Just life.

On Tuesday night, I had trouble falling asleep. It was the kind of night where I was dead tired, but absolutely could not get comfortable enough to actually fall asleep. I finally start drifting off at about 1:30am, when Jacob cries in the other room. Not whimper-y crying, but "I'm really scared" kind of crying. Since we keep the house pretty dark these days, and he's had a few nights in a row with that sort of waking, I sent Jesse in to go get Jacob and bring him to his floor spot next to our bed. It's basically a pretty beat up chunk of egg-crate type of mattress foam topped with a sheet. He comes in (on his own, we don't shut the doors once we're all in bed) every night to lay there, at some point, until morning. Anyway, Jesse went to get him, and after a minute, calls somewhat softly, "Um, Jacob just threw up on me." Huh? What do you mean? He wasn't that upset! And he certainly wasn't acting sick at all before bed. It wasn't much - just enough to wet his shirt, I guess. At any rate, we stick him next to our bed, and we settle in, and I start finally drifting off again. When, yep, you guessed it, Jacob starts making throaty sounds and suddenly vomits again. I *somehow* managed to heave myself out of bed, over my mountain of pillows to support my growing belly, grab Jacob, and dash to the bathroom before he was finished vomiting. I was lucky enough to have a potty with a removable bucket in there, so I grabbed that to catch the rest. But he still got the sheets before I had moved him, so we had to change his bedding. As soon as he had finished throwing up, he seemed perfectly chipper, and wide awake. Like nothing on earth was out of the ordinary. Watched me change his sheets, and complemented me on a good job ("Oh, very nice, mommy. New sheets! Ohhhh, Dora pillow! Very nice!"). As soon as the lights were off, he easily snuggled back into his spot, pulled the blanket up to his shoulders, and drifted back off to sleep within moments. I was so jealous.

He threw up again - yes, right as I was finally getting back to sleep. His stomach was pretty empty by this point, but I had smartened up a bit and grabbed a bowl from the kitchen and also a spare towel. We avoided any messes, and went settled back to try to sleep when it was over. And yeah. Right as I was once again finally managing to drift off to the bliss that is sleep, Melinda joins us in our room, and settles down next to Jesse's side of the bed. But no worries, not a huge interruption, and soon I'm settling back into the pull of dreamland. And then suddenly, the gagging sounds start again, and I once again heave myself to reach the bowl over the mountain of pillows and shove it under Jacob. Who seems surprisingly unresponsive. My brain takes a moment to process his limpness, and I say loudly, "Jesse, is Melinda making that sound?" Jesse jerks into action, and yes, Melinda is indeed throwing up right next to him. She didn't take it in stride like Jacob did, and was soon screaming between the stomach spasms, and even managed to get some in her nose. Poor girl. Once it was all over, she was fine again, but we also had a new set of bedding that needed to be changed. The clock read 3:30-ish am. *rueful smile* ...

Jacob, thank goodness, didn't throw up again during the course of the night. Or the next day. But Melinda had another couple episodes up until around 5:30am, and I didn't sleep soundly until after that. Both of them were finally sleeping well by the morning hours, but I still had to drag myself out of bed and make a phone call - I was supposed to watch 2 young girls for another sister in the ward on Wednesday, but obviously my children had something contagious, so I needed to give as much warning as possible that I wouldn't be able to take care of them. I got back in bed after the phone call, and Jesse was getting ready for work. Just after he left at 8am, Melinda throws up again. I was still awake enough to take care of it, yay me! But around 8:45, she threw up again, while I was still sleeping, so I didn't react fast enough to catch it all (boy, did that girl drink a LOT of water over night!!). And this time she was in my bed instead of next to it, so now my sheets were covered in vomit. And I wasn't about to re-make that mattress on my own, I'm too awkward these days. So I stripped it and tossed it in the laundry with some other bedding that had collected overnight, and we all made the quick journey out to the front room to veg in front of the TV. (Jacob woke up during Melinda's last episode...and yeah, she was still freaking out each time she threw up.) I grabbed the crib mattress and a couple extra pillows and light blankets, figuring we'd want to sleep some more. I set the crib mattress next to the big couch. Melinda took the little couch, I was on the big couch, and Jacob go the mattress. I turned on PBS, arranged the bowls close to each child, and we settled down. Melinda still threw up a couple times, but finally finished around 10:30am. We all fell asleep sometime around 11:00 or 11:30am, and slept until a blissful 1pm.

Nobody had really eaten anything yet at that point, so I made some pasta with Alfredo sauce and spinach for lunch. Both kids only took a few bites. After lunch was over, it wasn't long before the kids were taking naps again. After round 2 of naps, Melinda was back to herself completely, begging to get out of the house, saying she wasn't sick at all anymore and was bored. But no, we stayed in, of course. We watched even more TV at this point, and had a few snacks. Melinda was now eating like a horse (whereas she had really barely eaten at all, from the day before until that point in late afternoon), and claiming ravenous hunger after she scarfed down every snack I offered her. Jacob, on the other hand, didn't even finish the chocolate animal crackers I had given him (yeah, I know, not a great sickie snack, but I didn't have anything particularly healthy but light to offer at that point), and wouldn't even touch other choices I ended up setting in front of him. He sat on the couch quietly, and Melinda eventually started playing some video games. Jacob drifted off to sleep once again. He may not have thrown up as much (and neither of them were feverish at all, by the way, during the whole course of it), but I guess it wore him out more!

After Jesse had gotten home and we had all eaten some dinner, and snuggled on the couch while watching Finding Nemo, Melinda surprised me by asking to go to bed. I didn't think she'd really be tired enough, the way she was acting that afternoon, but we started the bedtime process anyway. Despite the fact that Jacob had just woken up less than 2 hours previous. And you know, they both went to sleep very easily and quickly.

We had a perfectly normal day today, I'm happy to say. We got out and did a little bit of shopping, and just as we were pulling into the parking lot at about 3:45ish, I looked in the rear-view mirror to see both kids nodding off in their car seats. That's sort of typical for Jacob, who still usually needs a nap around the 2-3pm window of the day, but I was surprised by Melinda, who had gotten so much sleep the day before. When we got into the house, she said, "Can you just put me in bed?" Sure, honey, whatever you want. Melinda slept from about 4pm until just after 5pm, and I found Jacob laying awake in his bed at 5:30ish. "Are you awake, Jacob? Don't you want to come out??" "I know." He says, breathlessly. Jacob now says "I know" for "yes". Very consistently. And yet he still laid there. Jesse swooped in and picked him up, while I went back to dinner-making.

Jesse stopped by Home Depot on his way home from work, and got a 6'x4' piece of plywood for under $6. What is it for? Our bed. For the last ... year maybe? ... our mattress has been on the floor of our bedroom. Our boxspring is just shot. The resulting saggy, makes-you-roll-into-the-middle loveliness of the mattresses gives us both quite a backache. And we haven't wanted to (or really been able to) afford a new, quality mattress set, and the kids still like to sleep next to us, so we just put the mattress on the floor, with the box spring up against the wall, acting like a headboard. It's worked pretty well, and our backs have been saved, but now that I'm 32 weeks pregnant (and measuring 34 weeks...), it's been truly awful trying to get out of bed in the middle of night, in the dark, over those mounds of pillows, the tangling blankets trapping me, while avoiding gouging Jesse with my elbows on the one side, and stepping on Jacob on the other side, from floor level to upright walking position, all while I very much have to use the bathroom, right this instant. So that's where the plywood comes in. It has found its home sandwiched in between our mattress and box spring, and our bed is once again up on the metal frame with wheels thing, at a normal bed height. It's pretty disconcerting, actually, to have the bed that high again. Makes the room look totally different, for one thing, and it just looks unnaturally high, as well. But I imagine it will be quite nice for those middle-of-the-night pregnancy-induced bathroom runs. I hope the kids don't mind the difference it makes when they come in to sleep next to us on their "floor spots" in the middle of the night. I know for at least a little while, from my perspective, Jacob will seem crazy far away from my reach, way down there on the floor. But the plywood seems to have done it's job - the mattress feels just as firm as it did on the floor, now. And when we have the baby in just a little while and put the Co-Sleeper next to our bed, our bed will actually be the right height to make the Co-Sleeper functional, haha! So it all works out. We'll see, over the next few nights, if the kids adjust to it okay. Jacob will have to make some adjustments in less than 2 months, anyway, since he won't be able to come in and sleep in the same spot the Co-Sleeper will be. Either they'll learn to stay in their own room, or he'll learn to share a space with Melinda, if need be, I guess.

Boy oh boy, was this post super-rambling! I could have just said, "Our kids both spent most of Tuesday night puking, we spent most of Wednesday sleeping and watching TV, and everyone's better now. Thank goodness for short-lived stomach bugs! Oh, and we put our bed back up on its frame, with the help of a little plywood! No more floor sleeping for us!" And it would have amounted to the same thing. But then, where's the fun in that? ;)

OH! A little post-script to add in here, since my mind is on the fact that I'm largely pregnant... I've had some eczema issues this entire pregnancy, which has been weird, since I've never ever had eczema before in my life, at least not to my knowledge. Jesse's sister, Sarah, mentioned that her friend once had some skin issues during pregnancy and found out it was a liver problem. I started doing searches on liver issues during pregnancy, and found nothing good. So I talked to my midwife and we ran a blood test to check my liver, since it seems any liver issues raises risks of complications for the baby. I'm happy to report that my liver seems to be functioning normally, yay! Unfortunately, that means my eczema is totally unexplained. Hopefully it will resolve on its own after the baby is born. If not, I may never wear short dresses or shorts again, or go swimming for that matter!, because my legs are just patchy and hideous! ;)

The things kids say....

Alright, I have two funny stories for you.

First, some background.
Melinda has really been looking forward to a few things, especially the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby (that was tonight), and the baby being born. She would ask me over and over and over how many days till each. I got tired of answering, so it finally dawned on me to make her some calendars so she could cross of days and watch the time pass, with the events drawing closer. She loves it, and calls them her "charts". She was so excited all day today because she could tell it was finally the day for the Pinewood Derby, and we could go to Scouts with Daddy.

You should all remember that Jesse has half a thumb, as he lost the top of it as a 1yr old in a window seat incident. Melinda has asked him a few times when his "fingernail" will grow back. And then we explain that it won't grow back until after he is resurrected. She likes the concept of death and resurrection, and talks about it frequently. Going as far as saying that the leaves that fall off in autumn time will be resurrected, even. So tonight, she brings up the topic again:

Melinda: "Daddy, when will your fingernail grow back?"
Jesse: "Not until I die and then I'm resurrected."
Melinda: "Oh. How long until you die?"
Jesse: "Well, maybe 60 or 70 years."
Melinda: "Oh. That's a really long time. We will have to make a really really big chart!!"

....pause as parents laugh their heads off, thinking of enough calendar months hanging on the wall to represent 60+ years....

Melinda: "Mommy, will you make me a chart for when Daddy will die??"
Becky: ..... ... ... "Um, no, sweetie. Only Heavenly Father and Jesus know when someone will die, so we can't make a chart for it. And I'd rather not have a countdown to when Daddy dies, anyway...."


And of course, Jacob is not short of his own laughter-inducing sayings these days, either.
I try to teach them both the correct name of body parts, hoping to make them comfortable enough to talk about more sensitive subjects with me as they get older. So Jacob already knows penis. During one diaper change, he suddenly grabs himself. It should be noted that he very rarely does this. But this time, he did. And right after he grabs himself, he shouts, with all the excitement that a 2 year old boy can muster, and with the biggest grin on his face......

"Big, BIG Penis!!!"

Oh yes, folks, he's a funny one! ;)

Thought for the Day

I read this today, and I *really* like it. Just wanted to share :)

We can't do anything that is not spiritual. It's just a matter of what spirit we do it with.

Transmission update

Ben left a comment on the Car Troubles post, and it reminded me that I should probably post an update.

We did get the transmission fixed. We got a great local recommendation for a mechanic (the type who will tell you up front that you plain just don't need something, if you don't), and while they don't work with transmissions, they did have their own recommendation for a family-owned transmission shop. That shop is not far from our Stake Center, which is normally a 20 minute drive by freeway. Since the van would only drive in 2nd gear, we had to take the backroads through the outer city. It took a good 40-50 minutes to drive that way, but we made it. Everything seems fixed very well, and they even (cheaply) replaced a broken CV boot that they found while they were working on the van. Meanwhile, the payment went on the credit card, and we're eager to get all our tax papers in the mail, so we can get refund money ASAP to pay it off with.

And we're thrilled to be back to 2 cars again, and having an easier time getting out to do things, even the mundane types like grocery shopping. It's much more convenient to do it when you want to instead of when you have to, based on your car availability schedule.

Although it would have been super nice this morning when it was 19 degrees outside, to have the cloth seats of the Nissan instead of the leather seats of van. Eeek!! Cold seats and church clothes!!

Free Dinner!

On Friday night, after work, Jesse asked me, "So where do you want to eat tomorrow night?"

"Tommorow night?" I said. "What's tomorrow night?"

Jesse shrugs, and explained that his boss told him that since he worked extra hard this week, he should take his family out for dinner this weekend, and the company would reimburse him. Cool!

So tonight, we went out to The Rainforest Cafe. Very fun place to eat! And usually very busy and definitely not cheap. The ceilings are covered in trees and vines. There are elephants and gorillas that periodically become mechanically animated and make noises and move around. There's a "starry" sky, and rainbows, and butterflies on the walls that flap their wings. And giant fish tanks filled with large, exotic fish! And every half hour, there's a thunderstorm with flashing lights and loud thunder sounds. We've gone a couple times before for special occasions, and neither of the kids seemed upset by it. But this time, Jacob was definitely a bit scared by the thunderstorm. He got a really worried look on his face, and after it was over, he just wouldn't stop talking about the "loud" noises coming from "that tree" (it did have a lot of strobe lights shining on it...). So when the 2nd thunderstorm came around, I held him on my lap and covered up his ears. That seemed to help a bit. Of course, after that, he couldn't stop talking about the loud noises and would point out that he needed his ears covered. All in the sort of broken-up speech of a 2-year-old, of course. He and Melinda both absolutely loved the rest of the environment, though, to the point where they barely touched their food, they were so busy looking around! And of course, even though we stuffed ourselves full with a large appetizer on top of our large dinner plates, we still made room for the yummy "Volcano" dessert - thick slices of brownie cake with ice cream and whipped cream and fudge all put together to form a volcano shape, topped with a dazzling sparkler when they bring it to your table!

It was such a nice change from our normal meals lately. And one of the best parts is that we have plenty leftover for lunch tomorrow!

The leaning snowman

Today, we had the second snow of the season. It's been a while, hasn't it! I wasn't feeling that great today, but Melinda's incessant begging caused me to finally force myself to get everyone bundled up to go outside and play. It was the perfect snow for snowballs and snowmen. So, we went ahead and built a snowman. He was standing up so nice and straight when we built him. It was the first thing we did outside. We stayed out for about an hour, also playing with snowballs, and sledding down the hill again (thank goodness both kids were fine with walking back up after the ride down, I was happy to stay perched up on the sidewalk at the top of the hill!). When we came in, the kids had a nice "warming up" bath. When they were dressed again, we wandered back toward the front room and looked out the window - and the snowman was now leaning to the side. A couple hours later, it was getting dark, and the snowman was leaning even further over. We all thought he would fall down any second! Kinda looks impossible in the picture, doesn't it? When Jesse finally got home, he went outside to try and fix it. His attempt resulted in the beheading of Mr. Snowman! (But oh, the kids got a good laugh out of that!!). He quickly made a replacement head, but Melinda wasn't happy that it was smaller than the head he originally had.

Not that it really matters - the snow has already changed over to rain, and it's supposed to rain most of the night and be warmer tomorrow, so the snowman probably won't survive anyway.

Oh, and yes, the snowman has too many sticks. Melinda did the arms, but Jacob wanted to help too, so he gave the snowman a tail. There's also one sticking straight forward out of the bottom snowball... Melinda says that one is a belly button. Of course!

The Future of Food

Jesse and I watched a documentary a month or so ago, called "The Future of Food". To me, this really seems like a film that everyone should see, if they have a chance to see it. You can read the synopsis of the movie from their website below. My summary? Basically, if you watch this movie, I think you'll agree with me that it's easy to predict where the famine and pestilence in the last days might come from. Nothing good can come from essentially forcing farmers to farm a certain way or a certain type of produce. It not only harms the farmers themselves, but affects the nutritional intake of those who eat the food (that's us, folks!), and the ability of the earth to sustain the growth of the food (for instance, instead of farmers rotating crops, farmers have begun growing one crop over and over and over again... NOT good for the earth). I think that by watching this movie, you'll also find additional wisdom in the counsel given to us to grow our own gardens, become self-sufficient, and have at least a year's supply of food. Not that I'm good at *any* of that yet, but I can see the wisdom in it!

We viewed "The Future of Food" with our Netflix account. You might be able to see it if you have a similar movie rental program through Blockbuster, or even local rental chains might have it available if they carry other documentaries.

You can watch a trailer of the movie here.

There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America -- a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat.

THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. The health implications, government policies and push towards globalization are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed by the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply.

Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, THE FUTURE OF FOOD examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world's food system. The film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today.

Pregnancy aches

Just a minor complaint post. This week has not been good for pregnancy aches. For the first half of the week, my hip and pelvic bones just felt all out of whack, like they were arranged in 20 different pieces instead of fitting together nicely. Just achey to walk, to sit, whatever. Achey and out of place. Then today my lower back is just killing me. I can't even lean forward 5 degrees without feeling like my back is going to completely spazz out on me. And since I've thrown out my back in each of my previous pregnancies, the fear of repeating the experience is legitimate, I think. It's so much fun to do diaper changes, chase a toddler, help a preschooler with the potty, getting them both dressed, and all that sort of fun stuff, when you're afraid to bend the slightest bit because it *might* just cause you to have to spend the rest of your day and the next laying perfectly still on a hard flat surface like the floor. Sigh. And of course, my neck is totally out today, too, and it's giving me a major headache. I feel like I'm falling apart!! 10 weeks to go....ugh. It sounds both too long and far too short, all at the same time.

I think I'll ask my midwife, when I see her on Monday for my 30 week appointment, if she has any good recommendations for a prenatal chiropractor. My bones are just not happy with me this week. :(

(I'm also trying to ignore the guilt trip I give myself when I realize that exercising regularly, especially with the prenatal yoga DVD's I have, would probably mean I avoid most of these aches...)

Obsessed with Twilight

Many thanks to my sister Melissa, who generously gifted me with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Collection for Christmas this year. She told me time and time again that I would just absolutely *love* them...and I was sure that I would enjoy them -- when I finally got around to reading them. There are very few books out there I haven't enjoyed, after all! But I really didn't know much about the books, besides my sister just being (what seemed like) excessively eager to get me to read them. Christmas vacation, with Jesse home from work, presented a perfect time to delve into Twilight, though, putting aside more serious reading and other projects I had a mind to do. And yes, I was instantly hooked.

I've now read all three books (currently in the series) three times each. And I want to do it again. Like...right now. I can't really describe how captured I am by the characters. I'd have to go into long details about how experiences in my life help me relate Bella, the main character. Or how the intensity of a range of emotions portrayed within the books have helped me pull out of my own semi-persistent "blah" sort of mood towards my life. There is a passion in me now that I've been missing for a long time, I guess. And how on earth did three little books do that to me? I'm not sure. All I know is that the stories seem completely magical to me. I feel what the characters feel. I experience what they do. When I read the books, I am totally, 100% immersed into their lives and perspectives. And I just don't want to leave that when the book is done! I've found fan fiction to read. Extras and "outtakes" on the author's website. Forums where I can read what other fans are saying. There's a movie to look forward to, hopefully out at the end of 2008.

But one of the biggest impacts to me, outside of the books themselves, has been that Stephenie Meyer actually included "playlists" on her website - music that inspired her while she was writing these specific stories. It's been ages since I have listened to new music. At least 4 years, I guess, since I've purchased a new album for myself. I thought it was kind of a kooky idea to check out this music, but since I'm aching for more Twilight, I did it. My MP3 player that Jesse gave me for Christmas came with a free month subscription to Rhapsody, and I basically have unlimited free transfers of songs for the duration. So I found each of the songs that she included on her website, made one giant 56-song-long playlist, and stuck it on my MP3 player. And then I listened. And ya know what? I *love* this music. Who knew? A whole mix of bands I've never or hardly heard of (like Muse, Marjorie Fair, My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park (okay, that one I'm still getting used to...), Coldplay, and so on), and nearly all the songs included just really speak to me somehow...in genres I've never been exposed to before, or at least minimally exposed to (Rock, Brit Rock, and Alternative/Punk). But wow, I love this music! It's odd to say out loud, but it feels really thrilling to find new music- for me- that I really enjoy.

My Rhapsody "Twilight" Playlist (you can listen to 25 of them for free with a free account).

At any rate... all of this - the books, the music - make me feel oddly awake and aware of myself in a way I wasn't before. I LOVE it.

Melinda's last name

Okay, I admit. I slept in on the day that Jesse went back to work between his Christmas vacation and New Year's Day. I wasn't ready to end my vacation!

Anyway, once I finally dragged myself out of bed, I was glad to see that the kids played very nicely together and didn't get into any trouble. Phew! But it was just *too cute* when Melinda showed me something she had written in her little Hello Kitty notebook (from her Christmas stocking!). She had written her full name, Melinda Newson. Only it wasn't Newson. It was Noosin!! I couldn't help the grin I got from that one. She not only wrote something without any prompting, she wrote something phonetically. Boy was I floored! She can be so smart, this girl! Seriously, I've only ever written our last name out for her maybe 2 or 3 times total, and each of those times was at least a couple months ago, if not longer. So she just decided to figure it out on her own, and what a good job she did!

Now if only I could convince her that it's pronounced Newson and not Newsin! :)'

Here's a picture of her writing. It took me a while to decipher the letters, but these are written very small compared to her normal writing, so it's not as clear as it normally would be. There's a W on the top line, followed by MELINDA. Then the second line reads NOOSIN. Not sure exactly what the next couple lines say, but Melinda tells me that it means "I miss you Maarten" (her friend who now lives back in The Netherlands).