Something to Chuckle About

We went to run errands today and one of our stops took us to the Good Earth. Buddha likes to help out at the Good Earth because they have miniature shopping carts for kids to push around (a great idea, by the way!). We were there to collect my regimen of pills and creams I'm going to use to attempt to cure my eczema on my hands. As we walked around the store, Buddha followed along while I dropped bottle after bottle of pills into his little shopping cart. He took his duties very seriously and anytime I would stop to search for another item, he would turn the cart into the shelves to "park" and wait for me. The Chief followed after us, pushing Bugga in the stroller. We were both fairly invested in trying to find the right pills, with the right ingredient combinations and the right dosages, but we would spare a second here and there to make sure Buddha was still with us. Just before we proceeded to checkout, I started pulling out bottles and creams one after another just to make sure I had everything I needed. Toward the beginning of my inventory, I found a bottle of pills that I most definitely did not add to Buddha's little shopping cart. I thought maybe The Chief was playing a joke, but when he denied his involvement, we both realized that Buddha must have taken it upon himself to do a little shopping to help out Mom. And what was this mystery bottle of pills, you ask? None other than...Colostrum. What? Colostrum, you say? Yes, the "pre-milk fluid produced from the mother's mammary glands during the first few days after birth." I had no idea that they bottled that stuff in pill form. Ha ha ha, what could Buddha have been trying to tell me? Probably nothing other than, "this is the stuff they put on the shelves at my level, Mom." :) Well, the whole episode made me chuckle.

First Tooth!

Bugga has his first tooth trying to break through his gums right now! When you're looking at him, it's the bottom right one (in the middle, of course). I'm hoping that this tooth coming in is what's been causing him issues with falling asleep and staying asleep. I just noticed it today. It still hasn't broken through, because I can't feel it. But I can see the little white line of the top sitting right there below the surface. How exciting! Buddha didn't get his first tooth until after he was eight months old. Bugga is just over five months old.

An April Run For Olivia

On February 6, 2007, the Sunrise Meadows community in Saratoga Springs was violently shaken when the Roper home exploded. April Roper and Questar worker Larry Radford were killed. There had been a gas leak out in front of the home that had been taken care of, when Larry Radford came to relight the pilot light in the Roper's home, April went with him to show him where to go. Seconds later the home exploded, it had been filled with gas. April's husband Greg, and their 18-month-old daughter, Olivia, were just outside the home with a friend, waiting to go on a walk.

April and Greg Roper had just moved into their new home from our ward about a month and a half earlier. I won't say that I knew them well, because I didn't. I just knew of her and I thought she had an adorable daughter with this cute, curly hair. Greg was The Chief's home teaching companion, though only for a short while. This incident, however, rocked our ward. It's been especially hard to think of Greg and Olivia having to witness the explosion and the death of their wife/mother. I can't imagine how hard that must have been. If I think too much about this, I start to get weepy. She was younger than I am! A new mother with so much to look forward to in life. I almost feel sorry for her because she can't stay with her loved ones. However, I'm sure she's in a much happier place, keeping busy with missionary work while she waits for her loved ones to come join her.

So, yesterday, we joined hundreds of other people in "An April Run For Olivia," a 5K run/walk fundraiser to help little Olivia through the loss of her mother. The Chief and I walked/jogged at a pretty good clip with the boys in a double jogging stroller once again provided by Zach and Brooke (thanks guys!). Buddha loves "racing day." And this time he even got to race in his own race...a 100 meter race for 0 to 2-year-olds. He had a great time. The whole event was well planned and well executed, I thought. It seems like the event planners thought of everything. After we finished racing, we were given flowers and allowed to walk up to the location of the demolished home. We stuck the flowers in the fence. One for each of us. It was pretty somber there, with many weeping openly on being confronted with the reality of what happened. It blew me away to stand that close to where someone died tragically. What a terrible loss! At this time we wish to join with countless others to wish Greg and Olivia the comfort, healing, and peace that only love and faith can provide. We know our Heavenly Father is looking out for them.

Graduation!

The Chief graduated today! Hooray! We are thrilled. Well, I am, and Grandma and Grandpa Bagel are. :) Buddha and Bugga probably don't really quite get it, but I'm glad they were at their daddy's graduation. The law school convocation was held in the Provo Tabernacle and The Chief led the procession of students receiving their Juris Doctorate (which is basically everyone). I manned the video camera, the digital camera, and Buddha. Grandpa Bagel was kind enough to take care of a very fussy Bugga who eventually fell asleep on him, only to be awakened a few minutes later when we clapped after a speaker finished. Such a momentous occasion! We are very proud of The Chief. He has worked so hard for this over the last three and a half years (if you count studying to take the LSAT). I'm glad it's over, but leaving Utah is going to be bitter-sweet, as it should be. We've made lots of great friends here and even more great memories. I'm sure we'll be back to visit, but for now, San Diego here we come!

The Living Planet Aquarium

So, this is where we went yesterday after miniature golfing. We were definitely having a play-packed day. Here's a little side story to begin, having nothing to do with the aquarium yet. On our way up to Sandy to hang out at The Living Planet Aquarium, we suddenly noticed that the south-bound freeway was completely empty. It was actually a really spooky feeling to realize there are no cars where there should have been hundreds. All of a sudden a huge escort of motorcycle police preceded a convoy of more police and a few blacked-out cars and ambulances and more police, etc. It was Vice President, Dick Cheney's, convoy! He was on his way to speak at the BYU Commencement. It was crazy to see. And crazier than the convoy was the empty freeway! :) Anyway, I had seen commercials for The Living Planet Aquarium and it looked cool. It wasn't. It was actually pretty pathetic. Especially after having spent a summer in San Diego with frequent visits to Sea World. This Sandy Aquarium was a supermarket turned aquarium. To it's credit, it really is just a preview exhibit. There are plans in the making for a much larger, state-of-the-art facility. Sadly, this was a very lacking preview exhibit. Buddha had a great time, though, and that's really all that matters. I did enjoy the giant octopus that they had, too. There was a shark exhibit, but it was small and the sharks were small...and sleeping. Ah mi, it was an adventure, and like I said, Buddha had fun. Do I sound like I'm trying to convince myself it was worth while? :) After the aquarium, we ended our anniversary eating dinner at Buca di Beppo in Salt Lake. Yummy!

Miniature Golfing

Yesterday was The Chief's and my four-year wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going miniature golfing with Grandma and Grandpa Bagel and the boys. We had so much fun! Bugga spent most of the time sleeping in the stroller while the rest of us putted around the course. Buddha did really well with his little putter. Mostly he would swing his club with one hand, but every now and then he'd assume the proper (well, close enough anyway) golf stance and putt like a pro! He was hilarious. He would start each hole where you're supposed to start, but after one attempt, he would pick up his ball and deposit it right close to the hole, then he would grasp his club and hit the ball into the hole. Each time after he got the ball into the hole, he would swing around in a circle, waving his club and saying, "yaaaay!" It was really cute. We didn't keep score at all. Buddha made sure that everybody's ball went into each hole. I may have putted my ball into the cup/hole once or twice during the whole 18-hole course! Buddha sealed the deal each time for all of us. :) We had a great time. It was fast with no pressure and no expectations, so it never got stressful! What a great activity for our anniversary.

Racquetball Studs!

These are the guys who would go each Tuesday and Thursday night, and Saturday morning, to play racquetball at the Richards Building at BYU. These are The Chief's best friends! They do everything together. They go mountain biking, they go golfing, they study, they play racquetball, and of course they have the occasional bar-b-que where we wives are allowed to intrude on their male bonding rituals!

P.S. I love the racquetball gear (i.e. sweat bands and goggles)! :)

Shooting From the Hip

Sunday was our last time attending the ward we've been in for almost three years! We'll be attending the family ward for our area starting next Sunday since The Chief is graduating and we've been in student wards for over four years! In sacrament meeting the two assigned speakers finished with a half hour left in the meeting. I think Bishop had planned on having time to address us, but I don't think he planned on having that much time. He decided to solicit a little help to fill the time and he called on The Chief to come up and answer a question. "Shooting from the hip," Bishop called it. I was a little nervous for The Chief, probably because I would be petrified to have to answer a question I'd had no time to ponder before-hand, but as usual, he was a natural! Bishop asked The Chief to tell everyone how his law school education had affected his understanding of the Savior's atonement for us. That's a loaded question! The Chief, however, readily answered that throughout his schooling they had gone over case after case where justice was served. Inevitably, someone walked away from a court decision disappointed. Thanks to the Savior's atonement, however, while justice will be executed, so will mercy be present at the final judgment. The Chief said that while our laws on this earth are imperfect, the Savior has offered us a way to become perfected through Him. I was very impressed with The Chief's on-the-spot answer. Of course, he was much more eloquent than I have been in the retelling, but the message is still there. I love my husband! He is deep, insightful, spiritual, intellectually stimulating, and so much fun to be around!

Finito Completo!

He's finished! The Chief finished all his law school obligations yesterday. On Friday he took his last final which was Insurance Law and then yesterday he completed his last journal entry for his Mediation class. The Chief's parents will arrive late tomorrow night to spend the week celebrating with us, and The Chief will receive his diploma this Friday (well, he'll walk and get his blank piece of paper...the diploma actually comes in the mail)! Now he can dedicate all his time to pursuing his real true love...GOLF! :) Just kidding, he'll actually be spending all his time now studying to take the California Bar Exam at the end of July. It's really hard for both of us to believe that this day has already arrived! Three years has really flown by. This sounds cliche, but it really does seem like just yesterday that we were moving into our new condo. I was pregnant with Buddha and The Chief was preparing to begin law school. Now three years, two kids, a guaranteed job position in SD, and a diploma later, we get to join "the real world." What an adventure this has been! The Chief has made some lifelong friends and I've thoroughly enjoyed nurturing our little family throughout. We are immensely proud of our "Papa!"

Cheeeese!

Last night I was helping Buddha learn how to use our old digital camera. He was taking pictures of me while I worked on the computer. Suddenly he said, "Say cheese, Mommy." I said, "cheeeese." He feigned taking a picture. He then said, "say cheese again, Mommy." After snapping the shot, he looked at the display screen and said, "oh, that's a good cheese, Mommy." He makes me laugh every day! I love it!

Q

Buddha just drew a "Q" on his Doodle Pro. He did it a few times! It was a capital "Q." Our two-year-old son can write!!! Crazy! Now we just need to teach him all the other letters of the alphabet and teach him to read. :)

Potty Training

Yesterday I had to go to Wal-Mart to get the boys more diapers. When Buddha found out where we were going, and that I was going to get diapers, he said, "No! Ima get potty trained." How's that for knowing when your kid is ready?! :) However, whenever I do put him on the little toilet that we got for him, he'll sit there forever just reading his books and nothing happens. The last time we did it, he spent 45 minutes on the toilet and then ended up pooping in his diaper 10 minutes after he got off the toilet. Hardy har.

Bugga Rolling (sorry, no audio!)

So, I know this is a really long video (almost 4 minutes) and will be pretty boring to most of you especially since there's no sound, but I wanted to put this on here mostly for Bugga's Granny and Grandpa who are in Guatemala and still haven't met him. Enjoy!

Two Peas in a Pod...

So, last week we moved Bugga into Buddha's room for a trial run. What was a trial run, is now permanent! Woo hoo! It never ceases to amaze me that though I might think I know my children, they can still surprise me sometimes. :) Bugga could cry all night and Buddha won't wake up! And here I thought he was a light sleeper. Phah! Boy was I wrong. Bugga also fell asleep for nap time while Buddha was in his crib having "quiet time," which wasn't all that quiet with his Little Touch Leap Pad in there with him. YaY! Good sleepers means good sleep for Mommy!

We gave Bugga his first solid food on Wednesday last week. He had peas. :) Those were Buddha's favorite and we figured you can't go wrong starting a kid on vegetables. I was hoping that getting more calories would help him sleep more solidly during the night. I don't think he was ready yet, though, and we haven't given him solid food again since. I think we'll wait another month and try again. He is only 5 months, so it was a bit early anyway.

We said goodbye to Uncle D on Monday night. He's on his way back to Iraq now. He left this morning, but he has three days of traveling before he'll arrive in Baghdad again. We had a great time with him. He's awesome with the kids and always fun to talk to and laugh with. Buddha will really miss his "Unca D."

The pictures in the slide show include Buddha being a ham; Bugga playing with the Little People house; Bugga getting his first solid foods; Daddy and Bugga playing on the carpet; Daddy and Buddha at the park; Buddha in the swing; Buddha in the bed; and Buddha with his little buddy, Jonathan, at the park.

Piano Music

I need a good piano music CD that has only soft and soothing songs on it (every single song). Does anyone have any recommendations? The boys like falling asleep to classical music, but inevitably, every classical music CD I have has one or two songs that are a little too loud or spirited. :) I welcome any and all musical suggestions!

Addicted to Blogging

So, I'm addicted to blogging. I think it's the greatest thing ever! I think I love it because I love to be organized and that's what this is...a chance for me to organize my life online. I can have pictures and writing in one journal location. It's easy and fun. Anyway, enough about that, let's talk about the family. Today was our last time teaching gospel doctrine at church. We taught about Christ giving the keys of the kingdom to Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was a good lesson. Next Sunday is our last Sunday in the ward and then we are going to switch to the family ward since The Chief is graduating. I'm excited to make that transition. Many of our friends (with two kids also) have already moved out or moved to their family wards (or will be doing so soon). I think Buddha will like it much better, too, since he's been pretty much the only kid in nursery for a while (sometimes there's one or two others...but only occasionally). I'll be happy to be able to grow accustomed to a family ward while we are here in familiar surroundings over the summer. It'd be hard to move to another state, home, neighborhood, life, and add a new type of ward family on top of that unnecessarily. The Chief thinks it'd be fun to be called to the nursery. I quite agree. We both like teaching children.

Speaking of children. Kristen (my visiting teaching companion) told me at church today that she thinks our two boys are so cute! (It's always nice to hear that as a mom, and I quite agree.) Bugga was grinning and beaming at everyone today. He does this really funny thing right now where he grins and sucks in at the same time, making this little noise while he smiles. He has the biggest, cutest smile. It lights up his entire face. That's it, really, he smiles with his whole face! You can't help but smile back at him. He's such a mover, too. He's so squirmy that I get a workout trying to keep ahold of him during church. I brought a blanket today that I put on the floor in Relief Society so he could roll around, but he didn't last long on it. He was too tired. Having church at 2:30pm is hard with kids who usually take naps at that time! But, we somehow survive each week. Buddha loves nursery. He talks about going to nursery all through sacrament meeting which is our first meeting. Today during sacrament meeting he was looking at a little gospel ABC book that I made for him. He was looking at F for Family. There was a picture of a family in front of a Temple. He started yelling, "A Temple! A Temple, Mommy! That's a Temple!" Later he was looking at P for Prophet and there was a picture of President Hinckley. He usually has no trouble identifying President Hinckley, but when I asked him who it was this time he said, "Oh, Jesus!" :) At least he didn't say "Bishop" this time. :) He has been known to get Bishop, President Hinckley, and President Bush mixed up on occasion. I can't blame him, they do all look pretty similar. :) Today I asked Buddha if he wanted "brown oatmeal" (instant oatmeal in a little packet) to eat and he said, "probly (that's how he pronounces it) not." Then I asked him if he wanted yogurt to eat and he said, "Oh! Just, probly not," all very enunciated. It was so cute. He often sends me into fits of laughter with random things he says. I think as his language skills continue to develop, I'm going to have a hard time keeping up with his funny sayings! I already am having trouble. Ah mi, life is so fun! Kids are so fun!

General Conference and Easter Pictures

New Beginnings

Well, family and friends, we're going to give this a try. As today is the first day of our blog, and this is the first posting, I guess I'll just update what's going on in our lives right now.

The Chief is just a couple of weeks away from graduation. I think that he has mixed emotions about that. I'm sure he'll enjoy leaving behind the pressure of school work, due dates, and finals (that's not to say he won't have work and deadlines to look forward to in his career, too). But I know that he's going to miss his friends. He has a close-knit group of friends who have been doing things together since the first year of law school. The Chief, Steve, Mike, Tim, and Jeff have been mountain biking, playing racquetball every week, working out, having bar-b-ques, golfing, and of course studying together throughout their law school experience. After graduation, The Chief will begin the long and arduous task of studying for the California Bar Exam. He will take that at the end of July and we will move to California in August, where he will begin work at a great law firm.

The boys and I are gearing up for summer fun! We are ready to enjoy our last summer in Utah. We've already been getting a taste of upcoming summer with really warm spring-like weather. We've been able to play at parks and we've gone swimming at the Lehi Legacy Center a couple of times. For the last few days we've been hanging out a lot with Uncle D who is here on vacation from Iraq. We are ready for more swimming, hopefully some hiking, maybe some bbq's, and a lot of sunshine this summer.

Buddha (2 years old) is our little chatterbox lately. He loves to just yak, yak, yak, and we love to hear it. It's so easy to understand him and to carry on a conversation with him. He has an amazing vocabulary, too. His first true love is the alphabet. He adores the ABC's! Every day he wants Mommy and Daddy to color with him. But his idea of "coloring" is to have one of us draw block letters while he dictates where they go and what color they are. Inevitably we end up with quite a few "x's," Buddha's favorite letter. I have no doubt that we'll soon fill up the entire spiral-bound notebook that we've been using for these "coloring" sessions.

Bugga (4 months) is our super-smiley guy. He will smile at you even in the middle of crying if you smile at him. He is so happy and so fun. In the last couple of days he has started quietly growling himself to sleep and he growls when he's awake and alert, too, only much louder. It's so funny to listen to. He's a strong little bugger, too. He has been rolling from belly to back since before two months and a week ago he started rolling from back to belly. So, now when I put him down on the play mat, he doesn't stay there long. Sometimes I have to go searching for him he's rolled so far. :) I don't think it will be long before he's scooting around on the floor, especially since he idolizes his big brother. You can see the adoration when he looks at Buddha (which is all the time). He's got a good role model to get moving...Buddha doesn't stay in one place for very long.

Well family, that's it for this installment. We'll see how this works. Ta ta.