The Adventures of Max

On Sundays Max misses his nap, and Ben never sleeps well at church (I don't either. The guilt gets to me. And the loud sleepy breathing gives me away). So if we aren't at Nona and Grampa's for dinner, I take the boys on a walk for a snooze.
I put the stroller in the sun for a better shot of their faces.
But the title of this post applies in part to another sleeping problem for Max. He got out of bed twice last night. What's the deal? He always has gone 7p-7a with no problems. JB caught him last night the first time. We thought it was an intruder -- it scared me half to death. Then at 1 AM I caught him dragging his blanket to the couch just like it was morning. He never said anything each time he got out of bed though. Also, JB and I both have gone in there to retrieve a hungry Ben in the past and have found Max sleeping on the floor next to his bed. "Cover me up," he'll mumble.

His other adventures the past three days have been sad -- three big bonks in a row. He fell off the rope ladder at the elementary school playground on Friday and got a big rope burn/bruise on his neck. It's now yellow and red and not pretty. Then in nursery on Sunday he ran into the head of another child. I'm sure he saw stars, because his nose is bruised. Then later Sunday he slipped on our hardwood floor and bonked the front door. He's got a big goose egg and cut on his forehead. But he's been such a trooper about it all. He'll sometimes look in the mirror to check how his hurts are doing.

Funny boys

Max feeds Ben lunch.
Ben loves it! (Cell phone camera, sorry for the quality -- but look how cute)

Everyday when I get home around 12 or 12:30 from work we have the same routine. Lunch, book, diaper changes, naps. I usually try to hussle them along b/c I'm ready for a nap too. Max now says at the door as I came in, "Hi mom, I don't want to take a nap!" Hmmm.

In the middle of the night last night I heard the boys' door open, then shut. I stumbled out into the hallway, and there was Max, standing there gripping his covers and rubbing his eyes. I almost cried to the heavens, "Shoot, he's learned how to get out of bed!" But I quickly remembered a "Super Nanny" episode, and without a single word to him I put him back in bed. He didn't get out again. Wish us luck tonight. Maybe he was sleepwalking?

Also, last night as I was drifting off to sleep, I reviewed the dances from "So You Think You Can Dance" in my head, and panicked when I couldn't remember the last couple -- Joshua and Katie. It took all my power to stay in bed and go to sleep without rushing out to the living room to finish the episode. I'm a goofball.

The Talk

Yesterday I had to have "the talk" with Max. Yes, I had to firmly but gently explain that no matter if it's just for fun or to see what happens, he cannot sit on top of his baby brother. Ben's pretty tough, but Max is bigger every day. What's next, talks called "Don't hit/kick/tease/lick/paint/color or flick your brother"? We did have the talk about biting but I really just think Max wanted to see what would happen. He hasn't done it since.

Memory Lane

20 years ago .... 1988
1. I was almost 9 years old, and the second oldest of 7 children in the family.
2. We moved to Maryland after years of living overseas for my dad’s job
3. I loved my pink bike, and transitioned from my Popple (remember those?) and Cabbage Patch doll to Barbies

10 years ago ... 1998
1. I was almost 19 years old, and the second oldest of almost 12 children (the last, Sarah, was born in 1999)
2. My family was in Missouri, and I was at BYU, applying to the Broadcast Journalism program and for a study abroad in Madrid (I made it into both)
3. I lived just a block away from the shoe store JB owned in Provo at the time, but we never met


5 years ago ... 2003
1. I was almost 24, and was living with my best friend Autumn downtown (we had so much fun)
2. I was promoted to full-time radio reporter
3. I officially met JB early in the year at a BBQ, and we got married November 14!

1 year ago ... 2007
1. JB and I went on a Caribbean cruise in March
2. Maxwell turned 2 in July
3. Benjamin was born December 6
4. My brother Peter returned from a mission in August, my brother Michael and wife Bethany had a baby boy, Nathanael, in April (after my little brother Enoch Nathanel who passed away in 2006)

So far this year ... 2008
1. I returned to the radio station full-time and added a new show
2. Ben is teething
3. Max is potty-training (#s 2 and 3 don’t go so well sometimes)
4. JB’s little brother returned from a mission, his sister Sarah got married, I flew out to see my sister Bekah get her MBA all in the month of May

Yesterday...June 24th
1. I voted (Max kept the sticker) and took the boys on a walk
2. I got part of a nap when Max and Ben overlapped naps
3. JB made yummy breakfast burritos for dinner
4. I started reading The Geography of Bliss and was in bed at 8 PM

Today ... June 25th
1. I woke up at 3:30 AM (this is normal for my job)
2. I will put both boys down at the same time for naps
3. We’ll all go on our almost-daily walk around the park
4. I will make cookies to take with me to Young Women tonight

Tomorrow ... June 26th
1. Same early alarm and nap goal
2. I will watch “So You Think You Can Dance” on my DVR
3. I will make more cookies to take with me to the kick-off of Stake Youth Conference

Next year ... 2009
1. I will turn 30
2. I have high hopes Max will be potty-trained and Ben will be done teething
3. I would love to take a fun trip with the family

Good eats, good company

We went up the canyon for a hot dog roast with friends Friday evening. Max loved the S'mores and the camping chair.

Andrew, Daren, Max, JB and Ben. Look at Ben already trying to ham it up!

I love how the boys are looking at each other in this picture.

Besides being worried that some gigantic bug would bite my boys and give them the West Nile Virus, or that they would fall into the campfire and be forever changed, we had a really nice time.

We also had a nice time Saturday with some friends over for a barbque. Part of the fun included rides around our backyard in a wagon. Max never gave up his spot. He's no dummy! He's also not very chivalrous yet....

By the way Ben grabbed my laptop keyboard and ripped the tops of two letters off. "J" and "B" now take some concentration and pressing down. Too bad that's the name of my husband!

Hip Hop momma

Two of my worlds have now collided. Shane Sparks, a choreographer on Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," was on the latest episode of "Hip Hop Harry" on TLC.Suddenly I was intrigued! JB and I have seen all of the first two seasons over and over, because Max watches them everyday. But now, a new episode, with someone I recognize from one of my favorite reality shows. I'm not sure if Shane Sparks wants it known he was on a show with a hip-hop dancing man in a bear costume teaching children life-lessons. In the episode, Hip Hop Harry recruited Shane to teach a level 3 hip hop class to the new girl who only knew ballet. The life-lesson here: everybody can learn something new. And hip hop dancing is cooler than ballet.

As the children danced and high-fived, next thing I knew I was on my feet trying to pop, slide and hit too. Max thinks I'm funny, maybe crazy. I'm pretty sure JB does too.

Father's Day

From JB:
Hello everybody. We had a really great weekend. On Friday I got to live my dream of playing golf at the Salt Lake Country Club. It was awesome! Saturday we went to a pig roast at our friends' home. The pig was cooked to perfection and Max had a fantastic time. Sunday Mary took great care of me with some of my favorite candies and we had dinner with my dad. The biggest news of the weekend is that Ben managed to pop through his first two teeth!

From Mary: JB was able to golf there through an acquaintance of a friend. One of his life's goals is now to be a member of the country club. Second life goal: to be a millionaire (and therefore afford the club membership).
Max jumped in this inflatable until he was sweaty and exhausted, but kept going back for more. He had it all to himself during dinner when the other kids were eating. Smart Max!
Here's Ben at the party feeling for those teeth. Two pearly whites on the bottom!

JB the proud dad with his two boys and his proud dad.

Happy Father's Day JB you cute awesome funny super dad Happy Father's day to my wonderful dad and father-in-law as well.

We be growers

We now have the beginnings of a garden. We (by we I mean JB) planted tomatoes today by our house. I hope they soon become yummy salsa.
We bought them at Costco. Everybody's been talking about how you can get four tomato plants together on sale at Costco, so today we sauntered down there to claim our own. A lady swooped in front of us and bought the last of them: "Hurry, Belva, get over here with that there cart!" The Costco worker nearby said they didn't have any more in the back. Stunned, we walked around the store half-heartedly nibbling the samples and picked up milk, cheese, tortillas, and extra stuff we really didn't go in there for. I took a picture of Ben loving the feel of the cart bars between his toes.

On the way out I looked over at the returns counter and saw something tall and leafy. I really do not have a green thumb (I once killed a house plant -- the type everybody says you can't kill), and I had no idea if these tall leafy green plants were cantalope or rose bushes but I asked the girl if anyone had returned some tomatoes. Perhaps they really didn't want to grow their own tomatoes but got caught up in the whole "The grocery store tomatoes probably have salmonella, I'll grow my own!" Sure enough, she said someone had just returned them. They gave them to us at a discount. Yippee!

I cheer but I hear tomatoes can be tricky to grow. Here's hoping JB can get ours to flourish and blossom, or whatever tomato plants do.

Say Please

Just when I thought Max forgot about his obsession with the deer from early Spring, today out of the blue at snack time he asked for deer milk. I laughed one of those belly laughs and said, "What the hey?! Where did you think of that?" He just laughed too. Weird!

Usually when he wakes up in the morning or from his nap he calls for milk like a baby lamb -- he really does bleat when he's thirsty. "Milk. Milk! MILK!" It's gets louder. Everytime I have to prompt him, "What do you say?" and he shouts back, "PLEASE!"

It's funny that the only times he doesn't forget to say please are the times he's asking for something I obviously cannot say yes to. "Please can I sit couch a little while?" (even though it's bedtime). "Please can I drive that fire truck?" "Can I ride that motorcycle please?" "Can I play with that knife please?" "Can I have some deer milk please?"

Dreams

I have had the weirdest dreams recently. I think it's my strange sleep patterns. Most nights I get to bed before 8:30, but I often have a middle-of-the-night feeding (for Ben not me) and I wake up at 3:30 AM for work. I even dream during my afternoon nap.

This morning I pushed snooze to find out what happened next in my dream -- Jim and Pam from "The Office" were talking. Jim left Kevin a random phone message to prove he was working and not just plotting another Dwight prank, when suddenly Pam announced she was quitting Dunder-Mifflin to focus more on her art and hopefully plan a wedding. Then she looked at Jim as if to say, "Are you going to propose any time soon?" Jim took a breath in, started to kneel -- then buzz buzz buzz my alarm went off! Snooze did not bring back the scene. I think my subconscious mind is mad there was no proposal in the season finale last month.

I dreamed last week I was running to catch a flight to Paris, but my sister Bekah said we had plenty of time. I was scrambling to get enough snacks, clothes and toys for my boys for the trip.

A couple of times I've dreamed that I'm in water or other thick fluid, and I'm trying to keep Max or Ben from drowning. Those are weird dreams and I don't like them. Any analysis?

The girls and me

I love working with the Young Women at church. They are such awesome girls and so much fun to be around. But something comes over me sometimes, and I'm 14 again. Sometimes 17. I feel this anxiety to have them like me (the affects of a bad 8th-grade year I suppose). I can also get a little goofy in the meantime.

For example, a week ago Wednesday night, our activity was jewelry making. I was so excited I forgot I was there to help. Here's the scene:

Me: Ooooooh, look at all the pretty beads!

13-year-old: Could you help me start this bracelet?

Me: Um, I have no idea how to do that. Oooooh, look at this bead! Move over.

Sorry girls.

Then last Wednesday night we drove very far away to tour a famous mine. It closed a minute before we arrived. So we went to get shakes. I got all giggly sitting in the booth with them -- we were commenting on the scent of the nice cleaning solution an employee was using nearby. As we finished our ice cream I wanted a picture of all of us at our activity to show with other pictures at the end of the year. Something came over me (this was a time I thought I was 14) and I snagged the cleaning bottle to put in the picture with us. The employee came back looking for it and I was quite embarrassed when I was caught red-handed. Once again, sorry girls. I will try to be more grown-up next time!

Six months old

On Wednesday, December 5, 2007 I thought I might be in labor, but I wasn't sure (I was induced with Max). Ben was due December 15 so I thought maybe it was just false labor. Still, I kept calling my mom, asked all the other Young Women leaders questions at the activity that night, and made JB very nervous when he went to a basketball game that night. With no changes, I went to bed and went to work like normal the next morning, December 6, at 4 AM. But by the time I went to a story at 8 AM I was feeling very funny (Mitt Romney's Faith in America speech. I'll always remember it b/c of my labor!). The photographers said I didn't look so good. I thought I was just tired/hungry plus the usual pregnancy woes. But while I was doing a live shot at 10 AM, I felt contractions coming on very strong. I freaked the intern out sitting next to me as I put my head down next to the microphone. I called JB and told him to meet me at the hospital -- I was wasting no time because I had done two stories already that month about people having babies before they got to the hospital.

Well, turns out I just can't stand pain. I wasn't that far along, but far enough along to be admitted at a 3+ and 80 percent effaced. I got an epidural by mid-afternoon and at 8pm the nurses told me his arm was still above his head. But the doctor got him to pop his hand down in time. I pushed for 20 minutes and Benjamin John came at 9:02 PM, weighing 8 pounds 7 ounces. He had spiky darkish blonde hair and was just darling from the start.

I can't believe it's now six months later! Yesterday at his appointment he weighed 19 pounds 2 ounces, his hair is growing back finally and we can spike it up again. He's even more darling than ever.

A busy, fun weekend

On Friday night we had friends and their two boys over for dinner. Their older boy is also named Max, so both boys kept turning when a parent called. We posed Max (aka Buzz) with Porter and our Max with Ben.

I'm realizing that Ben hangs out in his jammies a lot. I think we used to do it to keep him warm; now I think it's a comfort thing. It's also hard to get a lot of people dressed every day!

On Saturday we went to Idaho for JB's sister Sarah and her new husband Joe's open house. On the way we stopped at the Burger Bar in Roy, soon-to-be featured on the Food Network. It's famous for the Big Ben Burger, so we took a picture with our Big Ben.

Apparently I got sunburned because at church on Sunday people kept commenting on the back of my neck. We had fun at the Burley Stake Center, where Max thought the area under the stage was his new house.

Later all he and cousin Emily wanted to do were eat chocolates on the stage with their Aunt Suzanne. They were like baby birds in a nest with mouths wide open.

Ben loved hanging out high up.Look at this big smile even though he just spit up all over his shirt and my dress.

I didn't get to mingle much with any body there though. It seems once you have children you spend most of the time keeping them clean, occupied, quiet and safe when you go anywhere. But we had a really nice time.