January's over, hooray!

Man, January kicked my butt this year. Not quite as bad as last year, but still, what a dreadful month! As always, one of the month's only saving graces was my birthday.

I turned twenty-six; it was pretty sweet . . . and somewhat well-documented.

The celebration started the night before with a date night! Except Chuck didn't feel so great . . . so we grabbed dinner real quick at Red Robin and then went home, leaving the boys with my mama overnight. (Incidentally, I was initially sorter bummed that Red Robin doesn't do anything special there unless that day is your actual birthday, but it does make sense AND part of my new 26-year-old maturity is understanding that the world doesn't actually revolve around me, so it was a good intro into that.)

When we got home poor Chuck was simultaneously sweating and shivering so after consulting the thermometer (103 degree fever, yikes!) he went to bed and I was left to ring in my birthday solo (and text Heidi a lot):

Ahhh, a classy self-portrait of the newly-minted 26-year-old.

Proof of both the time (just after midnight) and my slight obsession with Aaron Rodgers. It's okay, Chuck understands. Then I proceeded to sleep on the couch in an effort to not get sick (spoiler alert: it didn't work, more on that later).

Six and a half hours later, I demonstrated my newfound maturity and woke up to go running with Nicole even though it was my birthday.
Here is part of my super sexy running attire: long underwear and awesome argyle-patterned socks.

Aaaand another awesome self-portrait.

After this my day become slightly more lame and less documented for a few hours. Chuck continued to be real sick, and my awesome planning hit a pretty serious snag when we realized that I had left my children at my mom's house without their car seats, meaning she could not bring them back to me that morning after all. Which meant that instead of Chuck, Will, and me going to Will's preschool transition meeting, I went solo. And got there ten minutes late after going to the wrong school first! (In my defense, they just switched to a different elementary school this year and haven't changed the name on any of the paperwork yet . . .)

Luckily the meeting went very well nonetheless and it wasn't a problem at all that Will wasn't in attendance. And after the meeting I got to listen to a voicemail in which a very groggy Quinn sang Garth Brooks' song 'Ireland' with the words adapted for my birthday. (Reminiscent of Chuck's birthday in November, when the voicemail was Quinn singing an adapted bday version of 'O Holy Night'). Then poor, sick Chuck and I braved a trip to Boise so that Chuck could go to an un-reschedulable (I may have made that word up) meeting at work and I could retrieve our children from my very nice mom (whom, incidentally, I bought lunch for as a way to say thanks for bringing me into the world 26 years ago. You're the best, Mama!)

Then we came back home and I hurriedly made some cupcakes and went to Cub Scouts, leaving poor, sick Chuck to take care of Clyde and Will. I take back everything I've ever said/thought about men being total babies when they're sick (although it's mostly true) because Chuck was a total trooper that night. And the following few days. . .

Funfetti = deliciousness. And my Scouts very sweetly sang 'happy birthday' to me and to mark the occasion we did 26 jumping jacks to start off den meeting instead of our usual 25.

Maren and me! I really, really love Maren. She has kept me sane for the last year in Cub Scouts. I'm sure she has no idea how much she's helped me and how much I love her, but she has and I do. Even if she was smart enough to take off her Scout shirt before we sneaked in (late) to the Relief Society meeting after Scouts was over, leaving me to look dorky all on my own :).

After Relief Society was over and the little boys were in bed, I settled in on the couch:
to be so extremely flattered by all of the sweet birthday messages I received on facebook! Combined with all of the texts and phone calls and in-person greetings and such, I felt so loved :).

And then I felt feverish. And oddly cold. YEP, I got the flu too! While I very responsibly made sure that Clyde and Will were both vaccinated for influenza during the fall, I neglected to get a flu shot myself/bug Chuck until he got one. Serves us both right, unfortunately and next year we will ALL get the flu shot! So then I spent the next five days sleeping a lot and feeling dreadful. Luckily by that point Chuck was feeling quite a bit better so he could take care of the boys. And finally on day four and a half, my fever broke and I began to feel human again, yay! (P.S. The fairly common misunderstanding about influenza vs. the stomach flu drives me a little crazy, so here's my spiel: Influenza is characterized by fever, chills, body aches, fatigue, etc. It lasts 3-5 days and it's what the 'flu shot' immunizes against. The 'stomach flu' is usually a 24-hour virus that cleans out your whole digestive system with a whole lot o' throwing up and diarrhea. Both are very fun sicknesses, clearly, just in their own separate and awesome ways!)

So that was my 26th birthday . . . exciting, right? Has there ever before been a blog post 'round here with SO many pictures of me and not a one of my children? Yikes! No worries, this was an anomaly and their bright smiling faces will return posthaste.

Proof of Life

No worries, I'm still alive. . . barely :). For those of you who haven't been following the saga via my facebook statuses, Chuck and I both fell victim to the flu this past week, and it was superbly miserable AND our own fault for not getting flu shots. Anyways, as I've only been fever-free for a few hours, a post consisting of random pictures from the last month is all I can handle at this point . . . so enjoy! (And not to worry, a captivating post re: my birthday is in the semi-near future!)

First off, here is Will showing off one of the new shirts he got for Christmas; he loooves Handy Manny. A lot. And if there's anything cuter than Will saying "Han-y Man-y, scoo toos!" (aka Handy Manny School for Tools) then I don't know what it is. Unless it's him saying that while at the same time carrying around his little toolbox.

Quinner and me on New Year's Eve. We had spent most of the afternoon and evening helping my dad pack up his old house, which naturally was a most excellent bonding experience. Then Quinn stopped to take this picture with me even though he was running late for a hot date, thanks little brother!

My hot date had to work that night, but luckily I had a back-up boy to kiss at midnight! And okay, it was like nine-fifteen. Close enough, Happy New Year!

The little boys have been pretty busy playing with all their new toys. Both grandmas took pity and bought them Play-doh, and Grandma Pam and Clyde spent one afternoon creating all sorts of delicious 'food' items for me to pretend eat.

Sam and Terri and 'baby Bailey' visited for a couple of days, hooray! We are all in agreement that Bailey is the cutest little clapper ever :).

Sam bravely took upon himself the task of hooking up a chandelier at my dad's new house. We were taking bets on if/when he would electrocute himself, but (an hour later) he got it up just fine!

Sam and Terri with the finished product :).

One day Will kept trying to go all hands-on with my laptop (which not even Chuck is allowed to do) so I set him up at the computer and opened a blank word document, which he totally loved. I totally loved watching him 'type' - half the time it was slow and deliberate, carefully selecting which letter came next, and the other half was a hilarious imitation of what I can only imagine is my typing - frenzied yet oddly dainty :).

And lastly, here's a picture of my three favorite boys doing a bit of reading. I just love how cozy they look . . .

"Clyde, did Santa eat his cookies?" "Not so well. . . "

(Disclaimer: No worries, it's totally okay to post about Christmas almost two weeks into 2011. I promise. Even three weeks in, if you haven't done yours yet. It's all good.)

So, Santa thought it would be cute to leave a bite of the Milano cookie behind, as well as a bit of milk. Clyde was deeply unsettled by this. (And yes, Santa got store-bought cookies. We got home from Elko at 5pm on Christmas Eve, okay? ANND I had some inside info that Santa loves him some Mint Milanos . . . ) Also, Clyde wrote Santa a letter earlier in the month that we managed never to actually mail/drop off anywhere, so we stuck it out with the cookies as well. It (adorably) reads: 'Dear Santa, I want Star Wars Clone Wars action figures Clyde i am a good boy'. I love that 'i am a good boy' is such an afterthought :).

Luckily Clyde was all right once he realized he could polish off that last cookie :).

And what do you know, Santa came through with just the right action figures, hooray!

All out of the box and ready to play with . . . for hours.

Will's favorite stocking stuffer came not from his own stocking, but from Unky Quinn's: a little plastic harmonica!

Will took to it very quickly, and once Quinn opened his 'real' harmonica from Grandma Pam, they two embarked upon a series of duets. Super hilarious to watch Will imitate how Quinn was playing it!

Will did like his Star Wars yo-yo a great deal as well. I wasn't sure if Will would get into the present-unwrapping thing or not, but he definitely proved to be a fan!

My mom made Chuck his very own fleece blanket (in Boise State colors, of course) so now he doesn't have to try to use Clyde's or Will's which leave his feet sticking out. . .

Chuck took Clyde to the dollar store earlier in December and gave him money for each member of the family and helped him pick out special gifts, which Clyde then loved helping everyone open.

Ooh, pretty fake nails and stickers for Grandma Pam - can't wait to see the special occasion where she busts those out!!

Part of our present for Quinner was shampoo and conditioner to keep his hair nice and soft at college. The funny kid thinks Pantene is a suuuper luxurious brand :). Clyde was just bummed out there wasn't actual soda to drink . . .

This picture makes me laugh so hard - my super sweet laptop from my in-laws with its 17.5 inch screen compared to Quinner's netbook that he bought for school (it's true, though, that if I were schlepping all over BYU campus I'd take the netbook!).

Grandma Pam and Cody got Clyde some Star Wars legos, which served as the afternoon activity.

Christmas late afternoon we met some of my dad's extended family for dinner, which was really nice. Here my Grandpa Pat is regaling his grandchildren with his hilarious stories :).

Then we came home for more fun - like Will experimenting with Playdoh! My little sensory-issue kiddo liked it as long as he could handle it verrry gingerly.

Later my boys all hit the Internet to check out what other action figures/lego sets are out there to eventually add to the new collection. Pretty sure we're cementing our reputation as 'that Star Wars family' more and more every day, much to Heidi's chagrin!

After the little boys were in bed, my mom and brothers and I played a fun new game that my uncle David sent to my mom - Dixit (you really only have to watch the first 3-4 minutes of that video to understand the game). We had all sorts of good laughs (and not just at Quinn's face!), especially when we decided that the 'Storyteller' could only use a song lyric or title.

I made a couple cell phone videos to send to Sam during the game so that he wouldn't feel too left out. I'm a caring sister like that :).

The Sunday before Christmas I opted to wear a (subtly) blue and orange outfit in preparation for the Las Vegas bowl, so the Sunday after Christmas I went with the classic red and green (and white - including the beautiful necklace that my mom made me for Christmas!)

That night my daddi-o came over for a gift exchange. One of the gifts the four of us kids got him was a set of framed pictures of us for his new house to ensure that our smiling faces were quick to adorn the walls :).

And no Christmas would be complete without making Quinn hold up his new clothes for the rest of us to admire! Hahaha, I love you little buddy!

All in all, we had a really nice Christmas (both in Elko and Nampa!) and we're thankful for our wonderful families and how fun it is to spend time together.

To Courtney, On Motherhood

My dear BFSC Courtney became a mom a few days ago,
so this post is dedicated to her.
(Disclaimer: This is not intended to be an advice or 'how-to' post, because, as luck would have it, my whole four years experience as a mom does not actually qualify me as an expert. . . . shocking, right? This is more just a collection of rambling thoughts that I figured would be fun to share on such a happy occasion.)

One of my favorite quotes about motherhood is from author Elizabeth Stone: "Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." (I'm sure you've discovered this already Courtney). The unconditional love that fills my heart when I look at my sweet sons is at times overwhelming. I so badly want to protect them from the world - not necessarily the 'scariness' of the world; hopefully I can raise them to handle that - but more so from being hurt or embarrassed or sad or scared. And then I think about my sweet, sweet mom and how these must be her feelings towards my brothers and myself . . . and how I don't give her enough credit at all. Definitely sorry for the various wretched things I've said over the years, I love you Mama!! And then I think about our Heavenly Father and how the intense feelings of love and worry I feel towards my boys are only a faint impression of His love for all of us - talk about overwhelming.

It also can be overwhelming to ponder how Heavenly Father has entrusted these sweet spirits to us to raise, with the same love and tender care He would show (and does). And although there's a laundry list of areas where I need to improve in relation to my kids (probably with laundry near the top of said list) one thing that I'm pretty proud about is my conscious effort to be positive in talking to and about Clyde and Will. There are definitely days when I think I'm going to go crazy and need to vent, and Chuck and I do (affectionately!) call our sons 'turdmunchers' on occasion, but ultimately (as is true in any relationship) I feel more love and compassion toward my children when I try to feel more love and compassion towards them. Along these lines is my resolve never to yell at my boys. There's a quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from General Conference a couple of years ago that I re-read on a regular basis: "We must be careful in speaking to a child. What we say or don't say, how we say it and when is so very, very important in shaping a child's view of himself or herself. But it is even more important in shaping that child's faith in us and their faith in God. Be constructive in your comments to a child - always."

The beauty of being a parent is that we don't have to be perfect right away; as long as that unconditional love is present we are able to continuously improve and be better. And little children return that unconditional love so purely that it serves as constant motivation to be better/kinder/wiser stewards over them. There's nothing better in the world than Clyde (semi-) defiantly telling me that he's never going to get married because he just wants to live with me forever, or Will running to me when he's hurt or scared to snuggle and be comforted.

It's not a secret (at least I hope not) how much I love being a mom. It is absolutely challenging and stressful and tiring but overwhelmingly rewarding and wonderful. I think at times it's tempting as moms to take children/motherhood for granted, and the isolation and monotony that often accompany being a stay-at-home mom can be extremely discouraging. However, I am also keenly aware of women who would give anything to be a mother or women who have lost a child or children, and if there's a more effective reminder to be grateful for and cherish my own children, I don't know what it is. I am also conscious of the necessity of taking care of oneself before one can take care of others. I rely heavily on my husband, my mom and other family members, my friends (both in person and via facebook and blogs) for advice, breaks, commiseration, reassurance, perspective, etc. And mostly, I rely on my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ, who know my children so much more than I even do and are able and willing to help me be the mom I need to be.

So, this definitely turned into a much more serious (and religious) post than I originally intended, but what are you going to do? And I know that as soon as I hit 'publish' I'll think of ten more things I wanted to say and seven better ways to say what I already said, but that's okay :). My main point is that motherhood is amazingly wonderful and so, so worth it!!

Court, I am so so excited for you and I know you're already an amazing mom and I absolutely cannot wait to meet baby Chase. Love you!!

My 2011 Resolutions: Goober Edition

Well, that title may be a little misleading, seeing as how I have no intention of posting a 'Serious Edition' of New Year's Resolutions. The 'real' ones are both predictable and personal - you know, read scriptures more regularly, drop a couple pounds, budget more wisely, and so on. This list is more sharable, more achievable, and (arguably) more beneficial to my life.


1. Memorize all the lyrics to every song from 'Newsies'. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty close. I can belt out 'Santa Fe' with no problem and 'Carrying the Banner' is pretty straightforward, but I'd just like to polish my renditions of the other songs - you know, make sure I've got all the lines in the right order and such.


2. Re-read all seven books in the Harry Potter series before 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One' hits the dollar theater (I'm guessing I have a couple more months). Here's my dilemma, though, should I only re-read half of book seven? Will that make the movie more of a cliffhanger if I haven't just re-read the book's second half? Still pondering, open to input.


3. Watch more TV. I know what you're thinking: "Jana, don't you already watch a pretty decent amount of TV?" And the answer is "Yes I do." Which is why I think this resolution should be a pretty easy one, which is good because it's a two-parter. Part one: continue to catch up on earlier seasons of current/off-the-air shows. This last year I did this with Glee, Bones, Castle, and the Nanny (don't judge me!). I really love Nathan Fillion on Castle, so now I think I'll go with his cult-hit show 'Firefly'. I'm not usually into sci-fi, but it's only like 13 episodes (plus a movie) and I've heard it's amazing. Part two: watch more shows with my boys. Usually I use 'Handy Manny' to give me a chance to blog/shower/etc but Clyde really loves it when I cuddle with him on the couch and we watch together. . . and those 'Imagination Movers' guys are pretty hilariously cheesily entertaining :).


4. Wear a different outfit to church every week. For at least four months straight . . . that's, what, 16 or 17 weeks? This is already somewhat of an unofficial goal of mine, and the thirteen skirts and six dresses in my closet should make it pretty easy. I should be clear that I am not at all any kind of fashionista, but I do love getting dressed for church (lest everyone conclude that I am incredibly shallow, I also love the religious aspect of church as well, you know, worshipping and learning and such).


5. Recapture my goober-y youth via old resolutions. When I was in elementary school, I used to write with my left hand as often as possible to cultivate my ambidextrous-ness. (I was verrry jealous of my left-handed cousin David. It looked so cool to eat cereal and hold the spoon with one's left hand). When's the last time I wrote something with my left hand? Well, probably only like a year ago, but still! I clearly need to get back on that. I also need to re-focus on my efforts to perfect my English accent, something I put a lot of time into when I was younger. (Oddly enough, the previously mentioned cousin David is married to the lovely, British Kym. Maybe next year I'll resolve to go to law school, as both of them have!)


6. Help Chuck get more excited about the awesome-ness of the 'Magic Laundry Pile'. As I explained in a lengthy text message to my dear Courtney the other night, I love sorting laundry. I love putting dirty laundry into the washing machine. I love putting clean (wet) laundry into the dryer. And I even (mostly) love taking clean laundry out of the dryer and laying it out onto my bed, all ready to be hanger-ed and hung up (this last step is because I do not iron. Ever). Unfortunately, that's where the love affair ends - soooo close to the whole process being over! So instead I let it stack up (still nicely laid out) and call it the Magic Laundry Pile. It's magic because if you're looking for a certain shirt, it's probably - magically - in that pile! So far Chuck has not responded very enthusiastically to the MLP, but I think if I try hard enough, he might understand its allure. Or else I'll have to add 'put away laundry quicker' onto my 'serious resolution' list. . .


7. Some mini-ones: Let go of more inhibitions. I'm pretty good at not worrying about what other people think and such, but I could be better. Reach out more. Comment on more blogs, send random happy texts, mail people cards just to say hi, etc. Have more dance parties with my boys. Finish grieving about Finn and Rachel's break-up on Glee. Send Chuck a scandalous note in his lunchbox every now and then to replace the normal 'loveyou/haveagoodnightatwork/besafe' sentiment. Let Clyde unroll the window in the car more, even if it is flippin' freezing, because it brings him so much happiness. Try not to say 'I told you so' when he (hopefully) quickly rolls it back up :). Video tape Will dancing to the 'hot dog' song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Make a tie-dye t-shirt. Go to Utah at least as much this year as I did last year (which means eight times!!). Say a silent prayer of gratitude every time Will runs towards me and says "Ugggg!" aka 'hug'.

Happy 2011 everyone!! Feel free to keep me accountable for keeping these goals :).