Celebration of Learning

Each semester, Kendall and I take an institute class together. Our institute director, Brother Barber, sets aside a special day called "Celebration of Learning" where we do some little project that reflects something we learned in class over the course of the semester. We say "little" but we actually spend a considerably more time than we probably should. Take last year for example. Kendall made a jello mold of the city of Zion,

and I dropped "manna" from the sky with a r/c helicopter.

This year was no different. We spent all of our Sunday after church putting our projects together. We decided to do a video and a song based on the Book of Isaiah (we were taking a class on the writings of Isaiah).

Kendall was inspired by Linden's princess bling and made the following video (with a lot of help from me but it was all her idea).

Isaiah 3 By Kenta Hood
View in HD Download 540p Version Visit Kenta Hood's ExposureRoom Videos Page

For my celebration, I took the verses from D&C 84:99-102 and put it to the tune of The Spirit of God. It turned out pretty well.

Anyway, we'll be presenting both tomorrow in our last institute class but we thought we would share with everyone who won't be able to make it to our class.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you go to the actual link for the video, you can watch it in HD fullscreen for the best experience. Just make sure you let the video load by pressing play, then pausing until the bar turns blue.

Dazed and Confused

I think I have been sitting here for about ten minutes trying to figure out how to start this post (and that's all I could come up with?). Despite the fact that I went to bed about an hour earlier than usual, the eight hours of frequently interrupted sleep that I'm getting as a mommy is proving to be nowhere near as restful as the six hours of uninterrupted sleep that I had as a college student. Does that mean I miss my carefree, kidless college days? No way, man! Having an awesomely cute baby to take care of is way better than a never-ending stream of papers, reading assignments, rehearsals, etc. It just goes without saying that being the mother of a newborn has left me with a severe case of baby brain.

I'm not sure when I finally came to grips with the fact that my brain was no longer firing on all cylinders. Maybe it was when I was tidying up the house last week and caught myself putting the TV remote in a dresser drawer. Or maybe it was yesterday when Kenta pointed out for the fourteenth (fifteenth?) time that I forgot to lock the car door - something that I never used to do. Or maybe it was an hour ago when I forgot that I had put a tray of cookies in the oven and burnt them to an inedible crisp. I can't recall the exact moment that I came to this realization because I spend most of my waking hours wandering around in a haze.

That being said, this semi-conscious state has caused me to do some things that are uncharacteristic of me. I feel that I have been dropping the ball on a lot of things, and I'm afraid that I may have unintentionally upset and/or offended friends and family. I've compiled a list of apologies of sorts. You may be surprised (or not) to find your name on this list. I really, truly feel bad about the things I have done. So much so, that I sat awake at 3:00 a.m. today as memories of my slip-ups came flooding back to me. Again, I feel really badly about my bizarre behavior. Hopefully you understand.

I'm sorry. Soooo sorry....

To my son, Thomas: For forgetting to put the brake on the baby jogger when I was locking up the house. I didn't realize that the jogger would roll forward, off of the edge of the sidewalk and tip over. I'm glad that you are okay and that you weren't hurt (you didn't even cry!) but I was really shaken up.

To my husband, Kenta: For sneezing on you last night. I had a book in one hand and a breast pump in the other - it came so suddenly that I didn't have time to properly cover my mouth. I didn't think it would reach you anyway - you were sitting halfway across the living room. That was really gross. I'm glad you still love me.

To my sister, Maren: For not noticing that Calvin broke your flower pot. I thought that lining up the flower pots would make a nice barracade so the kids wouldn't climb the stairs outside and get hurt. I didn't think he would knock it over and break it while I was busy with Thomas.

To my sister, Stephanie: For calling you and asking you the same question almost every day. I really do pay attention to what you tell me. I just really admire your mothering skills and trust your insight and opinion - though you must find it tiring to answer the same questions a zillion times.

To my friend, Jamie: For remembering, then forgetting, then remembering again that your birthday was on Monday. I hope you had a great day with your husband and sweet baby girl.

To my friend, Mindy Jo: For showing up SUPER late to your good-bye party and then hardly talking to you at all once we got there. I'm going to miss you a lot! Thank you for the sweet note and notebook. I love it!

To Thomas: For putting off starting dinner until 4:30 - approximately 30 seconds before you had a MAJOR meltdown, but I had to leave you screaming in your bouncy chair because my fingers were covered in raw chicken and I had to get dinner done in time for mutual. I now proclaim Wednesday nights to be Leftover Night from here on out.

To Thomas's physical therapist: for skipping out on therapy next week. I should have known better than to schedule therapy on the SAME DAY he's getting his 2 month vaccinations.

To my Mia Maid, Lainey: For not calling you about the mutual activity this week. Wednesday afternoon was really hectic and by the time I remembered to call you, it was well after 6:00 p.m. I couldn't pick you up without being super-late to mutual, so I just didn't call. I'm really sorry about that. It was a fun activity and I'm sure I will be held accountable for you missing it.

To my friend, Amie: For disappearing at the end of mutual when everyone was just hanging around socializing. I was so nervous about getting Thomas home and into bed before he got too tired that I totally forgot to say good-bye. And I'm sorry that I couldn't help with your move this week.

To my father-in-law: For skipping out on lunch this week with everyone at Pepe's. I know you probably wanted to see Thomas, but I'm pretty much a slave to his sleep schedule, so I let the sleeping baby lie...maybe next week?

To Kenta: For the house always smelling like burnt food. I know, I know - I always burned food before we had a baby...it's just gotten a lot worse.

To the dude that works at Target: For not realizing that you were asking me if I needed help finding something until I was ten yards past you. I'm sure my "huh? uh..heh..thanks" reply was very convincing as I continued to walk past you and aimlessly meander through the store. I probably could have used your help.

To the lady in the minivan on 12th, just south of Alameda at around 7:30 p.m. last night: For cutting you off. I really know that that lane ends and I usually move over before I even get to the intersection. My son was screaming and it totally distracted me. Sorry about that. Thanks for honking at me - I'm glad I didn't hit you.

To my friend, Rachel: For still not having sent a thank you note for your baby gift to Thomas and for still not having sent a gift for little baby Stockton. That's on my list of "Things That I MUST do This Weekend".

To our new neighbors down the street: For still not having delivered the plate of cookies. I meant to do that last week, and never could. I decided today would be the day....and I burnt all the cookies. I will make it to your house, eventually, cookies or not, and will introduce myself and welcome you to the neighborhood.

To Andrea and Merrilee: For having to listen to my awful voice. I am not a singer by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not sure what this has to do with baby brain....maybe I was just so euphoric after Thomas's blessing that when Shawna asked me if I would sing a duet I said "Yes!! Sure!!" when I probably should have offered to play the piano and let someone else with a nicer voice sing.

To my friend, Mallory: For never responding to your Facebook message (which I fully intended to answer within a reasonable amount of time). You asked me like a month ago how to embed a youtube video in a blog post. If you still need to know how, let me know :)

To my body: For not getting enough sleep or exercise. I really try and drag myself out of bed and get moving in the morning, but when the prospects of getting a good nap in later are looking pretty slim, it's hard to go out for that morning jog. I hope you understand.

To all of you, my loyal blog readers: For thinking it was a good idea to write a ridiculously long list of elaborate apologies - if you are still reading this, I will reward you with a picture of the aforementioned "awesomely cute" baby:

This is Thomas having a conversation with his sock monkey (thanks, Aunt Mika!)

So....there's my list. If you didn't make the list - congratulations! It probably just means that you live too far away for me to have done anything horrible to you. Now that I've finally finished this post, I need to.....do....something important....what was it?.....um....I can't remember......:)

Picture Perfect

We have the good fortune of having some friends here in Norman with a photography business. When Thomas was one week old, we went and had his pictures taken. I wish I could say that he was really cooperative and totally relaxed and sleepy the whole time....but that unfortunately was not the case. In between feedings and bouts of crying, Dustin and Amber were able to capture some really special moments. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I will stop rambling and let the pictures speak for themselves.









Didn't they turn out great? In case you missed the link at the top, you can visit their website at fifephotography.com. Thanks, Dustin and Amber, for giving us such a beautiful way to preserve that fleeting newborn phase of Thomas's life!

American Idle

It is six o'clock on a typical evening for the neighbor Hoods. Kenta arrives home from work and is greeted by his wife, Kendall, who is sitting on the couch, and his son, Thomas, who is sitting on his wife on the couch. The faint aroma of burnt kettle korn lingers in the air. The following conversation ensues:

Kenta: Hey, honey! Wow this place is a mess, he thinks as he scans various piles of clothing strewn about the house. Uh, what have you done today?

Kendall: Uh...she quickly sifts through the brain fog that seems to be thicker than ever these days, trying to remember if she has actually done anything today....let's see..I checked my email at least twenty-eight times (while I was feeding Thomas), I watched the same NCAA tournament highlights on Sportscenter three different times (while I was feeding Thomas), watched an interseting Animal Planet show about mutant rabbits and ligers (while I was feeding Thomas)...I fed Thomas and...c'mon, I know I haven't been doing this all day! He did sleep a little...and while he was napping I took a shower, got dinner started, got laundry started, but couldn't finish it all because Thomas woke up and he was fussy. I'm so glad you're home!

Does this sound familiar to you?

Now, I'm not the poster child for "Cease to be Idle", but I swear Thomas is eating. All. the. time. And when he's not eating, he sleeps a little. But even when he's sleeping, he's thinking about eating:

(you might have to turn the volume up to hear it)

So, it's no surprise that he's always hungry (that and the fact that he seems to spit up half of what he has just consumed). And I'm the lucky one that gets to feed him.

Don't get me wrong - I love nursing Thomas - he makes the cutest little faces that Kenta never gets to see because by the time Kenta gets there, the cute face is gone. It's a special bonding time for us, too. Plus I feel good knowing that I'm giving him lots of good nutrients and antibodies.

But secretly, I also love that I do get to spend a lot of time on the couch feeding Thomas, partaking in one of my guilty pleasures - without feeling guilty at all! The guilty pleasure?

AMERICAN IDOL

I love this show. I haven't watched every season as devotedly as I have seasons 7 and 8, but thanks to youtube, I've caught up quite a bit on seasons past (youtube - something else I do while - you guessed it - feeding Thomas).

Why do I love this show so much? I guess I just have an appreciation for ordinary people with extraordinary talent. Plus, it's good, clean fun. I love hearing fresh, artistic interpretations of songs that I have known for years and years by people who lead ordinary lives as schoolteachers, waitresses, bartenders, farm girls - you name it. It kind of makes you wonder if there has been some Wal-Mart sales associate that has helped you in the past that has some hidden talent like the Idol contestants.

And I couldn't bring up American Idol without sharing some of my favorite Idol moments.

First I gotta give a shout out to our homegirl - fellow Oklahoman, Carrie Underwood. I was in Peru when she was on Idol, but thanks to my nieces, I learned who she was when I got home and have gotten to see her on Idol reruns. I love her rendition of Heart's "Alone":

I just love it with that little twang she puts in it. But my FAVORITE Idol performance was David Cook's Billie Jean last season:




I was rooting for David Archulta (he's so cute!) but I'm glad that the other David won. I'm still not sure who I am rooting for this season.

Thomas has gotten into it, too. Here he is, pumping his fist in excitement:

Last week, we both thought Allison totally rocked (I think she's currently my favorite)



And when we are not idling (or is it Idoling?) away our time, we are watching lots of NCAA basketball. My bracket royally sucks because I chose Pitt to win it all, but as of now, we can still root for the home team - which Thomas did in style:




(obviously, I made it)

So, it's a little ghetto-fabulous, but it's the best I can do with embroidery floss and absolutely no embroidery experience.

In other news, Thomas passed a milestone yesterday - he successfully completed one month of life AND slept eight hours straight. As any grateful mother would, I tried to give him a kiss:


He has already perfected the "Ew, Mo-om! You're embarrassing me!" look.

Happy one month and Boomer Sooner!

Thomas the Tank

I never did understand why all my friends who had babies posted lots and lots of pictures on their blogs right after their babies were born and then disappeared for a few weeks. Now I completely understand why that happened.

My Blog Maternity Leave is officially over. It's time to fill you in on the past two weeks.

Thomas is resting and digesting. The dishes are done. I've practiced my harp. The kitchen floor is scrubbed. And most importantly - my NCAA tournament bracket is filled out (I've picked Pitt to win over Memphis in the finals, but, honestly, I'm not quite sure how I ended up with that pick.) But I digress...

We had Thomas's two week appointment on Monday. When we left the hospital, he was down to about 8.5 lbs. He now weighs 9 lbs. 9 oz. and has grown 1/4". The doctor said he was a healthy looking boy, but was a little concerned about one thing. Apparently Thomas has something called "torticollis". His little head tips to one side and could potentially mess his muscles up in his neck if it is not treated. It's pretty common in breech babies because their heads are stuck at weird angles in their mommy's ribs for months. I decided to learn all I could about his condition. Naturally, I consulted The Source of All Truth (Wikipedia). Imagine my shock and concern when I saw this picture:

As I gazed at this guinea pig, visions of Thomas with a permanantly crooked neck flashed before my eyes .

Fear not - we have an appointment to see a physical therapist next week. They are going to teach us exercises we can do with Thomas to help even out the muscle tone/length in his neck. Until then, we just have to rotate his sleeping positions. I'm also constantly obsessing about his head position in the carseat and bouncy chair. We'll keep you posted on his progress.

Other than that, things have been going really well here. The women in our ward and my mom are amazing. They brought us yummy food and gifts. It's been nice to have visitors since I shouldn't leave the house very much while Thomas is still so little (confession: I've been taking him out for walks because the weather has been so nice). Thomas has had a lot of fun making new friends. He got to meet a lot of family this past week.

My mom came for a little while to help out. I only have one picture of her entire body and Thomas - unfortunately I am also in that picture and am half dressed. So here's a different picture:



Thomas also got to play with his cousins Calvin and Linden. Linden and Thomas enjoyed some tummy time together.


Calvin was initially excited about meeting someone as small as Thomas. Then he realized that Thomas didn't really do anything. So he found something more exciting to do instead:


Aunt Ami and cousin Dane were in Oklahoma for a brief visit. Dane brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "kissing cousins":

I guess it's okay when you are still small.
Thomas had another big milestone this week - his first bath! I was curious to see if Thomas would love water (like his mommy) or hate it (like his daddy - if it was socially acceptable to never bathe, I think Kenta would be elated). Here's how it went.

At first, he wasn't quite sure what to think:



He did fuss a little, but once he was enveloped in warm, watery goodness, he was just fine. With Kenta's mad photography skills, we were able to get a full body Thomas shot by strageically positioning my arm in such a way as to not offend our blog viewers:

So getting him from the tub to the towel and eventually into warm clothes wasn't as pleasant of an experience. But here's the finished product:

Nothing smells as good as a baby straight from the bath.

Now that we know Thomas is a big bath fan, we've tried to establish some sort of nightly routine (based, of course, on Thomas's schedule). It usually consists of a "bath" (usually just a dip in warm water - not soap every night) a late night snack, a bedtime story, and prayers. The other night, I let Kenta be in charge of the story, since I always have to be in charge of the snack. He decided to read Thomas a little from 2 Kings (yes, quite captivating for a 2 week old).

A harmless enough bedtime activity. You would think. Here's how I found them the next morning:

Apparently, things got wildly out of control. I think that's the last time I'll leave Kenta unsupervised :).

That's it, for now. I'm going to be a little indulgent and leave you with this parting Sleeping Thomas shot:

Shoot. He's a cutie.

Thomas Take 2

Alright, you wanted them so here are some more pictures of our little Thomas. He's really cute and we even have video for you to see. The quality isn't the best since the lighting wasn't great but it's still good video. Enjoy it all!

Here's a video of him and Ojiichan. He's awake and alert in this video which is a lot of fun to watch.

Thomas 1 from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

Here's another video of him with Mommy.

Thomas 2 from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

Little Thomas hanging out

He demonstrated how he was growing in Mommy's stomach

Thomas respecting Mommy's privacy

Thomas thinking about how he will take over the world. He just needs to get that alarm off his leg first so he doesn't set off a code pink.

Thomas with Ojiichan

A picture of us getting ready to leave the hospital as a family

Thomas in his little car seat

Our matching bands

Mommy carrying Thomas in the sling

That's all for now!

Thomas Kenzo Hood

The last few weeks have been full of ups and downs, but they've taught me once again, just how perfect the Lord's timing is. Just a few days ago, I was so uncertain about our baby and how/when s/he was going to be born. Thursday morning, the date that I had originally scheduled (then canceled) the c-section, came and went uneventfully. Friday was more of the same - I accompanied my last beginning ballet class at OU, went to a friends house to sew some "last minute" baby projects (thanks, Amie!), and had anothor appointment with the OB to talk about a different date for the section. She checked me and said that I was at about 1. 5 cm and still "really thick" - meaning not very effaced. She seemed pretty convinced that I wouldn't go into labor any time soon, if I went on my own at all. I still didn't know about which day I wanted to choose for the section, but the OB told me to call her back on Monday and we would make the final appointment. As it turned out, that phone call wasn't necessary. There was a very unexpected turn of events for us.

Friday was our last day working at the temple together. Kenta and I decided that in the best interest of my swelling feet, we would only stay until 7:30 and then go out on a little date for the last time as "single" parents. Little did we know that it would actually be one of the very last things we did together until the baby came.

As we were leaving the temple, I started to feel a little crampy - nothing too strong, but definitely stronger than the Braxton Hicks contractions that I had been having for months. I entertained the thought of "hey, this could be...naaaaaahh....". Of course, the logical thing to do when you think you might possibly be starting labor is call a friend and make plans to eat brunch at IHOP the following morning (Andrea - sorry! I swear I had no idea that it was "the real thing".) Anyway, so as soon as I made plans and hung up, I started having pretty regular contractions, anywhere from 5-10 minutes apart. They were bearable, but I got extremely uncomfortable sitting in the booth at Charleston's. I couldn't find a comfortable position to sit in and I started to feel a little uneasy. Kenta noticed and decided to pack his hospital bag as soon a we got home. I got a piece of paper, a pen, and a watch and started timing the contractions. They got progressively stronger through the night, but stayed mostly 5-7 minutes apart. I climbed into the bathtub on three different occasions for relief. Finally, around 5:30, I couldn't take it on my own any longer and woke Kenta up to help me. He gave me great backrubs just when I needed them and helped me through the last few hours that I had to labor. We got to the hospital a little before 8:00 a.m. Around 8:30 a.m. a nurse checked me out and said that I was 5 cm and fully effaced. I couldn't go in to the operating room for another two hours because a another lady in labor with a breech baby had walked into the hospital literally three minutes before us and was first in line. So I waited with Kenta. He was absolutely wonderful. Even though I had known the baby was breech and could have skipped over the entire labor process with a scheduled section, I am so glad that I was able to experience at least some of it. It gave me a lot of confidence in my ability to be able to deliver naturally with another baby - if the little stinker isn't breech like big brother Thomas was :)

When it was FINALLY my turn to go to the operating room, I was ready. The contractions were painful and unfortunately were doing nothing to help my labor progress since I had to have a section. The room was FREEZING cold, but I tried to focus on the positive - like the fact that they were listening to a classic rock station that was playing Led Zeppelin (my favorite band) when I was wheeled in. They separated Kenta and I for a few minutes while he got his gear on. When he came into the room I almost didn't recognize him. Until I saw his eyebrows.

Operation Retrieve Baby Hood got underway. Kenta wisely chose not to watch, so the doctors gave us the play by play: "There are the little feet...and the bum. Wow, this little guy is holding onto his momma's hips. He doesn't want to let go. What a big head!!!" They didn't really wait for the "It's a BOY!!!" moment to tell us what he was. They just started saying "his" this and "his" that - we caught on pretty quickly that we were having a little boy. But in all honesty - there is nothing little about this boy

Thomas Kenzo Hood arrived at 10:29 a.m. - about the time that I thought I would be at IHOP biting into a pancake drenched in butter pecan syrup. I was shocked when they announced that he was 9lbs. even. People had been telling me all that week that I didn't look like I was going to deliver a baby any time soon. And that whole "my husband was big, so all of our babies will be big" argument - I don't buy into that at all. Kenta was a 6 1/2 lb. baby and I was 6 lb. 14 oz. How did we end up with such a big boy? I don't know, but I do wonder what pushing out that head would have been like.

I guess that's the mystery of why baby Thomas stayed breech. He was just a very big boy that got comfy with his head and feet in the wrong place. When we tried to turn him, there just wasn't enough room. He was just supposed to come that way and I am so glad that he made it here safely. And he's so cute. I wish I could freeze time so he wouldn't get any bigger. Enough of my blabber - let's meet baby Thomas:

I hadn't seen Thomas yet at this point. Kenta's description of him was "He's a little purple with dark hair that's short on top and long in the back." My initial reaction was, "Oh my gosh. I just gave birth to an oxygen -deprived child with a mullet." I was relieved to see that Kenta's description and, consequently, my assumption were not completely accurate.

Large and in charge - our little babe was, as one nurse described, "a little sumo wrestler" - she had no idea he was 1/4 Japanese.

His ear reminded me of a certain elf...

Kenta knows I have a crush on Legolas but he wasn't concerned enough to ask for a paternity test

Father Hood

Mother Hood. I've never felt so loopy - I had just pulled my first all-nighter EVER. And those pain meds were serious stuff.

Kenta changing the first of Thomas's FOUR messy diapers in the first 24 hrs. That boy had a lot of junk in his trunk.

Cousin Kristin and Aunt Shelly come for a visit.

Not what you think. Apparently Rika had put a chocolate truffle in her pocket and forgot about it.....until Thomas warmed her lap up and melted it.

Obaachan (Grandma) with akachan (baby). Holding her second (and newest) grandson. We are so lucky to have Ojiichan and Obaachan living close by. Thomas's middle name, Kenzo, is a tribute to his Japanese heritage (and it just so happens to sound like "Enzo" as in "Enzo Ferrari" - one of his daddy's fantasy cars).

So that's our little guy. We are so happy and blessed. I keep looking at him and stroking his head and thinking "Is he really ours?" I had no idea I could love someone so much. It's amazing how your love for your spouse increases, too, when you start having children. I always suspected that Kenta would be a great dad - and my suspicions have been confirmed. Thanks to all of you that have kept us in your thoughts and prayers these past few weeks. We didn't know how it would all play out, and what happened was a far cry from what I had planned. But the end result was just what we hoped for - a beautiful, healthy, and perfect baby.