Thrilling news... no, not a job, wah :(

The other night I was talking to Ryan and I'm not sure how it came up, but I said, "I'm going to email a question to Joy Bauer, the nutritionist on the TODAY show!"  Then, I attempted an imitation of Joy's TODAY show segment where she answers nutrition questions and invariably tells the people to eat more chicken and fish.

I got on the computer the next day and emailed my question in.  Two days later they emailed me back asking if I'd like to do a live call or Skype of my question on the TODAY show!!  Oh yes I would!  Listen, life isn't too exciting and our particular little family has had a little bit of stress so why not spice things up by doing something silly and fun?

I opted for the call-in, no one likes when the Skype freezes and I couldn't risk not getting my question answered.  There was also the option of just having them read my email, but I found out that with that option there is no definite date, it's just kind of a filler in case they have extra time.  The very nice TODAY show assistant, Johanna, and I sent several emails back and forth (I think I got on her good side by complimenting her name, then she got on my good side by telling me that Willa was adorable).  Johanna is filing my information and will let me know as soon as the next call-in slot opens up.  I had to send a photo of myself in, so when they have me on the phone there will be a photo of me up.  So exciting :)!

What was my question?  I asked Joy why I still had a tummy pooch even though I had already lost all my pregnancy weight.  Did she have some advice for getting rid of it since spot reduction is a myth?  When I sent it in I hoped for some response because I figure that I'm the embodiment of their core demographic right now - young moms.  Do I think she's going to give me any advice besides laying off the sweets, eating protein in fish and chicken, and a lowfat diet?  Not really.  Will I follow her advice instead of eating large slices of ice cream cake throughout the day?  Probably not.  But hey, this is the stuff dreams are made of.

I will let you all know when the special segment will be, hopefully they will ask to have me back on a segment about blended Persian/American families!

Gratuitous photos of Willa watching Baby Einstein.  I don't put it on very much because I forget about it, but I think she is starting to get bored of the same old play with me and her play yard so I have been trying it more often.  She is getting into this and it cracks me up.

Herzlich Willkommen!

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag to Ryan!  Or, something like that.  Ryan's birthday was Saturday so we wanted to do something fun and it turned out that a neighboring city was having a German Fest the exact same weekend!  We went with medicore expectations and our expectations were completely met and not exceeded.  
Translation = we had a great time and are glad that we didn't expect much.
This was the type of German festival where the German food and wares are there, but you have to search for them and during your search you might give up or get distracted by the delicious funnel cakes instead.


Here is Ryan with Willa, you can see a distant German flag in the background:

Ryan brought his own stein to drink out of (someone came up and asked him about it!) and also a flag representing southern Germany or a province or something, which we hung on the stroller.  We were all decked out!  Ryan's breakdown of the festival dressing up was this: 1) If you have it, wear traditional German costume, 2) If you don't have it, wear t-shirt with something written in German, or that says Germany, or that says beer and Germany together, 3) If you don't have that, any t-shirt that says beer on it will do.

The highlight of the festival was actually watching this old-time band perform on one of the stages.  It was a three-man band, the members were probably 70+ years old, and it had a very Americana feel.  They sang mainly about how much they loved Texas.  The fiddler was a very skinny man with a long, gray ponytail and while he fiddled he was able to sit on a chair and put both legs behind his head at the same time!  Then, he got on the ground and did the splits while fiddling.  It was extremely entertaining and unfortunately the  camera was at the bottom of the stroller.
Willa was a little scared of the German music, but overall was a good baby.  She fell asleep in her stroller during the band.  The applause startled her a little and so her hands ended up by her head like this:

I like to imagine her thinking, "Please, get me out of here!  I can't take it anymore!"
On Sunday, we celebrated Ryan's birthday by having Carol and Jimmy over for ice cream cake.  Ryan's not overly fond of ice cream cake, but I wanted to make it because it was more special :).  I looked up several different ways to do it, then kind of came up with my own thing.


As per tradition (not on purpose, but it just kind of happens), the outside looked like a mess.  I'm reminded of a birthday when the cake Ryan was making for me collapsed on itself.  It tasted great, with all the frosting mixed in over the collapse, but it didn't look the prettiest.

I baked a chocolate cake from a box in to 9x9 square pans (since I don't have cake rounds), then I cut open a carton of mint chocolate chip and used a knife to cut slabs of it to put between the two cake layers.  Then, I got vanilla ice cream and whipped it in the blender so that I could spread it like frosting.  Finally, I got a bottle of Magic Shell and squeezed it on top.  It was actually really good, I was surprised!  The biggest lesson I learned was that when you are frosting a cake and both the cake and the frosting are made out of ice cream, then you better frost in a hurry!  I was so excited with how smooth and creamy the ice cream was going on, that I took my time and didn't realize that it started to melt and drip and not look so good anymore.  Maybe frost it in sections so it has time to refreeze between?  I've been thinking of also making a ganache frosting instead of using ice cream next time.  We'll see.  Who knows if there will ever be a next time.  Ryan will never turn 30 again, so maybe I should never make this cake again out of respect.


Also tricky: finding enough room in the freezer to fit the cake.  That took some thinking and rearranging.  Overall, it was a fun weekend.  It was nothing exciting, but it's always nice to get out and do something different.

Beauty Parlor

Life is so hard when you have to get your hair did! She resisted so much today that she almost pushed herself out of the bumbo. I've been trying the threat that my mom used on us - if you cry while I do your hair then we will have to cut it... I don't think she's buying it yet. When I finally finished there were several intermittent groans of protest that she had had to endure the coiffing. I finally silenced her by singing her favorite song "Happy Family" then her sad groans were punctuated by laughs. Always funny when the baby laugh/cries.

Take That!

Willa has FINALLY rolled over!  All the other nursery moms can stop rubbing it in my face that she hasn't yet! :)  Just kidding, no one's made any comments (yet) but it has been a source of inner embarrassment for me.

Unfortunately, I haven't actually witnessed the event.  She was in her play yard and I hopped on the computer for a second.  Suddenly I heard her start groaning and making sad noises so I looked over and she was on her tummy!  I hurried and took some pictures and called Ryan before I moved her back.  Then, she did it again!  She's occasionally gotten very close to rolling over but really hasn't felt any need.  I will hold toys out to the side and she'll look at them but usually find something else to interest her that is closer by.  I was dreading the six month appointment because at our last appointment the doctor said, "It's okay if she hasn't rolled over by four months, but we do like to have them rolling by six months."

This morning I even had an idea born out of quiet desperation.  Whenever she gets boogers in her nose I will gently put a q-tip up the front of the nostril to grab the booger and pull it out.  She hates it and really squirms when I do it; this morning I realized that maybe I could put her on the floor and get her to practice her back arching and other pre-rolling over activities by simply putting a cotton swab up her nose. This would confirm my notion that fear motivates more than joy or fun things.  I'm sure I'll be able to experiment more with this principle as the child-rearing continues, stay tuned.

Here she is after the roll - not too happy to be on her tummy.  Sometimes we need to learn that after hard work there still comes disappointment.

Not sure how this picture got in here, but I'll show it anyway.  She's happily trying to eat an Easter card from one of her grandmas.  Eating is very in right now, she loves to munch on Ryan's thumb.

Is she happy that she just rolled over?  Eh, I don't think she really knows what's going on or what she did.  More likely, she's happy that I have gotten down of the floor to play with her; it's fun being the most exciting thing in my baby's life, it makes me feel so special.

Mid-roll, okay I actually staged this photo.  I don't think she really rolled here, but you get the idea.  She's only rolled twice and then must have learned that all it got her was more tummy time.

Another staged mid-roll picture, it's fuzzy but she's smiling.  I feel badly that her hair isn't cuter today and that she doesn't have any pantalones on.  I was giving her some open bottom time to air out that area and had just barely put the diaper back on (she was on a blanket, don't worry).

I feel bad that none of our subsequent offspring will get anywhere near this type of documentation about their little steps.  Can I photo shop their faces onto Willa's for each stage and call it good?

The Morning Run(s)

I take Willa for a morning jog a couple of times a week.  It all depends on when she wakes up, sometimes I'm able to get in a run sans stroller before she wakes up, sometimes after and Ryan will watch her as he gets ready, sometimes I will take her with me in the early morning, or sometimes we drop Ryan off at the bus and then go on a run.  When we drop Ryan off at the bus, instead of going home we drive over by our church building because there are lots of really beautiful trails there.  It's a lot easier to take the stroller on beautiful trails than to try to dodge traffic and go up and down curbs.

Here is Willa before the run:

She's got a big smile.  I love this stroller!  It reclines so that she can get a nice snooze in while I'm working hard.  I don't think it's the most restful sleep, but she can't fight the vibrations and it gives her a little pick-me-up.  

 Here is a side view, riding in luxury! The sun canopy is so big, I love how it completely shades her; once I forgot the rain cover and it started to rain but baby was nice and dry under that canopy.  Check out the big, inflated wheels.  It's so much more pleasant for her because the bumps are smoothed out; even when we go on a walk at the park or somewhere close I will take her in this stroller because it's so much more comfortable. 

Do you see that little plastic opening on top?  It's a little peep hole so I can peek in and see how she is doing during the run.  

View of Willa through the peep hole, nice and safe - trying to eat her toy:

The neighboring town has amazing running trails all throughout.  

This is what it looks like at the start of one of the trails.  The trails go everywhere, but they aren't all connected like the Provo River Trail.  Basically, if you see a residential area you can pull over and you will find a trail opening pretty quickly.  It's pretty exciting to find out where the trail will end up once you hop on.  Isn't it pretty?

Lots of the trails go along big roads; those trails are nice because they are fairly straight and you know they will last a while.  However, if you take a chance and turn off onto a smaller trail sometimes you will get a good view of this, or this:

Isn't that so pleasant?  The lower photo reminds me of a trail we used to run on in Bloomington.  The unfortunate part is that these little vistas don't always last too long and then you sometimes end up just emptying out onto a street.  Still, you can't complain because these trails are awesome and if you do empty out onto a street there is another opening not too far away!  

The strange thing is that I hardly ever see people on these trails!  I used to think it was because people here were just lazy.  One Saturday morning my mom and I were on a beautiful section of trail and no one else was out!  Saturdays on the Provo River Trail were busier than the 405 at rush hour. Now I think that there are just so many miles of trail that the people are more spread out.  I've noticed that there are certain sections where I will see a lot of people and other sections where I will see none.  I always like looking for houses that are for sale close to these trails; it would be so nice to just walk out the door and be right there instead of having to drive.  Plus, they are in a great school district!

I like the privacy of the trails while having them still close to civilization.  Sometimes during my run, I wonder what I would do if I needed to take a little pit stop.  Are there sections of trail that are sufficiently shaded from the public eye where I could secret myself behind the stroller?  What sections am I least likely to be interrupted by another runner?  What are the shrubbery conditions most amenable to this?  Here is my surmise: chances of being interrupted by other joggers- very low; chances of being interrupted by chiggers- almost guaranteed. 

Willa, post run:

Ahh, all done.  She is very smiley because she's had a little catnap; if you look closely you can see that her hair gets a little windblown.  I'm not running that fast so this always surprises me; I wonder what she would look like if Ryan were at the wheel.  We love this stroller; it saves me when I need to get out but didn't get up early enough before Ryan goes to work!  A big thanks to Willa's Aunt Becca who gave it to Willa for Christmas!  

Little too braggity?

I've been thinking about my posts and fearing that they might come across a little too braggy. We sure love Willa, but she is no angel. She is a GREAT baby, but I'm pretty certain that she came with her little personality and her easy-going nature has little to do with any parenting styles at this age. Babies are babies and every one of them is different, I'm pretty sure we'll get a horrible one soon enough. I don't want anyone to feel badly if their baby isn't sleeping through the night, or doesn't like to do something that Willa is good at. Chances are, Willa is horrible at something your baby is good at - it's just easier to list the positives rather than the negatives in a blog. Here are some negatives about Willa.

- she is very picky with her smiles, she's a little more solemn and won't just laugh and be smiley like other babies I see

- stranger shy, I've written about this one - it drives me crazy! It also makes it hard for us to go out, people are doing us a huge favor when they babysit her and I don't want to throw it in their faces if she is going to scream the entire time

- she startles easily - she doesn't like loud noises and will even start to cry sometimes if I practice the harp!

- light sleeper - this goes with the previous point, she wakes up fairly easily so I have to be very quiet when she is napping - even with a loud fan on in her room; it makes it almost impossible for her to sleep at church because she jumps anytime people say "amen" or for the hymns or any general noise

- super sonic scream - when she wants to, she can SCREAM and it is deafening; really, it hurts your ears

- refuses to take a bottle unless it is piping hot - I should be grateful that she takes a bottle at all, but I think as she gets older she gets wiser and wiser and refuses it more often; if it is not extremely warm then she will gag on it and get very upset. This is mainly annoying because the times when I would like to give her a bottle are when I would prefer not to breastfeed (at church, on outings) and those are places where it is impossible to heat up a bottle. It's still nice to be able to send a bottle when she goes to the babysitter, but I'll be glad when she starts on solids and I can just send that instead.

- NOT rolling over yet; according to my mom, she flipped over tummy to back a few weeks ago; I have not seen her do it since. She can almost flip over back to tummy, but really feels no inclination to work on this

- gets distracted easily when eating - if I am breastfeeding I can't do any of the following: laugh, talk, cough, sneeze, breathe different, move around - or else she comes off completely and looks at me; I have to sit extremely still for her to eat. Even in the morning when she is famished she will often come off if I try to say something to Ryan

- finally, at this very moment she is in her bed with her pacifier and she is refusing to go to sleep even though she is tired! She is learning to spit out the pacifier when I leave the room so that I have to come back in and put it in her mouth.

Okay, there are more but I can't think of them right now. I think I'm going to have to put her to sleep in the bouncy seat right now because she needs a nap before I go teach my class. See? Sometimes she won't go to sleep in her bed.

We got home from picking Ryan up for work on Friday and a bunch of kids ran past us in their bathing suits. It's been warming up here, so Ryan felt inclined to take Willa for a quick dip in the pool. Because of naps and other things, we ended up not going until Saturday around 6:00 pm, so it ended up being a little cool outside and the water was chilly so the dip was very quick.

Isn't this such a cute swimming suit? I want one to match it; I was calculating just how I would make my own. Do you think they sell mommy/baby matching swimsuits? If not, that's a niche market that needs to be tapped, the next billion dollar idea!

Don't you love this stanky face she's giving Ryan?

In the pool at last! I can't wait until it is warmer and we can really play with her there. The pool as a little sloped area where it is really shallow; once she can sit up, she'll love just sitting there and splashing. Ryan and I grew up swimming and around a lot of water, my mom enrolled me in a class when I was about eighteen months where she would drop me off the diving board and pay someone to tread water in the deep end and teach me how to roll onto my back. It seems like everybody should do this with their kids; it is so important for a toddler to know how to float! Ryan and I haven't decided who will be the one dropping Willa and who will be the one treading water - I will probably pick the one where she will hate me the least.