The Perils of Overreacting

The week before Christmas, I got into a minor car accident-- with myself. Oh why can't we go back and undo our dumb mistakes?!

While I was pulling out of a parking spot after visiting a friend, I thought to myself, "I think there's a pole back there." So I looked in my rear-view mirror, but I didn't see anything. Two seconds later I hit it. 

Now this is where I made the big mistake: I completely overreacted. I think I was in shock because I had just thought I hadn't seen anything. So, at this point my body took over my mind in full-out "fight or flight" mode, which for me meant flight.

I didn't think about doing any of this-- it just happened before I could even think: I immediately put the car in drive and pulled forward, but did so MUCH too fast and without any conscious thought. So... we hit another pole in the front. I screamed and put the car in reverse and then came to a stop. I took a few deep breaths, and Isaac said, "Sorry, Mama." Sweet boy. He is still rear facing, so he saw the first hit, but not the second, which was much more severe.  

I got out of the car and first looked at the back. This is where I got a big surprise. There was virtually no damage to the back of the car--only a little bit of paint scratched off. That means if I had just put on the brakes after we hit the pole and had done nothing else, we would have been totally fine. 

BUT because I overreacted, there was serious damage to the front of my car. The right headlight and the whole bumper were destroyed. And it cost us $1400 to repair! Bah!!! I think even when I reversed after hitting the second pole some damage might have been done. 

The blessing in this is that two repairmen from the complex immediately came to my aid. I burst into tears, and they were really worried about me-- a hysterical pregnant woman with a toddler in the back seat. They asked if I would like them to remove my bumper so I could drive home. I told them I needed to think about it. So, after calling Brent and weighing options, we decided to have them do it. They brought out their tools and zip ties, and patched my car together so I could drive home. 

Later in the day, Brent picked up my bumper so I could take it to the body shop. The bumper itself wasn't salvageable, but parts of it were, so it was good we brought it in. 

The reason I share this super embarrassing story is so that you can learn from my stupid mistake. When you hit something, JUST STOP. If it's safe, get out of the car to assess the situation before you do anything else!!! 

The big life lesson for me was that sometimes our reactions to things cause way bigger problems than the actual problem! Unfortunately, this seems to be a pattern in my life . . . When will I learn? 

Here's hoping I can keep this car in once piece from now on!

Christmas 2013

We stayed in Houston this Christmas, and although we were separated from most of our family, we had a really wonderful holiday.



We spent Christmas Eve morning walking at the arboretum, and Isaac was in heaven finding and carrying around sticks.

In the afternoon, we made snickerdoodles together, and I let Isaac help "roll" the dough. You can see his "ball" on the pan in the second picture. Ha ha. Good try, Isaac. 

And then for Christmas Eve, we had 4 other couples over for dinner-- with 2 more toddlers, so 13 people in all. Our apartment was a little cozy, but the food was AMAZING, and I love that I didn't have to cook all of it. And it was so fun to share the evening with friends. Plus, who could be cuter than this Joseph and Mary? 

Here's what our living room looked like after Santa came. There really is something that feels magical about the anticipation of giving and receiving gifts. Most of these gifts were sent from family and friends across the country. 

And here is Isaac on Christmas morning with his favorite present: packing peanuts! 

We didn't talk about Santa this year, but Isaac-- with his birthday in December-- was very familiar with opening presents, so we had such a fun morning. Isaac opened everyone's presents, which was fine with us. Then we had Emily and Andrew over for a nice brunch and hung out with them for the morning in our pjs. Really, it couldn't have been better. 

I just love the music, lights, and feelings of Christmas. It was such a wonderful month. Brent took me to see Handel's Messiah performed by the Houston Symphony, I went to another local concert that was amazing, we went to the temple, to a movie, to the zoo. So much good-quality family time. Both Brent and I are tempted to say we may never travel for Christmas again. :-) (Don't worry, Mom and Okaasan, I'm sure that's not completely true.)

And here is a picture of my favorite house in the neighborhood next to us. This doesn't do the real thing justice. Just look at that tree by the front door! Talk about a lot of lights! 

And thank you to all of you who sent us beautiful Christmas and New Years cards. It was so fun to see your cute families and read about your adventures. With this baby coming, I thought it would make more sense to hold off on sending something to friends. But please know that we appreciate your friendship so much and hope you had a wonderful Christmas! 

Isaac's 2nd Birthday Party

For Isaac's 2nd birthday, did a combined party with Isaac's friend who is just 8 days younger (and about 8 lbs bigger). The plan was to tour the fire station and have lunch at the park. But the day of, the weather was like this:

          

It poured buckets as we drove to the fire station! Luckily, I was able to reserve a room in the church and we quickly set up beforehand. And everything worked out wonderfully . . . except for the fact that Isaac was nervous, wouldn't climb on any of the trucks, and tried to leave the party the whole time. I guess the "It's My Party . . . " song fits well here. 

          

         

At least Dad got some time in the driver's seat:

             

And thankfully was the one to chase after Isaac: 

         

             

             

             

Overall, it was a great success! And my friend, Suzanne, got better pictures than I did, so once I get them from her, I will update this post. 

Motherhood Gratitude List

Earlier this year, I started a Learning Circle through Power of Moms, the website that I’m a volunteer editor for. November’s theme was Valuing Motherhood, and our assignment was to answer this question:

What are you most grateful for about being a mother? What has motherhood taught you

or helped you to gain? Make a list of the “top 10” things you're grateful for as a mother at

this point in your life and be ready to share a few things from your list at our next meeting.

So here is my Top 10 List (after being a mom for just under 2 years):

1. I’m grateful for the deep sense of purpose and identity that motherhood has given me. No matter what, I will always be Isaac’s mother. Because of his needs, I have daily purpose. But ultimately, because I helped create his body and am responsible for his care and nurturing on this earth, I have eternal purpose as well. I feel great peace because of this sense of meaning and direction I have in my life.

2. I’m grateful for the opportunity to witness the miracle of human development so closely. I studied child and adolescent development in college, but it never mattered or amazed me like Isaac’s development and progress does. It is truly a pleasure to be a part of it.

3. I’m grateful for the unity and shared love that becoming parents has brought to my marriage. Isaac and Baby #2 are our greatest projects, our greatest hobbies, and no one loves them like we do.

4. I’m grateful for how indescribably beautiful, wonderful, and delicious your own baby is. And I’m grateful that in those baby months I was able to enjoy endless kisses.

5. I’m grateful for the laughter, smiles, and tickle flights Isaac brings into my life. My sense of humor is one of my weaker attributes, but Isaac helps bring it out of me.

6. I’m grateful for the opportunity to, in a small way, taste the love God has for me. The love a parent has for a child is different than any other type of love.

7. I’m grateful for the freedom and fun that comes with motherhood. The reality is that while my husband is in an office at a laptop all day, I sit outside while Isaac plays, occasionally go on fun outings, and have time to work on whatever I want to during nap time (at least until this baby comes . . . ).

8. I’m grateful for the opportunity to teach. I’ve always loved teaching, and now that I’m a mother, teaching is a natural part of my life.

9. I usually don’t feel grateful for the way motherhood challenges and stretches me, but I know in future years, I will be grateful for the creativity, patience, understanding, and coping techniques I will have developed as a result of motherhood.

10. I’m grateful for the love I receive as a mom. Although Isaac can’t express much yet, he shows his love for me in his eagerness to see me and share with me his discoveries, in his need for me when he is distressed, and by his desire to play with me and read with me. In the hectic moments, it’s hard to feel this love, but the overall base level of love in my life has definitely increased with motherhood.

Children's Museum

Houston has a fantastic children's museum, and we went with some good friends in October. Isaac loved shopping for food, pretending to be a Vet at the Pet Hospital, and painting. He still watches the video of himself painting over and over again. It's so fun to go places with him now. He's my little bud.

Time Flies When You Are Feeling Good

We have been having fun in UT, enjoying the holidays here in Houston, and soaking up the gorgeous weather (even if it's "cold" for Houston, it's still gorgeous to me) while we can.

I have uploaded quite a few pictures, so overdue posts are coming . . .

Halloween

Even though Halloween is tomorrow, we feel like it has already passed because we've dressed up, had the party, and even gone trick or treating (trick or trunk). And here are some pictures to show how we celebrated: 

We skipped the pumpkin patch this year and opted for the more local Trader Joe's.

The pumpkins were cheap! Too bad we realized that one was already rotting when we got home...

Isaac with all his friends at Calvin's birthday party

Isaac and his two girl friends at our church Halloween party

Isaac the Builder and the Monson Construction crew.
Baby construction project to be completed in 2014. 

Brent does not normally look so delirious...but we were all pretty tired that night. 

Isaac "cooking" with the pumpkin pulp

There was a pumpkin growing in our pumpkin!! It was so weird.
Neither of us had ever seen sprouts growing inside a pumpkin before. Anyone else seen that? 

The master carver. Brent kind of sketched it out, but did a lot free-handed.
Most of the permanent marker you can see on there is Isaac's scribbling.  

The final product. I was super impressed because I had doubts during the carving. . . :-)
I should know better than to ever doubt Brent's artistic skills though! 

Isaac loved it!

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but it is way more fun with a kid! If Isaac's allergies continue into next year though, I don't think we'll be trick or treating again. He literally cannot eat ANY candy. I brought fruit leathers as a substitute, but he was not happy about that. How he knows what candy is, I have no idea. But we had quite a tantrum on our hands that led to me giving in and giving him a tiny Twizzler. (His allergy to corn is not life-threatening.) Anyway, I think we'll avoid that part of the Halloween tradition for as long as possible. . . 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

Isaac 21-Month Update

My Justin Bieber Baby at 18 months

There is so much about Isaac at this age that I want to capture in a bottle forever. Brent and I have loved being his parents. He is just so adorable and fun-- and this age especially has revealed a lot of his personality and sense of humor.

He is a good talker, I would say, particularly for a boy his age. I have no idea what his vocabulary is at right now, but he definitely knows more than 100 words. He is comfortable with 2-3 word phrases and is very good at making a wide range of consonant combinations. Some examples are "I got it!", "I see you!", "I fall," "More ______," "Dada work?", "Apple Juice," and "See Bandit?" (when we are doing FaceTime with my parents).

And some of the words he uses all the time are, "See?" (meaning pick me up, I want to see that), "Hold" (pick me up and hold me), "Side!" (Outside or I want to go outside.), "Hun-gy" (hungry), "Dump" (this could mean I'm about to dump my food on the floor or he will also say it while playing quite a bit), and "car", "truck", and "firetruck" are up there with the words that he says most often every day. 

Also, just yesterday, he was "flying" around the house pretending to be an airplane and kept saying, "Crash landing!" and would fall down. There is usually a pause between his words though, so it sounded like " Crash . . . land-ing!" I had no idea he knew how to say that. It was so cute! 

Isaac loves his gummy vitamins and asks for them every day. We have been giving him Calcium gummies for a while to supplement his diary-free diet, but recently I started giving him multi-vitamin gummies as well. When I first introduced the Calcium gummies, I gave them to him right after his nap with his snack. When he woke up from his nap, I would say, "Do you want your snack?" And so, he thought the vitamins were called "snack"-- because I guess he looked forward to them much more than his crackers or fruit.  

So every day he yells, " 'NACK?! 'NACK?!" until I respond and ask him if he would like his vitamin. But recently, when we started giving him the new vitamins, on his own, he noticed the different colored bottles of the two types of vitamins (blue and red). Now he says, "BUE 'NACK?! BUE 'NACK?!" And after he's had that, he says, "RED 'NACK?!" Haha! He is so funny! 

He has also started singing the ABCs --- or trying to. His different versions include, "A, B, double-awch, E." and "A, B, C, Double-P, Double-P, Double-P" He really likes doubling his letters. LOL

And he has a word he made up: dungle-pop. We think it might be a mutation of Jungle Book. But in any case, he uses it in place of something he doesn't know the name of. The other day an apartment manager knocked on the door, and when she walked away, he said loudly, "Bye, Dungle-pop!" Lol. I have to admit, felt just a tad embarrassed. And when Brent was playing a new game with him, swinging him in the air, he said, "More dungle-pop!" until Brent told him he could say, "More swing." Then, he started saying, "More swing."

Isaac is extremely observant. He will sit and look at each page of a book for a long time. And he notices small details in the pictures of his books that I have never noticed-- even after reading them to him dozens of times. He also has sharp ears-- especially for trucks, planes, and helicopters. If he hears and airplane fly over our house (we're not close to any airport, so they are not loud at all), he will stop what he's doing and look at the ceiling with a surprised face and say, "airplane?" 

He also has ears for the garbage truck. I now know our pickup schedule-- every Mon, Wed, and Friday morning. And we are at the bedroom window as soon as we hear it coming. When he first started watching it about three months ago, he would cry as it drove away, but now he's used to the idea that it will leave and come back again soon. :-)

One of his favorite activities is playing with clean laundry that is often piled on top of the armchair in my bedroom. He will seriously play independently for up to 45 minutes dragging laundry around. It's weird, but I don't mind at all. He also loves to play with random objects which he uses as tools to bang on walls or try to "fix" things. These objects include an old blush brush that I set aside for him to use, un-sharpened pencils, paint brushes, and really anything that is like a stick. He also loves playing with my OXO salad spinner and, of course, my iPhone, if he can get his hands on it. (I don't have any games on it for him, but he just likes to put in wrong passwords until my phone is disabled for 15 minutes.)

As far as conventional toys go, he likes his dump truck and firetruck the best. He also likes a small beanie baby teddy bear and his Teddy which he takes to bed at night. The rest of his toys-- duplos, train set, etc.-- he mostly likes to just dump on the ground and then that is the end of it. He will build towers for about 5-10 minutes, but nothing lasting yet. He much prefers for you to build something for him to destroy. Because of this we sing (to the tune of Bob the Builder), "Isaac the Destroyer! He can wreck it! Isaac the Destroyer! Yes, he can!" 

Here are some pictures of this cute kid over the last few months: 

With more of the Bieber look going on . . . (18 months)

Playing with Sydney --who he called "See-see" until just recently (20 months old)

Watching the gardeners: his favorite Monday morning activity (20 months)

Ready for Church! This boy loves Nursery! (20 months)

California Visit

In August, Isaac and I flew to Los Angeles to visit my family. My parents had not seen Isaac since December, and I was sick and tired and wanted my Mama.

The flight there was smooth sailing:

                                   

Since we last were there, Bryan had grown a ton. Isaac loved watching him and following him around. He also loved Bandit, our family dog, who does not like kids. We kept them separated as much as possible.

Our trip wasn't much of a sight-seeing vacation. We really didn't do anything except for the most important things: spending time with family and visiting with a few friends. I mostly rested as much as I could and was so grateful to have help taking care of Isaac.

Isaac played outside every day, swam, ate popsicles, watered the plants, developed a love for the movie the Jungle Book, and got to know his grandparents really well. I read books 1-5 of The Work and the Glory series-- probably over 1,000 pages of text. So that gives you and idea of what I did: stayed in bed.

While we were there we were also able to attend my Great-Aunt Darlene's funeral service. I'm sure it was really nice. Unfortunately, Isaac didn't behave well enough for me to see it. Below you will see a picture of him playing on an altar outside the church where the memorial was held. That's where we were.

Here are the pictures from our trip.

Isaac and Uncle Bry
**When I sent this picture to my sister Marie, who is serving a mission, she wrote back, "WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??!!!!"  Yep, they've changed a lot. 

                          

On the way to the funeral 

                               

At the funeral

                               

Reading with "Papa" 

Helping Bry wash the cars

Watching Jungle Book... I just love that face!! 

                                  

Watching Jungle Book Again ...  and I love this face too. :-)                   

More time with the hose

                              

Swimming! In a pool that was cool and refreshing! 

                     

                     

I also have to share this fun comparison. This is a picture of my brother Bryan and then of Isaac--both at 21 months old in the same pool. I think they look so much alike! 

                               

And my mom caught this gem of a picture right before we got in the car to leave for the airport. Isaac's two favorite things: his teddy and his doggie.

                           

The flight home was less than stellar. Isaac sat--more like wrestled--on my lap the whole 3 hours and 20 minutes. I barely survived. Luckily the guy sitting next to us was tolerant. 

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a wonderful trip! And thank you Brent for keeping up the home-front while we were gone.