Merry Christmas!

The eye of the storm

I'm inclined to think that if the weather weren't so crazy all over the country--snow in Las Vegas and New Orleans??--then you would have already heard about our very literal storm of a lifetime. But since the wild weather of the Inland Northwest was trumped by other storms in more metropolitan areas, I am taking it upon myself to give you the rundown of our week.

Between Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning we had 37.5 inches of snow. I have seen three feet of snow before, but I have never seen it come all at once in the same storm over such a short period of time. Apparently no one else has either--at least in this neck of the woods--since this storm broke every snowfall record in the region. By Thursday morning we were completely snowed in, although Jeremy very diligently kept our walkway and driveway plowed--he shoveled five times during the storm.


Clara loved getting all bundled up and going out to play in the snow. She took her snow shovel (a big black spoon) and helped Jeremy, then she went sledding on a cookie sheet down the driveway. The only thing she didn't like is when she tried to wade across the street through two feet of snow to find the neighbors light-up nativity scene. She fell face-first into the snow and got herself a nice snowburn across her nose and under her eyes for her efforts.



The plows finally rolled through yesterday morning, and I took my life into my hands by venturing to the grocery store along with what must have been the entire population of the county, all moving very slowly on plowed but dangerous roads. But now we have milk to last us through the next storm (six to 10 inches predicted tomorrow and Monday!) and we're grateful that Jeremy works from home so he doesn't have to venture out in the foul weather. The only downside to this series of storms is that the snowplow deposited a 10-foot (I kid you not!) mountain of snow in our front yard as it came around the bend. Oh well. Clara will be sledding until June at this rate on our very own mini-mountain.

:::Jeremy and Clara play in what Jeremy has since dubbed the "chump change snow" on Wednesday evening:::


:::"Just a man and his snow shovel," as Jeremy has been fond of saying recently. Also, he likes to call those his "snow khakis":::


:::Clara and me in our driveway. That's the street behind us, which may explain why we didn't venture out:::


:::The aftermath--Saturday morning:::

Carpet naps

Clara decided yesterday that she needed to take a short rest on the carpet--probably because Jonathan was lying on one of her blankets and it suddenly looked like a grand time. I put the "crown" blanket and pillow--which she recently got from her great-grandmother--on the floor, then put all of her other "covers" on her, then she told me to leave so she could take her short rest.

"Should I take Jonathan?" I asked.

"Jon-than Care-la short rest! Carpet!" she replied, nodding emphatically.


So I left. Jonathan, as you can see, was pleased as punch to be near his "sisty," and Clara was bound and determined to take her rest on the carpet. I only left them alone for about two minutes before going in to get Jonathan. She protested fiercely, but I just told her that Jonathan wasn't tired yet.

Believe it or not, she did not fall asleep on the floor, although she did lie there for quite some time--probably 30 minutes. Then I heard a little knock at her door. I went to open it, and I found Clara standing there, all done with her "nap."

"Fun rest, Mom," she said.

Forty-five minutes later, she was fast asleep in her bed. I just love that girl.


By the way, please stay tuned for a report on our current weather. Even after two winters in Syracuse, I have never seen the likes of snow like this. We're at 33 inches and counting--all in the last 24 hours or so. Also we're snowed in. Fear not, though: we have milk and we have diapers. What more could we wish for?

Baby, it's cold outside!

For some reason I thought it would be less cold and dark in the Inland Northwest than it was in Central New York. I was wrong. This is the farthest north we've ever lived, and I guess that comes with cold and dreary winter weather. I'm told this is colder than usual--and I hope that's true, since I think four of the next seven days will have a high temperature under 3 degrees. Brrrr!

Before the real arctic air settled in, Jeremy and Clara enjoyed a romp in the backyard snow. Clara was insistent that Jeremy make her a snowman with a carrot nose. The snow was so dry, though, that it was nearly impossible to form a ball, so she ended up with a 10-inch snowman--though it was made with the three traditional snowballs and had a teeny-tiny carrot nose.


Happy winter!

Just for fun

Tag This!

So...I have never been tagged, but I have always secretly wanted to be. This is much like how I've never been in a book club but have always secretly wanted to be. At least I can now check "get tagged" off of my list of wishes. Thanks, Robyn!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Looking for love at BYU's (erstwhile) Deseret Towers (unrequited, as it turns out)
2. Waiting patiently for the first Sunday of the month so I could eat my weight in Chicken Cordon Bleu and fried shrimp at the Morris Center cafeteria (if you'd been there, you would understand)
3. Exploring the marvels of cutting-edge technology, such as instant messaging and email.
4. Learning to walk in snow.
5. Becoming myself.

5 things on my list of things to do today:
1. Draft a solution to our current economic crisis.
2. Crochet seven bandages for overseas lepers.
3. Organize a sit-in to protest the pernicious purchase-tracking systems of national grocery stores with their "preferred member pricing."
4. Write a chapter of the great American novel.
5. Take care of my house and kids and stuff.


5 snacks I enjoy:
1. animal crackers
2. string cheese
3. clementine oranges
4. tortillas
5. yogurt


5 things I'd do if I became a millionaire:
1. Buy a house and pay off the mortgages of my immediate family.
2. Oust Rudy Maxa and become the new host of "Rudy Maxa's World."
3. Change the name of "Rudy Maxa's World" to reflect the identity of the new host.
4. Buy a lake house.
5. Buy commercial paper.


5 places I've lived
1. My mother's womb.
2. Stockton, CA
3. Bozeman, MT
4. S-Y, NY
5. Fresno, CA

5 jobs I've had
1. Gate guard at a community swimming pool. My duties included cleaning the public toilets with a pummice stone, hosing vomit off the pavement, and keeping the nacho cheese piping hot. And one time I let two guys in to use the phone, and then 10 minutes later watched while they were held at gunpoint by a dozen police officers in the street outside the pool. Great security.
2. Waitress at a retirement community. The dining room was always hot and the residents were always picky, but it was there that I met one of my great loves: steamed asparagus.
3. Humanities/Religion reference assistant at BYU's Harold B. Lee Library.
4. Public Relations assistant at the (formerly known as Jacobsen) Center for Service and Learning.
5. University writing instructor. I have guided more than 120 freshmen to greater heights of academic achievement. Most of them weren't that interested in being guided, but the guidance itself was dripping from the ceiling.

5 people I tag
I'm sure many of you are just itching to get tagged, but I can only choose five:
1. Naomi
2. Megan
3. Steph
4. Katie S.
5. Emily G.

Golden seal extract and other horrors

I recently bought shampoo and conditioner at Costco for the first time--just the generic Kirkland Signature stuff. Yesterday I was reading the front of the conditioner bottle and was startled to see that one of the ingredients was "golden seal extract." My initial reaction soon turned to horror when I couldn't figure out what golden seal extract could possibly be if it wasn't the extract of some beautiful marine mammal. I don't want to kill innocent seals for the sake of my luscious locks!

I got progressively more worked up about this animal cruelty atrocity until I realized that a magical tool called Google could probably tell me everything I needed to know. Plus, I figured that if there were a logical explanation it would save me the trouble of sicking PETA on Costco, if you know what I mean (Jeremy was all ready to chain himself to the front gates of Costco, loudly condemning complicit shoppers and eating all the Polish sausages and Very Berry Sundaes he could stomach).

But as it turns out, golden seal is an herb thought to have healing properties. No wonder my hair looks so awesome.

An historic birthday

Forget the election: in our house this has been a day of joy and celebration! Today is Clara's second birthday, and we've had a wonderful day marking this auspicious occasion. Here are ten things we love about Clara:

1. She loves to read. We recently discovered that she has memorized all of her favorite books. Now when we read to her we leave out random words and she fills them in. Much fun is had by all.
2. She sleeps 12 hours at night. No elaboration required.
3. She loves being a big sister, and she is very soft and loving with Jonathan. And she sometimes accidentally gives him roundhouse kicks to the face. But mostly she is just very soft.
4. She has beautiful, big, blue eyes.
5. She has an enormous head. Seriously: it's off the charts.
6. She loves to dance and spin. And when she spins, her eyes are on the opposite side of her body, away from her spin. It's amazing. And kind of creepy.
7. She has an insatiable curiosity and a contagious zest for learning new things.
8. She brings light and joy into other people's lives. Seeing her make people smile makes us smile.
9. She's fiesty. This is something to love, and also something that kind of makes our heads want to explode from time to time.
10. She loves Jesus.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Clara!

An historic election

Well, my friends, on this historic day I have but one thing to say: the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Also, I couldn't help but giving a little "amen" when I read this. She says it all a bit more...colorfully than I would, but at the same time this describes a lot of what we've been feeling around here lately. I don't agree with everything she says, nor do I agree with all of the comments people have left, but overall, I feel what she's saying. Judge me if you must...

Jack-o-lanterns--what a fright!

I have been reminded again this year that Halloween really is a children's holiday, and for the first time we've had a child old enough to enjoy the festivities! When Clara woke up yesterday morning I told her it was Halloween, and she immediately said, "Treat! Scaaaaary..." We figured out she learned that Halloween was scary from watching "Super Why," so I guess that show teaches more than the alphabet. Oh well.



When we speed-carved the pumpkin just before dinner (it's been a crazy week) Clara refused to dig in and touch the pumpkin--not because she thought it was slimy or anything, but because she thought it was a cave. And that a bear lived in there. (She has a vivid imagination.) So that's what she's talking about in this video.



She loved trick-or-treating, and she was a hot hit in her chicken costume. My sister Megan is in town, and she did a way better job dressing up as a farmer to complement my two little farm animals. I did a last-minute, half-hearted effort. I am a cool mom like that.






My cousin and her family came with us to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. It's been a long, long time since I've been trick-or-treating (like quite possibly 16 years or so), and I had a blast. It would've been even more fun if Clara hadn't decided she needed to be carried home at the halfway point. But I am tough, and I made it. Jeremy had no idea how good the staying-at-home-and-passing-out-candy gig would be. Happy Halloween!

The Return of the Empire Strikes Back

We ventured downtown on Saturday for the last farmers' market of the season. Several of Clara's farmer fans were on hand to bid her farewell, although our favorite cherry farmer was sadly a no-show. But despite any small disappointments, I managed to score the best find of the year: a local apple farmer selling the world's best apple: the Empire.

My good friends in Syracuse (holla!) will back me on this (with the possible exception of Jana), but the empire apple is honestly the most delicious apple I have ever tasted. I'm no food writer, so I can't describe the exact bouquet of the fruit, but perhaps this will help you to understand: when we found out we'd be leaving Syracuse, I ate an empire nearly everyday for a month as I prepared to bid them farewell. Or so I thought. I've eaten all but one of the empires we bought on Saturday, and now I'm planning a little trip into eastern Washington to get some more. My most profound gratitude goes out to the enterprising local apple growers who had the foresight--and the sheer horse sense--to bring the empire west.

A little Monday miscellany

Here's a picture of Jonathan at seven weeks. Clara had a fit about his little coveralls, since she couldn't understand why Jonathan got to wear awesome airplane clothes and she didn't. She ripped the outfit from me before while I was putting on his shirt and tried to stuff her leg into it. "Care-la pay-planes! Care-la pay-planes!" I think little girl clothes have a lot going for them, but it is true that airplanes rarely make an appearance. Poor Care-la.


And here's a picture of how Clara spent the first 30 minutes after breakfast: standing up, watching Sid, the Science Kid on PBS, and holding this "cuppin." I tried to get her to sit down and relax, but she was very content to stand up with her pumpkin. Whatever. As I often say, she is her own woman. And she loves her cuppins.

Autumn walk

My new thing, when the weather is fine and I don't have too much to tote, is to park a mile or so away from where I'm going and hoof it the rest of the way. Today's walk took us along the lake shore, around a wee mountain, and to the public library. The weather was my autumn ideal: in the high 50s and mostly cloudy (sunless days are only truly objectionable during the winter).

Days like this--walks like this--make me love living in north Idaho. The fall colors here are stunning--made even more so by the blanket of evergreens. I could smell the home fires burning, which charmed me to no end, and I was out breathing clean mountain air with my dear offspring. A day of days.

(By the way, if you're wondering about Clara's hair, then you obviously haven't heard that feral is the "it" look for fall. And if you're wondering about her smile...there are no words...)

They grow up so fast...

Jonathan shocked us this weekend by smiling at my mom...multiple times! I have a poor memory for things like milestones, so I wasn't really expecting for Jonathan to do anything much quite yet. But look at him now! This picture isn't the best, but since his smiles are elusive and fleeting, it'll have to do.

Jonathan's blessing

Sunday was Jonathan's baby blessing, and both sets of grandparents were in town for the occasion. Jeremy gave Jonathan a wonderful blessing--sweet and tender, and a beautiful reminder of Heavenly Father's perfect love for all of his children.


Clara was particularly thrilled about having so many grandparents around. She spent much of the weekend in a frenzy as she ran back and forth to everyone offering hugs and hellos.



One highlight of the weekend was going out to lunch with my parents yesterday afternoon. Jonathan slept the whole time, and Clara was as well behaved as I could've hoped for. So fun, so relaxing. We got to do lots of coloring on the table covering, and Clara was even able to make her own little pizza. Well, I ended up making it, but she was pretty pumped about the little plate of cheese, olives, ham, and pineapple. While I hurried to finish making her pizza, she spent her time trying to get as many of the toppings into her mouth as possible.


And now we're back to just us four again, although we're counting down the days until Aunt Megan comes for a much-anticipated weekend visit...

Stimulating lunchtime conversation

I am doing a quick email check here at the kitchen table while Clara eats her gardenburger for lunch. We are having a great conversation. It's going something like this:

Clara: "Daddy's a man."

Mom: "Yes, Daddy's a man."

"Mommy's a woman."

"Yes, Mommy's a woman."

"Daddy's a woman?"

"No, Daddy's a man."

"Daddy's a man."

"Yes, Daddy's a man."

"Mommy's a lady."

"Yes, Mommy's a lady."

"Mommy's a man?"

"No, Mommy's a woman."

"Mommy's a woman."

That's the truncated version, but I hope you can get a good sense of how well I'm doing at teaching Clara the art of conversation.

Rudy Maxa

My new favorite show is one I recently discovered on one of our PBS channels: "Rudy Maxa's World." Not only is it on at the best possible time (11:30 a.m.--just when Clara goes for a nap and Jonathan usually wants to eat) but it also makes just about everywhere in the world look like paradise. Plus, he kind of looks like my dad...if my dad were the kind of guy who traveled around the world wearing business casual and frequenting international discotheques. So far, this show has made me desparate to travel to Buenos Aires, Bangkok, Dehli, Mexico City, Estonia, St. Petersburg, and Kyoto. Ahhh, Kyoto...

One month...done

I'm sure all new parents feel this way, but we are stunned that Jonathan is already a month old. Whether we're stunned because it feels much longer or much shorter than that is a question even we can't answer.


Jonathan continues to be a delightful baby. He still wants to eat way too often at night, and he has a bit of a head cold (thanks, Clara), but all things considered he is not giving us too hard a time. Milestones in the past week include his first (and second) tub bath. Milestones in the week to come include his first outing to church and his first trip to a u-pick farm. Life is good.


Clara just loves her baby brother. Jeremy and I barely exist for her other than as a means to be with Jonathan. When she hears him crying, she says, "Mommy get it. Dada get it. Jon-than sad. Mommy milkies." The point of her bossiness, of course, is that Jonathan is sad and needs to eat, so someone better go and pick him up. When we ask Clara who her best friend is, the instant answer is always "Jon-than." (It used to be Mommy. Oh well.) Milestones for Clara in the last week include the acquisition of a monkey "pa-pack" (yes, with a leash) and her first on-camera tantrum.

Back to the past

An update, for those who may be interested: I am feeling much better today, 76 hours after the initial loss of faculty. I can now walk quite well, and with almost no pain, and I am also able to pick up Jonathan again. My main issue is now with hinging at the waist, but even that is feeling a bit better. My body is a recovery machine, I guess.

I also did 10 crunches today to start strengthening my core. Jeremy met this news with a frown, saying I need to be careful not to overdo it.

I said, "I only did 10!"

He said, "How many crunches have you done in the past 12 months?"

I said, "Including the 10 I did today?"

You get the idea. So I am still committed to a slow and careful recovery, and tomorrow will probably just do 5 crunches.

When Jeremy and I get stressed we typically try to divorce ourselves from the present by either reminiscing about the past or obsessing about the future. Since I didn't feel much like future-dreaming today, I thought I'd explore what our lives were like one year ago. So here it is. One year ago, we:

-were living in Syracuse;
-had one baby who was just learning to crawl and pull herself to a standing position;
-were enjoying the onset of autumn and many trips to the Beak and Skiff Apple Farm;
-had no idea we'd be living in north Idaho in a year;
-had no idea we'd have another baby in a year;
-had no idea that Rachel would have a broken back in a year.

The more I thought about this time last year, the more idyllic it seemed. Jeremy pointed out that life wasn't totally rosy last September/October, since he was fully entrenched in a stressful bishopric calling and I was teaching two writing classes at the community college and he was finishing up several stressful grant applications and we were just adjusting to Clara's four food allergies... But looking back it just seems so nice. In my mind, we just sat around looking at Clara's cute face and feeling nothing but happy and relaxed. His version of events is probably closer to reality.

Hunchback

Yesterday morning I carried Clara to her room to change her diaper. I lowered her to the floor, felt a sharp, intense pain radiate from my lower back through my legs, and found myself paralyzed on my hands and knees. That's right, friends: I threw my back out.

I have had back problems for quite a long time, stemming from a bulged disc and degenerative disc disease, but for several years everything has felt under control. Now I am totally hobbled, barely able to pick up the nine pounds of love that is Jonathan, let alone even attempt to lift the 25-pound ball of energy that is Clara. What gives? The doctor yesterday compared my body to a skyscraper. He said a skyscraper needs four walls of reinforced steel to stand safely and securely. He said that after a pregnancy and a c-section (make that three pregnancies and three c-sections), my body is more like a skyscraper with one steel side and three sides made of cheap plywood. I am more inclined to say three sides of flimsy rubber. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

So there you have it. The doctor is sure my problem is with my bum disc, but since I don't have any neurological symptoms (numbness, tingling, weakness in the legs, etc.) I just have to grin and bear it. I can walk much better today than I could yesterday, but I have pretty intense pain when I stand up, sit down, scooch over, or otherwise move. If I'm not markedly improved by Monday I'll do a round of physical therapy, which is always humbling.

Thanks to the good friends who have been coerced into watching Clara for a few hours this week to give Jeremy time to get some work done. And a big shout-out to Jeremy, who has taken upon himself all household duties, diaper changing, child lifting, and--most importantly--Clara wrangling. He's a good sport. Who needs a day job?

Here's to a speedy recovery! I am doing my duty by icing my back like ice is going out of style. And when I feel better, my doctor suggested doing crunches like crunches are going out of style. I've always wanted washboard abs...

Wakeful sleep

Now that we've successfully muddled through three full weeks since bringing Jonathan home from the hospital, I'm starting to feel deeply entrenched in that "dazed and confused" stage that accompanies chronic sleep deprivation. As I mentioned previously, Jonathan is a pretty good sport about going to sleep after his middle-of-the-night feeding sessions, but he still gets up to eat every 3-4 hours. It takes an hour to feed him, more or less, so at most I'm sleeping three hours at a time, and I usually total about six hours of sleep. This is most distressing for a sleep lover like myself who is biologically programmed to need nine hours.

Once I finish feeding Jonathan, Jeremy gets up to burp him and rock him to sleep. Jeremy prefers that I wake him on the half hour so he has a better chance of seeing an entire show on late-night PBS. We recently started getting PBS's digital over-the-air programming, which means we have five PBS channels from which to choose. I tease Jeremy because Jonathan is usually burped and asleep within 10 or 15 minutes, but Jeremy usually doesn't come back to bed for at least a full half hour. Yesterday at around 5:00 a.m. I asked Jeremy if Jonathan had been difficult to get to sleep after his 2:00 a.m. feeding, since it took Jeremy longer than usual to come back to bed. He said that Jonathan was asleep relatively quickly, but that PBS had been airing a segment of the "Garden Story" series, which, as a student of urban environments, scratched Jeremy right where he itched. When I laughed at him for sacrificing sleep for PBS, he just reiterated the keen watchability of "Garden Story" and said, "Rach, I had to be there."

Making houses

About a week before Jonathan was born, I was bustling around in the kitchen doing the dishes, and I could hear Clara playing in her room. She kept saying "Making houses, making houses" in kind of a sing-song voice, so eventually I grew curious enough to see what she was doing. And what she was doing, as you can see, was making houses. I was truly impressed with her creative genius. We had no idea she could even stack her blocks that well, let alone create such an array of miniature marvels.

Adventures in babywearing, take 1

Give the people what they want

A vocal contingent of our worldwide readership has been demanding more pictures of our precious (and precocious) offspring. I have always tried not to make this only a "baby blog," but sometimes that's an impossible dream. Plus, I can't have any regrets about showing off my kids!


Jonathan was one week old yesterday, an event we celebrated by giving him a much appreciated sponge bath. He is (knock on wood) a delightful newborn, which makes everything in life seem all the more rosy. He does not, at least at this point, suffer from the day-night confusion that so plagued Clara (and her parents). Most of his wakeful time occurs during the day, so at night he wakes up just to eat then goes back to bed. I love him!


Clara is adjusting well enough to her new role as big sister. She gets really excited when she sees "Jon-than" and always wants to "hold it." And she likes to rip the hat off his head and softly stroke his hair (if only we could get the hat removal to be a little more gentle). We have obviously told her a time or two that it's important to be soft with Jonathan, because even when she's running toward him at full tilt she always reassuringly tells us, "Care-la soft! Care-la soft!" Indeed.


For anyone wondering how we've managed to help Clara adjust to having a baby brother in such a swift and healthy manner, we are happy to share our secret to success: treats. This girl has had more bits of sweeties and ice cream in the last week than she's probably had in the last year. Don't worry, though: we'll be weaning her from her sugary bounty soon enough.


As for me and Jeremy, we are somehow surviving--nay, thriving--on greatly reduced sleep and more than twice the amount of parenting than we had a week ago (how is it that when you double your progeny you more than double your workload? Talk about a paradox).


And of course very little of our sanity would be preserved without the able help of my mom, who has done more than her share of story reading, diaper changing, and meal fixing. Cheers all around!