A Day of Compliments

So today was just one of those good days for super cute compliments from my sweet little boy. I just had to record the moments.
While on the couch watching a movie this afternoon with Caleb, he grabbed and squeezed my arm and said, “Mom, I love so much. You’re my best friend.” Then burrowed in and snuggled me good through the movie.

Brydon and Caleb had a little father/son outing to run a couple errands and get Rita’s Water Ice (pronounced “wadda ice” here in Philly). On the way home, Brydon mentioned how fun it would be to finally slurp down their water ice. Caleb said, “I’m going to slurp your cheekies, because I love Daddy!”

While I was making dinner, Caleb informed me that he was so hungry and just couldn’t wait for the soup to be done. It took some convincing but finally he was able to eat the potato soup and salad I had made. After a few bites he said, “Thanks mom, this is so yummy.” After finishing his first bowl of soup and while eating his second he said, “Thanks for dinner mom. I love you!”

You know it is no wonder my son is so good at complimenting his mom. Brydon is constantly complimenting me. There is not a day that goes by that my husband doesn’t tell me I’m beautiful. He is so wonderful and such a good example to Caleb. Caleb has learned well from his father. A few weeks ago as Caleb and I were rushing to make it to church on time, I opened Caleb’s door and asked him to crawl in. Instead he ran around the back of the car to the other side. I was not happy and began to get after him to get himself in the car, NOW. However, he ran over opened my car door and came back with a cute grin and told me, “Mom, I opened your door for you.” Well I had to apologize and thank my sweet son for his kindness. The same kindness he sees his dad do for me all the time. How did I get so lucky to have two amazing men in my life? Caleb is so lucky to get to follow in his father’s footsteps.

I'm Gonna Miss This

So the last few months have been some of the longest months of my life. Only last summer beats this summer. Last summer was hell, this summer is just close. So as I have been pining for a better life and an explanation for why everything can go wrong at the same time, the song “You’re Gonna Miss This” has been coming to mind. We have been swamped with Medical School Applications (You know doctors deserve to be paid a lot just for having to fill out those absolute awful applications. You think I am joking but nothing compares to Med school apps for pure torture. If your marriage can survive the application process then you have earned Celestial Glory). And worried about how we might answer our little boy’s prayers to have another baby when the Lord’s answer just seems to be a big NO. Or how to keep up with church, a busy 3 year old, and all the other adult responsibilities that just have to be taken care of. So today I started to think about what was I going to miss? Was I enjoying the moments I have now or just pining for a future that I have little control over? I don’t want to look back and say that I missed out on living for today, so I have been making a list of all the things I would miss about my life just how it is right now.

1. My husband’s hair. The last year has been hard on his head of hair and I am afraid in a few years there will be nothing left. I am going to miss the full head of hair, even though I will love him no matter what.
2. A 3 year old. Quite frankly I love 3. It is way better than 2 and Caleb is too darn cute. 3 is fun because they can talk, reason, dress themselves, but still think mom can fix anything. I get cuddles and kisses and independence. It is a great combo and by there are far less tantrums.
3. Only having to clean 1 toilet. The advantage to small apartment living is that there is only 1 toilet in the house for my son to completely spray with pee. I do not look forward to having to clean multiple toilets.
4. Running. I am really going to miss the day that my body cannot run anymore. I truly love the product of running. It can make my day that much better to just go for a run.
5. The Student Life. I don’t like the living on loans that don’t pay for much, but I sure like the social life. There is something about hanging out with other couples that are in the schooling process. You have so much in common and understand so much about each other just because you are far from home and going through school. I will miss that easy connection.
6. Philadelphia. There is no place in the US that can disgust you and fascinate you in the ways Philly can. It truly is a unique city with so much to teach me.
7. West Africans. They may smell like fish, have cockroaches running across their tables, and be so poor and uneducated I don’t know how to help them, but they are so loving and giving. I have learned so much from them and cannot believe that I can truly call some of them Friend.
8. My 29 year old body. Already I can tell that a 30 year old body is just not going to be the same as the 29 year old one. It is going to be harder to lose weight, stay fit, and keep the skin looking quite as youthful. The day for actually having to count calories is near or here already.
9. “Mommy, I woke up with the sun.” There is no better way to wake up in the morning, than to a little boy with a big smile that says “Mommy, I woke up with the sun.” Then he tells me his big plans for the day.
10. 8:30 PM Adult Time. I love being able to put Caleb to bed and having just adult time until we go to bed. There are no teenagers to wait up for or late big kid bed times. Just a quiet peaceful night like this one, with a cute little boy all tucked in bed and safe.
11. The Age of Twilight, Harry Potter, High School Musical,& Hannah Montana. I almost forgot this one. Yep I am not a very orginal groupy. I love the Twilight Series and Harry Potter and find Disney movies like High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and Camp Rock way too fun and cute. What can I say, I'm a sucker.

So maybe life isn’t all bad and there are lots of things I would miss about life just how it is.

Taylor Swift is too cute!

Taylor Swift - New Music - More Music Videos

So with all the controversy with Taylor Swift earning an award because of this video, I just had to watch it. Boy it is cute and totally deserving of the best female video. I wish more people were as clean with their music and presentation. I am so glad she stayed true to her age. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

The Endless Pit

Well we survived another week. I can't tell you how tired I am already of Medical School applications. I thought it was painful 2 years ago, but they made the whole process much more painful this year. I don't want to help write any more answers to stupid essay questions or figure out how to maneuver all the hoops they created to get the proper recommendations sent. But I do hope it will be all worth it in the end. I think Dr. Manning has a nice ring to it and 2 Dr. Manning's just sounds really good:)

Last week, we discovered that our son had grown again and now needs to wear mainly 4T clothing. He just turned 3. And his feet went from a size 8 1/2 to a size 10. He is a tall, solid little boy. This week, he has turned into an endless pit. All I have heard from him is, "I'm hungry mom!" or "Mom, I'm really hungry!" or "My tummy hurts. I'm hungry." He practically ate a meal during sacrament meeting today because he was starving already. Then he ate crackers and a few cookies in the car on the way home. And ate a sandwich when we got home. I keep hearing Rolly on 101 Dalmatian's "I'm hungry mama. I'm really hungry mama." or the great quote from 17 Again "What are you eating?" "I don't even know but all I know is that I am hungry alllll the time!" Honestly what are we going to do to feed this boy when he is 17. I am getting nervous already. So for now I am holding off buying any new clothes or shoes until we find out what size he really needs to be wearing. We did have a great quotable moment yesterday in the car when Caleb was informing us that he was hungry again. He asked me if he could have a sandwich for dinner (we are on a complete sandwich kick now). I told him we were going to have grilled chicken and rice. He was not happy about my dinner choice and began whining for a sandwich. I told him that he could eat chicken to help his tummy out or he was going to be awfully hungry. After a slight pause he said, "Mom, my tummy is telling you it needs a sandwich." Well what do you say to that. Fortunately his tummy was hungry enough to eat chicken and rice and carrots and a homemade milkshake. I didn't know a 3 year old could be an Endless Pit.

Phillies -vs- Giants

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We got to enjoy Brydon's birthday gift from his parents on Sept. 1. Brydon has always loved baseball but never been to a professional game. So we had to make sure we saw the World Series Champion Phillies while we were here. It was so much fun. Caleb was so excited and couldn't wait to get to the game. When we got there he asked all sorts of questions about the black guys (umpires), red guys (Phillies), white lines, and yellow polls. When he felt like he had it all figured out, he put on his glove and said he was ready to go play with those guys. He was a trooper through the game and really got into clapping and watching what was going. In the end the Phillies won. Phillies 1 Giants 0 We had a blast!

The Small Plates

So this past year Brydon has been trying hard to share our family news with everyone in what he calls "The Small Plates". Just little tidbits to share with our family and keep them posted on our life so they would feel connected in some way. Now we can share these on our blog instead of email. He wrote one today that we can post as our first Small Plates.

"Many argue; not many converse."- Louisa May Alcott
“When it comes to luck, you make your own.”- Bruce Springsteen
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."- Eleanor Roosevelt
"A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject."- Sir Winston Churchill

I know that it has been a while since the last small plates but you would not believe how buried we have been. Caleb read a stop sign for me today. He said Dad that sign says stop. That is an S and that is a T and that is an O and a P and they say S-T-O-P. I know, I know the kid is way too smart. We have also started a fierce battle about the amount of mess that he can make in about 2 seconds. Yesterday he had all of his toys, clothes, mattress, bedding and some books in a massive pile in the middle of his floor. It was the most trashed room I have ever seen. (He did have help though) You could not make it in the door and the mess was about 3 feet deep. Jennifer is doing well. She continues to stir the pot, and has found several things that are helping our Liberians remember letters better. They will be reading before we know it now. I am about to start school again in a few weeks. I know everyone else already started but their vacation did not start in July. This term I will be taking Environmental and Occupational Hazard Assessment, Occupational Toxicology and time to do my thesis. I am still working out my exact research question as I am still immersed in the literature. I will be working with the National fire fighter near miss reporting system though. The door is wide open, nobody has looked into this type of firefighter system and safety yet. Dad is somewhere in the wilderness chasing the Elusive Stone Sheep. So hopefully he will reemerge from the backcountry in one piece on the 8th. The lucky guy won this hunt. Tabitha is still lost at sea, and Scott has not called off the search. Jamie is busy getting ready for number two. She is in the 7th inning stretch now. Mom continues being a near widow. She will be coming to visit us at the end of the month. I guess she thinks that she needs to see Caleb before he decides to go off to college soon. As for the Barton clan not much has changed. Jami now gets to try her hand at running her clothing store, and Allen got ran over by a car. Personally I think Jami should be having more fun and Allen seems to be on the mend though. We hope that this finds you well. Bruce McConkie said that for a true disciple of the Lord no relationship but that of Eternal marriage would truly be satisfying, and Joseph F. Smith said that he would rather go himself to the grave rather than associate with a woman out side the new and everlasting covenant. Of all the things the Lord cares about I am not to sure that he wavers much from the desire that we are doing our best to make and keep covenants.

Oh Boy! Here We Go!

I love looking at other people's blogs and have been dying to do one of my own but for some reason have been scared to death. After some encouragement from Brydon, we decided to venture out and try blogging. I love posting pictures and hope the journal writing will be a fun bonus. So here we go! We are officially bloggers!