Tit for Tat

Today as I was pulling into the driveway after running the kids around all morning I got a call from Tyler. This is how it went:

"Hey Babe. What are ya doin'?"
"Nothin'. I just pulled into the driveway and I'm finishing up Caylee's book order to turn in when I pick her up in a bit."
"Oh, you got all the kids dropped off then?"
"Yeah. How's your morning? Are you getting a lot done?"
"It's goin'. I sure like our new office. I'm diggin' it."
"Good, good. What's up?"
"Well, Scott Brown just called, ya know," [aaahhhhh, now I get why I'm getting such an early-in-the-morning phone call] "and he's thinking we should go on one more fishing trip before the end of the year."
[I'm quiet at this point.]
"What do you think?"
"Ugh, I guess it would depend on when and where and how long you're gonna be gone."
"Well, we're thinking sometime in November to maybe Lee's Ferry or maybe even up to Provo."
[I'm still quiet at this point.]
"So, what do you think?"
[Pause] "What weekend?"
"How 'bout the second weekend?"
"Ugh, you're playing in that golf tournament with Sam Dommer Friday and Saturday; you could go the weekend after. "
"Oh yeah, that's right."
"However that second weekend is a 3 day weekend; you'll have that Monday off; the kids will be on track break . . ."
"I've got that golf tournament with the bank on that Monday. Remember? Every year? The Veteran's tournament?"
"Okay, so you're going to be golfing Friday, Saturday, Monday, and then leave Thursday, Friday, and Saturday? That 3rd weekend is the Beehive Conference."
"What does that mean? Do you have to go somewhere for that?"
"No, it's in town at the stake center; it's set up and stuff."
"Soooooo, what are you thinking?"
[Pause] "Okay. Honestly, I am thinking you've kicked my butt in days gone from home this year and I feel like I should get something out of "one last fishing trip this year" because I'm not feeling generous. But I should be nice and let you go, cuz I know you love it and you've been working really hard. But I guess I am feeling pretty picked on if you leave me again for a fishing trip when I am all pregnant and crazy." [Yes, I pulled that card]
"Okay, what do you want to do?"
"I dunno. I'm looking at the calendar. Megan's wedding is that first weekend in November and Mom had asked me if I could go with her, but I didn't feel like it's fair for me to away. Or I was thinking I want to take Caylee to LA to go see Wicked for Christmas or something. So, I don't know what to swap for."
"Do both."
"Really, okay. Alrighty, have fun on your fishing trip then. I'll talk to you later; I'm going inside. Love you."

I LOVE MY HUSBAND's TAT!

Moving on

Time goes on, THANK GOODNESS, sometimes. This morning my pregnancy progressed from a lot of nausea to full-blown (no pun intended) puking. YES! Thank you gag reflex. I don't think I'll be eating AND brushing my teeth within the same half hour. That seemed to be the kicker. SO, this afternoon I will be scrubbing the toilet in case my head ends up back in the loo. It's probable. Ick, I knew it'd be a matter of time, though. And it's a good sign, right? I mean, check it off the to-do list of gestation. Here's an update on my lentil bean, which apparantly has sprouted into a full blown kidney bean when it lost it's tail.
Your baby is now 5/8 of an inch long, about the size of a kidney bean. New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. His arms have lengthened, too, and his hands are now flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart. His knee joints have formed, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways.

Dear Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,
I understand that you probably don't have much of your own life. I mean, why else would you spend a lovely Sunday afternoon lurking around on people's blogs only to leave mean comments. Sure, bouncing from blog to blog may be interesting to peek into strangers' lives, and maybe today you were bugged to find a blog that showed a person obviously better-off and happier than you must be. Perhaps you don't understand the purpose of a family blog - to share one's personal experiences and opinions with those who appreciate and love the wonderful person they are in reality. A blog does not completely explain the depth and sincerity and awesome-ness of a person, but it is a small glimpse of their greatness and it really frustrates me to think your measly little comment would make him/her question any of their fabulous-ness. I suppose it's not so nice of me to address you, Anonymous, in such a public forum, (and I actually hope you are Anonymous enough to not follow our family thread as that would be more disgusting), but perhaps you understand tit for tat when I leave this comment on your blog, if you'd been brave enough to own your own crap:
Anonymous, You stink and I am really upset that you would dare to leave a negative comment on a blog that inspires me and makes me happy. The fact that you can't leave your real name, and hide behind an "anonymous" tag speaks volume for the small-minded, teeny-hearted LOSER you must be. Back off our blogs!
Seriously bugged,
Sarah

More love, Less hate relationship

Although Brock and Caitlyn are both two, and have been around each other from the beginning, they are still working out some of the kinks in their relationship. Let's face it, Brock can be brutish and Caitlyn is Miss Independent (unless Grandma is around, then she wants a partner.) Here's some pictures and imaginary dialogue between the two of them (since they can't talk much more than to yell, "MINE," or "NO," or "STOP!")

Brock: "Caitlyn, if I poke your hairbow and head enough times will you hollar at me? Cuz I think it's really funny when you scream and whine. In fact, I get a big kick out of getting a rise out of you. This probably won't change much while we grow up together."

Caitlyn: "You know, Brock, we can play together with civilized activities (like book reading and pretend-kitchen-playing) that don't end up in either of us crying. If you just do as I direct, and NEVER touch my purse, we can have a lovely friendship."

Brock: "But wrestling is SOOOO much better than that other stuff."

Caityln: "Not really. Lasting happiness comes when you keep your grubby hands off of me. Now sit here and look at your mom like a nice boy. Thanks."

The Big 'Ol Family Campout

I haven't really added my commentary on the campout, and since it was last weekend, and everyone else in the family wrote about it, I could just say "ditto." But, here's a few of my tidbits to add to the other reviews:

*So great having all the family get together. The Christmas cousin party doesn't really cut it, and it's always great when there are occasions throughout the year to get together in between (weddings, blessings, etc.) Thanks, from our family, too, to Dustin and Leah who organized and reserved the campsite and dealt with the dork of a camphost who OBVIOUSLY didn't like anyone in our group but Dustin and Leah.

*One of my favorite things in life is to hear the laughter of my family. Yes, yes, sometimes it's from naughty jokes and sticking one's finger across the lip of another, but still it's one of the happiest things in my life. I have vivid memories of being small and listening to my parents and aunts and uncles staying up late talking and laughing as I fell asleep on a pillow on the floor of one of their family rooms. Saturday afternoon, when I took a nap with Brevin and Brock, I was taken back to that child's-place as I fell asleep to the outbursts of the conversations of those who were still gathered around the picnic tables. It was a feel-good moment.

*And because of those friendships between my dad and his sisters and their families, I have one of the BEST support systems a girl can have. Really, my siblings and cousins are the BEST sounding boards I have and I appreciate their opinions and advice. I think their experiences with life teach me a lot and I learn a lot from them. Sitting around the campfire and "shooting the breeze" is an ideal time and place for more of that bonding. And you can't really do that at the weddings or baby blessings, so a campout was perfect.

*My husband is the BOMB. Not only does he enjoy my family and all their sicky-ness and silly-ness, he likes cooking for all of us in the freezing cold. AND he convinced me we should take the trailer instead of the tent. WHICH came in handy when it was freezing outside and when we needed a flush toilet instead of a pit. AND he was really patient with me and the kids (which is nice since I tend to be a little uptight [what? Sarah?] when we are out of our element and in the elements). I love him and his mountain man self.

It was fun. Cold, for sure, but fun nonetheless. I'm really hoping we can camp at the beach for the reunion next year. It'll be like the good 'ol family campout with more sun and sand. Good times, for sure!

Private Practice

I know there are really important things going on in the world; real heart-breaking experiences. SO, I am not trivializing them when I tell y'all about my emotional breakdown I had tonight. Tyler was gone at band (they're practicing late for their gig on Oct. 13th) and I had bathed and bedded the kids AND pre-cleaned for the deep cleaning that I'll be doing tomorrow morning WHEN I sat down to email. So I was emailing and the Grey's spin-off "Private Practice" came on, which I took off my DVR schedule after last week's premier because I thought it was lame. BUT, my other option was "Gossip Girl" and so I let Kate Walsh and hottie-matoddie from Wings keep playing. Yeah, so they have this babies who were switched in the hospital story line and by the end the moms (who have loved and bonded with these babies for months) are trading back and talking about what helps these sweet baby girls (one of which will die prematurely) need to go to sleep and I am BAWLING. Full on ugly cry. I am snotting all over, totally not emailing, and enjoying my private moment. When Tyler walked in. Oi! He has a moment of confusion trying to figure out while I'd be crying so hard when he sees me watching the TV and gives me the "you gotta be kidding me" eye roll and a scoff. Yes, he laughed at me. So I told him to be quiet, leave me alone, get me a tissue, and not interrupt because I wasn't giving him a hard time about being at band for over 3 hours! And now I am headed to bed since I'm drained from my private practice. Have I mentioned how great hormones are?

Fo real!

I sat down to write a blog post since I haven't written in, well, a long time. As soon as I sat down I hear Caylee hollaring that Brock is bleeding from his mouth, I can hear him crying, and the phone rings LITERALLY all at the same time. (Apparantly Brock had jumped face first off the toy room couch onto the wooden dollhouse that was tipped over on the messy floor.) It seems like this is pretty much par for the course the past week or so, so I haven't even read anyone else's blog or my own email very much. I am not sure what to "blame" it on, because it's always a combination of things "to do." Fo real!

Pregnancy rant (skip this paragraph if you're already tired of listening/reading about it): The last couple of weeks I started to feel gross. And by gross I mean nauseated and really tired and irritable. I also contracted some random cough/cold thing which is oh-so great when I already have a sensitive gag reflex. I started heaving when I brush my teeth a few days ago and my sniffer is so sensitive I can't even stand the smell of the lotion I always use. It is especially great when Brock fills his diaper or Caylee sprays "Sweet Pea" body spray all over the house. At first I was thinking it would be a night thing and I could avoid it if I went to bed early, but the past couple of days it has been right after I eat breakfast and throughout the entire day. AND I HATE IT! I honestly don't know why people say pregnant women "glow" unless they are speaking about the greenish-radioactive kind of glow. I am just really tired, too, so a lot of my "blog time" has gone by the wayside as I end up in bed by 10:30pm (that's early for me!) I am biding my time trying to focus on a happier place where my stomach will be more content and I'll have more energy. I don't go to the doctor until October 19th and I have GOT to go get some pre-natal pills to at least try so I don't get my butt chewed at the visit. It seems a little silly, though, 7 weeks into it to be taking "pre-" vitamins. And so y'all don't think I am totally ungrateful, I am excited to think about the spring when the baby gets here and I can be tired for a better reason. I had a dream this morning that I was having twins and was freaking out because we had to sell our house. Can you imagine? I mean, some of you can, but fo real I would freak!

What else has occupied my time? I sent our reimbursement/complaint letters to the airlines to see if we can get some $$ back - FINALLY. I have been working on them forever and finally got them sent off. And the dance festival for our stake youth is coming a long nicely. I am excited for the priests/laurels dance that I've been supervising/helping with. Tyler's mom is SO great to be the costume expert, so we've been discussing/shopping/cutting patterns, etc. for that. I finished up the choreography this week and I am excited for our practice this Friday morning to put it all together. And we had the big 'ol family campout last weekend at Mt. Charleston. I am so probably the last person to blog about it, and this hardly counts as I have pictures and more commentary to give on the butt-freezing/heart-warming event. So, in addition to school, pre-school, 2 dance classes, soccer, mutual, Tyler's band and dutch oven addictions . . . ya know LIFE, I have fo real slipped on the blog scale. Such is my life these days.

Before I go change for mutual tonight, I want to send my love to my friend Jenn. {I hope you are getting a chance to escape into blog world every now and then, so you can know how my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I can't imagine the pressures and emotions you are experiencing these days, but I am confident you will have a deeper appreciation of all those things you hold dear, that you will be a source of strength to those around you, and you will be a stonger woman than you already are. I love ya to bits (and Marc and the girls!) FO REAL!}