Because we're vain like that

Yes, we have more family pictures. We've always wanted to get a yearly family picture taken at "our" temple (Provo), but this is the first year it's actually happened. And it's high time to start replacing our wedding pictures in all the frames that have yet to be hung on our walls here...

Thanks to Dusty for the great pictures!

Pop Music and Standardized Tests

I know, only in the Nance household do these two logically come together. As I've been cleaning house today, my music reminded me of this funny story. :)

If you've ever spent any amount of time around Mark, you know that he always has some tune running through his head. Most often this is just a subconscious habit that spreads whatever song is on his mind to everyone around him (often just me :), but on some occasions his musical mind comes in very handy.

About a year ago, Mark took the Praxis, as is required for all aspiring elementary school teachers. The Praxis basically tests a teacher's knowledge of all the stuff they're supposed to be qualified to teach: math, social studies, language arts, science. Many many wannabe teachers have a very hard time passing the test, unfortunately. My genius husband scored the highest of all the USU students who took the test that year, all because of his musical mind.

So, Mark is in the middle of the social studies section of the test and up comes this question:

Where was Napoleon defeated?

His answer?

(And who doesn't need to see those crazy Swedes every once in a while, anyway? Gotta love the red hotpants ensemble.)

Later on, this question pops up: Which Native American tribe is associated with the Trail of Tears?

Mark's answer:

(And again, who doesn't love a crazy-haired Swedish hard-rock band singing about a displaced American Indian tribe? You really can't top the 80's.)

So there you have it. Next time someone tells you to stop listening to that crazy rock music and study, you tell that someone that you are studying, because someday those crazy lyrics just might be a stepping stone to a wildly successful career as an underpaid civil servant.

Mom's the Word: The Magic of the Third Month

Paul is now 3(+) months old, and we still love him. {sigh of relief because I know you all were SO worried about that} He is so mellow and so easy that it almost makes us think we're okay with having another baby. Almost. If I could get a guarantee that baby (and pregnancy) #2 would be as smooth sailing as this, we'd reproduce again in a heartbeat. (Sorry if that's TMI...) As I will *never* get a guarantee like that, we'll bide our time. :)

Anyway, yes, back to the topic at hand: the magic of the three month marker. Even though I have the best baby (and I will never {quote me on that and get after me if I do} complain about my beautiful boy doing normal baby things like drooling, having blow-out diapers, and crying), nearly every mom I've talked to has told me, "It gets easier at 3 months." Some have even added, "I don't know why exactly, but it's easier after 12 weeks!"

At 10 weeks, I tried to imagine how this baby could get easier. He's happy. He only fusses when he's tired or hungry (as a general rule). He smiles. He laughs. He sleeps SO well: through the night, from 9 PM until at least 5 AM, sometimes even until 8 AM!

At least, he did.

Then Christmas Break happened.

One of the beautiful benefits (which are sometimes few and far between) of having a husband who is a school teacher are these crazy-great breaks, such as two full weeks off around Christmas. We loved having him home. We went on adventures, we played, we stayed up late, we slept in.

We sacrificed baby's wonderfully perfect-for-us sleeping schedule.

In the past week, we've re-established a schedule (hooray for schedules!). This new schedule involves Paul waking up at 4 AM. Honestly, I don't mind waking up at 4 AM to do the mom thing. Hearing my baby coo at me at 4 AM is okay in my book. The problem comes with waking up (again) at 8 AM when Paul is ready to be awake for the day.

I can't do it. 

After being up at 4 AM and going back to bed, my limbs are like lead. My brain is like yucky day-old oatmeal. My eyes feel like sandbags.

So, since I haven't yet figured out how to train Paul to sleep just another hour before waking up (since I and my body are totally 100% okay with waking up for the day at 5 AM), I am adjusting my schedule to make waking up for the day at 4 AM a regular thing.

I'm thinking this is a blessing in disguise, coming under the cover of night. I'm finally getting motivated (by the extra poundage I re-gained thanks to holiday treats) to commit to exercising. Which I have never done. Ever. I've exercised. As part of a class, sure. On a random whim when I had time, definitely. But never regularly, on my own, motivated sheerly by my own willpower (and the post-baby dough belly).

So, this is it. 4 AM (ish) and I are going to be workout buddies.

Resolving...

I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions because I'm really crummy at sticking to them. So, these aren't resolutions, just things that will hopefully happen during 2010...

1. Lose the post-baby dough-belly by actually engaging in some sort of physical activity on a daily basis and cutting out all the beloved crap that I eat far too much of too often.
   
2. Create and stick to a scripture plan of study.
   
3. Keep reading! I've read probably 10 books in the last 3 weeks and I love it. Makes me feel like my brain isn't atrophying quite so much from spending all day with a babbling baby. :) I ready quickly and I devour books, so I'm aiming to read 35 this year.
   
4. Blog. I'm counting this as my personal history, so I'll try (really really really hard) to post at least once per week. This is actually very difficult for me because I am an extreme perfectionist and blog posts never turn out quite right...
5. Take pictures! We have a great new camera that works EVERY time you turn it on, not just every third or fourth time, and I've finally gotten in to the habit of taking it with us, but I forget to actually pull it out of the case about 80% of the time. Oops. Plus, a blog is way more exciting if it involves real pictures, not those that come from Google. 
6. Attend the temple weekly. Yes, that sounds like a lot, but if we can't figure out how to consistently make it to the temple here, 10 minutes from the temple and with myriad babysitters, we'll never be able to do it. (Yes, that is grammatically correct to say myriad babysitters. Not a myriad of. It is acceptable both ways. I also was shocked to learn this. Thank you, Merriam-Webster.)
7. Date my husband more often. (More on the Date of the Month Club later.)
   

Our December (picture overload...)

Well, we had a mighty eventful December, and for some of it I even remembered to take pictures!

We started out the month by meeting Santa...

(which Paul obviously found very exciting)

And then Paul grew some and smiled more....

 

And then there was a dead bird on our doorstep?!?

(whose appearance could have to do with our proximity to the junior high)

 

And then we celebrated Mark's birthday...

(If you're a Simpson's fan, you might get it...)

 

And then Paul grew and smiled some MORE...

 

And then we enjoyed having Mark home for 2 whole weeks!

 

While Mark was out of school

we went to Sofie's birthday party to meet Aunt Debra (and Uncle Seth)

 

And, of course, SOFIE!

 

We went to an Aggies game in Logan with the Hawkins...

 

and tired out this boy!

(who won the hat by making a basket at halftime. Thank you, Gossners!)

 

And we got to see the A

(but just for a minute because it was SO cold!)

 

We also painted baby feet for grandparents' Christmas presents...

 

to get ready for Christmas!

We explained Christmas to baby Paul.

We told him that if he was naughty, that big present might just be coal...

So, Paul, were you NAUGHTY this year?

 

Or NICE?

 

Obviously he's thrilled :)

 

Then we went over to the Waddoups' house in our new pajamas

(thanks to my sister, Joce)

 

We love Grandma!

 

Then we went to the Nances

where we witnessed a Mentos geyser

(video forthcoming, Leslee?)

 

And then Paul smiled more (and grew some more, again!)

when the Hawkins came to stay. We are very happy that the Hawkins came, and even happier that they stayed even though our house was a first-rate wind tunnel with fans drying out the mini-flood thanks to neighbors who turned off their heat, bursting a pipe and flooding our laundry room :(

 

And spent some man time with Dad talking sports with Uncle Seth.

 

Mark got a whole pillowcase full of candy and treats from the Hawkins,

the perfect gift for the man with a massive sweet tooth

 

We enjoyed some Spam Fried Rice

(which really isn't as gross as it sounds, I promise)

 

And played with Mark's new toy truck tracks.

 

We went to Temple Square to see the lights

(where it was COLD, again -- blast that winter!)

and Paul enjoyed the streetlights in downtown SL as much as any Christmas lights

 

We were bright-eyed at the stroke of midnight for New Year's

(and wondering why Grandpa Paul and Daddy were banging pans in the street?)

 

Happy New Year!