Late Nights with The Office

I've never been a big TV watcher, so when a good show comes along it takes me a while to catch up. Last week Birch and I tried an episode of The Office and now we're hooked!

Half of the time I can't believe I'm still watching the show because Steve Carell is so obnoxious....but the Jim and Pam saga keeps me going.

Those of you who have been faithful viewers from the beginning can probably tell I haven't seen the entire series. Every night this week Birch has stopped studying around 10 and we log onto Netflix for "just ONE episode." Since they're only a half hour long, when you cut out the commercials it's so short, right? Well, we've been rolling into bed closer to midnight and so far we've only finished through Season 2.

So, DO NOT make any comments about season 3, 4 or what you saw of 5 last week.

Vegetable Breakthrough!

This week I gave Trevor some veggies straight out of the freezer and he LOVED them! Maybe it feels good on the gums, maybe it hides some of that "vegetable flavor," I don't know. Whatever it is, it's working for now.

Just an idea for anyone else who needs a new vegetable trick. Send me other ways that have worked for you!

The 10:00am Curse!

No matter how much we complain about our kids' sleeping habits, I think the blame always comes back to us. I have friends who love to get up early and others who love to sleep in a little and their kids somehow fall into the same sleep pattern, no matter what time they put them to bed at night.

That being said, my guy wakes up every morning between 6:00-7:00 and I love it! Even if we've had a few late nights, Trevor is a faithful alarm clock and we go out in the jogger before it gets too hot.

The problem is the nap schedule. Right around 9:30/10:00 is when he gets sleepy and takes his long nap for the day, about 2 hours. That's also when most activities for kids start. Last week we made several attempts at storytime, playgroups, etc. but the sleepy tears won and we ended up at home sleeping instead.

There are definitely days when I am determined to meet up with a group, but often I give in and let my baby sleep. Does it change when you have two?

Three Quotes

I wish we had big news to report, but things are pretty normal around our house. Here are three quotes that sum up our family life right now:

• "It's actually broken." Birch went to the doctor this week (VERY unusual!) because his ankle was taking longer than expected to heal. The original x-rays showed a bad sprain but this time the doctor concluded the ankle is actually broken. I, of course, want to know what is wrong with the radiologist who made the first diagnosis but Birch agrees that the mistake could be made when the foot is so swollen. The highlight of this second visit was the sports medicine doctor who saw him. This guy was an ER doctor who did a fellowship in sports medicine. He spends part of his work time at a hospital and the other seeing patients with sports-related injuries. I think Birch has found his calling!
  

• "I'll be back in an hour." I decided I need a new race to work on and this time it's a 10-miler. During the week I take Trevor running with me in the jogger and we stop to play at a park at the end. But on Saturdays I go for long runs by myself. If you usually take your kids running with you, you know how great it feels to run alone. Yesterday I did six miles around my neighborhood. It's not the most scenic route so next weekend I'll have to head up north to campus or the Rillito.
  

• "No tackling in church!" Since footall season has started, Trevor likes to watch a few minutes of the games with Birch. This week while I was sitting on the floor folding laundry, Trevor came up behind me and tried to push me over. He smiled and explained, "Football!" Birch was so proud and taught him the word "tackle." We've had fun tackling at home this week but when Trevor tried to climb on my back during sacrament meeting, the game was over. Nursery kids, watch out!

Learning to Gallop

Here are two short videos, especially for family. After spending the summer in Flagstaff it seems like we haven't seen you in a long time, even though it's only been six weeks. And for others it's been even longer than that!

Trevor has been learning to run and gallop. My favorite part is watching his arms fly as he goes. What would happen if those arms were tied down? It sure wouldn't be as fun.

He's also a pretty cautious kid. As you can see his big jumps are off a coloring book (about 1"!)

P.S. He usually does have shorts on but I'm glad we ended up with bare legs for these videos.