SANTA!!! I kissed SANTA

Yes, I have a confession to make....I am Mrs. Clause!

Richard was asked to play Santa at our ward Christmas party. Everyone raved he was the best Santa ever. And of course, after an hour and a half of kids approaching him throughout the night, he had some great stories to tell.
Hopefully, Anna is not thinking "I can't believe mom is cheating on Dad!"

Probably the only costume in the world that is made to be worn by large, strapping man like Richard...all except the boots which are black leather covers to be worn over your shoes. If you look closely, you will realize that no make-believe boot was meant to cover size 14 feet. Richard resorted to wearing black socks with the boot covers just sitting on top of his feet. Hopefully, no one was looking down!
Richard had never been a kid or baby person until we had Anna. He loved playing Santa though and after the night was over just kept saying "those kids are so stinkin' cute!" Some of the more precocious children followed him around quizzing him on the names of the reindeer, the names of the elves, who was the shortest elf and what his height was (Apparently a elf named Jake at 2 feet 7 inches tall). Luckily, Richard studied the afternoon before and had answers ready to all their questions.
The most touching moment came from an autistic boy in the ward. It took him about 15-20 minutes to come up to Santa. He kept inching ever closer, keeping watch for his parents nearby. He really wanted to talk to Santa but I could tell it was very hard for him. Richard just spoke to him softly, never pressuring him to sit on his knee, and finally, when this boy came close enough to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas, this is what he said:

"Mr. Santa Clause, my grandpa died a little while ago, and I really miss him, so when you go back to the North Pole and when you get to heaven, could you just tell him Hello for me and that I love him. I really miss my Grandpa."

Richard just told him "I will do that!"
The highlight of the evening was probably when Anna sat on Santa's lap. I don't know whether she was fooled because as soon as Richard had ahold of her, she grabbed his beard in a vice grip and wouldn't let go.

Afterword: The next day was Sunday. After Sacrament meeting one of the mothers in the ward came up to Richard and told him good-naturedly that he had apparently promised her 6-year old a baby chiuwawa.

Lets hope that next Christmas there is a repeat performance!

Parenting a different way

As a preface, let me disclose that I have read almost every well-known parenting book out there, or at least 6 of them. I have talked to friends, family members, and health care professionals. I have consulted online resources....and after months of searching, I have finally figured out the right way to parent.

It is the Lord's way!

Let me explain.

I like instructions. I like it when someone tells me what to do in an unfamiliar situation. Everything about motherhood is unfamiliar, and because I knew a little person was relying on me to take care of them, I wanted to be exceptional at it. I am good at studying, so I studied. I read. I listened to other mothers, and I practiced. Sometimes the things in the books went contrary to every instinct I had. Sometimes the parenting practices made sense. Sometimes they worked, and when they didn't work, I tried to force them to work -- assuming that I was doing something wrong (because after all, they worked in the book and they had worked for other people, so the fault had to have been mine).

Sometimes Anna would look at me like she didn't understand (at times I imagined accusation in that look as well) when I would let her cry for an hour, telling myself that it had been only two hours since she had eaten, and she wouldn't be due for a feeding until a certain time in the future, or that she needed to learn how to sleep on her own. I was following the methods because I believed in the outcome (i.e., a happy, healthy baby). However, I was failing to take into account the most important factor: Anna

Anna is unique, as are all babies. They don't weigh the same, measure the same, look the same, act the same...so I don't know why I assumed that one uniform approach to parenting would work with all babies, including my own wonderful child. The more I tried to make myself and my daughter fit the mold, the more unsatisfied we both were. There were days when my nerves were shot and I would go back to the books over and over again, looking for "the answer" to how I should handle certain situations or how Anna and I should be acting.

Then one day, I found the answer, and I found it in the scriptures!

In the Book of Mormon, in First Nephi, the Lord instructs Nephi to build a boat. In chapter 17, I read:

"...And the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the ship. Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore it was not after the manner of men."

And I realized that if anyone could instruct me as to how I should raise my daughter, it would be my Father in Heaven. He, as a perfect parent, could show me how to serve and raise my daughter...which would sometimes NOT be after the manner of men. The Lord knows me and my capabilities, and most importantly, He knows my daughter and what her needs are.

I have learned some good things from the books and the people around me, but I don't consult the books anymore (besides, they just make me feel guilty). Instead, I try to let the Holy Spirit and my daughter be my guide (with a little input from our pediatrician of course). The books had suggested that I should be feeding around every three hours and I was trying to limit her nursing periods to thirty minutes. I was also trying to move her toward not eating in the middle of the night. But Anna's weight had been steadily dropping off until at our last visit she was only in the 5th to 10th percentile for weight (yet still in the 90th percentile for height). At her 4 month appointment, the doctor suggested, and I readily agreed, that I feed her more often to help her put more weight on.

Now I feed her whenever I want (Anna has never turned down an opportunity for nursing). I feed her when she wakes up and I feed her before she goes back to sleep. And I don't have to worry about "sleeping through the night" anymore because I know that she needs more nutrition than the "average" baby. She has already visibly gained some weight, and looks so much more healthy and happy. And incredibly, she now naps better than ever. And oddly enough, I have more control over when she naps. And she still goes to sleep on her own both for naps and at night because she is always awake when I put her in her crib. She and I are both so much happier!! She almost never cries anymore. She really was hungry!!

I wish I had trusted myself more. I wish I had consulted the Lord more than I did the books, and I wish I had really just considered what my daughter's unique needs were.

Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving weekend was a success...as long as you were a BYU fan that is.

This was my first Thanksgiving as a host. Richard's mom came up from Colorado to spend the day with us. I am always a little intimidated by her...she is a very good mom and I can't think of anyone who has sacrificed more for her kids, so my mom insecurities always flare up a little around her. I find myself whispering to Anna "please don't cry...we want Grandma to think I am good at this!"

Nonetheless, I have much to be grateful for this holiday:

I am grateful first for life and love and happiness. I know we all go through heartaches, but it makes the happy times that much sweeter and deserved. Sunlight and seasons remind me that after each storm comes a spring and a renewing. I am thankful for a husband who still thinks I am pretty on the days I don't shower (and they happen folks!) and who thinks all my eccentricities (and there are many of them) are merely "cute"
I am grateful for this little person. Now that I am a mom of an individual, I know that babies are not just babies, they really are people-- endowed with rights, opinions, and habits. My little girl has a personality all her own. I once called up my mom, complaining that Anna was supposed to be like me, but that instead she was willful....it took my mom a half a second to point out that I was willful too!
I am grateful for Anna's mohawk as well!
I am grateful for food. I always have been, and I always will be! I planned out our Thanksgiving menu for weeks and this was the result:
"Good Eats" Thanksgiving turkey (complete with brining the night before)
stuffing
mashed potatoes
roasted sweet potatoes
wild rice salad
braised mushrooms and peas
homemade crescent rolls (Richard made this.....HOMEMADE!!!)
pumpkin pie, and...
caramelized apple cheesecake with spiced creme anglaise and butterscotch sauce (not shown)

I am grateful that my mom instilled in me a love of left-overs, of which there are no longer any!
Richard's sister Christy got us a University of Utah onsie which we pulled out for the big game on Saturday. Richard listened to it on the computer. When the Utes were winning Richard almost had me take it off of Anna, saying that she was giving them good luck, but then BYU ended up winning anyway.
I am grateful for the AWESOME education I got at both schools. And I will remain a dual fan, my whole life!

Reasons to move to Seattle #1

As soon as we knew we were going to move to Seattle, everyone was full of advice:
get an umbrella, get galoshes, get anti-depressants, wear your raincoat to bed so you save time getting dressed in the morning....

everyone had HEARD about how wet and grey it is in Seattle (probably from watching Sleepless in Seattle one too many times), but nobody had actually lived there.

When we lived here last summer, it was beautiful, but everyone still told us that we were just enjoying a brief respite from the rain and that soon the torrential downpour would descend and along with it our hopes and dreams of ever being happy again (okay, so that was just a slight exaggeration)

my hypothesis is that the first people who moved to Seattle (probably sometime in the 1970's I think) realized how great it was in Seattle, and how gorgeous, and nice and temperate, and how good the fish is, and how beautiful the mountains and forests....and they realized that soon Seattle would be overrun by people immigrating from North Dakota and Wisconsin and they began perpetuating the myth that Seattle had horrible weather to keep people at bay....

that is my reasoned, intelligent hypothesis! But through the scientific method, and going outside, I have finally discovered the truth! Seattle is beautiful! So come and move here...please!
we found this park (one of about a million (no exaggeration)) to go to the day after Thanksgiving. The grass is still so green and most of the trees still have their leaves on (and yes, I realize that most of the trees in this picture are coniferous and never lose their leaves, but I am also referring to the deciduous ones as well!)
does your apartment lack a swimming pool? No worries, there are a thousand swimming holes throughout seattle that are open to the public....and no sharks or chlorine to worry about!
See, there is such a thing as blue skies in Seattle. And you thought they were more rare than a UFO sighting.
Can you see yourself living here too? We could sip Mai-Tais on the pier and just go up and down the Space Needle all day-- that is what everyone who lives in Seattle does

you want to come here....
you won't be happy until you come here...
the very future of your family depends upon it....

well, if you don't want to live here, at least come and visit!