"Nanaru" quite the pair...

Ruby and Chris got back last night from a long anticipated trip to Colorado to see Ruby's special great-grandma, "Nana". It is undeniable that they have a special bond, as Ruby talks about her almost daily and cries because she wants to see her, "I want my Nana!". When we decided against going to Colorado for Christmas, Ruby was crushed, and we planned a mini trip for she and Chris to go in January. Over a year had passed since they'd seen each other, and I know Nana was worried that she wouldn't live up to Ruby's expectations, but that was definitely not the case. When I asked Ruby last night what was her favorite part of going to Colorado, I expected to hear mention of jumping off the diving board at the swimming pool, playing with Porter, seeing aunts, uncles and grandma and grandpa. Sorry, no. The answer, with no hesitation was, "Seeing Nana."

The day before they left, we were shopping at Michaels, and Ruby saw a display of knock-off Crocs. I'd been meaning to get her some, and so she picked out some navy blue ones, and then she noticed that there were bigger sizes, and she said, "I want Nana and I to have matching shoes!" So we got her a pair too.

Ruby is overwhelmingly gentle and sensitive. It is so noticeable to me as her parent, that I feel like the parent who has the psycho kid running around the store spitting on strangers and ripping open bags of chips. I don't take credit for Ruby's amazing-ness any more than that crazy kid's parent takes credit for their child. If anything, her sweet nature mis-represents my parenting, because I don't think I could ever make a kid like her on purpose.

THANKS Sage for taking the pictures!

A's Birth

So normally, I wouldn't post this randomly, but since I traumatized you all with R's story, I thought I should follow up with A's.

I know it will seem odd, but I chose to have the same birth plan with A as I had for R. I had to drive an hour 47 miles to every single appt. because we had moved, but we chose our midwives and the whole birth experience because it was what we trusted most, and even though it was a hairy scenario, I knew (because the docs told me so) that had I been in the hospital, I would have had a c-section since my contractions ceased. C-sections are greatly necessary in many instances, but in this case, I was very glad to have managed things a different way.

I think the bottom line with these kinds of choices, is every individual needs to know who they trust and be somewhere where you don't have to question the care you are given. For me, this is a home or birth center environment.

So I was five days overdue with A. I was miserable. R had come early, so I'd been counting on having my baby for like four weeks and was SO READY. At this point, sleep is not a possibility, so I usually opt for the couch, since I can lean against the back of it a little and flip the television on anytime I'm tired of pretending to sleep.

I was folding laundry and watching "Spitfire Grill" on TV. First contraction. I don't have any Braxton Hicks contractions or false labor, and being five days overdue, I knew it was the real deal. I watched the clock and had a second contraction five minutes later. After about fifteen minutes, I ran upstairs to wake Chris up and do a dance of joy. I was soooo ready. I told him to go back to sleep and went downstairs to labor a little more. My mind was racing with the details of how we'd get R to my folks (farther from the birth center), etc. Finally, I went upstairs, we woke R, put her in the car and drove to my parents' house so I could labor there and know that R was where she needed to be and that I was then only 20 minutes from the birth center.

I had regular contractions maybe 2 minutes a part the whole drive. They were intense, but I felt good between contractions.

At my parents' Chris got R to bed and I told him to rest in the living room until I needed him. I thought we were at the tip of the ice berg, and I was planning to labor longer on my own and not at the birth center. I WAS SO UNCOMFORTABLE. There was no way to be comfortable, I just felt pain all the time, and a lot of pressure. I decided I needed to be in water. I called my midwife and she said she'd meet me there right away. My mom was listening to me describe how I felt like I had to go to the bathroom, and that I felt all this pressure, and she was like, "LET'S GO!"

So on the drive over, I was thinking all these discouraging thoughts about how I didn't want to do this and how I wanted it cut out of me. I was very uncomfortable, and was annoyed that Chris was driving in the right lane and the car tires were bumping in the sewer drain things, I told him to change lanes for a smoother ride. I didn't imagine at the time that I was in transition, but these negative, "what am I in for" are typical of transition.

Anyway, we got to the birth center and I walked in (whenever I walked, the contractions would cease for like ten minutes). I was chatty and bright eyed and feeling fine on my own two feet. My midwife (Ali, the one from before...I was sooooo glad she was on call, we both felt we needed to have a different experience to heal from the previous one) asked if I wanted her to check me, "YES"!!!

I was 10 cm dilated! Woah! I had no idea! I was elated and so full of hope. She wanted me to have one contraction before getting in the water, so I did. I got in the water and eight minutes passed with no contractions. Hmmmmm. She warned me that at 10 minutes she'd want me to get out. I was also told that this time, my body would tell me what to do and that she didn't want any pushing on my own, that I would know when to push. That was it. I felt it, and could do nothing but push. 11 minutes later, I caught my little A (2 pounds heavier than R) and pulled her close. She was born 59 minutes after I walked through the birth center doors, healthy as can be. I immediately said, "I WANT TO DO THAT AGAIN!"

I got quickly out out of the tub so Ali could verify that my bleeding was normal. Everything was contracting normally and so I got to nurse A while I delivered the placenta.

Three hours later, we were back home all together with our healthy little A and of course, my mother who saves my life for a week after I have a baby.

Claim to Fame...

That's her, a long time ago...mom of three in the red coat...it's the only thing I have!

Unless there is a link between the Hamm Olympians or Mia Hamm, I have really only one super famous person in my family. I tell people all the time, and I have to say, most are pretty impressed. Curious?

My aunt Peggy (my mom's brother's wife) won the title of Miss Congeniality when she represented Utah in the 1972 Miss America Pageant. At the time, she was Peggy Moore, and when I googled her, I got quite the results! Here's what wikipedia had to say.

If you knew my aunt now, it wouldn't surprise you for a second that she:

A. was the winner as Miss Utah

B. was the most well liked among all the contestants

She's really funny and beautiful, and because I don't have a good recent picture, you can take my word for it!

Anyone else out there with similar fame in the family?

Who is YOUR oldest friend?

Lyndsey Durst (it took me about one minute to think of her new last name), formerly Lyndsey Thomas is my oldest friend. She just turned 31 last week and I'll be 31 in a couple months. We've been friends since the summer before we went to Kindergarten, so I think we were 5 and that gives us 26 years of friendship.

Our friendship wasn't taken for granted, as we only lived close to each other until we were going into the fourth grade. That is when she moved to Clovis, CA with her family. Many kiddos that young would have lost touch, but not us. We were best friends, and we wrote letters religiously and every once in awhile our folks would let us call each other. After not seeing each other in person for five years, I won $101.50 in a radio station contest, which at the time was almost enough to buy a ticket to CA. I spent it all on that ticket and flew at age 13 to visit her in Clovis.

We were still as close and compatible as ever, and I really looked up to her because she'd been kissing boys for a couple of years and I was still running away from them. We had a great week together, and lots of tears were shed when it was time to return home.

We continued letter writing and added to the fun, mailing each other whole cassette tapes of one-sided conversations. When we were maybe 14 or so, her family moved to Moses Lake, WA only a couple hours from where I lived and we were able to see more of each other.

Her friendship was the most important to me through the high school years as she was one of my only friends who shared my religious beliefs. We were pretty regular with visits and phone calls increased, and we relied on each other through many petty boyfriend fights and other such adolescent drama. She experienced some fairly major health issues over a period of a year or more and it was something I remember really worrying about a lot, though she seemed to take it in stride.

After high school, we attended college together at Ricks College in Rexburg, ID and we were roommates. It was a great time for us as we got along flawlessly and enjoyed the freedoms of living away from home and experiencing college together. This was a time when I realized more than ever how much her friendship meant to me. Many people assumed we were sisters, or even twins. We shared all our clothes and gave little effort to keeping our room clean. We lived together for two years, before she transferred to Utah State and I transferred to BYU.

We both graduated the spring of 2001 and took any and all money and credit to EUROPE where we travelled for about two months. We were very compatible travelers, often skipping the museums for shopping or a suntan, when we spent a week in Nice, we really just ate, slept and sat at the beach, she may have read...we knew that if there was anything overly worthwhile to see in Nice, we could just google it when we got back home! We saw U2 in concert in Paris on our last night. We didn't have tickets, so we went to the trusty ATM and started withdrawing funds from any and all cards in our possession until we were completely out of money. We took all our money to the ticket scalpers and flew home the next day with big plans to work off our fabulous trip all over Spain and the south of France.

She was at my wedding four months later, and I was at hers 18 months after mine. We have managed to see each other even as she continued her education and a full-time career in ID and I took on the role of mother. We still get along effortlessly and we are still as ever, on the same page in most everything.

It is so nice to know that there is someone who knows you inside and out so effortlessly and with whom there is no time lapse or requirement for friendship maintenance. We have done many silly things together, we learned about S-E-X from the same neighbor informant when we were little, we both fell head over heels for the same boy when we were in kindergarten and our crush remained mutual until she moved, we always agreed that we could just share him, she coached me through seven long years of ups and downs and complete outs with my now husband, and continues to hear me out now that we are married, we got caught at a pizza buffet when we couldn't eat what we determined was our fair share, so we wrapped up a couple of pieces to take on the road, we once used nylons to tie the front doors shut on an entire apartment complex across the parking lot from our college pad, we obsessed over music together and would lay down on the floor of our room with sad songs on full blast and the lights out, we watched over two pet turtles, and subsisted for two full years on popcorn and butter spray.

I'm glad for my first "sister-friend" and for her solid friendship all these years. I miss you and I love you!

President Gordon B. Hinckley Passed Away...

"We are dedicated ... to teaching the gospel of peace, to the promotion of civility and mutual respect among people everywhere, to bearing witness to the living reality of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the practice of his teachings in our daily lives." -President Hinckley

The full story will tell you more about this amazing leader, humanitarian and disciple, all he did for the Lord and the world during his life of service, but I have a fun personal story to share.

All the youth from my congregation travelled to Salt Lake City to attend the twice-yearly church-wide general conference of the church. This was a really unique conference, as President Howard W. Hunter was the prophet for only one general conference...that same one...October of 1994 before he passed away in March of 1995.

Anyway, we wanted to see a really popular church film and we needed to wait in line. We needed a handful of people to wait, because you could only get 6 tickets per person, so I volunteered to wait with a few others while everyone else went across the street for breakfast at McDonalds. We got the tickets and everyone returned from McDonalds. There was time, so the other ticket waiters and myself left for breakfast. While we were GONE, President Hinckely was spotted walking around the building admiring the beautiful paintings hanging on the wall. One of our leaders approached him and asked him if they could get a picture, and he went to take her camera, as if we were asking him to be our cameral man! He was probably joking, as he had a really good, public sense of humor, but we didn't really know that at the time. So they all gathered and took a picture with him!

I WAS AT MCDONALDS!

I was really bummed when I returned and they all excitedly told me what had happened. I'm sure I'll find the picture somewhere so I can post it, but anyway, it is my own personal story about how I almost met the prophet.

I will miss him, I really loved his humble nature, his knack for people and his contagious energy for doing what is right and serving with full purpose and effort.

Free Digital Stuff

For my friends who are getting interested in creating fun things with Photoshop, I had to post my secret spot for awesome (almost endless) digital kits that are FREE! I love 2peas! They have free fonts too.

Anyway, mostly for you, Jenny. It isn't that easy to find the free stuff.

Two of my favorite posts...

I have two favorite blog posts by friends/family that I think most of you will get a kick out of.

The first is by my sister-in-law's sister, Season about a conversation she had with her daughter regarding the size of her behind. It is really funny. You can read it here.

Another funny blog about my friend Mimi's house gets now that she is (pobrecita) sick with child. Her husband wrote it, you can read it here. Pretty funny, if you ask me. Just the kind of description to give my man a little less reason to complain! Thanks Meem and John for keeping it real! Love it!

Attempt at a family pic

We haven't taken a good picture since right after Alice was born. I really want to get a decent one this year because we might add another member to the family sometime (hopefully) and I'd like to immoralize our family of four in some way. Anyway, when our friends visited us last weekend, I took pictures for them and then Sommer snapped some of us. I'm not crazy about them because it was freezing cold and really kind of dark, so we have racoon eyes in lots of them because we weren't facing the right direction. The kids were cold and wanted to be done. Sommer did a good job though, because there are a couple of decent ones to make the effort worthwhile. I'll probably wait and try again in the spring when we can sit on the grass or something and not freeze ourselves silly. Thanks Sommer!

Free Online Photography Class

I came across a free online photography class and decided to do a few of the assignments. I am learning new stuff! First of all, I've learned a lot of things through trial and error with my camera, but I didn't really know what they were called. The class is showing me why what I do works and how to use it more effectively. I've also used a course that my sister-in-law Pam loaned me, and that has helped a bunch too, though I haven't fully applied myself to it because I do like due dates and assignments.

Anyway, here's the assignment for week one, focusing on aperture. The first picture was taken at 22, the second at about 8 and the last one was at 5. I wish I had something blooming to photograph, but no such luck at this time of year, so I used the weathered light in front of our house.

The second week was a lesson on shutter speed and ISO. Here is a picture of water. The first picture of course was at a slower shutter speed than the second.

Week three still needs some help. It is on white balance, something that I really rely on for getting the right color in different lights. I already know how to work with the various settings, but I haven't used the custom white balance setting before. I still haven't gotten it to work for me...though I follow the directions and get all the right menus and steps on my camera. This is a mystery to me. I'd really love to use a custom white balance setting if I can figure it out because then I can avoid some of the post picture-taking editing that eats up so much of my time. Here's a picture of a little wreath I have on top of a lamp shade in different settings. Setting the white balance properly really makes a big difference! The first picture is the most true to color, but I like the warmth in the second picture. The last one is just way off!

Terrible Twos

Who hasn't heard of them? Has anyone survived them? Will I?

I don't know what to think about Alice. She reminds me of me when I was 16 and heartbroken...she doesn't stop crying, and she walks around defining "broken hearted" with every limp move and stops crying only to ask for things using one word in the whiniest voice she can conjure. There are times so desperate that she taxes herself with only one syllable requests even when the word has two or more syllables: "Crack..." for cracker or "much" for sandwich. Honestly!

Like any good parent, I start talking myself into believing that there might actually be something clinically wrong with her. I start putting drops in her ears and popping out a dose of Tylenol to see if that will do the trick. When those things don't work miracles, I start considering that maybe she is depressed. Who knows? I think I have heard of cases where kids were born depressed! Naps don't help. Entertainment doesn't help. Candy only helps until it's gone...then it actually make it worse because she then finds the energy to repeatedly cry for candy, accepting nothing for an answer.

I can't get her dressed. I can't change her diaper. I can't put her down for naps. I can't put food away in the pantry. I can't leave the room. I can't brush her hair, get her out of the bath, turn off the bath water...you get the picture. I can't do anything with out provoking my depressed two year old. When we get home and I try to take her seat belt off, she has one hand covering the chest buckle and one hand covering the one between her legs. She wants to stay in the car...buckled in her seat...alone...more than she wants me to help her! It isn't even a matter of tricking her into thinking that she is doing it herself...no, she really just wants to stay in the van (until I start to walk away).

I can't win. I can't get a break from her crying. Ruby screamed bloody murder her first year, and Alice was super easy. Ruby's toddlerhood was blissful and so far, Alice's is a nightmare. Where's my girl?

Anyone have any tips?

27 Dresses

I just got home from a girls night out to see this movie! It was really cute, and worth seeing for sure.

Don't go expecting some really unique storyline, because the story has definitely been done before. Think, "Runaway Bride". The girl who doesn't have a mind of her own gets called out by a cynical reporter who gets her from the first moment he sees her...they fall in love...you get the picture. Still, I could get a kick out of "Runaway Bride" right now, so seeing a fresh rendition with various twists and obvious differences was welcome.

There is good chemistry between the actors, though I still don't think of Katherine Heigl as the graceful beauty I recently read she was in Vanity Fair (I was captive at a blow dryer at the salon with nothing else to read). She is sort of gawky and awkward to me somehow. I like her, but I'm not buying into her being some kind of Gwenyth Paltrow or Nicole Kidman--more like Maggie Gyllenhal or Cameron Diaz.

Anyway, if you like a good, predictable chick flick that ends nicely and makes you want to make out with your husband when you get home, this is the one. Don't take him with you though.

Ruby's first book...

This was such a fun surprise by Ruby! She did it all on her own. January 2008

Page one: picture of a pig
Page two: the word “pig”
Page three: the word “Mat” (for “uncle Matt”) and a picture of him
Page four: the word cat and a picture of a cat
Page five: A drawing of our family and the word, all sounded out by Ruby, “F-A-M-E-L-Y”. Notice Alice isn’t smiling (accurate) and Chris is bald. Love the hearts above our heads.
Other side of page five (not shown): the word “hat” and a picture of a hat.

I was stunned when she did this. She showed me her progress along the way, and I suggested that she add pictures, so we knew that “Mat” was a person, etc. She liked the idea, so she did so. Then she said she was going to surprise me and write “family”. I figured this would be when she’d ask me to spell it out for her, but she didn’t want help. When she came back with it...I was really surprised that she’d gotten it so close. The “y” really surprised me. I’m not trying to say I think she’s some kind of genius, I know this is normal stuff for her age, but it is still always such a shock to me when I realize how independent kids are at learning. We definitely work on things and we do Hooked on Phonics, and she’d learned all those “-at” words from book one HOP, but it is still a lot of instinctive kind of learning. More than anything, it amazes me how kids initiate learning what they want to know. That has always been the case for Ruby anyway.

Safeway.com coupon code

I think it is valid only through Thursay, but it took me awhile to find one this time. The code that worked for me is: glee.

Fun with Friends...

We had a really fun weekend with our friends, the Reynolds family. They were in our ward until we moved, and they moved the same week as we did to a town about 40 minutes from our new place. They came down Friday evening and left today (Sat) evening.

Sommer is my aforementioned sewing buddy, and we did manage to squeeze in some quilting while they were here.

Obviously we also made the effort to try and get a family picture for them. I have some work to do on them, but I thought I'd post a couple. I love the one of Wyatt! What a great model he is!

The kids had almost as much fun as us adults and we are so glad that they came to have a family slumber party with us!

I have to take a second to plug a great movie. It might not be for everyone, but I really liked it. It is quirky and unexpected and poiniant. The main reason why I choose to plug it is for it's pro-adoption viewpoint. I would even go as far as to say that it is on the anti-abortion side without being preachy in any way as to turn off hyper pro-choice advocates.

(I myself am personally appalled by the thought of abortion, but I stand in the pro choice shoes because I don't believe decisions of that kind of personal nature should lie in the hands of the government. I also don't believe that all unwanted pregnancies can be judged by one standard. I am a fan of choice...and accountability. I don't vote to take the right to bear arms away, even though I know that in this world, there is a risk of children being gunned down at school by a crazy person. I believe in the rights and risks involved with freedom, and accept that there are those who will abuse the freedom--and that abuse might even negatively affect me. I also believe that part of living on earth is making choices and that ultimately we all will learn the consequences of our good or bad actions. I don't ever vote to take away personal choice. Even when it means that someone can choose to kill a child on a playground or abort a miracle. I don't know what that means about me, but that's me!)

You can read the Juno movie review and see what you think. I loved that the show illuminated the blessing of adoption while still being fairly true to the pain of it as well. The birth mom is somewhat atypical in a way that does downplay the emotion that would be natural when giving up a baby, but again...it makes adoption look easy...even easier than abortion, and that is a rare stand to find in liberal Hollywood these days. For that reason, for the sweet song at the end and the intriguing dialogue, this movie gets two thumbs up for me.

Hubby Tag...

Mimi tagged me...I've been mauled by a sick toddler all week, so I was low on blogging juice. Thanks for giving me something to post. I tag Jeff, Heather, Jenny and Rachel.

What is his name? Chris

How long have you been together? We have some history, so hold on…We started dating Homecoming our junior year, though we weren’t an item until the summer before our senior year. We took a four year break (rather he did, I was pretty pathetically and privately devoted) and started regular, long distance contact by email and phone right when I got home from my mission in 2000. I saw him at a wedding right after I got home and his girlfriend broke up with him that night. YIPEE! I really didn’t think I was still interested, but I came home from BYU two months later and invited him to a YSA activity and he came. He called the next night and asked if he could see me again, and we spent that weekend going out every night. For a year, we saw as much of each other as we could when I was in town, and we talked on the phone and emailed daily. Still, no definitions or “more-than-friends” interaction. We even talked about other people we’d go out with and what not. However, I was smitten and told everyone I knew (at BYU) I was going to marry him. Then, in March 2001, I was only two months from graduation, and he came out to SLC. I picked him up at the airport and we drove to his parents’ house in Colorado. We held hands on the drive and he kissed me that night. We were married that December in 2001.

How long did you date? See above.

How old is he? 30

Who eats more? He can pack more in, but it depends on the food available because he’s really picky.

Who said I Love you first? Me. We were having an airport goodbye at Easter when he bought me a ticket to come home for a long weekend. Airport goodbyes are so romantic. I had been dying to say it to him because I’d felt that way for him for so long, and as early as it was (one month) into our romantic, adult relationship, I just could not stop myself from saying it. It felt so good to get it out there. He was shocked. Definitely.
I do have some college roomies and long time friends who read this, and they may remember that he did tell me he loved me for the first time in our earlier, young love when we were in college. We were at his sister’s house because I was going to stay there that night and she and her husband went to bed and he told me that he loved me. It was sweet, but then we broke up like a month later because he had a new girlfriend. Whoops!
Who is taller? He is taller by a foot.

Who sings better? Me.

Who is smarter? We have many of the same strengths. I have a degree in English, but I’d say as far as writing goes, we are equally matched at the kind of writing we do (self-writing). He’s a strong communicator, so am I. Well, maybe I’m a little more articulate in the heat of the moment. He is smarter at keeping his cool…wait, only in certain cases…I think we are very equally matched. He types WAAAAY faster than me.

Who does the laundry? Me. Loathe it. Recently I realized that he used the “it’s my love language” argument to get me to do more of what he wants (housework, not sex, I swear). I realized that my love language really could be spoken by one thing only: Chris doing the laundry every once in awhile! So when I went to my mom’s house a few days before him for Christmas, he did all the laundry, folded it and put it all away. That was so nice! Forget the love notes and romantic dates…I WANT LAUNDRY HELP!

Who pays the bills? Me.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Until we got a bed where the mattress is uneven and your head is lower than your feet (in May or so), I slept on the right side of the bed. Now, I have been sleeping in our old bed in the guest bedroom. Sweeter dreams and the blood isn’t rushing to my head. Chris claims that the bed is level, though he knows it isn’t. Anyway, we haven’t fixed it yet.

Who mows the lawn? Duh. Chris. It takes him like three hours, too.

Who cooks dinner? I do, if I do. I don’t get fancy because Chris doesn’t usually come home hungry. I just make food for the girls and I most of the time. Chris has issues with family dinner. Don’t get me started.
Who drives? When I got a minivan, Chris refused to drive in it. Instead we are seen all over town in a monstrous F-350 loud--as diesel is, gas guzzling all the way. Even to church. It is hard to get into and I’m not even tall enough to buckle the girls in their seats. I just hate it. He knows that he has to compromise on the issue when my van is clean, but luckily for him, my van is never clean.

Who is more stubborn? Me... I am a Taurus…and I’m right too.

Who kissed who first? He did on both of our first kisses. The first kiss when we were 17 was a peck like you’d give your mom. The one when we were 23, not so much. Both kisses were anticipated for at least a year.

Who asked who out first? He first asked me out when he signed my yearbook. He asked me to Homecoming in my yearbook…yes, yearbook signing is the end of the year and Homecoming is after summer, the beginning of the year.

Who proposed? Chris. He took me back to the driveway where he grew up and we had our first kiss. It was sweet, I really just wanted the ring, and knew it was coming.

Who is more sensitive? Him. By far.

Who has more siblings? I do, by one.

Who wears the pants? We share, but I say that because I was born to wear the pants, I wear the pants in so many areas of my life. So, I say we share because it baffled me when I realized a couple of years into our marriage that he truthfully wears the pants! How did that happen to me? There’s nothing wrong with not wearing the pants if you aren’t a pants wearer…but I AM! It works, somehow.

What to do with my wall of windows?

It's funny, I like the advice I get from my blogging friends (you are all actually real life friends too, I realize), so here's something I've been unsure what to do with for a whole year. I have this wall of windows I have. I am pretty sure usually about what to do with a wall, but I don't know what to do in this house because everywhere I go there are either windows or built-ins. The wall adjacent to the window wall is 100% built-ins and fireplace, and the buil-ins actually go around the corner to meet up with another double french door to the den, and then there is a WALL that is only like four feet long, and it is rounded into the hallway.

Thankfully we have a really private yard, or I would have been forced to throw up some blinds by now. So...I was so tired of not knowing what to do that I decided to just buy some roman shades for all the windows (and doors) and mount them inside the window, so I could hang drapes/curtains (not sure the difference) to flank the sides of the windows. However, I got online and started looking at some of the places where I normally buy that kind of thing and it turns out the big windows measure 58 inches wide, and no one makes roman shades that size!!!!! I have so many sewing projects on my hands and now, I have MORE THINGS THAT I HAVE TO SEW! I could pay $600 for custom roman shades, but that would be if I had the money or the conscience to so so, and I don't.

I already started making the roman shades for the windows by the kitchen table, there are three of them and I have only one made. I was frusterated, so I decided to go up to Alice's room and take measurements for her windows so I could buy her shades and take that project off of my list. Now, she has three windows in her room, and two of them measure only 16 inches!!! Guess what? No shades in that size either!!! In her room, I really have to make the shades because the windows go out like the kitchen, but there's a window seat there, so I can't have curtains falling to the floor. ARGH!

Any ideas? Do I just do curtains in the family room (but what about the doors in there, should I pretend they are windows?

Don't hate her

Because she is BEAUTIFUL!

This is one of my "sister-friends", Kelly. I love her because she is so sincere and thoughtful. She knitted me the most beautiful scarf for Christmas, and is always making me gifts. She's made me an apron, and a bag I use for church all the time. She is a talented dancer and needed a head shot for the studio where she works. It was a good excuse to get together and catch up. Kelly is not overly outgoing, and I had to work really hard for a year to be her friend. It wasn't because she didn't want to be my friend, she was just content with her little family and didn't realize that I was trying so hard. We became closer while sharing the piano bench in the primary in my last ward as she was the chorister and I, the pianist (a joke in itself). We both wound up pregnant at the same time, and since the side of the piano where we sat was entirely hidden from the primary children and other leaders, we would set up quite the buffet back there and we'd much and whisper about ourselves. Kelly is one person who never initiates gossip and never shares information she's been trusted with with others. I really admire that about her.

Who are you??

So I put that map feature on my blog a few days ago (thanks, Season) and I am so curious to know who YOU are! Most of the entries are knowns, but I don't know who on Mercer Island would be looking and I don't know who in Sunnyside, WA or Chicago is checking in. I know I check in on blogs that I find on other people's blogs, but I'm still curious.

Quirk...

So I have a quirk, or maybe it is a soapbox, but I'm curious if anyone else feels the same way.

I know traditionally, and certainly according to some stuffy etiquette books, you are supposed to list a man's name first on an envelope if you are sending something to a family with a man as the "head of household". Now, I'm no man hater or anything, I just like to go with the natural flow of things and do what makes sense.

Think about it. In your family, if you are married (if not, think of a sibling that is or your own parents), people on your side of the family most likely refer to your "couple" as "your name first, your spouses" name second. In my family, "Rebecca and Chris. Now, the opposite is true on his side, they would refer to my couple as "Chris and Rebecca". I'm not saying that my family never refers to us as Chris and Rebecca, because it happens, but in most cases, if you go through your aunts and uncles even--it will be the blood related name first and the in-law second.

This just makes sense! It naturally occurs. When I get a wedding announcement from a mission companion, for example--someone who has never even met Chris, I am always surprised to see his is the only name on the invitation. Sorry, but it just doesn't thrill me to have someone who knows me so well, address an invitation to their wedding to "Mr. and Mrs. Chris Pierce" or even to "Chris and Rebecca Pierce"...why not, "Rebecca and Chris Pierce?"

I don't really impose my odd rules on this matter on others, and I don't bother with really caring how others approach addressing etiquette. I even understand that many people would prefer to be traditional and proper, but just know if you receive something addressed from me with your name first, it is because I am first and foremost sending it to Y-O-U!

Am I alone on this?

Update by Chris...

Every month, Chris' family puts together a family letter. This would be impossible in my family, but on his mom's side, it is just "Nana" (Chris' grandma), Chris' mom, Chris and his three siblings and his mom's brother's family and their five kids. So...12 families in three generations. Anyway, Chris never posts, but he is well written and it is always entertaining to read his perspective (at least I think so). Here's his entry for January (December re-cap, even though he didn't mention Christmas!)...

Well, it is still raining up here and getting dark at 5:00. That limits the things you can do outside of the house. I have been taking the girls swimming a lot. Ruby is a stellar swimmer. She can swim the full length of the pool now by herself and her teacher told me she is the best "back floater" in class. She can also do something resembling a back stroke pretty well (also resembles a dying fish). She also has the earsplitting ability to scream at a window breaking octave on her way down the waterslide. You can actually see the sound coming out of the bottom of the slide as it shoots out like a bazooka. I told her once to scream on her way down and now she does it every time. Sometimes she recites the ABC's as she goes down to see how far she can get before she comes out the bottom. Either way it is hilarious to see people plugging their ears that are 50-60 yards away from the source. She heard me tell some boys how to go down faster and decided to try it on her own by lifting her body up on her heels and shoulder blades. She comes shooting out the bottom and almost clears the ropes that section off that part of the pool. She had the sweetest swimsuit wedgie I have ever seen after the first time.

Ruby asked me last night at bedtime if the next time we saw a dead animal we could stick around and wait for Heavenly Father to come pick it up and take it to Heaven so she could talk with him. She wanted to do this in the woods where nobody could get in her way.

Alice is talking more and more and can now turn the lights off by herself - not quite tall enough to turn them back on yet though. She chooses of course to do this quite often. When she is not cutting the lights she is tormenting the new kitten we got. She likes to follow it with little pieces of food stolen from the dish and try to feed it. It has been a real treat to find the cat food all over the house. Another favorite trick is to screech "Hi Kitty! Hi Kitty! Hi Kitty!" in a voice resembling a Whistling Pete. The cat comes out less and less when Alice is around. It found a home under the washer and dryer pedestal that Dad and I built that is "Alice free".

Ruby and I are coming down to Colorado later this month because she really wants to see her Nana. She has broken into tears enough times about not being able to see her Nana that we finally broke down and decided to bring her down. I am sure there won't be any crying when it is time to leave and come back.

Speaking in Church...Matthew 6:33

I have/get to talk in church today. I am speaking on Matthew 6:33 (to paraphrase, or maybe I do know it by heart), "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."

It has been an interesting two months around here for various reasons that I can't casually blog about (yet), and as a family, we have been faced with a degree of uncertainty. It is a blessing when these things come up and as big and important as they are, you realize, THANK GOODNESS we kept a true focus on what is important, because literally everything can and will fail but what cannot: our relationship with our Savior and the treasures we "lay up" in heaven. It is also such a help when you evaluate how you should behave toward people who wrong you and use you...the most important thing is still seeking to be righteous and following the example of Christ so that when that person is no longer a part of your life, your integrity has not been compromised. I love the Gospel.

Wish me luck! AMEN!

My Alice's Wonderland...

It is funny that we've lived here a year now and with all the plans I have to make the place mine, I have hardly done anything! We did paint Alice's room last month, and that is the extent of the work we've done inside, other than taking down some window treatments and a wallpaper border in the kitchen.

Anyway, Alice is now crawling out of her crib at night and it is time to move her to her big girl bed, so I am getting on with the task of making her bedding and stuff. This fabric is the fabric I chose to make a duvet cover out of. I love how bright and loud it is, just like my Alice.

So...I have this great little book, "All Things Alice" and I am trying to decide what quote I should put all over one of the walls. I want the font to change up some and the quote might be applied kind of nutty, not like in straight lines...that's not wonderland-ey at all...but I can't decide on a quote. I need votes!

Quote 1: In every corner--"She grew, and she grew and she grew. And in a very short time the room was full of Alice: just in the same way as a jar is full of jam! There was Alice all the way up to the ceiling: and Alice in every corner of the room!"

Quote 2 (37): "Your Majesty must excuse her," the Red Queen said to Alice, taking one of the White Queen's hands in her own, and gently stroking it: "she means well, but she can't help saying foolish things as a general rule."

I don't want the quote to sound negative (2).

Quote 3 (47): "How puzzling all these changes are! I'm never sure what I'm going to be, from one minute to another!"

Quote 4 (55): "Consider what a great girl you are. Consider what a long way you've come oday. Consider what o'clock it is. Consider anything, only don't cry!"

Quote 5 (60): "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said that Cat. "I don't much care where--" said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat. "--so long as I get soewhere," Alice added as an explanation. "Oh, you're sure to do that," said that Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

Quote 6 (66): "Dear, dear! How queer everything is today! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!"

I hesitate on this one (6) because I really do know who I am and who my girls are, and I teach them that they are children of God, and I don't want this to undermine that sacred knowledge.

Quote 7 (141): "There's no use trying," Alice said, "one can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said that Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I'e believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

I love being a person of faith and believing "impossible" things, so this one is fun for me for that reason.

Quote 8 (323): Wouldn't it be a nice thing to have a curious dream, just like Alice? The best plan is this. First lie down under a tree, and wait till a White Rabbit runs by, with a watch in his hand: then shut your eyes, and pretend to be dear little Alice.

Twinkle Talent...

I know I've raved about the Suzuki method preschool piano class I have Ruby in before. Anyway, Ruby is so motivated to learn, and she worked hard during the break and now knows all her Twinkle variations (four rhythms) and how to play the actual "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".

She'll perform her hard work at class next week and receive what is called a "twinkle trophy". She is so excited!

Uh ohhhhh...

Alice is opting to potty train, and I am not up to it! She's only 2 and 3 months, and I prefer to wait until they are closer to three years. I don't know if this will be an option for me because she won't keep a diaper on! I even dressed her in overalls and she managed to take them off all by herself.

All day, she just appears with nothing on but rain boots, demanding to sit in the "potty chair." I abuse the television when I train because it is the only way to fool the kids into sitting on the chair long enough to have success, so Mickey Mouse Clubhouse did the trick...for a little while. It wasn't very long after this that I stepped in something fishy and really wet on the kitchen floor.

Sommer suggested that I duck tape the diaper on so she can't take it off. I'm definitely not opposed to this, but Chris suggested trying a Pull-up and telling her that they were big girl pants. I tried this, and it worked! She doesn't think that she's wearing a diaper, and I even put a pair of panties on top of the pull-up (because she insisted). So far, we've managed to do our usual running around with this arrangement.

Laundry Room=Play Room

The kitty usually hangs out in the laundry room, and often times is on top of the washer and dryer. The washer and dryer is on top of a pedastal that Chris and his dad built that puts the W/D 20" taller.

Anyway, both Alice and Ruby (complete with dress up clothes) can be found on top of the W/D petting the kitty.

The laundry room is the new hangout.

Sledding...

We went sledding a couple of weeks ago and in spite of the fact that we researched out the best place to go, it was a bit of a bomb. We picked Ruby's friend, Wyatt (Sommer's son) up on the way.

We found a place that rents tubes and has groomed, individual sledding runs and a great lift back to the top. We were so excited.

When we got there, it was sold out, with a two hour line of people willing to stand in cold with their children to have a chance at the fun.

There was an area to the side where there were lots of people sledding, but obviously, there were more people like us just standing around with no sleds and no sledding passes. We tried accosting people who were heading home with their sleds, but they weren't willing to sell!

While Chris was working on a plan, I was following the kids down the unpacked snow hill, sinking hip deep in snow with every step. I actually had to roll onto my back in order to get my legs out of the snow, and then the same thing would happen again with the next attempt at stepping on the snow. The kids were having the same challenge, and I had visions of needing to be rescued by dog sleds, as I knew the kids would expect to be carried out, and I wasn't having any luck moving myself three feet!

I don't know how we all got back to the top of the hill, but we did. That is when I saw two sleds resting against a tree. I thought that since no one was buying the sleds, I might have luck borrowing the sleds so that the kids could each take one run. The sled owner was hesitant, but alas, I convinced him to loan me one sled for one run for each of the kids. Chris took them each down one time, and though they each took a snow dusting in the face the whole way down, I was at least satisfied that they officially went sledding.

Ruby and Wyatt enjoyed eating the snow like dogs, with their face to the ground. It was a fun day to see the kids in the snow and let them experience something new.

Sewing Extravaganza

Didn't take any pictures, didn't hardly stop to call my family. Sommer and I sewed from 7PM-2AM on Friday and resumed kid-free around 9AM on Saturday and we sewed until like 11PM on Saturday night. It was quite the weekend. I got so much done, and I am in love with what I made, but I can't post about it because it is a gift that I won't be giving until the end of FEBRUARY! The torture! I have to hold in my thrill until then! I am a tortured gift giver even waiting over night. I hate it. As soon as I think of a good gift idea, I want to let the cat out of the bag. In this case, my friend is expecting it, but I can't post pictures in case she reads this!

Anyway, there's nothing quite like having solid, uninterrupted time to make major headway on a time consuming project...and to have that perfect friend with whom there is a steady stream of fascinating conversation to boot!

I wish I'd taken pictures of what Sommer accomplished so I had something to post!

P.S...

Though they do somewhat match her bedding, the two tone bold walls behind Ruby were an inheritance when we bought the house. I can't wait to get a weekend to redo her room. I am currently working on a new quilt for her out of this moda fabric collection (not using the solids and a few others that I don't like)

Breakfast in bed...

Ruby mentioned that she wanted to have breakfast in bed last weekend. We just chuckled and put her down to bed. Then in the morning, she said that she had dreams about it all night. Of course we had to fulfill her simple dream, so after she helped Chris make waffles (with food coloring, of course) and eggs, she ran upstairs and got in bed so we could bring it up to her. Where does she come up with this stuff?

A quiz because it's late...

I just took this quiz. I thought it was interesting because I'm a language person, and I could think of people I knew that pronounce things different than me for each of the quesitons.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Old news, but newsworthy...

Chris and I are DIYs at heart. Really. We just don't have the time to get things done on our own. I think we both suffer from wanting to get a project from A-Z with no interruptions, and so we suffer project paralisys because children are obviously not going to sit around and patiently mind their own business while we get stuff done...at least not mine (and thank goodness). Anyway, here is something we tried when we had a weekend to ourselves for our anniversary...

Before

After

Our house has a lot of recessed lighting, and I loathe it because the "cans" are black! When the lights are on, it isn't very noticeable, but during the day (well, really we need light all day most of the time in the NW) when the lights are off, we have black spots all over the ceiling. Anyway, we discovered maybe six months ago that the cans are easily removed and can be sprayed to match the celing, and we did one downstairs and left it at that. We will get around to doing the rest, but so far only one downstairs and one in Alice's room have gotten the updated treatment. I wish I had a picture with out the light on for the after, but it really makes a big difference.

One up on PBK...

So I can't take credit for this, but after we bought our house, I brought over a bunch of friends to do a thorough cleaning and found out that the bottom drawers in our bathrooms double as stools! I'd never heard of or seen such a thing! We'd already committed to the house and I would have bought it just for that one fabulous convenience! I show EVERYONE when they want the tour. I was really surprised to see this in Pottery Barn Kids, because so far, no one had ever seen it either. I must have friends in high places. Hmmmm...is this not the greatest invention ever? Well, second to Safeway.com maybe. Anyway, my drawers are convertible, so the wood insert that they now stand on is resting on this lip, so you just take the insert out and you have a regular drawer!

Don't take me off of your list!

I love getting Christmas cards. For this selfish reason, I love sending them out every year as well. If you didn't get one, don't take me off your list! I just didn't get to that this year! I really wanted to, I had the cards and the stamps and I even wrote out a little letter and printed it off on boring white paper. I didn't have a picture, and I just didn't get many sent. I maybe sent like eight to the first eight people I received them from. I got a heap of cards when I was on my way to my folks' house for the holidays, and I devoured them all for every detail I could, but once away for the holiday, I just flaked and didn't get more sent. Better planning next year!