by the moon and the stars in the skies

Nate was sworn in last Wednesday at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake as an attorney in the state of Utah. The ceremony was much faster than anticipated (thank goodness) and rather to-the-point. One attorney who spoke said that she would rather be working, but since she was there... congratulations. Something to that effect. Max kept himself busy putting on dabs of my lotion until he realized there was a small ramp up to a closed door to our right. He then walked up and down the ramp quietly. Good boy. After the swearing in, there were refreshments in the lobby. Max pounded some cheese cubes and then we went home. It was rather short, sweet, and official. Here we are immediately after the cheese...

Speaking of cheese... This is how our boy gets his Popeye arms.

(Editing note: I had titled the post "by the moon and the stars IN the sky." Nate so graciously pointed out that the lyrics were "by the moon and the stars AND the sky." Because he knows the lyrics... like, all of them. Yeah.)

(Editing note: Nate was wrong. I was wrong, too. It's "by the moon and the stars in the SKIES." The correction has been made and Nate's manliness restored.)

BBQ

We had a BBQ with some friends a couple of weekends ago, and Max was able to do a few things for the first time... like jump on a trampoline and observe chickens. There was also a hobbit hole, but Max was too afraid to go inside. Such a baby sometimes.

(Don't forget that I'm pregnant here. Thanks.)

Mother's Day

While I think being a mother is wonderful and fulfilling, I think Mother's Day is kinda lame. I guess I inherited my dad's lack of conformity to imposed gift-giving resulting in forced (although real) affection. I mean, of course I love my mom. Of course Nate loves me for being the mother of his children. Why do I need Hallmark and the U.S. government to tell me when to show it?

Nevertheless, Nate and I mildly celebrate these holidays. For Father's Day last year, I think the most I did was dress Max up in a shirt that said "I love Dad!" and declare a recent purchase that Nate wanted as "Your Father's Day Gift!" This Mother's Day, Nate did pretty much the same thing for me. That's kinda how it works. Sometimes we get fancier... Nate bought me earrings and tickets to the symphony for this past Valentine's Day. Very cliche, and very lovely. Point is - we don't stress about these minor holidays.

Anyway, we went out to eat for dinner on Saturday and then walked around BYU. Max freely roamed the campus while Nate and I reminisced about our college days. We bought Max a mini-basketball. I got chocolate covered cinnamon bears and a walnut myrtle. Being a weekend evening in the Spring, there were very few people on campus. Some buildings we entered were completely empty. On our way back to the car, a little old woman asked if we spoke Spanish. I told her that I did, and she asked us for a ride to a park. Strange, but we agreed to take her. So after our brief detour to a park to drop off an old lady, we headed home.

For Mother's Day... eh hem... Sunday, I made a roast for dinner and banana cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert. Holy Moly. The cake was so dense and moist, and the frosting was so creamy. I must admit, I loved myself for making that cake. Happy Mother's Day, self! Happy Mother's Day, Nate! Happy Mother's Day, Max!

Earlier this week, I was making dinner when Max got into the cupboard under the sink and bit into a dishwasher detergent packet. I turned when he started coughing. It looked like most of the powder had fallen to the floor, so very little must have been ingested, if any. He was panicking from the irritation to his mouth and throat, so I quickly picked him up and rinsed his mouth out. He vomited a little, and I kept rinsing. I stuck my finger in his throat to prompt more vomiting, and finally he seemed normal.

Mother's Day? Oh yeah, I got this mother thing down.

new things

To: Max

16 months
28 pounds
Teeth: 11

You like to dip your chips and quesadillas in salsa.
You try to put keys in doors and your toy car.
You like wearing shoes in the house, especially with pajamas.
When you want to go outside, you bring Mama or Dada their shoes.
Your dancing is getting more complex. It now includes shouting and headbanging.
You will focus on the TV now, even when there isn't music playing.
Your favorite show is still Backyardigans.
You pointed at your brother's ultrasound.
You still hold on to ears while falling asleep.
You like peanut butter now.
You love to play catch with two balls at once.
You will play with your cars and animals using the sofa as a table.
You love chewing through apples, but you spit most of your bites out.
You love oranges, cottage cheese, yogurt, cereal, toast with honey, ham, parmesan eggs, parmesan goldfish crackers, ice cream, zucchini with parmesan, pancakes and syrup, tortellini, bananas, salsa, blueberry vanilla shakes, raisins
You follow Mama around and imitate whatever she does. For example, after Mama did calf raises using the wall for balance, you went over to the same spot and did some calf raises.
You put any clothes on the floor into the laundry baskets, even when they are clean.
If Mama or Dada are eating, you want to eat, too... even when you have just eaten.
You love exploring outside.
You love other kids.
You love seeing cars and airplanes and will open your mouth wide, gasp in surprise, and point.
You like to color, and you still sometimes bite the tips off the crayons.
You whine a lot because you can't say what you want.
Words you say: hot (haaaaT), cold (coooh), car (cah), Mama, Dada, ow, up
Words you have said once but never again: stick, doggie, icky
You laugh a lot.
You are ticklish in your arm pits, thighs, neck, and feet.
You still love your binky and will spit out the one you have to replace it with another you see around.
You love getting in the trash, so Mama put it up high where you can't reach it.
You love taking showers with Dada and cry when it's done.
You point to your belly button when asked to.
You like looking at yourself in the mirror, especially when you are naked.
You grunt when you don't want something or don't like what we are doing to him.
You shake your head "no" when you are done eating or don't want something.
You point to the fridge when you are hungry or thirsty.
You recognize when Pandora is loading on the TV and will preemptively dance.
You throw with both your right and left arms.
You clap when you do something well and we say "Good job!"
You are pretty much always making noise.
You get really hyper when playing at something interactive like catch.
You like to throw your cars and other things that you shouldn't throw.
You try to play with the plugs and outlets.
You point at lamps and light switches when you want us to turn on/off the lights or fans.
You points at everything, really.
You have 10 teeth (four on the middle bottom, four on the middle top, two on top sides).
Your torso is disproportionately long to your short legs.
You understand and do a lot of what we say: Take this to Mama; shut the door; come here; let's change your diaper; let's out on your shoes; go get your binky/diaper/shoes/cars; you eat it; put it in the trash; let's go outside; let's go upstairs/downstairs.
You like to share with and feed other people if they show interest in what you are eating.
You like to stuff your mouth with whatever you are eating, gag, and then spit it out.
If you have food in your mouth and are offered another bite, you will spit out what you are eating for the new bite. Mama and Dada have to be patient.
You love Mama's friend Deborah and will crawl up in her lap when she comes over.
You don't like to hold hands when crossing a road.
Whenever you see bits of paper or crumbs or hair on the floor, you bring them to Mama.
If you see Mama's or Dada's glasses off their faces, you try and out them back on for them.
You suck on gum.
You love sugar, but who doesn't?
You are really good at mimicking facial expressions and movements.
You give kisses on the lips, but you have to be in the mood. When you kiss, you raise your eyebrows.
You have a potbelly.
You don't like having bits of food on your hands or mouth and will pick at them until they fall off.
You will sometimes "read" out loud to yourself.
You know which direction your cars are supposed to face while driving except for your firetruck. You get that once confused.
You make a growling noise when you play with your plastic animals.
You know to blow into your plastic flutes and your harmonica, but you can't blow very much air.
You like to play with your magnet board, chalk board, and peg board.
You like to put the different parts in your Mr. Potato Head, but you put them in all the wrong places.
You like to stack cars in Dada's or Mama's open hand, spill them, and then stack them again.
You like everything new and are very curious.
You stare at new people, observe them for awhile before you interact.
You have long eyelashes and red lips.
If we tell you no, you throw a fit by falling to your knees, and with your hands above your head you fall to the floor in your final display of disappointment.
You like to poke at moles like the one on the back of Dada's leg.
You mess up your hair right after we do it.
You like to brush your own hair with a comb or brush.
You sit pretty still while Dada cleans out your ears.
You have a yellow Giraffe pair of squeaky shoes that you love to walk and stomp around the house in.
You will only wear a hat if we act excited about your wearing it and then distract you from thinking about it.
You like to bite and scratch and pinch, especially when you see exposed skin.
You sleep about 9-10 hours a night and take one 2 hour nap a day.
You like to play with Mama's makeup and try to use the makeup brush on your face.
You love chap stick.
You will let Mama and Dada brush your teeth, but only because you know you can suck on the toothbrush afterward.
If you bonk your head, you rub it all over with your hand, but you don't cry.
You sometimes rolls across the carpet just for fun.
When you are hungry, you know to go sit in your high chair seat (with help) and snap the tray in place.

17 months

29 pounds
Teeth: 12

You can curl your tongue. Nate and I can both do this, so I guess it was to be expected.

You will do the motions to the Itsy Bitsy Spider song. 

You don't like having your diaper changed and will try to discourage us. You've been peeing when we take off your dirty diaper and before we can put on your new one. Manipulator.

New words: shoes (shes), cheese (shees), block (bah), hi

When asked, you can point to: nose, eyes, mouth, cheek, tongue, teeth, hair, head, belly, feet, hands, ears, diaper.

When asked, you will: shut a door, bring a clean diaper and wipes, get your cars/balls/sippy cup, throw a ball, roll on the carpet, dance, clean up.

Sampling of things you understand: "Do you want mama/dada to hold you?" "Let's go upstairs/downstairs." "Let's go outside/inside." "Do you want to color?" "Wanna take a bath?" "Are you hungry?" "Do you want milk/water/juice/a shake?" "Quit making messes!" 

When you hurt yourself, you want Mama and Dada to kiss you.

You try to color on things you shouldn't color on - walls, the couch, furniture.

You like pinching skin to get Mama and Dada to say, "Ow!"

You love to eat cooked carrots again!

You will bring your balls to Mama or Dada to throw down the hall so that you can retrieve them... like a dog.

You say "Hi!" to everyone new you see. This is especially awesome when passing aisle after aisle while shopping. "Hi! Hi! Hi!"

You give bumps and high fives (although you've been doing this for awhile... not sure how long.)
Your favorite books are Goodnight Moon and Baby's First Counting Book.
You love when Mama or Dada read the counting book and do all the animal noises. So far, the only sounds you will repeat are the dog's bark and the kitty's meow.

You try to get Mama and Dada angry by doing things you know you shouldn't - play with the blinds, throw your cars, open the DVD tray, unroll the toilet paper, get into the pantry and pull out rice, unplug the box fan, etc. etc. etc

You try to get Mama and Dada to laugh by doing things you know you shouldn't - see above list.

Love: Mom

Big Boy

Max. This kid. His personality is coming out more and more. The other night after we changed his diaper, he insisted that we put his shorts back on him. The thing is... we'd already put on his pajamas, and Max knew this. I mean, they were on him. Still, he insisted.

We took him to the nursery at church for the first time on Sunday. He immediately went to the corner where all the toys were and found two cars. A little boy ran up to Nate wanting to be held. Another boy next to me was bawling because his mom left. I picked him up, and then he vomited down his shirt and tie. Meanwhile, Max was playing contentedly, independently, and quietly. We passed the fussy boys off to the teachers who finally realized we were trying to console kids who weren't ours, and then we slipped out to our own class. We were told that during snack time, Max munched his puffs at the table with the other kids and then put his head down on his hands and fell asleep. That's my boy.

bad dreams; good cake

I have really bad dreams when I'm pregnant. They usually consist of Nate cheating on me, and I wake up angry at him. It's pretty funny actually. On top of bad dreams, I wake up every time I change sleep positions during the night. Sleep for me isn't very restful, and today I was exhausted. I did some grocery shopping and ran some errands despite my fatigue, but I returned home to realize that I had forgotten to buy the main ingredient in what I had planned to make for dinner tonight.

So I whipped up some chicken burritos for dinner and ate two. Boom. And then a marvelous thing happened. I suddenly had energy and the desire to bake! Thank you, burritos. 

Behold. Coconut Cake.

I'm hoping that having something good in my belly might keep my subconscious happy. Worse case scenario, I'll have another bad dream and wake up to breakfast cake.

Attack of the Max

Max attended his first birthday party. My friend's son, Ulysses, turned 2. This was also Max's first time in a bouncy house.

Max is big on dipping.

Like father, like son... computer games.

Like mother, like son... calf raises.

Max will now sit and watch shows that have cars. 

Max's daily shake 

First time on the slide 

Visiting Nate at work

Max missed his mouth big time 

Starting young 

All by himself... 

Big boy shower 

Max's room 

Our favorite face 

you with the sad eyes

A few Saturdays ago, Nate, Max, and I headed down to Provo to run some errands and have lunch. It was a normal day, and Max was content in his car seat. Nate and I were chatting when we heard Max vomit twice. I leaned over my seat to see what was going on when he vomited yet again, and then a final time. I couldn't see his face very well, but he wasn't crying so we drove on to the closest store - KMart. Nate ran inside for a change of clothes and extra wipes. I stayed in the car with Max who looked like this -

  Being confined to a small space with that much cottage cheese and orange vomit was super gross, but I wasn't the one sitting in it. When Nate came, we took the whole car seat out with Max still in it and stripped Max down to his diaper. Countless wipes were used. Poor Max was shivering in his skivvies in the KMart parking lot. Nate and I were dry-heaving and laughing as we hurried to clean up the mess on the car seat and get Max into his new clothes. And being the good parents that we are, we took Max straight to a restaurant and teased him with a lemon. He makes the best sour face. We recorded it.

And that's how we roll.

my ever-growing womb

I should probably mention something about this pregnancy, because it's exciting. New cars and passing bars is exciting, too... but growing a human is out of this world. This human will be named Oliver Martin Dunford. I haven't yet succumbed to the inevitability that he will be called Ollie for short. I'll deal with it when it happens. "What's wrong with Ollie?" you might ask. Ollie's is a bargain store in my hometown, and Ollie is a cartoon old man with a mustache. He looks like Einstein. When I hear Ollie, I think "cheap" and "old man." So little Ollie Dunford will have to forge new paths of association for me.

I'm 22 weeks pregnant. I was sick for much longer this pregnancy that I was with the last. Other than that, it has been similar... which means that I've been tired but sleep less than normal, the veins in my left leg ache, and the baby kicks like crazy. Normal stuff. I've gained 7 pounds which is below average, but I started off with a little (ok, a lot) extra. I'm hoping to even it out a bit so I won't have to work so hard after I expel this creature from my body. Ha! Seriously, growing humans is strange business.

I had an ultrasound on Monday, and Oliver is healthy. He isn't as big as Max was at this point, but he has the same little nose. Oh, man. I love that nose. It's what made me first fall in love with the reality of Max being a real person, and it did the same thing for me this time. I admit that having a second baby wasn't as exciting until I saw that nose. I had some apprehensions about being able to love another kid the way I love Max. Max is seriously cool. And not only am I supposed to love another kid the way I love Max, but this other kid is going to take time away from Max... the one I KNOW I love. This may seem like crazy talk, but I'm now over it. I saw Oliver's nose.

Another exciting idea for both me and Nate is that we will be able to say "our boys." Right now, Max is our token child, our pet, our buddy, our hobby even. With a second child, it becomes more work (and yes, more reward). It also becomes more legit. With just Max, I think of us as a "little family." With "our boys," we can drop the "little." We are a Family. Capital F.

Why? Because he can...

Nate is a monster. I mean that in a good way. The guy studies for and takes tests like nobody I have seen. That's probably because I don't know of anyone else who has taken three bars in a year and passed them all - Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Utah. I particularly like this one because Robert Charles Martin, Esq. is my dad.

Nate has been diligent and focused, and in the end it has paid off. I'll admit that it wasn't the "best of times" for me. While I did get to see a lot of family, I saw little of Nate. That's just a lousy way to live... married, but apart. I would love to say that it's all over, but... Nate is going to do an MBA. He is currently studying for the GMAT in a couple of weeks. We are still deciding when he will start the program (this Fall or next). When he does start, it will commence two years of working full-time while spending his mornings and several evenings studying. But when he is done, he will have the resume and experience to open many doors. Our present situation is actually really great, but Nate and I both agree that he is better suited (pun intended) for business than the law. It makes sense to sacrifice a bit now for an even more enjoyable and comfortable future. Nuff said.

Before and After

We sold our little Honda Civic to Nate's sister, Julie. She and Zach drove down from Idaho to pick it up a few weeks ago. I had mixed feelings about letting it go. I drove that car from Provo to Phoenix to see Nate when we got engaged. That's probably my fondest road trip in the Civic. I was also hit one night while going 73 on I-15. I spun around to face oncoming traffic and had to sneak off the road backwards while cars continued to zoom past me. That's my worst memory in the car. The most bizarre experience was returning from a trip to find my car had been shot by a 9mm. There was a hole through the back left door and into the back of the passenger seat. The cops found the bullet lodged inside the seat somewhere. Ah, memories. Nate and I needed a bigger car to accommodate two car seats comfortably, so we upgraded to a 2013 Toyota Camry SE. My cousin is a manager at a Toyota dealership here and got us an amazing deal. And now, I rarely "let" Nate drive and I run more errands than necessary. Here's to years of long road trips without any accidents or bullets!

The last day with the old car...

 

Nate sent me this pic of our new car because... he bought it while I was gone. In fact, I had to go to a dealership with my mom in Franklin to check out the car and approve the purchase. There's nothing like making big decisions when you are in opposite parts of the country from your spouse!