Three or More

I am just discovering a few things about my new leap into the "big family" realm. This is why it works to have more than two kids: the 5-year-old is often actually helpful! I'm LOVING Henry right now and all he does to contribute to our family. He has taken it upon himself to be Sam's little buddy, and he'll jump at any chance to play with him and make him happy. He'll run all the way upstairs to fetch a pacifier before I even realize Sam needs one. He'll play and laugh and make faces at him to entertain him. He'll bounce the bouncy seat or rock the car seat. He'll protect Sam from the dangerous "I'm-going-to-step-on-your-head" Ellis. I love that these two are forming a good relationship already. I love seeing the sweet, willing-to-help side of Henry that he had not exhibited before. I love the thought of someday having another baby and having Ellis at this helpful age, and Henry at an even more helpful age. How wonderful this is for kids to serve each other! This is how people have more than two kids! I'm starting to get it.

Funny Moments

1. The day Ellis' jeans ended up in Henry's drawer, so he put them on, and they totally FIT -- just a little differently than his own jeans fit. I think he'll start a trend for fitted, capri-length pants in boys!

What do you think?

2. The day "Elder Hales" went missing . . . and was later discovered on the bottom of Mom's shoe! I did feel bad, because I definitely don't think apostles' faces should be trampled on, especially by me . . . and we have all been wondering if Elder Hales might be sick, since he didn't speak in General Conference in April (which is why his cut-out wasn't on the Conference Train with the rest of the Apostles and instead made it to the bottom of my shoe). Yes, I do feel some guilt about this.

And apparently Ellis ("Elder Nelson" today) doesn't approve either.

F.A.Q.

Q: Is there really a group called "Tabernacle kids" or is that Ellis' special name for his very own group? At first I thought you were kidding, but the multiple references has me doubting.

A: These are the children whom Ellis calls The Tabernacle Kids. Really, they are any group of children who have ever sung in the Conference Center. He watches all of their clips on YouTube and totally idolizes them.

Jenn

Mt. Auburn Cemetery

We had a feeling that Ben's parents might have a hard time returning to Utah from the breathtakingly beautiful and G-R-E-E-N Scotland. So we thought we'd help break them in slowly by taking them to the most enchanting place in our neighborhood: the Mount Auburn Cemetery. My pictures don't do it justice. The cemetery was absolutely gorgeous with all the spring blossoms in perfect bloom.

Ben's mom and dad couldn't get enough of the azaleas, rhododendrons, and flowering dogwoods, and they helped us plan out what we will plant in our future yard (someday!).

I adore all the details of this garden cemetery - from the ancient-looking headstones to the ornate little signs that mark all of the pathways. I wish I had more/better pictures -- especially of the angel statues that I would definitely choose over a slab of granite to mark my grave (remember that, friends).

We had a picnic here at the mount where we could see a pretty decent view of Boston. It was a bit chilly and overcast. We were commenting on how the whole experience seemed like something we would do in Scotland . . . when we heard the sound of bagpipes coming from below. A Scottish funeral was about to start in the chapel. Coincidence? [I think Ben must have paid them in advance.]

Here is the view of the city from the top of the cemetery's tower (yes, this picture was taken on a different, less-cloudy day).

The Warrens and I agree on names that sound good together, apparently.

Ellis used every spigot he saw as a "mikerphone" to conduct General Conference.

Here he is sitting down while waiting for the Tabernacle Choir to sing "Glory to God on High."

Here he found the perfect set of steps to be a Tabernacle Kid. He insisted on singing 3 verses of "I am a Child of God" at full volume.

And here's Henry standing perfectly still for a full 2 minutes. He was sure he heard the buzzing of a bee, and you never can be too cautious.

Blessed

Blessed:

• To have good friends who came to support us in holding Sammy's blessing at home (when Elder Perry's visit complicated our plan to have it at church yesterday)
• To have been able to share the blessing (and 3 blissful days!) with Ben's parents, who just returned from a very successful 18-month mission in Scotland
• Mostly, to have three wonderful, amazing, adorable boys -- especially our little Samuel Patrick. We love him!

Best. Day. Ever.

Today was a HUGE day for Ellis, a dream come true, really. He got to meet an apostle of our Church - Elder L. Tom Perry - for the very first time. Elder Perry came to our ward building today because he was in the area for something else and wanted to return to the Weston chapel where he attended church many years ago. It was exciting and created quite a stir for the entire ward, but not many people really comprehended what this day would be for Ellis. He has been idolizing the apostles and prophets for going on seven months now. He still watches his "Conference Show" every day. He still sings songs about the general authorities regularly. He has memorized the names of the First Presidency, Twelve Apostles, and nearly all members of the first and second quorums of the Seventy. For story time, he has been choosing the Ensign most of the time so we can "talk about those guys" and plan the trip to the Conference Center that we will surely make someday. Looking at a picture of the Conference Center filled with people, I asked Ellis where he was going to sit when we go to Conference. He's going to sit by Elder Gonzales. Yep, right there in those comfy-looking red chairs!

Anyway, so that is my boy and his ongoing apostle fetish. When we told him Elder Perry would be visiting OUR church on Sunday, he was thrilled. For two days he flung himself back into the game where everybody gets to be a general authority. Dad was Elder Bednar; Mom was Sister Wixom; Henry was Elder Hales; Grandpa was Elder Holland; even Sam got to be Elder Christofferson; and Ellis was -- of course -- Elder Perry. After spending the morning helping "Elder Perry" get ready for church, we finally arrived at the church parking lot, at which point the ecstatic Ellis exclaimed, "Now we get to see the REAL Elder Perry!" I couldn't get enough of Ellis as we walked into the building. His small footsteps were interrupted with irregular jumps and spasms of sheer excitement. He had the hugest smile on his face, and he kept stopping to clench and shake his fists and exclaim, "Yeah!!! Elder Perry!!!" When we got into the chapel and found a seat, he immediately looked at the men sitting on the stand and asked, "Which one's Elder Perry?" but Elder Perry wasn't there yet. We waited a few minutes and then saw him arrive. Ellis' gaze followed him all the way up to the stand (Is he shaking hands? Is he six foot three?), where he sat down just behind the podium, such that Ellis could only see the top of his head. Don't worry; Ellis could see fine as long as he could stand on our laps. So that's what Ellis did -- he stood up on one of our laps for the entire meeting and wouldn't come down. He was just absolutely beaming the whole time, watching and waiting for when Elder Perry would talk in the microphone. And finally he did, and it was a dream come true. Ellis gave a resounding "Amen." After the meeting, Henry and Ellis both got to shake hands with Elder Perry. Ben briefly explained how much Ellis adores him (how can one convey this in a few seconds?) and how he had been pretending to be Elder Perry all day, and Elder Perry was sweet and told Ellis to go and get ready to be a missionary!

We could have taken Ellis to Disneyland today and he couldn't possibly have been in a more euphoric state.

Now, let me delight you with a video presentation of Ellis, the Tabernacle Kid. For Ellis, any set of stairs can instantly become a set of choir seats, ready for a performance by the Tabernacle Kids. Really, his screechy singing voice is something you shouldn't miss:

Tabernacle Ellis from Jenn and Ben on Vimeo.

Mom of Three

This is exactly what I always imagined motherhood would feel like: me sitting on the couch with my arms full of little ones. Here we are, friends: my three boys, and me - a full-fledged mom!

Compromise

When you really love your brother, you'll find a way to compromise your interests in order to play TOGETHER.

One boy sets up the President Road.

Another boy drives his cars along it.

And for a brief moment, everything is calm, and everyone is happy (enjoy it while it lasts, Mom!).

Don't you kind of wonder what kind of obsession Boy #3 will bring to the mix?

Ellis-isms

"I wanna do . . . Dad gets home"

"Maybe I can ask Dad I'm a fighter-fighter" (translation: Maybe I can tell Dad that I'm a fire fighter.")

"Watch me how to jump!"

"Grandpa, where you are?"

"That's a idea, Mom." (in response to "Daddy's in the shower")

"Mom, if you don't come downstairs, I'm gonna . . . throw you in the garbage!"

"Ulysses S. Grant is kind of Woodrow Wilson." (translation: kind of like Woodrow Wilson)

"We're singing 'Go God, He Loves Us.'" (sounds like my kind of song!)

"Dad, guess what? I was doing in trouble, but anyway." (translation: When I did this earlier, I got in trouble, but now I'm doing it anyway)

COMMON PHRASES:

"I FOUND IT!!!" (every time we arrive at the church parking lot)

"Bye, Church! See ya next time!" (every time we leave the church parking lot)

"Who had fun at church?" (every week as we start driving home from church)

"What are we on?" (translation: What scripture story will we read tonight?)

"I wanna hold you/I wanna carry you."

"What I have?" (translation: Why are you washing my face? What did I eat that was messy?)

"I need your helper." (translation: I need your help)

"I'm too strong for that." (translation: I'm not strong enough for that)

"I don't want to . . . to clean up."

"I don't want you to . . . to do the dishes."

"I don't want to . . . to brush my teeth."

"Shot! Shot! Shot! I kill you!" (Seriously, where did this come from?)

"I wanna play in da playground." (i.e. the backyard)

"What the . . ? What the . . ? What the . . ? They are same kind!" (translation: I see two things that look the same -- like a picture in a book that looks the same as the cover)

"Any of doze?" (translation: Any opposed? This comes up a lot when we are playing the conducting-church game)

"Thank you that we can be here with us." (No one knows what this means. Ellis says it as a part of EVERY prayer, and usually it is the ONLY thing he says in his prayers. Ellis has recently been so excited about saying prayers that he will start praying as soon as the very idea of prayer is mentioned. No one has to ask him; he just starts praying! He'll often just say a prayer in the middle of a meal or a conversation for absolutely no reason. For a while, he was getting really creative with what he prayed for, which was quite amusing. But for now, he's just thankful that we can be here with us, or something like that).

Money Trading

Henry and Ellis love to get out their money boxes and count/play with their loot. Today I overheard what I thought was a suspicious scheme going on. Henry, who understands the value of money, was happily collecting the more valuable denominations from Ellis, who doesn't.

When I ran into the room to defend Ellis, he assured me that he knew what he was doing: "I shared my Abraham Lincoln to Henry!" I helped them to rearrange a few things, and everyone ended up happy. Henry got to keep the Abraham Lincoln ($5 bill), and Ellis got a whole stash of George Washingtons, Thomas Jeffersons, Franklin Roosevelts, and Abraham Lincolns that he can happily drop into the coin slot on his money box. It turned out to be totally fair, since Henry values a $5 bill for what it can buy, and Ellis values a few dollars worth of coins for the hours of amusement he will get from identifying, collecting, and counting the presidents. Works for me!

Final Final

Today I took my final final exam. Yep, I'm done with classes for the rest of my life! The next time I'm in a classroom, hopefully I'll be the one teaching the class. I'm super excited to finally be finished with all of the coursework required for my program! If you add it up, I've just completed the 20th grade...out of (almost) 29 years of my life total. I'm really tempted to sit down and actually count how many classes I've taken over those 20 years, but it's late so I won't. But when I sit back and think about all that I've learned, I have to admit that I'm a bit sad that it's over. Thinking of the wide, wide range of topics that I've been exposed to is actually kind of mind-boggling. Chemistry to cartography, physics to psychology, Seuss to Shakespeare to Saul Bellow to Socrates. And a whole heck of a lot of economics. Of course, it's not like I'm going to stop learning now, but it's hard to pick up as much when you're out of a classroom setting. I think that I could honestly be perfectly happy to be a professional student the rest of my life, if someone would pay me to do it. Maybe that's why being a professor appeals to me so much; I at least get to be in that environment for my career.

But, before I get too nostalgic, let's not forget how many times I've cursed homework, quizzes, papers, and exams. It definitely hasn't been an easy road, and I'm so glad to not have that hanging over my head anymore. Ugh.

Anyway, I'm done! Now all I have to do is write a dissertation...no sweat, right?

So, over the past few semesters I've posted about some things that have been on my mind: post-dated legislation, how politicians abuse economics, how MBA classes differ from Ph.D. classes, some investing advice, and a puzzle about saving during recessions. I'm going to spare you the lengthy nerd-post this time, but I do want to end with one thought.

In one of my classes this semester we examined economic crises around the world. Each class period we looked at a different country and tried to figure out how they got in to the mess and what they should do about it. We covered Argentina, Mexico, Jamaica, Estonia, Latvia, Thailand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, you name it. Here is what struck me: many (if not all) of these cases looked A LOT like the U.S. looks today. Namely, people went temporarily crazy and spent way too much money, for whatever reason. The government then needed to bail them out somehow, and found itself in too much debt and in need of bailout itself. Of course the U.S. differs a lot from these other countries in many ways. But what scared me was just how similar it all was. A couple of economists famously wrote a book about this very idea not too long ago called This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. I sadly haven't read it yet, but I've heard one of the authors speak a few times and I'm sure that it's excellent.

Anyway, my personal opinion is that the U.S. needs to reduce its debt starting now. We cannot afford to think that we're different than everyone else, because when you come right down to it we're not. I'm not forecasting some major catastrophe or anything like that. All I'm saying is that the potential is there for it to happen, and it would be prudent to guard against that. How we reduce the deficit is much less important than whether we reduce it. I would vote to raise taxes, cut spending, whatever needs to be done for this to happen. I of course have my opinions about what would be the best way to do it, but at this point we just need to get it done however is possible.

So, that's all I'm going to say. For those who want to know more, do read this excellent article which basically contains my view on the matter. And, if you've ever wanted to know the difference between the Keynesian way to get out of a recession (stimulus! bailouts!) and the Hayekian method (let the market work!), but you can only learn things in rap, you're in luck. These are actually really good, if you can believe it. Highly relevant stuff, and an easy way to learn a bit about it.

The Easter Bunny Rules

The night before the Easter Bunny came, Ellis announced that he was pretty sure the Easter Bunny was going to bring him Presidents. Good thing the Easter Bunny was one step ahead of Ellis (phew!).

The Presidents have been quite the hit this week. Ellis can't get enough of lining them up in different ways.

Who knew that Presidents could be so much fun, or that the Easter Bunny could be so inspired?

Patriot's Day Weekend

Someday we will celebrate Patriot's Day like proper Bostonians by going to battle reenactments and watching the marathon. This year, we viewed it as an excuse to visit these guys:

Yay!!! We have missed the Sorensens WAY too much since they moved from Boston. We couldn't wait any longer! So we drove down to northern PA (stopping in CT for a MAGICAL picnic lunch with Amy & Dave and JoDee & Brandon -- which I didn't get any pictures of, unfortunately) on Friday and stayed through Monday. With Samuel's current sleeping/feeding schedule, we were pretty much forced to spend most of the time just being lazy and hanging out at home. Luckily, that's one of my favorite activities, so it worked out.

Mark has already grown and changed so much! He was quite the jabber-er.

The two best friends (lovebirds?), Ava & Henry, had a great time playing together again.

I love their faces in these pictures.

And Henry had just as much fun with Ezra too! (And isn't this room glorious? I'm in love with their house!)

Fun at the park

In an attempt to convince us to live in their area, the Sorensens gave us a tour of Princeton's beautiful campus. Let's just say they didn't have to do much convincing! If Ben ever happens to get the one-in-a-million chance to teach here, it would be hard to turn down -- especially considering who our neighbors would be!

2 Months and Smiling

A few facts:

1. My blogging activity decreased dramatically when my "Maternity Leave" from church ended. Boy, those 5 hour blocks of time alone with Sam were precious!

2. I just discovered that you can drag and drop pictures directly from Picasa Web Albums. And they come out bigger! I'll rejoice if this actually works!

3. Sam is 2 months old, and he's officially a smiler. I consider smiles to be payment for all the sleep and sanity we give up for him. He's definitely worth it, especially with the smiles! I wish I was better at capturing his happy face on camera.