MIA

Well friends, it has been a while... I have not had a whole lot to talk about, thus the long absence. Things have been pretty routine and uneventful over the past few weeks. David is in full swing with classes and boards prep. School is keeping him amazingly busy - he spends at least 14 hours a day on campus. Lex and I spend a good deal of our time sitting on the floor staring at each other. Personally, I think she's getting the short end, of an already depressingly small, stick.

I have been trying very hard to find blog inspiration from our day to day activities, but sadly nothing has caused a spark. Even today, I tried to write about the proud grandpa I met while jogging. All I wanted to do was finish jogging, but before I knew what happened he had sucked me into his web. In a brief time, which actually felt excruciatingly long, I had learned about his daughter and her new baby, where they lived, how much he enjoys having his kids live at home, how beautiful he thinks Cali is, and he even made me promise to talk to his daughter if I saw her out walking. Great... now not only do I have to worry about breathing while I exercise, I also have to carry around a sign saying "If you are Sara Potter Singer, we can be friends. Let's chat!"

After, not being able to write about Mr. discrete, I tried to think of funny home stories to share. The only thing that came to mind was David's fhe lesson of 'how to properly administer an oral exam'. Admit it, never thought of trying this before, huh? That's right, I learned all I ever need know about what to look for while peering into someone elses mouth. You may be thinking that is something not incredibly useful. But, I feel much more confident that if I were ever the first on the scene of an accident, I would be better prepared to offer assistance than the average Joe. Most people only know to check the ABC's (airway, breathing, and circulation); however, I now know to check ABCD - airway, breathing, circulation, and dental. A whole other letter has to say something...

There you have it, my inspiration-less life. Have no fear, I will continue to be vigilant in seeking something that will be both entertaining and educational. I tell you what, I seemed to have much more material when David was around... I don't know what happened...

6 Months. Yipee!!

Today Alexis turns 6 months old! Some days it is hard for me to believe that 6 months ago I didn't have a baby - other days, it's not so hard to imagine. To celebrate this milestone, I have been thinking about what a personal ad for her would include. This is what I have come up with:


SWI (Single White Infant) seeking attention. Very attached to parents, still living at home. Think bald is beautiful. Love long walks to the beach, and lunch on the beach (must eat every two hours). Love long baths - soap is optional, toys are required. Love morning, afternoon, and midafternoon naps - currently cry myself to sleep, but getting better. Have a lot to say, but not a big talker. Excellent oral hygiene is a must - don't have teeth of my own, but appreciate others'. Not afraid to get my hands dirty. Don't go anywhere on my own - must be willing to carry me. Love rolling and spinning on the floor. Very health conscious - only eat organic. Hate being forced to eat anything not straight from the source. Taller than 25 inches need not respond.



I am sure there is more that would be included, but that's the best I can do for now. Lex is doing great. As is plainly apparent, she is the center of our attention. She goes to the pediatrician next week for her 6 month checkup and shots - and, he can once again tell me that she is underweight.

She is getting ready to expand her horizons, everyday she gets closer and closer to crawling. Currently, she is in the frustration phase, where she lays on her stomach pumping her legs whining that nothing is happening. As she pushes herself backwards and sideways, it's pretty obvious she'll catch on pretty quick - then watch out!

Her vocabulary is also expanding. We are able to make out a few 'dah dah' and 'ma ma's. David will argue till he's blue in the face that her first word was dah dah... however, I am quite convinced she was actually trying to name her favorite stuffed animal - dah dah duck! There is no way that I am going to be the parasite's host for 6 months and not at least get the first word!

Life's Work

Well friends, I think that I may have stumbled upon my calling in life. No, no, no, not motherhood - let's be real, there isn't really a way to just stumble upon that.
Anyhoo, over the past few weeks, I have been stimulating my neurons with the all the treasures that the Food Network has to offer. And, on numerous occasions as Bobby Flay is throwing down, a food blogger is named as one of the guest judges. Frankly, I don't know why I didn't see it sooner... brilliance I tell you, absolute brilliance.

I'm not quite sure how one gets into the profession of food blogging, or who I need to send my resume to, but here's what I've got:

Jennifer "the food blogger" Feller (clever huh? and catchy, right?)

Statement of intent: I intend to make eating my life's work. I would like the opportunity to share my life's work (above) with all humanity through the creative genius of blogger.

Qualifications: 1-I eat food eat. 2-I love food: especially food I don't actually have to make. 3-I know that a blog is not a reflex brought on by eating contaminated food. 4-I have a blog.

Previous Experience: 1981-present, pretty much constant eating.

References: available upon request (simply put, there are way too many people that know my eating habits, to list them individually).

So, there we have it! I am pretty psyched to realize that there is a place for me in the world after all. Tho, I am tempted to call BYU and see if I can get a refund, since it's pretty unlikely I'm going to need my degree... who could have foreseen this twist of fate?

Couch Potato

So, I vowed that I would never be the parent that uses the TV as a babysitter for their kids. In fact, when David and I were dating we had this conversation and both agreed that we would not be those parents.

However, as I sit Lexi in front of her baby Einstein video and find that she is not only occupied, but also entertained, I am having trouble passing up the opportunity to get things done while her attention is focused else where. The video is a compilation of animals, moving toys, and babies - and Lex loves watching it. She especially loves watching the kids, and laughs along with them.

You may notice that she is sitting up on her own. I can't believe how big she is getting. David remarked the other day that she is becoming very independent; and I countered that soon enough she'll grow right out of us, and not need us. David very astutely asked how old I was when I grew out of my parents and didn't need them anymore. My first instinct was "oh crap! She is always going to need me?!?" I do look forward to having a relationship with Lex like I have with my Mom - being a mom may be thankless and an eternal position, but as I watch her every day, I wouldn't have things any other way.

You're It!

I was recently tagged by my SIL Kim, so here we have it… the deep dark secrets...What I was doing 10 years ago: the magical year of 1998 found me as a sophomore in High School. I had just learned to drive a stick shift by driving my parents’ car into a brick wall in the front of the house. Thus, I was actually dreading getting my driver’s license instead of chomping at the bit. I was a bookworm and spent Friday and Saturday nights at home with the family – every little girl’s dream - pretty glamorous.

Five things on my to-do list: Pay the electric bill. Work out Lexi’s medical reports and insurance issues. Wash the walls (this has actually been on the to-do list for quite some time. Good intention + No motivation = my house). Grocery shopping (I found this morning, cereal is real hard to eat when there is no milk). And, shower (yup, I actually have to put it on my list, or it doesn’t get done).

If I were a billionaire I would: I would pay off David’s student loans. And, I’d invest the $20 bucks left over as our retirement nest egg.

Bad habits: Procrastination… If I can make myself start something, I am usually pretty good about seeing it through, but it’s that whole getting started thing that really turns me off.

Afternoon naps… I LOVE naps! David is not so much a napper, so I tend to leave my naps out of my detailed answer to his nightly question of “what did you do today?”

I also am terrible at making the bed… just combine the two above answers and it all makes sense.

Finally, I eat a ton of salt… weird I know, but poor David has to live with always trying to pretend his extremely over salted food tastes good.

Five places I've lived: I grew up in Ogden, and lived there till college. I moved the grueling 75 miles to Provo where I lived (or as I tend to describe it ‘where I barely managed to survive’) until my mission. I lived in Kirtland, OH and the immediate surrounding cities for the duration of my 18 months. After returning to the place that shall not be named for about a year and a half, I moved to LA, where I can now be found sipping smoothies by the ocean.

And, there you have it; my life in a pathetically small nut shell. What does it mean when I can only come up with four places?

Five jobs I've had: My first job was as part of a cleaning staff – we weren’t allowed to be paid cause of the paper trail it would cause, but Mom and Dad let us have room and board.

I also worked in a teeny tiny movie theater – free popcorn and movies!

I was a grocery bagger/grocery checker at Macey’s in Ogden (with a short stint as a night stocker – it takes a very special person to work straight through the night).

I have worked as a bank teller, MTC teacher, and receptionist/assistant in both Orthodontic and Oral Surgery clinics.

Currently, I am pursuing my most difficult career yet as a stay-at-home mom... Who knew a little human could be SO much work?!?!

Happy Mother's Day

As I was contemplating the importance of Mothers, I decided to write a poem... because, everyone knows that the only way to truly and eloquently express feelings is through a poem.

I have to tell you though, poems are a lot harder than they look... the past 30 seconds of pondering and writing have been excruciating! Having thus burned more brain cells than I can spare in the course of my short career as a poet, I have decided instead to steal someone else’s poem.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!!

The Lanyard
Billy Collins

The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

Confessions of a New Mom

We have all heard the idea that it takes a village to raise a child. When I heard this thought as a teenager, after much inspection and analysis of my parents, I came to believe it was in fact true. Look at how I (and the brothers, of course) turned out; come on - my parents are good, but nobody is that good!

As I am now faced with raising my own little mini-me, I am grateful for the realization that I am not alone and have the help of the village. However, I am also realizing that apparently everyone has an opinion about my parenting! Yah yah yah, I know the whole ancient Chinese parable thing… but, don’t I at least get some say as to who parks their trailer in my village?!?

Crazy meat lady at Albertsons; who thinks Lexi needs to wear a hat 24/7 – sorry, no through traffic! Grumpy, forced into retirement, jogger man; who feels the sun is too bright for me to be out with a baby – Keep moving, we’re full here, NO room in the Inn! Asian grandpa at the apartment playground (and, don’t even get me started on the definition of Graduate STUDENT Family housing) that doesn’t speak English; who feels it’s his right to scoop Lex up and walk her around – Papers please, let me see some identification!

From now on, there are going to be thorough background checks and intensive interview. My daughter may need all the help she can get, but I will have some control – even if I have to get Stepford about the whole thing! I am putting my foot down and sealing the borders… the village is full.

Who Am I?

Take the Quiz here!

For our anniversary, David got me the complete set of Jane Austin. I’ve decided to start with Northanger Abbey; or as David calls it, the controversial one. I’m not sure where he got the idea that it’s controversial, but now I am REALLY looking forward to reading it. I hope it lives up to it’s reputation! And, yet again David is caught shaking his head muttering, “that was not supposed to make you want to read it more…”

One thing that I love about the books already is that there are famous/memorable quotes from the story printed on the opening pages. I truly wish I had known about these back in the days of book reports. I can’t tell you how many hours were wasted flipping through books skimming paragraphs to see if anything sounded important enough to be included in my paper. This would have saved SO much time!

Here are a couple of my favorite quotables thus far from the Abbey:

Provided that nothing like useful knowledge could be gained from them, provided they were all story and no reflection, she had never any objection to books at all.

The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.

A woman especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.

Miss Morland, no one can think more highly of the understanding of women that I do. In my opinion, nature has given them so much, that they never find it necessary to use more than half.

Special Delivery

So, David got a game expansion of Settlers of Cataan for his birthday, and Lexi was way more excited about the packaging rather than the package. Through some twisted logic I decided it would be fun for her to play in the box with the styrofoam peanuts.

I failed to factor her overwhelming desire to eat the peanuts in the equation... won't make that mistake again... maybe.

The Deep End

I was commenting to Mom a few weeks back that I feel very unproductive at home all day, and she encouraged me to get involved in classes and groups in the community. I was fairly proud of all the excuses I was able to fabricate right on the spot – still haven’t lost my touch! Just because I feel unproductive does not mean that I want to hassle with actually leaving the house! Mom can usually catch me in my snares, but I was very confident she couldn’t argue with my secret weapon… Alexis.

So, I played my card, and…. sure enough, Mom had an answer for that too. It must be an extra gene that mothers develop to have an answer for everything. What was the solution? Find a class that involves Alexis; (sigh) didn’t see that one coming – blast.

So, I made a few calls. Karate and Yoga said the flexibility to touch your toes was a plus, but anyone who sucked on them during class would be asked to leave. The sewing class made some big deal about the importance for participants understanding they were actually responsible for their arms and fingers moving. The book club got very offended when I asked whether it would be a problem we liked to chew on the edges. And, the cooking class said there really isn’t much more we can do with milk.

The only other option to consider was a Mom and Tot swimming class. After a little research, I discovered that Lexi is a bit too young for any of the formal classes, they start at about 6 months old. However, I refused to come away from this ordeal empty handed, so Alexis and I started our own swimming class. Yup, every day after our morning nap, we put on our swim suits and fill up the tub. I want her not only to be prepared for a pool, but also the beach. So, we are very careful not to leave any food out for the seagulls, we struggle with the sand (having a dirty house is not neglectful, it’s a teaching experience), and we make sure to wear our sun protection. My nose is always getting burned, so I’m exposing Lex to zinc oxide… however, since no real person keeps zinc oxide on hand we had to get creative… let’s just say that desitin is multifunctional…

Sad To Say Goodbye

We were all sad when it came time to for Mom and Dad to return to reality. I think that Alexis definitely felt that something was happening - clever, clever kid. The morning before going to the airport, all Lex wanted to do was cuddle with Grandma. I was more than a little jealous, since she is NOT a cuddler.

Oh, the power of grandparents... I have a feeling this is just the beginning... and, Lex is no idiot, I believe the saying is "wrapped around her little finger"... master manipulator at such a young age!

Bad Combination

The day before Mom flew home, we decided to have a picnic at the beach and soak in as much sun as possible. So, we packed up Lex and smothered her in sunscreen. Picked up some California rolls - to eat on the California beach, in the California sun - and ventured for the final time to the Venice freak show. It was a beautiful day, and after finishing lunch we decided to walk on the board walk. Before we started our walked, we lathered Lex one more time, so she wouldn’t get the sun burn both mom and I were trying for. I know, I know, why protect her and not ourselves? There is lots of psychotherapy needed I tell you.

Anyway, we had a great time walking and watching people. We passed a Muppet movie being filmed, and most people on the set were more entertained by Lex’s child backpack contraption, than the actual filming. If that was my 15 minutes of fame, I think I want a refund. We walked for about an hour and a half before I looked down and realized I was not wearing my wedding ring. I think that my heart literally stopped, and when it started, it was beating about 5 times faster than normal. I had taken my ring off to put sunscreen on Lex – it’s true, already blaming the one person who can’t defend herself – and forgot to pick it up off the towel after finishing. We raced back to where we had eaten, but even at our light speed pace it took twenty minutes to get there. The whole time my thoughts were alternating between “I believe in miracles”, and “how on earth am I going to find a ring on the beach!?” I think at multiple points I promised I’d give up just about everything if I could just find my ring…

We finally made it back and thankfully some of the same people where still around so we had an idea where to look. I can honestly say that a miracle happened, when I walked to where we had been sitting, looked down and saw my ring half buried in the sand. I can laugh and make light of most things – too many things probably – but I still can’t laugh about this. If there had been wind moving the sand, if someone had stepped on it on their way to the water, if someone had even picked it up…

The moral of the story, as Mom made very clear, is: Don’t put sunscreen on the baby! (or something to do with not wearing my ring to beach…)

New Project

Last Saturday Mom, David, and I decided to go for a walk so that Dad could have a quiet house in which to overcome his jetlag. It was a beautiful day, and we all enjoyed starting the morning off outside. As we were walking, we passed a couple garage sales, and commented on never wanting to pass up a bargain. As with most garage sales, we didn’t find much of anything but junk. That whole “one man’s trash is another’s treasure”… nope, sometimes there is just no disguising trash.

Anyway, as we continued on our way, we passed someone’s actual trash, and fell in love with this table and chairs. I was so worried that someone else would walk past and snag them that David ‘volunteered’ to run all the way home, get the car, and race back to claim the set. It definitely needs a little work. The paint is peeling, and the back of the chairs need to be glued down, but I just couldn’t walk away from FREE. It looks awesome in Lexi’s room, and will be the perfect size for her as she gets bigger.

When we arrived home, with our treasures in tow, the only thing that Dad commented on was how happy he was to be at my house were the treasures will stay. Apparently, coming home with odds and ends is something Mom has done more than once.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Daddy! Word on the street is that my father is turning 32 today... I tried to follow the logic and do the math for myself, but it was far beyond my understanding.

There is much that I owe to my father: migraines, bad knees, antisocial personality, and of course stunning good looks - - just to name a few. It would be impossible to sum up all that Dad is and does in a single paragraph, but we are so happy to be part of his family! Thank you for always being there for us... we look forward to the day we can return the favor; we've gotten a head start at looking into nice homes for you.

Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you, and wish we could be there to celebrate and share in the feast...

Milk Before Meat

We have officially started Lexi on solid foods. She is not really a fan yet, but who can blame her when all she gets is powdered rice? I'm sure once we introduce the chocolate she'll be a believer.

By the time we finish - and by finish, I mean give up - she has more cereal on her face than actually in her stomach. She is not sure how to feel about the spoon. Every time I put the spoon in her mouth her face gets contorted and her whole body convulses... if it weren't SO entertaining, I would probably feel bad.