The "Celebration"

And so ends the month long birthday extravaganza for a newly 5-year old Jonah. And so begins a really extensive record of said events. Notes to self for next year: 1) At the end of the month long birthday extravaganza your child will become a spoiled, self-entitled brat; 2) The reason you don't throw a kid birthday party for your child every year is because it makes you want to kill yourself.

The birthday madness began when the boys and I traveled to Salt Lake during Jonah's Spring Break for school (it was that or Cancun, but we thought we'd save that until next year). Spring Break in Utah was snowy and cold, but we still managed to throw in not one but two birthday celebrations. The first one took place at Fat Cats, where the family bowled and ate pizza and, typical to character, I forgot my camera.

The second celebration was held at my parents' home on Sunday, again with the family. Early in the day, we decorated for the Star Wars themed event. It was several hours before the party started, so Jonah took advantage of the excess time to sit at the decorated table and hum the Star Wars theme.

Several months ago, when Jonah's Star Wars obsession first began, we pulled out the old VHS tapes of the trilogy. I had to reference the dates on the back of the tapes to figure out which one to play first. It was then that I believe my husband started to love me a little less. So I obviously don't understand his predilection for all things Star Wars, but I'm happy to have a theme to follow when planning a party(s) and purchasing gifts.



And to end the party, the first of three birthday cake-like items. In this case, Boston Creme filled cupcakes made by my culinarily-gifted aunt. Topped off with several Star Wars play characters. To say all were in heaven is a bit of an understatement. I dream about those cupcakes. And FYI, I spent 30 minutes that evening cleaning frosting off his new Darth Vader costume.
Fast forward two weeks. On April 13th, his actual birthday, we celebrated together as a family. And by "celebrated," I mean "tolerated each other. . .barely." The day began with breakfast in bed. The rule in the house is that when it is your birthday, you get to choose everything we eat for the day and everything we do. Upon seeing me served breakfast in bed for my birthday, Jonah decided he wanted the same. He requested a grilled cheese sandwich. At 7:45 in the morning. He needed to be at preschool that morning by 8:30, so I dragged myself out of bed early to make his breakfast. We entered his room, breakfast tray in hand, singing "Happy Birthday!" Our 3 year-old son screamed at us to stop and Jonah put the blanket over his head and went back to sleep. Things we should remember about Jonah's birthday breakfast in bed: 1) Jonah doesn't eat breakfast before 10 AM and 2) Jonah's a grump in the morning. So it sat untouched as we tried to rouse him from the sleep of the dead.


When I picked him up from preschool that day, I entertained the kids while Josh worked (I think it involved McDonalds) and then the real celebration began (and when I say "real celebration," I mean period of time when we all screamed and yelled at each other, ate dinner, and opened some disappointing presents.) Jonah chose Noodles for dinner, and then, upon opening his presents, said with tears in his eyes, "These are ALL of my presents?!?"

Perhaps the highlight of the evening, if there was one, was Josh's birthday cake creation #1: Dinosaur Scene. I believe the only requirement was "hot lava," so. . .done and done!


The following Saturday was the piece de resistance -- the kid party. Jonah hosted five of his friends for a Star Wars themed-party. We started with a little pizza and Capri Suns and those annoying noise makers that I insist on buying and then curse myself every. single. year.

We then went outside to begin our Jedi Training. We did a Star Wars search for candy asteroids in the yard, followed by a grueling obstacle course. The hit, of course, was the aqua noodle/lightsabers which provided the main activity for a good portion of the two hours -- beating each other with said noodles.


We returned inside for a rousing game of Star Wars Bingo.

And a piece of Josh's masterpiece of an R2D2 cake.

It was awesome. And yes he did that freehand in about 20 minutes. That cake would've pushed me over the edge, so thank goodness for a talented husband!

We sent the boys home with gift bags and lightsaber in hand, just to ensure that none of our friends will ever want to speak to us again after they experience the "fun" for themselves.

So that was it. And thank goodness it's over. The evening ended with a tantrum to end all tantrums from my 5-year old ingrate demon child. Mission accomplished.

I suppose I should end this entry with a list of things I love about Jonah and, in all honesty, there's much to love.
1) He's sweet and responsible and tries hard to do the right things (Up until a few weeks ago, when he decided to ignore everything I say or do. . .which has to be a phase, right? heh heh)
2) He's wack-a-doodle imaginative and loves to draw or act out all of his crazy scenarios. (Remember Danes, his imaginary friend who looked like Eddie Murphy? Well, now we've moved onto Ken, his alter-ego, who appears very frequently. I believe it's to torture us. He bares no resemblance to our lovely, hilarious, much-adored friend Ken. Everytime he "appears," we mutter under our breath, "that damn Ken".)
3) His smile can light up a room, but he's not giving it away for free, folks! I spend much of my life trying to get him to smile, because it makes the rest of it worth it.
4) He's super-active and self-entertaining. He'll take a break and watch a "show" if you make him, but he'd rather do something else.
5) He makes friends with everyone. He starts a Star Wars reenactment with a random group of kids wherever we go. That sounds SUPER nerdy. I hope this does not indicate a future of "reenactments" with his friends.
6) He's cool. He doesn't try to be. He just is.

And so ends the Jonah tribute. I love you, Jonah! One day, when you read this, you'll realize that, in fact, I tried. And if you only remember being sent to bed in tears, I'll read this blog to you again and again until you resent me even more than you did before.

As if this blog isn't long enough, I thought I'd post a recent picture from General Conference weekend. It's proof that anyone that tells me that "I don't look pregnant" is truly insane and also, could I LOOK more tired?


And just a casual picture of Josh drinking a Diet Coke at the BBQ (and by "casual," I mean Josh made me retake this picture 3 times until he felt he'd sucked in his stomach an appropriate amount for it to be published). He did not offer me the same luxury.

The Democracy Baby

Since asking you, the blogosphere, proved to be such a help in determining the name of our baby we enlist you again. We were not planning on painting the babies room. We have a thing against our (read: my) somewhat shoddy paint skills and our (read: my) tendency to leave little spots and streaks where there shouldn't be any. But when we moved the bookcase out of what is now the play room into what will be the baby's room, we found the wall behind it was a bit beat up. So since we would have to repaint anyway, why not pick a fun color.

Saturday we headed off to the paint store, kids in tow to look at some samples. This is Jonah's selection:
Cup of Joe with India Ink and a highlight of either One Enchanted Eve, or Shadow Dance. He wasn't sure which. While I think it is a rather sophisticated color palette, I don't think it is quite right for a little girls room.

Here is more where we are headed.
The fabric in the middle is what will be the bedding (bumpers will be the brown polka dot and the skirt will be the floral) lovingly being made by Grandma P. And we are trying to choose between green (Pear Green to be specific) and yellow (Mellow Yellow if we are splitting hairs - It was either that or a color called American Cheese...) What do you, blogosphere, think?

Here is the shot with the rug (still rolled up) and the lampshade.

The rug is sort of a braided pink and green. While you are weighing in, let me know what you think I should do with the lamp. The lamp itself is white, (it was in the boy's nursery) but the lampshade is new and more girly. But the white lamp with the somewhat off white shade is not jiving for me. Paint it brown? Or pink? Or leave it white? Or what?

So you can make a most informed decision, the furniture in the room is all white; white crib and white dresser (lovingly made by Grandpa B.) and an as of yet unpurchased but probably ugly, yet functional, glider.

So, green or yellow? Or a different color entirely?

Chair Humor

Thanks to all who shared their thoughtful opinions. It really did help! I know we were asking for it when we solicited the opinions of everyone we know, but A) We really have decided, and it is in large part due to your feedback and B) I like the idea that baby's name has been decided by the friends and family that we love. I'm not going to tell you what we decided today, just in case we change our minds at the last minute. But tune back in around May 15th, when we will hopefully be posting pertinent birth-related information.


In the meantime, yesterday I discovered that my boys have a new favorite pastime. It involves laying on the floor under our dining room table and, as Jonah explained, "telling jokes that we read off of the bottom of the chairs." Keep in mind that my boys cannot read and are equally as inept at telling jokes. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to hear this:

Noel (age 3) to Jonah (age 4): What do you call the baby constellation?
Jonah: I dunno.
Noel: The Big Diaper!
Hysterical laughter ensues.
Noel: Get it??? The Big Diaper?!?!

Jonah: How do you get a dog to stop barking in the back seat?
Noel: How?
Jonah: You move him to the front seat!
Gut-wrenching false-sounding laughter.

I imagine these jokes came from either the I Spy videos, which Noel is currently obsessed with, or a Nick Jr. computer game/video. I can't (won't) take the credit. While we encourage humor in this household, we don't condone joke-telling. At least we've moved up a step from pratfalls.

Please Name My Baby. . .Seriously!

So the baby should be here in about two months. Currently, the single biggest stressor in my life is the fact that I cannot decide on a baby name. I know, with the current recession, I should be grateful this is all I have to worry about. I am not one of those people who thinks they need to "see the baby" to decide on a name. At that point, I'm hopped up on Loritab (hopefully) and my baby probably looks squishy and red, which is not going to sway me in any name direction. I really want to have the baby name decided before we go to the hospital, so I can concentrate on more important things like "When will my husband be back with my bagel sandwich?" and "Does this TV show Lost tonight?" Here's where you come in. Josh and I are super indecisive people. We've limited it down to four names. And by "limited it down" I really mean, "If you mention another name we like, we'll probably add that to the list and stew about that for awhile too." Here they are:

1. Mia
2. Lila
3. Adele
4. Celia

Josh and I have different favorites, but I'm not going to tell you which ones they are, so as to not bias your opinion. Here's some additional information you may need: 1) It's a girl. 2) Her brothers are named Jonah and Noel, one after a character from a book, the other a character from TV's Felicity. 3) If you would like to suggest some other names, please do. You kind of get where we're going with these names, so don't suggest Tiffany or Tina. No offense to any of your children named Tiffany or Tina. 4) Please give me your honest opinion, and don't be afraid to hurt my feelings. Several people have already weighed in (mom and mom) and didn't mince words. Trust me. . .I'm numb.

Thanks! Bonus points for middle names, too.