feminine taming of the boo

ever wonder what happened to all that knowledge women during the victorian period must have done something with? (other than gossiping and setting up fortuitous marriages, of course.)

i just discovered it: embroidery. i mentioned my passing interest in embroidery to my mother in law, who just happened to have a copy of the complete encyclopedia of stitchery that she has given me on loan. i have decided i am going to give it a try. i tell you only because i know you will hold this confession in the strictest confidence. and you (hopefully) won't laugh at me. and you will hold me accountable to actually make something.

and because patterns like these little guys make me really excited.

pattern found here.

things bright and beautiful

earning my cake

birthdays had a very specific tradition growing up in the davis household. we would all gather together with cake, presents and family to honor the day's special someone. and while we all stared at the lovely, sweet cake, my parents would spend about thirty minutes sharing all of their loving memories of their child. (but when you are waiting to consume cake, it was actually about 290 minutes.) when they were done with their sweet words, we went around in the circle and shared a memory or two of the honoree.

when it got to us kids, our memories were generally quite brief in an attempt to expedite the period before cake consumption. you would usually hear "yeah, so, you're usually pretty nice i guess. and i remember one time you got mad at me for something. but i got over it, because i love you. next?"

this took about 400 cake-time minutes (six kids, you know). when it got to my grandparents, it increased to about 3,000 cake-time minutes. (yep, that's 50 hours. can you tell a pregnant diabetic is writing today's post?) after a total of 3,690 cake-time minutes, we would finally open gifts (add another 70 of those minutes) and eat CAKE.

well, as we have all sort of grown up and kind of moved on, we don't do this very much anymore.

today, my brother cameron would have turned 30 years old (what an old man!) and i have been thinking about him a lot this week. and missing him. and dreading today.

but i was blessed to have a wonderful and thankful attitude today. so i will share my memory (if you have made it this far, you have already lived through 45 cake minutes. nice work.)

exhibit a: cameron looking suspiciously sweet with jil circa 1984.

cameron used to look like a sweet, unsuspecting child. but i always knew he was something more than that. something much darker. something that fed my barbie dolls to our mean dog. something that perfected the art of the "indian burn." something that paraded jil's new supergirl underwear in front of all his friends. something that had a brain too quick and a tongue too sharp for my own good.

he kept us all on our toes. it was wonderful.

one time, my oldest brother tried explaining who satan was -- a deeply perplexing concept to five-year-old boo. after a frustrating period of time, he finally blurted, "he's just the meanest, worst person you can imagine." stunned, i replied, "what?!? worse than CAMERON?" it resonated. but i was still recruited to be the president of The Official Cameron Fan Club during one long road trip. it is still an office i wish i could put on my resume as one of my greatest achievements.

over time, cameron grew up to be a bigger child who was a little worse at hiding how soft his heart was. he made me lunch (sugar cookies and sausage) when my parents were out of town. he gave my friends nicknames. he booby-trapped my door a little less. he stopped being the enemy and became my ally.

exhibit b: cameron looking deceivingly tough with his three sisters circa 1998.

the last thanksgiving we spent together, cameron and i had been watching an inappropriate amount of celebrity gossip television. we got endless entertainment from the fact that a recently separated britney spears and justin timberlake had a dance off at a local club. later that day, at the movie theater, cameron challenged me to a dance-off on a video game. in his camo pants, white t-shirt and mohawk, he completely annihilated me. and entertained everyone in the lobby. what a guy.

so, cameron, happy happy birthday. i know you are still keeping everyone on their toes here and on the other side. i can't wait to see what antics you have planned for when i see you next.

(after a brief 340 cake minutes) let's eat some cake.

p.s. i plan on posting some new photos of me/baby/some projects i have been working on this weekend. you know, if you're interested.

so much to say, so much to say

did you ever write yourself a letter in school that you were supposed to seal and not look at for about ten or twenty years? but then did you take it home for about two months until you found it again, ripped it open, realized how stupid the contents were and threw it away? (thus denying yourself the joy of reading it ten or twenty years later.)

i think i did that about a dozen times. and sometimes that's how i feel about my blog -- like it's this weird letter to myself that i am embarrassed to look at a few months after it's gone up. this time i am trying not to destroy sections i don't like. i think i (or jesse, or the little one(s)) might like to see it later.

so, here is a new time-capsule letter to capture how wonderful i feel today.

dear boo,

i feel that i have so very much to say, but so little of it may be of interest. maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, or maybe it's just a sliver of understanding of how much i am really blessed, but this thanksgiving was a blissful occasion.

last weekend, jesse spoke in stake conference with a general authority -- a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles to be exact. it was, in short, wonderful. he was given very little time to prepare, because apparently elder nelson wanted to see all the proposed speakers and take their names to the temple before any could be approached about speaking. nonetheless, jesse was perfect. he made me sob through the entire five minutes. (again, blaming the hormones here.)

we recently got the latest letter from st. jude children's research hospital asking for our donations. we love st. jude's and try to give when/how we can, but it has been much closer to home since my dear friend's little daughter, emma, has spent the last year getting some intensive treatment there for neuroblastoma, a pretty wicked cancer. when we opened the letter, we were so excited to see emma's little face (we know her!) peering back at us above a short description of her story. you had better believe that will sucker us into a better donation this christmas. i hope that my friends would consider the same. (yep, stepping out of letter speak there.) i am a huge fan of modern medicine and consider it nothing less than a miracle. it saves my life every day, and i know it has saved emma's four-year-old life a few times now.

last week at work, my boss pulled me into her office (generally a sign i'm getting a buttload -- that's a real term -- of work coming my way). i was shocked and delighted to find that instead of a huge project, i got an award for "working hard" and "running myself ragged" and "not sucking." and it came with a bonus! A BONUS! i didn't even know that those existed! it's not much, but i think it might be enough to buy myself fruit snacks for the rest of my pregnancy.

oh, and did i mention that we had three thanksgiving dinners this year? pie + elastic maternity pants = oh crap, i'm blaming that weight gain on the baby.

finally, the swell season concert jesse took me to for a late anniversary gift was phenomenal. seriously brilliant. but if they have hyperlinks in the future, and you have about thirty minutes, you can just watch this video and remember. see? didn't you love it?

anyway, i hope things are going well for you now. i also hope that they have finally developed the hovercraft and an easy way to remove all stretch marks.

love,

boo

another year over, a new one just begun

it seems i get mushy about my husband fairly regularly on here lately, but i feel justified today. three years ago, the dashing jesse jones (unwittingly) married awkward little me. i am still shocked and thrilled about it. the last three years have been the most wonderful adventure of my life. i can't wait for the next three (and the three after that).

jesse: i'll eat you up, i love you so.

busy times call for busy photos

full heart

ovember is one of my favorite months. it is a wonderful season for reflection -- an opportunity to be grateful for things we have been blessed with (and boy, have we ever been blessed!). and though i know there is so much i already have to be grateful for, i am overwhelmed by the cool opportunities ahead of us that keep me so very optimistic about the several weeks ahead.

on our schedule:

seeing these guys in concert in a couple of weeks.

a well-earned thanksgiving break for the mister.

our third wedding anniversary.

gestating the little one and enjoying all the little squirms and not-so-little jabs in the ribs. (it seems like this opportunity would be blessing enough.)

jesse acting as opening speaker for this guy at an upcoming stake conference (a super cool story i will have to share in more detail later).

with so much excitement on the horizon, you would think that i wouldn't need anything else these days. really, i don't need anything else. but with the most wonderful friends in the world, i have gotten TWO packages in the mail this week. you read that right. Dos. Zwei. Deux. (and i even stole the idea for the lovely drop cap at the beginning of this post from one of the lovely ladies. it's shameless, really.)

so, i really could try to make this post a bit more witty or interesting, but my heart is just too full. i am grateful for that. and i can't wait to find ways to share it with other people. until next time, may your november be merry and bright.

oh, this husband of mine...

he keeps me in stitches.

you know those days where you get all bent out of shape by the fact that you can't really bend over like a normal person, and you grunt like a hippo when you try to get that second leg into your pants in the morning? and then you remember it's just going to get worse over the next three and a half months? no? i do. all the time.

sidetrack: somedays i am amazed that even though i really wanted to be pregnant, and i dreamt of it and prayed for it, i still act like i'm going through a ridiculous and unexpected second puberty. "what?!? my body does what?!? but i don't want to get zitty! i don't want my butt to get bigger! i don't like leg cramps! i don't want to get the worst haircut of all time!" (though the last one isn't attributed to my baby, i am blaming my stylist's pregnancy. so it is all related.) someone in this house tends to act like a baby. and it tends to be the person carrying the baby.

back on track: jesse shrugs it off. and sometimes it is irritating. but tonight, after a dinner where i complain for about 30 minutes, jesse says, "let's make like the germans and get the french out of here. I JUST MADE THAT UP! that was completely unfunny but hilarious! let's see who can think of the worst way to say we should leave..." (we do this kind of "let's see who can make the least funny joke possible" competition on a fairly regular basis.)

then all the way out to the car, i hear a rambling that consists of the following:

let's make like the operator of a sewage treatment plant and get the crap out of here.

let's make like the lakers and get the jazz out of here.

let's make like an exorcist and get the hell out of here. (he was getting quite excited by this point in time.)

let's make like ex-lax and...

you get the idea. for ten minutes. and of course, i had nothing. i am not that quick anymore, and i -- continuing the pity party -- say to the husband, "i can't do this, honey. the word games are not so easy for me these days. i'm just not that smart."

"that's not true," he replies. "you are very good at math!"

and that's when i remembered one of the many reasons i married him. you need someone who can make you laugh at yourself. and he does it for me all the time.

(demonstration of jesse cracking me up at our engagement photo shoot)

what a blessing. i hope it never changes.

our weekend and warm wishes

(and for your viewing pleasure, one of my favorite television Halloween moments)

good night, moon

it's 9:36 p.m. and i am ready for bed.

just plain tuckered out. but really, with so much excitement, how could you blame me?

what excitement? (you say)

oh, you know, hoping i can figure out how to be one of these little guys for halloween,

it's an entire guild dedicated to lollipops!

learning that the little one likes online shoe shopping (for her, of course),

planning to celebrate the completion of another test for the devoted pharmacy student tomorrow evening,

knowing jonesy doesn't have another test for more than a week (it's a miracle!),

and hoping that the husband will take me somewhere cheesy and fall-themed this weekend.

aren't you exhausted just thinking about it all? i know i am. i think it's time we all turn in.

against all odds

evidence this child could be male:

jesse has all boys in his family. his dad has seven brothers. my dad has four brothers. i have three brothers. you could say we come from a line of male-dominated families.

out of the ten previous davis grandchildren (offspring of my immediate family), seven are boys.

the chinese lunar calendar predicted it would be a boy.

my all-knowing supermom sister told me i had to have a boy so our children could be BFFs.

all nicknames given to the baby have been male-oriented (such as "shank" and "moon doggie").

this baby kicks. hard. it makes its presence known.

i just had "that feeling" that it was a boy.

but, against all odds, we are thrilled to know we are having a beautiful BABY GIRL!

(which has to be announced in green because, according to gilmore girls, everyone knows that green is the new pink.)

to my unborn child -- a plea

dear baby,

at 19 weeks, you are supposed to look like a large mango covered in greasy cheese. i don't mean to be rude, but you sound a bit disgusting. sometimes, though, i find myself daydreaming about a really adorable, greasy mango and it makes me smile.

on tuesday, we get to find out which of two varieties of human you are. you will go from greasy mango to boy or girl -- that's quite a step up! it seems to be in vogue to choose not to know -- some prefer a surprise and some find superiority in declaring that women didn't know for thousands of years and were just fine. i have never been one for waiting, and i figure thousands of years ago i wouldn't have access to lots of medical care that lets me experience this, so we will be finding out. besides, your dad always says it will be a surprise to us come tuesday.

i mostly can't wait to see you again.

the doctor says that you are a rebel. you wiggle too much when they tried to find your heartbeat, so we had to do an early ultrasound (and you scared me to death, young man or lady). during the ultrasound, the doctor exclaimed, "that is quite a bit of fetal movement! you have a very active one on your hands!" you don't seem to behave as they would like you to for these routine procedures.

so this is me pleading. if my center of gravity weren't so messed up, i would even get down on my knees. please, please behave. this is the only time i will ever ask you to share your unmentionables with a room full of strangers.

we pled so much to be able to have you at all, so this kind of pleading seems a bit silly. no matter what, you are the most amazing blessing. and we can't wait to see you. even if you come out looking like a greasy cheese-covered mango.

love, mommy

you may be seeing more of me

two nights ago, jesse and i returned from a one-week hiatus (that i will refer to internally as a vacation) at my parents' house. sure, they were the ones in europe, but we got to babysit my 17-year-old-senior-in-high-school-too-cool-for-school little sister annie.

when we got back to our other temporary little home (you know, the one with our bed in it), i realized just how cold eastern idaho gets in early october. apparently the snow on the ground earlier that day wasn't reminder enough. i went to turn up the thermostat in various rooms in the house, only to learn that the husband and i have varying ideas of what "warm" means. to me it means comfortable. to jesse it means survivable.

so i confidently set the thermostat in one room in the home. the room where my little iMac resides, along with half of our belongings and some leftover storage from the true owners of this place (and yes, we will be trying to fit a baby in this place).

so you may be seeing more of me. or maybe not. but at least now you understand why i look like this.

and for diane, here is the belly approximately one week ago. (so... 18 weeks?)

warning: random babbling

here are some things i have learned lately:

maternity pants are not all hideous. they are not all flattering. but they are so comfortable. i should have done this years ago.

peanut butter captain crunch cereal is absolutely delicious.

if you are four months pregnant, and you wear your old clothes to the gym, sometimes your belly sticks out when you move rapidly. and that is, apparently, not attractive.

sometimes ten-year-olds in primary will answer a question about preparing to share the gospel with the statement "yeah, but all my friends are mormon, so this doesn't really apply to me." well, i guess that's one approach.

six-day work weeks are not very much fun. thank heavens for a day of rest.

life isn't perfect, but sometimes i forget about the amazing compensation the lord has given me. i hope ya know that i have learned it is so true. (and i hope you will watch the video about it)

at the end of a six-day work week, you might get a letter from one of your sweet, ten-year-old primary children telling you how excited they are that you're having a baby. and it might make you a little emotional.

i should have never found this web site.

BEST OF ALL: my bff is coming home this weekend. (i can't wait!)

and there is one thing i will learn in three weeks:

whether this little critter taking up more space in my body is a boy or girl. i have my suspicions. (but we are so excited either way.)

sometimes a girl just needs a pair of good jeans -- and other reasons to have sisters

dear sister:

thanks for appreciating the excitement of my first haircut in four months. i don't know what i'd do if you couldn't experience such small thrills with me on a regular basis.

i have been quietly celebrating your big victory all day. here's to hoping that soon we can both feel comfortable in real pants.

until then, i remain your constant friend in track pants.

love,

boo

like an old sock

"what if they made a t-shirt that had, like, bruce lee? and bruce lee's, like, dad and grandpa? and, like his son? i would totally buy that shirt," the sales associate told him three years ago.

and though it isn't bruce lee and his entire family tree, he, like, bought it.

and now she, like, wears it. because she can. and it fits around the growing middle.

if you had been here

yesterday, you could have seen me give jesse his (belated) home-made birthday card.

it looked a little bit like this.

do you ever have those days where you have to step back and ask yourself how you got so blessed? i have been having a lot of those days lately thanks to this guy.

i really couldn't be more proud (of the husband, not the card. though the card isn't too bad...).

because i could not stop for illness...

illness forced me to stop for the afternoon.

see, sometimes i get sick. and usually i convince myself that it's not going to go away just because i go home. and it's not like i can get anyone else ill (at least, i don't think that's where babies come from...)

and then all my books and web sites and silly pregnancy e-mail updates convinced me that i should be starting to feel much better. so i told everyone i was starting to feel better. and for a few days, i was.

then this week happened. and though monday and tuesday can be attributed entirely to the little wild thing, today showed that sometimes baby growing + diabetes = no bueno. and without being too graphic, just trust me. it was no bueno.

so for today, my big prayer is that i will actually be able to work my full nine hours tomorrow. it would be a first for the whole week. and i am reminded (yet again) that sometimes a little humility is a good thing. but i'm going to keep hoping that when my second trimester starts on sunday that illness will listen to all of my books and web sites and e-mail updates, and it will kindly stop for me.

this completely uninteresting post brought to you by a girl who hasn't left her house for anything other than work or church in far too long.

some thoughts

we got to see our little wild thing. (ok, ok. you can see it too...)

and we learned that it should be joining us around february 28 (no, this is not a leap year).

the other night i woke up in a panic because i swear i could feel my body expanding. it wasn't comfortable. and i know it will get worse. and i'm terrified. and thrilled.

and then i threw up a few times and fell asleep again. so far, pregnancy really is the joy i had hoped it would be.

7,000 words of summer

you'd better believe it

two amazing grandparents celebrating their 80th year of life.

plus eight children joining the celebration

and more than 30 proud grandchildren (this little girl included) along for the ride.

add spouses and great-grandchildren.

spread over five days of jam-packed fun.

you've got one great reunion on your hands. i can't wait.

ain't no sunshine when he's gone

so, jesse is gone for the week. the whole week.

i know whining like this seems pathetic (because it really is), but let me explain. he was gone all last week. and i saw him for about two hours this weekend because of family commitments and my recent fondness of napping. he keeps going to boise to finish his mandatory free labor for school.

but see, jesse leaves with the sun shining, and no less than three hours later, i hear the wind howling and the rain coming in. coincidence? i beg to differ.

if i could have heard myself five years ago, this kind of whiny behavior would have been baffling. some more potentially offensive (but recently occurring) clingy behavior might include:

• refusing to sleep in our new place until jesse can stay there with me. sure, there are creepy crafts crowding each room, and the place is really fit for senior citizens, but still. i simply refuse to stay at the place with my belongings and where i am paying rent until the husband can be there. i am surprised my parents haven't forcibly removed me from their basement.
• retiring to bed around 9:30 because i don't want to do anything else. i seriously got out of bed to write this post. i haven't been in bed that early since elementary school.
• talking about jesse so much that all my co-workers couldn't possibly handle another tale.
• sending approximately ten text messages an hour or calling if i haven't heard from the man in more than three hours. when i approach the three-hour mark, i tend to assume there has been a horrific accident. then each unreturned communication increases certainty that i have become a tragically young widow, and the volume of calls exponentially increases. it's a wonder he takes any of my calls.

so this could be indicative of a few things. it could be that i desperately need friends. or it could be a testament of the fact that i continue to fall more in love with him everyday.

it's probably both. but for sentiment's sake, i'm going with the second option.

jesse, i miss you. call me when you get to boise. or now.

'twas a lovely june day

and two lovely people were wed

in a magical place.

their wonderful guests included this wonderful family

and this sweet little girl

and this little girl

and this devilishly handsome young man.

and though it was a beautiful wedding, the day still had its splendidly awkward moments. which grandpa witnessed.

but we returned home feeling love, happiness and completely uplifted.

the end.

the great purge

moving always feels like a soul-cleansing process.

what do you keep? pack? unpack? dedicate to a new place in a new home?

what doesn't make the cut?

that lamp i started to refinish that just needs the fresh coat of paint and the trim on the shade? keep. definitely.

that gallon of paint i was planning to use on said lamp? questionable.

that coupon i was holding on to for that one pizza place in pocatello that i thought was awesome, but i now blame almost entirely for the ridiculous weight gain during my stay there? toss. definitely.

to me, it is so much more than casually shoving all of your items into a few boxes and hauling them less than an hour north. it is meticulous.

so, you can see it takes time. it will take more time than i had budgeted. but if you were my husband, and you read this justification, then you would understand why i'm not packed yet. right?

poltergeist or angel of virtue?

so here i sit, adoring how cute my little computer looks propped on a trunk next to my typewriter, when i hear hell's fury in the background.

see, i do very little without background noise. it used to be music. now it is mostly hgtv. anyway, the tv starts this crazy rasping and it looks like scratchies. and suddenly i fear for this.

i ponder: is there, in fact, truth to the idea that demons could try to reach me through my beloved television set?

and then i realize that this poltergeist actually interrupted kathy griffin's my life on the d list. i suppose i had invited as many irritating, narcissistic demons as one actually gets through television. 

bless you, interrupted cable connection.

still kicking

i might not be blogging lately, but all of my body functions seem to be in tact. i have been living in my parents' basement. my computer has been living at the pocatello house. my camera has been living in my car.

my sanity still eludes me.

and while it seems that about thirty children have been born since i last communed with the blogging world, i have to admit that life has seemed a bit simpler. and sometimes you just need to simplify.

but i am back. and i will have pictures and the least fascinating tales to share in no time. hold on to your hats.

remind me of home

well, we may not have an official home.

previous house: nostalgic past, a former home

current house: infested, almost a past (hopefully)

next house: borrowed, not really ours

but, we are going to boise tomorrow. and even though we don't have a residence there, it feels like going home. details to follow.

the question of mani-pedis on a warm wednesday evening

(can you tell that headlines are not my strength?)

once, around eighth grade, my entire family decided to get a pedicure for a family outing. i am nearly certain this was my dad's attempt at bonding with his daughters. i mostly remember it as the day dad got pink toenails and another human being actually touched cameron's feet. she will undoubtedly get a special section of cloud in heaven.

but that was my only experience with professional nail grooming. it struck me today, as i listened to a co-worker disgustedly tell me she hadn't had a manicure-pedicure (or, as someone in the know would call it, a mani-pedi) in almost a month, that i've never had a mani-pedi.

now, don't pity me for this. in my mind, it seems like a waste of income to have your nails professional trimmed twice a month (or however often you actually do it). but i do imagine it to be a wonderfully luxurious experience. rejuvenating. relaxing. absolutely girly.

so then i had to ask myself: what do i do in lieu of the infamous mani-pedi that maintains all of those needs?

well, i bought some FABULOUS fabric on clearance this weekend, but i have no idea what i will do with it. that is typical. i suppose that means that crafting of all sorts is out. i go to church, and though this is rejuvenating, i spent all of this sunday feeling like i was going to hyperventilate (can you say three callings, anyone?). so i guess that isn't quite the equivalent of the mani-pedi as i imagine it.

and then i remembered that i have weekly lunches with this little thing. and she makes me laugh. hard.

and i also get to have some great heart-to-hearts with this lovely lady (who is going on the same trip to england that i went on five years ago. but she is going as faculty! can you believe it?).

and do you want to guess how i feel after all of this? if you answered

rejuvenated. 

relaxed. 

absolutely girly. 

totally blessed.

you win five points.

becca takes manhattan

i will say that there were ups and downs. the biggest up? seeing this lady on broadway for this play was phenomenal. and hearing my baby sister sing at this place was cool beyond words (just like her).

but, not visiting this place was nearly heartbreaking. and finding out that this place doesn't even exist anymore was a disheartening revelation.

but finding a three-story version of this place made it all worthwhile.

did i take pictures of these things? no. but i did get a picture of marion trying to make a gang sign. and that, my friends, is priceless.

oh, and here are some other pictures if you are interested.

i loved the trees

particularly the ones in bloom (i only want to plant blooming trees at my house. they are just perfect).

and we had an overall great time

(i hope you liked exploring the different sites again with me)