Memorial Day Weekend

So this weekend Josh and I brainstormed a lot of ideas for how we could spend our extra day together. I had originally planned to spend the whole day working on schoolwork but that sounded so un-fun and a huge waste of precious Josh time, so I threw that idea out the window pretty quickly. Instead, Josh took Scarlet after I fed her in the morning so that I could sleep in for the first time in a while. (We've been sleep-training her and it's been exhausting for both of us, although Josh is able to sleep through some of it.) At a more morning hour, we made some honey-cinnamon-peach buckwheat pancakes for breakfast and then got Scarlet dressed for the day. Then we headed out to Costco to get some shopping done, only to find out that Costco was closed for the holiday. So we skipped the errand and went straight to Park City to check out the outlet mall. I love shopping there, and Josh was surprisingly good (he hates all shopping. Even grocery shopping tires him out and leaves him cranky). We bought some work slacks and a shirt for Josh and a shirt and a skirt for me. Scarlet got nothing since we're not allowed to buy her clothes until she outgrows all the clothes we have for her now. (She has more outfits than both of her parents combined and even more to come when she grows a little more.)

We went home for some quick laundry and lunch, after which we drove to the cemetery in Sandy so Scarlet could meet her great-grandparents, her great-great-aunt, and her great-great-grandmother. All of her relatives remained quiet and so did she, but I like to think they got along.

After the cemetery, we went to the grocery store, picked up some food to tide us over until Costco opens again, and then went out to dinner at Zupa's. When we got home we put Scarlet to sleep and I actually sat through an entire episode of Doctor Who (voluntarily) before we went to bed.

I had a wonderful time with my family. I'm so glad we had that extra day.

Close One

Josh, Scarlet, and I went hiking up at Ensign's Peak this morning. Josh strapped Scarlet to his chest via a baby carrier and I put on my trusty Camelbak and off we went.

As we struggled up the steep incline I noticed that Josh was not panting hard, despite having Scarlet to carry in addition to himself. I pointed out to Josh, "You're doing very well with all the added weight."

He responded, "Thank you. So are you."

He swears he was referring to the Camelbak I was carrying.

Close one, Josh

Getting Back to Normal

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. I've been kind of busy with this little lady:

It's amazing how she's turned my life upside-down. I knew it was a big commitment to have a baby, so Josh and I waited a couple of years until we felt ready to give all of our love to our children. I knew it meant giving all of my time, sacrificing my body, and shifting my priorities, but I had no idea I'd be giving up all my hobbies, too. I can't just sit and read a book because Scarlet won't behave for that long. She keeps interrupting this blog post with her cries for attention. We were late for church for the first time in forever (even though we were were all dressed and ready to go an hour early) because Scarlet was being fussy and demanded to have an extra-long feeding for comfort. I knew my priorities would shift, but I really didn't expect to have only one priority. It's been an adjustment, but waking up to this smiling baby every morning helps me stay positive.

I've started to slowly return to my old routine. The first return I had to adjust to was actually personal grooming. They told us in the baby class that it might be difficult to feel pretty and well-put-together during those initial weeks after having the baby. Your body feels weird and you're sore and tender and recovering. Well, I didn't expect to struggle just to get in a regular shower and to get dressed. I had to start pushing back my get-ready time from when I first woke up to when Scarlet was fed and let me leave her for twenty minutes. I would sneak in a shower, get dressed, brush my teeth, put in my contacts, blow-dry my hair, and grab a bowl of cereal as quickly as possible. I've gotten pretty good at it, and of course, I can sleep in on the weekends when Josh is around to help, so it's not been a bad adjustment.

The second return to my old routine involved work. I knew I had to be able to give an honest 8-hour day at my job despite Scarlet's needs, and that was a tricky balancing act. I think I've gotten the hang of it, though, since the nature of my work requires me to work intensely some hours but not very much at other times. I can work very intensely during Scarlet's nap times and when she's being pleasant in her swing. That has allowed me to get quite a lot of work done, to the point that I asked for more to do and was given this massive and awesome assignment.

The next return has been my reading. I thought I would do nothing but read on maternity leave and I was really looking forward to it, but that was not the case. I could barely find the time when Scarlet would let me--mostly I sneaked in books while she was sleeping in my arms. I've gotten better since then at finding time to read. I have this huge list of books I want to read this year and I was pushed off track when Scarlet was born. It was easier to watch ten minutes of television than to be interrupted ten minutes into a book, so I usually watched television instead of trying to complete my reading list during my maternity leave. This past month was the first time I had not finished reading my book club book in time for our next meeting. It was terribly depressing, and I vowed not to let it happen again. I read the book retroactively and now I'm working diligently on the next book so that I come prepared to the next meeting. Mothers with young children read all the time--I should be no different. I just have to make it a bigger priority.

The final return--and the one I've been dreading the most--was with my schoolwork. I originally took a two-month sabbatical from school but then I pushed it to three months because I was nowhere near ready to return to school. I wasn't organized or in the right mindset. I now have three more weeks before I start my second term at WGU, and I need to get back in the habit of doing schoolwork.

Josh and I have worked out this little arrangement that we started yesterday. After dinner, when Scarlet is at her neediest, Josh has agreed to take care of her exclusively for two hours so I can get uninterrupted studying done. It worked okay so far, but I can't believe how little I can accomplish in two hours. I'll really have to work to keep from getting discouraged at my pace. Maybe as Scarlet gets older, it will be less difficult to fit schoolwork into our routine, but in the meantime I'll keep trying since school is definitely something I'd like to be able to bring back.

And  there you have it. Little by little I'm balancing out my old life with my new. And if I ever get discouraged at the inefficient and plodding pace at which I do things now, I'll just keep reminding myself:

...it was all worth it.

Sister Parshall

So today I went down to Provo to say goodbye to Becca as she entered the MTC. I am so sad right now, but it's okay because really, I'm just very pregnant so my emotions are all over the place. She and my parents drove up to Provo on Monday and Josh and I drove down to meet them for a nice dinner and some last-minute missionary shopping. They stayed in a hotel in Provo while Josh and I went back up to Murray because we both had work the next day. Then yesterday, immediately after work, Josh and I raced home to change into church clothes and my family met us at our apartment so we could all go do a session at the Salt Lake temple. Becca has been traveling to quite a few temples since she took out her own endowments in December. She went to California one weekend and Utah a couple of weekends because she wanted to visit as many temples as she could. She saved the Salt Lake temple for last because my dad really wanted to be there for that one. And it was a wonderful experience, of course, because that temple is particularly amazing in my book. After the session, everyone came back to our apartment for some homemade beef and vegetable soup, rolls, salad, and carrot cake. We had a fun night talking before my family headed back to their hotel in Provo.

Then this morning I got up to take Josh to work but I didn't go in to work myself because I had taken the day off to spend as much time with Becca as possible. Instead, I drove down to Provo and helped my family pack up the truck and check out of their hotel. Then we all went shopping again to kill some time and we spent quite a bit of time in the Deseret Book, looking at all kinds of fun stuff. Around 11:30 we all made our way to Chuckorama, which is not my idea of good food, but it's a looooong-standing family tradition--especially when we're sending off a missionary--so we ate there and shut up about it. I had a pretty decent meal there and it was funny to taste some frozen yogurt and feel Scarlet start to dance inside me. (She gets very active with certain foods but I never know which foods are going to set her off so it's a surprise every time she does it. Cracks me up every time.)

Poor Becca was feeling pretty anxious by that time so she could hardly eat. There were several other missionaries-to-be at the restaurant, which I thought was cute, but I didn't really pay much attention to what was happening until the four of us left the restaurant and parked at the Provo temple. That was where we said our goodbyes alongside dozens of other families and missionaries. Becca received a discreet father's blessing in the truck and we all hugged for way too long before getting back into the truck and driving to the designated drop-off location inside the MTC's gates.

There was a nice young elder there who served as HOST according to his nametag, which meant he was there to help Becca with her luggage and escort her inside the building. We all hugged some more and were very quick and proper about it because none of us much care for public displays of emotion. I kept smiling at Becca the whole time she looked back at us but the second she walked away, the three of us climbed back into the truck and just lost it. It is so hard to send someone you care about away for so long. I just love my sister and we've developed a pretty special bond over the past couple of years and especially over the past few months. I've been chastising Scarlet for not coming sooner so Becca could meet her just once, but that's out of my hands, I suppose. It was an emotionally draining day but I'm so grateful I could spend the majority of it with Becca. Now she's spending her first night in the MTC as Sister Parshall of the Charlotte, NC mission. She'll be just amazing.

To-do List

During sacrament meeting, I was writing to-do's in my notebook. I compiled a list of things I should try to accomplish before the baby comes--things like pack the hospital bag and try to finish that book and make sure our laundry is all done by this weekend. I had a short list prepared by the time Josh looked over my shoulder to read it. He then gently took my pen so he could add an item: "Cry for no reason". I gave him a dirty look and he smiled back before checking that item off my list.

That stinker.

Eating Patterns

So Josh was telling me that he has tried to cut out all processed sugars this week and make sure he eats an apple a day. I was really impressed. He told me this as we were leaving the grocery store last night with ingredients to make ice cream sundaes. We have different goals.

Biggest Loser

I think I'm a mean-spirited person sometimes. Josh and I like to watch the Biggest Loser, which is a totally acceptable thing to do, but I don't seem to be watching it the way it was intended to be viewed. The show is intended to motivate its viewers to lose weight and to be active (ironically by watching a television show).  This intention is completely lost on me. I can't seem to watch a single episode without eating something terribly bad for me. Tonight Josh and I enjoyed some rainbow sherbet ice cream and then we polished that off with some German chocolate cake. Although incredibly delicious, those food choices did not help my own weight.

But Biggest Loser is so strange in that it makes me feel more comfortable with my body. I just feel so happy knowing that I'm nowhere near as big as the men and women who audition for the show. Right now the show is in its sixth week, which is halfway through the program. Six weeks into the program, most of the people on the show are still significantly heavier than I am, and I'm nine months pregnant. I'm pretty sure that makes me a mean-spirited person. I do look forward to their successes and I get really happy to see their dramatic physical changes over the course of a few weeks, but I probably shouldn't be cheering them on while devouring ice cream on my living room sofa.