NEW MOON CLIPS

HEY TWILIGHT FANS!

APPARENTLY THEY SHOWED SCENES FROM THE NEW MOON MOVIE AT COMIC-CON THIS WEEK. SOME PEOPLE VIDEOED THE VIDEO SCREEN (HA HA!) AND PUT THE CLIPS ON YOUTUBE.

WATCH THIS
(I LOVE THE GIRL'S COMMENTARY IN THE BACKGROUND- HA HA!)

AND THIS
(HARD TO SEE, BUT GOOD)

PS: HOW BEAUTIFUL IS JACOB BLACK???

Brag Rag

Sonnet is two years and two months old. Wow!

I finally got to see my new little neice Brooke today! She's only 1 week old!!! Ah! So stinking adorable!!! You forget how tiny newborns are. She was 7 pounds when she was born-- Sonnet was 7 pounds too, but I swear she was never that small. I just don't remember it.

But I finally understand why everyone gushes over babies. I still don't want another one of my own, but it was so great to just snuggle with Brooke today and look at her tiny feet (actually she has rather long feet, but you know) and smell her little head. I just can't believe that a woman can grow a whole human being inside her, then squeeze it out, and then watch it grow into a big person. I don't think I'll ever get over how amazing and weird and miraculous that is.

Anyways, seeing the newest little Spears just made me realize how not little my Sonnet is anymore. Oh, sad! But, at the same time, she is so fun and insane right now, I've got to just soak her up before she goes growing up on me again. :)

So here's a little update for my journal--- and for all you loyal fans. =)

Sonnet has started "pretend play." I love it! She's so creative! She comes up with funny things all the time. Last night she was in the bath telling Isa the Iguana that Swiper the Fox was coming! (Dora fans know what I mean). :) I was laughing so hard! She'll run up and tell me something and I have to pretend to run from the dog catcher or blow bubbles or fly like an airplane... or whatever else she comes up with. So fun! I just adore her crazy imagination.

I try to work with her on "educational" things everyday... I know she's only two-- but the woman won't sit down and look at a book to save her life and she loves to watch her DVD's. So to make myself feel less guilty, I try to incorporate learning activities into our playtime. :)

Lately, we have been working on her letters and colors. She's got shapes, numbers, and animals down like a pro, but colors have always been hard for her. She knows all the words: green, blue, yellow, red, etc... but she doesn't know what they actually mean. She'll hold up a yellow block and tell me that it's blue. Either she's colorblind or she just hasn't picked them up yet. :) She knows orange (tonight at the store we were buying oranges and she told me "orange is a color!"),but we're playing lots of games and talking about colors a lot to help her learn the other ones.

She's picking up her letters really fast. I started with the letters of her name, and she can identify all of those. She knows S really well, A,B,C and X, Y, Z. She also knows W, F, and K really well for some reason. Anyways, she likes to point them out whenever she sees them and tell me what sounds they make. Tonight I dumped all her foam letters in the bubble bath with her and told her to dive down and pick up a "treasure" letter and then tell me what it was. She surprised me with how many letters she knew. She picked up J and I said like Granny Janny and she said, "yeah, janny is hers name." :)

Of course, we listen to the ABC song (it sounds like acey song when she says it) about a 1000 times a day!!! She loves it. And "doggie winnow song" (also known as "how much is that doggie in the window)... oh, if I have to listen to that song one more time... ah!

Sonnet has started making this funny face where she looks like she's scowling. She furrows her brow and stares at me like I'm the source of all evil. It's pretty dang funny. I asked her if she was ready to take a nap today and she just turned around, scowled at me, and then went back to playing. No words... just the look of death. So funny!

She loves to take a bubble bath every night. She used to tolerate baths, but she never really loved them. Now, things have changed. We go through bottles of baby bubble bath now. She'll spend an hour in the tub if I let her and she refuses to get out until all the water has drained out.

She goes potty in the toilet before her bath and then she always asks to get out of the tub twice while she's in there to go potty. She always pees the first time. The second time is just a fake-out. She sits there and smiles, but doesn't do anything. She just likes to keep me on my toes I guess.

We're still not officially potty training. She goes pee pee in the potty a lot, but she still wears diapers. Sometimes she'll tell me she wants to go on the potty and I'll take off her diaper and she'll go. But she doesn't really seem to understand the concept of running to the toilet before she has to potty and she refuses to wear pull ups (they're not that much different than diapers, but she hates them). And after she pees in the potty she always wants her diaper back on. I'm in no rush, so I figure once we get the whole sleeping in her big girl bed thing all worked out and get home from our trips next month, that we'll give it a go.

She's been doing pretty well sleeping in her new bed. We do the whole bedtime routine. I snuggle with her for a minute, tuck her in, and then leave. I have to lock her door or she just runs right out. She still panics a little right when I leave, but she only cries for like a minute and then she goes to sleep. So, we're making progress! Once she's asleep, I go cover her up and open her door. She usually comes in my room in the morning and we snuggle for a bit- and sometimes go back to sleep, but at least she spends the night in her own room and the drama is down to a minimum. :)

She's gotten pretty good at expressing emotions. She'll tell me, "I happy" or "That's funny" or "I love that" or "I don't like it"... I love that she's getting more independent and that she can express her opinions.

Sonnet is left-handed. She's always favored her left hand, but I wasn't sure if she would grow out of that. If anything, it's gotten more prominent. She eats with her left hand, brushes her teeth with her left hand, colors with her left hand... So for now it seems she's going to need a special pair of scissors. :) Apparently, my dad's dad is left handed and Nate's mom's dad was left handed (plus a couple cousins on both sides) so maybe it's a genetic thing. :)

Sonnet loves her grandmas and grandpas. I'm so happy that she gets to see all of them so often. She knows which grandparent's house we're going to by the dog that they have. So, if I say we're going to visit Gramma Spears she yells "I see Odie!" And if I tell her we're going to Beaver to see Granny, she starts talking about Hank (who passed away a couple weeks ago- sad!, but she hasn't seemed to realize it yet). She loves her Pop Pop and her Grandpa too. She just warms right up to them and I'm so glad that she has them in her life.

Sonnet is hilarious! She pretends to be shy when she's around new people, but if you give her enough time, she'll start yaking and some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth will just make you die. Right now she's sitting on my desk (in front of the computer screen) talking to me. She told me to take her picture and she pulled my camera out of the drawer. I turned it on and she said "silly face" and did this:

Yep, that's my girl in a nutshell.

Go ahead and laugh at my beautiful little genius. She would want you to. :)

The end.

Some Thoughts (that will probably turn into a newspaper article at some point)

I think parents should have the option of do-overs. Especially with their first child. It's not fair that we have no idea what we're doing; and it's not fair to the oldest that they have to be the guinea pig.

Plus, I just don't think we really know how to enjoy our children the first time around. You're just so nervous and clueless because you've never done it before. You know nothing about labor and delivery, nothing about feeding a baby, nothing about what to do when you ask your kid to clean their room and they flat-out refuse, nothing about what to do when bedtime becomes a battle...

It's all just trial and error.

For the most part, I think we make more good choices than errors, but still... it's scary... and frustrating...and...

Since Sonnet was a newborn, no matter how hard I tried not to, I just kept waiting for her to get to the next milestone. I thought things would be easier when she started sleeping through the night. Then I thought I would love it if she would just crawl. And then I figured my sore arms would love it if she would walk. And then I wanted her to talk. And then I wanted her to potty train....

Turns out, it just gets more complicated.

And sometimes I feel guilty because my baby is already two years old, and I wonder if maybe I missed the best part because I was too busy being overwhelmed.

Once in a while, I want to hold a little baby again, and give her a bottle and a rock her to sleep. But I don't want another baby--- I just wish I could have Sonnet be little again.

And it's sad, because you don't really understand any of this until you've been through it. I kept telling my friends who had babies after me to just relax and enjoy it because time goes so fast.

I hope they learned the lesson faster than I did. Because what I was really trying to say is that there are no do-overs. And sometimes, that hurts.

Blazey B

SONNET THINKS THAT THE "B" ON THE MOUNTAIN IN BEAVER STANDS FOR BLAZE. SHE KEPT CALLING IT THE BLAZEY B. SHE POINTS AT THE MOUNTAINS AROUND VEGAS AND SAYS "BLAZEY B, WHERE'D IT GO?" IT'S SORTA CUTE!

HERE ARE THINGS SONNET DID THIS WEEKEND, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER...

HUNG OUT WITH THIS GUY:

AND THIS GUY:

RODE IN THIS THING:

(YES, NATE GOT A NEW TRUCK! I'LL LET HIM POST ABOUT IT SOMEDAY).

HUNG OUT WITH HIM:

THREW ROCKS IN THE LAKE:

MEDITATED:

PICKED FLOWERS:

FISHED:

(BUT CAUGHT NOTHING. NATE THINKS THE FISH WERE "TAUNTING HIM")

HIKED:

(SHE CALLED IT "I-KING")

SAW PRETTY PLACES:

HELPED DADDY DRIVE:

STUCK HER HEAD OUT THE WINDOW LIKE A DOG:

TOOK A NAP:

MADE A MESS OF GRANNY'S HOUSE:

GOT HERSELF SOAKED:

HAD A GREAT TIME!!!

Twenty Six.

YESTERDAY WAS MY BIRTHDAY!

I'M NOW 26 YEARS OLD.

I KNOW 26 ISN'T OLD, BUT SOMEHOW IT FEELS A LOT OLDER THAN 25.

I MEAN, NOW I'M ON THE DOWNHILL TO 30... AND I STILL THINK OF MY MOM AS BEING 30. WEIRD.

WE'RE IN BEAVER AT MY PARENT'S HOUSE...

NATE MADE ME A CHOCOLATE CAKE AND GAVE ME A NEW SEWING MACHINE. YAY!

MY DAD BOUGHT ME A GARMIN GPS THINGIE. IT'S AWESOME! NO MORE MAPQUESTING EVERYTHING.

MY MOM GAVE ME SOME ADORABLE DISHES, A CUPCAKE STAND, AND A BLACK AND WHITE PURSE THAT I ADORE.

SONNET GAVE ME A LOTS OF KISSES AND TOOK A LONG NAP WITH ME! :)

THEN SHE STAYED WITH GRANNY AND POP POP WHILE NATE AND I WENT TO SEE HARRY POTTER. WE LOVE GOING TO THE MOVIES AND WE'VE MISSED IT SINCE WE HAD SONNET... SO THANK HEAVENS FOR GRANDPARENTS AND THE MAIN STREET THEATER. :)

THANKS TO ALL THE LOVELY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO CALLED, EMAILED, TEXTED, AND SENT CARDS. I FELT LOVED. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

YOU MUST!

I LOVE TO READ- AND I READ A LOT- BUT IT'S RARE THAT I WILL ACTUALLY RECOMMEND BOOKS TO OTHERS.

I DEVELOP SPECIAL ATTACHMENTS TO MY BOOKS, BUT I CAN'T GUARANTEE THAT OTHERS WILL FEEL THE SAME KINSHIP THAT I DO AND SO I'M HESITANT TO TELL THEM TO DO SOMETHING THAT WILL TAKE THEIR TIME UNLESS I AM CERTAIN THAT THE EFFORT WILL BE WORTH IT.

ONCE IN A WHILE, I'M SO SURE THAT MY LOVE OF A BOOK WILL BECOME A UNIVERSAL FEELING THAT I HAVE NO PROBLEM TELLING EVERYONE WITHIN EARSHOT TO READ IT...

LIKE LES MISERABLES-- I BELIEVE EVERY PERSON SHOULD READ THAT BOOK ONCE IN THEIR LIFETIME. IT'S INCREDIBLY SPIRITUAL.

AND ATLAS SHRUGGED. I THINK I SAID "AMEN" AT THE END OF EVERY SINGLE ONE OF IT'S 1069 PAGES. (I EVEN TALKED MY DAD INTO READING THAT ONE AND I KNOW HE LOVES ME FOR IT) =).

AND THIS YEAR, THE HUNGER GAMES BLEW ME AWAY AND I'VE PASSED MY COPY AROUND TO 6 PEOPLE ALREADY, AND "HINTED" THAT MY WARD BOOK CLUB SHOULD READ IT (AND WE ARE!).

WELL, WHILE I USUALLY LIKE TO LEAVE THE BOOK REVIEWS TO JANSSEN (WHO READS MORE THAN ANYONE I'VE EVER KNOWN, AND IS USUALLY MY GO-TO PLACE FOR RECOMMENDATIONS), I HAVE TO RAVE ABOUT THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY.

ANYONE AND EVERYONE WHO HAS A LOVE OF BOOKS SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!!!

IT IS ADORABLE AND CHARMING AND FUNNY AND HEART-WRENCHING.... AND PERFECT!!!...

IF I HAD THE CREATIVITY TO WRITE A BOOK, I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN THIS ONE.

THE CHARACTERS WERE SO SWEET AND HILARIOUS AND REAL... I JUST WANTED TO HUG EVERY ONE OF THEM.

I SWEAR I LAUGHED OUT LOUD ABOUT 28 TIMES AND CRIED JUST AS OFTEN.

I EVEN CRIED WHEN I TURNED THE LAST PAGE BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT IT TO BE OVER.

IT'S A FICTION BOOK WRITTEN ENTIRELY IN LETTERS--- THERE ARE OVER 20 DIFFERENT "VOICES" IN THE BOOK.

FOR THE FIRST FEW PAGES I WAS A LITTLE CONFUSED ON WHO WAS WHO... BUT I QUICKLY FIGURED IT OUT AND JUST FELL MORE AND MORE IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK AFTER EACH NEW PAGE.

IT'S THE STORY OF THESE RANDOM SALT-OF-THE-EARTH- TYPE PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON AN ISLAND IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL DURING WWII.

THEIR ISLAND IS OCCUPIED BY GERMAN SOLDIERS-- AND ONE NIGHT WHEN A BUNCH OF THEM STAY OUT PAST CURFEW AT A DINNER PARTY EATING A CONTRABAND ROAST PIG, THEY GET CAUGHT BY SOME SOLDIERS. ONE OF THE WOMEN TELLS THEM THAT THEY WERE HAVING A MEETING OF THE "GUERNSEY LITERARY SOCIETY" AND TALKS THEIR WAY OUT OF TROUBLE.

SO NOW THEY HAVE TO REALLY START THIS "BOOK CLUB" SO THE GERMANS DON'T FIND OUT THAT THEY WERE LYING--- BUT MOST OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK IN THEIR LIVES!

BASICALLY, THE STORY IS JUST ABOUT THE WAYS THAT LITERATURE AND FRIENDSHIP HELPED THEM ALL SURVIVE THE HORRIBLE WAR YEARS.

BUT IT'S SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT...

SUFFICE IT TO SAY: THE BOOK IS JUST ADORABLE AND WONDERFUL AND I THINK EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT!!!

SO GO NOW, AND GET A COPY! IT'S A POSITIVE, LOVING STORY AND WHEN YOU'RE DONE YOU'LL FEEL LIKE YOU JUST SPENT A YEAR LIVING WITH YOUR BEST FRIENDS.

AND WHEN YOU PEE YOUR PANTS LAUGHING ABOUT THE WOMAN WHO SAYS SHE'S AFRAID OF CHICKENS BECAUSE THEY'RE EVIL AND CONNIVING AND BECAUSE THEY'LL DOUBLE CROSS YOU AND THAT SHE WOULD RATHER BE POKED IN THE BUTT BY HER GOAT THAN FACE THOSE TRAITORS CHICKENS, DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU. =)

(I SO AGREE WITH HER, BY THE WAY-- I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD I WOKE NATE UP-- AND THAT'S HARD TO DO!)

I love your Funny Face...

SONNET'S NEW FAVORITE THING IS TO TAKE A "BABY BUBBLE" (HER WORDS) IN MAMA'S TUB! WHO CAN RESIST THAT FACE? I LOVE ALL THE GOOFY EXPRESSIONS SHE MAKES. =)

A Birthday.

We went to cousin Baron's birthday party today. The little guy turned one! Sonnet had fun playing in the water park and eating pizza! Happy Birthday Baron Boy! We love you.

Sonnet and her buddy Marissa checking out each other's swim suits...

The Mommy Minute

I once had a psychology teacher who asked us the question: “What would you do if you had no fear?” Think about it… if you could do anything or be anyone without fear of failure or consequences, what would you most want to do? How would you change your life?

I’ve thought a little about fear over the last few months because I spend my days with a two-year-old who has none! She will go anywhere, talk to anyone, and try anything. I remember taking her to the park very soon after she learned to walk. I turned around and all of a sudden she had climbed to the very top of the jungle gym by herself and was preparing to slide down the big slide. Before I could do anything, she was at the bottom smiling at me, obviously waiting for approval and applause. I smiled back and told her she was brave, while nervously thinking of everything that could have gone wrong in that scenario.

I’m an adult, and I’m a parent; it’s part of my genetic structure to worry. But children aren’t burdened with those feelings yet. That’s part of the magic of childhood- to act unguarded and believe that the world is a safe, happy place where your mom will always be there to catch you.

Of course, a healthy dose of fear can help keep us away from dangerous situations, but I think it would do all us uptight adults some good if we could recapture some of that liberating magic of childhood.

When we’re young we all think that we’re going to be ballerinas or astronauts or garbage men (my husband). I wanted to be an artist. Then I grew up a little and realized that I cannot draw or paint or sculpt. When I was in college I thought that I wanted to be a nurse. I still think I would have been a good one and I really enjoyed the profession, but the BYU nursing program was super hard and honestly, it scared me. I barely passed organic chemistry and was just so afraid that I would never get accepted to the highly competitive program that I decided to change my major. I ended up loving what I studied instead (marriage and family therapy), but sometimes I think that I let my fear keep me from trying something that could have been great.

But think about it: How many of us actually grow up to be what we thought we were going to be? At some point, reality hits and we start to develop a knowledge of consequences. We develop fear. Then we hold back. Whether it be with our jobs, our relationships, or a new haircut, we all tend to err on the conservative side. While there is nothing wrong with that, I often wonder how different my life would have turned out had I lived it with the same vigor and fearlessness that my daughter feels every day.

Now, my point here is not to make us feel bad about the decisions we have made in life. Sometimes we must act out of duty or conscience, or we realize that being an artist (in my case) is not the best thing for us, no matter how thrilling it may seem. Most of the time we can’t just fly down the tallest slide without so much as a second thought. We have to be rational and responsible. And that’s a good thing…

But maybe, just maybe, we could give ourselves a break once in a while. Try something new. Do something you’ve always wanted to. Don’t let your fear hold you back from living the life you want to live. Be spontaneous. Take a lesson from the children in your life and don’t worry so much about what’s at the bottom of the jungle gym…just enjoy the ride!

-Holly Hoffman Spears
The Beaver County Journal
July 2009

CLEANING OUT THE CRAFT CLOSET...

I HAVE SOME STUFF LEFT OVER FROM SONNET'S DOG BIRTHDAY PARTY (CLICK HERE FOR A RECAP) AND IT'S UP FOR GRABS! IF ANYONE HAS A KID THAT WANTS A DOG PARTY OR KNOWS SOMEONE WHO DOES, YOU CAN HAVE THIS STUFF. IT'S CUTE AND I HATE TO THROW IT AWAY. I HAVE ENOUGH DINNER PLATES, DESSERT PLATES, CUPS, NAPKINS, AND PARTY HATS FOR ABOUT 15 PEOPLE. JUST THOUGHT I'D PUT IT OUT THERE...

Tidbits.

Sonnet can count to ten in Spanish now too! It's too cute! I love her little voice!!! I need to record her so I can watch it when she's 25 and cry. =)

I dyed my hair last weekend and I don't really like it. Plus, I'm finally missing my long hair. What have I done?

Firefighter life agrees with Nate, er... with me. Nate has to cook and clean at the station (cause he's a rookie and they pick on the rookies!), which has gloriously transferred over to home. He was off for 6 days and he did dishes, took out the garbages, and even made spaghetti sauce from scratch. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes firefighters so sexy! :)

HAPPY FOURTH!

WE HAD A FUN FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION! WE HUNG OUT WITH THE SPEARS BUNCH AND WENT SWIMMING, ATE FOOD, AND WATCHED THE FIREWORKDS IN BOULDER CITY! SONNET HAD FUN WITH ALL HER COUSINS AND WAS POOPED BY THE END OF THE DAY! THANKS EVERYONE. WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

SONNET GETTING PULLED IN THE WAGON BY GRANDMA... IT WAS A LONG WALK BACK TO THE CAR AFTER THE FIREWORKS!

WATCHING THE "FIRE." SHE KEPT SAYING "UH OH!"

HANGING OUT BY THE POOL:

SO CUTE! NO PICTURES OF ME IN MY SWIMSUIT... YOU'RE WELCOME! =)