After Happily Ever After

Pant Skills

2011-04-06T21:41:00.001-07:00

Baby A is developing great skills. These photos document the newest skill: putting on pants. Now, as you can see he does not have it mastered just yet but this was his first attempt--not too shabby for his first time.

Today after I announced to Baby A that it was time to leave the house and go pick up Big O from school (an event that he looks forward to each day), I went to use the potty. Upon exiting the bathroom I noticed that Baby A was no longer in the hallway, but I could hear him heading out the back door. Remembering that he was not dressed, I stopped at his dresser and grabbed a shirt and a pair of pants for my undressed baby, and ran to the back door. There he was on the back porch, backing down the stairs, dressed in a pair of inside out pants pulled halfway up and backwards, plus a pair of pants in his left hand and another pair laying on the back porch.

Wow. I was impressed. I have never once allowed him to try putting on his own clothes and I guess he was tired of waiting for me to give him the opportunity. Plus, he really wanted to go and pick up the Big O and knew that clothing would be required for such a trip. What I can't figure out is if he opened up the pants drawer in his dresser on his own or if I left it open giving him easy access to all of his pants. Regardless, I am super impressed that he managed to get on his own pants. Clearly, Baby A is developing great skills. Maybe his next development will be the nunchuck skills.

Bad Mommy

2011-03-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

For the last two or three days Baby A has been refusing to drink milk.

Each time I handed him his kleankanteen sippy cup (see above) he has eagerly grabbed it, taken a sip, returned it to me and then started crying. And I would take the sippy cup and place it back in the fridge. Today he refused to even take it from me when I offered it to him--he just started crying. I have been very confused by this since Baby A loves milk. When he wants some he runs to the fridge and bangs on the door until I open it up and hand him his sippy cup. I have been rather confused as to why he has been refusing it for the last two days.

But this evening the confusion was all cleared up when I decided it was probaly time to give the sippy cup a washing. Oh what a suprise I found.

Turns out his sippy did not contain milk in the liquid form. Oh no, it had moved onto the realm of solids-- the milk had become cheese. And not yummy cheese, sour stinky cheese.

To Baby A I offer this apology: I'm sorry I have been trying to making you drink sour chunky milk for the last three days. I am sorry that I have become such a negligent mother. Trust me, I'm feeling pretty bad right now. I hope you can forgive me and that I have not caused you to hate milk or your klean kanteen sippy cup.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

Pretty Valentines.

The Big O and I made these valentines for his kindergarten class, last year.

I still love how they turned out. I think they are beautiful. It was hard to let him give them all away to his classmates.

This year I was far less ambitious.

This year's valentines, I am a little ashamed to admit, were store bought. But not by me, by my Mom, some years ago. So I was just using something up that would have otherwise been thrown away, which is a good thing. Only, they were Sponge Bob Square Pants valentines. >sigh<>

(The Big O and the valentines he made, February 2010.)

And now I am taking solace in looking at these photos of last year's valentines and reminding myself that I am capable of doing fun, creative and pretty projects with my kids. It's just that I don't have to do them all of the time. And sometimes it is better for everyone involved to just do the simplest and quickest project available.

Happy Valentine's Day

Large S has Awesome Hair

2011-02-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

Large S has some awesome hair. As he approached one year of age the awesomeness of his hair began to emerge; small curls began to form at the base of his hairline. As he grew older the curls remained and got larger and longer and more springy. Take a look at the pictures and see for yourself:

(1 year old, the curls emerge)

(2 years old, look at those ringlets!)

(a happy curly haired three year old)

(Oct 2010, the ringlets are getting longer)

(Dec 2010, that hair is awesome! Look at all that curliness! It's out of control!)

So, as proven, Large S has awesome, beautiful, curly hair.

Or rather, he had some great hair. Last weekend (while visiting Theric's family) we did something drastic. Something that had me pretty close to tears. Take a look:

We cut Large S's curly locks off. (Well, actually we had Theric's mother do it, she did a great job. It's hard to cut the hair of a wiggly three and a half year old, even if you are distracting him by letting him watch Wonder Pets and feeding him marshmallows.)

I am still in shock about this and I'm still not sure how I feel about it...I think I miss his curls, maybe they'll grow back. He says he likes his new haircut, but sometimes he says he doesn't and that he wants us to stop mentioning it.

One good thing about the new haircut is that it may end the awkwardness strangers feel when I have to tell them that the cute little girl they were asking me about is actually a cute little boy. I've always thought it was his long curly hair that made people assume he was a girl, but now that the curls are all gone I can see that the Large S is just really really pretty.

But I think his snappy dressing may solve this problem. Maybe we'll move to bowties everyday.

It's Official!

2010-10-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

Baby A is walking!

1st day of 1st grade

2010-08-24T09:27:00.000-07:00

I Hate Papyrus

2010-08-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

Dude, I feel the same way.

Little Lord Steed:

2010-08-11T14:37:00.001-07:00

Decade Celebration

2010-07-26T01:27:00.000-07:00

Theric and I planned only one activity for our tenth wedding anniversary celebration: Have dinner at the very famous Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California.

Why Chez Pannise? First: It's pretty famous. The founder, Alice Waters, she's kind of a big deal in foodie circles. [Theric says: How many restaurants do you know who's papers are curated by a major library?] Second: I'm not sure we will ever again live in such close proximity to such a famous and important eating establishment. Third: They have a special July 14 Bastille Day/ Garlic Festival dinner! We were married on Bastille Day and we LOVE garlic, we had to go!

After reviving ourselves from a fainting spell brought on by discovering how much eating here would cost, we knew we would have to save up our pennies. Our tenth anniversary seemed like just the right occasion. We made this decision a few years back, say 2005, though we didn't start seriously saving until 2007. And I am glad we did save up, because otherwise, I do not think I could have really truly felt good about spending so much money on food.

But what food it was! Over a week later and I can still recall those distinct clear beautiful flavors. It was an amazing, unforgettable meal.

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, otherwise I would be showing you a slide show of this meal--it was pretty to look at (especially dessert) but even better to eat!

We sat at table for two in the very back of the restaurant in a corner, at first I thought it wasn't a good table but it turned out perfect since it was away from the main area of the restaurant--it was private and allowed us to people watch and have pleasant conversation. From watching the people it was clear that Theric and I were the youngest couple there --- it was a room full of gray hairs --- which youthfulness the maitre'd [Theric says: I'm pretty sure he was a waiter, but he was, like, the Great Waiter or something. King of the Waiters.] [Theric says: After further consultation with Lady Steed, perhaps he was the maitre'd. He was also the sommelier.] took note of since, after having been sitting at out table for only a short while, he inquired if we were celebrating something special, such as an anniversary. [Theric says: We said yes.] I should also say that the King of Waiters was french, he had a very noticeable accent and was clearly pleased to be celebrating Bastille day (Vive la Revolution!). He and all the other waiters wore little red white a blue ribbons on their vests. And to make it extra french an accordionist came in and played a few songs including (of course) "La Vie en Rose".

On the table was a loaf of bread, fashioned into a branch shape or pain d'epi. Theric and I were both starving but somehow restrained ourselves from consuming the branch bread until they brought us bread plates and a little pottery container of butter. It was pretty and the butter was delicious on the bread, which was as sourdough. [Theric says: At first, I thought the butter must be actually a butter-cheese hybrid. Upon consuming great quantities, however, I decided Lady Steed was right. It was just butter.]

Next came a small plate with four onion rings and two smelt, breaded and fried. The onion rings were the best I have ever tasted. [Theric says: Unquestionable. I like onion rings as much as anyone else, but I had no idea that onion rings could be so wonderful.] The onion was sweet, the coating was crunchy but not greasy. The smelt was also really good, which surprised me. I do not like fish, I don't really eat fish --- let alone a whole fish, head to tail. But there it was, all fried and sitting on the plate, I had to eat it. It was good, salty, not too fishy. [Theric says: I ate my smelt not realizing it was a whole fish. It wasn't until Lady Steed says hers was looking at her that I realized I had eaten an entire fish. Like Lady Steed, I'm not much of a fish guy. The smelt was good, but was definitely fish in flavor.]

Next was a small dish of pickled carrots and olives and something else, squash? [Theric says: Yes, I think so. The olives were tiny and mostly pit but very good.]

[Theric says: This is as far as Lady Steed got, so from this point on, I am the primary point of view and she will make the intercomments.]

One thing Lady Steed forgot to mention was the aperitif. Not being wine drinkers, we had assumed we would miss out on this part of the meal, but not so. The sommelier instead brought us out some grape juice. But calling it grape juice is really selling this stuff short. First, it was packaged in a bottle ala wine and, I'm pretty sure, by a winery. (I wish I had paid closer attention to the label. I want to price this stuff.) It was white and astonishing. Grape juice is a little, well, it's for kids, you know? But this stuff was simple and complex simultaneously. I suspect we were give a sense of what wine is like, just without that whole descent into alcoholism thing. [Lady Steed says: Best grape juice ever.]

The smell was striking and I know enough to know that the shape of the glass is supposed to enrich your wine-consumption experience so I tried to involve my nose etc in the drinking process. It was crazy delicious, folks.

And it is at this point we arrive at the menu. (Everything to this point preceded the menu.)

BASIL GELÉE WITH TOMATOES AND AÏOLI

So gelée is gelatin. But unlike, say, Jell-O, it is savory, not sweet, and softer. If it were Jell-O and you saw it at a potluck, you would say it hadn't yet set properly.

It was very salty and I found it striking how you could place a sliver on your tongue and the taste would permeate through your entire mouth. I liked it. [Lady Steed says: I didn't really like it. I wouldn't eat it again. I found the texture to be very disconcerting. But I can see why someone would like it. Every time I had some I really tried to like it, but couldn't wait to put a tomato in my mouth to get rid of the weird texture flavor combo.] But, that said, it is the only thing I didn't finish. Mostly because I was starving (I hadn't had a chance to eat all day) and slimy saltiness on an empty stomach didn't seem like the best idea. So I left a bit behind.

Then the tomatoes and aioli and the egg. Those were good too. The egg was small. I wonder if it actually came from a chicken or not. [Lady Steed says: It was from a chicken, the waiter said so. When she brought the plate out I was amused at the half an egg--Really, only half? But what a half! It was a poached fresh egg --- and possibly the best egg I've ever had. It was delicious. And the aioli --- that's where the garlic flavor was and I really wanted to lick it off of my plate, but I restrained. The tomatoes were also amazing. There were maybe three different kinds, all halves of small tomatoes. Very fresh and great tomato flavor.]

TOMALES BAY BOUILLABAISSE WITH ROUILLE CROUTON

Just looked up Tomales Bay and learned it's in Marin County. Which makes sense because Chez Panisse is the original locavore restaurant, but the King of Waiters told the people at the next table that the shrimp had come from Santa Barbara. Or that's what we thought he said. That seemed a little far away from us.

Speaking of the shrimp, it was no shrimp. It had long striped legs (six inches?) [Lady Steed says: Six inches? More like three inches.] and he was super fresh. (We got to walk through the kitchen later and we saw the next batch of shrimp twitching, waiting for their boiling bath.)

Also on the plate were mussels and clams. And a squid. The squid was definitely the best of the animals. Not being seafood people, as a rule, these were not animals we are accustomed to eating --- in fact, this was our first bouillabaisse --- but it was great. Even though placing the internal organs of a mollusk on my tongue is abnormal, the flavors that seeped out were terrific. [Lady Steed says: I will admit to being a bit terrified by this dish. I studied it a bit trying to figure out how the heck I was supposed to eat this mess of leggy crustacean and shell encased bi-valves. While I cannot say that it was the best thing I have ever had, I did enjoy trying these little sea creatures that everyone else seems to enjoy so much. Plus, it was reassuring to know that since this was Chez Panisse this seafood was not only blazingly fresh and prepared by trained professionals, but mussels, shrimp, clams and squid probably couldn't taste any better than this. If I was ever going to try and like seafood, this was the best chance of it happening. The squid was definitely my favorite part of the bouillabaisse, I have had squid one time before and found it to be a horrible chewy tasteless thing, but this squid was tender and garlicky--yum. The broth was also delicious and had a light garlic flavor. So while this was my least favorite part of the meal, it was still quite good.]

The crouton was a slice of hard bread with a dark red rouille poured over it and into the soup. This was even better than the bouillabaisse and really made the dish. And this is where the garlic shone, in the rouille. [Lady Steed says: Yes, I wish there had been some more.]

HUDSON RANCH SUCKLING PIG
WITH WILD FENNEL, NEW GARLIC, SHELL BEANS,
AND CORN PUDDING

Let's start with the corn. Because this was the best corn the world has ever seen. Shut up and don't try to argue. You weren't there. It had crème fraîche and lots of butter in it and it was hard to eat in polite company. It was . . . good. [Lady Steed says: There was definitely quiet moaning from both of us. It was celestial corn pudding.] How it's a pudding though, I don't know. Clearly I don't know all meanings of the word pudding.

The pigs (six-months-old) (the heads were on display, in a pretty way, at the opening to the kitchen) had been sliced and rolled and I must say that the idea of putting fennel on meat had never occurred to me, but it was a revelation. I had desired not to come of as provincial, but I found it utterly impossible not to use the remaining bread to sop up every bit of pig juice. I am sorry. I had to. [Lady Steed says: Agreed. That pig was super delicious.]

Green beans were also served on this plate and while quite good --- just picked and perfectly cooked --- Lady Steed found them utterly disappointing in comparison to their otherworldly neighbors on the plate. I agree, but not with the same strength of emotion. [Lady Steed says: They were good, just kind of boring in comparison. Maybe that was on purpose though, so you had something to give your taste buds a little rest before skyrocketing them to heaven with that corn pudding and baby pig.]

PEACH LEAF ICE CREAM
AND NECTARINE SHERBET COUPE
WITH SUMMER BERRIES

A scoop of one, a scoop of the other on a base of nectarines garnished with a few raspberries and blackberries, two of the latter being sugared, and a long sugared twisted pastry stick of some sort.

Wow. [Lady Steed says: Wow. I think I will always remember the peach leaf ice cream. Days later and I can still recall that almond-y peachy taste. Also, they put this little flag on our dessert, a very nice touch.]

We talked to the maker of desserts when we were in the kitchen and learned a bit about peach leaf ice cream.

She steeped young leaves --- the ones at the end of the stems, just unfurled --- in heavy cream (very very gently). Too much steeping and it gets bitter and inedible without warning. Just right and you get this mild, almondy, peachy flavor that's hard to describe but which should be part of everyday life. The sherbet had a stronger flavor and was orange rather than white, but the two played together nicely. And the berries were great too. (Lady Steed often teases me for my orgasmic reaction to the raspberries at our wedding reception ten years ago and wanted to know if these raspberries beat those. Short answer: No. Long answer: Those had the unfair advantage of being practically the only thing I ate on one of the best days of my life.) [Lady Steed says: Those berries were so so good and the nectarines were perfect. All that delicious fruit made me realize that the fruit I have been buying has really not been all that good in comparison that fruit.]

End of menu.

With our check came cocoaed candied almonds (aka dragee almonds) and garlic-shaped meringues and sugared currants on the stem. This was the sugar that made the $230 check go down. They were good enough to do the job. And, like everything else we had been served, they were beautiful to look at and amazing to eat.

We both agree that it was the best meal we have ever eaten in a restaurant. We hope to go back. Maybe this time we'll do it the affordable way and just go to the second-story cafe.

So we loved it. If it had been possible, we wouldn't have eaten for a week, allowing our palates to focus on remembering those clear and intense flavors. Food since then seems a little gray. So though delicious, Chez Panisse ruined our lives.

Vive la Revolution!
cover, screen printed, of menu

Shock and Awwww.....

2010-07-22T15:50:00.001-07:00

Today I somehow managed to get a perfect picture of Little Lord Steed for his daily blog.

Go take a look.

Amazing.

Decade One

2010-07-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago today I followed these instructions.

and joined my life with Yours.

Today we celebrate the first decade of our forever.

Happy Anniversary Theric, I love you

Toy Story 3

2010-05-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

It was fantastic. If you like the other Toy Story movies then you will certainly enjoy this one. You might even cry. I did, but only a little bit. Not nearly as much as Theric. Seriously, he was crying a river next to me, I was worried he'd get me wet.

The opening sequence was my favorite. If you have seen Toy Story 1 multiple times, as I have, then, you will love it.

Thank you to my lovely neighbor for sharing his friends and family screening tickets with us. A, we had a great time and you did great work on this film.

Little Lord Steed: Nine Months Old

2010-05-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

At nine months old Little Lord Steed is a super speedy crawler and can pull himself up to a standing position, very quickly, on anything and everything. All the time. Even me. When he wants to be picked up he crawls over to me and tries to pull himself up to standing, though sometimes it takes a while because he has a hard time getting a grip on my pant legs. He gets really mad. This is the only situation in which he has difficulty in getting into a standing position. He likes to pull books off of the bookshelf. He pulled him self up to standing on a stool, and was them pushing it forward and taking stpes along with it--in the same manner that one would use a walker. His favorite room to try and get into is the bathroom. He loves to go in there and pull himself up next to the tub. I also think he likes going in there because he knows it is the one room he has not fully explored. He has started to babble, though he's not a big talker. He's eating lots of food and it's always what we are eating. He really likes bananas, yogurt berry shake, blueberries and cherri-os. He clapped his hands for the first time on May 9th. He's in the separation anxiety stage--he can be fine and happy playing with daddy, and then I walk by and he screams and gets upset. A whole bunch of hair grew in, all of the sudden, so he's got a lot of hair now, which makes him look much more like a little boy than a baby. But, looking at pictures, it appears this hair was really all in by his 8 month birthday--anyhow, people often comment on how much hair he has.

Picture taking was nearly impossible this month--he's way too fast and has no interest in holding still. I took many pictures but very few turned out well. Moving subjects are hard to photograph .

Little Lord Steed you are growing up very fast, please slow down.

Oh Dear...

2010-05-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

Large S , WHAT did you do?!

Little Lord Steed: Eight Months Old

2010-04-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

Pictures finally up! Go take a look.

Happy Birthday New/Old Shiny Pans

2010-04-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

My mom just gave me these two new/old pans. Aren't they pretty?

I was putting away the box they were originally shipped in and took a close look at the postage:

April 23, 1969?!

Happy Birthday Wear-Ever No.540 Set (Silver), today you are 41 years old.

You are older than me. I sure do hope you have some great culinary wisdom to share with me.

For your birthday I will take some pictures of you. SMILE!

My mother got this box and it's contents from a neighbor. The neighbor had recently helped a friend clear out their house and the friend was "kind of a pack rat".

I really like the way these pans look. I especially like the starburst detail on the lid handles. I also think the graphics on the box are quite cool. Plus, they came just when I wanted them. I had just been contemplating buying some new pots and pans since the ones we got as a wedding gift were getting a bit scary. They were teflon and very scratched and I was getting worried about all the chemicals they must have been leaching into our food. I was pretty excited when my mom told me she had these. She just saved me a nice chunk of change and kept these pots out of the landfill. Nice.

2010-04-13T09:35:00.001-07:00

If you would like to follow Little Lord Steed's daily growth, or just want a bit of adorableness to brighten your day go here.

Little Lord Steed: Eight Months Old

2010-04-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

At eight months old Little Lord Steed is doing most of the same things he was during his seventh month, only, he now does those things better and faster.

He has mastered crawling and has moved on to pulling himself up into standing position. His favorite spot to do this is on the sill of our front window. The first time I saw him to it was on March 22 and he did on the boys' train bin (though allegedly he did it previously on the tub). He pulls himself up to standing one or two times a day and each time I think "Oh no. No. Please do not do that. I really do not want you walking anytime soon."

He is so mobile now. He can get anywhere he wants. Today, at church he even attempted to get up a stair. Now that he crawls he can get stuck in places. He most often gets stuck beneath the kitchen chairs and under a small side table I have. When he gets stuck he cries until I come over and rescue him. Then I put him down and he goes off and gets stuck again. I ended up clearing a bunch of things out from under the side table and now he no longer crawls over there. I wonder why he was so drawn to getting on top of the box I had under that table?

He also finally started putting himself into (and out of) a sitting position. Before he could sit up unsupported but he could only get into that position if I put him into it. Now he can do it all on his own. He did this last Sunday, April 4, for the first time. This is good because now he can sit up and explore a toy instead of laying on his belly and doing so, which was kind of messy, what with all his drooling. Now instead of the drool puddling on the floor it run into his clothes. This makes for a damp baby, but I suppose it's better than ruining the floors.

A few days after his seven-month birthday Little Lord Steed started sticking out his tounge, a lot. He'll stick it out then wag it around. When he sticks it out he generally angles it down toward his right side. It it funny. But he has now stopped doing this. It's funny how he will do something for a little while all of the time and then just stop. Although today he did inspire a member of our ward to tell Theric that Little Lord Steed has the longest tongue he had ever seen on a baby.

On St. Patrick's Day I made an Irish Lamb Stew, very tasty. We mashed up some of the lamb, carrot and potato for Little Lord Steed and he loved it! I would say this is the first time he has ever really eaten a full meal and certainly the first time he has ever liked eating something so clearly and so much. Since then we have been feeding him more things more often. He is interested in pretty much everything that we are eating and seems to like most food. However, he does show a great preference for anything we will let him pick up and put into his mouth himself. He does not like being fed from the spoon. We learned that feeding him KIX, brown rice and bananas, exclusively, over a few days results in a sad and uncomfortable baby.

He had been sleeping all the way through the night (he started doing this just before he turned seven months) --- 12 hours even --- but then he began waking up once or twice a night again. Sigh. He goes to bed with the other two boys though, between 7pm and 8pm and has since gone back to sleeping until about six or seven. Sometimes he will go back to sleep after being fed and let me sleep in as well.

His mastery of crawling means that taking his picture was nearly impossible this month. He just won't sit still....it's very frustrating.

Easter 2010

2010-04-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

Egg Decorating 2010

2010-04-03T11:50:00.001-07:00

We tried this method for decorating our easter eggs this year and I guess it was a sucess. The Big O and Large S certainly liked this method better. There was less waiting around for for the color to get dark enough in the liquid dip dye, no splashing of the dyes, no spoons involved and it was not boring. In fact, the Big O was going on and on about how much more fun this method was: "Mommy, this is WAY more fun than last year."

While the kids had much more fun doing it this way, the results were less pleasing. When the paper was wet and on the egg, it was quite beautiful. When the bits of tissue paper dried (which took quite a long time, Theric had to get out the hair dryer so the Easter Bunny could hide the eggs last night) and fall off, the colors were very pale. The tie-dye like patterns were lovely but not intense enough to see very well. I think that maybe the results would have been better if we had used darker, more intense colors of tissue paper.

But, I guess it was a success since the kids had more fun and hey, no one ruined their clothes!

Judging Books

2010-03-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

The Book Cover Archive. So very happy that this exists.

Puck Stock

2010-03-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

Question: Is this stock made with Mr. Puck's own body or by his own body?

If made by his own body, where does it come out? Also, sweet for him. Having an endless supply of hearty stock at the ready would be handy. Nothing I hate more than realizing I am all out of stock when I go to make something for dinner. As a consumer of this stock I am glad and grateful that Mr. Puck is keeping his body 'all natural' for the sake of this stock. And lastly, Mr. Puck, thanks for the head shot, it's nice to know what the source material for my stock looks like. You look both happy and hearty, so your stock must be too. Yum.

A Different Church

2010-03-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight, after story time, Large S and Big O said, "Time for scriptures!" The Big O ran off to get the scriptures from his room, Large S went over to the bookshelf to get, in his words, "Batman Scriptures".

Little Lord Steed: Seven Months Old

2010-03-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

At seven months Little Lord Steed has mastered crawling. He's not super fast but he is crawling all over the house following me, exploring every corner, every cord, every piece of paper on the floor. He is now a dangerous baby--outlet covers have been put in all outlets and I am placing all cords well out of his reach. I haven't looked up when my other two started crawling but I do feel like Little Lord Steed has started crawling sooner than the other two did. All the other moms I know seem very surprised that he is crawling already. It's fun to watch him crawl and explore his world but it certainly makes my job harder--more vacuuming, more nagging the older two to keep their small toys off the floor, scanning every room all the time for items that are too small etc etc. Crawling also means that he has painful-looking red patches on his knees. They are bright red and look awful, but I do not think they hurt since he continues to crawl--soon they will be callouses.

He can sit up unsupported though he does not stay in that position for long now that he can crawl. There is always something interesting worth crawling over to so he can then put it in his mouth and give it a good exploratory suck and taste. He no longer enjoys bouncing like he used to. We borrowed a bouncer for him but he never really took to it. He would bounce for a very little while and then cry and cry until you took him out of it. I wish he would just sit in one place and play; I know my other two did this and it was great. But not Little Lord Steed--he, apparently is not content to be still.

Speaking of crying, he seems to do a whole lot of it. He doesn't babble very much nor does he laugh that often; he's kind of a quiet baby (except of course for when he is screaming) (which seems like most of the time). The pediatrician seemed slightly concerned that he wasn't babbling very much but said it was probably because of his two older siblings 'talking' for him. I'm not concerned at all though.

He's not super interested in 'baby' food, but he's plenty interested in the food on my plate.

He has started to suck on his fingers again! He had stopped for a while but now he is doing it again. But he's also not drooling so much. Are these related? He's also developed a small rash under his lower lip. This, I imagine, is related somehow.

Favorite toy? Still paper.

He grew a bunch of hair! His blond hair is now long and fluffy on top and the bald spot on the back of his head is filled in. He looks well groomed.

I am still his favorite person, but what is interesting is how Little Lord Steed seems to have lost some interest in the Big O. The Big O used to always be able to get Little Lord Steed to laugh but no more. He will look at the Big O when he comes near and maintain eye contact with him, but the smiling and laughing is no longer coming as easily as it was a month ago. I wonder what changed? Of course, I can rarely get him to smile or laugh either. He seems to be a very serious child. So when I see his dimpled smile and hear his little gurgley laugh it is a special moment in my day.

Little Lord Steed is also interested in his reflection in the mirror. He will stare at himself for a moment, then reach out to touch the other baby, hit the glass, then look at me as if to say "What happened? How did that baby get in there?" The mirror is a fascinating thing.

Now that he crawls, getting the monthly pictures is difficult. He does not like being photographed apparently--he is always crawling away, crying, sucking on his fingers, and rarely smiling.

("Waaa!! No more pictures Mom!!")

LOL

2010-03-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

When I saw this picture I took of Little Lord Steed I laughed out loud. Watch this video and maybe you'll understand why.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

He's on the Move

2010-02-22T16:02:00.000-08:00

Little Lord Steed is on the move, so watch out!

Today he went from the middle of the living room, to the middle of the dining room all on his own. He was not crawling,exactly, but just pulling his body along with his arms, pushing with his legs and using his six month old determination, to get to each and every interesting toy spread out on the floor between the two rooms. While it is exciting to see him developing a new skill, I am not looking forward to the adventures that he will be having now that he can move around.

Watch out, here he comes!

Um, looking at Little Lord Steed's face, it would appear that I need to do some vacuuming.

Gave Blood, Eased Guilt

2010-02-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

I gave blood for the first time recently (Saturday Feb 13 to be exact). And I must say that it was nice to have the guilt, that I have been carrying around for not giving blood the last ten years, lifted.

My ward had a blood drive and I decided it was high time I gave blood. I attempted it one other time, back in college. I wanted to do it, but was afraid of the needle. I was pretty queasy around needles at that time. My roommates and I got ourselves all pumped up to do it, walked over to the blood drive, saw the HUGE line, waited for about thirty minutes and then left. Waiting for so long made us all chicken out. If we had been able to just walk right up and get the process started I think we would have all given blood that day, but that was not how it went. I wonder how many of them have given blood since that experience? Ever since then I have been carrying around a lot of guilt about not giving blood. I have had other opportunities to give blood but never have. I have been feeling guilty about not giving blood for over ten years now. It was definitely time to get rid of this guilt and give some blood.

I was still a bit nervous. Over ten years later. But since my first attempt I have given birth to three children and been poked with plenty of needles during those pregnancies and lived through the pokings. I told myself that I should be fine.

I had not actually signed up to give blood, but Theric just assumed that I would be giving blood without ever asking me about it, so he got the kids all packed in the car and I hopped in and off we went.

We got there and while it did not look like there were a lot of people ahead of me it still took quite a while to get to the actual point where they took my blood. There was a booklet to read, then lots of waiting, then an interview along with blood pressure readings and a finger prick so they could check my hemoglobin count, then a questionnaire and more waiting. During all this I learned that the pool of people cleared to give blood is not as huge as I had always assumed. They are always updating the list of things that make you ineligible to give blood. Apparently good, clean blood can be hard to get. But in the end I had it! I made it through the screening process and my blood was deemed acceptable. So, over an hour after arriving I was finally instructed to lie on a table, relax and had a vein in my right arm tapped for the blood within. About fifteen minutes later I was done! The technician said I had good flow, so my pint bag filled pretty quickly, a bandage was wrapped around my arm and I was instructed to go sit in a chair at the refreshment table, relax and eat some OREOS. Yum.

Blood given, guilt lifted and, hopefully, a stranger's life saved.

Little Lord Steed:Six Months Old

2010-02-11T21:10:00.001-08:00

At six months of age Little Lord Steed has become rather adept at moving around on his belly, rolling all directions, pivoting on his belly, and doing whatever else he can think of to reach an object on the floor that is just out of his reach and that he has just got to put in his mouth. I will admit that I have not spent a whole lot of time observing Little Lord Steed closely when I put him down on the floor. But I do know that when I put him down one place on his back, then leave the room and come back a few minutes later, he has usually moved well off his blanket and is facing the opposite direction from which he was placed and is now on his belly. And quite often all of this movement has been in a grand effort to reach some small scrap of paper, which he is then sucking/chewing on. This kid loves to put paper in his mouth--maybe he needs more fiber in his diet? (Or maybe I need to take the scissors away from his brothers?)

Speaking of diet, we have started to give him rice cereal every now and then, when we remember to, and while he seems very interested in putting the spoon in his mouth, he does not seem to enjoy the rice cereal all that much. He's more interested in trying to grab stuff off our plates and mouthing that stuff, rather than actually eating it. He did have a very small piece of sweet potato the other night and did actually eat most of it, though I think he found the flavor too exciting. At least the faces he pulled were exciting for us to watch.

He is getting close to crawling. A number of times today he got on his belly then pulled his legs under him, then started rocking back and forth. It is fun to watch him develop and reach milestones, but this is one that I am not looking forward to. A moving baby is a dangerous baby.

Jan 22 we moved him out of our room and into the crib in the boy's room. This move has been a good one. Good for me and good for him. It was rough the first few nights and he still usually wakes up once at night to eat, but overall he is sleeping well. In fact, just this week he has been going down around 8pm(!) waking up once to eat, and waking up for the morning around 7am. Though on Tuesday he slept all the way from 8pm to 7am with out waking up once! Amazing! I hope this pattern continues. The other good thing about the move is that he seems to be learning that being put in the crib means, 'go to sleep'. It used to be that we would put him in the crib for bed and he would scream for 45 minutes or more and then fall asleep, even though he was already tired, but now we put him in , and he settles right down and falls asleep with little to no crying.

Little Lord Steed has developed a most horrible high-pitched scream. A scream that pierces my ears and causes them to ring, and pierces my soul and causes it to bleed. It is that awful.

After me (if I walk by and don't pick him up he screams), Little Lord Steed's favorite person is still the Big O. The Big O can get a laugh out this baby every time.

He still loves to bounce on his legs and flap his arms. He is now much more interested in his toys. He loves to put anything in his mouth and then explore it. He still drools a lot. Is getting more hair. Can almost sit up without support. When he masters this skill I think he will be a much happier baby: He will be able keep his toys closer to his body for longer periods of time. Right now, he'll have a toy, drop it and then have to struggle to get to wherever it has rolled off to, which he often gets very frustrated by.

Today Little Lord Steed was not at all happy, so picture-taking did not go well. I got very few smiles and lots of crying. I commented to Theric that I think Little Lord Steed is the least smiley of all our children. I think this has always been true. Getting him to smile is difficult. And he also seems to be more fussy than the other two were: he always wants to be held. I remember the Big O and Large S being content lying or sitting, playing with a toy while I prepared dinner or performed some other task. But not Little Lord Steed. He wants your constant attention.

My how time flies!

Little Lord Steed, I can hardly believe that today you are halfway through your first year of life on earth.

100 Days of School

2010-02-03T12:54:00.001-08:00

Today is the Big O's 100th day of school.

They had a special homework assignments to commemorate this special day. They needed to either gather up 100 of the same items, 10 groups of ten items, or 100 different items laid out in some sort of patterns. The Big O choose to gather up 10 groups of 10 different items from my pantry and then Theric helped the Big O paste them onto the sheet in a pattern. I really like the way it turned out. Especially how it goes from large to small, mostly.

Those first 100 days of school went by very quickly.

I wonder how many more hundreds of days are ahead of him? I suppose I could figure this out but I will refrain as I am afraid of the mixed emotions this number will stir up.

Happy 100 days Big O!

Mrs. Noah

2010-01-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

Large S got this Noah's Ark toy for Christmas from Theric's parents. So we open up the box, start detaching the animal pairs: lion and lioness, giraffe and giraffe/ess, zebra/ess, and elephant/ess.

Then I detach Noah I start to tell Large S the story of Noah and the ark while he plays happily with his new toy. "There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah." And it is during the telling that I notice something is very wrong with this set.

I go back to the box to make sure I got all the figurines out. Yep, it's empty. Which figurine was I looking for?

Noah's wife.

Yeah, that's right, Fisher-Price decided to leave that one out. No human female on this ark. Was Noah a master of asexual reproduction? Sheesh. Talk about messing with the children.

It bothered me enough that we bought a Mrs Noah (2002 vintage) off eBay, but why did Mrs Noah get kicked off the ark between then and now? What did she do? Demand equal rights?

Oh Fisher-Price, I never would have pegged you as a bunch of misogynists.

Dreamboat

2010-01-29T23:50:00.000-08:00

I like comics.

I like Jane Austen.

I have a little crush on Mr. Darcy.

I thought this was very funny.

This one is quite excellent as well.

Heart Sprinkles

2010-01-27T20:11:00.000-08:00

I like the way these hearts appear to be sprinkling down on our front window, getting us all pretty for Valentines day.

The Big O captured them using my camera yesterday.

Little Lord Steed: Five Months Old

2010-01-14T22:44:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010 and happy five months to Little Lord Steed on Jan 11. At five months, Little Lord Steed still does the stuff he was doing at four months only better. Now he can actually roll over all the way from his back to his belly. He did this for the first time on Jan 4th then did not do it again until the 11th --- apparently he was saving it up for his five month mark since he did it a few times that day. I wonder how long before he learns to roll back onto his back though, as he doesn't like being on his belly for too long. He loves to stand and bounce on his legs, flaps his arms when happy, and can almost stay in a sitting-up position. He loves to look around. Still drools constantly but is sucking on his fingers less. Likes grabbing his toes and putting them in his mouth. He reaches and grabs for objects dangled in front of him. He grabs the object with one hand, then hands it to the other, then uses both to bring it to his mouth and explore it for as long as he can, until he drops the object. He is very good at this.

He is interested in paper and hair. Specifically in grabbing for it and putting it in his mouth. Large S does not like this development --- more than once a day Large S allows his curly locks to get too close to Little Lord Steed and screaming ensues.

Little Lord Steed has a really hard time falling asleep every night. He gets fussy around seven then doesn't manage to fall asleep until nine or ten then wakes up around midnight for a feeding. Then he's back asleep and will wake up at least one more time (usually twice) between midnight and five am. As you might guess, I am pretty tired out by all of this --- oh when will you start sleeping all the way through the night, little baby!!!????

Little Lord Steed LOVES the Big O. The Big O can almost always get a laugh out of him. Jan 4th we were all on a walk, Little Lord Steed was in the baby sling and the Big O started walking/skipping and Little Lord Steed thought this was HI.LAR.I.OUS! Every three steps got a huge belly laugh! It was so cute! I often send the Big O to go and talk to Little Lord Steed when he starts getting lonely --- with good results. It's nice that Little Lord Steed is happy to see someone else besides me. Little Lord Steed will also almost always laugh if you rub your head on his belly. The Big O thinks this is hilarious.

Little Lord Steed got his first stroller ride on Jan 5 --- he seemed to enjoy it, or at least didn't hate it. He fell asleep and now usually falls asleep when I put him in it on our walks to and from Big O's school.

Lastly, he's definitely bigger. How much bigger? I can't say as his next checkup isn't until the 20th. But I'm pretty sure we'll be moving up to the next size of diaper this week. And I must say that the rolls on his thighs are delightful.

Now brace yourself for the adorableness.

Five months already? How can this be?

size update: as of Jan 20 Little Lord Steed weighs 16lbs 12oz and is 25.75 in long. This places him in the 50th percentile for both weight and height. His pediatrician said, "He is symmetrical in all ways! What a perfect little guy!"

From Us to You

2009-12-24T06:13:00.000-08:00

We hope you have a

Merry Merry Christmas!

from the Big O, Large S and Little Lord Steed

Little Lord Steed: Four Months Old

2009-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

On Dec 11 Little Lord Steed turned four months old.

At four months he can almost roll over. Loves to jump. Flaps his arms. Grabs his toes. Pushes chest up with arms when placed on belly. Starting to reach out and grab stuff then bring it to his mouth. Sucks on hands. Drools a lot! He's like a faucet! For a week or two he was blowing raspberries all of the time, but then one day, he stopped. Very alert and loves to be talked to, doing so will make him smile and sometimes laugh. Does not like to be ignored, for even a little bit. Happy to see me in the morning and at all other times too.

While this post is very late, I hope the fact that I was FINALLY able to capture his smile on camera somehow makes up for my tardiness.

I guess me with the camera coming out of my face is pretty terrifying. Maybe that is why it has been so hard to capture his smile on camera. But this time he got used to it and let me capture some of his smiles. Brace yourself, these are very cute.

I warned you.

Congratulations, Little Lord Steed, on the first third of the first year of your life!

Greeting Cards

2009-12-17T23:20:00.000-08:00

Tonight we discussed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou at book group. While reading this book I could hear Angelou's distinctive voice in my head. Hearing that voice I recalled a funny SNL sketch. I think it's pretty funny, maybe you will too.

Now You Are Six

2009-12-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

The Big O turned six last Tuesday*.

This year I decided that I wasn't going to throw a big birthday party for him as I have done in past years. I knew it would be too much for me to handle right now. I felt bad though, since he has many frineds at school and has been to a few of their parties. But, the Big O was understanding and was OK with not having a big birthday party. I promised him that we would take him somewhere fun and we ended up going to Chuck E. Cheese the day after his birthday. Which was, in fact, very fun and much easier and less stressful than throwing a birthday party.

He did get to have a little party at school though. I brought cupcakes to his kindergarten classroom and a purple helium balloon (which popped in the classroom). His classmates sang him the birthday song (without the cha cha chas), he blew out a candle and then his teacher went through the Birthday book his classmates made for him. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. Each of the Big O's classmates drew a picture for him and all the pictures were stapled together to make a book. His teacher showed each picture and asked each student what they had drawn for Big O. There were drawings of clouds, flowers, fruit, rain, cars and lots of purple. But many drew Batman--they all knew the Big O loves Batman. I think I enjoyed this so much becasue I never got to have a classroom birthday celebration, my birthday is in June.

After school we went home. The Big O was excited to see the five remaining purple balloons. I made dinner and the Big O played with his grandparents who spent the entire day with us. We ate dinner then enjoyed cupcakes. The Big O somehow knew that making a cake would be more than I could deal with and instead requested cupcakes arranged in a number six. This was WAY easier that my usual birthday cake creations. After cupcakes the Big O opened presents. He got some books and a framed poster titled "Learn to Pitch". A very nice birthday celebration, if you ask me. You can ask Big O here.

Happy 6th Birthday Big O!

*I'm still in shock. How is it that I am the mother to an actual child? A small person that is now in the part of childhood that he will remember when he is an adult. A part of life that will shape his views, his personality, his beliefs, his behaviors etc. As the mother this is intimidating, scary even. It seems wrong that I can have so much influence. I do not feel ready, or qualified to raise this precious being.

New Pants

2009-12-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

My favorite and only pair of jeans recently developed a serious hole in one of the knees.

I am now down to one pair of pants.

But I have three children, one of which is a baby that spits up, often.

Clearly I need new pants.

The Client Designer Relationship

2009-12-03T23:14:00.000-08:00

This is funny because it is true.

Really.

December is Here!

2009-12-01T23:51:00.000-08:00

(Crap. How'd December get here so quick?!)

Little Lord Steed:Three Months Old

2009-11-12T12:36:00.000-08:00

Little Lord Steed is now three months old (as of yesterday) and is definitely no longer an infant. He's big! (Though not as big as my last two at this age.) He can hold up his own head! He has more than one chin! He can grip things you put in his hands! He has adorable chubby thighs! He giggles! He's great! He now sleeps in his cradle and not the swing, saving us a small fortune in batteries. Instead of waking up screaming each morning, he lies there looking around, gurgling, drooling and smiling. When I go to get him in the mornings, he smiles at me, instead of screaming and crying, which is much better way to start the day. He likes to hold on to his feet. When you put him on his back he starts moving his legs and then pushes himself along. I do not believe that he is purposely trying to move himself though, he just has really strong legs that he likes to kick and push with. He especially loves to 'stand up' while I hold his hands, and bounce on his legs, this always makes him smile and even laugh sometimes. He can see a good distance now and will follow my movements from across the room, anxiously waiting for me to come pick him up, and if I do not do so quickly, he lets me know it. He now self-soothes by sucking on the two middle fingers of his left hand, just like his brother Large S. And lastly, he's a big drooler. In most of the pictures I took there is always a reflective dribble/puddle of drool somewhere between his mouth and chin. After holding him, you have a wet area where his mouth was--it's kind of gross, but I'm getting used to it.

Little Lord Steed still doesn't like the camera. He'll be smiling at you and then you put the camera up to your face to capture that adorable smile and he starts crying. Little Lord Steed's smile is very elusive. I wish I could share it with you it would make your day. But even when he is not smiling, he's still quite adorable and below you will find proof.

(Did you remember to roll over the pictures to read the hidden text?)

Halloweeny

2009-10-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

The Thteed Halloween Season

in pictures and rollover text

Check out these Booties

2009-10-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

I found these in the basket I keep all of Little Lord Steed's clothes in and thought they were too cute not to share. Aren't they adorable!?

Want to know what is even more adorable? Little Lord Steed wearing them!

They came from a friend of mine whose mother was clearing out her house in preparation for a move. My friend has no kids of her own but took all the kids clothes her mother was tossing and brought them to me, since I have kids. These were probably made by a relative for her or her brother.

Glad I found them before Little Lord Steed's feet got too big for them, seeing them on his feet makes me smile.

Little Lord Steed: Two Months Old

2009-10-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

Two months old and none too happy about it, apparently, based on how today's picture taking went. Nothing but tears, which is sad because Little Lord Steed now has a really cute smile, with dimples, which is one of this month's most welcome developments. The other: he's now sleeping anywhere from four to six hours at a stretch! I'm no longer being woken up every two hours at night and while I would not say that I am well rested, I am enjoying the extra hours of consecutive snoozing. He does, however, have the hardest time falling asleep. He spends a large portion of the evening hours screaming his head off until he finally drops off, probably from exhaustion.

So, he's got smiling down, still cries a lot, only sleeps in his swing and has a horrid case of baby acne. He's still adorable but his face is covered in red bumps and flaky skin--it's sad and kind of gross. Poor baby--maybe that's why he cries?

He started smiling about three weeks ago. The first real smile happened, I think, on September 18th. His is a very cute smile and, for Mommy, so gratifying. He smiles at me a lot: it's nice to know he's happy to see me. This smile is, however, difficult to capture with the camera, it rarely makes an appearance when the camera is pointed in his direction. The smile's favorite time to come out is when one is talking to Little Lord Steed.

He's very alert when he is awake and gets upset if no one is chatting with him. He demands constant love and attention, a true tyrant!

He's been trying to get any part of his hands in his mouth, he prefers his left, but has only been successful a few times. Hopefully he will get this down in a little bit so he can do a little self-soothing.

Lastly, he's starting to gain weight, he hasn't had his two month checkup (it is not until November) but I can tell. He's getting chubby in the thighs, the face and around the arms and it is very cute.

Despite the blotchy bumpy red face and all the crying, he's still pretty adorable. See for yourself:

the smile! but not all of the dimple

Compare and contrast: Little Lord Steed at one month and two months

Sep 11, one month old

Oct 11, two months old

Attn Pregnant Readers: Recommended Reading, Listening and Drinking

2009-09-23T00:58:00.000-07:00

If you are pregnant and considering a drug-free birth, love hearing other people's birth stories or are interested in learning about midwives, I highly recommend that you read Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent. It follows the career of Peggy Vincent, a midwife who practiced in Berkeley in the 80s.

In Baby Catcher, she shares stories from the many home births she attended. All these births were, of course, drug-free, and because this was my goal from the beginning, I have found all these stories inspiring. You could say that reading this book is how I 'pump' myself up before going into labor. Reading it reminds me that my body knows how to give birth and that it is possible to give birth without the use of drugs or serious medical intervention.

I love this book. I have read it during each pregnancy and it is now one of the ways I prepare for childbirth. But with pregnancy three I kept forgetting to go to the library and check it out (why do I not have my own copy!?). As my estimated due date approached and I slowly began to get things ready for the new baby, I realized that I had not yet read Baby Catcher--and that was when I started to panic, "How can I possibly have give birth without reading Baby Catcher again?!" I finally got to the library, checked it out and read it quickly, within a week. Afterwards I felt ready for birth. The stories I read reminded me that many others had given birth naturally and showed me that every birth is different. And that each woman finds her own way (and oh how varied those ways are) of going through labor and birthing her baby. And that I would find my own way though as well.

(Side note: While laboring at home, in my room, for Baby 3, this book was on my night stand, right at eye level when I would get into my favorite position for riding out a contraction. I would look at it and think, "All those women in there did this, I can do this too!" or "Oh, I really want to read that again, right now. I wonder if I could manage that?" I never did manage to read while laboring, but I do wish I had gotten in two readings before starting labor--it really is that comforting and inspiring.)

Another must for Thteed childbirth is the album Comfort Zone by Steven Halpern. We picked this up on the recommendation of our hypno-birthing instructor. It's very relaxing music and definitely gives your laboring space a calm atmosphere. There are no words and each song blends into the next. The composer, Steven Halpern, composes this music specifically to elicit the relaxation response in listeners. And for me this is definitely true, as soon as I hear those first few notes on the first song I start to relax. We have played it throughout the entire birth process and during the whole time in recovery with all three babies. Each time someone on the hospital staff has commented on this music and how relaxing and soothing it is. I can't imagine a birth without it. If you are planning a natural birth, I really think music can help you--maybe not Steven Halpern, but I am sure you have some favorite music that helps you relax.

Those are my two musts for birth prep and actual laboring. After it's all over and the baby is in my arms the thing I must have is cranberry juice, with ice. Can't get enough cranberry juice while recovering, I wish the nurses could have brought me a pitcher of the stuff, would have saved them a lot of walking.

So to sum up: Baby Catcher before, Contraction Master at the beginning, cranberry juice after, Steven Halpern throughout.

Millions of BC-CM-cj-SH fans can't be wrong!

Little Lord Steed: One Month Old

2009-09-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

Happy One Month Birthday Little Lord Steed!

It seems like just yesterday that I was feeling his slimy squirmy, vernix covered body against mine. And on the other hand, it feels like so much longer......

At one month old Little Lord Steed weighs 8lbs 7.6oz and is in the 60th percentile for length. Though he is much bigger than he was, he still seems very tiny to us. He has a very tiny mouth and an excellent sympathy-inducing frown. He doesn't do much but eat, poop (watch out for the poop fountain), pee, look around a bit, and cry, a lot. He is dearly loved by his parents but especially loved by his brothers who are constantly asking if they can hold him.

Little Lord Steed has made a very handsome addition to our family and we are glad to have him.

Now, a short timeline in pictures, since we finally got a new camera (let me tell you, the photo documentation of this kid is waaaay out of hand).

Fresh Delivery, first photo ever!

9 hrs old

1 day old

1 week old

One Month old!

Happy One Month little baby, we are glad you are part of our family.

We hope we can continure to ease your transition to Earth life.

I promise, it gets better.

Yay for ME!

2009-09-11T04:37:00.000-07:00

I like to think that I generally don't brag that much. I'm not sure how true that is, but please excuse me while I now brag and toot my own horn: The birth of my third child was completely drug-free! Heck, they didn't even put a hep-lock in!

I'm pretty proud of myself and also pretty amazed. I had always known that my body could do it--I have just never been fully confident in my ability to get my brain out of the way and let my body give birth to a baby. My brain gets thinking, wondering if I can really make it through, tempting me, telling me there is a way to bypass all the discomfort of those contractions. Reminding me once I'm in the hospital it will be so easy to ask for that epidural, it'll be quickly administered and all pain will quickly go away. I am so glad and proud of myself that I did not give in to temptation and ask for that epidural--having done so would have always haunted me; knowing that my desire to fully experience the miracle of childbirth was not fully reached because I gave in to my brain and gotten the epidural.

With baby one, we had read about the downsides of epidurals and I was anxious to avoid them, but the induced labor was proceeding slowly and the baby was in trouble and I couldn't focus and finally I asked for an epidural. Which ended up being fortunate as it sped up the emergency c-section that became necessary less than thirty minutes later.

Baby two: I took a couple shots for pain, but the last mile of labor moved so quickly that I was denied the epidural when I begged.

But this time.

This labor and birth were hard but I must say that I handled it well. Especially when you consider that Theric and I did zero direct preparation for this birth.

When I was pregnant the first time, with Big O, I decided I wanted a drug-free childbirth and that we would use Hypnobirthing as our method of reaching that goal. At the time, the cost of the Hypnobirthing classes was (for us as poor college students) huge. But the instructor promised it would be worth our time and money. And it most surely has been. The techniques learned there have served me well with all three labors--even when we did not review or practice them! Amazing! The Hyponobirthing relaxation techniques have stuck with me for five years and are still effective--Theric and I just slipped back into our roles. Those classes were money well spent!

From the beginning of labor at home (which didn't exist for labor one and went fine with labor two) to the drive to the hospital (a disaster with labor two) to triage (the end of my control with labor two and my greatest concern with this labor), I remained in control. I let the contractions pass through me with a bit of swaying and moaning.

This labor was never guaranteed to go well. The kids did not drop immediately to sleep but stayed up making a lot of noise in their room, which made relaxing more difficult. Theric spent the beginning hours on the computer, trying to get some work issue straightened out. (Then I let him nap for an hour because he looked so exhausted from playing with the boys all day and knowing I would need him fully awake and focused later on. Thank goodness he could sleep and monitor my contractions at the same time.) Halfway to the hospital we had to take a sudden detour when our freeway was closed. And through it all I was calm and in control.

Or so I'm told. I did not always feel in control, but Theric tells me I seemed calm and centered throughout.

I made it through triage (where they did not give me a hep-lock, something I was dreading because I found it so distracting last time) stopping often to sway through a contraction and was then wheeled to my room, where we worked for the baby. For most of the time we were alone, just me and Theric, contraction by contraction, focused on my unplanned mantra, Waaaave as the waves passed through me, bringing the baby closer and closer. When it came time to push, the midwife came in and delivered the baby. Everything went smoothly. (Which is not to say I enjoyed the ring of fir e.) Then a squirmy, crying, slippery, vernix-covered baby was placed on my chest. And I marveled not only at him but at what I had accomplished. A goal set five years ago, finally achieved. Euphoria. To quote the midwife, "You are amazing, a rockstar!"

Then after I had held Little Lord Steed long enough and allowed them to weigh and wash him, we were moved to maternity where I popped as many Vicodin and ibuprofen as they would give me.

Girl's got her limits.

Besides. What else did I have to prove?

published one month to the minute of the baby's officially recorded arrival

Avian Diaspora

2009-08-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

Walking back from kindergarten today I was surprised to hear Large S say 'bird' as we passed a busy bird feeder. It was the first time I have heard him say 'bird' instead of 'jew'.

This refinement in his vocabulary should help end the months-long flood of confusion, embarrassment and accusations of anti-Semitism.

Two Milestones

2009-08-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

(one was a bit bigger than the other)

1st Milestone: Little Lord Steed is two weeks old today

Despite his difficulty falling asleep and staying there for a while, I think we will keep him. His brother's have become very attached to him and are constantly asking to hold him and giving him kisses on top of his head. I can't give you any stats on how much he has grown since his 'two week check up' will not be until next week, when he will be three weeks old. But right now he only looks a little bit bigger than when we left the hospital. We are constantly commenting on his smallness. Both Theric and I had forgotten how tiny newborns are. He is still a bit jaundice and I am trying to not worry about that too much. He is certainly more aware and alert than he was just a week ago. He will stare at and track objects placed in his line of vision. He also seems to recognize our voices. He enjoys looking at our faces. Today a friend stopped by to see us and Little Lord Steed stopped crying for a moment when she leaned in close and said hello to him--I think he stopped crying because he did not recognize her voice or her face and was startled by this--it was kind of funny. Theric says that he has dimples, though I have yet to witness the appearance of two dimples, I have seen only one, so I will just have to take Theric's word for it. Little Lord Steed has made a very happy addition to our family.

2nd Milestone: First Day of School! First Day of School!

The Big O started Kindergarten today and it all went very well. For the past year the Big O has been telling me, "Mommy, I don't want to go to school. I want to stay home with you." Even after two Kindergarten tours. This has worried me. Especially when he suggested to me, "Mommy, why can't you do school at home with me like my Aunt does with my cousins?" No way I am homeschooling you kid--I'd be a horrible teacher. I decided to stop talking about Kindergarten since every time I brought it up the Big O would become very adamant about not wanting to go. I figured I'd just take him on the first day and deal with whatever scene would arise.

Fortunately there was no scene.

I credit this to my mother-in-law who came to visit 10 days ago and brought the Big O a 'Kindergarten Survival Kit' filled with crayons, scissors, paper, candy, cookies and other items, each with a cute little phrase about how said item would help the Big O survive Kindergarten. This kit completely changed his attitude. Ever since then he's been asking about when school would start and counting down the days to the first day of school. Today, August 25th, was the day. The Big O wore his brand new first-day-of- school-outfit and his new backpack and could hardly wait to leave the house (he has afternoon kindergarten which made the anticipation this morning that much more intense).

The only tears shed when he left to go line up with his class were mine. He barely said good-bye to me, I had to ask for a hug. I tried to impart a few words of wisdom and love but choked on my own tears instead. I had not expected this much emotion. I have been eagerly awaiting his first day of school. Having him all day at home was starting to drive me a little bit crazy, so I was quite surprised at my tears.

My Big O is growing up and is no longer baby--how can this be! How can the time have passed so quickly!? How can I have a child in Kindergarten?!

So the first day went way better than I had ever hoped for and he can hardly wait to go back tomorrow. Hooray for the Big O!

(Large S was a little sad and confused about why he could not go with his brother to school. But a hug made it all a little easier to handle.)

Attn Pregnant Readers

2009-08-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

For those of you that will be giving birth soon, I want to share with you a very useful thing: Contraction Master.

This app was so useful. I highly recommend using it to record and time your contractions. I remember when labor started with Large S and how difficult it was for Theric to time the contractions. He would have to time the contraction while also providing support for me, then have to go and write down the info after it had ended. We never really felt like he got accurate-enough readings for the contractions, thus making us a little unsure about their length and spacing-- which is info you need to feel accurate about when you call the hospital or your doctor/midwife to find out if you should be heading to the hospital. Overall, the recording of the contractions back in 2007 added an extra element of stress to a situation that we were trying to keep as unstressful as possible.

When contractions started in earnest this time around Theric and I had two kids we were trying to put to bed--a stressful activity on a good day. At some point I left the bedtime activities and went to our room because the contractions were getting strong and I need to start focusing on relaxing, not on how to convince the boys to calm down and stay in bed (we'd made the mistake of telling them Grandma might come and get them later that night). Theric was left with this job, which meant, I knew, that I needed to start timing my contractions. I took the only portable clock with a second hand from the bathroom and put it in our bedroom. I tried to time those contractions, but it was hard--hard to remember what time one had started once it was over--because while it was happening, I was trying to relax my whole body and trying to remove my conscious self from the moment. Trying to remember something, let alone something as rigid as a point on a clock, was in opposition to what I was trying to do.

When Theric finally got the kids in bed and came to see how I was doing, I was not able to give him any sort of concrete report regarding the length and spacing of my contractions.

I sent Theric to look for an online timer and a few minutes later, he came back to the room, took my laptop and brought up the Contraction Master. He explained it to me and said we should try it out. He then left to go take care of some timely job-related stuff while I continued on with the birth process. Because of this website I was able to really focus on my Hypnobirthing techniques. The Contraction Master only required that I hit the 's' key as a surge began and when it ended--much much easier than having to look at the clock and note the time. The Contraction Master works so well that Theric was able to nap lightly and man the 's' key at the same time! (Eventually, even being in charge of the 's' key was too much for me; laboring required all my attention and remembering to hit it was taking me out of my zone.) When he was done napping (when I needed his regular assistance), it allowed him to provide me with the support I needed and keep a super-accurate record of my contractions.

(Aside to Contraction Master, if you happen by: 's' not the best key--space bar would be easier to find in a rush or when half-sleep.)

Because of the Contraction Master he could look at the results and see that my contractions had reached the point where we should call the hospital. And he was then able to give the nurse a completely accurate reporting on the contractions. Plus, it was really cool to be able to look at the data--I may have been the one experiencing the contractions, but I really wasn't aware of how long each was, how long between, so to be able to see all the information on the screen and see how labor was progressing was really neat--encouraging even.

So, if you are going to be going into labor soon, I highly recommend that you bookmark Contraction Master or download the app to your iPhone. It will remove one element of stress from your labor. Although be warned: if you have a geeky husband, do you really want to give him another reason to keep looking at his iPhone every three minutes?

Thteed baby 3 is here!

2009-08-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

The newest Thteed arrived August 11, 2009 at 4.37am

He weighed in at 7lbs 12oz and 20.5 inches long.

Visit Theric for a visual on this Thteed.

Happy Birthday to Theric!

2009-08-04T13:00:00.001-07:00

Time marches on and you are one year older. I had hoped to give you a brand spanking new human for your birthday but alas it appears that it (the human) is not quite done yet. You will, instead, have to settle for inanimate objects, a day without children and a home cooked dinner. I hope this is acceptable and brings some amount of happiness to your birthday.

Love,

Lady Steed

Are we going to regret this purchase?

2009-07-29T22:52:00.001-07:00

We are about to have a baby of an as yet unknown gender. We need a new car seat. And we've decided to get a Britax Boulevard. So.

Please help Theric and I decide. Do we save $40 and get this car seat that is as gender-neutral as pink can be?

Or do we spend the extra money to get one of these two truly gender-neutral carseats?

(this one matches one we already have)

There are a few things at issue here, right? If we have a girl, not too worried. This isn't princessy or anything, just pink. But if we have a boy (and given he could stay here till he's 65 pounds), will he feel humiliation? Will friends and older brothers mock?

(We could buy the cheap one and just buy a different cover, but the covers cost $80 so that's stupid. Don't suggest that.)

These are all identical save color.

What would you do?

Note: click on seats to view at retailer's site.

After Happily Ever After

2009-07-17T20:55:00.001-07:00

While my 'happily ever after' has not been perfect, it has been somewhat better than these.

Know what's weird....

2009-07-16T13:01:00.001-07:00

but also nice?

Leaving the house for your a pre-natal appointment sans children or husband. Then returning home and finding that husband and children are not there.

Where did they go?

I do not know, but I sure like the quite house and time all alone.

Before the time has past, I need to say....

2009-07-14T23:44:00.000-07:00

Happy 9th Anniversary Theric.

I had a loveley day with you.

Can you believe that next year will be ten?!

Tori! Tori! Tori!

2009-07-14T23:04:00.001-07:00

For my birthday Theric bought a pair of tickets for us to go and see Tori Amos. Tori has been my favorite female musical artist since I was about 12 years old, and while my youthful enthusiasm for all things Tori has waned quite a bit as I have gotten older and had the opportunity to love and care about more things than just music, I still think she is an amazing artist. Her songs can still bring up in me emotions that I can only think to call rapturous and transcendental. All the words to all of her songs still maintain a very large residence in my brain--play me a few bars of any song from any of her pre-2003 albums, and I could probably sing you the entire song.

My first Tori Amos concert was on the Dew Drop Inn Tour in 1996. According to my online research I saw her on either July 12 or 13, at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, a stunning Art Deco period movie palace. The concert Theric and I attended last night was also at the Paramount. It was so neat to see her again in the same place I saw her preform for the first time ever, on nearly the same date, 13 years later. That first show I attended I went with one of my best friends from high school, this time I went with Theric, my best friend for life and beyond.

It was a great show. Tori gives a great performance and while her style of her concerts have changed over the years and there are some things that I really miss from her earlier concerts, this concert was still fantastic. One might not think a piano can rock, but Tori makes her piano rock, really hard.

She released a brand new album back in May and while Theric gave it to me for my birthday I am ashamed to admit that I have not yet listened to it for various reasons, one of which being that we no longer have a stereo. The best stereo sound quality can be found in our car. So, I was a bit concerned about going to a concert where I would have little familiarity with the material. All other Tori concerts I have attended in the past I go knowing the current album backwards and forwards--not so this time. But I had decided that this would be a good and never experienced by me, way to hear the new material. And while it was a good way to hear the new songs I was most pleased hear many other songs that I knew already. The set list had more than one song from her first album, and nearly every other one in between.

It was a fantastic set list:

Main Set

Give

Siren

---change your pack--- improv

Cornflake Girl

Flavor

Space Dog

a sorta fairytale

Beauty of Speed

Curtain Call

Icicle

Lizard Lounge

…Baby One More Time [audio only. turn up the volume so you can hear her intro] (yes, really! Tori covered a Britney Spears song! [short video] and it was amazing. I love how she can take pretty much any other artist's song, cover it, and make it sound like one of her own creations.)

Maybe California

Fast Horse

Mother Revolution

Carbon

Precious Things

Strong Black Vine

First Encore:

Police Me

Bliss

Second Encore:

Big Wheel

Tear in Your Hand

Great. Show.

The unborn Thteed seemed to enjoy it too, I think. It spent most of the time wiggling around with unusual vigor. I suppose this could have also meant that it was unhappy with the situation, we do not usually listen to music at such loud and overwhelming volumes at our house.

It was a great evening and an excellent birthday present.

Thank you Theric.

Thank you Tori.

Deliciousness from Tehachapi

2009-07-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

That's what Theric brought me from his recent trip. Specifically Nuss Ecken and a Nougat Taler from Kohnen's Bakery. I just finished them. They were so, so good. Eating them was akin to a spiritual experience. If you are ever in Tehachapi, you must try them.

Who knew Tehachapi could ever provide something so heavenly?

Thanks Theric for bringing me these delicious treats.

Amazingly Beautiful

2009-06-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

and edible!

Grattitude

2009-06-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

Fortunately this person is not amongst my friends and I did not have to suffer this uncomfortable experience on my birthday...this year.

One Year Older

2009-06-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

It came and there was nothing I could do about. I tried to figure out how to stop time with my mind, but failed. And now it has happened. I am one year older. I am...I don't even want to say it....thirty yeas old.

AIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Thirty is an age I never thought I would reach. At the age of sixteen I was convinced that I would be killed before I reached adulthood and yet each year kept coming and I was still living. Which is a good thing and I am very grateful for that--but somehow I never really thought I would get to be this truly adult age of thirty.

But here I am.

I suppose I should make the best of it.

Happy Birthday to me!

Let's eat some cake!

Now You are Two

2009-06-18T00:06:00.000-07:00

Large S, now you are two.

Happy Birthday to you.

And while I have to share my birthday with you

I do still love you.

Detail oriented...

2009-06-15T23:32:00.000-07:00

This link is for those who were living with me while I took that one color theroy class in college. Click here to be amazed.

[See. There are others out there who spend just as much time with their xacto knife as I.]

Vocab boom

2009-06-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

During the last few weeks the Large S has had quite the vocabulary boom. He's to the point where if you say “Can you say ________?” He will try to say it back to you. And while the new word does not often sound exactly right, it is recognizable as the word you suggessted to him. On Sunday morning the BIg O was all excited becasue he got the Large S to say ‘trophy’. On Monday he got him to start saying ‘Geico’ for the Geico advert plane that is constantly flying around our area.

This new willingness to try to say any word is rather exciting. However, I know that this will soon lead to the constant talking that tends to drive me crazy.

In the meantime I will try to enjoy the adorableness of his daily verbal discoveries.

Here's a partial list of what he says:

Pbutter
juice!
beans
bye
hot dog
ball
Bat
Baseball
foul ball
mitt
Ready!
Basketball
PowPow=Batman
jew=bird. I have no idea how this came to be or why he will not change from jew to bird.
trophy
milk
burto=burrito
ah-ah=apple
shoe
newkimber=cucumber
read
book
mommy
daddy
Out please
Thank you Mommy
kitty
doggy
rock
Popeye: the first cartoon character he knew the name of
more
shoe
baby= blanket and actually human babies
bunny
toe=toast
da or ya=yes, when he says it, it sounds german
no
uh-oh
cracker
juice
water
choochoo
chi-en=chicken
car
bath
my, mine
sock
Ee (his old word for the Big O -- now he calls him by his actual name)
potty
pee
hat
cheese
here you go
peek-a-boo
ow
balloon
bike
help, help mommy
and, of course,
why?

We interrupt our regularly scheduled posting for this important announcement......

2009-06-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

BULLETIN - AFTER HAPPILY EVER AFTER - 12 JUNE 2009 - Come early August, readers of After Happily Ever After, the blog run by internet personality Lady Steed, should be prepared for an exciting development. In order to boost lagging ratings, AHEA will be introducing a new character. This character (name to be announced later) will be an actual member of the Thteed family, changing its stale dynamics and mixing things up at AHEA for a new generation of blog readers. The character is expected to boost AHEA's performance in the vital 0-1 demographic so appealing to blogvertisers.

We now return to our regularly scheduled posting:

Boy! I sure do hate it when dogs drink out of my hose . . . . .

Little Sleep=Premature Aging

2009-06-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Last week was a rather busy and stressful one. As proof I will present a calculation of how many hours of sleep I got Monday through Friday:

23hrs 20min

40hrs

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that regularly getting under five hours of sleep can take years off your life.

With my birthday fast approaching, I am a bit concerned about my expiration date.

Do I look older to you? Because I'm pretty sure last week aged me at least one year, if not two.

No Photo Documentation

2009-05-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

Our little point and shoot digital camera died a few weeks ago. I knew this would happen eventually but failed to make good preparation for this event. This camera was given to us by our neighbors when they got a new one. Prior to this we had had one other incredibly cheap, barely usable, digital camera, the one given to us was a HUGE upgrade. From it we discovered the joy of digital cameras. So to now be without one is pretty sad.

I am hoping that you, dear reader, can offer me some advice on what new camera to purchase. I would like to get a Nikon CoolPix, as that is what the last camera was and we were very pleased with it, but, have you seen how many of those CoolPix cameras there are?! Way too many to make it an easy choice. So if anyone out there has some recommendations, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

It fast approacheth

2009-05-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Only a month left.

I am truly terrified.

How can it have come so soon?

What horrors await me on the other side?

Garden Massacres

2009-05-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

They have got me down.

I planted four zucchini plants, three are left. Planted four cucumber plants, one is left, and it does not appear to be doing well. Planted two pumpkin plants, zero left.

But it doesn't stop there, oh no. This is the worst: I planted nine yellow squash plants, nine! And now, now, I have zero. Zero!!!!!!! ARRRGGHHHH!!!!

I started all of these plants from seed, and loving nurtured them on my kitchen window sill until I felt they were ready to go out into the garden. Little did I know that I would be sending them to their deaths.

I am quite certain all the blame should be placed on snails.

Snails, I hate you.

What?!

2009-05-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

Check this out, it's kind of funny.

Can you believe that!? There are people out there that think Mormons inventend Wingdings?!! If there are poeple out there that believe that, I am truly perplexed and worried about what else people might believe about Mormons.

In case you didn't read the comments on that blog I'll let you know that the questioner probably got Wingdings mixed up with the Deseret Alphabet--which Mormons did invent. I wrote a research paper on the Deseret Alphabet back in college and also worked as a research assistant for a professor that was studying the Deseret Alphabet. It was really interesting. And while I never really learned how to read Deseret fluently, I did learn enough to transcribe quite a few letters written by the early Saints to Brigham Young.

In the end the Deseret Alphabet was abandoned. Which, I think was best and inevitable. From a typographical standpoint the letterforms themselves had many problems that made them difficult to learn and become comfortable with. Despite Brigham Young's efforts, we Mormons read and write in the language with which we are most familiar. For me, that'd be English.

Though I do happen to think the Deseret Alphabet is pretty cool looking, much cooler than Wingdings.

Productive?

2009-04-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

It's noon and I am still in my bathrobe.

I am rather depressed by this, usually by now I have at least made it into my comfy 'hang around the house' clothes (aka sweat pants and t-shirt). Even more depressing, I haven't showered since Sunday. While reading to the Big O this morning he said "You're smelly Mommy." Thanks kid, I already knew that. Hopefully I will get a shower in today.

So, in order to cheer myself up while in this bathrobed, smelly, unshowered state, I have decided to list what I have accomplished so far today:

1. Slept in till 7:30am and remained in bed for another half-hour snuggling with my boys and

reading to them.

2. Fed children breakfast

3. Fed myself breakfast (!)

4. Put away dishes from last night

5. Did breakfast dishes

6. Changed Large S's diaper, got him dressed and his teeth brushed

7. Reminded Big O to dress himself, make his bed, take his medicine and brush his teeth. All of which he did without protest.

8. Convinced children to play quietly with trains

9. Got refried beans started in the crock pot

10. Intervened in various arguments between children

11. Made children a healthy snack

12. Made granola

13. Brushed my own teeth

14. Let kids outside to play

15. Did more dishes

16. Changed another diaper

17. Comforted a very sad and bleeding Large S

18. Wrote a blog post

Hey, not too bad! So while it might appear by looking at me that nothing has gotten done since 7.30am here in the Thteed household, that is certainly not the case.

However, I'm still really wanting that shower.

Soul Food

2009-04-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

I love Mint Milano cookies. LOVE them. Pepperidge Farms makes some very delicious cookies, but those Mint Milanos are the tops. I don't buy them that often but they were on sale at the store so I bought a few bags. As I was sitting down and enjoying them (after the kids had gone to bed), closing my eyes and relishing each bite, I began to wonder why I liked them so much. Crispy melt in your mouth cookies, sealed together with a layer of delicious dark chocolate and mint—what’s not to love!?

But—have you ever read the copy on the side of a bag of Milanos? I am not so sure my love for these cookies is acceptable in the sight of God. See for yourself:

A 'baker's soul' !? What?! Is that really nescessary? And how many bakers' souls are required per bag of cookies? How many souls am I comsuming when I enjoy these cookies? How many bad marks does that get me? What's the punishment for eating souls? Is it the 'baker's soul' that makes these cookies so very good? I think it must be—surely there can't be any more forbidden thing to eat than a soul. How are these souls acquired? Are they the souls of evil bakers? If so, would that make it OK to eat them? Or maybe they are ill-gotten souls of good, righteous bakers? Then surely it would be bad to eat them, right?

Oh dear.

These cookies have brought some serious moral issues to the forefront of my eating habits.

Does this indicate that I might need a vactaion?

2009-04-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a dentist appointment and it was the best part of my day, possibly the best part of the last month.

Why?

I got to walk to and from the dentist's office—alone. While there I got to sit in a clean, quiet, nicely decorated waiting room and read a magazine—alone. When it was time to have my teeth cleaned, I got to sit in a comfy chair and make pleasant small talk with the hygienist—uninterrupted. When she was ready to get to work on my teeth, she raised and reclined the chair (I think that position sent lots of oxygen rich blood to my head, which may explain why my brain felt less addled afterwards) and I got to lay there, very still, with my eyes closed (that light they use is super bright). I even took off my glasses. My mouth of course was open and the hygienist was cleaning my teeth which was a little bit uncomfortable at times but, I tell you, it was so relaxing. There was only pleasant music playing softly and the sound of that sucker thing. I didn't fall asleep but I certainly could have. I was in a state of relaxation and it was lovely. No children. No children anywhere in that office. No children for a total time of approximateley an hour and a half. Completely worth the $30 copay.

Easter 2009

2009-04-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

Deliciousness

2009-03-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

Just discovered a bit of deliciousness today and I feel that it would be wrong to not share it with you.

That dish of homemade lemon curd in your fridge, the one you made the other night from some of your home grown lemons, well take that out and mix a spoonful or two of it into a serving of plain yogurt.

Trust me, it will be delicious.

A bit of creamy lemon heaven.

I think I'll go have some more right now.

(If you do not currently have some homemade lemon curd in your fridge, come on over to my house, I'd be more than happy to share this deliciousness with you.)

Funcooker

2009-03-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

Did you watch 30 Rock last Thursday? (You should have, it was hilarious!)

Was I the only person that thought: “Hey! That Funcooker, personal pocket microwave is actually a pretty good idea, someone should totally make that.”

Well, turns out someone did.

I think my favorite line of copy is: “Take the world’s smallest microwave anywhere.”

And you know what? You can take it anywhere! It’s got a handle! Awesome.

It, however, does not have a ham button.

But I bet they're working on that.

Pretty Party

2009-03-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

I threw a party for a good friend this past weekend--it was a lot of work and very exhausting, but I think the party was a success, or, at least, that's what everyone told me.

When I asked my friend what sort of party she wanted she just told me, ‘a pretty party.’ Which she then said was sort of a given since I was the one throwing the party--what a nice compliment! Though I must say that I do not often get the chance to throw pretty parties. With two boys our birthday party themes do not generally involve pretty things. But I think this party did actually turn out ‘pretty.’

Here are a few pictures.
(mouse over the pictures to read captions)

(thanks to 'sposita for taking these with her awesome camera and sweet picture-taking skills.)

(next few pictures taken by me, with my crappy camera and weak picture-taking skills.)

Happy St. Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T09:25:00.001-08:00

We Are Simple People

2009-02-11T19:21:00.000-08:00

That's what Theric said when I pointed out to him how excited we both were about the new recycling program--reading that flier was the most excited I got all day. Maybe all week.

We recycle. A lot. We have piles of to-be-recycleds all over the house. Currently, we have pick-up for certain types only--and we have to separate papers products from everything else, and then put everything into separate bins. We usually fill both our bins every week. The paper bin in particular is nearly always filled to capacity. Every week I marvel at the amount of paper we're recycling--it's just crazy. Where does it all come from? But now, now we will have one large bin (with wheels!) in which to dump all our recyclables! I wonder if we will fill it every week, too...?

The best thing about this new program? We can recycle more types of stuff. The most exciting addition? Plastic bags! Woohoo!! We try to not get plastic bags and to use canvas shopping bags, but we still end up with plenty of filmy plastic bags (from bread, for instance). They have taken over the pantry. I am thrilled that I will now be able to put them straight into my own recycling bin instead of trying, week after week, to remember to bring them down to the grocery-store plastic-bag recycling station.

Yes, to us Thteeds this recycling revolution is a purty danged exciting event. I guess we are just simple people.

VDay Prep.

2009-02-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

In order to help those of you (Theric) planing to purchase me something (See's candy) for Valentines day, as a small token of your love, I thought I would prepare you by reminding you what my favorite See's candies are:

1. Marzipan
2. Scotchmallow
3. Raspberry Truffles
4. Lemon Truffles
5. Raspberry Cream
6. Awesome Walnut Square bars
7. Dark Chocolate Nuts & Chews
8. Scotch Kiss

You're welcome.

So very very wrong

2009-02-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

This is very very wrong.

Shoot! I Forgot!!

2009-02-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

To wish you all a Happy Last Day of the First Month of the New Year. I hope you spent yesterday, January 31st doing something enjoyable.

Since I missed LDotFMotNY, Happy First of February!

The Empty Square

2009-01-29T18:54:00.000-08:00

I have come to realize that my house is like a number puzzle. The kind you hold in your hand, with one empty space and you have to move the squares around until you get all the numbers in order. That's what my house is like.

It appears to be impossible for all the rooms in my house to be clean, neat and tidy all at the same time. At least one room is always a mess. Usually that room is the master bedroom. And as I was cleaning it the other day, the dining room slowly became messier and messier.

The mess never really gets cleaned up, just shifted to another room.

The mess goes in the empty square. And, apparently, my room is that empty square most of the time.

>sigh<

Finally!

2009-01-25T18:10:00.001-08:00

I got new glasses! And I must say that they are awesome. I love them. So much better than wearing a pair with just one arm. The search for this pair went much better than last time. Theric and I quickly selected these as the best match for me from the selection that was available to us. I am very happy with them. A number of people have noticed the new glasses, but not as many as noticed when I was wearing the broken ones--interesting.

Religious Dog

2009-01-18T18:51:00.001-08:00

Are dogs religious? I don't know for sure but I have seen the same dog at church the last two weeks. When I say 'at church' I do not mean wandering around the building, I mean inside the building, in the chapel, in Relief Society, attending with a human friend.

I first saw it last week. I was sitting in the pew, listening to the Sunday School lesson. My eyes had wandered away from the teacher's face and around the space in front of me. That's when I saw it--a face that was clearly not a baby's, even though the face was looking at me from a human shoulder. "Holy cow! Is that really dog!?" I thought. I stared more intently and decided that yes, it was actualy really a dog. A minature dauschuand in fact, brownish red in color. A dauschand being held in the exact same way a mother holds a baby being burped.

After determining that it was a real dog, my next realization was that this was perhaps the quietest dauschand I had ever encountered. Those little dogs are known for being yappy, but this one was silent. The only sound coming from the dog was the sound of the chain links in it's leash hitting each other. What a well behaved doggie. My next obersavtion: the dog was dressed up for church. It was wearing a very nice-looking pink sweater (must have been a girl dog).

I pointed it out to Theric and he too was quite surprised--neither of us had ever seen a dog in a church building. For a moment I thought that maybe it was a guide dog, but neither of us thought that dauschands would make very good seeing-eye dogs. We were at a loss as to why the dog was there, or if there even was a reason, besides being loved and inseperable from its owner.

The dog was at church again today. I noticed it in Relief Society, being held by the same sister. It obviously belongs to her. And if it is not an assistance dog of some sort, it is the most well behaved dauschand I have ever seen--it never makes a sound. And if it continues attending church, it may well become the most religious dog I have ever seen as well.

Eccl. 9: 4

Christmas is coming.....

2008-12-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling very fat, I went to put a penny in the old man's hat--and he was gone! Seriously! I was all ready to drop some change in the Salvation Army bucket, reminded to do so by the bell ringing when I went in the grocery store (I was picking up items needed for the Thteed traditional Christmas Morning quiche, mmmmmmmmm), came out and the Salvation Army man, his bell and bucket were gone! Where'd he go?

I should also ask, where'd my Christmas cheer go? I'm just not very excited for Christmas this year, which I feel kind of bad about. I had all these activities and crafts I wanted to do with the Big O after Thanksgiving, but then December got here and I lost my steam.

Maybe it was throwing the Big O's fifth birthday party that did it? That was pretty all consuming there for the weeks leading up to it. You can go see some pictures of it over at the Big O's blog. It was a pretty awesome party and after thinking about it, I am quite sure that's where all my cheer/celebratory energy went. Leaving none for Christmas.

Sorry Christmas.

However, I will say that I did very much enjoy having FoxyJ and her family come and sing carols to us and deliver us cookies--that was very cheerful. Then we all headed up to the Temple to see the Christmas lights and a the live Christmas Nativity scene, this helped very much to rekindle a little bit of my Christmas cheer. Hopefully it's enough to pull me through the actual day.

I hope you are all filled with Christmas cheer and having a lovely Christmas season.

Merry Christmas!

The Big O is now 5!

2008-12-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

Amazing!

His birthday was on December 8th. I am quite proud that I have managed to keep him alive and well for this long.

Maybe I'm not too horrible at this mother thing?

Enjoy these bar-free pictures of my no-longer-so-little first-born child:

Halloween Tragedy

2008-11-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

Halloween was great, except for one major (to me) tragedy.

Brace yourself:

(Do you see it? These glasses, my glasses, they are now missing one of their arms.)

Isn't that horrible!!! How did it happen, you ask?

Well, I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I kneeled on them. Yup, my fault. As you learned from the last post, I have worn glasses since the second grade; I know how to take care of a pair of glasses! I have never damaged a pair in all that time! How could I let this happen?

I can only attribute it to exhaustion/excitement/sugar coma caused by my favorite holiday, Halloween.

As I was getting ready for bed that night, I removed my glasses before taking my shirt off, and placed them on the bed, instead of in their proper place which would be the nightstand. On the bed, off my top, into bed. I felt something strange under my knee and instantly realizes what I had done. CRAP!

All the pieces were intact, but none of them looked right. Everything was skewed. I couldn't even put them back on my face. It was bad. Horrible even.

The next morning, Saturday, we went to the optometrist shop next to the Trader Joe's. Theric had been there the week before and they were kind enough to fix a loose peice on his frames, free of charge. I walked in and showed the ladies at the front desk my glasses, they both said, "Oh wow!! That's bad!! How did you DO that!?" It was clearly one of the worst cases they has seen. They called for the resident glasses-fixing expert and he too was quite shocked. "What did you DO!?" I explained the embarassing story, making sure to teach the moral (always put your glasses away in the right place.) Everyone thanked me for my honesty, which I found odd. Apparently people make up ridiculous stories about how their glasses got damaged instead of telling the truth, like: I sat on them.

The glasses-expert told me he would try his best to fix them, but he did not feel confident that he would be able to do so. I waited about ten minutes. He came out with my glasses and they looked OK. Certainly better than when I walked in with them. He warned me to not fold the arms in since the metal hinges had been bent and to do so would strain the metal more, probably causing it to break, and the arm would fall off. He put them on my face, but they were very crooked. He did his best to adjust this, but couldn't get it quite right. I told him it was fine, thanked him profusely, then left the shop.

I could see now, this was good (I had still had my last pair of glasses and had been wearing them in the meantime, but my perscription hads changed a bit, so things had looked a touch blurry), but everything felt off kilter--wonky. I was dizzy and not at all stable. I made it to the car. Took the glasses off, to take a little break from the wonkiness, then put them, very carefully, back on. Then I heard a little snap and the right arm fell into my lap.

"Oh NO!" But then, suddenly, everything was balanced again, not wonky! Problem solved! So I have been wearing my glasses, but I have only one arm on them. While I can see fine, the glasses tend to slip down my nose much more often than when the glasses had two arms. And, my left ear hurts in the back where the remaining arm grips.

It's been interesting, and kind of funny, to see how long it takes people to notice that my glasses are damaged. Some people have yet to notice it, others notice it pretty quickly after they start talking with me, "Oh no! Lady Steed! Your glasses are broken! What happened?!" I should have been keeping score between those who wear glasses and those who don't, to see who noticed more often. I wonder if some have noticed but not said anything, thinking that maybe it's some new style of glasses--me being such a trendy gal and all.

Today I noticed that the other arm seems to be getting a bit lose so it looks like I'll be needing to get a new pair soon.

I just hope my search for a new pair goes better than last time.

8 Random Bits

2008-11-06T18:34:00.001-08:00

I got tagged by my cousin--I have never been tagged before, how have I dodged the bullet for this long?

8 Random Bits about Lady Steed

1. I am left handed.

2. I have worn glasses since the second grade. I feel bad for my children who will almost certainly have to wear glasses.

3. I have huge feet. Size 11. (Hey! It's rude to laugh at something an individual has no control over.)There are rarely any cute shoes in my size in a shoe store--if the store happens to carry size 11 at all. If you see me wearing cute shoes, chances are they are actually a size too small for me and I am in a tremendous amount of pain. I'll share a sad story about me and shoe stores with you sometime.

4. I am my mother's first born child, I was a cesarean baby. My first born child was also a cesarean baby. But not my second.

5. I love Halloween. It's my favorite holiday.

6. I am taller than my mother, but not my father.

7. I did not get my driver's license till after my first child was born and I was past the age of 25.... I am not yet 30. Driving still makes me nervous.

8. I have only been to a hair cutting establishment three times in my life. The first time didn't happen till I was 22. Paying someone to cut your hair is really expensive! I can't afford the maintenance haircuts to keep my hair short, so I am planning on growing my hair out long again. Then I can go back to getting free haircuts (really just trims) from mother, just like I have done for all of my life...except those three times.

There you go--hope that was somewhat interesting.

Wordled

2008-11-05T23:30:00.000-08:00

Costumes Worthy of Treats

2008-11-04T10:34:00.001-08:00

Watch out Batman!

Batman even protects the pumpkins.

Batman takes flight.

Perhaps the cutest turkey ever.

Mmmmmm...I can't wait till Thanksgiving. I love turkey!

Batman! What did I do?!

When Pumpkins Attack

2008-10-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

Baby Steps

2008-09-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

On August 30th the Large S took his first steps! Since then he has been trying to take more and more steps. Saturday, September 6, he took 20 steps, the most to date. But every day since he's been working on getting his steps to be more stable and take him in the direction he wants to go. At first, most of the steps were sideways--he reminded me of a crab, but now he's getting pretty good at making all the steps go in a forward direction. He's very proud of himself and loves the applause he gets when he takes a few steps.

But I must say that while I am proud of him I am also a little sad--my baby is growing up! Soon he'll be a toddler...and able to toddle away from me and straight into all kinds of trobule.

Video taken September 9th

Don’t Mess with My Hose!

2008-09-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

There I am, last Tuesday, sitting in my living room around ten or eleven a.m., chatting with my mother, when I hear a sound. I recognize this sound.

It's the sound of the pipes, water running through the pipes. Specifically, the sound I hear when I leave the front hose on to water my gardenia plant.

"That's weird," I thought, "I don't recall going out there and turning it on...why is it on? Someone else must have turned it on...wait--does that mean there's a stranger messing with my hose? EEKKK!"

I jump out of my chair and run to the front window, and indeed my hose has been turned on. By a stranger. Actually, a pair of strangers and they are now using the water to give their two dogs (pitbulls) drinks and a rinse. Huh? Do pitbulls get overheated really easily or something? What the crap! To top it off, they aren't even trying to keep all the water running out of the hose on the lawn. Oh no, it's going all over the walkway--Hello! We are in a drought, people!

I was too shocked to do anything. I was just standing in my window staring at them, jaw dropped. My mother joined me at the window and also stood in silent shock. I think they eventually noticed us, and then they turned off the hose and left. But I was still in shock.

This using-other-people's-hoses thing--is it something dog people do regularly? Has it happened to you? What should I have done?

For the record, I don't think it's right to go messing with other people's hoses. You hear me, pitbull owners? Back off!

“Miss” Nemesis No More

2008-08-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

Theric and I were lucky enough to get to attend the celebrations surrounding the Blessed Event: Miss Nemesis's marriage to GF.

Now that she is no longer a 'Miss' I guess we shall have to start referring to her as 'Mrs.' or 'Ms.' Nemesis. Hopefully she will advise us on her wishes regarding this matter. I shall refer to her now as 'the Bride'

On with the photos!

The Bride was beautiful.

And happy too--which bodes well for the future of the marriage.

Also, her dress was gorgeous! A perfect fit for the Bride.

The flowers were lovely. I personally loved the green mums.

Also, I thought the stephanotis flowers in the Bride's hair were beautiful--more unique and elegant than a veil.

Upon arriving at the reception site, just a little bit early, Jenny, the Bride's sister, grabbed me and begged me to help decorate the cake with fresh flowers.

Not too shabby considering it was done in five minutes' time.

The hors d'oeuvres were delicious. These cucumber things were Theric's favorite.

He even cut in line to get more of them. Mortifying!

The Bride was blessed with lovely parents. After knowing the Bride since our freshman year of college, I was very happy to finally get to meet her parents in person. I must say the Bride does a spot-on impression of her mother.

Here I captured the Bride's father sharing some 'brief' words. 'Brief' words about how it took his daughter so long to get married. It must have been very embarrassing for the Bride--which may have been the point.

But hey! Thanks for the great reception, Father of the Bride! You pay, you say what you want.

It was beautiful and delicious. I wish I had remembered to take some pictures of the food to share with you, but I was so hungry the food never had a chance to pose.

The whole affair came off without a hitch, as far as I could tell. Though there was that part where the Bride developed a very cute, adoring, flower-carrying, twirling, growth after emerging from the temple. But the Bride dealt with it in a very kind and loving manner.

The whole thing was a lovely affair. Bride, thank you for letting Theric and I attend.

And congratulations, you two lovebirds.

If you want to know more visit the Bride's blog.

Coast Guard Day

2008-08-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

The day before Coast Guard Day my parents had us over to celebrate Theric's day of birth. My mother cooked us a delicious meal and bought Theric a cake.

We loaded that cake up with the appropriate amount of candles, lit them up and tried not to catch anything on fire as we brought it to the table. Theric used only one blow to extinguish all the candles--very impressive.

I thought this picture was cool--look at all that smoke!

I wonder if he got his wish?

Motorama

2008-07-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

On Friday some friends of ours held their 8th annual car show. They were kind enough to invite us and we had a fun time enjoying the beautiful weather, good food, ice cream cones, playing on their huge green fields, and looking at the pretty cars (the 2001 Ford concept car was my favorite).

July 14, 2000

2008-07-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Theric and Lady Steed wed

it was ‘happily ever after’

Eight years after happily ever after

it still feels like ‘happily ever after’

Happy Anniversary Theric, I love you

Hey remember that time

2008-07-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

. . . I painted The Big O's room orange?

Well between the time we decided to paint his room orange and when we actually did it, The Big O determined he wanted his room to be purple. I am not a big fan of purple so I promptly told him that I would not be painting his room purple but orange. Orange used to be his favorite color but at some point he retrenched and insisted on purple.

As a compromise, someone suggested we paint his door purple. The Big O thought this was a great idea and campaigned hard for it--I was less sure. Purple doors in an orange room?

So we painted his room and when it was finished O said he really liked it.

A year has since passed. There has been no door on the boys' room. For a year. A year! Kind of ridiculous.

But look! I did it! It's finally painted!

A purple door in an orange room!

It looks pretty good.

The Big O has been staying with Theric's parents this past week. Having the door up will be a big surprise--I'm excited to see his reaction.

Now I just have to finish up with the closet door.

Attn: Canadians

2008-07-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

You do many things well, but after tasting these 'Tastefully Canadian Macadamia Nut Chocolates', it would appear that making chocolate is not one of them. Let the Hawaiians specialize in the macadamia-nut chocolates. They do it exceptionally well; you will always be compared to them and you will always fail. Even when you put them in the shape of your beloved maple leaf and place a picture of a moose on the box this does not make your creation taste better. A better confection: maple-sugar maple leafs. Think about that for a minute.

See, doesn't that make more sense? You produce more than 80% of the world's maple syrup and about 0% of the world's macadamia nuts. Maple is your strength. Use it.

I'm looking forward to tasting and enjoying your maple-based confections.

Sincerely,

Lady Steed

ps: please contact me about any free samples
pps: please consider getting a better designer for your packaging
ppps: seriously, did you just take the bikini woman off the wrapper and glue on a moose?