Laborious

I just saw this tag on a blog and had to do it, even though Labor Day is waaaay past. It's never too late, right?

In honor of the upcoming Labor Day weekend, I thought I'd pull out this meme I found. It's about...well, labor. And not the kind you get a day off for, either.

How long were your labors?

Kid #1, 18 hours
Kid #2, 3 days

How did you know you were in labor?

Kid #1, the pitocin they induced me with
Kid #2, woke up with bad contractions and couldn't go back to sleep

Where did you deliver?

Cottonwood Hospital, St. Marks Hospital

Drugs?

right after the pitocin started

C-section?

unfortunately, yes

Who delivered?

I had a midwife with Marshall but because he had to be turned then delivered with forceps a doctor did it. With Coen I had a doctor in my OB's practice do an emergency c-section.

If you want to play along with this meme, just cut and paste the questions into your own blog, and leave a comment so we can find you!

Lessons from a Master

"Be careful" I said as Marshall slammed his hand through the napkin I was handing him and straight into the pile of spaghetti on his plate beyond.

"It was an accident!" he replied.

"Accidents don't happen if you're being careful" I reminded him.

Very seriously he told me, "Mom, there are no accidents. That's what Master Oogway taught me."

I was left speechless. He's right, there are no accidents, but how do you explain that to a 4 year old who has been receiving life lessons from an ancient turtle?

Jon Schmidt + Taylor Swift + Coldplay = A Winning Combination

Have I ever told you how much I love instrumental music? Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXtVBJDPs6k

(embedding isn't allowed)

i <3 jon schmidt!!!

From the Mixed-Up Shelves of Mr. Coen H. Bradley

...that's a literary reference to those of you who don't read (1 2 3 - my sentiments exactly) or know what I'm talking about. Coen is Trouble with a capital T! Blink and he's gone, turn your back and he's into something he shouldn't be, leave the room and you don't know what you'll find when you get back. He's going to be my wild, crazy, uncontrollable, hyper-active, climb on anything and everything, boy. Take a look:

Doesn't this face just say, "Yeah, I know I'm cute so what are you going to do about it?!"
You may think that this is him getting started, but no. This is going back for more after I had restacked them the first time. He was met with a firm "NO!" and then I gave him some board books for the bottom shelf that he immediately pulled off.

30 down, 20 to go

I only wish I were speaking in pounds. But no, I'm talking about books. Here's a list of what I've read so far. Can I make it my goal of 50 by December 31?

1. The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
2. Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley
3. Uglies by Scott Westerfield
4. Twelve Hours Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old by Suzy Giordano
5. Covenant Hearts by Bruce Hafen
6. Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten by David Perlmutter
7. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
8. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
9. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
10. The Five Love Languages of Children by Ross Campbell and Gary Chapman
11. Pretties by Scott Westerfield
12. Specials by Scott Westerfield
13. Extras by Scott Westerfield
14. Stop Whining,Start Living by Laura Schlessinger
15. Behind Every Good Man by John Bytheway
16. The Peacegiver by James Ferrel
17. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
18. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
19. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
20. In Praise of Stay at Home Moms by Laura Schlessinger
21. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
22. *
23.
24.
25. Count on Math by Pam Schiller
26. The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz
27.
28. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult
29. Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels
30. Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber

*Missing titles and authors have been deleted to prevent any more...discussions among my blog readers.

I've always wanted one of those babies who would fall asleep anywhere

...and now I have one. The other night after I got Marshall to bed I took Coen out to the living room to wait for his sleeping pill (more on that later) to kick in. As I was checking emails on the couch, Coen crawled over by my feet with his blanky, lay down, and proceeded to fall asleep. He's done this for John a number of times during his nighttime wakening but never for me. I think it's so cute when babies fall asleep mid-activity, anytime, anywhere. So, I went to get my camera from the kitchen and came back in to take the picture when our neighbors (cough) the Clarkes (cough) came down the stairs and woke him up. =( I moved him to his crib and took the picture anyway. As far as the sleeping pills, well...since he was 3 months old he's been waking up every. single. night from 1-4. He's wide awake and just wants to play. It doesn't matter what we do, how long he sleeps in the day, or if we let him stay in the crib for 3 hours. He's just awake. Needless to say, John and I are completely exhausted and SOOOOO sick of his nighttime antics. So I made an appointment with a pediatric sleep specialist (after getting nowhere with the 2 doctors in our ped's office). She said that it was probably enlarged adenoids and he was waking up at night because he couldn't breathe in deep REM sleep which occurs between 1-4 (for him). She suggested that it could also be the reason he's so tiny since that's also when the body grows and restores itself. She ordered an oxymeter study to check his O2 levels at night and prescribed a sleeping pill (finally!!!!) She told me not to worry, it would be safe. I wanted to say, "I don't even care at this point, just GIVE ME THE DRUGS!!!" The sleep study came back and all looked good, his oxygen was fine. Well, we took him to Josh, John's brother who is an ear, nose, throat doc. He checked his adenoids and they were fine too. But, the sleep medicine is finally working. The first night it worked, second night it didn't, and it was hit and miss the first couple weeks. But now he's getting regulated and he's finally making it through the night consistently for about a week now. Hallelujah!!! I can't even tell you how much better the world looks with better sleep at night after going so long without it. It's taken me a while to be able to fall asleep at 11 rather than 4 and I still toss and turn but we're on the right track to sleeping better. Wouldn't you know though, as soon as Coen started sleeping Marshall started having nightmares at about 4 am every night. It just never ends but at least he goes right back to sleep.

Obama's Message to Students

Just like when President Hinckley addressed the youth of our church because he cared about our futures, President Obama cares about the future of today's students. I remember sitting in the new tabernacle listening to President Hinckley, feeling if it was important enough for the Prophet to speak to just the youth than we must be pretty special. Well, that is no different than President Obama wanting to address our students, after all, they are the future of America. He talked about having to fail a number of times before we succeed and put it in terms students would understand and relate to, making examples of people like Michael Jordan and J.K. Rowling. I think if it's important enough to call a national assembly than students (and parents) should be honored that the future of our students means so much to the president that he would take his precious time to address it. Just like I felt honored to hear President Hinckley speak to me, I hope the students today felt honored and take to heart what our nation's President had to say to them.