New arrival!!

Thomas Alexander was born on February 24th at 2:49 pm. He weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and was 20 inches long. He is perfectly healthy and so am I. It is true what they say. Giving birth the second time around is much easier.

Everything goes faster the second time around. Like twice as fast. At my 36 week appointment, I was already 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced and I progressed every week. Since Parker was pretty big, late, and painful to get out, I decided to set a date to be induced 2 days before my due date which, ironically, was the same day as the science fair which I've been working on all school year.

I never went into labor like everyone predicted I would. I think my body just gets ready soon and does nothing about it until late. February 24th came and I was waiting for a phone call to tell me to come to the hospital. I was 6th on the list and the nurse said it would be around 10:00. I slept in to about 7:30 or 8:00, but couldn't sleep any longer, so I got ready. I couldn't handle just sitting around the house, so I decided to visit the school to see how the set up was going and to get a look at my students' final displays. Everyone at work thought I was crazy for coming in, but I was glad to help out a little right before I was going to abandon them for several weeks. I finally got the phone call and went to the hospital at 10:45. After I checked in, the nurse gave me pitocin (to strengthen the contractions) at 11:30. My doctor was going to break my water, but I decided I wanted the epidural before the contractions started hurting. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist was busy, so I had to wait to 1:00 to get the epidural and the doctor broke my water around 1:30. That really got the contractions going and I quickly progressed to a 10 by 2:30ish and started pushing. I only had to push through 3 contractions and then another extra push to get him out. The pushed lasted around 15 minutes I would say (I had to push for over 3 hours to have Parker).

Everyone was surprised at how big he was. He was 3 oz heavier than Parker and a .5 in shorter. This surprised me because he was a week earlier. My doctor says I'm just programmed to have big babies. My mom had big babies too. In fact, I (the first) was 2 weeks late and weight 9 lbs. 6 oz. and was born through C section. The rest were all induced and I think that is what I'm going to be doing.

Little Tommy is so sweet. He doesn't cry much and he sleeps pretty well for only being a week old. He has huge feet and some dark hair, but not nearly as much hair as Parker. It will be interesting to see what color his hair will be in the end since Parker's hair color has changed so much.

Parker loves Tommy. He is always giving him kisses and trying to share toys. He calls him Thomas. I think he thinks he was named after Thomas the train. It has been hard for him to adjust to sharing his mommy. He now carries a blanket around and wants me to hold him while he is wrapped in it. He also wants to wear disposable diapers (I'm not using cloth on Tommy yet since he is so small and needs to be changed over 10 times a day) and Parker also doesn't want to wear pants, I guess because Tommy doesn't have pants on a lot. I think he is adjusting and that I am adjusting because at first Parker would cry if he wanted my attention, and say mama, and try to climb on top of me when I was feeding Tommy. Now Parker knows to wait until I'm done and I will give him my full attention. It has been more difficult than I thought it would be for Parker.

I feel so blessed to have these two precious boys. I love being a mom!

I'm a big boy now!

Parker keeps life interesting. It is both sad and adorable that he is turning into such a big boy instead of the baby boy he once was.

He LOVES buzz lightyear. He found a little Buzz at my parents' house from when my little brother was small, back to the time of the first Toy Story and he hasn't let go since. He needs Buzz when we go in the car, when we go to church, and when he goes to bed. Funny thing is that he didn't even watch Toy Story when he became attached to the little buzz. When Matt and I showed him the movies, he went crazy. He loves them.

Parker also loves his kitty cat, the one he got for Halloween in 2009 from one of my students. He needs kitty every time he goes to bed. He has gotten so good at make believe. He pretends that the kitty meows and tucks him into bed. So cute!

Parker loves his friends. He especially loves Xander and Brayden - probably because they are boys, but he also loves his friends Sarah, Addi, and Cassidy. He gets so excited when the doorbell rings and immediately stops whatever he is doing and frantically runs to the door and looks out the window. I think he is looking for his friends.

Parker knows practically all his letters and is now learning their sounds. He does still get confused between N and M and some of the lowercase letters. We try not to watch too much TV, but his favorite TV show is Super Why. I think he learns a lot watching it. It is usually on when I am taking a shower. Thank goodness, or else I would probably be a lot smellier than I should be.

He is also learning to count things. He can recite his numbers up to ten really well and is now trying to go to twenty, but he gets stuck in the teens not knowing what is next. He loves 5 little monkey's jumping on the bed. I made little figures of the monkeys and it has really helped him learn how to count objects.

He is so loving and kisses and hugs Matt and I constantly. I know it is far away, but I will be so sad the day he stops kissing me and is too embarrassed to hug me. He will come up to me when I am doing something and ask "Whatcha doin'?" So cute. He also loves his aunts, uncles, and especially Grandpa (papa) and grandma.

He is such a good little boy. One time the nursery leaders came into Sunday school very concerned. They told me that he was crying and they didn't know why. They kept saying, "He never cries." He was just having a bad day because of an ear infection, but it is good to hear how well he does in nursery. He usually just runs into the room right after sacrament meeting. He loves it.

I could go on and on because I want to remember him at this age forever, but maybe I'll save it for my journal rather than bore all of you with the little things I find so cute

Potty training

This is Parker in his new underwear. I wanted to take a picture of him flexing his muscles, but
he just wanted to run in circles. over and over again.
I started getting serious about this potty training thing this weekend. I bought Parker some choo choo train and Buzz Lightyear underwear. The first two days I had moderate success. He only peed his pants once per day and was pretty upset when he did (He didn't wear underwear the whole day. He had a diaper during his nap and at the babysitters). Then today he peed himself 3 times already and it is only noon. I think it is because he was distracted since Daddy is home and Mommy was spending a lot of time cleaning instead of constantly asking him if he needs to go potty. I think I just need to be more diligent with him right now. The biggest problem is that he hasn't gone poo-poo in the potty yet. He goes in his underwear and then tells me about it whe it is too late or I smell it when it is too late. Does anyone have advice for me? Also, how do you transition to underwear when you go out? I don't think he is ready for underwear during naptime and nightime. He is peeing sitting down right now. How do I transition to standing up? ...great he just peed in the kitchen.

Inspiration for today

What an inspiration! Any complaint that I've ever had in life seems silly compared to the hardships that Stephanie has and continues to endure day to day.

I love how she said that motherhood and beauty are the same thing. I think, as a woman, I always want to be beautiful. I spend time, money, and energy trying my best to fit the world's definition of beauty and I'm never really satisfied. There is always something I would change about myself if I could, but when I look into Parker's eyes and when I feel his kisses I feel more beauty than any amount of money could buy or any amount of time could produce. I spend way too much time thinking of ways to improve myself, never quite living up to my expectations, but when I tickle Parker and hear his infectious laugh I don't think of inadequacies. I think about how blessed I am. I think about love. I think that is why motherhood is synonymous with beauty. Nothing is more beautiful.

Must Read

Please read this article about Stephanie Nielson who survived a plane crash. She is so inspirational. I first learned about her by reading her blog.

She inspires me to focus on my most important role in this life, which is motherhood. I have a tendency to try to be everything to everybody. I also hate mediocrity, so I try to be the best at everything, which I've learned from experience, is impossible. The more things I try to do, the more mediocre I become at all of them. "Jack of all trades, but master of none."

When I read her blog, I don't care about anything else except for my role as a mother and a wife. When everything is said and done, it doesn't matter how many cool things I have done. When I leave this life, all I will have with my on the other side is my family. So I better do good job of taking care of my family. I love my son and husband so much. They are everything to me.

Action figure Phobia

I have no idea why, but Parker has developed this fear of action figures. I mean, he is seriously freaked out when he sees those things. We have this little GI Joe we found doing some geocaching some time ago. It was just sitting on my desk minding its own business. Parker spots it and starts pointing (as he always does) at it. Matt thought, "Oh, he wants to play with it." But Parker was thinking, "What in the crap is that freaky thing!!" Matt, being the good father he is, went and got it for Parker and Parker flipped out. He started shaking in fear. Literally shaking!

It doesn't stop there. Parker also had a melt down at Old Navy. The culprit: Scary friendly-looking mannequins. His Aunt Rachel was introducing him to these giant-sized action figures and he started crying! When ever he sees an action figure, he will look away from it and hold me as tightly as possible.

I know I must be a bad mom, but I find this hilarious.

Well, some time has past and Parker has made amends with the GI Joe. They're friends now. Next stop: Old Navy.

Treasure Hunt

I know some of you have been dying to hear this story since I gave a little teaser of it in my Halloween post. Lets see...where to start....

Parker and I were hanging out on my bed because he was as little sick and I was a little tired, so I broke my rule (as I occasionally do) and we were watching cartoons. (My favorite, by the way, is Super Why. It is repetitive and predictable, but the characters are so darn cute.)

Parker always wants to get into things that he shouldn't and at this point he was going for the lamp on my nightstand. He has the weird fascination with lights. Whenever one turns on, he freaks out and points as hard as he can. When he starts to cry, sometimes I carry him over to a light switch and let him turn on the lights. He is happy in no time. No joke. Ok, Back to the story: He crawls over to my messy, messy nightstand and he successfully attempts to get into everything. I literally pull him back to the center of the bed and I notice he grabbed the lid from my deodorant (I have everything but the kitchen sink on my nightstand). "Meh," I think and I let him play with it.

When Parker is really tired or sick he sort of just collapses into a lump of chubby goodness. He was in his collapsing mode so I layed him down in the center of the bed. The next thing I know, he was choking. It was possibly the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. I didn't know what he was choking on, but he would go a little without breathing while he was gagging and it would then be interrupted by short bouts of crying hysterics. I was glad when he cried because I at least knew he could breath. Some more gagging, then some more crying, a bit of praying on my part and then a few gulps to finish it off.

I realized he had swallowed something, but I had no idea what...sure my nightstand was covered with catalogs, hair accessories, pens, pencils, markers, pretty much any type of writing utensil, deodorant, candles, etc. etc. but surely there was nothing chokable there. Then I looked around and I thought, "uh, oh." I looked at my finger, looked back at the nightstand and realized that my wedding ring was not where I last put it. Crap. That can't be good. I searched and searched, but to no avail. "It must be in Parker's stomach."

I called the doctor's office and told them the situation. After a little chuckle, the nurse asked,"Are you serious?" Yes, unfortunately I was. They fit me in as soon as possible and we got an X-ray that confirmed my suspicion. After the doctor looked at the X-ray, he asked me, "Does your ring have several diamonds along the band?" You could see the ring perfectly, sitting in his little stomach just below his tiny ribs. "Just check the poop." That's the only advice his doctor gave me.

The next day we put Parker's lovely poops in a Ziploc bag. I gave it one squish and found my beautiful ring covered in feces. Matt, for some reason, volunteered to get it out of the bag-o-fun. He really is the best husband. I scrubbed it a little, ok, a lot, and now good as new. Actually just the week before I was commenting about how I needed to clean my ring. I procrastinated. Well, I definitely had a reason to clean it now.

I apologize to anyone who received the picture text from Matt of the Poop Bag with the ring. No one should have to see that.

PS The picture is not Parker's X-ray. It is of an adult. I'm going to try and get a copy of the actual X-ray.

Happy Birthday Baby

My little baby is growing up. Parker turned one year old on October 3, 2009. Yes, I know it is cliche, but they grow up so fast.

Parker was spoiled with two birthday parties on his big day with a jungle theme. I took my hand at cake decorating and made this alligator cupcake cake. Fearsome, I know.

The first party was in the park with his neighborhood friends. I had this great idea to have the kids go "fishing" for tub toys using magnets, but the toys were too heavy so it didn't work as perfectly as I had imagined. But the kids still had fun playing in the water and on the playground and Parker got some sweet gifts. Thanks friends!


Later that evening we had hamburgers with the family at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Parker was super spoiled by everyone's attention and took this opportunity to show off his new skill of walking. I love watching him waddle everywhere. Such a cutie!



He was a little frightened when the lights were turned off and everyone surrounded him singing in unison while an open flame sat in front of him. Fortunately, he forgot all about it once he started eating his cake.

Kelli reminded me to share his stats. Despite his chubby cheeks, Parker is a little guy. At 12 months he weighed 21 lbs. 13 oz (33%) and is 29 in (20%). But he has a big head compared to the rest of him at 47 cm (66%). He has slimmed up a lot since he was 2 months at the 95 %tile for both height and weight, but he is adorable either way.

Smartest Baby in the WORLD

Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration, but in my defense, he is pretty darn smart. The other day he used a spoon. I didn't even teach him how to do it. He stole the spoon out of my hand, dipped it in applesauce and then put it in his mouth (and a little on his face). I couldn't believe it, but as to assure me that he really did know what he was doing, he did it again and again. All in all, I think he took a good 5 bites on his own. I even had time to tell Matt to go get the camera. So here is one of his attempts (a little messy, but hey, he is only 9 months old). Sorry about the lack of sound. I had a problem converting the files, but if you must know, the audio went something like this, "ok, dip it in the apple sauce. Good job! You are so smart. Ok, you have some. Now put it in your mouth. You are doing so well. Oh, close enough."




It is amazing what babies learn just from watching their parents. Parker also puts cell phones up to his ear. Actually he puts anything that resembles a cell phone up to his ear: TV remote, Baby monitor, camera. It always amazes me how much kids understand. They are constantly learning.

My Cloth Diapering Adventure

You might think I'm crazy...ok, I am crazy, but I decided to try out cloth diapers. I didn't ever think I would be interested in such a smelly alternative, but after becoming a mommy I came to the realization of how much waste diapers alone were producing. I also am slightly obsessed with saving money. So there was my motivation: save the environment and save some cash. Of course, I was only motivated up to a certain point. It had to be easy enough to manage.

If any of you are interested in cloth diapering, my advice is that it is a lot easier than you think and has a gross factor that is only slightly above changing disposable diapers. I'm not trying to convince you if you are not interested, I'm just saying that if you are interested at all, you should go for it. These aren't your grandma's cloth diapers. I'm amazed how easy they are to use.

After much research, I decided upon gdiapers. These are hybrid diapers that have a flushable insert and resuable cover and liner. The insert biodegrades in about 50 days compared to diapers biodegrading in 500 years. I, and a lot of people, use cloth (gerber prefolds) in place of the flushable insert to save money. [Huggies size 3 diapers come to be about $.20 a diaper and the gdiaper flushable is about $.40] I get by with 4 gdiapers and 18 gerber prefolds. One gdiapers cost about $17, but I purchased all of mine in 2 starter kits [$26 for 2 gdiapers and 10 flushables].


I discovered that the cloth prefolds are not absorbant enough for nighttime use. I discovered this the hard way. Poor Parker soaked completely through 2 gdiapers one night. I know that they work for many babies at night, but Parker is a heavy wetter. So I am now using Bumgenius 3.0 one-size pocket diapers. They have snaps to adjust for size so I'll be able to use them until he potty trains and they can get tiny for when I have another baby. I can "stuff" them with cloth to make them as absorbent as I need. Plus, they come in cute colors. I LOVE these diapers! They are so easy to use.



A lot of people I talked to had concerns about how well cloth diapers would perform (Kelli). The good news is that I have had LESS blowouts and absolutely NO leaks (except my nighttime experimentation). I only had two blowouts and they were both user error (I put on the diaper too tight or not straight).

Most people are concerned about touching poop. Let me assure you, I touch poop just as much as I did when I used disposables. Actually less because there are less blowouts. When I do have a very poopy diaper, I take it to the toilet and I have this nifty sprayer thingamajig that sprays the diaper clean and my fingers remain clean too. Yeah, it is fourty-five dollars, but worth every penny. I don't even bother to clean the ones with only a little poop. They just go straight into the diaper champ with the wet diapers. Every two days I do laundry. I just open my diaper champ and throw the diapers and the bag into the washer. Easy Peasy.

You can spend as much or as little on cloth diapers as you want. I found the products I was comfortable with and bought them. Here is how it adds up:

2 gdiaper starter kits: $54
1 Diaper sprayer: $45
3 Bumgenius 3.0: $53
18 Gerber prefolds: $20
2 diaper pail liners: $32
2 wet bags: $32
flannel for wipes: $10
Soft bum for Parker: Priceless
______________________
Total: $214

That may seem like a lot, but the average mommy spends $1500 on diapers over the course of 2 years. Yeah, I like the idea of saving thousands of dollars over the span of a few children. Plus babies with cloth diapers experience less diaper rashes and potty train earlier. Oh, the benefits! So far my system seems simple enough. Even Matt will change Parker's diapers. Plus I get the satisfaction of cutting the amount of waste my family produces in half. The thing I struggle with now is traveling. I just hope I can stick with it.


Did I mention how cute Parker looks in his gdiapers?

To Work or Not To Work, That Is The Question

I used to be a chemistry teacher and I loved it. I had a great connection with the kids at AMES and that is what made the teaching experience so great. A month or so ago I got an invitation for the AMES science fair. I, of course, wanted to attend. I promised that I would come back and visit with my baby after he was born and hadn't made good on that promise yet so I thought this might be a good opportunity to get that done.

I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed attending the science fair. I felt like a celebrity. All my former students came to talk to me and tell me how much they missed me. I even enjoyed hearing them say that I was a better teacher than the new chemistry teacher. (Is that bad of me?) Honestly, I don't know if that is true. I helped pick out the new chemistry teacher and she has a Masters in chemistry and many years of teaching experience. But I like to believe that it is true.

I walked up to the Principal of AMES, Al, and we talked a little. I said how much I loved the science fair and then he asked, maybe just jokingly, "Would you like to help teach the science fair class next year." Without even thinking I just replied, "sure." His jaw dropped, "Really?"

AMES has an entire class dedicated to science fair. The current teacher Tawyna Vickers is amazing. She puts in many hour of hard work to help these kids be successful. She has even written a book about science fair. This Tribune Article is about her book and AMES science fair. She does a wonderful job, but needs to cut down on her time working, hence the job offer from Al. I would help her teach or something. I'm not quite sure all the details yet.

I am meeting with Al about this job next week. He basically told me that I have the job if I want it and to come prepared with questions about the position.

The class is taught every other day for 90 minutes plus I would have to be there a little before and after which means that Parker would have to be babysat for 2 hours or so every other day. I would also have a lot of work that I could do at home: lesson plans, editing reseach plans, double checking paperwork and applications, corresponding with students and their assigned mentors. I figure I would be working about 10 hours a week on average: 5 at the school and 5 at home. It doesn't sound too bad until I think about Parker.

Leaving him with a babysitter is one thing, but I also worry about trying to work at home when he needs me and then not getting anything done and then having to work in the evening when I need to be spending time with my husband.

I don't NEED the job for the money. We are getting along just fine on Matt's income, but the money would be nice especially come next year when we will probably move to bigger house (with a bigger mortgage).

But then again, this is a great part-time job where I can still use my degree and keep my career fresh.

But then again, I don't NEED to work.

So I feel a bit of guilt. Does it make me a bad mom if I CHOOSE to work when I don't NEED to? I love being with Parker. I know some mothers have a hard time just staying at home all day, but I have adjusted fairly well. I keep myself occupied with projects and Parker is such a cute kid. I like...I should say I LOVE being a stay at home mom, but I feel like this is a great opportunity. They would be very flexible. I even think I might be able to bring Parker to school often. I've seen other teachers there do it. It is a laid back atmosphere.

So what do you think? Am I crazy for taking this job or would I be crazy not to take this job? It is a hard decision for me.

Am I Accomplishing Anything?

The other day I was telling Matt about how I feel. Sometimes I feel like I'm not accomplishing anything. I know that's not true, but that's how I feel. Raising a baby is a huge accomplishment, but it doesn't feel like it day to day. It just feels like I'm doing a lot of laundry, feeding Parker, cleaning the house, holding Parker, making dinner, and playing with Parker.

Those are all great things to do, but I don't feel like I'm progressing as a person. So I start all these projects to compensate. I started a health blog that I haven't had time to update. I work on photoshop, trying to learn the best way to edit photos. I'm writing a short book about the way Matt and I met. I'm learning "flight of the bumblebee" on the piano and writing a song about Parker on the guitar. Plus I am training for a marathon. Well, I'm trying to do all of these things, but the thing is it is hard to accomplish anything when my longest stretch of uninterrupted time is about an hour. Sometimes just taking a shower is my greatest accomplishment of the day. So I've started all these projects, but most of them aren't going anywhere.

I thought I was weird to have these feelings, but I was visiting teaching yesterday and come to find out the other two women (who are stay at home moms) feel the exact same way. I felt relieved. I'm not a weirdo! Well, at least not that weird. They spoke about their many projects and how their husbands don't understand it. I used to feel bad about not living up to my expectations, but I'm seeing it differently now.

This trying to do a million things isn't working though. So, I'm going to try to focus just on one thing at a time and maybe, just maybe, I'll finish something I'm working on. And of course, I'm raising one cute little boy which will be my greatest accomplishment. Even though I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything by playing with him all day, I'm really teaching him about the world and about his mother's love for him.

Parker Update

Still the cutest boy in the whole world
with the biggest cheeks in the whole world

I am always so amazed at how fast babies grow! It seems like just yesterday I was cradling little Parker in my arms at the hospital. Now, he will jump up and down in my lap whenever I hold him. It's quite a workout. He is over 5 months old and learning new things every single day.

Parker in his jumperoo

the reason he tries to jump in my lap when I'm holding him at church
at least I can fit in an arm workout somewhere

Today I gave Parker his first haircut. It looks ok...from a distance. Next time I think I might leave the hair cutting to the professionals.

Parker has started solids and loves them. He opens his mouth so wide and gets mad if he doesn't get a spoonful of food fast enough. He loves his veggies...except peas, but who likes peas anyway. I was gagging the first time I was feeding them to him. Smelly, smelly peas. Yuck! But, like a good son, he ate most of them.

One day Parker was curious about my cup of water, so I showed him what it was. Now he loves drinking water from a cup. He gets more excited about it than about his toys. He does a pretty good job. About half the water makes it in his mouth, the other half, on his shirt.

I love his big blue eyes

When Parker turned 4 months he rolled over from tummy to back. I was so excited. He did it three times in a row. I went to get the video camera and then he never did it again. Never. Even to this day, more than a month later, he won't roll tummy to back. On a positive note, Parker did learn to roll back to tummy a couple of weeks ago and he does it everyday. He gets mad when he is stuck on him tummy. I try to remind him how to roll the other way, but he just won't listen. Stubborn little guy.

Parker can also sit up pretty well. I just put a pillow behind him for those inevitable falls backwards.

He also loves music. We are teaching him to bang on the piano and strum the guitar. Come to think of it, these lessons might backfire on us someday. I'll start thinking of places to hide the guitar now.

he just looks funny in this one

What makes a baby smart?

That's a question that most moms want answered and tons of companies would like to tell you that their products are the answer, but the truth is more complicated than that in my opinion. I was a science teacher and am an admitted science geek, so I got my science fix researching some of this stuff. I actually learned most of this information in professional development classes (quantum learning), but wanted to apply it to babies. I thought that since I took all this time researching, I might share what I learned. Hope it's helpful.

What is smart?
First we need to define 'smart'. Most people think that intelligence is doing well at school, but that is only a teeny tiny portion of it. Studies by Howard Gardner have shown that there are actually 8 intelligences:
1. logical-mathematical (numbers, cause and effect)
2. linguistic-verbal (reading, talking)
3. spacial-visual (puzzles, drawing)
4. musical-rhythmic (instruments, clapping)
5. bodily-kinesthetic (moving, athletics, dancing)
6. interpersonal (interacting with others)
7. intrapersonal (analysing yourself)
8. naturalistic (organization, categorization)
So the real question is not "are you smart," but "how are you smart." Building an "intelligent" child should address each of these areas.

Big Brain

We have all heard that you can't grow brain cells and that is true, but studies by Dr. Marion Diamond have shown that smarter people have denser brains. This is because when you learn something a new neural connection is created. Ok, so what does that mean? Basically, your brain cell (or neurons) are connected to each other with extensions called dendrites and axon terminals. Learning creates more dendrites and axon terminals that connect one part of the brain to another. This is a huge idea! One can actually change the shape of their own brain by learning. "Neurons that fire together, wire together." So when someone is "smart" really they just have more connections between ideas. In turn, that means the more you learn, the easier it is to learn. You already know that though. Just think of a time you learned something. The way you learned it was to apply it to something you already new. If you didn't have any background knowledge, it was that much more difficult to learn. For example, it is easier to learn the guitar after you have already learned the piano.

Making Smarter Babies
How do you do it? Simple. Building more connections. Actually babies are born with an estimated 1000 trillion neural connections and by age ten this number will be reduced to approximately 500 trillion. This process is called pruning. Babies are wired to learn quickly, but if those don't use those neural connections, they lose them. That means exposing you little one to new sights, smells, textures, sounds, feelings, toys, locations, etc. is important in maintaining neural connections. Every new experience is a learning experience. This is a critical time in the babies development.

Do Baby Einstein DVDs Work?
Well, define "work"? It does stimulate the baby, but is that stimulation really teaching them anything? For example, it does not teach babies social interactions (interpersonal) because the TV is not (despite what they claim) interacting with your baby. Your baby might smile, but Baby Einstein doesn't care. In reality, when a baby smiles or coos, people will react and your baby learns from this interaction. What about the classical music? Well, music of all sorts will help your baby learn, but the so called "Mozart Effect" has been debunked as stated in this BBC article. More importantly, I personally do not recommend Baby Einstein because the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies don't watch TV until their two. That's not to say that they can't see a little bit, but it should be limitted. There are many reasons for this. First of all, they can learn much more with real toy/parent interactions and secondly studies have shown a link between watching TV and ADHD. The TV screen is constantly changing scenes and sounds which does not develop long term attention span. Read this TIME article for more information on the negative effects of baby einstein and TV in general.

studies have shown that Baby Einstein DVDs are
detrimental to babies' language development

Baby Sign Language
Baby sign language is a powerful tool to teach language. It reinforces words both verbally and visually which makes creating neural connections that much easier. Basically, it makes learning language for the little guys easy because they can distinguish words easier with two different cues. Also, babies are more developmentally ready to make signs with their hands earlier than they have the coordination with their tongues and mouths to speak. This means babies can communicate earlier (translation: less crying). The benefits to baby are amazing. Signing babies develop a larger vocabulary earlier, they use longer sentences, have a larger IQ (by 12 points on average), and read earlier than their counterparts.

Baby signing 'more'
the first sign to teach your baby

Happy Birthday Matt

I'm going to take the liberty of bragging about my husband. It's his birthday, so that is as good as any excuse to do so.
First of all, Matt is an amazing husband. We met in 10th grade at Riverton High School, and although I wasn't really into him at that point, he never gave up on me and we were best friends. He would and still would do anything for me. He is always putting me first. Yesterday he opened his birthday presents and I sort of spent a lot of money on one of them. He said that we should take it back and get something nice for me instead. He is always thinking of me.
Second of all, Matt is super smart. He can figure out how to do anything. He is especially good at teaching himself. About 2 years ago he worked for this mean old man in a mansion. The man made Matt run his businesses. Even though the man was mean, Matt learned a lot about accounting so Matt then started his own bookkeeping business. It wasn't too profitable so he got a job as a "junior accountant" at skincarerx (his current employer). Matt made all sorts of important contributions and they were so impressed that when they fired the controller they promoted Matt to take her place as accounting manager (a position that usually requires a degree). Among other things, Matt taught himself how to make a website. He bought textbooks and read them so he could do it. The website isn't finished (Matt is busy), but it is still pretty impressive. Check it out the search function. Matt even created the logo. www.gearsaving.com.
Matt is very ambitious and busy. Since Matt's promotion, he has been very busy at work and yet he still finds time to do everything else. He has full-time school at the university of phoenix and every tuesday he has class for 4 hours plus hours of homework. Matt is also very dedicated to being healthy. He usually wakes up at 6:00 to go running or will bike to work plus he goes to the climbing gym on lunch break. Matt also has the calling of ward clerk which means hours a week at the church. He is busy, but he saves every spare moment to spend with me.
Matt is a great father. He doesn't get to spend much time with Parker during the week (he doesn't even see him on some tuesdays), so he takes advantage of the weekends. Matt loves to take care of Parker during church on Sundays. Also, even though Matt is busy and wakes up early, he won't hesitate to help with Parker in the evening if I'm worn out. He loves playing with him.
Matt is the best and I thank Heavenly Father everyday that he is in my life.

99.9 FM

Yeah, 99.9 has become one of our favorite radio stations. Don't bother turning it on to see what great music it has because it hasn't any. It is just static. But strange enough, Parker loves it. This is a fairly common situation: Matt and I are driving down to Bluffdale and Parker is crying because he HATES his carseat and the only thing he hates more than being put in his carseat is being put in his carseat with no one to play with. So we tune the radio to 99.9 FM and it is like a mute button for Parker. Silence...well except for the annoying static in the background. I've started to get used to it though. I imagine it being the sound that comes for a large beautiful waterfall on a tropical island. I have a good imagination.

I got the idea for the static from reading the book The Happiest Baby on the Block. It teaches about how babies love white noise. Supposedly my uterus sounds like a TV with poor reception. I guess all the liquids floating around them make a loud whooshing sound. This explains why all cultures use this sort of sound to quiet their babies. In the good ol' USA we say 'sh' but other places say 'ts' or 'ch' all with the same effect. Interesting, no? So that's why you know when the librarian puts her finger to her lips and whispers "shhh" you should be quiet.

We try not to use this magic trick with Parker too often. We don't want him to become reliant upon the static in order to fall asleep. But is nice during those emergency occasions to settle him down. Parker loves his static.

Oh, and 99.9 has a slightly better quality of static than other stations.

99 balloons

I saw this video on Oprah and it really touched me. This is a tribute video made by a father to his son who died of a genetic condition. Yeah, it made me cry, but more importantly it made me think. I am blessed with a beautiful, healthy little boy and this video has encouraged me to appreciate every moment of his precious life. Every moment. I now value waking up in the middle of the night to feed him, changing his messy diapers, and rocking him when he is upset. All are opportunities for me to be with him and love him.



Parker is 4 weeks old today! He has grown so much...seriously. He is a little chub. I love him so much and I hope that he can feel that. Here are some pictures I've taken of him lately.

This is Parker at 2 weeks

Parker all bundled up for a walk in the stroller

Parker the Rockstar and his friend Cassidy (who is three months older than him)

Parker's first day at church

Parker and Matt at the ward Halloween party

Parker is "captain adorable"

Just a Stay-at-Home Mom?

When people ask me what my career plans are now that I'm going to have a baby, I am met with a variety of responses. Basically, I'm putting my professional teaching career on hold until my children are old enough to go to school. Most of the time when others hear that I'm going to be a stay-at-home mom they are supportive and glad that I am in a position that staying at home is financially possible (although it will be tight). But then there are others who feel like I'm wasting my life or not living a life because I choose to be "just a stay-at-home mom." I've been asked if I feel like I'm wasting my degree. Absolutely not! What better place to apply what I've learned at school than at my own home. That's not to say I won't miss the academic world, but I'm moving on to a different sort of school; one where I will develop many new types of skills. Those who chide me for being "just a stay at home mom" do not realize that motherhood contains within that title many other titles. Being a mother means I get to be so many things.

As a mother I get to be a Nurse. I have never been to medical school, but I'm excited to learn about the human body and how to help heal it. When my children get sick, I am the first response team. I am responsible for determining what is wrong with them. That means I must be well-studied on the subject of health and disease. That mostly means that I will become an expert at searching for symptoms and treatments on google, but nonetheless, I will become an expert on those symptoms and treatments. I am am also the ambulance driver, in a way, when I determine my children are sick enough that I need to take them to the real doctors.

I also am going to have the privilege of being our home's Interior Decorator. I pretty much am already, but since I'll be spending at lot more time inside my house, I will be much more picky on exactly how it looks. Not to mention, I have to be doing all of this on a budget. That means I'll get to be creative on how to do this: Refinishing old funiture, using my own artwork, bargain hunting, etc. I think I will have fun developing this skill.

I've taken a few courses on this subject, but I don't know if I'm fully prepared to be a Child Psychologist, but then again, I don't really have a choice. I will be fully engulfed in the life of my child and being the best mother I can be means I must try to see the world the way he sees it. I know there are many different theories on how to raise a child. Probably as many theories as there are mothers. I will get to develop my own theory based on what I know is best for my child. It will be interesting to see if I can apply any of those Pavlovian stimulus-response training methods on my children.

I've never been too interested in becoming a chef until recently. Now I find a certain ammount of satifaction in developing a new recipe. They aren't complication by any means, but I like the fact that I made it up. My mom is the ultimate chef. Mmmm. Just thinking about her food makes my mouth water. She just throws things together into a delicious concoction. Right now I focus on making food that is healthy and try to make it yummy as well. It is a work in progress, hopefully I have my mother's throw-everything-in-the-pot-and-watch-it-turn-into-something-delicious genes.

My husband is the accountant, but since I now have significantly more time than him (he is also a full-time student) I have been given the responsibility of being our family's financial planner. Maybe our family goes a little overboard (Matt IS an accountant), but we keep track of all our expenses down to buying a snack at the gas station. Matt is teaching me to use our financial software to create and manage our budget. I don't think everybody goes to the lengths we do to stay on top of our budget, but I do know that being financially aware is an important skill that every mother should have especially since they are the ones who most often do all the shopping for the family. I'm excited for Matt to teach me how to use the quickbooks software. I'm sure this skill will be beneficial in many ways.

I can't wait for my little baby to come so I can take pictures of him. That means I get to be the family photographer. What mother doesn't like to take pictures of their bundle of joy? This will be a great opportunity for me become a better photographer not to mention historian. I am in charge of making sure that every milestone in my little boy's life is documented. I'm sure it won't be too hard for me to accomplish this. I'll probably just follow him around all day with a camera around my neck.

One part of being a stay-at-home mom that I've been dreading is become the family maid, but I do admit that this is an important role that I'll have. I'm not saying that I am going to be the only one every cleaning in my home. Nope. If you make the mess, you clean it, but I will be on full-time duty. My Grandma is the ultimate home cleaner. She is a little obsessive--ok, she is a lot obsessive, but I've noticed how she takes pride in her work. That is a quality I want to emulate. I want to take pride in having a clean home. After all, word on the street is "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." I wouln't mind having some of that in my home.

One role that I'm all too familiar with is that of Teacher. As a mother, I will become the ultimate teacher. In fact, I consider that to be the primary role of a mother. I will get to teach my child how to do basic things like tie a shoe. I get to read to him nightly and be filled with joy when he can read to me. I am excited to hear all his curious questions and to answer them with just as much excitement. I will take the responsibilty to teach him right from wrong very seriously. I am so excited to take part in helping this helpless little person to grow up to be a capable, independent, and responsible adult.

I could go on forever about the different reponsibilties that I gladly accept with choosing to be a stay-at-home mom. I will get to learn so many things and if I can become an expert at just one of those things, I will consider myself a success. I was lucky enough to have a mother who showed me what motherhood is all about. She embraced the responsiblities of motherhood with dignity and as a result I am who I am today.

I'm sure you can think of a million more things that motherhood is to you and I think the list is a little different for everyone, but that doesn't make it less important.

Back to School or not

It seems like everyone is getting ready to go back to school. The newspaper is overrun by back to school sales ads. The weather is getting a little cooler (only a little). The youth in my ward are starting to complain about the end of summer. Wal-mart is filled with spiral-bound notebooks.

This is the first year I'm NOT going back to school. Obviously I went to school every year from preschool to senior year at RHS (Go Silverwolves!) and then I went straight through 4 years of College at Utah State (Go Aggies! What is an aggie anyway?) and then I got a job teaching chemistry at AMES for two years (Go Nerdy kids!).

AMES is a public charter school which means that it is free and there is open enrollment with a cap at 400 students. It is a very small school and I think that is one of its greatest strengths. AMES stands for Academy for Math, Engineering, and Science and we tried to focus on giving kids opportunities to excel in those areas although the school had a great arts, social studies, and english programs as well.

Most people have the mistaken understanding that AMES is only for smart kids. Not true. In fact during enrollment we would focus on underprivledged, minority, lower economic status, and potential first generation college students. It is true that we did grab the attention of some brilliant MIT bound students, but most of the students were not this way.

I LOVED teaching. I LOVED my students. Being in such a small school, I got to know most of my students very, very well. In fact, I still keep in touch with many of them. Many of them have added me as their friend on facebook (not the other way around). I even received emails from a couple of them this summer.

Here is an email from my student Nathan. He would always stay after class asking me girl advise:

Anyways I'm sorry I never had the time to write an e-mail. I have been very busy with Canada and all, never got on a computer. So how is your summer going? Are you excited about your baby coming soon? Will you visit with your baby sometime? Well what ever happens enjoy it! hoping to talk to ya some more soon!

Sincerely,
Nathan
(AKA) Your most awesome student! =D

Here is part of an email from another student JP. I wasn't even aware that he liked me all that much, but he wrote me a sweet email:

How are you? How are things going? It's boring not talking to you every other day. Next year is going to be way lame without you at AMES. How's the baby doing? :) I'm doing pretty well. Actually very well.

It makes me school-sick. I wish I could go back, but then again I am very excited for this new chapter of my life. In reality I get to be the ultimate teacher: mother.

I had an opportunity to go to Washington DC with 4 of my students last fall for the NCSSSMST (the world's longest acronym) conference. The National Consortium of Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathmatics, Science, and Technology. The first day I tried very hard to establish myself as the teacher of the group but soon gave up when I realized everyone else just thought I was a student. Oh, well it was more fun that way.

Can you tell which one is the teacher?

Cute kids: Daniel, Ahrash, Sarah, and Ludmila