Sunday, March 30, 2008

A Blessing and Blessings...






I feel absolutely overwhelmed with gratitude today. Paris blessed Ryan, but we felt the most blessed.

Ryan is beautiful. Her blessing was touching. She was blessed, among other things, that at a young age she would be able to understand Heavenly Father's plan for her. I was comforted, as her mother, to hear these words. Would that everyone could have such an assurance; that we each have a specific, personalized plan and that we could UNDERSTAND it!

I'm grateful for Paris, who is a loving father and super hubby. I don't brag about him enough, and I think this will possibly embarrass him so I'll keep it short. He's a gentle man with a big heart. He loves our family, and we love him.

There was quite a turnout. We're going to assume the entire group of stake visitors was there for Ryan's blessing. (Wink, wink.)

Participating in the blessing were L to R: Don Widmann, President Doug Carter, Granddad, Daddy, Uncle Sam and Rick Teets.

Side Note: It was thrilling to have such a full room in the Sumterville Branch. Now it's up to us to fill the room with people who actually live in the boundaries. :) We're up for the challenge.

Due to the large turnout our family of 5 squeezed into 3 chairs. This gave me an opportunity to really look at the kids all lined up. It's awe-inspiring how we can have equally perfect love for three totally different personalities. Ryan either slept, admired her admirers, or reminded us that she has an opinion - quite loudly. Atticus spent the hour quietly humming the Transformers theme song and flirting with anyone who would pay attention to him. Wyatt, on the other hand could care less about the crowd. He occasionally took a break from stringing beads to gaze up at Daddy or make sure Granddad was still on the stand. (Daddy's the hero lately. I have faith that the "Mommy=chopped liver" phase will pass soon. He's a little young for a lecture about 9 months, uphill both ways.)
Our family isn't perfect, but it's perfect for me. I have been blessed.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Welcome Brett Widmann!


Congratulations to Amy and Bo Widmann, who had their sweet baby boy, Brett, yesterday.
(I stole a picture from Amanda's Blog.)
They're both healthy after a HARD labor and ineffective epidural.
For more info and pics link to Amanda and Bryan's blog to the right.
Isnt't he beautiful?

You Might Be a Redneck If...

You go to the County Fair for the quilting exhibit,
but STAY for the DEMOLITION DERBY!


I was surprised by how much fun we had at the Sumter County Fair. The art and horticulture exhibits were interesting, and the boys loved the animals. Atticus won a prize at a dart throwing booth.

Just when we thought it couldn't get any better we stumbled upon the Demolition Derby.

Drivers rig up old junkers, barricade themselves into a small, muddy area, then play bumper cars to the finish. We had a blast!

I don't know what came over me. I suppose I should blame the part of my personality that gets addicted to reality TV, but I was enchanted. I LOVE THE DEMOLITION DERBY!
We stayed for over an hour.
We met all sorts of colorful new friends,
learned all sorts of colorful new words and phrases,

were thrilled to see a fire truck rush in and extinguish a car that caught on fire,
and enjoyed being as loud and raucous as we pleased.



I made friends with a very sweet 7-year-old boy sitting in front of us. He played with Atticus, was kind to Wyatt and drew us this souvenir on the back of a flyer for an upcoming wrestling match. (No, I am not making this up.)




Ryan slept through the entire thing.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Half-Full!

After reading The Alchemist I have decided to explore how blessings sometimes appear in the form of trials. Case in point...
Tonight I was initially mortified when I discovered Atticus and Wyatt dumping full cups of filthy, country-boy bathwater onto the bathroom floor. As I sopped up the water with a clean towel I had a zen moment:

"I'm pretty sure this counts as mopping." Now I don't have to feel guilty about neglecting the floors for so long.

Maktub!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Top O' The Morning to You...

This year we got instructions from Amy Widmann (AKA Kindergarten Teacher Extraordinaire) on how to make a quality Lepruchan trap! We think ours turned out pretty well.



We didn't catch the lucky little fellow, but we did manage to lure him to our place.




He left little footprints,


played some pranks, took a potty break,


then narrowly escapeded, leaving green tic tacs as a consolation gift.
We did manage to catch his little scarf.
We are quietly optomistic that next year's trap will yield success.
(Suggestions are welcome.)

Warning: Inside Joke...

I was driving to Leesburg this morning when the song "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart came on the radio. I thought of Kathryn and starting laughing so hard (a full, rich belly laugh) I almost had to pull over. I miss my Sistahs.

So this one's dedicated to Annie Frye!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Mommy Shoutout...

After 7 weeks Mom is finally feeling well enough to go back to work. Last they finally discovered it was extreme adrenal fatigue that has caused her to be ridiculously ill since shortly before Ryan was born.

She's on a good treatment plan and starts teaching again tomorrow. Good luck Mom! Heal quickly then come meet Ryan in person! :)

Friday, March 14, 2008

Cut the Lab Apron Strings, Mama...

Recently we were at Bryan and Amanda's house, and Ryan was having tummy troubles. She was pretty pathetic. Amanda offered some gripewater, a natural colic remedy.

I looked at Ryan and all I could think was that theretofore she was still exclusively connected to me physically. Her entire body, every single atom, had been filtered through my body in utero or through nursing. I hesitated giving her the foreign gripewater molecules...Didn't want to contaminate the bond between us. I almost couldn't do it. But then I have to cut the apron strings eventually.

Isn't 4 weeks a little early for string cutting? :)


Then my mind wandered to periodic tables and biology classes past. It really is mesmerizing how a baby can grow so quickly in relation to her size exclusively from drinking breastmilk. I mean Ryan's gained about 30 percent of her birthweight in the last month. The equivalent would be my packing on 40 pounds in a month - From milk alone.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Post-Pardum Progress?

I've been awfully proud of myself because I've been eating fairly well and exercising and I'm starting to feel results. Yay, right?


Well, Wyatt came up to me today while I was nursing Ryan and became hysterically fascinated with my spare tire. He would do the Pillsbury Dough Boy thing to my belly and when his finger completely disappeared in the fat roll he would BURST out into a full belly laugh. This kept him in stitches (and me in near-tears) for at least 5 minutes.


He hasn't seemed too interested in talking, but when he does I swear he has articulation dyslexia. Up is "Pu." Down is "Now." Etc, etc.


Then yesterday I asked him where my toothbrush was and he said "Ount Know." The tone reminded me of a teenager, as if to say, "How should I know where you put your toothbrush? Am I your toothbrush's keeper?"


I can't imagine our home without our little man in a pint-sized body. He's independent and has had a grown up sense of humor since he was about 8 months old. He just cracks us up!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Dude, Where's My Carseat?

I tried to get some "sweet baby" shots of Ryan, but they all came out like bad scenes from movies.
She looks like a slacker from Dude, Where's My car?
Remember Cliffhanger? Or the Rock Climbing scene from MI2?
You talkin' to me?
Or maybe Jaba the Hut.
Better luck next time.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

You've Heard of the Naked Chef?

FoodNetwork and Oprah may have The Naked Chef, but we have THE NAKED NAPPER!

For a couple weeks we've been greeted by this sight at naptime. Paris assumes Wyatt's ready for potty-training. I'm not ready to jump on that bandwagon.

And before I get any grief I realize the consequences for posting this photo may be, but are not limited to:

a. Indictment for child pornography
b. A mortified Wyatt when he gets a little older

Totally worth it.