Sean: too big for his britches

So, we've been having some demands made by family for pictures of our darling troublemaker.

Here is what we've been up to:

Sean has been learning the ropes of tennis.
Here, he is watching his dad and Grandpa G play.
I think he's wishing to be big and play with them.

Here's Brian on the left, ready to return a serve.
Sean is realizing that he's at least big enough to hold a tennis ball.

He is definitely big enough to poke the camera lens.
Or try to, anyway.

His favorite position to sleep in.
Classic.

This day he was feeling particularly helpful:

And lest you have been deceived,
this little angel does throw quite the adorable whiney tantrum:

I believe he was wanting a nap. Or the camera.

Learning to feel himself with a spoon:

Success!

He now feeds himself oatmeal and yogurt and anything else he can scoop into a spoon.

Please note my new yellow kitchen walls. Hooray!! Brian repainted them while I took my fateful trip to Arizona that ended in, yes, swine flu. Totally worth it. The trip, not the illness.

Sean's newfound abilities: walking fast, throwing a fit when I won't carry him down the stairs (a little spoiled in that area), throwing rocks, dancing to any song with a fantastic beat, singing to himself in the morning, thinking he knows how to whistle like dad, laughing at nothing, signing: yes, more and please, saying: light, dog, dad, dat (that), why?, what?, where go?, tiddy (kitty), mow (mee-ow), and really whiney sounds, "putting things away," and assembling nesting blocks into the correct box they nest in.

So, in a nutshell, he's smart, talks nonsense, and throws a good fit. But he's also incredibly fun and hilarious, which makes up for the headaches he gives me. It's getting interesting now that he's figuring out the mechanics of things we don't want him getting into. Like the toilet paper roll and the sliding bathroom door. But I just love this kid!

8 Days Ago

Last weekend (first weekend of October) was General Conference. For you folk out there who don't know what that is, well, it's a general conference for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In it, our leaders give talks about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how we can better live it. My favorite ones are found here, here and here.

It was so nice to enjoy church from home, especially while being ravage by whatever flu I had. And I loved being with my husband and child all day long for two days. Mostly. Well, it was until we got tired of being in the house.

Foodwise, General Conference always marks two days of Great Food! I made the most delicious cinnamon rolls I've ever had. I will never ever buy them again. And we brought them over to my in-law's house to enjoy some more after dinner, which I thankfully did not have to make. Thanks Mom G!

And to top it all off, Brian's sister was in town and we got to see her. That always makes a weekend fantastic, but along with everything else I was blissfully happy. It may have been the DayQuil, but the feeling was there.

General Conference weekend is awesome! I'm so glad we get food, family and, best of all, good righteous counsel twice a year. I love learning how to become a better wife, mother, and servant of God. April can't come too soon.

No title

The trip went well. We spent happy days with family and friends mixed with a little shopping, a little eating out, and lots of sleeping. Most nights I actually went to bed at a decent time. It was amazing.

Oh, and I came back with a new pair of shoes. Two new pairs of shoes in a month makes for a fantastic month.

But I also came back very sick. The day before I left I just started not feeling well and it ended up that I came home to spend three days in bed with a fever and cough. Swine flu, anybody? This idea keeps being shot down, but you know - why not swine flu? Seems like everybody's getting it, so why not me. Unfortunately when you claim that it is SF and not a virus, people are always asking if it was tested for it. Whatever people. Like I even need a blood test to know that I have certain illnesses.

Unfortunately, Sean is also ill. Hopefully tomorrow will be his last day of the fever and that he's following my sickness pattern. I wish I hadn't spread it to him, it's so sad in the mornings when his ibuprofen has worn off.

For some reason this illness makes me tired of food and I've had to resort to eating salad for the past few days. It was weird. This is a trippy weird sickness I have.

Lately:

- I have been obsessively reading The Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan. Poor Brian. I didn't tell him that there are 12 altogether before I read the first one.

- Sean got sick with a fever at 103. It's finally gone today. So don't worry travelers - Sean will not infect you or your children at the airport!

- We're going to Arizona on Monday! Brian will come later, but Sean and I will spend about 10 days down there. :)

- Sister Carter died last Sunday. I'm pretty sad about it and even more sad I missed seeing her again by a week and a day.

- I love making muffins. Which means I'll be getting more muffin tins soon.

A tribute - Short, but Heartfelt.

It's funny that when sad things happen to those around us, we are compelled to act as though nothing is happening and try to go on normally. But our thoughts are constantly on what's going on. What those in the terrible circumstance are thinking. How we can possible help them. What there is to do. How sad they must be when we are so sad ourselves.

But we put on a brave face and try to be a strong shoulder. And that's just what we do. And what I hope to do when I visit home in a little more than a week.

A good friend of the family is dying quickly of breast cancer. It came as a shock after we all thought she was in remission. Those sleeper cells are sneaky with their deviousness and destruction. And now she could go within the week, back to a Father in Heaven and all the good things she has earned in this life and gets to work hard while she waits for the rest of her family.

I remember when I was little she would laugh at my quiet little knock on their door to see if her daughter could play. She was always in the kitchen or her sewing room or helping her husband at work. There was always a certain way she did things and her ways endeared her to all of those around her. Always serving and teaching. I still have a little patchwork dog my friend, her daughter, gave me for my birthday that this talented woman made. I love it and the creativity she has to make such things.

Now, I know she wasn't perfect. Who is? But she will be dearly missed by all who knew her and especially her family. I know that when I go back home and visit my parent's ward, I will miss seeing her and talking to her and laughing at something she said.

I'm so grateful to have known her. I am terribly sad that she's not going to be around forever like I counted on in the back of my mind.

So farewell, Sister Carter. Godspeed.

Irony

For years now I've been struggling with being really tired. Tired after little sleep, no sleep, lots of sleep, a regular sleep schedule, always tired. So I finally decided to do something about it.

I called a doctor's office to try and get in so he could run a blood test on me. They said they'd call back and then they didn't.

Ok, what now? I knew that I'd had low iron levels while I was expecting the now-toddler (yup, he's a walking terror! Woohoo!), but just thought he's been sucking all of my nutrients (a fair guess, since he was. There was an inadvertent caffeine experiment involved).

Today I took a multi-vitamin (see: left-over pre0natal vitamin from said expectancy) that had copious amounts of iron in it, just as a test. Then I got in the shower. After the shower I was feeling more awake, but that's normal so I shrugged it off and went about my day. Sean was all whiney and giving me a headache so I put him down for nap #2 an hour after he woke up from nap #1 and then went downstairs.

And I actually still had energy.

What, you ask. You had ... energy? After a whiney annoying son?

Yes, yes I do. Still do in fact. And, what's even MORE amazing is that I walked into the kitchen, saw the dirty dishes, and didn't get depressed about it!!! There was no confusion or despair. No, I just got the old playlist going and cleaned the kitchen.

And I liked it.

I am chock full of iron, people. And I'm feeling good. In fact, I might even be feeling good enough to make dinner tonight on top of cleaning my heart out. It's a miracle!

Football Time

So, even though Sean was a wee lil lad last football season (thankfully he can't recall that horrid Tennessee season and the can't win a game against a winning team BYU season), he is pretty excited about the upcoming pigskin season.  He's been trying out my Tennessee and BYU hats trying to see which team he'll root the loudest for.

Sometimes he thinks it's the coolest thing if we both wear one.  I've had the BYU hat for about 2 years and picked up the TN one this summer.  It is the same hat, just different colors/logos, so I had to get it.  Anyways makes for some good pics.  Enjoy.