Fun at our house

Poor Kyle got his shots Friday. He whined for three days with the most heart-breaking, pathetic whine you have heard come out of a baby boy. My parents spent Monday with us, and we had a really nice respite from ornery babies. He was still a little off-schedule Monday night, and here's how Monday night and Tuesday went:

Claire in bed at 12:30
Kyle needs to eat at 2:00
Claire is in our bed at 3:00
Kyle needs to eat at 5:00
Kyle needs to eat again at 6:00
Kyle cries for at least an hour
Claire gets up before 8:00

Claire has pickles, strawberry milk, chocolate milk, fruit snacks, pickles, and chocolate chips in the hour before her nap. (Somehow I knew this would end badly, and even texted Taylor and Suzy with my concern.)

Claire wakes up from her nap, rolls on the floor complaining about her tummy and starts throwing up. I put her in the tub and brought Kyle up to watch. In the midst of her crying Kyle started crying, and Claire looks up and says, "Kyle say: What wrong with my girl?" I love that she could tell he was worried, probably because she worries about him when he cries. And of course, I'm sure he refers to her as "My Girl" when he thinks of her :)

We had our tax preparation appointment that night, and we'd already cancelled twice, so we had to go. Bless Becky's heart, she was willing to watch Claire who had been fine for 4 hours. Of course I didn't tell her not to give Claire anything to eat, so as soon as she had water it came right back up. The sweet girl couldn't stop saying, "Sorry Mom, Sorry Becky" all night. She says that it was "really bad" and she's never going to throw up again. If only it were that easy.

And so go the best days of our lives.

The Zoo

We've just returned from a trip to Hogle Zoo, and as Claire said, "We had really fun at zoo." Our first stop was the albino alligator. If you haven't seen this you need to. It was so cool, almost a light lime green color. I couldn't stop staring. On our way to see the apes we passed the camels. I asked Claire what the camels were, and without hesitation she responded, "Chipmunks." Just imagine the size difference that has occurred in her little head whenever we see Chip and Dale. After running all around for a while Claire saw a little wooden curb, sat down, and said to me, "I'll just sit right here and wait for you until you come back." She was so tired! I offered her a turn in the stroller which she gladly accepted, but only for a while until she could walk again.

When we saw the cougars they were walking all around. One jumped up on a rock and she proudly sang her song [to the tune of the "Look Down" song from Les Mis], "Get down! Get Down! No standing on the rock!" [We sing that to her when she stands on chairs or in the tub.] She thought she was hilarious, and she was.

My favorite thing we saw was the tiger drinking. They have a new nice exhibit for the tiger, and he came right down to the pool (which you can see into through glass) and drank about 3 feet away from us. It's worth watching my slide show just to see that. We saw a number of sleeping animals, and Claire told us to "Shhhh!" every time we spoke while near a sleeping animal.

We finished our trip with a stop at the big elephant for pictures. I put Claire on the trunk for a couple pictures (which are SO cute), and this time she said, "I just wait here while you go look at birdies." She really would have too! She was asleep before we left the zoo parking lot, and we had to wake her up for dinner. Claire's cute quotes were matched by Taylor's voice cracking as he exclaimed, "Look, Dad! The Cheetah is running across his enclosure!" And Don's excitement over "The Red Pandas are on the move!" It's fun to see exactly where Claire get her love for the zoo and animals.

Another funny thing she said today was when I asked her what the horses across the street were named. I suggested Prince or Bob or Jim. "No Mom! That horse not Jim! Whitney go to GYM and run with her green shoes on!"

Taylor says his favorite thing about Claire is her little touch of insanity. She's a nut!

Conversation I just had with Claire

About thirty seconds ago I had this conversation with Claire:
Me: Do you know what your name is?
Claire: Yes. It Claire.
Me: Good! What is your middle name?
Claire: Fireman [and she said it in her monosyllabic way: Fye-Er-Man]
Me: Nope, it's Elle.
Claire: Oh. Elle.

I'm still laughing. Claire Fireman Herrin. Why didn't we think of that?

Picture This

I've finally decided that I need to get rid of a little baby flab, so I had Taylor pick up a couple of exercise DVDs from the local library. My favorite is "Yogalates," a mix between yoga and pilates and uses resistance bands.

And here's the part I'm writing about: Yesterday I thought I could do the video while both children were awake (my first mistake). I sat Kyle under his baby gym and gave Claire one of the bands to use herself (she'll usually exercise with me). The DVD begins with a relaxation exercise. As soon as it starts Kyle starts whining. Claire doesn't like this part so she starts playing with my hair. All the while I'm trying to sit up straight and relax. The DVD continues and Claire is now wrapping the resistance bands around my throat and torso alternating by hanging on me in her "I love you/I'm choking you" special way, Kyle is now whining louder and the lady on the DVD is saying, "Relax, just relax. Breathe in, breathe out." Yeah, right! I was giggling too hard imagining what we looked like.

Then we got into the video. And I'm doing my pelvic scrunches or whatever special word she uses to avoid saying "sit ups." Claire decided to do hers directly behind me, so every time I lay down I land on her. She found this to be hilarious. I found it helpful. Every time I leaned back she caught me with her feet and pushed me back up. I'll admit I'm always up for a good way to cheat while exercising!

When it comes to exercise, does "it was the thought that counts" apply?

ABCs of Me

I got this in an email and thought it was a decent one to share:
A: Attached or single: Attached
B: Best Friend: Definitely Taylor--and then Claire, she listens to what I have to say and doesn't offer back unwanted advice :)
C: Cake or Pie: Both please! But nothing beats a good fresh peach pie a la mode.
D: Day of Choice: Any day my mom is coming to visit. If I have to choose a day I like Mondays. The weekend refreshes me, and there is hope for a good week.
E: Essential Item: Disposable Diapers. Two kids are wearing them, enough said.
F: Favorite Color: Green
G: Gummi Bears or Worms: Neither. They give me a headache.
H: Hometown: Always will be Lehi
I: Indulgence(s): Cookie dough---it's got to stop!
J: January or July: July! I love all the celebrating for the 4th and 24th. Plus the holidays are not really tied to a lot of candy that hangs around for days.
K: Kids:2. Claire is 2.5, Kyle is 4 months
L: Life is incomplete without: Family, computer, Disney Channel
M: Marriage Date: December 21, 2002
N: Number of Siblings: One Sister, Two Brothers, Three Sisters-in-law, One new Brother-in-law
O: Oranges or Apples: I have a new love for oranges in the last few years
P: Phobias or Fears: I hate having water on my face. I also fear falling down the stairs every time I'm carrying a child down them.
Q: Quote(s): "You are a Child of God with great strength. You have the ability to choose righteousness and happiness no matter what your circumstances."--For the Strength of Youth
R: Reason To Smile: Kyle smiles at me whenever we make eye contact, you can't help but smile at those gums and dimples.
S: Season: Spring holds my birthday and the promise of all the best parts of the year. It just smells good too.
T: Tag Six: Mom, Dad, Taylor, Kerry Lynn, Don, Suzy
U: Unknown Fact About Me: I really enjoy cooking (just not the mess or paying for the food).
V: Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I like animals---alive and on my plate.
W: Worst Habit: I'm not embarrassed to admit I drool in my sleep when I'm really, really tired (so that's every night lately).
X: X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds! They always have revealed good things for me even when it involves a painfully full bladder.
Y: Your Favorite Food: Dad's barbeque chicken and funeral potatoes
Z: Zodiac: Taurus

More Good News

Claire has crawled into our bed every night since Monday with a high fever. Dad gives her medicine, and I take her back to bed and sing to her for 30-45 minutes until the fever breaks. (You can guess which act of love she remembers most---the medicine.) Today I took her to the doctor and he was almost certain it was the flu. I could just imagine the next month at our house as we slowly passed it between all of us. He checked her ears last though, and she's got a bad infection in the right one. So some antibiotics ought to clear it up in a few days. Thank Goodness! I'll take anything that's not contagious! While we were waiting for her medicine we bought her some construction paper and new WASHABLE (lesson learned) watercolors and brushes. I got a big spontaneous hug when those went in the cart.

However the doctor also got a look at Kyle, and without even weighing him suggested that we cut back a little on the feeding! He's a big boy despite the fact that he spits up constantly. Hmmm, maybe I should just cut back on the cookie dough and that will lessen his caloric intake.

And the Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by today. Jill and Sandy. I talk with them because I think that if Karma is real, maybe someone out there will talk to our missionaries. Today's "five minutes" was about the suffering that is in the world. They think that Satan is the ruler of this world. I don't know about that. Though I'm not blind to the fact that there is suffering in the world, I think there is a lot of happiness. One thing I know, if there are babies somewhere, there is also happiness---a lot of it. One quote I find myself saying over and over daily is from For the Strength of Youth: " You are a child of God with great strength. You have the ability to choose righteousness and happiness, no matter what your circumstances." Of course I didn't think of telling them that at the time. They'll be back. That's for sure.

Good News

I just got back from Relief Society Enrichment Night--or group, or whatever it is now. I was in YW's so long it's going to be a while before I get all the terminology right. Either way, the evening was called "Cooking with Beans." The funny thing is that just a few weeks ago I told Taylor that I really wanted to learn to cook with beans. So I determined to go when I heard about it on Sunday. I haven't really done much in this ward because I had Kyle so soon after we moved here and then I had my surgery. So this was big for me to go.

Anyway, the good news is that I think I may end up liking it here after all. I had a nice time talking with the other women who seem quite a bit like me. It would seem that no one else can both cook exciting, delicious and nutritious meals while simultaneously keeping their house perfectly clean either! Though I'll always miss our Ridgecreek Ward friends, I just might be okay here, and I'm excited to get to know everyone. I don't know how people move without having the Church around for making friends.

My Eye

A number of people have asked about my eye, so here's the deal. I finally got the eye on Valentine's Day. (It's pictured above in its creation process) It unfortunately is not what we expected. When I got myself into this mess I was told that it would be a surgery with a six-week recovery. I would quickly get a prosthetic eye, then possibly an eyelid surgery soon after, and that would be it. Turns out that it's a huge process. I had evisceration surgery December 4, but someone messed up on making appointments so it was 11 weeks until I got the prosthetic. Because of normal residual swelling, the prosthetic won't actually fit properly until June (if I am lucky). In June they'll make it fit correctly and then I'll see the surgeon for major eyelid surgery which will hopefully be in the late summer. Needless to say we're disappointed that I won't look normal until August at the earliest. Right now though the eye itself looks normal, the fit does not look similar to my other eye. It's a different shape, and it's quite far back in the socket. Although I feel better about going in public now than when I had the pirate patch, it's still incredibly disheartening to have expected near-perfection in six weeks and find out it's actually closer to a year before people will stop staring at me.

Fortunately pageants gave me the chance to learn a lot about makeup, and I'm slowly finding ways to mask the differences. Though I can't say I'll be sharing a close-up picture of myself anytime soon. This too shall pass I'm sure, but it sure won't be easy. Anyway, that's my rant for now.

Wedding Day

It's finally here (and already over)! Whitney's wedding has come and gone. We had such a good time catching up with family and friends throughout the day. Claire had such a good time re-aquainting with cousins and dancing the night away. She ran from one side of the dance floor to the other until she was so worn out that she could barely walk. It wore her out---after it was over and almost everyone had gone I found her trying to drink out of a water pitcher. She also loved the availability of candy as it was on every table and relatives were more than happy to oblige her polite "candy, please."

Whitney and Rob looked so happy and we are so happy that they are so happy. However upon our return to our snowy home and their departure to sunny Mexico, we're pretty sure that after five years and two children we deserve a second honeymoon. That will happen as soon as I can ever have more than a couple months in a row that I'm not nursing or pregnant---and there are really no gaurantees on that one.

Happy Valentine's Day

As Valentine's Day is the day for love, I've been thinking a lot about love. One of my favorite things to watch is the love developing between Claire and Kyle. I like that she has no reason to really like him---he stole a lot of the attention and time that used to be solely hers. If that were me, I'd be pretty mad, but she has this intense love for that little boy. Sure, she's not perfect, and she gets upset sometimes when I have to feed him or when others pay attention to him, but for the most part I'm amazed at how well she handles it. She LOVES him. And she tells him she loves him all the time. I really think that that is pure love. I think her love for him is a perfect example of Christlike love. She loves him simply because he is her brother. The best part about it is that I really think he feels the same way. He watches her so closely and smiles so big whenever he catches her eye. I just know that they'll be good friends forever.