Here's Calvin!

So Calvin decided to start walking about 6 weeks ago and has really developed a personality along with his new skill. He loves to strut around the house with some sort of object in his mouth, be it sippy cup, a toy, or keys. He also likes to dance and play hide and go seek. I just love that he can walk now and doesn't have to sit on public bathroom floors when I take Ethan potty. Calvin wants to be down and walking most places we go, I realized this when we went to Ikea and he was so fussy in the stroller, turns out he just wanted to run around the store. He's so fun and I am looking forward to a Summer of the boys running around outside while I peacefully read a book in the shade and sip on a cool drink.... that's totally going to work out right??

Monday, Monday

I am really not liking that it is Monday! I think because I lost a whole weekend with Trav on a campout and then busy Sunday with home teaching and meetings. I sat around my house on Saturday looking at all the things I could be doing and instead played with the boys and read a book. I think travelling is nice, and I loved my trip to Boston with my Mom and sisters (post coming soon) but I have the hardest time getting back into the groove. The weather here in WA doesn't help either, there were 18 different kinds of precipitation over the weekend, it makes me crazy!!! I am ready for some sunshine, warmth and a maid to come clean my house. Okay that's my rant for this Monday.

Muffin Top

I have been thinking about my weight as of late and my frustration with the ever present "muffin top" apparently I am not the only one who thinks of these things, the first hit on google for muffin top is the following defintion from wikipedia:

Muffin-top" is a generally pejorative, slang term used to describe the phenomenon of overhanging flesh when it spills over the waistline of trousers or skirt in a manner that resembles the top of a muffin spilling over its paper casing. This generally occurs when an individual wears low-rise, hip-hugger pants, or midriff-baring tops that are too small.

Many people have this problem so I say be you a Costco muffin or a mini-muffin you should just embrace it!

DJ Jenni

Easter, sorta

So it's Easter Sunday and the kids are sick! They went the whole winter without any major illness, and then right when spring hits they get slammed. Both have a cough and fever and while Ethan manages to sleep a lot more with this thing, Calvin has found sleep a little difficult. We did an Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning because Ethan seemed to be a little better, but he took a turn for the worse later in the day. He also had a horrible choking incident with the hard shell candy in his egg that had me scared. I really wanted to try the whole candy and basket thing on Saturday this year to let us focus on the Savior for Sunday, but man things did not start well!

By Sunday morning both kids were miserable and had to stay home from church. Good thing I didn't really buy them Easter outfits this year, maybe we'll get some cute pictures next Sunday of them all spruced up. I have to say that I am sooooo lucky to have Travis, he is so great when the kids are sick. He holds them, takes care of them and is so patient. I think they totally prefer daddy when they are sick. We made it to Easter dinner at the folks with the Washington Odom gang, but the boys let us know when the Motrin started to wear off. I did enjoy going to church and listening to the Easter program, it was great. Well there's always next year.


Ethan finds his first egg, trying to look triumphant despite a fever
Looking over the goods, Calvin is a little confused by it all
"There's candy inside these things!"
Wow, yeah, he's sick and trying to consume a chocolate bunny, maybe I get mom of the year award? My mother-in-law told me she could always tell when her kids are sick by their eyes, and boy is she right, just look at those eyes.

Leavenworth, take 2

We had a great trip to a cabin in Leavenworth with the Mitchells and Rivas's. We were suppossed to go in Feb. but the passes were closed so we rescheduled for March. It was a fun time and the kids loved being in a new place. Monet asked if it was her new house, she's probably wondering when she's going to get that new house of hers! Ethan kept asking to go back and see Joseph, he pretty much decided that he would just use Joseph's name to mean anything in relation to the trip. We sledded, ate too much, enjoyed the hot tub, played games, and had a trip into the town of Leavenworth, it was a great weekend and we hope to go again next year!

Sunday Nap

Travis wanted to take Sunday nap a few weeks ago and trapped Ethan on the couch thinking Ethan would just climb down. Ethan gave up the fight of crawling over dad and just put his head down.

A little pick me up...

We made it up to the snow on Saturday for a bit of fun. Jeff and April were staying at a cabin and we went up for a little visit. Travis was on a campout at Ensign so Dad and Jeff ran and got him and he was able to meet up with us. We had fun in the insane amount of snow they have up there and it gave us a nice test run for our upcoming weekend at the cabin in Leavenworth. Ethan did pretty good and liked sledding but then he got tired and angry that the snow wasn't prime for making snowmen and wanted to go inside, I learned that when my kids are done with the snow they are DONE! It was a gorgeous day and so beautiful, it helped to lift my spirits which have been down a lot lately, I think it's a mixture of Ethan's recent diagnosis, the weather and my overall inability to find contentment in my life, but looking at this picture helps me realize that life is good despite our little trials.

Locked Out

It was a normal Monday for me yesterday. I had tons of laundry to do and other house projects because I fully neglected all of my chores over the weekend, it was too nice of weather! Ethan had gotten home from school and I him on the potty with Calvin nearby. I ran out to the garage to take out a diaper and when I went to get back in the door was locked. I was sure that I didn't lock it on my way out but I could not get it open. I had no shoes on and was not showered as it had been a cleaning day, luckily I had all the proper supports on if you know what I mean. Anyways I ran around the house trying all the doors and it was the one time I was upset that I am a little nuerotic and always lock the doors when I'm home so some man doesn't come in unannouced and start attacking us! I could hear Ethan yelling from the potty and Calvin at the door crying wondering why I wasn't back inside yet. So I ran next door to the neighbor's to use her phone. She was totally helpful and my phone calls brought no help. My mom has a spare key but she was in Idaho, the spare was in her house but I couldn't get ahold of anyone to run up there and get it for me, Travis works 30 miles away and rode the vanpool to work so it wasn't like he could run home to help me, and the 911 operator told me to break a window myself. Okay I know I can break a window I just thought that with the two little ones in the house the fire department would be willing to help me, don't they have cool ways of breaking into homes? Here's the best part, I went to the door with a hammer ready to break the handle when I tried it one more time and it finally gave and opened. The lock was broken, which Travis said he noticed the night before but failed to mention to me, I was happy to not have caused any major damage.

The boys were in one piece, Ethan was still on the potty and Calvin had taken an entire roll of toilet paper and torn it to shreds, at least they were entertained. I had a few realizations in that moment. First, I totally loose my calm very easily and it doesn't help in situations when I need to think straight. Second, I need a spare key hidden around the exterior of my house, I can't rely on others to keep a spare. Third, I need to change our door knobs so that Ethan can open them more easily despite his low muscle tone. In the end I am a little embarassed about how I handled it, but that's me, I tend to freak out way too easily, it's experiences like these that help me to learn that generally things are going to work out just fine.

Merry Birthday Calvin

Calvin's first birthday was on Christmas Eve. I had no idea how to make this one special, last year I just started crying when I realized I was in labor, the guilt about his birthday already started. So we made smiley face pancakes (Odom fam tradition) and sung happy b-day in the morning. Followed by a quick cake stint that night at the family dinner between the Christmas Eve dinner and Nativity play by the cousins. Needless to say it was nothing compared to Ethan's first (see on post on cornpancakes.blogspot.com). I don't think Calvin cared much, but someday he will, any suggestions for celebrating a Christmas Eve b-day?






What a cutie!

BDB Bliss

I took a trip in January to DC to reunite with my beloved girlfriends. These are the girls that new me as many things, namely Jenni-O, J-O, and Baby Odom. I don't think we ever use each other's real names when around one another. We mostly all met in our freshman ward at BYU. Steph and I have known each other since our fateful meeting at girls camp just before starting high school and Kim and Ann Marie met I believe in elementary school, other than that we all met at the B-Y in Heritage Halls. The story of the BDB (that's what we call ourselves, and no I can't tell you what it stands for) is a great one. We keep in touch monthly thanks to Amber and her wonderful newsletter, it really is a labor of love, it's like getting a mini-scrapbook every month. We haven't all been physically together in one place since Steph-Dogg's wedding in April of '02. Since that day we have all graduated college, Ann served a mission in Brazil and there have been 3 more weddings. Don't think we haven't been busy in the procreation department either the count as of now is 7 BDB babies with two more on the way, we're a busy bunch and Ann is about to start her PhD.
I can't describe how amazing it was to be with my girls, I seriously love these women and they have been such a huge part of my life. We talked about a lot of memories and laughed A LOT. I chose to forget some of the more unfortunate characteristics of boys that I dated, but they gladly reminded me. Okay let it be known that I dated a guy that wore a Disneyland jacket complete with the Disney characters embroidered on the back, what of it? We pretty much accomplished our agenda on the trip: eat, sleep, and be merry. It was 5 days of no kids and little responsibility. We got to shop and see some great parts of our nations capitol. I think the highlight for me was all going to the DC temple together and being in the celestial room together as dear friends. It was a testimony to me that the Lord puts people in our lives to make it fuller and happier and how amazing it will be to all be together some day on the other side of the veil, I don't think the party will ever stop.

The BDB: Steph, Kim, Jenni, Amber, Ann, Charise
aka: Dogg, Kimmy, O, Bur, AM, Reese

Getting ready to see some monuments

Steph's husband was at the temple that day to do baptisms with the youth so we made him take our pick, it was the only husband sighting all weekend.

I have always said the Potomac brews romance

The Lincoln on MLK day

It was a cold day, January is not prime outdoor weather in DC

While I fully respect all veterens the Korean War memorial is eerie.

Gotta love some Abe.

(this the shot of them as I walked out of the bathroom, it had been a long dayThere's nothing better then Ann's cooking, this was so reminiscent of roomie days, it was Sunday night, we had all gone to the singles ward (Ann's choice, the DC wards are full of some very elegible men, and I tried to get Steph to not wear her wedding ring 7 months prego and be our Juno but it was a no go.) Ann made us dinner and an amazing dessert followed by a concert later of the talents of Kim, Ann, and Amber's singing along with Michelle, and a guy friend of theirs, Tim. Steph, Charise and I were brought to tears listening to their voices together again, it was awesome.

No,No,No!

We went to our ward's Christmas party Saturday night and Santa paid the kids a little visit. It was literal chaos in the primary room and I thought Ethan would be ecstatic to sit upon Santa's lap, but I think this picture proves otherwise. There goes my big idea to take the boys to the mall to see Santa and get pictures, I guess maybe next year...

Potty...Candy

So Ethan has started to show some interest in the potty. He has come to me a few times now and said "Mommy, potty, candy". He knows if he goes on the potty he gets some candy for a reward, if a couple of dum-dums gets me out of buying two sets of diapers then bring it on! This could be a very long process, but it's step in the right direction. Here's to hoping!

And So It Begins...

We went to a farmer's market last weekend and Ethan spotted an awesome football cookie he wanted. We waited in line for quite some time to purchase the cookie. Ethan was pumped! We put him back in the stroller and Calvin immediately steals the cookie and begins eating it. This has been happening a lot lately. Whatever Ethan gets in his hands Calvin launches an immediate attack to take the item. The rivalry between these boys and the constant battle for "mine" has begun. Ethan has started yelling "no mine" and takes the item back, he even pushed Calvin a few times this week. We as parents couldn't be more proud, is it bad that we find it a little entertaining to watch them"fight"? Of course we'll step in when it gets to be too much and I have tried to teach the sharing concept. But they're boys, this is what they do.

It's helping Ethan learn to stick up for himself and Calvin is already giving us a glimpse of what's in store. In the last 24 hours he has emptied the container of wipies, gotten into the wastebasket and dined on some used Kleenex, and fallen down a complete flight of stairs. I realized this morning I have entered a new stage with Calvin, and so it begins...

My Sweet Boy

My boy Ethan, what a sweetheart. There really is something so special about our sweet little boy. Ethan has had some trials already in his short life and I don't think he even knows it yet. After a recent trip to the specialist my mind is filled with so many thoughts that I just need to get them out. The blog is perfect because no one reads this and well I think Travis is tired of my mindless babbling that seems to have no coherent thought to it.

What we do know about Ethan is that he has hypotonia or low muscle tone. He has struggled physically to keep up and yet he always manages to make it to each milestone, just a little later. More recently his speech, or lack thereof, has become more of a concern. I worry for my boy, it makes my heartbreak every time I see him not playing with other kids because he just can't keep up. He gets picked on, but in true Ethan nature he just goes on loving those that hurt him. It's like he doesn't even realize that he is a little different. A normal day like today of a playgroup type activity always leaves me a little worn out just worrying about him. He seems to have fun and is much better now than he used to be at staying with the crowd. But I know that other parents might wonder if something is wrong with him as he sits there flapping his hands with excitement. So what is it with our boy other than that he is a little delayed?

We went to the doctor hoping for more answers this time. He wants to do more tests, a lot of them, the one that scares me the most is the MRI. Here's my dilemma, does it really matter that we give Ethan a label? The kid is in developmental preschool four days a week, he is gone for 16 hours a week, it's like he has a part-time job at age 3! I miss him when he's gone, and boy is Calvin excited to see him when he gets home. So many of the tests the doctor wants to do are a stretch, I really have always felt at peace that Ethan will be okay. Maybe we just need to let him be a toddler. He does things that I think any other kid would do, lets face it kids are weird! So much of what Ethan does though we look at as abnormal because we have put that label on him since he was 10 months old. "He's not like other kids", but what if Ethan didn't have low tone, and physically was fine but just had a speech delay, would we be so worried about him? Is it because I have had a pit in my stomach since he was six months old that I am just accustomed to assuming the worst for him? AHH, if I only I knew what was in store for this boy. I guess that's why we need to do the testing, if anything it will give us some answers of how things may play out for the future, not really changing anything we are doing now.

I wish so many things for Ethan. I hope he can play soccer because he loves it, thanks to Travis, I hope he can go to school and be in a mainstream class and by age six you would never know he had these issues getting started in life. I know I need to turn so much of this over to the Lord, sometimes I feel like He gave me a stewardship one of his most valiant children and I don't think I can measure up. What if I'm doing it all wrong, what if I am just making it harder for Ethan? I have always struggled with personal revelation, always not knowing if I am feeling what I want to feel as opposed to what I need to. I know Heavenly Father has a plan for Ethan, I just hope I have enough faith to trust in it. Am I looking too much to the doctor, have I even really prayed for help with this burden of fear and doubt? So many questions with so little action, it's always my problem. I think we will move forward with more testing for Ethan, with the option to back out if we need to. The anesthesia will make him so sick for the MRI, that's why I am nervous about making him go through it. Sometimes it's hard to make these decision as the parent.

Ethan is progressing great though, he is developing more and more language and seems to be more in touch with the world around him. The kid is funny, I mean he really knows when he is doing something that will make us laugh, someday we'll get to know what's in that head of his. We love him and adore him, I guess that just has to be enough at the end of the day. I hope to find the balance between excessive worry and indifference to his delays. Ethan is healthy and really seems to be happy with the way things are in his world, I need to remember that, he is healthy and happy, so stop worrying!

And then there were Two!

Okay so now I have two boys and life is a little more hectic since my last post in November 2005. Ethan is a full blown toddler with a rap sheet a mile long and Calvin is almost 6 months and ready to add to the chaos. They are both napping right now so that's amazing, and while I could be doing dishes or some other chore I am wandering the internet and taking a break. I want to get back into this blogging bit so stay tuned for more entries!

Shakin' It Up
Now that I spend most of my time at home I have found a few items that have drastically changed my life. I have been scared to get back on and blog about something because I feel like I have nothing interesting to write about. But hey the simplest of things can really shake up a stay at home mom's life. Go ahead and read on...

We moved into a new house this summer and with that were able to purchase a washer and dryer. This is perhaps the best purchase we have ever made. We decided to spring for the front loading set, and while they were more pricey they have saved us money on our energy and water bill. We also got rebates from the electric and water companies in our area for purchasing them. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have a huge washer! In our last apartment it took me two days to do laundry because I could only wash about two pairs of pants at a time with the stacked models. Adding a spitty baby to the mix only doubled my laundry needs. Now I do half the amount of loads and can set the washer on delay so it starts up to 14 hours after I set it, so nice for when I am going to bed and the clothes are ready to throw in the dryer in the morning. Which brings me to my next point, the dryer...It dries the clothes so fast and doesn't get super hot like my other dryers which I believe is easier on the clothes. Both the washer and dryer have a about a million settings for any type of item, including a hand-wash cycle which I use all the time. I never knew how much this could change my life, and believe me I know how pathetic I must sound. I just get giddy sometimes when I think of how much laundry I don't have to do. There's even a drying rack I can place in the dryer so that my items don't fly around, I was able to wash some running shoes and dry them and they looked brand new even though they are five years old. My favorite part has to be knowing that my towels get dry because of course they have their own setting. Before it would take me 3 tries to get those things dry and then they would stink. I once had a house guest that I noticed was wearing a lot of cologne, turns out he wanted to cover up the moldy smell the towel had given him. I was mortified and discovered that all of my towels smelled bad. If anything the washer and dryer were worth it to save me from being the moldy towel lady.

My next item is the new stroller that I recently bought for my son. Ethan had kind of out grown needing the big Graco stroller and it was a beast to get around the mall. It was nice when he was an infant and I could snap his carrier into it, and then as he got older he could lie down in the stroller itself comfortably. Now he is a big guy and I needed a more compact stroller. Getting Travis convinced was difficult, after all it would be our fourth stroller. We had an umbrella and a jogger plus the Graco. But the umbrella didn't recline or have a basket or sun shade. This new stroller has it all plus it folds up like an umbrella stroller so it is perfect for travel. It is made by Britax which makes the best car seats out there. They just came out with a stroller line and I was lucky to find it online. It was only $99 while the Maclarens I had been looking at were 150-200. I am so glad we bought it, and I love having it on all of my outings. Ethan can sleep in it and it has plenty of storage. I also recently traveled with it and it was a breeze to have in the airport. It is a sporty red color that makes me feel like a hip mom, and believe me I need all the help I can get.

My final item is the long camisole and t-shirt. My friend sells them for one of those companies out of Utah and I went to a party and decided to try one out. It has been great to have something to cover up the garments and make up for the jeans that are constantly slipping below my non-existent hips and making a plumber out of me. I have been able to bust out some shirts that I had all together given up on. I went on to buy a few more cami's and t's. Thank you Utah multi-level marketing schemers, you have made a modest woman out of me.

Life in the MV

Purchasing our first home was at best bittersweet. We love our town of Maple Valley, with its trees and small town feel, and of course a home we could afford. We miss our friends in Issaquah, the ability to call maintenance when there are mice in your heaters and the closer proximity to Microsoft. We discovered this week that we have a mole or gopher that has taken to our front yard. My first reaction was to call maintenance, of course that doesn't exist in home ownership, except in the form of an exterminator which Travis insists will cost 400-500 dollars. He knows a thing or two after selling pest control service door to door for a summer. My next reaction is to call my dad, the new maintenance guy. I just figure we don't know what we're dealing with and could use some advice. Much like when I call my mom when I am having a new mom moment and don't know what to do with a teething baby. Apparently men don't call others for advice when it comes to new homeowner moments. So we headed off to our little hardware store on the corner and look into some mole/gopher control. I have never been an animal activist of any sort, and I fully support the extermination of rodents in the home. I had no idea that moles and gophers deserved the most inhumane traps that are out there. The one we finally purchased simply slices and dices them. The trap has been in place all week with no results. I am starting to like our little friend(s) and don't mind the huge mounds of dirt. I guess I just keep picturing the gopher from Winnie the Pooh, he may be grumpy, but hey if Pooh can live with 'em so can I.