Freakonomics

Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. I am way behind the book club curve on this one, but have been meaning to read it for quite some time. I am glad that I was late to the party, as this revised and expanded version corrected some errors from the first and had a whole lot of cool stuff added to the back. So there, once in my life I was rewarded for procrastinating. Great read. A lot like Malcolm Gladwell's oevres if you like those. I really enjoyed Economics in high school and college, and found this very interesting. The book isn't without controversy since some of their studies are wild and show some unforeseen results, but they all make you THINK, which is what I like. So if you have procrastinated to, check it out. Disclaimer - for those of you offended by bad language, there is some of it in here when they quote some people who don't have the same sensibilities.

Prolonged Bedtime

Enoch is trying to perfect the art of going to be without really going to bed. Tonight is a good example. But first, we'll start with bathtime and a song he was singing in the tub:

"I remember Jesus Christ. I love my family. My dad had a tape measure. It was in America. But he doesn't have it in England. I remember Jesus Christ. I love my family."

OK - cute, clean boy puts on super cute stripy dinosaur pjs, brushes teeth, flosses teeth and "goes to bed".

Two minutes later - "Mommy I need something to tell you. Hmm. Ahh. Long Pause. Can you take my glass and put it back in the bathroom?"

Two minutes later - "Mommy, I have something else I really need to tell you. Hmm. Ahh. (Look around the room for any topic of conversation - don't see anything - resort to cuteness). I love Jesus."

Two minutes later - "Mommy, I need you to fix my blanket. (Which consists of moving the blanket two inches, if that).

Don't worry, I am sure he will keep going strong for another hour or so. Good thing he is so darn cute!

And so it goes....

So for those of you unlucky enough to be around me during roughly the first half of my pregnancies, you know that I am miserable. Literally, debilitatingly miserable. Each pregnancy has been different. With Hilde I thought I could never be more sick, and it lasted a full 18 weeks. I lost 10 pounds during those 18 weeks.

Then with Enoch it was WORSE. I couldn't believe it, how could anything be worse? But, it was, and one night I started vomiting blood. So in a twist of fate, Dave called my doctor in the middle of the night only to discover she was on vacation and we needed to call her back-up, a doctor I had never met, and would never have met except for this midnight call. Dr. Taschman agreed to see me the next morning. I drove into his office and entered a slice of Mayberry right in the middle of Fair Oaks Hospital. His office was on the hospital grounds. His nurses had called in sick, so he was a one man show. An older white haired, immediately lovable man. He signed me in, drew my blood, weighed me, ran my blood tests and pulled me into his office with the old comfy chairs to discuss the situation. Well, he said, you don't have to be hospitalized. Phew, I thought, I definitely didn't want to do that. He then told me about a home remedy. He said that for some reason, the combination of Unisom and Vitamin B6 helped a lot of women cope more effectively with "morning" sickness. For one, it helps you sleep and get the rest your body needs, but something about the chemicals in the two pills has a positive effect overall. It was worth a try so we went and stocked up. It definitely didn't solve everything, but it was wonderful to me. Now I could actually sleep at night, and felt mostly normal in the morning. It was fantastic. Later on my own doctor prescribed me a drug they give patients of cancer treatments that is supposed to completely stop nausea in its tracks, which would have been even better. However, every time I tried to take it, I was sick within minutes. Nope, Unisom and Vitamin B6 was the only thing that helped me. I lost 15 pounds with Enoch, and my nausea lasted about 16 weeks.

So fast forward to today. I am 14 weeks along and although I have been better during the daytime hours than my other pregancies, nighttime is torture. I can't lay down, I can't slouch, I can't sleep. I literally stay awake until my eyes won't stay open and then lay down real quick and hope I fall asleep before nausea hits. Down about 12 pounds, it is starting to get a little better. Dave and I checked all of the stores here, but no sign of Unisom, and that would have been such a relief. But wait, last night I turn to Dave and say, you know, I never checked our medicine supply in the bathroom, I wonder if we brought any Unisom with us. Dave goes into the bathroom and promptly comes out with Unisom, a bottle of Vitamin B6 and my favorite prenatal vitamins (which we can't get here).

Are you kidding me? It was there all along? And poor Dave thought I had thoroughly searched everything, or else he would have looked months ago. Well, tonight I am going to log off, take my Unisom and B6, crawl into bed, and get a decent nights sleep. Oh, and of course pray that this time I am only sick for 14 weeks!

Book Review - Outliers

I find Malcolm Gladwell's books fascinating and this one is no exception. Dave and I have had several discussions on some of the theories and statistics. In particular, we have talked quite a bit about how we parent and how that will affect our kids long term. There is a lot to think about regarding education and building talents, supporting your kids, and teaching them how to interact with adults. This was a very quick read, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Introducing Baby Y

Baby Y will be making its debut sometime circa mid-July. Here is the first photo taken at about 13 weeks. One perk of the National Health System is that an ultrasound is required during your first 10-13 weeks to nail down the due date and check for any complications. It was a pleasant surprise to not have to wait! Our next ultrasound will be at 20 weeks, where they will be able to tell us the sex, hopefully. This little one didn't stop jumping around during the whole exam. It would kick with its feet and float to the top of the sac and then slide down again, waving its arms the whole time. Adorable for now, but I see lots of pain/pushing for room in my future!

Hilde has already started to "help" with names. These excerpts are from some conversations this week.

Conversation 1:
Hilde: Mommy, if we have a girl can we name her Sparkle?
Me: Sparkle is a pretty name, but no. Mommy and Daddy will pick out the name once we know whether it is a boy or a girl and we will tell you what the name is.
Hilde: But mom, Sparkle is the only girls name I know.
Me: Really, what about Laura or Nora or Rachel, etc.
Hilde: I only know Sparkle mom.
Everyone goes to bed.

Conversation 2 - the next morning:
Me: Daddy, Hilde asked me last night if we could name the baby Sparkle if it was a girl.
Dave: Sparkle?? Hilde, mom and dad get to pick out the name.
Hilde: But Daddy, Sparkle is the only girls name I know. Brief pause. Wait a minute, I know another girls name........how about BROWNIE?!

Needless to say, Hilde doesn't get a vote, although we love her creativity.

16 Things You Don't Know About Me

I also posted this on Facebook. My husband Dave and my good friend Matt Crowley have inspired me to follow their examples and post my own list of 16 things you don't know about me. This is not in any type of order I just typed them as I thought of them.

1) I started walking when I was 9 months old. Since then I think I have been on the go almost non-stop, except when Dave reminds me to slow down.
2) For a period of 2-3 years myself and my three sisters were virtually the same size in clothes. We started stealing each other's clothes and my mom had to enforce a rule where if we were caught wearing something that we had not asked for permission to wear, we had to pay the owner a dollar. I don't remember how much I paid out, but I do remember thinking it was worth the price to have more clothes to pick from. I don't think it slowed down the poaching.
3) I learned how to drive a stick shift when I bought a Geo Metro from my parents. They drove it to BYU, gave me a lesson for a couple of hours, and then I drove them to the SLC airport.
4) Dave and I had our first kiss while watching The Three Amigos and with my brother asleep on the floor right next to us. Immediately after our kiss we started cracking up.
5) I didn't have my first kiss until I was age 21 and in college. I consoled myself by thinking that high school boys were missing out on a great opportunity.
6) I had a paper route throughout Junior High School until one morning my mom took me around and we witnessed a drug deal. She insisted I quit that day.
7) My very best friend growing up, Kirsten McCarl, and I did a Music Video to a Madonna song. We practiced for hours and took some pictures. I am glad I don't know where the pics ended up.... We also sang a duet in a school concert (she deserved a much better partner), and watched several Marilyn Monroe movies repeatedly.
8) I ran the Marine Corps Marathon and have done an Olympic distance triathlon.
9) I took piano lessons for over 10 years. Don't ask me to play for you now. I HATE playing for an audience and completely freeze.
10) I almost went to Africa for the Peace Corps. They had assigned me a post as a community village sports "director" and were just finalizing paperwork when I pulled out. I often wonder how different my life would have been if I had gone.
11) My best friends in college, Jennifer Price Carver and Kari Younce Hickman, and I used to go out to Frontier Pies at midnight and get a slice of pie, or pick up a whole pie to bring home and devour. When Jen was on a date, Kari and I went by ourselves...
12) I once put on a mini soccer camp in Blackfoot, ID.
13) In the summers during my college years, I worked at a Blind Factory for Hunter Douglas. I was one of a few people who spoke English and I inspected and then packed the custom made blinds. I stood up all day and we had to close the factory if the temperature got over 90 because there was no AC. This being in Seattle - we only had to do that once the three summers I worked there.
14) I played competitive soccer all through junior high and high school. My team won the Premier League state championships (highest level there is in Washington) and competed at the Regional level a few times. Some of my teammates went on to play in the Olympics, the World Cup and in the now defunct WUSA (women's professional league).
15) I love walking, running, playing in the rain. As long as the temperature isn't super cold and the wind isn't howling, I just love it. Reminds me of home.
16) I hate pineapple, hot dogs and hamburgers. Much to my husband's dismay!

Christmas 2008

Finally, here is our Christmas update.

First of all, Hilde was in her first play. All of the British schools have a nativity play right before they break for the Holidays. Hilde was a mule. She was so excited for the big day. She would sing some of the songs around the house and we had to shop for her costume, brown pants and shirt. The only clothes we could find were way too big for her, so the pants have the waist rolled about 5 times and we were still worried they might fall down in the middle of the performance. Don't worry, they didn't. I hate to say it to all the other parents, but she was the cutest kid there. And I was so proud of her. For a while now she has been terrified of doing anything in front of groups. She thinks that everyone is looking and laughing at her. But they did so much rehearsing, and told her to look up above the crowd at the back of the wall, that she she did just fine. She even helped the kids next to her with their parts. What a doll.

Here is the trimming of the tree:


We had a nice, quiet morning with our family. We opened up all of the presents and everyone was happy with the gifts given and received. Then we spent a while playing with things before Enoch came down with a 102 degree temperature. That meant that we had to change our afternoon plans. Dave and Hilde went to Christmas dinner at a friends house while Enoch and I stayed at home, napping and generally taking things very slow. I got leftovers from Christmas dinner and even those were awesome so I am sure the hot out of the oven meal was fantastic. I don't know all that was involved, but I had a fantastic slice of rib roast, a delicious pear and walnut salad and lovely roasted vegetables (made by Dave). The roasted vegetables had potates, carrots and parsnips. Very Yummy.