he doesn't bring me flowers

There are some husbands who give their wives flowers. Mine isn't--and has never been--one of them. My husband doesn't bring me flowers. He brings me gadgets.

He gave me an iPod Nano when I had Ava and a Roomba for this past Mother's Day but for having Hudson, he really outdid himself. Last week he came home and presented me with my belated "Congrats and good job having our baby boy" gift--an iPhone 3G. Yes, I am now the proud owner of one of the most coveted and coolest gadgets on the planet, thanks to my hubby. Not only did he get me one, he waited in line at the Apple store for two hours during the work day (for the second time--the first time he tried, he had to leave before he could get one to go to a meeting), got the last one in stock that day, went immediately to the mall kiosk to buy the protective skin and then spent another tedious hour or so meticulously putting it on.

It gets even better. He's spent tons of time during the past week transferring my contacts to it, setting it up, finding and watching tutorials with me and helping me figure everything out (mostly by playing around with it himself and then showing me). The most impressive thing is that he got me one first--without getting one for himself. If you know my gadget-loving husband, you too are impressed by that. Someone at work told him to wait for a week or so while they negotiated an arrangement with AT&T so he's waiting patiently until he can get his own. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to have a conversation with him after he gets his--maybe we could just text each other. And we'll both have really cool phones to do it with.

So I know I've told you, honey, but a million thanks--you know how to spoil me. I'd rather have my new phone/camera/GPS/iPod/etc. than flowers any day.

small successes

Today we're all about celebrating a few small but significant milestones that have happened around our house. Without further ado, here they are:

1. Our garden actually produced vegetables.
What? This is amazing to me. Just a couple of months ago, I buried some tiny seeds in the ground, added a little water and sun and look what's happened! You can see from the picture that the plants have taken on a life of their own and are overtaking their space. We have seen some tomatoes growing, the carrots and beans seem to be going well and I saw for the first time today something that looked like a squash. But it will require some serious investigative work and some major greenery organization to determine what's really going on--that is on our list to do tomorrow. But today, we picked our first yield--two HUGE zucchinis. I'm not sure they'll taste any good but we don't care--it was thrilling just to find them. The girls were so excited and thought it was funny that the big one was about the same size as their baby brother. I predict that we will be eating a lot of veggies in the next couple of months.

2. Ava wore panties all day!
Yes, it's true. We have suddenly--and unexpectedly--made some serious strides on the potty training front in the past couple of days. Yesterday, about halfway through the day, she decided on her own that she wanted to wear panties. Then, this morning, right after she woke up, she wanted to change from her Pull-Up to her underwear. She wore them all day and despite having a couple of accidents, she did the major business (you know what I'm talking about) in the toilet. Hooray! There were a lot of high fives, loud cheering and even a special trip to the store to let her pick out any toy she wanted (despite lots of urging from her big sister to choose a Yasmin Bratz doll, she decided on a Dora outside games set instead). We're hoping this trend continues--just goes to show that if you wait long enough, your children will potty train themselves.

3. I made it through my first post-partum exercise routine.
This morning the girls and I did a short Pilates and yoga workout. Not sure if my body was quite ready for it yet (I was feeling it in places I never thought possible) but I'm glad to be getting back into it. I'm not very patient about getting back into shape this time around--I'm really tired of wearing the baggy sweats and maternity clothes. I just want to be back to normal again. I will have to make it through many more exercise routines if I ever want that to happen.

So those are the small but big things in our lives. Now if we could just get that baby to sleep through the night...

the first two weeks

Today Hudson turned two weeks old. We have all made it through the immediate aftermath--and chaos--of bringing home a new baby. Although we're still not getting a good night's sleep (well, I'm not--everyone else seems to be doing OK), we're sure loving this little guy. He's got two very attentive, involved and helpful big sisters who love to feed him, talk to him, hold him and tell him how gosh darn cute he is. Here are a few things we've learned--or remembered--during the past couple of weeks:

1. "Belly cords" (as Ella calls them) are not welcome in our home.
2. It is possible to nurse a baby and hold a two-year-old on your lap at the same time.
3. Babies can scream pretty loud.
4. Bowel movements, burping and breast pumping are appropriate dinnertime conversation topics.
5. When diapering a baby boy, it's best to point everything downward (thanks to my sister for that one).
6. It's OK to eat at McDonald's every other day.
7. The "charm" of waking up for middle-of-the-night feedings wears off very quickly.
8. Losing 30 pounds in two weeks isn't so hard--sign me up for some kind of contest!
9. Help from family and friends is so appreciated!
10. I have the cutest, funniest, sweetest kids in the world.

Can't wait to see what we learn in the next two weeks--and beyond!

the things we put up with

Late last night, after a long day of playing with friends and visiting Grandma Sue and Papa Kent, Ella and Ava came home. I was excited to see them since I'd hardly seen them all day and they were excited to show me all the treasures they had brought home with them. We were all hanging out on our bed and just as they were about to go get their jammies on, Ava (our potty-training challenged daughter) told us she went potty on our bed. Sure enough, there were a couple of wet spots on our duvet cover. While I applaud her for her honesty, I'm not very impressed with her timing. Or her lack of going in any of the various potties in our house. Anyway, I stood and studied the two wet spots, bleary-eyed and exhausted from middle-of-the-night feedings, debating about how I could resolve the situation. In the end, I decided it was one of those things that I could let go. Sleeping with potty at the bottom of my duvet cover for one night wasn't going to kill me. So, I climbed in bed, pulled up the covers and settled in for another terrible night's sleep.

Just another day in the life of a parent.

one word...amazing

The Police. Live. In concert. Yes, I gave birth a week ago but that did not stop me from seeing one of the greatest bands ever in concert. Tom and I saw them last night and I was on my feet screaming and singing along the entire time. For three old guys, they can really rock it out. It was such a good show--amazing that it takes just three instruments to create all that legendary music. Even though we got home late and I was up most of the night, I have no regrets. Enjoy the little snippet from the show ("Every Little Thing She Does is Magic", my favorite Police song)--if you didn't make it, you can feel like you were there.



This is one show that was definitely worth the price of admission.

and baby makes five!

He made it! And I made it through the whole nine months! Our beautiful baby boy, Hudson Oliver Kofford, made his debut on Friday, July 11 at 4:04 p.m. weighing in at a petite 9 pounds 6 ounces and measuring a mere 21.5 inches. Despite sustaining a broken clavicle on the way out, he has been an absolute joy and we are all in love with him already. He passed his hearing test with flying colors which means he won't be needing a cochlear implant which means we won't be going to cochlear camp which means, much to her disappointment, Ella won't be able to go horseback riding (refer to May 9, 2008 post if you're a little lost).

We are now all home and taking it easy. Hudson has had to be in a billibed the past couple of days because he has a touch of jaundice but we're hoping to get rid of that tomorrow. Ella and Ava are loving their new baby brother and Ava is especially proud to finally be a big sister. They are adorable with him--he's going to be very well taken care of. Tom has taken a few days off work (kind of) and my sister is flying in from Oklahoma tomorrow for a few days to help me out. I don't know what I'd do without them--I've really needed some help this time around. Also, my sisters-in-law, Lisa and Natalie watched the girls while I was in the hospital which I am so grateful for so a huge shout-out to them.

Today, I was bringing the baby into our room and Ella was in our bed watching TV and we had a very interesting conversation. It went a little like this:

Ella: "Mom, maybe the baby really is a girl and the machine was wrong."

Me: "You mean the ultrasound machine that showed us he was a boy a few months ago."

Ella: "Yeah, maybe it was wrong and it really is a girl. How do we know he' s a boy?"

Me: "He's for sure a boy because he has boy parts. Like we can tell from his privates that he's a boy."

Ella (like she's finally getting it): "Oooooohhhhh."

How's that for some sex education? Anyway, that's about all I can do tonight--I've got to get some sleep or this post is going to get very incoherent very fast. I've also just taken a dose of Lortab and Ibuprofen so that could make it all very ugly. Anyway, more to come soon.

Isn't a new baby the best thing ever?

the night before

Well, here it is. My last night before baby number three joins our family. Hopefully, that is. I've been having a lingering fear that I'll get there at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow and they'll say I'm not ready and send me home. I'm preparing myself for that to happen so I'll be pleasantly surprised if they actually hook me up, get me going and place a baby in my arms anytime tomorrow.

I'm actually feeling quite calm about everything and feel like I'm as ready as I'll ever be--I've got the nursery semi-finished, blankets made, some diapers and wipes on hand and a good supply of binkies, bottles and outfits. What more do I need, right? I've been thinking today about the births of my girls and recall feeling more anxiety about knowing what to do with a baby and wondering how I would feel about this new little person. But my feelings about this one are a little different. I haven't worried too much because I know, based on past experience, that it'll be love at first sight and that all those mothering instincts that have been passed through female DNA since the beginning of time will immediately kick in once this little guy makes his debut. I'm mostly just feeling excited to meet him and curious to see if he'll look like my Grammie Raat (like both my girls did--and still do sometimes).

To celebrate the impending arrival of our little guy (yet to be named, by the way...) we followed our little Kofford family tradition of eating the night before meal at the Union Grill in Ogden. I ate the same meal I've eaten every night before I've had a baby--onion rings, French onion soup and a Crockett sandwich. Yum. Had to fuel up for the long day of ice chips tomorrow.

Anyway, I've got to be up in a few hours to get to the hospital so I'm off to bed. Pictures and all relevant info will be posted as soon as possible!

happy fourth of july!

We had both a relaxing and exciting Independence Day celebration. The first part of the day was sleeping in, hanging out at home and not doing much. Then, at about 4:00pm, we took off for Provo where we had dinner at a couple of our favorite haunts from our college days--Tom ate at El Azteca and the girls and I ate at The Brick Oven (known during my mom's day as Heaps of Pizza). Then, along with 50,000 or so of our closest friends, we crammed into Lavell Edwards Stadium at BYU for Stadium of Fire.

We were all riveted by the sky divers who jumped and landed in the stadium--we were amazed at how fast they came in! It was impressive. Glenn Beck was inspiring, patriotic and fun to listen to (as always). Ava loved the "Blue Guys" a.k.a. The Blue Man Group. She especially thought the part where they painted themselves while playing the drums was funny. Ella danced and rocked out to Miley Cyrus and loved every minute. I loved seeing her have so much fun--man, she's growing up fast. Then, ending it all was the amazingly extensive fireworks extravaganza. It went on and on--Ella kept asking if it was the finale. The only downside of being in the stadium for the fireworks was the constant rain of ash falling on us. But it was a small price to pay for being up close to all the action. I thought the funniest part of it all was that we were watching fireworks made in China while listening to "God Bless America" sung by a French Canadian (Celine Dion). Apparently, it's a holiday that can bring us all together.

After getting back to the car, fighting traffic to get on our way home, stopping for drinks and a bathroom break and driving home, we finally all fell into bed a little after 1:00am. Needless to say, we took it easy today and I really should be sleeping right now. Hope you all had (and are probably still having, if you're like everyone else) an excellent Fourth of July. Despite all the problems and challenges we're facing today, we still live in a pretty amazing country. Happy birthday, America!

power to the people

Tonight, Tom and I went on a date to a city council meeting. Hot, right? Actually, we had a very good reason for being there.

Over the past few months, we have been watching helplessly as the ugliest storage shed complex possible has been being built adjacent to our neighborhood. Its main access is on a major city road, Antelope Drive, but it goes all the way back and borders one of the smaller roads that leads into our neighborhood and borders residential property along its west side. We knew when we bought this lot that one day storage sheds would be built there. What we didn't know was that the property would change hands and end up with some developers who would not only build the tackiest storage sheds in the city but also that they would not stick to the building ordinances required by the city. Thus, our dilemma.

As they have been being built, we have had many conversations with neighbors about what an eyesore they are and how terrible they look. But nobody was doing anything about it, perhaps because we felt that the situation was a foregone conclusion and that the chance for us to voice our opinions had long past. Well, a couple of weeks ago, my husband had an nagging, uneasy feeling about everything so he paid a little visit to the city planning commission. He found out several disturbing things, the biggest being that the builder had been granted an exception to the fence requirement and could put up a vinyl-coated chain link fence with vinyl slats and--prepare yourselves--barbed wire across the top. What?!? Yeah, we didn't know we were going to live next to a prison either. It was a shocking discovery and only the first of many things we (mostly he) found out after a little digging and crack investigative work. Tom immediately set to work informing neighbors, building a website, starting a blog and putting together a petition to get people up to speed on what was literally happening in our backyard.

Needless to say, once the neighborhood heard about the shenanigans, everyone was pretty outraged. As if it couldn't get worse than it already was. We all have some pretty major concerns about aesthetics (obviously), safety, increased traffic, property values, integrity of the neighborhood and consistency of enforcing standards in the city. So, about 50 or so of us gathered up our pitchforks and torches (well, almost) and headed down to the meeting to present our findings and list our demands. Some of the city leaders seemed as shocked as we were that this has been allowed to happen--they are hearing us loud and clear and have assured us that the problem will be rectified. We're crossing our fingers and are determined to keep making noise until the builders are held to the standard that everyone else is and that is required by the city.

So, I guess my point to all of this is that if you see something happening in your neighborhood or community that you're not happy about, speak up! It really is true that little people can make a difference and neighborhoods will rally around a cause that they're passionate about. I'm so proud of Tom. When he addressed the city council, he was well-prepared, articulate and impressive. He's worked so hard and spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks on this project and what he's accomplished is making a real difference. Check out the website and link to the blog at www.LetsKeepItNice.com.

What can I say? My husband rocks.