Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas Morning

I feel I should mention on Zachary's first Christmas, he slept through half of the opening of presents and was preoccupied with the wrapping paper far more than his presents for the other half.  He's 7 months, what do you expect?

My mother on the other hand was very entertaining. For Christmas, I gave my parents some gift cards and some pictures of our family and their grandson for their wall.  Nothing terribly exciting, but I was still disappointed when she just opened the gift and didn't bother reading the card, she just thanked me for the gift and made ready for the next gift. When I called her on it, she made a cursory perusal of the card, again thanked me and again wanted to move on with things.

Somehow I knew she hadn't read it all the way through. This time I was a bit more impatient with her, at which point she complained to the group that she never seems capable of giving me the response I am looking for. What was I hoping for, she asked? I gave the card to my dad so he could read it but, without his glasses, he was just as useless. They just weren't getting it; darn them; so I offered to read the card myself. It read something to the effect of:
     Here are some gift cards for your wallet,
     Some pictures for your wall,
     And some children visiting you for your heart.
     Thank you for . . . . (it was all very cheesy)
     Love Sara and Matthew
     P.S. I'm pregnant again.

At this point, they both freaked out, gave me hugs, and went above and beyond with their congratulations. That was definitely the response I was looking for. She did great. I was so proud of her.

So yes I am pregnant. I feel crazy sometimes that Baby Marler #2 is coming just 15 months (if not sooner) after Zachary entered planet Earth, but who knew that we could make a baby on our own and for FREE! We are so excited and here's hoping we're up for the adventure. August 20th here we come!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Christmas Eve Nativity Reenactment

 


Christmas Eve, my family (which at the time consisted of My oldest brother Phillip's family, my oldest sister Nichole, us, my youngest brother Paul's family, my parents and Matthew's youngest sister Megan) like many families around the world, recreated the nativity. While Matthew and I were entertained audience members, Zachary volunteered himself to play possibly the cutest sheep ever. He put in a masterful performance and I realize I am totally biased but look at that sheepy face; can you get a cuter sheep? I absolutely LOVE it!!

Overall the reenactment was a rousing success. Good job parent's for keeping the tradition alive and for having fun costumes that get everyone in the nativity mood!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

6-Month Photo Shoot



 

 

 
I might have become addicted to the photos my friend Christina takes. Somehow she manages to make my child and even Matthew and I so photogenic.

As the board mentions above, my child is now 6 months old. He's sitting, blowing raspberries (constantly), scooting around - I tell you, crawling is just around the corner, SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT, and finally sprouting A tooth. He's still pretty small, 25-50% for weight and height, but he's still got a pretty big melon (75%). But with luck he will sprout someday and be tall like his dada. Yep, life is exciting around here. Enjoy the pics.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Ward Librarian Moment

I think I have mentioned before that I am our ward's Librarian. I check scriptures out to mostly youth who've forgotten theirs at home, pictures and chalk to teachers, and other miscellaneous items to other miscellaneous ward members. It's been a pretty fun/low key calling. But today I wanted to share Josie with you. See that cute handwriting down there at the bottom of the page? Josie came in, like other kids to check out a Bible along with a Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price (conveniently titled a Triple Combination or just "T"). Most everyone just writes down B & T. Josie came in to check her B & T out, but almost forgot to sign them out on my handy sheet. When I called her on it, she dutifully put in her name and then copied what the boy above her wrote. To her defense his B & T really does like 8 + 7. But I found it completely endearing and had to share. 

P.S. Sorry for the weird lines in my photo. I took multiple photos from different angles but they all came out with this dumb effect.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Obligatory photos of Baby's First Halloween

Baby dressed as a horsey (thanks Natalie for the costume) hanging out with his Auntie Nichole



Wee Babe and his cousin Ellie. He, of course is still a horsey, and Ellie is a sweet pea.




Cousins going trick or treating.
(Back row, left to right - Caitrin, Zachary, Ellie and Conner)
(Front row - Brenner and Madalyn)

Here are some photos of my child's first Halloween. I'm not sure my five month old really knew what was going on, but he sure was nice and toasty warm as we walked around with my sisters-in-law supervising the begging of candy. I didn't exploit my child to get candy for my own gain, nor would I condone exploiting him for my 17-year old nephew. But we walked around nonetheless and enjoyed watching others get their loot.

I actually didn't even have a legitimate costume for Wee Babe. I haven't been one for dressing up in decades, and so my poor child was going to suffer for my general apathy for the holiday. But thankfully I have a kind sister-in-law who came to his rescue and lent him something more traditionally acceptable as a costume so he wouldn't have to face future ignominy of not having suitably adorable photographic evidence of his first Halloween.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Our Experience with Hurricane Sandy

I'm not sure our "harrowing" experience necessarily warrants a post, but for the sake of documenting our life, here is what you get.

It wasn't until the Thursday before (October 25) that I actually heard there was a hurricane headed towards us.
Friday I went to the store to make sure we had extra water and candles.
Saturday I made bread and cooked up a bunch of meat in case we were out of power for very long. My thought was that it would take a lot less energy to reheat and use it then to actually cook.
Sunday we got a list at church with essential emergency items to have on hand. I love my parents. Over the course of a few Christmases they stocked us up on 80% of the items on the list. We filled tubs with water and left them in our bathtub and felt just about as prepared as we could. Bring on the storm.
Monday Matthew went to work, but only for a little bit as they were closing the office at noon. The wind had definitely picked up by then, but nothing very major. By evening, the wind was buffeting the house causing me some anxiety, but again, nothing too traumatic. We lost power at about 9 pm-ish, and figured it was as good a time as any to head to bed. Baby and I slept in the basement as it was a lot quieter down there. Matthew toughed it out upstairs. The noise of the wind didn't bother him nearly as much as it did me and sleeping in a bed sounded infinitely more desirable than sleeping on the floor.

Tuesday morning, even though the storm was a lot closer geographically to us, was calm. By all measures it was done. I couldn't believe it. It took the better part of the day for me to come to terms that our storm was over and we weren't just in the eye of it. We were still without power and Matthew didn't have to go to work, so otherwise it was a nice day off to spend together. We had leftovers that were better served cold than hot and other sundry convenient food to eat. We ate off paper and plastic and had plenty of all basic necessities. Really the only tragedy of the storm was our puzzle. We were working on completing the first fourth of a 24,000 piece puzzle. It was probably about 85% completed when I had the brilliant idea that we could take it upstairs and work on it where we would have more light. It all seemed so reasonable at the time. (I should mention that just that fourth of the puzzle was about 3.5' x 5'. It's going to be a massive puzzle.) We almost got it halfway up the stairs before two thirds of it crumbled to the floor. It was pretty heart-wrenching. We brought what was left with the completed part back down the stairs and left the fallen pieces where they lay, too dejected to do anything with them.

For the rest of the day, we read, played games, and cooed at baby. The next day, when we were still without power, I made the decision to take little Zachary and drive to my parent's house in VA letting Matthew fend for himself at home. Thankfully he was able to get a shower, albeit cold, at work, charge his phone and have something to do with himself. I spent the next several days, including Halloween and my nephews last high school football game, with my family. The power was back on sometime that Wednesday, but it gave me a good excuse to spend time foisting my child on eager family members for a few days.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

More STUFF into the Mouth


                                                                                  
                               


This child is putting just about anything into his mouth. If it's within arm's reach, it generally goes in. See above Jiff container and box of hot chocolate. I guess it's all part of growing up. For the most part it's pretty adorable. I mean, how can you not love the picture of him licking the window? The only downside is getting actual food into his mouth. I try to keep in mind that feeding him rice cereal at this age is more for practice than for nutrition, but it would be nice if more would go in than comes right back out. All in good time I suppose.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Sleep Training

Isn't that such a sad face? And can you see the scratches on that head? It doesn't seem to matter how closely his nails get clipped and/or filed, they still manage to be razor sharp. In the last few weeks I have decided that enough is enough and I need some semblance of sleep back. So I have recently started trying to "sleep train" my son, which really just means ignoring his calls for food and attention at unmentionable hours of the morning. It seems to be working, but he still manages to do some damage to himself while wearing himself out and falling back asleep. Poor child. I feel like such a child abuser.

Friday, October 5, 2012

The Toes


This wee boy has taken to sticking just about anything in his mouth, and if the object of current interest won't come to him, he will gladly go to it. Right now he has an affinity for his toes, which is all right by me. Definitely cleaner than the toaster oven door.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Courtside Reunion 2012

My college roommate reunion for the year was a little different tho\is time around. It was still all about getting together, laughing, crying, eating and shopping, but the reason to get together was for this sweet little girl below who, thanks be to God, is a survivor of childhood cancer!!

Salt Lake City held its annual Cancer Walk and so all us roommates made sure we were there to support our dear friend Ada and her precious daughter Annie. It was a wonderfully special event, though, I had a hard time keeping my emotions in check as I heard other cancer kid's stories - some triumphant and others heart breaking.



It's amazing what we as women have been through together over the years. Throughout the weekend, I was reminded again and again how lucky I am to have these women apart of my life for the last 15 years.



P.S. In the picture above, you'll notice Linsey with her newest baby, Charlotte. C was born just three days before Z and they were good friends all weekend long. Zachary was infinitely more content to lay on the floor if Charlotte was there beside him. So adorable.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Favorite Time of Day

My favorite time of day with the boy baby is definitely in the morning. Matthew is up and gone early, so after Zachy wakes up (generally about 7) I bring him into bed with me to feed and snuggle. He is definitely happiest at this time and isn't antsy about getting out of bed. It's nice having some low-key parenting time when I can still lie in bed an close my eyes and he is perfectly content and safe.


 

Monday, September 24, 2012

Is it okay?

Is it okay that I am officially in momma mode and now I don't have anything to say about my life if it doesn't revolve around my child? I have been avoiding posting anything because other than Zachary, my life doesn't do a whole lot. I was talking with my sister the other day, and she said to just own it. Own that my blog has now changed and start posting pics of the boy. So, I guess, (typed very sheepishly but growing more confident), that's what I'll do.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Kindness of Strangers

I now know why men take babies to the grocery store. My sister mentioned that the only thing she liked about being pregnant was the attention she got. Yeah, us Booren women are not above our narcissism. As far as the attention I got pregnant, meh, allright. But the attention I get while holding Zachary, especially in my Moby wrap. Holy Hannah. I'm not looking to get picked up on, but it's amazing the kindness of strangers when you've got a baby on your hip. Between people commenting on the adorableness of my baby, hardware store employees going way above and beyond to help me get exactly what I need, and service station employees apologizing for not having the time to help me put air in my tires I feel very loved. He must be kind of cute and I must look helpless or something which I'm okay with. I'm a big believer in the kindness of strangers and thanks to Zach that kindness has skyrocketed. Thanks pal.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Everyone Poops

Everyone poops, or so I have been told by a book by Taro Gomi. Sweet Z is no exception, though he doesn't normally "go" with such gusto. See below pictures. I fed the baby boy, and put him in his Bumbo for a few minutes so I could in turn eat something before changing his diaper.  At the time, no discernible BM had taken place. Once I pulled him out, however, this is what I found. 
The brown coming out of the top of his pants was gooey, and you even get a little taste of it coming out the bottom of the pants.
After I took off the pants, I noticed the damage done to the leg was a little more extensive than originally thought.
 But the real trauma was above. Holy Smokes child, how much is that? Blegh.
One loaded diaper and many wipes later he is a little cleaner, but it definitely took a good bath to get him clean and some serious cleaning products for his clothes. No word yet on if they will be salvageable, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

All I can say is thank you handy cameras that help to document what will most likely be our children's "finest" hours.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Visit to State College

I love this girl. And I really love State College. Not that I am hating on the Macung, but I really appreciate that SC is only a few hours away so I can go back and love on all the people who loved on me for the last two years. And thanks to this girl, Miss Kate, I had super fantastic accommodations. Thanks also to the fabulous women at the Relief Society picnic, to the women who came over for Girls' Night Out, and thanks to Miss Jamie for continuing to be the best neighbor ever even now that she's over 150 miles away.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

New Calling

After a few months of slacking off at church, they have finally put me to use as the new . . .

WARD LIBRARIAN

I'm not sure I've ever been so excited for a calling before. Not that I've ever pined after or even thought of this calling, but now that I have it, I'm pretty sure it might be the best calling in the Church.

What do I do as Ward Librarian? I basically sign out and sign back in materials teachers might need for their classes. It's definitely reminiscent of my days as Central Supply Supervisor at BYU where I only worked the 10 or so minutes between classes and then I spent the rest of the time doing my homework or going on golf cart rides or doing endless numbers of crossword puzzles. Ah what bliss. As a side note, my older brother and younger brother also worked for this department, and now my oldest nephew, Parker, keeps the tradition alive.

But back to Ward Librarian. Yeah, I'm excited. Especially since I had a dream they called me as Cub Scout Leader. I will definitely take Ward Librarian over den mother any day - sorry little 8-year-old boys.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Zachary is 3 months old!!



 



Can you tell I am completely enamored with this sweet boy? Not a day goes by that I don't exclaim, "you are the cutest thing I have ever made!!" He still cries and wakes up at night more than I would prefer. He smells bad from time to time and drools profusely, but he also loves his mama, smiles almost constantly and squawks a good squawk. It's tremendously cute if not a little noisy.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Family Reunion 2012

This summer has been a hectic one. I think I might have mentioned this before, but . . .

  • Matthew graduated from Business School
  • We had our first baby boy
  • We moved across the state
  • We bought our first house
  • Matthew started a new job
  • And . . . my little brother Paul and I were in charge of Booren Reunion 2012. Other than buying a house, Paul and Bre's experience was very similar. And yet, it was just our turn to plan the reunion. And really, it should have been last summer but Paul was going through Officer Candidate School for the Marine Corps and Matthew and I were in Hawaii for his internship, so this was really the better summer for us to do it.
And now that it is all said and done and the stress has dissipated, I can say that it was a successful reunion. Currently half of my siblings live on the West Coast (mostly Oregon) and half of us live in Virginia/Pennsylvania. So while we've always done reunions in Oregon in the past, this year Paul and I mixed it up and made half the siblings and most of the nephews and nieces travel across the country to us. One day we went to an amusement park, another day we headed into DC for the Zoo and Arlington National Cemetery, another day we spent by the pool and at the bowling alley, Saturday we hung out by the lake in my parent's backyard, and finally on Sunday, we watched as my oldest nephew was ordained an Elder and the youngest nephew was given a newborn blessing. Really fairly lovely, mostly drama-free, and completely exhausting.

But what I want to focus on is the night I was in charge of providing dinner for the family. Friday, we were gone all day to the Zoo and Arlington Cemetery. The plan was to drive to the Washington Mall afterwards for a soccer game and dinner. We were on our way, my father acting as navigator in my car while several other cars followed behind. I hate driving in downtown DC. Too many confusing turns with few chances of quickly correcting a false move. So after one such miss-turn (per my father's directions), we opted to make an illegal left to get us moving in the right direction. DC traffic had cleared out mostly, and it looked safe so we turned followed by the others. The cops were waiting. Multiple actually. I have a feeling we weren't the first ones to make this maneuver. So while a cop came to interrogate me, there were two others ready to interrogate my siblings and their equally faulty turn. I'm not sure if he planned on giving me a ticket from the first moment, but thankfully for me, I had three very enthusiastic boys singing in the backseat and poor Zachary screaming in my ear. All this going on, while I told the cop, in a very frazzled (I've been sight-seeing all day and I'm tired) voice, that yes, I knew I was making an illegal turn, and yes, I was extremely sorry, and yes, the other two cars made the turn because I made the turn and it was all my fault. He must have taken pity on me with the circus going on in my car because he waved us and the other cars on. Thank you crying Zachary.

We found a place to park next to the Washington Monument and Jared and I went in search of a Costco to get dinner for the night. Everyone else had provided sandwiches for their meals while we were out and about, so I figured I would mix it up and get pizza for everyone. And where else to get decent cheap pizza than Costco. It helped that Jared needed to pick up a cake for his sons' sixth birthday. So Jared and I drove off leaving the crowds behind to enjoy a summer's evening in the Nation's Capitol. I knew the Costco was within a couple of miles of us, and I had a rough direction in my head as to where we were going. But, unfortunately, my phone died just as we were pulling out and Jared had neither smart phone nor GPS. No big deal, we'll find it. It's Costco, it will stand out. Sadly, this is DC, and as I said before there are a lot of confusing turns. And let me reiterate, I hate driving in DC. 45 minutes, many wrong turns and a stop at a hotel to ask for directions later, we found Costco only to find out that while they accepted the order I had called in an hour before, something happened either with their ovens or with the dough making machine, and they did not have my pizzas. Oh, and it was going to take an additional 45 minutes before they would be ready. It was already almost 7 pm, the crowds were mostly restless and I had a baby with no backup formula to get back to. So after already standing in line, Jared marched me back through Costco, me following behind completely panicked about what to do now, and picked out some sandwich platters that were just going to have to do. 

We finally made it back to the Washington Monument, an hour and a half later, the sun had set, people were most decidedly hungry, and my baby was screaming for food of his own. It was all I could do to apologize profusely for failing on dinner, grab my baby and B-line it back to my car to feed him and cry.

Thankfully, my sweet sister came to bring me dinner and reassure me that I had not failed, it had been a lovely evening and no one was blaming me for not having a better plan. The kids got to see fireflies, something they had only ever heard about, little Joel got to blow out candles from an iPhone app, and everyone got their fill of both cake and ice cream bars. 


And to make matters even better, by the time we got back to my parent's house, Matthew had made it down from PA, where he had been, unable to make it any earlier due to work restraints. I had made it through my dinner and I had my husband. Life was definitely better.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

We Blessed Our Baby

We Blessed our Baby while we were at Family Reunion since my family was all there (minus Joshua who had to fly home early to start grad school) and it was just as easy for Matthew's parents to fly into DC as it would have been to fly into Phillie. Maybe two and a half months is a little old to bless a baby, but he still fit into his blessing outfit and still cried loudly as the ordinance was being performed so nothing new there. But it was special to bless him with just his family sitting around loving him. We did it right after church in my parent's ward building. And since Parker (the oldest grandchild) had been ordained to the office of an Elder just before, he was able to join in the Priesthood circle and be part of it. 

The star of the show, looking so awkward in his bonnet. Matthew still has no idea why I made him wear that bonnet, but I think he looks precious.

The happy family

The happy grandparents (my side)

And Matt's side 

 The men asked to be in the circle to bless our Wee Babe. Notice, how happy Zachary is to be there.