If you have ever wondered what I look like with straight hair, here you go. I decided to do it because,
a) I have a lot less hair due to post pregnancy hair loss
b)it is the longest it has been ever and
c) my friends here in VA were asking me to do it.
I must say, the new hair straighteners make it A LOT easier. Please no comments about my dorky solo pictures…
January 24, 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
Monday was a fun day for us. It’s always great when B-man and M have the day off. We started off the day with pancakes, and then late in the morning after much deliberation B-man and I went swimming at the indoor pool of our recreation center. We were all going to go to a bigger one, but then we thought it might not be such a great idea with M’ leg still oozing and having stitches and all. I had to make it fun for B-man so I got myself wet from head to toe. Usually I use all the methods I can to avoid getting my hair wet. We had a great time swimming (although we did forget his goggles) and then headed back home for lunch. After a quick lunch we packed up some snacks and then headed into DC. We first went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. We were hoping to get to hold some more bugs like the last time we visited, but no luck. After a pretty quick tour through the museum we then went back to the car because it had to be moved in time. We did a quick stop at the Lincoln Memorial. B-man has learned a lot about Martin Luther King and we wanted to show him where the speech actually was given. The Korean War memorial is very close and so M and B-man also went there quickly. J and I stayed in the car because we were parked illegally, and I wanted to be able to move the car if needed. We ended the day by going to Ben’s Chili Bowl, and well known DC eatery. It was fun to tell B-man that we were eating in a spot that Obama had eaten in. He still gets very excited about Obama. After a tasty dinner we made it home just in time to get B-man in bed for school.
Tuesday was a slower day. M had to work late. That night we all went to the church for a little basketball, and then I stayed for mutual while M took the boys home to bed.
Here’s the wound after two weeks with stitches.
Wednesday was a slower day. M went to the doctor to have his stitches taken out. The leg is still healing funky, and we now think we know the reason. M is allergic to the thread they use in deep sutures. So the doctor fished around with tweezers and took out one of the threads. The other wasn’t found, so hopefully it has already dissolved. The rest of the stitches were left in for another week at least. I think we are now on the road to his leg finally healing.
Thursday was an uneventful day except for the fact that M got home late…. Very late. Something came up at work and so he stayed to get it done. He got home after the boys were in bed, but it was still great to have him home.
Friday was pretty uneventful. For our family party we watched part of “Star Wars,” B-man’s new favorite movie.
Saturday was a relaxing fun day. We managed to get some things done around the house to. When I say “we” I really mean M. I can’t take credit for any of it. Most of the morning was nice and slow. The boys ran some errands together in the afternoon, and then right before dinner M installed and hand towel holder and changed the towel bar in the boys’ bathroom. The new fixtures look great, manly and sturdy. Later that evening we picked up a babysitter and then went to a friend’s house for a party. It was farewell party for a couple that is moving to Denmark on a temporary assignment for work. It will be sad to see them go, but we are hoping that we will get to go and visit them sometime while they are there. M was the “bartender” for the night and did a great job with keeping everyone hydrated with delicious drinks.
Today has been a relaxing day too. M had meetings in the morning, and I worked on my lesson. J has been on a very strange schedule, but took some awesome naps. He might be switching to only two naps during the day instead of three. Both of the boys are sick, again! B-man seems worse than J and so we kept them both home from church. We spent the day reading and playing Stratego. B-man is getting pretty good at it. M went to Sacrament meeting, then we switched and I went to Young Women’s and taught my lesson. We had two non-members in the class; I hope I was able to gear it towards them enough. After church we had a fun dinner. B-man was most excited that we tried out some soda that is green apple flavor. (We almost never have soda with dinner.) M is now off Home Teaching.
We love you all!
R, M, B-man, and J
January 18, 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
Here is our week in review. Monday was a pretty slow quiet day, grocery shopping, etc. M stayed home because his leg was very swollen and bothering him. We have decided that for most weeks for FHE we are going to give lessons from the new Gospel Principles manual that we are using in church. So for our FHE we talked about Heavenly Father. M and I are both excited about our new plan.
Monday night was a hard night with J. He has not been sleeping well ever since his top two teeth starting coming in. But his teeth have been in for weeks, and although he had a slight cold I just had no idea why this boy was not sleeping for long stretches. So I called the advice line at my doctor and ended up with an appointment so they could check his ears. I knew it wasn’t his ears, but I was so desperate that I went anyway just so I could talk to a doctor and ask all those things you think it could be in the middle of the night when you are trying to get them to go to sleep. J passed the physical, and the doctor said it is very common at this age for them to get into separation anxiety. And the doctor got some firsthand experience with how J can cry like he is in excruciating pain (when he is fine) when she was looking in his ears. Although I hate going to the doctor for nothing, at least I knew that he was fine, not sick, not hungry, etc… It makes all the difference in the middle of the night. For the rest of the week we embarked on some serious sleep training. J has always put himself to sleep, so that part was easy, we just had to train him to go back to sleep when he woke up. At the end of the week some major progress has been made! Hooray, now he is going ten hours at night without a feeding. And when he wakes up he goes right back to sleep. What a relief!
Besides going to the doctor Tuesday I also played basketball, and then went to mutual. Our class was in charge of a combined activity for all the Young Women and we played Family Feud. It went pretty well, except we were frustrated that the girls we had helping out from our class didn’t step up and do as much as we had hoped for. We’ll know better next time to be more specific about what we want them to do.
Wednesday and Thursday were more quiet days. Not a whole lot going on. We spent most nights watching episodes of “24.” Thursday night I was supposed to have a planning meeting for Young Women’s but I totally forgot and went to a scrapbooking party instead. Whoops!
Friday we had our family party. We made breakfast sandwiches and then watched “Kung Fu Panda.” We all loved the movie, it was very funny.
Saturday morning we were all up and going early. I had my first basketball game with the women of the ward. It was so fun to be out there playing. There are three of us that have been playing together for the last three years, and it is fun to see flashes of our high school selves. Of course those were just flashes, but it was still fun. The rest of the day we spent working around the house and being together. That night M went to a Wizard’s game with some of this friends. He had a great time with the guys. One of my friends (her husband was with the guys) got a babysitter and called to see if she could bring over dinner to get out of the house. That sounded like a pretty good deal to me. She brought some tasty pizza and we had a good time chatting. B-man loved having her undivided attention. When she left I put B-man to bed, and then had a few hours of quiet.
Not the cutest picture, but it is very Benjamin.
Sunday was a super busy day. M had lots of meetings, extra meetings that took him away almost the whole day. He did come home for a little in between meetings, and then eventually after church he made it home. I worked on my lesson and met M at church. Eventually after church we were able to eat and have some quiet time.
We love you all!
R, M, B-man, and J
Sunday, January 10
Dear Family and Friends:
We have an eventful week. I stayed home from work today, and was invited to write this week’s letter.
Monday
For FHE we decided to do some work around the house. We placed a plastic sheet over two of our upstairs windows, the side facing the wind, trying to better insulate the house. Unfortunately we picked the wrong time to do it – right before bed for the boys. We didn’t get either of the boys to bed on time, but the rooms didn’t have air blowing directly in.
After getting the plastic on the windows, I took off and watched the Boise State v TCU game with some friends, only staying until half time.
Tuesday
We went to the chapel early so that the women/young women could practice basketball. B-man thought that he was coaching the girls/women, while he ran around the gym. I took the boys home and R stayed around for mutual.
Wednesday
I was dropped off at the doctor’s office on the way home from work. (Background: Three months ago I had a cyst removed from my left calf and the wound was not healing well. The doctor went in and removed the scar reopened the wound and stitched me back up.) Becca and the boys picked me up after the surgery.
Thursday
I went to work as normal and limped around the office. I’m glad to normally have minimal issues when it comes to my body; (aside from being to tall for cars, showers, sinks, countertops, etc.) having my leg out of commission has been pretty lame. That night R went to help her friend pack their kitchen for their upcoming move.
Friday
With the couple of inches of snow that we had received over night, B-man went into school two hours late. Becca loved having him around and having a less-rushed morning. She would love to have B-man start school when she did (9:15am) so that there was a little more time in the morning. With B-man waking up so early, regardless of the day, it’s nice that it isn’t a battle to get him up in the morning.
I went into work as normal and came home in a little more pain. This week turned out to be a “bad week” to have the surgery on my leg. Our friends were moving (staying in the ward boundaries) into a new place and I was not well enough to help them out. I offered the help of B-man and R, but instead we watched their son at our house that night while the actual move was happening.
Saturday
R let me sleep in while she got breakfast for B-man. I woke up at 8:30 and was back in bed by 10:00. My leg was hurting and I had a fever. R went to coach the young women in the first game of the basketball season.
For our family party we watched Star Wars IV: A New Hope (B-man’s new favorite movie – thank you Scott). B-man is constantly asking questions of who is who, and what’s happening. He loves all of the action and is getting less scared of the trash-compactor scene.
Sunday
R had a meeting with her presidency, while I sent a counselor to Ward Council. I stayed home from church with J while R and B-man went to church. I tried to stay off my feet as much as possible, while getting dinner prepped. We were excited to use the new pressure cooker for the mashed potatoes and were pleased with the results.
January 3, 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
Happy New Year! This has been an exciting week. Monday was our FHE night. We drove to the temple to see the lights. The weather was bitterly cold, but we tried to be brave. We loved the Nativities from around the world display. And of course the temple and lights were beautiful. We packed a picnic and ate our picnic on the way back home. Most days we have stayed pretty close to home. M took a little time off each day so that he could be home a little earlier. Poor B-man came down with an enormous cold sore at the beginning of the week. M and I hate having to tell him not to kiss or touch J, but we don’t want J to get cold sores.
Wednesday was a fun day for M and me. He worked a little extra; while he was working I got a babysitter and then drove to pick him up from work. We drove to a nearby restaurant that we love and met another couple for dinner there. It was such a great evening. The food was delicious, and the conversation was great too. We eventually tore ourselves away because we knew that J would be getting pretty anxious soon. It was so nice to have a date night; it had been a while for us since our last real date.
Thursday I spent the day getting ready for New Year’s. We were planning on having a few couples over for a small party. It was all very last minute, but worth the effort. I finished taking down the Christmas decorations, and worked on getting the house clean. I’ve decided that having a clean house was a great way to start the New Year. After getting the kids to bed our friends came over. M was the bartender for the night. He did some great drink mixes, including Shirley Temples, and Roy Rodgers. We played Personal Preference, and a few other games. The time passed quickly, and we were up way too late. B-man woke up just as people were leaving, and so M helped get him back to sleep. It was a simple party, but it turned out really fun. It helped boost my party hosting confidence.
Friday we had a quiet fun day. We tried to sleep as late as possible. That is generally impossible with young children. In the morning we spent the time around the house. Then when J woke up from his nap we went bowling with B-man. We were just about done with our first game (and ready to go) when some of our good friends showed up to bowl too! It was so fun, they got the lane right next to us, and our kids had a great time bowling together. I think the more the merrier with bowling. Sadly, by the end of the second game J was ready for his next nap so we headed home. B-man did much better this year than last year. He was very close to our scores. While J napped, M and B-man went to watch football with some friends. That night we watched “24” before heading to bed.
Saturday morning we went to the baby blessing of the twin daughters of our friends. It was amazing how quiet the kids were during the blessing. Afterwards B-man disappeared with the kids, and M and I were able to enjoy some brunch. The rest of the day was nice and slow. It was wonderful!
Sunday morning was another quiet morning. No meetings for M. We were able to read books, and just enjoy the quiet. Church went really well. It was the best Sunday we have had with J in a long time. B-man loves his new teachers, and M’ lesson went well too. After church we had a quick dinner. (Dinner is always best when it is fast on Fast Sunday.)
One day this week we had a very funny conversation with B-man. We were driving in our car and out of the blue B-man said “Mom, why did you marry Dad?” So then I was able to list a bunch of reasons that I married M. He wasn’t interested in why M married me though.
We love you all! Happy New Year!
R, M, B-man, and J
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