Jenny's Hair

This is the most you will see of Jenny's hair . . . until I can snap a cleaner picture.

I think it looks great.

(By the way, today is Jenny's birthday.

She's 32.)

I am NOT 32!!!

The World's Best Mother

Let's get it out of the way right now: Words cannot describe how amazing of a mother Jennifer is.

But I'm going to try anyway.

Somehow Jenny was born with an innate sense of motherhood. I recognized it almost the first time I met her. I've made a lot of poor decisions in my life, but the moment I sensed her potential, I was hooked, and moved in for the kill. At that point in my life I wasn't very interested in marriage, but Jennifer was too good to pass up.

So what makes Jennifer so awesome? Again, words can't really describe (or more appropriately, MY words). But here' s a brief list:

1) Patience. She never seems to get frustrated with the children. Often the kids will commit the same kid-sins over and over, but she refuses to resort to a violent response.

2) Perspective. She knows she is nurturing future leaders. She explains things rather than just offering quick answers. She makes sure the kids understand principles. Everyday she tries to make the kids better people.

3) Continuing Education. She always includes in her robust reading schedule books addressing the latest issues in child-rearing.

4) Intelligent. She is so well-rounded. She reads so much, and she is able to offer her knowledge to our children.

5) Energetic. I don't know how she does it, but each day she has structured pre-school lessons for Madison. She gives Logan piano lessons. She manages Grant, which is a full time job. She takes them to Library programs, to community events, to the playground. She gets up early each day, and each day has a purpose.

6) Attentive. It's the little things like braiding Madison's hair, or making sure Logan has a complete lunch or that he does his homework. These are things that dads might forget, or slack on. But not her. She covers all the details.

7) Loving. Perhaps most importantly, Jenny's focus is on her children at all times of the day. Sometimes I like peace and quiet. I'm sure Jenny does, too, but she sets that desire aside to be with the children. She wants them to know at all times that their mother is there and available.

I certainly married up. There was never any question in my mind that Jenny would be a remarkable mother. So it's good to see that at least I'm right about ONE thing.

Jenny, you're awesome!

A Woman Scorned?

In 1697 William Congreve insisted that "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Evidently, Mr. Congreve's wife never got a haircut she hated.

This morning, that's what Jenn got.

advice needed:

It's been a while since I've gotten my hair cut--I think I'm going to get it cut and call it my mother's day present. Here is my hair history:

• 6th grade: asked my mom to cut it short and perm it. Boys at school called me bald eagle. My boyfriend (haha--I was 11) dumped me. I swore I'd never have short hair again.
• 8th grade: hair was long again.
• College: cut my hair to my shoulders. It was ok. Kept it between shoulder length and long for several years.
• 2005: 8 months pregnant with Madison. Hot and miserable. Asked the hair-lady to give me a longer a-line. She really messed up. I cried a lot. (I think there is a pic. of me with shorter hair on the side bar.) Mother of a boy I taught piano lessons to told me I got a "mommy hair-cut." I cried a lot. Got it cut into a shorter a-line the same day.
• 2005-2010: long hair. try bangs about every other year.

SO people! What should I do? Should I keep it long? Bangs again? Try something short?

Every time I cut it short I hate it! But I don't love it long, either. And it's hot here in TX--all I do these days is put it in a pony tail. Bangs have been a good option because it is something different, but not too drastic. Give me your opinion! Send me links to pictures!

the E.R./Memorable Moments

Logan

• A few weeks after he was born, Joe and I got the flu. Like the high-fever, dizzy, I'm going to die flu. Logan got a fever (like 99.3) and we thought he was having a hard time breathing. So we took him to the ER. Yup. We were those parents.
• At the age of 2, Logan stuck a green pea up his nose. And then he told us. Sure enough... there it was. The more we tried to get it out (tweezers, pushing, etc.), the further it went. We went to the after-hours clinic to have a dr. remove the green pea.
• At the age of 3, Logan jumped off of some concrete stairs and split his head open. We took him to the after-hours clinic and had his head glued back together. (I had already been to the dr. that morning for pink-eye, and again a few days earlier for a check-up.)

Madison

• The day after her 2nd birthday, Madison was trying to hang on a chair, which fell over and cut off the tip of her right index finger. After some major stitching and some plastic surgeon visits, there is nothing left to remind her of this little accident.

Grant

• Right after his 1st birthday, I caught Grant playing with a play cell-phone that he somehow managed to open up. We spent hours looking everywhere for that tiny button battery. Finally, we took him to the ER to get x-rayed. Joe came home and told me that not only did they find the battery, but they also found 2 of Madison's hair pieces. He was joking. Threw the phone away. Never found the mystery battery.
• Yesterday I had to call the poison control center because Grant pulled a box of medicine off of the counter and somehow pushed 2 little pills through the foil wrapper. Luckily it was just a homeopathic vitamin, so he was fine.

I always feel like a horrible mom when something happens... but when I look back through all of these... I was right there for each one. I was like 10 steps away when Logan jumped off the stairs. I just didn't get there in time to stop him. I was washing dishes, maybe 5 feet away, from Madison when she tipped the chair over. We were getting ready for church while Grant played with the phone. Yesterday I was helping Logan with a piano-lesson question, 1 open-room away from Grant. What happened to the eyes-in-back-of-head that my mom had?

Our Little Tenor

Ah, the joys of having children.

Logan's favorite song is "Follow the Prophet." He insists we sing it each week in FHE, and he has dedicated himself to learning all the verses.

This past Sunday in church Grant was acting up, so I carried him off into the foyer, where he kept me for quite a while. During the final speaker's address Maddie had to go to the bathroom, so Jenny took her out. That left Logan alone in the pew. Logan evidently had no use for the topic being discussed, so instead he started singing "Follow the Prophet."

Out loud.

Jenny and I walked back into the chapel together to hear Logan's beautiful voice wrapping up verse 9.

We didn't even know there was a verse 9.

After the meeting several people congratulated the lucky parents on their talented son's nice and polished vocal chords.

on potty-training

This guy just turned 2. Logan was potty-trained about 1 1/2 weeks after turning 2. Madison was diaper-less before turning 2.

So today I woke up determined to let Grant watch movies, play puzzles, read books, color pictures, and participate in all other activities while sitting on the potty chair.

He did great. I day-dreamed about writing a book: How to Potty-Train Your Two-Year-Old in Two Days.

day 1: naked baby, lots of juice, lots of potty-activities

day 2: underweared baby, fair amount of juice, 30 minute timer

You get the idea. Of course, I should probably try with more than 3 kids. I could start a potty-camp. People might pay good money to have someone else potty-train their kid. No problem!

Ha ha ha ha ha. Grant started out by peeing in the potty-chair just as I planned. Once he figured out he got candy, he'd go every 5-10 minutes. Awesome! Then I thought I'd let him run around a little (he had sat on the chair for about 3 hours straight). He kept peeing every 5-10 minutes... on the floor. Logan and Madison did not do that! Oh, I think he realized he was peeing, because once I missed it and saw him trying rubbing the carpet with his hand. Then I put his diaper on for lunch... and when I took it off after lunch, he had peed in the diaper without telling me or giving me any sign of having to go to the bathroom. So now I have to decide if I'm going to continue after lunch or wait another month or two before trying again. I think a lot of kids take a while to figure out potty-going, but it's always been so easy for me...

Needless to say, I am not going to write a book on potty-training. I might be reading one, though.

Better Late Than Never

(I've been practicing law in Dallas for a while now, so I assume most people that come across this blog already know that. But in case you did not . . . .)

In January on this year, I partnered full time with a friend from school to open a law practice in Dallas, Texas. We started developing clientele a few months before that, but I had a hard time trying to shake off our house in Cleveland. We eventually decided that we couldn't wait for the thing to sell, so we packed up and moved down to Dallas to avoidl the back-and-forth traveling.

I was trained in large corporate affairs, primarily in buying and selling companies. My partner was trained in immigration. (I know, a weird marriage.) We opened our practice hoping to cater to the Spanish-speaking community. He continues to practice 100% immigration law.

I do quite a bit of immigration, and I also have developed an interest in government contract law. Thanks to my days in Cleveland, however, I stumbled across what I hope to be a niche practice I can comfortably rest in: DENTAL LAW. That's right, dental law. Anecdotal experience from seasoned industry professionals suggests that most attorneys retained to advise dentists on practice transitions are sorely unequipped. I think my training helping much larger business transactions provides a great platform to assist in dental practice transitions.

Ultimately, I have some really wonderful people in Cleveland to thank, as my decision was based primarily upon deciding what I was trained for and the type of client I wanted to work with. Thanks, Clevelanders.

So anyway, here's the link to our website. It's still a work in progress.

http://henriemcgregor.com/

Thanks to all those that have helped and supported me thus far.

Prayers for Jenny

There’s just no easy way to talk about this, but our counselor insists we discuss this openly and frankly.

This morning we admitted Jennifer into the Dallas County Institution of Mental Illness. For those that are worried, let me assure you that Jenny is safe, and with your prayers, she will soon be happy. She is not in any danger, and her “condition” never significantly endangered our children.

Now that we got that out of the way, a brief recitation of the facts is in order. In late 2000, Jenny’s family began to grow concerned about her mental welfare. The brutal Idaho winter teamed with mountains of course work to cause Jenny temporary blindness in both eyes. Doctors thought it would wear off within a week; instead, it lasted deep into the spring of 2001. When her sight returned, she discovered that the man that just engaged her was not, in fact, the first man left off TIME’s “Sexiest Men Alive” list, as he had suggested. Moreover, her newfound power of sight revealed that his extra girth was not due to an “extra fluffy jacket.” But in her vulnerable state, she stuck with him.

Her family ordered a psychological evaluation as a precondition to her father granting permission for her to marry. She failed to show up to her appointment. In 2004, the dean of the school called Jenn into his office to suggest that, with her degree and exceptional resume, she should consider moving on to greener marital pastures. She responded with a 2,000-yard stare.

In 2006 a professor at BYU Law pulled Jenny aside at a BBQ and informed her that cutting edge legal theory suggested that an annulment was still possible since it would not be difficult to prove that a reasonable person would not have married me under normal conditions. In 2007 a new bishop counseled Jenny that the best solution to her troubles might in fact be to remove the source of all her problems—her husband.

Through the years friends, family, a few random strangers (including a few men at the discotheques Jenny frequents, whose names are usually of Latin derivation) have politely questioned Jenny’s sanity. This week, the struggle ended.

This morning Jenny woke up in the middle of the night, got out of her twin bed and walked over to mine, with her blankie in hand, and asked me to find her 72-hour kit, her lip gloss, and her poster of Taylor Lautner, and cart her over the hospital.

“I’m ready,” she exhaled, exhausted.

Thanks for all y’all’s understanding during this trying, yet hopefully curative, time.

Happy Birthday, Granty

Last Saturday we celebrated Grant's 2nd birthday. Please, no questions about the cake.

There are many things people know about Grant: That he has a wickedly cute smile, that he has the ability to smell through opaque wrappers and bite through them to find the fruit snacks inside, that his tantrums look like desperate kowtows, and that he has outstanding reach for pulling things off the countertops (and destroying pyrex pans full of brownies).

But there are some amazing things about Grant that you DIDN'T know:

1) In February Grant counted to infinity . . . twice
2) When the Boogeyman goes to sleep at night, he checks his closet for Grant
3) Grant knows where Carmen San Diego is
4) Grant does not sleep. He waits.
5) Grant "waits" with a night light not because he is afraid of the dark, but because the dark is afraid of him
6) Grant doesn't need to swallow when eating
7) Grant can slam revolving doors

Happy Birthday, Grant.

Jenny Upset

On Friday, March 19, Jenny and I had the pleasure of watching BYU upset #4 TCU Horned Frogs on their home field. The game gave me indigestion; BYU baseball committed egregious little-league-esque errors. But it was fun nonetheless to spend a good evening watching America's pastime, and to see a team that will likely end up playing in the College World Series.

We had excellent seats, which were given to us by a good friend from high school who used to pitch for TCU.


Jenny asked me if this man really had purple hair.

(it was a cap)


Jenny also asked me why the umpire was proportioned like a Grecian, with abnormally wide shoulders and a narrow waist.

(the ump was wearing shoulder pads under his shirt)

Trip to Salado

This past weekend we took a short trip to my hometown, Salado, Texas. We had no real purpose outside of the fact that it was my first time visiting the folks since moving back to Texas.


First stop: Grandpa Hernandez.


Next: Pepa McGregor


Then, Jenny and I took a break from Satan's angels (thanks, mom) and went putt-putting. With creative scoring, Jenny won.

Home is not what it used to be. I graduated with a class of 57 students. The town probably registered just over 1,000 people. Now, there's about 5,000, there's a new high school, the town matured from a village into an actual municipality, and we installed a traffic light.