A Public Apology

I was supposed to meet my family at Temple Square tonight and look at the lights. I was so excited. My family is fun. Seriously fun.

We always seem to make wonderful memories at Temple Square during Christmastime. There was the year I punched my Uncle in the stomach thinking it was my friend, why I thought it was appropriate to punch my friend I'll never know. Then there was the year I showed up and saw my Uncles mother so bundled up sitting in her wheelchair that all you could see was the whites of her eyes and as soon as I saw her, I just started laughing. Righ.at.her. And let's not forget the year I made a comment about a certain some one's hat and he refused to wear it the rest of the night. I'm sure his ears got frostbite. Like I said, memories. This year was no different.

We were supposed to meet at 5:30 in front of the visitor's center "with the Jesus statue". I left my house at 4:00 to give myself ample time for parking which I knew would be a nightmare. I arrived downtown at 4:45 and drove around for an hour. Yes, an hour, looking for a spot. Every parking garage I found said FULL and never found a spot on the street. I started to scream in my car and every time I would yell, Grant would yell "KAAAY" back to me. SO, after driving for one hour looking for a spot and screaming like a madwoman, I finally double parked where I thought the "Jesus statue" was so I could run in and tell my family to go without me (I don't carry my cell phone much anymore). I threw my van in park, grabbed my kid, and ran to find that the "Jesus statue" was not where I thought it was.

FORGET ABOUT IT. I guess I'm not looking at the lights this year. I'm sure my family waited and waited wondering where in the hell I was.

This is where you might think the story ends. But, it doesn't.

I had an errand to run while I was in the big city. Yes, I call Salt Lake the big city. I had to go to Williams Sonoma and return something, which is why I didn't just ride the train in. I went to Trolley Square and decided I wanted to give the lights one more try. I really wanted to go. So, I went back. What a fool I was.

I found a public parking lot and decided to give it a try. Just as I pulled in, a van was loading to leave. Jackpot. I waited. I was the only car in sight. I was elated. I knew I wouldn't see my family, but I could enjoy the lights and the different Nativity Scenes. A truck turned the corner as the van was pulling out and a girl got out of the truck and walked into the spot and assumed a Peter Pan stance. Oh, hell no. I started to pull in the spot anyway, rolled down my window and said politely "I was waiting for this spot." "We've been driving around for like 20 minutes looking for a spot." "I don't care." And I just keep pulling forward until I was inches away from her then stopped. She asked "Are you going to hit me?" "Nope, but I'm not going to move either." I was shaking, I was scared, I was mad, I was feeling dumb, but I wanted to park my car and that spot was clearly mine. She moved.

I got out and everyone in the truck yelled at me "NICE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT LADY!"

"Thank you."

Grant cried the whole time looking at the lights.

So, I'm sorry. Sorry to my cousins for not showing up and sorry that I ruined those peoples' night.

Dear Uncle Scotty,

I can't wait to meet you.



Love,

Your Nephew Grant.

Two Weeks in Texas.

I went to Texas for Thanksgiving. It was magical. My son loves his grandpa so much. Every morning I would wake up to find my dad had done the dishes from the night before and he'd be cuddling with Grant on the couch while they both drank chocolate milk and watched tv.

We ate, played the Wii, ate, went shopping, ate, watched movies, ate,went for a surrey ride(a surrey is a horse drawn buggy used in the old days to transport people from the train station to hotels. don't feel bad if you didn't know what a surrey was. I didn't either but pretended I did so my step mom wouldn't know how dumb I am), played with Frankie the dog and tortured Felix the cat, ate, watched season one of Modern Family, cut down our own Christmas Tree, ate, drank super special grape juice, and did I mention we ate?

My dad works a lot. He tells me on the phone that he's working a lot of hours and I would think "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You say you're working day and night but you're really not. How can someone really work all day and all night. He's just exaggerating." But seriously, he works all day all night and all day. He even took it easy while I was there so he could hang out with us and give me and Grant nouggies (how do you spell that?).

Those two weeks went by way too fast. The morning we woke up in our own beds, Grant was standing up in his crib yelling, "Grandpa! Grandpa! Grandpa!" He was pretty disappointed to see me, he knew he'd be getting white milk.

Thanks for such a great visit. We love you so much.

What I've Learned Lately.

Okay, another post about parenting. But seriously, I have nothing else going on right now.


~If the chicken I made for dinner is too hot for myself, I probably shouldn't feed it to my toddler. He screamed and kept trying to scrape layers off his tongue.

~If my 1 1/2 year old gets crumbs in my bed because I let him bring crackers in my bed, it's my fault. Not his.

~No matter how much I want him to, Grant is not going to sit through a movie in the theater anytime soon. I don't think I'm going to pay $8 to hang out in a hallway anymore.

~If you have a tendency to say things like shit, damn, and hell they may be repeated by your toddler.

~Your kids are way less annoying if you actually pay attention to them instead of trying ignore them so you can look up secret people on facebook.

~I should not watch those damn, I mean darn, cop dramas on TV. Too scary for me.



~If I put my fingers in my son's mouth to check for new teeth, I'm going to get bit. Again, my fault, not his. I still bit him back.

I hope this doesn't sound like a bunch of complaining. I love my life more than I thought possible.

How couldn't I?

The moments that make it all worth it.

I was trying to think of words that describe motherhood.

Here's what I came up with:

fun

funny

wonderful

challenging

indescribable

hard

spiritual

I know, I'm not very good with words. If the blog princess were writing this, she would have such better words than that.



I had one of those unexpected moments that make you so happy and giggle with excitement in motherhood.



I was giving Grant a bath and playing the repeat game with him.

I would say bath and he would say bath. I would say Georgie and he would say Georgie. I would say Daddy and he would say Daddy. Then it happened. I said I and he said I. Then I said love and he said love. The before I had the chance to say you, he screamed Mama.



Being a mom is the best.

The Not So Distant Future and Right Now

(In no specific order.)

1. My dad bought me an airplane ticket to visit him for two weeks for Thanksgiving. I'm going to cook for him. Hint: I like compliments when I cook. Seriously.

2. I'm visiting my sister in January. I'm flying out on 1/11/11. So cool.

3. Keeping up with the Kardashians. I'm obsessed. I love Netflix.

4. Christmas is right around the corner. I'm already shopping and I'm putting my tree up next week. Jewel Christmas is played non-stop around here. (Shhh, Jewel.)

5. I need to find a babysitter for 3 hours in November. I need to get my Harry Potter on.

6. On Dancing with the Stars, Rick Fox said when he first entered the NBA, Larry Bird told him one thing, "In the NBA, we play hurt." Where did that attitude go?

7. I'm trying so hard to stop biting my nails. I've been told "Sara, if you're hungry go to the kitchen and get something to eat. We don't eat our fingers." I've got to stop.

8. My house is a total mess. I'm so emabrassed. It's like when I was a kid and my room got so messy and I just didn't know where to start so I just don't do anything and turn on another episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians.

9. I had such a fun lunch with my mom the other day. Grant used chopsticks.

10. I love fall. I can wear clothes that my mashed potato arms aren't hanging out. I took Grant to a pumpkin patch.

11. Stories of this day coming soon.

I Get It.

Thanks to Netflix, I'm in the know. How is it that I never watched Grey's Anatomy 'til now.

McDreamy...I get it. He.is.super.dreamy.

Presenting...

Mr. and Mrs. Jim Duncan!Everyone was there for the wedding, kids included.

Almost everybody.

Three out of four, just missing the missionary.

My four new siblings(they told me they don't use the word "step"). They are as nice as can be.

This is my idea of heaven.

Pictures of the trip coming soon.

Another highlight from the Visit.

While my dad was here, he noticed Grant's library consisted of books all from the D.I. I don't know how many times I've read "My Gospel ABC's".

Shortly after Grandpa left, Grant received a package in the mail.

He was so excited!

They almost all have special inscriptions from Grandpa Creed and Nana Sue.

Go Dog Go, says "Dogs are the best! Love Grandpa". I always read him the inscriptions before I read the book to him. I think it makes it so special.

Grant looks like this most of the time now. Usually he's dressed.

Thanks guys!

It was a few weeks ago, but...

GRANDPA CREED CAME TO VISIT! I know G looks goofy, but I didn't get a picture of them together where they both looked good. I'd rather Grant look drunk than my dad. Grant loves his Grandpa, he was calling him Grandpa after about 2 hours.

We went to visit his dad. He had wild hair and a crazy beard. We interviewed him for 2 1/2 hours. My Grandpa loved motorcycles, the navy, and schick injector razors.

Grant wasn't sure of the old man.

It was a fun day and a half. Yes, a day and a half, that's how long my dad stayed. We ate Indian food and steaks. It is always so much fun to be with my dad.

Come back soon!

My Not So Secret Wish

If you could be the best on the block at one thing, what would it be?



Easy. Singing. I want to wake up in the morning and wow myself with my new found talent. I want to sing solos in church and make every one cry because I'm so damn good and for them to say "wow, Sara's awesome." I want to sing karaoke and not scream karaoke. And I want spontaneous applause when everyone realizes how good I am, just like Susan Boyle. (I'm not linking to her, everyone knows Susan Boyle.) I want my husband to be able to tell the truth when he says I'm the best singer he knows. I want to be a castmember on Glee. (This link is for you, sis.) No wait, I want them to approach me, but for me to turn them down because I can't go to Hollywood, I have a family to take care of. But they would beg for sure.



Guess what, Grant loves it when I sing to him. I bet I really am the best singer he knows.



On a side note, I think it's hilarous that Boozer is out for 8 weeks. I bet he tripped over his Jazz bag. Maybe he'll give Chicago 3 out of 6 years.

Today I...

~made a loved one cry, no it wasn't grant or my sister
~fed grant cookies for breakfast for the second day in a row, at least they were oatmeal raisin
~was locked out of my own bedroom
~was seen by my neighbor in my undies standing my driveway. don't ask.
~put a hole through my bedroom door with a hammer to get it unlocked
~bought a dyson. it sucks!
~went to Costco and spent less than $100
~ate dinner at Costa Vida
~visited my friends. i love you ls and ks. you make me smile
~skipped my shower, again
~had my monthly budget meeting
~read grant the same book over and over. can't wait until tuesday when we'll receive new books from grandpa
~watched Modern Family
~didn't get my oil changed
~had second thoughts on an irreversible decision i made yesterday
~started looking into a possible upcoming trip to disney
~cried twice
~watched Raising Helen

that's about it.

Yard Sale

I love to de-junk my house. I make almost monthly donations to the MS Society or the DI. I also recently had my basement carpeted so I've got a pretty big pile of stuff I want to get rid of. For the 3 1/2 years I've lived in this house, I've never had carpet so suddenly I'm in need of a vacuum. So I said to myself, "Self, why don't you try to sell all this stuff instead of donating it and you can use to money to buy a vacuum." I like the idea. I mentioned to my neighbor I was going to have a yard sale and they said they would put a few things in. I've also arranged for my little brother to come to my house and help me with the setup. There's only one problem, I FORGOT TO PUT AN AD IN THE NEWSPAPER!! What an idiot. I've been so confused about my days. I woke up this morning ready to call my primary and remind them about the Program Practice on Thursday. I cannot believe it.

I hope placing an ad in KSL the day before the Yard Sale will suffice. I'm so annoyed.

All I Ask of You

My sister-in-law and I are watching The Phantom of the Opera. You know the one that came out in 2004 to the big screen. I'm still bitter about this movie. Christine walks around the whole time looking surprised or bored. The only redeeming factor is Minnie Driver, she's delightful. I hate hate hate this movie, but Kirstin wanted to watch it.

Raoul and Christine just sang "All I ask of you" and Kirstin says, "The Phantom just got ditched."

I say good riddance.

Who am I kidding? I get to sing along at the top of my lungs to The Phantom of the Opera for
2 1/2 hours. I love it.

Water

Meow!
Me, I know, rare.
The Gateway fountains.

I think we're raising Grant to be fearless. I hope I don't regret it.

Lake Powell

Pretty much one of my favorite places on Earth.

Another One about G Squared.

Apparently, all I have to blog about is my kid.


This picture just makes me laugh. He has a weed in his right hand he's trying to give me. It's the first time he's ever given me flowers. And the sun was shining right in his eyes.
Something not about Grant, the cake for the 4th which was really the 5th in our house. It's from Barefoot Contessa, also featured on Pioneer Woman's website. My neighbor forced me to pose for the picture.




You've got to notice the warning on the side of the bucket to see the humor in this picture.

His latest thing is wearing blankets for capes. He'll walk around all day like this.

The Scorpion King

We took Grant to the park this weekend. This kid loved the slide. He would face plant every time he went down but he kept going back for more.

It never occurred to me to catch him, only to take pictures of him totally biffing it.

Some recent favorites.

Friends for life, they just don't know it yet. The super cute exit of Harry and Lucy, don't they look so happy. After the sparklers, they drove off in a semi-truck and lived happily ever after.

At the same wedding. You'll normally see Grant running just like this laughing uncontrollably. I think he gets it from his father. This was at the Manti Pageant just before he landed on a stranger's blanket and drooled his blue M&M spit all over their blanket.

My sis-in-law. I see so much of her personality here, I love it.

You never how much parents love their kids until you become one yourself. Geez.