Michael's Birthday

What a day. I had hoped to take Michael to the free movie at the library. It would have been his first movie in a theater. But he decided he would rather stay home and play with Ana (who was going to play with Faith while he and I went to the movie). I was hoping to convince him, and even asked Sadie to go with us. But when it was time to eat lunch before we went, Michael informed me that he was going to "eat reeeaaaallly slooooooow" so that we wouldn't make it in time. What a stinker. So yes, we ended up staying home and watching The Incredibles instead.

It rained almost all day. Michael was only able to spend about five minutes outside riding his new bike. He loves it. I just wish the rain would stop so he could enjoy it more.

Later, Jeff and I took him to see Up in the real movie theater. Jeff wanted to see it anyway, so it was a good opportunity to take Michael somewhere special for his birthday. It probably was a bad idea. He was kind of ornery and insisted that he get chocolate milk to drink. Ever seen chocolate milk in a movie theater? Me neither. So he wasn't happy that I got him lemonade instead. Then he had to go potty. Then he wouldn't sit next to us. He wanted to sit all by himself (one empty seat between him and anyone else). Then, when the house flew through a nasty thunderstorm, he bolted over on top of my lap and started asking questions. What's happening? Why is there rain? Is he hurt? Did they fall down? The questions didn't stop until the movie was over. Well, there was a short reprieve when he loudly announced that he needed to go poop. Ah, the discretion of a four-year-old.

All in all, it was an interesting day. He said he had a good day and that he had fun. And when he said his prayers last night, he said, "Thanks that we could go to a movie," so it must not have been all bad, right? We'll just remember not to take him to another movie for at least three more years.

Some Updates

I haven't been blogging much lately. I've been reading all of your blogs, just not writing any of my own. So here's what's been going on....

• Our desktop computer died. Completely. It won't even boot up. Jeff is currently working on this problem, trying to recover the photos and other documents from the hard drive, but so far, it isn't looking good. Jeff is looking good, but the possibility of getting that stuff back isn't. Fortunately, Jeff saved most of our photos to CD or to the laptop a few weeks ago. So the only stuff that might be potentially lost are the photos from the last month or so, and a lot of documents that I used for Primary stuff.
• Speaking of Primary stuff, I will soon be released from that calling. I told the bishop we were selling our house, and that we would be moving. He has since told me that he has called a new president, and is just waiting on her to choose counselors. Any week now. I was hoping to be released LAST Sunday so that I wouldn't have to go to ward council this Sunday. But no such luck. I will have at least one more 7 am meeting.
• And speaking of selling the house, it is not yet listed. We had the slow laundry drain flushed, the spiders sprayed, and the carpets cleaned in the last few days. Tomorrow I will set up an appointment with the Realtor, and we'll see what happens.
• The pregnancy is going well. I had another doctor appointment today, and I have to say that after seeing what is identifiable as a baby on the ultrasound, I am much more excited. Little amoebas just don't do it for me. Especially when they make me so tired that I fall asleep at work (true story). In five weeks, we will go in for our big ultrasound and find out if it's a boy or a girl. Michael wants another sister. He refers to the baby as a "she," and he told me today that he wants to name her Shinzing. We'll file that one to the bottom of the stack of possibilities.
• Faith now knows her head, belly, feet, and is learning her nose. She is teething, and it has not been pleasant for anyone. She has four molars coming in, only one of which has broken the surface. She also bit the tip off of both of her sippy cups, so we bought her new ones with hard plastic tips. She LOVES them. I don't even think she's thirsty most of the time. She just wants to drink out of her cup. It probably helps that they look just like the cup Michael drinks out of. She thinks she's so big.
• Well, she IS so big. She came in at the 75th percentile for weight at her last doctor appointment, and she was the 50th percentile the visit before that; so she is not only gaining weight, but gaining on the curve.
• Michael is very excited for his birthday tomorrow. He will finally get his new bike and his new helmet. I'm planning to take him to his first movie (the library is showing Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa at noon, and it's free). But when I asked him today if he wanted to go, he said no, he wanted to stay home and play with Faith. So we'll see. And I'm going to make cupcakes tomorrow, now that the carpets are dry and the living room furniture is out of the kitchen. Michael says he's going to eat cake. Tomorrow is really a practice cake. Hopefully, he'll eat cake on Saturday when we have the family over for cake and ice cream. He still insists he doesn't like ice cream.

Attack of the Chocolate Pudding

I think she likes it. What do you think?

Some Firsts for Michael

1. Michael gave his first talk in Primary on Sunday. He did so well. I was worried that he wouldn't speak in front of the other kids, so we went down to the church during the week and practiced getting up and standing at the pulpit and speaking into the microphone without touching it. And he did awesome. I had to tell him what to say (of course), but he spoke loudly enough for the kids to hear him, and he wasn't nervous at all. In fact, when we got into sacrament meeting, he asked if he could go up to the stand and give his talk in there, too.

2. Michael sang Happy Birthday to my dad on Sunday. This made me laugh, because I had told him, "Say, 'Happy Birthday, Grandpa!'" But then he just started singing the song over the phone. It was cute. Hopefully, Dad enjoyed it.

3. Michael had his first "real" haircut yesterday. I needed my hair trimmed, and so did he. But I'm really not good at cutting his hair, so I took him with me. I thought he would wiggle too much and be too shy to say anything to the stylist. But I was wrong. He talked her ear off. He told her all about his sister Faith, and his friends Dagobenz, Nugov, Dugov, and Zach (three of which are imaginary - can you guess which ones?), and how he's four and on his birthday he will be four and a half, and he's going to get a bike. I think the stylist was amused. When she offered him a sucker at the end, though, he refused. He likes suckers, but he told the stylist that he was "going to get some root beer from Macey's for my treat." That was the bribe for letting her cut his hair.

4. Michael has finally learned to ride a bike using the pedals (although he calls them puddles) instead of pushing himself around. We've been telling him that if he could learn to use the pedals, we would get him a bike for his birthday. So we went to WalMart the other day and he picked out his bike. We haven't bought it yet, though. Kind of hard to explain to a soon-to-be four-and-a-half-year-old why he can't ride his new bike yet.

The Habit I Wish I Could Break

What is it with the 4 o'clock in the morning hour? For some reason, I can NEVER sleep through it. Every morning, I wake up sometime during that hour, and I lie there wondering why. By the time I fall back to sleep (usually around 5:30 or 6:00), it's almost time to get up again. Is this hereditary? I know Mom says she usually wakes up around then, too. In any case, it's annoying.

Life Lessons

Some are learned the hard way, others, not so hard

• Snorting while you have raspberries in your mouth never results in a pleasant experience (this one was actually Michael's lesson today).
• Whoever said, "Love means never having to say you're sorry," never had a real relationship.
• No matter how carefully and attentively you watch your children, at some point they will fall down the stairs, draw on the walls and/or floor, and get outside without you knowing about it.
• Putting your hair in a ponytail is not the same as taking a shower.
• Your husband will never have the same idea of "clean" as you do. Never.
• You should thank him for cleaning anyway.
• Sometimes, taking a nap is more productive than cleaning the house.
  
• You get what you pay for.
• Whoever said, "There is no sting in death," never lost a child.
• Maybe they did. If they did, they are a lot stronger than I am.
• When your three-year-old is having a meltdown, a hug is more effective than a time-out.
• Don't mess with nap time.
• No matter how much you hate the mess she makes, you have to let the one-year-old feed herself.

• When your husband says you're beautiful, don't argue.
• He really does think you're beautiful.
• But he probably wishes your hair wasn't always in a ponytail.

Happy Mothers Day

Yesterday after church we went up to Huntsville for dinner at my grandparents' house. My parents were there, as well as Callie and Gary. It was nice. When we left, I told Michael to give my grandma a hug and to tell her Happy Mothers Day. He did, which was really sweet. But then he proceeded to give everyone hugs and tell everyone Happy Mothers Day, including Grandpa, Uncle Scott, Paul, Sadie, etc.

Michael sang in his first Mothers Day sacrament meeting, too. I was worried that he wouldn't even go up on the stage with the other kids, but he did. And he actually sang! Some of the words, anyway. It was cute.

Mothers Day was nice. Jeff tried really hard to make it a fun day, and to do most of the work so I could enjoy the kids rather than have to take care of the kids. So thanks, Sweetie! I'll try to return the favor on Fathers Day!