happy 2 months to our bath-loving baby boy!!

Consider this Gabe's before picture. After weighing in at 13 lbs. for his 2-month check-up, his pediatrician explained that he's basically been binging & purging, and subsequently put him on a diet. After every feeding, he spits up excessively (apparently because he's overeating). So in another month, we'll take an after picture. So far, the spit-up has decreased a bunch (thanks, doc!!). (Don't worry...the diet is just that he nurses for fewer minutes. We're down to 12-15 rather than 20-25 per feeding.)

I LOVE MY HUSBAND

...and it's sooo nice when i get to spend time with him! This weekend felt like old times, the times just a couple months ago when he used to work from home. And we got to play with him all we wanted, and i was spoiled because i could also run errands during the kids' naps because he was there.

This weekend was a taste of summer, when he'll be on hiatus from teaching - and i'm realllly looking forward to it! Clint & Jonah had Monday & Tuesday off. Mostly, we just stayed home and lazed around.

But on Saturday, we took them trick-or-treating at the zoo. Then we enjoyed staying with gma & gpa overnight, going to church together and eating delicious food on Sunday. We also got to ditch the kids --er, i mean, leave the children alone for special time with gma -- Sat. night while we went out for YUMMY sushi with Marianne & Clayton. Happy birthday, Marianne!!

It was just the dose of lovin' our children needed and we came back refreshed and ready to enjoy our next two days of Clint & Jonah at home!!



Oh, and in case you think life's getting dull around here...

Micah decided to open the car door while i was going about 55 mph Saturday morning, on our way home from garage sale-ing. Luckily, he told me his door was open (cracked, not wide open) and we pulled over while he got a lecture & closed the door. Then, a few hours later, Micah & Autumn managed to get lost at the zoo. While i was tending the baby, an unnamed party (could happen to anyone) took the three others to the bathroom. While searching for said bathroom, J-Rex noticed his younger brother & sister had vanished. The unnamed party & J-Rex frantically returned to tell me what had happened. We all ran to find them. As the unnamed party stood in line to tell a store clerk at the gift shop about the missing children, i headed to the exit with J-man to make sure nobody got off with the kidlets. i told an older employee at the zoo of our plight and asked if they seal off the exits or something in such an event (blame it on my affinity for 24, my track record of 9-1-1 calls or the fact that i'm from So. Cal.). The gentleman slowly meandered toward guest services (where you apparently are supposed to go in such an event). Meanwhile, i noticed Autumn amusing herself by walking around in circles a few hundred yards away, completely unaware of the fact that she was lost! i grabbed her, then went over to guest services where a security guard began taking a description of Micah. With one eye on the guard and the other on the exit, i explained what he'd been wearing. Just then, i noticed Micah LEAVING THE ZOO all by himself! i said i'd found him, ran to the exit in time to get him back in the park and asked what he was up to. He said he'd gone to the bathroom (funny that he was the only one who'd managed to find it) while Autumn played in the sink. When he finished, he realized he was all by himself. So he consequently decided to go back to the car (which we parked on a busy street outside of the zoo.) Logical enough, right!? About this time, the still-unnamed party walked out of the gift shop (without ever talking to a store clerk) to see the children had been found. Needless to say, we decided that was enough fun for one zoo trip, packed up all the kids, reviewed appropriate responses when lost in a public place, and headed out to visit gma & gpa.

It's moments like those that have me pleading, "Calgon, take me away!" (Didn't you just love those commercials??) :)

California Wildfires

For those of you who may be wondering, the homes of all my family members are safe from the wildfires that seem to be sprouting up left and right in So. California.

Last night, Mom called to say that the Fallbrook fire (or Rice Canyon Fire, as it is also being called) was within 200 yds. of their home when Dad evacuated with his truck full of sentimental treasures. (The whole town was under mandatory evacuation.) She said they would likely not have a home in the morning. Several hours and countless prayers later, family members returned to the home to find it completely unharmed. There were two burning logs in the driveway to clear out, but otherwise everything was fine.

And the Temecula fire is far from my sister's & my brother's houses; the Irvine fire doesn't appear to be near any homes either (so Lavender's fine, too it seems). YEA!!

Notice anything different??

...because no one around here did. :)

Before:


after:


still can't tell? let's see if this helps...

well, if you're still having a hard time noticing --

a) you must be kindred spirits with my hubby, and
b) the furry caterpillars that were formerly my eyebrows have been tamed & trimmed with the help of a feisty lady and some very hot wax!
i'm embarrassed to admit this was a first for me (unless you count the time i went at 'em with my Mom's tub of wax. That didn't turn out quite as well.) And considering that i've inherited my father's eyebrows (love you, Dad...but the eyebrows look much better on a man!); anyway, considering that fact, i ought to be more than just embarrassed that i waited 33 years to take the plunge!!

i'm happy with the outcome, especially now that the scarlet outlines around my brows have faded away.

What a Wonderful Weekend

On Friday, we drove down to my 10-year mission reunion. The traffic was awful; it added a full hour to the drive. But Clint was sweet and just pressed on, despite his urge to turn tail and run. I got to visit with some old companions and roommates, as well as my mission president and his wife. It was fun to see what people's children and spouses looked like. i'm sure others were amused as they observed me trying in vain to keep M-Boy from running outside in the torrential rain to try and pick the lock on our car, all in an effort to recover his coat and play in the backyard. Seems like a worthy goal, but I really didn't want to lose him so we tried to keep him in the house.

I got to meet Jenny Phillips, a former companion's wife. (His two comps ditched him a couple days early, so he was melded into my MTC companionship along with another sister.) Clint's eyebrows about hit the ceiling when I introduced him as my former companion. (Hee-hee.) And our kids really did have a blast playing with the dozens of children who had also been dragged along.

The next day we celebrated Jonah's birthday a day early by going out for Mexican and dropping by his favorite toy store just so he could play with their cool Playmobil display. We let him choose any family activity he wanted, and were delighted when he picked a free one!

Gabe hangin' out with Ethel Mae (Clint's paternal
grandmother and one of two great grandmothers Autumn's named after)

Sunday was doubly special because it was Jonah's actual big day and Gabriel's blessing day. We invited immediate family members as well as the local great-grandmas (Clint's extended family is ENORMOUS and i really didn't feel up to putting on the equivalent of a wedding reception just short of 6 weeks after giving birth...can you blame me!?). Anyway, it was a memorable day. I'm glad my bookend boys got to share it with each other!

awww, how cute...
Gabe and i have matching double chins

They're having fun!

Already looking up to his oldest bro.

Look...room for one more!
...Clint had to get a pic of how many people were squeezed onto our couch.

Happy 7th birthday, J-Rex!

Jonah with his Harry Potter cake.