Saturday, April 26, 2014

The Good Life: A Journal-y Post

There has never been a time that Sterling and I haven't commented during our conversation that we have such a good life. We have been lucky and blessed with so many things. Then I watch a Call the Midwife episode and bawl my eyes out for an hour and get all sappy on my blog about how wonderful my life is. Because it is wonderful. And I'm still in a sappy enough mood to share that deep, deep feeling of gratitude for my incredible husband and beautiful kids. I truly love. My life. My family.

The other night Sterling and I met up with my brothers Wyatt and Ethan and their spouses Lindsay Ann and Kourtney and my mom at the temple. It was beautiful. I looked at Wyatt and Ethan and Sterling sitting in a row and thought of times when they have sat around mom's kitchen table and laughed at some ridiculous little boy joke. Where Wyatt keeps laughing and turns red and Ethan tries to act cool and keeps laughing despite himself and Sterling is thoroughly enjoying himself. I thought of how much I love having Lindsay Ann as a sister-in-law and how much I'm sad that Kourtney and Ethan are off to Texas and then we're off to Miami--hopefully we meet up somewhere and get to know each other much better. But we were all in the temple. It felt so amazing. I am so thankful for those opportunities.

Then we had to stop for pie and hash browns. It's become a family tradition (its happened twice). Last time Lindsay Ann and dad got sides of hash browns with their pie after the temple. This time I was ravenous (pregnancy) and got hash browns and sausages. Wyatt and Lindsay Ann rock-paper-scissored for type of hash browns, cut or shredded, and since Wyatt lost they got both kinds. It was hilarious. 

That reminds me of last week when we tried going to the temple. There was a series of unfortunate events. Kourtney was sick. My sister lost her temple recommend. Others were running late. Sterling and I made the most of our babysitter and went out to this AMAZING restaurant that my parents had previously recommended (Mount Ogden Grill. It's right by our house. Their mediterranean menu is out of this world and they are super reasonably priced. Here's my plug for Ogden's small businesses!). I tried baclava for the very first time. I crave it regularly now. Words cannot describe. Then we all decided to head to my sister Megan's house and play games. My sister Megan had worked a 24 hour shift and then stayed up all day doing things, because she is crazy like that. In her over-tired state she was easily amused. There was a lot of laughter, which, in her case, led to crying. Which made us laugh harder. We played a game called Timeline, which is not my cup of tea, but very educational and extremely fun with the right company. At one point during a deep Adam and Eve theological discussion Megan goes (while laughing and crying and holding her head) "Oh my little brain! It's steaming!" Everyone was laughing. Such a fun night. I am so glad my family has made such a big effort to fit things in before we move! Also fun that Danica and Myles joined in. I remember being the teenager of the 'married couples' party. So weird that I am a married couple and my nieces and nephews are old enough to be the teenagers! (Another hilarious point was Myles and Sterling telling each other chemistry puns and jokes. Like the the atom missing an electron and then claiming it was 'positive'. I loved it.)

So after the hash browns and pie night we had a long drive home. The next morning was an early morning (although thanks to Myles breaking his finger I didn't have to get up QUITE as early to teach piano) and so this morning Sterling let me sleep in. 

He also went and got me doughnuts. He said it was ok if we paid to get his haircut so I didn't have to clean the kitchen afterwards. He took me to See's to get my free chocolates (that we've had forever and never used) and as luck would have it Pretzelmaker was giving out free pretzels! It made a perfect lunch date and it was fun to watch everyone at the mall watching Will toddle around. People watching is fun. People watching other people watch your child is even more fun. Especially when you enjoy his wobbly toddling so much. 

On our way out of the mall Sterling saw me glance at a bag and he told me I should look at it. I only did because I know I'll need a bigger diaper bag when baby #3 gets here (I use a half-size one that straps over my shoulder, I hate bulky things) and I want a backpack, not a shoulder strap, because I hate it falling off all the time. I was in love with it. But then my genes kicked in. I am my mother, sometimes. Indecision is inherited. Maybe it was too colorful? Maybe it didn't have the right amount of pockets to make it worthy of diaper bag material? Maybe I should do more research to see if I really wanted that kind? Maybe…but Sterling knows me really well. After all, one bag can't be everything--however much my mother and I want one thing for everything. He reassured me that I loved the bright colors(even if the birds are a little…trendy). That it was cheaper than anything I'd find (true story, the ones I've pinned on pinterest are all over 80 bucks and this one was 20) and that if I needed, I could pick two. HAHAA. I didn't pick two. Sometimes I love that he knows me so well. I really do love the bag. A lot. We also found GREEN Puma shoes for Will. He has a thing for green shoes. Just like Ruthie has a thing for purple shoes. And maybe I slightly love dressing them that way. It was the greatest. Can I just say how much I LOVE that Ogden has a Burlington Coat Factory?!?! 
Ruthie's original purple shoes. (she looks so tiny here, how is my baby getting so big?!?)
Then her purple converse.
Now she has purple Nike's.
His first green shoes. That everyone always commented on and loved. I am so sad they are outgrown. I need to glue them together for the next boy. Also, this picture makes me sad that my chubby baby is gone. He has slimmed down SO much lately!
See those shoes? Can't mess with tradition. So we got some green Pumas. Because if they're green and they're Puma, you really can't beat it.

After that we went to Kangaroo Zoo, because we had a coupon, and it was pouring rain, and neither of us felt like doing anything but hanging out. It was perfect. Last time (over a year ago, with our good friends Adam and Aleesha) we took Ruth she was only big enough for a few things. This time I was amazed at how brave she was and what an incredible climber she was! There was one super tall slide that she climbed up REALLY. SLOWLY. I kept thinking she'd get scared and I'd have to go up and bring her down, but she kept going and afterwards went on that slide over and over. 




Will had just woken up from falling asleep in the van. He was very unsure of everything. Haha.




Ruth really didn't like the lion's teeth at the entrance of this one. 
And this one. I think that's why she crouched down so small. 


The REALLY BIG slide!!!!



I put this picture in because Will is the huggiest little boy and I just love it. He gives hugs all the time to everyone and it is so sweet. 

It was a perfect day. Sigh. 
 If you'd like to see a video of Will walking, you can click here: https://vimeo.com/93045947 or paste it into your address bar. 

1 comment:

kami said...

Oh, I love his green shoes too! I feel so cool because I'm speaking into my new slate to leave you this message.