The Decision to Birth at Home

Well, now that Dexter is almost a month old, I think I'll chronicle his birth.

Upon learning that I was pregnant last December, I began to look into options for my prenatal care and delivery. I found, surprisingly, that home births were covered under my health plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield. I can't say that it was always an aspiration of mine to have a home birth, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.

I realized that a home birth would be different from my previous births in two ways: first, I would give birth, of course, at home; second, I would receive care from a midwife in stead of an obstetrician.

Skipping the hospital seemed great to me. My labors and deliveries with Felix and Ezra were quick and uncomplicated--I labor at home for a few hours in denial that I'm actually in labor. Then transition sets in and I decide that it definitely is labor. When I can't deny the inevitable any longer (that the baby's coming NOW, whether or not I've checked off everything on my insanely long nesting to-do list), I jump in the car and Brian races to the hospital, getting there in just enough time to avoid a car birth. Some random doctor races into the room to catch the baby, and we go home as soon as they let us. So the idea of birthing at home seemed great to me! All the fun of labor without the awkward leg-crossing in the car to slow down the pushing contractions.

So, what about a midwife? My OB with Felix, in St. George, UT, was fantastic; if we had stayed in St. George I probably never would have looked beyond the realm of obstetrics for my prenatal care. But my OB in Ann Arbor, MI was not the greatest. (She was chronically 60-90 min late to appointments, flippant with answers to sensitive questions, talked about herself the whole time during checkups, and, just to top it off, stripped my membranes without asking me at 36 wks. [WHAT???] She said, "Oh, most women want to go early". Well, not me. I wanted that baby to have as much womb time as possible. Talk about disrespectful, non-personalized care.)

So I began reading up on midwifery, and I found that the model of care really appealed to me, especially in contrast with the standard medical model.

After making dozens of phone calls, I settled on Kate Saumweber of Twin Cities Midwifery. During our initial consultation, I sensed her empathy, intelligence, and wisdom, and was sold on the fact that all prenatal care would take place in my home! To say that my experience with Kate far exceeded my expectations is an understatement. Kate was phenominal, the perfect midwife. She would spend as long as I liked at our visits answering questions, learning about my past and current pregnancies, and helping Felix and Ezra feel included in Dexter's development. She was thorough and organized, even following up with me via phone in between visits. As a midwife, she cared for me as a whole person, looking after not just my (and baby's) physical health, but my emotional and social well-being as well. Her approach to care was educational and empowering; I felt like we collaborated in the decisions on prenatal care, by talking over options along the way (regarding tests, precedures, preparations, etc.). In fact, my experience was so wonderful that I can honestly say I'm already looking forward to the next pregnancy. In due time, of course. :)

OK, so the prenatal care was fabulous, but what about the actual birth? Well, that will have to wait until my next entry. Dexter's hungry.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today I was spoiled by my boys!


Yes, those are crêpes--with steamed asparagus and a light sauce. (Made by Mr. Brian Hall, who does not particularly enjoy cooking.) They were just delicious--perfect, perfect crêpes, and the perfect breakfast for my palate (I don't usually eat "breakfast" foods for breakfast), and my fixation on protein and vegetables, haha.

Can I just tell you how completely, utterly astounded I was?? I was absolutely blown away by Brian's creativity and generosity, and the love and care he put in to this meal. WOW!

Isn't he the best?

Word has it that Brian was actually the sous chef, and that this little man spearheaded the food prep. (What a cutie--he got himself dressed this morning. I love his budding sense of style!)

And flowers!!

Then I came downstairs and realized that the reason Brian had stayed up super late the night before was because he was priming the wall over the fireplace (where we had taken down the dated mirror), and hanging the lantern hooks and Sacred Grove painting we had just received.

I am speechless with gratitude for all that Brian does! He is an amazingly dedicated employee, leader and member of our church, and husband and father. (And he still has energy somehow for his 25mi+ bike rides on the weekends.) I would be hard pressed to try and think of something in his life that does not receive 110% effort; I'm always a little worried he's going to wear himself out with all he does.

But his family certainly is his highest priority--and the way he takes time to read to the boys at night even though he has work left to do that will keep him up past midnight, or play on the floor with them even when he's totally spent, or listen to me go on and on and ON about trivial things in my life even though his brain is burnt out from work... all show just how much he is a husband and father first and foremost.

Boy am I ever lucky to be this man's wife!

To Costco or Not to Costco... I Need Your Input!

Hello there, wise family and friends... I'm facing a potentially life-changing decision here, and I need advice.Yea or Nay?

Here are some factors that impact my decision:

• There are two Costcos relatively nearby, one is in St. Louis Park (5 mi/10 min away) and the other is in Maple Grove (11 mi/20 min away).
• We're pretty strict about our grocery budget, which is generous enough to let us eat deli turkey and red peppers (mmm), but not so generous that I shop at Whole Foods very often. So if I spend it all by the 18th, we're playing creative pantry until the next month (curses, January...)
  
• I'd be ok with the XL shopping carts, because somehow the boys have gotten into the pattern of running toward those FUN shopping carts with the car attached to the front at the grocery store. It's like driving a 2WD semi truck. That magnetically attracts random bottom-shelf grocery items throughout the store.
• I'm kind of choosy about food, and I'm wandering if Costco will have enough variety. Like, I like unsweetened applesauce, not-squishy whole-grain bread (but it has to be $2.50 or less), plain yogurt without junk (cornstarch, gelatin) in it, whole-wheat tortillas without preservatives (funny aftertaste, yuck), natural peanut butter... etc. I guess I could go browse the aisles with a checklist and see for myself on this one.
• We don't eat much meat, and that's one thing that most people love about Costco. We do eat 'meat analogs' regularly--does Costco sell tofu, veggie burgers & hot dogs, tempeh, seitan, etc? (Trader Joes has the market on cheap tofu. They offered to start delivering it directly to my house to save the step of shelving it and me unshelving it. I wish that weren't a lie.)
  
• We do eat a lot of produce, so the 4-lb bag of spinach is AOK with me. I have a hard time buying produce that's above the "benchmark" per pound prices I have in my brain, so I've been feeling kinda deprived this winter... (Why is winter squash $1/lb everywhere! If that's not in season, I don't know what is. Someone show me .29/lb; I'll even take .49. I could eat a butternut squash every day of my life for the rest of eternity. That's probably not normal, oh well.)
  
• I went through Costco once last fall, to scope out prices, and found them to be comparable to sale prices at other grocery stores. So, it would be more convenient to be able to get these prices all of the time, in one place. Then again, I don't mind waiting for sales and then stocking up when an opportunity arises. I'm totally that crazy lady buying 36 jars of Classico pasta sauce (3/$5 baby. We'll eventually use it). I love when the cashier or other customers point out that I really must like pasta sauce. (Probably not any more than they do, but I do hoard it in my basement, lined up pretty on shelves, which is only normal if you're Mormon.) Of course, shelf-stable items are one thing; the same tactic doesn't work for produce and other perishables.
  
• Have you noticed that Target is starting to sell Utah family-sized packages of home stuff? I haven't compared prices, but it's worth considering that Costco and Sam's Club don't have the monopoly on jumbo-jumbo sized packaged goods. (I do a lot of grocery shopping at Target, since their prices are competitive, Rainbow kind of bugs me [I can really only buy 1 gallon of milk at the sale price?? Gimicky], Cub foods is a little far away, and every time I go to Byerly's I come out with sushi too (mmmmmm), in addition to overpriced groceries--or sometimes just sushi. Boy is that wrecking my grocery budget. Curses, January... But that has nothing to do with anything.)

Another important consideration is whether Costco would really save me money, or whether I would just end up buying huge-o boxes of stuff so that cost per item was lower, but total grocery bill, after getting a variety of items, is not?

And, at the heart of the matter--can I really be a Mormon Mom, in every sense of the word, and not have a Costco membership? (JK here, I'm a maverick. Look at the car we drive. Wait, that's cause we're cheap.)

What has your experience been? And what other things should I consider?

At Long Last...

Thanks to an incredible outpouring of support from heaven and earth over the past 5 years (much of it in the past 6 months), I have finally graduated!!

Photos from undergrad graduation

I've been waiting to share the news, because it finally became official on my student record last night, as I saw this when I logged in this morning to check my status:

DEGREES AWARDED - BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY           
--------------------------------------------------------------
DEGREE             :  BS                    
DATE RECEIVED      :  Aug 2005              
SCHOOL             :  Family Life           
MAJOR              :  Marriage, Family, & Human
                  Development
HONORS             :  Magna Cum Laude             
HONORS             :  University Honors with Thesis
GPA                :  3.92           
--------------------------------------------------------------
DEGREE             :  MS                    
DATE RECEIVED      :  Dec 2010              
SCHOOL             :  Family Life           
MAJOR              :  Marriage & Family Therapy
GPA                :  3.80            
THESIS             :  The Relation of the Expression of
                  Offense to Forgiving

HOORAY!!! I have finished the race! It has been a long, arduous process. We have moved 7 times since I started my degree, Brian earned 2 Masters degrees himself, and I've had 2 babies. I've had to navigate way too many sticky situations to list here, situations that had me in tears and almost throwing in the towel. Although it has been a character-building, enriching experience overall, if anyone were to ask my advice I'd have to strongly encourage them to finish up the student phase of their life before moving on.

I am deeply appreciative of the privilege of gaining an education; of the opportunity to develop new skills, work ethic, and endurance; of learning to rely on my family and friends for support (especially with childcare); and of working with my amazingly gifted and charitable professor, Dr. Mark Butler.

To sum up my appreciation, I'd like to share with you the Acknowledgments page of my thesis:

I owe my deepest gratitude to numerous associates, friends, and family members who have supported me during my journey as a graduate student. To friends who have cheered me on, prayed for me, and helped with childcare, I thank you for the integral role you have played in my completion of this degree.

To the faculty and secretary of the department of Marriage and Family Therapy, for the forbearance and generosity you have shown me as student on a non-traditional trajectory. I thank you for continually extending the opportunity to complete my work.

To Dr. Mark Butler, for ceaseless support and encouragement over the past eight years as I have worked as your teaching assistant and graduate student. The absolute positive regard and faith that you have always conveyed to me as a scholar, clinician, and associate have been central to my progress. I am humbled and forever changed as a person because of the privilege of working under your guidance.

I also express my profound appreciation to my family for their understanding and zealous support. To my loving mother and father whose enthusiasm for my education has been inspiring and contagious. To my dear eternal companion Brian, for your confidence in my abilities and tolerance for the imbalance in our lives over the past few months, and to my precious sons Felix and Ezra for your sweet temperaments and unconditional love. You, family, are my deepest source of joy, and the inspiration for my efforts to meaningfully contribute to this field.

Finally, I am everlastingly indebted to my Father in Heaven for the opportunity He has given me to grow in light and truth, and for the privilege of taking part in a small portion of His work by strengthening marriages and families.

:)

Admission of Guilt

Absentee blogger.

Guilty as charged.

My reason? We lost our camera back in... September? And we still haven't bought a new one. I have no idea why really. Actually, that's not true, I know exactly why. We get paralyzed when a decision involves both money and consumer products with lots of choices. We are perfectionists who are utterly terrified of buyer's remorse, and of not getting the absolute best thing at the absolute best price. So we just put off making purchases for a long, long time. We have a long history of it. That's another blog post altogether though.

But a camera is a necessity, and I feel horrible about not having taken pictures of anything in our lives for the past 4 months. That's ridiculous. Plus there's the secondary effect of not having done as much, because we don't have a need to do something to take pictures of. You know?

You know?

No, you all aren't incapacitated by such trivial matters. And I, too, need to overcome my fears and apathy and jump back on the photo-snapping, mommy-blogging train.

All ABOARD!!!!!!!!


Wow, Laura. Just wow.

Literary Indulgence

I turned in a draft of my thesis proposal. (HOORAY!)

To make a December graduation (and therefore not have to petition loosing coursework credit), I need defend both my prospectus and thesis this Fall semester. Which means having the whole thing basically written by the end of this month. I've been working my tail off, and have now turned my second draft in to my adviser.

I haven't really loved the experience of writing a thesis (no, seriously? I'm four years older than when I started the thing, if that's an indication of my enthusiasm), and I don't know that I've ever had to really edit a paper before. (My usual method is to scrawl out a solid outline, hack out a pretty decent first draft, and then if I have time, read it over once to make sure it makes sense before printing it off and accepting my 94%A. Hey, an A is an A--and you think people really read what you turn in anyhow?)

But this behemoth of a paper is different, and I actually have been culling through the paper and changing things. Rewording sentences, moving ideas around, and even (cringe) deleting whole paragraphs. (That part is tough--so I have a document where I put the extracted paragraphs, called Thesis Stuff I Can't Just Delete. I'll delete the whole document later, but now the pain is too fresh.)

So anyhow, now that I have a bit of a break--before my adviser returns my draft--I've been checking something of my bucket list:


I'm really enjoying it so far. It's laced with so much silly emotion, unrequited affection, triviality, and... estrogen? It's a nice escape during naptime and in the evening. But between the descriptions of arrogant gentlemen, pretty-eyed sisters, impertinent behavior, and confusing family/social ties, the story line was becoming a bit muddled.

Then I came across this gem:

Illuminating.

Wikipedia, how did I ever used to get through a day without you?

Brian, Meet Your New Boss...

And, allow me to introduce you to your new coworkers...

That's right, Brian has accepted a job as an Associate Marketing Manager at General Mills!!!!!

We are in complete and total shock. It really has just barely begun to sink in. A complete answer to prayers (thank you SO much to everyone who prayed for us, or even just sent your empathy for our situation!)

It's an absolute dream job, in every way. He'll start in mid-Jan, so right after the holidays we'll be heading to Minneapolis . (Mills has its headquarters in Golden Valley, just west of downtown).

Brian is on cloud nine, and I'm thrilled out of my mind too! I am so, so, so glad that Brian didn't give up on his dream. Felix still thinks we're heading to Pittsburgh, but he's starting to say "Minnin-napowis!" when we ask him where we'll be moving to. He calls Minnesota, "Minne-snow-ta", which is probably more accurate.

Oh, and speaking of the cold... ummm, all I can say is that I haven't let myself think about the weather yet. Ignorance is bliss, right? But really, who moves to a tundra state in the middle of January

Anyhow, let's hear it for BRIAN, General Mills' newest AMAZING MARKETER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

BOO!

From about age 14 until I had kids, I didn't really care much for Halloween. It's kind of a weird holiday, with excessive amounts of candy and a strange focus on death and black magic. Plus, it's always so cold on the actual night for Trick-or-Treating that your carefully planned costume is pretty much ruined by the long johns, coat, hat, and gloves you needed to survive the harrowing journey around the neighborhood.

But this year my attitude changed, mostly because it was fun to watch Felix get the hang of Trick-or-Treat! Our Ward held a Halloween Carnival and Trunk-or-Treat, which were great. Plus, on the actual night of candy collecting, the temperatures were in the upper 50s. Wowza!

And you know, there's something days-gone-by fun about walking up to strangers' homes and asking for candy. It seems like a relic of a safer time. It's rare to even chat with neighbors anymore, so it's kind of a unique experience to walk around with the whole neighborhood on a common quest for sugary goodies. (To which, I must confess, Brian and I applied a 98% tax when we got home. Ouch!)

Felix the Monkey with Grandma!

And Ezra the Dragon!

Oh my goodness. Someone's maxing out the cuteness factor.

SCORE! They're both looking at ME and looking PLEASANT!

This is proof for my dear friend Laurel that I don't completely deprive my son of all that is chocolatey and delicious in life.

The next morning he promptly returned to his regular daily diet of grape-nuts, tofu, pasta, cheese, homemade graham crackers aka hardtack, and more fruit and vegetables than normal human beings care to eat in a week.

Goodbye Baby Hair

I don't know what I was thinking.

I took a clipper to his beautiful, soft baby hair, and chopped it off.

My brother thinks I was posessed by a insatiable desire to fill the page for "first haircut" in Ezra's baby book--all of a sudden looking up from my work in shock, with scisors in one hand and a lock of hair in the other. WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!

I'm inconsolably miserable, and I'm never cutting his hair again. For at least the next month. (Cuz I guess a little-man business cut is cute too.)

Going to the OHIO

We're off! Tomorrow morning we'll pack up our lives and go to Akron for an extended visit with my family. Don't get this confused with moving in with my family. That would require moving boxes (we're just using suitcases), changing our address (we'll be pretending we still live in MI), and humbling ourselves and facing reality (nope).

So here's to my mom for putting up with us for the next few weeks! (Or months? We'll see how long this job search takes.)

A note on the job search: Brian's dream is to work as an Assistant Brand Manager at a major Consumer Packaged Goods company (like Kellogg's, General Mills, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, etc...). That means he'd like to market everyday products to you all.

His background is a little non-traditional (undergrad in Music, experience in music retail, dual degree in Music and Business, and an internship in Marketing at Steinway & Sons), and CPG Brand Management is notoriously hard to break into. Combine those factors with a frigid economy, and you see why we're in month eleven of our job hunt!

We've considered conceding Brian's dreams to the reality of bills and rent. Maybe we could find a lower-level job at a CPG company (like an Analyst position), or a Marketing job at a smaller-name or non-CPG company? We've finally started to apply for some jobs like that, but we haven't been having much more luck than with the "dream" jobs and companies. It's hard to get your application noticed, among the hundreds, without a current empoyee's name in your cover letter, so Brian has been networking like crazy at like every company ever. This helps him get a decent number of phone interviews, which almost always leads to a fly-back interview, which almost always leads to rejection...

Days have turned into months, and now semesters, and we're seeing just how bare-bones our budget can get so that we don't have to start spending our savings. So now summer's drawing to a close, and we've decided to move Brian's job-searching headquarters to my Mom's house.

(To be honest, it's hard to think that I worked my perfectionistic tail off during high school with my immaculate gpa, perfect attendance at early-morning seminary, intense sports involvement to make it to BYU on scholarship and put myself through undergrad and grad school, marry Mr. Right in the temple, have two perfect babies, and help my husband through the rigors of two master's degrees... all to return home jobless, with a husband and two kids in tow? )

But that's the shortsighted, self-centered way of looking at our situation. In the grand scheme of things, this is a little hiatus in our otherwise pleasant life. A time to refocus on our beliefs, our values, our motives for choices and goals. A time to realize we can't--and never did--do it alone. A time to develop humility and faith. And a time to pray and fast for answers and direction--and the blessing of a "dream" job, in the Lord's time.

You see, the answer we feel we've received is to continue to press forward in our quest for a job that will allow Brian to most fully use his talents, skills, and knowledge, in a field and function that Brian can fell passionate about and rewarded by! So, we've decided this means making some sacrifices, and heading into the unknown for a little while longer, with faith that we will land this evasive job eventually.

This is a trial for us. But since when should we shun opportunities for character development? This life is a time for us to prepare to meet God, and I've got a ways to go... Honestly, my character and faith grow most when I need to stretch and work hard, and sincerely pray for help and guidance because I desparately need it. So, this trial is requiring patience, tears, faith, and earnest prayer. Answers and comfort have come in very subtle but powerful ways, and I have a deep sense of peace about the future that I lose only when I start to feel depressed or angry. We've grown closer as a family through this process, too, and hopefully a little more humble as we've realized how much we truly need the Lord's help!

There are blessings though... the thick silver lining to all of this is all of the time our family is going to be able to spend time with my dear Mom, brothers, and Dad!

Home Sweet Home in Gotham

So we're in nyc for the summer! There's a ton to catch you all up on, so I'll waste no time.

On the employment side of things, Brian's loving his work at Steinway & Sons. He's working at Steinway Hall in midtown, which is the company's flagship piano showroom on W. 57th St. It's a quick (20 min) jaunt on the express A-train from where we're living in Washington Heights, which is on the upper-upper-upper west side. He's working on an institutional sales project, and from his descriptions of the work he does I can tell he's putting what he's learned at Ross to use, so it's exciting to see those tuition dollars pay off!

In news of everyday living, it's been a bit of an adjustment for me learning to get by in this big city. New York is so complex that I can't truly say that I feel any one way about living here so far, but I've had some fun experiences to counterbalance my list of daily complaints (the constant smells of garbage and urine, the grime that's inevitable in a city with 8 mil inhabitants, the cost of living, the noise, blah blah... let's not dwell on the negative!). For one thing, the neighborhood we're living in has the biggest Dominican population outside of the DR, and there's definite familismo charm here. I sense it when men and women of all ages talk to Felix (and sometimes me) as I pass, or when they block me from crossing the street cause a biker is coming, or strike up non-small talk conversations anytime, anyplace. Perhaps a better example of this "instant cousin" feel I get here is the maintenance man who came to work on the sink, and had Felix hand him tools while he sang him a song about the "little pipe that made a BIG mess". That experience was the first to really soften my heart to the genuine humanity that lies just beneath the deceptively tough exterior of many New Yorkers. (On that note, after getting back from interviews in both LA and NYC, Brian and I were discussing the cultures of the two areas. He felt that people were "nicer" in CA, but in NY once you develop a relationship with someone, you're like family, and they respect and look out for you. He asked me, wouldn't I rather know that people's smiles and words meant something? Hmmm, I'm still chewing on that.)

Oh, and I love our apt. We're subleasing a 26th floor apt. in the Columbia Med Student housing (thank you very much, Dan!). The laundry down the hall, hardwood floors, spacious (by nyc standards!) layout, and million-dollar views of the Hudson River, tri-borough and tri-state areas are definite perks to being a stay-at-home mom this summer!

View to the northwest from bedroom window

George Washington Bridge to New Jersey over Hudson River

So, although I'm still not used to $5/gal milk and other outrageous grocery prices, I have adjusted to some of the smells, noises, and miles upon miles of daily walking that characterize domestic life here. I have met some incredibly nice people in our building and ward, and the playdates and trips to the parks have been soo nice!

Well, this post is too serious for news on the little tot, so I'm going to do a separate, livelier post for him.

Ciao!

Funny Tag Post

I've never actually been blog-tagged, but I saw this one on a friend's blog and decided to put it up here since I thought it was funny. Skip this post if these bore you!

1 . YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Snoopy Celica
2.GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Vanilla Bean Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chip (mmmm...)
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of last name) Lhal
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Periwinkle Mouse
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, street where you grew up) Grace Bryden
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Halla
7.SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Lavender Propel
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Kurt Robert
9.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Melinda Bruce
10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 6th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Fenshaw Fairbanks
11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Summer Sweet Pea
12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now+“ie”) Nectarine PJs
13. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Mini-Wheat Dogwood
14. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Sleeping Thunderstorm
15. YOUR CELEBRITY COUPLE NAME: (half of your name, half your significant other's name, mixed together in whichever order sounds best.) BriLa

Ha! OK, now I've satisfied that burning desire, I tag... whever else puts on PJs at 8:00pm... or earlier if they can get away with it.

:D

Some Funny Observations

Ever since Felix has been eating solids I've been feeding him all kinds of strange vegetables, like edamame and cabbage and brussels sprouts, and he's been eating them without a fuss. Each time he swallowed without making a face it reinforced my belief that I had really struck it lucky in getting a *special* baby who liked veggies. He would eat peas by the cupful, and snack on broccoli spears like they were a treat. Only I knew that it wasn't normal...

But then a week ago, when we were babysitting overnight for a friend, he changed his mind--and at a very inconvenient time too. We had just sat down to dinner, and I unveiled the vegetable: brussels sprouts. YUM. The two little boys (ages 5 and 4) let me know right away how they felt about the small cabbages, and so I said, "You only have to eat one each. But you might like them. Here, watch Felix, he loves them". I served Felix some cut up sprouts. He dutifully picked one up, put it in his mouth, and then, (gasp) made a face, took it out of his mouth, and deposited it on the floor, where it apparently belonged. Somehow I did get the boys to eat a few, with some help from Mrs. Salt and Mr. Pepper.

But Felix has kept up the newfound aversion, much to my dismay. Luckily it isn't all vegetables though. He'll still eat a little sweet potato and green beans, and other veggies when they're mashed up and mixed into stuff. And for some reason, he'll still eat mountains of peas, and fruit too, so I'm not too worried about him becoming vitamin deficient, just annoyingly picky...

But the funny thing is that he'll still eat any kind of vegetable when he can beg it off of me, no matter the form. It seems like he likes the treat of eating some of mom's food. I thought this was funny until I realized that I kind of do the same thing: For example, I'm a big fan of Whole Foods. OK, to be honest, I'm more of a fan of their ridiculously generous sampling policy. (Secret: sometimes Felix and I pretty much eat lunch there. Don't tell.) But I eat samples of things I probably wouldn't eat on my own, because things seem to taste better in small bites I guess. So I guess Felix is just becoming more normal. Really, I need to face the truth: normal kids do NOT like cabbage!

Another thing I've noticed is that he's a snacker. I've been a little annoyed by this, because it seems like he barely finishes a meal before he's begging for something I'm eating. How can he be hungry so soon?? But did you catch the clue? He wants what I'm eating, because I'm a snacker. I'd rather eat six or eight (healthy) snacks a day than have meals, especially because Brian hasn't been home for any meals for a couple of days now. (Betcha didn't know that part of the objective of business school is to fatten the students up with lavish meals, but apparently it is. It doesn't work on Brian though, probably because he uses recruiting events as lunch. And dinner. Then brings home the extras for me!) Anyhow, I've decided that if I don't want Felix to snack his life away, I'd better stop doing it.

OK, one last funny observation: I finally went running this morning, the first time in about a month. I've been itching to go ever since Ann Arbor became a tropical paradise (ie, reached 34 degrees), but today was the first day this week that Brian didn't have to be at school at 8:00am. This morning as I was jogging, I thought about how as a mom I need to find more efficient ways to exercise, because it's not always convenient to wait for the one day Brian has some time off. So I decided maybe I should stop driving to Kroger (it's all of a quarter mile away), and hovering around parking lots for 10 minutes trying to get a close spot, as if I'd die if I had to walk 20 more feet to the entrace of a store. I'm sure I could think of some other ideas too, like going on more walks with the Fe Man, and maybe even walking to the business school to meet Bri for lunch once in a while. Wow, those wheels are starting to turn! Now let's see if I can turn those thoughts into action.

Anyhow, that's enough rambling from me. Here's some pics of the Little MAN!






More soon!