Sorry my loyal fans

(All four of you) I posted a whole bunch again today. I apologize cuz I know its annoying to have it all at once instead of little bits here and there. I will try to do better. Hope you enjoy our posts!!

Kaleb Update

I know its been awhile since I mentioned Kaleb so here is a slew (slough?) of updates on our little Bear:

We never really cared if Kaleb ever took a pacifier or not, especially since he never seemed to like it at all and would immediately spit it out. But the other day he was really hungry and we were on a tight schedule, so I tried it, and he took it. He slept with it for about 20 minutes so we could get ready. It's come in handy a few times, although he continues to be fickle about it. Sometimes he likes it. Sometimes he doesn't.

For the last month I've had to supplement nursing with a bottle a day which gives Ammon time to uh... bond with Kaleb. Ammon is of course pretending to sleep for the picture. We just like to see Kaleb feeding himself. He has no problem holding up those little bottles when there is less than two oz. in them.

Kaleb is finally showing interest in standing (you know how babies like to push with their legs, even at an early age). He didn't at first so we started making sure he has his 'exercises' every day to strangthen his legs and torso. I love that look of, "Daddy, don't drop me" in the picture.

After a week of leaks and gushing out of his diapers we decided it was time to move up a size, so Kaleb is already in size 3's. My baby's got a bog ol' booty! (Shocker!)

Kaleb has started smiling at us. He's always been a smiley baby, but it was just random mouth twitches until this week. Now we can occasionally get him to smile at little things we do. I love how his eyes disappear, just like both of ours.

Pinch Me

Don't you hate it when you have dreams that are SO realistic that when you wake up you can't quite tell if it was a dream or not?

Well, last night I went to bed at 11pm, but Kaleb woke up at midnight and wouldn't go back to sleep. At 2 o'clock, after nursing him, giving him four oz. of formula and nursing him again, he was totally wide awake, so I put him in his crib. He cried off and on for about an hour, so finally at 3am we were able to both get some shut eye. It's all a bit hazy, but I remember Ammon walking in with a tray saying, " I made you breakfast in bed, and I've spent all morning cleaning!" The food was so good and when I walked around the house, yes indeed the house was clean. No it wasn't a dream, but it sure felt like it, especially since it was only 7 in the morning! My darling husband had spent all night cleaning the house and then decided to wake me with some toast and eggs. He is such a SWEETY!!

Then again!!

Ammon thinks Kaleb takes after me:

What do you think?

Like Father Like Son

I think Kaleb takes after his dad:

He loves watching movies!

He's so helpful around the house!!

Takes comfortable furniture VERY seriously!

And of course, LOVES TO SLEEP!!!

How to Burn Pasta

1. Fill a shallow pot with water

2. Bring water to boil

3. Pour box of pasta into boiling water

4. Make sure stove is at full heat

5. Turn on a movie that you've never seen before that you know will grab your interest and clutch onto it like an Nile Croc to a Wildebeest

6. While watching movie, entertain a 6-week old infant

7. Ignore that pesky burning smell!!

TADA!! Burnt Pasta and a perfect excuse to go out that night!!

Gecko-Bear

The other night, during one of the storms, we found a baby gecko in the house. It scared me to death cuz I saw something brown scurry across the floor and assumed COCKROACH and pulled a few muscles trying to escape. Anywho, Ammon caught it (I'm too slow for those little suckers), its tail fell off and he put it outside. A few hours later, low and behold, that same gecko was wandering around the kitchen, so we decided to just let him join the family: stay in the house and eat bugs. Of course we haven't seen him since.

Book- The Moon is Down

So my latest book venture was The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck. Its a short novel about an unidentified mning town that is conquered during WW II. Steinbeck originally wrote it about an American town in order to bring about sentiment against Germany before the US was even involved in the war, but there were many concerned with the suggestive nature of the story. Plus, the story doesn't actually name Germany as the conqueror, but it is does typify Nazi protocol!



I liked this novel because it did not paint Germany as a bunch of evil men. They peacefully came into the town and basically told the people "Our country needs the coal from your mine, so we just want you to go about your daily lives like you normally would. Just let us have the coal and we can all live in harmony." However, the townspeople, a normally peaceful type, feel as though their freedom has been taken and they slowly rebel. This causes the enemy to attempt to keep order by killing. Its an interesting story about the double-edged sword of war. One of the realizations I had (that kind of reveals what a geek I am) is that the Nazis and the Borg from Star Trek are very similar. Both wanted to take over all other civilizations by bringing to them what they considered a higher existence while still proclaiming that they wanted the conquered people to maintain their uniqueness. However, part of what makes each culture unique is its ability to keep traditions and government. Anyway, it was a thought-provoking read that brings truth no matter the time-period.

The Actress Within?

Last night we attended the touring performance of Wicked. It was phenominal!! Such fantasticalness! My favorite character was easily Glinda (GAH-linda) and my only real complaint was that Elphaba's "choreograpy' was a little dull. She had a fantastic voice, but anytime she sang (which was a LOT) she just kind of wandered around the stage. I don't think it would have bothered me if I hadn't known the soundtrack by heart since the songs are so AWESOME!!!

The irony of my experience last night is that I'm not pining. All week I have been expecting to be nostalgic and wanting to get back on stage and feel the joy of entertaining a crowd. I even thought of what I would say on my blog. However, despite the fact that I was so impressed with the entire show and got goosebumps with every song, on our way home all I could think about was getting back to my little Kaleb (thank you, Mom for staying up so late with him). It reminded me of a line in Sister Act II, "If you wake up in the morning, and all you can think about is singin', you're supposed to be a singer, girl." So funny to me that my going to the play last night did not re-ignite the burning passion for acting, but reaffirmed my desire to be a good mom.

Memoires of a Geisha

As mentioned in my previous post, I've been trying to read more. Since this is filling quite a bit of my time I figured I might as well blog about the books i have read. This last week was Memoires of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. I really enjoyed the movie and thankfully it followed the basic storyline of the book very well. One of the intriguing things about this novel is that it is written as though the main character were telling a story to a translator. At first I honestly believed this was a real person, which made the story that much more genuine. The author is an American man who has studied Asian cultures and languages all his life, so it is even more impressive to me how detailed everything was. Such a foreign perspective for him and he made it SO real. It was definitely an escape from my every day activities and I would give it a four out of five! Any suggestions for further reading would be greatly appreciated!