OK, so I've been mentally gathering material for blogs and now it's all coming out since I've finished my last calendar for the month... doesn't mean I don't have other things to do, it's just that none of it is due today. Oh, and baby happens to be asleep. I don't think I've ever posted more than two times in one day. Just consider your coupon tripled.
Josh and I watched the pilot for the new Knight Rider series last week sometime. I used to watch this every week back when David Hasselhoff was hot. Only we didn't say he was hot. We probably said he was "bitchen" or something totally 80's. I was 12 when it came out and could recognize the predictability of it... I was mature enough to know that a talking car that always wins would get old someday. My brother, Robert, was 8 (my Zack's age) and he loved Knight Rider more than air. I bet him $5 that by the time he was 16 he wouldn't love Knight Rider anymore, but he ruffled with indignation at the thought that such a thing could ever occur and declared "I will always love Knight Rider!" Of course, he turned 16, lost interest in KITT and Michael Knight, conveniently forgot the bet and I never got my $5.
So naturally, when I heard the theme music start on the new and improved Knight Rider, I thought of my brother. I liked that they didn't change the theme music, but only updated it a little. I also like that it's a continuation of the original show with lots of references to "25 years ago". And it really was 25 years ago when this show first aired... and I never thought I would reach a point where 25 years would fit in my life span. I can actually say, "I was there 25 years ago!" It doesn't make me feel old, it makes me feel accomplished! I've reached a milestone.
The new driver, Justin Bruening, is kinda hot... I could watch this show to see him in action--even though the predictability is still there. I really like the voice of KITT. And I like the new mustang diggs they've made KITT into. Mustangs rule Trans Ams any day. I thought the love interest was kind of eyeliddy... you know what I mean? She's like Clay Aiken with the slow blinking in her acting. It's kind of irritating.
Are there any Knight Rider fans out there? Anybody see the new Knight Rider and want to comment?
Here's footage of Zoe (at 6 weeks - meant to do this last Saturday) hanging out with Medo (Croatian for "bear" and named by Auntie Maria who is from Zagreb). She sneezes, she kicks, she punches, she makes baby sounds, she fusses. I tried to get her to do the sky diving pose she does when she's on her tummy, but it didn't get off the ground.
We are blessing baby Zoe on Sunday, March 2. (At 2:30pm, come if you can!)
Monday was Family Home Evening and I gave a lesson about the importance of names. We read the accounts of how John the Baptist and Jesus received their names (Luke 1:5-14, 26-33). Names are important to Heavenly Father. I asked who should bless the baby and why is it like Jesus blessing the children in Mark 10:16. Zack said that Daddy was going to bless Zoe. Sarah said it was because he has the Melchizedek Priesthood. So I pointed out that this was the same authority that Jesus used when he blessed the children. Priesthood holders still need to keep their lives clean and pure to be able to use this authority... they have to be worthy, and I said how grateful I was that their Daddy blessed each one of them. I told how I cried at each of their blessings because it was such a sacred and important event. I told them to pay attention to the feelings they have when Zoe is blessed next week.
We talked about their names and how they received them and why, and then we let them look at some baby pictures of themselves. They really liked seeing themselves as the baby--totally different perspective with Zoe in our lives now. Seth especially was carrying the pictures around with him until it was time to eat dinner. Zack's pictures were of him just weeks old on the day he was blessed. He was blessed the youngest since we had so much family and friends in town, we decided to do it while everyone was there. What a great day that was.
Then, I let them help decide what Zoe should wear. I showed them Sarah's blessing dress that Grandma Niki bought 11 years ago which looks like a traditional Catholic christening dress, a cute pink dress with tiny black polka dots that the Bowens gave us because it was so cute Brooke couldn't resist it, and later (after I dug it out of a box in the attic) I showed them a white cotton dress of Sarah's that I bought for her blessing day. Even though babies don't have to wear white for their blessing day, a lot of people still do it. There's like a cultural pressure to do it. The rebel in me wants to put Zoe in the pink dress, and as cute as it is, Josh thinks the dots might make the dress irreverent/too casual for this big event. I could go the sentimental route and use the same dress Sarah was blessed in, but it's a big fancy white dress and not rebellious at all. Then there's the simple white cotton dress with emboidered flowers. It's kind of a mix because there are colored flowers and a pink scalloped edge on the collar, but it's still white to appease the cultural demand. It happens to be everybody's favorite, but this is not a democracy... Josh says I get final say no matter what everybody wants... so what do you think I should do? Let's hear your words of advice and opinions on the matter.
All my California friends went out to see 27 Dresses for a girls' night out weeks ago. I was so bummed that I couldn't go with them, but I kept my "Debbie Downer" negative comments to myself. I think I even wished them a happy day. I didn't want to ruin the perfect happiness of my girlfriends by throwing out a guilt trip for my being in Texas. It's not like their lives have to be morose or stop completely just because I'm not there. And now I can happily report that I've seen 27 Dresses with a couple of girlfriends! No one need pity me! (Read: I no longer feel sorry for myself!)
Susie's sister Nancy came from Utah for a visit, and last night we went to see the movie--just us girls (and my Zoe). It was fun to meet Nancy in person--she's way cool, but I already knew that from reading her blog. Anyone who can have six kids (which include an adorable Downs Syndrome boy and a set of twins) and still have their sanity intact is way up there on my list of cool people to know.
We all enjoyed the movie... it was the perfect chick flick. No matter what the critics say about the lack of originality in the script, it was way fun to watch. Girls just wanna have fun! We're not thinking about how smart the script is. I loved the bar scene (when Jane goes "outside" to unleash obscenities in one big breath), the yoga scene (where sidekick homegirl gets to show her true colors and make us laugh), and when homeboy admits that he cried at a wedding. Benny and the Jets was hilarious, too--talk about the perfect song to muck up the lyrics to. Who even knows what the heck Elton John is singing about in that song anyway? Be honest... if you know without googling it, do tell.
Zoe slept through the whole movie. She's a big one-month-old and I was a little worried about how she would do, but she slept in my arms through the loud movie, bouncing up and down when I laughed, and merely fluttering her eyelids during the baby crying sounds in the commercial where they politely tell you to keep quiet during the movie. I was very happy that I didn't have to bust it out during the movie. She waited until we got home before making me pay the full price of going out (read on).
After the movie, we went out for appetizers and dessert. I got fried mushrooms, fried cheese, and fried twinkies. I think I'm good on the fried food for a while. Susie and Nancy got "Death by Chocolate" which reminded me of the Mud Pie from a Kaneohe, Hawaii restaurant... (the Chart House? I can't remember the name.) The Mud Pie had an Oreo cookie crust, a layer of Kona Coffee Ice Cream, a layer of Chocolate Mac Nut Ice Cream, then a thick layer of hot fudge over the top. The slice ended up being five inches tall... it was glorious. Well, I think Nancy was trying to hit all her old haunts and the dessert wasn't like she remembered it. It had an Oreo cookie crust, one giant layer of Rocky Road Ice Cream, and a thick layer of Magic Shell chocolate over the top. Susie agreed that they had changed something and it wasn't as good.
Before we left, I took Zoe to the bathroom for a diaper change and she got to use the Koala changing table thingy for the first time. She looked like she was digging it. It was fun being "out on the town". I even carried her in her car seat. Technically, I'm supposed to wait one more week, but I didn't feel any pain at the time. Today, however, is a different story. I'm so sore! Zoe's amazing adventures last night didn't help, either.
We got home around 10:20pm. Guess what time Zoe went to sleep? 3:40 in the frickin morning! She was so exhausted that she slept for 8 hours... hallelujah, right? Wrong. Sleeping 8 hours is great when it's like from midnight to 8am. That would have me singing with the choirs of angels, but getting up at noon is not something to get excited about. Plus, my boobs were like rocks. I had to wake her up to save me... and it hurt when she finally did wake up and get latched on. I had to purposefully tell myself to relax my arms when I was feeding her... my arms were clenched so tight. Normally, these days, nursing doesn't hurt much at all. We just have to stay on a regular schedule and I will make it through OK.
So I hit the Tylenol today to cope. Zoe is sleeping soundly at the moment. She slept earlier so that I could clean the fridge, and now I have to go finish the job. There's nothing like splashed soda all over the inside of your fridge to motivate you to clean out the entire thing with soapy warm water.
Man! It's dinner time and I haven't had lunch yet.
I'm not talking about a male person with progeny putting sheets and blankets on a bed in a pleasing manner. I'm talking about the progeny sleeping peacefully for hours on said male person in a blissfully comatose state. The picture says it all...
Zoe is doing very well and having lots of firsts this weekend.
Friday night she had her first viewing of Avatar The Last Air Bender... well, we watched and she did what babies do... eat, burp, poop, sleep, repeat... but we noted her presence and congratulated her on being in our family for Avatar night. We are in the final book of the series, so she is coming in late, but we'll happily watch it again with her from the pilot... we love this show!
On Saturday, she experienced her first trip to our neighborhood Whataburger (Texas fast food chain that started in Corpus Christi)... she slept in her carseat while we mourned the loss of our regular table which is now too small because we have added a Zoe to our family. So we ate our burgers and fries at a new table on the other side of the restaurant. Nobody remembered to bring the cards, so we learned a new game from Sarah and Zack (the two have wildly different versions of the same game) called Chopsticks. You use just your fingers, so you can always have this game "handy" wherever you go. It has been our family tradition for the last year or so to go to Whataburger to play cards, eat and drink copious amounts of free refill soda... Josh started it. We have begun to see the fruits of our labor because there was a lady eating by herself who struck up a conversation with us. She first asked how old the baby was, then if all the children were mine, and then she said that our children were so well behaved. Way cool... and very successful night out. Of course, right after she left is when the beatings began.
And today, Zoe went to church for the first time. It was my first time in five weeks, but a whole new ball of stimulation for Zoe. She ate before we left, but stayed awake when we got there. She noticed the ceilings, made grunting noises during the opening prayer, cried during the sacrament talks, and was quiet when I took her to the foyer. It makes me think she's 4 weeks going on 13 years of age. I voluntarily held her for most of the time and ultimately had to feed her again, but she still did not sleep. Josh wanted to keep her with him while I went to Primary, and I thought he was very brave because Zoe was fussing a little and still wide awake. I later found them parked in the foyer... Daddy being his best tempurpedic self.
My oldest younger brother, Robert, had a baby today! My little nephew was actually pretty big at 10 pounds 0 ounces and 21 inches long. He came into the world at 3:41 this morning. His name is Devon which is the name Rob and Dalena chose from the beginning even after I gave them the spectacular suggestion of Bryden. I wanted to call him Bry which would be cool because it's not short for Brian--way too common a name. Dalena named her first son Aslan, so you know Bryden wouldn't be too weird for them. Oh, well. I guess I can just call him Dev or Vonny. They'll probably just call him Little Robert.
She's three weeks old and finally had her first bath! That's not to say that we didn't clean her up with sponge baths--we're not like that psycho German family that Susie used to nanny for who didn't plan to bathe their baby until it turned one--but her umbilical cord fell off this past week giving us the freedom to stick her all the way in the water. She wasn't a huge fan, but did smile when I dribbled that first bit of water on to her body. So I yelled for Sarah to get Daddy to bring the camera and once he had the camera on, she cried through most of the recording. Not going to post it... got her modesty to protect, you know, but I do love the way newborn hair sticks up all over the place when it's clean. So I had to post this picture. I love the way she's crossing her legs, too.
A new family tradition was created today when we participated for the second year in a row in the YMCA Bridge Fest. It's a 5K Run/Walk that was started (16 years ago) to commemorate the building of the Lake Houston Parkway Bridge which connects Atascocita and Kingwood. They close one side of the bridge, make the other side a two-way road, and then we can run over the bridge and back to the YMCA in relative safety. I didn't run, however, but walked at my snail's pace... dead last... until I saw the water and then decided that it was enough strain on my stitches and turned around. I let the kids run to actually get on the bridge and then come back. Seth was more interested in playing in the brush on the side of the road that eventually led to the lake's waters. They were happy to be outside, but probably felt kind of cheated this morning and the 5K race didn't really mean much to them. There are little kid races (much shorter distances) starting at 8:00am, and my three older children would have run in their own age division at different times. BUT we didn't get there until about 9:00am when the 5K started. So... they were all kind of bummed, but had fun running up ahead of me and then back to me, over and over again. While I don't have any cool pictures that I anticipated taking of them on the starting line of each of their races, I was glad that I still took them to participate in the 5K because they seemed to enjoy being outside anyway. The free balloons, bananas, water, bagels, and juices back at the YMCA after the race was a big hit, too. So why were we late? We even scored a parking pass to park at the YMCA (highly coveted item only given to the first 100 sign ups), but weren't able to use it because you have to get there by 7:30am. I was looking forward to eating free Wendy's chili (they're one of the sponsors) before the race, too. Who is to blame? Why, the controller of the universe, Zoe, of course.
When a new baby comes into your life, it's all about the new baby. If she's hungry, you stop everything and feed her. If she cries, you adjust your schedule. If she wakes up, you stop what you're doing to take care of her. If she poops or spits up, you clean it up. If she wakes up every 15 minutes from 2am to 5am... you deal with it... and cry like a baby yourself when she won't go to sleep. The postpartum depression doesn't help to keep you far from tears, either, and how can you not have postpartum depression with all the hormones receding from your system?
So I had my 3 hours of sleep eventually, but we were late getting to the Bridge Fest. And then, once we got to the Bridge Fest, I had to feed baby in the car before we could actually cross the street and join the crowd. Once we did cross the street, we heard the gun shot and saw the runners taking off in front of us... so we waited for the hard core runners to pass us, and then joined the rest of the strollers near the back of the line. We didn't even start at the starting line, us cheaters... and holy cow, I just realized that I was in such a hurry that I didn't even brush my teeth before we left. Gross!
Count your blessings... if you didn't have to talk to me this morning. We did see a few friends. Some were in the race and some were just out running (crazy people!!). Everyone enjoyed seeing Zoe being the perfect angel... all snug and cozy in her stroller, ASLEEP at last.
So next year, Zoe will be a year old and hopefully will not ruin the perfect day at Bridge Fest where I get to eat goodies before and after the race, get to take pictures of my kids running in the little kid races, and actually get to walk on the bridge at a faster pace without wincing.
You should come, too. It would be fun to walk with other families. Let me know if you want in on this tradition.
I am a mother of four. I have been married for 13 years to my best friend. I think strawberries are the reason why we came to earth to receive bodies. I love to play volleyball. I like to devour books and I like to write way too much.
Josh and I watched the pilot for the new Knight Rider series last week sometime. I used to watch this every week back when David Hasselhoff was hot. Only we didn't say he was hot. We probably said he was "bitchen" or something totally 80's. I was 12 when it came out and could recognize the predictability of it... I was mature enough to know that a talking car that always wins would get old someday. My brother, Robert, was 8 (my Zack's age) and he loved Knight Rider more than air. I bet him $5 that by the time he was 16 he wouldn't love Knight Rider anymore, but he ruffled with indignation at the thought that such a thing could ever occur and declared "I will always love Knight Rider!" Of course, he turned 16, lost interest in KITT and Michael Knight, conveniently forgot the bet and I never got my $5.
The new driver, Justin Bruening, is kinda hot... I could watch this show to see him in action--even though the predictability is still there. I really like the voice of KITT. And I like the new mustang diggs they've made KITT into. Mustangs rule Trans Ams any day. I thought the love interest was kind of eyeliddy... you know what I mean? She's like Clay Aiken with the slow blinking in her acting. It's kind of irritating.
