Sunday, May 31, 2009

House maintanance

What's grosser than gross?

Stripping 30-year-old wallpaper and finding HAIR in the wallpaper glue!

Yup, that's gross! I'm so happy, though, because I'm almost ready to paint. The walls have been stripped of wallpaper, glue, and hair (ew), and most of them have been washed. My goal is to fill in all the holes today, sand tomorrow, and then paint this week. Yay!

Yesterday Zane and I bought, besides paint, some mulch for our front flowerbed, that until yesterday was just plain dirt. And weeds. Of course, one always underestimates how much filler one needs for such a project, so Zane went back to Lowe's for almost twice as much mulch. Here is our conversation when he gets back.

Zane (casually): "My mom was saying we could really use a tree about here," gesturing to a spot in front of our front door.

Molly (also casually): "Oh yeah?"

Zane (casually): "What would you think about, like, one of those crab apple trees where the apples just dry up and don't drop? Do you think that would look nice?"

Molly (suspiciously): "Are you trying to tell me that you bought one already?"

Zane (guiltily): "Yes, I might be trying to tell you that in a roundabout way."

Molly (smirking): "Do I know you or what?"

Zane (relieved): "Yeah, you're not even funny."

So, we have a crab apple tree now.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Swimming

Over the past weekend, I took Sabrina swimming twice at FFC (Froerer Family Compound). This was her first time! At first she was scared, but it's so cute when babies are scared! They hug their mommies so tight!

I tried to make Sabrina splash and kick in the water, especially on Memorial Day, her second swimming experience. Unfortunately, she had learned a new wookie sound, sort of a guuuhhh! guuuhhh! that she made nonstop, especially when I tried to hold her body away from mine so she could get used to the water.

The EXCITING part, though, is that I said in the high-pitched mommy voice, "Sabrina, can you make a splash?" She regarded me imperiously for a moment, then leaned over to the water and beat her tiny hand in the water. She understands English!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Equal-opportunity vomiter

Traditionally, Zane's family "camps out" in the Froerer Family Compound (my in-law's backyard) on Memorial Day. Despite my feelings of trepidation, I agreed to do so as well. Just for the record, I was right.

As I was brushing my teeth in order to prepare for the ordeal of sleeping in a tent with a baby, Sabrina threw up. A lot. Twice. Okay, fine, I cleaned it up, took her outside, gave her to Zane while I fixed the "beds." She threw up again. He handed her back to me, on whom she immediately threw up again, then laid her little head down on my vomitous pjs, and promptly fell into a deep sleep, from which she did not awaken until 8 am. Zane ran home, 30 minutes away, to get non-vomitous pajamas, underwear, and blankets. Meanwhile, I slept the sleep of the right.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Stripping...wallpaper

I know it's been a while since I posted last. That's because I've been soooo inspired by Cheri's makeover project of her mom's house that I decided to get on a project I've been longing to do for (how long have Zane and I been married?) almost two years. Painting the kitchen!

Now, because the people who lived here before us a) were old so chose very ugly wallpaper, and b) were lazy (more later), this painting has not been the fun-filled activity of accomplishment that I usually enjoy. See, painting is so satisfying. In just a couple of swipes of the roller, look what I did! I made a wall blue! or whatever. In a perfect world, stripping wallpaper is the same. Alas, we do not live in a perfect world. We have two layers of wallpaper in the kitchen (see: lazy). Therefore, the first layer (which is also impermeable to water) must be scraped off, exposing the second (permeable to water) layer. I have put in about 10 hours, and am just over halfway done. It is worth it, however. Check out the "before" pictures, paying special attention to the wallpaper's beauty. Don't pay any attention to the mess. Did I mention I've done 10 hours of wallpaper stripping in two days?




Now, I know my mom "kind of likes" the wallpaper, but I think she was just trying not to hurt my feelings. We'll see if she likes the "after" kitchen better, but since I don't actually have paint yet, and Zane and I haven't even chosen a color yet, well, they may be a long time coming.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Sabrina: Her own person?

I really thought I'd written this post, but I don't see it. Maybe I've just thought it so much I figured I'd written it! If I have posted it already, feel free to let me know.

Anyway, Zane, Spencer, Sabrina, and I went out to dinner a few weeks ago to Ogden Pizzeria. We got a salad to share, which was yummy nutritious iceberg lettuce (fiber and water), cheese, carrots, and...olives. Yuck. Molly hates olives! So, because Sabrina and Spencer both needed to be entertained, I gave Sabrina an olive. I figured she'd make that "ewwww" face, which would be good for a laugh. Nope. She ate it, and another one.

Why, do you ask, does this matter? It matters because I really thought she was me, except smaller and with blue eyes. And less control of her bodily functions. And an earlier bedtime. And--well, you get the idea. I found out on an emotional level that day that she is her own person, and I'm in mourning, a little bit. I mean, what's next? Green peppers and music videos? All joking aside, I like me. I would be so happy if Sabrina was good at the things I am/was pretty good at (like reading, school, sports, music) and didn't care about the things I don't care about (like popular music, celebrities, fashion) and shunned the things I shunned (like drugs, bullying, drugs). What am I going to do if she really gets into cheerleading? Besides have Karen (former BYU gymnast and current SIL) coach her, I mean. Having a child makes me understand the problem with free agency!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

And the award goes to...

Envelope please! That's right, we're waiting for the BEST DAUGHTER AWARD, as based on this past Mother's Day! And the award goes to...

CHERI BUYS!

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! I'm just so overwhelmed, possibly because of the 4 hours of sleep I averaged over Mother's Day weekend! I'd like to thank my brothers, who spent a few hours scraping wallpaper off my mom's walls. Thanks to my dad, who kept my mom out of the way for the weekend.

"Ooh, can you hold my gold statuette for me? My arm has seized up from the wallpaper scraping and painting. Thanks. Thank you, sister and brother-in-law, for helping out so much on the project. A very special appreciation to my fabulous husband, who was so supportive and did so much work."

Seriously, though. How on earth is Cheri going to top this one next year? (Just kidding, Cheri. You DON'T HAVE TO TOP IT.) She completely remodeled her mother's living room. She (and brothers and sister) repaired holes, spackled, sanded, painted, put up molding, and cleaned carpets. She painted the living room taupe, she tells me. What is taupe, anyway?

Well, congratulations on your award, Cheri. You've set a new standard, to which we can all but aspire.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Pushing, crying, and other 8-year-old fun

The past few of Spencer's soccer games that I have attended, I have been pressed into refing service. His AYSO games almost NEVER have a ref (really, what do we pay for /huffily). The last AYSO game was notable for the pushing during the first half. Our team was mostly the victim, here, but we had one REALLY REALLY good push right before the half. The pushee (is that a real word?) was the coach's son. He (the coach) was practically on our half of the field with steam coming out of his ears by the time the reverberations of the half-time call had died away. "Don't let your kids push!" Oh, and he also accused this pusher of trash talk. When I asked Spencer about it later, he said this boy says things like "Happy Hanukkah." Trash talk indeed. Fortunately, I could see where this was going, and I informed him that I was going to ref the second half. When everyone got out there, I got out my teacher voice (similar to the mommy voice, but more serious) and told them there would be no more pushing. They obeyed. Mostly.

At the AYSO game, and then at the comp game I refed next, a boy was pushing another boy so hard that when the pushee (you know what I mean) moved, the pusher fell down. And got kicked/stepped on. So the person who had the penalty called on him was the one crying. Ah, good times. I might be late to Spencer's next game. Just sayin'.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Escape!

This morning, Sabrina wakes up early. Too early. Like, 6:00. Okay, so I get up and try to convince her just to play in Mommy's room quietly while Mommy sleeps some more. No dice. Okay, so we get up, go to the living room. Then, Mommy reads and Sabrina plays. The cat comes in through the cat door. The cat is not here. The baby is not here. The baby is...outside, crawling around the dog crap! She has gone out the cat door! The much-maligned cat is nowhere to be seen!

So I (abandoning third person for the time being) cannot GET to Sabrina (as I cannot fit through the cat door), so I had to run outside the side door (in my pajamas), around the wood pile, under the trees, and over the aforementioned dog crap to get my sweet baby before she a) crawls in the dog crap, or b) eats the dog crap.

It was an adventure.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Skinny bones

I took Sabrina to her 9-month appointment the other day. Good news: No shots, therefore, no screaming. Yay! Bad news: Like all grandchildren of my mother (but sadly, not all her children), Sabrina is underweight. Not just the cute, 24th percentile of yesteryear, but 7th percentile. That's starvation rations! I need to feed that T-bone a little more! Check out the skinny arms: You can tell she's not one o' them babies with the fat rolls!

In order to fatten up the child for eating, er, I mean, I have been having her eat more. The problem is, it is WAY more convenient, to say nothing of being less messy, to just nurse her. But Sabrina, in order to gain weight and be big and strong, needs to eat food. SHE knows this. I think that's why she has been trying to eat the cat food. All the time. As is everything that she does wrong, this is my fault. If I were feeding her more, this would never happen. So, in order to prevent my child from eating cat food, I will feed her real food more often. Of course, the result is this, annoyingly often:
And then it gets on her hands, and she rubs her eyes, and wriggles out of her seat and wants me to pick her up while she grabs my hair. And, I might add, this is AFTER I shower. You got the part about her having blueberry/apple/sweet potato mash on her hands, right? I will accept spitup on my shirt, but I'll be danged if I'll let her get blueberry in my hair!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Hypocrisy and being a Parent

Why is it that some people can't draw a line between being a kid and being an adult?

Some parents of former students (I have heard) allow their kids to do drugs. They find bags of marijuana and give it back, and even buy legal but addictive drugs for their kids to...I don't know, play with? Some adults who shall remain nameless have giggling confessed that their kids have found their "stash." Excuse me? Are you a grownup or a boneheaded college student?

I heard an interview on NPR today where the interviewer asked the guest how she could talk to her 15-year-old daughter about sex without feeling like a hypocrite, given that the guest had become sexually active at 14? I wanted to scream (with credit to Lindsay Bayles, a teacher at my school whose basic idea this is): You are not a hypocrite for telling your daughter not to make your mistake! Be a grownup! Admit you MADE A MISTAKE as a 14-year-old! 14-year-olds are stupid by definition! It's okay!

Or: Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't make them ALL yourself.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Disneyland, Season Finale: Airplane

I confess, I was a little nervous to take Sabrina on the airplane. This was in that carefree time we all remember before Swine Flu, so I wasn't too worried about Sabrina getting sick, I was just worried that she would fuss, and cry, and bug people including me. Oh yeah, and I was worried that as I cannot take drugs due to breastfeeding, that I would get sick without my friend, Drama Mene.

Overall, though, I have to give the experience a B. It might have been higher, but we got to the airport too early to preboard the airplane, which I was really looking forward to. Sabrina was perfectly happy most of the time, including takeoffs and landings, and sometimes I let her play on the floor by my feet, which was good for her. There were probably about 20 minutes on each 2-hour flight that were hard, but Zane helped out a lot. And I did not get sick. Phew!

I think, though, the teenage boy who sat next to me on the flight home might be a little scarred from me nursing Sabrina to sleep during her difficult period. I opine, however, that if scarring occurred it will be of brief duration. And he would just need to deal, because I'm just keepin' it real. Yeah, I'm not sure what that means either.

Here are just a few more cute pictures of Sabrina, Zane, Spencer, and me!