We're back

from Hawaii, and this one turned one.  Get ready for your computer to buckle tonight under the girth of all the pics.

Jeff is 33

You wanted me to broadcast your age to the internet, right honey?

Jeff rang in the new year with some friends and a cake.  He'll do more ringing in Hawaii, so all in all, I'd say he's got it pretty good.

Growing up, my mom would make our cakes in the theme of our choosing.  I had about 8 piggy themed cakes, because that was my favorite animal.  We weren't allowed to be in the kitchen while she was frosting them, and while the cakes cooled she'd cover them with a dish cloth.  Even though we knew what she was doing we pretended not to.  Jeff totally botched this surprise and saw me cooking up the whole thing, made comments, asked questions, but now he knows that is verboten for next year.

I love making cakes, but unless they are really dense I don't love eating them.  The fun in a cake lies in making it pretty, because brownies and cookies are pretty much one style and their earthy tones aren't that thrilling.  I got the recipe for a lemon poppy seed cake on Pinterest and copied my friend Lauren Phelps' idea of fading shades of blue in each layer of cake.  I had a blast doing it and it turned out pretty well (toot toot my own horn!).

33 things about Jeff:

1. He is my husband, which means out of all the guys I dated or could have dated or knew, he's the one that I chose to hunker down with, and who chose me, and I'm so glad I (we) did.
2. He will always, always return the shopping cart to its little rack in the parking lot.
3. When we go to Costco and take a sample, he always says as he walks away, "Oh that's really good!  We should get some!" just so that the person working the sample table doesn't feel like they did a bad job.
4. He has a sweet tooth that could beat up your sweet tooth.
5. He's such a lawyer.  In any situation, conversation, he's always mindful of the opposing opinion, argument, what's provable, what's faulty, etc.
6. When we're watching a movie and something is totally unrealistic, he reminds us all, "Willing suspension of disbelief."
7. He is the most loyal son, brother, nephew, uncle, cousin, grandson, etc.  He is so protective and respectful.  It's so admirable.
8. He love olives.  (Dry heave)
9. Most of the time he hops out of bed to get Jude first in the morning.
10. He minored in French.
11. He majored in Political Science.
12. He's still never told me what he scored on the LSAT, and even though he'll deny this I know it's because he's bashful about how well he did.
13. He LOVED Law School and has a special place in his heart for those 3 years.
14. He has great friends and one thing I've loved about being his wifey is that they are now MY friends, too!  I love them!
15. Jude can do no wrong in his eyes.
16. He's very risk averse and is very gung ho about getting things set for retirement (even though that's like 2 million years away!).
17. He tells me all the time that my blog is his favorite thing to read :).
18. He always gives my mom a hug when he sees her.
19. He has written about 3,000 off-the-cuff songs for Jude and me that regularly get stuck in my head.
20. He loves Joni Mitchell and other actual musicians but in his car listens to a lot of rap and hip-hop (which has to be kicked to the curb when Jude is along for the ride).
21. If he hadn't been a lawyer he would have been an architect or a real estate developer.
22. He's his own worst critic.
23. He wishes he had more time to read and surf.
24. He has very specific opinions about the garden.
25. He hates dark chocolate, prefers milk, and I'm the reverse, so we're good for each other like that.
26. He kept saying, "You're so brave!" when I was in labor, which made me laugh later, I thought, "What was brave about my screaming at the absolute top of my lungs??"
27. He doesn't like bananas.
28. He picks up other languages like it ain't no thang.
29. His favorite movie is Big Fish.
30. He hates period pieces.
31. He's very private (until I spilled all this info onto my blog).
32. He needs new running shoes.
33. He is FUNNY, and I think I get to benefit from that most of all.

Happy Birthday, Jeff.  Many happy returns!

Saturday

We loved last Saturday.

Jeff's coworker recently had a baby girl, and per their Jewish custom, had a naming ceremony.  This particular one took place in San Diego.  It was something fun and out of the norm for us.  Jeff forgot his yarmulke.  :)  The Rabbi opened the outdoor ceremony by saying, "Shabat Shalom!" which was awesome because I totally knew our cue was to then give a hearty echo!  Thanks, Ben Stiller/Rabbi Schram from Keeping the Faith!  (One of those movies that wasn't a big box office hit, but was totally hilarious and adorable, in my opinion.  Now that I've remembered it I'm stashing it on the Netflix queue, because I don't think Jeff has seen it.)  The baby was tiny and sweet, the food was good, and Jude almost behaved (he started machine-gun laughing at all the quiet, solemn moments to Jeff had to scoop him up and gather some distance).

After the party we started home.  We had brought beach gear just in case we could hit the beach and it worked out.  We only had enough change for about a half hour in the parking meter, but since it was getting late in the afternoon that was fine.  Sometimes in theory excursions like the beach + baby sound difficult but in execution this trip was awesome.  Jude was happy and snuggly, the beach was beautiful, and Jeff was a hunk.  If you follow me on Instagram, a couple of these will be repeats.

We switched Jude to cow milk about a week before his birthday because I ran out of formula and didn't want to buy more.  Buying formula is the worst.  It smells bad, mixing it usually results in a dusting of formula powder on the counter, it's expensive, blech.  Jude LOVES whole milk and I am loving it for him.

I am so bringing this hat to Hawaii because my face won't have elastic skin forever and I care not for tanning.

I don't think there's ever been a time where seeing Jeff with Jude hasn't been cute.

I love his "vintage" swim outfit from cousin Sammy Lewis.

He's still a little indifferent to salt water splashes.

This is a rare sight that made me totally jealous.  

Just eat it up, Jeff.

We're so lucky to live here!!

1. Will someone explain to me why girls with long hair run with their hair down?  Lately I'm suddenly seeing all these women bounding around Ladera Ranch with their hair flouncing about their shoulders.  It's hard enough to run, period; we don't need hair billowing for added harassment!
2. We saw Man on a Ledge on Saturday night.  As my friend Matt Jensen would say, "You pay for the whole seat, but you only use the edge!"  I haven't been so in suspense in a LONG TIME. Go see it and see it now.
3. Suddenly Jude doesn't like sweet potatoes.  We're gettin all crazy and changing things up around here!

4. Photo:

This photo reveals:
- part of the new chair we got in the Office,
- the baby backpack carrier we got for our Anniversary/Valentine's Day/Jeff's bday/Jude's bday trip we are taking tooooo HAWAII in a week and a half!  We got it from a nice little family off craigslist last night, and I put Jude in it this morning to test it out.  He was laughing and squealing and patting my head.  One of my favorite things to do is hike, and hopefully with this we'll be doing plenty of that in Hawaii and other spots.
- the 4 Life magazines that I am in love with.  Jeff's grandmother kept some of her Life magazines.  They even have the little address tag that ensured their delivery to Grandpa Dick Lee in Idaho Falls!  We are lucky to have 4 in our home now.  Your top left has Louie Armstrong on the cover, and his quote is, "I never did want to be no Big Star."  Well, Louie, you are.  And Sandra Bullock named her baby after you.  Your bottom left has, "Tragedy at Kent State" -- the one Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young wrote a song about.  Sad.  It has a picture of one of the 4 dying students with others trying to help him.  Your bottom right is the Special Issue of Neil Armstrong and his adventures on the Moonsky.  And, my favorite, your Top Right, is PAUL.  Sir Paul McCartney, his beloved lost Linda, with Mary holding a cane and Stella as a wee babe.  It says, "The Case of the 'Missing' Beatle: Paul is Still With Us".  Yes he was!!  He was just in Scotland then, which I totally knew because I am a Beatles girl and I watched the Anthologies with rapt attention.  I also watched another biography where Mary interviewed him and he talked about, among other things, his time there, how he was just coming off the Beatles break-up, how he was depressed, money and royalties were being sorted out, and how Linda made him get off his bum and get to writing music again.  Thus Wings was formed (meh).  I love having these magazines in the house, they are sentimental on so many levels as reminders of history, Jeff's grandparents he loves so much, music, American achievements, and tragedy.
- me at 1:39 p.m.  No shower and no make up because there has been no run.
5) While I'm at it I'm going to show you the other corner of the Office:

See now you're going to think we're very depressing.  On 9/11 Jeff had the presence of mind to pick up some newspapers.  We had the cover of the New York Times matted and framed for Jeff's bday last year.  I promise we're happy people.  These are just things to remember, and we figured the Office was the best place for them; I wouldn't want to put them in Jude's room, and the bathroom seems disrespectful.
6) Confession: I know what happens at the end of this season of Downton.  I couldn't handle the agony of all the current and ongoing cliffhangers, so I read the episode summaries on wikipedia.  I did this with the 7th Harry Potter book too; I read the epilogue when I was about halfway through the book because there had been rumours J.K. was going to kill Harry to prevent some other dingbat author from writing a continuing (and inferior) story.  I am a total spoiler and I have come to terms with it.  I still enjoy the process just as much, but with less stress. :)
7) If you're going to Costco in the next 3 days, be prepared to gain 5 pounds!!  The week of the Superbowl they are always exploding, exPLOding I tell you, with samples.  You don't even have to wait, they are shelling them out at such speed.  And it's all glorious snacks.  My favorite.  Just be warned.

Thursday Morning

For the grandparents, mainly, but all are welcome:

I will probably never get over his little body.  Hand dimples, curls, eyelashes, his own 100% original profile, the way you can see traces of his rib cage despite his ample belly... it's just incredible to me.

Lately he makes this face while saying, "nuh nuh nuh nuh" and I worry he's copying me saying "No no no no" when he's about to a) attempt a dive bomb, b) try to climb onto the dishwasher while I load or empty it, c) sneak the iPad or my phone, d) insert [inedible/poisonous/choking hazard item] into his mouth.  Which, by the way, I am constantly cleaning the floors, and somehow he still finds stuff.  Hmph.

Enjoy your Thursday.

2 Years

Break out the bubbly, for 'twas 2 years ago that Jeff married me, and I married Jeff.

Many song lyrics come to mind today....

You mean to me what I mean to you

Even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with you honey,

I love you, and you alone were meant for me

Loooooove is a many splendored thing

Who ya gonna call?

You're my sunshine after the rain

Love you forever and forever, love you with all my heart

And, on completely serious note, I was running the other night sans baby which means I could listen to music. I don't really have a "work out playlist," so I usually just start it on a song that has a good beat, but if the song that comes after that doesn't, I'm in the zone by then and too lazy to change it.  A Case of You by Joni Mitchell came on, an example of a bad running rhythm, but I do love that song and enjoyed it.  I know this is cheesy, but tears filled my little eyes as she sang,

I remember that time you told me, you said,

 'Love is touching souls',

Surely you've touched mine cause,

Part of you pours out of me

in these lines from time to time

In all her silliness, Joni said something that was really true.  As powerful as "I love you" is, I love a lot of things and say it all the time.  I love Diet Coke.  I love Mitt Romney.  I love The Beatles.  I love Mary Cassatt paintings.  I love iceberg roses.  I love skinny jeans.  I love being skinny.  I love big baskets.  But Jeff is the only person who's touched my soul, in a very Bronte sort of way.  Disagreements and moments of exasperation may pepper some days, but who cares?  He's the one who's rooted down deep into my soul, he's a part of me more than anyone else ever could be, and I am so happy that I'll never, ever be without him.  

So to millions more, Jeff.  I love you in a big way.

Friday Night

* we are watching midnight in Paris AGAIN. It might be one of my all time favorites.
* Instagram is my new favorite thing. So much more positive than Facebook and 100% pictures of things my friends are up to. I'm staying faaaar, far away from Facebook. This is mainly because the political rants are driving me up the wall.
* Last Sunday we were sitting in church minding our own biz and Jude was standing on the bench making eyes at our friends sitting behind us, and then without warning, "Bleeeeereccchhchhxjchchjxhh". Jude regurgitated more than I ever knew he could fit into his tummy. Poor baby, poor callisters who also got barfed on, poor church pew. Then Jeff and I got the stomach flu Monday. I cannot even begin to say how worthless I am when I have the stomach flu. It turns me into a depressed banshee. It was actually sort of sweet in the end, though, the 3 of us flopped on the couch, and floor, guzzling Gatorade, Jude took extra naps snuggled with his dad, when he was up we let him play with my phone to keep him happy while we were heaving, and when we felt better we had French toast and watched the debate. Jeff gets a high 5 and a pat on the bum for reminding me about life's blessings while I was wishing I were dead on the bathroom floor :).
* anyway tonight we rented a carpet cleaner and shampooed the pew at the church so that the fine folk sitting on it in church Sunday don't have to wonder what that smell is....
And we had a grand old time so we shampooed our carpet at home. Don't be jealous, your time will come to shampoo your Friday night away.
* happy anniversary to us on Monday!

11 Months: Baby No More

Suddenly, Jude is a big tease.

His mannerisms seem so much older to me.

He has discovered he can scream, and screams for joy allllll day long.

It still makes me laugh, but I try not to egg him on.

He has some serious zeal for life.

He crawls around at break-neck speeds, blowing rasperries as he goes, mumbling his baby talk, growling,

and of course his famous machine-gun laugh.

Jude learned how to wave and now will perform his trick whenever he fancies.

Door stops are still his fave.

Along with food.

He was eating the same amounts of food for so many months, now that is just not going to do it.

He is throwing back a lot more of everything.

This makes me excited to switch to cow's milk in T-30 days!

I sneak in a bit here and there to make sure he's fine with the transition.

We are wearing regular shirts and pants whenever possible, because it's hard enough to change a diaper; getting him to hold still to snap him up afterward is like asking him to take the Louisiana Bar!

We are also done with bibs (he rips them right off; tied or velcro).

He's drooling a bit less, though, so that's nice. (Emphasis on "a bit".)

Jude loves his sippies, thank heavens!  I thought he'd never let go of the baba!

He wants to dive-bomb off the bed.

He puts his binky into Jeff's mouth and laughs his head off.

I'm starting to get a whiff of tantrums.

He loves BALLS.

He throws and then chases them around the house all day.

Must come from his Uncle Cameron :).

"Mamamama"

"Dadadadada"

"Nananana"

"Bababababa"

He has so much love to give.

We can't imagine life without him.

We are so grateful.

Nap Time

Which means I'm showered, wearing normal clothes, and blogging doesn't sound like a chore right now, so here am I!

We're in a good groove right now, I think.  We're just doing the day-to-day, which means jogging, gym and jogging for Jeff, cooking, tickling, picking up, putting down, zerberts, kissing, dumping out toys, putting them away, chasing rolling balls around the house, ba-bas, mushy food, reading, walks, yoga with friends, running errands, podcasts, Parks and Recreation on Hulu, among other things.

Some thoughts:

- We're about to hit our stretch of Anniversary, Jeff's bday a week later, and then 2 weeks after that, Jude's birthday (!) AND Valentine's Day, which all adds up to very fun, but expensive, and some planning is in order.  That has been on my noggin.

- I've organized a bunch of out-grown baby clothes and a few kitchen drawers (is it bad if you had 3 "junk drawers"???), and realized we have several categories of "things" that I want a separate place for, but it's a small amount or small items.  They don't need a whole drawer or shelf.  I think one of THESE in our future:

- We've cut out treats Monday to Saturday like we did in good old 2009 when we were boyfriend/girlfriend, full of sass and motivation.  By Saturday I'm near tears but I can't deny it feels good, and is helping us tighten the belts.

- Oop I hear Jude rattling his crib bars. Bye.

Downton Returns

The world has been invited to dine at Downton, and I feel a little like this:

I wish wish wish all my female family compatriots could be here to watch it with me.  Alas, they are not.  And I can't ask them to wait until such a time.  Jeff is out of the mix because he worked a brilliant strategy a few years ago when it came to period pieces.  After asking (negotiating?) for weeks that he watch P&P with me, he acquiesced but then proceeded to, throughout the entire thing, make snide, mocking comments and groan like he was passing kidney stones.  He accomplished what he set out to: ensure that I would never want him to watch a period piece with him ever again.

I'm also a little nervous.  I saw the trailer for Season 2 and got teary-eyed; I love these characters so much!   Lord Grantham when he keeps Bates on because it "just wasn't right" to let him go, Lady Grantham and her perfect, selfish wit, "What about MY pride?  Is it to be sacrificed on the alter of Mosley's ambition??"  What if it doesn't live up to the first season?  They also have signed on for a third season; what if it goes downhill as they grapple for ways to extend the plot lines to make more cash?  I have a way of idealizing shows, actors, etc. and then later when I revisit it or the show continues, I'm disappointed.  (Grey's Anatomy and Felicity, I'm talkin to you, you unbearable shows that started out awesome!)

Ah well, I shall watch it by my lonesome and text commentary to those I love when necessary.  And, "in situations such as this, one can normally find an Italian who isn't too picky."

Christmas Day Pictures

Elizabeth has really learned more than a thing or two about photography.  We took family pictures on Christmas day, and I'm so glad.  The Eatons have never been diligent about family pictures, or Christmas cards, but Elizabeth and I are, and it was a huge sigh of relief to get this crossed off.  

The big Eaton pics are still being edited, but here are some of ours, the Hayes Chapter:

And here are some more, just for fun:

Christmas Travels and their Ability to Test the Limits of Sanity

On the 26th me and my boys got in the car with presents and plans to extend the merriment in Utah.  

This was tweaked by the gridlock that began somewhere on the 91, the most odious of all freeways ever created by man, and lasted until somewhere past Vegas.  For about 40 minutes of that Jude was screaming and we wondered if we would have ulcers if we didn't turn around and go home.  We didn't, and Jude chilled out after not too long.  

BUT:

It took us 9 hours to get to Las Vegas, people.  9 HOURS!  

We did stop in Barstow to get some food and opted against Chipotle or In-n-Out, thinking they'd be more crowded because they are more delicious.  They were, but that doesn't mean Panda Express, our final selection, wasn't also absolutely stuffed with weary, sweaty travelers.  Also, no changing table in the bathroom.  After standing in line for 30 minutes we snarfed every inch of that food in our frustration.  My cousin Becca would call that F.K.B. (Fat Kid Behavior).  

Anyway, once we got past Vegas it opened up a bit so we kept going.  When we were getting closer to St. George my eyelids were heavy so we stopped.  We were going to stop at Motel 6 but I didn't want Herpes so we chose The Days Inn.  

At that point, about 1:30a.m., Jude had been sleeping for about 7 hours, woke up when we were getting into our room, and wanted to party.  Delirium.  Wriggly baby.  We ended up letting him sleep with us that night, which had never happened before, not once.  (This co-sleeping continued on our trip because guess what: infants, past a certain young age, do not like sleeping in unfamiliar places.  Which is why, young couples out there who think they can save their European adventures for later because they can take their babies on every vacation and it'll be just minimal extra work: it's not that all the other parents are wimps, it's just that traveling turns babies into monsters.)

I didn't sleep well that night; I kept worrying I'd roll over on my Jude.  I woke up at 5a.m. and tried to convince Jeff we should just hit the road, that I was awake enough.  He thought that was hilarious.  We left at 7. 

Jude found the candy.  He didn't penetrate the ziplock.

We made it to Bountiful by lunch time and it was all worth it.

More to come, but for now, 

The End.

Christmas Eve 2011

I feel like it's any year between 1987 and 1999 because I can't sleep on Christmas Eve!  

I'm also winding down from one of the best Christmas Eves I've ever had in my life.  For the first time in 4 years, my entire immediate family is here, brood and spouses in tow.  Because of bedtimes and hopes of simplification we didn't do some of the traditional things (outings) that would seem absolutely, 100% necessary to effectuate the proper Christmas glow, but I didn't even care and it didn't take away from anything.  We had a lovely time just hanging out and keeping the marauding babies from injuring themselves.  Not too much sugar, not too much noise (or maybe it was all the same but I was just more emotionally and mentally prepared for the havoc), it was all just perfect, which is, I know, a bold word choice.  We had dinner, a little Family Talent Show (small interruption from Ian's meltdown), back to our house for dessert, the kids playing really well together, bedtime for all babies (the Jexies are staying at our house), and then the adults got to sit around talking and laughing, mostly uninterrupted.  I suppose that's all I really wanted, and it came off without a hitch!

This being my first Christmas as a mother, I would have sung a favorite song at the Family Talent Show, but I really don't think I could have gotten through a verse (no, it was not going to be Breath of Heaven or Mary Did You Know?).  When is this all going to ease off on my emotions?  It feels like ever since February 14 I have lived on a crumbly, narrow strip of composure where weeping borders on either side.  Why don't we throw all that goes along with Christian belief at this time of year?  That will really work wonders for me.

Mimi love 

Launching water balloons at the Elementary School, because Christmas is not Christmas without a dollop of hooligan. Do you see Harry out in the distance?  He got pegged in the shoulder.

Jude and Ian being rugrats, comrades, pals.  It turns out the both love climbing on things they shouldn't, eating things they shouldn't, whacking things they should and/or shouldn't, but only Jude finds it necessary to grab hair.

Thees ees thee life.

Dad issuing command re: food.  That little pixie doodle on his lap was the #1 sweetheart and snuggler of the day.  I cannot even tell you.

Guess what: Jeff has an ear infection, a sinus infection, but was still as sweet and Christmassy as can be, and my favorite partygoer. 

Some Christmas bagpipe -- duh.

Tasting dirt for the first time.  No qualms.

Nice, Harry. :)

Until tomorrow!  Merry Christmas!