familysearch.org indexing

Given that I only have spurts of time here and there (when Dean decides he's ok to take a nap) and it's never a 2 hour nap more than once a day, and that 2 hour nap changes times depending on the day, I don't usually plan on accomplishing too much during my day. Since this is a time in our lives when we won't be able to make it to the temple very often without great sacrifice of everyone involved, I recently signed up to be an indexer for familysearch.org. I figured if I can't do any temple work, this is one of the easiest things I can do so that other people can do it. It is SO much fun and I LOVE doing it. I signed up 3 weeks ago and I've already indexed 2500 names and completed over 100 batches of names. It's fun to do the old censi and see how different life was "back in the day" and especially interesting to do the 1871 english census. A lot of the kids were working, which is so sad, and the ones that weren't working are referred to as "scholars". How cute!

I have been waiting for an easy Portuguese project to open up, and it was my lucky day last week sometime. They have immigration cards from Rio de Janeiro ranging from 1900-1967 complete with PICTURES..... Do you know how cool it is to index information about people when you can actually see who they are? I am obviously partial to the people from Portugal and I must admit, I often cry when I see their faces and input their information. Is it weird that I love these people as well as all of the living people I met in Portugal? I really feel like they are "our" people, since John served his mission there as well. Yesterday I indexed a bunch of Japanese that were coming in. It's very, very interesting to do indexing, but even more so when you can see their sweet faces. Oh the spirit of Elijah touching all of our hearts to find our ancestors. It truly is an amazing thing.

Pictures

These first two are from a month ago and the last one is from last week. It's amazing how much bigger he's gotten in a month and how much more hair he has!

We are still battling sleep training (now without being swaddled since he was ripping himself out of the velcro swaddle wraps), but he is making progress every day. He is the best little guy and we are so blessed to have him in our little family.


I love this picture. It is extremely rare to be clever enough to get a smile on camera, even if it is from an "artsy" angle.


Is it just John and I, or does it look like our little, skinny guy might be gaining weight in his cute little face?

Food for Thought

Dean is officially eating solids! When we took him in for his 4 mo appointment, the doctor told us that we could start him on solids whenever we wanted to. Since Dean was seeming very curious when we would put food in our mouths and grabbing at food on my plate, we thought we would give it a try. So last week I finally mustered up the courage to start him on baby oatmeal. The first meal was a battle! He wanted to play with the spoon as it was coming toward his mouth, but he has learned quickly to leave it alone. He even opens his mouth wide when he sees the spoon coming. He still is a huge mess when we're done, but he's getting the hang of it. I've tried to get a good picture of the messy boy, but he acts weird whenever a I whip out a camera.

I have been struggling to figure out why it's so hard to lose the baby weight. I felt like I have been eating well-ish, but I still can only fit into 2 of my skirts and they have no structure or support whatsoever that I hate wearing them. So, last week I finally signed up for myfitnesspal.com. It's a fabulous site that basically takes your weight, etc and tells you how many calories to eat. I know.... Calorie counting.... she must be crazy. I probably am, but I was shocked to learn as I put in my foods and it subtracted calories for breastfeeding that I have been eating far too few calories, thus putting my body into starvation mode, hence why I'm not losing any weight. I have learned to love counting calories because I eat what I want as long as it fits into my allotment for the day and the list of foods they have is extremely comprehensive. I have dropped a pound in a week, which is the recommended amount to do so safely, and I must admit I feel so much better. I haven't really exercised because I have a cold, but with this site, you get to eat back any calories that you exercise off. I think it has the potential for me of being the tool that I need to get to a healthy weight.

Hopefully I can do a picture post soon. They are all 'trapped' on our nice camera, so I'll try to get some up here soonish.

Cowboys vs. Aliens

Was a HORRIBLE movie. Just in case you were thinking of redboxing it, here are a few reasons why you shouldn't:

1) redbox has raised their prices. Save yourself the $1.28 and go get a frosty instead.
2) it wasn't a comedy. I thought that surely a movie titled Cowboys vs. Aliens was supposed to be a comedy. No. It wasn't even slightly funny. John did point out that with Harrison Ford and the dude who has been playing 007, why would it be a comedy? Good point.
3) The "plot" of the movie isn't presented until you are at least 1.5 hours into the movie. We kept asking each other what was going on and why.
4) If you watch it too closely to bedtime, you will be so confused that it's hard to fall asleep.
5) If you watch it too closely to bedtime, you might have dreams that your husband gets abducted, which would be especially awkward if you didn't have one.
6) Did I mention there was no plot for most of the movie?
7) If you didn't like Independence Day, you won't like it's equivalent set in old west times.
8) They should've named it Cowboys & Indians vs. Aliens.

Really, truly, just watch something else while eating a Frosty. Trust me, you'll enjoy it more.

Thoughts on Sleeping

Well, Dean is officially in the process of sleep training, which I have to admit is horrible, yet wonderful at the same time. Sleep for myself is among the top 3 most important things in my life to keep me going. I am a horrible monster when I do not get enough sleep..... Besides a little extra sleep during the day and less interruptions during my night time sleep, for the past 2 days I have been able to actually get things done around the house, which I cannot say has happened since August 31st, when he was born. Here's a sampling of things I have been able to get done:

- Shower (this has happened since he was born, but I will admit it wasn't a daily occurrence due to a screaming baby)
- Take the time to dry my hair
- Make dinner 2 nights in a row (pot roast and chicken rolls)
- Do all of the dishes from said dinner ventures
- Exercise for the first and second time since Dean was born (hopefully I will be able to fit into more than 2 of the skirts I own)
- Peruse my "Real Simple" Magazine subscription that I got for Christmas
- Take a nap
- Make banana bread
- Write in my journal (the last time I did that was sometime in June)
- Take care of HOA stupid business
- Look for new recipes
- Think about how I'm going to tackle finishing my quilt top that I've had almost done for about a year and a half

Needless to say, while it is very hard to deal with sleep training a baby, it is also great to have the opportunity to do things that I want to do again. Especially shower. And make dinner. And take a nap.

We also took Dean in for his 4 mo check up. He is 13 lbs. 4 oz (19%) and 26" long (79%). No shocker there for any of us that he is tall and skinny. Sounds a lot like someone else I know......... Sorry this blog has turned into me rambling about my baby, but he is pretty much the entirety of my life right now. One day John might blog again and I might have something else to say...

Merry Christmas (a little late)

This year we all got new red bow ties for Christmas. It is something John's dad has worn for years to church for Christmas. Thanks to the magical powers of the Internet, I found one for John and I and then made Dean a onesie. They were a huge hit at church. We went to visit Jan and Margot right after church to surprise them with our Christmas duds and they were kind enough to take our picture.