Mother's Day Got Me Thinking...

It seems obvious, but isn't it amazing the way becoming a mother makes you appreciate your own mother in a whole new way? And then becoming a mother of a toddler makes you appreciate and suspect super-human powers in your own mother. How did my mom do it?

Reasons I suspect super-human powers in my mother:

1. Mom had terrible pregnancies. My parents laugh and joke about the many times Dad had to support her over the toilet because she didn't even have the energy to throw-up without help. In spite of this, she had six children. I thought that was amazing, but now I'm wondering who could do that while she's got other kids to take care of and a husband who has always worked more hours than should be legal...nobody without special powers...

2. Mom was a nurse and studied dentist-assisting things for a while, but has no high credentials. In spite of that, she is a total genius with people. She reads people like the back of a cereal box and she instinctively adapts her parenting style to the needs of each individual kid. She's always tried to teach us girls to "keep our emotions out of it" and as her kids get married off she makes it her policy to stay out of things. She tells us that she only wants to hear the good things about our husbands, because she wants to keep thinking they are perfect. (The exception is if they are hitting us.) She's too smart for somebody without something super-human going on...

Mom with all her girls except Mer, who was probably off being married and adult-like.

3. Mom is hilarious. I remember when I was about 16 and realized my mom had a personality...an adorable and spunky one. She's very proper and all that, but she's SO cute and funny! I didn't know mom's could be so serious about their job (of motherhood) and yet so fun-loving at the same time. Example: Even though she's really kind and never gossips, she'll say things like, "You girls think you can eat anything you want because you're going to look like me the rest of your lives, but you can't, you don't have my body!" I guess it's not a super-power, but it's great.

Isn't she cute? That's my cardigan she's wearing.

4. ALWAYS right. Mom is right even when she shouldn't be. When I was in school, my mom would watch me walk to the door in flip flops and then say to me, "you'd better put real shoes on, it's going to rain." No matter how gorgeous the weather, no matter what teh meteorologists said, it would then be FORCED to rain. She always did this to me. A more recent example was when Cadence was born the perfect child--she slept when she should, played when she should... calm as ever... and mom said, "Just wait till she turns 18 months-you'll have a little fireball on you." Well, thanks a lot, mom. You did it again. How does she do it? I hope I learn that one as the years go on.

5. Mom is a mom for all. She is so kind and sweet. She doesn't try to be a mom to all. She just makes her home so inviting and comfortable, and is always so welcoming and encouraging, all our friends that have come to visit us, esp. those who came because they were at college and away from their homes, just think of her as their mom-away-from-mom.

6. Mom's house is SO clean and comfortable. How she keeps it that way and does everything else...and she's never had a cleaning lady or any help (other than me, and I am a great vacuumer.)

7. Mom has hearing that would impress the animal kingdom. One time I whispered, ever-so-quietly, so quietly I could barely hear myself, "I know you kissed a boy" to my younger sister who was standing RIGHT next to me. Mom--standing across the kitchen--whipped around and looked shocked... And Mel looked at me like she was going to kill me. All witnesses agree it was impossible... but she heard exactly what I said. This happened often. She could hear us from three stories away in the middle of the night...I promise. Uncanny.

8. Mom is a tireless Grandma. She is great with Cadence and my other nieces. She is helpful in every way, including not being overbearing or trying to tell you everything she already knows. She waits until the right time to give mothering advice, and if it seems that we already have our own system, she keeps it to herself, even if its not the way she would do it. That's hard even for me, and I don't have much under my belt yet!

When Mom came out to help us with newborn Cadence.

Mom, you are amazing. I am trying so hard to give my child(ren) the great childhood and little pearls of wisdom, and good attitude that you and Dad gave to us. It's already harder than you made it seem. I love you.

Mom, I can't be you. Let's move on to April.

Spencer's mom is also super-human. Do you know the pressure of being married to a guy who grew up with a mother who had six boys, one girl, moved every two years--mostly overseas, travelled extensively WITH all of her children and never shied away from ANY adventure? The pressure of being the daughter-in-law of a woman who is trained to be a concert pianist, who took wind-surfing lessons in Puerto Rico when she was 8 months pregnant with her 4th, went bungee-jumping in New Zealand with her ALMOST 12-year-old son? She's climbed Kilimanjaro (when she was old enough for Spencer to be 18). She's flown with seven young children and no husband (she has one, he just was working at the time) from singapore to California multiple times.

Spencer and April climbing ruins in Cambodia.

Oh, and this woman can afford a lot of things, but she is a great bargain hunter, and frugality is a virtue to her...one that she is REALLY good at. That makes being married to her son a little hard sometimes :) (I honestly thought I was frugal...). This is a woman who's calendar is so packed with things that it looks like...uh, it looks extremely overwhelming. I"m not kidding. Her calendar looks like a joke, it's so packed. But she does it....every month! I'm under the pressure of living up to the expectations of a mother who's children know that on the grading scale, "B is for Bad".

Cadence with Ma-maw Clive in a hostel in Mexico.

By the way, she instantly memorizes a phone number as soon as she sees it. She remembers zip codes, too. She knows SO much. Her memory is sharp as a tack (a sharper than average tack), her ability to juggle a million things is super-human, and yet, she is such a sweet woman. Always considerate of others. Always unassuming and never snooty or hoity-toity (she deserves to be). She treats me just like her daughter, and is extremely loving to her grand-daughters. It's a lot of pressure to be married to her son, but THANK GOODNESS to her for raising such an amazing man--in my eyes, the closest thing to perfect that there is. Thanks, Mom. I owe so much to you. In spite of the pressure I feel of living up to your standard (Ne-e-e-ver gonna happen), you've raised a son who is smart enough to know it's impossible...so it's not so bad to be your daughter-in-law.

Mom O and Mom C, I love you both.

Finding a Photographer

An attempt at our own family pictures from a year and a half ago.

I've only done professional pictures of Cadence once, and we went to JC Penney's. After that, I swore I would never pay somebody to steal her soul again. I just felt like I paid them almost 100 bucks to put her on a white sheet and make her look personality-less, which seems impossible. So, I've put it off. But I really should get some pics done of her, and soon. Also, we've never had a family picture professionally taken and I think we should before we have another.
So my question is this: does anybody have recommendations of creative/interesting photographers that wouldn't cost us a billion dollars? I don't know what I'm willing to spend (ok, I'm willing to spend anything, but I'm not sure what I could convince my husband to agree to). I just don't want to come away with a pic that seems like I should have only paid 20 bucks for and shouldn't have spent two weeks preparing for, you know what I mean?

The Bay Area would be best, of course, but we could also do it in Tacoma/Seattle area, or the LA area, depending if there are openings at the times we'll be there.

Thanks!

This One's for You, Daddy.

Yesterday:

This morning:

What are little Clives made of?

(sorry it's sideways. I'm not very "up-tech", as my mom would say.)

Oh the Craftiness of Me!

If you know me, you know that's a joke. Until now.

My last several sewing projects: pillowcase made of John Deere material for a missionary, an Apron that is still 1/2 done, and manly pajama pants that I never even started.

Enter Edda (my fellow weekday-widow, we keep each other company while our husbands work the weeks in Tacoma), who was like, "Oh, Mardee, you should just make your own dress for the Ball!" I searched and searched for a suitable ball gown, but it was much harder finding one that would fit a basketball inside. So, I accepted Edda's challenge, and with her patient direction (she had to help me with EVERYTHING, including what to do with all that tissue paper in the pattern envelope) and with my mom's patient help in finishing, came up with this:

Edda and I at the Ball. Edda also made her own shrug to go over that gorgeous red dress.

I must say that I am very proud of myself. That fabric isn't just an amazing color. It's stretchy and slippy and really thin. Not the easiest stuff to sew with. Yay!

Now, I know you are all wondering about this so-called Ball. Well, it's simply the most premiere event of the year. The Northern California branch of Spencer's company puts on this really extravagant party each spring (I believe it was called the 'Spring Gala'). It's really formal with endless tables of h'ordervouireiruslkdjs (it's a fancy french word for party food) and drinks. After an hour the little LDS crowd is the only thing not drunk in the whole place. Dancing, fine dresses, Spencer in a three-piece suit... it's a dream come true. And this year's took place at the Exploratorium, which is a really fun hands-on science museum in SF.

Mimi and I were pretty proud of smuggling watermelons into the ball.

Also, we had just returned from Elisabeth and Tyler's wedding.

A most beautiful bride and her handsomely deserving prince. What a perfect couple.

Their receptions was also a dreamy evening with old friends, family, dancing, and strawberry shortcake all in one gorgeous greenhouse. Cadence had so much fun being with my family this last week.

BIG NEWS, BIG NEWS!

Okay, first:

Spencer and I were so surprised. We both really thought it was going to be a boy. I asked the lady several times how certain she was. She showed us three different shots of feminitity. Spencer had told me before that he was planning two dates that night, one for each gender. We got in the car and I asked him what we were doing for our date, and he had no idea! He had only planned man-night, assuming that was all he needed to do! It took us about 20 minutes to dare to start telling people. We were just not convinced.... but we are sooo excited. We make 'em cute, so they may as well keep coming!

Cadence loves to dress herself, and her outfits always include special shoes. She is very particular about her fashion. Yay for more girls!

Next:

We found a place in Walnut Creek that is perfect for us. We found it one day, signed the papers, adn moved our stuff in that night. It was crazy, like our life has been. But things are settling down and now at least I know that we'll be here for a while and the baby will be born in Walnut Creek.

AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST:

YAY SPENCER! We heard from University of Chicago TODAY that Spencer has been accepted to their MBA program and that he has received Merit Scholarships for both years. I am sooo proud of him. He has worked really hard to make it a possibility to go to grad school this early in his career and it hasn't been easy. He has really had to make every moment of his last five years count for something so that he could get in to a top school with only two real years of work experience. Having entered his life at about that time, it's really fun for me to see it pay off. Chicago is a great school and they have a very strong reputation in the business world. He is really excited because the school culture and curriculum sounds like it will be the best fit for him. He is also excited because they allow their business students to take classes from anywhere on the whole campus for some of their credits, which means he could take a sociology class, etc. We are both excited because his brother Clifford is attending the school already and we can't wait to live near him and Gina and Reese. Yay!

Spencer and I back in 2003, back when the dream began... We are trying to look so hard core... I feel like the last few months I really learned what hard-core means. Go ahead, life, hit me with your best shot!

This is a huge weight off our shoulders. For the last six months we have been wondering where and what we would be doing with our lives for the next couple of years and now we know. Good job Spencer. I'm the proudest wife there ever was. You are incredible.

A Boy For the Ortons

Some of you may know that in my parents' family, a man-child has not appeared since 1978. 30 years. Since then, 9 girls have come (sisters and nieces and Cadence). Last Wednesday, the curse (some of us didn't mind) was lifted when, appropriately, a son was born to my only brother, McKay. McKay's wife Karalyn had an awful pregnancy, the kind that requires a pic-line, which is an IV that she wore all the time, so that she could be fed several times a week. She was too sick to do much of anything almost every day of her pregnancy. We were all very excited for this pregnancy to end because of that, and because we don't know what a baby boy is like. Yay for little Zavian, who was so excited to be born that his heart was racing way too fast and he was taken to the NICU. We're happy to say that he has since shown great strides and has a healthy, normal heart. Thank goodness. He is so handsome, too. I guess boys aren't so bad. Congratulations to my wonderful brother McKay, who's had to share the heavy load of masculinity with only my father for so many years. And to Karalyn, whose 9 months of carrying the ever heavier load of femininity has come to an end and she finally gets to hold her baby.

Let's see if I can post the pic of how handsome he is:

turns out I can't. I tried, really, I did. I wish I knew how these dumb computer-machines work.

ALOHA OI...

I can't wait until next Fast and Testimony meeting because I have been waiting all my life to get up there and say, "Brothers and Sisters, ALO-O-O-OHA!" Now I finally can. We just got back from our week-long stay on Oahu. We got a great 2-for-1 deal thanks to Matt and Mimi and in the traditions of our fathers (and mothers) found a way to do everything cheaper than you can imagine. So, we loved it. Cadence loved it. Some highlights from the trip:

Our first night there I went into a Subway (sandwhich shop) alone and blacked out. I was able to get myself to the ground first. When I was able to get up, I could hear my arm peeling off the disgusting floor. Not great meatball sandwiches over there. It wasn't a big deal, mostly just embarrassing and gross.

The first few days were spent in Waikiki. If you go on vacation to shop at the same stores you could shop in at home, and you love to go to beaches that are so packed you can't put your towel down, Waikiki is the place for you. Amazingly, only about a mile down from Waikiki beack we found a lovely little beach that had a small number of mostly locals with their young children. If you go, it's called Queen's beach and it was perfect for a little toddler and perfect for me, too. Yay for that beach.

Polynesian Cultural Center: As many of you may know (I did not), the PCC is a cultural theme-park (no rides) run by the church to support a huge percentage of the students at BYU-H. These are students that have been recruited from Asia-Pacific that would otherwise have no way to go to college and they work at the PCC in return for their tuition. It's a pretty rockin' deal. It's a little expensive, but you see why, now. If you go to Hawaii, go. Cadence loved it, and it was a needed break from the beach. You can learn to make coconut milk, learn about Easter Island (it has a real name, but I can't remember) from a native, and have New Zealanders teach you to dance, sing, and throw sticks. Oh, there's tongan drumming, weaving, and spear-chucking, too. All sorts of things. The night show is fantastic. We thought Cadence would go to sleep during it, but she was so intrigued. She still talks about the dancers. Also, we got to visit with my Aunt and Uncle who are service missionaries there.

Yay for gorgeous landscapes and dramatic colors.

Yay for whales. March is whale season in Hawaii. The rest of the year, the humpbacks go back to Alaska. We got to see a "pod" of males trying to out-do eachother in a masculinity contest. Men.

Yay for one whole week of being together as a family! Spencer had the whole week off but he sure did a lot of work. I literally took the week off and he took care of Cadence and me.

This is a pic at the Pearl Harbor USS Arizona Memorial. She loves pockets. Just like her dad.

Yay for cute toes. I wait for years at a time for an excuse to get a pedicure. I stared at them a lot.

Yay for Matt and Mimi, who are great to travel with and who helped me out with Cadence a lot, too.

This is Matt and Mimi and C. and I planting pineapples at the Dole Plantation (above). Yay for pineapple ice cream at the Dole Plantation (below).

Okay, well, we had a blast, and actually didn't take enough pictures, although you should be glad. You've seen enough. Hawaii was awesome and exactly what the family needed at this crazy time in our lives. Yay for Spencer.

ps, we're having our sex-identification ultrasound on Friday. Any guesses or bets should be placed now!