Lydia's team photos the other night. I thought it was so funny how he posed himself exactly like the soccer players in their pictures. He fell down on one knee and waited for me to take this picture. He is such a character. And really, for as many times as he has run out onto the field during one of their games, he probably deserves a team picture.

And one last picture. I am having too much fun dressing my kids alike. They had these Converse All Stars at the BX, so I had to get them. Morgan has been wearing Converse since the 80's (I think one pair in his closet is actually from that era), so the kids were thrilled to have shoes like Daddy.

Morgan has been gone for a few weeks, and will be home in a few more. We all miss him terribly, but we are keeping busy. I have been especially busy with four cases of ear infections and two cases of conjunctivitis to take care of. I feel like we have been living at the doctor's office lately.

Well, that's it for now. Nothing exciting. But I wanted to let you all know that we are still alive, just trying to get by. Please excuse the ramblings of a tired mother. I'll try to be more coherent next time!

Happy Birthday, Young Padawan!

Today is Braden's 9th birthday. I can't believe how fast time is flying! So to celebrate, I am listing nine reasons my sweet boy is so special:

1. Braden is extremely compassionate. I never have to worry that he is picking on anyone at school. He stands up for the underdog, and doesn't care what others think. He befriends those that he knows the other kids don't like, and doesn't worry about what they will think of him for it. I so admire this in him, and couldn't be prouder of my sweet guy.

2. Braden is a conference-attending Star Wars fan in the making! I have seen all of the movies, but honestly couldn't tell you anything about the story line. He knows all of the characters, and is endlessly building ships out of Legos, drawing ships and Storm Troopers, and talking about it in general. He chose Star Wars as his theme for his birthday party this year, and what an event it was! Morgan and I made light sabers out of swimming noodles, a Death Star pinata, Star Fighter cookies (he decided against a cake this year), Death Star pizzas, and Yoda Sodas. We trained 14 (yes, I said 14!) nine-year-old boys in the ways of the Jedi, and had a great time. I think my favorite part of the party was when he was opening his presents. He sincerely loved everything his friends gave him, and after opening each gift, he hugged his friend and said "thank you, Buddy!"

3. He loves to play soccer and baseball, but he isn't really competitive. He is still a little cautious, but he truly has a great time out on the field, and it shows on his face.

4. He is a Cub Scout, and loves all of his meetings, campouts, activities, etc. Morgan is his Den Leader, and also the Committee Chair. We are so proud of all of his accomplishments.

5. Braden has always had a special bond with his dad. They are like two peas in a pod, and look and act so much like each other. When Braden was little, it was funny to hear him say "I'm my Daddy's clone." I love it that they love each other so much.

6. He is an avid reader. He can devour an entire chapter book in one evening. He especially loves The Series of Unfortunate Events, The Hardy Boys, Captain Underpants, Beverly Cleary's Fudge Books, and Star Wars books. He also loves reading the scriptures.

7. He is a loving and protective big brother. He and Lydia have their spats, but they play so well together. One of my favorite sights is Braden reading a book to his sister. He is very protective of Liam, and helps me follow him around wherever we go. And he loves holding and cuddling Grayson. I am so happy that the younger kids have such a wonderful big brother to look up to.

8. He has many interests. He has done Tae Kwon Do, horseback riding, sports, swimming, etc. He is now learning to play the piano. True, I have to coerce him into going into our music room for his lessons every week, but he is doing well, and I catch him playing the Imperial March on his own quite frequently!

9. Braden is my special boy who first turned me into a mommy. We have learned and grown together as I have tried to figure out this journey called "motherhood." I love this guy with all of my heart, and am so grateful to call him my son.

We already had his party on Saturday, so today we are going to spend family time together. Morgan and I are meeting him at school for lunch. I sent in 24 brownie cupcakes for him to share with his class. And tonight he has chosen steak and sweet potatoes for his birthday dinner (a change from his normal spaghetti birthday dinner). And today at 4:31 p.m. (8:31 a.m. Utah time) we will snuggle on the couch and look through his baby book and I will give him his "birth minute kiss." I have to take all of the snuggles I can get, because he is growing so fast, and there may come a time when he won't want to cuddle with me anymore. But for now, he is still my sweet little man. I love you, Bubba!

Mommy Workout

Several years ago, at a yearly physical exam, my doctor asked me if I was getting regular exercise. Embarassed, but honest, I replied "well, not unless running after two small children counts." He smiled and, a little condescendingly, said "I'm afraid not." Well Mr. Doctor, I beg to differ!

The following is an exercise plan that anyone with access to one or more small children can do while they accomplish other important tasks. Follow it closely, and watch the pounds melt away!

Warm ups: To warm up, simply jog around your house looking for keys, sippie cups, socks, etc. Another good warm up is to run around looking for items to restock your diaper bag.

Now it is time to head to the grocery store.

Squats: To maximize this workout, strap a 15 pound infant to your chest. This accomplishes two goals: you will be forced to keep a straight back, even when bending over, and carrying the extra weight increases your strength.

Place your toddler in one of those great shopping carts that look like a truck that they get to "drive." Invariably, they will eventually discover a way to escape once the novelty of turning the stearing wheel wears off. This is where the fun begins! Bending at the knees (so your infant doesn't fall out of the Baby Bjorn), squat down to pick up your toddler. You will be able to work in many, many sets of this particular exercise, especially if your toddler has freed himself in the open candy bin section.

Resistance Training: Your toddler is not going to come with you easily -- use this to your advantage. The more resistance, the more calories you will burn!

Cardio Workout: Chances are, he will get away. You will be required to run up and down grocery aisles, enabling you to work in a great cardio workout.

Weight Lifting: After driving home, carry your infant in his car seat (which somehow adds roughly 152 pounds to the weight of your child) and your toddler into the house. Proceed to carry bags and bags of milk, canned goods, produce, meat, etc. -- enough to feed a family of six for a week -- into your house. Feel the burn!

Lunges: After you have put most of your groceries away, your toddler will find the bag containing a glass jar of spaghetti sauce. Lunge toward him in an attempt to retrieve it before it drops. If he has good toddler reflexes, he will do what all toddlers do in such situations. No, he won't gently place the jar back into the bag. He also won't walk over and hand it to you. No, he will throw the jar. Onto the tile floor. (why, oh why do they do this?)

Bonus: Now you get to work up a real sweat cleaning up shattered glass mixed with tomato sauce!

Upon completion of this workout, you deserve a break. Cool off by placing your toddler into a warm bath. The spray created by his splashing is really quite refreshing. You will feel like a new person.

I know this workout must be working, because I can feel it in my muscles. But I can't figure out why I don't look like a Victoria's Secret model. Perhaps it is my stress-induced ice cream addiction? Nah.

Liam's 2 Year Photos



At two years old, Liam is a bundle of energy. I love his happy personality, his thirst for learning, and all that he adds to our family by just being here.

• Liam loves his Daddy so much. Whenever Daddy comes home, he runs toward the door screaming "Dada, Dada!" He also screams for "Dada" whenever he sees a Jeep. Morgan drives a green four-door Jeep Wrangler. The car on the road doesn't have to be green or a Wrangler, but he recognizes it as a Jeep and assumes that his "Dada" is driving it.


• Liam loves cars. He is constantly playing with toy cars, and whenever we are driving anywhere he goes crazy yelling "car! car!" the whole time. He even sleeps with a toy Mini Cooper that Braden gave to him sometimes.


• His language is exploding. Every day he learns new words.
• Okay, don't judge me, but I have let the kids watch Sponge Bob Squarepants several times this summer (I really don't like it, but they love it!) Now, whenever Liam sees a picture of Sponge Bob, he sings the theme song. It is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. The other night, while we were camping with the Cub Scouts, he saw a Sponge Bob camp chair. Morgan had to physically remove him from the campfire program because he gasped out loud, and then started singing the song at the top of his lungs. When he sings it it sounds like "Bob bob bob bob etc." I really have to try and catch it on video because it is just too cute.
• I have tried to capture some of his personality through the pictures I took (above), but I wish that there were some way to capture the feeling of his damp warm head on my shoulder as I rock him to sleep each evening after his bath. Those moments each evening when it is just the two of us are some of the most precious moments of my life.
• Liam generally needs two or more baths a day. Definitely at least one each evening after dinner. Sometimes two if he decides to rub apple sauce or oatmeal in his hair during breakfast. Occassionally three if he jumps in a mud puddle or finds a marker.

When he is awake, I rarely get to sit down. When he is asleep I miss him. I can't believe he is already two. Happy birthday, Little Man! I love you!

Happy Birthday Sweet Liam!

Liam turned two on July 28th, and we celebrated with a Car Party last Saturday. For Braden's 2nd birthday we did the same theme, so it was fun to repeat it for Liam's 2nd birthday. And he has just started to really love cars. He has always got a car or truck of some sort in his hands, running it up and down walls, chairs, his legs.

We invited two families from church with children the same ages as our children. So everyone had a great time.

Everyone got one of these hats and a checkered bandana. I love dressing up the kids at our birthday parties in whatever theme we are doing. Liam sampling the cupcakes before the party:
Our backyard decked out in pennants, license plates, orange cones, even a hub cap the kids found outside on our road:

Our "car" fare -- apple "wheels," Bugles (cones), and Liam's favorite, pizza:The birthday boy:
"Blowing out" the candles. I try to be so prepared, but how could I have guessed that our candle lighter would be non-functional at the party. We really tried to come up with a way to light the candles (and gave the kids some interesting ideas on how to create fires) but ended up using two battery operated votives left over from on of my Girl Scout ceremonies. It's probably just as well. Liam is a very curious boy, and I don't know what he would have done with two drippy real candles set within blowing reach . . .
Miss Lydia:
Brady-o:Our gift to Liam was a big wheel and a bike helmet. He just looked so cute riding his new bike with his fishy helmet on.

I can't tell you how much we all love this little guy. He just makes everyone around him so happy. I will write more about Liam at two years of age once I get his two year portraits done.