The Technology Generation

The other night during Family Home Evening,* I was giving a lesson to my semi-attentive family when Natalie got up off the couch, looked at me, and said, "Can you pause this?"

Um... since when did I turn into a DVD player? I guess I should be happy she didn't try to put me on mute... or eject me altogether!

Happy Birthday, Natters! (Report on her birthday celebrations to follow later this week.)


*Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are encouraged to set aside one night weekly (typically Monday) for family activities, discussions, and instruction. This is called Family Home Evening.

Hello my baby, hello my darling...

Hello out there!

Isn't this picture adorable? The baby kept waving to us all throughout the ultrasound on Tuesday. I'm pretty sure he/she knew we were there.

And speaking of he/she...

As Jay and I sat in the waiting room before the ultrasound, we continued to second guess our decision to keep the gender a surprise. In fact, we ro-sham-bo'd to decide if we were going to find out. And finding out won... but prego-mama overruled the ro-sham-bo, as prego-mamas are allowed to do.

Instead we decided to ask the ultrasound technicion to write down the gender, which she kindly agreed to do. Now we have the paper locked away somewhere in case we change our mind and want to find out. But I have to say, I feel very much at peace with not knowing. I was a total ball of anxiety before the ultrasound (Me?? Shocking, I know.), but now, I really don't care. It's not like knowing the gender will help me settle on a baby name... you know I will stretch that out as long as possible anyway!

So, sorry, dear readers. You will have to wait for the exciting news along with us Fears. In the meantime, I've put up a poll to help you voice your opinions... what do you think we're going to have?

P.S. - I forgot to mention they moved up my due date by 5 days. Sweet!! That never happens to me!

Baby names... part 1, undoubtedly

In honor of tomorrow's ultrasound (where we're not finding out the gender... I think...), below is the first in what will most likely be a series on baby naming in the Fear Household. What can I say, I love this part of pregnancy!

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I often joke with Jay that one of the main reasons I married him was for his last name. Let's face it, as much as I honor and respect my maiden name, Fear is a lot cooler - and shorter - than Teutschman. However, when it comes to naming babies, it can be a little difficult to work with. I am forever vetoing perfectly good first names based on their relationship to our last name, which any experienced baby-namer will tell you is a good practice, anyway. In our case, however, some of the combinations we've vetoed are pretty funny. Therefore, I submit to you a list of:

Baby Names That Are Permanently Out of Consideration (so don't ask!)

Noah Fear

Will Fear

Warren Fear

Neville Fear

Lucy Fear

Helen Fear

Oh, and any combination such as Isaac Michael or Ivy Margaret, due to the unfortunate initials I.M. Fear. (And no, Natalie's middle name is not Olivia.) By the way, I do realize that Bea Fear is almost a sentence and therefore should have been vetoed, but since her full name is Beatrice we went for it anyway. It was a tough decision, I assure you.

Are there any other funny "Fear" combinations you can think of, without making up first names? (Showno doesn't count, people.)

New layout woes...

Is anyone having a hard time seeing my new layout background? I've had some reports that it's showing up as a white background with yellow text, which is not what it should be. The background is olive green with all sorts of funky, multicolored polka-dots. The text is yellow (although I'm changing this post to black to make it easier to read for those who are experiencing problems).

Please let me know via the comment section or email: fearfam (at) sbcglobal (dot) net.

Thanks so much!

Natalie's first love - an update

Lest anyone think that my daughter's obsession with her classmate Connor dissipated after my first report, I decided I should provide a follow up.

On the last day of school, which happened to be a field trip, Natalie was given a ride with, you guessed it, Connor and his mom. When I picked her up from the field trip, we had the following conversation:

N: "Mom, Connor knows I wants to marry him."
Me: "Well, yes, didn't you give him a note telling him that?"
N: (ignoring me) "Today Connor came up to me and said 'I like you.'"
Me: "And what did you say?"
N: "I said 'Me too.'"
Me: (some kind of grunt)
N: "Then he said, 'Do you want to marry me?'"
Me: "And what did you say?"
N: (very shyly) "And I did this (nodding head) *very* slowly. Then he walked away and I stood there and watched them."

Oh heaven help me... "I stood there and watched him?!?" I am so glad it's summer. I think I'll call the school and make sure they aren't in the same first grade class.

Also, when I was going through the buckets of paperwork the school sent home, I found this:

If you can't read it, it says "Miss Bingham will feel very happy. She will be so proud for us. We will be so happy." It is accompanied by a drawing of Miss Bingham, Natalie, and Connor. So... I'm not sure what Natalie's talking about. It's either graduation, or her upcoming nuptials...

I also found this, which really has nothing to do with Natalie professing undying love, but cracked me up nonetheless:

Then you flip it over:

Rub it in a little more, why don't you?

Tag, I'm it!

My friend Stacey has tagged me, and you all are the beneficiaries.

Places I’ve lived:

Long Beach, CA

Various towns in Vermont
San Jose, CA

And 8 different homes in the 7 years Jay and I have been married...

Things I collect:

Nancy Drew books

Gray hairs (I've got a nice little collection started!)

Favorite Music:

I have a very strange range of musical tastes. My iTunes library has everything from ABBA to VeggieTales to Eminem (just one song, and a "clean version" at that, and it's Jay's... but still).
Perfect Pet:
My perfect pet is the non-existent kind. Which is the kind I have, so it's working out for me. Alternatively, I guess I could get a pet rock.

Favorite TV Show:
Of all time: Seinfeld "...without rules, there's chaos."

Current: The Office. "Dinkin' Flicka."

I'm not tagging anyone else, but if you're bored one day and need something to blog about, consider yourself tagged!

Go go go go go to First Grade!

When it comes to preschool and kindergarten graduations, I usually sympathize with Mr. Incredible. But on Thursday, June 13th, that all changed.

We attended Natalie’s kindergarten graduation and I have to say, it was adorable. Jay was able to get off an hour early so he was able to attend as well, which was a very happy surprise for Natalie, who thought he wasn’t coming.

The program consisted of the kids singing songs and reciting poems, and then receiving their diplomas. Natalie is a natural performer. I could tell she was having a blast and was proud of herself to boot. I have to admit I got a little teary eyed once or twice.

The program ended with a very cute DVD slideshow, which we were all given a copy of. (Don’t worry, I won’t subject you to it!) The best part was the video clips of all the kids saying their name and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Most of the kids had standard answers like policeman, fireman, or teacher, although one little girl said “a Raider cheerleader,” which made me chuckle. I figured I knew what Natalie was going to say. She almost always says a painter or “just a regular mom like you.” But not this time...

“My name is Natalie and when I grow up I want to go to work at Toys R Us.”

It was a fantastic - and very honest - answer that drew quite a bit of laughter from the crowd. Too bad it’s not a very high-paying career.

So, now I am the mom of a first grader. Hard to believe! Kindergarten was a great experience for Natalie and I have been really impressed with her teacher, Miss Bingham, and with the school in general. I only hope next year goes as well!

Congratulations, Natters! You rock!

Pinecrest!

Ok, don't faint or anything, but I just got back from three days of camping.

Can you believe it?!?

Well, don't, because by most people's standards, it wasn't technically camping. The fam and I took advantage of Jay having three days off and went to Pinecrest (near Sonora), where we rented a small cabin and hung out in the wilderness. And you know what? It was a blast!

Now let me make it clear that it's not being in nature that I don't like, it's the whole sleep-in-a-tent-bathe-in-a-river-cook-over-an-open-flame-eat-burnt-food-squat-in-the-woods that I object to. That is my memory of "camping." So when we decided to go to Pinecrest I insisted on the cabin, and even Jay agrees that it was a good call. The little ones were much happier, and so was I. And everyone knows that if Mama's not happy, no one's happy.

The highlights of the trip are as follows:

Jay taking the girls fishing. I told him they would probably get bored after 5 minutes, and I was close. I think it was 10. But they did a good job and had fun in the boat. The lake is really beautiful and I had fun taking a tour around it.

Swimming in the pool and the lake. The water was cold, but that didn't stop us. Well, it stopped me from going all the way in. I'm a wuss like that. Dexter is going to be an Olympic swimmer, though, because he absolutely loved the water. He didn't even flinch despite the temperature. He just sat there in his baby-floating device, splashing and laughing away. I wish I got a picture. I also wish I got a picture of Jay realizing that he still had his wallet in his pocket as he's waist deep in the lake. Hiking about 4 miles around the entire perimeter of Pinecrest Lake. The kids made it the whole way around with minimal whining! They were such troopers, even when we had to negotiate through Jay's "shortcut." We treated ourselves to some ice cream at the General Store after we completed our adventure.


Slamming Bea's finger into the van door. Yep, that was my fault. I am usually so paranoid about that very thing that I *never* close my door until the kids are out of the sliding door. And the kids are paranoid too, so they *never* put their fingers near my door. Well... all the stars must have been aligned because both things happened and poor Bea's finger got caught. We were lucky that nothing more than a scraped finger was the result. Here is the scene of the crime:

Excitement over bar soap. I guess my kids lead pretty dull lives, because I think they were more excited about the teeny bar of hotel-style soap in our cabin than anything else. At least it encouraged them to keep their hands clean!

Overall, we had a wonderful time. So wonderful, in fact, that we extended our stay by one day. I would go back in a heartbeat, especially if we stayed in the same place. The scenery, the activities, the cabin, and the people were all spectacular. I highly recommend it!

No, this wasn't our cabin. :) There was a great playground for the kids, including this adorable house!

Cutie pie!

Mare-widge...

You are cordially invited

to the wedding of

Natalie

&

Connor

*Registered at Toys R Us*

So ... my daughter has proposed to a boy in her class. I saw the note, complete with a picture of her in a veil and declarations of "so so so so so so so so" much love. As she went to put the note in her school bag in order to give it to him the next day, I said (in as non-panicky voice as I could muster) "It's fun to pretend about getting married, isn't it?"

"I'm really not pretending, Mom."

Uh-oh.

I thought about swiping the note out of her bag but was afraid that she would notice, so I decided to just let it go. Then I took her to school... where I promptly ran into Connor's mom. The first thing she said to me was, "Oh, I saw Natalie's note to Connor!"

I panicked. "What note?!?!?!??!"

"Oh, the one where she tells him she loves him and wants to marry him."

She already gave him a note?!? Oh fantastic. I must have been five shades of red as I laughed it off with Connor's mom, all the while plotting a reason to go into Natalie's classroom and snatch the second (or third or fourth) love letter from her bag, lest she come across as a stalker.

Luckily, when she got home I noticed that she had forgotten to give him the note. Phew! I snuck it out of her bag for the greater good, and thankfully she hasn't asked about it yet. I am trying not to mention anything about Connor in hopes that this slight obsession will pass quickly. The fact that Connor is having an ultra-cool pirate birthday party on Saturday probably doesn't help my cause, though.

Here's the picture, complete with veil for the lady and matching crowns. I won't show you the other side... it's too personal.

Random Updates

1) Jay successfully completed Phase 1 of field training and started Phase 2 on Saturday. He is now on the day shift (5:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.) which is wonderful for every day except Sunday. This past Sunday was the first day I had to tackle church without him. It was exhausting. Anyway, Jay is really enjoying the job and for the first time ever is actually excited about going to work! And, if I am allowed to brag (and since it’s my blog, I think I am), he is doing great. I am really proud of him.

2) It is almost summer and I’m torn between feeling excited to have a freer (is that a word? looks weird...) schedule and being scared to death of entertaining the kids without school to give me a break. I guess we better take some time to clean up and organize the backyard, because I have a feeling the girls will be spending a lot of time out there.

3) Dexter had his first haircut! He looks so much older to me now. My sister didn’t want to cut his hair at first because she thought he looked like Jim Halpert. Now I love Jim as much as any red-blooded American girl, but I’m glad Dex has a clean-cut look now.

Huh?

4) The pregnancy is going well, although I have actually already worn one maternity top. My goal was to not wear any maternity clothes until week 16 but hey, what can you do? It’s number 4 for goodness’ sake.

5) Jay and I had a really fun date last Friday. We went to a reunion concert for Big Bop and the Choppers at my high school. It brought back so many (good) memories of my teenage years. Poor Jay had to suffer through me wandering around the high school pointing out all sorts of (in)significant places to him. He was a trooper, though, and we had a really fun time. Here is a picture of me and one of my favorite teachers from high school, who also happens to be the drummer in the band.

Me & Don "Schoowap" Drew

That’s the maternity top I was mentioning. I suppose I could have gotten away with wearing a regular top, but I wanted to feel comfortable, especially because I knew I would be rolling around the floor during Roll Over Beethoven. (Don’t ask.) Incidentally, my hips are killing me. I’m too old to be rolling around like that.

Here are a few more pics from the show. My former teachers are dorks. I mean that in the most loving way possible.

The Choppers

The Chopper Ballerinas

"Guitarzan and his lovely lady Jane"

Imagine having to look your teacher in the face the next day after seeing him dressed like "Jane." Good thing I'm too old to worry about that now. :)