Funny Olivia

We went to Portland for Thanksgiving this year and we drove back Sunday morning. We work up earlier than normal and Olivia isn't the most cuddle, hugging person. Andy, Mike's brother, was trying to get Olivia to give him a hug but it just wasn't happening so I said you will probably just have to grab her and hug her. So he did and he tickled her and threw her around a bit and she loved it. But when he put her down she said "Funny. Andy." With a little scowl and maybe a little sarcasm in her voice. I thought it was quite funny.

i am thankful for

I am thankful for a lot of things but I just wanted to mention two of them. I am thankful for the beautiful angel that Heavenly Father sent to us. Olivia is a bundle of joy that keeps me on my toes and really can test my limits but brings me so much happiness. I love to watch her sleep and look at all her features and I can't believe how much she has grown in just two years and how much personality she has

I am also thankful for Jesus Christ and how much hope and strength he can bring me if I remain faithful and true.

I want a wife

No really. I have said these words before to Mike in my times of frustration so I thought this would be most appropriate to post because it is pretty funny.

Judy Brady was born in 1937 in San Francisco and was educated at the University of Iowa where she received her B.F.A. in 1962. She became a free-lance writer during the 1960s. The provocative essay reprinted here first appeared in Ms. Magazine in 1971 and has become a classic of feminist satire.

Why I Want a Wife

I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am a Wife. And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother.

Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene from the Midwest fresh from a recent divorce. He had one child, who is, of course, with his ex-wife. He is obviously looking for another wife. As I thought about him while I was ironing one evening, it suddenly occurred to me that I, too, would like to have a wife. Why do I want a wife?

I would like to go back to school, so that I can become economically independent, support myself, and, if need be, support those dependent upon me. I want a wife who will work and send me to school. And while I am going to school I want a wife to take care of my children. When I am through with school and have acquired a job, I want my wife to quit working and remain at home so that my wife can more fully and completely take care of a wife's duties.

I want a wife who assumes the complete responsibility for our children I want a wife to keep track of the children's doctor and dentist appointments and to keep track of mine, too. I want a wife to make sure my children eat properly and are kept clean. I want a wife who will wash the children's clothes and keep them mended. I want a wife who is a good nurturing attendant to my children, arranges for their schooling, makes sure that they adequate social life with their peers, takes them to the park, the zoo, etc. I want a wife who takes care of the children when they are sick, a wife who arranges to be around when the children need special care, because, of course, I cannot miss classes at school. My wife must arrange to lose time at work and not lose the job. It may mean a small cut in my wife's income from time to time, but I guess I can tolerate that. Needless to say, my wife will arrange and pay for the care of the children while my wife is working.

I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs. I want a wife who will keep my house clean, a wife who will pick up after my children, a wife who will pick up after me. I want a wife who will keep my clothes clean, ironed, mended, replaced when need be, and who will see to it that my personal things are kept in their proper place so that I can find what I need the minute I need it. I want a wife who cooks the meals, a wife who is a good cook. I want a wife who will plan the menus, do the necessary grocery shopping, prepare the meals, serve them pleasantly, and then do the cleaning up while I do my studying. I want a wife who will care for me when I am sick and sympathize with my pain and loss of time from school. I want a wife to go along when our family takes a vacation so that someone can continue to care for me and my children when I need a rest and a change of scene.

I want a wife who will take care of details of my social life. When my wife and I are invited out by my friends, I want a wife who will take care of the babysitting arrangements. When I meet people at school that I like and want to certain, I want a wife who will have the house clean, will prepare a special meal, serve it to me and my friends, and not interrupt when I talk about the things that interest me and my friends. I want a wife who will have arranged that the children are fed and ready for bed before my guests arrive so that the children do not bother us. I want a wife who takes care of the needs of my guests so that they feel comfortable, who makes sure that they have an ashtray, that they are passed the hors d'oeuvres, that they helping of the food, that their wine glasses are replenished when necessary, that their coffee is served to them as they like it. And I want a wife who knows that sometimes I need a night off by myself.

I want a wife who is sensitive to my needs and who will not demand attention when I am not in the mood for it…. I want a wife who will remain faithful to me so that I do not have to clutter up my intellectual life with jealousies. If, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with another one. Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new life; my wife will take the children and be solely responsible for them so that I am left free.

My God, who wouldn't want a wife? "

This and that

Not much happening in the Durtschi household. Even though I am only 13 weeks my tummy looks like I am 5 months. I was pretty big with Olivia at the end so I can't imagine what I will look like if my uterus keeps growing at this rate. I have been having terrible lower back pain and I would love to go see a chiropractor and get some work done but unfortunately I don't have insurance until February but I will probably cave in and just pay for it out of pocket. Epsom salt baths have been a lifesaver. The round ligament pain has been a lot worse than the first time. And the area around my c-section scar has been pretty painful. I figure that scar tissue has a hard time stretching but I will definitely bring it up at my next appointment. So I am really looking forward to finding out the gender of the baby. It feels like a waiting game until that point but atleast I have Thanksgiving and Christmas to keep me occupied.

Olivia is growing up so fast and becoming very very independent and opinionated. It is nice and frustrating at times and I can't imagine what age 3 will be like. But Mike and I are trying to enjoy every moment. Sometimes I don't think Olivia realizes she is a toddler and she definitely thinks she is a big girl that can do everything on her own.

Pregnancy and clothes. Last time I was pregnant with Olivia it was the opposite season so I have a lot of capris and summer shirts. I have few winter items but I am feeling too cheap to go out and buy anything. I have a few maternity pants and boy do they make me feel unattractive. Sometimes I feel like I would have to pay an arm and a leg to get cute, fashionable and well fitting maternity clothes. But really I am just feeling sorry for myself because I have a very long way to go before I can wear normal clothing again.

So I have been craving Cambodian food and luckily for me there are several Asian markets in Boise. So I went out and picked up some items and have been quite successful making some Cambodian dishes. Not quite like my moms but better than nothing.

Pregnant with curly hair

My hair has always been super straight. Never really held a curl for that long. But with this pregnancy my hair started getting wavy and it seems like as more time passes the curlier it is getting. This didn't happen with Olivia so I don't know if I should expect it to go back to normal after I have this baby. And that worries me a bit. Oh well. The fun things about getting pregnant.

Happenings

We went to Park City this past weekend and it was so much fun. Unfortunately I forgot our camera and took zero pictures. Olivia loved that we got to go swimming everyday. She is such a fish. The only thing that sucked was the long drive to and from. It was a nice way to ring in November.

Olivia thinks laptops are touch screen because iphones and ipads are touchscreens. And one thing that drives Mike nuts are fingerprints on the computer screen. So it sometimes isn't even worth trying to do anything on the laptop with Olivia but it is quite entertaining watching her try to navigate the laptop.

And I am a very big believer that red raspberry tea supplements makes morning sickness not as bad. I took them before I got pregnant and the whole beginning but when I moved to Boise I really slacked and that is when I got really sick again. And there have been other occasions I forgot to take them for several days and I could tell by how bad my morning sickness got. While it doesn't totally make MS go away it is much much better than what it could be.

Chick Filet just opened on the BSU campus and I tried my first sandwich and I have to say that I am totally impressed. It was delicious. Now I know what all the rave reviews are about.

Thanksgiving is approaching fast. But I have already started listening to Christmas music. Olivia loves Jingle Bells and I love to hear her sing it. And it might finally snow in Boise tonight. I can't wait.

Hopefully I can end 2010 with a bang. Lot of things happened this year, good and bad but hopefully it can end on a high note.

Good deals

We went shopping last night for Halloween items and I am happy with all our purchases since we got them at a deep discount. Olivia picked out her costume for next year. We got some cute candy buckets, tablecloth, pumpkin carving kit with stickers for next year. We also did a little bit of Christmas shopping.

Another cool thing happened last night while we were at the store. Olivia was holding Mike and my hands while we were in the parking lot and she started to count and she counted from 1-7 all by herself. I think she would have made it to 10 except she jumped at 7 but we didn't know she was going to jump so she fell onto the concrete.

On a side note we got some baskets for Olivia's wardrobe and I actually folded and put away all her clothes. Which means less boxes in her room. We also bought a book shelf which put a huge dent in the boxes sitting in the garage.

And I finally pulled out the pregnancy pillow. I don't think I used one until midway into my pregnancy with Olivia but it was worth every penny I paid for it. I think at times Mike gets a little jealous because I hug and cuddle my pillow but it really does provide me the support and comfort I need to get some rest at night. I just want to thank Liberty for introducing me to the pillow

Happy Halloween

We carved our first pumpkin. Olivia dressed up in her pumpkin costume and she was a little terrified to go trick or treating but she was super excited to get candy. We only went to 4 houses on our block but it was enough candy to last Olivia. She loved the dots.