I really appreciate this.  I'm not sharing it to complain about my husband (although everyone I ask agrees that this phenomenon is true).  But I truly relate to her question "But what about me?"

Being sick when your a parent just sucks.

Some adorable things Jack said today:

• "I am freaking about this." I can't even remember what this was in response to.  His manner was very non-freaked. 

• "I did good in sacrament singing, right Mom?  You can see all the mommies from up there.  I singed when I saw the pictures.  But sometimes I couldn't see the pictures.  So I smiled at you instead.  That was good, right?"

• Driving to the pediatrician, Jack says "I think Sam's not sleeping because he has bad dreams, right Mom?"  When we were waiting for the PA to see Sam about his sleep troubles "I think he not sleeping good because his heart is broken." Sob!  (Sam is fine, btw.  Ear infections ruled out.  More teething meds approved.)

• Sam sneezed.  Jack hollers "Mom, Sam blessyoued all over my arm!"  

Really?  Another month has passed?

Seriously, this guy is blazing through infanthood.  Or it seems that way because I'm only half conscious with sickness most of the time.  Either way, Sam is bigger and better than ever.


No real milestones to report this month.  He has a great raking and pincher grip.  He blows raspberries at me when I talk to him, most likely a glimpse into his teenage years far in the future.

He refuses to get in the crawl position.  In fact, his flipping from tummy down is so fast, I can't even get a picture any more.


He rolls well enough to get into trouble, so I have to keep an eye on him.  The other day, while I was in the bathroom, he had rolled off his play mat, into the media center, and was about to gum on some cables. 


I wish I could say sleep is better.  As you know, we had a solid 3-4 weeks of hourly wakings.  I did some modifications and got him to sleep through the night again.  But now, after about a week of that, he's back to waking up a lot.  Maybe its the drippy nose?  I can always come up with an excuse for the sleep, but once one problem passes another one starts.  I want a permanent solution.  Grrrr.  I tell him this, and he blows me a raspberry, punctuated by his signature "ah-tscha" babble.


Still no more teeth.  Isn't that weird?  He got those two at an early 4 months, and nothing new for the next 4 months.


He makes those teeth work for him, though.  He's as crazy about food as I said last time.  He loves everything I give him.  I usually do raspberries or bananas with oatmeal for breakfast.  Then he nibbles on whatever he can handle of our dinner.  Loves tortellini.  If I'm lucky, he spends lunchtime napping so I can actually enjoy a meal to myself.

He's trying to grab the camera here.  This is also what it looks like when he pulls your hair / grabs your glasses / grabs your earrings / scrapes your nose / or pulls your lips.  I see this image a lot.


I love you, Sam.  Now go to sleep and stay that way!

The road had a police block. I turned into the grocery store entrance early, wondering what accident or crime caused the problem.

But it was a police escort for goslings! These geese have been nesting in front of king soopers, and I guess today they decided to migrate to the pond across ward road. I'm pretty sure I read a storybook where this happened. Super cute.

So yeah, before this sickness took over my life (shortly after the back injury stopped taking over my life) we took a fun trip to GJ.  The goals: 1) Suspicious mole removal 2) Extra sleep for me 3) Easter stuff.

Spaghetti was a big hit with both boys.



As was playing outdoors.



Easter eggs were dyed. 



An attempt at a group picture.



Jack and Sam took baths together for the first of many times.  It became a nightly request.



The gory stuff happened after kids went to bed.



The Easter bunny also operates at night. (Ha!)  Jack took a while to catch onto the egg hunt, but then took to it heartily.



And cleaned. up.   The Easter bunny must have thought we had eight kids here based on the amount of chocolate we found.



The blossoms were beautiful.  This tree was practically vibrating from all the bees buzzing.  Denver's trees were all bitten by frost, giving a lackluster display.  So this was a nice change.



Sam even got a present from the bunny.



More outdoor play.







Jack learned important lessons about gak.



And practiced writing.



And sharing.



Sam, as we know, was a bouncing addict.



Spiderman worn out on our last day.



Later bounced back to life by tired grands.



I spent my gathered strength driving us home after a 2 day extension.  Stopped in Vail, everyone loves "Mickle Donulls."

When I've missed blogging for a while, I feel like I need to catch up on everything since the last post.  But I'll save that for another time and just talk about Mother's Day!

I freakin' love Mother's Day.  It's like a bonus birthday.  I get to foist all the ins and outs (meals and potty needs) to the father.  I get breakfast made for me, a treat at church, lovely flowers, and presents.  What's not to like?

Last night we got a babysitter and went to see the Amazing Spider-Man 2 at the Alamo.  Great movie, great food, and fun to see Amanda and Brian.  It was also good to hear that the kids were "easy" according to the sitter.  Sam woke briefly screaming (teething I think) right before I went to bed, then slept until 6 AM.

Later Ben followed up with his diaper change and I got to spend another 30 minutes waking up before coming downstairs to bacon, eggs, and fruit.  Jack gave me a fan with hand prints that he made in Wee School.  I also got gardening gloves, cute shoes, and flowers (earlier in the week). 

At church Jack went up with the primary kids to sing for the first time.  He didn't know the song, but I was proud that he fearlessly went up in front of a crowd and didn't embarrass himself with fingers in inappropriate places.

At the end of church I got a slice of pie, the tradition at this ward.  Before changing into comfy jammies we took pictures.  I love my boys!







I might as well document the reality too.  It takes many photos to get some halfway decent shots.  Here's the best outtakes:

I'm finally feeling better.  I don't have to keep sundry medicines on my nightstand to take as soon as I reach consciousness.  I'm at that recovery stage I call "functional sickness" where you still cough and sneeze and have a sore throat, but the fog in your brain is gone and you could reasonably go back to work without much problem.  I think I finally made it here because Sam's sleep is better.  I made a lot of changes to sleep routines and made it a priority to focus on his sleep health above everything else.  I'm not generally superstitious, but even I will knock on wood after admitting to you that Sam has slept 11+ hours the last three nights in a row.  Absolutely no wakings in between.  Incredible.  Knock knock knock.

So of COURSE Jack wakes up with a cough, sneezing, and a green crusty mustache of boogers.  Sigh.