A Few Fun Things

Since Riley and I have returned, we've all been trying to do some fun things together as a family. This trip was the longest that Eric and I have been apart since we started dating, and it was..... weird, to say the least. We've been working opposite shifts a lot of the time to cut down on the number of babysitters we need to get, but there is the occasional day (or at least morning) that we both have off.
This happened the other day-- Monday, I think-- and we decided to take Riley to Seven Peaks. It's not one of Eric's favorite places in the world, and as the morning dragged and we still hadn't left the house, I was starting to get miffed. Eric called it a true family outing-- a late start and an upset mom. Ha ha. But we really had a great time. Riley made it what it was; we stayed for 5 1/2 hours, and Eric and I certainly wouldn't have lasted that long on our own! We got a tube and did some of the tamer slides, the wave pool, the lazy river, and of course, the kiddie pool. One of the reasons we stayed as long as we did might have been that Riley kept wanting to go back to the kiddie area, where all Eric and I could do was sit. She did so well at waiting her turn in line for the slide until she realized that with all the line cutters, she was never getting a chance. So she became Head Line Cutter. I probably should have made more of an effort to stop that, but I couldn't really get mad at her for doing what everyone else was doing. I wasn't supposed to go on any of the water slides-- lame-- so I figured I'd just look all offended if a lifeguard told me that pregnant women aren't allowed. (To see me trying to act like I'm not pregnant would have been hilarious!) But no one ever challenged me-- nuts. A good time was had by all, and Riley didn't even pee in the pool-- that we know of. We had one of those disposable water cameras, so if I can ever figure out how to scan pictures, you might see some.

Then, a few days later, we spent the morning up in Cascade Springs. We've taken Riley there every summer since we were dating (this one makes it the third), so it's got the feel of a tradition. I've always loved it there, and it's so fun to go places as a family now that I went to with my family as a kid. Riley loves looking at "fishies" and we were lucky enough to see a deer this time, pretty close up. She was beautiful.

Eric and I were talking about how you change as you're a parent, and how what makes you happy changes. He used this deer as an example. He saw the deer directly ahead of us on the path, only a handful of feet away. He could have kept silent and given himself a rare opportunity of viewing this animal up so close. Instead, he wanted Riley to have the chance to see her, and he called out. Hearing Eric's voice startled the deer, and she booked it up a hill. She was still close enough that Riley could see her, luckily. By giving Riley a chance to enjoy the deer, Eric was cheating himself. It's just interesting how our idea of fun, a good time, and happiness changes when we have kids. Maybe Eric and I are starting to get a hold of that whole "selfless" thing that parents are supposed to be all about.

We're Back!

OK, I'm being lame and not posting again. I've been back from my trip to DC for almost 2 weeks and have been so busy getting back into the swing of things that I haven't had time. Also, I don't have any pictures. Our camera (Eric's camera) is big and scary, with WAY too many buttons and options. I didn't even bother bringing it, knowing I'd just be stressed out about it and never use it. (Lame.) So I'll have to get all my pictures of the trip from Cheryl.

We had a really fantastic time. Riley was so great for me! She did awesome on the flights, and there was always another child being louder/ more annoying than her. My saving grace was the portable DVD player my little bro let me borrow. GENIUS! Also, a family in my ward told me that they go to the dollar store and buy little toys for their kids, and wrap them up like presents to open during the flights. I did that as well, and that was fun. She was great.

We spent the first day just chilling around Cheryl's house- we had got in at midnight and to her house by one, so energy wasn't running high. We metro-ed it into DC the second day and went to the zoo and lunch with Mike, Cheryl's husband. That was fun. The zoo is free out there- how cool is that? Now, if I remember right, the next day was the exciting one. We went shopping in the morning, and to the emergency room in the afternoon! We got the kids home and were sitting them down for lunch-- all four of us were starving. I was talking to Eric on the phone in the living room when I hear a sharp intake of breath from Cheryl in the kitchen. She calmly asks me to come in there. Honestly, I was thinking, "What! I'm talking to my husband who I miss!" Turns out she had mistaken her hand for an avocado pit, and accidentally stabbed it. Pretty deep, too. She obviously needed to go to the hospital, and I swear, my first thought was, "Well, I can't drive that tank out there, we'll need to call an ambulance." They have a Honda Pilot, which really isn't that big- and it's not like I haven't driven my parents Avalanche a bunch- but I was more scared to drive it than about Cheryl's hand. But an ambulance turned out to be impractical, so while Cheryl applied pressure- front and back- I got the kids into the car. Cheryl says I went into "Mom Mode" and handled it all very coolly. Quite frankly, I was impressed that she didn't fall to pieces. Her hand was obviously very painful. So, I didn't kill us on the way to the ER, and then the waiting game started. Honestly, isn't the point of going to the EMERGENCY room that you have an EMERGENCY? After Cheryl had a quick exam from one of the nurses, we cooled our heels for over an hour before she saw the doctor.
Her poor little guy, Zac, was SO tired and hungry, and not used to me enough that he was comfortable with me. I had managed to remember to bring food for him, but he was too upset to find me holding him to eat it. So the poor fellow screamed and screamed almost the whole time. I felt so bad for him. Luckily, Riley was a gem. She had been really good on the trip so far, and she didn't stop that day. She was awesome. Anyway, long story short, Mike got there as soon as he could, which actually was after Zac had passed out from sheer exhaustion, and was able to go in with Cheryl when the doctor finally graced us with his presence. She had an X ray and then some stitches. It was a hard time for all, and I was so pleased to find that I didn't fall to pieces. Maybe I'll be OK being a mom of two.

So that was Friday, the day before Zac's first birthday party. So, maimed hand or not, Cheryl was GOING to be ready for the next day! She was amazing. She and Mike are baseball fans, so they wanted to do a baseball theme. She made this gorgeous cake that looked like a baseball field, complete with graham cracker "dirt", green sprinkle "grass", a marquee saying "Happy Birthday Zac" in the outfield, and little plastic players arranged around the bases. It was a master piece. And since the Ashton's are very, very popular, a cake wouldn't feed everyone. So she made cupcakes, and frosted them with vanilla frosting and red gel stuff to look like base balls. She had Big League Chew to hand out as party favors and everything. Wow. (Martha Stewart has a devoted fan in Cheryl.) I felt bad, because I wanted to help the girl with the gimp hand, but she's Super Woman, and wouldn't accept it. Plus, I had no idea how to do anything, so I had to ask, and she just wanted to do it. Lame. Anyway, the next morning came bright and beautiful... and with a heat advisory... it was 90-something degrees, plus the humidity. Gross. Luckily, it was a pool party! Riley and I had a blast in the kiddie pool, although she did ditch me for some new friends her own age. There was pizza by the pool, and then cake and cupcakes. A very fun party all around.

Sunday we went to church. Cheryl is a teacher in Relief Society, which would terrify me, but she is great. She gave an awesome lesson, and I really felt touched by it. She doesn't get to the front of the room and try to impress anyone- on purpose. More, I was impressed by her admitting her weaknesses and talking about working on them. She was totally real, and that's always impressive. And the funniest thing happened during Sunday School. See, we're potty training Riley- have been for a while. She understands what's going on, but has developed a sort of block to it. It's been rough. But, for some magical reason, she just started doing it there in DC. I still had to ask her almost every time, but she would go and not have accidents. Fantastic! So she made a little friend at the birthday party, Allysa. Allysa is a few months older and going to the potty by herself. I mean, wow. She and Riley were following each other around at the party, so Riley noticed that she went by herself, and wanted to go by herself that night. I let her, and it worked out. So during Sunday School, we go in for a potty break, and she wants to be independent again. I let her go in to the stall by herself, and even let her lock it-- rookie mistake! Sometimes when she goes, she pinches her legs together pretty tightly, causing the flow to pool in the crevices and eventually trickle to the floor if left there. Eric or I have always been there in the past to stop this. Not this time. I'm feeling creepy as I peer between the cracks of the stalls, and I can see her legs closed too tightly together. I frantically issue instructions, "Riley! No! Open your legs a little, just a little! C'mon, Riley!" Nope. I hear her say, "Mommy, some of it is spilling." Hmmm. I hope you're picturing this. Those stalls go pretty low to the ground, so even if I didn't have a massive belly, and even if the floor wasn't now covered with pee, I really don't think I could get under there. I try to turn the lock from the outside- obviously impossible. After about five minutes, I can convince Riley to open the door for me, causing the rest of the urine to splash the the ground. I felt so bad. I cleaned up as best as I could, but if all you've got is paper towels and water, it's not very sanitary. Yum. But at least she went.

Monday was a really fun day. We braved the metro again, and went into DC to go to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It had some awesome "stuffed" animals, but the main attraction for us was the butterfly exhibit. So cool! They have this big area filled with some amazing amount of live butterflies. They fly all around, even landing on you- although you're not supposed to touch them. The big bubble they're in is filled with tons of lush and beautiful plants, and even though it's humid as hades, it's awesome! Riley loved it, and did so well at not touching them. What a sweetheart. Unfortunately, Cheryl's camera was out of batteries that day, so you won't get to see any pictures. Bummer. So that was awesome, and then we had to go home the next day. Sniff.

It was so great to see Cheryl and get to know Mike and Zac a little better. They are such a fun little family, and as always, Cheryl is my sanity. She's always able to make me smile and laugh, and I so enjoy the comfortable feeling we share. I guess when you've had as many crazy and soul bearing experiences as we've had with each other, you never have to have any pretenses again. How refreshing! She's knows it all about me, and I know it all about her- only if you have someone like that in your life can you imagine what that entails. What a blessing!

Here We Come!

Here's my beautiful friend with her snazzy new cut! (Check out those eyes-- aren't they amazing?)

I am so excited! I get to fly to Washington DC to visit my dearest and best friend Cheryl in only a few days! Riley and I head out next Tuesday, sans Eric, to stay with Cheryl and her hubby and son for a week. Although I'm more than a bit nervous for the flight with Riley, I am SO excited to see Cheryl. We'll get to be there for her son, Zac's, first birthday, which is just an added bonus! We have been friends for years- since junior high- and have lived on opposite sides of the country for the past five, so we don't see each other nearly enough. Frequent phone calls, the Internet, and far too few visits have helped us stay close-- she keeps me sane. So, hopefully, I'll come back and more calm and peaceful person. I've got a lot of pent up rage, and Cheryl helps me work though things.

So, if you have any suggestions about where to go or what to do in DC, send 'em my way! I'd be happy to sit on her couch and talk to her for a week straight, but I doubt either Riley or Zac (not to mention her husband, Mike) would be wild about watching that. Also, if anyone has any tips for keeping a crazy toddler entertained on a plane, PLEASE pass those on!

My Tudor Craze!

It all started with the random thought that I'd like to see the movie "The Other Boleyn Girl" with Scarlett Johansen and Natalie Portman. But it's not out to rent yet. So I tried to get the book from the library- it, of course, is checked out. (I'm #12 on the hold list.) While looking for it, I saw other books by the same author, Phillipa Gregory. I decided to give "The Constant Princess" a whirl, just for kicks. It's a fictional account of the life of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. I actually really enjoyed it! So then I read "Mary, Bloody Mary", a fictional version of the life of "Bloody" Queen Mary, Catherine's daughter with Henry. So this is getting me all interested in the Tudors (and not because I've ever watched that trashy HBO show- I think it looks skeezy). Now I've moved on to biographies to try to gain some information that might be close to the truth. I've got my paws on Catherine's, and then will probably move on to Anne Boleyn, the second wife, who Henry had accused of infidelity and incest, and then beheaded. Incidentally, she's also the mother of Queen Elizabeth I, who I find fascinating. I think I'll make my way though the wives before moving onto their children-- namely Mary and Elizabeth, the only ones to grow into adulthood. If anyone knows of any books that are interesting and well written about these people, please pass them on.



This is an actual portrait painted of Catherine in 1503 when she was 19, by Michiel Sittow.




Call me a nerd if you want, but I find all these people intriguing. Catherine was born Catalina of Spain, daughter of the great monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. She was betrothed to Henry VII's older son Aurthur when she was only 2 years old! She married him at age 15, but he died within months. She lived in England for 7 years, a bargaining chip for both her father and Henry VII, before they finally arranged her marriage to Aurthur's younger brother and heir to the throne, Henry VIII. What a chain of events that set off! I'm all excited about it!

It's Been A While...

What a slacker I am! I haven't posted almost all month- not too much has happened that's blog worthy, but to all my faithful readers (all three of you), I apologize.

I have had a WONDERFUL past few days-- so wonderful that I felt they needed to be preserved on the web. Eric and I both arranged to have Memorial Day and Tuesday off, hoping to go camping or something. The horrible weather prevented it, so we were left to amuse ourselves... indoors. We went to the aquarium in Sandy for part of the day, which was a lot of fun. Riley loves the animals, but even they weren't enough of a pull to keep her attention for extremely long. We went to Eric's mom's house for dinner that night- delicious steaks!- and Eric and I got to watch a movie together after Riley went to sleep. Tuesday is a pre school day for Riley, so after we dropped her there at 11, we headed off to Home Depot to furnish our garden with flowers. We've done quite a bit in our backyard, but mostly in the form of beans, pumpkins, herbs, strawberries, etc. It's satisfying, but not aesthetically so. We need flowers. Novices that we are, we spent a good two hours wandering around the outdoor nursery making our plans. We finally selected what I feel is an excellent mix of beauties. I don't know most of the names, but once we get them blooming, I'll post a picture. I do know we have salvia, poppies, Asiatic lilies, and some nice desert grass. Beautiful-- aesthetically pleasing. After dropping a wad of cash at HD, we took our loot home and went to lunch at the Red Robin. I love that place! Most of you know me as a massive carnivore, always ready for more meat. Alas, this pregnancy is leaving me wanting less meat and more fruit (thankfully, this doesn't seem to apply to steaks, although I do eat smaller portions). Not a bad development, but sad for me. I normally get the Royal Burger- the nice juicy burger topped with a fried egg. Love it. But that's not working for me lately, so I got an equally tasty seafood pasta dish. Also love it. It's been a while since we've been out to lunch not at Wendy's, so this was really nice. Eating without having to urge Riley to eat or reprimanding her for throwing food, etc. is always a welcome change. After lunch, we went on to Lowe's- HD didn't have a satisfactory watering can or the Asiatic lilies we wanted- and then home to plant. It was early afternoon by this point, and not an overly hot day, so it was pleasant to work outside. Eric and I both figured out that our dislike of gardening surely comes from our childhoods, where our parents had us weed and pick up their pruning clippings, and called that gardening. We're finding- especially Eric!- that it's a lot of fun to make plans and carry them out. I still don't care for weeding, but what can you do? So anyway, we got Riley from school, fed her dinner, and then picked up her first ever non family member babysitter. My mom had given us movie tickets, and I figured it was high time that she had a hired sitter. We asked a girl from our ward, and she did a great job. We went with my parents to see the new Indiana Jones movie- not bad. Not a classic, but who was expecting that? It was cheesy and fun, which I'm pretty sure is what they were going for. We got home after the movie to find Riley sound asleep. What a perfect day! (I don't mean it was perfect because I hardly saw Riley, but she's been kind of... hard to handle lately, and this was a most needed break.)

Thanks to my great husband. I love you for lots of different reasons, but I most of all love you for being such a good friend to me. I love how much fun we can have together. Thanks, babe!

Nothing Worse...

There isn't anything worse than finishing up on the toilet and knowing that you still have to pee. I go through this each time. "Having to go" is a constant state with me, so I try to hold it as much as possible, to make each trip as productive as I can. (Also, the bathroom at my work is on a different floor, so that's no fun.) But even so, every time I finish, I STILL have to go. Not urgently, not even enough to get anything out, but enough to make me feel it. I just thought I'd let you all know.

It's A Girl!

So Eric and I found out that our budding baby is, in fact, a budding baby girl! I've been meaning to find a way to scan the ultrasound picture into the computer so I could show all of you. Not having a scanner is making that kind of a daunting project. So, "Screw it!", I said, and am posting about it sans picture. (Like anyone can tell what those pictures show, anyway. Eric claims he can- yeah right.)

The ultrasound lady was pretty positive about the gender, so we've started to think about names. (I shouldn't say "started"- I've been thinking about names since long before I was pregnant.) We're almost set on Iris for a first name, and are debating between three or four middle names. At least I'm debating- mentally. Eric doesn't seem to feel the same sense of urgency to have it settled as I do. Wonder why?

The ultrasound lady also said that my due date of Sept. 15 was a little off. She estimated that it should be closer to the 22, but since that isn't 10 days from my original date, they wouldn't officially change it. Strange, but oh well. At least it's later rather than earlier. I have a friend whose date should have been NINE days earlier than the original estimation, and because it wasn't the full 10 days, they didn't officially change it. So, when her unofficial due date came, she wanted to be induced, but her doc wouldn't do it "so far away from her due date"! What?! I would have been so mad. So she had to wait the nine days for her incorrect/ original date to come around before they would schedule an induction. Lame. I don't want to be induced anyways, and like I said, my new estimated date is later rather than earlier, but still. Totally lame.

Anyway, if anyone has a good idea for a middle name to go with Iris that they wouldn't kill me for using, please suggest it. We'll add it to the pool. (Not that the name matters much- I'm sure she'll be known as "Harvey" the same way Riley is known as "Moe"- see Eric.)