Tomlinson Trio - Plus One

alt tag photo trial

2011-02-21T08:07:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving in California!

2009-12-15T15:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of our trip to Sand Diego to visit my parents for Thanksgiving. We drove down there, stopped and ran around Burger King in St. George, went to the beach, and Lexie and Daddy went to Legoland with Grandpa. Lots of FUN!

'Firelight' kicks 'Twilight's trash!!!

2009-11-10T10:19:00.000-08:00

I've watched this like 10 times now and it just gets funnier and funnier... How is it that I can enjoy a parody of a movie about twenty millions times more than the movie itself? First off, the running gag of accidental strangulation is genius. "I do believe I'm going to strangle someone... by accident." HA!! And mad props to Taylor Swift for not only delivering a superior Bella, but for making fun of Kristen Stewart's annoying habit of biting her lips at the same time.

First day of School!

2009-10-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm aware that it's Oct. 21st. And school started Sept 8th. What can I say, I'm just that lame...

Anyway, here are the cute photo's of Lexie's first day of school. A couple points:

I really wanted her to have cute hair for at least ONE day of school. So used the curling iron to flip it up. Cute, right? Well, after I was pretty much all done, just doing the 'finishing touches', Lexie turned her head at the wrong moment and burned her cheek. THAT is that fun red mark you'll see in the pictures. So, end result: Cute hair, big obnoxious welt.
Don't you love how Lexie's backpack is bigger than she is?
Yes, I'm barefoot getting her on the bus. Now that it's colder, I'm usually in just my socks. I guess when it starts to snow I'll have to put shoes on to send her off to school.
I thought we should get up some of the last pics taken of Seth before we cut his hair. Sigh... I had such high hopes for that long hair, but it never turned out. Love his new buzzed look now, though. I'll post some of those pics when we, uh, find our camera.

Lexie and Wayne's 15 minutes of FAME...

2009-10-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

... okay, so maybe it was more like 15 seconds. If we're generous.

One of the parent's at Lexie's school nominated their teacher's for KSL's High 5, which honors people in the community. They really deserved it; the teacher's at Utah School for the Deaf South have made an amazing inpact on our lives. Before Lexie started school last year, she was literally NOT talking. And now I can actually communicate, even on a limited basis, with my child. I can't even imagine where she'll be once she's through the system. There's very little footage of Wayne and Lex (he said she was camera shy. Go figure), but it's still a great story:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Why I Suck At Blogging (because I really do)

2009-09-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

1. I'm Horrible at taking pictures
I never bring a camera with me. Anywhere. I know that I should, but so often I find myself at some sort of Kodak Moment when suddenly it occurs to me that a responsible, loving mother would have had the foresight to bring with them the means to capture that perfect moment for posterity. And then, of course, if I do somehow manage to have a moment of mental clarity and pop the camera into my purse before we leave the house, I always forget to bring it out. Not to mention that all we have is a little point-and-shoot, which is cute and convenient, but not exactly the tool for super-awesome-and-beautifully-artistic shots. And a blog post without pictures seems to assume that others just love to hear me talk, and I guess I'm just not self-confident enough for that.

2. We never do anything interesting
It's true. The Tomlinson Family lead very boring and uneventful lives. Not to say that we don't do anything, not at all. We're all extremely busy. Unfortunately, we're just always busy with such mundance activities, the mere thought of writing it down puts me to sleep. Auditory/verbal therapy is not exactly reality-show worthy entertainment.

3. I'm too objective about my children
I'm a totally crappy mom. A good mom would look at their children as if their every dirty diaper was some sort of miracle only a genius child could conjure up, and feel the need to share that miraculous event with the world. The everyday things my kid do are cute, and I love it, but I'm their mom. I'm genetically required to find them amusing. I guess I just figure my friends and out-of-town relatives are not. I mean, it was cute when Seth did a little rendition of flash-dance in milk on the kitchen table, but I'm not exactly surprised that the story didn't get picked up by the Times. Of course, I realize there's some error in my logic, because I actually really enjoy hearing about those everyday, cute moments that other people blog about. Huh.

This is what happens to the brain when you deprive it of sleep...

2009-07-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

So, I was doing the dishes today, and my mind started to wander...

God, being God, knows everything, and has, from the beginning, known the entire history of man and everything that would come. Right?

So, as the Earth was being created, God could look forward and see a time with reality contest shows, Twitter, and Jon and Kate Plus 8.

What a flippin' trip that must have been.

Bad MommyAward or How To Start The Summer Off... Wrong

2009-06-02T21:07:00.000-07:00

Poor Lexie, she's born deaf AND she's got the worst mother ever. Kid never gets a break, eh?
Lexie's bad mommy let her play outside all day on Saturday without sunscreen. Then, when she started acting like she didn't feel well Saturday night, her mommy assumed it was from the sunburn that she had inevitably developed. When she got a fever Sunday evening, her horrible mommy still blamed the sun. By Tuesday afternoon her mommy grew a brain and took her to the doctor. Poor thing has Strep Throat.

Yes, I'll be accepting that trophy now. Thank you.

Just Like Mommy

2009-05-26T21:17:00.001-07:00

At a Redbox Near You...

2009-05-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

Everyone needs to go rent this movie. It's a little weird and artsy, which for me is a VERY good thing, but not so much for everyone, but still, it's just a total winner. It was both the funniest and most touching movie we'd seen in a long time. Plus, it's a totally cool, creative movie that's rated PG-13 and actually appropriate! That's so rare.

Go rent it today. Or tomorrow. But preferably today.

Seriously, go now. Enjoy!

Camping Trip from Hell

2009-05-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

I do not like camping. I know this may alienate me from a large majority of the human race, but you know what, I don't care. I just don't see the point in spending an entire day packing up all my belongings from their comfortable and logical resting places within my house, driving up into the mountains to sit around in the dirt being cold and doing things that would be more fun and a heck of a lot easier if done at home, just to drive back and spend another entire day cleaning my belongings and putting them back in their rightful place. It just seems illogical to me. But apparently not to most people, and not to Wayne. He gave me the puppy-dog eyes, and for some unknown reason I decided to let that effect me and agreed to go camping over Friday night. Of course, I never promised to be happy about it. In fact, I was an unapologetic brat the entire time.

Look at that scowl! What a wench... Too bad Wayne didn't marry one of those hearty Utah gals and wound up with a prissy little city-girl like me. But the kids had fun, at first:

Here they are playing in the dirt with Tiger. I hate letting my kids get dirty (like, literal 'dirt' dirty. Food, markers, that's all good...), so this was torture for me.

UGH! Look at the dirt on his mouth! What sort of mother lets this happen?! Well, at least he's smiling, which is more than he was doing later. This little guy was the reason the trip ending up being "from hell". He just would not sleep. Seth's not usually a baby who needs complete silence to sleep, but apparently the noise of the great outdoors was just too much for him. Between cars driving by, the wind, the loud people camping near us singing Pink off-key and using the f-word with great abundance, the little dude just couldn't get his zzzz's. He was totally freaked out and just cried and cried and cried. Finally at 1am, Wayne threw in the towel and we drove the hour and a half home. It was miserable.

But at least I won't be forced to go camping again for a while...

Lexie is 4!

2009-05-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

Lexie turned 4 on the 2nd. For months I had it in the back of my mind that I was going to do some sort of girly party for Lex, but then I completely forgot that the date was even coming up until Wayne mentioned it a week before. So we ended up taking Lexie up to South Towne mall to the carousel and then to Chick-fil-a for dinner and to play in their play area. It was supposed to just be something semi-fun to do for the day, but Lexie LOVED it, so we decided that was enough b-day for her. Unforunately, she was having SO much fun, I couldn't get her to stay still enough for a good picture, so this is all we've got. We did get a bunch of cute ones of Seth, though.

Quicky Updates

2009-05-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything. Here's what we've/I've been up to:

*Lexie turned 4! Go Lexie! We were going to do a party, but I'm a bad mom and I plum forgot her b-day was coming up until the week before. So instead we went up to the Carousel at South Towne Mall and then to Chic-fil-a and let her climb around in the play area there. It was extremely cheap and she loved every minute of it.

*Seth can walk now! It's weird, he's so little, at least compared to Lexie when she finally walked at 22 months. He's also extremely tall and reach things on the kitchen table and climb onto the couch. So basically, he's unstoppable.

*I finally read Twilight. Eh. I guess I'm just not a 17-year-old girl anymore. But some things were interesting, and once I got past over-indulgent descriptions of Edward's hotness (seriously, if I read the words 'Greek God' or 'Adonis' one more time, I was going to start taking hostages) I found him to be somewhat original and intriguing. I'm just starting the second book, and so far it's better than the first. People do improve, after all.

*Finally saw Twilight the movie. Yeck! The acting was atrocious. Both main characters totally missed the point, especially Edward, neither had a clear understanding of the lines, transition points were missed left and right... basically, it was just bad. Oh well. I usually like that little actress that plays Bella, so I was a bit disappointed.

*Primary got all shifted around. Our President's mean mean husband had to go be all righteous and get called into the Bishopric, so our presidency was released. There were a lot of tears and gnashing of teeth, mostly on my part. But then I got called back in! Now I'm the 1s Councilor, and I'll be honest, it's WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY less work than being the Secretary. I love it! Sorry, Julien. So, as horribly sad as it is that my old presidency friends are no longer in Primary, I'm loving that I still get to sing songs and play games on Sundays. And now I get to do Sharing Time, which is totally fun. But I also have to conduct, which I'm learning is not so much fun. I still feel like an awkward circus monkey up there. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it soon.

*X-Men Origins: Wolverine finally came out! Woot Woot! It was... okay. Truth be told, I'd pay $8 and tax to watch Hugh Jackman stand in front of a wall reciting the phone book for 2 hours, so no matter what, it wasn't bad. It just wasn't that good. And if I wanted to get all fangirl on ya, I could nitpick the horrible inaccuracies of Gambit for a while, but I'm going to keep my mouth shut. I'm just glad he was in the movie at all. Overall, it was a fun popcorn movie, and nothing more. Lots of things went boom, lots of people were killed in a bloodlessly PG-13 manner, so, you know, I was satisfied.

*I just finished taking an AWESOME 6-week acting class from Michael Flynn, and now I'm all pumped to go to auditions. Unfortunately, it's still crickets in that department because SAG is still negotiating and studios aren't greenlighting anything. But the word on the street is that things should be picking up by summer. Fingers crossed!

*We've somewhat stopped Lexie's horrible, no-food-allowed diet. Long story short, after a horrible, awful, no-good day at the doctor's, we fasted and prayed about it and felt a confirmation that this particular doctor was not the path that we should take. We now have a different recommendation that I need to follow up on. Until then, Lexie can eat food again, but we're still keeping her off all major sugar sources, yeast, and glutin, seeing as the next doctor will most likely keep her off these as well. The no-sugar thing has actually been great, once she got used to it. Other foods have become 'treats', and she's developed a taste for vegetables again. I feel like a better mommy now, so even if these crazy diets don't do anything to help with her behavior and/or learning, I think I may stick with the general 'no-sugary foods' rule.

That's all for now, I'll try to keep up better. I have a bunch of cute photos to post, but they're all sideways, and I don't know how to fix them, so once I get Wayne on that, they'll be up!

Ain't No Sunshine...

2009-04-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

I have had this in my head since Wednesday, so I had to post it here, mostly so I could have easy access to listen to it over and over and over and over... Kris Allen on American Idol is fast becoming my favorite, and for some reason he keeps picking some of my favorite songs and doing awesome arrangements of them. I LOVE this song, it really is one my classic favs, and this version is BEYOND sick. I bought the studio version on itunes, but his live performance was the best. I've watched it like a hundred times and I still get goosebumps.

EDIT: So, aparently any youtube versions of his live performance eventually get kicked off the site, so I just got the live audio on my playlist. To listen to it, just pick the very last song.

Proud Mommy moment!

2009-03-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

Last friday was the AG Bell Speech Fair at Lexie's school. It was basically like a recital for all the speaking Deaf kids in the area, from Lexie's age up to Highschool. It was really fun to get to see the kids progress as they got older, and it was really amazing to see how talented a lot of the older kids were. Everyone was speaking, and there were a TON of musical performances. It's great to see other kids who started out where Lexie is doing so many things involving sound. Lexie's preschool theme this year is T.E.A.M (Together Everyone Achieves More), so they did a sport's theme for the fair. Her class did a cheer, which was "2,4,6,8, who do we appreciate? Mom, Dad, They are Great! Yay!" It was totally cute, and Lexie actually said her parts! Her teacher Lori Ruth (who is just the best teacher on the whole planet) warned me that a lot of kids clam up on stage, and Lexie definately gets stage fright when I try to get her to show people what she can say, but not on that night! That was sort of amazing considering there were like 100 people in the audience. And the best part was, I got it on camera! The kids in her class on the video, from left to right, are Seth, Lexie, Leah (Lexie's best friend at school), and Benson. They are the cutest little things. Lexie is the second youngest in her class, and Benson (the youngest) started out the year already talking some, so you'll notice the other kids are a little more advanced in their talking than she is. Her teacher, Lori, is holding the microphone, and Nichole, the teacher's aide, is in the back. So enjoy, our little Lexie ACTUALLY TALKING!! Woot woot!

I wish it was just Salt Water Taffy!

2009-03-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

As many have heard, Lexie received the results of her allergy testing and it is not good news. She is allergic to everything. We are starting on Monday to no longer give her the foods she loves. We need some ideas on what to feed her. Check our her allergies and see what you can come up with? There is now a link on the left hand side...

Dolphin Bubbles

2009-03-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

I saw this video and was thoroughly impressed by these dolphins who blow rings of bubbles from their blow holes under water. Crazy!

http://news.aol.com/article/dolphin-bubble-rings/386019

"NO!" and Holland

2009-03-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

byEmily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

I read this story before I ever had kids. My mom is a special ed teacher and had shared this story with me because she thought it was so beautifully written. When I first heard it, I agreed with her. Then, years later, we had a daughter and even later we learned she was deaf. The whole process of having her diagnosed was like a strange episode of the Twilight Zone, and to be honest, I can't exactly remember everything. I think it's called post-traumatic stress syndrome or something, I don't know.

But I do know when she was diagnosed, we were given a booklet on having a disabled child and where to turn for services. I'm sure it had a very nice title, but I just remember calling it the "You Have A Disabled Kid 101" binder. I hated that binder. And in the very front of that binder was the Welcome to Holland story. I can recall clearly opening the front cover and seeing that horrible, stupid, enter-an-expletive-here story and suddenly hating it. Because it was painfully accurate. I was in Holland. And at that point, I was pissed. I hated the stupid piece of paper that seemed to be mocking me, knowing how I felt without knowing me, and telling me that at some point I was going to be ok with what was happening.

Now, I can look back at this story, and I love. It is perfectly written. It's exactly how I feel. Yes, it still hurts that I didn't get my perfect, "normal" little girl like everyone else got. I still get bitter pangs of jealousy when my friends recount the funny things their children say, when my child is barely putting two words together after years of hard work on my part. But I'm starting to see a lot of good things, too.

Lexie has started saying "no". I know that's a normal 'first word', and most people wouldn't be that excited about it, but every time she says "no", I love it!! It's not just a label, she's not just repeating back a phrase she's been taught like a trained animal. When she says "no", she's actually expressing a feeling, telling me a desire. When I ask her if she wants something and she says "no", it's an actual conversation!!! That's the biggest thing; I can't tell you how many times I've cried over not being about to have a two-way conversation with my child. I know that her "no" is just the beginning of this. The first time I heard her say "no", I almost cried, except we were in Lexie's classroom with her teacher and that would have been embarrassing.

I guess I just wanted to share this amazing story. For anyone who has ever wondered what it's like to have this experience, that's it. It's nice for me to be able to look back and see that I'm coming around to living in Holland.

The Photos Time Forgot - Christmas 2008

2009-03-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

My dad took pictures of the kids Christmas morning, so I'll have to get those pics from him someday and post them here for posterity's sake. But for now, here is the TOO CUTE picture I took of Sethers with his awesome new Christmas Hat from Aunt Thumbs-Up. I love taking him with it on, it's a total chick magnet. The scene-girls really dig his emo vibe.

The Photos Time Forgot - Snow 2008

2009-03-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

Here's just a few pics of Lexie in the show. Note: She does NOT like the snow. She wants to like the snow, but she does NOT like the snow. She can't walk in it, and ends up sitting dejectedly and freezing her tiny butt off.

The Photos Time Forgot - Fall 2008

2009-03-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

Here were just some random pictures from the fall that I thought were cute. I have no idea when exactly when they were taken, but I think Seth's around 6 months... I just remember taking pics of Seth's red eyes from not sleeping, some cute thing I did with Lexie's hair (I'm horrible at hair!) and Seth just being cute:

The Photos Time Forgot - Polar Express

2009-03-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

In December, Lexie's school went to the Polar Express in Lindon, and I came with her. Here are some cute pictures from our little adventure:
*Lexie loved watching the Movie while waiting for our turn on the train
*She did NOT like Santa. She sat on his lap as stiff as possible and refused to look at him. But she didn't cry!
*She LOVED her Secret Santa present (too bad we don't own a VHS player so she never got to watch it).
*The last picture is of her showing her new present to her best friend from school Leah. The two were just babbling away at each.... who knows what they were trying to say, but it was cute as heck!

Seth Climber

2009-03-08T21:10:00.001-07:00

About a week and a half ago, Seth figured out how to climb the stairs! This is sort of amazing to us, because Lexie still had trouble crawling up stairs when she was two. Of course, she had balance issues and only got to practice on stairs when we would visit Grandma, but still... it's weird to have this tiny little thing doing something so dangerous! The first time he did it, we didn't think to grab the camera until he was 3/4 of the way up, but at least we got the end of his climb. Sorry, the picture is grainy because Lexie was already in bed so we couldn't turn on the hall light upstairs or it would wake her up (yes, she's that sensitive to light). Hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway (we do!), and yes, Seth is laughing as he falls. Too cute!

From Seth_Stairs

SUGAR! (Doo doo DooDoo Doo Doo) Oh, honey honey!

2009-02-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

This week we started a new diet program for Lexie that may help rid her of some of her autistic-like behaviors. It's something that has helped with several children with similar behaviors to Lexie's, and her doctor is optimistic that it will help her, as well as help clear up some digestion problems that she's had for a long time that I just always figured were no big deal. I know, I'm a bad mommy. Not anymore! But this new diet is hardcore: NO sugar (and she's only allowed a small amount of fruit), no sugar substitutes, no yeast, no white or refined flour or grains, and no cheese. Yup, that's basically it. So, of the things Lexie likes to eat, that leaves... popcorn. Which is basically the only thing she's eaten a normal portion of all week. We're hoping that eventually she'll get hungry enough and submit to eating bland food. By the way, did you know that EVERYTHING has sugar in it?! Yes, everything. Just start looking on ingredients lists. I've been BLOWN away, it's completely nuts, sugar is everywhere! It's taking over the world! And the few things that don't have sugar in them usually have yeast in them. Grrr... it's been a frustrating week. And add in trying to get her to drink Cod Liver Oil AND chew a soft tablet filled with fish oil AND eat all of the applesauce I give her with a crushed up pill and vitamin powder mixed in twice a day... hopefully some good will come of this, because otherwise we're all going to go kookoo bananas... we miss sugar!

I need me some Gris-Gris, STAT!

2009-02-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

The early hours of this morning found me once again kneeling before the porcelain alter. What the heck is up with me and stomach bugs lately? This is the fifth time in the past six months that I've been forced to puke my guts out. I'm starting to wonder if our house was built over Indian burial grounds (and for some reason the spirits didn't realize until recently), or I pissed off karma somehow and need to start writing a List, or maybe I accidentally cut off some Voodoo Shaman in traffic or something, because it's seriously starting to get ridiculous at this point.

100 Random things about Me... the Lizzie Version

2009-02-15T10:34:00.000-08:00

Alicia did a "100 Random Things About Me" post on her blog, and I was impressed! I don't think there even are 100 things about me, much less 100 I can think of. Let's give it a shot (and maybe we'll get Wayne to try this out as well.)

1. I love wearing hats, but my head is almost always too small for the ones I find in stores, so I never buy them.

2. I hate sandwiches.

3. I love Lemurs!

4. I find it almost physically impossible to wash the dishes without singing. If we have company over, I usually whisper a song as quietly as I can and hope no one notices.

5. I love filing papers. One of my first jobs was at an architect's firm, and I loved filing away huge stacks of blueprints and vellums after the architects were done with them.

6. I'm not a girly girl, but I do hate getting dirty.

7. Ever since I was little, I've hated having parties (or even just people over). I spend the entire time worrying if everything is going alright and if everyone is having fun (therefore I am not).

8. I'm a naturally messy person, but I like having everything clean. The result is that I have to pick up the house. A lot. And it's still usually a mess.

9. I love a good pair of tight jeans.

10. I both love and hate speaking in public. It's sort of a terrifying thrill, like a scary carnival ride.

11. I was going to audition for American Idol this year when they came to SLC, but I got sick and lost my voice the day before. It's ok, though, I wouldn't have won anyway (or come anywhere close).

12. I love cloudy days. Too much blue sky makes me feel uneasy.

13. I'm a sucker for any kind of top with a hood.

14. I'm afraid of vacuum cleaners (probably because when I was little my sister used to chase me with one).

15. Although I only wear one pair of earrings now (if any), at one point I had three pairs and my cartilage pierced on my right ear.

16. I have been a brunette, a blonde, and a redhead. My natural brunette is the winner (Go figure).

17. I'm a closet comic fan. Though I've never let myself actually read them, the characters intrigue me and I occasionally catch up on the plot lines of X-men through wikipedia and fanfiction, and I know far too much about Batman to be considered cool. It's lame. I know.

18. I love to people watch.

19. I find it almost physically impossible to drive a car without singing.

20. I can only wear Vanilla, any other scent gives me horrible headaches.

21. I once had a crush on Donny Osmond's son, Don. He wrote his phone number for me on the whiteboard in my apartment, and my roommates left it on there for weeks just for me with a big note pointing to it saying "Don Osmond's freakin' number! Go Liz!"

22. In Seattle, my bedroom was completely blue, including the ceiling.

23. I love black and white photography of man-made structures (buildings, bridges, streets, etc).

24. My favorite weather is sweatshirt and jeans weather. In other words, the standard two weeks of Utah's fall.

25. I love boots.

26. I love making faces in the mirror with Lexie. She does an awesome mommy impression!

27. I hate talking on the phone, so much I sometimes come close to having a panic attack when I'm forced to do so.

28. My mom has been my best friend since high school (or maybe before).

29. The food on my plate cannot touch. But seriously, who doesn't have a problem with that? I'll tell you who: freaks. You know who you are, people. Don't deny it.

30. I hate dogs, with the exception of one adorable and extremely well behaved pug. If she happens to disappear from her home one night, I'd recommend looking at my house.

31. I love wearing dark colors.

32. After years of being frustrated with skin that won't tan, I've come to love my porcelain complexion. In olden times white legs were considered a sign of nobility. Take that bronze goddesses!

33. I own all 8 seasons of X-Files on DVD (season 9 does NOT count).

34. I hate having to join in on group conversations. It's far more interesting listening to everyone else.

35. I love movie and television trivia.

36. I love to act, and would do a lot more of it if I didn't already have an important full-time job: Mommy.

37. I love to be bundled up when I sleep.

38. Seth's favorite songs that I sing to him are "Landslide", Colbie's
"Capri", and the Jonas Brother's song "Burnin' Up".

39. I love to swim laps.

40. I'm a serious homebody.

41. I love trees.

42. For some reason I currently have a burning desire to learn french.

43. I hate PDA. My own more than others.

44. When I'm really mad, I tend to be a thrower. (Not at people, of course). Or a wall-puncher. Or kicker.

45. My answers to James Lipton's standard 10 questions are: kitten, wiener, Hugo Boss cologne, bodily function humor,"Mother-Freakin A!", rain on the rooftop in the middle of the night or when you first wake up, children shouting indoors, criminal psychologist, sales, "Eh, good enough. Come on in!".

46. I hate slapstick comedy.

47. I have a non-sexual crush on Tina Fey. I think she's awesome beyond words. I want to go to there.

48. I find blondes unattractive. (Then I go and have blonde children. Irony is neat).

49. I always said I would have a daughter named Riley and a son named Fox. My kids are Lexie and Seth. Huh.

50. I cannot be touched anywhere on my body when I'm trying to sleep. A two foot personal bubble is preferable (you can't always get what you want).

51. I met my husband on Valentine's day. We went to see a movie with a bunch of people from his singles ward. My friend convinced Wayne to come along, I convinced Don to come. You know how the story ends.

52. I'm extremely ticklish, to the point that bodily harm is threatened to anyone who would dare even think about tickling me.

53. Although I enjoy living in an LDS-familiar community, I loved being in a ward in "the mission field".

54. The second time I ran into Wayne, it was at a party where he actually used the old "let me show you how to shoot pool" trick. Cliche!

55. I hate country music.

56. My favorite movie is Dead Poets Society

57. I love Thai food, especially Massaman Curry.

58. When I write, I have a tendency to use an excessive amount of run-on sentences.

59. I love shopping for almost anything. Clothes, groceries, anything. I just enjoy the exchange of money for goods and services.

60. My favorite color is probably still blue (although not for decorating).

61. I hate songs that tell a story (Billy Joe was walking down the street. Little Sally was the girl that he would meet. One day they went to the county fair, and Sally wore a red bow in her hair...).

62. I love spearmint gum.

63. I find hugging awkward.

64. I once breached Heathrow Airport's international security (unintentionally, of course) and was detained with my friend for over 2 hours.

65. I've been kissed on top of the Eiffel Tower. By 3 separate people. Unfortunately, they were all friends and it was not in the least bit romantic.

66. I've slept on a park bench in France.

67. I've walked Abby Road (got the picture to prove it).

68. My favorite place in the world is Trafalgar Square in London, which is also my favorite city in the world (Not that I know that many to compare it to...).

69. I desperately want to visit New York City some day. It's pathetic that I haven't done this yet.

70. I'm a notoriously bad parker. And backing-up-er. I have a horrible driving short-game.

71. I hate wearing face makeup.

72. I find it almost physically impossible to pick up the house without singing.

73. I hate eggs. It's a mental thing more than anything, I think.

74. I love a good vinaigrette, and I hate ranch dressing. You Utahns are nuts.

75. I love dancing around for Seth to make him smile. He seems to enjoy my style, which is a mix between nerd-at-a-rave and The Wiggles.

76. I'm claustrophobic, but it's mostly under control. I used to be really bad. I could only fly in a plane if I self-medicated with Dr. Pepper and meditated the entire way. The flight to London was a nightmare.

77. I'm squeamish with "eye" things (poking them, pulling them out, fingers or instruments coming anywhere near them). Somehow I've managed to wear either glasses or contacts since I was 8 years old despite this.

78. I've been told I'm an excellent kisser. : )

79. Jon Stewart helped me lose 40 pounds.

80. I find it offensive when people use the word "retarded" to mean "stupid" or "lame".

81. I'm affectionately (right, guys?) known as the Liberal Hippy of the Tomlinson Family.

*Note: can you tell I'm running low on material at this point?*

82. I love to bodyboard.

83. Although I complain about it all the time, I am actually quite happy to be living in Utah right now. Lexie is getting amazing services (which, if you know anything about the public school system and special ed, is unbelievably lucky) and there are a ton of film opportunities (hopefully even more if the House approves SB 13).

84. Although I'm actually quite happy living in Utah right now, I'd like to move back to Seattle some day.

85. In September I got a Tiffany's Charm from my sister as a bridesmaid's gift, and now I wear it (on a chain) almost all the time. I sleep in it, shower it in, etc. I only ever take it off on the the rare occasion I want to wear a special piece of jewelry to go with an outfit on Sunday.

86. I used to love cats, but lately, the thrill is gone.

87. I hate yard work. That's why God created boys.

88. I find it very relaxing to have a long car ride with just myself. Guess how often that happens.

89. I love Top Chef. But I have to be eating something while I watch.

90. My family has a tradition of making homemade pizza and watching the Academy Awards. I extended the tradition to include the Emmy Awards and the Golden Globes, and at one point the SAG Awards. Generally, I'm the only one who still keeps up the pizza part of the tradition (although my parents did it up right on Sunday. Woot Woot guys!).

91. I have at portfolio of almost $20 Million on the Hollywood Stock Exchange (hsx.com).

92. I eat KitKats one layer at a time.

93. I'm wearing two different colored socks right now (yes, we're getting desperate right now).

94. Wayne works for a Home Security company, we have a security system on our house, and I never arm it (Wayne says that by putting this online I have to change my ways).

95. I love filing taxes and wait anxiously starting January 1st for Wayne's W-2 to come so I can get my tax-return on!

96. My favorite (paying) job was my last one, working in the office at All American Gymnastics in Lindon, first as a secretary and by the end as the Office Manager. I totally miss it.

97. I ate venison once on accident and liked it, until I found out I was eating Bambi's Mama, at which point it became disgusting.

98. I'm an insomniac, and I have to fall asleep with the tv on (if I can fall asleep at all).

99. Wayne frequently talks about a someone he works with named McWayne. I think McWayne is actually Wayne's imaginary friend, and apparently Wayne is not very creative and just added a "Mc" to the front of his name. I imagine he spends hours everyday sitting in his office having meetings with "McWayne" while everyone at Pinnacle wonders why he's sitting behind his desk talking to himself.

100. Although I obviously don't get to do it very often, I love to blog!! It's the perfect excuse to get to write pointlessly and have an audience, albiet a small one. Thanks for letting me blab on occasion!

Wow, I can't believe I actually made it to 100. I'll admit, a lot of them were totally lame, but hey, 100 is a big number.

Auditory Cheesecake

2009-02-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

Jason Mraz performed on SNL last saturday, which was, of course, AWESOME. Who doesn't Mlove the Mraz? It's Mimpossible. Anyway, his live performance of I'm Yours was insane, and I would put it on here, but NBC sucks and didn't release it online. But even better was his duet with... Colbie!!! As the title says, it was pure auditory cheesecake (for those who love cheesecake. If you don't, think of something decadent, and it was auditory that). Since NBC hates me, the (in my opinion) better live version is not online, but I found this, which is at least more visually stimulating. Enjoy!

"Lucky" Official Video With Colbie Caillat

Recommendations

2009-01-09T13:38:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd start out the new year with a couple of recommendations for everyone (not that y'all have been sitting on pins and needles waiting for my lofty suggestions. Oh crap, did I really just write "y'all"? I've been in Utah for too long. I'm going to go cry in a corner and pretend that my first instinct was to write "you guys" or at least "you all" in two words...)

Wayne and I got to go see an actual new release movie in an actual movie theater (gasp!) last Saturday (thanks for the babysitting Sharon!). To the average citizen this may seem like nothing special, but it's been a year and a half since I've seen a movie in the theater. It was the last Harry Potter movie. And the time before that was a year earlier when we wasted a theater trip on "Blades of Glory". Yes, our theater experiences are few and far between these days. It's a sad occurance for someone like me who is (maybe too) interested in movies and television and knows what the reviews are saying for all movies, whether I want to see them or not, and who for many years pictured my future working in the film industry. It's semi-heartbreaking to think that it's barely an annual event to get to a mother-loving cineplex... anyway, rant over. The movie we went and saw was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and I have to say, it was honestly one the BEST movies I've ever seen. I'm seriously considering bumping Dead Poets Society out of the top spot of my favorite dramatic movies. It's one of those movies that just stays with you. Wayne loved it too, which says a lot for the movie, because we don't always have the same taste in flicks, especially dramatic ones. It's hard to give a review of the movie without giving away too much of the plot, but simply put it's about a man who ages backwards. It stars the gorgeous Brad Pitt, which of course is a reason to get in the car and drive to the theater on its own (kidding, Wayne). But the film's two biggest compliments would have to be 1) that although it runs almost 3 hours, Wayne and I both agreed that we felt like we'd only been in the theater 15 minutes, and 2) I almost, almost cried at least 3 times. That's big. Wayne cried at approximately 5 points in the movie (kidding again, Wayne. Although I heard some sniffles coming from your general direction at the end). In conclusion, everyone should go get a babysitter and go see this movie. I would pay someone to watch my kids just to go see it again.

Right now I'm obsessed with Colbie Caillat's cd "Coco". I started hearing more and more songs from the album on Pandora, and after realizing that I was in love with every one, I decided to buy the whole darn cd off itunes. Best. Purchase. Ever. You know how with most cd's you like about 80% of the songs, but there are like 3 that you skip over every time? Yeah, not on this cd. Every time a new song comes on I think "Oh, this one is my favorite!", and then of course the song changes and I think the same thing for the next one, etc etc... (edit: I just realized that I do skip one. The song 'Capri' starts out "she's got a baby inside, and holds her belly tight". It hasn't been long enough since Seth was born for me to look back on pregnancy with happy nostalgia, so if I catch those words I tend to hit 'next'). My particular favorite tracks (today) are: Magic, Oxygen, Older, One Fine Wire, Feelings Show, Battle, Bubbly... ok there are 12 tracks and I've singled out 7 and could keep going, so you get the picture. I love Colbie's voice, very smooth and mellow, and the whole cd is very sing-along-able, which is big for me, because I like singing along with people who sound better than me and pretending that I sound as good as the voice that's drowning me out. So, check it out. Maybe I'm not cool, and this isn't the kind of music the kids are into anymore, I honestly don't know, I just don't listen to the radio these days. If I'm no longer hip, feel free to laugh at me, and I'll know to start using phrases like "Well, back in my day...".

I know this whole post is sort of out of left field, but it's just what I felt like writing. One day I'll get around to writing the posts that I've been meaning to do, so in the hopefully near future, look forward to:

* Seth's 6-month update

* Christmas

* My 6-month Post-Baby goal: met!

* Lexie's School Update

* Wayne's job update

Tradition!

2009-01-01T15:17:00.001-08:00

Last night was our annual O'Bryant&Tomlinson New Year's Fondue party! We were trying to remember how many years we've done this with Cory and Mindy, and we think this was year number 4. All I know is that it was a lot easier before we started having kids! But this year went remarkably smooth, compared to last year's fire fiasco (which is a story for another day...). Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of us eating the first course of steak cooked in oil and bread in cheese, most likely because we waited to start eating until the kids were all in bed, and by then we were all starving! There's no time for photo ops when you're busy stuffing your face as fast as possible. Even though this was the first year that Wayne and Cory have not worked for the same company since we all got married, somehow the conversation STILL turned to work 95% of the time. Some things never change, eh Mindy? But I guess that's just part of the tradition: The boys rambling on and on and on about inventory strategies while the girls roll their eyes at each other from across the table... After the main course, we played Mario Party (tradition) on Wii and ate chocolate fondue until we were all beyond sick and wanted to kill ourselves (thus completing the tradition). This year Mindy found adorable little bottles of Martinelli's for us to drink at Midnight (No, those bottles we're drinking from are NOT beer). So it was 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, NEW YEARS, cheers, shot, and kiss. Cory was the only one "man" enough to down his entire bottle on the shot. And then, because we're all old and pathetic, we quickly finished our game, cleaned the kitchen, packed everything up, and headed off to bed before the new year rounded out it's first hour. Yes, we're lame.

A few photo notes:
* Wayne put a lot of care into staging our fondue shots. Go Wayne.
* Wayne's "8 year old on Christmas Morning Playing Wii" shot was staged. His eyes are not normally filled with that much child-like wonder.
* The many laughing shots are a result of Cory downing his entire bottle of Martinelli's, burping LOUDLY in Mindy's face, then leaning into his wife expectantly for a big kiss.

Happy New Year

2008-12-29T20:21:00.000-08:00

In preparing for our annual fondue party I came across a really easy and really tasty cheese fondue recipe. If you are into fondue, try this one:

"Easy Cheese Fondue"

2 cups milk
1 tbsp worcester sause
2 tsp ground dry mustard
1 clove garlic (crushed)
3 tbsp flour

6 cups cheddar cheese (schredded)

Medium pan, low heat.
Mix all but cheese.
Heat until almost boiling.
Gradually stir in the cheese.
Heat until all cheese is melted.
Transfer to fondue dish.

Right Now I'm: Totally whacked out

2008-12-04T09:46:00.000-08:00

Right now:

Wayne's been out of town since Sunday
Lexie is grumpy
Seth is wiggly and likes to roll in his crib (and not sleep)
My chronic insomnia has been getting worse and worse for months and is finally at full force. 8 hours of sleep total... in the last 3 nights
The house is a mess (ok, but how is this any different)
Feeling like I'm sucking at my calling right now because my brain isn't functioning well enough to organize and get stuff done
We're out of baby food.

So, solutions:

Wayne gets home late on Friday
We're going to see friends today, so Lexie should cheer up
I don't know, a baby sized straight jacket?
Pills. I think it's time for pills. Maybe I can go to the doctor next week...
Cleaning service! And why don't I clean when I'm not sleeping? Huh, didn't think about that till now...
Got to sit down and sort my brain together on this one. Lists. I need lists.
This one's easy. We can go to the store!

Ok, so... off to problem solve....

Goodbye, Phantom Planet

2008-11-26T14:51:00.000-08:00

I read yesterday that the band Phantom Planet is breaking up (http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0614338/). You probably haven't heard of them, but I'm sure you know their biggest hit (hint: it's the song you're listening to RIGHT NOW). But I remember them from a time long before that famous song. Back in '99, my friend Rachel and I saw the movie Rushmore and fell completely in love with it. We then found out that the star of the movie was the drummer in a band, and that band was Phantom Planet. They were pretty small back then, so it took some research to find a record store that had their cd. When we finally bought it, Rachel and I were head over heels for the band. I remember listening to that cd over and over and over... I don't know, looking back, there wasn't anything all that special to them, but for some reason I really dug their sound. And now that they're ending their run, it's nice to have a little reminder of that small portion of my life. So thanks, boys, for filling my ears for a time.

I am the laziest person there could be, For I only wrote one paragraph. But I asked Jacques what I should put in place of this, he said just leave it (oh, and one more thing)...

My Trip to the ER!

2008-11-19T19:38:00.000-08:00

Until yesterday, I'd never been treated in the ER before. That having changed, I have to say, the ER is not as cool and glamorous as on that show, you know, ER. There was no drama, not once did I see a nurse and a doctor making out in the lounge, and Noah Wyle was no where to be found. Just a little disappointing.

Tuesday morning I woke up at 2am to the sound of Seth crying. Once awake, I started feeling a little nausious, but figured it was nothing. By 4am, it was quite clear that it was not 'nothing'. I started throwing up every 2 minutes or so non-stop. A little after 7, Wayne's mom came to watch the kids and Lexie off to school, and Wayne took me to the hospital, since Instacare was not open. This part, I don't remember a whole lot of. A couple of things I do recall:
*They did not have a restroom in the ER waiting room. Huh? This just seemed odd. I had to throw up the second we got there, so Wayne lead me to the bathroom in the lab's waiting room, and I recall the looks on the faces of the people waiting there. Based on their reactions, I must have looked really bad. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and I was pretty darn white.
*American Fork ER is not up and hopping on a Tuesday morning. There was no wait, and there was only one other patient being treated. I was completely out of it, so I didn't see anyone's faces, but it seemed from the voices that I heard that I had several nurses. Then again, I was pretty out of it, so it could have been the same person over and over...
*I wish they had warmer blankets. I was FREEZING the entire time, even with tow of their blankets on. I just couldn't stop shaking. Of course, that could have been because I was so sick.

So, basically I was just really really sick. My blood pressure was really low, and I was dehydrated. They gave me an IV with some anti-nausea medicine, two bags of saline, and morphine, which was awesome.

Thankfully I'm feeling a lot better today. It was a weird, crazy experience, and I'm glad it's over. Hopefully this will be my one and only experience with the ER. And hopefully this will be my last experience with the stomach flu for a long time.

'Primary Helper' and generally just a "Good Girl"

2008-11-17T13:19:00.000-08:00

Lexie has turned into sort of an awesome kid. I've mentioned that lately she's been sort of clingy, and that is true. In fact, at this very moment she's clinging on my arm watching me type. While sometimes her constant contact with some part of my body can be inconvenient, it's really nice to get numerous hugs and kisses and cuddles from a child who I thought for some time didn't even like me. It seems like Lexie is turning a corner and changing from "Tremendous Terror" into "Good Girl". She's helpful, she's loving, and she's even starting to become (gasp!) somewhat patient! She's even starting to play with her brother on the odd occation, which is a step up from seeming to wish he was never born. She's been actually enjoying and participating in her therapy, and as a result she can say the following "words":
Mommy (sometimes)
Daddy (sometimes)
SpongeBob (always)
Up
On
Off
Help
More
Meow
Woof
Moo
Oink
Hop hop
Up, up, up!
Rar
Beep beep
Tweet
That One
I Want It
Uh oh
Nay
Baa
Grandpa (apa)
Grandma (ama)
Swish Swish
Ssssssssss
... and a bunch more I can't think of right now. A lot of them are onomonopias (noises associated with a object or action), but that's the start.
Lexie is also becoming my little Primary Helper. I've had a lot to do these last two weeks, and it became impossible to wait until after her bedtime to get everything done. I'm finding that she can be a good little helper, once she is shown the papers she can touch and those she cannot, the piles she can play with and the ones she cannot, and expecially when I can find a small task for her to actually physically help me with. She LOVES that. Sometimes it means tasks take just a bit longer than if I did them myself, but it's worth it for her to get the feeling of accomplishment and being needed. Besides, with her right by my side I can turn my chore into Lexie Therapy time.
All in all, Lexie has been a good little Penguin (a new little thing we have going).

Cryin' It Out

2008-11-17T13:11:00.001-08:00

For two nights, Seth has been... SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE! Can you tell I'm excited? This kid, while the easiest baby when awake, is the worst sleeper! Recently his 10-20 times getting up a night (seriously!) combines with my chronic insomnia, has pushed me to my limits. As hard as it was, we finally decided to let him 'cry it out' on Saturday night. So he cried. And cried. And cried. It seemed like days, or at the very least hours. In reality it was about 35 minutes. But then he fell asleep! He woke up at 4am that morning and wiggled his way down to the end of the crib. I got up and repositioned him, wrapped him and stuck the bunky in, and he was alseep again within 10-15 minutes, no real crying. Take all that and repeat it for last night, 4am thing and all. Kind of weird, but I'll take it. The whole 'crying' thing sort of sucks, but the whole 'sleeping' thing is WAY worth it.

Be careful what you wish for... : )

2008-11-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, our ward split, and it couldn't have come a moment sooner. Since we moved in over almost a year and a half ago, it was ready to burst with members. What took them so long to make the change, I'll never know, but either way I'm just grateful to be in a new ward, even though we had to leave some great people behind. We are now in the Spring Creek Ward, and we get to meet in the building right behind our house. Woot Woot! But back to two weeks ago: the ward split, and I thought that maybe it would be my opportunity to finally get a callings, since it'd been years since I'd had one. Like many young women, my dream calling would be Young Womens (like my wordplay?), but with my responsibilities with Lexie, I knew that at this time that would not be the calling for me, since I couldn't possibly give the calling the time it would need without my children suffering. So I started praying. For a week, every night in my prayers I asked Heavenly Father for a calling that would be a good fit for me, one I would both enjoy and grow from, and one that I would have enough time to fulfill. As the week neared an end, I started wondering what calling I might receive. It occured to me that if I was called to something "small", like a commitee member, or to be the person in charge of putting away the hymn books after relief society, I may feel disappointed, but apparently that would be all Heavenly Father felt I could fit in my schedule, and I should trust His judgement. It then also occured to me that if I were called to something "huge" and time-consuming, I may feel overwhelmed, but I specifically asked for a calling that would fit in my life and allow me to give Lexie the time and attention she needs, and I would have to have faith that He knows what I can handle better than I do. Heavenly Father chose the latter.

A week ago I was called to be the Secretary in the Primary presidency. In a new building. In a brand new ward. With no teachers. And no supplies. Oh, and a primary of over 150 kids.

Sometimes I wonder if Heavenly Father has me mixed up with another "Lizzie", because He seems to have an overly high standard for what I can handle. That being said, I'm loving my calling! It's been a crazy week. It was literally a week ago when the presidency was called, and that was it. But the Bishopric asked us to have Primary up and running by the NEXT week, and may I remind you we had no teachers, no music people, no supplies, no nursery toys, no classroom assignments, and once again the little complication of 150+ children to consider. Needless to say, there was a lot to accomplish in a short period of time, but we did it! I'm personally impressed with myself considering I knew NOTHING about what it takes to run Primary, or what a Primary Secretary even does, added to the fact that the week was a perfect storm of inconvenience. Lexie has been excessively clingy (thankfully in a very lovey dovey way), Seth is teething and wants only to be held, and I had an all day AG Bell conference on Saturday, all of which limited my available working time. But our awesome President knew what she was doing, crossed her 't's and dotted our 'i's, and planned out every possible disaster. Primary ran nearly perfectly today, which has me excited for what we can do in the future with even more time and planning. Our ward is going to rock! And I'm honestly in love with being the Secretary. Sharing Time is way more fun that Sunday School and Relief Society. No offense, but we have songs and games. You just can't beat that. And the kids in our ward are great. I spent the two hours trying not to crack up at the things they would say.

So here's to the future. I'm sure there will be countless more posts on this subject. If anyone has any ideas or tips, those of you with more experience than me, please please please pass them my way. I want our Primary to be the coolest Primary ever, and we all know that's not coming from me (without any assistance, that it).

Happy Voting!

2008-11-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

"Eating Ivars. Life is good."

2008-11-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

That was the text I sent to Wayne as I sat in the Seatac airport a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I'm lame, and it's taken me two weeks to post about my awesome weekend trip to the hometown. My sister Sam got married in Hawaii in September (as you all know from the posts), and she had a reception in Seattle on Oct 19th. Since Seth is free on an airplane, he came along with me, so Wayne had a little Daddy-Daughter weekend in Utah.

Seattle was awesome! I wish we could have stayed longer, because with the reception being the main event, I didn't get to do a lot of the big "Seattle" things I would have like to, but I just loved being around trees and that northwest vibe. The touristy things will have to happen next trip, whenever that happens, but I was completely satisfied with just being around the cities I love and miss. Here's some shots from the car as we drove, just sort of reminders of what home feels like:

The first day we were there, we went shopping at a cool outdoor mall in the University district. Seth was a super trouper for several hours of walking and shopping, and at the end he enjoyed hanging out with Grandpa, picking up chicks as they walked by (literally. He was a major babe magnet). Here's the cuteness that got him so much attention from the ladies:

While we were there, my parents took me to an student housing building right next to the mall where we lived when I was born. It was really neat to connect to that piece of my past (and to know I was born a stone's throw away from awesome shopping. Score!). Here's the apartment we lived in, and a shot looking up into the trees outside.

As beautiful as the wedding and reception in Hawaii were, the Seattle reception gave them a run for their money. Ok, so there wasn't a breathtaking sunset across the ocean in the backround, but there was a "Mama's for Obama" rally in the park across the street! It was fun to see some old ward friends, the cake was amazing, the music was awesome (especially the live music performed by Sam and Rob's talent friend. I'll find out his myspace page and post it here. He really was great), and it was just overall a great time. Extra thanks to my aunt Cherie who held Seth the entire time. He was a happy clam sleeping on her, despite all the noise. I'll let the picture speak for themselves:

Even though it was short, it was a great trip. Being a single mommy for three days was kind of tough, but it let my try out my Super Mommy tricks. I can now say that I am an expert at sanitarily using a public restroom while carrying a baby in a Baby Bjorn. I also managed to get through security with the baby, twice, with just a little help from a flight attendant behind me in line in Salt Lake. I also managed to get my gear onto the parking van, off the parking van, and over to my parked car all by myself. I'm talking two rolling suitcases, a carseat, a diaperbag, a handbag, a winter coat, and Seth in carrier. That's right, I rock. It was tough, but totally worth it to be able to have such a fun little trip (and bring back a ton of hand-me-down clothes for Lexie). Can't wait to go back. I heart Seattle!

Winterized!

2008-11-01T19:09:00.001-07:00

This blog has officially been winterized! Like the new colors? I love the blog backrounds from leeloublogs.blogspot.com, they're all so cute. I'm so glad they put out the same pattern with a different color palete, because I'm all about keeping up with the seasons, but I love the argoyle!

Some of Lexie's Favorite Things

2008-10-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

I was realizing that when I blog about Seth, it's about all the cool things he can do, what he likes, how cute he is, etc, but when I blog about Lexie, it's usually about her hearing or speech, and never really about her as a person. So, for those friends and family who never get to see her, I'm going to start writing things about her personailty when I think of them.

Lexie loves cartoons, and I'm a bad mom and let her watch more than she should. One that she really likes is Phineas and Ferb. Here's some clips that she loves. The first one is a song we like to dance to. We have a lot of fun when this episode comes on, and it's hilarious to watch Lexie try to imitate the dance moves (and I'm sure I look goofy as well):

This one Lexie likes because A)She loves Perry the Platypus, and B)she likes when they run towards each other in slow motion, and we have to act it together when we see it:

In her cinematic debut...

2008-10-25T14:55:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I finally found a link to the Zombie movie I was in last summer. And in the spirit of laughing at one's self, I'm going to share it. My singing is awful, my "dancing" is even worse (and it's not exactly complex choreography, if you could even call it that. Just planned movements, I guess), but the bright side is that I'm only in the first half and barely in even that, so I only look stupid for a few moments. So enjoy this addition to the "things to make fun of Lizzie for" file:

http://listenup.org/screeningroom/index.php?view=da0617a7b241027256f1d128a5b7551c

We're Famous!

2008-10-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

We've been meaning to get a sign in our neighborhood for a while, but we didn't know how to go about it, so it got put off for a bit. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, Wayne called the city, who transfered him around until he finally talked to the right person, and the paperwork was started. Yesterday, our signs were put up. Cool! I don't know why I'm so excited about this, but I am. For one thing, it'll be a lot safer (hopefully) for Lexie to play out front, since she's still not good at listening for cars. Plus, I just think it's neat that there's a street sign dedicated to us. I guess it's one of the "pros" of having a deaf child. Everyone faces different challenges with their children, but not everyone can have the city honor it. You never see "Boy With Difficulty In Algebra Area" or "Watch For Child With Attitude Problem" signs. But we get one! Two, in fact (Hope you don't mind it on the edge of your yard, Ron and Sarah). That's pretty special.

Bundled Up

2008-10-14T10:19:00.001-07:00

Seth and I attempted to take our morning walk today, but it was so flippin' cold! None of the girls I usually walk with came out, and I don't blame them. We made it 1 1/2 laps of our usual 3, and my ears so frozen I had to come in. But lucky Seth, he got to be all bundled up, and he was as happy as a clam. Isn't he cute?

Germs, Cereal, Snow, The Big Clean, and Splittin' Up!

2008-10-13T12:38:00.001-07:00

It's been a while and there's a lot to cover, so we're going to do this BULLET STYLE! Woo!

* Germs: (The picture really has nothing to do with this, except that Lexie has been a bit of a little Devil. I just thought it was cute, and fitting for her usual personality) Lexie and Wayne have been sick. While Lexie is quite the handful on her sick bed, Wayne is maybe even worse (we all know men, they're just big babies - wink wink). He stayed home from work Thursday AND Friday, which if you know Wayne means he was practically on his death bed, because he HATES missing work. It's been an exhausting weekend for everyone in the house. As hard as it has been for me to play nurse, I know it's even harder to feel so crummy. Thankfully everyone is on the upward slope towards full cold and flu recovery. We all get flu shots on Wednesday, so hopefully this will be the last sick-weekend for a while.

* Cereal: Seth is now eating rice cereal. He loves the stuff, which kind of makes it hard to feed him, since he tries to grab the spoon and pull it in on his own. Hopefully this will help him sleep better, since right now he's still getting up around 12 and around 5. Yuck.

* Snow: We woke up to our first snow of the season on Sunday morning. Woo! Lexie was mezmorized. She stood at the window of her playroom taking in the winter wonderland for a good 10 minutes straight. Thankfully it all melted by the time we got out of church. It's a bit too early to be that cold, in my opinion. But it was great to get the grass watered for free. Thanks Mother Nature!

* The Big Clean: Having EVERYONE home 24 hours a day and sick from Thursday through Sunday, our place was a mess! And it seemed everytime I tried to clean up I could only chip away at the monster before a new mess emerged. So finally by Sunday I'd had it, and after dinner I shipped Wayne and the kids off the Grandma and Grandpa's house so I could clean in peace. I worked nonstop for 2 1/2 hours, picking up, folding laundry, doing dishes, etc, and I still didn't finish everything! I got the main areas done, but there's still a pile of papers in the office to file, the toyroom needs to be picked up, and there are several junk drawers/closets to be organized. How did we end up living in such a pigsty?

* Splittin' Up: That's right, it's official - we're splitting. No, not Wayne and I (seriously, you think he could ever find someone more awesome than me? No way he'd chance it, I rock! :) ), THE WARD! YAY! While I'm really sad to lose some great people, I'm so excited to finally have a ward that's a managable size. We spend every sunday in the very back of the GYM, then stay in the gym for Sunday School, and then, because our RS is so big, I spend the last hour in, you guessed it, THE GYM. It's hard to hear, impossible to get a group discussion going, and it just sucks. Plus, the rumors are going around that now we'll be able to go to the church building that's RIGHT behind our house instead of ironically passing it every Sunday to drive to a church 7 minutes away. I may finally be able to walk to church like I always dreamed about when I moved here from Seattle (where our building was 20 minutes away). They made the announcement of the split on Sunday, and the boundries and details will be announced this Sunday at ward conference, and then the week after that it's walking time! Time to get my boots...

Fall Field Trip

2008-10-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

On Friday I accompanied Lexie on her first school field trip! Her class combined with the older Preschool class and went up to South Fork in Provo Canyon to enjoy the fall leaves. Lexie was so excited to ride on a big yellow school bus and shout "Woo Hoo!" with the other kids. We sang a leaf song, raked leaves and then jumped in them, chased Leaves in a stick, and looked for squirrells. Unfortunately we didn't find any, which was too bad for them because the kids were equipt with bags of squirrell food. We threw some out for them anyway. It was a lot of fun. Here are the pics:

4 months Old

2008-10-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

Seth turned the big 4 m-o. He is 26 1/4" long (90th Percentile) and weighs 14 lbs 9 oz (40th Percentile).

He likes:
* His Frog
* His Cow
* Flipping Over
* His Sister
* Morning Walks
* Pink Medicine
* Talking

He dislikes:
* Tummy Time
* Poopy Diapers
* Lexie Crying
* Loud Noises

Hawaiian pictures!

2008-10-04T11:38:00.001-07:00

Here's a slideshow from the Rehearsal Dinner, the wedding, and some random family shots. Enjoy:

A week of Firsts

2008-09-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Seth accomplished two things this last week: 1. He learned to roll over! He can now roll over from his back to his stomach, but not the other way around. He HATES being on his stomach, but apparantly he just can't help himself from trying out this new trick, so he's constantly rolling over, then flailling around on his tummy, crying out for help, until I come over and rescue him. Wait 20 seconds, and repeat.

2. Seth got his first ear infection. Or infections, I should say, both ears. The poor little guy has been kind of miserable. Add in the constant unwanted tummy time and desperate flailling, it's been a tough week for the kid.

Tagged

2008-09-30T10:07:00.001-07:00

Heidi tagged me, and I finally got access to her blog, so here it is, better late than never:

6 quirks about me:

1. I have a phobia about cutting my fingernails. I'm afraid that if I cut them too short, I'll cut the skin that connects my nails to my fingers. Therefore, I never let anyone else cut my fingernails, and when I cut them myself I always leave them really long.
2. If you tell me "don't smile", I automatically smile, every time. It's not a happy smile, it has nothing to do with emotion, it's simply that my mouth has no choice but to respond to the voice command. Wayne thinks he's so cool, like he's magic because he can make me smile, but I just remind him every time "[biggrin] it's not like it's some major accomplishment, anyone can do it[/biggrin]".
3. With a few exceptions, I must eat foods seperately. I do not eat casseroles. I'll eat salad, but no two types of food will be on my fork at the same time. Example: I'll eat a piece of lettuce, then a carrot, but not a forkfull of lettuce and carrot. Same with eating a stew. One bite with potatoes, one bite with meat, one bite with corn, etc.
4. When I'm falling asleep, I write episodes of tv shows I watch in my head. Sometimes it's just something I think would be fun to see, like "Gee, it'd be so funny if on The Office they did...". Those I don't usually remember. More often I do it for shows with continuous storylines, usually the one I saw the night before, like Heroes or Prison Break. I think I do it because I can't stand the cliffhangers from week to week, and I just want to know what happens next, so I make it up in my head. I usually remember these, and a few times the show has actually followed my story fairly closely (they're in my head!). A lot of times I'm actually disappointed when the future episodes air, because I like they way I wrote it better. A note: I actually imagined the episode of Friends where Chandler proposes to Monica, almostly exactly, weeks before it aired. Spooky. I wasn't even that big a fan of the show, either.
5. I refuse to look in a mirror in a dark room. Partly because I got freaked by the Bloody Mary game when I was a kid, and partly because I don't want to live out that scene you always see in scary movies where a person is in the bathroom at night, they look at their reflection in the mirror, everything is fine, look down to the sink, then look back up and there's someone standing behind them in the reflection as lightning crashes outside the window, they scream and turn, but it's too late! If I'm going to be attacked, fine, I just don't want to find out about it that way. So if I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I close my eyes as I pass the mirror and walk reallyreallyfast!
6. I have to eat M&M's by color. First, all the browns, then after that, the smallest group, then the next smallest group, etc, so in the end I'm left with a large group of one color of M&Ms. If the groups are around the same size, I like to leave either the greens or the blues for last, because I like they way a large group of either of those colors looks together.

I don't know that many people who blog, so I'll tag: Wayne, Ryan T (can he borrow your blog, Heidi?), Suzie, Cory, Mindy, and Megan.

Hawaiian Adventure Part 2

2008-09-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, Lexie is at school, Seth is asleep, and hopefully this will all last long enough for me to post all the pictures I want to. And on with the show...

First off, the "conditionER incident", not the "condition incident" as I called it last post. Oops: In our condo, the bathrooms were supplied with Kirkland shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the showers in those big giant bottles with pumps. Lexie thought the pumps were SOOOOO cool, and loved to rub all of the above all over herself, whoever else was in the shower helping de-sand her, the shower walls, the shower floor, etc etc. One time she showered with her cousin Rachel after a trip to the beach and she eashed Rachel's tummy, which Rachel thought was hilarious and mentioned for several days after. This is them watching some cartoons afterwards:

Anyway, the incident occured one morning later. After getting Lexie showered for the day, I let her hang out in her towel for a bit before getting her dressed, since I had a million other things to do, and she really wanted to lay on her bed and watch Spongebob, NOT get dressed. So I left her to herself and busied myself with other chores. After a while, I suddenly realized it'd been quite a long time since I'd seen or heard from Lexie, and that's never a good thing. I went to check on her and found that I'd left her naked a little too long. She'd gone back into the bathroom and was playing with the conditioner on the bathroom floor. This is what I found:

It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but she was completely covered from head to toe with conditioner. Well, I guess I learned my lesson.

The wedding was awesome. It was on a golf course looking down upon the ocean. The minister was amazing, seriously, if anyone knows anyone getting married in Maui, I'll have to get you his name. The reception was beautiful and the food was delicious.
*pictures to come. Posting them individually takes too long, so I'll wait till I can do a slideshow from Picassa on Wayne's computer tonight...

Our Hawaiian Adventure

2008-09-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

It was quite an adventurous week and a half. There's a lot to cover, so I'm just going to skip the small talk and head straight into the details. First we flew from SLC to San Diego, and both kids were perfect, amazingly. I don't know how we'd manage without Jetblue and their awesome individual tv's. Lexie got to watch cartoons the whole way there and loved it. The next day we flew from San Diego, first to Oahu and then on another plane to Maui. Here's a picture of Lexie and Wayne at a fountain in the SD Airport, and some from the plane.

Both kids, even Lexie, were complete perfect angels for all this flying. By the third flight, Lexie did get a bit peeved when we had to open her window for takeoff and landing, but that was it. However, after waiting for our bags and then waiting for-EVER for our rental car, all in the horrible heat, she was wigging out. Also, it was her bedtime by then, according to her body, and she was tired. We finally made it to our condo for the night (after being bumped from our first place), had the BEST pizza I've ever eaten, and went to bed at 7pm Hawaiian time. That first condo we stayed in was great. It had an awesome layout, two whole baths for the one bedroom, and huge patio and cool cool air conditioning. We loved it and would stay there again. Here's some early morning photos from the patio:

After that first night, we stayed in a different Condo for the rest of the trip. It was really pretty, had a huge layout with a loft, and an awesome view, but NO AIR CONDITIONING. We nearly died. It made it hard to even leave the condo, because it was so hot outside, and you knew you couldn't come back in a cool off. I was really worried that Seth would overheat. Here's some pics of the condo and the view from the patio:

Like Wayne said, Lexie loved the beach. They say a picture's worth a thousand word, so I'll let the images do the talking:

Ok, so since this is taking forever, I'm going to leave it at that for now... stayed tuned to part 2 for pictures from the wedding, family, and Lexie's condition incident...

Maui

2008-09-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

We made it to Hawii! I am sure Liz will write something up...it has not been an easy trip. Here is a picture of the resort we are staying at and also the beach we have been playing on...Lexis LOVES the beach and is fearless. She only likes to play where the waves break and as you can imagine it a full time job to protect her.

I Feel Sticky

2008-09-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

We arrived today in San Diego, and it's WET WET WET! No, it's not raining, but I feel like I'm walking through a cloud, it's that humid. It's weird, I know Utah is a desert, but I don't think you truly appreciate the dryness until you hang out by the ocean. Plus, my hair now sucks.

Flipping Out

2008-09-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago Lexie started gymnastics at All American Gymnastics in Lindon, my former workplace. I was going to blog about it then, but she was soooooooo naughty in class, I was too mad to take pictures, and I certainly didn't want to talk about it. She didn't listen to the teacher, she was running all over the place, and she threw a fit when we left. Well, last week was Labor Day, so no class, but we got to go back today. Much better! The first half of class she listened very well and stayed with the group, 3/4 in she stayed with the class but sort of spaced out during the activities, then for the last 10 minutes she was running around wherever she pleased. So, not a perfect day in class, but a definate improvement. Next week I may change the setting on her Cochlear so she can potentially hear her teacher better, which may be part of her focusing problem. It seems like it's hard to focus in on her teacher's voice in the big gym, so we'll see if we can fix that. Then on to the 2024 Summer Olympics! ; )

3 months, baby!

2008-09-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Little Seth is three months old! He went in for his "three month checkup" (which was supposed to be his "two month checkup", but his doctor is just so darn popular it had to be pushed back a bit) and came through with flying colors. He's in the 25% for weight and the 80% for height. Lucky boy, tall and thin! We sure do love the guy. He's a sucker for a smile, all you have to do is look at him with one and he grins back. He also thinks his sister is the coolest thing around. Once he gets his eyes set on her he watches her in awe, with a big smile on his face.

School's Back!

2008-08-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

Lexie had her first day of school! Yay! Like a good mommy, I had a brand new "back to school" outfit all ready for her, and I was so excited for her to finally be able to wear it. Surprisingly, Lexie was a bit hestitant about school this time around. She started crying when we got out the backpack, and the tears came again when she left on the "bus". But she was all smiles when she got home, so I think despite a bit of separation anxiety, she had a good time. Seth enjoyed his exclusive mommytime for a few hours, and I enjoyed being able to make run some errands without an impatient toddler. School rocks!

2 steps forward, one step back

2008-08-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

Well, so much for yesterday's post. Today we've had two "accidents" so far, although I know they're not really accidents, Lexie just doesn't like the potty. Well, tough! Change is hard, but it's how we grow. Either way, she's still progressing, so we're just going to power forward. We will win this battle, or die trying!

Pretty Princesses stay dry!

2008-08-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's the end of day 4, and we haven't had a potty accident since yesterday morning! I bought Lexie Disney Princess underwear, and every time I put them on her, I point out the pretty princess and tell Lexie we don't want her to get wet or dirty. I don't know if that's what working but, but whatever the reason, the princesses are safe so far! Sure, I still have to practically drag her to the bathroom while promising candy and prizes, but it's a start...

Things to look forward to:

2008-08-19T13:40:00.001-07:00

Next Monday: Lexie's first gymnastics class
Next Tuesday: First day of School!
Sept. 12: We leave for Hawaii
Sept 18th: Aunt "Thumbs Up" (my sister Sam) gets married to "Uncle Gum" (her fiance Rob)
Sometime in October: I'm going to do a super cute tree mural in Lexie's room

The Grass is Greener...

2008-08-19T13:32:00.001-07:00

... and it's growing, too! After over a year of dirt and weeds, and after two weeks of work prepping the ground, our hydroseed has been laid down in the backyard and we've got babies! The seedlings are about an inch high, and totally cute. I'm not sure if grass is supposed to be cute, but it is. Hopefully we'll have a real yard in 2-3 more weeks. Thanks to everyone who helped with the HUGE amount of work that had to be done to get everything ready, we really appreciate it. Hopefully we'll have pictures to post when it's grown in more. Our camera now is broken and only sort of works when it wants to... we may have to make a small investment, because what's a blog post without a picture?

My personal Hell

2008-08-19T13:23:00.001-07:00

I think if I'm really really bad in this life, my afterlife punishment will be to potty-train Lexie for eternity. The kid is definately ready: she pulls off a wet or dirty diaper, knows how to go on the potty, and even has enough control to poop in her bed as mommy-payback for sending her to nap when she wants to keep playing. But Lexie is the kind of girl who wants the easy life, and that does NOT include doing anything herself that someone else could do for her, which apparently includes dealing with her personal waste. We're going hardcore this week, since we've got next to nothing on the calendar and school starts next week, it's our last chance to really get the whole thing going. I put together a Potty Jar, which includes candy and prizes for using the toilet. This works... when she wants it to. Half the time she goes in the potty and happily takes her prize from the jar. The other half she decides it's more fun to tap me on the leg to get my attention and then pee on the floor in front of me, big smile plastered on her face. Sigh... she's going to be a very interesting teenager. This is the middle of day two, and we've already had a several Lexie AND mommy tantrums. Here's to hoping we're doing better by day 5...

Cute pics

2008-07-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some cute pictures we took today. We also had a little photo shoot with Seth for his baby announcements. So, look forward to getting some of these in your mailbox in the next couple weeks...

Introducing... SETH!

2008-07-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here are the Seth pictures I promised! These are from the hospital, getting dressed for the first time, in the carseat to go home, and then a cute one from at home and a cute one of Lexie. They're all from his first week of life, but he looks pretty much the same now, just slightly bigger.

Baby Shower pics!

2008-07-13T15:14:00.001-07:00

Fall Colors and Family pics

2008-07-10T14:12:00.001-07:00

In case anyone is wondering what is "fall colors" for the big family pictures, here's are some samples. Our family is doing brown for the boys and mossy/olive green for the girls.

A couple more updates...

2008-07-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

I thought of a few things to mention:

1. Lexie is getting big! I bought her a couple of new swimsuits on saturday, and she actually fit into the 3T sizes, width and everything! And her new 3T cropped pants from Aunt Suzie only had to be cinched in a little bit. It's nice to have clothes fit her, but I just don't know where it's coming from, because she hasn't been eating lately...

2. Seth is big as well! Ok, not "big", but tall and long and skinny, and certainly bigger than Lexie was. At 3 days old, he dropped down to 6lbs 12 oz, but by his 2 week appointment he was up to 9lbs 2oz, and 21 3/4 inchces long! Lexie was barely 9lbs at her 2 month. I can't imagine where he'll be at his 2 month...

3. I had my house cleaned today! Yes, I'm finally getting a house cleaner. I can keep the place picked up, but it's jsut so hard to clean with Lexie, because she wants to be in everything, and she never leaves my side. So now I have someone coming every other week to keep us sanitary and healthy. She did a great job today, and I'm so happy that I can take "the house is never clean" off my list of things to stress over.

4. Seth is being blessed on August 3rd. We picked this day because Ryan and Fam and Justin and Fam will all be in town, and my parents are coming as well. Everyone else, we'd love to have you there! Our church is at 9am, and our ward is HUGE, so come early to get seats. It's the Lehi 1st Ward in the Lehi Stake, if you want to look up the buildings address on mormon.org.

I'll add some post-hospital pictures of Seth, I promise... some day...

Updates

2008-07-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

I've got a chance few moments, so here's a quick update on how everyone is doing:

Lexie: She hasn't purposely or accidentally wet the bed in like two weeks! Yay! In fact, she's starting to get back to her regular self. Sure, her "regular self" still includes a good number of tantrums and just a whole lot of craziness, but at least she's no longer the demon child. She's actually started doing some really nice things, like: 1) She loves helping me empty and fill up the dishwasher 2) She has mastered signing "Sorry Mommy" when TimeOut is done 3) She now gives me spontanious hugs and kisses, for no reason at all, and 4) She seems upset when Seth cries, and signs "Brother cry", showing that she's sad that he's sad.

Seth: The poor kid is going bald! He's completely lost all the har on the top of his head, leaving him looking more Uncle Ryan than Daddy : ). Hopefully the rest will come off soon, because I'd prefer that he look like a cueball. For the last few days he's had a cold, and his poor little nose is all stuffed up. Mommy has turned into torturer with the amount of nose sucking he's needed. Poor guy. It's been so bad, he's actually cried a few times! It's also kept us all up at night, so we're all praying he'll get better soon.

Wayne: His cold plus Seth's sleepless nights make for one tired Wayne. But he's still a very good daddy and husband. Lexie has turned him into a full-time aquatics director. He bought her a plastic $8 wade pool for the front yard, and spent all weekend watching her splash and filling up water balloons for her. I think he had nearly as much fun as her.

Liz: I'm still tired and ragged from managing the two kids, but it's time to get fit! I've got to lose as much weight as possible before I take my bridesmaid dress in to be altered, so there's a bit of a rush there. Plus, nearly all of my summer shirts now fit into the "Just because you can wear it doesn't mean you should" category. So, if anyone has any advice on how to fit in working out between nursing sessions and after Lexie's bedtime, let me know...

Still Alive

2008-06-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

Both kids are miraculously asleep, so I thought I'd drop in a little note to let everyone know we're still alive. It's been a very, very, VERY tough almost two weeks. As I feared, Lexie is having a hard time adjusting to not being the complete center of the Tomlinson universe. There have been fits, messes, wet beds AND soiled beds, and a few smiles in between. But we've had a lot of help from friends and family, and we're very grateful for that. We all loved having "Aunt Sam" (my sister) and Cousin Rachel come visit, and Lexie got an absolute kick out of having a fun 6 year old to play with. Thankfully, Seth has been super chill and very patient, a good counter to Hurricane Alexis.

In conclusion, many days are bad, some are good. Here's to surviving, and hopefully working towards more good days than bad.

Nameless No More

2008-05-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

It was almost written in the stars. As I lay in bed Wednesday night, I thought about what I had left to wear the next day. Being huge and not having a large amount of maternity clothes (and not all of them could even fit my bulging stomach at that point), nearing laundry day I had few options. The only thing that was clean and weather appropriate was my yellow striped t-shirt. As I realized this, I remembered that it was this t-shirt that I wore to the hospital when I was induced to have Lexie. I thought with a chuckle how ironic it would be if I happen to have the baby the next day. Thursday was also Lexie's last day of school, thus the end of any potential complications with me being in the hospital. I had actually contemplated taking castor oil earlier in the week, but had decided that if I was going to try to induce, I should wait until after school was out so there wouldn't be any complications getting Lexie there. Also, our Home Teacher came by Wednesday night and promised to pray for me to go into labor. Interesting timing.

I woke up Thursday feeling crampy and uncomfortable, but excited because I had my doctor's appointment that morning. While I tried to prepare myself for all possible outcomes, I daydreamed that the doctor would check me out and announce that the baby was on his way and instruct me to walk right over to the hospital and get 'er done. My daydream nearly came true. The doctor first felt my stomach to find the baby's position, and told me I was having a contraction right then and there! Then, after examining me, he told me he wouldn't be surprised if I went into labor that day, if not the next few days. And thus the contractions began.

That first one was at around 10:30am. They started about 30 minutes apart, and were more uncomfortable than painful. They become more frequent but still just uncomfortable over the next few hours. Around 4pm I called the doctor's office to double check that I should wait until contractions were every 5 minutes, but the nurse said that since I was a steady 10 minutes at that point, I should head on over to the hospital. Not wanting to get to the hospital too early, I called Wayne and had him wrap up work, packed a bag for Lexie, took her over to hang out with Grandma and Aunt Suzie, and eentually met up with Wayne and went to American Fork Hospital. My doctor was already there with another patient, so that was convenient.

This delivery was WAY faster than the first, but still scary at times. The anesiologist (I know that's not spelled right, but I can't think right now) looked like he was 12 years old, and that got me terrified. "Time to push" came a lot faster than anyone was expecting, and I should have pushed my pain med button a lot sooner, because I definately experienced pain. But in the end, it was fairly quick and easy, as far as labor goes. I instantly fell in love with the little guy. With Lexie, that took some time, because she represented a world of all new, terrifying things. But this little guy was not so scary, so I got to just enjoy him from the start. The second I looked at him, my mind immediately said "Seth James". I had considered this combo before and didn't like it, but when I saw him, that's just who he was.

He's been a great little guy so far. He's sleeping VERY well (4-8 hour increminents most times!) and eating like a proper Tomlinson should. Heavenly Father knew that if we were going to have another kid, he'd need to be able to adapt to us, because Lexie has a lot of needs, and I think we're getting that kid. We feel very blessed, and I can't wait to take him home and start our lives as a bigger family together.

Seth James Tomlinson

2008-05-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

Seth James Tomlinson was born May 29th 2008 at 8:50 PM. He was 20 inches long and 7 lbs 10 oz. He and mom are doing well.

Now at the Hospital

2008-05-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

Liz and I arrived to American Fork Hospital at 5:00 PM. Liz was admitted at 5:30 PM. It is now 7 PM and Liz is having regular contractions and more frequently. It is definitley GO TIME!

Tomlinson (and others) Call to Arms!

2008-05-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

Today is Lexie's last day of school (for the summer), and mommy is terrified! I feel like she's just started to make progress, and I'm worried she'll regress over the summer. I've had a few meetings with her teacher, Lori Ruth, over the last couple of weeks, and she's really empowered me with a what we need to be doing and working on to get Lexie on track, both with speech and her overall development, both of which is behind on. I have a lot of faith in her teacher and her methods, because I've seen the kids in class and talked to parents and know that it works. So now we need to have it work for Lexie! Lori has suggested that I recruit family and friends to be "in the program" with Lexie, because the more people who are pushing her to do better, the faster she will, and even one person paddling the wrong direction, even someone she doesn't interact with ALL the time, can hurt the process. So here is what we're working on with Lexie. This is most important to be done at home with me, since that's where most of her time is spent, but anytime anyone sees Lexie they can help out by doing these things. Plus, I could really use everyone "being on my case", asking and making sure I'm still doing what I need to be doing for Lexie, even with the new baby.

1. Narrate everything! As we go through our day, narrate simply what's happening and what's being seen, in a clear voice and easy to understand language. Ex: "Lexie, you're looking at a book. That's a book! Who's on the book? It's a dog. The dog says Ruff Ruff!" or "Mommy is making lunch. Here's your milk. Should I pour the milk? Yes! I'm pouring the milk! Pour!"

2. Give everything a sound. Dogs say Ruff Ruff. Cats say Meow. Cars say Beep Beep. Airplanes say "AAAAAAAh!". Balloons say "Up up up!". A lot of things we've already established a certain sound to, so you can ask if you're curious, but ANYTHING can make a simple, easy to imitate sound. Show Lexie the sound and ask her to do it back to you.

3. DROP THE SIGNS! This is a HUGE one. I talked with a mom whose daughter was barely starting to babble at 4 years old. They were very much into the Deaf community, and we having a hard time dropping signing. She finally sat down with Lori, who told her that she really needed to drop the signs, because at this age, the brain can only focus on either visual or auditory, and visual was easier, so that's what it would do. They decided to have faith and drop the signs, and she started making progress in two weeks! Now her daughter is 12 and reads at an 11th grade level! Their family has picked up signing later, since it's a great language and very helpful, but until speech was solidified, the signs had to go. We must do this with Lexie! Right now it's hard, because you say something to her, like "Let's go to Grandma's!", and she looks at you as if you're speaking Japanese. Or Martian. And you know if you could just sign it she'd understand. But Lori explained that a newborn baby doesn't know what "Go to Grandma's!" means either, but the brain naturally wants to organize things and make things make sense. Just like a hearing baby will eventually learn what "Go to Grandma's" means, so will Lexie. We just have to give her brain the chance to figure things out.

4. Make Lexie be more independant! We all treat Lexie different than we would a "normal" three year old, like Mac for instance. I'm the worst! I spoil her rotten, because she's special and precious and life is hard enough for her. But this is why she is behind, because nothing is expected of her. She can't do things a three year old should be able to do, like put on clothes for example. She has the ability, she's just never been asked to do it. We've treated her like a "disabled child", and that's all she's going to be if that's all we expect from her. Her brain is fully functioning, so we need to start treating her like a normal three year old, and she will become one. This is a hard one for Mommy! If you see me helping Lexie with something she should be doing on her own, or in any other way pampering or spoiling her, tell me to knock it off!! I won't be offended, I'll be grateful, because after three years it's sort of automatic.

Thanks everyone for your support, and I know with everyone's help, Lexie can actually progress this summer, and go back to school in the fall ready to learn even more!

Grateful

2008-05-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

I have a cute aunt who likes to send along a bunch of forwards. Most of the time I don't have time to sit and read all of them, but today she sent one that I kind of liked, and needed to read, seeing as I'm VERY whiney about my aches and pains right now...

I AM THANKFUL: FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME,
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA
BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME,
NOT ON THE STREETS.

FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM EMPLOYED .

FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE

FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME .

FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
WE HAVE FREEDOM O F SPEECH.

FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .

FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM WARM.

FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH
WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS
I CAN HEAR.

FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL

BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
FRIENDS WH O ARE THINKING OF ME.

Car Day!

2008-05-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

Lexie's preschool had Car Day today! Yesterday we spent almost three hours making her car out of a cardboard box, and today all the kids got to run around pretending to be cars. But the best part was that Cosmo showed up! I'm not sure what the BYU Cougars have to do with cars, but it seems like they had a lot of fun. And Lexie got a Car Show Award for having the Smallest Cutest Car. I'm going to take credit for that one, I figured she wouldn't want to lug around a big SUV, she's more of a Mini Couper kind of girl...

*In the class picture, Lexie is on the bottom right corner, and that's Lexie from behind in the top right picture. Her car has a Ski Utah liscense plate. You can click on the picture to see it bigger. This is just the newsletter that was sent home today.

The end is SET.

2008-05-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

So now my whining from yesterday is unnessesary, because a for sure end to this pregnancy has been set. Unfortunately, it's June 6th. However, it was my choice. Odd, huh? Here's how the story goes: This morning I went in for my doctor's appointment and learned, sparing the intimate details, that I've made a big progression from last week. So it seems my body is definately gearing up to kick this baby out. The doctor then gave me the option for when to schedule an induction, if nessesary. Being my second pregnancy, I could opt to do it as early as a week before my due date, but no later than a week after, for the baby's safety. The "week early" option seemed VERY tempting, but something held me back. I think that, despite my burning desire not be pregnant anymore, part of me still wants to find out what it's like to go into labor naturally (Wayne will be on the couch watching tv or reading the newspaper when I suddenly enter the family room, luggage in hand, and calmly announce "Honey, it's time". Just like in the movies, right?). And seeing as I'm making some headway already, there may be a chance that nature will take it's course. So, that in mind, June 6th is also a fun birthday (6/6), and the doctor I like best from the practice is on call that day, so it just seemed right. Well, there you have it: though hopefully sooner, Nameless Baby will be coming by June 6th.

Labor, please!

2008-05-21T14:59:00.001-07:00

I realized today I haven't written anything for a while, which is odd considering I check everyone else's blog almost every day. I think maybe I've been waiting to have something really big to write about... you know, the really big something. But alas, no baby. I'm very very anxious to have this kid. It seems like everyday the pain and discomfort is so great, there's no way my body can make me go through it for even one more day. And yet, it does. The little more than 2 weeks to go seems like an eternity, and even though my due date is June 6th, the thought of entering June still pregnant is so depressing I can't even fathom it at this moment. I keep thinking that I haven't gone into labor yet because there are things that need to be done, but events and tasks keep getting checked off and still no baby. Hair appointment so I'll look fresh in pictures: Check. Nursery completely finished: Check. All nessesary baby supplies bought, received, or cleaned and ready from storage: Check. AWESOME baby shower thrown by Korbie: Check. Hospital bag packed and ready: Check. I've even gotten in some helpful non-Nameless Baby related appointments, like a couple of meetings with Lexie's teacher. The only thing coming up is an audiology appointment for Lexie on Tuesday, but I keep trying to reassure Heavenly Father that Wayne would have no problem handling that one. Sigh... all pregnancies do end sometime, right?

2008-05-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

Korbie took this picture of Lexie before everyone arrived for her birthday party. I just had to post it, for one because I love the composition and the clarity (man, do I need a better camera), and also because it just seems to capture so much of Lexie's personality. Yes, boys and girls, we are drama. But ain't we cute?

The Tomlinson Trio

2008-05-05T13:18:00.001-07:00

I thought I should post a couple pictures of us as the Tomlinson Trio, before we become the Tomlinson Trio plus One. We took these last week when I remembered at the last minute that Lexie needed to bring a picture of herself with her immediate family to school the next day. Since I'm usually the one holding the camera, we had nothing, so we took a couple of quick shots with Wayne holding the camera out. Well, here we are, scraggly and squirmy and tore up at the end of the day...

a big birthday party THANK YOU!

2008-05-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to thank everyone who came to Lexie's birthday party for making it such a fun event. You may or may not know this, but I hate having birthday parties. I stopped when I was about 11-12. I just stress out about everything and it's no fun, hense why Lexie hasn't had one until now. But thanks to everyone, it was great and stress-free (once everyone arrived. I wouldn't be me if I didn't stress about timing when to cut the cucumber for the veggie tray just right), even with so many little ones running around my house! The cats probably thought we were trying to torture them. Little Low-key Lexie seemed both thrilled and overwhelmed to have so many friends around, it was a great experience for her to help her shake up her comfort bubble a little. We're so grateful to have such awesome friends and family. You all rock!

Now that we're 3, we're a BIG GIRL!

2008-05-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

Lexie's birthday is today! Since she's started opening doors, Lexie now wakes up in the morning sometime between 6:30-7am, comes in our room, walks over to Wayne's side of the bed, he lifts her up, I turn on the tv, and she sits inbetween us and watches Disney Channel and snuggles with us for a few minutes while we wake up. But today, apparently, was a new day. A Big Girl day. We heard her open her door, followed by the usual pitter patter of little feet coming down the hall. But instead of coming straight in, she decided to stop and play with something in the hall for a few minutes. Then, when she did come in, she did not go over to Wayne. Instead, she headed over to the dresser, found a small stack of dvd's on top, perused, picked the one she wanted, reached up and pressed the "open" button on the dvd player, put in her selection, then closed it. She then pressed the power button on the tv, and waited for her movie to start, not once looking back for any parental involvement. Of course, I still had to change the tv to "video" mode with the remote, but other than that she had everything under control. That's right, 3-year olds are Big Girls.

Total bummers.

2008-05-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

It's funny how sometimes you'll get bombarded by a slew of little things to just totally bum you out, like a line of little gray clouds that decide to come over and float above your head for a bit. I was having a perfectly nice morning, until I read Lexie's daily note from her teacher when she got home. Lexie is behind where she should be in communication progress and has a lot of work to do. Well, this is of course not at all news, but every time it's just such a bummer to hear. I'm getting so tired of hearing from every therapist at every appointment how far behind Lexie is. I've been working so hard with her for over a year, and she's just barely starting to do the things she should have started 4 months in. I feel like her therapists must think I'm lying when I tell them that I do everything they tell me to, that we work on communication every day and practice the techniques they're showing me all the time. I mean, why else would she not be progressing? This is just one of those times when I'd love for Heavenly Father to give me just a little window into the future, show me Lexie somewhere down the line when all this hard work pays off and she's no longer "behind". All I'd need to see is one "Lexie is doing great!" report, and it'd have a finish line to reach for at this moment.
So I'm already totally bummed out by this little gray cloud, when #2 comes rolling in. I get an email from my agent calling for anyone interested in being an extra for High School Musical 3. Now, this really shouldn't be that big a deal, especially in the grand scheme of things. But I was supposed to audition for a couple of actual roles on this film several months back. In fact, the casting director had specifically asked for me, which is cool. Unfortunately, Nameless Baby had made his unexpected arrival in the soon-to-be-world, and pregnant women can not pass for highschool students. Well, at least not in a Disney film. So, the extra call just reminded me of another disappointment in my life. Double bummer.
So I decide to read a friend's blog to cheer me up, because she's a good writer and always enjoyable. But today she shared with the world a clever little "kids say the darnest things" moment she had with her kids. Which of course reminded me once again that Lexie cannot say such clever little things because right now the only thing she can consistantly say is "Meow", and even that in dwindling and becoming less of a word as she gets lazy and the novelty of talking wears off... Triple bummer.
Oh, and it snowed! On May 1st! I mean, come on! I'm usually a big enviromentalist, but even I'm starting to doubt this whole Global Warming thing. Just for those stupid flakes of snow, I'm not recyling a darn thing today. I was going to save and reuse the 2 plastic Walmart shopping bags I got today, but now I'm going to go throw them straight into the trash... and maybe eat some icecream or something...

The Van: Part 2

2008-05-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when Lexie got home, she cried when she had to get off the van. I thought she'd be excited to see Mommy, but nope, all she did was cry and reach out for the van as it pulled away, signing "friends!". I guess I won't be offended and just be happy that she had a good time.

Today when I put her in the van, one of the straps on her carseat was stuck on something, so it took me a few extra minutes to get her in. She was grinning from ear to ear the entire time, and after a while she got impatient with how long I was taking and started gently pushing me away, big smile on her face. When I was done, I waved and said "Bye bye, Lexie!". She happily waved back, and out I went. So, I guess the van is a big hit.

First day on the big girl van!

2008-04-30T08:52:00.001-07:00

Today Lexie rode to school on the van. Was she nervous? No, she had no idea what was going on before this morning. Was I nervous? Heck yeah! I barely got any sleep last night. I thought I was totally cool with it, until right before we went to bed, when for some reason my mind started going to all those 'worst case' scenerios. Once that started, my mind couldn't stop. I was up half the night imagining her the next morning happily getting on the van, then totally freaking out when they pulled away from our house without mommy, and then she would start crying and hyperventilating and not be able to calm down without a binky (which is the only thing that brings her back to reality on the rare occation she has a total meltdown), but binkies aren't allowed at preschool, so she'd have to keep freaking out until they would eventually call me and have me come pick her up...
Anyway, apparently my sleepless night was for nothing. Wayne stayed home long enough to see her off, and I think she dug having daddy around for a few extra minutes. She got right on the van, and luckily there were already a few "friends" there already, which she loved. And then they pulled away. I watched the tinted windows to see if she was flailing around as they drove off, but I saw nothing. I called the school later and talked to her teacher, and she said that although she didn't know how she was on the van, she arrived at school happy and without any signs of a meltdown, so all must have gone well. I'll find out more from the driver when she gets home later today, I'm sure.

Above are some pics of her waiting for the van and then getting in, as well as some with her wearing her new new backpack, which I got yesterday. The little one she brought to school yesterday is too small for the paperwork she needs to bring home to us each day, so she has to have a fullsized one. It's hilarious because the bag is nearly as big as she is, but somehow she can keep it on her back.

Lexie's first day of school!

2008-04-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

First note: Lexie's teacher spelled her name with an "ie" instead of just an "i", and I think it looks way cuter. We're going to have to do it that way from now on...

This morning we got up and while we got ready we watched the "School" Signing Time dvd. So when it was time to go and I told Lexie she was going to "School", she was so excited! When we got there, she got to put her coat and her backpack on her very own hook, labelled with her name and everything! Very grown up... Basically I just dropped her off and got the heck out of there, because her teacher said that's the best way to avoid tears, and it worked like a charm. When I picked her up, her teacher said she went straight into playing and didn't look back. At the end of the day, she seemed a little worn out, I think it was a whole lot of "new", but she still seemed to like school. In fact, she kept signing "school" over and over as I tried to usher her out the door. Tomorrow she will take the van to school instead of me driving her. This will be nice for me, as they'll be picking her up at 8:20 and dropping her off a little before noon. I think she'll really like driving with all the kids as well.

Sorry this post is so clunky, I ran a bunch of errands while she was at school, too many in fact, and now my poor body is completely wiped out, and it feels like it's taking my mind with it...

"First day of School! First day of School!"

2008-04-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

(Brownie points for anyone who knows where that quote is from. Or sympathy points, as you've probably been forced to watch the movie over and over as I have...)

Today Lexi had her very first IEP, which stands for Individualized Education Plan. It's a meeting that happens once a year when you enter the school system, which for Lexi is at age 3, or for other kids their IEPs start whenever they enter the special education program. This is the kind of stuff I'm used to hearing about because my mom is a special education teacher, so for me it was exciting for her to start her "Big Girl" special ed stuff. We met with her teacher and the Utah School the Deaf and Blind preschool cordinator, along with a few other specialist, and reviewed where Lexi is right now and set goals for her for the next year. The best part was... Lexi is starting school! Her first day of USDB preschool is this upcoming Tueday. She'll go to school Tues-Fri from 9-11:30, until school gets out at the end of May. After that there will be some sort of summer school, but those details haven't been fully decided yet. Her teacher is AWESOME, and she has a Cochlear Implant herself. She believes in strong structure and expects a lot out of her students, which is exactly what stubborn little Lexi needs. We're excited to see what kind of progress Lexi will make in a school environment, and we have a feeling she's going to start shining.

"What we have here is a failure to communicate!"

2008-04-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

Just now I was showing Lexi a picture of Cory O'Bryant holding little Tiger. I pointed at Tiger and said "Who's that?" to which she signed "Baby!", which is what she's been calling him. I made up a sign name for Tiger, since he's no longer a little baby, really, and certainly won't be when he's 2, 3, 4, 18, etc. So I pointed at him and signed "that's Baby Tiger". I then pointed at Cory and said "Who's that?" to which she correctly signed "Uncle Cory (Uncle C)". So I went back to Tiger, pointed at him and said "Who's that?". She signed "Baby". I said "Baby... what?" hoping for the response "Baby Tiger". Instead I got "Baby Brother". Uh-oh. Now I'm wondering if when we've been pointing out all the new blue clothes and blankets and bedding for Baby Brother, she's been thinking we just really really like Tiger and we're giving him a whole bunch of stuff. Oh, and it's his fault my stomach is huge. Very interesting...

To Do:

2008-04-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about ideas to scratch my "project itch". I've got a few now, some which I know what to do, others that need more research and thought, most with cost-efficiency in mind. I'm posting them here (in no particular order) mostly so I have a hard copy to remind me of what I want to do, but also so anyone who has suggestions can help me solidify my plans.

1. Done
2. Paint dots on Nameless Baby's blackout shade. (supplies bought. May be a fun group project)
3. Put up family pictures on Office walls.
4. Paint Lexi's walls (color picked out).
5. Done
6. Paint 2 large canvases for Guest Bedroom.
7. Paint wall in family room red.
8. Create 3D flower art for Lexi's walls (3?)

Look how big she's gotten!

2008-04-19T14:09:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about one of the pictures I took of Lexi with her "Big Girl Cochlear", because it reminded me of a picture we took of her forever ago wearing her hearing aid. Side by side, it's cool to see how much older she is now. The older picture was taken July 2006, when she's just over a year. The newer picture is April 2008, so just under three years old.

Second project done!

2008-04-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sharon (Wayne's mom) was nice enough to help me make the curtains for Lexi's two little windows. Because of their unique size, it was impossible to buy ready-made curtains, especially blackout ones. So I bought the same curtains we have up on her big window, and a big blackout curtain to hem down, and Sharon helped me literally every step of the way (I'm so lame, I have no idea how to sew) to make them. They look really simple, but I can't believe I actually got a sewing project done! Again, I couldn't have done it without Sharon, so big big THANK YOU to her. Now my two priority projects are done. So... the baby is supposed to come now, right? I need another project to pass the time, I think. It was suggested that I paint the other three walls in Nameless Baby's room the lightest blue from the dots, and I'd love to do that, but I think I should give myself a break for at least a couple of weeks before I dive into another big thing. I already have a flower stencil and stencil paint, so I may stencil-paint a flower border along the bottom of Lexi's big blackout shade. That should occupy me for a bit...

New Curtains

Here are a few pictures of my simple little curtains. I think they're pretty cool... for me.

Dots, dots, and more DOTS!

2008-04-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

The project is done, yay! Wayne has been working a lot of hours this week, so I had a lot of time after Lexi would go to bed to get some painting done. It ended up taking about 10 hours to get this whole thing done, but I think it looks pretty darn awesome. There are a few nitpicky things that big me that no one else will notice, but I'll just have to get over it. Hope you're all impressed! Click the picture to see more!

Baby's New Room

Big Girl Cochlear!

2008-04-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Lexi is now wearing a Big Girl Cochlear! The other day I decided to see if her ear was big enough yet to support the Behind The Ear controller for her Cochlear Implant. That means everything is behind her ear, no more cord running down to a big controller, and no more harness to hold that giant controller. This is going to be so much nicer this summer! Click the picture to see more:

Big Girl Cochlear

Project COMPLETED!

2008-04-16T16:36:00.001-07:00

Pictures to be posted hopefully tonight.

Project Update part 2!

2008-04-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

I did the stencilling today. I penciled in a 1-1/2 foot band of randomly placed multi sized dots across the one wall. I have to say, now that that stencilling is complete, I can clearly see this is going to be a LOT of tedious work to paint. I ended up using a lot more dots and 5 different sizes instead of 3. However, when it's finished, it's going to look SO. TOTALLY. AWESOME!!! I'm really excited now, because it's turning out pretty cool. So, now the spare-moment painting phase begins. Anyone who wants to play with Lexi while I paint is MORE than welcome to! Usually I hate being a charity case, but for this I'm ok with it. Anytime anyone feels the need to get some Lexi time in, feel free to stop by anytime. This week is spring break, so no playgroups. Again, pictures will be posted when the project is done, and hopefully everyone will be in awe...

Baby's Room Project Update

2008-04-12T15:55:00.001-07:00

Phase one: Complete (pretty much). The light brown base paint is done, with three little touch-up spots needed along the baseboard. After completing taping up about 80% of the room, including the door, window, and closet, I decided to just paint one wall. The color isn't all that dark, but I think on all the walls it would have been a little overwhelming. Sad waste of tape, though. Friday night we put Lexi to bed and got to work! The wall was painted in less than an hour, and Wayne did a quick second coat with the roller this morning. The color is perfect, I'm very happy with how it turned out. The next step is to stencil the outlines of the dots on the wall, which most likely will happen tomorrow (Sunday). The last step is hand-painting in those dots. Ah, there's the rub. That last "step" may take me quite a long time. But I'm determined to get it done, and get it done well. 'Slow and steady wins the race' is my motto. I'll just do a little every day until it's done. I bought the paint for the dots today, and seeing it in real life, I'm really excited for how it's going to look in the end. Look forward to pictures of the finished product, hopefully to be posted before the baby comes...

Save the Date!

2008-04-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Everyone who reads this blog is invited to Lexi's very first birthday party. We're thinking of doing it on Saturday May 3rd, around 11-ish. It'll be low-key, Signing Time themed with Signing Time movies to watch and coloring activities for the kids, and time to hang out and mingle for the adults, pizza and veggies for lunch, that sort of thing. So start saving the date, or let me know if that day is a big bad no-no for anyone, and we may want to change it.

Current Phase: Nesting!

2008-04-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

I'm totally and completely in the nesting phase right now. Benefits: I have the motivation to actually to some personalization in our home, instead of leaving it a nearly balnk canvas as I usually do. I've always loved the idea of having our home really "Tomlinson-ized", but never really wanted to spend the time and effort to figure out how to do it, so the hormonal need to make things look nice is a great kick in the pants. Downside: We do not have thousands of dollars lying around, and/or a fulltime nanny to take care of Alexis while I research/shop/paint/sew/whatever. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to be happy doing what I can do when I can do it. The priorities right now are 1) painting Nameless Baby's room, and 2) sewing blackout curtains for the two little windows in Lexi's room. Today I got the paint for the base color in Nameless Baby's room. Turned out I could buy enough paint to cover every wall for the same price as it would cost to buy enough paint to cover just one accent wall, so I may just do that since I've got enough paint (top color in the picture). Then I'm going to paint a bunch of dots of various sizes on one accent wall, the wall with the crib against it (the other three colors). Wayne and I should be able to put up the base paint some night this week, and I'll do the dots little by little, when I have time. I was going to do them during Lexi's naps, but I can't really count on those anymore... Feel free to ask me how the project is going anytime you see me/talk to me. I really don't want to let my motivation die off before it gets done, but I can see that happening...

EDIT: on my monitor, the second color looks black, it's not. It's a dark brown. All these colors come from the baby's bedding.

2008-04-04T12:42:00.001-07:00

Click. Scurry.

Sweet Freedom?

2008-04-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

Lexi has now mastered opening doors. In our apartment we had handles instead of knobs, and that she had down. But when we moved, the knobs proved too difficult for her, expecially since the doors were new and the knobs sort of stiff. Well, that's no longer a problem, she's got it figured out. Part of me loves that she has learned this new trick; I always felt guilty having her "locked" in her room, especially since sometimes she wakes up from her nap and just lays in bed silently for who knows how long until I happen to check in on her. I love that now she can come out and play when she is done sleeping. But the key word there is "done". Yesterday she concluded that now that she can open the door, staying in her room and falling asleep is optional. There was no nap yesterday, just a cranky mom, a self-satisfied toddler in the afternoon, and eventually a very tired toddler in the evening. This morning she woke up with a cough and a fever, so I was hoping she'd actually want a nap, like I do when I'm sick. So far no luck. At the moment I got her to stay in by giving her a relatively new book to keep her occupied. But I await the inevitable 'click' of the door latch as it releases, followed by the quiet scurry of happy little feet...

KOTM and Family Babysitters

2008-03-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

I found this article on ksl.com (http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2958479), and it talks about a great program they have at Kids On The Move in Orem, which is the early intervention center that Lexi has her playgroups and therapy sessions at. The article is about the date-night babysitting program they offer, which is a huge service for parents with children who are disabled and can't be babysat by just anyone. I'm glad KOTM is getting recognition for the great services they provide, but the article also reminded me how lucky we are to have such awesome family members living so close. I know I could never trust Lexi to be watched by some random teenager in the neighborhood, because her communication skills right now, or lack thereof, would make it very difficult and stressful. Fortunately we have never had to worry about that, because we're lucky to Grandma and Aunt Suzie and Uncle Tom and Aunt Korbie and Aunt Mindy and Uncle Cory all close and willing to help out whenever we've needed it. Thanks guys! I know our lives would be completely different if we didn't know we always had so many wonderful people right there looking out for us, and willing to give up their free time to help us in any way possible. And I know Lexi loves it too, because get to relatives spoil us in a way mommy and daddy really shouldn't. So, once again, in case we don't say it enough, THANKS!

Fun and Charitable!

2008-03-28T16:39:00.001-07:00

Everyone needs to go to this website and play this vocab game:

http://www.freerice.com/

All it is is a multiple choice vocab quiz, but for every right answer, the site donates 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program! Even if you just go on for 5 minutes an guess on everything, it's a good thing. But really, who doesn't love a good vocab quiz?