Bugga vs. The Carrot

Bugga is teething again....

The carrot won. I had to throw away the shirt.

Here's a little video clip of the match so you can really feel
part of the action. :)

Buddies

Every day Buddha is more and more in love with his little brother. And I love watching that transformation! From indifferent sibling to protective, attentive big brother, it's truly a heartwarming display. Here, Buddha is letting Bugga hang out on his leg while he reads his "Big ABC Book" to him. Other demonstrations of Buddha's increasing tolerance and adoration are his absolute distress when Bugga has nap time, "No he wanna go night-night! He just wanna play with me!"; his insistence that he knows what Bugga needs better than I, "No he want breast milk! He just want real food!"; and his constant concern for Bugga's whereabouts, "Where's Bugga, Mommy? He wanna come in here with me, Mommy." These boys are going to be great friends, I just know it. And I so look forward to the day when Bugga is so stable on his feet, that he can just run around with Buddha and they can chase each other and play all day. It will be so much fun!

Quiet Time

I always get so excited to rescue Buddha from quiet time because I never know what I'll find in the room. :) Some days there are kids books all over the bed. Some days there are kids books all over a sleeping Buddha. Some days he has laughed in the face of warning and, contrary to our rules, hopped off the bed to explore the room. On those days I usually find something hilarious like Buddha reading a yoga book or half of Buddha protruding from under the bed while the other half rummages around in our make-shift storage area. But this time I found a tuckered out Buddha, bent over himself, fast asleep. I like these days the best. It gives me a few extra minutes to get something done around the house. :)

Freshman Roommates

Brooke, Liz, Bugga, and Angie

Well, I had a treat today! I got to hang out with two of my college freshman roommates. Brooke was in town from Pennsylvania and Angie is living here in Utah now. Tara was going to meet with us, but her family got the flu. We missed you, Tara! I had a great time reminiscing with Brooke and Angie. We talked about boys we had crushes on, friends we haven't seen in a long time, and roommate drama. We remembered lots of great experiences and good times. I brought along pictures from our freshman year to fuel the fire. It was a riot. It's so cool to see how far we've all come since we met eight years ago! Brooke has a three-year-old little girl named Claire and is pregnant with her second little girl (due in a few weeks here). Her husband is in dental school in Pennsylvania. Angie has a cute little 14-month-old baby girl named Loren (not sure if I spelled that right - sorry, Angie). She and Nick live here in Utah, and while he is studying to become an accountant, Angie is working with one of the top accounting firms in the nation here in Salt Lake. Way to go, Angie! And, you all know all about me...blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I had a good time. I hope we can do it again soon. Next time in San Diego! We'll reminisce while soaking up the sun at La Jolla Shores. :) Thanks for a great day Brooke and Angie!

The Great Divorce

First of all, let me say, thank you, Angie, for this recommendation! I loved this book. I have always heard about C. S. Lewis and his very Christian-oriented writings. My parents have read C.S. Lewis, and he's often quoted in general conference talks. But I had never actually read one of his books. So, this particular novel was a great place to start. This book is the author's fantastical vision or "imaginative supposal," as he calls it, of what Heaven and Hell might be like and what might be required of us in order to leave Purgatory and enter Heaven. The main character in this book is a stranger to us. We know only that he is a male "Ghost" - a man who is witness to the encounters between other "Ghosts" and the "Spirits" in Heaven. As he watches these strange and telling meetings, we, the readers, become acquainted with the many weaknesses and faults that we tend to cling to - pitfalls we embrace, keeping ourselves trapped in Hell. One of my favorite statements from this book is actually in C. S. Lewis' preface. He says,

"If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell."

I love that. It's so true. We cannot choose to be obedient only to those commandments that are convenient to us, or we will never attain Heaven. And when we do choose to accept Heaven, there's no room for evil there...not even the 20 minute episodes of Frasier that I love, with their two or three mild swear words (ouch, that's a tough one). There were so many good parts in this book that I have about 20 page corners bent down throughout (sorry library)! I feel like I could write an entire sacrament meeting talk using just this book, and it would still be quite gospel-oriented and spiritual. Let me tell you about just one more quote in the book that I found interesting. In talking with another "Ghost" (those from Hell who have not accepted Heaven yet) our main character gets quite the earful about whose responsibility it is to get everyone out of Hell and into Heaven,

"There you go!....Asking me to make a plan. It's up to the Management to find something that doesn't bore us, isn't it? It's their job. Why should we do it for them?"

Ah the cunning of the Devil - encouraging us to take no responsibility at all! What an attitude. I will just saunter through life, quite enjoying myself, while someone else is required to "save" me. Oh, oh, and one more. Sorry guys, bear with me. :) I just found this book to be so great and so interesting! Towards the middle of his travels through Hell and Heaven, our Ghost meets a "Teacher" who acts as his guide and answers some questions. At one point the Teacher says,

"There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself...as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ. Man! Ye see it in smaller matters. Did ye never know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them? Or an organiser of charities that had lost all love for the poor?

It is the subtlest of all snares."

Ah, we humans are so imperfect, aren't we?! Even in our preaching of Christ, we sometimes forget that in order to teach someone something, we must know it first ourselves. We need to have a personal relationship with our Lord in order to teach others of His goodness, mercy, and love. Well folks, I could go on and on with this one, but I'll spare you my personal soap box. :) Thanks for tuning in yet again, to one of my humble book reviews. And, again, a special thanks to Angie for suggesting this literary gem!

Buddha Loves Bugga (no audio)

Bugga and Buddha

This is Bugga's latest accomplishment. I mentioned it in our family update post recently. As you can see, he's quite proud of himself. :)


Since we've already started packing, we're finding all sorts of things that have been tucked away out of sight and memory. Unkey Dino sent us a couple of beanies from Iraq that say "Father of Buddha" and "Mother of Buddha." Buddha is wearing the former. Hey, Unkey Dino, we need some that tag us as Bugga's parents now. :)


This was a great photo op that I just couldn't pass up. I love his little crossed legs and his rear end sticking up in the air! Kids sleep in the most uncomfortable-looking positions. :)

Glow Sticks and Fireworks

Well, we had a fun, relaxing, mellow 4th of July and hope that all of you had a great time celebrating Independence Day, too. We basically hung around the house all day, thoroughly enjoying our air conditioning. Then we left at about 8:30pm, to stake out positions somewhere to watch the fireworks from Stadium of Fire. We tried an old look-out location that I had discovered during my freshman year of college (Brooke, Tara, Angie...you guys know the one). It was blocked to vehicles, though, and we didn't fancy hiking a ways just to throw our blanket out over rocks rather than grass. So, we continued on. We got to the Temple, found a parking spot at the top of the hill, and walked down to the MTC field where we spread our blanket out to wait. Well, I thought that the fireworks show started at 9pm or shortly thereafter, but I was sorely mistaken. The Stadium of Fire fireworks didn't start until closer to 10:30pm!!! Our poor little boys. :) Actually, Buddha had a great time running all over the grass, tossing around the glow sticks we bought him. Bugga spent most of the time just people-watching from his comfy seat in his stroller. He just stared all around him, gnawing on his glow stick. It was cute. When the fireworks started, he sat in my lap, sucking his thumb, watching in fascinating. So, since the fireworks didn't start until 10:30pm, we didn't actually get home until midnight after battling traffic most of the way. Ah well, it was a lot of fun to watch the boys enjoy being outside in the cool of the evening and watching fireworks. And, it's great that they are both taking a nap right now! Bonus! :)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Oh blessed INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Walk Two Moons

This is a great book! I should be checking out the teen section in the library more often apparently. :) Sharon Creech is a talented, ingeneous writer. Walk Two Moons is a timeless tale of self-discovery and independence gained as one young teenage girl travels in her mother's wake across the United States. During her travels with her grandparents, Sal relates the story of her neighbor and friend, Phoebe, or "Peeby," as Sal's grandparents call her. The Badlands, The Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, and Old Faithful - these are some of the stops along the way where Sal comes to important realizations about her life and the life her mother led before she left home. Layers upon layers - Sal's story within Phoebe's story within Gram and Gramps's story - this book is like an onion, and it definitely had me crying at the end. Here's one of my favorite statements from the book: "Everybody is just walking along concerned with his own problems, his own life, his own worries. And we're all expecting other people to tune into our own agenda. 'Look at my worry. Worry with me. Step into my life. Care about my problems. Care about me.'" So true! I've often found myself looking at complete strangers wondering what their concerns and worries are and wondering how I manage to pass by so many people while still completely consumed by my own problems. All in all, a great read. Thanks Brooke! Oh, and incidentally, I think if we ever have a pet (heaven forbid), we'll name it "Huzza."

Family Update

Though we are having a pretty slow and uneventful summer thus far, we are definitely feeling the crush as we look forward to what needs to happen in the next month and a half. I'm sure that The Chief and I are stressed about different things. Undoubtedly and understandably, The Chief is spending his worry moments thinking of the bar exam which is coming up in just about four weeks. He certainly is putting in his study time. I see less of him now than I did during school. He is a great studier! He has his rough days where he calls me half-way through the day to let me know that his brain has involuntarily turned off. I've advised him to schedule "vacation" days in between long stretches of studying, just so he doesn't go insane on me. Better to plan a mental retreat than to have one descend on you unexpectedly and at an inopportune time. The Chief is my hero! I am constantly in awe of how dedicated he is to his choice of career and the studying he does in order to get there. I don't think I could possibly concentrate on studies for as long as he does each day. I feel truly grateful to have a husband so willing to take care of our family. Other than studying, he does get away for an occasional nine holes of golf. Sometimes he goes solo, other times he golfs with his commiserating study buddies. I think his only other down time besides golf, is when he gets to play with his boys. He loves to tickle Bugga, sending him into peels of laughter and screeching. He often does this at the worst possible times (like when I'm trying to read scriptures for family scripture study...ahem), but it's endearing nonetheless. Bugga loves his Daddy and often rewards him with these huge, beaming smiles - the kind that I'm only graced with when I rescue him after nap time. :) Buddha is his Daddy's shadow when The Chief's at home. He loves to golf with him, color with him, climb on him, play cars with him, play catch with him, fall asleep on him, and the list goes on. It's good for boys to have fathers to learn to emulate. The Chief's a great one!

Buddha is my little chatter box with an astonishingly advanced vocabulary and increasingly impressive conversational skills. He's always making us laugh with his honesty and candidness and, of course, his pure innocence. The other day, we were returning from running errands in the evening and we were telling Buddha that it would be time to go night-night when we got home. Buddha replied, "First I gonna eat a bagel and cream cheese, then I will go to sleepy." It was so funny because he's obviously starting to grasp the concept of stall tactics when it comes to bed time and nap time. The amazing thing is that he seems to know that my one weakness is making sure that he has enough to eat. I don't ever want him to go to bed hungry, so even when he's eaten and I know he's satisfied, if he asks for food before bedtime, I have a hard time denying him. It pulls at my heartstrings. I guess it's good that I recognize it now as a stall tactic. :) Buddha loves to play with Bugga now. They follow each other around the house - Buddha taking stuff away from Bugga; Bugga tailing along behind Buddha, happily accepting his discarded and uninteresting toys. Buddha loves to pull Bugga around the carpet by his ankles and drape himself across Bugga's back to rest on him saying, "I love his fuzzy back" or "I love his fuzzy onesie" or "I love his belly, Mommy." I'm always reminding him to make sure Bugga can still breathe, but I don't think there's much danger in it, and, quite the contrary, it's quite heartwarming. We tried a little potty-training with Buddha a while ago, but he's not ready yet and I'm not willing to push it since we have a big move and lots of changes coming up that would probably just throw him off and cause him to revert. At least he tells me now when he's relieving himself and then asks me to change his diaper. It's a step in the right direction!

Bugga is our little GI Joe. He's all over the place. Scooting around the house in army fashion, growling all the while, pulling himself up on things (on his knees, not his feet). It's a bit wearing keeping him out of harm's way already. I'm sure it will only become even more tiring when he gets crawling and then walking. He's already banged his head a few times when falling over after pulling himself up on something. I'm convinced that some people who come to this earth probably require a few more guardian angels to watch out for them than others. At least I know I'll need a few more to help out with Bugga than I did with Buddha. I can think of a few friends of mine who probably needed a whole host of angels to keep them out of serious trouble (The Chief included - I'm sure Grandma will agree). :) Bugga is a great eater, and by great, I mean insatiable. He eats all the time! Besides eating three hearty solid food meals a day, he's still nursing four to five times a day. Sometimes I wonder if he has that disorder where he doesn't know when he's full. :) No, I'm just kidding. Our doctor says it's because he's so tall, he's got more area to fill out. He's seven months old now and weighing in at a whopping 19 lbs! He's grown out of all his clothes that he should be wearing and is now into nine month size clothes, though I'm not sure those will last very long either. He's really tall for his age, too, so that presents problems with onesies being too small for him (his height is in his torso). Oh well, I'll just always dress him in bigger clothes. It's really no big deal (no pun intended). Bugga is also sitting up now (see photos included below) though he rarely stays in this position for very long since he just can't stand to stay still! He's an explorer.

And what about Liz, you ask? Well, I'm busy taking care of my boys and our house and my books and our blog. :) My biggest stress, unlike The Chief's current concern, is the big move we're facing in just a few weeks. We still don't know where we're going to live or when we're going to go down to San Diego to look for a place to live or where we're going to stay when we go down to look or what we're going to do with our condo here when we leave. We do know that The Chief is starting work at the beginning of September, so we need to be moved to San Diego at the latest by mid-August. The Chief doesn't return from taking the bar until the end of July, so that leaves just two weeks to pack up and ship out. It's quite the daunting prospect. And so, most of the time, I just push it to the back of my brain, so as to keep from hyperventilating. :) We'll keep looking online at places and we'll pray that the right one for us will come along, putting us in a place where the Lord needs us. And we'll pray that everything else falls in line as well. I'm sure it will. We love you all and hope that all is well for our loved ones near and far!

Thanks Guys!

So, I went to the library on Monday evening, armed with a formidable list of books, courtesy of my blogging friends. This is what I came back with to start. :) I finished Death in Zanzibar this morning while Buddha played cars by me. Good book, though not at all what I was expecting. Auntie had said that M. M. Kaye wrote historical fiction, but this was more like reading a romantic murder mystery novel, complete with a heroic rescue of a totally innocent, clueless young heroine. Auntie, weren't you trying to tell me the other day something about M. M. Kaye that might clarify this misunderstanding? At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It never ceases to amaze me how drawn into reading I can become...much more so than with movies even. Funny how employing my brain (reading) can be much more gratifying than a simple visual (TV/movies). In Death in Zanzibar, M. M. Kaye pulled me into an intoxicating island paradise with vivid descriptions of native tropical flowers and tantalizing visuals of oceans with white sands and rocky caves and stirring breezes. But it wasn't just the island atmosphere that made it difficult to stop reading at any given moment. The story follows a typical "who done it" format, but with interestingly unique characters and their interestingly unique interactions. With murder and intrigue that keeps you guessing throughout (unless you're my mother-in-law, who should have been a private investigator, and almost always ferrets out the "culprit" within the first part of the book), this is definitely a keeper as an easy, light, captivating read. Thanks Auntie!

Blog Buddies

My sister wants to know who everybody is that comments on our blog and how we know you all. :) So, here you go, Auntie. I made this a blog post so that I could include your blog sites (if you have one), so she could have faces to go with names.

1. Brooke is my freshman roommate
(comment name shows as "brooklet")

2. Angie is also my freshman roommate

3. Tiffany is a college roommate
(can't remember what year I was in school then)

4. Abby is a college roommate
(comment name shows as "abby")

5. Lisa F. is a friend from high school
(comment name shows as "lisa")

6. Lisa I. is a friend from high school
(comment name shows as "scottnlisa")

7. Karin is a friend from my old ward
(comment name shows as "scott & karin")

8. Jolene is a friend from that same old ward
(comment name shows as "jolene")

9. Kari is a friend from that same old ward
(comment name shows as "kari")

And, apart from family, those are the people who usually comment on our blog. We're glad they do...it's always fun to hear from our friends and family!

Cheers!

Literary Lag

Okay guys, I need you to give me the names of some good books you enjoy. Here's what I'm looking for: something light and entertaining (reading is my escape); science fiction welcome; quality author with good imagination and no profanity or other questionable material. I've hit a slump now that I've finished book eleven of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series and have to wait who knows how long for the final book to be completed. By the way, Sue, book eleven was great! Lots of the usual twists and turns with awesome cliffhangers, of course. I'm counting on you guys (assuming anyone is even reading our blog - that's for you, Brooke). :)

Baby Buddha

Classic evidence here that children really do revert when a new baby arrives. This is why Buddha isn't potty trained yet, too (at least that's the excuse I'm sticking with). I was collecting a bib and baby food to feed Bugga when Buddha bounded out of his room with this bib, insisting that I put it on him and give him baby food peas (his favorite when he was a baby) and a baby spoon. Like I said...classic.

Crash!

So, after all the activities and swimming we've been doing lately, this is the result...and I love it! Buddha crashed during "quiet time" with his books all around him and on top of him. And Bugga is zonked out spread-eagle in his crib (note the mohawk puff). :)

Bugga's Turn

We went swimming again and this time Mommy and Bugga got in, too. Bugga also got his moment in front of the camera this go round. He did great swimming. He even swam under the water quite a few times! How's that for a 7-month-old?! :) He got dunked so many times that he started clinging to me any time I shifted my hands (I was doing what you taught me, Mom - out, under, pull toward me, cuddle). But, he never cried! He's a trooper.

My Lovely Parents

Here's my wonderful parents serving their mission in Guatemala! Looks like they're workin' hard, huh? Ice cream and sunny beaches! :) Just kidding. They really do work hard. We know they love the mission, but we're looking forward to having them home again in January.

Gotta Love the Toddler Bed!

I went in to feed Bugga last night and this is how I found Buddha. In fact, most nights I find him lying crosswise on his bed like this. What's the appeal?

And here's a little bonus of Bugga...just because he's cute! :)

Here's The "Tall and Short" Of It....

These are some great pictures from Unkey Dino in Iraq, and Mom and Dad in Guatemala.

For those who don't know my brother, Unkey Dino, he's not a small guy. I believe he's just over 6' tall. But, here he is with Thurl Bailey (left) and Shawn Bradley (center) and we don't know who the other guy is. :)

Unkey Dino with 7'6" Shawn Bradley

These two pictures are from my parents in Guatemala. Wow! We North Americans are tall! :)

Or maybe it's just that the Guatemaltecos are so short! Yeah, there we go, that's about right now...on his knees!

Did you know they've lowered the missionary age?! Seriously, when I saw this picture, I thought I was looking at a 12-year-old. But this is one of the missionaries that came through the CCM.

....Then again, maybe they already had lowered the missionary age. Here's Unkey Dino when he received his mission call to Colombia.
I think he was 14. :)