Nathan the Greathan!

Have you noticed that I haven't posted pictures of my family for a few months? It is because our computer had zero disc space left so I couldn't download them. But now we have cleaned up our computer and so I have some fun pictures to share.

Nate is now six months old!

His newest trick is sitting up. He is getting better at it everyday.

He starred as baby Jesus in the Christmas nativity. Notice the cute shepherd boy with the wild hair in the background.

Nathan's middle name is Douglas after my grandfather, father, and brother. It is a family name. I love these men so much. I've always known that I wanted to use it as a middle name and when we had Nathan it seemed like the right time. Here is a picture of my dad, grandpa, and Nate. I share a birthday with my grandpa. We've always had a great relationship.

Nathan is such a joy. He has gained more weight. He still isn't on the growth chart yet though. He is 13 pounds 2 ounces. Out of 200 kids he would be the second smallest, which is an upgrade from being the very smallest at 3 months the doc said. We anticipate him being on the growth chart by 9 months. He eats so much I still can't believe that he is so small.

And We Survived

This month we...

Got sick then got better.
Pushed through rehearsal after rehearsal, then concert after concert.
Drove 25 hours to Utah in one straight shot with two little ones.
Sang I Am a Child of God at least 600 times to keep David happy on the road.
Had a crazy fun vacation in Utah with the Salisbury family.
Drove 25 hours to Texas in one straight shot with two little ones, Christmas gifts, luggage, a bike trailer (thanks Amy, we've already used it!), and A Mormon in the White House on cd.
Sang I Am a Child of God 600 more times.
Cleaned up puke #1 on our drive home at 3 in the morning. Poor David.
Got sick again.
Puked again--twice. This time at home which was more convenient.
Watched Finding Nemo about 3 times a day for a week.
Ruptured an ear drum. Poor David. I promise I try to be a good mom.
A fall out of the car seat off the table and onto the tile floor while I was reminding David to stay in bed. (Don't know how Nate pulled that off, promise to buckle him in from now on when I feed him his sweet potatoes).

And we survived! Amazing :o)!

I Love the Arts!!!!

Lately I have been thinking about fine arts...music, paintings, classic literature, poetry, dance...and I have fostered a deep love and appreciation for them. I am in gratitude to my husband for sharing that love with me, even making my love for these things expand. We go together quite well the two of us.

Yesterday I finished Jane Eyre. It was a book that I have been wanting to read for some years now. I read each page carefully, as not to miss any meaning or description given. It was a challenge for me to do this because it isn't necessarily easy to read and understand (not to mention my boys didn't like me to read it when I should have been on their watch). But the experience was made all the sweeter by really delving in to the story as best as I could.

Jane Eyre will definitely be ranked among my favorites. I loved the themes of passion and reason. I loved that the heroine was a character with true integrity and strong values. I would recommend this book to everyone. It was truly a great classic. I found Wuthering Heights intriguing, but it is much more Gothic and sad to me. Jane Eyre was truly satisfying and was one of those rare books that didn't leave me wanting at all.

I love classic literature. I love it the best of any other genre. I love being challenged. I love how beautifully put and well described the actual character of individuals are in this genre. I suppose that specifically I speak of Victorian novels, although I love historical fiction as well.

I love the Victorian era and wonder what life would have been like then. The novels set in this period are often very romantic (think Jane Austen books). And I realize that life was difficult for people that didn't have great wealth. Still, was there really a time when women were so accomplished as to speak multiple languages, to paint, write, and play musical instruments so fluently? Was there really a period in which people sat together in one great room and entertained each other with said accomplishments? Can you imagine sitting at the knees of your family and friends and listening to them tell stories or sing or read poetry? I think the world we live in today would do well to remember times past.

Perhaps things seem better than what they really were, but even so I love the idea.

Christmas music has been added to the vocal and piano music frequently heard in our home (Brian teaches voice, I teach piano). Maybe that is another reason I have been thinking about the arts lately. I feel that art is a medium that is used to produce expressions and feelings that we would otherwise not be capable to. In many instances it lifts us higher and evokes feelings in our very souls that are difficult to describe. Whether it is a breathtaking piece of art or a sweet melody, art is a beautiful gift to the human race. And isn't it neat that we wouldn't have art without the talents and gifts that are bestowed to us? I don't consider myself a great artist or writer, but I'm grateful that I know how to appreciate these things. And I'm in awe and appreciative of those that do create art.

Sometimes I think in the virtual and at times artificial world we live in today, people forget the arts, or at least how majestic and inspiring they can be. What can replace a live performance of Chopin or Liszt? What can compare to coming face to face with an original masterpiece painting? Or what feels better than the weight of a book in your hand and the smell of real paper pages?

Don't get me wrong. I don't hate technology nor do I despise this day and age. But sometimes I do wonder how it would have been to live a in a world a few hundred years younger than this one.

Mi Templo Bello

This is a video I wanted to share because this land and these people are very dear to my heart. Just seeing this video brings backs so many wonderful, tender, and spiritual memories that I am moved to tears. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to serve a mission and help to fortify and prepare a people for this temple, even to some small degree.

Yo Amo El Salvador.

-brian

And if the best isn't good enough...

And if the best isn't good enough, meaning breastfeeding, you switch to formula!


Today I had an interesting doctor appointment with Nathan and David. Nathan has gained 10 oz. in about 2 months, so now he weighs 9 lbs. 12 ounces. I knew he was small and predicted that the doctor would say to beef up the formula intake. Shoot. I thought I had a good nurser this time! Which I do, but my milk is too skim and Nate's metabolism is too active. So he is definitely no where near being on the chart. David I learned today, is on the chart but dropping. So he hit a spurt and now is slacking off. Not too big of a deal. I guess the point is both my boys are small for their age. I keep asking myself why I am surprised. All I need to do is look at Brian and then I can say "Oh yeah...you're the dad huh?". But the doctor suggested kidney and liver screens for both of them. That's when I knew being underweight can kind of be a serious medical issue. My gut tells me they are okay, that it is just genetics, which even the doctor agreed with, so I think I'll wait on further tests for now. Part of the deal for me is that babies in my family, the Salisbury family, are generally fat. I was pretty fat. Brian was no where NEAR fat and never has been chubby. So who knows? My mom and I joke that a fat little baby girl is coming my way in the future. She'll take after me and my family and gang up on her brothers. Or maybe I won't have a girl. Maybe I'll just have a bunch of skinny blue eyed boys. Which is okay too. So I'll breastfeed Nathan until my supply runs out, which it likely will as I increase his formula intake. It is funny because this is almost exactly how long I made it nursing David. I just need to embrace the fact that I can still be a good mom if I don't nurse my babies for a year. But I never imagined I would have a hard time breastfeeding my babies. But that's life right? Full of twists and turns you never anticipate.

Nathan is definitely spirited and lively. He has awesome head control, he rolls over, he giggles and kicks his legs. Yet a lot of people are surprised that he is four months old and that he wasn't a preemie.

Anyway. I guess that is all I wanted to say. Just a little vent.

Grocery Shopping

Last week at the grocery store I was approaching the check out in a pretty typical way. I was pushing a cart full of groceries, David riding in the car attached to the front of the cart, which of course had a broken lap belt. It was all I could do to keep him in the thing. I was holding Nathan out in front of me because he was screaming his head off which is usually what he does at some point during our shopping trip. I'm unloading groceries very slowly, using one hand at a time, when a red headed kid with a messy face, about ten I would guess, approached us. "LOOK AT THAT LITTLE GIRL!!!" he squealed. "What is her name?" Meanwhile, I'm trying to swipe my card with my one free hand to help the line along as the people behind me were understandably wanting me to get a move on. And thanks by the way, to those people for not helping me unload my groceries and just watching me in amusement. I tried to ignore this kid but he was persistent. "CAN I GIVE HER A KISS?" Woah. This kid meant business. I told him no flat out. And if I wasn't in a hurry I would have explained that we don't let kids kiss him on the face but that he could look from an appropriate distance. I kept dodging the boy who was getting ever closer to Nathan's face. I was swinging Nate out in front of me to the left and right while I was trying to find my debit card. Then his little sister got in on the action. She also thought Nathan, the girl, was cute. It was about this point that I wondered where their mother was. I looked around and found her, with a long red-haired ponytail, also juggling kids through the dreaded self-check out lane. She was brave. But short line so I could see her point. I felt her pain. She also had her hands full and probably could hear her kids talking to me but acted like she couldn't so she could just get out of there. So I go to swipe the card and WHILE I AM SIGNING MY NAME, the kid plants one on Nathan. Right on his face! Who does that? The oldest brother of a gaggle of cute red-headed kids is who would. Any I meant to include that on my way to the check out line, the sushi lady, with a thick accent, offered to hold Nathan while I finished my shopping. I politely declined. But she insisted on grabbing his hands and cooing in his face. I actually kind of liked it. I like that people like my kids.

NOW, this week at the store, I decided to ditch the type of cart that made me feel like I was a circus show, and chose instead a normal cart. It is one thing to push a normal cart with one hand, but have you tried pushing and steering one of those huge ones with one hand? Not easy. I put Nathan facing me in his car seat and stuck David in the basket. I have done this before and although difficult, we made it through okay. I foolishly took David to the store hungry though. I soon found out that he was tampering with almost anything I put in the basket. He took a bite of a banana with its peel on for pete sake! So I was strategically placing the food that he could damage in the small area around Nathan's car seat right in front of me. All the while I am breathing threats to David that he is going to have to sit up by me and not in the basket. So I was putting things around him that I thought were safe, cans of food, gallons of milk, etc. It wasn't long before David, who doesn't really talk well yet, was getting my attention "Daddy! Daddy! Hmmmmshlaaaa uhhhhhh." I tried to ignore him but after a while he started to whimper. I couldn't really see him over my mountain of food stuffed in the kiddy seat with Nathan included, so I walked around to the front to see what was up. Oh no. David had throw up all over his clothes and dribbling down his chin. My first instinctive feeling was guilt for getting after him so much. He obviously wasn't feeling very good. "Oh David. Let's get you cleaned up." I pushed my way to the side of an aisle and found a wipe. As I wiped him down I realized that the puke didn't smell sour like I thought it would. I looked around and found a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup halfway open and knew immediately that he didn't throw up at all. He popped the easy lid of the can and took a swig! And the worst part of all is that I didn't want to pay a dollar for the blasted soup! And I knew I didn't want to try and save the rest of it because it would spill all over my car.

I don't know what the point to these stories are. I guess for me it is that my idea of normal is totally different now that I have kids. I've heard stories like these before but never really understood how real they were. This is my reality. Do I love it? Sometimes. Is it hard? Oh yeah. Is it worth it? Absolutely. I love these guys so much. Even if they make things 20 times harder than they need to be.

Happy Birthday David!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!!!!

David's mommy always said "Oh David!". Oh David! You are now a terrible two! And not so terrible. Not yet. Although you enjoy an occasional temper tantrum and the need to say "no" to everything I say.

I love that you are a boy. This means nose picking and killing bugs outside.


David, I love the way you like to stick your tongue out. Especially when you feel shy. I love the way you wrap your arms around my neck when I put you to bed and giggle in my ear.


I really love your small little mouth. Just like daddy's.


Happy Birthday to the sweetest little kid I know!