Entropy in Action: An Illustrated Blog

Clever Boy

2012-01-29T01:23:00.000-06:00

Friday night was awful to put the kids to bed. Henry was awake for four hours after he was initially tucked in. I think we still haven't adjusted to the time zone change/ red eye travel. Three hours into this, he called out that he was wet and needed a diaper change. I ended up needing to change his pajamas. I was so frustrated at the whole bedtime fiasco. I was trying to get his Sherrif Woody pajama feet onto his actual feet, but the toes were caught on the elastic, then his foot was caught, flexed in the fabric. I was just getting more frustrated when he said out of nowhere, "There's a snake in my boot." He is already a very witty boy, and being extremely cute is a pretty effective survival technique.

Dole Pineapple Plantation

2012-01-29T00:39:00.000-06:00

You're Doing It Wrong

2012-01-27T01:56:00.001-06:00

Well, I guess we are done using the bumbo. She got herself from
sitting to this precarious stance very quickly. She can't be trusted.

Setting Up Christmas

2011-12-29T00:09:00.001-06:00

In my defense, the circus tent seemed a lot smaller in the IKEA showroom.

Nick is spending a lot of time assembling Henry's gift from Jo Ellen. It's a parking garage, and he's going to love it. Assembly is a little complicated. Nick said people who did not have experience or a variety of screw drivers would be really frustrated. On a related note, thank you Doug for the comprehensive screw driver set. It's the gift that keeps on giving.
I am looking at our Christmas gifts and realizing a few things. First, I bought more than I thought, and probably more than I intended. Second, I bought far more for Henry than Georgia. If she were good at math, she would realize I spent several times more on her brother than I spent on her. I don't think she'll actually be able to calculate a comparison. Third, we're going to need to get rid of some stuff to make room for this new crop of toys. Fourth, I didn't get anything educational (except Christmas books). Fifth, I love giving stuff to my kids. Cars and trains make Henry so happy. Lastly, the circus tent is bigger than I thought. It was probably a bad idea. Oh well. It's assembled and I lost the receipt anyway.

Realizing another thing. I've lost the play dough. Where did I hide the play dough??

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is Coming

2011-12-27T22:03:00.001-06:00

You can tell its getting close to our Christmas because we put presents under the tree. Earlier we had a present, but then henry opened it when I wasn't looking. He can't be trusted for long. Georgia just wants to eat the ornaments.

Saturday 12/24/11: Christmas Spirit at the Hospital

2011-12-25T23:45:00.001-06:00

I spent the afternoon at the local mall with the kids. It was mostly for amusement and entertainment, but I did pick up a couple of last minute gifts, even if they were for myself.
We were really there because I have guilt for cheating my kids out of Christmas, and treating the mall like Disneyland was supposed to make us feel better. I think it worked. I said yes to almost everything Henry has ever wanted- we bought a toy, rode the train, got a smoothie, rode another ride, ate chicken nuggets, and sat on the coin operated rides without putting any money in because the change machine was broken. Pretty fun.

Then when the mall closed (I was surprised by how many people were still there), we headed to the hospital to have a quick visit with nick. I also got a peek at the ER, but that's another story.

Presenting Ansel Adams Successor

2011-12-23T23:08:00.000-06:00

iphone picture by Nick, Mueller Park Canyon

As an early Christmas present, Jo Ellen gave Henry a camera specifically designed for kids. He loves it. He has taken about a thousand pictures with it. There is only one slight problem:

A blurry photo of Nick, and a picture of someone's torso, by Henry

His pictures look like this.

The camera takes surprisingly good pictures outdoors, with the caveat that you mush hold the camera still. That concept hasn't really sunk in for him yet, but we're working on it. I'm sure he's just a few clicks away from a masterpiece.

Gigi's 6 Month Update

2011-12-02T23:45:00.001-06:00

She is a rolling machine. She wiggles away across the floor or crib by rolling side to side. Once she decides what she wants, she is on the move and there is no stopping her.

She is very close to sitting up independently. She can sometimes do it for a while, but you never know when she is going to topple.

He favorite thing is to suck on her left them while holding my hair in her right hand.

She is tiny and sliding down the growth curve to 10% for both weight and height, weighing 13.1 pounds last week.

She seems to have realized that she and I are separate people, which has also meant that she is very unhappy about left alone in her crib. Sleeping-wise, this has been hard on everybody this last week.

Still no teeth, and I like it that way because her gummy smile is just so cute.

Throws up on everything still, but it seems to be not quite as much as before. But still, nothing is safe. She throws up on people that hold her at church every week. Her spit up is more noticeable after she's eaten brightly colored baby food, such as carrots.

She loves to feed herself Baby Mum Mum rice rusks, which are basically starch surf boards as baby snacks. It is difficult to eat anything with her nearby, as she will try to grab it.

She's getting up on all fours. I don't know how long it will be until she figures out army crawling.

It's so cute when she sticks her toes in her mouth. That usually only happens on the changing table.

Overall, her skin has been great! She has one tiny patch of eczema behind her left knee, but the rest of her looks and feels like normal baby skin.

She continues to have a wonderful, fun temperament, but we see a lot of hints that she is stubborn and impatient. Those are all qualities that can serve her well.

She loves to grab things and put them in her mouth.

She seems to really respond to music. She has been seen "bopping along" to piano arpeggios.

She has found her voice, and it is a loud one. Before we compared her cute little noises to Gizmo. Now Nick calls her a pterodactyl.

She smiles when tickled, but doesn't usually laugh. We guess she's just thinking, "That's so funny."

I've Had Better Trips

2011-12-02T23:06:00.001-06:00

I was not going to advertise on the blogosphere that I went to Disney World. But this trip is too memorable and fraught with heartache to keep to myself. Nick was not on this trip, but I thought that with some help from the other adults I was going with I could manage things just fine.

The first day at the Magic Kingdom was OK. Things are slow with little ones in tow, and half the group is constantly staying behind to watch kids while the rest go do something amusing. In the afternoon, I took Henry on the Speedway, where you drive cars on a track. He loved it and wanted to go again. I asked my dad to take him on it a second time while I took care of Gigi. After a little bit, I went to a scenic point to take a picture as they drove past, but I waited and waited and never saw them. A few minutes later we found each other. Henry had thrown up in line, splashing some on my dad's and others' shoes. They had waited with the mess to steer people around it until someone came with the sawdust and bucket to take care of it. Amazingly, my dad STILL TOOK HIM ON THE RIDE.

My dad was laughing about this as he told me, but I know that Henry isn't a casual barfer. When he throws up, he means that he is really sick. I gathered up our stuff and put Henry is the stroller to head back to hotel. Jo Ellen graciously volunteered to come back with me. As soon as he was seated in the brand new stroller, he proceeded to reenact the famous scene from the exorcist. The ensuing mess was so disgusting. He shirt and pants were just caked with food from two days before. As he was throwing up and screaming, he was scraping off his tongue like he does when he eats something too spicy. We again had to find the man with the sawdust and bucket. An innocent bystander also gave me some baby wipes- bless that woman. So now I was leaving the park with a boy stripped down to a diaper sitting in the back of the stroller, because the front of the stroller was all wet.

We boarded the shuttle bus after just a minute of waiting. Henry was crying and insisted on me holding him in the baby Bjorn, and since it's tough to argue with a naked two-year-old, I did. The ride from Magic Kingdom to the hotel should have been about 15 minutes. About 15 or 20 minutes after we boarded, we pulled into Animal Kingdom. That's a whole different theme park, which was not our destination. It also was closed two hours previously, so it was a ghost town. But I figure the driver knows what she is supposed to be doing, and sometimes shuttles do have intermediate stops. About this point we reach absolute meltdown. Henry throws up all over me, because for some reason he refuses to throw up in a bag, and since he's in the baby Bjorn, he's basically throwing up down my shirt. Gigi is screaming bloody murder as Jo Ellen holds her. I think the other passengers felt more pity towards us than annoyance at all the noise.

15 minutes after Animal Kingdom, I yelled up to the driver "How long until we're at [the hotel]?" I hear her say 5 more minutes and something about "got turned around," but I think she can't mean that she was disoriented, because she's the professional driver here. I figure the words must have made more sense if I had heard the whole sentence, which I couldn't, on account of my two screaming children. 10 minutes after that I asked again, and when she answered, I yelled back that I couldn't hear her over my two sick, screaming children. It was shortly after this, as we were approaching Epcot (a third theme park) that she pulled over at a gas station for directions.

It was when she announced this to the passengers that one came forward with a map and gave her verbal directions on how to get to the hotel. About 10 minutes later, we finally arrived at the hotel. I cannot describe the horror of the half hour of two screaming children whom you can do nothing to reassure while being lost on the shuttle bus from hell. It was much worse than it sounds. The ride was supposed to be about 15 minutes, and our meltdown didn't really start until 20 minutes in and continued for the rest of the 50 minute duration, so I felt this ride from hell was all this driver's fault. I have never wanted someone fired before, but I did as I got off that shuttle. The driver apologized and said it was her first day off training, "and come back next year and I'll be much better." I don't think she'll still have this job next year.

Once at the hotel, we worked on keeping Henry hydrated. He threw up periodically until about 4:00 AM. The next day Gigi was sick, and by afternoon we were concerned enough we came within an inch of taking her to the hospital. If I hadn't done a research project in nursing school on oral rehydration I would have taken her in sooner, but I felt that an IV wasn't needed yet, so we decided to continue to monitor her and she started to improve. It helped that I was able to consult Nick over the phone. The next day the other kids were sick. The day after that, half the adults were sick. The day after that, we went home, and the last kid to get sick threw up at his destination airport. The culprit was probably Norwalk virus.

Makes you jealous of the trip, right?

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:58:00.000-05:00

Henry wouldn't wear his Thomas the Tank Engine costume, but he wore a Thomas Shirt, a Thomas Hoodie, and a Thomas hat, so people still got the point. GG wore her skeleton oufit and a cute pumpkin hat from Aunt Megan. We went trick-or-treating with Dallas and the boys. At one point, both of my kids were asleep. I love walking around a neighborhood as parents visit with friends and neighbors and kids are running around excited about their loot.

Highlights of trick-or-treating include the family that gave out cans of Diet Coke and watching Dallas walk around in his Storm Trooper Costume. Low points include Henry reaching his breaking point before falling asleep, and realizing I've lost the key to my brother's car.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-10-14T21:45:00.000-05:00

My friend Natalie was here for a 48-hour visit, which made for an awesome birthday. We took our kids to the zoo this morning, grabbed lunch (Portillo's for the adults, chicken nuggets for the kids), and then she had to head back to Toledo. I left for the zoo before Nick was home from work (a 27 hour shift), so when I returned I discovered his quickly made sign, roses, and a promise for a birthday celebration later. The bottom of the sign says "Celebration to follow . . . date undetermined."

Tonight we had a very low-key dinner, and because I didn't want to make a cake, we used a cinnamon roll from yesterday's visit to IKEA as the birthday cake. I realized after I blew out the candles I hadn't made a wish, but that's OK, because I pretty much have everything I've ever wished for: Nicholas, Henry, and Georgia. It's been a wonderful year.

Almost 30 Months, 4 Months

2011-09-19T22:01:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to post a quick update on the kids.

Henry's new developments: He asks "What this?" about everything, including things that he clearly knows what they are. Then he asks about them again. And then he asks again. When he wants something, he says "How 'bout this?" and points to something or brings it to you. He contintues to simultaneously be the dog's best friend and his worse enemy. Sometimes they play really well together, then other times Henry has to go to time out to think about what he has done. That dog has the patience of Job, but finally did nip at Henry recently. Henry has become very passionate about what he's wearing, mostly insisting on character apparel featuring Thomas and Friends. I think his little body is constructed mostly out of yogurt, since he has multiple servings of it almost every day. He has become quite skilled in constructing a linear(ish) train track. He then gets really, really mad that not all of his trains will fit through the small IKEA train tunnel. Baths have not improved.

Georgia has been a champ at rolling back to front for over a month, but only rolls front to back when she feels like it. She likes to sit up, but is completely dependent on the bumbo or parental assistance to do so. She can grab a toy and get it in the general direction of her mouth. She goes through so many outfits in a day, I've stopped counting. She left church in a diaper yesterday because she had soaked the three outfits I had with me, and I couldn't get to my emergency fourth outfit until after the meeting was over and I just gave up. I'm really looking forward to when she stops throwing up all the time. She really likes to suck her thumb when she is sleepy. Nick has been trying to get her to giggle for weeks, and she finally laughed last night. Only, it wasn't a little, gentle baby giggle. It was a gregarious laugh that reminds me of my own.

Today was day one of Nick's month-long ICU rotation. It's going to be a long month for all of us.

The Dishwasher: Before and After

2011-09-11T22:43:00.000-05:00

This is our kitchen, back when it had no dishwasher.


And Look at it Now.

I think they did a great job of making the cabinet look like it had just always been that small. The made it out of the larger cabinet they removed. I only wish we had done this sooner.

Grandma Preston (1916-2011)

2011-09-11T16:47:00.000-05:00

Nick attended the funeral Friday for his sweet Grandmother, Alta Preston. She would have celebrated her 95th birthday next month. We all wanted to be there, but we couldn't get two seats on the same flight (which is only a problem because Henry can't fly alone.)

Grandma Preston was a wonderful woman, and while she will be missed, I am glad that her final illness was of relatively short duration and that she is at peace. I took the kids to see her a month ago, and knew it is probably the last time I would ever see her in this life. So even in missing the funeral, I felt like I had the chance to say goodbye, and show our love for her. I think one thing that made her so special was that whoever was in her presence felt loved by her. I think that is what being Christian means, and I don't know of a higher compliment I could give a person.

Is That My Baby?

2011-09-11T16:34:00.000-05:00

A picture of me as a baby, next to a current picture of Georgia. My mom said she was holding me up in this picture, underneath my dress and maybe pulling on the dress. I'm not sure how old I was at the time when it was taken. Georgia is three months, two weeks, and two days old.

No Binkies, Just Fingers

2011-09-09T00:23:00.001-05:00

Georgia has completely rejected the pacifier, because she loves her fingers too much. Sometimes her thumb seems like a magical shut off switch to crying. We just moved her to the crib and there's a little bit of adjustment for both of us.

Henry has figured out that he can't tell us no when we've given him a command, so now he tells us "I don't.". Now that Georgia is sleeping in the crib, Henry wants to sleep in the crib. He took his nap in there today, watching the mobile.

It's a 7-Step Process

2011-09-07T23:02:00.000-05:00

I broke my prescription sunglasses a while ago. More like a really long time ago. It was winter, and I lived in St Louis at the time. I've been wearing them anyway. The frame has a crack in it, and I just gently position the lens on that side, put the glasses on, and then not make any sudden movements. When I was in Utah, I stumbled on a new solution. I drove Harry's car and he keeps his sunglasses attached to the sun visor. His sporty sunglasses could actually be worn over my regular glasses. I kept forgetting to bring mine to the car, so I ended up just borrowing his most the time. It worked perfectly. But then I had to give his car, and his glasses back to him.

I want to buy new glasses and sunglasses, but it's a process with so many steps. First I need to find out what the name of our eye insurance is (don't judge me.) Then I need to find a participating doctor, then make an appointment, then go to the appointment, then assert myself that I don't want to buy the glasses there, then take my prescription (which they will have judged me for taking without a purchase) to Costco and buy some glasses, then return to pick them up. It's a very complicated and long process.

But want to know what's easy? Going to the accessory shop at the mall and finding a giant pair of glasses for $4 that can be worn over your existing glasses. So many fewer steps, and much cheaper too.

PS- moments after I took this picture with my phone, I dropped it and the screen shattered. It made me a little sad.

2 Month Photos by Holly Hyde

2011-09-05T23:17:00.001-05:00

Georgia at Two Months Old

Henry's wasn't exactly cooperative for this, as you might guess from his expression.

While I was in Utah, I took Georgia for her "newborn" pictures (she was two months old at the time). They were done by Holly Hyde Photography. It was a very good experience, although I wish Henry had been a bit more co-operative (but Holly is Great with kids,) and wish that Georgia hadn't thrown up on every outfit she was put in thirty seconds after we put it on. Georgia went through a lot of clothes during the session, not because I was seeking variety, but because she constantly throws up and the clothes were visibly wet and messy.

I printed 4x6's at Costco and the came back looking dark with high contrast. It took me a second to figure it out, but the problem is I had ordered from the kiosk at the store and didn't turn off the "Auto Color Correct." Normally I order from home, and have the color correct turned off. If you have professional pictures you're printing, turn Color Correct off, because the photographer has already fine-tuned them and has the color as it's supposed to be. All an automatic setting can do in that situation is mess it up. With the color correct off, they look great, and now I have them on my wall.

My Mother, the Vandal

2011-08-30T23:44:00.001-05:00

My mom put a "p" on the light switch with a marker. I'm sure it stands
for "porch."

To know my mom is to love her, and to love her is to accept that she
writes on everything with a sharpie. You can't get mad at her because
most of the time it's reasonable markings and conveys useful
information. She writes the dates she bought them on her appliances
and The dates when she made a recipe and notes how it came out. She
will write your name on your property for you, whether you wanted it
labeled or not.
Occasionally she labels something that I wish had been kept pristine,
but mostly I'm just grateful for the lessons on sharing important
information in writing, dating every piece of paper you ever write on,
and "If you value it, put your name it." Property she values and has
labeled includes (but is not limited to): electronics, pillows, camp
chairs, coolers, pans, shovels, strollers, buckets, books and charging
cables. If you can't write directly on something, use a luggage tag.
I have my diaper bag, camera bag, and stroller labeled this way. I
bought an engraved tag on eBay (a small pet tag) to attach to Nick's
newest stethoscope (bought to replace a missing stethoscope).

"If you value it, put your name it," will be put on her headstone some
day. But it's true. This week I found out that Nick had recovered our
stethoscope that had been missing for months. He was able to get it
back in part because he could say, "This is mine, it has my name on
it." You really can't stop thieves, but honest people can't get
something back to you unless you've put your name and number on it.
Anything you lend to someone should be marked.

Keep the information where you can use it. Today I picked up our
minivan after it spent nearly two weeks at a body shop. They must
have disconnected the battery, because the radio wouldn't work until
I put a security code in it. If you don't know the code, you have to
pay the dealership to put it in. While stopped for a train, I pulled
the users manual from the glove box- my mom had written the code
inside. I listened to NPR the rest if the way home.

Thanks, mom!

Tempus Fugit

2011-08-24T13:59:00.000-05:00

My, how time flies.

Nick has just started his third rotation of his second year of residency. Two nights ago we were all in by at 9:15, but at 9:16 Nick's phone rang calling him to a North Suburb hospital for a pediatric surgery. He got home at 1:30 in the morning, and left again about 5:30. He just finished a rotation at the burn unit at Loyola. He really liked his time there.

Georgia is just about three months old. Incredible! She rolls from back to front like a champ, throws up on everything, and smiles a lot.

Henry is using a lot of full sentences. He is getting more jealous of Georgia's stuff and is constantly taking away her blankets and rattles.

My daily picture blog is now a year old. I have posted a picture for every day, though sometimes I wait a little while to post them. Most the pictures are bad iPhone pictures, but the journal aspect of the project has been really nice for me. I looked back at several months of activities in just a few minutes.

I'm still behind on everything. I haven't sent out birth announcements, and wondering if I've waited this long, should I just wait for Christmas Cards? Also, I haven't been productive at all in my church calling, Primary secretary, but I'm going to dive back in this week and start to be helpful.

Before The Trauma Set In

2011-08-21T16:54:00.000-05:00

This picture is a year old, before bath time became akin to torture. For the last eight months, every time I bathe him, I think my neighbor's might call DCFS because of all his screaming. He starts shrieking the instant he realizes the bath is coming, and doesn't stop until he's dressed.
Any suggestions out there for things I may not have tried to make it less traumatic for both of us?
Things tried include toys, varying water temperatures, bribery, bathing with him, showers (big failure there), and bubbles. I am hoping that someone out there has a panacea.

A Few Things to Remember

2011-07-20T23:51:00.000-05:00

Henry and Georgia are changing so quickly, there are a few things I want to remember about how they are right now.
Georgia is growing quickly. I think she's close to 11 pounds now. I've had to put away some of her 0-3 month clothes but most still fit. She smiles now. She is much more laid back and cries much less than Henry did, and probably less than he does now too. I didn't realize he was a relatively hard baby until I had her to compare. She's over her baby acne, her eyes are a non-descript hazel color. She has nice eye lashes but not as impressive as Henry's. She sleeps for a good five or six hour stretch at night, but unfortunately the stretch doesn't begin until about 1:00 or 2:00 AM. She takes a power nap about ten at night, then wakes up and wants to be held for a couple of hours. But when she finally gets back to sleep, we both get some good rest.
She likes a binkie. She hates to be swaddled. She likes to sleep with her hands above her shoulders, and demands that her legs be free to kick. She likes her swing a lot. When I'm desperate for her to sleep, say around 1:30 AM, I ignore all the baby book advice and put her in the swing and let her fall asleep. Whatever it's costing me in batteries, it's worth it (and we're still on her first set of Duracells.)

Henry's vocabulary is exploding every day. He is constantly saying things that leave me wondering where he learned that. It's a little more difficult to put his skin medications on as he's fighting me and screaming, "Just stop it, mom. Stop it!" General crying is far easier to ignore that specific instructions. He loves showing off all the words he knows as we read books. He loves to point to the pictures and tell me what it is.
He can follow simple instructions, when he chooses to. We now send him to grab something from another room or pick something up. He gets distracted sometimes, but often completes the task. He loves to do puzzles, and I think it will be very few years before he's better at it than I am. (I'm not good at puzzles, but he seems to have aptitude.)

Photo by Jo Ellen

He loves to push things around. His shopping cart continues to get pushed from one end of the house to the other. When we're outside, he pushes a Tonka fire truck from one end of the sidewalk to the other, over and over and over again. It seems the only time he deviates from his path is to chase the dog with it. He still ends up in time out for harassing the dog almost daily. They also play nicely together a lot.
Henry loves books. His favorite right now is A Mouse in the House by Henrietta. We read it and find the hidden mouse on each page at least once every day. I just ordered the sequel. He also loves Thomas the Tank Engine Books, and really any book. He always manages to talk me into reading a few extra ones at nap time and bed time.
When he says "my turn," he really means, "Give that to me, and you're never going to get it back." He's pretty good at consistently saying thank you. He can't say "Henry" understandably, but is very clear saying "Georgia."
Right after Georgia was born and we had a month of guests, I was very frustrated at every turn with Henry. He was constantly telling me no and fighting every thing all the time. Now that we're settled into our new normal, he's much more pleasant and agreeable. Elements of the terrible two's are still visible, but I'm no longer tempted to exchange him for a different model.

Trying to Find Religion

2011-07-10T19:18:00.001-05:00

Without Nick, church was not really smooth sailing when I had one kid, and adding a second has not made it any easier. Getting ready is the hard part. I swear the two kids are conspiring against me since they know they have me outnumbered. When I woke up this morning, I knew we'd be a little late. We ended up being an hour and a half late.
Girls are harder to get ready because there's pressure to make sure their outfit matches and there's accessories involved. Boys are harder to get ready because after you get them dressed you turn your back for a second and suddenly they have no shirt, socks or shoes on anymore.

Henry didn't exactly sit still, or be quiet, but he wasn't terrible. Georgia has needs, but is completely reasonable. The bottom picture is Henry rolling all over the floor of the Mother's Room. This is after he was using the diaper pail as a drum.

Urban Wildlife

2011-07-09T23:08:00.000-05:00

Henry, Georgia, and I went to a missionary's open house tonight. Henry had a lot of fun running around with bigger boys in the backyard. When we went inside, I was a little anxious that he was going to break something. Georgia stayed in her car seat for awhile. When she fussed, a member of the ward graciously held her for me, while I continued to chase Henry around. I should have brought the monkey leash.

I was talking to someone who asked me if Georgia was difficult. I described her very pleasant personality and explained that Henry was actually the harder one to care for right now. Being two-and-a-half is a very dangerous time in his life. He can climb up anything, open nearly everything, but has absolutely no judgment. The man's reply was a perfect summary of Henry, "so it's kind of like living with a raccoon."

Does he need a rabies shot?

Georgia's First Weeks

2011-07-07T18:37:00.001-05:00

Georgia at about Five Weeks

We've had a great six weeks since Georgia was born. This blog post is intended to fill in the gaps left by our daily picture blog, http://kickjohnson.blogspot.com.

Four the first month of Georgia's life, we had family staying with us almost every night. We had a steady stream of visitors from moments after we came home from the hospital at 9:00 PM on Friday night. My parents were first (here five days) followed two hours later by Harry & Lucy (36 hours). Patti and Stan arrived in the area that same night, but didn't come over from their hotel until the next morning, and they went back to STL on Tuesday. The best visitor was Nicholas. He worked a thirty hour shift that Sunday, but then started a nearly two week paternity leave. (He would like to thank liberal politics and gender equality for making this possible.) We didn't think something like this could happen, so we're very grateful that it worked out the way it did.

Harry and Lucy ended up driving the old, faithful '92 Honda, with its single working door, back to Utah via Mt Rushmore and Devils Tower. The night before they left, Harry went to Walmart and bought an oil change kit, window tinting (which they applied to the outside of the car for easy removal upon arriving in Utah) and new wiper blades. We all knew it had no radio, but we were sad when they discovered miles into the trip that the air conditioning had died. Fortunately it was unseasonably cool so no one melted.

Since Georgia is the first granddaughter, everyone went a little nuts shopping for clothing and accessories that did not have dinosaurs, heavy equipment, vehicles or sports on them. During our day in the hospital (we were there about 27 hours total), Nick ran back to the house to take care of a few things, like the dog for instance. On his way back, he stopped at Babies R Us and bought her several pink things, including a ridiculously expensive dress. Just FYI, my standard for a ridiculous newborn dress costs $30. My mom and Aunt Patti went shopping and each came back with new clothes for Georgia. Family bought her clothes, neighbors brought things, and friends gave things. I've been amazed at how generous people have been to us. She has so many cute clothes, that even though she goes through several outfits a day, she always looks fabulous.

A day after my parents left, my sister Katie came for 36 hours. About 36 hours after her departure, my brother Dallas, his wife Shannon, and their three boys arrived here by car via Mt Rushmore and Devils Tower, and most importantly West Des Moines, Iowa. With them, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry, and briefly visited a Parish Festival where Maggie Speaks was playing. I just kept Georgia in her car seat and so no one breathed on her or touched her. See Dallas's blog for a much more exciting summary of their visit.

The day after they left, Nick's mom and sister came, bringing with them cute things for Georgia and a present for Henry. Debbie even made Georgia a beautiful crocheted dress. We all visited the art museum and Millennium Park on that Saturday, then that evening, Debbie and Samantha watched Henry while Nick and I attended the Residency Graduation Dinner, with Georgia along for the ride. I was a little nervous taking Georgia to a rather formal event, but she stayed underneath the table in her car seat without making a peep. People were very surprised at the end of the night to find out she had been there the whole time, wearing her ridiculously expensive dress. Nick received an award for being the best resident teacher, as chosen by the medical students who rotated through surgery this year.

On Monday, he went back to work and the rest of us headed to the Happiest Place on Earth [for Nerds], the Museum of Science and Industry. It's so big and wonderful, I still haven't seen all of it. Debbie and Sami left that evening, and about 24 hours later, my Aunt Jo Ellen, aka Toots, arrived for her two week visit.

It's a Girl!

2011-05-30T19:55:00.002-05:00

We are excited to welcome Georgia Kay Johnson to our family. She was born Thursday May 26, 2011 at 6:15 PM. She was 20" long and weighed 8 lbs 4 oz. We're so grateful for her safe delivery and for all the support we've received from our family, friends and neighbors.

Georgia Kay Johnson is named after some wonderful people. Her first name is after Nick's paternal grandmother, who passed away several years ago. She was a wonderful woman, who exemplified devotion to her family, love for the Lord and an enterprising spirit. Baby Georgia's middle name is the name of Nick's late stepfather. Additionally, the name Kay has added meaning for my family. Our friend Rebekah passed away three years ago, and Kay is also her middle name. I can't hear the name Kay without remembering the wonderful influence both of these people have had in our lives.

The Robin and Me

2011-05-23T06:23:00.000-05:00

This planter, that currently functions as a bird's nest, is on the front of our house, sheltered by our little porch. It hosts a robin that spends almost all her time sitting on three bright blue eggs. I try not to use the front door too much because it spooks her, so I wait until she's not on the nest to grab my mail.

I think that she and I are a lot alike right now. We're both sitting around waiting for our offspring to appear. We should savor this time before the real work begins, when babies cry and need things and wake you up several times in the night. I want to savor this time, but the two-year-old woke up at five this morning, which feels more like newborn hours than toddler hours. And since the birds start chirping outside my bedroom window at about that time, I'm guessing the robin didn't sleep in either.

Oh Baby, Where Art Thou?

2011-05-19T23:50:00.000-05:00

My due date is Monday, but we have no expectation of having a baby here anywhere near that soon. Henry was a post-date induction, and I won't be shocked if this baby has a similar birthday in store. On Monday we finally got the baby furniture out of the attic. I still don't have my bag packed for the hospital. Maybe I should work on that this weekend. We do have the car seat, some diapers, a few onesies and a blanket. The rest is just fluff anyway.

So, loyal readers, both of you, in the comments give your best guess for when this baby will show up, what gender it will be, what size it will be and suggest a name appropriate for the predicted gender. Actually, suggest lots of names. I'm worried we'll leave the hospital with the birth certificate filled out as "Baby Johnson."

Birthday Bash, Several Times Over

2011-05-19T23:36:00.000-05:00

Click on photo for better view.

At the end of March, we traveled to Utah and Colorado for Nick's vacation time. In addition to getting near adequate amounts of sleep for the first time in months, Nick was able to spend a day skiing, go see a couple movies, and see lots of family. We were also traveling for Henry's birthday, so we turned it into a traveling birthday party. We had birthday candles and cake at each of his grandparents house. His favorite part was the noisemakers that unroll when you blow on them. He now knows how to blow out a candle.

For his actual birthday, he spent much of the day strapped into his car seat driving from Utah to Southwest Colorado to visit Nick's grandpa Buddy. (Henry's middle name is after this grandpa.) We did get him ice cream in Moab to celebrate. It was a bit reminiscent of his first birthday, when he spent all day in his car seat, first driving around Chicago neighborhoods looking at houses and then making our way back to St. Louis. But once we arrived in Colorado, we made up for the drive by having fun on an awesome playground and visiting Nick's aunt Reba.

Our family was very generous with presents. He loves the cars, trains, balls, and puzzles he received.

To All the Women in Our Lives:

2011-05-09T00:16:00.000-05:00

Easter Family Fun

2011-05-03T23:46:00.000-05:00

Henry has a thing for sunglasses now and wears them a lot. He seems especially drawn to wear them indoors, in the evening during low-light conditions.

We had a special visitor for Easter weekend. Katie came for about 44 hours, which is about her average visit. She took her last final for the semester and hopped on a plane from San Diego to Chicago. When she got here, it was raining so heavily, we could barely see the planes taking off very nearby. I don't know what her rush was for leaving: I thought we were more fun than that.

Nick was post-call and didn't get home until 12:00, but luckily he had slept a little during the night. We forced him out of bed at about 3:30, had a one-kid Easter Egg hunt in the backyard, then had a delicious dinner. During the egg hunt, Henry found a lot of eggs (often with help) but each egg had the tiniest amount of candy possible. His bucket looks full, but it's really only about twenty jelly beans.

As soon as dinner was over, we quickly sewed a button back on Kate's jacket before rushing her back to the airport. I was doing it, but apparently I've never learned to tie a knot properly. Nick insisted on taking over and finishing it off with a surgeon's knot of some kind. If his surgical career doesn't work out for some reason, perhaps he can go into tailoring.

End Vacation with a Little Home Improvement

2011-04-04T22:29:00.004-05:00

We spent Saturday listening to LDS General Conference and removing wallpaper. This lovely striped wallpaper was "in" during the late eighties, so from the previous homeowner's behind the times taste, we're guessing it was installed in the mid-nineties. It was on the inside and outside of our stairwell. I would have left this project until next year (there were uglier walls to tackle first, believe it or not) but Henry had already started stripping the wallpaper for us.

With the research we did, multiple sources directed us to Zinsser wallpaper removal products, most importantly DIF, an enzyme gel solution that dissolves the glue. We would recommend DIF and the Paper Scraper. The Paper Tiger wasn't really useful because we were able to pull the vinyl coated front off the wall in one piece, leaving the backing glue and paper exposed and ready to absorb DIF. It's still lots and lots of time-consuming work, but we were able to get it off without damaging the wall. This experience makes me hate wallpaper even more, though. You should have to buy a bond when you install wallpaper, to ensure that you're the one who eventually takes it down. Otherwise the bond would cover its removal, because I feel like the last homeowner left us holding the bag of this house with all it's outdated and unattractive-in-the-first-place wallpaper. Also, they should be shot for painting the ceilings in the house the color of the walls. It's bad enough that my bathroom is bright yellow, but it's worse that the ceiling is bright yellow. Ceilings should NEVER, NEVER be anything other than flat white paint. So over the next few years, we have four rooms of wallpaper to remove and a household of ceilings to paint. Now, the fun part. I need to pick a paint color. There are some creative constraints here- the formerly wallpapered area is only the lower half of the stairwell. The upper half would require professionals to paint because of the very tall wall, and the fact the ceiling (two stories off the ground) is painted the wall color. We're not ready to hire professionals right now, so we're only painting what was previously covered with wallpaper. The question is do we go with a color very similar to the upper half of the stairwell, paint the walls the same color as we painted the living room/hallway last fall (a warm off-white named "Toasted Cashew"), or pick something bolder?

Leave suggestions in the comments please.

Also, a public shoutout to my brother Sam. His gift of a gently used computer allowed us to watch general conference on an actual TV, while sitting on couches, in our own home for the first time since we moved out of Utah. Thanks also for Dallas's technical support.

A Video Treat: Henry Laughing at Caesar's Expense

2011-03-16T00:04:00.000-05:00

Milestones

2011-03-14T00:23:00.000-05:00

Is getting your first happy meal a milestone? While in St Louis, Henry had his first. I bought it because the toy included was a car, and all the other kids on the playground had one. I gave in to peer pressure.

I was at McDonald's to visit with Tammy and her cute kids. Ronald and some soft-serve ice cream were just delightful bonuses.
Good luck on match day this week!

The Difference a Year Makes

2011-03-10T23:35:00.001-06:00

The first picture is Miss M.L., a year ago at the Orchid show, and here she is next holding hands with Henry at this year's Orchid Show. For toddlers, they'd played together really well. The handholding stroll was a really cute to watch.

Our favorite sculptures at the botanical gardens have to be the little flock of sheep. I always made everyone I took to the garden sit on the sheep. On the left, Henry is just over three months old, where he is much smaller than he is now at 23 months.

St Louis Party Time

2011-03-09T23:37:00.000-06:00

It was serendipity when we were in St. Louis, that not only were they having the most beautiful spring weather, but that there was a birthday party to attend. There were three Lindell babies born at the beginning of March '09, and their moms had organized a party at the park for a joint celebration. It was great for a few reasons: 1) The aforementioned weather, 2) The park itself is fully gated so kids can't escape and it has great play equipment, 3) Those cupcakes! I don't like frosting, but I NEED the recipe for the blue cupcake icing. I think it was meringue based, and it was wonderful. 4)Most importantly, the people. I got to see a lot of church friends. There's no way I could have individually visited each of these beautiful women in more short visit to STL, so it was perfect that they had gathered themselves together. I got to meet a couple new babies, see some growing baby bellies, and get some updates on the old ward and neighborhood. Loved it!

Happy birthday O, C, and A! None of whom are the child crying in the above picture.

Henry loved this playground. He played hard for nearly two hours, and when we left I had to drag him away kicking and screaming. This Chicago weather has kept him caged too long. He wouldn't even slow down for a cupcake and juice.

Meet Me in St. Louis

2011-03-06T20:18:00.000-06:00

I spent just over 48 hours in St. Louis and loved every minute of it. My last minute, whirlwind trip happened to coincide with the Missouri Botanical Garden's Annual Orchid Show. That remains one of my favorite events in STL, but of course nothing is as great as the people there. I was able to do some great stuff and see some great people, but of course I cannot fit everything and everyone I love in St. Louis into two days.

Natalie and her oh-so-grown daughter came with us to the orchid show.

Longing for Spring

2011-03-01T12:34:00.001-06:00

For being such a short month, February felt like an eternity. It was a hard month, both in regards to weather and health. The biggest challenge was Nick's work schedule. I can't really describe how overworked he is. I will tell you he went three weeks without a day off. March couldn't come soon enough, and now I'm excited that spring is around the corner.

More December Flashbacks: Zoo Lights

2011-02-18T18:58:00.000-06:00

As part of Nick's few days off, we went to the nearby Brookfield Zoo for their special evening hours for Zoo Lights. They had lots of Christmas lights and displays. It was warmer than it might have been, but it was still below freezing, so a lot of the night was bundling up to get to the next indoor exhibit. This was the night that Henry learned leaving his mittens on could be a good thing.

We watched the dolphins play underwater for a while, visited the reptilian house, the wolves, the bears, and some big cats, but the real hit of the evening was the family play zoo.

Henry loves misting the plants in the greenhouse.

He worked on a craft project with Nick helping him. He got up close and personal with a guinea pig, and watched the lemurs.
For reasons unknown, he was fascinated by the chickens, and could have stayed there all night.

I Forgot About Christmas

2011-02-18T18:48:00.000-06:00

Christmas didn't come on December 25 at our house. Nick worked all the days surrounding Christmas, but had some days off at the end of December. His first day off, he was actually post-call, so he slept the whole day. On his second day, in the morning we actually had the ultrasound appointment for the fetal anatomy screening. But we wanted to celebrate Christmas morning, even if it was later in the day. We set up everything while Henry napped, and I even changed Henry back into pajamas to create that "morning feeling," even if it was late in the afternoon.

This is our Christmas tree, made to appear taller by being on top of our coffee table.

We started by finishing off our advent calendar. It came from Aldi, the chocolate was shaped differently for every day. It was pretty cute. But we had to fudge on the dates of course.

Henry figured out the opening of presents pretty quickly, and then the problem came when the presents weren't for him. I think he liked all his presents, but the clear winner was the trains. The meal we will refer to as "Christmas Breakfast" began with cinnamon rolls, and then continued to be all out brinner (breakfast for dinner). Nick cooked the most excellent bacon.

Merry Christmas from the Johnsons, even if it is past Valentine's Day.

I Choo-Choo-Choose You to be My Valentine

2011-02-14T21:29:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Love the Johnson Family

Expensive Santa

2011-01-21T10:57:00.000-06:00

One of the things our Village does is bring Santa around on the fire truck (here the small suburb cities are called Villages, even though they look nothing like the village in Beauty & the Beast or M. Night Shyamalan's movie). One of Santa's stops is our street corner, so we planned our Saturday morning so we could go outside right before Santa's scheduled arrival. Santa passed out a bag of treats to each of the kids, which included the driest orange ever, a PEZ dispenser, and some other candy. Henry loves PEZ, but not dry oranges.

So, while this was fun and cute (even if Henry remains unimpressed), the Grinch in me is going "How much does this cost??!? Is this one of the reasons our property and sales taxes are so ridiculously high?" Santa was on a fire engine, with a few other firemen, plus there were at least two support vehicles (with multiple people in each vehicle) that shut down the road for Santa's stop. Is the village paying all these people overtime? What happens if there's a fire right now? You can't have a 10% sales tax with a scheduled increase next quarter, and then waste money on a traveling fireman Santa AND a village party, where Santa also appeared. I'd rather have a rebate on my taxes than Santa come to see me.

This is also the Saturday we experienced our first Christmas miracle. I took a couple to the O'Hare airport so they could travel to Utah for Christmas and see the MoTab Christmas spectacular. After I dropped them off, the wife of the couple called and said her ID was at home. I looped back to the airport, picked her up and headed home to pick up her wallet. We had just about an hour until her flight time, and it's taken me more than one hour to go one-way to O'Hare before. We made good time, but it was still too slow to make it. The plan was she would keep trying until she knew there was absolutely no way she could get on the plane. We returned to the airport with about 5 or so minutes until her scheduled flight, but her plane was delayed 15 minutes, so they hadn't even boarded yet. It was a Christmas miracle! Except it was Delta, so you kind of expect them to be late anyway. And Delta had given a total of three couples tickets for the same two seats, so maybe the real Christmas miracle was that my friend and her husband didn't get bumped off the plane.

For Jo Ellen

2011-01-11T23:59:00.000-06:00

Henry's New Role

2011-01-11T23:53:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of December, Henry made a big announcement to our extended family: He's going to be a big brother in 2011. As you can tell from his hair, he had just been asleep in his car seat prior to sharing the news. We know he doesn't "get it." After spending time trying to explain to him what's going on and what's to come, he now points at his belly button and says, "Baby." He does know what babies are- he points to them and calls them "baby" at church. He has no clue that he's going to have to share everything with one in the near future.

It was fun to announce the news in person. I was able to gather my mom, Toots (Jo Ellen), Katie, Shannon, my Dad and Nick's mom Debbie in one room at one time to share the news. The next day I visited the Johnson family and told them in person too. In-person important conversations are one of the things you cut down on when you live 1600 miles away, so it was nice to have this one face-to-face.

The details: My due date is at the end of May. If this baby is anything like Henry, we may be looking at a June baby. We have already had our screening ultrasound, and on purpose, did not find out the gender. I thought it was a lot of fun to have Nick announce, "It's a boy!" in the delivery room last time, and I saved a ton of money by not buying stuff because I didn't know the gender beforehand. It was a win-win. I've been having a very normal, healthy pregnancy, but I felt terrible for the first 16 weeks. Now I feel really good. We're very excited to become the parents of children (moving into the plural noun is a big step!)

Holiday Cheer

2011-01-05T23:36:00.000-06:00

We spent Thanksgiving dinner with new church friends, who turns out, are totally awesome. They're quickly becoming some of my favorite people anywhere. Not only was dinner delicious, but it turns out they're hysterical. Both Nick and the man of the house are residents who worked Thanksgiving, so dinner was late enough in the afternoon that we could be pretty sure they could attend. After dinner, their two adorable girls kept Henry entertained. I think Henry now wants an iMac.

I find it odd that at a church party, Santa Claus makes an appearance. But he was there, so we sat Henry on his lap. Henry wasn't thrilled, but it went way better than the visit with the Easter Bunny.

Guess who else was at the ward party? Dallas and my Mom! They flew in for less than 48 hours but we packed in a lot of fun. Dallas is shown here with the Tate family. Shawn is Dallas's cousin-in-law (Shannon's first cousin.) We went from the airport, to the ward party, to Portillo's to eat, then dropped Nick and Henry off at the house, then headed to hear "Maggie Speaks" at the casino in Joliet. The next day, Dallas went to the Bears game, which was crazy because it was snowing and windy (and really cold). He described the experience as being inside of a snow globe as the wind just kept blowing the snow in swirls inside Soldier Field. While he did that, my mom and I decorated the Christmas tree she brought me.

H and I went to our village (aka city) party. It makes more sense to me that Santa was here. Once again, Henry was not impressed.

Chicago Tourism

2010-12-07T11:45:00.000-06:00

View of the Downtown Skyline from Museum Campus

In November, I had a friend come visit for 6 days and we did everything on the City Pass, just without buying the city pass. Stacy Jinks Hunt and I went to music school together at the University of Utah. We did our Junior Recital together, sung duets, sang in choir together- basically spent a lot of wonderful time together. She went on a mission to Italy, and while she was gone I married Nick. Then she got back and married Oscar and moved to Oregon, so we haven't seen a lot of each other lately. On her visit, Stacy took our group pictures, so I didn't have a single of picture of her to show you- I'll have to ask her for those.

Stacy actually came to town for an opera audition, but that was done within about 12 hours of her arrival, so the rest of the week was just for fun. Saturday night we went to the Hancock Observatory for the night view of Chicago and then had the best deep dish Pizza ever at Uno's. We kept Henry out until midnight, which I admit was a little excessive, but he said it was worth it for the spectacular view and the Pizza.

Monday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. As many times as I have been there, it was the first time I'd taken the submarine tour which was totally worth the $7. It's basically my favorite place on earth.

Tuesday is what really wore us out. The museums of "Museum Campus" were all having Community Days, where you get basic admission for free. So for just the cost of parking ($17) we saw the top floor of the aquarium, the exhibits of the planetarium (Henry's favorite part was the slide above), and as much of the Field Museum as we had time for.

These stuffed Panda's have been on display in the field museum since the 1930's. They were hunted down and shot by Teddy Roosevelt's sons, because in 1930 it was considered very manly to kill Pandas.

I love this walrus skeleton. The analogous structures of the hands and feet are so similar to humans, but are totally hidden by its flippers.

Henry and I were beat, so Wednesday Stacy took the train downtown to see the Institute of Art and Millennium Park. Henry only lasts about 10 minutes in an art museum these days, so it was nice that Stacy was able to spend a whole afternoon there. That evening we all went to Giordano's (even Nick) for a farewell dinner. The Pizza was good, but could not top the Pesto-based Pizza we had at Uno's.

Virginia is for Friends

2010-11-22T16:50:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit my friend Janette in the Norfolk, Virginia area. The hardest part about leaving St. Louis was leaving the people. I plan to visit St. Louis before the end of the year, but so many of our friends moved at the same time we moved- you can never go home again. Another huge batch of my friends moves away from STL this summer, so I have go back a couple times before then.

So visiting Janette and her two girls was a huge treat. There were also very occasional sightings of her surgical intern husband. We spent a week there and it was so nice to be with another adult all day, not to mention that Janette's one of my favorite people ever. During the week we spent a lot of time in their beautiful home, hosted preschool, and visited the aquarium.

Henry generously shared his cold with the girls, after a little boy generously shared it with Henry at church. But karma is out there somewhere, so we came home with a different cold. So, sorry Miss M about the runny nose. That's all our fault.

Henry loved the aquarium, pointing at the fish and watching the people. He wasn't as interested in Colonial Williamsburg, and so he tried to steal some old guy's scooter in order to make an escape attempt. He would have been content just to play with the girls' toys all week. They have a horse on springs just like the Wheadon's had when I was growing up. He also loved their slide. The stroller was loved a little too much- Henry would freak out if anyone touched it, so it got put away for the rest of our visit. He is not good at sharing, and was constantly taking toys away from Miss M, who then generally looked sad but didn't do anything about it. He tried to take away a helicopter from a girl during the preschool session, who put up a real fight. If it hadn't been my kid causing the problem, I would have loved to just watch those two wrestle for it. They were both very determined and adult intervention was necessary. As it stands, we're continuing to work on the problem.

On our way to the airport, we visited their botanical gardens. Of course they were beautiful, but Henry's favorite part is the playground. After he came down the slide, I realized there was a problem with his diaper. See how his right pant leg (our left) has a bit of bulk to it? Yeah, that is his diaper around his ankle. I have no idea how that happened. A quick diaper and outfit change later, he was back on the playground.

Our New Roof

2010-11-18T09:47:00.000-06:00

Our new roof was installed last week. Buying a new roof is a very un-exciting way to spend money. Once you've spent the money, you have a roof. Which is what you had before you started, this one's just newer. We knew when we moved here we'd have to get a new roof within three years. The home inspector said he would do it Summer 2011 if it were his house. However, after we'd moved in our insurance company said they'd cancel our policy if we didn't replace it before December. The contractors who came to look at our roof said they were being ridiculous- they agreed with the home inspector. However, now it's done and I can stop worrying about it.

The picture above is the roof installation in progress. The new shingle has been laid on the main section of the roof, and you can compare it with the older orange shingle on the small section of old roof on the first floor.

Halloween Madness

2010-11-17T12:54:00.000-06:00

The day before Halloween, we had a "Trunk-or-Treat" with our ward. The party was held at the church, had activities and chili first, then ended with passing out candy in the parking lot. Henry had no interest in going car to car for treats, but ended up helping Nick pass out candy from our undecorated trunk. Henry is wearing an elephant costume, which is even cuter when he wears the hood part of it. I wore my Snow White dress, Nick wore clothes. To the kid getting candy: Where's your costume? Holding a toy sword is not a costume.

On Halloween, we were totally surprised by the volume of trick-or-treaters. Our neighbor had warned us, "We go through bags and bags of candy, then pretend we're not home." As a result, I bought what I thought was a lot of candy. I bough a few bags of fun size bars, some bags of bite size bars, and then as back-up, a couple hundred suckers. The trick-or-treating started as 3:30, and about 6:30, we turned off our lights and pretended to be not at home because all of the candy was gone. We spent about $70 on candy and had still run out. The saddest part of it was there was no candy for us to eat- no leftovers, and Henry had never collected any.

We estimate we had between 450-500 trick-or-treaters. One odd thing- a lot of adults were collecting candy. I don't know if it's something lost in cultural translation, but I thought it was just for kids. So a lot of adults would have their own bag for collecting that they'd put out for their treat, in addition to their toddler's treat bag. We had a few adults who had no kids in sight. I'm a little astonished by that. Of course, you always get kids and teens who you think, "aren't they a little old for this?" but I guess in this area, age knows no limits.

This neighborhood goes all out for Halloween. A lot of families have really elaborate decorations for the holiday, and in the past the neighborhood has even done a two block long spook alley. So between that and the front doors being only thirty feet apart, it makes us the perfect Halloween destination. We could quickly tell that the vast majority of our visitors were not from this neighborhood. For one thing, our tiny 6-block neighborhood doesn't have 500 kids total. But also the ethnicity of our visitors didn't match the demographics of the neighborhood.

So next year, we will buy more candy and we may still run out of it before the night is over.

Our Mute Boy

2010-10-24T22:38:00.000-05:00

Henry uttered his first word- Caesar- seemingly forever ago. His vocabulary has been very slow to grow. He will say momma and dadda when prompted, but he doesn't initiate it. There is a particular grunt that I usually recognize as he wants whatever it is that I have. He yells "Dee!" whenever he does something like a body-slam or tackle. Everything else he needs or wants is covered with a generic grunt that's like saying "uh" over and over again. He's not exactly the most verbal child ever.

So Nick was surprised last week when Henry saw a picture of a flower and said "flower" clearly enough that it could be understood as an English word by a casual listener. Nick wondered why would that be the new word he would add to his vocabulary when he still doesn't say things that he wants all the time like milk or ball or car. I had a simple explanation. All summer I've tried to keep Henry from picking the flowers in the yard, or more accurately, pulling the petals off the flowers. Thousands of times this summer he has heard "Be nice to the flowers," or "Don't touch the flowers," or "Stop killing the flowers please." We've gone over what to do and not to do to the flowers a lot.

He may have learned to identify them, but he still hasn't learned not to touch them. We were outside today, and it was if he made a bee-line to pull the petals off the one flowering plant we have left. I guess we'll try again this spring.

He Seems So Serious

2010-10-20T21:19:00.000-05:00

His last canine has finally broken through his gums. I'm hoping to have a much happier kid now. He's been Dr. Toddler/Mr. Hyde the last week, so I'm excited to have a happy Henry return.

A Return to Real Life

2010-10-19T23:32:00.000-05:00

Nick is on call right now, which means by the time he gets home tomorrow he will have worked for thirty hours, likely without any sleep. He returned to work Monday after two-weeks of vacation. We spent the first week in Utah with our families. Highlights included the annual Ashworth Halloween party, shooting handguns at the Lion's Club Range, sleeping in every morning, and lots of cold diet coke. I took pictures, but then left them in Utah, so just imagine that we were having a great time and looked like we stepped out of a Banana Republic catalog. Cause, that's how we usually look.

We came home with a sick baby and a very relaxed dog. The baby had a bit of a meltdown on the plane- hey guy with the C boarding pass sitting next to us- you got an aisle seat- that's worth something, but was it worth this?? You could have chosen a center seat somewhere else. Just saying.

We spent the second week of vacation continuing to sleep in, taking naps, watching a couple of movies, and doing a few local fun things. Most importantly we celebrated my birthday by painting our family room. We started wall prep the night before and continued in the morning after a leisurely breakfast. We had everything ready so as soon as Henry was napping our first coat was going on the wall. It was our first time using Behr's new paint and primer-in-one. Considering we were covering green sponge painting (blech!) it did a fantastic job. The second coat was needed to get rid of visible brush strokes. I no longer walk into our living room finding myself overwhelmed with its hideousness. Instead, the walls are a beautiful light beige that will be a nice backdrop for the things we will put on and in front of the walls. Pictures to come. I'm in a photo rut and haven't taken any pictures I like recently, I'll work on trying harder.

On a side note- I've started a "Bad Picture a Day" blog. Most of the pictures are phone pictures, featuring Henry as the main subject. There is a link on the side of the blog to the most recent pictures.

What Happened Here?

2010-10-07T23:37:00.000-05:00

Very sorry to tell you kid, this basket is a little out of your reach.
I'm pretty sure that's mud on your bottom, which is a relief.

A Favorite Painting

2010-09-30T12:44:00.000-05:00

It's a portrait by John Singer Sargent, at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's one of the many beautiful things I saw when I visited there with my St. Louis friend Bonnie on Tuesday. She and her family spent Monday and Tuesday night with us, so Tuesday we went out on the town.

Our beautiful day was slightly marred when we returned to my car after visiting the museum. The parking enforcer had left a ticket on my windshield-not for being illegally parked, but for having tinted windows. The fine is $250, which hurts. So today, I hate the city of Chicago and Richard M. Daley, Mayor.

For Nick

2010-09-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

Utah Highlights

2010-09-17T21:52:00.000-05:00

W, my nephew

Henry, Caesar and I went to Utah for a week. Here are some of the highlights:

We visited all first degree relatives, saw a few second degree ones too.

Had lunch with a few friends, including Jessica R. S. and Christy R. C. There are lots of friends I'm hoping to catch in the next visit or two (for example, Sarah and Sara.) We did catch my mom's quarterly luncheon with her childhood friends, which is always too much fun.

We went to the Utah State Fair. I hadn't been in years. Henry had his first trip down the big yellow slide. Nick said he doesn't get emotional over many things, but he was very sad to have missed the first yellow slide experience. Henry's favorite thing at the fair was the chapstick I bought. He took the lid off and put it back on repeatedly, until he finally lost the lid, then he focused on eating the chapstick.

Had a sweet pork burrito from Costa Vida, but someone stole my leftovers which put on damper on the experience. Also, I ate one of their delicious coconut Popsicles.

Shopped at NPS, where I bought Henry a jacket for $3.50. Henry had a haircut by his aunt Samantha at her beauty college. He basically took it like a boss. She also straightened my hair, which made me realize how much my current haircut is not working. I haven't done anything to change it yet, other than find a barrette.

I used my mom's "On Demand" to watch an episode of "Burn Notice," which naturally makes me think of my grandma. Oddly enough, it was her favorite show (what can I say, she was very modern.)

I am now scared to drive on Utah freeways at night. People are going upwards of 70mph, and in Utah County, the freeway is pitch black. That's so different than it is here, where 55 mph feels like speeding and everything's bright.

Of course, there were lots of things I wanted to do that we didn't. Hopefully we'll get them done soon.

Neighborhood Adventures

2010-09-17T18:13:00.002-05:00

I dropped our car off at the dealer this morning for a repair. It's been making a horrible noise when you turn (power steering problem) but of course, it wasn't making the noise as I drove it the single mile to the dealer, and now they can't get it to make the noise either. I left the car with them, and went next door to Goodwill and then Aldi. I then had the stroller covered in shopping bags, perhaps looking a little homeless, except there was an actual child and not a bag of cans sitting in the stroller.

We passed McDonald's on the way home, so I bought a drink but faced terrible disappointment. Not only was the drink flat, but an older lady spilled coffee on my foot and sandal. She picked her tray up from the counter, loosely, with one hand, and the drink crashed on the floor. My foot was only splashed, so there was no real injury, but that coffee is one degree away from molten lava. If you are going to buy hot coffee, pick up the tray with both hands. A few minutes later, I saw her where they keep the ketchup. Her tray was covered with coffee- she had spilled the second cup of coffee they served her, just on her tray this time. Two hands, lady!

Blogging in the Sky

2010-09-15T18:21:00.000-05:00

I'm in a chair in the sky, going 500 miles an hour. For $5, I have Internet on my southwest flight from Denver to Chicago-Midway. I didn't need it, but I bought it because I COULD. It's my first wifi plane. Henry and caesar are both asleep. Best flight ever.

How I Learned to Drive

2010-09-15T12:12:00.000-05:00

Photographic Evidence

2010-09-14T15:43:00.000-05:00

I finally found photographic evidence that I was once a baby. I had been suspecting that I didn't exist until I was about 12 (because I've seen pictures from that age.)

After His Haircut

2010-09-11T11:12:00.001-05:00

Henry had a haircut yesterday, given by Nick's sister Samantha. It was very successful. Three months ago we tried there, but he had just woken up from a nap and it did not go well. This time he was well rested, fed, had a lollipop an ipod and a pez dispenser. It went much better- there was no screaming and his hair looks great.

Stereotypical

2010-09-08T16:50:00.000-05:00

Day at the Museum

2010-09-07T19:11:00.001-05:00

Me, my new friend, and our two kids reflected in "the Bean."

My new friend Emily and I went to the Art Institute today. As usual, the museum had many beautiful treasures. I found a painting by one of my favorite artists, Bouguereau, that I hadn't known they owned. We hurried (because Henry was only going to last so long) to hit some of the most famous highlights of the museum: Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, American Gothic by Grant Wood, the impressionist collection, and the portraits by Sargent. When Henry was showing signs of meltdown, we went outside and ate lunch by "the bean," whose real name is Cloud Gate.

Emily in front of the museum, from accross the street. On the way home, I took Emily to Aldi for her first visit/orientation- sort of Aldi Shopping 101. I love introducing people to Aldi. On our way home, H and I stopped at CVS, where our new insurance forces us to fill his prescription. Aside from our new copay being ridiculously high, the experience was SO MUCH BETTER than I've ever had a Walgreen's. In St. Louis, you could never just drop your prescription off and pick it up in a single visit. Four hours seemed to be the minimum turnover time, and that's the time they would tell you, but it would actually be longer. We were in and out with the filled prescription in twenty-minutes. I've never tested her wisdom on this before, but Heidi C was completely right- CVS was so much better.

When we got home, Caesar showed that he had really missed us. We'd been gone practically all day.

To The Rescue

2010-09-04T14:43:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite St. Louis people is in town, visiting her husband's family. Natalie sneaked away in the wee hours of the morning (9:00) to come over to my house. I was very excited, but also very conniving. I knew Natalie has experience and taste in painting, and we all know from the pictures of my living room that I need to do some painting. She took the bait, and within moments of coming into the house, was throwing tape on the wall to create sections for sample painting. I've been accumulating samples since moving here, but I've been worried that I'll never actually make a decision.

Natalie showed me a lot of painting tricks, and in no time, she had the paint sample up and there was no mess anywhere. A lot of the tricks are to contain the mess before it even starts. This is something that would be very good for me to learn in many aspects of my life.

Here are the paint samples. Click on the picture for a larger view. There is now a poll on the blog, to ask your opinion of which color I should use. The poll is non-binding, but I'm very susceptible to peer pressure. Natalie and I felt really great about one of the colors, but then Nick came home and disagreed. In fact, he doesn't think any of them are good enough. In his view, the perfect color would be between the Toasted Cashew and Hush. Hush is a Benjamin Moore color, and the rest are Behr.

Vote in the poll, and share your thoughts in the comments section.

Redecorating

2010-08-30T13:50:00.001-05:00

Click on the photo for a larger view.

I was excited to swap out old pictures for new ones in our wall display. Nick liked the new one on the right, but didn't care so much for the one on the left.

I still need to pick a wall color- desperately. I am just overwhelmed by all the options, and am paralyzed by indecision. I'm afraid that I'll commit to something, and that it will be wrong. I just need to reassure myself that, no matter what I pick, it cannot possibly be any uglier than what is already on the wall.

The House Always Wins

2010-08-30T12:58:00.001-05:00

We've had an ant problem here since about two hours after we'd moved in. We didn't even have any food in the house when we first saw them crawling over the sink and counter. The commercial baits we bought did not interest them. They happily crawled around them and continued to look for even the smallest crumb on the counter. First battle was a win for the ants.

However, the war was not over. Janette had an ant problem last year, which was quickly solved with household items. Step one: puree hot dog. (I actually minced it, because I didn't want to wash the food processor). Step two: Mix three parts hot dog puree with one part borax (sold as a laundry additive, it's cheap too.) Step three: Watch ants as they swarm on the mixture and carry the poison back to their home to share with the queen. Step four: Notice there are no more ants around after a couple of days.
(A variation on this formula can be made by using honey instead of hot dog, if that's what your ants prefer.)

So, we got rid of the ants on the counter, and that was great. But then a couple of weeks later, a new batch of ants figured out where the dog food bowl is, which is also next to where Henry eats. It became very bad very quickly. By the time Henry was done with lunch, the bits he had dropped would be covered with ants. I think ants were eating more dog food than the dog was. The challenge was to put the poison on the floor in a way the ants could get it but dogs and babies couldn't.

Add another step: Cut little entrance holes in the bottom of a sour cream container (or similar). Put the bait inside, and replace the lid. The ants can now crawl in, but larger creatures can't get to the poison. Borax is only mildly toxic to mammals, but I still don't want any little mammals here eating borax-laced hot dog.

We had one more ant breakout in our bedroom. I had thrown away a cup that had once had ice cream in it, in our bedroom wastebasket. I did not know this was the ant equivalent of Disneyland. They came in a dramatic swarm and were all over the garbage and adjacent nightstand. I was grossed out. I made a batch of ant bait, put it in the sour cream container, and waited. Six hours later they were swarming (see photo). The next day they were gone.

I win.

Block Party

2010-08-23T14:51:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, the next street over had a block party. We had been invited to stop by, so we went and had some cotton candy. It was so hot and humid, that it turned into a ball of goo in about 2 minutes. Henry didn't exactly get the concept of the bounce house ball pit. Then a bunch of tween girls got in and were throwing the balls at each other, which made it even less fun for H. The saddest part is, he wouldn't even touch the cotton candy. He doesn't know what he's missing.

We only know 4 people on that street, and none of them were there at the time. I had been hoping to meet people, but ended up not actually talking to anyone. I'm still working on getting to know my neighbors, and obviously I need to try a little harder.

A Foreign Concept

2010-08-18T18:33:00.000-05:00

We had a family outing to the zoo today. Nick had a rare day off, of sorts. Nick had to go to work at 6:00 PM, and then work until tomorrow around lunch. At the zoo, the Henry got to pet a guinea pig, but the rule was you could only pet it with one finger. Nick and the zoo docent got Henry model just one finger, and every time he would pet the animal, he would bring out the rest of the fingers right as he touched the fur. Very sneaky, or more likely, he just doesn't have clue.

We Named Our Son Jennifer

2010-08-15T09:28:00.000-05:00

When I was in junior high, it seems all of my friends were named Jennifer. In addition to having a bff/cousin Jennie, my friends at school were Jen A. and Jen S., and in high school, Jen H and a few more Jens, Jennys, and Jennifers. Point being, I knew a lot of Jennifers and they were generally wonderful people, but it could get a little confusing.

When Nick and I were expecting, we considered the popularity of a name. Because our last name is Johnson, we figured we needed an unpopular name so there wouldn't be two "Jennifer Johnson" kids in a kindergarten class. So, we went old school. We went for a name that I had never met someone under fifty using. Neither of us went to school with a Henry. We had no friends or relatives named Henry. It was ranked in the 80's on the social security list, between some names I'd never heard people use. The only Henry I knew the first few months of our baby's life was the octogenarian Henry in my camera club. I thought his generation's "Jennifer" was going to be William or Aidan.

What I didn't realize, and perhaps couldn't see coming, is that we were using a name that was on an up-swing. After he was born, we would meet people that would say "My niece just named her baby Henry last week." I've met other Henry's at the playground, the zoo, and the grocery store. A friend recently posted pictures on facebook of her son (who has the same name as Dallas's youngest that I thought would be really uncommon) with her nephew-that's right- Henry.

By trying to go just slightly off the beaten path, we've ending up in the middle of a herd of people just like us, who all have boys with the name equivalent of Jennifer.

PS- To my Jen friends, it is a great name, and you're great too.

Stages of Waking

2010-08-13T21:22:00.000-05:00

They say there are five stages to mourning. I'm not sure how many stages there are in the process of waking up from a nap. It begins with gentle stirring from sleep, then some stuff happens in the middle, then acceptance.

Click on photo for larger view.

Random Stuff I Miss from St Louis

2010-08-13T16:21:00.000-05:00

Of course, the first thing I miss about St. Louis is our friends, but this post is more about the tangible things you could experience if you went to St. Louis for yourself.

Some things I miss about St. Louis:

Places:
Missouri Botanical Garden
http://www.slam.org/
Seeing the Gateway Arch every time I left the house
Tower Grove
The St. Louis Mills (all Nick's dress clothes came from the Hagar outlet)
The Magic House. Henry's just getting to the age that can really enjoy it.

Foods:
Pho Grand
Ted Drewe's
Sweetie Pie's at the Mangrove (for their awesome mac & cheese)
Quik Trip- the greatest place on earth for fountain drinks

Things and Services:
The wall of windows in our apartment
Built-in dishwasher
Easy freeway access (it was literally in the front yard)
Awesome eyebrow threading at the Galleria (the Chicago version was TERRIBLE)
St. Louis Camera Club A huge regret is I didn't find out about this until our last year there.
Emily Southerland Photography Beautiful Portrait work
A sales tax rate that's less than tithing (not so in Chicagoland)
Five o'clock traffic is really that- traffic at 5:00, not all day and night.

This is an Orchid from Mobot's 2010 Orchid show. The orchid show is definitely on the list.

Thursday Update

2010-08-12T15:26:00.000-05:00

Reading time at the library is on hiatus until September, so we haven't left the house today. We did play in the backyard long enough for Henry to step in some dog poop. I was tempted to just throw the shoes away, but had to admit that was a pretty wasteful solution. I had the lawn mowed by 9:00 this morning, but it was still hot and humid. Between the heat and the terrible mosquitoes, there isn't much incentive to go outside.

Vacuuming up flies is a poor solution to having flies. Yesterday we had some flies in the house. I vacuumed them up, which is not as easy as it sounds. The trick was cornering them in a window. But them I turned the vacuum off, and they promptly flew out. I had assumed the vacuum would kill them, instead I just managed to relocate all the flies to be in the kitchen. Henry and I went to the store and bought a fly swatter, which is an effective solution to having flies.

Katie is in Slovenia, the homeland of my maternal line, visiting our Slovene cousin and meeting other relatives. We haven't seen Alja, the cousin in question, since her 2002 visit, but she and Jo Ellen correspond regularly. Kristy is with Katie, and Liz is leaving for the airport to join them as I type. Katie and Kristy have already been to Ukraine, as part of Kristy's charitable work, and Turkey. I'm a little jealous, but tourism is also hard work and it's just too hot there right now. I think Slovenia will be more comfortable than their last two stops.

I've been doing quite a bit of sewing recently, but it's all straight lines. I put more pockets on Nick's current white coat. I cut up the white coat from his med school days to use the fabric. Now he has a pockets actually big enough to keep a stethoscope in. I've also made some nursing covers and have a few more to make before too long. I think I need something else to be my next project though- perhaps an apron.

In St. Louis, there were weird goings-on I could tell you about. Here, not so much. Several nights ago, I was laying in bed when I heard a car horn honk once. That's as weird as it's been. Also, the neighbor two houses down is having a new roof put on today, so there is some construction noise. That's exciting.

We used to hear people yelling at each other (sometimes angry, often not) across the street from our apartment in St. Louis. Yesterday, I thought I heard someone yelling outside. I figured out what had actually happened was Henry had managed to turn on the TV and some cartoon characters were having a disagreement. I guess I'm just looking for some excitement.

Sign of a Good Nap

2010-08-11T23:02:00.001-05:00

Twenty Years Later

2010-08-10T14:43:00.000-05:00

There are not many things I have from when I was ten-years-old. And there's certainly nothing useful from that era of my life still around- except for my sewing kit. When I was in fourth grade, Jo Ellen took me on Saturday mornings to the Button House School of Sewing. It was in the teacher's basement in Salt Lake. I think I remember her saying that her last name meant "button house" in German, if that gives anyone trying to track her down clues. I only stuck with it for a few months because my dad took us skiing on Saturday mornings in the winter. The irony is I now have absolutely no desire to ski, and wish I could sew much better than my poor skills allow. The first project you had to complete was to make a bag, which you would use to store your subsequent projects in. Next I made some horribly constructed "unit" clothing because I was so jealous of Michelle Sutton's outfits. The neck of the shirt I made was so wide, I had to wear a shirt under it. I think the pants were even worse.

When I started lessons, Jo Ellen bought me everything I would need. Going down our supply list, we needed a pin cushion. Jo Ellen recommended this red magnetic one. It was $8. That seemed like an exorbitant amount to spend on a pin cushion, so I was hesitant (even though Jo Ellen was paying). But that was the pin cushion I ended up with, and have used for twenty years. Until last week, it looked almost new. Then I dropped it on the hard floor. I almost cried, but then snapped the bottom back on, and realized it would still be great- it just now has a little crack in it. I hope it will last another twenty.

The pin cushion is sitting on top of the secret to keeping the same pin cushion for twenty years- a Caboodles organizer. I think Jo Ellen bought that to keep my supplies in, and it has worked. I think I'm still using the same pins and seam measurer as she bought me all those years ago.

Now that I think about it- one other thing I have from when I was ten. Jennie Ashworth and I bought nearly identical Caboodles (from Shopko I think). I have kept make-up in it ever since I was old enough to own make-up. Even though it's black and neon pink, I'll never replace it- the old ones are so much better than the ones they sell today.

The little girls (as Jennie and I referred to Katie and Kristy back then) wanted ones so badly, they talked our generous grandpa into taking them to Shopko and buying them each one. Mine was pink on top and black on the bottom, and Katie's is identical but black on top and pink on the bottom. Not like she was trying to copy me or anything.

Thank you Toots, and thank you Grandpa.

P.S.- you can now get a cheap knock-off of this pin cushion at Walmart. I bought one for my mom, and while it may be adequate, it's not as good as this one (even with a crack in it.)

Chicago Botanical Gardens

2010-08-08T21:45:00.000-05:00

We finally made it to Chicago's Botanical Gardens. In St. Louis, the gardens (Mobot) were a mile away. Here, it's an hour away (if the traffic isn't bad.) They had a large bonsai collection. This bonsai is over 100 years old. When I see bonsai, I think of Sarah Davies's bonsai Charlotte, who was a casualty of Utah's dry climate and a relocation out of the bathroom.

We spent most of our time in the fruits and vegetables. I loves the grapes- they had a huge trellis of them covering the walkway.

These are apple trees, trained and woven into an arch.

Henry and Nick potted a tiny basil plant. Henry was mostly interested in the shovel. He's hidden because his shirt matches the bucket.

The gardens here are very different from mobot, but they seem grander, as if Chicago lives by the "Go big, or go home" motto. There was more commercial photography going on here, so they must not have the same stringent policies that mobot does. I hope we'll go back soon, because there was so much more of it left to explore and it changes so much with every season.

Another Water Fail

2010-08-06T22:21:00.000-05:00

He does not like getting wet. We drove quite a ways to go to a pool party at a ward member's grandma's house. It was a fun idea, but he didn't like being in the water, and he really didn't like it when he rubbed his eyes and got sunscreen in them. The drive home was horrible. It took close to two hours to go thirty miles.

Almost Ripe

2010-08-04T18:36:00.000-05:00

Just as I thought we were having beginner's luck with our tomato plants, I realized our real problem. Forget root rot or pests- those can be dealt with. How do you keep a toddler from picking all the fruits off the plant? Do they sell a spray for that?

He's A Stacking Machine

2010-08-01T22:48:00.001-05:00

On one hand, I was inclined to remind him for the thousandth time
to stay out of the cupboards. But I was thrilled at his mad stacking
skills. That tower is five items high and organized with the widest
cans on bottom. He's brilliant.

Our Stealthy Boy

2010-07-29T18:39:00.000-05:00

Nick keeps losing Henry around the house. Where does he disapear
to? Henry's the only one who's really fond of those curtains.

Living On The Edge

2010-07-28T13:23:00.000-05:00

He likes to dangle his legs, then most of his body over the edge but he doesn't like to drop down. He thinks the floor is very far away.

My Boys

2010-07-25T20:55:00.001-05:00

Brookfield Zoo: Success!

2010-07-20T13:53:00.000-05:00

We went to the Brookfield Zoo with Dallas and the boys when they were here. It was hot, crowded, and reminded me of the fact that I don't really like zoos. Today was the coolest day in a couple weeks, and it's getting hot again starting tomorrow so I thought H and I should give it another try. We spent all of our time in the two special children's zoos. The first is a play zoo. He played in the Fisher-Price corner, which is full of toys and is pretty much like going to play group at someone's house who has a lot of Fisher-Price animal themed toys. He loved it.

Eventually I tore him away from that and we went through their greenhouse, but he only wanted to throw gravel so that didn't last long. We went to the "Zoo at Home" section where he pet a guinea pig. Once the guinea pig was bag in its cage, Henry loved looking at it up close. He wouldn't stop talking about how great those little white furry animals were (although I didn't understand a word of what he said.) He was very excited to point to the animals in the cages and he loved their goldfish.

He was a interested in the lemurs, but he was more interested in climbing on everything.

I finally removed him from the play zoo, kicking and screaming, and we stopped by the petting zoo on our way to the car. We caught the very end of a horse grooming lesson, and he pet the miniature horse. Once he pet one of the goats, he was very excited and had to pet each of the goats. He loved it. We even got to feed the goats out of our hands, but Henry was more confused than excited by that process.

Even though it was nap time, we would have stayed a little longer if my pants hadn't been falling down. I wore a pair of Capri pants I haven't worn for a couple of years. They fit just fine as I put them on this morning, but as our zoo experience progressed they were getting looser and looser. I couldn't go three steps without pulling them up. By the time I got to the car, I couldn't get Henry in the carseat with both hands, because one hand had to be holding up my pants. I remember thinking this morning, "I don't need a belt with these pants. They fit great!" I now remember why I don't wear these pants. They stretch out and fall down as your day goes on.

From our first experience at the zoo, I wasn't excited to go back. But now that we know how much he loves these children's areas, we will return soon.

Parking In Downtown Chicago

2010-07-19T13:47:00.001-05:00

I think this may be the worst parallel parking job ever. The curb they
jumped is particularly tall, maybe 9 inches. It ended up ridiculously
close to the pay box and a pole. The pictures just can't do it
justice, but you'll notice the Cadillac has damage on the front left
bumper. I'm not sure if that's from this or a separate incident.
Either way I'm guessing this person is a bad driver. I heard a city
employee radio someone and say, "You gotta come see this one."

A New Milestone

2010-07-18T12:51:00.000-05:00

Water Attempt 2: Fail

2010-07-18T00:35:00.000-05:00

Kiddie pool was not so hot. We had a hard time convincing him to go in. Once in, he had fun for about a minute. Then he slipped and got his face underwater. That did not go over well.

Party Moocher

2010-07-13T23:06:00.000-05:00

Henry following Don, begging for brownies.

Get a load of this little moocher.

We had Nick's cohort over for a barbecue (minus the one that was on call). It was one part party and four parts team meeting. When they were still in orientation we all went out to dinner, but the restaurant was the loudest I'd ever been to, so we couldn't really talk much.

When the guests arrived, Henry immediately attached himself to Don and followed him around and begged for his food. Don (an intern's spouse) was easily manipulated by Henry, and ate dinner with Henry on his lap while giving him bites of hamburger and pasta.

We got a patio set at Aldi. It is made in China and its quality matches the expectation that brings. However, it looks good and providing it doesn't collapse when someone sits on it, I think it will be fine. We only got to use it for about fifteen minutes because shortly after we sat down to eat it started raining. We quickly moved things inside and the party continued.

Playgroup: Fail

2010-07-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

Our ward here is not consistent about holding playgroup, but they did have it last Friday, so we went. Our ward is very spread out, geographically, so there's going to be a considerable drive to attend any activities. It took a long time to get ready. We went to the store and bought snacks, sunscreen, and swim diapers. I put Henry into his swim outfit, which effectively covers about 80% of his body, put on the swim diaper and lots of sunscreen. I thought he would love the splash pad since he loved the flooded sidewalk so much.

His outfit is not that ridiculous. But that's only because he won't wear the hat and sunglasses I want him to. His sun protection isn't up to snuff without those accessories.

He was not so fond of it. He played with it for a minute. It was cute how he tried to grab the water. But after the variable height of the fountain surprised him in the face once, he was done with it. The kid does not really like to get wet, and he certainly doesn't want to get his head wet. He spent the rest of the time playing with the $0.99 beach ball I threw in the cart when I bought the swim diapers, or crying because other kids were playing with it.

When we got him dressed, his shirt was a little wet, but his shorts were still totally dry.

Our Boring Life

2010-07-13T22:30:00.000-05:00

There has been very little blogging because there has been very little action around here. For one thing, we're in a quiet little neighborhood where things are generally clean and well-maintained. This means there's very little in the alley to report on, and nothing weird is happening for me to tell you about. Our next door neighbors just moved in before we did, but on a whole the neighborhood is very stable.

Our backyard neighbors, Paul and Paula, mentioned that the couple in the corner house hadn't lived there very long, "just a few years." Turns out "a few years" is something like fifteen years, so we know we're going to be the new guy around here for a long time.

My home improvement projects are stalled. The repairs that need to take place are beyond my skill-level (because I have no skills) so I need to wait until Nick has time (which may never happen.) I'm going to paint the living room, but I can't pick a color. The current color is a badly executed green decorative sponge finish we inherited from the previous owners.

Nick is quite busy with his internship. He is gone long before sunrise, and certainly a long time before I'm out of bed. He gets home about 7:30 (when he's not on call), eats, studies for about an hour, then goes to sleep. Repeat again and again, except that sometimes he's on call. Those days he leaves here about 5:00 AM and works until about 11:00 AM the following day. After about 30 hours of working, he's pretty tired and sleeps the rest of the day.

All the shopping I could even want is very close to us, which is very different than in St Louis. There are two ALDI grocery stores within a mile on either side of us. There's an entire mall, a shopping center, and a strip mall within a half-mile. The Target and Home Depot are 1.5 miles away. So here I can just run to the store and it's not a big deal. In St. Louis, I would wait until we REALLY needed something, then I would drive out to the county and go to several different stores while we were out. You had to marathon shop to make it worth the effort of getting to the stores.

Henry has definitely entered a new stage of development. In this stage, there is a lot of screaming (him screaming at me) and he's being mean to the dog. I'm frustrated by both of these things and am feeling a little lost in regards to parenting.

Caesar's Favorite Spot

2010-07-07T12:41:00.001-05:00

Now that Henry weighs more than the dog, he thinks he can take over
the dog's favorite spot and bed.

Surprise

2010-07-04T19:10:00.000-05:00

wait for it . . . . .

Peek-a-boo!

Moving In

2010-06-30T23:56:00.001-05:00

On Saturday I got a call that Katie was coming, as in she was about to leave for the airport. I knew she had Caesar with her. When I picked them up at the airport, I found out she actually had Liz, Owen, and long-time friend Becky with her. Surprise!

When we got to the house, they kicked things right into gear. In just a couple hours, we finished up my bedroom and closet. They rewarded themselves by going to the "Taste of Chicago." Owen and I made a miserable, failed attempt to go to the Lego store, but due to the level of activity downtown, we couldn't buy ourselves a parking space. It had taken 45 minutes to drive the mile from "Taste of Chicago" to near the Lego store, but then the very expensive parking lots were full. I offered Owen $20 for us to just go, but he wouldn't take it. So we searched for a parking spot (moving at the pace of traffic, which was very slow) until I was at my wits end and the Lego store was about to close. Eventually we went to Target, where he selected a Lego item costing $20. He doesn't know I was prepared to pay more.

Sunday we did a little more around the house. Becky is amazing. She is a rare person with planning and organization skills, great work ethic, the ability to direct others, and an eye for decoration. With her help, the office is totally done. All of those boxes that were stashed in the closet have been unpacked and organized! Sunday night Katie made chicken tacos for our special guest: Kent. He is a friend of Liz and Harry's who is in Chicago for an internship with the railroad.

Monday morning Liz flew home and the rest returned to work. Becky installed a set of blinds, single-handed (which I found very impressive.) She hung pictures, arranged my artwork, and helped me do some planning for future decorations. We've removed the most hideous of the window treatments in the house, but more will come down soon.

Owen was an important member of the crew because he entertained Henry. Owen loved Rody, the bouncing house, and bounced on him from one end of the house to the other. It was very cute to watch.

So by visiting, not only did Katie, Becky, and Liz do work I would have taken a long time to do, they did a better job than I ever would have. Becky made sure everything was organized and thought out, so we can actually find and use our stuff. What a novel idea! With so many of my friends moving right now, I wish these ladies could go full-time as professionals, but I don't think anyone can afford to pay them what they're worth- priceless!

Storm of the Century

2010-06-29T14:10:00.001-05:00

Last Wednesday, we had a storm unlike anything I've been through before. The heavens open suddenly water was gushing from the sky. The rain drops weren't little cute dollops of water, but rather skinless water balloons. Our street was flooded over the curb and onto the lawn. You could see the "shoreline" of the peak of the storm afterwards, as a line of stick debris on the lawn.

The thunder and lightning were VERY close. We think that several trees in the neighborhood took direct hits. The power lines just a block to the north of us were struck. The lines were laying across the road (which is a busy road, similar to highway 89 in Bountiful) and the road remained closed for almost 24 hours. We were without power just shy of 24 hours. It wasn't bad at all- the weather was cool so we didn't miss the air conditioning, and we had great LED flashlights.

The most inconvenient thing was our phones needed to be charged. On Thursday morning when my phone was dead, I went with Henry to McDonald's, and we enjoyed a drink while I charged my phone using their outlet.

We did not go outside until the storm was gone. We did not want to get struck by lightning, or have the baby drown. The waters began to recede quite quickly, but the street was flooded to some degree for a while. As cars would go by, they created a wake and you could see the wave come most the way onto the lawn. My first thought was, "Where do these people need to go so badly?"

Henry loved running down the water-covered sidewalk. We let him run back and forth on the walkway leading to our door when it was just barely covered with water. He probably did it twenty times, and would have done it more if we had let him.

Learning Curve

2010-06-25T17:16:00.000-05:00

There's a slight learning curve to using a spoon. Henry hasn't quite mastered it yet. He gave up and just went for the yogurt with his fingers, which was also not very effective.

Another Milestone!

2010-06-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

The 1992 Honda Accord just reached 170,000 miles. It is a little worse for the wear, but it keeps on going. When we purchased it just over five years ago, it only had 120,000 miles- that's barely broken in.

Don't worry about the glowing light- it's just telling you the parking brake is on.

Power is Out: Hour 23

2010-06-24T15:21:00.000-05:00

Last night we had what is clearly the biggest rain and lightning storm
of my life. The power is still out, and this downed line a couple
blocks away may be partly to blame. The power pole was down across a
street similiar to highway 89, and the street is still closed. There
are giant branches down all over the neighborhood.

I went to McDonald's to get a cold beverage and charge my phone. It
was nice to spend time in their AC. Luckily, it's only 82 degrees
today. The rumor in the neighborhood is we won't be getting power
back for at least another day.

More MechaNick

2010-06-23T10:41:00.000-05:00

After a few technical difficulties, the one-doored 1992 Honda is back on the road. Nick finished putting the brakes together last night. Henry and I were instrumental in the bleeding of the brakes- we pumped the brakes when Nick told us to. Nick is still in orientation for residency, so we're glad to get this wrapped up before he starts working 80 hour weeks.

A picture of Henry, relaxing in the front seat. He won't get to sit here again for about 10 years.

Longest Day of the Year

2010-06-21T23:36:00.001-05:00

We spent the evening of the longest day of the year playing in the yard, working on the car, and watching lightning bugs.

We're getting settled into our house in Chicago. It's not Chicago-proper, we're just a few miles outside of the city itself in a little suburb that reminds me of a smaller Rose Park. It's like Rose Park (in Salt Lake) in both architecture and era. It's smaller in that this neighborhood is smaller and the individual houses and lots are smaller. The houses next door are REALLY close to ours, like about four feet between our wall and theirs. Our garage even smells like my grandpa's Rose Park garage.

We've been having some car problems. We had to take the Ford in for a repair, and now that we have it back, Nick is fixing the brakes on the Honda. They started to make a squeaking noise when you weren't breaking, so he has replaced all the brake pads (as maintenance) and replaced some cylinders, which should fix the problem. If being a doctor hadn't worked out, maybe he would have been a mechanic. As a side note, google has totally changed how you fix cars. You google your symptoms, find out what other people did and if it fixed the problem. It really saves you a lot of time and money because you're not just throwing parts at things to see if it will fix it. Nick had a problem with the disassembly, and googled it on the phone to see if anyone had similar problems and how they fixed it. Someone had, Nick used their idea and it worked.

Henry loves having a yard. He goes to the back door and knocks on it, telling me he wants to go out to play. He loves to play on the Little Tikes play set a St Louis ward member gave us. He loves to play with bubbles. And for some unknown reason, he loves to get handfuls of topsoil and put it on the barbecue.

The garden here is pretty tiny- about the same square footage as a door. Even so, I find it's out of control already. I recognize some of the plants, but many I'm still wondering it's a weed or not. I did plant some basil, a tomato, and a jalapeno plant for Nick.

I can identify chives and dill, but that's about it. If you have any idea what those little daisy things are, leave a comment. Feel free to identify which things are weeds too.
We are having a major ant problem in the kitchen, and a minor one everywhere else. We bought commercial ant poison. The ants will have nothing to do with it, and continue looking for any crumb on the counter but pay no attention to the ant bait. Tomorrow I'm putting out borax-laced hot dog meat, which I hear they'll go crazy for. It should also kill them.

I still can't find most things. I have a lot of unpacking to do, and even more organizing. It's probably going to be a little chaotic for a while.

The Moving Saga Continues

2010-06-18T02:14:00.000-05:00

The afternoon before we packed up the truck, Henry and I went to say goodbye to our beloved botanical gardens. It's one of the many things we'll miss about St. Louis.

My cousins (referred to as Aunt Patti and Uncle Stanley) came over to say goodbye. It's been so nice having them so close- they lived just two blocks away. Patti always made sure we had a place to go on holidays, and is the gold standard of being a great hostess.

We had asked our church friends for help loading up the truck Saturday morning at 10:00. At 10:20, only my faithful friend Natalie was there and I was feeling a little unloved. I knew everyone had a lot going on that day, but I had hoped a few people would come. By 10:25, the cavalry arrived and several men and women whisked our belongings (in an orderly fashion) into the truck in just under an hour. Since most of our friends also have small children, this meant several babies came along for the move. Patti ran a nursery in Henry's room to take care of the kids to free up their parents and it worked beautifully.

We had to say goodbye to our apartment just before we drove away. We really enjoyed our time there, and now we have friends moving into it so we know it will be in good hands. Moments before we left, we realized that there were a bunch of shoes in my closet. How do you forget to pack something that obvious?

Uncooperative Nine-Year-Old

2010-06-18T02:01:00.000-05:00

How to Impress a 3-Year-Old

2010-06-16T01:43:00.000-05:00

Make cupcakes in her favorite color.

Invite a couple of friends over. Have some party hats (and some bubbles)

Elton John glasses optional.

The one-year-old thinks it's a great party because you let him have him own cupcake.

Miss N is in town for Harry's wedding, so we celebrated her third birthday. We celebrated her second birthday last year when she was in town for Sam's wedding.