Fun Family Event!

Ok, as some of you may know, I've been doing an internship this semester at United Way of Utah County with their program, Help Me Grow.  For all of these last four months, we have been working on our annual family event, which is taking place April 30th at UVU Centre Stage. 

This activity has a ton of merit.  Parents with young children in the area: Please consider bringing your kids to this event.  There will be SO MUCH information on parenting alone that will make it worth your while, not to mention all of the fun activities that will occupy your children for 2 hours.  There is a fee for going, but it is minimal.  $5 for families with 1-2 children (this includes one child's t-shirt), $10 for families with 3-5 kids (2 children's t-shirts), and $15 for families with 6+ kids (3 t-shirts) *Additional kids shirts can be purchased for $2.50 a piece*.  Small price for a family outing.  Plus, if you register now *today* you will be entered into the final two drawings to win educational toys for your kids.

 

I'm really excited for this event.  REALLY.  I'm excited to see how much fun my daughter has.  I'm excited for all the parenting information that has been running around our office since I've been there to be put on paper for everyone to benefit from.  I'm excited to see all of the parents there learning how to help their children grow and develop.  I'm excited to see all of the pro-active-ness.  It's going to be AWESOME!

The other half...mine.

Brandon, lucky man that he is, has been called to work with the 11-12 year old scouts pretty much since we've been married, and we've lived in 5, read it FIVE, wards.  Lucky for them, he likes outdoors stuff, like campouts, hiking, and merit-badging it up. 

Unlucky woman that I am, I have yet to get used to being alone at night. 

However, I was a bit excited for this latest campout.  I was gonna get stuff done.  And I did.  But come 6:00 PM, I was missing him.  Not that I saw him a lot during the day before then, but we had some time together driving to and from work and daycare where we would catch up with each other, and provide whatever support was rendered necessary at the time...I feel like I've been relying on that support a bit more as of late.

Anywho,  I was excited about crossing things off my "To Do" list...and no, not the one I have on the side of the blog :-)  And then, as soon as I dropped him off to leave for the campout, I felt as though I'd lost a piece of my soul.  Knowing that I wasn't going to see him for the next 48 hours was...disheartening.  And I felt lost, disoriented for the rest of the day.  Not in an "I'm incompetent and unable to function properly" kind of way, but an "I don't feel like a whole person" way.  I felt like I was missing a substantial portion of my support system.

Which could be a good thing.  Opposition in all things, right?  Brandon will have returned at the end of the 48 hours, and I will feel a renewed sense of overwhelming love, appreciation, and dependence on/for/towards him.

Since I've returned to the school scene after my year long sabbatical, I've told myself that part of the reason I was doing this was so that if something ever happened to our family, I would be able to step up and get something better than a high-school equivalent job.  Just to be prepared.  While that is true, I've been telling myself that I would be able to support our family, financially--probably, but on an emotional, spiritual, and mental level as well. 

So, with these brief periods of separation, I have realized that I would not be able to survive as well on my own as I thought I would be able, should the need arise.

Ugh, I am so NEEDY :-(

So here's to you, Mr. Palmer.  Jesus (and Brooke) love you more than you will know.

Month 3

It has now been three months since I started my weight loss program, and to date, I have lost 19.2 lbs, and 17 inches...well, everywhere. 

On a side note, I've been working towards selling my wedding dress.  I'm hesitant to put it on a site like craigslist, because there are SO MANY girls in my area selling wedding dresses.  But, I think my recently engaged cousin may be interested in buying it, so that's a plus :-)  In preparation for selling my dress, I took it out of the garment bag to make sure it was still good and everything associated with it was still present.

So naturally, I tried it on.

Good news...

...it still fits.  :-D

The zipper did need some encouragement, but in the end, it zipped all the way up.   The end.

Happiness Today

I've decided since my blog has become some form of journal/record keeping, I should be recording the things that make me happy.  Makes sense, no?

Today, Evie made me happy.  Ok, she always makes me happy SOMEHOW everyday.  Today she made me happy because she was a bit more huggy/touchy/feely today than she usually is.

I think it has something to do with Toy Story 3. 

Now that she's on her ba-jillionth time viewing it (yes, I have faults) I think she's picking up on emotional nuances from the movie.  Like at the end, when Andy is getting ready to leave, and his mom is standing in his room, obviously reminiscing, Evie will come over and give me an endearing, heart-felt hug.

She wraps her little arms around my neck, and puts her face into my shoulder, and she just sits there...until I move.  Dang it, I ruined it.  It's ok, though.  There were plenty more hugs to come.  For my birthday, in seven months, I think I'll wish that Evie will always give me hugs like that.  Where she melts trustingly into my arms, and for that moment, there is only us.

I also enjoy hugs like that from Brandon....(memories)

Better Day

Thank you to everyone who consoled me after my pity party yesterday.  I had a MUCH better day today :-)  I looked for it all day.  This is for you, Britany :-).  Today my "This is why it's all worth it" moment was...what's the word?  Insightful?  

Yeah, we'll use insightful.

Story:  This morning, we got started on Toy Story 3 early...like 8:30.  In the meantime, we got some of our morning things done, like breakfast, getting dressed, brushing teeth, and changing diapers (not necessarily in that order).  Good start.  When the movie was over, Evie promptly brought me the WRONG controller for the Xbox.  As she reached out to give it to me, she said "Please." And as she set it on my lap and turned away she said "Thank You."  There was barely a pause for me to say anything.  She had made herself perfectly clear, and to her, there was no reason for her not to get what she had asked for.  Such a cutie.  (BTW, if I wasn't clear enough, she wanted me to start the movie for her.  Again.)

I realize it might seem odd for me to choose this as my heavenly chorus of "Ah ah ah ah" moment of parenting.  

I shall enlighten you.

Over the last couple of days, I've paid closer attention to my interactions with my daughter.  She is getting better at communicating what she wants specifically.  Six months ago we were doing good if she approached us with "Please?" and we didn't have to ask her to say it.  Now she'll say "This way" or "Come" if she wants something.  She also says "Thank You" by herself...sometimes. 

Also, this afternoon, Evie grabbed her cup of milk, my hand, said "This way," pulled me into the kitchen, and stopped right in front of the sink.  Once we made it to the sink, she held up both her arms for me to pick her up.  I did as directed; she then proceeded to have me unscrew the lid to her cup, and she poured out the milk.  After that unwanted bath, she threw the now empty cup into the sink.  Next she wriggled around for me to put her down.  She took my hand, "This way" again, pulled me two feet to the left and raised her arms, again.  I picked her up, again; she leaned forward and opened the cupboard where we keep her cups.  She carefully selected the closest cup, closed the cupboard door, and asked to be set down.  Once again, she took my hand, "This way," and we ended ten feet to the right.  Facing the fridge.  She tried with all the might her 28 lbs body could muster to open that door.  Then she took my hand, placed it on the handle, and asked "Please?"  I opened the door, she took out a Capri Sun pack (I don't know why Brandon bought those for a TWO YEAR OLD.  Regardless, we had them), gave it to me, and stated "Juice."  She handed me her cup, and patiently waited as I transferred the sugar to her cup.  After completing this series of commands, I was gratefully thanked by my daughter, and she went on her way.

(I'm sorry if this was long-winded for you.)

What hits me as a worthwhile moment from this is:  We've actually, effectively, taught her to use "please" and "thank you."  That feels like one battle won.  Secondly, it is so...rewarding...for me to see how Evie can put a series of necessary events together like that in order to achieve a goal.  She faltered not at all through that whole thing.  She knew exactly what she wanted, and knew exactly what she had to do to get it.  I'm discovering that my daughter is a determined little girl, which is a worthwhile thing to notice.

And that, my friends, is why my moments today were insightful, and not awe-inspiring or overly emotional.  

Today was a good day.

:-)