And the mother of the year award goes to.......

In the past 24 hours, I have:

1) Hit him in the face with a tennis ball during a game of catch
2) Exposed him to cat dander, which, apparently he is deathly allergic to
3) Caught his belly button in his zipper while putting his jammies on (the hazards of being an outtie)
4) Stepped on his fingers while chasing after a ball (during another game of catch)
5) Left a bottle of "Easy to Open!" ibuprofen within reach of his curious hands*
6) Hurt his feelings more times than I can count

* All the pills were counted and we calculated the number of missing pills that I know I have taken in the past three weeks. We are pretty sure he didn't ingest any, but poison control was called anyway. Note to self: don't leave medicine on the counter. Even if you think your 2 yr. old can't reach it. And buy childproof bottles.

And after all of this, he still loves me.

Okay. It took a little bribing.

But I maintain that he would have loved me anyway.

I really appreciate that Thomas loves tomatoes so much

I just wish he wouldn't swipe them from the displays at the grocery store. And then proceed to take a bite out of them.

Just a friendly reminder

Christmas is only 3 months away.

Thomas would like you to know that he (apparently) is in need of some new trains.
Despite having to raid the silverware drawer amidst the train shortage, he found it in his heart to spare one to share with his little sister.

It really makes this mama's heart sing to see Big Brother learning how to share his toys. It's been a long time coming.

Remembering

I actually wrote this post three years ago. Since then, I have had two children and have forgotten a few of the details. How grateful I am that I wrote this down before my memory got fuzzy. I never want to forget how I felt on September 11, 2001. And I want my children to know how I felt on that day, too. Ten years has passed, but I still feel these emotions so vividly when I read or hear about events that took place that day. Here is my repost of my memories of 9/11:



I am going to deviate from my usual light-hearted posts and comment on something that has been on all of our minds today.

I usually describe myself as having a "swiss cheese brain": lots of information enters, but most of it escapes through the holes. However, there are some experiences and moments that I will never forget - and September 11, 2001 is one of those moments.

I remember driving home from my early morning seminary class to eat breakfast before I went to school. Right before I got home, I heard about a plane that had crashed into the World Trade Center. I mistakenly thought that it was a small cessna that had had some unfortunate accident. I went inside and my mom was watching Fox News (that is the only TV that she ever watches). In between the time that I had heard the news report in the car and the time that I saw the news at home, another plane had crashed into the towers. They appeared to have been commercial airliners. At that point, I began to doubt that it had been an accident.

I drove to school in a haze, not really processing what was going on. Most everyone was still confused about what was happening. I did not yet realize that it was a deliberate act of terrorism. I got to school and found my brother who had gone early that day for a marching band practice. None of the band members knew about the planes. I told him quickly what had happened and then I rushed off to class.

My first class that day was AP Biology with Ms. Hill. She had a reputation as being kind of a "tough chick" - I always imagined her as Rosie the Riviter - but on this day she was particularly quiet. Nobody could really concentrate on school work, so she found a teacher that had a TV in their classroom and we all went to watch the news. That's when I saw the towers fall. As I saw them fall, I felt as if my whole future was crumbling along with them. I couldn't hold back my tears and Ms. Hill put her arm around me and gave me a hug. She was crying, too. Here I was, a senior in high school and I thought my life was over. As with the rest of America, I felt fear and vulnerability for the very first time.

The rest of the day at school was spent listening to or watching the news. We heard about the other planes and the Pentagon. We slowly learned that it was a planned terrorist attack. We still couldn't understand why it had happened here - America! - the place that was supposed to be the "land of the free and the home of the brave". I remember watching the news at home that night and thinking, "Do I even bother applying for college? Will I even be able to go? What is going to happen to us?". My sister Maren had just left on her mission the month before (as did Kenta - but I didn't know him yet). Would she be okay? I remember talking to my oldest sister on the phone a few days later and she told me about the nightmares that she had been having. She was so worried for her children. What would the world be like when I had children? Would I even get to have that opportunity? I really felt like my future was gone.

With all of the concern and uncertainty that I was feeling, I remember being anxious to hear General Conference. I wanted to hear the Prophet. I wanted to hear reassuring words that would bring peace and comfort to my soul. I remember clearly President Hinckley's remarks:

"Now, brothers and sisters, we must do our duty, whatever that duty might be. Peace may be denied for a season. Some of our liberties may be curtailed. We may be inconvenienced. We may even be called on to suffer in one way or another. But God our Eternal Father will watch over this nation and all of the civilized world who look to Him. He has declared, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Ps. 33:12). Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God.
Let us be prayerful. Let us pray for righteousness. Let us pray for the forces of good. Let us reach out to help men and women of goodwill, whatever their religious persuasion and wherever they live. Let us stand firm against evil, both at home and abroad. Let us live worthy of the blessings of heaven, reforming our lives where necessary and looking to Him, the Father of us all. He has said, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).
Are these perilous times? They are. But there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our homes. We can be an influence for good in this world, every one of us."

How grateful I am to live in this chosen land. I am grateful for all the freedoms and opportunities that we enjoy as citizens of this great nation. I am so thankful for the men and women today and throughout history, who have given their lives to preserve those freedoms. I hope that I will always remember the way I felt on September 11, 2001 because it changed me forever.

Do you remember?

We lost a member of our family this week...

A loved and revered member of our family met a premature death at the hands of a toddler this week:

These are the remains of Thomas's first bouncy ball. It was the first toy that captured his attention for more than thirty consecutive seconds. He learned how to walk by pushing himself to a stand while holding onto the ball and then picking up the ball from the ground. Thomas and this ball shared some good times:

Untitled from healthyfatboy on Vimeo.

And when Thomas inherited a basketball hoop from a friend, this was the ball he learned to dunk with. However, the thrill of dunking in a hoop three feet off the ground was pretty short-lived. Which is how the bouncy ball met its demise here:

in the top of the floor lamp - Thomas's choice for a more challenging basketball hoop. It might have gone undiscovered for some time if I had not turned the light on, heard a huge POP! and the immediate smell of melting plastic. (and yes, that is me on the floor. I've sloooooooowly been tackling the huge task of painting all the trim in our house white - more on that, later.)

We were sad to see the little guy go. The ball really was a huge part of Thomas's babyhood/transition to toddlerhood. Thankfully, bouncy balls are in abundance and we soon found a replacement for our fallen friend:

But no bouncy ball will ever be the same as The Original. RIP, Bouncy Ball. You were the best $1.50 that I ever spent.

Addendum to "The Experiment"

Okay, so I had a comment suggesting that putting the wet item in the dryer for four minutes might work just as well so I did another experiment! I also commented on using a dry iron. I appended it to the bottom of the original post so see the previous post for the extras. I figured this was the best way to get it out. If it's not up, then please check in the morning as the video is still uploading and may take a little time to be completely ready.

You think you do not understand boys...

This was a long time coming but I FINALLY got around to trying it out.

So, in response to this post, I decided to defend my idea and do a little experiment. For those that do not remember, read the post.

In my attempt to keep people from nodding off at my description of the experiment, the experimentation process, and the experiment itself, which would ultimately become WAY too long to even care to read, I decided to make a video. Yes, a video. I tried to keep it as short as possible but it still ended up being 7 minutes long so forgive me and my boringness, although if you watch it all, you will be treated in whatever way I could think of on the fly with what I had available to me in the man cave.

I present, The Experiment...

View on ExposureRoom

So, there you have it. The result is in the video for all the world to see, or those who faithfully read our blog. So, do you understand boys any better now?

Disclaimer: If you ever decide to try this out, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure there is no metal or anything that can melt on any piece of cloth you put in. The microwave does bad things to metal and melty things. Now, if you're in for a show, and like sparkly things, by all means, stick something metal in BUT I do not take any responsibility and should not be liable for what happens to you, your microwave, your article of clothing, your house, or anything else you may own that may be damaged in the process. In other words, DON'T DO IT!

One more thing, just to be safe, don't leave the microwave unattended if you try this out yourself. In the off chance something happens, you want to be right there to catch it just in case.

You thought you could get the result without watching the video huh? Mwa ha ha ha...and yes, we have a microwave in the basement, but it's a spare.

ADDENDUM:

View on ExposureRoom

Sorry I wasn't up to doing much during the actual experiment so I fast forwarded really fast during the four minutes this time.

There was one more comment that using a dry iron would do the trick. I think it would do a fine job but only if the iron was already on and hot. If it is cold, I think you're going to wait a little for it to heat up and then you have to dry the piece of clothing so in a bind, it's probably not the fastest way to dry something BUT if the iron is already hot, I think it will be fine. I still prefer the microwave (assuming it's clean) since I can just throw it in and do something else as I watch it on the side, but that's just me being lazy. Yes, I am a man and admit to my laziness.