Change of Direction

Well, guys, a good friend has brought to my attention the fact that this ol' blog has been too negative of late.  Too whiny.  Truth be told, I knew it.  I apologize for being a whiner.  I'm afraid I've been whining more than just on the ol' blog.  And the whining really reached a peak while Elizabeth was here.  I'm sure Jeremy can attest to that fact.  I often felt so trapped having her here.  I felt overwhelmed by her mere presence and I wanted nothing more than to have her gone.  But I simply couldn't ask her to leave.  Trapped.  And then there were all the other things that I have let get to me and weigh me down.  I guess I could honestly say that I LET IT overwhelm me.  Poo.

Well, whatever the reason, I am sorry for being a whiner.  I'm sorry for letting a complaining attitude prevail in my life.  That is lame.  I think I forgot that I am a fighter who doesn't like to be beaten.  (Well, I don't mind so much if it's a board game.  I just don't like to be beaten by things that are hard.)  The more I think about it the more I realized that I just surrendered and stopped fighting.  The very idea that I did that kind of disgusts me.  So here we go.  I will try again.  I can't guarantee that I am never going to complain again, but I can guarantee that I'm going to try again to make this a happy place like it was meant to be.  (Ahem, like the title says.)  And maybe I'd better get out my little journal and start writing the little things in my life I'm thankful for again.

So today, here are some things that I am happy/excited about - without a side of whine to go with it.

1. I was so excited to have confirmation that we are having a boy.  We are not surprised at all, but I wanted to have the ultrasound lady tell me for sure so I could start being crafty.  That is such a great part about being pregnant for me, whether or not we actually use the stuff I make.  I know that's silly, but being crafty while thinking happy thoughts about a baby who will soon join us (and feeling so in love with said baby and excited to meet him/her all the while) is a means to its own end.  Anyway, I've been collecting ideas on my pinterest board, and I'm excited to make something.
2. I like that this is little Brom.  Did I mention that we're calling him that?  I think so.  We are naming him Abraham and calling him Brom.  We need to come up with a middle name, though.  Cornelius?  Edward?  Frederick?  Jimbob?  George?  Elijah?  (Totally kidding about a few of those.  I bet you can guess which ones.)  It's fun to think about.  I'm excited to think about having him come and seeing which one on our real live list is THE ONE.  And thinking of having a son named Brom makes me think of the Robin Hood song, "Robin Hood and Little John walking through the forest, laughing back and forth at what the other'n has to say."  Except that I changed the words a bit.  Ahem, "Tiny Tim and Little Brom walking through the forest..."  Clever, I know!  It kind of makes me laugh.  It makes Jeremy think that labeling them this way will clearly mean that Tiny Tim is going to be really tall (taller than Hyrum) and Little Brom is going to be even taller.
3. I didn't mention that Jeremy and I went to the mall after the ultrasound.  We were feeling bummed that we couldn't go to the Temple, so it just seemed like we ought to do something.  Jeremy really wanted to go to GNC (quite possibly his favorite store on earth), and the only on we knew we could find was in the Superstition Springs Mall.  Anyway, we went and found it and came out with some of that yummy protein shake stuff and some wheat grass.  Jeremy loves protein shakes.  He has one every morning for breakfast and often has another one later in the day.  That is something he could happily have even more often too.  This particular kind is really, really good, which isn't something you can say for every brand of protein shakes.  And he also really likes wheat grass.  That was one of his favorite things he grew in our little garden a few years ago.  He'd go out at lunch time and water the garden while eating little carrots along with the greens and lots and lots of wheat grass while the sprinklers were going.  Then after GNC we went looking for glycerine soap, which Bath and Body Works stopped carrying years ago, apparently.  Darn it!  The skin on my face is really sensitive and dries out really easily, so I can't really use any other soap on it.  Jeremy wanted to get me something, so I chose some pretty candles and some soap that has glycerine in it, even though it isn't actual glycerine soap.  I always love smelling all the smells in there.  That is one of the main reasons to even go in, if you ask me.
4. The spring weather has been lovely.  Timmy has learned to unlock both locks on the back door and run outside before I have time to think twice.  He stays in the yard a lot better, so I just let him run for a while.  Now, if I could just get him to stay away from the oleanders and those grouchy dogs next door...  It delights me to no end to watch him run around out there.  You can tell he feels so free.  And one of the best parts about his running around out there is that he often has some strange get-up on.  He likes to wear hats and shoes that are too big.  He'll grab Papa's tennis shoes and cap and run out the door wearing them and his sleepers.
5. I have started working on Family History again.  I used to work on it every day back before and a little after Hyrum was born.  The new website the church has (https://familysearch.org/tree/) is so neat!  You can add stories and pictures.  You can help clean up duplicates and other messes and set the record straight.  And I discovered just yesterday that on familysearch.org you can search all those census records that everybody has been helping index.  How cool is that?!  No more searching through page after page on microfilm after microfilm full of census, marriage, and death records!  They are now all digitized and linked to pages from the actual documents.  We live in such an exciting time!  I think I'm going to keep this up.  And maybe I can go attach some real live census sources to people on Family Tree. 

Well, that is about all the happiness I can take for one day.  Cough, cough.  Just kidding. 

Thanks again, Heather.  I am feeling determined, and that is something that I really like.  It changes my attitude about everything.

Wait, wait.  I thought of 2 more.

1. I've decided that the best part about getting a new box of diapers is smacking it with my knuckles to break the tape and open it.  I used to do that all the time when I worked at Arby's.  It is way fun.
2. When we moved here we needed a new fridge.  To save money, we got the kind with the freezer on top instead of the side-by-side version we've had since we first moved into this house in 2004.  I have really missed having ice and cold water!  Well, I found a solution to the cold water problem.  I just keep a cup of water in the fridge.  The boys drink from it too and sometimes all I find is a cold, empty cup.  Ha, ha!  But most of the time I can find cold water in there, and it makes me so, so happy every time!