Friday, February 24, 2012

Mischief and more...

Before I give any updates of the past few months (since I've been out of it!), I'd like to share a little about Otto. I'm pretty sure since birth he's inherited his mother's twisted organizational affinity and his daddy's (and mommy's in different ways) obsession with having clean hands (or being clean in general). I remember one time he was playing with cars, lining them up in a neat row and his Uncle Andrew came up and picked up a car to play with him... Otto yelled at him (this was before he said a lot of actual words). I'm not kidding. Another time, we were outside and Otto accidentally stepped into a mud puddle. Any other kid would have started jumping in it and covering themselves in mud. Instead, instant tears were shed and we had to go home immediately, rinse out every item of clothing, wash every inch of him, and change everything. So obviously it's been pretty distressing to him to have things out of order or dirty sometimes.

As a result, he hasn't always enjoyed making and playing in messes. In fact, it has caused him major distress. Well, that phase is definitely changing. He still doesn't really always want it, but he's learning that there can be times to "dig in" (sometimes literally)! And he now realizes he can clean up afterward, which I think brings him comfort in getting messy in the first place.

Well, one day I decided I'd had enough of being a nasty non-showering wife and mom (I won't tell you how long it'd been... long enough). I decided Otto seemed content to play and hopped in the shower. When I walked out, this is what I saw...
Otto has a habit of helping himself to the items in the refrigerator, one of his favorite things to get being his cup of milk. Obviously, his cup was emptied and he thought he could help himself to the gallon of milk. He probably would have succeeded in getting the gallon out just fine if it hadn't been wedged onto the shelf with 2 other gallons that day because he can actually carry a gallon of milk himself. I was wide-eyed as I walked out, that was for sure!

The thing that saved him was the fact that I walked in and he was on his hands and knees slurping (I can't even type it without laughing to myself) up the milk and he said, "mommy, I'm drinking the milk!" as if he was doing the best possible thing (which he probably was since I laughed). I couldn't help but laugh out loud!

So, Otto is obviously growing into a more messy phase. Within reason, of course. :)

Other things he's been up to;
  • Talking more and more - and making us laugh in the process! The other day we were singing "Bob the Builder" and instead of saying "Can we fix it? Yes, we can!" he said, "I thought I fixed it."
  • Asking daddy, "how was work?" at the dinner table. I love this. :)
  • Enjoying all aspects of playgrounds more - he's been kind of afraid of heights and one day he just got over it
  • Enjoying mud/dirt & reveling in the fact that he enjoys it
  • Reading books - we can never read enough of them & he absolutely loves the library - it's like Christmas every time we bring home new books.
  • Watching a movie ANY time mom will let him... he can watch a full-length film and then say, "again?" (mom says, "Nooooo!!!!!!" in her mind to this...sigh)
  • Deferring sleep- he's starting to get pretty good at coming up with just another thing he needs to do before going to bed
  • Being more mischievous... he loves getting his partners in crime to do things with him, too.
  • Creating things - the other day he got out a cotton swab & a cotton ball. He then placed the ball on top of the swab and walked around balancing the ball. He thought he was pretty awesome. Have NO idea where that came from.
  • Marriage - he's very interested in the concept and the other day said, "[girl I babysit] and I are married" while holding her hand. I insisted he (and she) was too young and said, "you need to graduate from HS first and go on a mission" to which he replied "I missionary already." Not exactly what I want to rush!
  • His family, especially extended family. We've visited a lot lately and he just loves it. He loves his cousins, his grandpas and grandmas, aunts, and uncles. SO MUCH!
  • Calling people. He's becoming quite the conversationalist.

There are more things he loves & such, but my brain isn't working properly and this post is already too filled with words and not enough pictures. Soon there will be more pictures (highlights).

Monday, December 19, 2011

Seriously?!

One of the latest Groupon deals: Lighted Fleece Slippers... seriously?! People buy these for real?!?!!
Tv-goods-bright-feet-90_grid_6

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Catch-up; Halloween & Other Fall Fun

To begin with... I realized we haven't even posted anything about our garden plot we had in the Village all summer! Here is a picture of our bounteous vegetables! We planted tomatoes (grape and big beef), bell peppers, zucchini, peas, and green onions. It was so fun and each year we learn a little more on how best to plant, cultivate, and eat our vegetables! We got our moneys worth from the grape tomatoes alone, partially because of how expensive they are in grocery stores. I think I brought peas home once because Otto would eat them every time on the way back to our place. We had zucchini growing out of our ears (made nearly every dish I could think of and gave some away), but we still love it! I'm pretty sure one of our big beef plants cross-pollinated with one of our grape tomato plants, making a sort of roma-looking variety. I don't know much about cross-pollination, though, so I could be lying. :)

It was lots of fun & we look forward to having a garden again (hopefully sooner rather than later!).

Now to fall festivities. I just love this time of year!

At the pumpkin patch...

Eric picked this patch especially for the line-up of tractors & Otto LOVED it!With our pumpkins

Making & decorating sugar cookies...
Halloween - Otto was Woody from Toy Story & had a blast! On Halloween he even trick or treated with another "Woody" and just loved it; he kept saying to him, "Come on, Woody! Let's go!" Sorry to the family who felt obligated to trick or treat at a few houses with random strangers just because their kid was super excited to see another Woody.

Here he is with his buddy before Halloween at a trunk or treat, laughing it up.
He noticed she had a tail and kept chasing around after it. Hilarious!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Insights...

There is so much to update! We moved from the Village & haven't had the internet until recently, so there is much to do. Stay tuned for pics & other joyous stuff! For now, I just wanted to be a little introspective.

This move has been hard on me. Probably harder on me than it should have been. I knew it was coming, I knew there would be changes, but I think I resisted it. I have been thinking a lot about the power one individual can have to change those around him/her and how that effects that individual. I started out trying to meet people in our new place, but feeling horribly awkward and out of my element. Eric seemed to take it all in stride, but I was just annoyed by people around me which didn't really encourage me to break out of my selfish coma to see what surrounded me. I just kept complaining about things and closing myself off more than I should have. I don't remember exactly what kicked me out of this state, but something did. Probably someone who showed a bit of extra kindness and interest. Or I probably reached my "low" and got sick of it finally.

Anyway, my point is that now, after I've wasted a whole lot of time (as far as meeting others and serving others goes, although it was a good introspection time for me), I'm finally getting accustomed to life outside the village, in a regular ward, with my husband working a regular job, doing the somewhat monotonous things I do everyday with the challenges and rewards I enjoy every day. And really, life's as good as you make it. It really is! And I have nothing to complain about; I've been blessed with so much! If you want to know more, ask me. I'll probably tell you.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Blogger posting problems

Blogger wouldn't let me post! Every time I'd push "publish post" there was no response, regardless of text only posts, pics, or whatever. I was talking to one of my amazing brothers about it and he suggested trying Mozilla. I don't really know why I never thought of that because I used to have to do that all of the time at work... Mother's block, I guess. Regardless, I have a few posts that will be coming soon now that things are figured out. *Sigh*

Remember to look through the last few posts... they were the saved posts that I finally got to work.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Otto is 2!


Otto had his birthday in June and we decided that since we will be moving, we would do a friends birthday party to celebrate his happy day. We combined with 2 other June birthday boys in our court, which was a lot of fun and Jenni (the mom of the 2 other boys) was great to work with! Here are some pics...
The amazing Thomas pinata Jenni made!

The kids enjoying the pinata... none of them dove in after pulling the strings to open it, but instead just sat there admiring it or opening 1 piece of candy. It was hilarious.
One of the birthday boys - turning 3!

Otto, the birthday boy - turning 2!
The third birthday boy - turning 1!

The train cakes that Jenni made!
The rice krispie treat, fruit, and frosting dump truck that Eric made!
(Otto loves trucks!)
More fun pictures!(Otto's never really had a sense of what a "personal bubble" is, has he?)

Thanks buddies!

After the friend party, we got together with family members and celebrated with a BBQ and presents at Aunt BriAnn and Uncle Derek's house.
He was spoiled with MANY more gifts (which he adores, even still!) - thanks everyone.

The amazing "Otto's Trash Truck Service" cake that Sarah & Brian made!
He loved it! Thanks to everyone for coming and celebrating with Otto. He loves you all SO much!

Eric's Graduation

Thanks to everyone who supported Eric in his schooling and on his big day! It was fun to celebrate his accomplishments with you!