So sad!

Apparently there is a bout of depression going on among Evan's toys. He keeps telling us his trains, his scooter, his dinner plate, are "so sad." Then he gives said toy or dinner item a hug and says, "Train's okay, mommy." (or scooter, plate, etc.)

Speaking of Evan, here's a picture I plan to blackmail him with later:

He's wearing my apron because he was "helping" do the dishes.

And now, of course, I have to include a picture of Caleb:

And one of all my boys:

Get your fingers out of your mouth!

This video is, in my unbiased opinion, hilarious. Caleb had been laughing as he watched Evan jumping on the bed, so I tried to catch it on video. So of course he stopped laughing. But I did catch a funny moment with Evan. I've been telling Evan to take his fingers/hand out of his mouth a lot lately, and he felt the need to pass on this piece of advice.

Bad Blogger!

So....It has been way too long since I posted anything. I am a bad blogger. Sorry. It has, however, been fun to hear from so many of you, especially those of you we haven't heard from in a while! I also appreciate all the recipe recommendations. I am hoping we'll get it together enough to try some of them soon.

I started back at work this week. It's been going pretty well. Things are somewhat slow in the litigation department, so I spent the first two days with absolutely nothing to do. Now I do have some work but am not super-busy, which is nice. Evan and Caleb have been doing really well with Julie. Evan is thrilled to get to go play at Colby's house so often and Caleb has even started taking long naps there. It's so nice to have such a wonderful childcare situation.

Caleb has started sitting up on his own for very short periods, mostly when he doesn't rally realize he's doing it. If I try to make him do it in a more obvious way, he won't. He continues to be very smiley and to laugh a lot, especially at Evan. All the women at church are enchanted with him because he flirts with them so much. He spends short periods of time in his Exersaucer these days, but also still loves his floor gym and his mobile. (He will happily watch and talk to his mobile for as long as 30 minutes!) He's just a great baby, though his nighttime sleeping still leave something to be desired. Still, it's not horrible, and any deficiencies there he makes up for by being so happy during the day.

Evan continues to be as busy and entertaining as ever. I have a really entertaining video clip of him I'm going to post soon. Of course, funny stories of Evan abound, but I will only take up your time with two of them. Evan has taken to pretending to talk on the phone a lot lately (of course, sometimes the "phone" is the underarm thermometer), and the other day when I asked him who he was talking to, I heard him say, "Hi, Clifford!" (He's an enthusiastic viewer of Clifford, The Big Red Dog on PBS.) And last week Michelle sent Evan a beautiful train she had embroidered (is it embroidery, Michelle?) with his name on it. It arrived in a big cardboard box, and when I told Evan that Aunt Michelle had sent him a present, he was very excited. I asked him what he thought was inside and he said, "Um....it's meatloaf!" (We were having meatloaf for dinner.) Me: "It's meatloaf?!" Evan: "No!" Me: "Then what do you think is inside?" Evan: "It's a train!" He was very distressed, though, when we opened the box and discovered that the bubble-wrapped package inside was not the right size or shape for a train. While I removed the bubble wrap (no easy feat), he kept pulling the packing paper out of the back and saying, "Where's the train?" He was much happier, though, once he saw that he had received a picture of a train, said, "I want it" and proceeded to walk around the house with it for awhile.

Well, that's enough from me for now. I will endeavor to post more often, and will definitely try to post some pictures in the next couple of days. (I hope people are still checking for new posts....)

Requesting Your Help

It is with no small amount of dread that I prepare to return to work full-time in two-and-a-half weeks. One of the ways we plan to cope with the severe time crunch that will result is to make and freeze a lot of meals in advance, so that most nights dinner is quick and easy to prepare. If any of you dear friends and family have any recipes that freeze well or any general tips or advice on freezing meals, I would be eternally grateful if you would share them. Thank you oh so much.

My Little Parrot

Evan has apparently learned the slang meaning of the word awesome. All day Sunday he kept saying, "It's awesome, mommy!" Then yesterday he kept showing me the "awesome" trains he had built. It's really very funny.

Also, yesterday Evan took his bus and some of his cars to his room and closed the door. Then he came back to the family room and informed me, "I put bus in time out, Mommy. I put cars in time out." It was hillarious! You'd think we put him in time out all the time, but really it's not even a daily occurrence. Of course that's not the only language/behavior Evan has started to parrot lately. He's started to end a lot of his sentences with "okay," as in "You stay here, okay?" and such. This morning when I was putting Caleb down for his nap, Evan kept yelling from the kitchen, "Mommy, come back here right now!" Yeah, I wonder where he got that one... One of my less favorite new sayings is "Gimme [insert type of food or toy]!" For a couple of days I corrected him ("We say, can I have that please") and wondered where he learned such a bratty way of asking for things. Then I heard myself say, "Evan, give me that [insert forbidden item]!" and no longer had to wonder.

I can add...

But apparently I can't subtract. Ten years ago I was actually about to turn 17, not 18, and it was my most fun year of high school. Just pretend the first part of the next post says 11 years ago, not 10.

Tagged

I've been tagged by my darling sister Kara, so here goes:

10 years ago... Ten years ago I was about to turn 18 and was finishing my senior year of high school. (Yes, I am that old.) I was between friend groups that year (it's a long story) and so it wasn't my best year. Right around this time of year then I was sending in my college applications, working hard in my four AP classes, and wishing my high school didn't have a practical arts requirement so that I could have 6th period off-roll.

5 Things on my To-Do List Today...Well, seeing as how it's Sunday and late, I will give my list for tomorrow. 1. Call the doctor about Evan's digestive issue. (I'll spare you the details.) 2. Laundry. 3. Dishes. 4. Send some work-related emails. 5. Play with my kids.

5 Snacks I Enjoy...1. Home-baked goods of all varieities (cookies, brownies, cake, etc.). 2. Ice cream. 3. French fries. 4. Cheesecake Factory's Brownie Sundae Cheesecake. 5. Stacy's Pita Chips.

5 Places I Have Lived... 1. Provo, Utah (twice). 2. San Diego, CA (Mira Mesa, Penasquitos, Poway). 3. Madrid, Spain. 4. Mexico City, Mexico. 5. Boston, MA

5 Jobs I've Had... 1. Mom 2. Lawyer 3. Research Assistant 4. Teaching Assistant 5. childcare provider

5 Things People Don't Know About Me...These are really random. 1. When I was a freshman/sophomore in high school, I kind of wanted to be an actress and actually tried out for a school play. I was not (and am not) good. 2. I can't stand the feel of paper towels and certain types of fabrics unless my skin is really well moisturized. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard. 3. I was just the guest host for Jessie's book club and wrote an a review (of sorts) of Chaim Potok's My Name Is Asher Lev that is posted on her blog. 4. If I had it all to do over again, I might decide to become a midwife rather than go to law school. 5. When I was in highschool, I went on a date (of sorts) with a firefighter who one of my friends had just met randomly somewhere.

Now I tag: Jessie (though I think her blog may be a bit above this sort of thing...), Michelle (post on Facebook or in Comments), and Kathleen (for when she starts her blog).