The Story of Sonnet...

Tonight I was laying in bed (trying to turn my brain off, as usual) and I started thinking about baby names. I wondered why people pick the names that they do for their kids. There are so many names out there. How do you choose? Why do some become more popular than others? Then I was thinking about my baby's name and how we chose it. I decided to write it down for her journal...

When I was young, I became obsessed with all things French. I watched too many Audrey Hepburn movies and I had this wonderful French teacher in 8th grade that had worked as a translator for UNICEF and who took us on field trips to French restaurants and even let us pick out a French name to use while in her classroom. I fell in love with the language and ended up taking 5 years of it in school. I wish I would have continued my studies in college- not because French is particularly useful in everyday life, but just because it brought me such joy.

Anyways, during this French phase (which has never quite worn off, to tell the truth) I decided that when I had children someday I was going to give them very French names. Madeleine, Marc, and Mathieu, to be exact. Whoever my husband was would just have to deal with it.

Then, Madeline (not spelled the French way, but still) became one of the top 10 most popular names in the country. By the time I met the fifth little girl named Madeline, the magic had worn off a bit. And my friend made fun of the spellings of Marc and Mathieu so much that I gave up on them too. (No hard feelings JJ). :)

A few years later I got on this big “church history” kick. I read The Work and the Glory series and I knew pretty much everything there was to know about Joseph Smith. At that point I decided that I would have a daughter one day and name her Emma, after Joseph’s wife. I loved her strength and admired her for everything she went through. I felt like she got a bad rap and that I should honor her with a namesake. :)

But, as luck (and episode of Friends) would have it, Emma hit the top 10 most popular list too. So scratch that.

Then one day I watched Somewhere in Time (and I bawled my eyes out). It was the most romantic thing I’d ever seen! Plus, I’ve always been obsessed with anything that has to do with time travel (if I were an X-men, that would be my power) and since the main character’s name in that movie is Elise McKenna, I knew I just had to name my daughter McKenna. I still love that name (and the movie), but once again, it became pretty popular. And well, I don't do popular.

Then, come 11th grade, I got really into poetry. I had this English teacher that was crazy and hippie, but who really encouraged me to write. She’d bring me books to read and write comments on my assignments that were paragraphs long, but that really helped me improve. I wrote some lame-O stuff that actually got published and between that, my English teacher, French class, and German lessons (yes, I took that too), I fell in love with language and the written word. I discovered Hemingway, Rand, and Annie Dillard, Thoreau and Salinger… and finally Shakespeare, Kipling, Emerson, Byron, Neruda, Carver... They made sense to me. More than that…they touched me.

Now, I can admit that I am not a great poet, or even a great writer, but I have an affection and appreciation for books, poetry, and writing that transcends most. I spend any spare money I have on books. I always have a book next to my bed, in my purse, and by my toilet. I get depressed when I finish a good story, because I get so attached that I REALLY don’t want it to be over. I have notebooks full of thoughts that I’ve written down and journals that I really hope no one ever reads, but that I continue to keep because it relaxes me to write stuff down. I love to memorize a new poem or “make friends” with a new author. In high school, I had a boyfriend who tracked me down sitting on the floor in Barnes and Noble because I wouldn’t answer my phone and he figured that was the logical place for me to be besides home, work, or Jenae’s.

Like the others, this obsession really stuck. It also brought with it another name for a future child: Sonnet. I tucked it away in the back of my head and decided I would never share it with anyone because I didn’t want it being used before I had a chance to claim it. :)

Then, I married Nate. Nate is super laid-back and usually very un-opinionated. But when we got pregnant and I started throwing out names, he vetoed EVERY SINGLE one. We finally agreed on a couple boy names, but then we found out we were having a girl. I suggested about a hundred names that I could be happy with, but Nate was just not interested. He didn’t have anything that he loved, but he just kept saying that he hadn’t heard “the one” yet. Well, with all this pickiness in the air, I was scared to suggest Sonnet because I figured he’d laugh in my face. We both wanted something unique and original and something that had meaning. Nate also required that whatever the name was would be the name that they would go by… meaning that if we were going to call them Sam, then we shouldn’t name them Samantha. (I dunno, he’s funny about nick-names). But he just wasn’t being very cooperative.

Finally one day, I got up the courage to suggest my special name to him. And to my infinite surprise, Nate LOVED it! From then on he was convinced that it was the perfect name for our baby. He would not even entertain the idea of something else. He put her name in the temple, talked to her every night, and even wrote her a letter addressed to Baby Sonnet. So, about a month before she was due, we finally settled on a name.

Then we decided to share it with a few select people. I told a couple friends and my aunt and my parents. We told Nate’s parents and some of his other family members. For the most part, we received positive feedback. My grandpa wasn’t happy because he likes “plain” names and to this day, he still hasn’t gotten her name right. (He calls her Sonic--- yes, like the fast food joint.) I don’t think my parents loved the name at first, but they were supportive. My grandma loved it and almost cried when I told her.

But we were sure. And a couple weeks later, our baby girl showed up and I wrote Sonnet Spears on the birth certificate without even thinking twice.

Now, after almost two years of saying it everyday, I still love her name. I think it’s pretty and I love that it's so different. She won’t have to go by Sonnet S. in Kindergarten because there are 3 other girls with the same name. And it fits her. It also fits the way I feel about her. I could never write or sing something as beautiful and perfect as her. But I made her. She’s my sonnet. She’s my expression of all things lovely in this world and she’s better than anything I could ever find in any book.

That's the story.

Just for Fun...

Ha ha! I photo-shopped myself with a new hair-do! :) Obviously, the pictures look a little crazy, but it did help me get an idea of what I will look like. This is a very recent photo of my face-- and to my surprise, I actually think the haircut makes my face look a little thinner. I experimented with different lengths, volume, and colors and this combination seemed to be the most flattering. I'm totally still debating on whether or not to actually do this, but I have a feeling that it will probably end up happening at some point. So, now the question is: bangs or no bangs? :)

Dare I?

I have been toying with the idea of cutting my hair.

Right now, my hair is the longest it has ever been in my life. (Seriously).

It hits mid-back.

The problem is that it's thin, a little dry, and I never do anything with it.

I've always wanted long hair.... like to-my-butt long... and wavy. That's my dream.

Thing is that I have slow-growing, thin, stick-straight hair.

And I'm getting really sick of it always hanging in my face. Plus, I'm always hot and I'm usually too lazy to actually style my hair because it has started to take a long time to dry and even when I do it, the style never sticks.

And I just really feel like I'm ready for a change.

I love my hair curly, but I have to curl it with rollers or a curling iron which takes time, causes damage, and then of course it goes flat because well, I am fighting nature. I am not meant to have long, thick, wavy hair no matter how bad I want it.

Unless I want a weave. No thanks. Talk about hot. And itchy. And expensive.

So, I've got this idea in my head that I want to cut my hair. The thing about me is that when I get an idea in my head, well, it pretty much always ends up happening. I'm just that way. Thank you, Pop.

Problem is that my ideas aren't always great, but that never seems to stop me.

So, before I do something drastic, I'm consulting the blogging universe for input. I've already talked to two of my good friends about it and my husband. The Hubs couldn't care less (he just "wants me to be happy") and the friends are being supportive.

I just don't want to do something that I am really going to regret later.

I love the "inverted bob" haircut. (See examples below). And not just because it's trendy right now. I saw this girl walking on BYU campus about 6 years ago and she had this haircut long before it became a fad and it was so cute on her I followed her all the way to the JSB just so I could look at her hair. (No, I'm not a stalker).

Here are the cons:

My hair is thin. I don't know if this kind of hairstyle works on people who have thin hair. I wonder if my ends will look too dry and if it will just be too flat and boring. I already have flat and boring and I don't need short, flat, and boring.

Also, I'm fat. Yes, let's put that out there. I am no longer the size 4 that I was last time I had super short hair. I feel like I have to hide behind my hair a little bit and that somehow having long hair will make me appear longer and thus thinner. It may be a false notion, but it's how I've always felt. I don't need a haircut that will make my face look any rounder than it already is.

And last, I hate the "growing out" stage. The whole in between short and long just does not work on me, so unless I plan to have short hair for a very long time and I can handle the growing phase when it finally comes, this might be a bad idea.

So, there's the drama. I need suggestions. Honesty will be appreciated.

Anyone have short hair and love it? Anyone cut their hair recently and regret it? Know anyone who knows anyone who has advice? Please comment.

My happiness depends on it. :)

The end.

I have nothing interesting to blog about...

...so here's just a few more random things.

Sonnet helped Nate wash the car on Saturday. She figured out how to work the nozzle on the hose and she had the BEST time ever! I think she squirted every person, place, and plant on our block other than the car, but she was loving it! I'm sure this will be a favorite activity come summertime. We live on a cul-de-sac and our street is practically deserted so we never get any traffic. I love that Sonnet and Blaze can play out front and I can just watch them without having to be worried.





I told Sonnet that I wanted a picture of her and Blaze together and that she should go stand by him. They got next to each other and by the time I hit the button, I got this:
and this:

It fits, I suppose. :)


Sonnet LOVES to play in my curtains. She sticks her arms in them and says "butterfly!" They're her pretty butterfly wings. :) One day I know they're going to come crashing down, but for now I just think it's funny.

I finally got my shutters put up in my bedroom and I really love them. I also found these crazy sheer curtains that I put up and I'm loving them too. My room feels so cool and relaxed and soft...it's my happy place. :)

We've got most of the staircase painted (except the high parts that I can't reach and I really don't need Nate falling off a ladder at this point, so we just don't look up) :). So, I finally hung my "shrine wall." I know it just looks like a crazy cluttery mess, but I love having all my favorite photos together on one focal wall. I have so many zillions of pictures of Sonnet that I might as well have them up. I have plans to put more stuff (yes, more) on the other wall up higher once I finish the paint.

And this was my latest project... Nate is always trying to figure out where his phone (or keys or wallet or ring) is, so I made a little place where we can throw all our stuff right when we walk in the door. I got these little baskets for 2 bucks at Michaels, glued ribbon and a wooden letter on each one and then screwed them right into the wall. They're right next to our door that goes out into the garage so it's very convienent. Sonnet puts her shoes and her binkies in hers and I keep Blaze's leash and ball in his. They're pretty sturdy, and they don't stick out too far, so for around $15, I'm happy with my little project. :)

The end.

22 months and polka-dots!

Sonnet is 22 months old today! She's almost 2! That kills me. I just can't believe that we've had her for almost 2 whole years. It seems like yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital and then sat around wondering what we were supposed to do next. :) I guess I'll probably be saying that in 18 years too. Oh, it feels like yesterday... It's also weird to think that I am the mom of a two-year old. That makes me feel old. :)

Anyways... my little Dennis the Menace is doing great! She's been crazy about bedtime lately. She always goes to bed late, but usually right around midnight I can count on her to say "I'm sleepy." So, we go upstairs, read a story, I put her in her crib (with her silky pink blanket, a binky, and her small pink soccer ball-- no joke) and she goes right to sleep. But lately, she's been bouncing off the walls until way past midnight. I think Nate must be slipping her Dr. Pepper while I'm not looking, because she's been full of energy. I'm sort of an insomniac so I don't mind staying up late, but she's been outpacing me! And to top it off, she's been waking up early (8 stupid o clock-- which is too early for me) and so I can't figure it out. She naps at a normal time, but she's been all goofy with her night routine. I should think she'd need more sleep... but she's been happy, so I don't really care. Funny girl!

She loves to go "outside and walk" or to go for a "ride car." Right after I get her dressed in the morning, she says "OK, let's go." She's just anxious to get on with the day! :)

She loves to play with Crazey Blazey and she thinks he's hilarious when he runs circles around the couch while she screams at him. He's not a hyper dog, but she can really get him riled up. :)

She loves to sing, dance, and color. She knows all her shapes and she can count to 10. She knows what sounds A.B,C, & D make. She knows the colors pink, purple, and green...but we're still working on the other ones.

She has been LOVING bath time lately. Her tub is pretty deep and so we fill it up with water and she'll just "swim" in there forever. And she refuses to get out until ALL of the water has gone down the drain. However, she WILL NOT play with her bath toys. She has this little watering can that she fills up and pours out a hundered times, but all the rest of the toys have to stay on the shelf. Once, they all fell into the water and I thought she was going to die. She freaked out! She's such a little Monk... everything has to be right where she wants it. (Wonder where she gets that from?) :)

She's been interested in the toilet lately. I set her on there one day before her bath and told her to go pee. She sat there so serious and then she smiled and said "all done." So I told her to flush and wash her hands. She didn't actually go potty, but apparently she liked sitting up there because now she tells me "bathroom" every night before her bath. She sits there for a minute, then flushes and washes (I think she just likes to have a reason to flush the toilet). But, yesterday she got up on the toilet by herself (fully-clothed mind you) and said "I go." So, I'm thinking we'll get some pull-ups and maybe tackle this beast pretty soon. :)

She hasn't learned how to pull her pants on and off- so that'll take some work, but she knows how to take her shirt off, so I find her running around topless all the time (see pictures above). :)

Anyways, she's doing great. She's hyper and probably very undisciplined, but she's so sweet and affectionate and funny and we love her! :)

In other news...

Nate is about to finish his 8th week of the academy (only 12 more to go!) and he ACED his midterm on Monday. Yay Nate!!! And, they got to do their first "live burn" last week. (meaning they set their training tower on fire and then put it out). I asked Nate how it was being in there and he said it was "crazy." I said, like crazy terrifying or crazy like bungee jumping. He said crazy bungy jumping (he used to have a "frequent jumper card"- no joke) so that's a good sign! :) He just keeps enjoying it more, so I'm thinking he picked the right career. :)


I got motivated to work on the house again this week (I took a little break--- I got too overwhelmed with all the projects I had floating around my head and I just decided to disengage for a while). But I went and borrowed the Cricut from my lovely mother & sister-in-law and it prompted me to finish a few projects. I put some vinyl lettering on my pantry door--- (just some different words for food--- my grandma always says "vittles"--- that's an old southern word--- and my grandpa always said "chow"--- from his days in the military so I had to include those). :)

I hung some stuff up in my front room while my lovely friend Jenae was here last weekend. She made me stop being lazy. :)


And I used the Cricut to finish up Sonnet's room. I cut out white vinyl polka-dots in two sizes and stuck them all over her room. I LOVE the way it turned out. I thought it might look dumb, but I think it's whimsical and fun for a little girl's room.

I re-covered 3 of the letters of her name. Half of them were pink and they didn't show up against the pink wall very well, so I changed those ones to black and white patterns. I did the flower one, the toile one, and the houndstooth one. I like it better this way. I remember when I made these the first time... I was still pregnant with her. Oh, it feels like yesterday... :)

Sonnet got a kitchen set for Christmas (thanks Granny and Pop Pop), but we just barely set it up (we didn't want to take it out of the box since we knew we were moving). She has had SO MUCH fun playing with it! I got her a set of fake food and she loves to "cut" it, "mix" it, and make "soup." She has tons of fun making potions and stuff in there and naming all the food. Too bad she won't actually eat any of it in real life.

Her closet is really big, so I made it her little playroom. Her kitchen, her desk, and all her toys are in there. She'll play in there or drag stuff out into her room to play with, but then when I want to clean up, all I have to do is shut the closet door. Love it!

I also hung some stuff up in my office. It still needs to be painted, but I was sick of having my stuff all over the floor. I'm still not sure what color I want to paint it. I'm voting red, but we'll see. I also hung up some sheer black dottie curtains over the closet (since we don't have closet doors). I like it, but Nate hates it. ha ha! :) It works for now.

And-- girl fun-- I bought Sonnet an Easter dress. I fell in love with this little yellow and white number at Walmart and I went to three different ones looking for her size (which wasn't that big of a feat seeing as how there are 3 Walmarts within 8 miles of my house. She keeps carrying it around and saying "pretty dress!" But I'm making her save it 'till April. :)

Anyways, that's enough rambling from me. Bye! :)

Oh, wait, I have a rug that used to be in Sonnet's room (I got a new one) and I was going to put it on Craigslist, but if anyone wants it, let me know. It's a 3x5 from Pottery Barn Kids. It's pink and cream stripes and it's called the "Taylor" rug. It needs to be cleaned, but there are no stains on it and it's still in great condition. If you want it... let me know... I'll give you a good deal. :) (As in a trade for chocolate chip cookies or something.) :)


The end.

You Have Children!

I loved this article! It's so true! I feel like that all the time. I'm a stay-at-home mom to ONE kid and I run in circles all day, yet I still feel like I never get anything done. I often have to remind myself that all of the little things that I do to take care of my girl may not be easily measured or obvious to others, but they are the most important things that I could be doing. I assume that other moms feel the same way... so here's one for you!

Why You Can't Get Anything Done
By: Melissa Stanton

Have you ever asked yourself, "Do I Have ADHD?" It's a thought that crosses the minds of many stay-at-home moms. Why? Because they think about the number of chores they need to do but don't get to, or the projects they start but don't finish, or the tasks they actually do but don’t do well. "I don't have a job. I'm home all day," you may tell yourself. As such, you think you should be able to complete a simple task like sorting through the bags of hand-me-downs your neighbor dropped off. But you can't get to it. Or you actually do start working through the clothes, but by day's end your bedroom is filled with piles of clothing, which your kids then find and jump in. Since you now have to sort all over again, you herd the clothes into a large pile for dealing with on another day. When your husband sees the mess and asks, "Why did you start sorting the clothes if you weren't going to finish it?" or "What's so hard about sorting clothes?" you either get really angry or you can't answer, because you can't think of a good reason why you didn't finish the job. You hadn't left the house all day, except to drive the three-year-old to and from preschool, and later to meet your kindergartner at the bus stop. You haven't even made dinner, because you've been so busy sorting the clothes. What happened? What happened is that instead of accomplishing a big task, you've performed dozens of tiny, uninspiring, seemingly meaningless tasks and chores and errands, each of which took a little bit of time but, when added together, consumed the entire day.For instance, imagine you’re at your computer, trying to pay bills online while your toddler is entertaining herself nearby with toys. About five minutes into the banking your child approaches you with a runny nose:

-You get up from your chair to get a tissue.
-You return to your child and wipe her nose.
-You see that your child's shirt is messy, as are your fingers.
-You remove the child's shirt.
-You go to the kitchen sink to wash your hands.
-The sink has dishes in it, so you rinse the dishes to put them in the dishwasher.
-But the dishwasher is full of clean dishes. So you empty the dishwasher and then fill it with dishes from the sink.
-You tell your child to play with her toys while you go upstairs and get her another shirt.
-On the way, you toss the shirt into the laundry room.
-Passing the bathroom, you realize you actually need to use the bathroom. You do, and you use up the toilet paper.
-You go to the hall closet and get more toilet paper.
-You return to the bathroom to replace the roll.
-The bathroom trash is full, so you grab the bag and replace it with another.
-You go to your child's room to find a new shirt.
-While there, you see that a sippy cup, full of milk, is in her bed, and that she’s left a wet overnight diaper on the floor.
-You put the diaper in the trash bag you're carrying. (Wow, that was efficient!)
-You make your daughter's bed and gather the sippy cup.
-On the way back downstairs you pass the laundry room and realize you should do a load of wash.
-You open the washing machine to discover there's a wet load inside.
-You start to put those wet clothes into the dryer but the dryer is full.
-You pull the clean clothes out of the dryer and put them in a basket.
-You put the wet clothes in the dryer.
-You put the dirty clothes in the washing machine and start a wash.
-Since you don't have time now to sort the clean clothes, you leave the basket of clean laundry on top of the dryer.
-Back in the kitchen, you put the sippy cup into the dishwasher.
-You try to shove the bathroom trash into the kitchen garbage but the pail is full.
-You take the all the trash to the garbage cans in the garage.
-You come back into the house and put another bag in the kitchen trash container.
-You find your child.
-Her nose is running again, she has gotten into the bills and papers you were working with, she needs a diaper change and it’s lunchtime.

How much time did it take to wipe that child's nose? Fifteen minutes? Twenty minutes? A half hour? Imagine variations on this scenario playing out dozens of times a day. Imagine that same scene, except with additional offspring in the house. You're not incompetent, and you don't have ADHD. You have children!

A few photos...

Sonnet and Blaze hiding under her crib. :)

Sonnet calls him "crazy Blazey."

Modeling her new pink car seat cover. She says, "it's soft!"

Ta Da!

Hanging out with Baron:

Being silly.

So cute!

Sonnet got some new shoes! She has this old pair of pink crocs that she is in love with. She basically refuses to wear any other shoes except those. They don't really fit her anymore and she drew all over them with a pen and it's not coming off, so I really wanted to get her some new shoes. Every time I pick out a pair of new ones, she freaks out and starts yelling "no" at the top of her lungs. So, I haven't wasted my money. Today while we were shopping I handed her this pair of pink converse and she said "Pink. Cute." So I tried one on her and she said "fix it" (she wanted me to tie it) and there was no screaming! :) Then she said "uh oh" and pointed at the foot that didn't have one on it. So, I put on the other one and she said "Alright. Let's go." So I bought them. They're sooooo cute on her and she seems to like them. Yay! :)