Misadventures in Shopping

What you're about to see may scare you. This is not for the faint of heart. I've been complaining for some time to Daniel that I have no clothes. I went about trying to prove it to him one night and the experience left us both shocked and disturbed. Here is the pile of clothes that no longer fit me or are worthy of allowing social services to take away my child based on my appearance. It was ugly folks.


This is what is left. So pathetic and sad. (P.S. Please nominate me for TLC's "What Not To Wear.")


I was forced to realize two things about myself. One- I hoard old clothes. Don't ask me why...I do such a good job decluttering the rest of my life, but can't seem to let go of ugly shirts from high school. Two- After Marin, my body has taken on a new shape all together. I swear my waist has dropped about 3 inches. I'm not sure why that happened.

Anyway, drastic steps needed to be taken. We hopped in the car on Daniel's day off and headed to the outlets 2 hours away. We thought we'd be smart and leave during Marin's nap time, thinking she'd sleep on the way down. Ha! Yeah right. She was grumpy by the time we got there, especially after getting lost trying to find the place. However, her spirits rose after she was freed from the car and able to walk around.

We had a little success in the first store, but our luck quickly changed as soon as we left that store. What a wash the day turned out to be. You'd think finding a few shirts would be a realistic expectation after visiting 30 different stores, but were we wrong. We did have one funny experience. We went into the Oshkosh store to see if they had any kids stuff on sale and while Daniel and I were making a quick game plan, Marin had sat down, stripped off both her shoes and socks, and was already trying on flip-flops. After Daniel and I composed ourselves we had to convince an 18 month old that she needed to leave her own shoes and socks on, and that we wouldn't be trying on EVERY pair of shoes in the store. I'm not sure where our girly girl came from, but she is GIRL through and through.


A short time later we took a trip to Dairy Queen in an attempt to lighten our collective spirits. Apparently, Marin really liked the ice cream.



Daniel did too. Unfortunately, a short while later, we found out that it didn't like him back. So while Daniel took the next hour and a half to deal with his own issues, Marin decided she had retained enough water to liberate all of NC from their drought and that it was time to let the flood gates go. I kid you not... she completely wet through 4 diapers in the span of 1 hour. I had never seen anything like it. Daniel is nowhere to be seen and I am 18 miles from the car. Marin and I started hoofing it. She screamed the entire way.

By the time we got to the car, Marin had not only soaked through her last diaper, but had now soaked my shirt as well. I hadn't been able to find any shirts all day, as previously mentioned, so I walked around for the last hour of our shopping trip in a pee shirt. All in all, we didn't get much accomplished but we all made it home in one piece. My closet situation...remains the same.

Visit from Pappy

Daniel's dad came for a visit last weekend. Unfortunately for him, he spent most of his visit helping Daniel fix our broken couch. Yes people..beware! When you come and visit us we put you to work! We sure appreciated all the help though! We did take a trip to Duke Gardens on Saturday afternoon. It was pretty hot out, so it was a bit of a short adventure, but we still had a good time.





Daniel's dad bought Marin a glow stick while he was here. This is a funny video of Marin, Daniel and the glow stick. Marin had a difficult time saying "pappy" so she called him "happy" instead. It was pretty cute. She had a great time playing with him over the weekend.

Marin's Room

My mom came for a visit at the beginning of April. We were so happy to have her here for a visit. We worked on several projects during her week stay, but I must say...our great accomplishment was Marin's room. I am so happy with the way it turned out. I know I know...Pottery Barn Kids is bound to be knocking on my door any day. I still have some little decoration projects I'm working on for the room, but I'm so pleased that everything came together so well. Now, if we can keep Marin from pulling the wood fence out of the wall, we'll be set.

Marin had a lot of fun playing with Glamma Harris all week. She was pretty confused when my mom left. She kept asking where grandma went and would look for her around every corner. They played a lot of hide and seek during the week. She would get a little sad when she realized glamma wasn't there to jump out and chase her.

Thanks for all your help mom! We wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you. My mom also made some fabulous kitchen curtains that I LOVE!

Here's something Awesome!

This was made by Katie's cousin. His name is Cole and he's an extremely funny kid. As exhibited in this clip. If you watch closely, you'll also catch a shot of Cole's actual mom - Peggy, not just a paid actress.

Enjoy.


Little Timmy and the Hippie from Benjamin on Vimeo.

Happy Easter!

I can't believe its Easter time again already. It doesn't seem all that long ago we were spending the holiday in a crusty motel alone, in a new place. We are lucky to have some wonderful people around us this year to celebrate with. Our friends the Rawlings were kind enough to invite us over for Easter dinner. Great food and great company. Marin enjoyed her easter basket...probably more than anything in it. She wore it around on her head for the most of the day. However, she is now the proud owner of a Blue's Clue's movie. She loves Blue!


We had a difficult time getting her to pose for the camera in her cute Easter dress so this is about all we got.



We hope you all had a wonderful Easter holiday!

Blog Challenged

In the words of Homer Simpson..."why must I fail at everything I do?" I've sat on my rear for about the last 3 hours trying to download new templates for our blog site. Obviously nothing I did worked and we're back to the same ole' same ole' we've been using. What on earth possessed me to think that I know enough about computers to do anything fancy is beyond me. I've lost three valuable hours of my life accomplishing absolutely nothing and I'm rather frustrated. So here it is...and here it will remain. Anyone is welcome to school in the world of blogging. I could certainly use some help.

Under Construction

Please be patient as our site is undergoing some construction. We're a little slow when it comes to computers, blogs, etc. And by "we" I mean I...Katie.

Day at the Museum

Marin and I went to the children's Life and Science Museum here in Durham last week. We meet some friends from the ward there and had a great time letting the kids loose to explore the different exhibits. It was a lot of fun.


They have a new exhibit just for babies and toddlers, so needless to say we spent most of our time there letting the kids play. Marin found a small staircase just her size that I don't think she ever left the whole time we were there.


If I would let her, she'd spend her whole day playing on stairs...but we're not quite proficient enough for that yet. The museum has a huge playground outside and a small section of farm animals as well. Marin doesn't get out much and thought every animal she saw was a dog...but it was still cute.


They also have an amazing butterfly house which was a lot of fun for the kids. This butterfly landed on my friend Tami's hand.


We later found out that the butterfly's name is the Red Mormon. Tami just happened to be wearing a red shirt and is in fact a Mormon. Coincidence?! After the butterfly house the kids, including their mom's had had their fill of museum fun. There was a lot left unexplored so we'll definitely have to venture back again soon.

ABC's and 123's UPDATE

I am rescinding all previous claims. This is why.




Look who’s reading ... a tot!

ABC's and 123's

I know that I'm being ridiculous, I live 90% of my life under that assumption, but I really do think that Marin is a smart little girl. I know that every parent says that about their child, especially their first, so I try so hard not to take myself seriously. Currently I'm stuck in that 10% of non-ridiculousness and loving the sure knowledge that Marin is in fact the smartest 16 month old to ever have graced this planet. I have many examples to support this certain knowledge, but I will only bore you with a few.

1. Just the other night, some good friends of ours were kind enough to watch Marin so that KT and I could slip away for a meeting without her. When we picked her up. The husband of the couple told me how smart she is and how much she really comprehends what is going on. And she really does. you can talk to her like a normal person and she really does seem to get it. It's bizarre. You may be saying, "so what? some guy told you that she was smart." Well, I don't think that he's just some guy. He's a really smart guy himself. He's here working at Duke Hospital as an anaesthetist. Maggie, you can tell Ron that he made my week. LOL.

2. I give you this video. It's not the best example of her skills, but she sure looks cute in it.



Sorry that she didn't get to D. I'm not sure why she quit. D is actually her favorite letter. We have a Sesame street CD that has a song about the letter D. that's how I know that it's her fave.
Did you note that she's not just repeating, she actually knows what comes next. Seriously, I don't think that most kids at 16 Mo. can do this.

3. She knows an extensive amount of anatomy. When asked, if she's not playing shy, she will point to:
hair
head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, cheeks, and chin
neck
shoulders
back
belly
belly button
arms
elbows (she actually points to her wrists)
hands and fingers (she knows the difference)
legs
knees
feet and toes (also knows the difference)

4. She started at 13 months coming to us and patting her bottom while saying "inky" when she had taken a poop. Then when we acknowledged her, she would run over to the diaper bag and get a diaper and wipes and then bring them back to us.
She doesn't do this so much anymore. But sometimes we still get lucky.

These are just a few reason why I know that she's an uber genius. I'll now just sit back and wait for our call from MENSA.

Thank you, and you may now feel free to talk about how amazing it is that Marin is so smart when her father is such a moron.

Shrimp Fork

Apparently, shrimp forks solve all childhood eating problems. Mothers and future mothers...be advised!

The Problem: Marin would push away food before even trying it or would decide she needed her independence from parental feeding and wouldn't eat unless she could feed it to herself. I went on numerous silverware hunts to find something that would actually pick up food and was user friendly to children. The toddler metal forks and spoons, not only cost a ridiculous amount, they are also useless in holding food of any type. I found myself constantly trying to balance the food on them in order to get the food to her mouth.




The Solution: Shrimp forks and tea spoons. They have the same curvature and staying power as adult silverware and are small enough for Marin to manipulate. She will now eat just about everything, because of her new found independence. The extra bonus is that I can actually eat a few bits of my own dinner occasionally.

Strangely Familiar

Something about this and this reminds me of some old roommates that I once had.

What are your thoughts?

Daniel's ABC's

Sorry folks. Here’s another one of those annoying list things. Enjoy.

A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Katie
C- Cake or Pie: I cannot choose. I will not choose! It’s a tie between chocolate dump cake with peanut butter icing or peach pie with whole milk pored over the top.
D- Day of Choice: My weeks don’t have any way to track a beginning or end, so I choose any non-work day as my day of choice.
E- Essential Item: I need Heroes to make more episodes and put them on DVD fast!
F- Favorite Color: Blue, without hesitation.
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Bears, of the cinnamon variety and then covered in chocolate. The one thing that makes BYU tolerable
I- Indulgence(s): Oreo’s and milk, or a dark chocolate Snickers. Drool…
J- January or July: JULY! I love hot. I despise cold. The only reason for snow is sport, ever.
K-Kids: 1
L-Life is incomplete without: Katie and Marin
M- Marriage Date: August 18, 2004
N- Number of Siblings: 3
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples as long as they are crunchy.
P- Phobias or Fears: Heights freak me out. The crazy thing is that I dig being freaked out. I like the adrenaline. I enjoy anything that gets me to the edge of a very steep drop.
Q- Quote(s): "You must be a creator of circumstances, not a victim of circumstances” – President Robert E. Sorenson, San Francisco, California Mission President 1997-2000.
R- Reason To Smile: My little girls giggle.
S- Season: Summer. I love being outside in the sun. It even beats the smell of fall or the energy of spring.
T- Tag Six: I think that I’m the last person that I know to have been tagged and if I’m not, I don’t want to suffer that anyone else would have to feel obligated to fill this out.
U- Unknown Fact About Me: Mostly unknown… I hated pizza as a kid. I was a teenager before I learned to like it. The truth of it is that I hated anything with any red sauce. Spaghetti was the first thing with red sauce that I started liking. I still hate fresh tomatoes. I’m pretty sure that they are the reason for initially hating pizza.
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I think that I’m somewhere in between. We don’t eat a lot of red meat, mostly chicken and pork. Even then it’s still in moderation.
W- Worst Habit: “Yep” “uh huh” and “huh?” as opposed to “Yes” and “excuse me?” Also, I incessantly crack my knuckles. I lack the will power to stop.
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: X-Ray. As in X-Ray vision. I’m all about super powers. I am such a dork when it comes to comic book stuff. I so want to be Peter Petrelli when I grow up.
Y- Your Favorite Food: It changes often. Currently I love this Japanese chicken salad that Katie makes. I think that it’s my favorite for now.
Z: Zodiac: Libra

Just Thinking

To all those who think that I’m not the same person than I was only a few years ago, you are right. And I thank you for noticing. Katie and I are working very hard to build a home for ourselves that our children will be able to grow and thrive in. Most of all, we want them to feel safe in it. We want it to be a refuge from the world and all the ugliness that is out there. We don’t want to shelter our kids, but we instead we want to give them an example of what they can have if they work for it. This, by the way, has nothing to do with belongings. Frankly, we’ll probably never be able to afford to buy a new xbox, Nintendo, PSP, cell phone, car…. every time a new one comes out - we try to be responsible with our finances. On the contrary, we feel that happiness comes independent of having the latest… anything. I think that my family benefits far more when we can spend an hour at the park together than even three hours in the same room rotting in front of the TV.
I digress.
My point is this. Katie and I are in fact trying not to be the same people that we’ve always been. We believe that we can be better. We are constantly looking for ways to not only love one another, but to actually enjoy one another too. This sounds elementary, but it's kind of a new concept for me and can be a serious struggle. It really takes a lot of work. The hardest part is when you see others involved in mediocre relationships, for whatever reasons, and they seem to have given up the hope of changing for the better.
I had a friend in School that was a very good friend. We did just about everything together. We did so much together that it actually stopped me from doing other things with other people. Often was the case that my friend didn’t like those other people or those other people didn’t like my friend. I eventually realized that my “friend” was like this gigantic black hole in my life, slowly sucking me to their level of darkness. Maybe you never had one of those “friends” but we have all probably observed it at one time or another. The moral is that a true friend would/should want you to be the best you that you can be, not just the one that they’ve always known. When anyone begrudges you for wanting to reach new heights and be better people, they are surely not a true friend. I believe, for right or for wrong, that when ever this happens, you need to step beck at least a little bit from the person or persons that are fighting your attempts to better yourself. This can be so hard because you most likely feel an obligation to help your friend. In addition to the fact that your friend almost certainly is living in some state of denial with regards to their condition, they will certainly see your stepping back as a painful slap in the face of your relationship. They will also probably try to manipulate you with the blame of ruining the relationship. There is nothing that is easy about this situation at all. I think that I am a better person when I surround myself with people that actually cheer me on and wish me well. It is a dangerous place when you are surrounded with “friends” that want nothing more than the way that it always was. I want better. MY family deserves better. I have to safeguard them and keep them from the dangers of being torn down instead of built up. I have to teach them by example that they should never be in any relationship where good enough is good enough. It’s never true.
If you’ve read this letter in its entirety, you have made the list of good friends. Thanks for sitting through my brain vomit. Hope you enjoyed.

Tribute

I just completely ripped this poem off of my good friends blog. I don't think that she will mind since she ripped it off of some email that she got. We have no idea who the writer Anna is but the poem is lovely.



Prophetic Passing
I imagine he's running to Marjorie now,
Yes, running, not waving his cane.
I see him embracing his father and mother
While they keep repeating his name.

I see him now meeting his forebears,
Brother Brigham and Joseph are there.
Sweet reunion of prophets, united by service
That only such noble men share.

I see him embraced by the Savior
While Father says, 'Good and well done.
So faithful in stalwart endurance,
I welcome My noble, most excellent son.'

I then hear the ripples of laughter
As he says the reception's just fine,
But he hopes that he'll get an assignment or two
Since there's no need to waste any time.

I can hear his clear voice in the stillness
At the close of this sweet Sabbath day,
Have faith and move forward - there's work to be done.
President Hinckley would want it that way.

Anna M. Molgard January 27, 2008


I would have ended it by saying:
I can hear his clear voice in the stillness
At the close of this sweet Sabbath day,
Have faith and move forward - there's work to be done.
Please drive safe as you leave on your way.