I'm a Toys R' Us Kid!

Grayson loves to play... especially with other kids. I love having kids come over because I'm hoping it will erase that "second child" jealousy streak, that seems to hit every first child. It's so funny to watch him "play". He loves showing his toys off, but he hasn't grasped the whole sharing part. But he's not at an age where he'll throw tantrums when the toys are taken, he just won't let go, so it turns into this weird, non-expressive tug-or-war. It's hilarious to watch! He also seems to handle himself well with big kids too. I'm so excited... I think I am conditioning him into a good big brother! This is Cannon. Even though they're just babies, I think they are friends. Grayson gets so excited when he comes over. They love to play Poke-face, and Painful Pinching, and push one another over onto objects that don't feel good to land on so they cry game... loads of fun. But other than that, they are really good together! They also love playing "fight for the mirror" game. This is a favorite of mine, because they just sort of run into each other and knock the other one down. This game can last forever.
This is Grayson's vast collection of random toys. He was very excited to have an excuse to have them all out when his friends Grace and Claire came over. It was a great day. (Believe it Elise! We had a blast!)
This is the product of "over-play".

I know older parents will always say "savor the moments of babyhood", but I love seeing Grayson get a little older. It's so fun watching him play and to play with him! I love it!

ANOTHER huge and long-winded rant about the world.

I am thoroughly disappointed. My husband and I actually walked out of movie last night; a PG-13 movie! That's a big deal as Barry and I both have unusually low moral humor. I can take a dirty joke, or several, but there is a line. The whole time we watched the movie, I just squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, waiting for some sort of redeeming quality to surface, but it never came. I'm disappointed in myself for staying in the theatre as long as I did, I don't want to be one of the millions who support trash.

What happened to good movies? And the writers that wrote all the good movies? Did they all just suddenly die, because that's the only explanation I can come up with. I feel like every new movie I see, they have to push the envelope just a little bit further, see how much they can force us to accept before we are all accepting and becoming mindless senseless promiscuious, drug-addicted, cold-blooded killers. I know I'm being a little melodramatic here, but in all seriousness, I'm scared. I'm scared for the future. Nowadays, you even have to use caution with P.G. movies. We recently saw a P.G. movie that was littered with curse words, and the main characters who hate each other, end up getting drunk, having sex, and this some how makes them realize that they are in love. Wow.

I really have to believe that this isn't how the real world works. Please tell me that most people really do have values, and virtue, and self-respect. I am so sick of what the media has mutated sex into. I realize that the world doesn't view this as sacred, but it's not even seen as special anymore... just something everyone does when they're in love, or in like, or drunk... or bored. It's just disgusting.

Sometimes, I look at my son, and I feel so sorry for him. The world he will soon be a part of, well not a part of (hopefully) but living in, is such a confused place. I am so grateful for religion. I don't mean my religion only, although I am quite partial to it, but I've known so many great people from all kinds of religions... and I just hold on to this hope that all of us religious people will raise our kids to be smarter and better then the world they're stuck with.

One of those days...

Consider yourself blessed if you have friends like mine. Just a few weeks ago, a dear friend of mine posted a blog about her moving van getting stuck in the mud while they were making the long drive to Utah. I told her that her positive attitude about the whole situation was inspirational, she even took pictures of the event.
Well, yesterday, Barry and I were on our way to church... and our tire exploded. Keep in mind that we stayed up extremely late cooking (long story), so I was on the brink of being a very cranky girl. We pulled off to the side of the road, and my friend' story popped into mind. I started laughing, thinking that maybe they got stuck in the mud for this very reason... to show that even Mrs. Anti-morning could have a positive attitude about this. Realizing that we just happened to have our camera in the diaper bag, I pulled it out and snapped a few pictures.
We were stuck out in the hot sun for about half an hour because Barry couldn't get the lug nuts (I'm sure I spelled that wrong!) off. Grayson was miserable and crying so I tried to calm him down with cheerios... Those do wonders!
Our AMAZING friend Brad (who has an amazing wife by the way) came to our rescue. He fortunately was a little better handling flat tires than we were... THANK GOODNESS!
Finallly, we got back on the road and made it to church just in time to teach my class!
THANKS BRAD!!! THANKS CHRISTINA!!! AND THANKS TO ANYONE ELSE I CALL FRIEND! You are ALL AMAZING!

For Daddy.

At the Park.

Nearly every Saturday, Barry, Grayson and I, go eat lunch at the park. I think we do it so we don't go crazy living here. The river is the ONLY beautiful spot in this town, and it almost makes it completely worth living here. I'm also one of those ridiculous mothers that likes to dress Daddy and son alike... give me a break, it's my first child! Thank goodness, my husband humors me! These are some of the adorable pictures of my matching boys!





Grayson is absolutely fascinated with birds... especially ducks. I try to take him to the river a lot and feed them.
I just love how my arm is sticking out so you can tell, I'm taking the picture. We have a lot of those. I need a tripod!
If you look off to the left, you can see a little ground squirrel. Grayson watched it for like half an hour. It was so funny, he was amazed.
And that's our trip to the park. Stay tuned for more pictures of more park days.

YEAH!!! I'm SO HAPPY!

Barry and I recently started the community musical, "Clue: the Musical". It's a STRANGE and pretty funny show. I was cast as Miss Scarlet, the quote, "Shrewd Vixen". I'm still trying to understand why I got that part... haha! And Barry got the conman entrepenuer Mr. Green. It feels so nice to be in a show again. Musical theatre has been my life since pretty much the day I as born, and I've felt sort of void (just a little bit) since we moved here. our director is horrible though. She treats me and Barry as if we have never been in a show before, and her idea of choreography is doing a grapevine over and over for an entire song. I suddenly appreciate Jamie-ography (and Western) so much more. But even so, I am so excited! Mine and Barry's characters are sort of connected, so we play across from each other the entire time, which has always been a dream of ours! We even sing a SUPER FUN duet about how we want to kill someone. It's great! And we also found out last night that since the Theatre is not-for-profit, we can deduct the gas money it takes to drive to the theatre on our taxes! How cool is that?! Anyway, I am so satisfied with life right now, even with Mrs. crazy director. I wish everyone could come see the show!

Sick days

I have a theory. I think babies get sick to remind us that we are the life support, we can't hand our children off when the going gets tough, they really are helpless, and no one else can play parent. Grayson got sick last weekend. He was burning all day on Friday and at 11 at night his temperature peaked at 103.8. We decided to take him to the E.R. and after hours of waiting we found out he has "pharangitis" or a swollen, red throat, and an infection in both ears. It's almost a week later, and Grayson still isn't feeling well. It is the saddest thing, because he tries to be happy but he's having a hard time eating, and all he wants to do is snuggle... with Mommy. He won't even let daddy hold him most of the time, so for the first time, I have to be a single mom. I'm definitely beginning to appreciate my mother a little bit more.

I know it's been nearly ten months, but I'm just beginning to feel like I'm not babysitting anymore. I hope that doesn't sound terrible, but it's just starting to hit home that I am mother to a small helpless being, who will be leaning on me for pretty much everything for the next several years, as will all the future Ricks kids. What a responsibility! But despite the sicknesses, and the late night feedings, and the dirty diapers... I love my son.