thanks to mysterious bib giver

To the mysterious person who mailed Ila a Dr. Seuss bib with sleeves, thank you! She wore it while she ate her cake.

ode to Ila, on her birthday

lint, she eats it
nails, she has them
shoes, she loses them
showers, she hates them

the scary vacuum
haunts her dreams
she is sad.
alas.

her favorite thing
climbing on mom
she loves it.
squeals.

the boo girl
she so cute
we love her
happy first birthday!

a visit to work

Ila and I surprised David earlier this week by showing up at his work. I haven't been to his office since before school started last year, like 1.5 years ago. 

It was a cold, windy evening. Ila and I (let me pause and say, it is weird to use this phrase "Ila and I" all the time. It's like a tongue twister) tried to get to David's building walking via stroller. I had to look up where his building was on a map. I somehow managed to come to a dead end (for strollers) as I chose the path that ended in stairs. So we went another way and finally made it.

Ila wore her R2D2 hat, which rocks. David didn't seemed surprised at all, which is weird, since I haven't been there forever! And I've never seen it with actual stuff in it. I last saw it when it was empty.

Look at the scrawl on the white board. He must not have been faking it all this time, I guess he's an econ professor after all.

Ila pushed a few keyboard buttons, but hopefully didn't mess up his spreadsheet.

The end.

shoes

Today, Ila and I we went to the store, one I've never shopped at before. Though I did go there a couple weeks ago to pick up santa suits for the run. (By the way, those suits were in tatters by the end of the race! Mine tore along the inseam before we even got in the car to drive to the race and had to be safety pinned.)

We lost Ila's shoes. If I'd been paying attention and not talking on the phone, I would have noticed Ila pulling off her shoes and dropping them in the middle of isle 3 (the one with the chocolate oranges, which are very important. Did you know that I had already checked 2 stores and they weren't there? I thought everyone had them...but no.)

Sadness followed, and a hasty goodbye to phone friend.

Then I ran back (with the cart) to where I suspected she had lost them. I looked everywhere we had gone, and finally made it back to isle 3 where I'd first discovered them missing. If I had only turned around and looked behind me, I would have seen them on the floor at the other end of the isle. But instead I got to run circles around the store. Oh well. At least I found them. They are Ila's only pair of shoes, after all. Though they are more "bootie"-like. I'm postponing buying real shoes until she starts walking.

By the way, David's least favorite christmas song is the one about the shoes. You know. The shoe song. Just so you know.

Cloth Diapers

So I just realized I have never posted anything about cloth diapers. I've been using them on Ila for 6 months now, and they are great. I've been working on the same box of 200 disposables all that time. I put a disposable diaper on Ila when we will be gone for more than a couple hours, like church or at family stuff. It works.

I use Clotheez prefolds and Thirsties covers, from this website that is so informative and helpful. (I also bought a diaper sprayer on amazon, which is very essential for easy cleaning and long term cloth diapering). I spent a while looking at the info when I was pregnant, but then didn't end up buying diapers for a few months until life settled down. Also, Ila had a rash so I decided to try cloth at that time for that reason (and it helped so much. Her rashes are only ever very mild when using cloth-nothing like the evil and nasty red thing she had before).
I bought the covers new, and about half the diapers new. The used ones I got on diaperswappers.com, where they have a forum with lots of categories depending on the diaper style. I also got some hemp doublers on it so we have extra protection at night. You can also post there and ask questions, or look through the archives since people post issues/questions of all kinds there related to cloth (and parenting in general).

I do feel like I am saving money, since I've gotten past the point where they paid for themselves (by not buying so many disposables). The covers will need to be replaced eventually since the lining wears down, but the diapers last forever. The covers/diapers match about size 3 diaper which she was nearly at when I bought the dipes, so she might need a bigger size someday. Which is fine with me, but I know there are some one-size covers and all-in-ones out there that adjust to fit various sizes by folding/snapping.

Anyway, that's my secret. Or not so much now, but if you happen to notice some colorful diaper cover in a picture of her, that's because she uses cloth!

Halloween costumes

So I sort of forgot I had a blog the last couple months. Whoops.

Here we are on Halloween:

You can't see it well, but David is Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I didn't quite have the look to pull off Drusilla. And yes I know I could have gotten a wig. But I didn't. Oh well. I could do Tinkerbell though.

So I'm dressed up like Princess Leah's grandmother, and Ila is Princess Leah herself.

We are acute.

Report on David's Half

So I just realized I never posted after David's half-marathon.

Here he is, after getting home:

Ila stole his finishers medal, naturally.

He did good. But he didn't stretch, and limped for several days. Scold scold! I want to say his time was like 2:30 or something. DH can comment with his real time. He's going to do another in the spring.

Santa Run

David and I ran in a 5K on December 1st. Ila came too. The great part is that for the race we all had to wear a santa suit! (Except Ila got away with just a hat and beard). I'm including the pictures we took in this post too.

 Ila is the cutest. She kept the hat/beard on the whole time! We were impressed.

My sister pointed out that facial hair does not cover the nose. Yes, I am aware of that. But having never worn a beard in my life, and pulling it on seconds before the flash went off, I ended it up doing it wrong! Whoops. Oh well. Hope you get a laugh.

This was the first race I've ran since my half-marathon last June, and only the third time I've run at all since then. My running habit has converted into stationary bike, which has been more flexible with a baby around. But I finished in 36 minutes, which isn't too bad for hardly running at all, and David did 31 minutes. We're rockin.

for kt. :)

David's half

David is running the Provo halloween half marathon a week from saturday. His first race. Woot!

Next year I think he'll do a marathon. He has taken to running pretty well, for all his protesting in previous years. One day last spring he came home and suddenly said he thought he should run a half marathon. I think this was the result of seeing all his BYU colleagues have such active lifestyles. I'm excited for him though, I think he'll do running long term now.

Cookie of Shame

David has eaten the Cookie of Shame. 

Go Utes!

first word

DH and I have wondered how you know whether to count something as a first word. Ila has certainly said lots of things in the past, but we didn't think she knew what she was saying.

Until last thursday.

Ila says Hi. :)

another father daughter song...

I don't know how David comes up with this stuff.  He is a big oldies fan, and both songs I've posted on here lately are western themed.

DH and boo present: Mule Train (original song click here)

primeness birthday notes

When I was 23 I had a crush on a 29 year old. I told myself, it must be fate if we are both prime numbers. In the intervening years, I have struggled with enjoying these numbers. What is 24 compared to 23? Nothing. (Mathematically 24 is deadly dull comparatively speaking. Even the illustrious perfect square 25 or perfect number 28 does not compare to being prime.) 23 was my golden age after all, as they say. You know, born on the 23rd and turning 23 makes for a golden year. But before the year was even halfway over, I'd switched targets. To DH. yep. I got him good. Woot.

Now I'm 29 and though I dance a jig at my primeness, I can't help looking back to my last prime year of 23 and be so grateful I did switch targets. yay for me and dh!

the end.

this old cowpoke

DH loves to sing and dance with this boo girl. Here is one of many to come, I'm sure. Ila's lack of facial expression is pretty great here.

By the way, this boo girl is crawling. Woo!

the cutest sleeper

I like her a lot. And the gnome.

Just like someone else I know:

wedding follow up: vendors & venues-- part 5

continuing from part 4...
----------------------------------------------
the invitations: Mercurio Brothers printing. 


They do letterpress invitations at relatively low prices, certainly lower they anything else I found, and with great quality. You have to order several weeks in advance. At the time of my wedding, they had a 5 week backlog. Call ahead to see how many weeks advance they need to have your order ready on-time. You can give them a pdf of a pre-designed invitation and they will work with you on colors and get it looking perfect. They are located in Berkeley, CA, so if you live near there you can pick up your order but otherwise they will ship anywhere.

the honeymoon: the Providence Inn B&B (in Providence, Utah)

After our wedding we drove up to Providence (just south of Logan) and stayed for a few days. It was a nice quite place to stay. They bring breakfast to your room too, and I remember it being very good. Their rooms are nice too. We stayed in their English Cottage room.

----------------------------------------------

The end.

personal best

I did 3 loads of dishes in one day. And I also mopped the floor. With a mop. (A mop that I bought 10 months ago but was still in the plastic until this weekend. The mopping is a first for me. I have never owned or used a mop before, in any abode. Except when I was a kid, since I can't remember if my parents owned a mop.)

- journal of the slovenly housewife

4.0

DH and I have been married 4 years now. He is so cute.

And here is one more...

blog stats you may or may not find interesting

So. Google keeps statistics on pageviews of my blog, at least since May 2008 (but this blog has been going since 2005). Sometimes I amuse myself by looking at these statistics. There are two posts that have consistently been the top two in number of views (at least according to data collected since 2008, mind you. No doubt there are other posts written before 2008 that are unsung.)

The # 1 hitter is a post known as tags shmags, which has 986 pageviews, an exponentially higher tally than most blog pages of mine. (and when I say exponential, I mean exponential. Not just lots. Nope. Hope you enjoyed this aside DH.) Now why is this page so highly read when most other pages have less than 50 hits? Are people searching for "tags shmags" all the time? Shmags was a word I made up on the spot. But it could just as easily be spelled schmags. So you see the popularity of this page is an unexplained phenomenon. Though I must say it is one of my finer posts. Maybe. Perhaps I should ponder that a bit longer. Maybe I should do a post about my favorite posts. Hmm.

And the # 2 hitter (with 311 pageviews) is my Event Horizon post about the Hadron Collider news report. This post is not even very interesting. You might even say it is completely uninteresting, especially considering it is four years old. But the picture is nice. Maybe that's the draw.

1-ply

Who invented 1-ply? Does anybody actually like it?

David has unfortunately come home from the store with TWELVE rolls of 1-ply toilet paper. I'm thinking of leaving some surreptitiously at friends houses.

race recap

So last Saturday I ran the Utah Valley half marathon. It starts in Provo canyon and ends in downtown Provo. It was downhill for several miles, so I'm sure that had some effect on my time. I did run the whole way, and finished in under 3 hours, which was my goal. In the half marathon I did last year I had some sickness/pain issues and had to walk a few miles, but this time luckily nothing like that happened. I was not in as good of shape this year. My time was 2:57, compared to 3:15 last year. For those of you who don't run, 3 hours to run 13 miles is beyond slow. Out of 2500 people that finished, I think I came in at around 2250. I think I could finish in 2.5 hours if I spent more time training. I only ran 3x a week this time (should be 4x) and my short runs were too short. I trained for 3 months, but before that I had not run at all for 4 months. I also weigh 20 lbs more than I did last year. But similar to last year, I got sick for a few weeks in the month before the race and did not run during that time.

Someday I might do a marathon if I had a plenty of time to train (like when all my kids are in school someday and I spend 4-6 months training). I know this time I could not have run even another yard beyond 13.1 miles, so running double that would take a lot more preparation.  I know now that pushing your body physically is as much mental as it is physical. The last 2 miles were especially hard on me, and even though my body didn't realize when I had crossed the finish line, my mind did know I could feel my body shutting down even as I crossed the line. The longest I'd ever run before the race was 10 miles, and I was running a lot slower than I did in the race.

Activity/food journal: The night before the race I was exhausted but could not sleep. I eventually took some sleep meds in desperation and got maybe 2 hours of sleep max. Then I was up at 3 am to catch a bus up the canyon. I ate some cheerios before leaving and didn't have any digestive problems. During the race, I ate some orange wedges at several aid stations and 1/2 banana toward the end. I also had GU around mile 6. That stuff is so weird. I also had a lot of water and a little powerade, especially in the second half. I don't think I drank any less this race than last. I had one bathroom stop halfway through the race. After the race I ate/drank whatever was at the finish line, walked around and stretched/cooled down, and then walked home (about 1.5 miles) where I took a cold shower and later put ice on my knees in the afternoon.

For next time: don't cheat on the short runs in training. Make sure to eat something during the race, it helps. Sleep more before the race- go to bed a couple hours early.

the daily question

Where is your sock?

Happy Birthday David!

David is 31 today. There are many reasons why I love him. Here is one of them.

Buttered Scones for Tea

David has certain songs he likes to sing over and over again. Here are some of the latest:

I'm a Lumberjack

If it doesn't have a tail its not a monkey

Friday

This Here Pudding

This Here Pudding poem.

by lrh
dedicated to the pudding I just ate and the pudding I want to eat

this here pudding
love that pudding
give me pudding
chocolate pudding

the end.

this post

So clearly I have not been blogging. In the 3-4 or so hours in the day when Ila is sleeping, I am either sleeping, exercising, showering, reading, working, and even occasionally cleaning and cooking (though very rare). I probably clean as much as I used to. Which is hardly anything. The dishes when mandatory, the bathroom when mandatory. My cooking now consists of buying ready food or making semi-homemade things. Or nothing. I often do nothing. How do mothers cook and clean with a baby? I may never know.

I have been posting pictures of Ila on facebook once a month. Nothing much on the blog though. But here is a token cute picture:

Am I supposed to be blogging more about baby? I never wrote about babies before. I don't feel inclined to share her poop schedule though. I know some of you may be disappointed.

I am still training for a half marathon in June. Next week is mile 8. I do my long run on the weekends alone, and do short runs with Ila in the running stroller on weekdays. This races motto: I may run slow, but at least I am doing it.

introducing: the boo

We call her Ila. But much of the time she is The Boo. How do these names evolve?

The origin is unknown except that it was the work of David. However, here is a midpoint in its development:

David called her "chicky poo" in the first week, which my sister Juliana thought was "chicken poop." Um, no. Not.

And from there it became boo, and then The Boo. Boo has no relation to Boo Radley, yet I can't help but think of that name all the time.

the oob

meet ali

a-l-i: pronouced as in aladdin. Except it is princess ali, fabulous she.

ila

ila

ila & laura

ila & david

ila

ali

newsletter

I posted our family newsletter on my facebook wall on Feb 9. Take a look if you haven't seen it! It is not quite a christmas newsletter, but I have every excuse in the world for the delay:)

the end.

costco

So it happened. I gave in and bought a costco membership. Mainly because of the tiny human. I never joined in my Stanford days, when a lot of "roommates" would split a membership. Before last saturday, I had been inside of Costco only twice.

The first visit was 4 years ago to return wedding presents that we couldn't fit into my car for the drive from Utah to California. However, this visit got me no further than the returns desk at the front of the store. Resulting from this visit I became the proud owner of a "cash card," which I realized was code for gift certificate. The second visit was to spend what was on the cash card. I used it to purchase things for my wedding open house in California. Two things remained in my memory from that visit: 1) giant container of frozen cream puffs & 2) huge tray of shrimp, neither of which I purchased.

And so last Saturday was technically my third time inside Costco, but really only the second time I purchased anything, and in reality the first visit as a real member. And alas I saw neither cream puffs nor shrimp. But I wasn't really looking.

To my surprise I discovered there is no such thing as costco grocery bags. Instead they give you a huge apple packing box that miraculously fits in the cart, and even more miraculously, in my trunk. Which we filled to maximum capacity. And naturally we didn't leave without spending hundreds of dollars.

The Obligatory Child Birth Post

It occurred to me that I have been remiss in following the blogging tradition of giving a detailed account of child birth.

Here are the facts, which may or may not be detailed.

I was induced at 41 weeks along at my doctors recommendation. I arrived at the hospital the afternoon of December 26th, and left the morning of December 30th. I had dinner on on the 26th, but didn't eat for the next 36 hours, which was not very fun. Labor technically began on monday night with the first induction part (cervidil) but not really in earnest until early the next morning when the pitocin drip started. I did get an epidural even though I really didn't want to, but it was mostly worn off by the time baby arrived. I'm hoping for spontaneous labor and a natural delivery next time around.

Labor hurts a lot. During labor I enjoyed these activities: eating ice chips, listening to David read, playing a card game with David, attempting to move around to manage pain but being put back in bed because the baby heart monitor would not cooperate, getting my water manually broken (which made labor much more painful I might add), and arguing with David about why he should go to the cafeteria and buy breakfast, then lunch, then dinner for himself. I think I won the breakfast and dinner argument, but not lunch. Poor David ate some granola bars instead. Also, I enjoyed dragging the IV stand around with me to and from the bathroom an infinite number of times.

Labor was around 20 hours (starting from the pitocin) including 3.5 hours of pushing, ending in a forceps delivery (which I was grateful for since the alternative was a c-section!). And then the baby came out and she was HUGE and no wonder her head got stuck! My first observation was my stomach deflated quite dramatically. My first question was whether she was really a girl (I did not totally trust the ultrasound..), but was ignored and I had to ask twice.

And then a lot more stuff happened and I was beyond tired and a complete basketcase for the next week or so.

But it turns out I had a really cute baby. And I love her. And she has AWESOME hair.

the end.

Reija's Rapunzelness and pink-like things

I was struck recently by the parallelism between two photos.

In this shot, I am wearing Reija's hair. I look quite dashing. It seems Rapunzel-like to me the way I am using her hair.

And here is little Ila wearing the baby blanket Reija made. Which is very long and Rapunzel-like.

Both blanket and hair come from Reija, and both are long and pink-like. (Pink-like indicating that Reija'a hair is actually red, not pink, and is only pink-like for the purpose of this paragraph.)

And in the spirit of pink hair (which Reija does NOT have), here are some pictures from David's 26th birthday party that I threw for him while we were dating:

Which of David's hats do you like best?

And of course I must include Karren's scandalous moment with pink hair and a bottle of (root?) beer:

Ila Miriam

12.28.2011

9.0 lbs & 20 inches