Saturday, April 24, 2010

Good Times As Well


Rocky is starting to take after her dad a little too much and we figured that we'd get her shaving before she got the side show job as the bearded lady.





Here our little Daisy models the tie-dye that Eric and Debbie made so that she could better represent the spirit of Eugene.


We've gotten a few little smiles out of her, but most of the time she is either sleeping or trying to finagle something to eat.

Brandon was able to bless Daisy in the Spanish Branch on April 11. Jill and Jared came all the way from Utah to be there and I didn't even take a single picture. The Valverde family invited us to their restaurant for a fajita dinner to celebrate.
Daisy had been having a little bit of trouble with her digestive system and hadn't had a dirty diaper for about a week. I just knew that she was going to explode all over the blessing dress, but she made it home sparkling and white.


She cried through the whole blessing but she still looked beautiful.
In the blessing she was promised that she would be a person who brought joy to everyone who was around her. She was also told that she will have the strength to make good decisions and to be a good example. It was obvious that there are some pretty special things in store for our little one. We love her so much and are excited to watch her grow and develop. She is already such a special part of our family.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Don't Cry Over Spilled Bean Soup

On Sunday while Brandon was at his early meetings I made a special effort to get us all ready so that we could be there on time. Things went especially well and I congratulated myself, which was my first mistake. Then I let Rocky out of my sight for 10 seconds which turned out to be my second mistake because I heard a splat. Any toddler mom knows that a splat is bad news and this was no exception. The bean soup that was supposed to be our dinner after church was not just on the floor, but was plastered on every inch of surface space in our kitchen.
I tried to stay cool and look at the bright side of things. Ever since General Conference I've been giving myself a pep-talk every morning and trying to stay patient and loving. I took a deep breath and tried to survey the damages. By some miracle, with the exception of her boots, Rocky was completely clean.
Feel free to go ahead and judge me on the next thing that I'm going to say. I grabbed a spoon and scooped the soup back into the bowl . I knew that Brandon isn't the kind of guy that likes to eat off the floor but I figured that I wouldn't say anything and what he didn't know (probably) wouldn't hurt him.
I could hear Rocky sniffling in the other room like a puppy who knows he has done something wrong so I called to her so that she would see that everything was going to be okay. She came running around the corner, slipped on the sludge and completely doused herself in beans. She grabbed onto me, ruining my outfit too (which was especially traumatic because I only have about 2 things that fit me right now and one of them was already dirty.) Of course by then she was bawling and Daisy started screaming along.
I am ashamed to admit it but I threw out my new resolve and lost it too. But, after we all had a good scream we changed our clothes and packed ourselves into the car in time to make it for the second hour.
This story is by no means exceptional because things like this happen on a daily basis to moms. The reason that I chose to share it at this particular moment is because of what happened after church.
We got home and everything was okay.

We've all heard it a million times that hard times pass and things work out. I'm saying it again because I need to remember.

Since I never keep anyone up on what is going on with us, I'll quickly share some of the things I've learned in the last couple of weeks.

When newborns spit up blood it isn't nearly as unhealthy as it looks.
It is better to have a lot of dirty diapers than none at all.
Rashes aren't always allergic reactions, despite the fact that the dude at Urgent Care says so.
The people at the pharmacy will laugh at you if you return a breast pump rental and then come back the next day to re-rent it again.
If you've never had an abscess, don't get one.
Soup that has been scooped off the floor tastes just as good.

We also found out that Brandon was not accepted into the PhD program.

But, on the bright side....
I swear there was a bright side around here somewhere.

This is where the lesson of Sunday's adventure comes into play. When the first outfit gets dirty, just search in the deepest part of your closet and find something else to wear.

Brandon is actually applying to a special one-year program to earn a certificate in non-profit management at the U of O. He is really excited to learn about community organizing and to take a year deciding if he wants to continue next year with the PhD or go to work. Either way, it looks like Eugene is probably going to be stuck with us for at least one more year.

And, of course, once we get a few hours to take a deep breath and relax it will be obvious that everything really is okay.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Track Time


I took the girls to the U of O track meet to cheer on the ducks at historic Hayward Field. My mind kept playing tricks on me and I swear I saw Pre's ghost running laps.
When I watched the runners line up at the start it reminded me of my track days in high school and my heart rate soared at even the thought. It is a lot more relaxing watching other people run, but it isn't near as fun.
Rocky and I spend a few minutes almost every day watching the high school team that practices on the track right by our apartments. On the way back home we always practice the long jump.
It has always seemed like the parents in the movies are always so ridiculous trying to live vicariously through their children, but lately it is starting to sound like a good idea. I would love to see my little Rock Star out there wearing her school colors, and competing in sports. Hopefully she gets some coordination from her dad because I certainly never had any. That's why I always ended up running in distance events. It was the only type of team that didn't have cuts.

As you can see, they were both very enthusiastic about the events. Rocky actually really did seem to have a good time. We had a good spot right on the last stretch to the finish line and the crowd would be cheering and you could see the determination on the athletes' faces. I swear that I could see the muscles in the legs trying to give up and the brains willing them to keep going.
Rocky never seemed to get it until after the race was over and everyone had quieted down. Then she would clap her hands. At first I thought that maybe she is just a little slow but then I began to notice that when she did her cheering all the college students around us would laugh and talk about how cute she is. It was a good strategy because if she did it when everyone else was watching the runners nobody would have paid any attention. Either she really isn't that bright, or she is a genius. I'm going to go ahead and say genius.

In other news...

The Peeps box says that now you can eat them all year because they have different shapes for each season. I think that is cheating. If it isn't Easter and it doesn't look like a bird, it isn't a Peep. Rocky likes to play with her little bird for a few minutes before she bites it's head off.

Tummy Time

I don't know who looks more tired in this picture. It is probably Daisy because by this time of night she's had a long day of napping and eating which really can wear you out. All Brandon did was go to class, study, and spend the rest of the evening taking care of a toddler.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

30 Minutes of Motherhood

We had quite the morning which started with the 'peep' that Rocky left in the bathtub.

(Sorry for the nasty picture. Sometimes being a mom is pretty gross.)
While I was cleaning things up Rocky somehow found a bunch of animal cracker crumbs that she strategically dumped throughout the apartment.

Luckily it was early enough that I still had a sense of humor so I was able to shrug it off until she started going around throwing everything that she could get her hands on and I was forced to put her in time out. She had only been in her crib for a minute or so but I could tell by the silence that things weren't right. I went in to find that she had gotten into her hair things.
It is days like this that make me glad that she is so cute because cuteness can sometimes make things okay when my patience is close to running out. After that crazy half hour I knew that we had no other choice than to leave the mess for later and spend the rest of the morning outside.

It was a good plan because when Brandon got home from school he vacuumed up all the crumbs. I felt a little guilty at first that he was doing it until I remembered that I was the one who cleaned out the tub.

Bonus Picture

Oh

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Another Week Come and Gone

We took a trip to Lincoln City to hit the beach with our friends. Unfortunately, although it was sunny the wind make it unpleasantly frigid. We all did our best to ignore our frozen faces and enjoy the beauty of the ocean but we didn´t last too long.

Brandon was trying to keep Daisy warm in her front pack which contributed to this impeccable physic.

Andrea took off her jacket because she wanted it to look like it was hot. The picture is cute but I get the shivers just looking at it.

Rocky, as always, has her own sense of how things should be worn. She thinks that if we wear shades, she needs some too. Mine were a little bit big, but the Easter Bunny, also known as Oma, brought some in her size.

Brandon has been playing hide the egg with Rocky all this week so I thought that she would be ready for the hunt we set up in the playground outside our house. She was really good at finding the goodies, but wanted to sit down and enjoy them right then and there.


Peeps are her new favorite treat and she asks for them all the time. We laugh about it a lot because she gets mixed up and says ¨poop¨ instead of peep. It gets a little confusing because sometimes she really is talking about poop and not the peep.

Things are going really well with our little Daisy and we are starting to get to know her better. She spends most of her time sleeping and hanging out in the swing. It is a little bit tricky trying to divide my attention and Rocky keeps herself entertained with my ipod. Whenever she grabs it she announces her intentions by singing, ¨Hey hey hey Heeey Heey¨ from a Bedouin Soundclash song that she likes.