cougars and a garden

Shocking news to most of you: Trustin is crazy about BYU basketball. His downtime in the evening always seems to consist of reading articles about BYU and other college sports. (How much can they have to say about one team, I say...but apparently a lot). And luckily I'm a fan too, if not so crazily. A while back we got to see BYU play in the Mountain West Tournament here in Vegas. Unfortunately we didn't see the 52 point scoring Jimmer Fredette but the exhausted team the day after that game. So the cougars lost...but luckily we took along our own cougar/lion who always makes things fun.

Trustin said, "We should put Zeke in his lion costume." I said "Oh, no, he'll die of heat!" But Zeke heard and he definately wanted to wear the costume.

We had the best seats in the house: the very back row. This meant I could throw Zeke way up high in the air to cheer, he could sit on Daddy's shoulders for the fight song or I could hang him upside down and tickle him. Zeke's favorite thing was singing the Cougar fight song. He would clap and laugh and he even started doing the rolling his hands and punching the air at the end (for those of you familiar with the fight song). He's a natural cougar.

We didn't take many pictures though. But here he is happy. He was kind of a zombie the first half of the game (combo of just waking up and his people watching tendency) but he was really into the game during the second half. And for the week afterwards he kept wanting to sing the fight song.

And this is our garden! Wahoo! In two weeks when the sun really shows up around here it may be gone, so we've got to admire our green thumb while it lasts.

And hey, that dead tree I bought Trustin for Christmas really is a living tree! It has two buds started so we're hoping for some pomegranates in a while.

And just because he's cute.

We also had a family date to the park last week but all the pictures are on Trustin's phone. It was crazy though. We made the mistake of letting Zeke throw a cracker before we'd finished eating and suddenly we had ducks and geese and pidgeons swarming us from all sides. Zeke was rather worried for his life, and I was too. If Trustin hadn't come to our rescue Zeke and I would have been Goose food for a minute there.

Zeke is as usual being a cutie these days. His current favorite things to do include raiding the kitchen drawers for wooden spoons and then hitting little plastic golf balls around the house. Trustin's our ward Ragball coach and Zeke has become a baseball fan too. He will swing his arm in a throwing motion say "catch" and usually point to his head because he realized he isn't wearing a baseball cap. And he will randomly grab twigs and and sticks and try to bat with them (or more frequently, make us bat). It is fun to try to pitch to him because he stands with absolutely perfect form, perfect (at least to Mom's untrained eyes) but by the time we throw the ball he is completely distracted and looking or walking somewhere else entirely.

Unfortunately, we've hit a phase, a hitting phase. When Zeke doesn't get what he wants he is quite liable to smack me in the face, stomach, leg, etc. I am truly at a loss of how to help him. I was hoping it was one of those phases that comes with the age, but from a recent case study (asking only one friend with a daughter two months older) this is just a Zeke phase. Uhgg. We were watching Toy Story the other day and there is a scene in the first one where Woody is just pummeling Buzz. Suddenly I realized why parents get so paranoid about what their kids watch. We will be skipping that part of the movie now, just in case. goodness he's gotten simultatneous cuter as he's gotten a bit cantankerous (this is the word Trustin uses to describe it).

For example: Trustin typically whistles as me as he walks out the door (aw, precious). Lately Zeke has taken to returning the favor. Cracks me up. Even last week when he got ridiculously sick he was still my whistling buddy. He had a fever of over 104 and was laying on my chest completely weak and sad and Trustin walked out the door and whistled and Zeke in his sick weak voice says woo-woo. He's a keeper.

Patting ourselves on the back

We moved in five months ago now (wow, that went by fast) and I bought fabric to make curtains for our giant sun-attracting windows pretty quick after that. That step was easy: a couple awesome coupons, a minor self-control battle to resist the fabric that was still $30/yd after the 50% off coupon, making myself fall in love with something off the discount rack and then bringing it home with a lot of enthusiasm and optimism for the easy task ahead of me. Afterall, curtains are pretty much just big rectangles, I don't even have to any piecing. One day project. One deluded mama.

Why didn't someone tell me giant curtains are so darn hard? All the blogs and how-to's I read made it sound so easy, so maybe I'm just not a natural curtain maker. Making these puppies took me ages to make and included a lot of unpicking and replanning.

Luckily I did have my one special helper. I've always hated the pinning step of any sewing project, so I turned that step over to Zeke:
Whereas I'm tempted to scrimp, Zeke knows you need a lot of pins...per square inch.

He was pretty pleased with himself.

So wa-la, curtains. They are done, that is the end of the pain right? Oh how we wish. Last night we installed the curtain rods and lets just sum that whole story up by saying it included a lot of brokenness: broken dry wall screws, broken drill bits, broken windows and broken egos. I may have even cried a bit, but hey I'm pregnant. The culprit in our troubles? The ridiculous man who decided to put windows in the corner with only two inches of wall. Just try making two curtain rods meet up there, look nice, and still keep your curtains on. On second thought, don't try, it's no fun at all. Luckily, what stinks at 11:00 at night is pretty entertaining at 3 in the afternoon. Plus, we have curtains to show for it! (nevermind that I haven't yet hemmed or ironed them, this counts as complete to me)

Now as long as Zeke doesn't go Tarzan on us, we're set!

Which brings me to our couches and further evidence that our family is not normal. We have two mismatched couches, and one of them, big and yellow, probably doesn't fit the typical description of beauty. But I decided this week that I am in love with our couches. I've heard several lessons on respect in primary lately, and the example that has been brought up repeatedly is "You don't jump around on your mom's couches do you?" My answer, "Well of course not, never...who would do such a thing?..." In reality, that is precisely the beauty of our big yellow couch. It was made for "To infinity and beyond!" and the accompanying jumps and dives and rolls. A minimum of 20 minutes a day is devoted to flying, crashing, jumping, touch-downing, rolling and climbing around the couch and the love sac. It kind of clashes with our new curtains but I realized that even if somebody offered us a brand new beautiful set of couches I think I'd have to turn them down. I don't want a couch Zeke can only sit on. That sounds awfully beautiful and dull. (see, we're abnormal). What I really want is beautiful couches and then a basement for our fun couch to live on forever. I don't think I can part with it, and Zeke can't either.

This is just a cute picture of Zeke and his friends that we got to babysit for two days. Zeke was in heaven. He loves playing with friends.

This was too cute. Zeke is going to be the best brother.

And somebody has got to teach little sister how to put on make-up, so Zeke practiced this week. He was quite proud of himself when I found him putting blush on his cheeks. He did a scarily good job. Oh heavens, this kid knows how to make me laugh.

Happy Birthday Trustin!

The landmark has come and gone, and Trustin is officially old and wise. I asked Trustin how he feels about reaching the big Three Zero and his only thoughts were "Well it's nice to be legal to play on our soccer league"(we've both been playing on an over-30 league, with permission, but with Trustin looking about 22 and me about 16...we've gotten some comments).

Celebrating this year was really fun and relaxing. Trustin requested pizza with breadsticks and Little Caesars was glad to oblige. Then Trustin made us mango smoothies, mmmm. We rented a movie, which wasn't a big hit, but good enough and just relaxed.

Then came the presents:

We've discovered that we may never have to open a present alone again. Zeke was very willing to help. The only presents he didn't unwrap were the ones he carried to Daddy and that weren't wrapped.

Ironically the first present Zeke opened was actually for him. We didn't read the writing on the paper so we didn't realize it was for him and were laughing at how he was going to town on Daddy's present when he suddenly pulls out a pair of Zeke-sized gloves. Perfect. And then matching gloves for Trustin.

That calls for a high-five!

Gramma and Paca aptly labeled this gift "a treasure." Zeke was quite thrilled by it.

Trustin was too!

(In case you can't tell, it is a watering can. We really need one and now we have one that is both practical and entertaining)

Zeke and I bought Trustin a laser-level... I know nothing about buying such things, so who knows what we got.

Then the "berry" on top: blueberry bushes and a grape vine. We didn't get a picture of it but we also bought a big trellis for the grapes to grow on. When we dream, we dream big, and I'm sure our grapes are going to flourish enough to need a giant trellis.

Happy Birthday Trustin! Zeke of course wanted to help blow out the candle and he requested to do it again after the first time. I love this kid. The cake, as you can see, well, it tasted good. I made an ice cream cake roll last year and it turned out really good. This years model certainly won't be pictured in any recipe books but luckily you just can't go wrong with mint chocolate chip and it tasted wonderful! I kind of want to try a fondant cake for Zeke's birthday this summer just for the fun of it and because "its all the rage" but I realized I'll be 39 weeks pregnant, or better yet, in labor, so we'll see about that cake ambition.

Now the really important stuff. To say how much we love Trustin. If Zeke could talk:

Daddy is the greatest. He is so silly and so easy to scare when I say boo. He is fun to tackle and chase, just like a dad should be. And he's fun to climb; his face is one of my favorite stepping stools! He is so strong, he can throw me so high, and whoa he can throw a ball even higher (do it again, do it again). Daddy is the best at making me laugh! I am always so excited for my daddy to get home from work I run to the door the second I hear the garage opener so I can jump out and scare him the second he comes in. I love Daddy so much that I don't even like to take naps when he's home because I don't want to miss a minute with Daddy (true). I love love love my daddy!

From me:

Well there's too much to say and I'm sure you don't want me to go all mushy...but, I do have to say that I am certain that I'm the luckiest wife ever. I love my wonderful husband so much. Happy Birthday Love!

Waitin' for July and my little GIRL

Well, most of you have already heard the news, but its fun to say it again. We're going to have a girl! Trustin and I have both suspected that this one was a girl but its so exciting to know for sure. I confess the ultrasound wasn't the greatest. We got really spoiled with Zeke since my doctor's office had to send me to a fancy high-risk pregnancy ultrasound office (because my insurance didn't cover it in their office). We got two ultrasounds each with about a million pictures each and the second time we got a bunch of amazing 3D images. This time around we only get the one ultrasound and she printed three pictures, one to show that it's a girl and two practically identical ones of her face. Well she's adorable but those front shots never look like anything so much as an alien. But aside from the lack of incredible ultrasound pictures, it was definitely a good day. I'm so excited to have a daughter! July 15th can not come fast enough (or July 8th when I'm really optimist or July 24th when I'm realistic...). This is going to be a long 5 months because I am already aching to hold that little girl!





Trustin and I already went out and bought her 9 outfits/jammies. We just couldn't help ourselves! (and a plug for why I'm proud to be DI junkie: 9 outfits for our little lady plus a pair of shoes for Zeke: only $15, wahoo!) I'm trying to restrain myself from going crazy buying girly things and fabric to start sewing quilts and curtains and anything I can think of.





And as for my little boy, who I know is going to be the best big brother ever, well he's as great as ever! Of course he doesn't really understand what's going on, but he likes to examine my belly to find this baby we keep telling him is there. I wonder what he thinks (oh silly Mommy, that's just a belly button, not a baby).





As always he keeps doing new things that crack us up. Last night he wanted to play ring-around-the-rosies with me and here is how our circle went: Zeke holding Woody's hand on one side and a football on the other and me holding onto the other side of both toys. Then this morning he wanted to color (by the way, Zeke thinks that the printer is synonymous with Toy Story Picture Creating Machine). He held a crayon in Woody's hand and made Woody color the picture. Where did this little Toy Story nut come from?





There were a couple other funny things he started doing this week, but alas I've already forgotten. I guess that's why I'm grateful for when I do blog, because chances are I'll forget about the ring-around-the-rosies and the coloring Woody by next week.

This is not a picture of me today, but I wish it was. This is me the day Zeke was born. I'm ready for the fast forward button.

Some Assembly Required

Grandma and Grandpa Brockbank came to visit us a couple weekends ago and I think it is safe to say that we worked them to the bone. To begin with they brought down Trustin's Christmas present that I bought on KSL. My dad and Trustin had quite the time setting it up with nothing to go by but a couple of pictures on a cell phone! But it works!

We did a family workout on Monday night and man are we out of shape, we need this thing! Zeke likes exercising with us and is pretty cute, although it does require some diligence to keep track of this little guy to protect his little fingers.

Then I really slacked on the camera for the whole of Grandma and Grandpa's visit. These pictures of Zeke and his Grandpa are literally all I took. But Zeke LOVED having them here. On Sunday when he woke up from his nap he went straight in to their room to try to find them. He was not happy to find the air-mattress deflated and no grandparents in sight.

And for assembly number two: We bought Zeke a swingset/playground. (Another great Craig's list deal). So Trustin, my Dad, and Uncle Kalani spent most of the day unassembly, loading, unloading and reassembling (again, with almost no pictures and no instructions---we like to keep it interesting). We didn't get any pictures of the whole thing yet (our camera has this habit of following Zeke around), but Zeke is quite the fan! In the last week he has added two new words to his vocabulary: "Wheee!" and "Push"

You can't tell from the picture but this slide is quite steep. Zeke totally flies off the bottom. We put some artificial grass at the bottom though so now it is perfect. Who wants a slow slide anyways?

And here is our little soccer star. He loves to kick and throw balls around the house and he's getting so good at it.
Trustin posted a video of Zeke's victory dance on facebook.

Zeke recently started requesting to wear a pair of my socks. They are hot pink. So in an attempt to change Zeke's fashion choice Daddy pulled out these socks covered in basketballs. They were a hit, and quite cute!

Whoa, what do you say to that studmuffin?

Here is Zeke helping me dig in the yard. We are so excited that the weather has gotten so nice (sorry to all you Utahns and even more to you Nebraskans, but our weather is lovely!). We are hoping to put in sod in the next couple weeks since our grass seed experiment failed miserably...We also have plans for a vegetable garden (we'll see how that goes in this heat) and trees and eventually eventually to finish the patio.

This is the accompanying gesture for "To infinity and beyond!" Zeke does this when talking about Buzz and occasionally when talking about Jesus...well I guess that makes sense too.

And here are Zeke's prized jammies (I wonder why?). It is kind of ridiculous how much he loves Buzz and Woody. He used to always pretend to call Daddy or grandparents on the phone but these days every time he grabs a phone (or calculator, or credit card, or anything rectangular...) he is always saying "Buzz Buzz, woo-y"

In other news, my ultrasound in on the 15th! I can't wait.

I hope this works

Allergies

So this post is about to become pointless, but sometimes I can't help myself. For the curious who wonder what kind of thoughts spend their time circulating through the mind of McKelle, here is the thought that I fell asleep to two nights ago.

There are a lot of movies that have that one awful scene, or that one obnoxious character that make it so a movie I would love otherwise I suddenly do not. But I have a perhaps more peculiar issue with Sleepless in Seattle. Oh it's a movie I've always liked pretty well (although watching it recently I had to think Whoa, Meg Ryan's character is really rather creepy: spying on him, sending a private investigator, snooping through a backpack left behind...yep she sounds like the perfect match for any guy, but hey, she can peel an apple in one long curly strip). Well before I was able to realize the scary stalker nature of the romance I had my other qualm. The allergies.

Whenever a movie has one character choosing one good guy over another good guy they always try to include some details to make sure the audience doesn't feel too bad for the other guy. Either he finds somebody else too, or in this case he has a quirk that almost justifies it. Poor old Walter has allergies. I remember watching this movie when I was in middle school and in the scene where she is passing him tissues and he's sneezing and whoa baby has this man got allergy problems, but all I thought was uh-oh, that's gonna be me.

When I was a little girl people often commented on my cute dainty sneezes. Little did they understand that that daintiness was the result of suppressing sneezes and the awkward quirky destiny they seemed to move toward. There was a boy in my middle school who had no sense of the social awkwardness of sneezing. He'd walk to the front of class, grab a kleenex and blow so that whole quarter of the building could hear. He was either oblivious to the grossed out sneers around him, or he'd grown up much quicker than the rest of us and wasn't haunted by visions of Walter in Sleepless in Seattle.

These days I finally let myself sneeze a bit less suppressed. But I look over at the kleenex box beside my bed and think well, at least I won't set up a humidifier, and we had strawberries at our reception, I'm not that bad.
Luckily for me, my dear Trustin who has never had bad allergies, married me and got them! So he can hardly hate this allergetic woman, for he's sneezing right beside me. Oh blessed day!