Spot and Bunny

When Sam was just a few weeks old, a lady from church gave him a little stuffed dog. Although Sam has liked several different stuffed animals over the years, this dog has been his favorite. When he was about one or two, he made the connection that his dog looked like the character Spot in the children's books by Eric Hill. We've called his dog Spot ever since, even though he doesn't have a dark spot on his body like the book character.

Spot and Sam's "blankie" have been his special nighttime companions for years and years. Whenever we traveled, we would bring Spot with us. And, over the past two or three years, Sam has diligently slept with Spot every night. Sam even brings Spot when he has occasional sleepovers at Bop and Gram's house.

When we found out that we were going to have a new baby, we told Sam that he could be in charge of choosing a blankie and a new stuffed animal for the baby. After all, Sam is the expert in our family on blankies and stuffed animals. He has carefully inspected the blankies at Target a few times, but hasn't found the one that he wants the baby to have. His own blankie was made by Carter's, and it has a silky side and a fuzzy side. We have yet to find a similar one; I think Carter's stopped making them a few years ago.

Sam has found a stuffed animal, though. When we were at Target earlier this week, he saw a little white stuffed bunny with floppy ears. This bunny will be his first gift to his new sister. We hope she loves it as much as Sam loves Spot.

After we selected the bunny, Sam and I held hands as we walked through the store. He said in a thoughtful - yet excited - tone, "A brother or a sister is a friend that lives in the same house as you." I agreed with him. I hope he and his little sister are as good of friends as Sam hopes they will be.

From Snow Angels to Daffodils to Worms

Today was uncharacteristically warm, and Sam and I worked in the garden for an hour after Sam got home from school. It was the first time that I have made a sincere effort in the garden since the cold season started. It felt so nice to be out in the sun, pulling up weeds, turning dirt, and feeling productive overall. It's amazing how useful and happy I feel if I am able to work outside. I'm so glad that the cold season is beginning to end. I also was happy to be in the garden this afternoon, too, because the first daffodils began to open just today! They are blooming really early this year!

This month of February has been an unusual one, partially because we have experienced a range of weather. Earlier in the month we had a snowy weekend (Sam made snow angels in the yard before the snow melted a few hours later). We have also had some unusually warm and sunny days that pop up between spells of dramatically rainy weather. Additionally, this month has been unusual because we've kept busy with a lot of things that depart from our normal routine: J went on a trip to Amsterdam for work (I wish I could have been there with him!), we experienced multiple bouts of colds and sick days for J and Sam, we all went to the ultrasound appointment to learn the gender of the new baby, I helped oversee a time-consuming art project for Sam's school auction, and I also had some extra evening choir rehearsals. We are settling back into our normal schedule, though, which I can tell makes all of us happy. The three of us are creatures of habit; we thrive under our little routine.

And now we can start up our new routine of working in the garden, which makes me glad. Sam and I made a deal that he could earn two dollars if he worked with me in the garden for a whole hour (sorry we haven't raised the minimum hourly wage at our house, President Obama!). The deal also included that Sam could not whine or complain during the whole hour. If that happened, he could earn enough money so that he could buy the next level in his Lego Star Wars game on the iPad. And, amazingly, it worked! Sam has never been so cheerful doing yard work. He was a good "helpy helper" (as we say in our family) and we had some cute conversations while we worked away. Here are my two favorite things that Sam said today:

• "A worm has ten hearts. You have to shoot a worm ten times before it dies."
• "I know just about everything, except what the dinosaurs really looked like."

Sam did learn in kindergarten that earthworms have ten hearts, which I think is a logical way to explain to young children about five pairs of aortic valves. I also know that Sam's mindset about "shoot[ing] a worm ten times" is influenced by the Lego Star Wars game, where the life capacity of characters is indicated by a string of hearts on the screen. With ten hearts, a worm would be a more difficult character to defeat in that game!

And now, on to warmer weather! Goodbye, February. I'm glad to see you go. I'm glad to cross off one more month for this pregnancy, too. I think that this pregnancy (and time in general) will go by more quickly for me when the sun is around.

Almost 22 Weeks and Herbal Teas

I took the picture on the right this morning, before I left for work. This week I will be 22 weeks pregnant. The picture on the left is one that I took about a month ago, when I was seventeen weeks pregnant. You can see that I'm starting to show quite a bit more!

Last week I started to drink some herbal teas that I think will help during this pregnancy. I've never really been a big fan of herbal teas, but I'm giving it a go. Right now I'm alternating between drinking a dandelion tea and a raspberry leaf tea. The dandelion tea is a natural diuretic that I hope will help keep water gain and swelling at bay over the next few months. The raspberry leaf tea is a tea that is commonly drunk by pregnant women; it is supposed to help prepare the uterus for birth. My mom drank raspberry leaf tea during her pregnancies. I remember trying to drink it once or twice when I was pregnant with Sam and I felt extremely nauseated afterward. This pregnancy, since I'm not feeling nauseated, I thought I'd try again, and things have been fine so far. Given the rainy weather lately, it has been nice to sit down with a warm drink during the day.

My mom drank quite a bit of herbal tea when I was growing up, although I think she would go through seasons of being interested and disinterested in herbal tea. When we lived in California, I remember her making huge glass pitchers full of herbal teas (particularly the Red Zinger tea) that she would refrigerate while lots of tea bags steeped in the water. I rarely wanted to drink herbal teas when I was growing up, because it often gave me a headache. I didn't really like the taste of herbal tea, either, but I think I am more accustomed to it now. J doesn't like herbal tea; he says he's not interested in drinking something that tastes like "watery leaves." He says he doesn't like subtle flavors, either.

Are there any other herbal teas that you think are helpful for pregnant women?

Baby, Take a Bow

Today is a very happy day, although it is laced with a little bit of sadness with the news that Shirley Temple Black died yesterday (see obituary HERE). At the same time, though, I'm glad that today gives people an opportunity to celebrate Shirley Temple's life. Her cheerful disposition was welcomed into a lot of homes and hearts, including mine.

The other reason that today is happy is that we learned we are expecting a girl! We had an ultrasound appointment this morning, and we even let Sam skip the first part of school so he could come as well. As I watched this Shirley Temple clip later this afternoon, after the appointment, I couldn't help but think about how it will be fun to have a darling girl (who may or may not wear frilly dresses with poofy slips, just like some of her S family aunts did when they were little). And I'm especially excited to have a girl who loves her daddy as much as I love J. I want to teach her the following song, so she can call J her "big old handsome Romeo." This song, "Baby, Take a Bow" is from the movie Stand Up and Cheer (see Shirley Temple's entrance at 3:22):



And now, here's our own little baby, undoubtedly with her own little bunch of personality. "I'm presenting her right now: Baby, take a bow!"

Whether 'Tis Nobler to Control or Relinquish Control

I have been thinking a bit over the past few weeks about my own personality, preferences, and the changes that may (or may not) come with having a second child. I like to control my environment, my schedule, and have things "just so" within my home. I like order. I like peace. For the most part, I think I have always been this way - although some of these characteristics have become much more strongly delineated as I have moved into my adult years. Perhaps the first year or two of parenthood made these characteristics even more sharply defined in me, too. I realize that there is a level of chaos and uncertainty that comes with having a baby in the home, and perhaps I reacted against this climate with Baby Sam by becoming even more reliant on order and precision.

(And, for the record, I think Sam has turned out to be quite an orderly, quiet and respectful child. I don't ever worry about him wreaking havoc in my home. He's a sweetheart.)

I wonder if having a second child will make me even more of an "order freak," or if I will let up a little bit. Do things inevitably change when your attention is divided among two children? Part of me wonders if it would be good to let go and not get so worked up when my peaceful environment is disrupted. I definitely would benefit from not being stressed out and bothered. Life would be easier, in some ways! But, honestly, I wonder if I want to let up at all. I really like maintaining control and peace in my life and in my surroundings, and I'm not sure if I want to be more lackadaisical in that regard. On the other hand, though, sometimes I wonder if I am too strict in the way I control my environment. I don't like hosting parties or having people over to my home on a regular basis, because the whole experience has the potential to stress me out. Sometimes I can't relax. And I hate feeling stressed when I'm hosting. Many times I'm not stressed at all (hosting Thanksgiving with eleven members of my extended family was a blast!), but other times I get really stressed out. And then I start to worry about whether or not my guests can tell that I'm on edge. (Is there anyone else who has this issue with hosting other families or large parties? What do you do?)

And so I vacillate. Is my reliance on order something that is inherently me, or is this all acquired behavior that I can change? Is extreme orderliness a good characteristic to have, or should I try to change my natural inclinations and relax more?

I have thought a lot about the specific things that make me nervous and stress me out. (I'm particularly conscious of these things because I'm trying not to get stressed out when I'm pregnant - that's not healthy for the baby! - and also because of some recent conversations that I have had with J and a few other people.) I also know that a lot of the following stress-inducing factors have the potential to result from babies or small children, which makes me think about the changes which will happen in my own family. For example:

• I don't like a lot of noise (especially screaming, shouting, or objects banging together).
• I don't like arguing, contention, or any type of physical violence.
• I don't like messes.
• I don't like it when people do not assume responsibility for their messes or the messes of their children.
• I don't like it when parents are unobservant or uninvolved with their children.
• I don't like it when my schedule is completely turned upside down. Along these lines, I don't like it when I'm placed in a situation in which I can't control the outcome. (This was the case yesterday, for multiple reasons. I stressed all morning about getting to and from work (especially in time to pick up Sam from school), because I knew that 500,000+ people would be going downtown for the Seahawks Super Bowl parade. Traffic was abominable. And then, in the midst of that stressing, as I was literally about to drive to work in the abominable traffic, I received this news that Sam needed to be sent home early from school due to a cough. (Ironically, this news did relieve part of my previous stress, since I was really concerned about getting home in time to pick up Sam.) With this last-minute notice about Sam (and since J was out of the country on a business trip), I had no other choice but to rush to the elementary school and then take Sam to work with me. The whole day worked out fine - probably even better than expected, given the circumstances with traffic and a sick son, but all of the changes of plans left me harried and anxious for the rest of the day. Even when I was going to bed that night, I still felt worked up.)

At present, my home and my own family don't have any issues with loud noise, arguing, messes, or anything of the like. I feel like I have the ability to focus lots of attention on Sam and be responsible as a parent, especially when we go other places. But how will things change with a baby? Naturally, I expect crying, an unexpected schedule, and the occasional blow-out diaper. But what happens when my attention is divided between two children? And will there automatically be contention in our home in the years to come, just by virtue of the fact that Sam will have a sibling? Sam has never been one to push or shove, so I don't worry so much about him, but I have no idea what the personality of this little person will be like.

It will be interesting to read this post in a few years and see how I define my personality and my preferences. How will this new baby change me? Either way, I hope that I like the change.

The HBLL Restroom and 5th Floor

At the university where I currently teach, there is a specific restroom that smells just like the women's restroom on the 5th floor of the Harold B. Lee Library. I'm not sure what it is that makes the two bathrooms smell so similar. Perhaps its the cleaning substances that the custodians use? Or perhaps the tiles and building materials from the '70s and '80s have a smell that seemingly never goes away? Whatever it is, whenever I visit this restroom I am transported back to the HBLL restroom, with its pink tiling and cloth towel dispensers. I tried to find a picture of it to post here, but wasn't successful. I did find, though, an image of another pink bathroom (this one with a red velvet couch!) that I instantly recognized as the one in the basement of the HFAC (see above). I remember trying to sleep or relax on that same couch, back in the day. When searching for images online, I also found an old blog dedicated to the bathrooms on BYU campus, which is amusing.

I feel like I got to know the restroom on the 5th floor of the HBLL quite well, since I usually studied on that floor when I was in the library. As a freshman and sophomore, the 5th floor was one of the least popular areas to study. My roommates and I enjoyed the quieter atmosphere up there. It was also a neat place to study back then, because one of the study rooms on the east side of the building had bookshelves that were filled with old books. I think those books were spirited down to Special Collections after my freshman or sophomore year, which was sad.

As the years rolled on, the 5th floor became increasingly popular as a study spot. The floor was sometimes a little noisy, and I often had to share a table with someone I didn't know. How inconvenient! Sometimes, it was difficult to find a carrel for studying, too. But I persevered and stuck with the 5th floor for the most part, especially when I was an undergrad. After all, the art history shelves are located there. It was pointless to grab several heavy textbooks for a research paper on that floor, only to lug them elsewhere.

Does anyone have a picture of the 5th floor of the library? I couldn't find one online, and I regret that I didn't take pictures when I was there as a student. For those of you who studied in the HBLL, what areas are especially memorable for you?