Dorian likes to hang out in his crib. The orange wall boosts his creativity.

Hooray

Dorian has had a hard time adjusting to a bottle since I've started teaching again, but yesterday and today we tried this one, which has the same nipple as his pacifier (genius), and he didn't hate it! He drank 3 ounces from the bottle yesterday and SIX today, and had two great afternoons playing with his dad. I am breathing a sigh of relief. Here's to hoping we've got this figured out.

Dorian's Blessing

Russell blessed Dorian on August 31. I thought he looked very handsome in his white shirt and khakis.

After the blessing, we invited our families over to our house for lunch. There were about 35 people, and surprisingly, our living room/kitchen accommodated them quite well. It was crowded but not so that we were tripping over each other or anything. I made bbq pork sandwiches, and thankfully all my sisters brought sides and both sets of parents brought dessert. The whole event made me feel like a grownup, but also gave me a lot of admiration for my parents who regularly feed groups this big, whenever we all feel like dropping in.

My nephews, Will and J.D. Aren't they cute?

More nephews, goofing off outside. Dorian is the 25th grandchild and 18th grandson on my side. He is the first on Russell's side.

Beautiful nieces, Meg and Karlee.

My sister Lorinda, holding Dorian while Karlee looks on. She was being very sweet with the baby.

Speaking of beautiful nieces, here is Rose with Dorian. She is a freshman at BYU now, so hopefully we will get to see a lot of her.

Yet another--my niece Claire and her husband Ben. Ben is my age, and loves to call my husband (3 years younger) "Uncle Russell." Funny. I can't remember what he was ranting about in this picture.

Somehow I managed to not get any pictures of many of the people that were there--Russell's parents and grandparents, my parents, most of Russell's siblings, my sister Marilee....I did get this picture of Dallin and Ginelle (in her cute cherry dress).

Can you see how much Dorian looks like my sister Carol?

Here are all the priesthood who participated in blessing Dorian. What great men he has to look up to. Nathan Jack, Allen Jack, Ben Baird, Grandpa Gailey, Russell, John Hopper, and Michael LeFevre.

Mom, Dad, and Dorian at the end of the day. Poor little guy was exhausted from entertaining all his guests.

Getting Skinny

So, we're going to get skinny now. We bought an elliptical yesterday. We bribed some friends with a truck to help us get it home. It only took 2 hours to put it together. We like it.

To motivate ourselves to actually stick with this once we get tired, bored, and discouraged, we are going to post our progress on our blog. So you all get to know exactly how much we weigh. We're not shy. We'll weigh in on Friday mornings and post our weights every week. Most of the time, we won't make a regular blog post--it will just be over on the right side of the blog. So you can ignore it if you don't care.

Here are some "before" pictures. We will wow you with the "after" pictures in April, right before we go to Hawaii. Don't forget to check back.

What did you expect?

Dorian is getting his first lesson on modes and chord functions.

Tummy Time

I don't know why tummy time inspires me to get out the camera. I guess I'm just so darn proud of how high he can hold up his head.

Working Mom

When I got pregnant, I knew I had a decision to make. I had been working at the Art City Music Academy for 9 years–that’s nearly one third of my life. Chris and Yvonne Blonquist have become like family to me. I ran their school for so long that I had it down to a science. I taught piano lessons for so long that my students became my family.

I have always wanted to be a mom, and always wanted to be able to stay at home with my kids. It was easy to decide that I wouldn’t continue working full time after the baby was born. The harder decision was whether I should stop working completely, or keep teaching part time? Many people told me I would relish the time out of the house and away from the baby. Others told me I might resent the time away.

I decided I would keep two afternoons of teaching. I made the decision knowing that I couldn’t really know until I got there whether or not it would be okay. But I felt like I had something important to offer my students. And I have spent so many years of my life becoming a great teacher; I didn’t want to just give it up.

I have been back to work for two weeks now. When I am teaching, it’s almost like my life hasn’t been completely turned upside down. In the back of my mind, I know I have a baby at home, but at work, for 6 hours my life is not governed by whether the baby is hungry or tired or needs a diaper change. My existence is not carved into 2-3 hour slices delineated by the sweet babe’s hunger. I tuck his smiles and soft skin into the back of my mind. At work I am helping other mothers raise their children, and it feels...comfortable...to be doing what I have done for 9 years.

Then tonight I came home to a baby that had been crying for so long that even as he fell asleep in my arms, he kept breathing in with little sobs. Russell is really great with him, but he doesn’t like taking a bottle, and by the end of the day, he has just had it.

The truth is, I don’t resent the time away from my baby. But I also don’t need the time away from him. Being a mother is the most natural thing in the world to me. I don’t need a break from it. But I do love teaching.

Am I doing the right thing?