Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Voice
Is anyone else watching The Voice on NBC? I am actually really loving it, and voted tonight for the finals. I have never voted on a reality show before - it was sort of exciting :) Go Beverly!
They are doing a concert with the top 8 finalists and of course they are coming to Vegas - July 30th. Anyone want to go?
They are doing a concert with the top 8 finalists and of course they are coming to Vegas - July 30th. Anyone want to go?
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Cool Kids
Matt and I went to a concert the other night - the first one we have gone to since Claire was born. I think I had to learn to sway to the music all over again. I also had to re-learn how annoying drunk people are, but that's not the fun part of our date.
The fun part was that we went to hear Brett Dennen, who I would describe kind of like Jack Johnson without the luau. He has bright red hair and big 80s glasses, and is working the talented nerd angle. The opening group was called Dawes, and we decided they were like Bob Dylan because they were really wordy, if that makes sense. I liked their lyrics a lot - they were a good mix of classic and modern music, and at least for the songs they sang that night, there were no swear words. Both groups are on iTunes, you should check them out.
Dawes
Brett Dennen
Date Night
The fun part was that we went to hear Brett Dennen, who I would describe kind of like Jack Johnson without the luau. He has bright red hair and big 80s glasses, and is working the talented nerd angle. The opening group was called Dawes, and we decided they were like Bob Dylan because they were really wordy, if that makes sense. I liked their lyrics a lot - they were a good mix of classic and modern music, and at least for the songs they sang that night, there were no swear words. Both groups are on iTunes, you should check them out.
Dawes
Brett Dennen
Date Night
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Rest of Our Trip to Utah....
I didn't get a chance to take any photos with Erika, unfortunately, but took a ton with the cousins. You'd never know from the pictures that they fought half the time, but that's to be expected. I think Becky and I argued with our cousins up until we were twelve :)
...
...
Sunday, June 19, 2011
What If?
When I was about 14 or 15, I went on a trip to the river near my house with our church group. There were probably 20 of us, along with leaders who included my dad. I was never allowed to go to this part of the river with the guys from church who went to jump off rocks and swim - it had dangerous spots and you had to stay to the deeper swimming holes for jumping. Anyway, on this particular trip, we were at an area with a waterfall that went out over a large flat area so it was almost like a slide, but at the bottom there were several large rocks so you had to be very careful where you slid down. As I was walking, I slipped on some moss and started to slide towards the drop off with the rocks below. Luckily, I slid over a pocket in the rock that slowed my slide enough that I was able to stop before falling off the edge. I sat there staring over the ledge, looking at those rocks and could not stop thinking about the fall I almost took. WHAT IF???? What if there hadn't been that little dip in the rock to stop me? I found my dad and just cried and cried for what felt like a long time. The "what ifs" in life sometimes scare me the most.
I had another "what if" experience over the weekend. I took a road trip up to Utah to see my friend Erika, visiting her family from TN, and to see my sister. It was just me and the kids for a few days. I stopped to see Erika on my way to Salt Lake, and after a quick bathroom break shortly after arriving, I went out into the backyard and heard Miles crying. I couldn't see him or Erika, but the other kids said Miles had fallen down.
That didn't worry me too much until I found Miles - he had been startled by their dog in the backyard and had fallen down a five-feet-deep window well, complete with large rocks at the bottom used for drainage; but not good to break a 22-month-old's fall. Erika had just jumped in there to get him, barefoot and all. She must have had a huge boost of adrenaline because after pulling herself out, she could not stop shaking. I recently heard that you only get one such boost of adrenaline and super strength in a lifetime - I hope that wasn't your one and only time Erika!
To make a long story short, Miles had a bloody nose, a swollen eye, and scrapes around his eye, chin and right leg. What scared me the most was that he immediately started to fall asleep. And then maybe ten minutes later he started to vomit. He threw up again a couple more times while I tried to gather everyone up and get in the car. I decided to take him to the hospital - a head injury on a toddler is scary stuff.
On the way to the hospital in Provo, Miles would fall asleep every minute - Claire and I were yelling at him to stay awake, poor guy. He wanted to sleep so badly but we just kept calling his name. As we pulled up into the ER, he threw up again. I was on the verge of freaking out. I was so grateful that the ER staff took us right in - we didn't even sit down in the waiting room. A CAT scan and X-ray later, Miles was declared perfectly healthy, other than his concussion.
The next day he looked much better, his eye wasn't as swollen though he had the makings of a nice black eye, and he was running around and playing with the kids. So, I tried to forget about the "what if's" of what could have happened when Miles fell, and just have fun with my sister and her family.
I had another "what if" experience over the weekend. I took a road trip up to Utah to see my friend Erika, visiting her family from TN, and to see my sister. It was just me and the kids for a few days. I stopped to see Erika on my way to Salt Lake, and after a quick bathroom break shortly after arriving, I went out into the backyard and heard Miles crying. I couldn't see him or Erika, but the other kids said Miles had fallen down.
That didn't worry me too much until I found Miles - he had been startled by their dog in the backyard and had fallen down a five-feet-deep window well, complete with large rocks at the bottom used for drainage; but not good to break a 22-month-old's fall. Erika had just jumped in there to get him, barefoot and all. She must have had a huge boost of adrenaline because after pulling herself out, she could not stop shaking. I recently heard that you only get one such boost of adrenaline and super strength in a lifetime - I hope that wasn't your one and only time Erika!
To make a long story short, Miles had a bloody nose, a swollen eye, and scrapes around his eye, chin and right leg. What scared me the most was that he immediately started to fall asleep. And then maybe ten minutes later he started to vomit. He threw up again a couple more times while I tried to gather everyone up and get in the car. I decided to take him to the hospital - a head injury on a toddler is scary stuff.
On the way to the hospital in Provo, Miles would fall asleep every minute - Claire and I were yelling at him to stay awake, poor guy. He wanted to sleep so badly but we just kept calling his name. As we pulled up into the ER, he threw up again. I was on the verge of freaking out. I was so grateful that the ER staff took us right in - we didn't even sit down in the waiting room. A CAT scan and X-ray later, Miles was declared perfectly healthy, other than his concussion.
The next day he looked much better, his eye wasn't as swollen though he had the makings of a nice black eye, and he was running around and playing with the kids. So, I tried to forget about the "what if's" of what could have happened when Miles fell, and just have fun with my sister and her family.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Chicago
Matt and I went to Chicago last week - I had a marketing conference so we had the hotel paid for already so it was a good excuse to combine business and personal travel. Plus our friends James and Monica live a few hours from the city and came to hang out with Matt during the day. We stayed one more day after the conference to all be tourists together. This was our first trip away without our kids - and I have to say I was very, very nervous about it. So nervous that I insisted we have our wills done before we leave. And we did, just a day before we left.
I am happy to report that I was able to stop worrying about the kids and have a great time. Part of that was knowing they were in good hands with the Hillers. We ate, and walked, and ate again - classic Chicago deep dish pizza at Gino's East, hot dogs at Portillos (NOT pronounced like a Spanish word, found out the girl from CA), chocolate from Frannie Mae (what luck to be just up the street from their flagship store) and some fabulous food at The India House. We also practically lived at The Corner Bakery, our stop for breakfast and snacks.
A quick trip to the Field House, the natural history museum, to see Sue, the largest assembled T-Rex.
Millennium Park, a very cool spot in the middle of the Loop with a Frank Gehry designed amphitheater, The Cloud, inspired by liquid mercury, and the Lurie Gardens.
The Architecture Foundation boat tour - the sky cleared up just for a few hours for us (we had rain and fog for much of the day), and we were able to see the amazing buildings. It really is a beautiful city - we had a great time all around.
I am happy to report that I was able to stop worrying about the kids and have a great time. Part of that was knowing they were in good hands with the Hillers. We ate, and walked, and ate again - classic Chicago deep dish pizza at Gino's East, hot dogs at Portillos (NOT pronounced like a Spanish word, found out the girl from CA), chocolate from Frannie Mae (what luck to be just up the street from their flagship store) and some fabulous food at The India House. We also practically lived at The Corner Bakery, our stop for breakfast and snacks.
A quick trip to the Field House, the natural history museum, to see Sue, the largest assembled T-Rex.
Millennium Park, a very cool spot in the middle of the Loop with a Frank Gehry designed amphitheater, The Cloud, inspired by liquid mercury, and the Lurie Gardens.
The Architecture Foundation boat tour - the sky cleared up just for a few hours for us (we had rain and fog for much of the day), and we were able to see the amazing buildings. It really is a beautiful city - we had a great time all around.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Adventures in Parenting
There are some things you do as a parent that you know you shouldn't, even as you do them. Usually there are things that make your life a bit easier for a second, and involve giving in to your crying, screaming child. You decide that now isn't the time for a life lesson, a major change, or harsh discipline in a public place. I have a few of those items, but the main one was that we still let Claire have a pacifier at night. She is three and a half, and I had been meaning to take it away for at least a year and a half. But deciding which night's sleep you want to give up is hard when you have something going on every morning, every weekend, etc. So, the "pacer" (Claire couldn't say pacifier as a baby) stayed. The older she got, the more mommy guilt I felt, but then I'd think - she'll take it away herself someday. But that day just wasn't coming.
We heard several techniques for taking a pacer away from an older child - give them to the pacifier fairy, who then gives the child a gift for the pacifier they take;the pacifiers to a new baby who really needs them. That was the nicest method. The others involved cutting the tips off the pacifiers and giving them back to the child who just gets frustrated with sucking on a stub. And another was to put screws in the little holes on the sides of the pacifier and drill it into a wall. If the child wanted to suck on the pacifier, they would have to stand in that spot and face the wall. I knew I wanted to do the Pacer Fairy, but just kept putting it off.
Finally, one night a few weeks ago, I was having a dream where Coldplay was giving me a private concert in my living room. Chris Martin was staring into my eyes when Claire started crying and woke me up. It was 3 AM and she couldn't find her pacifier, which was sitting right next to her on the bed. I was so upset in my half-dream state that I decided enough was enough - this pacer had to go!!
So, get a look at some of the big girl presents the Pacer Fairy brought Claire - Little Mermaid jewelry, nail polish and lip gloss that she picked out. She still asks for the pacer now and again, but its been about a week and she is doing great. Now, I need to learn my lesson for Miles, and take his away now too... maybe another day.
We heard several techniques for taking a pacer away from an older child - give them to the pacifier fairy, who then gives the child a gift for the pacifier they take;the pacifiers to a new baby who really needs them. That was the nicest method. The others involved cutting the tips off the pacifiers and giving them back to the child who just gets frustrated with sucking on a stub. And another was to put screws in the little holes on the sides of the pacifier and drill it into a wall. If the child wanted to suck on the pacifier, they would have to stand in that spot and face the wall. I knew I wanted to do the Pacer Fairy, but just kept putting it off.
Finally, one night a few weeks ago, I was having a dream where Coldplay was giving me a private concert in my living room. Chris Martin was staring into my eyes when Claire started crying and woke me up. It was 3 AM and she couldn't find her pacifier, which was sitting right next to her on the bed. I was so upset in my half-dream state that I decided enough was enough - this pacer had to go!!
So, get a look at some of the big girl presents the Pacer Fairy brought Claire - Little Mermaid jewelry, nail polish and lip gloss that she picked out. She still asks for the pacer now and again, but its been about a week and she is doing great. Now, I need to learn my lesson for Miles, and take his away now too... maybe another day.
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