22 Dec
DITL: Conference Weekend Edition
I”m really excited about the idea I had to document Christmas Eve/Christmas Day in a Day In The Life series, and I hope others will join me! Think of it as a way to preserve one very special day in a way you haven’t done before. In our family Christmas changes just a little bit each year, as children are born and leave, relationships build and deteriorate. I want T1 to have an example of what it was like in Washington when he was young.
Previously DITL posts can be found for days when T1 was two months, eights months, a random day in May, a Sunday with my parents in Washington. This DITL I’m going to show you is actually two days, as I thought it would be fun to document what General Conference weekend is like. I normally add in times with my photos, but I’m writing this from Washington and don’t have access to my Lightroom catalog to make that happen.
I woke up early (for me) on Saturday in order to visit the farmer’s market before the first session of conference.
I got back just before the session started and was greeted by this face. Dad got him out of bed, gave him a bottle, and changed his diaper.
As soon as I wlked in the door he rummaged through my bags to find something to eat, settling on an Asian pear. He plopped down on the ground to play his favorite iPad game, Itsy Bitsy Spider.
I unloaded my haul while listening to the first session of conference. Our internet isn’t fast enough to stream the video, so we just listen to the audio. I like doing mindless tasks while I’m listening, because sitting on the couch staring off into space inevitably leads to me daydreaming about all the things I’m going to do once the session is over.
T1 got hungry and so I made kale chips and warmed up soup leftovers.
I finished up the last half of the session with a batch of granola.
After the two hours of conference, I decided to pick up the house.
The before:
Cleaning up T1′s toys seems to remind him how much he likes them. I pick up the top, he wants to play with the top. I pick up the train, he wants to play with the train. One reason why everything takes twice as long with a baby. 
And the after:
The weather was nice so I went for a run.
When I got back, there was just enough time for me to shower and get dressed again before the second two-hour session of conference started.
During this session, I scanned Jenna Cole receipts.
It was not fun, but it was mindless work so I could easily listen.
Right as the session ended, T1 woke up. It was perfect timing.
We snacked on granola fresh out of the oven (well, not so fresh that it hadn’t cooled down yet).
And then we decided to cut his hair. There is something about DITL that just makes us want to cut his hair I guess?
Toward the end he was screaming, throwing himself around, and absolutely miserable. We’re putting off the next haircut for a long time so we don’t have to go through that again.
We attempted to cut the bottom short and leave the top longer. We made a LOT of mistakes, but I actually liked how it looked as it grew out.
Baby herp-derp.
We wrestled him down and got him dressed, as he and I had plans to hang out with some girls from church while That Husband attended priesthood session.
Our parking neighbor, in one of her better parking jobs.
I took this picture to celebrate parallel parking on the left-hand side of the street, in a small space for my car, in one try. Look what city life has done for me!
Getting together with the girls while the guys have their own session is something that happens twice a year for Mormon women. Most either go out to eat or meet in big groups to gab and share baked goods.
We got home pretty late, had a drink, spent some time digging in the trash, changed another diaper, and went to bed.
Next morning I woke up early (for me) again to make a tomato+egg dish for the conference brunch we had been invited to.
I prepped the bottle and got a loaf of bread in the breadmaker.
T1 woke up happy, hooray! This isn’t always the case.
While I cooked and prepped he ate his breakfast (more yogurt and granola), played, and generally enjoyed himself.
It was fun, until it wasn’t fun anymore. Time for another nap
I quietly finished up the tomato dish and we decided That Husband would stay home while I went to our brunch party so T1 could continue to sleep.
Not everyone dresses up for watching conference at home, but I like wearing dresses (actually, I’m not going anywhere today and I’m wearing a skirt right now).
Baked eggs in tomato Parmesan sauce. Recipe here. Make it, everyone loved it.
When I got back, T1 was still sleeping, so I decided to take a nap too.
That Husband brings T1 to wake me up like this quite often in the morning, and it’s my favorite. Now that he’s a little older he points and lets us know he wants to snuggle down under the covers with us.
Baby panties from Poland.
I cleaned the kitchen while listening to the second session of the day, last of the weekend.
The boys played.
I tried to read my scriptures, which usually looks like this (baby crawling all over me wanting to play a game on the iPad).
Sundays are always good family time because we try to avoid any secular media (tv, movies, music) and though we aren’t perfect we try to limit our internet time too. T1 likes it because he gets to be with daddy the WHOLE DAY.
His eyes started to droop, so we led him toward the bath, let him play…
and put him to sleep. As usual, I finished off my night frantically trying to write posts, answer emails, attend to Jenna Cole, and other computer stuff before That Husband took my hand and let me know it was time to tuck it in for the night. I always resist, but he’s right. It will all be there waiting for me tomorrow.
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
Just a question… I’m not being a harpy, and I hope I don’t get flamed for this since it’s the first comment…
But how long do you think you’ll let P have the bottle? I know all kids are different and develop at their own rate, but with our kids being so close I can’t help but compare them. Dot dropped the bottle months ago and we’re working on potty training. (For us, cold turkey was the way to go with the bottle. Easy peezy.)
I know this post is old, because you said the therapist told you ditching the bottle would help with P’s development… I’m just wondering how things have gone on that front.
Reply
Lisa Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:33 am
I’m pretty sure T1 is already off the bottle, but hopefully Jenna will chime in with confirmation. I’m wondering when this was because it seems like she’s wearing clothes for slightly warmer weather.
Reply
Chelsea McGowan Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:37 am
I figured that might be the case, but since she hasn’t explicitly said that it’s something they’d conquered, I wanted to check. This DITL is definitely from a while ago… just not sure how long as I’m not LDS and have no idea when conference weekend is.
Reply
Jenna Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:19 am
Cold turkey worked best for us as well. I weaned him the beginning of November I think? Conference is the first week of October. By now, his hair is as long as it was in these pictures before we cut it!
Reply
I’m definitely in for the DITL Christmas Eve + Christmas Day. So excited.
Reply
2Love it. It’s fascinating to see how others go about their day. I might try to do the DITL for Christmas Eve and Christmas day since we’re going to London to spend Christmas with his family plus I have a feeling we might be engaged by the end of Christmas Day.
Reply
Jenna Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:20 am
How exciting about the possible engagement!
Reply
Danielle Reply:
December 24th, 2011 at 11:54 am
How lovely! We got engaged on Christmas day last year. It’s such a sweet memory to have always attached to the holiday.
Reply
Hehe, baby herp derp. Those photos are too cute.
Also, parallel parking high five! That’s a winner! I have a Jeep and pride myself on the small size of the spaces I can squeeze into. It’s really quite an art.
Reply
4My favorite photos is the mini strip of you making funny faces!
Also, I think that turning down the technology on Sundays is great. We don’t do the internet while the kids are home/awake during the week day (5:00pm-7:30pm) and it’s really improved our family time and closeness.
Reply
5I’m going to attempt to do DITL for Christmas! Should be interesting since we’ll be with my family for Christmas Eve and his Christmas Day.
I can’t help it, I just love T1′s hair before it’s cut! Haha. Obviously, he not mine and I don’t have to deal with it, but I just love it. Also love the pics of you making faces. You’re so adorable!
Reply
6Ok, I just have to say that I am seriously impressed by your parallel parking! In Florida, you don’t have to parallel park as a part of the driving test…and somehow no one ever taught me how to do it. I am TERRIFIED of ever having to do it. That…and changing a tire. I don’t know how to do that either…
Reply
Grace Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:53 pm
I’m impressed too. I am a terrible parker (I even have to go back and forth when parking in pull in spaces sometimes). Katie, my dad taught me how to change a tire but I promptly forgot. Last time I got a flat tire I had to call roadside assistance!
Reply
I love that periwinkle dress, and good job on the parking! Isn’t it a rush? I totally took a picture of my tightest parking squeeze in Chicago too.
Reply
8You are so productive! I usually spend at least 2 hours/day in free time because otherwise I get tired and grumpy. I am in awe of people like you (and my mom) who can just keep powering along on their to do list.
Reply
Jenna Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 3:42 pm
My business-man husband has converted me into a believer is the best way to feel relaxed is to get EVERYTHING on your to-do list done. Which actually never happens so…
Haha.
This weekend did have more socializing than usual. We don’t usually run around spending so much time with different groups of people.
Reply
Please don’t microwave bottles. It can create hot spots in the liquid and it also destroys the majority of the nutrients in the milk or formula.
Reply
Jenna Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Could we warm it up on the stove? Or you think all milk should be cold?
Reply
Sarah Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 4:05 pm
I don’t know about zapping out any nutrients, but microwaving food or drink can cause hot spots in the contents. I’m assuming you shake or swirl the bottle before you give it to him, so it should be a non-issue for you. If you warm it up on the stove then it heats evenly. That said, we’ve given our son milk straight from the fridge to his bottle (even when we switched from room temperature formula to whole milk) and he never once had an issue with the temperature.
Reply
Grace Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 5:39 pm
My daughter refuses to drink cold milk, so I have to warm it. I just put in under the tap running hot water though: it warms it up nicely in a few minutes, and then you don’t have to worry about hot spots (or weird chemicals leaching into the milk from the plastic, etc.). Using the stove seemed like too much work to me but I am kind of lazy.
Reply
Sam Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 5:39 pm
I was taught to warm a bottle up by putting in a pot of simmering water (not a full pot, just so that it comes up about halfway on the bottle). Wait till the bottle feels warm, then test milk on the inner part of the wrist (supposedly more sensitive?) to make sure not too hot. Granted that was from years ago as a babysitter, so might be outdated stuff now.
Reply
Aithnea Micheals Reply:
December 23rd, 2011 at 1:04 am
The hospital where I had Boo had us make some boiling water in kettle (like you would for tea), pour it into a mug, then pop the bottle in it to heat it. Just make sure to check the bottle often to make sure you don’t over heat it.
Reply
Danielle Reply:
December 24th, 2011 at 11:58 am
Warming it up on the stove won’t damage the nutrients, assuming you only warm it, not get it hot or boiling. I’m a fan of setting it in a mug of hot water (even tap hot works, though you might have to add more) like Aithnea.
But yes, the microwaves damage the nutrients.
Reply
I took a picture of an *awesome* parallel parking job once & sent it to my husband - funny
T1 is so cute! I need to see him (& you!)
Reply
11Gorgeous photos!
Reply
12That egg dish looks fantastic! I looked at the recipe, it looks like you modified it with baked fresh tomatoes instead of canned? Any suggestions on doing that? Thanks!
Reply
Jenna Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 7:47 pm
It was a bit runnier than I think Martha intended it? But I roasted the tomatoes until they were tender (like you see in the picture). Then I chopped at them with scissors, stirred in the spices and such, cracked the eggs on the top, sprinkled the cheese on top, and baked it.
Reply
Great! Thanks Jenna. May try it with a good quality canned now since tomatoes are out of season and then fresh come summer.
Reply
14That top looks cool…do you know what brand it is? I think my little guy would like it!
Reply
Jenna Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:42 pm
It’s from Poland. So no idea where to get a similar one!
Reply
Day in the life posts are so much fun! And I am ALWAYS a fan of posts with a billion photos of T1 - he is so adorable!
Reply
16This is neat. Your conference weekend is so much busier and social than mine ever are.
Reply
17