Date night!

Before we got married Miles and I decided to make every Friday night a date night, taking turns to plan the dates. We've been pretty consistent with it, and have probably kept Redbox in business, but with Colban's arrival it's been a little trickier. First of all, we're both ready for bed at eight thirty or nine, and second of all, we've been so busy between work, callings and keeping Colban fed, changed, and rested that we haven't had energy to go out much. I think we had some grocery store dates and a couple afternoon Redbox runs :)

Anyway, a while back I saw an idea on Pinterest and knew it was right up Miles's alley. I finally remembered to get mini marshmallows, and he was in suspense all day about what we might be doing with them. I was so surprised he didn't guess it, but it made it all the more fun.

Marshmallow tower building contest!

To make it a little sweeter, we set a prize for the tallest tower: sleeping in while the loser took the next morning's 5 am diaper change. We suddenly both became fiercely competitive. Miles wanted a time limit and rules, so we made it until Colban woke from his nap, and had only 50 marshmallows each. Toothpicks were unlimited. ..."and rule number four: no cheating"(name that movie!)

Here's where it made me laugh to see our personalities really come out. I was wildly stabbing marshmallows together as fast as I could and throwing together a building right away(get'er done!), while Miles carefully stuck his toothpicks in all at the same angle and spot in each marshmallow and spent minutes just looking at his budding tower to see how to make it more structurally sound. The result?

I wiiiiiiin! 

Really, Colban saved me by waking up in the nick of time, because my tower had collapsed and I had just succeeded in propping it up in any way possible and adding a "safety spire" on top. I really couldn't have built it any taller, though. If Miles had had a little more time(or his own safety spire) he would have creamed me. To put things more in perspective, the pile you see behind Miles's tower is how many marshmallows he still had left to build with. I had four.

A close-up of my masterpiece. It started out as a bunch of stacked cubes, until Colban kept napping and I was forced to make it taller...and then it collapsed and kind of turned into a tumbleweed

He was so sad. Look at the perfect angles and structure on that thing!
You could pick it up and move it with one finger--it was so strong!
Mine, on the other hand, was propped up by toothpicks like a little shanty

This is why I don't usually help Miles with his boat. Winner!

 It was a really fun and inexpensive date night--both mini marshmallows and toothpicks are only a dollar, and we had tons of both left over. We also think this would be a fun group date, and now Miles says he's discovered the optimal structure for marshmallow towers, so watch out!

Three months old already

I can't believe our little Colban is three months old already! 

He's finally starting to gain some weight and get some little rolls on those legs, and is just as strong and active as ever! This month he's learned how to use his hands, and he loves to grab for toys, Mom's hair, and Dad's tie at church. We also discovered how much he likes to see himself in the mirror--he'll coo, cough, and play shy from himself. He can still roll from tummy to back, but lately he only does it when he's waking up from a nap, and has rolled back again a few times. He's slept through the night twice, but lately seems to be remembering how much fun it was as a newborn to get up and eat every two hours! Workin' on those rolls, I guess! Oh well, he's adorable even at 12, 2, 3:30, and 5 am!

Here are some pictures from the past little while:

He was swaddled to go down for a nap, but I needed a quick
bathroom break. I came back to find him sneaking his hands out
to grab the ball, while talking to himself in the mirror

 

I just think this one is funny. It's so hard to get him to smile for the
camera, because as soon as  pull it out he gets all curious. 

This isn't the best one, but he can rest his elbows and pull his head up
to 90 degrees. Makes tummy time a lot more fun for him, and he lasts longer :)

My little smiler! Doesn't he look like a muppet here?

All ready for church. He likes to flirt with the grandmas
...and try to spit up on my skirt as much as possible :)

Ha! We were trying to stall him so he didn't go to
bed too early, so we went on a walk. He pulled on the
hat and rubbed his face on Miles a lot, but seemed to like it.

Grateful for Gratitude

One of my mission companions recently posted about a study showing that daily exercises in gratitude did more to cure depression than anti-depressant drugs. 

You can read the article here. Kind of really great, huh?

Anyway, with this on my mind I've been trying to count my blessings and focus on them instead of stating happy things as kind of the antidote after saying negative ones, like "I feel terrible and am pretty sure I'm losing my left leg to gangrene, but life is good." Kind of kills the "life is good" part, and turns everything into a downer. Or sometimes it seems hard to "count your blessings" because it's easy to slip into making side notes, like "I have a sweet healthy baby" yeah, that will wake you up again in two hours, yelling loud enough to summon the fire department. He will then stay up for another two hours, making desperate screams every time you stop moving. See? Gratefulness-0. 

Last night, though, I stumbled across a great way to count my blessings and change a cranky mood to a genuinely positive one. I was soooo tired and kind of crabby, but as Miles and I went to bed I turned and said, "I love you." He asked why, so I listed some reasons that had stuck out that day, including "you make me laugh." Now here's the gratitude tip, compliments of my husband: 

"What made you laugh today?"

I found I could list off five or six things from that day that were still hilarious to me, and went to sleep with a smile on my face, still laughing about the funny text Miles had sent to his boss, and how he peeked back through the mail slot to say goodbye again on his way to work. And how Colban, who is fixated by Miles's razor charge cord, ferociously gnawed on his hand after finally touching the cord, as if hoping it had left something edible there. This listing of blessings came so much more naturally to me, and left me with a REAL feeling of gratitude for some wonderful moments that made me love my family that day.

Try it! Or if it wasn't a laugh-y day, I bet still thinking of what made me smile that day would do the trick!

I am asking that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.

-Gordon B. Hinckley