Zoo

Today, Orion and I went to the zoo with Wanda and some of her kids. I was excited to show Orion some of the real live animals that he knows now. He loved the giraffes, and the fish and the birds. The zoo doesn't have zebras or elephants, which was a little disappointing, but oh well. Hopefully we will get out there again this summer. I will have to find some books with some of the other animals, so that he can learn those and be excited to them too.

I was so hoping that Orion would go down for a good nap this afternoon, (Walking around the zoo really wore ME out!) but no luck. I finally told him that he didn't have to sleep, but he couldn't come out of his room until I said so. He played right in the doorway. He did that this morning too, when I told him he couldn't come out until his jammies were off. What a mean mom I am!

As a side note, the last couple of weeks I have found myself saying things that my mom used to always say. Like " quite hanging on the door, your going to break it off its hinges!" or "you write on that wall I am going to cut your fingers off!". I clearly remember thinking when I was much younger that I would never say such things.

Minnisota Fun

These last couple of days have been a lot of fun. Yesterday and this morning, I was able to spend time with my grandparents who live in Montana. Only, I didn't have to drive 27 hours to go see them. Only 6!

Thursday night, after Philip got home from work, Orion and I drove to Eau Claire, WI. It was about a 3 hour drive. We stayed in a hotel there, where I foolishly made reservations a couple days before. I say foolishly, becuase I didn't really know where the place was located. We got there, and it was right smack in the middle of down town Eau Claire. And, the hotel shared a parking lot with 3 different bars. There was not only one, but two other locks on the inside of the hotel room door, and every sound carried through the walls. Not only that, but when we walked into the room, there were no pillows!! I had to call the front desk and have some brought. The beds were terribly uncomfortable, which I guess could have been a good thing. I didn't ever fall asleep for more then 45 minutes, which gave me another opportunity to pray that Orion and I would be protected, and that no one would break into the car. That is the last time I make a reservation at a place that I don't know where it is, just becuase it is the cheapest I could find.

We left for Two Harbors, MN at about 8:oo, Friday morning. I wanted to be out by 6 or 7, but Orion actually slept in until 7:30, when I finally woke him up. At least he didn't have any problems sleeping. We arrived at our destination shortly before 11. My grandparents were visistng my grandpa's brother. So not only did I get to see my grandparents, but for the first time I got to meet my great uncle Obern and aunt Lois. We spent the day just chatting and playing with Orion. Orion was so well behaved! He only had to sit in time out 3 times the whole time we were there. But he had a lot of fun playing with "grugru and gragra". Although he called uncle Obern and aunt Lois "grugru & gragra" too. After I put Orion to bed that night, I got to play dominoes with grandma and grandpa. Every time I ever go up to visit them, from the time I was old enough to stay up and play, we play dominoes before we go to bed. It was really nice to be able to play with them again. I slept MUCH better friday night, even though Orion and I both were on a twin bed, and Orion takes up more space then his father!!!

This morning, after breakfast dishes were done, Orion and I packed up and headed home. We got out the door about 9, and would have been hom by 3, but I missed an exit, and had to take a little detour. We didn't make it home until 3:30. Orion did REALLY well in the car. It was kinda fun to just sit and listen to him play, and read his books. It cracks me up that he knows the stories well enough to just look at the picture and know what to say. It kinda makes me wonder why I have to read them to him still. He has some of them memorized!

I took the camera on my trip, and left it in the car the entire time! I am actually pretty dissapointed about this. There were some great opportunities to get some pictures of Orion playing with his great grandparents. I don't know when we will be able to see them again, and truthfully, I may not get the chance to take pictures of them together again. This is me kicking myself. But, my sweet grandma gave me a gift while I was there. She made a baby quilt for William (my baby). It is really cute, AND hand quilted. I am so touched that she goes through the effort to still make quiltes for ALL of her great grand children. And she has a lot, so I know that this is no small task. And, I have tried hand quilting, I know that is no small taks either! Anyway, I did take a picture of the quilt when I got home, so that I could share it with all of you.

After a really long day yesterday, I was so hoping Orion would sleep well last night, and wake up in a nice happy wonderful mood. No such luck. He woke up at about 3:45, and didn't go back to sleep until about 5!! At one point, when I was putting him back in the crib (AGAIN) he asked for mango. I figured maybe he was hungry and just gave him some milk. I'm sorry, I was not about to peel and cut up a mango at 4:30 in the morning. Call me picky. Then, Orion got up at 6. Oh, I was so not ready to face the day! But, I decided to make today all about Orion. We played with balls outside for almost two hours. I was so done by then. At about 10, we walked to the store to buy some upholstery cleaner. I was going to stop at the gas station nest door and let him pick out a small treat, but the nice lady at the "Do It Best", gave him a dumdum on the way out. She also asked me when I was due, and when she found out that it wasn't until the end of June, asked me if I was going to have twins. I am beginning to find that annoying. Yes, I know I am big, you do not need to comment on it. Moving on. We go home shortly before 11, and I sent Orion outside to play with his truck, while I made lunch. We had kinda an early lunch today, so that I could put Orion down for an early nap. He was yawning all morning. By noon, we were both conked out on my bed. I woke up at about 1:30, and quietly slipped away to read my scriptures. Orion finally came toddling out at about 2:30. We read some books for a little bit, and then made brownies. I thought maybe I should take some to my visiting teacher, and assure her that I really was ok, despite my crying yesterday when she came over. Orion had fun helping, but didn't like that he had to wait for them to come out of the oven to eat. He kept asking if they were done yet. At about 4 we walked over to Janice house, to deliver the brownies. On the way home, we stopped at the park. We got home in time for me to make some dinner (with the help of Orion) and now that the dishes are done, Orion is watching Cars, and I am posting this blog. Philip is on his way home from school, and bed time is in a wonderful 35 minutes!! Life is grand! Oh, the picture is of Orion getting a drink. Yet another bad habit that we are working on.

Yesterday I had an OB appointment. I am at the point where I have to go in every two weeks. Anyway, I decided to just drag Orion along. The nurse checked my blood pressure and listened to the babys heart beat. After she left, Orion climbed up on the table and lifted his shirt up. He wanted to listen to "his baby" too. When I told him we couldn't, because the nurse took the listener, he was not discouraged. He pointed to the arm casty thingy, and lifted his shirt sleeve up, and said "arm." He was still up on the table when the doctor walked in. I made him get down, and I hopped up so that the doc could measure me. Orion then climbed up, so that he could be measured. The doctor was very nice and measured his tummy too.

On the way out to the car, Orion tripped and chipped a tooth. I felt so bad. In the car he kept saying "tongue, teeth, lips." I don't know if he was saying that to express that they hurt, to to let me know that they all felt a little funny. I tried to get a decent picture of his tooth, but he didn't want to smile. I am sure that at some future date, there will be a toothy picture of him, and you all can see the chip then.

Today, was kinda a rough day. It started out good. I did my visiting teaching first thing this morning, which was nice. Although, I must admit that after reading the message, I didn't really feel qualified to teach on it. I am lucky to skim through my scriptures everyday. To actually study them and take something away, is a rare occurrence. (Mostly because when I am awake enough to study, Orion is awake too.) After lunch, it was supposed to be nap time. The key words there are supposed to be. Since Orion has been able to climb out of his crib, I have been giving him the choice to either lay in his bed, or to lay on mommys bed. He has been choosing my bed for the last little while. Which hasn't been to bad. He lays down, and snuggles up next to me, holds my hand, and goes to sleep. After he is asleep, I drift off myself and take a nap. Today however . . . After an hour of him playing on my bed and threatening him with his bed, I finally had enough and just picked him up and took him to his room. On the way in, I tripped on a toy and fell on my knees. Luckily, I didn't drop Orion or fall on him or my stomach (the baby). But WOW do my knees hurt now. The right is even a little swollen and bruised. When I could, I stood up and put Orion in his crib, and walked out and shut the door. He cried and cried and cried and cried for about an hour. By this time, I was sure that if he just came and lay with me for a few minutes, he would be out. No luck, he played on my bed for another 20 minutes. By this time, I was way tired, and had no patience. I took him back to his crib, and shut the door again. He cried for a little bit, and then just played in his room until I told him he could come out. But neither one of us got a nap today. At about 3pm I decided to be productive and while Orion played outside, I swept, mopped, vacuumed, did the dishes, started dinner, and then cleaned the bathroom. By this time though, Orion was clingy and whinny and just being difficult. I was so glad that Phil came home from work early. After dinner, Orion went down with Philip to watch Cars, while I did dinner dishes. I went down shortly after to find Orion playing with my Stampin Up Chalk. He was covered in green, along with our chair. That was the last straw for me. I took him upstairs for a bath, crying the whole time. After his bath, I sent him back down, but was still weepy. I thought I would just sit and read the Ensign for a few minutes, to help me calm down, and get a grip on my emotions. Wouldn't you know it, but my wonderful visiting teacher showed up with a homemade loaf of bread right then. Unfortunately I didn't have it together enough at that point to not just cry. I'm sure she thought things were a lot worse then it really was. I was just so moved that she was thinking of me. Anyway, Orion is now in bed, asleep, and it was fairly painless to get him there. I am curled up in bed watching Dancing with the Stars, and writing an insanely long blog post. I can't decide if I should just turn in after my show is over with, or if a nice warm long bath is in order. I have been cramping a lot since I fell, but the baby has been super active, so I am assuming that all is well.

Here's to hoping that tomorrow is better! And a HUGE thanks to Janice. The bread was delicious.

And then there are the not so good habits

I don't know when Orion decided that the best place to brush his teeth was in the sink, but I can't convince him that really, we don't want to sit in the sink when we brush our teeth. Especially when he then tries to spit in the sink while he is sitting in it.

Building Good Habits

Like every mother out there, I want my children to develop good habits, and hopefully keep them through out their lives. Well, I am pleased to announce that Orion has developed a few good habits, about which I am bragging today.

1st- He almost always takes his plate to the sink when he is done eating. Sometimes I still have to ask him to do it, and depending on his mood, it can sometimes be a fight, but for the most part, he just does it.

2nd- He is doing GREAT at eating his sandwich before the crackers (or cheetos or whatever else we might have with it.) And, usually, he is asking for more fruit over the "junk food" we had with lunch. I love that he loves oranges and mangos and kiwis and strawberries. It is sad when I have to limit how many he can have a day.

3rd- He is learning to love reading. I am willing to admit that at this point it is probably just an age thing and he just likes to sit on my lap and be read to. But he could bring me book after book after book for hours. I sometimes feel like a bad mom when I finally tell him, no I am not going to read to you anymore. Mommy wants to do something else. He is even falling asleep reading books on his own. Hence the picture.

And 4th- and this I feel is the most important one. Orion is in the very wonder habit of praying. Before he starts eating any meal, he has his arms folded and head bowed, and sometimes is praying before I can sit down too. Before bed, he always wants to pray. There are some nights when it is a fight to get him into jammies, and to get him to sit for scriptures, because he knows what is coming- bed time. So on nights like that, I think to myself, I am tired of fighting him, we are skipping prayers and just putting him to bed. But Orion won't have that! He kneels down and folds his arms, and is very good through out the prayer. I am so pleased with him. I don't know if he completely understands who we are praying to, or why we are doing it, but for right now, I am ok with that. If he never remembers a time when he didn't pray to Heavenly Father, perhaps he will never doubt that He is there. I don't know if that will be the case or not, but I can hope.

Easter Adventures

On Saturday morning, I took Orion to an Easter Egg hunt. He had a good time I think. Although he was more interested in playing on the play ground then finding eggs. He kept bringing me his basket to hold so that he could go play. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera, so no pictures of that. After lunch we dyed eggs. Last year I boiled 2 dozen, and by the time we were done, I was so tired of dying eggs! So this year, I only did a dozen. Well, the egg dying kit I bought (The cheap 99 cent one) had nine different colors! So it went really quickly this year. Orion loved putting stickers on the eggs.
Saturday night Philip and I went to the adult session of Stake Conference. It was really nice. Not only did we get to go out on a date just the two of us, but we were spiritually uplifted as well.
Sunday morning, Orion woke up to find an Easter basket full of his favorite things. There was an orange, a new hat, and candy. (I really wanted to get him a new tie, but couldn't find one that would fit him in our price range.) What more could a boy ask for. Really, he put the hat on, and then handed me the orange to peel. I got a new dress (thanks to my wonderful mommy for sewing it for me!!) and a chocolate bunny. Phil, just got candy.
We had Stake Conference for church. And what a treat we had. We heard from Elder Snow, Elder Dallen H. Oaks, and my favorite speaker was President Thomas S. Monson. (It was one of those broadcast conferences.) Orion did pretty good for having to sit for 2 hours. While Orion napped, Philip and I played a rousing game of Scrabble. We really need to play that more often. I am awful at it!! I ended up with 199 points, while Phil had somthing like 350. After Orion woke up, we all worked on dinner, and then we all went down stairs to watch a movie. It was just a really nice day. Tonight for Family Home Evening, we are going to have another lesson on why we celebrate Easter. I really want Orion to understand that it isn't about getting presents or candy, but about our Savior.

Easter Cookies

Today was pretty good. Orion spent the morning playing outside in his new truck. He just loves it!!

While he was outside, I cleaned and made cookie dough. Right before lunch, Orion came inside, and we cut out some Easter shapes. I know that a star isn't really an Easter realated shape, but it is Orions favorite shpae, and therefore, I let him cut out a few. He had a lot of fun doing that.

After lunch at 12:30, Orion and I went down for a nap. Oh it was wonderful! I finally pulled myself out of bed at 2:30, but Orion stayed asleep until 4:00!!! After he got up, we decorated the cookies. Really, I did most of the work with the frosting. Orion just kept licking the frosting off of the one cookie he was supposed to be spreading the frosting around on. Oh well, he had fun putting some sprinkles on.

But this only lasted for about 3 minutes, then he wanted to go back outside and play in his truck. He stayed outside until dinner time.

Every Boys Dream

Ok, so maybe it isn't every boys dream to have his own truck, but I am sure it was Orions. Philip and I were talking about getting him a "Little Tykes" car for Christmas or his birthday, but they are so expensive! So I decided that I would check out the garage sales this spring and summer, and see if I couldn't find one for ten bucks. Well, I was talking about this at my wonderful water aerobics class, and my friend Julie, mentioned that she thought she had a black truck in her garage that hasn't been used in 15 years. So, she cleaned it up, and brought it over this evening. A HUGE THANK YOU TO JULIE!! I think. We made the mistake of letting Orion try it out before dinner. It was awful trying to get him to come in for dinner. He was a pill for the rest of the night because all he wanted to do was go outside and play in his truck. Thankfully tomorrow is supposed to be in 50s, so he can spend all day out there with it.