Hair Chronicles

Remember how half of my hair fell out a year ago?

And remember how I started taking meds, got pregnant, took vitamins, and my hair started growing back in?

Like so?

And remember how I got SO SICK of the many little hairs (and the fight to do anything with them) that I vowed I would chop & donate my hair again?

And remember how I went to an appointment (that Slice made for me) 

and came out looking like this?

Well .... 

It's short and blonde again.  

I haven't started mourning for my long hair yet, but I know I will.

And I still need to figure out how to do the bangs with the glasses.

V-Day

In this house, the traditional gift-giving holidays usually go something like this:
I make a gift for Slice, it doesn't turn out like I hoped it would.
He writes me a love note and/or tells me something is coming later.  Sometimes he tells me what that "something" is, but more often he doesn't.

You can guess how we spent this Valentine's Day.

I wanted to make this for Slice but Kiana came home from the store with this. (Ouch!)
I made these cookies with salted butter and forgot to decrease the salt I put in.  (Oops.)
Slice worked late, so when he came home we had Velveeta shells & cheese for dinner.  Then he fell asleep on the living room floor at 8:30 while I watched Psych downstairs.  Then he went back out to a well at midnight. (Romantic!)

MG got her first taste of candy

Little did I know that he'd made plans for the day he got off work.  He called a boutique in Vernal to ask the employees where they got their hair done.  Then he called the salon and made an appointment for me - manicure, cut & highlights.  Then he arranged for Kylie to watch my babes overnight so we could stay in a hotel.  AND he almost kept it a secret, but at the last minute decided it would be easier if I knew what was happening.

So we went away.  I never spent the night away from Liam until I was in the hospital with MG, and I would probably have objected except that I figured it was the best possible scenario: someone who already lives with us and loves the kids (and they love her!), and I knew could handle them for the 18 hours we were gone.

It was a really nice break - mostly just weight off my mind for a few hours - but I forgot one thing.  I can't sleep in hotels.

Because I now have a scanner, and I know you want to see old pictures of me

One day when I was three years old, I woke up with my eyes crossed.  And ... they didn't uncross.  My mom took me to an eye doctor in downtown Salt Lake.

"Was she under stress at birth?" Dr. Aldous asked - one of the very first questions.
"Yes." (I was by FAR her worst delivery. Posterior, epidural gone wrong, you know.)
I was far-sighted and had amblyopia, or lazy eye.  My sisters were teasing me at home.  I got glasses.

1991

So began the routine: eye exams every six months (including dilation UGH), picking new glasses every year, and looking for them the rest of the time.  In fact, you might say my childhood was spent looking for lost glasses.  At least once I even prayed that I would find them, hoping to avoid my mother's wrath.

(It worked. God is good.)

My lazy eye was so bad that I had to wear a patch for a summer.  I got eyedrops every night - which I hated - and wore a flesh-colored sticky patch.  Kind of like a big BandAid.  Man, those hurt coming off.
But my parents promised me a new bike if I did what was asked, and I did, so I got one.

1994

One thought that never crossed their minds, I'm sure, was that I could be too faithful to the doctor's orders.  For a 5-year-old, I was quite an avid reader, and the eye that was weak got much stronger.  Too strong.

A few years later, I had to wear a patch on the other eye for another summer.  I can still remember the whispers and stares, the pointing fingers I endured that time.

As far as I know there are no pictures of me with a patch.  Sad, isn't it?

Just before sixth grade I got another pair of new glasses - and promptly lost them.  Like, that night.  My mom was so furious she told me I'd have to go without.

So I did.

A year later I got my eyes checked again; I had 20/20 vision.  My eyes had somehow fixed themselves.  

I didn't wear glasses for twelve more years.

(I was hoping it would be a LOT longer than that.)

Liam saying "truck"

It's been much more of an adjustment than I anticipated, but I've had two headache-free days after weeks and weeks of headaches, so I guess things are looking up.

Looking up?  Got it?

Coming to you from a state of well-rested-ness

I think last night was the best night's sleep I've had in over two months.
Six hours of uninterrupted dreams, and MG is still sleeping while Liam makes messes - which puts me in the rare position of being both able AND willing to blog.

Newest epiphany:

I am living a bipolar life.
Slice working, Slice not working.
Too depressed to blog, too busy to blog.
Babies screaming, babies sleeping and/or being irresistibly darling.
Feeling overwhelmed, feeling lazy.
(Actually, the last two often happen simultaneously.  When I feel like it's too much, I put on Netflix.  Liam has discovered Sesame Street; I have recently discovered Downton Abbey and Psych.)
Exhaustion, energy.
Sickened, pleased.
Headaches, sleep.


What this means, I guess, is that I only blog when I'm between a 3 and a 7 on the emotional scale.
(You've all seen that, right?)
And that doesn't happen very often.

Coming soon:  Back in Glasses

Now, I'm off to save the day!

Blessing Day

Slice gave MG a "name and a blessing" Sunday.

It was beautiful, just like my sweet girl.

She was lucky to have both grandpas, four uncles, and a great-uncle in the circle as well.

Thanks to all of you who sacrificed to be with us on her special day!

(P.S. Doesn't Slice look dashing in his new glasses?)

The Two Kids, part II

I'll start blogging for real soon.  Maybe.

from Liam's point of view

Discovered on my phone camera:

The Two Kids

MG cries much more than Liam ever did.
Not because she's colicky, or even fussy, but because she's the second child.  There are at least five times a day when I have both babies crying and I have to decide which to fix first; these days that first is usually Liam.
(Or else I have to clean up the snot that he got everywhere, because he's been sick.)
(TMI!)
It's tough being a younger sibling, you know?

Thank goodness for Netflix!  The great land of Netflix instant streaming which is ruled by fickle gods who KEEP TAKING WORD WORLD OFF.  Why do they do this??  It's the only show I don't feel guilty about sticking Liam in front of (actually, I kind of like it myself), and it's also the only show that I've noticed to be part of a double-disappearing act.  If you have any insights regarding, please share.

Today was my second time taking both kids to church by myself.  This is the WORST thing about Slice's work schedule - every other Sunday he's working while I am struggling through meetings.  And this year is especially hard, because we have Sacrament Meeting last.  Liam doesn't want to leave nursery, MG is tired and/or hungry, and I have 70 minutes to keep them both quiet.
Today I passed MG off to the bishop's wife and FORTUNATELY she slept through most of the meeting.  Liam kept me busy the entire time.  By the time the closing song came around, I had used up all my tricks, and I was trying to soothe MG because she had woken up.  Liam crawled under the bench and slowly made his way up to the stand.  The benediction-giver herded him up the steps, the bishop held him during the closing prayer, and afterward I dragged him out along with my bulky diaper bag and baby-in-the-carseat combo.

It's exhausting.

At least I have some treats, some inspired words, and a naptime to get me to 5:00.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - and Die

Here's something weird.

We recently acquired a swing for MG exactly like the one we used for baby Liam.  (That was my sister's.)
It's a great swing, 3-directional with lights and a mobile and a WALL PLUG, and four sound settings including one of nature sounds.  I love those chirping birds.

Anyway, one of the sound settings is a series of songs, which has been playing intermittently for a week now. And every time I hear one of the songs, I start thinking of The Hunger Games. Characters, impressions, specific scenes and conversations - they play and replay in my mind.  It took me a while to figure out why.

Last time I had a newborn, I read the Hunger Games series for the first time - mostly while my baby was sleeping or rocking in the swing.  The swing songs played over and over while I read of oppression, terror, violence ... and the scenes stuck in my mind are inextricably connected with the baby tunes.  Weird.

I remember hearing once, maybe in college, that you should study with Mozart (or similar music) playing in the background.  Supposedly the music helps you commit information to memory.
I didn't utilize the tip much, but now I'm thinking I should have.  There is clearly some potential to be tapped there.

Adjusting

Three weeks ago my younger sister and her friend from college moved into our downstairs bedroom.  This brings the total number of siblings I have lived with post-marriage to FIVE.
We love each other a lot, eh?
Both girls are off track from BYU-Idaho, and while I think the track system is downright crazy, I also like having Kiana home every few months.  It's fun.

Monday Slice's parents started their move to Cedar City.  It will take a few weeks (possibly months) to finalize, but once they're gone, it will be the first time that Slice has lived away from his parents, if you don't count his overseas mission.  I imagine it will take some adjusting.
For one thing, Liam is going to miss having his "Papa" around.

Tomorrow my baby MG will be six weeks old.
I feel like Slice and I are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were with Liam at this point, parenting-wise, but it's still quite an adjustment from one to two.  And just when I was getting used to Slice's work schedule, my workload doubled.
Ha!

Fortunately MG is awesome and sleeps as well as Liam did at night.  Even better, she goes to sleep on her own with a binkie in her mouth.  No rocking/walking/bouncing baby to sleep and putting her down as gently as possible, just hoping that she won't wake up. (Or we repeat the process - possibly multiple times.) Nope.
I nurse her, burp her and stick her in bed, and if it's dark in the room she'll eventually go to sleep.  Amazing!
(I know this means I will have to wean her off of it later.  It is totally worth the extra sleep I'm getting right now.)