I'm a Mormon, Yes I am!

On Saturday when I was at Seagull book there was an author sitting next to me, Janeen Brady. She was there to sign her new book called The Creation. Depending on your age, you may or may not recognize who she is at first. For anyone who grew up listening to that classic red cassette tape entitled "I"m a Mormon", she wrote that. As well as all those Standing Tall tapes, about Happiness and Gratitude and Captain Dependable. Anyone else have fond memories of singing to that stuff as a kid? It was like I was meeting a celebrity. She also did the Safety Kid stuff. My childhood would not have been the same without her.

Invincible

In case you were thinking of renting Iron Man and you see it at redbox, make sure it is just called Iron Man and not Invincible Iron Man, because it's not the same thing. But if you have a 5 year old in the house, it might be okay anyways.

Me being pro

I'm feeling really cool as an illustrator this week. Not only do I get to do the book signing stuff, but a cute little 12 year old is job shadowing me on Wednesday. I just know I'm going to bore her trying to tell her way too much about fun things like contracts and stretching paper.

Am I famous yet?

I feel like having a book signing means I am one step closer to being famous. I've got a ways to go, but I like the direction of things. I just got a call from Cedar Fort, who I have worked for on a few projects, and they want me to do a couple of book signings at Seagull Book. There are two on September 27th, first from 10-12 in Orem and then from 12:30-2:00 in American Fork. And another one on the 26th at the Women's Expo from 11-1. I'm trying to think if I need to do anything to prepare? Practice my signature? Read the book again? Get a haircut?

Bunny boy

Calvin tried out a new toy, and it seems to be a hit.

Foot method

Another way we like to see how much Calvin has grown is to compare him to Brandon's foot.

Football

This is Calvin expressing how he feels about BYU football this year. Go Cougs!

Congratulations to Brandon

Brandon took the LEED certification test this morning, which he has been studying for like crazy. And he passed!! It was an incredibly hard test, with tons of information. It means he will be able to work on LEED certified projects, which are green buildings. Since this is becoming more emphasized lately, and not a lot of people are certified, it will be helpful for him as he starts interviewing for jobs this fall. I am so proud of him and grateful for how hard he works.

2 Months

Calvin survived his 2 month check up. He had to get 4 shots. He cried a lot, I cried a little. Then we had to go to the hospital to get his jaundice checked again because it hasn't gone away completely. If babies are older than one month they can't prick their feet for blood anymore, so they drew blood from his arm! I had to hold his legs still. Again, more crying for both of us. Thankfully, the jaundice check turned out fine, so we don't have to worry.
Everyone that knows Calvin knows he is growing fast. He is now 25 inches and 14 lbs. 15 oz. which are both the 97th percentile - for anyone without kids, that means he is pretty big for his age. Brandon is hoping he will be over 7 feet tall and play in the NBA until he is 32. I said it would be such a hassle to buy clothes & things, so I think it would be great if he is 6'5 like Brandon, still play for the NBA for a little while, but then become a neurologist.

Fill in the blank

We had a fun visit from our friends and their son Jackson. As you can see Calvin is making quite the face in this picture. Since Calvin & Jackson can't talk yet we just have to wonder what is going through their minds in this photo. What do you think?

The Brain

I checked out 5 books from the library on the brain. They all looked interesting and I thought by getting 5 books I would read 2 or 3 of the more interesting ones before I had to return them. I renewed them once and then had to return them yesterday. (I tried renewing them again, but I guess that's not an option) I only read half of one. So now I think I'll just get one book at a time unless it's from the kids section.

I read a lot of fascinating stuff though. ie: about how drugs work, how cocaine used to be sold to cure lots of things, like a toothache; there is a drug that increases your memory, I think it was ecstasy, it had a lot of uses whichever it was, so I suggested it to Brandon before he takes his big test on Saturday; people used to perform lobotomies all the time, they thought a simple stab to the front part of the brain could fix all kinds of mental problems, including child misbehavior; the reason I'm grouchy when I don't get enough sleep is because sleep effects the serotonin which is the mood controlling section of the brain; different brain diseases and how they affect people. I think there are a lot of people with mild brain disorders, we think they're odd but really it's just a problem with one of their organs. Kind of like someone with a stomach problem or liver challenges, only it's the brain.

Last night when I was up in the middle of the night feeding Calvin there was a PBS show on about the brain that was interesting also. This guy talked about having a healthy brain because 50% of people have Alzheimer's by the time they are 85. He talked about exercising twice a week, learning new things all the time in genres unfamiliar to you, playing table tennis, and more, but I don't remember. It was like 3a.m. He mentioned that if it's in your genes you are more likely to get Alzheimer's, if you have had cancer treatments, if you have untreated sleep apnea, and probably some other things I forgot too. He said a way to test for it early on is to smell things like pineapple, lemons, natural gas and some other fruits. If you can't smell them it is a sign that you have Alzheimer's coming. Maybe it will be on again tomorrow night/morning so I can catch more of it. If only Calvin could figure out that talking thing, maybe he could fill in the gaps for me.

Santa Claus

I think this is Brandon's favorite outfit that Calvin has. (courtesy of his awesome cousin) He seemed pretty disappointed that Calvin wouldn't fit in it for Christmas, or even Halloween, so I surprised him at work today by sending him some Santa footage, even though it's August.

Bad Parents

We had a really fun family get together today. We always go out really prepared for crazy diaper explosions, 2 extra outfits, plastic bags for dirty diapers or messy clothes, lots of wipes, 10 or more diapers, burp cloths, etc. etc. However, today when we got to my cousin's place we had to change Cal after only being there for half an hour and we realized we had no diapers. Let me repeat: no diapers. What kind of lousy parents are we anyways? We could either go to the store or borrow one from my cousin whose daughter wears size 4 diapers. We decided to see how size 4 would work. We put it on as snug as we could, which meant there was quite a bit of excess diaper in the front. We couldn't stop laughing. Poor little Calvin just kept looking at us wondering what was so funny. Luckily we found some scissors, cut it down so the diaper didn't reach his chest anymore, and put some new clothes on him so you couldn't really tell. Let's hope we don't make that mistake again anytime soon.

Life drawing

Since I spend so much time drawing in my cartoonish style I don't ever get around to practicing drawing from life. Now that I have a new subject who does really well at holding still and is really cute, I think I might start practicing more.

Dairy Dan's

Our vacation was so fun. Here's a picture from a stop on the way from Seattle to Seaside. If you ever drive down I-5 going by Chehalis and you like ice cream then you should take a quick stop at Dairy Dan's. The picture says it all.

Vacation Time

We have a family reunion coming up at the Oregon coast. I am excited, of course, because we love seeing family and we love the ocean too. However, traveling with an infant makes me apprehensive. Everything is just a little more complicated, what we do is more limited, and a lot more equipment is required. I think I'll pack every outfit Calvin owns because they're so small and you never know how many outfits he will need any given day. I'm really paranoid about Calvin getting sand in his eyes at the beach, so when I was at the store I picked up some vacation supplies for him, a new jacket to keep warm if it's windy, and some stylin' shades that velcro around his head. Let me know if you have any other traveling tips. And to all the family - see you soon!

Our neighbor's car

Anyone who lives around us in Provo, just south of campus, may have seen this great looking car parked on 5th north. The funniest part about it is if you look inside the windows it is full of balls, you know, like the ones in the ball pit at Chuck E Cheese or McDonald's Playplace. When I first saw this I thought it was funny, and then thought it might be a little disturbing too. Someone could drive this car around and easily lure innocent children to come play in the ball pit, only to be taken away. Maybe it is just owned by a young family whose kids are really hard to take places and they needed some extra persuasion to get them into the car. There could be a lot of explanations for filling 80% of your car with colorful plastic balls, what do you think?

Something extra at aerobics

For a week now I've been regular at my old stake's aerobics. I'm excited about my record so far, it is so exhausting to get used to again. Today we had a teacher I've never had before and she was really fun. A little over half way through she said, now we are going to have belly dancing instructions. So today I learned how to belly dance, and it was pretty fun. I feel like I'm better prepared for the big Miller reunion next year.

First day at Church

Calvin went to church for the first time today and he did really well. Although, he was in his 3rd outfit when we left due to diaper explosions.

Mealtime

I don't know how he manages to make such a mess just drinking milk. I can just imagine what he'll look like when I start giving him baby food.