The thin line between Bored and Busy

THANK YOU for all the baby name suggestions, first of all. Holy cow - I'm feeling even more overwhelmed now! I still think I'll sit on any ideas for another 2 months until it's REALLY crunch time, so as not to stress myself out. Seriously, such fun things in life shouldn't cause so much anxiety at the same time!


I think I've always been a homebody. Growing up, I liked to be home. Even if I was just reading or doing nothing in my room, I like the comfort of being at home. I'm the same way now; even after a fun vacation, I love the idea of getting home, no matter where "home" might be that year. :) Spencer's mom claims he was the same way (and they were surprised he wanted to get far away after BYU graduation; this is clearly not the Spencer I know). Emma came along...Miss Adventure. She liked to be gone and be busy, which is hard with just one child and not a lot of money or friends. When she was little (2 years old and younger), we would go "out" two or maybe three days a week. Grocery stores were adventurous enough for her then, luckily. And adventurous enough for me too, with a toddler and a grumpy baby in tow.

When Tyler got a little bigger, I was the one wanting to be out and about, just to pass the time. But now he is a homebody. We go to the park and after 20 minutes he asks to go home. We go to the beach and he asks to go home....and all the while, Emma always wants to stay longer. He likes to be here, where he is comfortable and everything is familiar. I can't really blame him. But then that often crosses the fine line into boredom (for me). It's hard to find that happy medium. I'm trying to cram things in before school starts for Emma and then things get a lot more crazy, when I know I'll be wanting to stay home a lot more than I do now.

I guess it's a compromise, just like everything else.

Suggestions

I guess it bugs some people that I don't have a name picked out for my baby yet. I'm ok waiting to decide until a few weeks (or days) before, when it's crunch time. Spencer doesn't really have any suggestions or opinions at the moment, so we don't talk about it.

We have this darling girl in our ward with a mental handicap. She is so sweet and so much fun to be around. In fact, she plans everyone's baby showers because she's quite the party planner. Today at the park, she asked me a few different times what I was naming the baby. "I don't know" wasn't a good enough answer, so she started suggesting names. Phoebe? No. Monica? No. Rachel? No. (Do you see a pattern here?) I asked her what her favorite TV show is. :) OK, how about Elizabeth? No. In complete frustration, she gave up on me. As much as picking a name is a big deal, I'm not as worried about it as some people think I should be.

Spencer was dead-set on Emma's name. There was no discussion. She was just Emma. Easy enough. I was dead-set on Tyler's name. No discussion (it was THE only boy's name I liked, so that made it easy).

So, how do I pick a name? I don't have a name book and really don't want to buy something I'll use once. That seems like a waste of money. I don't want to use Top 50 names lists or anything like that because I don't want my choices to only include the most popular. Emma suggests a new name every day but her latest was Katrina; after the hurricane 3 years ago, it carries a negative connotation, no? I'm also not the type to pick out a name when I see what the baby looks like (a baby looks like whatever name you want it to look like, people). I just would like a few good ideas for names to start throwing around. We are, after all, in the last trimester.

P.S. Don't tell me to look in the scriptures; I'm not that desperate.

Oh funny

So, since I'm so above blogging about potty training (ha), I'll just give some small non-disgusting/non-revealing details. I think being potty trained has increased Tyler's ability to make me laugh. Tyler's voice is hilarious to me to begin with because he says all kinds of crazy stuff, but to hear a "Hey, what's the big idea!" every few minutes, in reference to the toilet, out of a tiny person still makes me laugh every single time I hear it.

Again, without getting graphic, we had some "Poo toys" that he knew he had to "earn" by doing certain things in the potty. These prizes were The Fabulous Hudson Hornet and Ramone (from Cars). I started to lose my mind as they sat in plain view, untouched and unopened, on top of the refrigerator for almost two weeks. I think poor Tyler almost lost his mind too. He finally earned them both this weekend. And again, I laugh when I hear him asking for Doc: "Where is "Doc-cousint?"

Thirdly, we borrowed some movies from the library last week, knowing we'd be around the house a little more than usual (because of the potty thing). One of the movies was a combo of Toy Story 1 and 2 (seriously, 2 wasn't nearly as good as 1). Tyler also (only) likes the first one. I didn't watch it with him, but I know he sure liked it because all I hear all day long is "O incredibee...and beyond!" Oh, his cute voice and interpretation of what he hears. Hilarious. What a fun age. Luckily, I struck gold last week when I happened on Disney.com's online outlet and costumes were $9.99 and less (and 3 days later, they were back to full price, just in time for Halloween). So we have a Buzz Lightyear, complete with goggles and all, arriving today. Timing is everything, people. Can't wait to get that costume on him. Halloween IS only 2 months away.

Lastly, I think I'll have Emma potty-train my next child (by herself). She's been such a helper with Tyler and yesterday when Tyler achieved a big success in the bathroom (with Emma by his side), she ran in and said, "Oh my gosh, Tyler ________ in the toilet! And I was like 'What a good boy Tyler!'" No, it doesn't bother me that she's already talking like a teenager; I'm so proud that I only have to do about half the dirty work and she happily takes care of the rest.

Unrelated...I can't believe summer is almost over! Well, in the technical term it's almost over. It will still be hot/warm here until Halloween, but the fact that Emma will be in preschool really makes it seem like it's almost over. I don't know what I'll do without my super helper 3 mornings a week - I guess I'll have to be Tyler's mom all by myself.

How time flies

3 years ago I had quite the morning of anticipation. We got up and and drove to the hospital. I wasn't in labor or in any pain, but had an appointment for Tyler to be born. I think we got there at 10:00 but an emergency c-section pushed my time back so we just hung out and watched TV for a while. Spencer got into his scrubs, which he thought was pretty cool, and I was in my beautiful hospital gown. The nurse came in to put in my IV and I remember she had to try a few times because she claimed my veins kept collapsing. This was the point when I got really nervous. After plenty of time to get more scared, they wheeled me into the operating room. I remember they did the spinal and told me that I would instantly go numb and they would have to have several people there to carefully lower me down. Sure enough, it was pretty instant. After giving my body a few minutes to get good and numb, my two doctors were there, jovial and cracking lame jokes all around. Spencer wasn't allowed in until after the spinal, and once he got there, things were underway really fast. I think I started to hyperventilate.

I remember being completely surprised that I didn't feel the pain this time like I had just 18 months prior when Emma was born. I got almost giddy as I knew what they were doing, and knew what was about to come next. Sure enough, my doctor quickly pulled Tyler out and I had to be tortured for a full half hour while everyone got to look at him/hold him/ooo and ahhh over him, and I had to stay put and be put back together. Spencer finally got to hold him and brought him over so I could see. We were all so in awe of his red hair (and there was TONS of it) and his perfect looking face. It's a surreal feeling to see your child for the first time, outside of your body. I was glad I was feeling ok and was aware enough this time to take it all in. He was awake and so mellow - the last time for about a year he'd be so chill and calm. :)

We were soon wheeled to a "recovery" room and stayed there for a while. I remember the incredible itchiness I had over my whole body. I remember telling the nurse that even my eyelids were itching. Spencer made some phone calls and we enjoyed the bonding time. He was perfect so once I got to my suite, Spencer left for our house house to get his mom and Emma (I don't miss those days with just one car, by the way). What seemed like hours later - I think it actually WAS hours later - the three of them showed up, and I got to show Nana her hair-twin! I loved having Emma there to be a part of it even though I don't think she really understood what was happening. I was (and still am) so thankful for my doctors that day - I think I picked one of the best I had access to, and I essentially trusted him completely. Here's cute little Tyler a day or two old (being held by Nana).

Today at noon, Tyler turned 3. I keep thinking, What happened to my baby? I think in a way he will always be my baby - he's the one who loves to cuddle with me, be held by me, and just be with me. And now here he is, 34 pounds, still as red-headed as ever, and newly potty trained! He had a great weekend with his new bike and new presents, and all the attention in the world. He's such a sweet boy and we're so glad he's a part of our family! Happy Birthday Tyler!

Here is his cake (it took me 2 hours and I have swollen ankles so I hope he appreciates it!):

And Tyler's birthday layout.

Problem

Suddenly these otherwise disgusting, PURE SUGAR candies are my best friend. I can't get enough. I even googled "smarties," found the homepage, and noticed there is a tab for "nutrition." Are you kidding me? So they're telling me that these have some nutritional value?

Halloween is not going to be pretty this year (or, it will be VERY pretty, depending on how you look at it); that I know already.

I need to remember at nighttime, when my teeth hurt, that it probably wasn't worth it. Any other seemingly reasonable adults who like these?

Positive Thinking

I must have had some pretty positive thoughts (ha), and a certain amount of luck, because I don't know how I otherwise managed to grow a sprawling garden my very first time. As it spreads over even more of the lawn on a daily basis, I just have to laugh. It might even be growing faster than I am. There are about 100 green almost-tomatoes (and these two ripe ones - yum):

Here's a shot of about half the garden (I hate those red flowers - not my doing). I think I have pumpkins and spaghetti squash in here. Can't remember. And corn.

And a zucchini. There are two more nearly ready to be picked (I think?). Now, what do I DO with the zucchini? And please don't say zucchini bread - blech. (Please tell me I didn't just sound like a loser and got it wrong; this IS a zucchini, right?)