Category Archives: favorite people

I Don’t Know About You, But I’m Feeling 32

As of today Moose is officially 80% cooked. So, like, al dente, maybe? Sure.

Anyway, he’s large, and so am I. Everyday tasks are becoming more of a challenge. Because when you have a live, squirming, possibly-octopus the size of a jimaca residing atop your bladder (aside: what the hell is a jimaca?), nothing doesn’t feel awkward. Except maybe lying naked in bed with eighty pillows around you and a fan blowing full blast. That feels totally natural.

Lugging this cumbersome carcass around has lead to some pretty sad/entertaining moments for any flies watching from my wall. For example, you should see me attempting to clean up Chip’s half-eaten chicken Dino Buddies from the floor. It’s akin to watching a cross-eyed polar bear ice fishing, only WAY less graceful. The amount of growling is probably the same, though. Oh, stuff on the floor. We hates it, precious.

You should probably not ask me when the last time I shaved my legs was, either.

All things considered I’m feeling pretty great. Shhh, don’t tell the folks at the clinic, but I may have tapped into the cache of Xyrem I had squirreled away from when Chip was a newborn and sleep was a long-forgotten dream. (My OB/GYN is fine with it.) I feel like a new woman. Also my hair is fabulous and my skin is looking less like pizza and more like skin.

This past Sunday was nice. Mother’s Day is an uncomfortable time for me for reasons too gloomy to get into, but darned if CK and the ward didn’t do their best to make it a lovely day. I slept in, ate lots of sweet things, and watched Doctor Who with my dearly beloveds. What did you do?

A major highlight of my life is that bff Pixie is coming up tomorrow and we’re spending all weekend together! YES!! It appears that my plea for visitors is finally being heard. Not that this means the rest of you are off the hook (ahem, Fraulein.) Anyway, we’re gonna party it UP (fifteen-year-old-hyping-on-his-Twitter-style) and do us some serious pampering. With treatments! At a real spa and everything! Which will probably be weird because the fanciest I ever go is a yearly haircut and having Roxy shellac my erstwhile visible toenails. Gah. I am so excited.

And now for my favorite picture of the moment. Can you believe how grown up this little poser is looking? Neither can I.

You know I can’t resist saying it – have a happy hump day! Go get yourself some Ben & Jerry’s or something. Moose recommends Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. It’s his favorite.

Currently listening to: Cruise (Remix) by Florida Georgia Line feat. Nelly

Third Trimester, Purple Potatoes, and the Flower I Didn’t Kill

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29 weeks and counting, mates. That’s like, almost 30. Yeesh. Where has the time gone?! Good news is, this ol’ bod clearly remembers what it’s doing so I haven’t been nearly as uncomfortable and symptomatic as last time. I’ll take it!

Forgot to mention the perplexing and slightly frustrating results from my latest sleep study. That was a weird day. After greeting me warmly and inviting me to sit, my doctor took a deep breath and jumped right in with, “Well, you’re a horse of a different color.” Turns out that – yet again – I did not definitively meet the full criteria for narcolepsy; however, my cluster of test results were unlike any she had heard of in over a decade of practice. Certain symptoms were there, others usually found in tandem were impossibly absent. For example, my sleep onset times were normal, but my MSLT REM cycles were completely wonky. The sleep quality I got during the unmedicated overnight studies were considered acceptable, even with PMLD, yet I remained exhausted during the day. In sum, I slept “great” under nighttime laboratory circumstances, but my brain activity was inexplicable during the daytime naps. “Your case would be interesting to take on grand rounds,” my doctor said. Awesome.

Best of all, the meds she would usually prescribe for daytime sleepiness are considered unsafe for pregnancy, so the best she could do was suggest iron supplements to get my serum ferritin levels up and hopefully combat the PMLD. Which … yeah right. Like any pregnant lady wants more digestion issues. I can’t afford to take naps because I always oversleep and they leave me feeling worse than before. So instead I made an appointment for several weeks postpartum to discuss my options.

Basically I’m off Xyrem, still using the CPAP, and getting through the day on ~~lots of~~ caffeine. It’s certainly not ideal, but life has led me to subscribe to a survivalist’s brand of optimism: it could always be worse, and if it gets worse, we’ll stop and reassess.

Anyway, enough boring talk! Milly, Pal, Roxy, and Rocket came to town and we had some adventures, including but not limited to Settler’s Park, shopping (obviously), the Idaho Botanical Gardens, and Boise Fry Company (the burgers are the sides). Lo:

Transfixed by Curious George

We sit on front porches and swing life away…

The Classic is heaven in a hot lil' bun.

The Original w/cheese is heaven in a hot lil’ bun.

Just slidin’

“Mmmm, treat!! COLD!”

Three cheers for Philadelphus lewisii

Also, I purchased a daisy seed kit from Deseret Book for like, a dollar, to see if I could manage keeping it alive. So far it seems to have survived several traumas, including transplantation to a bigger container and one frosty night when I forgot to bring it back inside. This gives you so much confidence in my parenting abilities, no?

And speaking of gardening, check out the world’s cutest yard maintenance crew:

What are your plans for the weekend? (Yes, I’m already counting down the days.) I plan on finishing up some projects for Moose’s nursery and maybe hitting up the Farmer’s Market for fresh berries. My nesting reflex is kicking in hard core, people, and I like it! Ah, would that these lovely days would last all year.

Currently listening to: Boozophilia by Low Cut Connie

Spring Has Sprung (Pictures Galore)

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Hello, beautiful people. How art thou?

Have you been enjoying spring? Has it even arrived for you yet? West Idaho April stomps Utah April (aka Winter Lite); it’s been gorgeous here. Our trees are blossoming, the sky is bright blue, and by mid-afternoon I usually need the A/C on in my car. What’s that you say? You want to come pay me a visit? OKAY!

Here’s a taste of what the Jay Clan’s been up to lately.

1. Milly’s 50th birthday. The grandboys obviously had no patience for photos, but Cleo was an angel.

2. We went to a Steelheads game with friends. Moose kicked along in time to the loud music. I have no idea who won – we left after the first period. Ah, life with kids.

3. We had little Easter celebrations both at home and in Pocatello. Chip had a high fever on the actual weekend and was pretty miserable, but we made do the best we could.

I dress my son in anthropomorphic attire sometimes. It’s a thing.

4. We went swinging, strolling, swimming, shopping, and snuggling.

5. Finally, here’s a picture of Chip’s latest fashion accessory, just in case you were feeling badly about yourself. I all but dumped him out of his umbrella stroller while finagling around a tricky curb, pitching him face first onto the concrete. Worst. Mom. Ever.

Tonight my brother Jargo is coming into town, and we plan on hitting up taco night at Cafe Rio. Because that’s what any responsible person one week from her third trimester would do on a Tuesday.

What’s new in your ‘hood?

Currently listening to: Stay by Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko

I’ll Wear Your Granddad’s Clothes. I Look Incredible.

December and January: Celebrate ALL the Things!

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By the numbers, now.

15 — Number of times per day I kissed sweet Chloe on the forehead (before the sniffles set in, that is)

1 — Year of remembering T-Bo

80 — Mega Blocks opened at our early pre-Poky Christmas

4 — Seconds it took Rocket to smear birthday cake all over his cute face

97 — Attempts to get a decent Christmas jammies picture

5 — Baths in Grandma’s tub

6 — Tissues I went through watching Les Misérables in the theater with Milly and Pal. (Because the faucets come on EVERY TIME, no matter the version. Always has, always will, because I was a hardcore Hugo/Schönberg fan long before it was cool. And yes, I’m quite smug about the fact that I was raised on Colm Wilkinson’s voice, thanks. Hipster Sav OUT)

23 — How many times I’ve since listened to every Les Mis soundtrack I own

Screen shot 2013-01-03 at 9.04.55 PM

500 — Number of times Chip went tearing around the church foyer on Sunday

5 — New Year’s resolutions set

3 — Years of wacky, wonderful marriage to my Chocolate King

168 — Baby’s heartbeats per minute today! Yay.

I’m almost out of the first trimester, which *hopefully* means I’ll be returning to blogging semi-normalcy soon. ‘Course, bigger fetus means fewer brain cells for mama, so don’t hold your breath.

Currently listening to: Some Nights by fun.

Recent Life in Photos, Part 2

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I spend too much time on Instagram and too little time writing. Here’s me trying to repent a little.

Tot Time at the library is crazy and fun. The gal who runs it always wears these sky high stilettos — it’s a wonder to me that she’s never skewered a child. She’s cute though; as peppy and enthusiastic as you would expect from someone whose job it is to keep toddlers from stealing toys and poking each other in the eyes. Plus, she finally got Chip to bust some dance moves. Mama approves.

We bought a second car forever ago. (She doesn’t have a name yet — I suggested Sexy.) I am so glad to no longer being trapped in the house all day. Here she is in all her sleek, blue, fuel efficient glory.

Uncle Jargo came to visit! We went to the maize maze. (Ha.) Look at his face — we’re so related. I’m happy that his new position at work will bring him up here several times a year.

This next one is from the time we tried to drive across the entire state without refueling. See the range — “1 miles” until an empty tank? Yep, we hovered there for a good fives miles or so. Adventure of the most acute kind, I tell you.

There he goes … there he goes again … racin’ through my brain …

I’m the mean mom who thinks it’s hilarious to take pictures of my baby when he’s simultaneously suffering a cold and incoming molars.

The Boise LDS Temple was recently renovated, and right now it’s hosting a public open house until its rededication next month. We went through on Saturday. I loved it. Chip was gaga over the beautiful chandeliers. We weren’t allowed to photograph the interior, but those curious can see some professional shots here.

Now I need to go upload some video of Chip walking. He’s awfully cute and top heavy. Makes for some funny moments. But I think this post is sufficiently long, don’t you?

Have a great week!

Currently listening to: Made Up Love Song No. 43 by Guillemots

Domo Arigato

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You’re all a bunch of lovely geniuses.

Thank you for your encouragement, compliments, links, and virtual fist-bumps of solidarity on my recent posts. They meant the world.

Per your excellent advice, I jumped online and looked up our library’s autumn activity schedule. Now that the school district’s summer reading initiatives have ended, 6-18 monther reading time is back! YES! That will make my Mondays more interesting. I got on Facebook and found that one of the ladies in my neighborhood hosts a Movie Club every month. I joined that too; should be fun.

I also made a goal to get ready for the day before Chip gets up, rather than hiding out at home until he goes down for a nap. That right there freed up half my morning.

While I’m mentioning goals and life overhauls and such, I need to ask if any of you lovelies use the MyFitnessPal app. Well, do you? It’s wonderful. And evil. Mostly wonderful. I’ve been keeping track of every calorie that passes my lips for over a week, as well as logging my workouts, and it’s been illuminating to say the least. I had no idea I was doing so much mindless munching until it wasn’t mindless anymore. This thing calculates your current and goal weights against your daily activity level and gives you a magic number of calories to hit. You can input custom recipes and even scan barcodes to give you the most accurate count. Super easy.

Yeah, limiting your intake can suck. I’ve had moments where I jonsed for a doughnut so bad I thought I would die (I don’t even LIKE doughnuts that much), but each day gets easier. I feel like I’m accountable to that stupid little app, and it keeps me in check. You should give it a go if you’re trying to trim up. And you can add me! We can get hawt together! Woot woot.

In final news, it turns out Chip did NOT have an ear infection (praise the stars!) so we celebrated by finally hanging some things on our sad, bare wall. What do you think?

Have a happy hump day!

Currently listening to: I Can Only Imagine by David Guetta

Blogging, Schmogging. Snogging? Summer!

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Chip and I had a lovely holiday at Bear Lake.

As with all Jay family gatherings, there was endless good food and company to be had. We enjoyed a baby shower for one of CK’s childhood friends, as well as The Hanging of El Bandito at the Pickleville Playhouse, an original production that had us all in stitches. (I saw the female lead in Peter Pan at BYU last year; she was charming.) Mostly I just soaked up that water, sun, and sand until I felt utterly renewed. The only thing that would have made it better was if my sweet husband could’ve come along.

Honorary aunts Pixie and Rosalie came to town! We strolled the local rose garden and fed geese in the park. Why do I never think of snapping full group photos until after the fact?! I love them both dearly.

Hmmm… what else? Chip’s birthday is in a week, and I’ve spent the last two days congratulating myself for successfully crafting his party decorations without hot gluing my fingers together. And picking all the plums off my tree, forgetting about them, and finding them later, slumped into ruin. Sad.

I have a story for you about the time I failed my Idaho Driver License Test, but that’s a post for another day.

Ta!

Currently listening to: Somewhere a Clock is Ticking by Snow Patrol

P.S. CK needs suggestions for things to blog about. For some reason he doesn’t think a heartfelt, longwinded post extolling my virtues is as great an idea as *I* think it is. Thus, your ideas! And quickly!

Recent Life in Photos

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Things continue to be well with my little clan.

I just spent the last four minutes thinking of a cleverer way than “clan” to refer to us, but got stuck when my brain started slaughtering Elton John lyrics (sing it with me … But they’re so spaced out, S-S-S-Savvy and the Jays!)

It’s probably better if I just let the pictures do the talking.

Sunday would have been T-Bo’s 17th birthday. I wasn’t sure what to expect, emotion-wise. My sweet husband did everything he could to make it a nice day – and it was. Naturally, there were some melancholy moments, but for the most part I felt peace. Then yesterday I stumbled upon this entry in a journal I kept in second grade. I was a weird kid who said things in weird ways, but I spoke the truth. That boy made a lot of people happy.

This was us all gussied up for Mother’s Day. Aren’t we charming? Ignore the ugly hair tie on my wrist. Ah crap, I just did that thing, didn’t I?

Here was my awesome present (just arrived today). In the past I got loads of flak from CK’s family for being a TOMS wearer. What do you have to say now, you die-hard Sanukians? I say that when it comes to footwear, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Unless it’s Crocs. Crocs are never acceptable.

We have a separate soaker tub in the master bathroom. It’s nice and all, but my favorite part is how it’s become a convenient place for Chip to play while I shower. I can keep an eye on him while he bangs around all his fancy, high-quality toys, like that package of swim diapers. Can’t say we don’t think out of the box around here.

The solar eclipse was best viewed from My Hometown, but we still got a good look up here. I snapped this picture when CK pointed out that the gaps in the leaves of our tree made pinholes, which subsequently created some pretty cool light projections. Look at all those tiny crescents!

And here’s proof of my acquaintance with the nearby city libraries. It’s been so delicious to curl up with a real non-textbook book for once. Ten points if you can spy the police thriller authored by a fictional character.

I’ve tried a few new recipes, each to great success. I didn’t take pictures because I was too busy shoving the subject of my photography down my gullet. Mmmm. Funny how cooking is easier now; I’ve settled into that comfortable stage where I know where all my stuff is, which stores sell harder-to-find ingredients, when the best times to shop are, and what I really need to set my oven timer to when the recipe calls for 30-35 minutes. For example, today I finally took C.’s recommendation and tried Janssen’s delish homemade ranch dressing, as well as Mel’s banana bread. Dinner was an old favorite of CK’s — Milly’s tried ‘n true chicken and chips recipe — because he was sick and I took pity. Nothing says “love” like foods smothered in cheese. Can I get an amen?

So that’s life. And it’s all right by me.

Currently listening to: Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen (Don’t tell him I told you, but this is totally CK’s jam right now, which is hilarious)

The Capital L

Left pinky. Right ring. All together now.

Category Archives: favorite people

I Don’t Know About You, But I’m Feeling 32

Third Trimester, Purple Potatoes, and the Flower I Didn’t Kill

Spring Has Sprung (Pictures Galore)

I’ll Wear Your Granddad’s Clothes. I Look Incredible.

December and January: Celebrate ALL the Things!

Recent Life in Photos, Part 2

Domo Arigato

Blogging, Schmogging. Snogging? Summer!

Recent Life in Photos

:)