September

Mention to me September and my nerves get all wound up. I can't believe it's only a few days away, considering that halfway through August my mind still thought we were in July! Did you know September's flower is the Morning Glory? This picture is obviously not the weed I pick constantly out of my flower beds....

To me, September means Fall, which also means the new baby is right around the corner. Mixed emotions of excitement, anticipation, and nervousness of having a new baby once again- but mostly just an overwhelming sense of, well, being overwhelmed! I know that this emotion is self-inflicted, because what I feel overwhelmed about is all the pre-baby preparatory things that I haven't done yet, that I seemed to have more than enough time for with the last pregnancy. Things like getting the nursery ready, picking out bedding, painting an accent wall, making the 1st year scrapbook, pre-making baby announcements and Christmas Cards, organizing her closet (there would be nothing to organize if it wasn't for my friend Mauri who donated a bunch of girl clothes- BIG thanks!), the list goes on, but you get the idea.

September also means the Holidays are right around the corner, and that means finding a Halloween costume for Jackson at the right moment they go on sale, but not too late to miss all the cute costumes (don't be fooled and wait until October- I learned my lesson when I missed out on all the pool items in July). It means that after Halloween, comes the Thanksgiving/Christmas rush (oh, and the baby-did I mention that?).

Boy do I wish I could slow time. I thought summer would give me all the time I needed to prepare myself, now I'm wondering where the time has gone?

Terrible Twos?

So the other morning, Brian was witness to one of Jackson's tantrums. Now he knows what I'm talking about when he's gone at work...I just never expected it to start so early (early as in time of day AND early as in Jackson's age...he's only 16 months after all)!

We were sitting down to eat breakfast together, and Brian was helping Jackson eat his yogurt so that I could set the table and fix our breakfast. All of a sudden, Jackson starts SCREAMING and big ol' alligator tears start rolling down his face. Brian, totally confused, starts looking around the high chair to see if he got pinched or something, all the while asking, "what's wrong, little buddy?"

I just start laughing...head over to the high chair and hand Jackson the spoon that was in Brian's hand, full of blueberry yogurt. Crying ceased. That, I told him, was a tantrum.

Jackson is so independent, it started off just wanting to hold a spoon while we fed him...now he's got to do the whole thing "all by himself". Which he can't. So he gets frustrated and food gets everywhere. What to do?

I'm reading a book (actually a guide) on toddler's. Boy am I scared for the next three years!

Happy Anniversary!

Four years ago, it would have been hard to imagine loving you more than I did that day we walked, hand in hand, out of the temple. Now, with four years more of getting to know you, through our ever-evolving lives, I am so glad we have forever! I really lucked out. You continue to amaze me by how thoughtful you can be, how patient you are, and how much kindness and love you can express.

You have an amazing way of making the things I love that much more pleasing (I even tell you food taste better when you are around, and I'm not kidding!) and all the stressful situations seem lighter. You are an amazing example to Jackson (and I hope he turns out to be more like you than me). I love seeing your excitement for Zoe to come join us. You haven't lost your sense of curiosity and adventure that made me fall in love with you in the first place, and your honesty and integrity make me look up to you (even if you are a little too honest sometimes). In short, I'm glad to have you as my best friend and companion in this life and beyond, because you make it all worth it and all that much more exciting!
Happy anniversary Babe! I love you more than ever! I'm looking forward to spending the weekend at Sundance, hiking, riding horses, and making clay pots and all that fun stuff you have planned....thanks for the surprise!

Our Japanese Friends

A week ago Monday, I got an e-mail from Lindon City asking for host families to open their homes for about 300 international students traveling abroad on a music tour. I thought it would be a cool opportunity, and with Brian's permission, replied to the e-mail. I didn't hear back for several days after I filled out the required information, so I assumed we were not accepted. Last Sunday night, we finally got correspondence back saying we were being sent 2 teenage boys from Noto, Japan, and we needed to pick them up the following day.

Had I known that I would have another leak in my ceiling, and what I could have sworn was strep throat at the beginning of the week (not really, but it felt that way), I may have changed my mind about the whole thing. But we just went with it, and it has been a fun experience.

I am really unfamiliar with the Japanese culture, but I am really impressed with these boys, Shogo and Hide (he-day). They are so polite and well mannered. Their regimen is strict. They don't sleep past 6am, and if we sleep in past 7am, they come looking for us (we feed them breakfast in the morning and drop them off at 8am, which should be plenty of time, but they get nervous I think)!

At first, neither one spoke much English and the barrier was difficult, but they got better every day. We mostly feed them breakfast and lunch, and them drop them off or pick them up at their car-pool destination. Their days are packed with activities, performances, and workshops, and they come home tired. Most of our time with them is spent around the table. They learned to fold their arms like we do, and think it's funny to see Jackson fold his arms automatically. We have given them a couple of turns to pray in Japanese (they pray to Buddha), which is cool.

When they like a meal, they say "thank you," but when they LOVE a meal, they say "very good" or "Delicious." Their favorites have been pancakes, peach cobbler with ice cream, spaghetti, steak, and scrambled eggs with sausage. And they all but lick the plate clean. They also like the mountains and the views from our house. Jackson has warmed up to them and likes to be the center of attention. He goes around giving them "rocks" and high fives, and waves goodbye in the morning.

These are gifts they brought us from Japan: a fancy set of chop sticks, a beautiful etched Japanese box with grapes on it, Yin that mean "ties or bind" and a festival style headband .

They showed us origami, and we showed them how to play checkers and say "king me." The week has gone by really fast. They play tonight at the orem owls game, which we plan to watch depending on the weather, and leave Sunday Morning. I hope they've enjoyed it here!