Dane Smiles!

I've been trying for a long time to capture a picture of Dane smiling, but he was rather uncooperative. I finally enlisted the help of his hilarious dad, and we got a few.



Dane had a bad day yesterday for whatever reason. He decided that he hated his crib, didn't want to nap, and would just scream when he'd cry. I don't know if he's teething or what. I don't think he's sick. Anyway, he also seems to really like sucking on my face. I used to think it was a sign that he was hungry, but I think he just likes it. And last night, because he'd been so sad, I figured I'd let him suck on my face for a few seconds to make him feel better. No harm in that, right?
Wrong. There was harm:

Yes, that's a hickey. From Dane.

President Hinckley

I'm not sure what exactly I'm feeling as I think about the death of President Hinckley.
I feel an odd mix of sadness, peace, resolve, and being happy for him. Although I never met him, I had the opportunity to be in the same room as him on several occasions, including general conferences, devotionals, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert on September 11, 2001.
I also had a fairly unique opportunity to spend my six years at BYU as a Gordon B. Hinckley Presidential Scholar, which led to hearing many talks about my responsibilities and stewardship to use the great blessing of the scholarship and a BYU education for good. At times, I found it to be a bit annoying, but as I contemplated what President Hinckley's life and death meant to me, I felt an overwhelming desire to live my life worthy of taking on his name. I want to be a little better. I want to be an influence for good. I want to raise a righteous family, be a faithful wife and mother, be an influential therapist and help others.
I saw a video clip of him speaking in Hyde Park in England, visiting where he had served as a missionary. He said he has a special fondness for that place, and I was touched by the youthful affection that was so evident on his face. And I wondered what the reception into the spirit world is like for one who dies having been a faithful prophet. I imagined a happy President Hinckley excitedly looking for his wife with the same look of affection. I could see Christ smiling as He opened His arms to His beloved servant, nodding to show His acceptance of President Hinckley's work, welcoming him into his next estate. And I know that President Hinckley would want us to live our lives to have a similar reception.
I sometimes joked that I supposed President Hinckley got pretty tired of hearing people sing We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet. But I am thankful for him. I'm happy to have lived during his time as prophet, to have heard his words and felt his influence. I am privileged to have a tiny part in carrying on his legacy. I will miss him.

I think this picture reveals some effects of the great burden and responsibilities he carried as the prophet. Joel prayed last night that he would now have the opportunity to enter into some rest. I think he deserves it.

Tosca

Last night Joel and I went to see Puccini's Tosca by the Utah Opera at Capitol Theatre. I'd been wanting to see it since my orchestra director recommended it to us like six years ago. Then, my ridiculously music-literate brother Kenji told me the Utah Opera was performing it, and I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to go now that Dane is here. But Kenji came through for us again and offered to watch him. I was nervous to leave him; we've only gone out without him once while Stephen and Meghan watched him, and he slept the entire time. I can't get Dane to take a bottle or a pacifier, so I knew Kenji would be in for a rough ride. Anyway, he was apparently pretty fussy for the first hour but then got used to Kenji's super low voice and things went pretty well.
Meanwhile, the opera was fantastic. I gasped in fear, my heart leapt at the romance, I jumped about two feet out of my seat, and I got a little teary at the end. The music is just so beautiful. And I'm probably a huge nerd, but I had played three of the arias in orchestra, so it was really cool to hear it. The theatre was gorgeous, just like you see in movies. And we took the train there and back. It was all very metropolitan. We had a great time.

It snowed like crazy yesterday, too. I hadn't really paid attention to the weather but I needed to go grocery shopping, so I loaded Dane up in the car, hurrying to keep him out of the cold. My powers of observation were not at their height because I started to back out of the driveway...and got stuck. I pulled forward again, thinking "If I pull out quickly, I can make it." Wrong. Then I got stuck and couldn't go forward or backward. So no grocery shopping. I try to open my door and have to push snow out of the way to even open it. There were at least 15 inches. A foot and a half in some places. I am obviously not dressed for knee-deep snow, and have to slog my way through the driveway, carrying Dane in his carseat, sheepishly back to the house. I felt pretty dumb. There was a lot of snow. (By the way, Joel shoveled the driveway after we got home at like 11:30, so the car is free again.)

And this morning, I took Dane in for his four month appointment. He now measures 24.4 inches long (still the 38th percentile) and 15 lbs. 5 oz. (59th percentile, so he's evening out a bit). What a big, happy boy!

Last time, he got the oral Rotavirus vaccine and threw up all over me and the floor. Four times. That one was worse than the injections. So I was a little bit nervous, but he did fine. I even got a little weepy at his sad little cry from the injections this time. I think in all the craziness of four bouts of projectile vomiting last time, I forgot to do the typical motherhood compassion thing (sad!). But I made up for it this time. He's such a sweet boy, and I love him like crazy. Here is a picture of him playing with his blocks; I made them out of leftover squares from the quilt I made him, thanks to a great idea from Rachelle. They are his favorite toys.

Pay it Forward
Finally, those of you who read the blog get a little reward! Melissa blogged about this, and I participated, so now it's my turn. The first three people who comment on my blog will receive a little gift (homemade...maybe) in the mail from me. Then they blog about it and send little gifts and on and on and on. I have already received the fruits of paying it forward, and it is definitely fun to get a little gift in the mail. Just so you know, I have no idea what I'm going to send. It'll probably depend on who comments. But that's the gist of it. Let the games begin!

Voting and Such

So, I originally registered to vote in Oklahoma, but I didn't want to mess with absentee ballots and all that this year, so I decided to change my registration to Utah. I fill out the form, blah blah blah. Then I get a letter back saying that my citizenship can't be determined by the form. "That's weird," I think, "I went over everything twice to make sure I'd filled it all out, and I know I checked the 'U.S.' citizen box." So I call the county clerk's office to get it all cleared up, and somehow the man on the other line knows who I am before I tell him. Even with caller ID and all that, that's kind of weird. I ask if I forgot to fill something out, and he said no.
"Well, it's just that you were born in Japan."
"Yes...?"
"Are you a citizen by marriage?"
"No, I was born a citizen."
"Well, I'll need your social security card, birth certificate, and Utah driver's license."
"I don't have a Utah driver's license; I have an Oklahoma license."
"Do you have proof of your residency in Utah?"
"Yes, I sent in a copy of my utility bill." I had called the office while filling out the form just to make sure.
"Hm. Were either of your parents in the service?"
"No."
"Well, why were you born in Japan?"
"Well, my mom is Japanese, and my parents were living there at the time."
"Hm. Hold please." And I'm on hold for a few minutes. "Everything is in order, you may disregard the letter." Click.

I don't know, maybe I'm overreacting, but I was really annoyed at how suspicious the guy seemed. I mean, I know you have to be a legal resident and all to vote, but he just sounded so smug to have "caught" a questionable voter. I mean, the form showed that I was previously registered in another state, it had my social security number and everything. It made me mad.

Anyway, on to other things. Why is it that Dane is so smiley but then as soon as I get the camera out, he won't smile? Here are my attempts:

Also, I met up with some friends I haven't seen in a while. I visited my friend Miriam at her parent's house last weekend. It was fun to catch up and see their pretty house with the gorgeous view.

And the next day we had Women's Services reunion dinner. Here are my WSR pals (minus Naomi with her cute belly that will soon be gone when her beautiful baby arrives!)

Lots of Stuff

Boy, it's been a while. Lots of happy things have happened. Christmas was great. We had a great time hanging out with just our little family until my sister Rika and her husband, Brady, came over for dinner. Dane even sort of held onto some wrapping paper and tore it a little. I was proud.

Dinner was a blast and left us tons and tons of leftovers.

I also made a Chocolate Strawberry Oasis Pie like from Waitress.

I'll need to tweak it a little for next time; it wasn't really solid. But still delicious.
Then for New Years, we made our rounds by visiting my Uncle Steve/Aunt Jolene's family, stopping by Joel's cousin David and Sandy's house, heading down to Springville to hang out with Rika and Brady, and on to Brady's uncle's house for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with real cash! Rika was the most daring, so she got a question wrong and dropped to $5 after getting to the $25 question; I was chicken and bowed out at $16 (though it turned out I would have guessed right and won $25); and both Joel and Brady missed the $30 question and dropped to $25. Big winners. So much for the Hood smarts, eh? It was super fun. I want to get rich enough to play games like that with my family.

We really had a great time spending time with Rika and Brady. I was happy they got to meet Dane. They got introduced to his abundance of spit up. Here we are before we headed off to the airport to say our goodbyes.


Happy Sew Year
I also finished a couple of sewing projects. My parents got me a serger for Christmas, so it's fun to make things look nice and professional...or as close as I can get with my imperfect sewing skills. Rika had the brilliant idea to make a temple dress for my mom because she's been borrowing one from a friend for like ten years. Here we are with the finished product:

Mom was really happy to get it.

Then, Rika's husband's brother's wife's mom (Melissa's mom) made me a pattern for a winter car seat cover, which was super nice of her. I made a couple of little adjustments from checking out Meghan's cover that Joel's sister Jennifer made, and tada!

I'm particularly proud of the embroidery/quilting that I did.


Finally, Dane is still cute. This is how he's been sleeping lately:

It makes me laugh every time.
Here are some pictures I took during his bath.
I parted his hair:

And isn't it amazing how fat my sweet boy has become?

He likes to chew on his towel.

I just love him like crazy. We have so much fun together.