A Bit of Honesty

In a nutshell, I am just plain tired.  The girls are unbelievably good, but I am still overwhelmed. Before I didn't understand how educated adults became addicted to methanphetamines, especially moms.   But now I see the temptation: being skinny, feeling "good", having surplus energy to get everything done, not having to sleep, etc.  The reasons I don't turn to drugs are a) we're dirt poor and can't afford it because our insurance costs so freaking much, and b) I visit teach a lady who has struggled with substance abuse for a long, long time in her life, and I do not want to go through those types of lifetime hardships. 

Balancing fatherhood.  

Yeah, Ammon has got the hang of it and makes it look like cake.  

Great Grandma Parker, India, & Maya.  

Grandma babysat the girls for me while I got my teeth cleaned.  She also did a bunch of my chores because she's not used to "just sitting around."  (My mom is the exact same way).  When I got home, Grandma told me how good the girls were and how easy it was to watch them.  I feel like a loser because she got more done in three hours than I do in a whole day and called it easy.  

Not my kids, so I can laugh.  Look how triumphant big sister looks.  Their mom was probably blogging instead of supervising coloring time.  I better go check on India . . .

1 month

Maya the binky baby.  However, she prefers her thumb when she can find it.

Crazy hair and a cute pot belly.

India & Maya

Bath Time & Child Labor

Enough said.

Not a future star of the WNBA

Among all of the frustrating moments, it is nice to have a few proud ones.  

First, a frustration.  Yesterday, we were watching one of our neighbor kids (Tristen).  He and India were playing in the other room and having way too much fun -- at least it was audibly apparent that India was having fun.  Usually, that is not an encouraging sign.  So, I went to investigate.  When I enterred the room, India had juice all over the front of her dress.  I promptly put her in time out.  When the requisite 3 minutes were expired, I had her come talk to me.  I asked her "India why were you in time out?" She replied "I don't spit at Tristen."  I had no idea the reason she was all wet was because she was spitting at her friend.  She had to go back to time out for the second time.

Last night for family home evening we had a lesson about how to treat friends.  We came to an understanding that if we want friends to contiue to be our friends that we shouldn't spit, hit, or excessively kiss them -- we've been having that problem too.

Now, a proud moment.  On Saturday afternoon I was watching basketball on tv.  India snuggled with me on the couch.  I asked her "India, what are we watching?"  She said "boys playing basketball." That was good enough for me.  A few minutes later India said "girls don't play basketball.  They're dumb. Girls play soccer.  They're good."  I almost cried I was so happy.

Boccioni, Umberto Dynamism of a Soccer Player 1913 Oil on canvas 193.2 x 201 cm Museum of Modern Art, New York

A Benediction

I listened to the presidential inauguration earlier this week.  The most impressive part of the whole swearing in ceremony was the benediction offered by Rev. Joseph E. Lowery.  Once again I am disappointed to hear the commentary surrounding his remarks.  The only thing that I have heard is negativity about the final few lines of his prayer.  I'm sad because people are so used to finding the spin -- looking to condemn.  Instead, I think we should take what he said in the spirit in which it was given. I feel he was sincere in the petitions he made.  Among the notable pleas he made, he said

"And while we have sown the seeds of greed — the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other."

I think that is something altogether missing from Washington -- asking for forgiveness and recognizing wrongdoing.  I have no problem with that.  We would all do well to recognize where we have been greedy and work to honestly correct those such instances. So many of our economic problems are solely rooted in greed.  

The section of the prayer where most people object is where he used rhyme and color to request a change. Remember, change has been a major part of Obama's platform.  He says 

"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen."

Once again, I have no objection.  I hope that I, a white man, would "embrace what is right."  I have read and heard many people cry foul saying "he is accusing white people of not doing what is right already." To that, I say he is right.  I'm willing to admit that I don't always embrace what is right.  I don't always treat people of other races as equal.  I appreciate someone praying for me.  I hope I can do better.  I've had to pray myself that I will act in the spirit of what is right and set aside my initial impulses.  I think we all should do that.  

I'm sad that people would rather argue over semantics than make much needed change.  In the end I hope we may do just what the Reverand asked and "turn to each other and not on each other." It is good to prayer for our leaders.  It is good to pray for each other. I have no problem with any of this. I think if people read the entire prayer again in the spirit in which it was given, they might not be so offended.  If they are offended perhaps they are the ones who need change and prayer the most. 

Maya Lee

I would have posted sooner, but Maya was pretty bloated and goofy looking the first week of her life. I am still bloated and goofy looking, so enjoy the pictures of my beautiful girls instead.

Maya Lee - December 26th, 2008 - 8 lbs 2oz - 20 1/2 inches long

Maya takes incredibly long naps during the day, so she can be perky and alert right before Mommy is ready to go to bed. Once she goes to sleep (around midnight or 1am), she wakes up 2 or 3 more times to eat.

You wouldn't guess from these pictures, but India was a devil woman for three days after we brought Maya home. She didn't want anything to do with her. However, she seems to have adjusted a bit and tries to be very helpful with her sister.

India finds it amusing that Ammon wears blue panties (his blue soccer shorts) and mommy now wears diapers.



It feels so good to not be pregnant anymore. We figured out another way to get admitted to the hospital early if your water doesn't break: car accidents. Although only our Toyota and wallet suffered any damage, I would rather wait it out next time.

Cheesy Grateful Post - Blame it on the Hormones

My body was awake at 5:15am the other morning. Weird, huh? So I got up and turned on the Christmas lights inside and out, watched it snow and snow and snow, drank hot chocolate, wrapped a few more presents, and enjoyed the serenity of the morning by myself. As I draw near the end of this eternity of a pregnancy, I guess I am actually grateful for a few of things.

1. Jetted bath tubs. With bubbles.


2. Naps.


3. Ammon. I timed this pregnancy perfectly to ruin Ammon's entire summer off (when I was the sickest) and hopefully also his entire winter break (if this kid ever comes). He's given hundreds of backrubs, been the sounding board for many complaints and tears, has long since conceded his half of the bed to me, and managed to maintain his usual sense of humor.


4. India. This child didn't complain when all I'd feed her was block cheese and otter pops for 4 months straight. She provided comic relief by copying me throw up as I was throwing up. Even though I've been a mean, mean mommy, she still runs to give me a hug and kiss when I come home from work.


5. Hannah. I'm lucky to have an awesome sister-in-law live so close and take such good care of me and India.


6. Rocking neighbors and friends.

3 Things I Am Looking Forward To The Most:

1. First night in hospital. I am sending baby to the nursery and requesting extra sleeping and pain medication.


2. 32 oz mug you get in the hospital. And I am NOT sharing, so back off Ammon and India.


3. Oh yeah, the baby.

PS:
I don't know if it just my computer/internet, but the baby in the widget keeps spazzing out. Kind of creepy.

Bumper Sticker of the Day

I understand that a kid has got to eat. But breastfeeding in public? How public? This isn't Europe or Africa you know. Vermont is the only state in the US that has legalized full-on nudity, but I don't think it was for breastfeeding conveniences.

I hope they at least advocate using a blanket to cover yourself. I'm still all about bottles.

To Future Potty Trainers

India, like Ammon, refuses to be micromanaged. As evident in the picture, she does things on her own terms. My advice to you future potty-trainers: don't bother. Kids will do it on their own when they're good and ready.

Miss Manners

Yesterday I was at the grocery store and had successfully tuned India out so I could find the ingredients to make Rocky Road Brownies. When I came to, India was hanging halfway out of her grocery store car pointing at kids yelling (and I mean YELLING), "You're a goofy, goofy boy!" over and over.

One Line Humdinger

When I first announced my pregnancy to my students, one of their first questions was "did you plan this or was it an accident?" I teach all boys, ages 12-18, who come from everywhere but Utah. In response to their question, I would hold up my hand with my wedding ring and tell them I'm married, which means there are no accidents when it comes to children.

Anyway, last night a few of my new students were asking questions about what I'm naming the baby, when I'm due, if I had any other children, etc. Here was my favorite part of the conversation.

New Student (in somewhat shocked tone): "You have another kid already? Are they both from the same dude?"

Me: "Yup. Same husband in fact."

I had to laugh. And seriously, thanks for sticking around to be my dude Ammon. Here is my other favorite line that happened yesterday at my 34 week check up.

Doctor (feeling my stomach): "Woah. This is going to be a BIG baby."

Me: "Big . . . as in how big?"

Doctor: "Well, if I were a betting man and you went all the way to December 27th, I'd say 8 lb something. But that's ok cause I've got one word for you: E P I D U R A L."

I couldn't agree more.

Top 100 Things I Hate About Pregnancy

Just kidding. Although I could easily list 100 reasons, I'll just stick to 10 for now.

10. Stretch marks.
9. Men telling me about their wife's extreme minimal weight gain during pregnancy. (No woman would be stupid enough to talk about gaining less than 30 lbs to another pregnant lady).
8. People telling me I look like I'm going to pop and then asking me if I'm due soon. (And those comments started last month too).
7. Bad skin due to stupid extra hormones.
6. Not being able to sleep on my stomach or with less than nineteen billion pillows holding me up on my side.
5. Co-workers rudely commenting about me wearing tight shirts. (Come on people! I'm outgrowing maternity shirts and I've got 9 more weeks to go, so cut me a break).
4. Not being able to exercise for very long because baby is damaging my siatic nerve.
3. Wicked bad heart burn.
2. Hypothetically speaking, knowing I would pass up a $100 bill on the ground because I'd have to bend over to pick it up.
1. People looking at my belly instead of my face when they talk to me.

Please don't ask me how I'm doing. I'm not a pleasant person. Just be grateful you're not living with me.

Something New

I finally have a few hours to do something I've been delaying for far too long.  I'm sitting at a debate tournament, so I didn't make a mistake when I wrote hours.  People usually write minutes, but I have hours.  The best part about debate for students is the tournament.  On the other hand, it is the worst for the coaches.  It is so boring.  Luckily, I have internet access. Usually, that is not the case.  

I have seen Erin and India awake for about 6 hours this week.  Don't get me wrong, those were quality hours, but come one. That's ridiculous.  For a change, it wasn't even my fault.  Erin worked Monday night, so we had about 30 minutes from the time she got home until I fell asleep.  I've been sick this week, so I've been going to bed early.  The rest of the week Erin spent in Centerville tending for her siblings while her parents were out of town.  Now tonight, I'm at this debate tournament.  Wonderful.  I feel a little bad for leaving tomorrow to go to a soccer game, but I already committed to it.  I'm going with the soccer team to watch the state girls soccer final.  It should be a really good game.

I'm hopefull that this type of week will soon become less frequent.  I'm done with soccer ish.  I'll begin training the boys soon, but only twice a week for an hour or two.  Not near the committment it will become in February.  Then, it'll be back to business.  For now I just have Debate tournaments on the weekend without much during the week.  

I do have something novel that I'll be trying.  I've recruited a few people I work with to start working out together after school twice a week.  For the first session, there were two of us.  We have committments for two more to join us next Tuesday.  I'm hoping that we can get a whole thing going were it will become a sociall/physically positive time shared be colleagues without mention of students. I will also start playing basketball with some guys at an elementary school once a week with some teachers and some friends of teachers.  I did that last year.  It's fun.

On the home front... 

India continues to blow me away.  She has such an awesome personality.  She's definitely her own person.  The other day I was getting her ready for bed.  I changed her diaper and put her down.  She scuttled away to play.  A few minutes later I called her into the living room and said "India go get your pajamas."  She looked right into my eyes and said in her most matter of fact confident posture "YOU get your pajamas."  I was shocked and said "ooh." She cracked up laughing and ran away. I was mad for almost a second 'til I cracked up too.  It was awesome.  She's about a foot and a half tall weighs 25 pounds and owns the house.

Another thing that she says that I love actually really bugs Erin.  Whenever Erin is frustrated by the long day of India has a perfect way of completely deligitimating all of Erin's frustration.  When India can tell that Erin is fed up she tells her "you're happy mommy." Erin will usually respond "No.  I'm mad."  India -- again in her matter of fact way -- says "No.  You're happy."  and smiles.  I love it.  I usually cheer up when she does it too me.  Of course, I don't deal with her all day.  It usually makes Erin even more frustrated.

In short I have plenty right now to keep me busy and even more to keep me satisfied with life. 

My Personality Type

After so long being dismayed by the Color Code test, I've come across another test that I'm not disenchanted by.  I don't know that much about it, so my opinion may change in the future.  Reading the discription below, I actually kind of agree -- and that scares me.  It is so rare for me to agree.  You can take the test too if you would like.  You know how it works.  Follow the link.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Your Type is  INTP

Introverted	Intuitive	Thinking	Perceiving
Strength of the preferences %
22	62	62	11

Rational Portrait of the Architect (INTP)

Architects need not be thought of as only interested in drawing blueprints for buildings or roads or bridges. They are the master designers of all kinds of theoretical systems, including school curricula, corporate strategies, and new technologies. For Architects, the world exists primarily to be analyzed, understood, explained - and re-designed. External reality in itself is unimportant, little more than raw material to be organized into structural models. What is important for Architects is that they grasp fundamental principles and natural laws, and that their designs are elegant, that is, efficient and coherent.

Architects are rare - maybe one percent of the population - and show the greatest precision in thought and speech of all the types. They tend to see distinctions and inconsistencies instantaneously, and can detect contradictions no matter when or where they were made. It is difficult for an Architect to listen to nonsense, even in a casual conversation, without pointing out the speaker's error. And in any serious discussion or debate Architects are devastating, their skill in framing arguments giving them an enormous advantage. Architects regard all discussions as a search for understanding, and believe their function is to eliminate inconsistencies, which can make communication with them an uncomfortable experience for many.

Ruthless pragmatists about ideas, and insatiably curious, Architects are driven to find the most efficient means to their ends, and they will learn in any manner and degree they can. They will listen to amateurs if their ideas are useful, and will ignore the experts if theirs are not. Authority derived from office, credential, or celebrity does not impress them. Architects are interested only in what make sense, and thus only statements that are consistent and coherent carry any weight with them.

Architects often seem difficult to know. They are inclined to be shy except with close friends, and their reserve is difficult to penetrate. Able to concentrate better than any other type, they prefer to work quietly at their computers or drafting tables, and often alone. Architects also become obsessed with analysis, and this can seem to shut others out. Once caught up in a thought process, Architects close off and persevere until they comprehend the issue in all its complexity. Architects prize intelligence, and with their grand desire to grasp the structure of the universe, they can seem arrogant and may show impatience with others who have less ability, or who are less driven.

Albert Einstein as the iconic Rational is an Architect

Dr. David Keirsey, Robert Rosen, George Soros, Gregory Peck, James Madison, Ludwig Boltzman, Charles Darwin, Adam Smith, and Thomas Jefferson" /> are examples of the Architect Rationals

"I was never a liberal until I moved to Utah." ~Ammon

And he wasn't a "pinko commie lib" until he became an English teacher. Real quotes from real people.

This was fun. I'm not guaranteeing the validity of a test from a website called okcupid, but I really enjoyed the thought-provoking questions on the quiz. Here's the link: http://www.okcupid.com/politics.

Erin's Results Social Moderate (56% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (18% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat

Ammon's Results Social Moderate (41% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (11% permissive) You are best described as a: Strong Democrat

Guess what pregnant bellies are good for?

Catching stuff. Especially contacts when you drop them. If I had had a flat tummy today, who knows how long I would have been blindly searching on my knees.

Isn't this picture amazing and somewhat disturbing? For the record, no, this is not a picture of my belly. Mine is a thousand shades whiter and more grotesque.

I Need a Personal Assistant

Our summer honey

I am completely overwhelmed now that Ammon has gone back to work full-time. I got in the bad habit of using him as a crutch while he was home during June, July, and August. Now I'm all on my own, and I've got to relearn how to juggle India, housecleaning, work, primary, and my extensive michellaneous list again. If any of you life orgazining gurus out there have any helpful advice, do tell. However, if that advice has anything to do with Stephen R. Covey or Oprah, do me a favor and just claim it as your own because Ammon will delete it.

Rare footage: India hardly ever plays with her toys on her own. She'd rather run around with friends or help me with "grown up" stuff.

Our "Things"

Thing 1 is our favorite little girl. But make room . . . today we found out that Thing 2 is also a girl!

First of all, thank you Brittany and Camille for coming to the ultrasound, taking care of India, and being super excited with me! India looked at the ultrasound pictures and told Ammon and me that it was a scary monkey monster, (which is true for one of the pictures - ugh).

Ammon was a wee bit disappointed. However,
his compromise is "Whatever we're having, I'm raising it a boy." Alright Ammon. You tried that with India, and she still fell in love with princesses and high heels. We've got no names picked out yet. Hopefully, Thing 2 will be another cute little girl and not a scary monkey monster.

Busted

Ok. I have somewhat of a confession to make. Sometimes when Erin wants me to clean, I tell her that I can't help 'cause I'm watching India. Usually this means that I want to watch TV, take a nap, or both. Usually it works. Yesterday my plan completely backfired. Oh, it started out like clockwork, but ended a disaster. I was laying down on the couch about to fall asleep. Then guess what happened? David and Susan wanted us to watch Tristan. That's ok 'cause I had my way out of helping. It was even a neighbor's kid I was watching. There was no way Erin could expect me to help. So there I was laying on the couch "watching" Tristan. Really, he was just sitting there and I was doing no work. Ok that was great until India woke up from her nap. She wanted to snuggle Daddy. That's fine, I could still fall asleep holding her with Tristan sitting beside. I got comfortable and about to fall asleep when Whamo -- Hannah knocked on the door and wanted "us" to watch Asher. Great, now I was holding Asher while snuggling India with Tristan sitting beside. There was still a possibility that I might get to take a nap if I was persistent. I started one final attempt at getting comfortable enough to nod off. Then another knock at the door. Josie, Bryce, and Collin came over to visit. No Nap.