Suburbs...

The phone rang just a few minutes ago.  It was our neighbor.

She says, "I wanted you to know that I am out in the backyard and there is someone walking through our backyards.  Can you turn on the light in the backyard?  I'm out here with my firearm.  Can you come outside?"

Normally the neighbor asking you to come out into hte backyard because there was someone out there and they were armed would not be something one would like to do.  But, our neighbor is a police officer.

I got the shotgun out of the basement and loaded two rounds.  Tomorrow I'm going to buy the strongest floodlight I can find.  

I love living in the suburbs...

Happy day!

Background: Potty training has been coming along. Usually, it's us sitting her down on the toilet and certain times in the day and she can go like a champ. She has on occasion told us when she needed to go potty, but we usually are doing the directing.

Just a few minutes ago, I was tapping along on the computer when I saw Solei walking around my bedroom stripped down to her diaper. "What are you doing? Where are your jammies?" I asked her.

Solei announced, "I am going peepee in the potty."

Huh? Okay, I ran around to the bathroom to put her little helper seat on our toilet and when I came back, she was sitting sans diaper on her little potty that she'd dragged out into the room and put right in front of Curious George on the TV. Without. Me. And then, on further inspection, I realized she'd already gone potty. All by her blasted self. She didn't even want me to make a big deal about it becayse then she couldn't hear George.

Who would have ever thought urine could make me cry happy tears???

Freebie

I may be behind the boat here, but I found a faaabulous FREE program online called Picnik - a easy fabulous alternative to the expensive and confusing Photoshop. With just a bit of tweaking, check out what I did to this picture of Solei I adore:

There's so much you can do, I want to go tweaking and playing with my wedding photos now! Enjoy!

I'll take credit for this one

Nana to Solei, whole musing over pictures on a bulletin board at church: "Who is that?"

Our genius 2 year old: "Thomas Monson!"

Heck. YEAH!!!!!!!!!

Possibly the funniest 4 minutes of TV EH-VAH!!

Why yes, I am insane. Thanks for asking.

For the last few years I have had two life goals. One was to make cheese. I don’t exactly know what makes cheese so infatuating to me, but I think if I could go back and pick a career again, it might just be making fine cheeses (although I’m not sure I have the patience for it). My first birthday after I was married my wife was sweet enough to buy me a “home cheese kit” which allowed me to accomplish this goal. Since it was mozzarella, the patience thing wasn’t even an issue.

Life goal number two is just as random. After watching about a million episodes of MASH while I was in grad school I thought that watching those helicopters flying around looked pretty cool. Now, I do have this fear of falling. It’s not abnormal, but the same fear of standing on a ledge that I think most people have. Nevertheless, I think that flying in a helicopter would be really cool. Since it seems like an uncommon, yet accessible thing to do, I want to do it.

During 2008 I think I added one (or maybe two) to my list. My new life goal for 2008 is a little time sensitive due to inevitable mortality. My new life goal is to meet Mr T. Honestly, I would have loved to meet Fred (Mr) Rogers before he died, but never had the chance. All the interviews and presentations that I ever saw him give were so loving. Now, Mr T is not Mr Rogers and they are not the same, but if you look around enough, you can find some very touching personal interviews that Mr T has given about his life. He loves God and is grateful for everything he has. A small part of me thinks that he would make a great president (of the USA). He’s loving and tough at the same time.

Now, my final goal is most likely not going to happen for a few reasons. Reason one is that I fear bodyguards and what they could do to me. Reason two is that I am generally a pacifist and don’t typically attack people randomly. Reason three is that I most likely won’t ever get the chance to meet Dave Matthews. Yes, my “non” life goal is to punch Dave Matthews in the nose. I swear he is the anti-Christ and I want him to know that I will not stand for his tacit destruction of Christianity. EVIL I say!

My wife says that I need to keep these “Crazy” things to myself because her friends and family won’t be jealous that she got a great guy if they think I’m insane. Hm….

Budding Photographister

SO - The company I work for makes digital cameras. We started making them for preschoolers. a few weeks ago we sold off some functioning returns that we had and I bought one for my daughter. She LOVES the idea of taking pictures, but most of them come out like this:


They come out like this because, basically, my child thinks that the camera should always face you (she has a career in TV). Well, after some time and some long (and repetitive) conversations, she figured out that the camera goes the other way (most of the time).

So, now we get pictures like this:



Then we moved to a good picture of daddy (from the prospective of Solei of course):
I had to jump into this one:
Here's a close-up of our friend Pascal:
One of the cool things about this camera is that you can superimpose disney charactors on your picure (or just ignore your friends completely as seen below):

Here's mommy! (It took a lot of self control to not post the picture of mommy on the potty that our little girl took).
And FINALLY - she seems to have figured it out!

Awesome.

How to be the world's greatest houseguest

Words cannot describe how fabulous it is having Pascal here! He's the greatest houseguest for a myriad of reasons - let me count some ways!

* He entertains little children with greatest of ease!

* He doesn't get annoyed when certain tired and cranky pregnant people want to lay on the floor and do nothing - he'll just join you!

* He cooks. OH MY HECK does he cook!

*Jared and Mike actually like him. And they don't like ANYONE (except themselves).

* He'll teach your kid to use a climbing wall.

* He'll do this thing where he links all the computers and printers in your house and give you some music files that amounts to about 40-something days of continuous play before a song would repeat itself. YEAH. HE DID.

Only problem is, he keeps agreeing with Jared on all the dumb stuff he says. Like we need THAT. Aside from his obvious poor judgement, we are sure going to miss him. Thanks Pascal!!

the official 4th Year of Insanity video

4th Year from Reva Paget on Vimeo.

It's the annual year-in-recap video! It's shorter than usual because a broken hard-drive took about half of the pictures with it, but I gathered enough to highlight the good times of year 4. Enjoy!

4. Years. !!!!!!!

4 years ago today I went against my louder judgement and said "yes" to being sealed eternally to Jared. A few weeks ago when I realized we were closing in on year 4, I almost hyperventilated, realized how long ago the day was 4 years ago and how much had happened since then. I'm coming to terms with it - just finished out anniversary video (can't post it until Jared sees it first) - and I'm filled with a feeling of peace and joy.

A while back, my younger brother (you should really read his blog, it's HILARIOUS) asked me if this was how I'd pictured my life turning out. Honestly - no. I never expected to be this happy, loved, and have this much fun, all thanks to Jared. Nope, I'm not a rock star per se, but I'm supported in all I do and it makes my exploits that much more satisfying.

4 years - we've lived in one apartment, 2 continents and 4 houses, had 8 cars and 2 scooters, we're on 1. 2 kiddos now, 6 jobs between the 2 of us, and a few haircuts in between. Much love, sweetheart, thanks for 4 wonderful years!!!!


PS - Also - I had an ultrasound yesterday and the baby was DANCING! Wiggling and grooving, it was awesome!!

Totally Random...

Yesterday I filled the tank on my car for less than $15! That's amazing. That'll get me 300 miles or so. Not bad at all. I'm glad that we bought an old Saturn.

Today I came home from Church to find my daughter in the arms of my wife, their eyes linked as my beautiful wife told my daughter a story before nap time. Seeing two people you love love eachother that much is amazing. I feel very blessed.

Friday my wife and I had the chance to see a sealing (or wedding) in a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These are very sacred and special ceremonies. We were married almost 4 years ago in the same ceremony in a Temple in Denver. What an amazing blessing it is to be married for time and all eternity, instead of till death do you part. I am amazed how much I am able to love my wife and now our daughter and it brings me the greatest sence of comfort and joy to know that the three of us (soon to be four) will be able to live together as a family for eternity. I'm so happy for my friend who was married and know that she and her new husband will have that same joy and opportunity.

Finally - my headaches came back on Saturday with a vengence. Stress is my enemy. I'm working on massaging my own feet in the "headache" spots and I think it helped last night. I didn't get a headache and was able to sleep through the night. I'm grateful for my wife who loves me and helps me, even when she's the pregnant one...

Do they even make a fish autopsy??

Life has been really random these last few weeks. The wife, who currently carries our next offspring, is feeling the effects of said carriage. She's not the most happy of campers. Just as the holiday ended my headaches started coming back. For those of you who don't know - I get headaches once a year or so that (according to wikipedia) are the worst pain known to medical science. They are called cluster headaches. They were waking me up at 1am and keeping me up half the night. It's like training for a baby again.

So, I've tried everything for the headaches. The medication the doctor prescribes is $10 a pill - after insurance. I need at least one a day. So - the wife insisted that I try something different. So, I saw that melatonin is supposed to help. I started taking melatonin. Reflexology was suggested as a possible cure - so I subjected myself to an hour long foot massage. Oh the horrors. It was a very interesting experience. Look up reflexology on the interweb sometime if you are interested in knowing more.

As the woman rubbed my foot she would hit pressure points that actually hurt. These were tied to areas of my body or metaphysical aspects of my consciousness. Her findings were the following:
I am stressed.
I feel like I don't control my life at all.
I don't participate in anything that I enjoy (no stress outlet)
My creativity is being stifled

So - theoretically she rubbed the headache out of my body. Well - that night I didn't wake up with a headache. Then last night - I didn't have a headache. I think I might be better. I'm not sure I think that the reflexology was 100% the cause, I feel better and that's the most important thing.

Now for something totally random, our Daughter got two fish from Santa this year. She LOVES fish and we couldn't think of anything that she would want besides a fish tank. It was a good gift in theory.

Yesterday I got home from work and our daughter ran up to me and said "Daddy, it's almost time to feed the fish!" Well, I said okay. We went to the fish tank and the tank was empty. I turned to my wife and said "where are the fish??" Well, upon further inspection, I found one partialy sucked into the filter system (I assume he died before the filter got him). The other guy was totally gone - totally. Well, then came the interesting task - to start looking for the missing fish without our two year old understanding that the fish was gone. We spotted the fish on the floor. So, no more fish.

What I don't understand is how on earth did both fish die? One apparently committed suicide by jumping from the tank, the other was just dead. Maybe it was murder-suicide? I never trusted that gold colored fish. He was always a spaz and picking on the black fish. The Black fish was always sickly. There aren't fish autopsys, are there??

Reason #967 Jared is the awesomest guy ever

Today after our meal at the restaurant at Ikea, both of us decided we really needed a hot dog from the food place downstairs. Since lines all over were indecently long, he headed down to get them while I gathered up Solei's stuff and my parents and followed. Just before we got to him, Jared called and said "hey, the line was shorter than I thought, so I'm waiting for you. I already got your weiner."

.... "what??"

At this point, we could see each other, and he smiled big waved his arm at me and called across the lobby "I GOT YOUR WEINER!!!!"

(apparently, he also repeatedly asked the ladies at the food stand for weiners. "Ma'am, are those my weiners?") Sooooo mature.

Also, he actually REQUESTED I get him these jammies for Christmas:



Why yes, they do glow in the dark.

New Child

The wife has spread it all over the internet except here -

We are having another child. The expected delivery date is sometime in Mid- August. We are very excited. This week the eyes, nostrils and ears will develop (week 6).

We are both very excited!!

Strange how things work out

So, I spent the afternoon today visiting a warehouse location in Atlanta that I am considering as an option for my company. When I was convinced to stay with Digital Blue I was told that I could focus my efforts on changing the way our company operated their supply chain. I've spent the last few weeks really concentrating on these opportunities.

This afternoon I came to the realization that I have a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have essentially been given free full control to totally re-create our whole supply chain. It's a big opportunity that I would most likely never have.

Sometimes I think we have to stop and really look at where we are in life and see how amazing some things are.

Reason #863 Solei is a flipping genius

She insists on calling oyster crackers "hexagon crackers". Yes, we taught her what a hexagon was, and no, we didn't call the the crackers hexagons - she just figured it out herself.

We know where the brains come from, but luckily I know she got at least SOMEthing from my genes because she's also emotionally needy and super hott!

Solei-isms for the day

During prayer on lunch: "Thank you for Mommy's toothbrush and bless her toothpaste."

Then after lunch: "Daddy, that was apple-tizing!"

Meeting a girl older than her at the airport:
Girl: "How old are you?"
Solei: " One!"
Us: "No you're not!"
Girl: "Wait, are you 2 or 3?"
Solei: "I'm So1ei P@get!"

sappy video

For anyone who knows my mom and has 8 free minutes, here's the video I made of her first 60 times around the sun:

It's not the best editing job I've ever done, but it was done super fast and it made her bawl her eyes out, so I take it as a success.

So warning - Aaron Paget: it is long and boring to those unaquainted with the lady, so do NOT click on the play button. The boredom you will experience not having known the woman will possibly make one of your eyes fall out. You should probably send me cookies for saving you 8 minutes.

HAPPY 60th MOM!!!!

Imagine you are the awesomest woman ever, approaching your 60th birthday. You don't make a big deal about your birthdays (in fact, you keep your age a secret from lots of people, including and most importantly, your daughter in law). But, your husband has planned a big trip to Hawaii to celebrate and you grudgingly go along with it. Your only regret is that it's over Thanksgiving and you wish you could have your family all together for the holiday, but you know that's not happening since your kids live far, far away.

The vacation is a success - your husband treats you like royalty, wines and dines you and you even go snorkeling and take a surfing lesson! You reluctantly fly home, knowing that Colorado snow and your crazy stressful job teaching elementary school awaits the next day. Your second oldest son picks you from the airport and has a surprise waiting for you when you pull up to the house - he woke up early that morning and shoveled your driveway for you! Tired but grateful, you walk into your house. Wait a second... who cleaned the kitchen....

Suddenly, little figures appear, walking towards you - holding yellow daisies. What are your grandchildren doing in your kitchen?? They are in Atlanta, right?? And Kentucky?? You start screaming. And what is that - is that your son - and your other son - and your OTHER son - and your daughter and daughter-in-law - and your neighbors snapping pictures at you???

.... I don't think I can give the whole scene justice, but believe you me, it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. It's been in the works for a year to surprise mom for her big birthday since Jane discovered mom's real age and decided to throw the ultimate surprise party. Oh, the lies!! Oh, the deception!! With so many people in on it, you'd think that SOMEONE would have messed up and ruined the secret, but by a miracle, it was a total shock!! We didn't even jump out and yell surprise because we were afraid we would give her a heart attack. Heck, we almost did! We came from New York, from Atlanta, from LA, from Kentucky, from 10 miles away. We actually came in to celebrate Thanksgiving together, unbeknownst to mom. Dad knew and kept it all in amazingly.

So yeah, I blew it at the end of NaBloPoMo, but poor Jane and I were doing it together and the biggest thing we were doing we couldn't blog about since mom checks our blogs every now and then (it's been TORTURE!!!)- the last 3 days I've been so surrounded by preparing and spending every waking second with my wonderful family - and putting together a fabulous sappy photo mpongage of my mom's life, I didn't have a second to give to the blogs. I think it's a pretty awesome reason:)