Ugh, WHY???

As a parent, you are extremely aware of your child's every action and sound. In the back of your mind you worry about teaching them things that aren't necessarily correct. But at least you know to stop doing it and to correct yourself. But really, you've forgotten this was another of your fears: leaving your child around another of the same age.

Have you ever had your child around another child and by the next day, they're behaving like them? Your nightmare is a reality. The other child, although not bad or doing anything wrong, had become a vehicle to your child by way of your own personal crazy train. Habits, noises, anything that's NOT like your child's normal behavior can make you bonkers.

I'm worried because Jonathan was starting to learn how to talk, and now he's throwing his toys and he's making sounds like a canary. I blame myself for allowing him out, but Larry just says not to think about it, that "Jonathan had to eventually discover his noises anyway." Hard to swallow when you're around your baby 24 hours a day with no breaks.

I feel like I'm beating my head against a brick wall. It's like I have a completely different child. And it's my fault for allowing it to happen. I'm sure those of you who know my son would notice very little change which I'm sure is true, but as his mother, it's starting to feel like the end of the world. All I can think of is what Larry said, "If you want him to grow up normally and well-rounded, you can't keep him in the house away from all other children...." Why not? Can't I? I don't want to be a psycho mother, but shoot. I might end up going that way if he picks up anymore things that grind on my nerves.

Birthday Boy

HAPPY 28th BIRTHDAY, LARRY!!

Birthday Time!!

Last Wednesday, we celebrated Larry's 28th birthday. I worked ALL day to get the house clean and believe me, it was a DIVE!!! I couldn't believe I had dinner cooking on the stove before Lars even got home. It was a day of small miracles. It was a good, clean day.

I had no car and no clue what to make for dinner, so I grabbed out what we had: asparagus, red peppers, small red potatoes, turkey meat and a couple packets of brown gravy mix. The veggies were steamed and turned out delish.

My sister-in-law called me from the movie store asking about what movies we had already and and we ultimately decided on WALL*E because I knew we could have a cake made to keep with the theme. (I'm so smart...)
Tres leches and whip cream frosting from Amapolas..... **drool**

The day after, I was eating another piece of the cake and Jonathan is always wanting everything of our plates, so I figured he could try some frosting........he loved it and stained his mouth and hands blue, as well as mine.

Giggle Face!!!!!!

This morning's fun fest... Enjoy!!

Ode to Mothers

My beautiful mother waiting outside

the temple on my wedding day.

"Everything that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."- Abraham Lincoln

"Yea, and they [strippling warriors] did obey every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they had said unto me that their mothers had taught them." Alma 57:21

"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw therefore his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman behold thy son!" St John 19: 26 & 27


I am ever so grateful for mothers. For not, none of us would exist. My adore my mother. Her sacrifices are many for each of her 4 children. Even through her life of turmoil and far more challenges than most will ever endure, she has remained kind-hearted and extremely generous. She is my angel. I love her so very much and wouldn't be the woman I am today without her influence.

I also love my stepmother, Cherie. It took me very many hard years to appreciate the things she has done for me and how she has watched out for me because of the whisperings from my dear mother. (My mother taught me not to hate and punish people for things they had no control over- i.e. Cherie having no control over the divorce between my parents, and many other things like that.) My stepmother has helped my father to be a better man, far more understanding and open than I ever thought or hoped he could be.

I am also so very grateful to my mother-in-law. She has opened her home and her life to us and so willingly provided things for us without even being asked. She is a good woman and it's no surprise why my husband has such a kind heart. Without her help, I don't even know where we'd be. I doubt we'd be living here in California.

There are also many other mothers who have influenced my life:

• Jeannie Douglass- a former co-worker of mine and a dear member of our ward (listening to me complain and being excited for me through my pregnancy and sharing her life happenings with me)
• Vickie Brown- my former boss from Ensign Books (allowing me to vent my frustrations about work, even if it really didn't matter in the large scheme of things and then laughing about all of it by the end of the day)
• Janet Larsen- for reaching out and MAKING me a part of the ward no matter how weird and out-of-touch it felt moving into my husband's home ward
• My young women's leaders down through the years- mostly because of their extreme patience to say the same things that came out of my mother's mouth and help it sound different so it sank in and for welcoming me back to church after a period of inactivity of self-discovery
• Chiemi Larsen- for giving me a much needed job to watch her oldest daughter when I was too scared to get to know my new surroundings and talking with me through the rough beginnings of marriage and constantly encouraging me it would get better (and it has)
• And of course my dear sweet friend Kellie Larsen- I love you very much and I feel like I've found a kindred spirit in you, there are very few people I click with so well and who understand me on a level I personally feel is beyond a casual friendship. You will be a wonderful mother.

I cannot close without a special reverence for Mary the Mother of our Savior. What strength of heart, spirit, and mind she must have had, "the most choice above all women." And a very special note for our Heavenly Mother. Her name is so sacred Father in Heaven has preserved it from the world so it may stay hallowed. She must be the most amazing person. Great will be the day when we shall meet again.

To my other dear friends who are mothers, I love you all. I hope this was a special day for each of you.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

Okay, so a couple days ago we had a scare and brought Jonathan to the hospital. It was a quick trip and we were in and out in less than 3 hours. A MIRACLE!! Right before bath time at around 9pm (he usually bathes earlier but he was teething something fierce), he started to sneeze after Larry opened in the back door and put a fan out to draw the cool air in. I had Larry go change Jonathan and when he brought him back into the TV room, he was really having a fit. Sneeze after sneeze it just kept getting worse. I suggested we give him a warm bath to calm the sneezing with warm vapors from his special nighttime bubble bath, but it just went from bad to worse.

Once he was in the sink, his sneezes became painful and he was screaming. Then he started vomiting mucus, and I really mean it. There was TONS of it! Out his nose and especially out his mouth. My only thought was "Oh God, please help us through this... I don't know if I can handle leaving him in the hospital again." After about 7 minutes of ongoing sneezing and vomiting, I pulled him out of the sink when I thought he would stop for a minute so I could get him dried and dressed to go to the ER.

Jonathan was calm and staring blankly by the time we got him strapped into his seat and on the road. Like I said above, it was a quick wait, we were checked in and waiting our turn very quickly. The times we were in there before ranged from 5-11 hour waits from check-in to check-out. (Some emergency... you're dying but we have paperwork to do. LAME!)

Jonathan was laughing and happy by the time the ER pediatrician came in and had even caught a 20 minute nap. He checked his ears and said it looked like he could possibly have an ear infection and to keep an eye out for ear pulling, (which I always do because teething and ear infections can manifest the same way), then told us to make an appointment some time in the next few days with our normal pediatrician and to stop using Orajel. We were off home in no time at all. It was a blessed relief to have our normal little boy back and have the knowledge nothing was really wrong.

Then last night, after a LONG day of sleeping, sleeping and more sleeping, Jonathan was having a hard time going to sleep because his mouth was hurting so bad, we took him to Rite Aid around 10 pm to get some teething drops and more teething rings to put in the freezer. After that we were on the road to he could sleep. We were going to turn around shortly before Seal Beach, but the exit was closed for construction, so off to Seal Beach we went. Jonathan dropped off shortly before we got to the exit ramp.

When we got home there were a few cockroaches on our house by our white bench. They were so big you could see them from the street right before pulling in to the driveway. As I was walking up the sidewalk staring at the monsters on the house, something very quick and ugly caught my eye by my foot. One has skittered into our flower box. EEK!!!

We blocked the front door with a towel because it doesn't seal on the bottom and went to sleep. It was around 1 am. (Well, I did anyway. I have no idea when Larry came to bed. Talk about opposites. I'm always the one coming in late.)

Then, this morning when Larry was brushing his teeth in the kitchen sink (our bathroom sink is broken), he found a cockroach in the DRAIN!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! I've been picking up and putting things away, washing laundry and organizing drawers to make sure there's none hiding anywhere. AAAAAA! I just get the heebee jeebees thinking about it. I keep thinking I see something everywhere I turn. A mental image from the movie 'Alien' keeps coming to mind....

Cross your fingers that we don't have an infestation. I'm deathly afraid of bugs and spiders. I can't even kill a spider smaller than the size of a pencil eraser... unless I'm worried it will harm Jonathan. UGH! What else is going to happen this week? I'd take ER visits anytime over cockroaches......

Uhhhhh... (I dunno what to put here today)

Jonathan has gotten himself into a crazy rut with his sleep schedule thanks to teething: awake at 4:30 am, back to sleep and awake again at 7, not napping until late in the evening (usually around 4-6 pm). And it's impossible to wake him. Believe me, I have tried repeatedly. And he wakes up and wales if I try to put him down if he catnaps randomly while nursing. Poor kid. Then to bed around 11 pm. I miss the days when he fell asleep around 10 pm and slept till 6 am and went back to sleep until around 10 in the morning. **sigh** Teething is a dirty business. Good thing he's so stinking cute. I'd go absolutely bonkers!!

Moving on, here are some of today's exploits:

I was shocked to see how much Jonathan has grown over the last nearly six months. I have a few pictures I need to find from when he took his first full bath in this tub as a newborn (SOOO teeny!) so I can do a side-by-side comparison. Now he's outgrown it. Once he hits six months in a week or so, I'll get rid of it. It's starting to smell funky, even though I dried it out after every time he used it. It's just so hard to let him grow up!

He LOVES his teething ring. He's figured out how to pick it up and gnaw on it all day when I put him in his high chair. He looked so cute I ran and got the camera and camcorder. (Soon to come: video of adorable teething Jonathan.)

Om nom nom nom!!

After bath time, I put Jonathan in this sleeper. Larry thought it was hilarious and popped his collar. "He looks like Elvis!" Larry said. HAHAHA!! (Excuse the diaper. It was hot, so I was letting some air in on his skin.)



Hi Papi!