Meredith's Graduation

Cal and I surprised Meredith, and showed up at her graduation in Cedar City!

Unfortunately, I spent most of the ceremony in the hall with a certain wiggly toddler:
Funny side note: I had several (more than five) women ask me where I got Cal's toddler leash. One woman looked ready to buy it off me, right there in the parking lot!

I did make it back inside in time to see Mer receiving the hood:
I'm very impressed with Meredith. This represent a LOT of effort on her part. She was pregnant the first year of the program, had her baby in the middle of summer classes, and finished up while raising an energetic one-year-old. That takes a fair amount of motivation, organization and execution! Way to go, Meredith.

Afterward, Cal chased my Grandma Linebarger around a tree outside. He was very happy to be out of the grad ceremony.

Another side note (this post is more side note than substance!): My "baby" is turning into a little boy. It just amazes me to see him turning into a two-year-old. He's not my little baby anymore...and it makes me sad!

Visiting my Grandma Richey

On Friday, Cal and I visited my Grandma Richey. This visit left me surprised and grateful. The past few years, my grandma hasn't been doing well, as far as her Alzheimer's is concerned. There have been episodes where she hasn't known where she is, or who people are, etc. It has been sad, frustrating and painful for many members of my family.

I had heard that she had gone on medication, but I was never really updated after that. So when I came to visit her and she opened the door and asked how life in the Bay Area was treating me, I was stunned. She remembered so many things about me and my siblings, about Mer's and my babies, about our husbands' jobs, about how my mom and dad were doing.

In all truthfulness, I'd been on the fence about visiting my grandma. I didn't think she'd remember me, or that she'd remember the visit, but I was very wrong (and very happy to be so!). I'm so grateful that I decided to go, because we had a wonderful visit! My grandma is a person who has been very influential in my life, and I will treasure our time together that day.

Dinosaur Museum

After touring Farm Country, Diana and I took the boys over to the Dinosaur Museum. I was pleasantly surprised by how many age-appropriate activities the museum provided (I can't imagine how many kids swarm through that place every month).

Cal and Brandon immediately found some tunnels to run through:

Then we went upstairs to play with the bone magnets:

I don't know if the boys fully appreciated all the huge dino skeletons throughout the museum. They're truly awesome:

Diana & Brandon

Next, Di and I took the boys down to a hands-on room where they can play with water and sand. It's the perfect activity for kids...except ours:

Here they are, freaking out for us to get the waterproof smocks off of them.

Brandon made some new friends:

Cal climbed on EVERYTHING:

"Oh, hi!"

Both boys really liked the Dig Room, which is basically a big sandbox where there are boned buried:

Not sure what this face is all about:

This last photo is pretty amazing to me. Cal looks so grown up. He's not my little baby anymore! :(

Farm Country with Rosemary & Diana

On Thursday, May 5th, during our trip to Utah, Cal and I visited "Farm Country" at Thanksgiving Point with Cal's cousin Brandon. It was great to spend a fun, sunny day with Diana (my sister-in-law) and Rosemary (Cal's grandma)!

As I've said before, sometimes I wonder how much Cal is getting out of the activities I plan. I didn't wonder for second at Farm Country -- Cal was totally into it! Take a look:

Yes, I had him on the leash. Best $12 I ever spent.

The fun thing about going to Farm Country in the Spring is that all the mommy animals are having babies. So cute! There was an entire maternity/nursery wing of the farm. So many babies! The baby foal was right up next to the fence where we were, kissing his mama:

Cal also liked the baby calf, who was busy getting a meal:

Then, Cal realized he was the perfect size to fit through the bars of the animal pens. Thank you, puppy leash:

We all took a wagon ride around the farm together. You can't tell from the photos, but the boys really liked the ride:

There was a little town of playhouses just the right size for the boys to play in:

(Sorry for the blurriness)

My favorite part of Farm Country was when we took a picture with this cow. She got excited that we were standing close to her, and started licking Cal like a tiny salt lick! He was NOT happy about that:

I put him down and he just stared at the cow with indignation:

"Well, I never!"

Cal and Brandon

When I found out that my sister-in-law, Diana, was having a boy only 7 months after me, I was ecstatic. Having grown up close to my own cousins, I'm thrilled that Cal will have a built-in best friend whenever we get together with the Olsen side of the family. It's been exciting watching the two of them grow, and seeing the developmental gap close between them with each month.

That said, neither of them was extremely comfortable sharing throughout this past trip to Utah...Cal usually barged in and took whatever Brandon was playing with...including Grandma Rosemary's steering wheel:

"Oh hey Brandon! That looks like fun! Here I come! You don't mind, do you?"

Mother's Day Flowers from Hubby

Bad Things I Let Cal Do Sometimes

It's confession time.

On the plane to Utah last week, I let Cal eat half a package of sour patch watermelons:
(But I do brush his teeth every morning and night -- a difficult task.)

And I let him watch "Cars." Several times this week, actually. It's his favorite movie.
(But we also watch "Signing Time" and practice signs throughout the day.)

And every night on this trip, I've let Cal sleep in my bed:

And I just snuggled him.

Goals Until Christmas

As many of you know, I start thinking about Christmas in May. It's just so fun to think about Christmas. I could fill up an entire BLOG about how much I think about Christmas, haha!

Anyway, this post is about goals I have for the year. This is a purely selfish post, as is it likely to be uninteresting to anyone else.)

1. Play the Hymns: I have always felt bad about not being able to play the hymns. I mean, I took piano for 10 years! The goal was never for me to become a concert pianist, although the focus of the training was rigidly classical. I appreciate the need for classical training, but because I cannot sight-read, it has left me with a lack of practical skills. I literally have to memorize hymns in order to play them in Sacrament meeting or relief society. So...that's what I'm going to do this year. My goal is to memorize 100 hymns. Because, really, that's about all that we sing in church -- there are some hymns I've never sung. "How Long, O Lord Most Holy and True", anyone? I didn't think so.

2. Read/Study Preach my Gospel: I did this during my sophomore year at BYU, and it really helped my scripture study, and my life. (And then Vega took that peace away! Haha!) But really, I'd like to deepen my scripture study this year, as it has been found lacking in recent years.

3. Train for Races: Right now, I'm signed up for the Giant Half Marathon in August, and a Ragnar Relay in September. I want to become trained and comfortable with running again. That was a good feeling--training for the marathon back in 2005.

4. Write in my Journal: "Blog" is included in "Journal" category. I'd like to say "write in my Journal everyday," but I know that will get a little unrealistic. I just want to journal/blog more. I know that's not very specific, and goals are supposed to be quantifiable, but that is my goal, nevertheless.

Welp, I think that's it for right now. Maybe I'll come up with more later in the year. For now, these four will be me focus.

Sisters

I have a lot of reasons to be grateful for my sisters. Growing up in a family with 4 girls was a wild ride: lots of hair and make-up and clothes, lots of fights an

d taking sides, lots of laughing and inside jokes and secret languages. I have a lot of memories of my sisters, good and bad.

(Hannah & Rachel -- 2002, 2009)

I don't really know how it happened, but I feel like I have a very good relationship with each of my sisters. During my college years, I was afraid this wouldn't be the case. Meredith and I will always be close, at least in my mind, because of the small age difference between us; it seems like we've always been, and continue to be, in the same stage of life. Now, with baby boys under a year apart, it feels safe to assume we will always have reasons to talk and relate to one another.

But it's different with younger siblings -- I didn't want to be the distant "aunt" that was married before they could get to know her, who always lived away from home.

I don't know why, but it hasn't turned out that way. My sisters and I talk on the phone and facebook each other. When we get together, we tease each other and share secrets. We berate each other about various offenses, but defend each other vehemently against anyone else. I'm grateful my college fears about our relationships have not come true.

Oakland Zoo

On April 23rd, Cal and I drove up to the Oakland Zoo. Although his face in the following picture suggests otherwise, Cal had a good time. Cal's favorite part was taking the train around the perimeter of the zoo. He is really into machines and cars right now.

Yes, that's a leash he's wearing -- more on that later.

The Oakland Zoo is a little bit smaller, but it was very nicely organized and well-kept. I had Cal on his leash, and we ran into a little girl his age who had on the identical leash. The two of them stared each other down for a few minutes in front of the otter exhibit. That's what babies do when they meet each other: the baby stare-down.

The funnest part was that my childhood best friend, Kerry, drove down from Davis to meet us there. We had a fun time laughing and catching up, and trying to entertain Cal.

I'm pretty sure Cal's favorite part was the giraffe enclosure. And I don't blame him: they are huge! I could barely take my eyes off them myself. It's fun to see Cal interested in things. He was climbing up on the fence, trying to get a better look. When he could adequately see, he watched in silence, eyes wide, for maybe five minutes straight. (I know that may not sound like a long period of time to some of you without kids, but trust me, it felt like hours.)

One benefit of being small: the ability to bypass cautionary railings. Here is Cal getting up close and personal with a curious tortoise. Cal would have climbed right into the pen if it hadn't been for his leash--which, as you can see in the picture, is stretched to the limit.
Sometimes, in the "planning" phase of an activity, I wonder if it's worth it to bring Cal to places like this. It's a fair amount of effort on my part, and I always feel like he ends up ignoring the activity and playing with an elevator button instead (this has happened consistently). I wonder if he's too young to appreciate what I'm showing him, or if he can't really engage with or understand what's before him.

But then, there's always a little part of the day where I can tell he's completely into it, like when I saw his face while riding the little train:

And that moment is pure joy for the both of us.