We Give Thanks

I'm sure other stuff happened before we went down to 'the city' last week, I just don't really remember what...

Where to begin? NYC was typical NYC; quick, big, fancy, and fun. The parade was sweet, but some of the other stuff we did was equally fantastic. We got to NYC about 2:30 on Wednesday and upon picking up the keys to the apartment from Atec's cousin, he suggested that we go over to the Met Art Museum since it was nearby and had some cool paintings to see. (For those of you who missed how I feel about art, see "The Inconsistency of Time" from a few weeks ago, first paragraph.) I'll admit, it was not a complete waste of time. I learned two things: First, that there really are lots of things that a print in an art history book can't pick up from an original masterpiece, and second, well, I don't really remember the second thing. Guess they didn't really make that strong of an 'impression' on me. (Go ahead, throw a tomato at me... that's bad art humor.)

After the museum we walked through the park to try to see the balloon inflation party, but it was crazy. The po-lice wouldn't let us go where we wanted, but we did see Snoopy being inflated and held down by a VERY LARGE net... where's PETA when you need them? Since the blow-up gig didn't go so well, we headed up to the apartment to eat dinner, relax, and get some sleep for the big morning.

We took things a little easier than we had planned and didn't make it to Central Park West until about 6:45 Thursday morning (via the subway), but we still got a good spot between 70th and 71st. The wait for the parade to begin at 9AM wasn't too bad actually - the only negative was that by the time it started cpc had only a little good behavior left in him. But we were SO pleased with how well he handled having to stay in one place for two hours without anything to do (except eat a muffin and a banana, which worked surprisingly well...) I'll let atec describe the parade:

Well, it was a parade, and you all see it on TV each year anyway.....so I'm not really sure what to say. But it was fun to actually be there....since we have made it a family tradition to watch it each year. We loved seeing the big balloons....and cpc really enjoyed the marching bands and confetti. However, he tuckered out just before Santa came!

The most memorable part of our trip for me though, was the fact that we spent Thanksgiving day doing something other than preparing and eating food. We spent much of the day walking around the city, giving us a prolonged chance to carry out our other family tradition....a Gratitude walk. We just kept bringing up things we were grateful for, many of them inspired by the things around us. We both decided that we're very grateful to see how family-oriented this nation still is (which is quite refreshing after a few months in the ultra-liberal program pmc is in). We loved walking through the park after the parade with thousands of other families, and hearing the sound of MANY strollers along the paths. I am especially grateful to be married to a man who is as much or more devoted to family and children than I am.

So we also took the time to visit Rockefeller Plaza, Radio City Music Hall, Times Square, and the Manhattan Temple. The day turned out rather sunny and warm, so we enjoyed every moment. Times Square is overkill for me.....WAY too much advertising in one square mile! I really enjoyed the peace of the Temple after that. It sure is an amazing place in the middle of the bustle of such a crazy city.

One thing is for sure.....NYC is not the place for me, although it is a blast to visit! We were so grateful for a super-nice place to stay, and family for making it possible. We were also grateful for a fun couple from our ward, the Z's, who joined us for the adventure.....and split the cost with us. We spent less than $150 on the whole trip!

Alright, here's the pictures:

I finally got to see my very favorite painting of all time. I love Renoir, he's impressionist, while still using a little more fine detail. This is also a view that I connect with....I remember watching my two older sisters practice songs together before my mom finally let me start playing the violin.

Proof that we were at the parade:

This is how cpc looked about 10 minutes into the parade....I don't blame him after waiting 2 hours for it to start!

We had a great view! That's Ronald McDonald!

If you really look you can see the very end of the parade behind us. It was amazing how quickly the crowds dispersed!

Pmc took this fantastic picture just across from Radio City Music Hall! I love his eye for things like this!

If you look closely you can our friend the rat, in the subway!

These are our friends the Z's who went with us. However, we admit that we forgot to take this picture until after church on Sunday!

And last, but not least....here's cpc's favorite part of NYC!

Alright

We had a pretty plain week, and we really think that's alright.

Pmc had a lot going on, and is still pretty stressed. He has a 20-page paper due Tuesday night, and had to grade some awful tests all weekend. So he's got a lot on his plate the next two days.

On the other hand, I was able to catch up on quite a few things. I finally put together our journal/scrapbook for the months that we were dating. I feel so relieved to have gotten everything written down, I'm sure I missed some stuff....but I would've missed more if I had waited any longer. I also am thrilled to announce that I have been working on Family History, using the new LDS Family History website, and have already found 4 family members that I can do temple work for. I have been waiting for this for a long time. I have attempted over and over again to learn how to do all of the work that goes into doing temple work for family, and always ended up frustrated. My grandmothers are both so good at it, that it's hard to find any work that hasn't been done. I am so grateful for the new website! I love technology!

Today was my first Sunday fulfilling my new calling as Primary Music Coordinator at church. I was super nervous, but everything went so smoothly. There are quite a few extra needy kids in our primary in this ward, so I was nervous about whether I would be able to keep their attention. But I realized today that I really do have those skills. I don't think it will ever be easy, and I'll always have to make sure I'm prepared....but I know I can do it, and I don't need to be nervous! I'm very grateful that pmc is willing to take care of cpc during primary for the next few weeks, until cpc is lucky enough to go to nursery.

This week was an up-and-down week for cpc and I. We had quite a bit of extra time, just the two of us. I am working really hard on learning patience.....I can be a pretty patient mom most of the time, but it turns out I can be a little unpredictable with losing my patience. We'll just say there were a few days that cpc and I didn't get along so well, and I lost my patience more times than I prefer to admit. However, I am endlessly impressed with cpc's patience with me.....and his forgiveness. I am grateful that he is so capable of and willing to give me another chance, even when I really hurt his feelings. I am proud to say that it is helping me to get better at it.

We are really enjoying so many things about cpc's current stage. He has such a big heart. In the mornings when he comes into bed with us while we're all waking up, he loves to get right between us and get sandwich hugs and kisses. This kid probably asks for hugs and kisses at least 20 times a day from each of us. We are trying to teach him about how cdc is in my tummy. He now really enjoys kissing my tummy whenever I ask "where's cdc?" I've recently noticed that Cpc remembers people's voices. If I put someone on speaker phone, he only tries to get the phone if it's someone he knows. He especially loves talking to Grams, Aunt Cse and Aunt Ace. And he loves blowing kisses to them too! Now we can hardly wait to get our netbook so that we can finally keep in touch with family via the webcam (it should be here before December!). Alas, since it's not here yet, we figure we better share this video of Cpc. We love that he figured out all on his own that wearing this hat while riding is horse is appropriate. I have NO clue how he picked this up!

Here's Cpc's favorite activity as of late.

And a little bit of school spirit!

Just Another Week in Paradise

Pmc: I don't have time to say anything this week... I think that years from now when I look back on Graduate School, I'll remember that this upcoming week was the one when I really became a crazy grad student, overworked and overwhelmed with the demands. That's all I have to say about that.

Atec: Oh how grateful I am right now that I don't have a full studio of students. I don't have to plan any recitals, and I can just keep our family sane. I really wish Pmc had never gotten sick, because he wouldn't have gotten behind. He has been working so hard, and just cannot seem to catch back up. The worst is that every time he sets aside time to work on his upcoming 20-page paper, he gets slammed with Assistantship stuff. It doesn't help that his teacher has been completely unavailable for two weeks now to answer any questions he has about the paper. I really think it's a waste that half of the work you do in school is figuring out how to please teachers. Ugh!

Anyhow, otherwise we've had a great week. The weather was nice and cpc and I are taking advantage of our beautiful yard and neighborhood while it lasts. Cpc loves actually taking walks now, rather than letting me push him in the stroller. I don't mind one bit, because he's getting too big to push while I'm pregnant. Pmc set him on a scale somewhere last week, and it showed he's 28 pounds.

Cpc's new favorite activity is reading. He has his own shelf of 15-20 board books, which he constantly asks me to read to him. When I sit down with him to read, he'll have me read each book in turn until I've read every one. He goes through this process over and over throughout the day until I tell him I can't handle reading them again. Then, he'll sit and read to himself for 20 minutes at a time. I love seeing him enjoy reading so much.

My favorite lately is that if you ask him what the sign (ASL) is for any word, he is quick to rub his hands together and say "gawa" or "eshe." I guess he figures this is a universal sign for anything he hasn't yet learned. The tricky part is that this is the same way he signs "Jesus." I'm so glad to see him excited about learning, and so confident in his own skills. I love watching him try to figure out new things. He definitely still has the love of learning that he was born with, and since I'm the same way, we get along swimmingly most days!

It was a rough week for sleep, to say the least, so I have shifted back to "new baby" gear and am sleeping when he sleeps. It's nice to take naps during the day, but I do miss the little things I usually get to do during that time. We've been doing everything we can to learn about these night terrors, and what we can do to help. The biggest struggle for us is that he totally has phases with them. He'll go for weeks without any of them, and they'll suddenly resurface. I think pmc's stress level with school has been hard on both cpc and I....and they say that terrors are associated with higher stress levels. The worst part is that even though we've been living here for 3 months, we still haven't gotten an appointment with our new family doctor. So we don't even have a professional to talk about this with. Hopefully we'll get that in soon, but at the same time I kinda think maybe we'll just wait until we're home for Christmas break and take him to our doctor there. We'll see.

I think it might run in the genes for our kids to love to be awake....because Cdc never stops moving all day. I assume he sleeps at night, because I don't wake up from him kicking me.....but it's rare to have a time during the day where he's not doing somersaults and such. We're getting excited to meet this little dude. So here's a sly picture of him, with our favorite homemade pizza this week.

And of course a few pictures of Cpc for good measure. He sure loves the way his dad throws him around these days. I absolutely adore the look he gets in his eye when Dad walks through the door at the end of the day. I am rarely able to beat Cpc to Pmc for a kiss!

The Inconsistency of Time

First, an explanation of music for this post: I'm not into art. I mean, there are things I like (i.e. going to the symphony) but museums, especially art museums, are not my thing. That being said, I'd like to pay tribute to one crude and irreverent form of art which I like for no good reason: the mash-up - a frantic convergence of two songs. Maybe it's how my competitive side mixes with my musical side. I don't know, but I like it. This song is new to me, but I like the spin it puts on the Steve Miller Band classic. So I went with it.

As I ponder the past week, I can't help thinking about how inconsistent time feels. Scientifically speaking, time is one of the most reliable, accurate, consistent elements of life. So how come it doesn't feel that way? Mondays go too fast for me because I'm trying to finish preparing for my Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday classes. Subsequently, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays can't go fast enough. Fridays seem to be the only day that feels right all week, but then Saturday and Sunday absolutely fly by (except for the 3 hours spent at church, especially on the poorly labeled 'Fast' Sunday.) What does it all mean? I don't know, but I know you know what I mean, ya know?

Atec here, and I feel the same about inconsistency. Each day is unpredictable for me. It seems like I never know whether it's going to go fast or slow. If I can really focus on helping Cpc to learn from our tasks, time seems to fly. However, if I'm too worried about getting things done, time seems to creep by...and somehow I still don't have enough of it to finish our tasks. But it's hard to keep a focus while pregnant, especially during Pmc's LONG work days. The best thing for me to do is remember that this is WAY better than the days where Pmc went to school, then to work, and then had homework too. Now he leaves and accomplishes all three before coming home, and doesn't usually need more than an 8-hour day. Sometimes he brings home papers to grade, or extra studying, but he definitely is more at ease. Cpc and I both enjoy this.

We are finally settled in to the fact that it's just not the right time anymore for me to teach violin. I mean, I did finally get a couple students who will be starting this week. However, we are laying off investing in advertising and such. If I get students we'll take the extra money, but otherwise we're just living on those student loans. We're realizing that our Heavenly Father really had this as the plan for us. We're learning a lot of lessons we really needed, especially about me. I have some new plans in the works....that I'll share more details about as things start to come together. For now, we'll just say that I finally have gotten some guidance about what exactly it is I'm supposed to do with my talents/passions for music and little kids! It never would have happened if I had a full studio of violin students. It also means Pmc can give better focus to the University, and I can give better focus to keeping our home running smoothly.

We enjoyed making some finger-paints for FHE. Although Cpc took a little time warming up to the idea of getting sticky stuff on his fingers and using it to draw, he had a blast drawing pictures for many family members! I must say I enjoyed it myself.

Cpc is (and always has been) very observant. He watches me do chores, and has chosen some chores of his own (putting soap tablets in the dishwasher and starting it, putting away the tupperware while unloading the dishwasher, and putting garbage in the garbage can). We went to a Kindermusik class a few weeks ago, where the kids played with scarves. Many of them tied them around their necks, but he just didn't catch on then. Now, every time he can get his hands on a towel he wraps it around his neck. When I finally tied one on him, he was absolutely thrilled.

He is also thoroughly enjoying tramping through the leaves when we go on walks, and always brings home a few treasures from our walks. He won't let anyone take these leaves and rocks from his hands, until he can leave them in his safe spot on the porch before coming inside. As soon as we go out on the porch to leave anywhere he runs to his treasures to check them out.

Cpc is enjoying more and more sophisticated foods, as he now has 4 molars, as you can see above!

We're all enjoying the beautiful fall/winter weather. We especially have enjoyed this tree from our kitchen window.

But it is slowly losing its leaves, and we got our first snowfall this week. We planned it just right to have soup in bread-bowls for dinner! Mmm tasty!

Pmc here, back in the driver's seat at the keyboard... I wanted to mention that atec has a new calling at church. She's the new Primary Music Coordinator, which is far more intense than just leading the music. As explained by the Bishopric member who extended the call: "you basically are in charge of everything that happens in Primary besides Sharing Time." Sounds fun with a 16 month old and another coming in Feb., right? The other thing is that I still don't have a calling. Every week I get more and more nervous, especially because when Atec was asked to do the Primary music thing, they mentioned to her that the Stake Presidency had been discussing what they want to do with us. That can't be good. Especially if you're already having trouble with inconsistent time, as previously discussed. Odds of a new calling actually improving how you handle your time: 525,600 to 1. Or something like that.

Now that I've spent half a post complaining and making light of church service, I'd like to say that I'm really grateful that we live in NY right now. It's SO HARD, but it's so right also. I can't tell you what a blessing it is to feel like we're right where we're supposed to be. If I didn't have the Spirit telling me that, I'd have broken down by now. LIFE is GOOD. (Or at least it was, until the House of Reps voted last night... but alas, I digress.) In the words of one of my favorite characters: "That's all I have to say about that."

Atec here one more time to report one last thing about Cpc. As many of you know from past posts, we've always had a bit of a struggle with his sleeping habits. We stopped discussing it with others a while back, mostly because we got tired of endless suggestions that were "sure to work." We simply disagreed with some, while got tired of getting our hopes up with others. Well, when we moved into our house here, the problems disappeared for a while. He seemed to like his toddler bed, and would let us kiss him goodnight and leave him to fall asleep without a whimper. But over the past few weeks some of the previous things crept back up. Well, we have finally discovered what we believe to be an answer. Cpc has "night terrors". I remember at cpc's 6-month doctor appointment, explaining to the doctor that it was simply not possible to ignore him when he woke up in the night because when he woke up he would sit bolt upright in bed and scream bloody murder, and then couldn't figure out how to get himself laid back down. He also often woke up from naps just screaming. At first when you'd go to comfort him, it was like he didn't even realize you were there. And then he would take forever to calm down, and it usually required being taken outside for a little fresh air to completely calm down. That has always been the real problem, and no amount of cuddling with him, sleeping with him, or letting him cry-it-out ever worked. Nobody was every able to help with that one. Well, I finally did the right research on the internet, and found out about this. It is such a relief to me to know what is happening, and not be frightened by it anymore. Now we at least have a few things that we know need to be focused on when these "terrors" surface (I just can't call them night terrors when they happen during the day too). Through all of the sleepless nights we've had, I'm so grateful for prayer and the comfort it has brought to us. We absolutely love this beautiful child, and it has been heartbreaking to see the literal "terror" on his face each time it happens. We are grateful to finally have some answers, even if we had to wait a long time for them!

Maybe the real inconsistency of time lies in the difference between our timing and the Lord's, but that's another discussion for another day.

Not Cool, but Cute Nonetheless!

It's nice to not be sick anymore! We're all feeling pretty good around here, after Pmc and Cpc had the flu. Gratefully Pmc took drastic measures to make sure I didn't catch it.

We have chosen a name for little boy #2...Cdc! (Call us if you want to know it!) If you need the number call someone who has it. We're really helpful huh?

Cpc is definitely becoming a talker. He is learning new words and signs almost daily, and enjoys his ability to communicate every desire of his heart! Unfortunately he still doesn't know quite enough to be able to prevent tantrums altogether, but we think he's doing marvelous! The hardest thing is when he has clearly communicated his wants, and we clearly understand, but the answer is "no." When we tell him "no," he thinks we just don't understand what he wants, so he tells us again more emphatically. Not cool, but cute nonetheless. Cpc has also discovered his freedom, especially the part where he can choose to pretend he doesn't hear our communications to him. Again, not cool, but cute nonetheless!

What is cool is Cpc's sense of humor. He totally understands teasing, and does so throughout the day....mostly to Pmc. Example: Cpc looks forward to goodnight kisses from mom and dad. After he lays down, we customarily take our turns leaning down for a kiss and saying goodnight. Sometimes cpc teases daddy by puckering and leaning up for the kiss, then turning away and giggling! He also enjoys giving mommy "long" kisses to make daddy tell him "that's MY job!"

I'm not sure if we've recorded this yet, but as soon as we moved into our house here, we decided to give the toddler bed a try (convertible cribs are AWESOME, we even bought a second one to match our first). Cpc has loved being able to climb in bed on his own, and surprisingly it is rare for him to get out on his own. Wish that would last!

Potty-training is also going surprisingly well, especially considering we didn't really initiate it. We simply started keeping a little potty in the bathroom and letting him sit on it every time one of us uses the bathroom. After a while we decided to let him try it without his diaper on....and he's a total natural! We'll see how it continues, for now he still can't tell us when he needs to go. So potty time is by invitation only, but we're working on the sign for potty. It sure would be nice to only have one kid in diapers at a time!

We really like our ward. We're grateful to have some other student/young families to co-congregate with (that would be the church version of co-habitation - one big ward family! Actually, I think co-congregate is redundant - right?). There haven't been many ward activities yet, but we have one coming this week...so we're excited! We especially like the opportunity to have the missionaries over for dinner. We have both Elders and Sisters in our ward, so we alternate weeks. We are grateful for the spirit they bring into our home, and the added motivation to share our testimonies with our brothers and sisters! We even got to have an investigator over for a lesson last night. We enjoyed having the opportunity to testify that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored.

Cpc and I had an opportunity to go up to Lake Ontario for a few minutes. He really enjoyed watching the waves with me. It was SO COLD, but once he gave those waves a funny look he decided it wasn't too different from Bear Lake.

We enjoyed Halloween this time around! We watched "It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" via YouTube, made sugar cookies to share with neighbors, carved a cute pumpkin, ate pumpkin pie and had a great Eeyore join us for all of it!

We enjoy being near where Joseph Smith grew up. We're grateful to be able to attend the Palmyra temple, and go to the Sacred Grove often. It is a special place, and even when we just stop by, it brings the spirit. Today we went there to gather some autumn leaves for a friend in SLC, and take Cpc for his first time. We really got the chance to ponder the REALITY of Joseph's life...the sunset we watched from the farm was the same setting sun that he saw night after night.

As we took in this scene, it was easy to imagine the Prophet standing there gazing at the same scene 200 years ago.

We thought a good family picture there at the Sacred Grove would be nice....and now you can all see how nicely my belly is growing! I sure am feeling great this pregnancy!

We have a great story to share about the scene here. This is a picture looking from the Sacred Grove towards the Palmyra temple. Notice how there is a small patch there where there aren't many trees, so that you can actually see the temple from the grove, and vice versa. Well, there hasn't always been a clearing there. When the temple was built, President Hinckley did a couple of special things to make this temple special. First, he wanted it to have a clear window that looks directly out over the sacred grove. Temples typically don't have clear windows, or if they do they are covered with curtains or something. Well, this one is so nice because you can see the grove from inside the temple, and it feels pretty special. Well, the only problem with this was that there were trees in that field, blocking the view. So he requested that they be removed. I don't know how the logistics work here on this story. All we know about this story is that the environmentalists put up a stink about the removal of those trees, and somehow were able to prevent it by law. I don't know if it was protected land or what. Anyway, shortly after the final decision that prevented the church from clearing those trees, there was a lightning storm that took out precisely that patch of trees! Notice how the trees on either side are still full and healthy. It's amazing to think that such a simple thing was important enough to Heavenly Father to take care of it. Clearly this place is truly sacred.