I'm in love! + More Sleep? Wow! + Day 21

Yes, my friends, I'm in love. And no, this part of the post is NOT about Jason.

I'm in love with:

Go ahead, think whatever you want, but I will NOT give this love up! I had my first taste of Nutella when I was in high school in my German class, and have always wanted to buy some for myself again. I got the Kroger brand version 3 days ago, and the jar is a little more than halfway empty already. Nutella on toast, Nutella on pretzels... Mmmmm. I've even thought about putting Nutella on a banana. Oh, it just sounds so lovely.

*sigh*

On another note, David is finally getting to the point where he's sleeping a bit longer at night. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by writing about it! For the last three or four days, he's been staying awake for four or five hours until around 11:30pm or midnight, eating around there, then sleeping until around 5:30am. It's been wonderful! I still feel exhausted in the morning because we stay up so late (we're working on mending that problem), but it's so nice not waking up every two or three hours! Or dealing with a fussing baby in the middle of the night for an hour or so when I wish I was sleeping! Oh, how lovely it is to sleep!

Day 21 - A picture of something that makes you happy

Hello. I just posted a picture of the Nutella. Ta daaaa!

Just kidding.

Here are a few things that make me happy:

Fall colors and Fall weather

Sunsets, especially on the beach

Sleeping, especially sleeping in!

Snow (but only in the winter!)

Sunshine

Getting my hair done at the salon (I love the way my hair feels when someone else does it!)

Having the time to put on makeup and put myself together. It's amazing how I used to take the time to do my hair and makeup every day when I was single and before Jason and I had kids, and now how rarely it happens anymore! :(

It hasn't happened since having David, but it WILL happen, my friends: when I fit into my skinny (or rather, pre-pregnancy) jeans!

Babies!

Temples

My family! This was taken October 2009, so obviously David wasn't in the picture! We're going to have family pictures taken here in the next couple of months though!

Really, so many things make me happy, I could post a million pictures and not have covered everything I'm grateful for in my life.

Secret: When I was little, I wanted to be a famous singer. I imagined myself selling millions of albums, being on the radio, and singing at sold-out concerts. What did you want to be when you were little?

We've made a decision! + Day 20

"Half the fun of the travel is the aesthetic of lostness." -Ray Bradbury

This last week, we went to Dallas, Texas, so that Jason and I could attend UT-Dallas' open house for their school of public health. And fortunately,we didn't get lost. At least not on our drive there and back. While we were there is another story! ;) My parents drove down with us so we could make a sort of vacation out of it. The drive there and back was long, but Andrew and David did really well; I was surprised by how well they did. Here are some pictures from the drive:

We were able to spend some time with old room mates and with one of Jason's cousin's family while we were there. It was good to spend time with them. Jon and Stephanie were both room mates of ours when we were dating, and they ended up getting married to each other too! We hadn't been able to see them for almost two years, and we hadn't seen Jason's cousin Mark or his wife Lisa since last summer.

The weather was beautiful on the way down and while we were there. It was another story on the way back! It started raining early on the second day driving, and later in the afternoon it started snowing BIG snowflakes. The snowflakes might as well have been snowballs, they were that big. And of course I drove through the worst of all the weather. That's alright. I like driving. :)

Ok, now the moment you've all been waiting for - the open house and our decision! The open house went great... at first. Only two other potential students showed up. Professors came, described the research they were working on, then left. They answered a few questions, and from their answers, it seemed like the responsibility to do everything was left up to the student; neither the professors nor the website were very helpful in figuring things out with housing, financial aid, or what being a student at the school was like.

Based on that, Jason will be attending...

Couldn't tell from my description of the open house, huh? We really wanted to like it because it seemed like things were so great there in Dallas, but it just didn't feel like it was a good fit. So, we're staying here in Columbus! Hurray! Now all we have to do is find cheap, safe, nice housing close to campus... Wish us luck!

Day 20 - Someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future

Considering I'm already married, and I'm very happy with the decision I made pertaining to who I married, I think this one is answered already!

I used to think about this a lot before I got married though. I used to wonder what his name would be, what he'd look like, where he'd be from, what he'd be like. I pretty much struck gold when I met Jason, and fortunately, he felt the same way about me.

Secret: I used to dye my hair a lot, mostly getting highlights. For a period of time, my hair was a really light brown because I kept getting more and more highlights for so long. When I started college, I didn't have the money to keep up my hair, so my highlights started growing out. It looked awful, so I attempted to dye my hair back to its natural color. My hair was black after I was done! I had grabbed black dye instead of really dark brown! I looked like Snow White! It was pretty ridiculous.

A few thoughts + Day 19

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party!'" -Robin Williams


First thought: Happy Spring! Today is the first day of Spring, and I hope your day was grand.

Second thought: I was driving around the other day by myself, just running a quick errand while Jason watched the boys at home. I had the windows rolled down, the radio turned up... and it took me back to when I was in high school. It was kinda a strange feeling, because it reminded me of how I felt at the end of my senior year, where the weather was warming up, school was winding down, and the future was exciting, bright, and full of promise. I hadn't thought about that kind of stuff for a long time, and I wondered why. Well, this is my first spring away from Rexburg, and as much as I loved it there, they don't have a real spring! Their "spring" weather lasts for two weeks in June and then it goes straight to summer. It was slightly depressing, because spring is one of my favorite seasons. It's nice to be back somewhere where they experience a long spring that starts on time, because it's a reminder of the fact that I can have a fresh start, and that there's a lot of wonderful things in life to look forward to.

Third thought: We're this close to making a decision as to what school Jason will attend to receive his masters in public health. We're actually going to Dallas, Texas, this week so that Jason and I can attend the University of Texas - Dallas School of Public Health's open house. I'm really excited to be going on a sort-of-vacation! We'll be driving a lot more this week than we'll actually be vacationing, so I'm a little worried about the drive, but looking forward to the weather, taking a look around at our potentially new home, and spending lots of time with my family. Yay!

Day 19 - Nicknames you have and why you have them

I have only a few, most of them embarrassing ones given to me by my dad, the most creative- and odd-nickname-giver of all time... Well, here goes.

Mel - I hope this one's obvious. It's just my name, but shortened.

Meltez/Meltoy - these were given to me while I was in high school, and I actually haven't been called these by anyone but my older sister since. I'm not sure why they were given to me, but they were.

Lila - This one was given to me from my dad. This one's not embarrassing, thank goodness. My dad tends to give nicknames to me and my sisters all at once with a common theme, this one being that they all started with the letter "L". My sisters are Lulu and Lonnie. I think I got the best one of the bunch.

Alright, here are the embarrassing ones given to me by my dad:

Melodica - Ok, this one isn't so bad, by itself. But it's not the whole nickname. The whole thing is Melodica Harmonica Faye. Yes. Isn't it wonderful? That's a typical dad nickname! Ahhh!

and Horn Lips - All I can say is, yep. It's from my dad. Special, huh? This was another nickname group with a theme - animals. My sisters are Pork Snout and Eagle Ears. Hahahahahaha. I know. It's crazy. I told you it was embarrassing!!!!

Jason wants to put his nicknames on here for fun as well, so here are his (in his own words):

McFly - This, of course, is a reference to the nerdy George McFly from the movie Back to the Future. This nickname is from elementary school. I guess McBride sounds a lot like it, and maybe they thought I was a nerd, too, who knows.

Steve - In middle school, two new basketball-playing friends of mine couldn't remember my name, but I wore my Steve Young football jersey weekly (Steve Young is a Mormon who was a quarterback on the San Francisco 49ers in the 90s. He and wide receiver Jerry Rice were excellent athletes and a famous duo.) They couldn't remember my real name, so they just called me Steve, and soon everyone started calling me that. I got that Steve Young jersey for Christmas from my older sister and her husband, and I thought it was the best clothing I had by far.

Raunchy - Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds! OK, maybe it is. I did Cross Country (X-C) in high  school to get in shape for church basketball, and this nickname came from X-C. As you can imagine, right  before running a 5K race, people get very nervous. By getting nervous, people would often need to pay a friendly visit to the restroom to "lose ten pounds", to put it delicately. On one particular meet, there were dozens of schools, and the restroom was crowded. The team captain heard me say in there "Ugh, it smells so raunchy in here", and he busted up laughing so hard! Then, of course he told everyone else, and they started calling me raunchy from then on. Sorry if that was a bit too graphic.

Big guns - Also a X-C nickname, 'nuff said.

Mickey - I served a church mission in El Salvador. While there, Gringos and Latinos alike all seemed to agree that calling me Mickey was so much easier to say than saying my last name. Some would call me Mick or Mick Mick, too.

Teaspoon - For one summer and fall while we lived in Rexburg (as a BYU-Idaho student), I worked as a landscaper up by Driggs, ID, very close to the Wyoming border. Though I wouldn't say I consider myself particularly cut out for that type of work, I worked very hard nonetheless. One day, we were planting a grown tree into a new spot on a ranch, and after placing the tree into a hole, we surrounded the tree with dirt. I was working in an area where there wasn't much dirt. One coworker noticed that I hardly had any dirt on my shovel, and he made sure everyone around knew I was putting a teaspoon of dirt in the ground. So they started calling me teaspoon. All I could do was just laugh it off.

(Back to Melody) Now, wasn't that entertaining?

Secret: I used to eat an entire box of Mac 'n Cheese by myself. Pretty gross, huh?

1-Month Checkup, Reading, and Day 18

"Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere." -Mary Schmich

Today, I took David to his 1-month checkup. I am happy to report that he is a healthy, growing little guy! I had a few concerns, but the doctor made me feel better. For example, David has had this crusty yellow stuff coming from his eyes since he was about a week and a half old, and I was a little worried there was something wrong. Apparently that's pretty normal, and just means that his tear ducts are plugged. He should be completely over it in a couple of months. Hurray! Also, she didn't mention anything about David looking jaundiced at this appointment, so I think he's all good now. That makes me really happy because it worried me for a few weeks.

And now, the information you're anxiously awaiting - the stats:

• He weighs 11 lbs 5 oz, 75th percentile
• He is 22 inches long, 50th percentile, and
• I can't remember his head size or percentile, but I know that it's something like 15 1/2 inches and 30th percentile...

So there's hope that David's head won't be as big as Andrew's! Yay! Haha. Andrew just has a MASSIVE head and always has. :)

On another subject...

As you can probably tell from my quote, I've recently been bit by the reading bug again. I'll go through this reading kick every once in a while, and I think it's back. My sister, Susette, had me borrow a book from her called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I know. It sounds weird. I thought the same thing, and it deterred me from reading it for probably a month. But I got the reading bug, and I still hadn't read the book, so I just sucked it up and gave it a shot.

I loved this book. It was just SO good. I was hooked after the first page. If you want to know what it's about, here is the book description from Barnes & Noble. I highly recommend that you read it.

To continue this reading kick, I went to the library yesterday with Jason, Andrew, and David, and picked out a couple books to read. I went with a book I'd already read:

and one I'd gotten halfway through, but hadn't been able to finish before having to turn it back in to the library last time:

I realized it had been such a long time since I'd been to the library, I didn't even know what kinds of books I wanted to read, only that I wanted to. So I stuck with what I knew, requested a book that I found some time ago and haven't read yet, and decided to check out the library's catalog at a later time so I could figure out what other books I wanted to read.

PLEASE, if you so feel inclined, recommend to me some of your favorite books! I usually stick to teen fiction (because it's so fun!), but I might be up to reading something different. :)

Day 18 - Plans/dreams/goals you have

• live a life my parents, kids, and I can be proud of
• take more chances, because I'm way too comfortable in my comfort zone
• get over my love of unhealthy food
• lose weight so I can be my "healthy BMI" weight - or within 5 lbs of it
• read more books
• enjoy each phase of my childrens' lives
• have more patience
• enjoy life NOW instead of looking forward to some future day "when I'll finally be happy", such as when Jason finishes school for good, when we live in our own house, when we can afford a nice car that's newer than a 2000...
• you know... stuff like that.

Secret: I used to rather eat an apple than a chocolate chip cookie. Now, I just think, "I wish I still felt that way!" Haha.

One Month Already? + Day 17

"Time goes by so fast, people go in and out of your life. You must never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you." -Anonymous

It's amazing how quickly time goes, huh? I try to take advantage of the moments where I can savor how wonderful things are right now, because I know that I'll never get these moments back. And I'll never regret telling the people who mean the most to me too often that I love them. I'd rather do that than look back and wish I had told them more. I hope I've been able to relate that to them this last month.

Well, if you can believe it, it was one month ago today that I gave birth to David! To me, it feels like this past month has flown by - it feels like a blur. It doesn't really feel like a whole lot has changed since we brought him home, but here's a recap of how he's doing.

• I'd give an update of his stats, but we don't go see the doctor again for another week. Bummer. I know he's gotten heavier though because he FEELS heavier. We'll just have to see how much he's grown.
• David is filling out. His fingers and toes aren't so much wrinkly as they are just long and skinny now.
• He wakes up more often now, which is fun. I can tell his personality is probably going to be different than Andrew's because he's so quiet all the time, and is just content to be. Andrew let you know what he was feeling from pretty early on, and he was vocal about it too. I'm looking forward to seeing David start to show that personality more as he stays awake longer and longer.
• He's already gotten sick! I think he has a little bit of a cold that's been going around our house. I can't say I'm too surprised - with Jason being a Spanish medical interpreter and having Andrew as an older brother (he gets into everything!!!), it was bound to happen. Yay for a runny nose and sneezing!

Here's the beautiful boy, wide awake, earlier today:

Notice that he's just as bald as Andrew was? At least David's hair is a little darker so you can tell he really DOES have some!

And here's another cute picture for you to enjoy:

Andrew started refusing to take his afternoon naps a few months ago, the ending of which made me VERY sad. But yesterday and today, he's fallen asleep on the couch of his own free will! It happened rather suddenly too, because he was sitting there talking to me one second and the next second he was out. Wow. I'll take it! And now both of the boys are sleeping peacefully as I write this. This is the first time I've been able to relax while I've been home alone with both boys since David's been born! Hurray!

I'm starting up the 30 Day Challenge again, since it's been long enough since I've last done it!

Day 17 - Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

This is actually pretty hard. When I was younger, I used to wish I was someone else - someone taller, skinnier, prettier, more popular... just because I thought their life would be so much better than mine was. Now that I'm older, I've realized that everyone has their difficulties and struggles, and just because you don't see them doesn't mean they don't exist. Also, because I'm me and not someone else, I'm free to make my own choices the way I want to make them. Who cares if I'm not popular, or the most beautiful person in the world? At least I can be me, and that's all I want.

Here's another quote for you that I found that goes along with that: "There is only one you for all time. Fearlessly be yourself." -Anthony Rapp

Secret: I have a hard time with change. When it comes to making life-altering decisions, sometimes I'll try to go with the one that means the least change just because I find it easier to deal with, even if it may not be the best choice. I wish I was a little bit stronger, bolder, or braver so that I could make the very best decisions for me and my family all the time without fearing how different things will have to be from how they currently are.

Short Update: David's Blessing

"Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week." -Joseph Addison

Being fast Sunday at church, and considering the size of the blessing outfit we have (haha, sad, right?), David was blessed at church today. David slept through it all, the little angel! We took a picture at the end:

The Budge Family :)

Yay!

Secret: Everyone likes Krispy Kreme Donuts... except for me. I know, you're thinking, "How is that possible?" right? I don't know. I just think they're gross. *shrug*

Happy March! and pictures of David!

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!" -Mark Twain

And a few more quotes, because I feel like it:

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush." -Doug Larson

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." -Anne Bradstreet

and...

"Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world." -Virgil A. Craft

(Pictures from google images search for "Spring")

Sorry for the spring-ey quotes. It's been a little bit warmer here the last few days, and I'm starting to feel how seriously I need to break out of this house!

It's the beginning of March!

I can't believe how quickly time is going. I feel like it was yesterday that I was graduating from high school. Sometimes I look at my life, see the numbers the year and my age have become, and wonder where the time has gone. I'm not a teenager anymore? I'm married? I have TWO kids? What? How did all of this happen? Do you ever feel that way?

Anyway, to tell the truth, not a whole lot has changed around here the last few weeks. We've quickly adjusted to having a newborn in the house, and life almost seems "normal" now, or as normal as it can seem when a huge life change has come. David, with the exception of maybe 2 nights, has been an excellent sleeper, and I have high hopes that sometime in the next month or so, he'll be sleeping through the night. (Ok, now that I've jinxed myself...)

Alright, so I lied. Something kinda big has happened. I'm not sure if I told you or not, but Jason has officially narrowed down his masters program search to two schools, both of which he's heard back from and has been accepted to (yay!) - THE Ohio State University, and the University of Texas in Dallas. We're planning on attending the open houses for both schools, which should hopefully help us make our final decision. Ohio State's open house is a week from this Friday, and the Texas open house is on Friday the 25th. Jason and I are attending the one at OSU, but all four of us AND my parents are driving down to Texas so that Jason and I can go to the Texas open house! I'm excited! We'll be getting out of the house, we'll get to explore a new city, we'll be warm... yes, it all sounds very good to me. :)

As another topic of interest, if you haven't looked at my Facebook pictures lately, you should! I'll only post a few of them here because the rest of them are on Facebook, but we had a photo session with a girl from church for David when he was a week and two days old! The pictures are adorable, and if you like them, look up the photographer and book a session with her because she's AWEsome. :) Here's her site: www.ameliaevephotography.com.

Anyway, here are a few of the pictures of my handsome dude:

Cute bear hat!

Little tootsies!

All wrapped up. So THAT'S how he fit in my belly!

I love the hats she had!

A cute little pose!

Ta Daaaaa! Feel free to comment on how cute he is. :) *sigh*

Secret: I'd never eaten a steak before when I had it for the first time the summer Jason and I got engaged. Weird, huh?