White Christmas

What perfect Christmas weather this year. It started to snow around 2:00pm on Christmas Eve and it continued until around 6:00pm. This is the first shoveling we have done and luckily Nick had picked up a snowsuit for Emma the week before so she got to help. She had a blast helping dad, making snow angels, and throwing snowballs at us through the window. Then, Christmas Day was bright, sunny, (really cold), and absolutely beautiful.

Brielle

My gorgeous younger daughter. She is 11 months old today and making me wonder where the last year has gone. The first couple months I am sure I was sleep-deprived (because you don't get to "sleep when the baby's sleeping" like you do with the first child). Then, came the period where she was content to stay in a swing or bouncy seat while I got things done. Now that she crawls, climbs stairs, and finds petrified mac n' cheese off the floor I feel like we go from one activity to another in 2.7 seconds. Brielle seems busier than Emma was and I don't know if it is because she watches Emma and wants to mimic her energy or if it is just harder to control this energy when you have a preschooler. She is still a "mama's girl" which I hope doesn't change when she realizes her daddy is better at playing around. She still will cuddle when she's tired and every now and then I let her nap in my arms so I can relish being a mom and remember the miracle of human life. We are extremely happy this week because we took her in for a weight check and she has reached 15 lbs!! Although she will eat pretty much anything we give her (except bread....she's a little too good for boring bread) she hasn't been gaining weight. I try to ease my mind by saying that everything else developmentally is on track, but sometimes I can't help compare her to the chubby babies. So my most recent photo of her has to be food related to show that she really eats. And you cannot deny how cute it is when they eat!!

An Oldie but Goodie

December 6th, 2007...a monumental day. My husband, Nick, turned 30! For those of us that are still making the climb to 30, it is easy to tease and laugh about this particular birthday. I don't think Nick was all that excited. Even though he had hinted at having a big celebration with a 6ft sub and lots of treats, I had hinted that I was too stressed to do a party in December. Little did he know what a good liar I was! So Nick pouted all week about how old he was feeling...and the night of his birthday was nothing out of the ordinary. We saw a movie with the girls and went to dinner by ourselves. But the NEXT day, I had big plans. I had sent out invitations a week earlier to family and close friends that I was attemping a surprise party. I had ordered a 6ft subway, a cake (photo above), and gathered chips, pop, and ice cream to celebrate. Everyone was to arrive when Nick was getting off work. He had wanted me to meet him in Layton to get some shopping done, but I had persuaded him to come home first. We waited...... anticipating his arrival.....my stomach had butterflies because I was so excited to see his reaction. When we heard the garage open, we ran to the family room. We waited......(he was scraping off his car).....he walked into a pretty dark house and slowly walked up the stairs. He caught a glimpse of his grandma and realized what was going on. By the top of the stairs, he had a huge smile on his red cheeks (from embarassment?). SUCCESS!! We totally shocked him. It was one of those moments when you know you have made your spouses day. The rest of the party was a blast! Hopefully, Nick will look back at this birthday and smile--but I better watch out because I think he wants to even the score!!

I am Thankful....

for the routine in our lives. I am thankful that each morning we get up, get ready, have breakfast and never have to worry that we will have food. I am thankful that on some days Nick and I both go to work and Emma knows it is "Bang's day" (her babysitter). I am grateful we each have a car to get to work and that our kids will be taken care of that day. I am grateful on "Preschool Day" that we can send Emma to preschool where she learns things that I cannot teach her. I am grateful on "Preschool Day" to spend some alone time with my baby Brielle who is growing up quicker than I want her to. I am thankful for the same rotating lunches with my girls (Pasta Roni, tuna, Macaroni and Cheese, leftovers, soup). I am grateful that we have "Quiet Time" where each of my girls have a warm bed to sleep in. I am grateful for some down time while they rest when I can catch up on cleaning or enjoy some hobbies. I am thankful my husband comes home every night and gives the girls some fatherly attention. I am grateful for the day that Nick is home with the girls to bond with them (and to remember that motherhood is not easy). I am thankful my job is flexible with the days that I work so we can maximize the time with our children. I am grateful for always having food for dinner even if it is chocolate chip pancakes! I am thankful each Sunday we can rest from our week, renew our spirits, and spend more time with our family. I am grateful there is not a lot of chaos in our lives. I don't have constant worries about food, money, or shelter. My girls never wonder where their parents are or if they will have food or if they will be safe. Some people might think that my life is boring. Sure, we throw some "spice" into it like-- birthdays, swimming, shopping, holidays, movies, vacations, picnics or eating out. But the basics are always there. I am thankful for those basics. I am thankful for my wonderful family, my testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ, my safe shelter, my job, and my routine life.

Emma

Emma is my beautiful firstborn. What a surprise when she came out with red hair! She is a miniture version of her dad. She is now 3 1/2 years old and "just so busy" (her words exactly). She just started preschool this fall. She is there twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. I think both of us were looking forward to this change. Now she thinks she is cool. When she asks me what is in the morning and I answer preschool she replies "ohhhhh do I have to learn again?" She can write her name (in all capitals) and is learning her other letters and numbers. Preschool has also expanded her friendships and she has become more outgoing. She also loves nursery and is excited for "after Christmas" when she gets to go to Primary. I would like to think that as a parent I have taught her many things, but between preschool and nursery she is learning so much more. Some of the things she says are amazing to me and I can just watch her mind at work. Here are a few example of our recent conversations:
"Mom, I know where Jesus lives" -- "Where"-- "In Heaven"--"What does He do there"--"He takes care of people who die. Jesus was lonely before Grandpa Wilson and the guy from our ward got there" (Grandpa Wilson died about 10 years ago, mind you!)
"Mom, those people are at the gas station on Sunday!"-- "Emma, some people don't go to church on Sunday, but Heavenly Father loves it when we go to church."--"So, does He not love those people?"--"No, He loves them too, but they don't know they are supposed to go to church. They need the missionaries or us to tell them about church."-- "We can be missionaries?"--"Yes"-- "But I don't have a suit!"--"Well, girl missionaries wear dresses."-- "So, you, me and Brielle can wear dresses and be missionaries?"--"Yes"--"Mom, when can we go to Lagoon?" (what?)
Oh, I love her sooo much!!!

Asthma attack

It all started back in September. I was weaning Brielle from nursing; which meant that my true post-baby shape (#2) was beginning to sink in. I could no longer convince myself that I was hungry (and eating) all the time because I was nursing, nor could I pretend that any extra weight was still in the process of going away because Brielle was now 9 months old. I was also turning 28 which sounded a little too close to 30. So I asked for an IPOD for my birthday. (Why not a gym membership? Well, 5 years ago we bought an elliptical machine for the purpose of excerising and I knew I would never go to a gym. So the IPOD was to entertain me while I was on the elliptical). So I got my IPOD in September. By October, I had looked at the instructions.... read the manual..... and still didn't understand how to download songs. Finally with the help of my Sunday School class (12 yr olds) and a guy at work, I was able to load 176 songs on my IPOD. Now, was I exercising? NO! Then, a friend asked me if I wanted to go walking/running with her (Mel, you know who you are). Well, I definately wanted to, but could I even keep up? So on Monday morning, the alarm went off extra early, I grabbed my IPOD, and headed to the basement. The first few minutes were okay. I was feeling pretty good about myself until the elliptical increased in resistance at around the 10 minute mark. Then, I started to feel shortness of breath. Then, with each breath my lungs started to burn and the burning went up into my throat. I felt like only half of my throat was opening up. Have I developed asthma? Will I pass out from lack of oxygen and eventually Nick will wonder why I haven't come back upstairs? I start pushing all the buttons on the elliptical to decrease whatever it was doing to me but my eyes are watering and I can't really make out the numbers. My water bottle did help decrease the burning, but with all of the bouncing I felt like my stomach was a waterbed. Eventually, things calmed down and I finished the 20 minutes of pain. About an hour later I did feel refreshed-- like maybe I could do this again tomorrow. But not without my IPOD.

Funny Mom

It was Monday morning. We were ready to begin our week. The girls and I were on our way to South Weber to drop them off at their babysitters. Emma was eating her breakfast--cinnamon rolls--in the car on the way. (Yes, cinnamon rolls. I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so why not start off with something good? I am sure they have some nutritional value). Anyway, she usually has four rolls. Today, she was full after three so she handed the plate to me. "Great" I said "Now I can have one for lunch!" This struck Emma as hilarious... maybe because only kids get cinnamon rolls for meal time? "You are so funny, Mommy." My heart swells with pride. Yes, I can be funny. Although when I am trying to be funny, I usually get a courtesy smile. But on this morning, without trying, I had made my daughter laugh. I wanted to preserve this moment...maybe even tape record it. Because I know that in about 10 years when Emma is 13, I will definately NOT be funny. I will probably be embarassing, mean, or clueless... to name a few. But maybe if I have this story saved, Emma can look back on it and realize that sometimes her mom can be funny, and --if I am good--make her laugh.

My First Blog

Didn't even know what this meant until a co-worker asked me if I had one. A blog? Sounded like something only teenagers do.....but once she showed me what it was--I totally wanted to have one! (Peer pressure, I guess) We had recently bought a laptop and slowly, very slowly, I am starting to develop my technology skills. The first thing I wanted to do was show off my two daughters! (I'll brag about them later). But mostly I want to stay somewhat connected to the people in our lives that we don't get to talk to everyday. I hope it works.......