July!

One of Keller’s top teeth pushed through this week. Poor kid has been feverish in the hot, sticky weather. (Thankfully, this week felt positively refreshing after the last few. Nothing like mid-nineties and breezy!). Despite this, he happily crawled all over. He’s figured out spots that he’s not supposed to touch: computers, cords, doorstops, things his brothers are holding. Whenever possible, he goes right for those, giggling. If he wants to play he’ll attack it noisily. If he really wants to grab it and eat it, he’s quiet and fast. We can distract him sometimes. Usually once he focuses his attention on something, deterring him is basically impossible. He screams and twists and glares as if to say, “I will get it! I will find a way!” He loves bathing and splashing. He loves moving, moving, moving. We lowered his crib all the way since he can push himself up to sitting, tries to pull himself up, and clambers all over. He likes being closer to the ground and seeing more of the action. He loves green beans, black beans, waffles…all food, especially if he can pick it up. His reflux has returned with a vengeance (once again, we’re the barf-smelling family!) and we can’t figure out if he’s eating something weird or what. Thankfully, he has his nine month (!) checkup this week. He has slept through the night all week. Hurrah!

Lincoln loves running. Runningrunningrunning. “These are my running shoes.” “These are my running shorts.” “I am runningrunningrunning.” He tries to use Keller’s shoes. My shoes. Levi’s shoes. His favorite are Wesley’s running shoes. He forgets to pay attention sometimes and runs right into the wall. Or the floor. After our temple trip yesterday, he jumped out of the car running. Freedom! We have so many near-misses with him. He ran into the dresser and conked his head. He ran with his toothbrush and jabbed his mouth (ouch! That was too close!) He ran with the big boys at playgroup with Frisbees and soccer. He tried to teach Dustin (a boy we watched—who is a bit younger than Lincoln and a quite a bit bigger than Levi) how to run. He pretended to be a cow. Then a cowboy. He changes his clothes all day. He often wakes up in a different outfit than the one we put him down in—when we see him, he’s always very pleased with himself. We saw a man with motorcycle gloves and irrigation boots at the library. Lincoln followed him around reverently whispering, “Construction Guy!” When the man left, Lincoln ran after him: “Why does he have those boots?” I barely caught him in time (meanwhile, Levi unloaded our books for the week onto the checkout desk…)

Levi has tried really hard to use his words when frustrated. A week without biting! A week with more understanding! I love when we can talk together. It makes even tense situations unifying. Thank you, Levi! We’re so proud of him for pausing to think before reacting. What an example. He has also taken up some strange dance moves: it looks like a rain-warrior-figuring-out-the-body dance. It includes a lot of yelling and fast hand motions. His favorite things of the week include typing the alphabet on the computer (over and over and over), hitting the tennis ball with a racket (also repeated), and playing Plants vs. Zombies with Wes on the 4^th for “Boy Time’ (which he invented). He built boats and airplanes out of Legos. He led us all in parades. He taught me a game called “Bouncy Ball” one afternoon. I zoned for a minute and he yelled, “Hey, Mom! You need to run! That’s what your problem is!” My favorite quote of the week came yesterday while I helped him buckle into the van when we left the temple. “Mom and Dad are trying to teach me how to be nice. I’m trying to be nice.” And he always is.

Wes and I are trying to figure out how to find the volume button on our boys and turn them all down. There is no “inside voice.” There is LOUD and LOUDER and degrees of shouting. Is this a boy thing? (No, it comes from me not Wes. I try really hard to speak softly now though!)

We looked for a parade all over Austin and found one in Elgin (a little town outside of Manor). It included the Boy Scouts holding a flag, a veteran in a car, three men holding a flag, a girl on a pony, a few kids on bikes, and some city council members giving out Valentine’s candy and flags. The boys loved it. Parades are a necessity for Independence Day.

We celebrated Wesley’s friend/colleague who just finished his doctoral work by going to pizza for lunch on Tuesday. The boys did well. We’ll miss Kody, but plan on staying connected. That day, we also fixed the car window (it wouldn’t go up after rolling down) and picked up some food orders from the Bishop’s Storehouse. Wow! We drive a lot. We’re so grateful we can have a car. And a van! What a blessing.  

We’ve decided to focus our next-career-steps on national lab post-doc positions. Wes will still apply for professorships, but we plan on a post-doc somewhere first.

We’ve been reading Wesley’s mission journal. Love it. My friend is struggling. She asked me to pray for her—which was a very tender gift for me. I asked if I could put her name on the prayer roll and got to testify of the power of prayer and the temple. It’s been a sweet experience. I just want everyone to know the full joy of the gospel—even when mortality can be really, really hard.

 

That’ll do for today.

Picture this.  Levi and Lincoln sitting in matching black bottoms and blue shirts, sitting in their foldable camp chairs next to the front window, pretending to be pilots—of course. They flew to Utah, Colorado, looped to D.C., then returned to Austin. They took a long flight to China to visit Shu Xu’s family (Wes works with Shu. He’s from China and has come over for Thanksgiving and FHE).

Levi: “I’m the pilot. What’s the word for what Lincoln is?”

Mom: “Navigator.”

Levi: “Right. I’m the pilot. He’s the alligator.”

Lincoln: “No! I’m a crocodile and you’re the pirate!” (which sounds pretty close to pilot!)

For mutual on Wednesday, the young men came over to our house to make cookies before making visits. The boys loved it. I hear, “Now, I am the young men…” all day long. We made puppets on popsicle sticks in the shape of Levi, Lincoln, and Keller. They are all young men.

During the day when Levi starts playing the piano, the little brothers sing loudly. Their favorite game is still “Name that Tune”—they hum a lot of “Jingle Bells,” “I Am a Child of God,” and “How Firm a Foundation” (Lincoln’s current favorite). I love when we sing because one of them usually jumps up to lead the music and the other pretends to play the piano. During singing time in nursery today, Lincoln stood up in front of the singing leader, turned around, and lead the music confidently. I should teach them to do it correctly. They’re so cute. While their music has no limits, mine does. I started singing while we worked on the fruit. Levi sighed at me patiently. “Mom, please making that noise.” He practically sniffed at my inconsiderate nature. “I’m trying to focus.” Oh. Oops.

Levi has helped a ton all week. His parents finally realized that 1. He wants to and 2. He can! We’re a little slow. He’s been putting all the utensils away and setting the plates on the table. He helped cut the strawberries in half with a butter knife then make strawberry jam. He peeled a ton of peaches when we canned them Saturday. What a worker! We cleaned a sister’s house on Tuesday; under Levi’s direction, the boys put on plastic gloves, pulled out the rags, and rubbed a few walls before playing. They obviously have a spectacular life. I wonder why the house still resembles an eruption?

Lincoln claims his stuffed dog, “Doggie” pronounced “Dogdie,” is his baby who does not have a mouth. He swaddles it and hums to it and puts it down for a nap. He doesn’t have to feed it; it doesn’t have a mouth. Or a gender. He told me the dog might grow a mouth when he’s bigger, but maybe not. One morning, he looked at me over his oatmeal to say, “Dr. Edgar is a daddy. And a nice grandpa. I like Dr. Edgar!” pause. “I like daddies!” (Dr. Edgar is Wesley’s advisor). They voted to name the van “Tom” after Dr. Edgar. Yesterday, Wes lay down on Levi’s pillow. As this seemed unacceptable, Levi took it away. Lincoln quickly brought his own pillow, “Here’s a pillow for you, Daddy!” Lincoln has also gone another successful week in underpants—even on public potties! Go Lincoln! Practicing for parenthood, I guess.

Keller slithers, inches, smashes. I’m trying to convince him to use his knees, but he’s not willing to have even a temporary slow-down. He rolls, coos, sings. Sings very loudly. He loves the park, especially the swings and the slides. He cuddles his blankets. He crawls all over the floor, then drags himself to the kitchen or wherever I am, puts his arms out, and drops his head between them before wailing. We can go from giggling and smiling to horror-struck in less than a second. Oh, the dramatic emotions of my children. It’s a gift: this means they can embrace all the facets of life, right? Despite the lathered sunscreen, even Keller sports some pretty awesome tan lines. 

We go to the park. We come home drenched with sweat. We started a playgroup a few weeks ago. One of the older kids played Frisbee with Levi and Lincoln—so they all ran and ran and ran. For Lincoln, running = joy. He loves Frisbee. We met our friends Laurie and Eli at the nature center. This is a free mini-zoo with birds of prey, reptiles, and a few foxes, opossums, armadillos, etc. who cannot go safely into the wild for various reasons. Lincoln loved them. He wanted to touch them all and take them home. He couldn’t; instead he tried to hold conversations by screaming at them. I don’t think they want to be friends anymore. Laurie found out that their new baby is a girl. We gave her a Book of Mormon to celebrate. Levi was so excited to share it.

Wesley pulled everything together after his conferences, researched his own projects, submitted a paper, and worked, worked, worked. I found another spot with white hairs. I think that sums up our life happily!

 Building at the Children's Museum

Wesley left last Sunday afternoon for D.C. While there he attended the ACC and an energy conference. They held a reception at the air and space museum, situations always arose to enable him to talk to people that he needed to talk with, and he was awarded the best speaker in his session. He ran by the capital building. He saw the Lincoln and Washington Memorials. Someday we’ll have to go there together with a little more time! He returned Wednesday evening for dinner and re-packing then flew to Denver early the next morning. He gave a presentation, talked with people who research buildings, ate what he dubbed “Boulder Bars” (a granola bar series made primarily of dates), went on a hike, learned more about Dr. Henze on his committee, and enjoyed Colorado, blessed state. He returned home last night/this morning around one. He was scheduled to land here at 5:30, but his flight was delayed, then cancelled. He was the first on standby on an already overbooked flight—but a party of four decided to take the money and wait, so he came home to us! In our family prayer, we prayed for Wesley to return home sooner rather than later if it was best; this was about the time that the party of four made their choice. We’re so glad to have him home! Lincoln has run in every morning looking for him; when he was mad, he moaned, “Daaadddy! Daaaaaaaaaaddddy!” Levi has counted down the days to his return. Keller was very excited to see him on Wednesday and this morning. What an awesome man I married. We’d be a complete wreck without him. We’ve (mostly me) broken two dishes, melted a good spoon in the dishwasher, dropped a variety of things (including the gallon of milk which only cracked the plastic—we saved most of it in an ice cream bucket!), and gone through a lot of surprise laundry.

Everyone is expanding his verbal capacities and ranges. Call. Levi and Lincoln will give you a hurried earful. Keller will provide background music. He coos and gurgles and echoes and laughs whenever we encourage consonants. He practices a lot with his mouth, though, which is encouraging. Loudly. Levi makes a concerted effort to work on the end sound of words (of his own volition). Lincoln seems to have broken his robotic monotone in exchange for a fully expressive slew of everything. In the middle of our plan for the day he told me, “No, no, no. I want to go to the park with Eli today.” I’m trying to determine if I should just give up on the effort to stop the screaming (or maintain it outside!).

Levi rediscovered the cowboy boots. On they went with the athletic shorts. He found some for Lincoln. They transformed into fire fighters. We drew a map, sat in the “truck” seats, drove on the road as shown, and ran to save the people. Amazingly, the fire was in apartment buildings in Colorado. We had to save Dad from the top floor. Levi grabbed “Dad,” carried him carefully down the ladder, then threw him unceremoniously out of the smoke before he went to save others flailing in the flames. I taught him to dribble in basketball and soccer. He has played basketball during the dinner-making hour and we’ve played some exciting soccer in the park. So fun. In the bathtub one night, he stood to do baptisms for the dead and “all our family who need our help.” I’m sure they’re chuckling about that—especially since he begins, “And I have the Priesthood!” Friday morning I asked him what he thought the gender of Holly’s babies were: a boy and a girl. He looked at me like, “Duh.” That afternoon Holly had to go to the hospital (unexpectedly) and ultrasounds showed that he is correct again. Since he could talk, he hasn’t been wrong. (Holly is home now and supposed to “take it easy” now—but okay! Phew!).

Lincoln wore underpants all week, day and night. He had two and a half accidents—one of them at night which I don’t really count. I’m impressed. He likes the RUN to the potty part. He ran down the ramp at church today. Then crashed. And bled. He scratched his forehead, nose, and lip. Thankfully it was just a scratch! That boy barely misses so many disasters! Angels! He put on his shoes, kissed my knees, and said, “I’m going to live with Dad in Colorado. Bye.” In less than two minutes, he was upstairs unloading the suitcases (which are all packed very tightly together!). We went visiting teaching. He determined to sit with me instead of playing in her toy area. He told a huge anecdote about yucky food, chickens, and dairy cows. He has wanted explanations of the world on repeat. (“Why is it stinky? Why did the spoon burn?” times about a zillion). We bought a membership to the children’s museum. They dressed up in construction vests and hard hats to use the tools, but he slipped out of it, “It is too big for me. I will grow later.” Despite the crowd, lunch in the heat outside, the wrong parking garage, and a return to the museum because we couldn’t find a potty—he loved it and even stayed pretty close to me. One of my favorite moments was when he sang out “zaftig” to the tune of “How Firm a Foundation” (his current favorite). His newest phrase, “Mom! You can listen to me! You can talk to me!” when I’m on the phone or helping his brothers.

Keller usually spends my shower time kicking cupboards. He loves the noise. He loves kicking. He surprised me by crawling right in to the walk-in shower, very proudly. Today he inch-wormed from the living room to the kitchen sink. He was happy and gurgling until he found my feet. He looked up at me, smiled, then dramatically collapsed onto my toes and wailed until I picked him up. Don’t tell me my boys can’t communicate effectively. Good grief. He loves eating. He watches his pincher fingers intently. Then he just takes a fist full and shoves it in his face. Not a good idea. I’ve almost convinced him to use the sippy cup, at least for sipping. He needs it since we spend about two or three hours every morning outside; it’s close to 100 by 10 a.m. He’s drooling again and I can feel the beginnings of more teeth. Ouch. He took my face in his hands and giggled (rather than chewing on it!). He likes to grab Lincoln’s face the best; Lincoln loves it too. Keller loves Eskimo kisses--probably because Lincoln rubs their faces together. He also follows Lincoln's example of head banging. If he does it in his high chair it will roll. Oh the things we do  to move. He enjoys playing soccer as I hold him. He loves passing the basketball around. While Wes was gone, we took the opportunity to let him cry through the night. Again. I don’t know if anything is improving. He seems better rested overall though—and has even napped! So, yes. Things are improving on that front.

This week I finished a challenge given by our RS presidency to read the Book of Mormon in 40 days. I always love reading the Book of Mormon; each time seems specially tailored. When the challenge was first introduced, I admit I thought, "Oh, what a nice idea—too bad I'm already focusing on different study." As the day continued, I reflected on the challenge. Someone once commented on the significance of following the prophets’ suggestions instead of waiting for commandments. I determined that if my devoted Relief Society leaders had considered this challenged and deemed it worthy, then I should follow. So I prayed about it and started the next morning. What a blessing. Each day has inspired new connections and helped me talk about the importance of the Book of Mormon with the boys. Equally important, I've gained a greater testimony of the importance of following the counsel and encouragement of my leaders. I've felt the Lord's love for me and for those He calls to guide us. I've felt the significance of Relief Society and the compassion I need to gain. I love the scriptures. I love Relief Society.

Catching up through pictures...

 Lincoln at the library

 Splash pad

 Birthday tie! (It says CTR)

 ChemE service project a few weeks ago

 Temple cake. Shaped cakes are not my specialty.

Happy Father’s Day! What a gift to have righteous fathers in our lives! We are grateful for our heritage. You remind me of 4 Nephi 1:15-16, “And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people….surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.” Our fathers have watched, taught, protected, and provided. Each year my appreciation of fatherhood increases as I watch Wesley’s capacities and discernment increase. He has been trained by so many examples—and he continues to learn so well. He constantly refines his actions to meet the will of the Lord. I love watching him pray because you can see that he truly counsels with our Father in Heaven. So I always know we’re safe. We’ll be okay no matter what happens. What a wonderful, wonderful man I somehow snatched. And what a superb daddy he is.  How is it possible to assume the people we love most as constant fixtures in our lives? Wesley’s calling and work have helped me notice how much he does (simply by being present!) to smooth out the storms, frustrations, and restore peace. He always takes time after work to sit on the couch and listen patiently to the boys report their daily extravaganzas. Usually, he’s in charge of bath time (and the connected splashing and screaming). He teaches them about tools and trucks, prophets and scripture. He keeps up on all of our maintenance issues—and most of those aren’t physical!

Wesley went to conferences in Austin all week, met with fellow researchers, worked on a book chapter he’s been asked to write, practiced presentations, and pretty much ran full speed in everything that is required of him for work. Add people, institute, and family. On Friday he came home for an hour, hurriedly packed, ate, and drove a bunch of teachers and priests out to a campout. That night a profane, somewhat drunken, argument ensued in the campground next to them. It escalated so much that the YM president had to call the cops—and four cars arrived. All of this in miserable, humid heat. The boys were ready to just go home in the morning. They felt better after jumping off a few cliffs into a lake, calling the whole experience a resounding success. He came home to play around with the washing machine so I could keep filling it up (I thought we could go a while, but—aside from the stuff I did Monday and Tuesday—I did laundry most of Thursday, all day Friday, some Saturday, and will have another 6 loads tomorrow!) This afternoon Wesley left for Washington DC where he’ll attend two different conferences. He’ll come home for about 12 hours on Wednesday then fly to Denver for more conferences until Saturday. Whew! I’m hoping he’ll get more sleep while away…

Levi wanted a temple recommend to go with his temple shaped birthday cake—complete with a Lego Moroni with a bugle, as provided by Daddy. We made a little card that he has proudly carried around in his wallet. He even signed it. On Tuesday morning he cracked his door open, giggling. “Today is my birthday!” He ran into me. His next excited phrase: “Now Lincoln can be two and a half!” They both celebrated. Wes worked from home so we could go to the pool together in the morning. No one else was there. The boys loved it (despite the large bugs floating around after a warm night! Ew!) Since we were already wet, I took the boys to a splashpad-type park near us. Levi has carefully observed other kids climb up a huge rock wall tower. That day, he looked at me matter of factly, “I want to climb that.” And so he did. Without any problems. Lincoln tried to stretch his little arms and legs, concluding that “I’m still learning.” I was proud of them both. We were all pretty wiped out at the end of the partying in the heat. Despite all the hype over the cake, Levi told us that it hurt his tummy. After a few bites he stopped eating it and hasn’t eaten any more since. Wow—self control! (He requested trail mix with dried fruit instead! Haha!) Lincoln said his tummy hurt as he shoved enormous portions of cake into his mouth. We froze one layer: Wes and Lincoln took the other two down. Thank you for your sweet gifts and birthday wishes. Isn’t “Happy Birthday to You” such a delightful song? Levi has also discovered the joys of cover sheets and folders. He spent an hour organizing pictures during rest time. He also Swiffered the wood floor all on his own; it looks impressively good.

Lincoln has determined that being a big brother is serious work. When Keller wakes in the morning, he dashes to the crib trying to beat me there so he can climb in. On Monday, he curled up around Keller, whispering, “Good morning, Keller. We are brothers!” One night the big boys had to be in their room while I calmed Keller down. Screaming. More screaming. Lincoln chucked all of the available board books at Levi (granted, this began earlier with Levi as the thrower). Lincoln, Levi, and I all ended up scratched and bruised on the face. Totally awesome. The board books were off limits for a while. We met our friends at a new covered park with a wooden playground—three bridges, five turrets, tube and open slides, monkey bars, the works. It also had a basketball court with a lowered hoop and a soccer field set up at half field with small nets. Loved it! Very tanned. It was 100 degrees by 10 a.m. that day. Blessed SPF 50. Lincoln ran, ran, ran, and sweated. Then didn’t nap. At least he does this pleasantly. I reminded him he can have underpants when he can consistently tell us he needs to use the potty before he goes. We’re on three days running and absolutely no misses. Tomorrow we’ll brave the superhero garb.

Keller officially sits and officially inchworms. Everywhere. He pulls forward with his arms, sticks his bum up high, kicks with his toes, and starts over—until he reaches his goal. He discovered a particular fondness for the spot behind the toilet (you know, next to the scrubber and the plunger). He pulled apart a collapsible laundry basket all on his own. He loves the pool—but it’s not a good idea to put a baby in a public pool. His skin is still recovering. He loves the parks and slides. He loves swinging in the baby swings. He started sitting on the potty very patiently (at his brothers’ request). And he slept through the night then had two long naps. No one quite knew what to do. He moves a lot faster when well rested. I’ll take it! He struggled sitting through church today. He scooted under the bench and tried to eat the young man’s shoelaces in front of us. He eats his big toe. He’s starting to figure out sippy cups—warily. He downs finger foods, grunting in satisfaction as he eats. He lights up when he sees Wes—especially when he can tip backwards off of Daddy’s lap. I subbed again in nursery and he was bombarded by loving hands. He sings. Loudly. No one will need to instruct him on being seen and heard within the brotherhood.

This week I’ve decided I’ve got to be more proactive and just move forward—right out of my square inch I trap myself in. Thankfully, I’ve got a loving Savior on one side and Wesley on the other.