Happy Birthday Grammy!

Weekend Update

Well, I just wanted to stop by and say hello.  We are all doing fine here and making the necessary adjustments now that we're a family of six.  Ben is adjusting to doing most of the housework and childcare in the evenings while I feed and hold the baby.  I'm adjusting to not getting things done at the pace I used to, particularly not being able to sit down at a computer for days at a time.

I keep having this quote from Pres. Uchtdorf running through my head, "What do you suppose pilots do when they encounter turbulence?  A student pilot may think that increasing speed is a good strategy because it will get them through the turbulence faster.  But that may be the wrong thing to do.  Professional pilots understand that there is an optimum turbulence penetration speed that will minimize the negative effects of turbulence.  And most of the time that would mean to reduce your speed.  The same principle applies also to speed bumps on a road.  Therefore, it is good advice to slow down a little, steady the course, and focus on the essentials when experiencing adverse conditions." {source}

So I've slowed down quite a bit as I've enjoyed having this baby around.  I've also re-evaluated my priorities and accepted that things will just have to wait.  In that spirit, I have a long list of blog posts I'll catch up on at some point.  In the future, you'll be seeing Cat's piano recital, drama performance, final soccer game.  You'll see the end of the school year festivities for Cat and Jack.  You'll see the fun things we did while Ben's parents, affectionately referred to 'round these parts as Mema and Papa, were visiting in April.  You'll see my brother's wedding in California, the Children's Book Festival, our Day Out with Thomas, and some fun Everyday Stuff.  I have a lot of catching up to do, but it will be happening at a pretty slow pace.  Because we're also preparing to move.

No, we don't have a plan of where we'll be going yet.  But in just over a month we'll be moving from this house in Utah and beginning another adventure.  Ben is working full-time to get a job so at this point we can't plan very far in the future.  We know what the next month looks like, and I'm staying focused on that.

I'll leave you with one bit of miscellany that might brighten your day.  Occasionally our kids see a YouTube video that they become somewhat obsessed with and want to watch over and over again.  So what is the video du jour?  I present you with Old Spice's Terry Crews Muscle Music video, which Eliza requests by saying, "I want to watch muscles, muscles, muscles.  What!"

PS> I have renewed my efforts to write down the funny things the kids say.  So there are some updates on Jack's and Eliza's lists.  Check them out.  :-)

The BLFC

Before Luke was born I wasn't sure what to expect from the big kids.  If you'd asked me to predict how they would react to Luke, I would have said the following:

Cat will adore the little guy and want to help take care of him.  Jack will be excited to have a brother but not be so interested in being with the baby all the time.  Eliza will vacillate between adoration and jealousy, probably exhibiting a lot of babyish behaviors and even regressing in some ways.

I would have been right about Cat, but not so much with Jack and Eliza.

Since Luke came home 3 weeks ago, Ben and I have been proud to see the formation of a serious Baby Luke Fan Club, or BLFC for short.

Founders:
Mom & Dad

Responsibilities:

• Provide for the physical and emotional well-being of Baby Luke
• Select members and officers of the BLFC
• Plan BLFC activities and events

President:
Eliza

Responsibilities:

• Provide a warm welcome when Baby Luke arrives home from the hospital

• Rename standard baby items (pacifier becomes fire pass, car seat becomes seat car, etc.)
• Ensure Baby Luke has constant access to his fire pass

• Be ready and waiting when Baby Luke wakes up in the morning

• Take super-up-close pictures of Baby Luke

• Share your gender-specific toys and accessories with Baby Luke

 

• Anticipate Baby Luke's needs before anyone else

• Give everyone within earshot a play-by-play of Baby Luke's every movement.  "The Baby moved his arm!  The Baby touched his face!  The Baby kicked his leg!"
• Attribute actions and intentions to Baby Luke which are far beyond his capacity, such as "The Baby pulled my hair!" "The Baby tried to get my teeth!"  "The Baby took my lip gloss!" "The Baby said I could sit in his chair!"
• Test seat car and bouncy seat safety by fastening the buckles whenever possible.
• Personally supervise diaper changes.
• Tell everyone you meet that you have a baby named Luke.
• Push the limits of Baby Luke's need for personal space by watching him from 3 inches away.  This is particularly useful when on wake-up watch.  If he wakes up when you are nearby (3 inches), alert Mom and Dad immediately by yelling loudly.
• Request that Baby Luke accompany you when you go out.
• Show your affection frequently by giving Baby Luke lots of hugs and kisses, and asking to hold him as often as possible.
• Grow up, and refer to yourself as a grown up.  Occasionally complain about how hard it is to be a grown up.

VP & Historian:
Cat

Responsibilities:

• Assist President with all of her duties, particularly holding Baby Luke as often as possible and giving him lots of hugs and kisses.
• Take lots of pictures of Baby Luke whenever Mom grants access to her camera.  Set up your own photo shoot, if possible.

Member:
Jack

Responsibilities:

• Assist the President and Vice President as needed
• Hold Baby Luke frequently
• Eagerly anticipate the day when he will be able to share a room with you

I am excited to announce that we are currently accepting new members of the BLFC!  This weekend we recruited many new members from the ranks of my extended family and other wedding guests while we attended my brother's wedding in California.  I regret that I don't have photographic evidence of his many fans, but he was quite the celebrity and family, friends, with strangers oohing and ahhing over him and eager for the chance to hold him.  I don't blame them.  I'm quite a fan myself.  Sometimes I even write his name in chalk and decorate it with stars and a spiral.

Our Tinth Anniversary

Yesterday Ben and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary.  Hard to believe it's been that long.  But then again, looking back at the pictures, we do look pretty young...

(When I took this picture yesterday, Eliza asked me, "Did Daddy wore his prince clothes?  And you wore your princess clothes?")

I checked Wikipedia to find out what the traditional gift is for the 10th Anniversary and guess what it is?  Tin or aluminum.  So Ben received breakfast in bed in a foil container.  :-)  Happy Tinth Anniversary, babe!

Ben decided to buck tradition and go with a more modern gift for me: a cool bouquet he arranged himself.  (He's always been much better at flower arranging than I.)

A friend watched Jack and Eliza for us while we went out to lunch (with our adorable little tag-along). Our friend also took a commemorative picture:

One of the things we talked about over lunch was what our fantasy 10-year anniversary celebration could consist of (you know, if Luke was a year older and we had tons of money).  The consensus was that we would love to travel abroad.  One of us suggested Europe.  The other suggested hiking Machu Picchu.  I'll let you guess which was which.

That night we had a celebratory dinner of miscellaneous leftovers from the yummy post-baby meals friends have been bringing over.  It was punctuated by personal-sized bottles of sparkling cider.

I spent the day before our anniversary pondering what our journey thus far has consisted of.

Here is a concise list:

10 mailing addresses

9 seasons of The Office

8 little hands

7 wards

6 jobs

5 camping trips

4 cars

3 college degrees

2 kids hospitalized

1 riding lawn mower

0 regrets

I feel so blessed to have a strong, loving relationship, and I feel like we are getting better and better at this marriage thing.  We've experienced a lot together, and I can't wait to see what adventures our next decade together brings.

Dad the Grad!

One of the reasons I was so eager for Luke to go ahead and make his appearance was so that I could see this handsome guy walk across a stage in a fancy cap and gown.  And I'm pleased to announce that I made it!  Just 3 days after Luke was born, Ben graduated from the MBA program.

This is what our family looked like about three weeks before Ben's orientation in August 2011.  Look how little those kids are!

And here we all are on the big day.  The kids and I and Mema and Papa watched the ceremony from the stands.  I'm still amazed that we made it through the 2.5 hour ceremony without any major issues.  The hardest thing for Jack seemed to be that he wanted to see his Daddy and was frustrated that Daddy was there but he couldn't be with him.

All of the graduate school grads sat on the floor of the Marriott Center, with the undergrads in the stands.  The MBAs all have a gold sash, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the MBA program at BYU.  Pretty cool that Ben was in the 50th graduating class, huh?

Coming across the stage and shaking hands with faculty:

The moment we've been waiting for.  We are officially DONE!

We met up outside, and Ben was appropriately greeted by doting kids, wife, and parents.

Jack photo bombed all of the family pictures.  Little stinker.

My favorite picture of the day:

Jack and Eliza were so excited to be reunited with their Dad that they wouldn't let go of him as we walked to the car.

They both wanted to hold his hand, but Eliza settled for holding on to the long sleeve extension on Ben's gown instead.

We walked back to our cars together and Ben and I put Luke's car seat into Ben's car and Mema and Papa took the big kids home.  Ben and I walked across campus to a reception for the MBA grads at the Tanner Building, turning in the cap and gown on the way.  It was nice to spend a little more time with friends, peers, and faculty before we all go our separate ways.

When we came home, Ben and his Dad grilled some delicious steak and Cleo made mashed potatoes and vegetables.  We stuffed ourselves with an awesome dinner, then we had pound cake with berries and whipped cream for dessert and Ben's parents and I gave him our presents.  Mine was a collection of pictures from our time at BYU plus sentiments from a variety of people - the kids and I, immediate family members, a few close friends, and the teacher who has become a wonderful mentor for Ben.  I had a good time putting it together and can't wait to have it professionally printed one day, hopefully soon.

Luke was a trooper throughout the graduation festivities.  He was content in the sling all afternoon, which was good, because I had no intention of taking such a little baby out and risking close encounters with other people's germs.  I did feel bad about not introducing him to our friends at the reception, but the only way I felt comfortable attending the graduation at all was if I kept him relatively isolated.  I felt surprisingly good all day, but I fully expected to be extra sore and tired the next day.  I was very blessed to only have a bit of soreness the following day, though.  I'm so glad we all decided to attend.  The anticipation made me a bit nervous, but everything worked out just fine.

I'm so proud of Ben for accomplishing this goal.  Attaining a graduate degree is something he's been wanting to do since we were first married, though we didn't know at the time that it would take the form of an MBA.  Ben worked hard at learning in his classes and gaining insight from mentors and extracurricular activities.  He got as much out of this experience as he could and tried to really prepare himself to take on the business roles he would like to have in the future.  I'm sure it will pay off soon!

There were definitely some challenges that came along with completing this program, but overall, we've mostly just felt blessed for the experiences we've had, the people we've met, and the things we've learned.  I feel like I've earned a Masters in Life Experience in the last 2 years and it's been interesting to see the form that education has taken.  I'm sure we'll better understand the experiences we've had here once we begin our next adventure.  In the meantime, I'm thankful for all that we've done and learned and all of the people who have had an impact on our lives during the MBA program.  It's kind of hard to believe that it's over.

Home with Luke

Sorry it's taken me a few days, but I'm finally ready to let you know this little guy's name.

He is officially Luke, a name I've had on my mind for several weeks, but which we were

able to finally settle on in the hospital when we saw that it means "light" or "bearer of light."

He seems to be a pretty calm baby and Ben in particular wanted to try to find a name to

reflect that.  Luke seems to work, then, don't you think?

Here's Luke all ready to go home from the hospital.  There are two more interesting facts about this picture, though.  First of all, all of our older children came home from the hospital in the same yellow pajama outfit.  I didn't move any baby stuff with me from Georgia, and I was sad to not have that outfit anymore.  (What was I thinking??)  I found another yellow outfit to bring Luke home in, but it was too small!  So we squeezed him into it for the trip home, but he will never wear it again, haha.

The other interesting fact is that we were able to get 90% of the baby things we needed for this guy for free from the MBA Spouse Association clothing & goods exchange or from friends who were getting rid of things.  The biggest missing piece of equipment was a car seat.  A few weeks before my due date, we still didn't have a car seat and we thought we would use Eliza's convertible seat as our infant seat and get her a toddler/booster convertible seat.  But then this infant carrier showed up on our doorstep.  Literally.  Brand new, in the box, no note or tag or anything.  So, thank you to our anonymous infant carrier donor.  We are so thankful to have this seat for our little bundle!

I'd brought a cute little blanket with us to the hospital, but didn't think about the fact that he would need it on our way home to protect him from the frigid spring weather here.  So Ben had already loaded our suitcase (with the blanket in it) in the car when we were ready to leave the hospital.  Luke got covered up with my FSU sweatshirt instead.  I guess it's never to early to show your Seminole spirit, though!

When Ben was holding Luke during scripture reading last night, all of the kids were fighting over who got to sit closest to them.  First Jack sat next to Ben, then when he got up, Cat took his spot, and when he tried to come back to his seat Cat didn't want to move, so he squeezed his way between Ben and Cat.  It was comical.  And so sweet.

Right after his first bath at home... he wasn't a fan.

Jack came out of bed to see what the fuss was all about during Luke's bath.

He was relieved when Luke stopped crying, and he liked his construction truck pajamas.

The girls spent some quality time with Luke before they left for Church this morning.

Overall, I'd say things are going well.  I'm feeling great, but I'm still making a conscious effort to take it easy (which doesn't come naturally to me).  It's been immensely helpful to have Ben's parents in town. Between them being here and Ben being available, I haven't had to do much besides take care of the baby.  It's been wonderful.

Luke is still a pretty calm and content baby.  His main goal in life seems to be to remain in physical contact with someone at all times.  As long as he's being held or is at least touching someone, he is perfectly happy.  So he gets lots of snuggles during the day and at night and nobody seems to mind too much.  He's eating well and fulfilling his diaper duties.  He likes his pacifier, but doesn't have to have it all of the time, which is great.  He's a skinny little guy with dark blue eyes and I love love love his old man hair.  It was particularly awesome after his bath, when its cleanness allowed it to stick out all over.  I think this picture from my last post shows it best:

Yep.  We'll keep him.