Birthday Boy

Last week (the 18th) was Jeff's birthday. I just got around to getting new photos uploaded onto the computer so this is a bit late. For our anniversary, I posted some things about Jeff that you may not have known (see here), so I didn't think I needed to do that again. Here is a slight variation. A Jeff Birthday Quiz. There will be a prize for the person who gets the most answers correct.
1. Jeff served his mission in a Spanish speaking country, where the world's best baseball players come from. Name that country.
2. His favorite baseball team plays their spring training games in Arizona. Name that team (it's not the Diamondbacks).
3. One of his least favorite people is the head football coach of the Florida Gators. He is also the former coach of the Utah Utes. Name that traitor.
4. His favorite tv shows are: a reality show where "fast forwards," "yields," and "road blocks" are important, and a comedy at Dunder Mifflin. Name those two shows.
5. His favorite football player of all-time was a 49er. And he had a stint on "Dancing with the Stars." Name that player.
6. His favorite band sings the songs "Bad," "One," and "All I Want is You." Name that band.
7. His two favorite desserts are Lemon Meringue Pie and the one he is holding in the picture. It was his only request for his birthday. Name that dessert.

Happy Birthday Jeff! I love you!

Daily laugh

We had a fhe lesson about laughter and how we are going to try to laugh more and whine less. Kids are so much better at finding joy in life than adults are. One of the things I love about being a mom is remembering how much I loved being a kid. Here is one of my reminders.

"My favorite color is light tan."

You may have seen this going around lately--I've been tagged to share six things about myself that you may (or may not) already know. I love learning new things about all my (blogger) friends, so consider yourself tagged if you are reading this. I'll be checking to see what new tidbits I can learn about you. Oh, and my favorite color is not light tan. Whose is?

1. I like structure and routine. I always assumed it was for my kids that I tried to keep a consistent schedule of eating, naps and bedtime, but I have come to realize that I like it for myself. I like knowing what the day will hold. We usually eat lunch at 12:00, and I find that I will wait until it is actually noon before we sit down to eat, even if we are all hungry and it's 11:45. I make Kyla wait a full three hours before I feed her again. I start to get anxious if it's past 12:30 and Allie isn't in bed... I am learning to be flexible, though, because having kids means giving up a lot of the control I wish I had. I'm just not very good at being spontaneous.



2. I do things because you are supposed to do them, without really even questioning why. And I feel guilty for not doing things I know that I should do (like visiting teaching, which I despise, or not exercising one morning, or spending money on anything..seriously, the list goes on and on). I wish my conscience wasn't so strong--I think I would enjoy life a little more.



3. I am terrible about approaching people about anything. I would be a horrible salesman (just like that 4th of July when my parents had us sell water and pop in wagons at Vernon Worthen Park and I hated every second of it). I get nervous calling people on the phone, even my close friends. I know that is weird, but it's true. I also hate confrontation and would do anything to avoid it, even if that means



4. I get excited walking down the aisles of sporting good stores, office supply stores and libraries. One year for Valentine's Day, Jeff came home from school and told me I had 2 hours to do whatever I wanted and I needed to go buy something for myself. I spent an hour browsing shelves at the library (something we moms never get to do) before running to the mall and buying myself a pair of pants from Aeropostale (one place I know I will be able to find something cute that fits). That was a great day. Maybe my perfect day would be spending an hour (or more) at the library, Staples, and Dick's Sporting Goods.

5. I like cute clothes but don't really care for shopping. It probably goes back to my aversion to spending money. I do like buying clothes for my kids, and have had good success with clearance sales at A Children's Place, Target, GAP, and JC Penney. I loved shopping the thrift stores in Ohio--the ones in Florida just aren't as good--and second-hand stores, and I love looking at my receipt and seeing how many things I got for just $20 or $30. I do buy my kids underwear new. Jeff makes me.

6.I love the sunshine. I'm sure growing up in St. George has a lot to do with that (although, Jeff grew up in Mesa, AZ, and he handled the constant gray skies of Columbus a lot better than I did). And there's nothing like gazing into a blue sky, free of clouds.

There you go. Six things about me. Now go do yours.

Bahamas Mon!

We did, in fact, just get back from the Bahamas. We had wanted to go on a cruise when Jeff graduated from dental school last summer, but we were in the middle of moving to Jacksonville and it just didn't work out. He promised me that we would still go on a cruise while we lived here, but I wasn't sure that would ever really happen. Well, we made it happen. We flew my mom out here to watch our kids (my dad and youngest sister decided to come, too), and we set sail from right here in Jacksonville on a 4 night Carnival cruise to the Bahamas. There is much to tell, but I think I am going to condense it all into two lists.

Things we didn't like about the cruise
Not being able to escape the rest of the tourists. We wanted to be able to do whatever we wanted, but that was a little bit difficult. Taxi drivers want to wait until they can fill their van (8 people, usually) before they leave, and they want to take everyone to one spot. We would've preferred being able to set out on our own and not just go to the same places everyone else was going. Also, a lot of Americans are just rude, and we hated being lumped in with the rest of them.

Bad weather. There was nothing that would've changed this, but it rained both days in the Bahamas (we spent one afternoon in Freeport and the next day, all day, in Nassau). It was really a bummer, and we ended up spending a lot more time indoors than we wanted to.
The rocking of the boat. The first few days were fine, but we hit some bad weather that really sent the boat swaying (especially down below where our room was). I still feel a little seasick and we have been home 48 hours.

Being somewhat limited to what you could do on the boat. Our ship was a smaller one (about 1500 people), and there were a lot of activities onboard, but we still wished for more.

The aggressive Bahamians trying to get us to buy things from them. I just don't like trying to wheel and deal to get the best prices on things, and I really didn't like every person we saw at the market trying to force things into my hand.

Things we loved about the cruise

The location. We left from the port here in Jacksonville, about 15 minutes from our house. We didn't have to fly or drive anywhere, but got to just get right on to the boat and never had to worry about travel again. Also, because it was October, we got a really good deal. We just couldn't pass it up.

It was completely relaxing. Because we had basically no time restrictions, we could do whatever we wanted without ever feeling rushed. I didn't feel like we needed to hurry home to our kids, or worry about when/where we would eat, and so we really did relax and enjoy ourselves.

The food, of course. Not everything was delicious (we give it about 3 1/2 stars out of 5), but there was always something to eat. And eat we did. The seafood was awesome, some of the beef was really good, the nonfat yogurt was one of my favorite things...Jeff said that no cruise line can afford to have bad food because they will lose so much business if they do. I have never seen so many people eating so much. It makes me sick to think about. We ate our fair share, too, and I'm honestly relieved that part is over. I just wish I could have one more lobster tail.

The movie channels they had in our room. We got caught up with Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Evan Almighty while we were cruising. It had been a while since we had seen any movie, and it was fun to get to do that.

Snorkling in the most gorgeous water I've ever seen. Even though we had bad weather, we still managed to see all kinds of fish, stingrays and conch. The bad weather may have helped us out a little, because no one was out on the beach. That was pretty cool. You can see one of the conch shells Jeff found in this video clip. The animal inside is alive and he left them in the ocean.

Getting to spend so much time alone with Jeff. That was definitely the best part of the cruise. We could take a stroll on the deck and take in the beautiful ocean on all sides of us. We could go to sleep whenever we wanted and didn't have to worry about taking care of anyone else. We could sleep in as much as we wanted and when we felt like having it quiet, it was quiet. So nice. And we got to be the people we were before we had kids. It was a fun walk through memory lane. If nothing else had gone right, it would've been worth it just to spend that much time with Jeff, remembering why I fell in love with him.

Here are some pics (a little out of order, but who cares) . We probably will cruise again. We would like to go with some friends or relatives next time (dinner was a tad awkward with couples we didn't know who weren't big conversationalists). Anyone want to come with us?

Borrowing some chairs from a resort in Nassau. We took a bus to this beach and ended up being some of the only people there. We saw some of the prettiest fish just a few hundred yards away in the ocean. It was the worst weather day, but we both agreed that it was our funnest day.

Getting back on the boat in Nassau. You can tell that it was a bit blustery.


Cute towel pig our stateroom steward left in our room one night. Jeff is making a pig face, and wasn't crazy about this picture. Too bad for him.

Our formal night. I wish we would've finished dinner a little earlier so we could have had the sunset in the background.

The first day in Freeport. It was great weather for a couple of hours and then the rains came. At least we had some gorgeous water/sky as a backdrop for some photos.

Just before we got off the boat in Freeport. Gorgeous, right? The water isn't bad either.

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Teaser

I have been out of town the past few days and am trying to get everything back together. I'll be posting soon. As soon as I stop swaying.... (any guesses where we've been?)

This and That

Conference weekend was really nice. It was really nice because it finally stopped raining, and I feel more like we live in Florida and less like we live in Forks (ah, Edward...).

Damon loves Conference. In keeping with a tradition from my childhood, he gets to play some type of Conference Bingo with Skittles. This year we used the Friend's idea and assigned six topics a different color. When he heard any of the words on his list, he would put a Skittle on it. As soon as the speaker finished, he could eat any he had on his page (usually all in one bite). The first 5+ minutes of the talk were the best. The rest of the talk was filled with "when is he going to be done?" Still, I'd say it was a success.








Damon also had his second encounter with the Tooth Fairy. This one was much more positive. He actually put this tooth under his own pillow and collected his own dollar. Progress.

If you wondered why my Avatar is wearing pajamas at the doctor's office, there is a reason. I spent Thursday taking care of a severely plugged milk duct/mastitis. I will spare you the details of the condition of my breast, but it was extremely painful. My doc felt sure it had abscessed and sent me to get an ultrasound on it while he was making me an appointment with a surgeon. Fortunately, there was no absecess and I was able to get the plug out later that night with another round of pumping. I am on some heavy antibiotics (most likely unnecssary, if you ask me, since there was no abscess) and I can't nurse while I'm taking them. Kyla is a champ and will take any combination of frozen breast milk/formula I offer her. The good news is that I'm feeling much better, although the drugs make me dizzy, drowsy, nauseated and give me diarrhea.

Here are a few more pics from the weekend for your enjoyment. Do you think Kyla looks like Damon?

I love this one of Jeff and Kyla. I love the expression on Jeff's face just as much as the one on Kyla's.




And finally one to prove that I do, in fact, exist. I love this Halloween outfit of Kyla's, and asked Damon to take the picture for me, hence the unconventional angle of the shot.

Cut

I have a lot of pics to post, but I wanted to put this one on while I have a second. Allie had her first haircut today. She spends most of her time naked (well, she has "undies" on) and with her hair a mess. Truth be told, if I tell her she needs to get dressed she asks, "where are we going?" I took her today to get a haircut. And she had clothes on. Definitely camera worthy. I think it turned out pretty cute.

10 Years Younger

Once when I was in college, I went home for a weekend and ended up at my brother's track meet. It was one of those "field days" you have in junior high, where everyone shows up in tank tops, with a cooler full of gatorade, and interrupts their tanning and socializing for the required one or two events they have signed up for. You all know what I'm talking about, right?

Well, I showed up to watch my brother run (or jump or whatever he was doing), but felt quickly out of place amidst the 12-14 year old crowd and left as soon as he was finished. As I was walking out of the gate toward the parking lot, a teacher stopped me and asked if I was leaving with a parent. Embarrassed, I muttered that I wasn't a student at the school, but was actually in college. The teacher apologized and let me go, but I started to wonder whether or not I could really pass for a middle schooler. I consoled myself with reassurance that the teacher must not have really been looking at me very closely, because I still find it hard to believe that I could pass for someone 5+ years younger than myself.

~

The summer just before I got married, I had the best job in the world; I worked as a BYU Sports Camp Counselor. We had nothing to do with the actual athletic training, but instead spent the afternoons and evenings "chaperoning" the various activities going on. We went swimming, took weekly excursions to Seven Peaks Water Park, had watermelon spitting contests and talent shows, and attended weekly dances with our campers. Basically, I got paid for having fun. Everyone should be so lucky to have a job like that. Most of the time, we counselors wore one of three different counselor t-shirts that easily identified who we were. But the dances were a different story. We were dressed up in skirts or dresses, and boys would frequently ask us to dance, unaware that we weren't campers like they were.

My fellow counselor friends and I quickly found that the second we told the boys we were counselors, they would get embarrassed and not know how to act around us. And so, we decided the best thing to do would be to fib a little about our identities, merely to protect the boys feelings. My two friends and I became DJ, Stephanie and Michelle. We were always 17 and going to be a senior. Our hometown and the camp we were attending changed depending on what came to our minds in that instant. We were friendly, but never flirty (that would've been weird) and it worked like a charm; the boys were not embarrassed that they had asked a counselor to dance (gasp!), but (hopefully) went away having a good experience.

~
I think my days of "fitting in" with the younger crowd are over, thanks to my kids. Saturday night confirmed this for me, although I had suspected it for a while. One Sunday, I caught a glimpse of our reflection in the window as we came into the house after church. "We are a real family with three kids," I said to Jeff, somehow surprised. "I know," he said, "We're old."

Jeff's oldest brother, Brian, was visiting for a few days and we took advantage of him being here by treating ourself to one of our favorite restaurants, Koja Sushi. The restaurant is located at the Jacksonville Landing, right next to the river, and is a really fun place to eat. Usually there is some type of live entertainment in the courtyard downstairs and there are always people walking up and down the riverwalk taking in some awesome views. We didn't realize that Saturday night was anything special until we tried to find a place to park. That's when we found out that the Florida State/Alabama game was being played at the Jaguars stadium a few miles away. Thousands of college coeds had made the trip from Tallahassee and Tuscaloosa, and the ones who didn't have tickets to the game were gathered at the Landing for a party reminiscent of New Year's Eve in Las Vegas ("Happy @#($&# New Year Guys!" for Heather and Tara). We decided to go to Koja anyway--the sushi is that good.

Between the four Trapnell families (Brian, who had none of his kids with him; Russ, who had his three boys; Jeff, with his three; and Greg, with his son), we made quite the entrance into the tiny restaurant. Everywhere we looked (but mostly at the bar), there were college kids eating, drinking, laughing and watching the game. I took Allie into the bathroom, squeezing in between more tan girls in tank tops than I'd seen since my last field day in junior high. Allie used the toilet and as we were washing our hands, a coed was puking into the sink next to us. Good times.

Dinner was awesome (as it always is) and we got free soup, salad and some amazing fried ice cream balls because we had to wait a while for our food. Not a bad night, if you ask me. But as I sat there, looking around at the college kids, I realized that there was no way I was going to be mistaken for one of them that night. I didn't have on a necklace of flashing breasts (red lights flashed on a breast shaped piece of plastic) or a plastic cup of beer in my hand; instead, I had a leaky pair of breasts and a baby in my hand.

Truth be told, I never would've felt comfortable in an atmosphere like that, even before I had kids, but I would've been able to blend in more than I did Saturday night. We might have been able to sit there relatively unnoticed, as the drunken coeds partied all around us. But I don't think it's such a bad thing that we stood out this time. I hope all of those girls (even the one who was yakking in the bathroom) someday get to be as lucky as I am--staying home and raising my kids, knowing that a good man who loves us all is going to walk through the door at night. It kind of snuck up on me, but I guess I really am living my dream.

Little of this

Things here have been busy as always. One major event that happened was the first visit of the tooth fairy. You may recall Damon's irrational fear when he learned such a being existed (if you are new to my blog, you can read about it here), but we felt safe in our assumption that it would be another year before he had to really worry about her, and would get over it. The tooth expert in the family said he shouldn't start losing his teeth until he turns six. Instead, a couple of weeks ago, Damon announced that he had a loose tooth. Sure enough. It fell out a few days ago.

Because he had been aware that it was loose for some time before it actually fell out, I thought he would probably have had enough time to prepare himself for the coming of the tooth fairy and that it wouldn't be as traumatic as he had anticipated. But when it came time to actually put the tooth under his pillow, he refused. He was ready to throw the tooth away in the trash, rather than face the prospect of a "scary fairy" coming into his room while he slept. We tried to reason with him for a while, but eventually gave up. Instead, we let Allie put the tooth under her pillow. She was good with the plan until Jeff and I got up to leave the room. Then she started crying, "I don't like the tooth!" Instantly, Damon jumped in, trying to convince her that it wouldn't be scary, as long as he didn't have to have the tooth on his bed (not even at the foot of the bed, as Jeff suggested). Allie eventually calmed down and was the proud recipient of one dollar the next morning. Damon didn't seem to care too much that she was collecting his tooth money, but did admit that he will probably be ready to put his next tooth under his own pillow. Crazy kid.

Allie has become quite good at dressing herself; that is, if your definition of "dressing yourself" means getting some type of clothing over some part of your body. This is a particularly memorable outfit she conjured up so she could go outside.

Pajama shorts over one arm, and a different pajama top around the waist. No underwear. Perfect! When she tried to go outside this way, though, she was sent back in by her daddy for being too immodest. Does anyone else think he was being too strict? Look from the backside and then decide.

Lastly, the mosquitoes have come back in full force. Since it's been nice enough to actually go outside in the evenings, we've been out a lot lately (Allie, only when her bum isn't showing). One night was terrible and we all came in with dozens of bites. Allie and I got it the worst. Here we are sporting calamine lotion all over our bites. I HATE mosquitoes.

Elevator Music

Okay, not music. But at our bookclub the other night, we got talking about people we wouldn't want to be stuck in an elevator with, and it was determined that we should all blog our top ten list. So, here is my list, in no particular order.


Ernest P. Worrell, even though he always seemed to make Heather cry (we knew you were faking, Heather!)

Charlie Weis. For those of you who don't know, he is the coach of the football team at Notre Dame. I don't have anything against him personally, but I would just feel uncomfortable trying to stay out of the way of his pear-shaped body.

Hilary Clinton. I would hate trying to defend my belief that being a stay-at-home mom is the best thing I could do for my kids (wasn't she known to say, "What should I do, stay home and bake cookies?" Um, what's wrong with that?).

Mike Tyson. Thanks to Jeff for helping me come up with this one. I don't think there is anyone more unstable than he is. I'm afraid he'd want to "eat my children."

Former Senator Larry Craig. Regardless of what he was planning on doing in that bathroom, I wouldn't feel comfortable being stuck with him, and I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable with him if Jeff were there.

Howard Stern. Not Anna Nicole's lover. The other one. No further explanation needed?

Gilbert Gottfried. I will always think of him as Iago from Aladdin. And not with any degree of fondness. I'm just glad I haven't had to hear his annoying voice much lately.

Donald Trump. Is there a more arrogant man on the planet? There definitely aren't any with worse hair.

Jeff, who broke Zack and Kelly up on Saved by the Bell. His name is actually Patrick Muldoon, but I don't dislike Patrick. Just Jeff. I still wouldn't want to watch that episode.

Allie when she hasn't had a nap, or is throwing a tantrum. I'm sure you all would agree...

Who would be in your Ten?

Orlando...again

I love many things about living in Florida (and I keep reminding myself that often when I start to forget). I love the people here, and our ward is so wonderful. Even though we have only been here a little over a year, we feel like we are a part of the ward family and will really miss these people when our time here is up.

One thing I don't love about Florida is the temple here. Please don't stop reading now, thinking I have become an apostate here in the sunshine state, but bear with me. I have posted previously about how I didn't get to do any intiatory on our last visit to the temple because they didn't have enough workers (you can read about it here if you care to). On our most recent trip to Orlando, we had tentatively planned for the men to do a session Friday night and us ladies would get up Saturday morning and go before we left for Sea World. When the guys didn't get out of their lecture until 5:00, we gave up the evening temple trip (the last session is at 8:00--just when we were getting to Orlando), and I called the temple to find out what time the first session was Saturday morning. The sweet lady on the phone told me 7:30 and my heart sank. Sea World opens at 9:00, and we were planning on getting there between 9:30 and 10:00. There was no way we would be able to make it back to the hotel in time, and we decided that we just couldn't do it. I was, again, frustrated. Naively, I assumed that they would have a 6:00 am session, considering that Saturday should be a busy day and Orlando is not a small temple.

Obviously I overestimated the number of people who are going to the temple, hence the lack of temple workers and lack of early morning sessions. I know that we're not in Utah, but I get the feeling that these great people here in Florida could probably do a little more (myself included).

Stepping down from that soapbox now...

We had a great time at Sea World, like we always do. We like Sea World much better than any of the Disney parks (it's less expensive, they let you bring your own food in, if you get hot you can always sit in the soak zone at the shows...) and I won't be sad if we never go to another Disney park again. Here are a couple pics from our day. This is a hungry sea lion. You can buy fish to feed them and they will come right up to you (we didn't have food and this one wasn't too happy about it). Jeff and Greg found it odd that people were willingly paying to do someone else's job.

This is the kids standing by the life size Shamu. We were on our way to the whale show when we ran into him (it?) and we had to get a pic. Jeff was trying to save our seats, practically coming to blows with an English couple behind him who were attempting to steal them, but I think it was worth it to get this cute shot. Allie's shorts are on backwards and one of her hair elastics has snapped, but I still think it's cute.

And here is one of my favorite memories. Jeff took all three kids while Noel and I went on Kraken, the crazy roller coaster that made us both light-headed and a little nauseated. Why is it that roller coasters used to be so much more fun than they are now? The teenagers on the ride with us were racing back to the front to do it again, as Noel and I staggered off, trying to calm our stomachs. We felt rather old just then. But here's Jeff, in a rare appearance on the blog, sporting Kyla in the Baby Bjorn he never liked wearing much.

We bought a season pass (very reasonably priced) and are planning on going back soon. Maybe we will be able to have a better temple experience. I'll keep you posted.

Sleeping Positions

I have more to write about later, but I wanted to post a few pics while I have a second. Damon and Allie have gotten to be pretty good about bedtime. There have been struggles in the past, but I think we have all figured it out and bedtime is no longer a sad time for everyone in the family. Last night I went in to turn off the music and found this:

Damon told me this morning that he wanted Allie to sleep with him, and it appears that he didn't mind being forced to the very edge of his bed. I moved her back to her bed, knowing how uncomfortable it is to sleep with her constant squirming; Damon would have been pushed out of bed at some point during the night. This was the first time we had encountered them sharing a bed (and a pillow!), but not the first time they have wanted to sleep together.

This pic is from July, when the kids decided to sleep on the floor. I don't know what prompted this "campout," but it's fun to see them having fun together.

Kyla is four months old today. Wow. She is still the most fun thing in my life. These are her four month "diaper shots." The first one is her imitation of the Michael Jackson crotch grab. She's still working on the "OWW!" that goes along with it. Notice Allie's hand on the side. She was generously allowing me to put Bexley in the picture, but she didn't want to be too far away from her baby.

This one just makes me laugh. Her eyes disappear into those chubby cheeks when she smiles like this. But it doesn't stop her from showing us her big cheesy grin often. I love this girl!

More Quotes

Two from Damon:

1. Damon, sitting in the back of the van: "A snake has a pattern of red, blue, green. What's that in the alphabet?"
Jeff, confused:"Uh, R, B, G?"
Damon: "No, like ABC, 123, what is it?"
Jeff, still very confused about what Damon was getting at: "I don't know."
Damon, very serious: "Dad, you need to go back to Kindergarten."

2. On the way to the bus stop this morning, Damon noticed the huge puddles of water on either side of the street. "I wish I was Survivorman," he said, pointing to one puddle. "I would drink that water."

And one from Allie:
We were talking about her brother, Chance, that lives in Heaven with Jesus. I asked her if she knew his name. Thinking I was talking about Jesus, she said, "Jesus Karen Trapnell."

Sunshine

This has been the view I have seen repeatedly over the past four days. I have felt like I was back in Ohio; the gray skies never cleared, and it would rain off and on all day long. There are times I really miss Columbus (mostly the friends we had while we were there), but the last three days have served to remind me that I am just meant to live in a place where the "skies are not cloudy all day."

I have been singing "You Are My Sunshine" to Kyla lately, probably in an attempt to conjure up a little sunny weather, and this song has been exactly what we've needed. Even with my limited singing abilities, Kyla smiles at me, making me believe that she's never heard anything so great in all her (albeit short) life. I even sing the creepy third verse that says "if you leave me to love another you'll regret it all someday," just so I can prolong it, and get back to the chorus.

Silly as it may sound, I got a little teary-eyed yesterday when I got to the part "you'll never know, dear, how much I love you." I couldn't help but think about how I wanted to protect her, shielding her from all the gray skies that are in her future. Out of nowhere, I imagined Allie all grown up, about to become a mother herself, and wondered how it is going to feel to watch my own daughter experience the joy and pain of bringing a child into the world. Despite all the frustration she has caused me in her two plus years (she turned two on April 30th, Jaesi), I can't believe how much I love her. I took both my girls in my arms (Damon was at school, or he would've gotten it too) and squeezed them long and hard. I know I needed that after the trying afternoon/evening we had the other day, and I am always grateful for the Lord's tender mercies in my life.

As I type this, I am looking out the window and I can see blue sky. Ah, what a welcome sight! But, strange as it may sound, I am grateful for the past few days of storminess. They helped me find my sunshine elsewhere--in two little girls who make me happy when skies are gray.

Update

If you notice the timestamp on the previous post about Allie's bad day, you'll see that it was 4:44 when I posted the video clips. Allie released herself from the bathroom by cleaning up the tub toys at 7:00. She didn't scream the whole time (in fact, she didn't scream for longer than 30 mintues), but instead she laid on the floor, refusing to do anything. I locked her in there for a while, during which time she peed her pants. I probably would have blamed myself had she been locked anywhere BUT the bathroom.

Damon and I ate dinner at 6:00 (Jeff was at school late), but even the cornbread and honey butter weren't enough to entice her to clean up. I don't know what finally changed her mind, but at 7:00 she announced that it was all done. And it was. So ends another power struggle. Stubborn little thing.

Allie's Defiance

Allie has had a rough day. I'm not exactly sure why, but she decided that she didn't want to cooperate today. This was this morning. I'm not sure what she was refusing to do, but she told me five times this morning, "You not very nice. I'm not talking to you."



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This was a few minutes ago. She has yet to clean up the tub toys from her bath this morning. I told her she could come out of the bathroom when they were cleaned up. After trying, "it's too hard for me," she decided to scream. Unfortunately (or fortunately for those of you watching), she stopped screaming when I grabbed the camera. This is her trying to get her emotions under control, yet still refusing to clean up the toys. I love how she picks one up off the ground, but instead of putting it away, puts it on her finger. You'd think she was sleep deprived, but she actually took a nap today. She is just exerting her independence. I love two year olds...


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I'll let you know tomorrow how long it took to break her. She is still wailing right now. Also, the headband was her choice.

Bubbles and Cooing

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Just because I can't get enough of my baby...here she is telling herself how beautiful she is. I love that she responds to her name. Oh, and I know that her bow is too far back on her head, but it was already stuck there with Elmer's glue and I didn't want to move it. Forgive her.

Kids and Critters

The critters have been coming out lately (and I'm not just talking about the HUGE spider I killed the other day. When I smashed it with the shoe, it bounced off the carpet about three feet in the air onto the table. I couldn't help but squeal, even though I knew my kids would be more afraid. Fun times.).

A lot of you know about Jeff's collection of lizards. He has a few different kinds, but the African Fat Tailed Geckos are the ones that he has been trying to breed for a while now. He has harvested a lot of eggs (which he has incubated), but none had hatched until a few weeks ago. Out of habit, he checked the eggs in the incubator, and with as much excitement as he is likely to show, announced, "We have babies!" Yes, in fact, two of the eggs had hatched. Since that first hatching, four more have hatched. Here are the latest two. As you can see, there are more eggs still incubating, and we should have even more babies in the next few weeks.





He's going to let them grow for a while before he sells them to the pet store (or to any interested party--you want one?) I told him that he seemed more excited at the birth of his lizards than he was when Kyla was born. Hopefully not true, or at least I tell myself that.



Then, on Sunday as we were driving home from church, Jeff said he saw a turtle in the road. I wasn't sure if I believed him, but he turned around for a closer look. Sure enough, a little turtle was sunning itself in the middle of the road, perhaps a bit suicidal. Jeff picked it up and we brought it home to find out what it was.







Turns out it is a Florida Box Turtle, found only in Florida. All box turtles in North America are endangered, and can be covered in ticks. Needless to say, we decided not to keep it, but to release it into the "jungle" by our house. We all got to admire it, though, and wish we could keep it. I asked Jeff if I should put some clothes on Allie, or if we should photograph her as she usually is. We chose to keep it real.

Also, the bugs are eating our lawn. Or something. Jeff was hoping he would just be able to replace the one spot that was nearly a goner and revive the rest, but as soon as he made that decision, the rest of the lawn decided to die. This is majorly annoying because the grass here isn't even worth having. It's scratchy, needs a ton of water, and is always needing to be replaced. Who in the world wants to go to so much trouble for grass that you can't even play on? Here's our pathetic lawn which will, grudgingly, be replaced when the weather cools down.

So ends the segment on critters and such and begins the segment on kiddies. I love having the morning to spend with my girls. Most afternoons I have at least an hour when they are both sleeping (although today Kyla is accompanying at the computer), and it has been wonderful! I am able to get some important things done (like blogging and emailing and watching clips of ladies being asked to cover up on Southwest Airlines) and even have time for other things (like cleaning the bathrooms and taking a shower). It's fun to see Allie in the "older child" role, and she is really a lot of fun to play with (I can say that now that she is sleeping and not locking herself out of the house with a nearly empty jar of peanut butter, like she was this morning). Here is a picture of the two girls. It was a monumental occasion because Allie actually had clothes on AND her hair combed, a rarity.



And you may remember that we have another child. I may not have mentioned him much lately, but he is still a part of the family. Damon, in fact, is doing great at school. We have managed to get him riding the bus to and from school (YAY!) and he no longer sheds (many) tears about having to go. He was chosen as the boy Student of the Month, and is proudly displaying his certificate here.



From what I can gather, here is how you become Student of the Month in kindergarten:

• Attach yourself instantly to the teacher, following her everywhere possible.
• Endear yourself to her by crying about something every day.
• Do everything she asks; sit criss-cross applesauce, raise your hand before speaking, and keep your hands to yourself. Come up with other rules that you think kindergartners should follow.
• Always do your best, but cry a little more when you can't do something perfectly.

Do these things and you, too, could be student of the month.

Damon Jumping Rope

I have a lot I want to post, but I have spent too much time "browsing" and now need to go feed Kyla. I am just going to put on this video clip of Damon jumping rope. He was very worried one day when he came home from school. They had had PE and he couldn't jump rope. He's been working on it. I promise more later...



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My Man

This has been circulating on some blogs I have been reading lately and I thought it would be a fun post for today.

MY MAN:
1. Who is your man? Jeff Trapnell
2. How long have you been together? About 8 years
3. Dating/Engaged/Married? Dated for almost a year, married now for 7
4. How old is your man? 30

You or your man?
1. Who eats more? Jeff, although when I'm pregnant I can compete.
2. Who said "I love you" first? Jeff. When we were dating, I was sure I was going to go on a mission, so marriage was not on my radar. Jeff had been acting kind of strange, and I had the feeling that he was going to break up with me, and I was a lot more sad than I would've thought. Turns out, though, that he had something else in mind. We were in his apartment and all of his friends had gone to another apartment to play games. He was standing by the washer/dryer and making small talk, and I kept thinking we'd better go over to the other apartment or we were going to get teased for taking so long. Finally, he told me that he loved me (a complete surpise) and I instantly knew that I loved him, too, even though I hadn't planned on it. How romantic, stinky clothes and all...
3. Who weighs more? Jeff, thankfully. I would be so depressed if I ever passed him up.
4. Who sings better? Jeff. He's always making fun of me for changing the key on him when we're singing. I just tell him it's because his voice is too high and I can't sing in the keys he picks.
5. Who's Older? Jeff, by three years
6. Who's smarter? I have typed three different answers to this question and erased them all. I think we are both good at different things, and it's too hard to compare.

Different Ways
7. Who's temper is worse? Neither one of us has a temper, which usually makes for a calm home life. I probably snap at the kids more than he does, although he says I have more patience for the things they do.
8. Who does the laundry? Me. About three years after we got a new washer/dryer in Ohio, Jeff asked me how to use them. I don't mind the washing, drying and folding, but I don't like putting the clothes away. Usually because I am jamming them into drawers and there just isn't enough room.
9. Who does the dishes? Me, most of the time. Jeff can't stand doing dishes and apparently my dislike for them isn't as strong as his because I will almost always do them first.
10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me.
11. Who's feet are bigger? Jeff. He's a 10 1/2 and I'm an 8. Both pretty average.
12. Who's hair is longer? Mine. Funny question--how many husbands have longer hair than their wives?
13. Who's better with the computer? I'd say about equal. We both try to figure things out ourselves and sometimes we're successful! Besides having a mechanic friend and a photographer friend, I would love to have a computer friend. Anyone know a good one?
14. Who mows the lawn? Jeff for now. Hopefully Damon will some day.
15. Who pays the bills? Jeff
16. Who cooks dinner? I do. Jeff claims he doesn't care enough to learn how. If I am out of town, he'd rather eat chips for dinner than have to make anything (warming up leftovers is about as much effort as he wants to put in).
17. Who drives when you are together? Jeff
18. Who pays when you go out to dinner? We rarely go out to dinner, but Jeff usually pays.
19. Who's the most stubborn? Neither of us are very stubborn, but he would probably say that I am more than he is. When we were first married, we were wrestling and he had me in a scissor lock with his legs. I didn't want to give up and he always reminds me that I'd rather hurt until I'm crying than give up. Maybe I'm a wuss now, but I doubt it would come to that again. I know he is so much stronger than me and I don't have a chance.
20. Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong? Probably both.
21. Who's parents do you see more? It's been pretty equal since we moved far away from family--mine might visit us a tad more.
22. Who kissed who first? Jeff. This is kind of a funny story. One night before he left my apartment, we were standing in the doorway saying good-bye. The door was open, and he hugged me and kissed me quickly on the cheek. When I shut the door after he had gone, I started wondering if he was going to kiss me and if I had turned my head. I worried about it for a while (like all girls do) and finally asked him about it. We were sitting in the Benson building watching the weekly devotional (I miss BYU) and we had a conversation passing notes back and forth about it. He told me he didn't usually "miss," and that he wasn't trying to kiss me on the lips, and that I'd know when he was going to kiss me. It was a couple weeks later that he took me on a date, and kissed me in the gazebo in a park in Mapleton (same gazebo we got engaged in eight months later). Yes, definitely better than the doorway of my apartment.
23. Who asked who out? Jeff asked me out. Five minutes later, another guy from the ward called and asked me out for the same night. I like to tell Jeff that if he would've waited 6 minutes longer, I could've been married to guy #2.
24. What did you do? Went to see The Sixth Sense at the drive-in. We held hands on our first date, and Jeff will tell you that that was all me. I blame AT LEAST part of it on the scary movie.
25. Who's more sensitive? Definitely me.
26. Who's taller? Jeff
27. Who has more friends? I think I'm better at staying in contact with my friends, so I'll say me.
29. Who has more siblings? We both have 5 (he has 4 bros, 1 sis, I have 2 bros, 3 sis).
30. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Jeff. He's a great husband and dad!

Hair Today...

I don't consider myself a very vain person. I have adopted a very low-maintenance approach to life, especially when it comes to getting myself ready in the morning. I don't spend a lot of time on hair and makeup and am generally satisfied with the way that I look.


But now I am losing my hair.


I remember the first time this happened, when Damon was a few months old. I was laying on the floor and Jeff said, "Are you going bald?" That's not exactly something you want to hear from your husband (or anyone else for that matter), and I dashed into the bathroom to see what he was talking about. Sure enough, when I pulled my hair back by my temples, you could practically see to the scalp. How could I have missed it? All the signs had been there--the increased handfuls coming out when I shampooed, having to pull the elastic tighter when pulling my hair into a ponytail, and an increase in the tiny, fuzzy new hairs growing in all around my face. Somehow, I hadn't realized what was happening and I was shocked to find just how thin my hair had become on the sides of my head.


Mentally I began the process of researching Rogaine for Women, positive I didn't want to live the rest of my life with only a few wisps of hair, resigned to having to put sunscreen on my sensitive scalp. Fortunately for me, before my plans got too involved, I learned that losing hair is very common among women who have recently given birth, and that it would, in fact, grow back. Why didn't anyone warn me about this?, I wondered, a little relieved, but also dreading the next few months until the bald patches were covered.

In time, new hair grew back, and blended in with the rest of the hair on my head. I had nearly forgotten about the trauma of "the splotchy ponytail," as I recall it now. Then Allie was born and the cycle started again. At least the second time around, I was more prepared and dealt with the situation much better. I wasn't nearly as ashamed to wear my hair back, but just explained matter-of-factly that I was temporarily going bald and I was mostly okay with it.

And now here we go again. Yesterday in the shower I pulled strand after strand loose, wondering how long it had been since the last time I had washed my hair. When I realized that it had only been the day before, I feared that my postpartum hair loss had begun again. An examination in the mirror confirmed that it is, indeed, thinning. I'm hopeful that it won't be as bad as it was with Damon (it seemed to be slightly less noticeable with Allie), but I am offering fair warning now that if I post a picture, and you think my hair looks a little thin, smile to yourself and be thankful it isn't you.

10 Miles

For a while now I have been trying to ride 10 miles on the exercise bike in twenty minutes. I knew it was possible, because I could do it in 23 minutes, but I also knew that I'd have to average 30 mph the whole time, and I wasn't sure my thunder thighs could take that kind of workout. It turns out that they can. I made it! I had to go about 40 mph the last two minutes, and my heart was really pumping, but I did it. I wonder how many more times I'll have to do it before the cottage cheese on my legs starts disappearing...

p.s. Do you like how I left the flower in my Avatar's hair, even with the ponytail and sweatband?

Saints

I have found myself between books. That hasn't happened for a while, and I just don't quite know what to do with myself. I plodded through Wuthering Heights so I could reward myself with Eclipse, but I had already started Saints, so when I had finished the other two, I moved straight to it. I blame my lack of reading material on the priesthood; more accurately, I blame it on the priesthood meeting none of us knew about when we scheduled book club for last week, then had to change to this week to allow our men the opportunity to go. Since I finished Saints, I have been eagerly awaiting our meeting (which is tomorrow) when we will decide what to read next. Until then, I have been looking for other things to fill my time.

I don't know how many of you have heard about Saints. I'm not exactly sure how I came across it, but it was reviewed in BYU magazine this month, so I'm sure it's going to get a lot more popular in the months to come. I love Orson Scott Card and I couldn't resist finding out what his take on life in Nauvoo was like. He wrote the book in the early 1980's, but it was only published in paperback, titled "Woman of Destiny," and made out to look like a cheap romance novel (none of which were OSC's ideas). Recently, it came out in hardback, with the title OSC had meant for it to have all along, and I found it in the public library here in Jax, so I'm sure it's not that difficult to find.

The book begins in England, where the (fictional) Kirkham family comes into contact with a missionary named Heber Kimball. The mother, one son and daughter join the church and eventually make their way to Nauvoo to join the Saints there. The cover of the book shows Dinah, the daughter, standing on the ship that will take her to America. In the small rowboat in the water, you can see her husband and her two children, who are staying behind (don't mind the "Search Inside" pic from Amazon). This was probably the most heart-wrenching part of the book, and I could barely stand to look at the cover while I was reading, wondering if I would be able to say leave my children behind for the church.

In America, Dinah learns the doctrine of plural marriage and becomes one of the Prophet Joseph Smith's plural wives. Even though some of the characters are fictional, you get a good sense for what life was like for those who were close to the prophet. I never claimed to be a church historian (besides what I learned from The Work and the Glory), but there was a lot I didn't know about the church in Nauvoo. The book was extremely thought provoking, and I wonder how it will be accepted in the Mormon community. It doesn't have the same "feel good" quality that The Work and the Glory has, but I loved it for that very reason. I feel like I got to know Joseph Smith a lot better than I had before, and it was very clear that God had chosen a man to do His work, and a far from perfect man at that.

There were many things that made me a tad uncomfortable (when you're dealing with plural marriage, how could it be otherwise?), but I really enjoyed reading it. It made me really think about why God asked the early Saints to do the things they did, and why He would ask certain things of us today. I would love to read it with a book club, but it's almost 700 pages and I don't know how realistic that is. I would certainly love to discuss it with someone else who has read it (I told my dad to pick it up and let me know what he thinks), but mostly I am just so glad we aren't required to live plural marriage today. I don't know how I would do it. If you're interested at all, I would recommend it. If nothing else, you will appreciate the fact that you don't have to share your husband with another woman. If any of you decide to read it, let me know what you think!

Long Weekend

It's always hard to get back into our weekly routine after a long weekend. I'm not complaining, because we had a lot of fun this Labor Day weekend, but I wasn't too motivated this morning to get up and get back at it.

Friday was our last weekday beach trip, as Jeff doesn't have any more Friday's off. It was one of our best of the summer--not crowded, no jellyfish, no crying kids...I have loved our beach Friday and hope that we will be able to still get out there a time or two.

College football started Saturday, much to Jeff's delight. He got to spend a little "quality time" with Kyla, introducing her to the game he loves. Note the remote in his hand. Kyla was almost asleep, so I'm sure that's why she looks so disinterested. It couldn't possibly be because she has no idea what is going on.

Yesterday for Labor Day we went with a bunch of friends to a little water park in St. Mary's, Georgia, about 45 minutes away. It was so much more fun than I even expected it would be, although the day didn't start off particularly well. Jeff and I decided not to wear our swimsuits to the park, but to bring them to change into once we got there. But when we arrived, they were nowhere to be found (in fact, they were still in a bag sitting on the bed--how they didn't make it INTO the car, I don't know), and Jeff and I got to head back to Wal-Mart to browse their clearance section. Although neither of us particularly needed a new suit, we both ended up with one (fortunately for less than $10 a piece) and sported them at the water park. Sorry, no photos from yesterday; having more children than parents makes it terribly difficult to get any pictures taken, even though I HAD remembered to bring the camera. After a fun day of swimming, floating down the lazy river, and even a few rides down the waterslide, we headed back home for a BBQ put on by some of our friends. By the time we got home, it was time to put the kids to bed! Those are the best days and I only wish I had some pictures to remember it by. Oh well.

Here are some other pics that will have to do. I have loved spending time with Allie while Damon is at school. She is so much fun to play with, and is great at entertaining herself (yay!). Today I found her on her way out the door with her stroller, Bexley and her diaper bag. She told me she needed to take Bexley on a walk. How could I tell her no when she had gone to so much planning? The walk lasted about a minute and I snapped a picture of her as they came back in the house.

She has also resorted to talking to Kyla, as Damon is no longer around to tell things to. I love it. Here's a cute shot I got of them. I love Kyla's grin in this one.

One of the funniest things she has been doing is taking a book in the bathroom with her. She must have learned this from her dad, but it cracks me up when I see her in there reading to herself. And yes, she is naked most of the time, even though I am constantly putting her clothes back on her.

We borrowed Noel's Bumbo for Kyla to try out. Her legs are already almost too big for it, but I think she looks so darn cute when she's sitting up like a big girl. Don't ask me what that look on her face is.

Finally, here is one for Tara. I like to call Allie an "Esplin girl" when I put her in b-ball shorts and a ponytail. The shoes were actually Damon's, too, so she's really sporting the boy's clothes in this one. I'm not trying to force her to be sporty, but I will be glad to give her opportunities to do so.