Thankful List

Things we're thankful for: Days off! (Yea! Both Aaron and Harris are home today!), warm beds, cuddly babies, rain, running in the fall (o.k. that is just me, but I'll convince them yet), turkey, card board boxes, hot chocolate, drolling babies, stairs, stair gates, leaves, mountains, Anna playing so I can write this, blueberries, peaches, 24 ( we can finally see season 6 in 2 more weeks!), hikes after a good rain, bikes, rollerblades, fish (that probably depends on if Aaron can get them to bite), graham crackers,pink blanky (Anna), showers, lazy morning, Sunday nights, nice waitresses, cars that are still running, Nydegger family dance parties, playlists, friends, free time, ice water, pickles, naptime (which Anna has now partaking of), yellow drapes, chicken soup, cranberry whatever, scriptures, my son being thankful for the scriptures, back porches, yards, peek-a-boo,baths, furnace, Greawt Americans, pack meeting, dish doing music, life in general.....o.k. I could go on and on but tell me, what are you thankful for?

Lovely Autumn

A Sunday Evening

So, If any of you wondering what happens at the Nydegger household on Sunday evenings, now is your chance to interlope for a moment. Usually it consists of a dinner, one of our only dinners all week where we all sit at the table together. Harris usually leads us the discussion. You know the regular what did you learn at church etc. So much of the time is spent rambling on…and on about Pokemon, elementary school, and other things pertaining to our eight year old son. These discussions always seem to lead us to one thing:Aaron and I reminiscing about our childhood. Did you know that Aaron is a Chinese jump rope pro? O.K., now at Oakdale Elementary, where I attended school, Chinese jump rope was mainly played be girls. Yet, I guess at A’s school it was a unisex game. In fact, as he explains, his jump rope proficiency was his in with the cool kids. So, after this lively conversation, we pulled out one of Harris’s gigantic rubber bands, thanks Uncle Danny, and we played. Even more surprising than his Chinese jump rope skills, was Aaron’s memory of all the little intricacies of the game. Of course our lover of all things Asian, Harris, was enthralled. Now, I did not write this so that all my husband’s brothers could tease him. I dare say which of you is man enough to admit to knowing how to play Chinese jump rope. Yes, none. So, not only is he man enough but, he also can still surprise me after ten years? Ah, I married a man with such great prowess. For more information on CJR, visit: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/chinese_jump_rope

Back from the Doctors

O.K. so, today's entry might be a bit different since I am a bit worn out from the two hour trip Anna and I just took to the doctors. Don't get me wrong, I want my daughter to be healthy, I want her to be immunized, and I actually enjoy visiting with her doctor, this sweet old German man. Yet, it wears me out. The doctor's office is conveniently five minutes away from our house, so there is little trouble getting there. The receptionist was competent and friendly but, then there is the wait. Of course since we are new to the office the only time slot they had was 11:15 a.m., right when Anna eats and sleeps. So at first she trying to tumble out of my arms to crawl over to the tree house. Then when we finally get there the fun is only sustained for ten minutes when she stumbles after pulling herself up and bonks her head on the little step. As I scoop her up trying to distract her from the tears that inevitably come, she realizes she is tired and begins to whine. We look at a book, she whines when its done. We look at the Lion King mural, she whines. We try to find a clock in the waiting room quickly to find out that that element must have been forgotten in the kid-friendly design of this room. So, we play with the drinking fountain. Its amazing how the water disappears and comes back, I am so magical. Anyway, finally we are called back. Anna is o.k. with this new room, crinkly exam table paper, and a colorful mobile distract her sleepiness and hunger for a while. We jaunt down the hall to weigh and measure and are back. (Just a note: Anna no graces the growth chart at 5%...she's gained almost a full pound this past 3 weeks.) So the nurse leaves, promising we are next up on the doctor's docket and Anna and I look at each other. Toys! Yes there are new toys in this six by six exam room. We sit on the floor and pull them out. Anna is such a girl and goes right for the My Little Pony and tries to wash her hair with her spit. So that was the end of beauty shop with the my little ponies and on to the bead roller coaster. You know , the curving plastic-coated wires and the beads the cruise on through them, the toy that entertains children 6 mo to 12 years? Seriously, Harris still loves these. Anyway, that lasts another five minutes...in estimation. Oops! They left the clocks out of the exam rooms too. Anna then decides she's had it and we're up on our feet, looking at the mobile, scrunching the crunchy paper, and snorting. Yes, Anna loves to snort and she thinks it is funny when you mimic her. I always wonder what the people behind us in church think when all four of us are scrunching up our noses and Anna's laughing hysterically. Back to our six by six sanctuary. At this point I'm feeling a bit claustrophobic and ready to pound down the walls, but I notice the tongue depressors, I decide to use every pediatrician's favorite trick and give Anna a tongue depressor. She loves it until I sit down. She takes one look at the diaper bag with her x-ray vision, sees the bottle I packed for after her shot and squawks uncontrollably reaching for the bag. So, defeated, I get the bottle out I was saving for after her shots and give it to her. As soon as the bottle touches her lips, in jaunts our famous German Doctor. After gloating over her name (Nydegger, that wonderful European name) he gets down to business. A note here: to be fair to Dr. Kramer, he did spend a good deal of time with us and asked all the necessary questions, so I can't say he was in and out with a flash but, to make this a typical trip just insert that last phrase here. Anyway, Anna finished her bottle, smiles at the doctor, gets her length remeasured. Funny Dr.! He likes all the numbers to line up so, that Anna's percentage of length is greater than her height didn't sit well with him. So, he decides he wants to see if measuring her again will "shrink her", which it doesn't work. The nurse gives Anna her shot, Anna gives a little cry for dramatic emphasis, on with the clothes and out the door we go. Up in the main lobby I notice they didn't forget the clock here: it is now 1:00 p.m. The worst part of this trip is the guilt I feel in being a bit frustrated with the office. If this were Aaron, I would hope all his patients would be patient. So, I vow to next time try and rid myself of all impatience and become a patient patient. O.K.,sorry about the homonyms (what is the word if it sounds and looks alike? Is there one?), its a game Harris and I play.

Welcome one and All

So we have let loose into the blog world. Yea! Much thanks goes to Whitney, Jenni, and my family (we love the wiki site but, this gives us bit more exposure) for giving us reason to open our own little cyber space. Also, I think the word "published" gave me a bit of encouragement. So as a quick welcome note, we hope you enjoy this page with all of our rambling thoughts. As you can see,We've been undercover for a little while building up our repertoire. But now you can read all our silly thoughts and dealing with our small world. I hope you enjoy it all!

Rolling along with My Man

Aaron and I have a new past time. We have found it. Exercise we can do together. Remember in the nineties when all you wanted to do was go and roller blade with some cute guy at Liberty Park? It seemed like the perfect date and everyone was doing it. Well, my dream has now come true. After several attempts of trying coerce my huby into come run with me, my injured knee, as of late, gave us the opportunity to skate along together. I started to go alone, with Anna in the jogger, but I wore Aaron's skates which were a little big and a bit heavy. So, last Wednesday Aaron and I slipped into D.I. and bought me a pair of proper fitting skates...along with a few books and part of Harris' Halloween costume. A quick side note: Aaron always ends up with "a few" books when we go to D.I., we are lucky if we get out with just three. Aaron: I love you, my book worm. So, we went do to one of my favorite running paths in Davis County and skated. I'm sure it was a little interesting watching us figuring it all out. Between adjusting skates and Aaron forgetting which feet his skates go on, it took a bit to get going. Yet, the crowning event was when Aaron agreed it was fun and suggested we go again, soon. We did! I love this time of ours. It makes me feel a like a giggly teenager with my boyfriend, despite my fear of little rocks, my lack of balance, and our nine month old chaperon. I have learned a lot about my sweet husband and even what a locust was. Who would have guessed that flying grasshoppers, you know the ones with butterfly wings are locusts. Not only that, but there are actually locust here and not just in the holy land. Who would have thought. I am so glad that I have him to expose me to the insect world and to skate with. Thanks, Aaron.

Our Pretty Princess and Her Puffs

So, as you might know Anna was born big but seems to have just stayed the same. She decided to take a slide to the bottom of the growth charts at six months and stay there. She did give us a bit of a scare but, we soon found out that she was just hungry. Now, she is slowly climbing back up to where she belongs. I still get comments from complete strangers on how delicate she is. Whether it is because of her extremely narrow feet or the way she flutters her little fingers, I don't know. She's just Anna to me and I welcome the little fat rolls that are forming on her thighs. Isn't that what all girls want? Anyway, with all this fuss over her gaining weight, we learned that she adores Gerber puffs. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, little Cheerio-type cereals made from fruit and vegetables. I didn't have much of a knowledge of these things until a couple of months ago. When Harris was little they weren't to be found. Now, I am an expert on all the different varieties (sweet potato, corn, blueberry, apple cinnamon, and the ever exotic peach-mango), the generic brands, and the nutrient value. Anna loves them! She sits in her exer-saucer, for those with children born before 1995: a walker that doesn't move, and asks by hitting the little snack tray that is provided. She has good pinching skills and can quickly fill her little mouth with them. She can quickly go through a mountain of them then pants for more. Today, I put her down with some and you would think I was feeding her a hot fudge sundae other than almost tasteless morsels. I am astounded as me petite girl devours these treats. You wold think she would be gaining weight..lots of weight. yet, as I discovered, ninety puffs have only 25 calories. So, Anna eat a way. You have found the snack of the gods.

Our Little Card Shark

So, we have a problem or at least an issue. Our son has become, yes, a card shark. At all hours of the day he is shuffling through his deck trying to find what card is most valuable and what sneaky trades he can make. Yes, we are not the only ones with a problem, Harris has one too. When Harris was a toddler and we lived in University Village, I had a specific goal not to let my darling boy be a trader. Yes, a Pokemon trader. I would hope that this fad would wash by the wayside like Barney and Teletubbies. But, to my disdain it has appeared in my boy's life and has been reinforced by his own father. Aaron brought home a gallon Ziploc bag full of cards, after all our attempts to persuade Harris they were a waste of money to buy. To his credit, they were given to him by a medical assistant who was, at 18, now, too old for them. That should give you some inclination on the longevity of this trend. So I guess it was little relief to us that we might get spared a few weeks of Harris asking for more cards. To which we always reply, "They're a waste of money." Six bucks for a pack that contains 10 cards...and they don't come with gum. So, we were drivng home from school and Harris is telling me he has come to terms with not buying any new card packs. I was relieved. That is, until he explained that Sean down the street is unwise in trading and he could get his good cards with out hardly trying. You see, Harris is very astute to what a Pokemon is worth...he is studying right now as he watches Pokemon All-Stars, a ten disk set of shows covering the most important Pokemon and how they came to be. So, he has a plan and is making more as I type. Not only do I have no idea which Pokemon is of greatest value, shouldI be excited that he traded a Bathazar for a Scrmigeon; but, he is now ready to climb to the top of the Pokemon trader ladder and let no one knock him down. He has tactics. He has cards. So, as a warning, lock up your Pokemon, here comes Harris.

Our 24 addiction

O.k. mid-June we canceled our cable much to Aaron and Harris' sorrow. So it really has been great Harris can't watch too much Anime and I don't spend hours researching the recipes on the Food Network. I can't believe how many books I have read in the past two months. Yet, wondering through the local Blockbuster we picked up Music and Lyrics, which was finally at the store after a month of waiting (Is it that good?). Yet, for some reason on our way to the register we meandered through the TV section. Television at the movie store, that in itself is a blog entry...more on that later. So we see the rows of 24. Aaron says, maybe we should see what all the hype is about. HE goes on to explain that even my parents watch it. So I must have been in an extra good mood and threw all caution to the wind and we rented season 1 disc 1 and that was the end as we know it. I don't want to admit how many we watched the first night but we were hooked. Now we are dreading that we only have five episodes of the fifth season and no new releases or new season in near-sight. So this might not be as bad as it might look. Trust me it is bad. When you are trying to get out of the house without your infant daughter seeing you and exploding into tears and you ask your husband "am I clear?" as if your daughter's tantrum could destroy all hopes of finding the terrorists who are planning a nuclear attack on L.A., you are in trouble. Or when you are talking to you mom-in-law about your dad-in-law's suprise birthday party and you keep on thinkng , "this is a covert operation. Yes, they watch it too. Anyway, hopefully going cold turkey won't throw us into convulsions or other things.