Blank Books

I was at the BYU bookstore and randomly found this whole section of blank white books. They were the coolest thing I have ever seen! I bought 5. They have all different kinds, and blank puzzles too. You can just take some markers and have a ball. They even have a couple different size board books for babies. So for Christmas Calvin is getting a board book all about himself drawn by Mom.

Newest Technique

I feel like we are always trying something new to get Calvin to go to sleep better, longer, cry less, etc. The other day we were cleaning Calvin's room so we put him in his crib with some toys to play with while we cleaned. After we finished cleaning I took out the toys and read him a story then turned out the lights, walked out of the room and he went to sleep without making a sound. It is such a great routine, and it's worked quite a few more times since then too.

Crash

Our computer is pretty old and gives us all kinds of problems. We're trying to hold off until Brandon graduates before we upgrade, but we might not have a choice with that. The other day our screen suddenly went blank. It would turn on, but you couldn't see anything. I called and found out the warranty is up next week- that was close. Hopefully it will cost so much to fix they will just give us a new one! We can dream, right? In the meantime we're renting one from BYU because they are so cheap and we don't think we can go 2-6 weeks without a computer.

Decisiveness

Sometimes I take a really really really long time making decisions while shopping. Clothes shopping is especially bad, but even grocery I take forever. Calvin is pretty good at making me a faster decision maker. If I stand in one place too long trying to decide on flavors of Jell-o, how many and what size, he lets out some screams to let me know I need to just grab one and keep moving. What a great little helper.

Southwest

Has anyone else checked out flights on Southwest? 50% off flights to & from Salt Lake. There are restrictions for when you can fly of course, but I am so excited I just booked a flight to Seattle for $51 each way!

Band

Brandon and I were listening to some Chris Merritt music yesterday and I thought I would share how great they are. Brandon's friend plays in the band so we have gone to see them play several times and it's always been fun. They have songs on itunes and a few websites too. My favorites are Tower of Sand and Dance Karate.

Lehi swimming

We went with some friends to the Lehi pool and I was so impressed! What a cool facility. Not only do they have a kid area, but they had a baby area. We had a great time. I love swimming in November.

My New Favorite Food

We were hesitant to give Calvin rice cereal right at 4 months because of what the doctor said about the "slight chance he can develop allergies", but he also said it might be worth a try when he heard what a horrible sleeper he is and how he is always hungry. (he was waking up every 2-3 hours - and that was on a good night) After not really sleeping at all on Saturday night we decided we should try out the rice cereal. The result: he slept for 5 hours straight the past 2 nights!! He is back to only waking up twice to eat. I used to be really anxious for him to sleep through the night, but for now I'm just grateful to be sleeping in chunks again. Hoorah for rice!

Fall

Last week Brandon and I wanted to go out for dinner and decided it was a perfect night for walking. So we enjoyed the fall colors while taking a nice walk to get some dinner. The trees looked so beautiful.

Water water water

I have felt like I needed to drink more water lately and I know with breastfeeding you need more water. It turns out I am suppose to be drinking 13 cups of water a day! That's almost a gallon of water! (I just looked it up 16 cups = 1 gallon) I try to drink a cup an hour. Sometimes I set a timer to remind myself. I don't know how long I will last on this endeavor.

Family of beavers

Since Calvin's costume was so cute, we decided to try and match him. I think he pulled it off better than we did, but we all had a good time. You can tell Cal enjoyed the party : )

Disgusting Treats

pre baked:
I was on my favorite food website, allrecipes.com and I found some fun Halloween treat ideas to take to a party. I thought this one was 2nd best. The mice looked even grosser but the recipe for the fingers and toes was easier. Brandon said I shouldn't be offended if no one eats them because they look disgusting. They're just sugar cookies with some food coloring. I think I should have done the red gel and almonds after I baked them, I didn't realize the gel would melt like that. Maybe they'll look better next year because I think this might be the beginning of a great Halloween tradition. yum. Happy Halloween!

Costumes

I laughed to myself the whole time I was sewing our costumes today. Stay tuned...

Quirks Tag

1. I sleep with an eye mask at night. If I'm traveling, ear plugs too. I'm just a light sleeper and our room is too well lit from the parking lot light outside our window.

2. I draw obsessively. If I have a pen and paper in my hands, no matter what it is for, it will inevitably end up with more pictures on it than text.

3. I like listening to the same songs over and over again. If I like a song or a CD I'll play it on repeat. When I was a freshman I discovered this sometimes annoys people because I couldn't find my new CD for months until we cleaned out the kitchen and found it in the very far cupboard behind a large bag of potatoes.

4. I don't like milk. I was allergic to it as a kid and now I think it tastes disgusting. I like milk products though.

5. I think I've visited the Museum of Peoples and Cultures more times than anyone in the world. (that tiny museum by Brick Oven, and I'm really disappointed with the changes they've made, it's not nearly as fun as it used to be.)

6. I don't know how to type like you're suppose to. I have a method that has developed over the years using 8 fingers (mostly 6) and I think I'm decently fast.

I tag Lexi, Taylor, Melinda, & my sisters

Random & Beyond's Top Ten

It wasn't easy to choose a top 10. It sure was fun to laugh at things that have happened in the past few years, but it's hard to distinguish which blogs are entertaining to me for the memories they bring back, and which ones other people enjoyed the most. It's days like today that I am really glad that I blog because I was able to remember some fun things that I wouldn't have recorded otherwise. In no particular order:
1. #1448
2. Most Embarrassing Moment
3. Bad Lunch Ideas
4. Family Resemblance
5. Fill in a Caption
6. Office Excitement
7. Baby-sitting Highlights
8. Miller Smell
9. Bad Parents
10. Sweet Old Lady

Mobile

I found some wooden things at the craft store and decided they would make it really easy to make a mobile and add a little color to Calvin's room. We thought Calvin might like something to look at, and we're wishfully thinking that he might just hang out in his crib longer and we can sleep in now & then. (ha!) He did seem pretty excited about it and was smiling at it and swinging his arms for awhile, until he realized that we were leaving the room and we wanted him to take a nap.

Bakery

Sometimes when I take a walk I like having a destination, like Provo Bakery. Taking a walk to the bakery kind of defeats the purpose of taking a walk though. Maybe I should find a bakery in Springville to walk to.

Sleeping

Calvin was becoming a horrible napper and therefore not the funnest kid to be around. We decided we might need to implement the crying himself to sleep method to help him learn to sleep better on his own. We have also paid more attention to his schedule and when he needs to sleep. It started making a huge difference right away. He has been so much happier lately. It's great. So even though it is torture to let your cute baby cry, sometimes it is beneficial to everyone in the long run. He is still a very long way from sleeping through the night though. Someday.

Cake batter

Calvin made sure I got a good work out this morning by insisting on being held 75% of the time while I did step aerobics. What a thoughtful kid. When I went to shower afterwards there was a scarcity of soap. I looked around and found liquid hand soap and some body wash that smells like cake batter. I decided to go for the cake batter scent. It might be a little odd, but at least it's better than what I smelled like before.

Guardians

Yesterday I had quite the conversation with my younger sister Heather. She is currently taking a family finance class at BYU and they were talking about life insurance and wills. She asked me if we have either of these, which we don't (yet). She volunteered herself to be Cal's guardian if we wanted her to since she doesn't have any kids of her own and she might not in the future either. I told her that we would probably prefer someone that is married to raise Calvin if something happened to me & Brandon. She gave me this mean look and I told her to quit acting like she wanted me to die so she could take care of my baby.
Then she proceeded to call our other siblings and try to get their kids, even if they weren't married yet. The conversations were pretty entertaining, especially when our little brother got a hold of one of our sisters before Heather did so he could be the first to ask.
At one point in my converstation with Heather she said, "...so if something happens to you and Brandon.." I said "like you murdering us.." at the same time as she said "because I poisoned you..". Even though we had a lot of laughs about it, it really is something that we need to figure out. So if you're related to us and married, you might be hearing from us soon. And if you don't fall into that category, but you would still like to be Calvin's guardian in our will, let us know if you have a good argument and we may keep you in mind.