Friday, June 26, 2009

Fail Blog - Phil's first fathers day

Let me preface this by reminding you that this is the first Father's Day that I am responsible for as a mother. I bought Phil a card three weeks early, thinking that I was really ahead of the game. Then Saturday before Father's Day, I thought about how cute it would be for Jacob to make him a homemade mug. Phil was out of town, so it was easy to sneak down to the old Color Me Mine. It was eerily quiet for a Saturday before Father's Day. Wouldn't every good mother be having her children creating thoughtful and personal items for their fathers? So we made a great mug...and found out that it would not be fired and done until Tuesday. After 6 pm. Apparently other mothers have done this before. I don't know why I didn't think about that - I took art in high school. The urgency of writing in the card was lost in the fact that his present was already going to be late. So I forgot. Eventually, on Wednesday night, I brought down a beautifully wrapped present and a hastily written note. Happy Father's Day Phil. We tried.





It's Sounders colors. Obviously.






Phil picked out this mobile many months before Jacob was born. I wasn't sure if he would like it or not, but it is by far his favorite toy. He just lights up with smiles when I turn it on. Good job dad.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Breakthrough!

Yesterday Jacob slept for a two hour nap! Hey, it's a big deal to me. This is from the baby who sleeps for 45 minutes at a time if I am lucky. I kept checking on him over and over again just because I could not believe my luck. It sure makes the afternoons at work go a lot smoother. Instead of having a crying baby and three kids, I just have three kids. Posh, that's EASY. But I am not sure if it was a trend or a fluke, because today I took the kids to the Children's Museum in Seattle. So Jacob fell asleep on and off in my arms/baby carrier/stroller all day. But it was a really fun day overall. I had no idea Seattle Center was so cool! So for all of you who are coming to visit me this summer, I have another "tourist spot" under my belt to show you. Anyways, I hope that his naps just get longer and longer as he gets older.

I made a bagel for dinner today and I burned it a little in the toaster. "Not to worry," I told myself. "I will just scrape off the burnt part." And as I scraped the black off, I had this overwhelming memory of doing that again and again and again during my childhood. Back me up Irvin siblings - did we burn toast and bagels all the time, or is it just me? Why didn't we simply adjust our toaster setting?

In the car I have been listening to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It's a really good way to spend all of the hours that I am in the car during the day. I'm so excited for the movie to come out, but a little scared. It's a scary book and I just don't like seeing scary things. I know, it's a kids' book. Lay off me. But one unforseen side effect of this is that I now narrate my whole day in my head in an English accent (I think it's actually Dumbledore's voice). And I start using fancy words too. I wish I actually talked like that. Last night I rocked Jacob to sleep in his room, and when he was done, this is that I thought in my head. Honest to goodness, as best as I can remember.

"She rose slowly, careful not to disrupt the deep slumber into which she had lulled her son. He twitched as she placed him in his crib, but then settled back into peaceful, rhythmic breathing. She watched him for a minute or so, in awe of how much she loved him, and how much she just wanted to pick him back up and hold him. As she left the room, crossing the small landing into her own, she realized how much she missed her husband. The bed looked cold and uninviting, but after the day she had, any place to rest her head was welcome."

Oh yeah, remember that's all in Dumbledore's voice. And I do it ALL DAY LONG. Maybe it has less to do with listening to the book and more to do with being lonely! I do miss Phil though. I hope Saturday comes soon. Here are the promised pictures of Jacob!



Jacob is loved much by his Arnold "brothers and sister"!



Such hip pants. Thank you Aunt Sarah! Oh yeah, one sock.


He loves bath time! At least he doesn't cry. I count that as love.
















This picture is because some people (Aunt Shelley) do not believe that Jacob cries. He cries. Not very often, but when I withold food from him to get a picture of him crying.



Jacob wearing Megan's glasses. A glimpse into his future?





































Monday, June 15, 2009

Sounders 1, Emily's diet plan 0

The Sounders won on Saturday! Finally. It was a great game to go see. Megan Gunnels, one of our youth, babysat Jacob and Phil and I got a real date! She did make fun of us, however, because when we got home, we watched the game replay on TV. It's a totally different angle, I told her. Plus I was in the bathroom for one of the goals. Go Sounders!! On Saturday I also ate a Swiss cake roll. Why? Because it was in the fridge and I am trying to be diligent about cleaning out the fridge before I go grocery shopping. It didn't even taste good; it tasted like fridge. I would like to thank my parents for making me so efficient.
Phil left yesterday for Kansas. I had a nice night at home working on projects. Which means I started cleaning out a bunch of cabinets, but ran out of steam and left stuff all over the ground. Then I started writing thank you notes and watching "The real housewives of New Jersey." But only for an hour! I really am not a horrible person. One of the wives has a hairless cat named Grandma Wrinkles. Laughing at that was worth watching the show. Tonight maybe I will get some things back in their places.
I think I will start a section of this blog called "The South will rise again...in Emily" and write things I do that are randomly Southern and/or just white trash. Every once in awhile I will catch myself saying something, and it seems worth telling everyone. Last night, for example, the sheets were all tangled up and as I was trying to figure them out, I said out loud, "What in tarnation?" Then I realized what I said and looked around to make sure noone had heard. Ha ha! This is on the heels of last week when I said "Where did my razor get to?" as Phil and I were unpacking from California.
Well, I have sufficiently bored myself with the recollections of my weekend. New pictures of Jacob coming soon, so come back!

Thursday, June 11, 2009


Inspired by my sister Jennie, I have decided to start a family blog. Also, having our first child may have something to do with it. There are a lot more people who care about us now that Jacob is around. Or at least they are more inclined to check the blog to see if I have new pictures of Jacob :)


Phil is officially back into the swing of things at church. He took on some extra hours doing graphics and the church website, and did a great job as always. However, I think he is really excited to hand it off and have more time at home. Which is an ironic thing to say, because he leaves this Sunday for a week-long camp in Kansas, comes home on Saturday, and leaves on Monday for a week in Portland. Oh, and then we leave for L.A. over the July 4th weekend for a leadership conference. Did I say he would have MORE time at home? Hmmm...

I also went back to work, although it was only this past Monday. It is hard. There is no other way to say it. Jacob doesn't sleep well during the day, so not only do I have him up most of the time, I have him up and crying. (He's crying, not me. Not yet.) So my stress and irritation levels have been off the charts, but I think I am doing a good job of not showing it to the kids. You can ask them though, they may say something different. I just keep telling myself it will only get easier - Jacob will get older and more routine, and the kids will eventually go back to school! But the Arnolds are being complete angels. I have no complaints there. In fact, Spencer made some "rules" yesterday for when Jacob is trying to sleep. He suggested we do, "No screaming, no yelling, no rolling cars on the floor, no stomping, and no fighting." I, in turn, suggested we never fight, but he disagreed.

Jacob is ten weeks old today. It has gone by as quickly as everyone said it would.
Top three things about Jacob right now - 1. When he smiles, it is the most amazing thing ever. - 2. When he sleeps at night, he is like a rock. He may wake up to eat, but it only takes about ten minutes and then it's back to bed. - 3. When he wakes up for the day, he stretches forever. He arches his back and reaches his little fists all the way up over his head and just S T R E T C H E S! So cute; I will get it on video one of these days.
Worst three things - 1. He does not nap. He just won't do it. The longest stretch he goes has been three hours....oh wait, that's when I sleep with him. And I don't have that luxury very often. Without me, in his crib? I'm lucky if I get 20 minutes. So then he's tired all day, and I feel like I am constantly putting him down for a nap. - 2. He has started to find his eyes to rub, but he is not good enough at it to control his hands, so we have a lot of self-inflicted punches to the face lately. - 3. He always loses just one sock. Our one sock wonder.

So check back often, hopefully I will be diligent about this. You know, because so many exciting things happen in our life. We love you! And I do know how creepy my hand looks in the above picture.