My Marcus

Here are some other things I've found myself calling Marcus.

• Circus Marcus
• Spartacus Marcus
• Baby Buddy Boy

Sometimes we call him the Italian, because when we took him to Brian's grandpa's for the first time, Brian's grandpa kept asking what his name was, and when we said, "Marcus," he would say, "Marcus...isn't that Italian?" or "Marcus...that's Italian, right?" Ever since Ethan was born, when Brian and I talk with each other we've called Alyssa "the girl" (as in The girl needs some help with her homework) and Ethan "the boy" (as in Guess what the boy did with his diaper today?) So now we call Marcus "the Italian" (as in The Italian got stuck crawling under his saucer - again).

Marcus is crawling all over the place. We'll set him down in the living room, and find him just a few moments later in the kitchen. He has this magnetic sense that draws him toward anything paper or cardboard, and he loves to eat what he finds, of course. His two bottom teeth have popped through. He loves to lay in the bath tub and kick his feet. (The picture shows him with his striped washcloth loin cloth, for modesty purposes.) And he loves it when I hold him when I dance with Alyssa and Ethan. He is so very sweet.

Sweet Lovers Love - - The Spring

I love, love, love that Spring is here. I love the tulips in our yard. I love walking Alyssa to school. I love wearing cute skirts. And I love the sunshine.

I especially love that the days are getting longer, and it feels like we have so much more time. During the winter my kids get tired so early in the evening, and it's dark, so we put them to bed at 7:00 or 7:30. It felt so rushed to have dinner, then clean up, get the kids ready for bed, have scripture study, then put the kids to bed. Now that it's getting dark later, we're putting the kids to bed at 8:00 or 8:30, and it makes the evenings so much more relaxed. I think now that Brian's finals are over (for the rest of his life!) that we relaxed a little too much this evening. It's 8:17 and we haven't even started getting ready for bed yet. That's why our children love the Spring.

My Sensitive Boys

Well, it looks like we're a Pampers family. Alyssa wore them because she moved too fast for any other diapers. When she was a baby, Pampers was the only diaper I knew of that had both the sticky and Velcro tabs, instead of just the Velco. She would wiggle her way out of any other type of diaper I tried to put her in.

Ethan and Marcus are both allergic to anything other than Pampers. We discovered this when Ethan was a newborn, and we couldn't use wipes on him, because his skin was too sensitive, and his bottom would rash with most diapers. Ethan is still very allergic to any kind of Huggies product.

We've had Marcus in Pampers since birth, but I thought we would try out the Kirkland diapers from Costco. They are wonderful, and wonderfully cheap, but they are giving him such a rash, and the rash is covering any part of his bottom that wasn't sitting in poop. It's mostly his lower back that's very raw, and it is so sad.

So back to Pampers for us. I don't really know why I wanted to share this. But I did all the same. I hope you enjoyed it.

Edited to add: I figured out why I posted about this. If anyone in the area wants to buy 180 diapers for 30 bucks, let me know. We obviously can't use them. They're size 3 (16-28 lbs).

BeAcH

Brian gave us advanced notice that he would be spending the day studying, so the kids and I took advantage of the weather and took off to the beach. We went to Seaside. I misjudged the distance between Tillamook and Seaside, so went the went the wrong way, and it took us over two hours to get there. It was a beautiful drive, but there was a time or two when I imagined the car broken down on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere with a mom and three kids and a cell phone with no service. (Scary!)

Alyssa and I took pictures of each other on the walk to the beach.

Alyssa spent her time collecting "treasures."



Ethan loved to arrange the rocks along the top of the logs. He ended up with a huge line of rocks, then he took a feather and knocked them all down.



Alyssa, of course, made a ton of new friends.



This was Marcus's first trip to the ocean. He loved it!



This picture just captures the lives of Alyssa and Ethan. She's a hard one to keep up with.



I swear they were clean when we got there! I didn't realize it was going to be so beautiful and warm, other wise I would have dressed the kids in play clothes. I thought we would be walking around the beach, not crawling and bulldozing through the sand.

Oh Holy Cow (er...Night?)

Ethan and Marcus played Mommy Tag last night, and I - am - tired. I put Marcus in his crib a little while after Ethan and Alyssa fell asleep last night, and then I tackled the huge pile of laundry that's been building up in our garage. Brian studied while I folded laundry, and we ended up going to bed a little after midnight. (Very, very late for me.) A little bit after that (I don't know if I had fallen asleep yet or not) Marcus woke up, so I pulled him into bed with us. Marcus is a cuddler, and he's also a night person, so he likes to have someone to suck up to, and he does his best sleeping in the morning. If I get out of bed at night and he doesn't suck up to Brian, he wakes up, and when he wakes up, he's not happy that I (food source) am gone, so he cries and doesn't let Brian help him.

Last night Ethan woke up, so I went to lay down with him. I fell asleep in his bed and later woke up to hear Marcus crying, so I went back to our bed. Then Ethan woke up, then Marcus woke up...and I ended up going back and forth between Ethan's bed and our bed all night long. Ethan woke up again around five, and when I was laying in bed with him, I didn't wake up to Marcus's little cries, so by the time I was getting out of bed to help Marcus, Ethan was waking up too. So I ended up bringing Marcus into Ethan's bed, and Ethan was excited about that. He played with some toys for a little while, then the cat decided to join us, and he was very excited about that. It took some time, but eventually we were all asleep: Marcus on my arm, Ethan beside us, and the cat on my legs. When I got out of bed this morning, I thought the boys looked very cute, both in blue, sleeping in Ethan's bed.

He Won The Battle...I Won The War

At least I think I did. With Brian, you never know.

On Monday or Tuesday night, I can't really remember which, Brian and I decided to make rice krispy treats together. I had bought the ingredients when we went shopping on Saturday, and I specifically bought chocolate chips to put in them, but Brian doesn't like krispy treats with chocolate chips, so when I pulled the bag out of the freezer, he was quite adamant that there would be absolutely no chocolate chips in his krispy treats.

"Can't we just put them in half the batch?" I asked, as sweetly as possible. He shook his head no, and that's when the battle began. We fought the whole time the butter was melting, and the whole time the marshmallows were melting. We literally fought about whether or not to put chocolate chips in our krispy treats. Literally, meaning that there were no hurt feelings involved, but that I knew I had lost when I ended up on the floor with the frozen bag of chocolate chips shoved down the back of my shirt.

He may have won the battle, but I do believe I won the war. Here are a couple of pictures of our children eating the spoils of war, which in this case is another batch of rice krispy treats that I made this afternoon, chock full of huge, milk chocolate chips.

I Must Have Done Something Right

It's 7:51 and everyone in the house, including the cat, is still asleep.

Explaining It All

* * * Please read the previous post first * * *

It all started about 33 years ago, when my parents were dating. The story goes that my dad proposed seven times, and on the last time my mom said, "If you promise to take me to Disneyland on our honeymoon, then I will marry you." Well, he did, so she did. They went to Disneyland on their honeymoon, and our family has been going ever since.

My mom grew up in California, so when our family moved to Utah and then to Washington, we would travel to California almost every summer to visit her parents and brother and sister. I loved visiting my grandparents. They lived on a dead volcano (on Soda Bay Road) right next to Clear Lake in Kelseyville, California. There were lizards and snakes to play with (which my brothers loved), a lake to swim in (which is why my grandpa called me Mudhole), and stone steps surrounded by eucalyptus trees that lead to the mail boxes (which is why the kids fought over who would retrieve the mail). I loved waking up early in the morning to watch the sun rise over the lake, and sitting and watching The Price is Right in the afternoon with my grandpa. There were always cookies to eat, and there was always a mountain of Shasta pop in the kitchen. Actually, one summer Papa (Grandpa) knocked over the cans of pop and they sprayed black cherry soda all over the kitchen. When my parents and Grandma came home from shopping he said, shaking his head, "Those darn kids, making messes in the kitchen."

When our visits to Soda Bay Road were finished, we would drive around Clear Lake and head East a bit until we reached Interstate 5. At this point, we could either turn North to head home, or turn South to head to Disneyland. During the whole drive to I-5, all of the kids would hold their breath, waiting to see which way Dad would turn. Also, during the whole drive to I-5, Mom would say "Mike, we can't go to Disneyland this year...We don't have the money to go to Disneyland this year...We don't have the time to go to Disneyland this year..." And even though my mom was trying to be the voice of reason, even she rejoiced whenever Dad turned South.

And, of course, every time we went to Disneyland we had the time of our lives. We always went on the train first. I remember hiding my eyes in my mom's arm pit when I was afraid on the Haunted Mansion. On my first time on Space Mountain, I was sitting with my sister, Christina. I was a little overwhelmed, so I kept saying, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh..." and Christina told me that saying "Oh my gosh" sounded too much like taking the Lord's name in vain, and I should say, "Oh my goodness," or "Oh my golly," instead. I remember when I was finally old enough to go around with my older brothers and sisters, instead of having to stay with my parents. And I remember when they built Splash Mountain and they had a special on the Disney Channel of Earnest being the first person to ride it. We were so excited to go to Disneyland after seeing that.

When I was a sophomore in high school, the band and choir went to Disneyland. I had so much fun going with my friends and playing with the band in Carnation Something between Fantasy Land and Frontier Land. This trip held some memorable moments: buying my first of many stuffed animal monkeys, almost starving to death when the band bus was detained and then had to go last to dinner at Medieval Times (even though the choir had been sitting at the hotel all afternoon, eating, while the band was just stuck - on - the bus), holding hands with a boy for the first time (I didn't like the boy, I didn't want to hold his hand, and the minute I was able to let go I made sure my hands were occupied -in my pockets, holding my backpack, you name it - for the rest of the time), and laughing historically for 45 minutes for no reason at all in the airport on the way home.

See? With all these fabulous memories of Disneyland, how can I not love Disneyland? It doesn't help my obsession that when we went last year for the first time as a family, that we had the most magical time ever. It just makes me want to go back. Again and again.

It's Happening Again

Some of you may remember when I mentioned my obsession about Disneyland, and the depression I would go into each and every time I realized we wouldn't be able to go. And some of you may remember how elated I was to find out that we would be making a trip to Disneyland last year, and how we had such a wonderful time on that vacation.

Well, it's happening again. The Disneyland urges are coming full force. All of you are probably saying, "You just went last year - isn't that enough?" And you're right. It should be enough, and normally I would be content to wait a couple of years until our next Disneyland trip, but we just have to go this year. Main reason: most of my family is going. My parents and my little sister, Michael and his family, and Philip and his family are all going. (Christina and Nathan are going in October, and David and Sara are having a baby so they're not going any time soon.) Now it would be fun to go with my parents, and it would be fun to go with Kim, and it would definitely be fun to go with Mike and Tallia, but the biggest incentive is to go to Disneyland with Philip and Erin. They are the coolest, funniest people you could ever go to Disneyland with, and I wouldn't want to miss that for anything.

So I've been figuring out finances and schedules and trying, trying, trying to find a way to go...but there are too many circumstances right now that need to be resolved before we can even know if there is any chance of going. Brian is the voice of reason in our family and he keeps telling me to slow down and be patient, and I know that he's not trying to crush my hopes and dreams, but every time he says we might not go, I can't help but think, "Why are you trying to ruin my life?!?" But Brian loves me, and he's not trying to ruin my life. He's trying to get us to Disneyland, too - just not as hard as I am.

New Wheels

Today I went grocery shopping, and when I was done, I loaded my groceries in my (Bob Barker voice goes here) NEW CAR! It's my new car, because Brian is still in denial about owning a mini van. Here's the conversation we had when we were deciding to buy it:

Brian: Do you want it?

Carrie: Yeah, I think I do.

Brian: But it's a mini van.

Carrie: Brian, half of your friends have mini vans.

Brian: Yeah, and we all make fun of them.

So Brian and I are joining the ranks of all those parents with mini vans. I love it. It's a '97 Honda Odyssey, and the doors are swinging doors like a normal car, not sliding doors like other mini vans have. I actually really like that. We bought it from a couple of teachers who live here in Forest Grove. In Fact, the wife is Porter Lofgran's kindergarten teacher. They were both very nice, and it is a very nice car. So we're good.

I'm Famous!

So this is apparently what happened last Wednesday, or at least how the newspaper told it. I don't think they talked to anyone involved in the accident, because if they had, they would know that the front three cars were stopped, and the fourth car's driver ran into us. Such is the news. But anyway, it's cool to be in a newspaper. The picture isn't showing up. If you want to see it, go here. My car is the third one in the line.

Several people injured, though none seriously, Wednesday evening
The Forest Grove News-Times, Apr 9, 2008, Updated Apr 9, 2008

Chase Allgood / News-Times
A four-car pileup in Forest Grove took center stage during First Wednesday festivities last week. No one was seriously hurt in the chain-reaction fender bender, which police said was likely caused by sun glare.
A four-car pile-up snarled traffic along Pacific Avenue in Forest Grove last Wednesday evening and sent several people to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Forest Grove police said that the accident happened at 6:50 p.m. at the intersection of Pacific Avenue and Main Street when a motorist suddenly braked for a stop light and the three cars following behind collided into each other in succession.
Police believe the glare of sunlight made it difficult to tell if the traffic light at Main Street was red or green.
Police said that no one was seriously injured in the accident, though several were taken to area hospitals.
The multiple fender-bender drew more attention than usual as it happened in the midst of First Wednesday festivities in downtown Forest Grove.

April Showers Bring Fun Flowers

Flower cookies, that is! And butterfly cookies, and race car cookies, and heart cookies. Ethan and I had a fun time making sugar cookies this afternoon. For some reason (no, I am not pregnant) I have been craving sugar and sweet things lately. Hence, the brownies that I massacred on Monday and today's beautiful sugar cookies. The I heart U cookies are for Brian, of course.

So life is still a little crazy, but it's good.

When It Rains, It Pours

So I don't want to complain or anything, because I am in a good mood, but here's some of the cruddy things that have been happening or just some of the things that are on our minds right now.

1. Obviously, I was rear ended last week. That's been a whole lot of fun. We've been on the phone with and meeting with insurance people most of our free time. We haven't gotten the final word yet, but most likely we'll be shopping for a new car with not a whole lot of money gotten from our old car. And it's right before finals, and Brian's actually got a lot of school stuff to do this week. And we've only got a few days to do it in, otherwise we have to pay for our rental car.
   
2. We're packing and cleaning and getting ready to move.
3. I've canceled Alyssa's un-birthday party. Even though I feel better not having to worry about it for a while, I'm sad that it probably won't happen now...and the invitations were really cute!
4. Brian was sick Friday morning, Alyssa was sick on Sunday, and I got hit with it yesterday. I got hit so hard that I was having severe chest pains that felt a lot like having gall bladder problems, but I don't have a gall bladder anymore, so it left us baffled as to what could be wrong with me and if it might have been caused by the accident or not. It turns out it was just from being sick. Well, we had a fun FHE in the emergency room. I'm not being sarcastic. We really did, but it would have been great if we didn't have to deal with it.
5. Brian has finals soon.
6. I made Cali's really yummy brownies yesterday and learned that putting the whole bowl of batter into an 8x8 pan doesn't make really thick yummy brownies, it makes really dry but runny-in-the-middle brownies. (Both my 9x13's were filled with leftover dinners, so I decided it would be fun to use an 8x8, when I really should have divided it in half.) And it's not very much fun to throw up brownies. It kind of ruins the whole brownie experience.
   
7. The cat threw up on my bed. I think that just about sums everything up, now doesn't it?
   

Crunch!

Last night on my way to Activity Day Girls, I was stopped at the light on Pacific Avenue, right in front of Frye's Athletic Store. The sun was really bright and right in front of us. The girl behind us must have been blinded by it, because she didn't stop and slammed right into me. I could see her coming through the rear view mirror, but I didn't realize she was going to hit us until she did. Between the loud crunch of her hitting us and us hitting the car in front of us, I had two thoughts. The first was, "Oh my gosh," and the second, "Marcus is in the car." The second it was over, I turned around and checked him out, taking his seat belt off. Then I ran around the car and carefully pulled him out. As soon as he was in my arms, he stopped crying.

I pulled my purse out of the car, looking for my cell phone, but it was then that I remembered that it was plugged in at home. A very nice man let me borrow his so I could call Brian, and Brian was able to get Derek Ames to come watch the kids so he could come be with me.

We ended up taking Marcus to the emergency room, just to be totally sure that he was okay. The paramedics didn't really look at him - they just asked if he was acting normal, and when I said, "I think so," they went on. The fun thing about going to the hospital is that the nurses and doctors remembered Marcus from when he had problems with his circumcision, and it was great to catch up with them. Marcus even gave them huge smiles, and they said that they were much happier to see him this time.

It turned out to be a four-car pile up, but everyone was okay. A couple people from the first car left on stretchers, but the doctor at the hospital told us that they were just fine. It was scary, but we're okay, and I am so glad of that.

This Was Recorded in the Bible?

Tonight for Activity Day Girls we are having a "Gotta Have Faith" night. The leaders are dressing up as bible women and telling their stories, and the girls are bringing Book of Mormon stories to tell. This is what happens when I leave things like this, unfinished, on the computer:

My name is Rebekah. I lived a long time ago, about 2,000 years after the earth was created. I married a man named Isaac, and he was a prophet of God. The story about how Isaac and I met is recorded in the book of Genesis.

Isaac’s father was the prophet Abraham. Abraham made covenants, or promises to Heavenly Father, and in return, Heavenly Father promised Abraham that his children, and children’s children, and their children’s children – and all the way down to our time would like applesauce.

It’s a little known fact that I was an avid scrap booker – actually, most of the hieroglyphic pages in the Book of Abraham were done by me. Unfortunately, the stickers didn’t survive all those years.

Another tidbit about me is that I *love* bunnies. It’s too bad we didn’t have Easter bunnies back in my day, because I would have been all over that.

On a more serious note, my sons Joseph and Benjamin were offered leading parts in the musical Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat – I thought they both did a great job.

It’s likely that you’re my descendents because Joseph’s two sons were Ephraim and Manasseh (most people in the church today are from the tribe of Ephraim).

In the Book of Mormon, Nephi quotes my grandson Joseph when he was prophesying about the coming of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

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