Well, it's almost time for the Tour de France. So, to get you all in the spirit we did our own tour. Yep, real cool. Ok, not so much. Here is the much asked for video tour of our house. Be warned, I didn't try to do anything to prevent motion sickness for all y'all.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Day at home
So, Steve had to do a quick business trip & Sage and I decided to stay to get some stuff done. Along with boring things, I assembled a new cabinet that fits our shredder perfectly and I assembled a new medicine cabinet. With some helpful hands, too. Then I decided to pit her energy to task. Here she is:
Sage
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sage
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Newest Sage clip
Here is the latest. I wanted to capture the run-waddle-gallop.
Let me know if the video doesn't work. I'm still experimenting.
Let me know if the video doesn't work. I'm still experimenting.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sage the Reader
Ok, now that I think I've figured out how to upload my phone videos, here's another of Sage. Enjoy her new-found language skills. There are some words that sound questionable.... not our fault. She comes up with all her own material. :)
Hopefully, it doesn't take too long to load. If it does, let me know, since I'm new to this aspect of blogging.
Hopefully, it doesn't take too long to load. If it does, let me know, since I'm new to this aspect of blogging.
Moab
Steve, Sage and I went down to Moab last weekend. We went down to compete in the Moab XTerra Triathlon races. Steve and I did the Olympic Road race, meaning we didn't mountain bike it, but road on the road. Clever.
The race was good. Got our trash kicked, as we're pretty out of shape. This was the motivating race to get us working out this spring. Well, as it turns out, it's hard to work out while moving and getting settled and otherwise being busy. Have I mentioned that I have a hard time being consistent with working out ever since Sage was born? Yes, it's hard for me.
Anyway, back to the race. The swim was in Ken's lake, which was nice and chilly. We had rented wetsuits, but still it was cold. It took me the first 5 minutes or so of the race to even catch my breath. Every time I put my face in the water I'd gasp for breath. It was actually pretty frustrating for me, since swimming is the easiest part of a tri for me. I got pretty anxious and had to really control my head to stay focused and know that I was ok.
The bike was ok, more uphill than I would have liked. But the downhill was awesome!!!! The run was really good. I was surprised. I don't usually like trail running, but that was a blast. It was nice because Steve and I ran together, so that was fun. Slow, yes we were, but we had fun.
Now we're more motivated to keep working out and racing. We'll see what the rest of the summer brings. I was going to post photos from the race, but the ones online are horrible (and I couldn't copy and paste them... can't steal images after running our own photo business). Some friends snagged some photos of us, so when I get those, I'll post them up.
A huge thanks to Heather and Spencer Babcock for watching Sage during the race!!!!!! And thanks to Karl and Sarah Jarvis for hanging out with us before and after. Good friends are a great thing!
The race was good. Got our trash kicked, as we're pretty out of shape. This was the motivating race to get us working out this spring. Well, as it turns out, it's hard to work out while moving and getting settled and otherwise being busy. Have I mentioned that I have a hard time being consistent with working out ever since Sage was born? Yes, it's hard for me.
Anyway, back to the race. The swim was in Ken's lake, which was nice and chilly. We had rented wetsuits, but still it was cold. It took me the first 5 minutes or so of the race to even catch my breath. Every time I put my face in the water I'd gasp for breath. It was actually pretty frustrating for me, since swimming is the easiest part of a tri for me. I got pretty anxious and had to really control my head to stay focused and know that I was ok.
The bike was ok, more uphill than I would have liked. But the downhill was awesome!!!! The run was really good. I was surprised. I don't usually like trail running, but that was a blast. It was nice because Steve and I ran together, so that was fun. Slow, yes we were, but we had fun.
Now we're more motivated to keep working out and racing. We'll see what the rest of the summer brings. I was going to post photos from the race, but the ones online are horrible (and I couldn't copy and paste them... can't steal images after running our own photo business). Some friends snagged some photos of us, so when I get those, I'll post them up.
A huge thanks to Heather and Spencer Babcock for watching Sage during the race!!!!!! And thanks to Karl and Sarah Jarvis for hanging out with us before and after. Good friends are a great thing!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
INTERNET
Happy Mom's Day to all the Moms out there. :)
I'm very pleased to announce that we have the internet at our house again. We made an attempt to live internet free at our house, but, lemme tell ya, it's no fun. So, we bit the bullet and we're now married to Comcast for a year. Well, ok, not married, but paying them to attach us to the vastness of information and the connection filled world of the net.
So, I will hopefully blog more frequently again. And participate in everyone else's blogs again as well.
My Mother's Day has been nice. Some breakfast cooked by Steve-o the magnificent. Great hugs from Sage-aroni. Good times at church in our new ward. Then a fantastic nap, dinner with my mom at my sister's house and then a quick hello at Steve's parents. And now back home to surf before going to bed.
Great day. Thanks Steve for changing almost all of Sage's diapers today! :)
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
We're in
Ok, so someone mentioned to me that I haven't updated the blog to say that we moved.
WE MOVED!
We're in the new house and loving it. I don't have pictures at the moment because I keep waiting for it to look "done" and I think that will never really happen.
Anyway, after I pick up after Sage, I'll try and get some pictures posted.
So, all grown up and have a house. Fun!
WE MOVED!
We're in the new house and loving it. I don't have pictures at the moment because I keep waiting for it to look "done" and I think that will never really happen.
Anyway, after I pick up after Sage, I'll try and get some pictures posted.
So, all grown up and have a house. Fun!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
House updates
Kitchen floor, all dusty.
Kitchen cabinets installed. Bad photo, I'll get a better one when the counter tops are installed.
Steve did a great job installing the tile, but I'm lame and haven't taken a photo yet.
Word is they'll paint this Tuesday or Wednesday.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
To my women readers,
Read this article and tell me what are your thoughts.
Guilt, Motherhood and the Pursuit of Perfection
By Karen Kleiman, MSW, LCSW on February 26, 2011 - 12:38pm
Ah, the pursuit of perfecting mothering. How much is too much? What if it's not enough? What kind of damage will I impose on my children if I do it the wrong way? Whatever the issue, whatever the question, whatever the proposed solution, mothers have, for decades, backed themselves into a no-win corner. It's never enough. Or it's not right. Not exactly. They've passed through phases of Donna Reed and Leave it to Beaver mothers. They've tried working and staying at home. They've tried working and staying at home. They have compared themselves to those mothers (whom we all know) who seem dangerously similar to the fictional character of the Stepford Wife. They've tried holding on and letting go. Still, mothers today are left with one tenacious response: guilt.
Guilt is so pervasive that many mothers, particularly those who are depressed, presume it is a natural part of mothering, one that is inescapable in this day and age. Judith Warner describes the plight of American women today in her book, Perfect Madness (2005):
"Too many [women] are becoming anxious and depressed because they are overwhelmed and disappointed. Too many are letting their lives be poisoned by guilt because their expectations can't be met, and because there is an enormous cognitive dissonance between what they know to be right for themselves and what they're told is right for their children." .
Pressure comes from all sides and settles uncomfortably in the laps of women trying to do everything the right way. Women say they are reluctant to speak about their feelings:
I felt harassed. I didn't want to talk to anyone about how I was feeling. It's like I was a bad mother because I didn't want to breastfeed.
I didn't feel prepared to have a baby. I was afraid to tell anyone that I couldn't stand being alone with the baby. It made me feel incompetent and anxious. I was scared to death to be alone with him.
The conflicting messages espoused by countless parenting advocates are enough to make anyone wonder if they are doing it right: Babies should always sleep on their backs. (Really? Mine would have protested vehemently.) Babies should cry it out. Don't ever let babies cry when they are too young, for too long. Baby-wearing is a great way to establish and maintain total need fulfillment (whose?) and maximize attachment. Does daycare promote socialization or will it increase separation anxiety (and whose anxiety are we talking about?). Do good mothers leave their children to go to work? (Of course they do.)
I determined very early on that I would be a much better mother to my children if I returned to work, part-time at first. The part-time option sounded perfect. I could be home early to spend more time with my baby, and it felt right, since I was too tired to work a full day anyway. It has always been easy for me -- I'm not particularly proud to say -- to be selfish, or self-serving during those early postpartum months and put my needs right up there next to those of my baby. I have a slight rebellious streak that dates as far back as I can remember, true to my Baby Boomer form. I can still remember the exultation I felt walking into the high school gymnasium with my boyfriend clad in jeans to the formal prom. I remember the work boots I wore with colored socks accompanied by a mini skirt to go along with it, long before it was a fashion statement, simply because I hoped I could get away with it.
Similarly, as I entered the world of motherhood, I recoiled from what was expected of me, whether that pressure came from my family, or society as a whole, and found comfort in doing things that felt comfortable to me even if it mean ruffling some feathers. That didn't mean I wasn't tempted to surrender, however, when I found myself sucked into the pressure-cooker of "opportunities" for young mothers and their babies. Longing for daytime companionship, I took my four-month-old son to a local baby gym class. I am positive he did not care whether he was in this brightly decorated room filled with expensive baby-friendly, brain-enhancing equipment, or whether he was snug in our living room surrounded by unvacuumed dog-hair and a Sesame Street video that had looped in repetition for the fifth time. I sat for a while, in the circle of neurotic competitiveness, listening to mothers chatter on about whose baby was doing what and how many activities they had squeezed into their sleep-deprived schedules. My head swelled with the rude sights and sounds of one mother trying to outdo another. Why was I there, I asked myself, and who, exactly, expected this of me?
That was the first and last class to which I would drag myself.
It was then that I decided that if I were to maintain my sanity, I would pledge to:
Not go to baby classes programmed to make my baby smarter, faster, more agile, or speak foreign languages.
Not compare myself to others.
Not compare my baby to others.
Do what I needed to do for me and bring my baby along in the process.
Do the best I can.
Not be hard on myself if I failed to live up to unrealistic expectations.
Ask for help when I needed it.
Trust my instincts.
The pressure to be perfect
In spite of all the ways women have advanced with liberated glory, sadly, there remains a pressure to be perfect. No where do we see this which such fervor as in the American culture. So what's to be done? Therapists who work with postpartum women witness the crushing effects of this pressure. The pressure of cultural directives to be smarter, better dressed, and thinner than the rest, looms over vulnerable new mothers and takes its toll. We note the insidious stress creasing the tired face that sits before us. How do we soothe her? It's a daunting task to try to offset such far reaching demands put forth by the society in which we live.
Within her quest for comfort and meaning, therapists may represent the voice of reason amidst the clash of cultural mandates. In today's world, there is way too much access to information, way too many opinions, and far too many choices. New mothers often spin with indecision, resulting in deadlock from both trivial (which never, ever feel trivial) and significant choices. A woman's mother-in-law might be telling her which decision to make and why, commercials are enticing her, social groups are encouraging her in a different direction altogether, and, then, just to top it all off, there's the shrill and constant tape in her own head looping over and over again.
By the time she reaches a therapist's office, she needs someone to tell her that none of these things matter as much as she thinks they do. That's a tall order and one that doesn't sit well with hypervigilant, control-freaky, symptomatic mothers who are desperately trying to take charge of their lives.
Women are making themselves sick with expectations of perfection. This can come from many sources. It can be the result of hard-driving, high achieving parents, or it can be a personality type. It can stem from an underlying obsessive-compulsive disorder, or it can come from a biologic predisposition. It can be the product of societal demands. It can be the result of abuse, trauma or another major life disturbance, or it can just be because it is. Regardless of the origin, it needs to be identified and modified. In the end, women need to learn that they can indeed be alone with themselves and find peace there. It's a concept that is foreign to many women. Some may claim to be fed up with the myth of the perfect mother etched in their obsessive minds and reinforced by commercialism, but it remains pervasive, and we see the consequences of that pressure every day.
Mothers need to hear that it's okay follow their good instincts and it's okay to make mistakes.
Then, they need to hear that again, and once again.
Adapted from Therapy and the Postpartum Woman Routledge, 2009
© Karen Kleiman 2011 Postpartumstress.com
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/isnt-what-i-expected/201102/guilt-motherhood-and-the-pursuit-perfection
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Guilt, Motherhood and the Pursuit of Perfection
By Karen Kleiman, MSW, LCSW on February 26, 2011 - 12:38pm
Ah, the pursuit of perfecting mothering. How much is too much? What if it's not enough? What kind of damage will I impose on my children if I do it the wrong way? Whatever the issue, whatever the question, whatever the proposed solution, mothers have, for decades, backed themselves into a no-win corner. It's never enough. Or it's not right. Not exactly. They've passed through phases of Donna Reed and Leave it to Beaver mothers. They've tried working and staying at home. They've tried working and staying at home. They have compared themselves to those mothers (whom we all know) who seem dangerously similar to the fictional character of the Stepford Wife. They've tried holding on and letting go. Still, mothers today are left with one tenacious response: guilt.
Guilt is so pervasive that many mothers, particularly those who are depressed, presume it is a natural part of mothering, one that is inescapable in this day and age. Judith Warner describes the plight of American women today in her book, Perfect Madness (2005):
"Too many [women] are becoming anxious and depressed because they are overwhelmed and disappointed. Too many are letting their lives be poisoned by guilt because their expectations can't be met, and because there is an enormous cognitive dissonance between what they know to be right for themselves and what they're told is right for their children." .
Pressure comes from all sides and settles uncomfortably in the laps of women trying to do everything the right way. Women say they are reluctant to speak about their feelings:
I felt harassed. I didn't want to talk to anyone about how I was feeling. It's like I was a bad mother because I didn't want to breastfeed.
I didn't feel prepared to have a baby. I was afraid to tell anyone that I couldn't stand being alone with the baby. It made me feel incompetent and anxious. I was scared to death to be alone with him.
The conflicting messages espoused by countless parenting advocates are enough to make anyone wonder if they are doing it right: Babies should always sleep on their backs. (Really? Mine would have protested vehemently.) Babies should cry it out. Don't ever let babies cry when they are too young, for too long. Baby-wearing is a great way to establish and maintain total need fulfillment (whose?) and maximize attachment. Does daycare promote socialization or will it increase separation anxiety (and whose anxiety are we talking about?). Do good mothers leave their children to go to work? (Of course they do.)
I determined very early on that I would be a much better mother to my children if I returned to work, part-time at first. The part-time option sounded perfect. I could be home early to spend more time with my baby, and it felt right, since I was too tired to work a full day anyway. It has always been easy for me -- I'm not particularly proud to say -- to be selfish, or self-serving during those early postpartum months and put my needs right up there next to those of my baby. I have a slight rebellious streak that dates as far back as I can remember, true to my Baby Boomer form. I can still remember the exultation I felt walking into the high school gymnasium with my boyfriend clad in jeans to the formal prom. I remember the work boots I wore with colored socks accompanied by a mini skirt to go along with it, long before it was a fashion statement, simply because I hoped I could get away with it.
Similarly, as I entered the world of motherhood, I recoiled from what was expected of me, whether that pressure came from my family, or society as a whole, and found comfort in doing things that felt comfortable to me even if it mean ruffling some feathers. That didn't mean I wasn't tempted to surrender, however, when I found myself sucked into the pressure-cooker of "opportunities" for young mothers and their babies. Longing for daytime companionship, I took my four-month-old son to a local baby gym class. I am positive he did not care whether he was in this brightly decorated room filled with expensive baby-friendly, brain-enhancing equipment, or whether he was snug in our living room surrounded by unvacuumed dog-hair and a Sesame Street video that had looped in repetition for the fifth time. I sat for a while, in the circle of neurotic competitiveness, listening to mothers chatter on about whose baby was doing what and how many activities they had squeezed into their sleep-deprived schedules. My head swelled with the rude sights and sounds of one mother trying to outdo another. Why was I there, I asked myself, and who, exactly, expected this of me?
That was the first and last class to which I would drag myself.
It was then that I decided that if I were to maintain my sanity, I would pledge to:
Not go to baby classes programmed to make my baby smarter, faster, more agile, or speak foreign languages.
Not compare myself to others.
Not compare my baby to others.
Do what I needed to do for me and bring my baby along in the process.
Do the best I can.
Not be hard on myself if I failed to live up to unrealistic expectations.
Ask for help when I needed it.
Trust my instincts.
The pressure to be perfect
In spite of all the ways women have advanced with liberated glory, sadly, there remains a pressure to be perfect. No where do we see this which such fervor as in the American culture. So what's to be done? Therapists who work with postpartum women witness the crushing effects of this pressure. The pressure of cultural directives to be smarter, better dressed, and thinner than the rest, looms over vulnerable new mothers and takes its toll. We note the insidious stress creasing the tired face that sits before us. How do we soothe her? It's a daunting task to try to offset such far reaching demands put forth by the society in which we live.
Within her quest for comfort and meaning, therapists may represent the voice of reason amidst the clash of cultural mandates. In today's world, there is way too much access to information, way too many opinions, and far too many choices. New mothers often spin with indecision, resulting in deadlock from both trivial (which never, ever feel trivial) and significant choices. A woman's mother-in-law might be telling her which decision to make and why, commercials are enticing her, social groups are encouraging her in a different direction altogether, and, then, just to top it all off, there's the shrill and constant tape in her own head looping over and over again.
By the time she reaches a therapist's office, she needs someone to tell her that none of these things matter as much as she thinks they do. That's a tall order and one that doesn't sit well with hypervigilant, control-freaky, symptomatic mothers who are desperately trying to take charge of their lives.
Women are making themselves sick with expectations of perfection. This can come from many sources. It can be the result of hard-driving, high achieving parents, or it can be a personality type. It can stem from an underlying obsessive-compulsive disorder, or it can come from a biologic predisposition. It can be the product of societal demands. It can be the result of abuse, trauma or another major life disturbance, or it can just be because it is. Regardless of the origin, it needs to be identified and modified. In the end, women need to learn that they can indeed be alone with themselves and find peace there. It's a concept that is foreign to many women. Some may claim to be fed up with the myth of the perfect mother etched in their obsessive minds and reinforced by commercialism, but it remains pervasive, and we see the consequences of that pressure every day.
Mothers need to hear that it's okay follow their good instincts and it's okay to make mistakes.
Then, they need to hear that again, and once again.
Adapted from Therapy and the Postpartum Woman Routledge, 2009
© Karen Kleiman 2011 Postpartumstress.com
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/isnt-what-i-expected/201102/guilt-motherhood-and-the-pursuit-perfection
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, February 20, 2011
New house photo
Here's the latest photo of our house. All wrapped up.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, February 10, 2011
New House
Ok, so some of you know that we're in the process of building a new house. It's been exciting and a headache at times. I'm sure we'll still have lots of both. Here are a couple photos of the process so far.
sorry for the sideways photo. i'm posting quick and not from my own computer.
This was a couple of days ago. I think all the roof is on now.
I'm excited, despite some of the headaches. It's weird to be moving into the "home ownership" stage of life. But, I think, I crave some of the stability of it. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday at the Park
This is what happens when you're really cute and your dad is an awesome photographer.
Poor kid. Totally bundled and still trying to strike a pose.
Photos from yurt snowshoe trip
Cute. Nothing else to say about that.
Me and Spence working on my DIY ski attachments.
Sunset at Rockport State Park.
Julie and Brock.
The yurt.
Game time!
Shoe drying/Sage barrier.
Great trip. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Fantastic people. Cool idea. Fun activities. Love it!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Couch Surfing and Yurting
Hi all!
I'm going to write this up while entertaining Sage at the same time. We'll see how successful I can be.
So, we offically moved out of our apartment on Dec 31. Since then, we have been staying with my parents in Spanish Fork Canyon. Until yesterday, then we moved all our junk (well, not ALL, we have a whole storage unit full of stuff) to Steve's parents' house in Provo. We're so grateful for our families.
Last Saturday, we did venture out with the Francis clan and the Babcock clan, and stayed overnight in a yurt at Rockport State Park. I'd never even heard of Rockport, but Julie found it. It's east of Park City by about 20 minutes or so. The snow wasn't amazing, but I don't think it is anywhere in the state. But, we got in two snowshoeing hikes. The best part of snowshoeing was testing out my newest DIY project. A homemade ski conversion kit for our Chariot stroller. I saved us about $215 by doing it homemade style. It still needs some tuning, but overall, it skied well, even handled some mildly rocky terrain (with some help). No photos yet.
The house we want to buy is starting to be built. They poured the foundation/basement. We're still doing paperwork, so can't say it's ours' yet. I'll post photos when it's official.
Ok, Sage meltdown has begun. Adios!
I'm going to write this up while entertaining Sage at the same time. We'll see how successful I can be.
So, we offically moved out of our apartment on Dec 31. Since then, we have been staying with my parents in Spanish Fork Canyon. Until yesterday, then we moved all our junk (well, not ALL, we have a whole storage unit full of stuff) to Steve's parents' house in Provo. We're so grateful for our families.
Last Saturday, we did venture out with the Francis clan and the Babcock clan, and stayed overnight in a yurt at Rockport State Park. I'd never even heard of Rockport, but Julie found it. It's east of Park City by about 20 minutes or so. The snow wasn't amazing, but I don't think it is anywhere in the state. But, we got in two snowshoeing hikes. The best part of snowshoeing was testing out my newest DIY project. A homemade ski conversion kit for our Chariot stroller. I saved us about $215 by doing it homemade style. It still needs some tuning, but overall, it skied well, even handled some mildly rocky terrain (with some help). No photos yet.
The house we want to buy is starting to be built. They poured the foundation/basement. We're still doing paperwork, so can't say it's ours' yet. I'll post photos when it's official.
Ok, Sage meltdown has begun. Adios!
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