A new trick

Miss Jules has a new trick. When I'm changing her diaper, she likes to plant her feet down on the changing pad, and push herself up and away from me. At the changing table in her room, it's not such a big deal, because she's laying crosswise to how I'm facing. When we're downstairs at the changing station, however, I stand at her feet, which makes it a little more problematic, especially if (like just now) I have to put a clean onesie on her because she's just soiled her clothes. It just makes it a little harder to reach her head. I don't really mind all that much though, because it's fun to watch her start to be able to move herself around more. And on purpose, too.

Long-awaited updates

It occurs to me that it's been awhile since I've really posted any update on Julie (or the rest of us, really) other than pictures and family visits. Since she turned three months old this week, I figured there are a few things to talk about. So, here we go:

• Julie is regularly smiling and cooing every day. Her "talking" is still unpredictable, and we haven't figured out how to entice it out of her, but we can get her to smile with a little coaxing. When she gets really excited about something, she squeals. It's kinda funny.
  
• She made her first real bona fide laugh this week on Thursday. I was poking her cheeks alternately, really fast, and she just let out a laugh. It was really cute.
• Yesterday, I watched her almost roll over. When she's on her back, Julie likes to pull her legs up, so her knees are almost touching her belly. She'll stay that way so long as she's really awake (not close to falling asleep). Yesterday she was swinging her legs to one side, and she's getting enough momentum to really pull her body to the side a considerable amount.
• Julie is regularly sleeping at least 6 hours through the night, sometimes longer.
• I weighed her on Tuesday, stepping on the scale with her, then without her. According to that method, she is at 13.4 pounds. I'm not cure it's very accurate though, since the last time I tried doing it that way, she showed up at 11.8 lbs, and then a week later at the doctor's office she was only 10 lbs, 10 oz. But I do know she's growing.
• We decided today that we think she's teething. Okay, I thought that about 2 weeks or so ago, but Ben thought it was still too early and didn't think we'd see it for another month. But today he conceded.
• Julie has lost a lot of hair. I'm starting to find little strands of it on her clothes or her play mat after I pick her up, when she's been turning her head back and forth. I'm sad, because her hair is so soft, and she had so much of it when she was born. :(
• I, too, am losing my hair. This week I've been pulling my hair off of my back, my shoulders, the couch, Julie, and Ben. Ben actually should be happy about this, because now he's not the only one balding.
• For not yet being able to even roll over, much less scoot or crawl, she's awfully mobile. Some more examples:
  
  (how I left her)
  

(how I found her...notice the pants have been wiggled down with all her movement)

• Julie-isms:
• Jules will put herself to sleep in her crib at night, but only if she's tucked up against the bumper on the side of the crib. If you put her in the crib when she's asleep, and you lay her in the middle of it, when she wakes up she'll be very upset. She likes to be nestled up to the side.
• She loves to be outdoors. Whether it's on a walk in the stroller, or laying on a blanket on the grass, or walking down the street in Mama's arms to meet Daddy after work, or sitting in her car seat at one of Daddy's softball games, she loves being outdoors, so long as the sun isn't in her eyes. This is particularly exciting to Ben, the outdoor enthusiast, and also a good thing since we're going camping next month.
  

The game of memory

I can't tell you how many people's blogs I've seen this on in the last 2-3 weeks, and since I just can't stand up to peer pressure, I figured I should post it, too. Besides, it's fun to see what other people remember that I might not.

1. Leave a comment on my blog, one memory of you and I together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember (of course, I haven't posted memory comments on a lot of people's blogs because when I don't know them well, I don't have memories other than just talking at church).

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory of you. It's actually pretty fun to read the responses.

Musical feature

Today's feature is somewhat of a repeat, but with more detail. I will be highlighting all my musical links.

First, you may have noticed that I have removed the music player from my blog. Mostly it's because I don't listen to the radio as much anymore now that I'm not out in the car every day, so I wasn't hearing any new music. I may put it back up at some point in the future. We'll see. In the meantime, the website I used to create my playlist (you can create multiple lists, with different themes if you want even) is Project Playlist.

Next up we have my friend Erin. I've mentioned her previously as the giver of a unique gift to Ben, Julie, and I. I have two links on my page to her music. The first is to her MySpace page, which doesn't have her newest work on it, but enjoyable tunes nonetheless, and an occasional blog entry. Her other link requires a little explaining.

Every year for the last three (I think) years, Erin has participated in February Album Writing Month, or FAWM. It is a challenge that songwriters participate in in which they try to write 14 songs in 28 days. This year, in addition to her regular FAWM activities, she is participating in the 50 Song Challenge -- 50 songs in 90 days, or 50/90. The song she wrote for Julie was her first of the challenge. She continues to upload songs to her 50/90 page as she gets the demos recorded. So far, I get to listen to a new one about every 2-3 days, which is really fun.

Bright spot

A final update on the day today, to end it on a positive note.

The crawdad is alive and well. I think his system was a little shocked going back into the water after having been out of it for so long. But he's moving around and eating fine.

Julie did a lot of smiling, cooing, and even some attempts at laughing today. She was a lot of fun, when she wasn't being a pill.

I have beautiful flowers in my front yard.

Unique bad day update

About 10 minutes after posting that story, I heard some scratching sounds coming from my fireplace. I moved the laundry basket that was in front of it, and lo and behold, there was my crawdad! Alive, no less! Scratching and trying to climb his way up over a wrapping paper tube. When he couldn't quite make it, he fell over backwards, with his legs and claws in the air. As freaked out as I was (definitely a go-get-the-big-strong-man-of-the-house moment), I felt sympathy toward the little guy too. I went and got my fishnet and a bowl. I scooped him up with the net, and carried him over the bowl to the kitchen sink, where I filled the bowl halfway with water and rinsed him off before putting him back in the tank (covered with dirt and soot and ash). So now he's back in the tank, but not really moving. I think I killed him when I rinsed him off. There's chlorine in the water, see. I wouldn't think that five seconds would do that much, but apparently I'm wrong.

So my day was bad when I thought there was a dead (or possibly though unlikely still alive) crawdad somewhere in a good hiding spot in my house, and now it's even worse because I found him -- alive -- but now I think he's dead. And I killed him. I just am really having a crappy day.

Unique bad day

So today was already not a great day for me. Julie is acting a little weird -- fussy, but with no solution. Not hungry, clean diaper, not tired, not wanting the swing, and not happy when I'm holding her. She's alternating between that and smiling, laughing, and talking to me. And the switch has no warning. So I'm a little frustrated. Apparently I've got some internal hormonal issues going on right now too, because my reaction to all this is a lot more emotional that it sounds like it should be on paper. I think it's the first day (of what I'm guessing will be many) when I said to myself, "What on earth made me think I could be a mom??"

I decided to take Julie out for a walk a few minutes ago. Just before I left, I happened to look in the fish tank, just because I was walking by it at that moment. I easily spotted the two goldfish, but had to look a little more for the crawdad. It's not unusual that I should have to look for him. Crayfish like to hide. If you're going to keep them, you need to have rocks or something like that in your tank, into which they can retreat. I have two such rocks, and often have to look in and behind them to find him.

Well, I looked. And I looked. And I took off the lid to the tank and looked with an aerial view. And I looked from each end of the tank. And I can't find him.

Yesterday, I cleaned the tank, repositioned the fake foliage, cleaned out and replaced the filter, and added more water to the tank. When I went to bed at the ungodly hour of 1:00am, I noticed the crawdad clambering against the front wall of the tank, like he was trying to climb it. I don't think he can climb a flat surface -- I had yet to see him do it. When I added water to the tank, I filled it a little higher than I usually do, and when I replace the filter, I put the long end of the tube in the tank side rather than in the filter side (I never pay attention to it before I take it apart). I think that sometime during the night, my crawdad climbed onto a rock, got hold of the filter tube, climbed up it, and climbed out of the tank through the opening in which the filter sits. It's not entirely implausible -- crayfish are climbers. I just figured it would never be a problem as long as the rocks were low enough, because crayfish are also bottom-dwellers.

The good news is that now we can buy an algae-eater and maybe a pretty fish. The bad news is that somewhere in my house is a dead (by now) crawdad in a very good hiding spot.

My day just got bad on a whole new level.

Farewell dear Couscous. Some pictures to remember you by...happily at rest, poised to move, and on the attack:

Our future children

Apparently, Ben is planning on cheating on me for our next two children:

MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

First of all, no child of mine would ever end up having skin that dark -- have you seen my legs?? Secondly, I think the first one looks more like a girl than a boy. But if it's a boy (which it's supposed to be), why is he wearing flowers and an earring?

Julie, if someday you read this, I'm really glad you're as cute as you are. I love you.

In which she demonstrates her nerdiness

Tonight's feature is for my fellow nerds out there (I know there's more than one of you). Or perhaps just the incredibly bored.

First up, we have The Daily Sudoku. Here you can play Sudoku online, in multiple forms. There is the traditional 9x9 box. There is also what they call the "Squiggly" version, in which each section contains 9 squares, but the lines move around. There is also a kids' version, ranging from a 4x4 board to a 9x9. The numbers can be swapped out for letter if the kids prefer. The ultimate Sudoku on this site is the "Monster" version. There are two levels of this. One involves the numbers 0-9 and the letters A-F. The other is only (I know, only) 1-9 and A-C. They are both certainly a challenge. There's a lot more to keep track of. The traditional and Squiggly versions are the only ones available for interactive play online, however the kids and the monster versions can be printed out. There is also a link to another Japanese logic-based grid game called Nurikabe.

Next up is the bizarre Killer Sudoku. Killer Sudoku starts out with the 9x9 grid, but doesn't give you any numbers to start with. Each square is boxed with 1-8 other squares, and you are told the sum of the numbers contained within that box (no repeats), and you have to figure out every single number, without startup. They start with an easy one on Mondays and progress harder as the week goes on. I find that I can solve the easy ones on my own, and occasionally a "moderate" one, but past that I need hints. It does have a sum calculator you can use, which is pretty nifty. There are other types of super crazy versions of Sudoku on this page as well, but I don't play them very often.

Finally, for your inner word nerd/activist, I present Free Rice. Free Rice lets you test/build vocabulary skills while donating food to countries in need. For each correct definition you provide (out of a multiple choice list of synonyms), 10 grains of rice are donated. You don't have to sign up or register or anything like that.

Feature

I've been thinking for awhile that I would like to "feature" the websites I have listed under the "Other Links I Like" section of my sidebar. This is mostly because it gives me something to write about. I've found several of these through friends' blogs, and several on my own. Some of them are friends' websites (as you'll see today). I decided to finally start today because there is one in particular I want to highlight.

Brittann Photography is a business website (with a link to a blog as well) for a girl I knew at BYU. I only attended BYU for a year, and we weren't great friends during that time, but we were friendly. I recently came back in contact with her earlier this year, and found her website. She is a very talented photographer based in Denver, CO. She does bridals, weddings, portraits, families, babies, senior pics, etc. Even if you're not in the market, check out her site...it's worth a gander for 15 minutes.


The second site I'm highlighting today is ETF Photography (Elizabeth Taylor Frandsen Photography). Liz is a girl I only met once while I lived in Connecticut. I was acquainted with her then-fiance, who was in my singles' branch. She is also quite talented. She likewise does bridals, weddings, portraits, families, babies, and senior pics. You can view her work by clicking on the far right box on her website (this will take you to her blog), or by clicking here. She recently moved to Utah, and is now servicing the northern Utah area, but is willing to travel.

Beginning next month, she is working on expanding her portfolio, in what she's calling "Project Femininity." If you live in northern Utah (or will be visiting there in the next 2 months), you may want to check it out. Free fun portraits.

Tagged

My friend Jeannie tagged me well over a week ago, and I'm just now getting around to it.

8 Things I'm passionate about

1. Benjamin
2. Julie
   
3. Cooking
4. Reading
5. Ice cream
6. Cheese
7. Photography
   
8. Music
   

8 Books I've read and enjoyed

1. Angela's Ashes
2. The Count of Monte Cristo
3. The Giver
4. Pope Joan
5. The Nanny Diaries
6. Freakonomics
7. The Hiding Place
8. Confessions of a Shopaholic

8 Words or phrases I say often

1. I love you.
2. Your diaper stinks.
3. You're hungry again? Already??
   
4. Thank you.
   
5. How was your day?
6. I'm bored.
   
7. Duh.
   
8. You're getting so big!
   

8 Things I want to do before I die

1. Travel to lots of different places
   
2. Get a college degree
   
3. Visit Oregon
   
4. Learn to cook like a pro
   
5. Learn to photograph like a pro
   
6. Serve a mission with Benjamin when we're old(er)
   
7. Learn to quilt like my mom
   
8. Learn to drive a stick shift
   

8 Things I've learned (or remembered) this past year

1. Be prepared. (for example, when your baby decides to come 4 weeks early, it's helpful to already have your suitcase packed)
   
2. Be patient.
   
3. There is rarely such a thing as an insta-friend. Friendships take time to develop, but they're worth investing in.
   
4. Burning bridges is not the best policy. At some point in life, you will come to those bridges again. (Side note: I am not referring here to any regrets in my life or bridges I may have burnt, but rather to the fact that I have in the past year come back into contact with a lot of old friends, with whom there really hasn't been any awkwardness other than simple passage of time.)
   
5. There's always someone worse off than I am.
   
6. I've re-discovered the joy of reading, and remembered how much I love it.
   
7. Politics aren't just black and white, one side or the other.
   
8. People change, including me.
   

8 People I want to tag

If you want to do this, then consider yourself tagged. If not, then don't.

I almost forgot...

...what it was like to sleep for five hours straight. Last night, Julie and I went to Ben's softball game (where I got about 10 bug bites that swelled up into HUGE welts like I haven't had in over 12 years), so she got to bed late. I fed her around 9:00pm (two hours past her normal bedtime) and put her down to sleep. She didn't actually fall asleep until closer to 10:00pm. I went to bed at 11:00pm. She didn't wake up to eat again until 4:30am! It was so nice. I slept so well and felt really refreshed when I woke up to get her. She fed and went back down by 5:00am, and didn't wake me up again until 8:30am, at which point we stayed up.

Since she was born, I've said that I've been sleeping better than I did during my 3rd trimester with her, and that's true. I wake up more frequently than I did while I was pregnant, but I'm sleeping better in between. In the last week or two, however, I have been going to bed later and later, and also getting up later and later, and just feeling more and more groggy in the mornings. I realized this morning just how much that was catching up to me. I felt so different when I woke up for her at 4:30 than I have in over a week getting up to get her. It was really nice.

Awesome gift

Okay, so I said I'd have more on our friends Dave and Erin later. This post is about them. Well, more about Erin (sorry Dave).

Erin is an amazing musician. She plays lots of instruments (I don't even know how many), and writes her own music. As a gift to us, she wrote and recorded a song for Julie. It's called "All of My Heart." Click here to listen to it and to read the lyrics.

If you enjoy it, click here and here to listen to more of Erin's original music.

Thank you so much Dave and Erin! This was truly a beautiful song (not that we're biased at all), and a most unique gift.

Family pictures!

We haven't had any pictures of the three of us since the hospital really, so I took this weekend as an opportunity to have Crys do a mini-photo shoot of Ben, Julie, and I. Here are some of her pictures.

These were taken by Ben's mom Darcy (as well as our new header photo):

Weekend Recap

Well, we survived the weekend. And it really wasn't as crazy as I expected it to be. We had a total of 13 people in our house at any given time: my mom, my dad, my brother, Ben's mom, Ben's dad, Ben's brother, Ben's sister, her husband, our friends Dave and Erin, Ben, Julie, and I. Not everyone was here the whole time, and not everyone stayed with us, both of which helped ease things for us a little bit. I got away with only doing two really big meals, and they turned out successfully. (Don't get me wrong, I love to entertain, but I'd never done anything for that many people before).

Julie's dress for her blessing was just so stinkin' cute. Ben's mom Darcy crotcheted it for her. She also did a bonnet and booties that were simply adorable. She was worried that the booties weren't going to come out close enough to the same size, based on how she's done them in the past, but I thought they were nearly perfect.

Julie did really well with so many people this weekend as well. I thought she was going to end up really overstimulated at the end of everything, but she surprisingly wasn't. She was a little angel for everyone (most of the time). It was my dad's first time to meet Julie (he was the last grandparent), and he had the magic touch with her. It was also the first time for Crys and Fred, and my brother Clayton. For a 15-year-old teenage kid who thinks he's super cool, I was impressed with how he was with her. For one thing, he seemed really excited to meet her and get to hold and play with her. He didn't seem afraid to hold her either.

Julie's blessing itself was short and sweet, but the real fun was just getting to see everyone this weekend. Here are some more pictures.

The blessing circle:

Proud parents:

Ben's family (Fred, Crys, Me, Eli, Ben, Julie, Darcy, Brian):

Proud Gramps and Grammy:

Daddy:

This is Ben's sister Crys and her husband Fred:

My family (Clayton, Chuck, Joyce, Julie, Ben, Me):

Proud uncle:

These are our friends Dave and Erin Crowley (more on them in another post):

And these are a couple of my favorite shots from the weekend.