Conference Saturday

This morning, we woke up the boys at 7. Fed them as quick as possible (they were TIRED!) and left for the pediatrician's office. My poor boys didn't know what was about to hit them, but it was time to be circumcised... ouch.

I've never heard them cry like that.

Hard as it was, I loved being able to calm them down. It made me feel like a Mother. Diaper changes and getting up in the middle of the night and snapping pictures of these cute boys make me feel like a Mom. Really soothing my little ones and knowing how much they need me? That makes me feel like a Mother.

The traumatic experience helped them learn how to hold on to my hand pretty quickly. They used to hold my finger every now and again, but now both of them hold on tight. I love that they know me.

We drove around for about 45 minutes after the appointment to help them get to sleep, which resulted in stopping to pick up smoothies and croissant sandwiches for breakfast. After we got home, conference was about to start so Cam and I each cuddled a boy and hit the couch. All the crying has completely exhausted my poor boys. We've had to spend at least 20 minutes waking them up for each feeding and then a time or two during the feeding we have to wake them up again.

The first session of conference was incredible. I'm sure the second was too, but all 4 of us were knocked out for it. Deep, blissful sleep. Everyone touching another member of the family.

Our little family.

Lots of love in this little living room of ours.

On another happy note, I really struggle to find anything on these boys that looks like me. My sister mentioned the day they were born that Gray had my little toe. I know that sounds silly, but my pinky toe curls under itself completely, like an eagle claw. I finally noticed it again today. Little Gray has my claw toe! Makes me so happy. Also, makes me happy that I can actually prove to my mom that it is, in fact, genetic, and that I didn't just wear too small of shoes all growing up.

3 Things

1. I promise I'm not neglecting the blog. [Ok, semi-lie. It's being neglected, but I'm not being a bum!] I am prepping like crazy for the grand opening of my new digital scrapbooking shop and it is at the c.u.t.e.s.t site. I can't wait to announce it! There will be a major sale, brand-spankin-new products and even some free goodies for you!  So, mark your calendar for July 1st. <3


2. Major changes are in the works for the Call family. We'll know just how major after a long walk either tonight or tomorrow, hearing back from a certain less-than-awesome professor, and perhaps an arm-wrestling match or two. ["Team Kristin" shirts would be much appreciated.]


3. This is what my hometown currently looks like.

That fire's been roaring for days now, and as far as I know [and from the looks of things] it's still not under control. Pray for Flagstaff, AZ. My whole family lives there! [extended included...]

In other news, I got possibly the worst night sleep last night, ever. C has some funny sleeping quirks. So, before I launch into this, let's remember: "Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all." {G.K. Chesterton}

Here's what went down [via conversations with C and my sister, L]:

L: hi

Me: hey there. how did the Lilster sleep last night?

L: terrible. up from 11-1, up at 4 and 4:45, up at 6-6:30

Me: gross. sounds about like my night actually. C was freaking restless

L: perhaps he needs to be swaddled [L recently stumbled upon the glories of swaddling her little girl. longer naps have totally revolutionized the whole Mom thing for her.]

Me: haha maybe. I woke up at 4am because every ten seconds or so, he would whack his head down to his pillow twice. thunk thunk --------- 15 seconds ---------- thunk thunk

L: :)

Me: that went on for about 20-30 times before I punched him and told him to knock it off. he was completely out.

L: your very own personal thunderstorm.

Me: :)

L: might I suggest a king bed?

Me: we have a king. we are l.a.r.g.e

L: oh dear.

-----and in the words of C -----

Me: sweetheart, you were ridiculous last night!

C: why? I thought I slept really good!

Me: umm...you did. I don't even think you woke up when I punched you.

C: lol. I'm sorry honey.

Me: It's alright.

C: I don't even remember having a dream of any kind.

Me: Best sleep I had was from 7 to 8 after you'd already left.

C: hahaha. It's the ice cream, honey. You shouldn't eat any of it.

Me: ... I don't think so ...

Ridemax + Disneyland = Genius

The big news is we made it to California and back without any car trouble! [Shout out to Lola!]

The next biggest news is we used a program called Ridemax to get the most out of our weekend getaway. I will never go to Disneyland again without Ridemax. Best $14.95 I've ever spent. My dad recommended it to us and we thought we'd give it a try. Basically, it calculates the best way to spend your time throughout the day, avoid the lines, and still hit every attraction on your must-see/do list, without burning you out. Brilliant.

We stayed at a hotel 2 blocks away from the park, so we could walk there. Ridemax plan in tow, we arrived at Disneyland bright and early Friday morning. The park opened and we joined the rabid rush toward Splash Mountain. There were no lines yet, but we went and grabbed a fast pass instead of just riding it. Then, we walked right around the crowd and walked onto Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

[caption id="attachment_828" align="aligncenter" width="550" caption="Credits: Gina Cabrera, Kevin & Amanda, ADesigns, Ali Edwards"][/caption]

Then, we walked right on to Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Small World and Autopia [We're pretty tall...I snapped this pic of C on Autopia, lol].

We played it just right. As soon as we got off the ride, a line would appear for the attraction. I felt so sneaky!  The best part about it was we had a plan that we knew would work. In the past, I've spent so much time in line because I wanted to make sure I was able to ride my favorites. This time, we knew it was alright to take a break and see a show because we were planning to ride Space Mountain/Matterhorn/Peter Pan/etc. later.

Did you know they have canoe tours in Disneyland? They do. We canoed.

Did you know that the Disneyland Railroad that goes all around the perimeter of the park has a full fledged grand canyon exhibit and dinosaur land inside one of the tunnels and that it goes right through Splash Mountain and you can see the people on the ride? It does.

Seriously, we had a 4 hour break Friday afternoon [Ridemax schedules it this way on purpose because it's the heat of the day and when the lines are the worst.] and we walked through Downtown Disney, had a relaxed lunch at Tortilla Joe's, went to the Animation Academy in California Adventure and saw an hour-long Aladdin broadway style show.

We geared up for the afternoon, rode everything on our list and then some, and showed up for our reservation at the Blue Bayou [the restaurant that goes right through Pirates of the Caribbean.] Cool, romantic, amazing food, it was fabulous.

C snagged us an amazing spot for the fireworks and we finished the night on Peter Pan [honestly, the only ride we waited in line for longer than 10 minutes.]

I've never seen and done so much at Disneyland! It was wonderful.

The next day was California Adventure. Slept in a bit [it opened at 10], and be-bopped on over to the park, walking again. Ridemax didn't disappoint! We ran and grabbed a Fastpass first for California Screamin' and then jumped in line for Toy Story [I totally whomped C.]

We walked on to the huge sliding gondola ferris wheel [which was pretty darn freaky for a ferris wheel] and continued throughout our day seeing everything we wanted to. Tower of Terror was also on the list [I hate drops...but love C, and so I buckled my seatbelt and screamed my head off.] Soarin' over California was a 2 time favorite and C even convinced me to ride the Maliboomer, which was a huge deal. I avoid the straight up drop rides like the plague.

We were so far ahead of schedule that by 4pm, we were back in Disneyland [and we'd ridden the big rides in California Adventure twice!] We grabbed dinner and shared a table with a wonderful couple where we could also see the Fantasmic show. Worth it.

We finished the day with sugar-free butter pecan cones and picking out our Christmas ornament and mugs. [Tradition. :)] and a late-night hot tub to pamper our aching legs.

Sunday, we slept in and headed to church. We had every intention of staying for all 3 hours, but the ward we picked actually had Sacrament meeting last, so we really had no choice but to go off and find the Hollywood sign.

After that, we drove to the LA Temple and had a nice long walk & talk. [Don't you just love Sundays?]

We drove to Santa Monica beach for dinner and ate at a Ma & Pa Pizza shop [think My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but Italian] called Bruno's. YUM.

We took some time to visit our Beach House No. 18, grabbed a movie, and headed back to the hotel. There's nothing like not having anyone to answer to or anywhere to be. I love it.

[caption id="attachment_829" align="aligncenter" width="550" caption="Credits: Call Me Kristin "Of Noble Birthright" Freebie, Paislee Press"][/caption]

Solved My Getting Up Early Problemo

If you recall, my office now requires me to be here by 8am. [It's slightly painful.] And I asked all of you to help me find motivation for getting out of bed in the morning.

I think I'm going to take this quote and plaster it on the wall next to my bed. [Realistically, it'll be on a post-it. But I'll write it cute!]

Rise & Shout!

I am a BYU cougar. My parents both attended BYU. My sister, her husband, me and my husband all attend(ed) BYU. I was actually born while my parents were living in BYU married housing. My entire family is able to sing the BYU fight song start to finish at a ridiculously young age. We bleed blue.

It starts out "Rise & shout! The Cougars are out!" My parents used this as a mechanism to get us out of bed in the mornings. The end of the fight song is a series of "Rah rah rahs" followed by "GooooooooOOOO Cougars!" [For getting us out of bed, they'd replace Cougars, with Kristin, Lindsay, Jessica, etc.]

Here's where my dilemma comes in. I no longer have a zealous parent to get me out of bed in the mornings. I've been doing alright getting my fanny to work in the mornings by 9, but I received an e-mail today explaining that our office hours are now 8:30 to 5:30 or [in my case, to avoid cutting into my "wife time"] 8:00 to 5:00.

Also, this comic accurately describes my outlook on the entire "early-to-bed; early-to-rise" mentality. So all of you morning people can just keep your condescending comments to yourself.



So, the question is: how do you convince yourself to get out of bed in the morning?

Just to give you an idea of the severity of the situation....my first thought is generally: "No. Way. I won't get to sleep again for [x] hours." Yep. I'm in trouble.