The _______ Life of Brent and Erika

It is 6:02 AM, and by a cruel trick of the universe I cannot get back to sleep. Sometimes, in those times when I should be sleeping but my brain can’t turn off, I think of all the things I don’t want to forget. I don’t want to forget web team meeting at 12:00 today. I don’t want to forget to buy better picture-hanging nails. But most pressing this morning was this: I don’t want to forget the details of Felix’s birth. And so here’s the story that I wasn’t wrong in thinking it would take me four months to write. Here’s Felix’s birth story. As I wrote in my last post, this pregnancy was hard for me. Physically, it was so challenging, but towards the end it was really mentally tough. Because I was due at the end of December, I wasn’t even sure what year this baby would be born, and for some reason that was really hard. I didn’t know what to plan for. Some time in November, our families kept asking us when we thought would be a good time for family Christm...

No, I didn't spend my birthday watching the classic Western with Clint Eastwood and those other guys. Here's how it went. The Good: I was wished a happy birthday by SO MANY people. Granted, most of that happened on Facebook, but I don't think I've ever had so many people tell me happy birthday! Brent gave me some fabulous presents that I'll be enjoying for years to come. I'm also going to give myself the food processor I meant to get last year and never did, so that's going to be fun. Brent took great care of me even though he wasn't doing so hot (I'll get to that in a minute), and I think I will remember with fondness the way he allowed me to coach him through making the birthday dinner that I wanted to make myself. The Bad: The night before my birthday (or, as we call it around here, birthday eve) Brent was scheduled to do an overnight sleep study. We've wondered for a while if he has sleep apnea, and all signs seem to point to "yes."...

1: Years I've been In Graduate School 2: Consecutive birthdays that Brent has given me a zombie-themed present 3: Countries I've lived in 4: My graduate school GPA 5: Years I've been in love with Brent 6: Languages in which I can count to ten 7: Schools I've attended 8: Ingredients on the perfect Subway sandwich 9: Cities I've lived in 10: Different temples I've attended 11: Careers I have ever considered/desired 12: Curtains I've hung in my house 13: Courses I've taught at BYU 14: Ingredients in my favorite gummy bears (Haribo) 15: Fish I've purchased (and had die). 16: Number of guys I've been on dates with 17: Years since I was baptized 18: Years I've known how to play the piano 19: Months I've been a homeowner 20: Papers I've written during spring term 21: Approximate number of items from Ikea in our house. 22: Approximately the number of times I've eaten at La Dolce Vita 23: Blogs on my blogroll 24: Skittles I can fit in my...

I wish I had more time to be reflective about my life, but right now it's busy. So busy was I that last Monday (as in the 21st, not as in 2 days ago), I realized that Brent's birthday was the next day and that I hadn't made any plans. This made me feel like a bad wife, and I really didn't want his birthday to go the way of our anniversary (which was basically this: "hey! We've been married four years! Let's take a nap!"), so I thought up the plan of making a birthday madlib for him. I will put the madlib here, but right now I have two puppies sleeping on my lap, which makes it difficult to move. Among other things, his madlib required that I bring him garbanzo beans (I got hummus), a "dynamic" treat (we ate Pop Rocks), and a velociraptor (found it for $1 at Wal-Mart). Also, when I asked him for a "treat" he said cheese crackers, so instead of having a birthday cake (which I would end up eating 90% of anyway), I gave him a cheese bal...

Twenty-four oceans Twenty-four skies Twenty-four failures And twenty-four tries Twenty-four finds me In twenty-fourth place With twenty-four drop outs At the end of the day Life is not what I thought it was Twenty-four hours ago Still I'm singing 'Spirit, take me up in arms with You' And I'm not who I thought I was Twenty-four hours ago Still I'm singing 'Spirit, take me up in arms with You' I wanna see miracles To see the world change Wrestled the angel for more than a name For more than a feeling For more than a cause I'm singing 'Spirit, take me up in arms with You' And you're raising the dead in me Twenty-four oceans With twenty-four hearts All of my symphonies With twenty-four parts Life is not what I thought it was Twenty-four hours ago Still I'm singing 'Spirit, take me up in arms with You' I'm not copping out Not copping out Thanks to Switchfoot for a beautiful song, and thanks to all of you for the warm birthday wishe...