Sometimes. . .

. . . I hold him for the duration of his short naps instead of doing something productive beacause I just love snuggling with him.

Pre-School Pumpkin Patch Pilgrimage

Last week Ross took the day off so we could all attend Emma's Pre-School field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was a lof fun, and I am so glad he was able to come with us.

This is Emma's Pre-School group. Actually, there are some kids there from the younger group- but you get the idea.

This is Emma and Peyton, her favorite friend from Pre-School.

The girls liked the bunnies in these cages.

Jack was entranced by the shadows made by the corn maze.

Where should we go, Emma?

Daddy's girls.

He is such a joy!

I love her pensive look here. So pretty! The catepillar tube.

She was blocking traffic and loved it.

She giggled and giggled ove this silly mirror.

Sara liked the peacocks. So did I. I want one.

Ross took them to the playground while I entertained Jack.

I included all of these because I love the progression of Sara's smile.

Jack really had a good time. There was so much stimulation and many people there to tell him how cute he is. He loves that.

The girls both got to take a pumpkin home with them, and were very particular about which ones to pick.

Choosing between the two finalists. . .

This is the winner. Good choice, girlfriend!

I really had a good time, and I am grateful to Emma's amazing pre-school teacher for arranging it for us.

What About Jack?

I have mentioned before that Jack is a noisy little eater. Every time I get a dirty look while feeding him in public, I am reminded of this scene from 'What About Bob?'



I just imagine little Jack using baby vernacular to say "Mmmmmm. Mom, this is so scrumptious. This is the most amazing milk ever. Wow, this is amazing. I am so lucky to be enjoying this right now. Mmmmmmm!"

It makes me not mind the uncomfortable stares so much when I picture them as Richard Dreyfus. :)

A Perfectly Lovely Day

It started with a nice Bountiful Basket with fun new things I have never cooked with like parsnips, pommegranites, and a pineapple. (OK, I have used a pineapple before, but I couldn't resist the opportunity for alliteration.)

After snuggling with Ross, we got up and cleaned the house while snacking on donuts and fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast.

We dropped the kids off at Grandma Wallace's house where they helped with the apple juicing while Ross and I went to the BYU game.

We got mistakenly directed into the Cougar Club parking without having to pay a fee. We opted not to point out the mistake. Don't judge. :)

BYU won. A miracle for this season, it seems. Rah, Rah, RaRaRa, Go Cougars!

I snuggled with and fed my baby while Ross and Dad went to get some pizza.

There was much chatting, laughing, and playing with the sweetest kitten ever.

My mom's house smelled like apples and cinnamon. The real apple and cinnamon smell from real apples and cinnamon. The kind potpourri and candle companies will never quite be able to adequately duplicate. Wonderful.

We came home and had ice cream and home-made apple dumplings.

The girls are now bathed and are brushing their teeth while dancing around the bathroom. There will be a mess to clean up, but how can I impede on that cuteness?

The kids will be asleep within the next 20 minutes, and Ross and I will put in a movie and maybe watch it, maybe talk and laugh while it is on, or maybe turn it off and go to sleep early. All three are favorable options as long as I get to do them with Ross.

Not the most amazing post, but really- quite the amazing day.


**Note from Ross- the Giants are in the World Series!! Woooohooooo!! Best day ever!! Go Giants!!!!!!!**

Scripture Lessons in The Little Mermaid

This is another Emma post. I try to keep it even usually, but that girl has been utterly blog-worthy lately.

Today we were watching The Little Mermaid, and during the storm scene (that was the best picture I could find of the storm scene- Google is a little lame and a little dirty today. . .) Emma whipped out this jewel of a comment. "Mom, if Prince Eric had talked to Jesus, he could have calmed the storm and saved the ship because he is special. He would have said 'Peace and still', and that means calm down. Why didn't Eric do that, Mom?"

It's times like that when I feel like maybe I'm not so shabby at this mom thing after all.

Gettin' My Craft On!

Last Saturday was my ward's Super Saturday- AKA: one of the very few times of the year I get the hankering to be crafty. My sweet friend, Belinda from the Outback requested I post some pictures, so this is for her.

I'm not very artistic or creative as far as crafting things go. I am, however, excellent at mimicking creative people. Super Saturday is the perfect chance for me to sit around lots of creative women and copy them.

This year I put together an amazing FHE binder that is very exciting to me, but not very crafty, and some cute bows for the girls.

They were nice enough to help model them.

Also, I made that skirt during General Conference. I used the circle skirt tutorial from dana-made-it.com. I plan on making about 12 more, some for the girls, and some for me.

I made this too, but not at Super Saturday. Gosh, he's cute!

Here are all the others I made. They are all on alligator clips or bobby pins.

They made me wear one too.

Actually, we have some more family crafts we plan on doing for a service project for our stake. They have to be turned in by the 29th, so we will have some fun pictures of those in a bit. I just need Ross to use the power tools I am afraid to touch due to my love for my digits.

She Dresses Herself Now. . .

Most of the time she does a pretty good job.

Her clothes are all cute and fairly interchangeable, so matching isn't too big of a deal.

Plus, she is the most beautiful four year old girl I have ever laid eyes on, so not much can put a damper on that.

Sometimes, however. . .

Something like this will happen. . .

Everyone Loves Emma!

Before bed every night, we have singing time with the girls after scriptures. Everyone gets to pick a song to sing, and with the exception of a few nursery rhymes, they are mostly primary songs or hymns. It is a nice way to wind down at the end of the day, and invites the Spirit to our home just before bedtime, which I think is the ultimate guard against nightmares.

Emma cannot go to sleep without completing this ritual. Sometimes, she falls asleep when we are driving home from places, so we put her straight to bed. On these nights, she usually wakes up at some point and comes in to tell me we need to sing some songs. Nothing is sweeter than a four year old begging for "I Am a Child of God" at 4:00 am.

One of Emma's favorite songs to pick when it is her turn to choose a song for this nightly singing time is, "Jesus Said Love Everyone." She sings it with great conviction, and Ross and I always giggle because she has her own version.

It is even funnier when she does it in Primary because she can be heard over all the other kids with her altered version- complete with dramatic arm movements. So cute.

It goes a little something like this:

Jesus said love everyone,
treat them kindly too.
When MY heart is filled with love,
EVERYONE LOVES MEEEEEEEE!

I can attest to the fact that her little heart is truly bursting with love, and while I can't speak for everyone, I can say that I sure do love her to pieces. What a joy it is to be her mom!

Thank You Julie Andrews

This song popped up on Pandora today. I love me some Sound of Music. Julie Andrews. Best Ever.

Anyway, as I sung along to these lyrics, they helped. A lot.

I found strange parallels and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (Of course that warmth and fuzziness could be from the Big Mac my mom and dad brought me today. . .)

~

What will this day be like? I wonder. What will my future be? I wonder.
It could be so exciting to be out in the world, to be free.
My heart should be wildly rejoicing.
Oh, what's the matter with me?

I've always longed for adventure (a family)
To do the things I've never dared
And here I'm facing adventure (3 kids = huge adventure. True story.)
Then why am I so scared?

A captain (husband of rock-awesomeness) with seven (3, and probably more to come) children
What's so fearsome about that?
Oh, I must stop these doubts, all these worries.
If I don't I just know I'll turn back (wallow in depression)

I must dream of the things I am seeking
I am seeking the courage I lack (Here is where I started crying.)

The courage to serve them with reliance.
Face my mistakes without defiance.
Show them I'm worthy
And while I show them, I'll show me. (Commence full on sobbing)

So, let them bring on all their problems.
I'll do better than my best.
I have confidence they'll put me to the test (no kidding)
But I'll make them see I have confidence in me.

Somehow I will impress them.
I will be firm but kind.
And all those children, Heaven bless them!
They will look up to me.
And mind me (most of the time, at least.)

With each step (day) I am more certain everything will turn out fine.
I have confidence the world (A happy loving family) can all be mine.
They'll have to agree I have confidence in me.

I have confidence in sunshine. (Mommyness euphoria)
I have confidence in rain. (Post-Partum Depression)
I have confidence that spring will come again. (The end of Post Partum Depression)
Besides which you see (PPD) I have confidence in me.

Strength doesn't lie in numbers.
Strength doesn't lie in wealth.
Strength lies in nights of peaceful slumbers (See previous post.)
When you wake up -- Wake Up!

It tells me all I trust I lead my heart to.
All I trust becomes my own.
I have confidence in confidence alone-Oh help!- (I giggled at this- I so relate)
I have confidence in confidence alone

Besides which you see I have confidence in me!

~
Personal revelation is real, folks, as well as someone up there who knows me so well as to place personal and unique sources of comfort in my path.

Tender Mercies: Sleep Edition

Jack has been a hungry boy lately. He is probably growing even though we had a deal about him staying little. Stinker. This means I have been at his beck and call as he needs me more than usual. That has put a bit of a crimp in my plans od productivity. Stress much?

Our night routine for the last week and a half has been that he finally goes down at about 11:30 or so, and then gets up around 3:30. At that point, I run and eat something quickly because I know he will literally be eating for the next 3 hours straight. No joke.

It's not generally that constant during the day, but his early morning eating binges have taken their toll on me. While I love the chance to snuggle with him and see his sweet smiles and hear his satisfied sighs and expressions, this has been very physically challenging to me on a couple different levels.

Last night he didn't go down until midnight. That was pretty much life as usual.

This morning, however, I didn't wake up until Ross kissed me on his way out to work.

At 6:30.

Jack was still sleeping.

I went back to sleep for another hour before I forced him awake to, well, you know. . . relieve some pressure.

I got 7 and a half hours of almost completely uninterupted sleep. Wow. It has been over a week since I got more than 3 hours of consecutive rest.

I am hoping his growth spurt is over now, and this will be my new normal. That is probably hoping for too much. I can't possibly begin to explain how much better today started off than most of the last week.

I feel healthy, and rested, and ready to take on my to-do list, which is significantly shorter today than most days- yet another tender mercy!

The moral of this post is that a good night's sleep is an integral weapon in the arsenal against PPD.

the man cold!

CJane had a post today about how her husband tends to get 'sympathy pains' when she gets sick, which basically means whenever she feels sick, he gets the same sickness, but on a larger scale.

I laughed and laughed about it because Ross, whether he realizes it or not, does the exact same thing! I can't be down with anything for more than a few hours before he gets the same symptoms ten times worse than mine.

For the record, however, he takes very good care of me for those few hours before he is down for the count, and I really do believe he 'feels' sick whether or not he actually 'is' sick. :)

It reminded me of this video.

Boys are funny. I am glad I am not the only one who has wondered about this phenomenon.

You Might Live in Utah. . .

My sister, Dana sent me these in an e-mail. I don't know if Jeff Foxworthy actually wrote these, but I laughed all the way through them because ALL of them apply to me.

Yup- all of them.

• If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September to May, you live in Utah.
• If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Utah.
• If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Utah.
• If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Utah.
• If 'vacation' means going anywhere south of Salt Lake City for the weekend, you live in Utah.
• If you measure distance in hours, you live in Utah.
• If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Utah.
• If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Utah.
• If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both doors unlocked, you live in Utah.
• If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Utah.
• If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Utah.
• If the speed limit on the highway is 75 mph -- you're going 80, and everyone is still passing you, you live in Utah.
• If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in Utah.
• If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Utah.
• If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly' you live in Utah.
• If you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your friends [or post them on your blog], you have lived in Utah.

Tender Mercies: Friends Edition

I have really great friends. This is sometimes surprising to me considering my general anti-social nature, but somehow, I was lucky enough to trick some incredible people into liking me enough to let me stay a part of their lives for awhile. I like that.

Ross makes fun of me sometimes for not having any real close friends that I met while we were married. All of my closest friends, save a couple that were college roommates, are friends I have had since high school, or maybe even junior high.

I am incredibly shy. Breaking out of my shell takes a lot of time and acclimation, which isn't something I usually get when my mind is focussed on kidlets running around and a husband who I would rather spend every spare second with rather than awkwardly meeting and chit-chatting with strangers. I have never been one to long for a giant group of friends. I much prefer having a small circle of close friends. I prefer being around friends who already know everything about me so no background is needed for any story I tell. I prefer opening up to people who know my personal brand of crazy and have learned that, for some odd reason in their minds, that craziness is worth enduring for the sake of remaining my friend.

This week has been fun as I have been able to spend time with three people whom I consider some of my very best friends. Each time I have left those friend dates feeling happier, inspired, and most importantly, loved. None of them forced me to talk about my post-partum, but were open to it if I needed it. Those times were mostly spent laughing, chatting, and losing track of the time. I LOVE losing track of time when with friends. It means all parties were enjoying their immediate company so much that they didn't realize how quickly time was slipping by.

I full-heartedly believe the old adage that laughter is the best medicine, and I got a lot of that this week. So- Brittany, Carrie, and Emily- thank you for taking time out of your insanely busy lives to uplift the weakest of your friends at the moment. It meant a lot. I love you each so very much and am beyond grateful that you are OK with slummin' it with me every now and again.