Tie Dye

Remember my Wizard Baby phase, where every time River wore his blue (wizard) hat, I couldn't resist taking a picture? Well now I have entered a tie dye phase. I think he is irresistible in this onesie. It is my favorite. I think all little kids should wear tie dye all the time. It's bright and colorful and when they spill stuff on their clothes, you don't even notice. Less stress for you=more fun for them. Babies should wear onesies as much as possible. It is the only time in their lives it will be acceptable to do so, so have at it River... Show us your hunky, chunky thighs.

This post is supposed to just be about how cute River is, but now the subject of children's clothing has entered my brain and I might need to rant about a pet peeve of mine. I read in a history class one time, about babies in the Victorian age (or some other age) having to dress like miniature adults. It completely restrained them from running around and you know, being kids. I thought, "How awful." But now, it is totally happening here too. Yes, have a few cute outfits, for family photos and special occasions, but don't skip over the soft cotton onesie with the animal on it, because you don't think it is cool. It should only matter if your kid likes it and is comfortable in it. Maybe it is good if you don't like it so much, that way they will be free to run around and get a few grass stains. I know five year olds who ask to stand on the line at recess, because they don't want to get there clothes dirty. That's sad... not tragic, but sad and who knows what biases they will have when they get older, because clothing was given such a high priority.

Ha, ha... I realize I am probably in the minority on this one. Fashion is not my passion. I actually wish we all wore sheets draped around us like the ancient Greeks and Romans. I guess it doesn't matter what your kids wear, as long as parents care more about letting them play hard than keeping their outfits nice.

A brief history on this onesie. It is a hand me down that I bought. Wait you ask... how do you buy a hand me down? Well, eight years ago, my friend Becca had a beautiful little boy Trevor and I knew his dad would be having him wear polos in no time, so I had to have a hippie intervention and get him this onesie. It has since been worn by her three other kids as well, though judging by its excellent condition, probably not very much. I guess they didn't go through the tie dye phase.

By the way, this little one turns 20 months tomorrow. He is learning at speeds that floor me daily. My new favorite developement, is just in the last couple weeks, he has become attatched to one of his bears (the biggest one, might I add) and his blanket. I have never seen anything more classic than a sleepy head wondering around holding a bear in one hand and a blanket in the other and still managing to suck his thumb. Norman Rockwell painting for sure.

River might be tired of the camera, but the camera will never tire of him.

Saved by Dad.

4th of Julies

I just realized my disciplined everyday posting in June did not carry over to July and I missed some big events. This is River's second 4th, but last year he went to bed at six and never saw so much as a sparkler. This year, we layed off the schedule a bit and River had the time of his life. We had so many firework celebrations, I lost count. Utah does its big celebrations on Saturday or Monday, if the 4th falls on a Sunday, like this year. So Saturday we went up the mountains and had a campfire and drove down in time for the South Salt Lake fireworks. Then Sunday we had a barbeque. Monday we had another barbeque, followed by awesome neighborhood fireworks and lastly, Pioneer Day rolled around (A UT holiday, celebrating the day the Pioneers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley... celebrated in similar fashion to the 4th.) and River got to go through his own box of fireworks!

After three nights in a row of a ten o' clock bedtime, this little man was partied out. Thankfully he got enough rest for the 24th (Pioneer Day) and was the cutest fireworks director ever. He would run to the stack of fireworks, pick one out, set it down in the same spot each time, run to mommy's lap and then give the sign for go to his dad. He would clap through the sparkling and cracking, but the second it was done, he was off my lap and back to his "work". He loves helping out and takes it very seriously.

Dog Days

It's that time of year when it just gets evil hot. No good comes from this type of heat. Tempers are burning, anger is quick and patience is low. We are on pins and needles, looking for any sign of Fall. I saw a few leaves rustling around on the ground and my heart leapt with joy. It can't be too much longer. Officially the dog days are supposed to end on September 5th. Until then, we will keep hiding out during the hottest part of the day. Which means my house will continue to look like this...

And my sun-crazed tot will look like this...

Blankets will become a thing of the past...

I will continue to find reasons to stay in my workout clothes all day...

And Bear and River will take it one step further...

When we do venture out, our faces will probably look like this...

So mostly we'll stay in and my house will stay messy and my baby will stay stir-crazy, but the evil heat will not take us down. We will live to see another September!


Fun Fact: The expression Dog Days of Summer comes from ancient times. It refers to the hottest, longest, most sultry days of Summer. Most people think it got its name, because the heat makes you lazy like a dog, but actually it got its name from the star Sirius, which is the brightest star in the Canis Major constellation and is high in the sky at the same time of year that the heat is the worst, July 4-September 5th. Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, Quinto raged in anger, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813.

Ahh... The Vanity

On July 23, 2011, I finally reached my pre-pregnancy weight. Are you kidding me? River turned 19 months a week and a half later. I seriously never imagined it would take this long. This isn't even taking into account the .9 at the end of that 111, or the fact that I had my first weigh in at the doctor's office in the afternoon, with clothes on and after I had eaten, but I took this pic first thing in the morning, pre-food and in my skivvies. All I know is the scale says 111, so I am counting it.
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The crazy thing is how unflattering the same number on the scale can be. I am missing my flat stomach and totally not missing this extra padding on my hips. Plus, alert the authorities, someone done stole my boobs (sorry if you find that inappropriate) right of my chest. Seriously. I stopped nursing and they disappeared. It's not right.
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I try to remind myself I lost 48 pounds. Someone mentioned she only gained 20 pounds with her pregnancies and I almost died. I seriously gained that in my swollen right foot. 20 pounds! I didn't even think that was really possible. It's not like I eat that much more while I'm pregnant. Maybe I am one of those sleep eaters... next pregnancy, I am setting up a camera.
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The funny thing about it taking this long to lose all the weight was that I dropped from 158 to 127 in two weeks and from 127-120 in 6 weeks and then bam... not a pound more for over a year. I got all cocky in the beginning, thinking it was going to be a breeze. I should stop getting cocky. Nothing good ever comes from getting cocky.
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If you're wondering what I did to lose the last ten pounds, I finally admitted I could no longer be one of those people who ate whatever they wanted and only exercised sometimes and not have weight issues. Instead of bemoan this fact, I decided to be grateful for the 31 wonderful years I had and seriously make some changes. I only drank one can of soda a day prior, but soda is a waistline killer, so I cut down to one can on the weekends. I had already been going to the gym 3 times a week, but upped that to five and I run every day but Sunday. Sometimes it is only a mile, but the frequency has been the key and I am finally seeing a difference. Now if I can just get my boobs back!

19 Months

I was sent one of those email alerts that tell you how your baby is progressing. The only problem was, it was for a 19 month old. I thought it was a mistake and then I realized... WOW! River is really 19 months!
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He can speak some, sign a lot and tell jokes (If I say it's hot, he'll do the sign for cold, so I will say, "It's not cold!" Then he'll sign cold again and laugh and laugh.) Lately he likes to try and drink his bathwater, just to get a reaction out of me. He loves watching Long Island Iced Z (it's a wrestler's youtube channel and he sincerely loves it... he throws up the L and I finger sign, fist pumps and even woo, woo, woos). He is still a dance machine and loves music (thank goodness for singing time in nursery, or I'm not sure I could get him to stay). He loves playing with the big kids and if an older kid comes around (especially a boy in the 4-6 age range) he pulls out all his coolest moves to try and impress. He also talks their ears off in his own special language, which is hilarious, because they look at me and matter of factly point out that he is not making any sense.
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We think he is delightful in every way, but one thing that still needs work... well... roll the footage, roll the footage...