un et un font deux

Christmas 2011

2012-02-10T23:08:00.000-08:00

I figure since it's (mid!) February already I ought to post on Christmas 2011. I haven't wanted to because our pictures are such crap. I guess that's what happens when your son drops your camera in the freezer... (punk kid). So it's iPhone pics for us. Which I suppose could be worse. But these are some of the favorites, courtesy of Instagram. :)

Christmas this (last) year was fabulous. We decided that for the sake of stress and world peace, we would no longer travel for Christmas but stay home instead. This was our first year.

And it. Was. Wonderful.

We missed our family (mostly the Barentine side, as the Andersons were pretty much all in town and therefore visitable without traveling), but spending quality time with OUR little family was priceless.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was pleasant and peaceful and nice. I can't remember what we did during the day. Nothing spectacular, apparently. But that evening was memorable. Derek's family has a tradition (quasi-recent tradition, anyway) of having a candlelight waffle dinner for Christmas Eve. It sounds significantly less formal than it is, but they go all out. A ham, waffles with all the trimmings, candlelight, wassail, fine china, the works. I loved this tradition but wanted to do a version that was our very own. So, implementing our French "roots," we decided to do a spin off of their tradition and have a candlelit, china-using CREPE dinner.

Another back story: my family consists of three girls (of whom I am the middle)... and our little brother Michael (who is not really part of this story but cannot be left out). My parents also had three sets of china. All growing up, they told us that when we were married (or grown, I suppose), we would inherit one set of china each. And the first to be married would be the first to choose, etc. I'm not sure if my sisters did this, but I always hoped I would be married first- if only to be able to choose my favorite set of china, the pretty floral one. Well it turns out the china was not distributed in the timely manner it was predicted to be. Six and a half years into my marriage, and it was still sitting in the cupboard at home. I don't think anyone minded or even remembered (apartment living does not necessitate fine china, nor is china conducive to frequent moves). But when Dad and Polly came up at Thanksgiving time, they called and asked which china was my fav so they could bring it up for me. I chose the pretty floral set (of course), and apparently I was the only sister with an opinion so SCORE for me. I got my wish. Long story, but the point is: I had china this year, and even with two young children and an unforgiving tile floor- we used it.

My mom joined us for our Christmas festivities this year. She helped me unwrap the delicate china, hand wash it all, and pray that kids would not chuck their dishes on the floor (which is not unheard of around here, unfortunately). Despite the potential catastrophe, however, dinner went perfectly.

We had savory crepes first (ham, egg, Gruyere cheese, s&p) followed by dessert crepes (raspberries, blueberries, Nutella, banana, whipped creme, etc). We ate amid the beautiful glow of candle light. And we used (and didn't drop, phew) beautiful, sentimental, inherited china (I feel so grown up having it, can you tell?). The meal was happy, peaceful, and quaint. It was a very happy moment (though it could have been the Gruyere and Nutella... mmm). It was the perfect Christmas Eve dinner, and I was thrilled that it went so smoothly.

After dinner, we opened our Christmas pajama presents. This year I simply bought cute ones at the store. Nothing homemade, nothing extremely cool. But the kids were CRAZY-in-love with their jammies! They were surprisingly happy and excited about them. It was awesome. Woohoo for appreciative kids! So we jammied-up and then sat around the living room with just the glow of the Christmas lights around us. We read the Bible story of Christ's birth in Luke 2. We discussed it so the kids would comprehend it all. Then we sang Christmas songs. Christ-centered ones as well as Santa-esque ones. Just whatever. It was nice. Music is amazing with its power to set moods - and invite the Spirit.

Before bedtime (which we followed regardless of the holiday- a good call when hoping for well-behaved, happy children) we got our stockings down and set out cookies and egg nog for Santa. Then we said our prayers and got in bed.

Christmas Day

Backstory: As a kid, my mom's parents (my grandparents) would almost always come and stay with us for Christmas. Grandma Bunny would always sleep in our room with us (it was just us girls then). We would chat her ear off (as per usual) until she bribed us and offered a "quat-uh" (my grandma is from Massechusettes and says some words with an adorable accent) to the first girl to fall asleep. We always thought it was a sweet way to earn some money; she, I'm sure, was just exhausted and wishing we'd quit all that yackin. :) Fun memories. Sorry for the tangent.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, my mom stayed over with us. She stayed on the trundle in James' room. It was fun for me, as it brought so many fun memories to the surface. Just like her mom had slept in our room, she was sleeping in James' (I'm sentimental like that). Being the only kid in his room, however, I'm not sure if there were quarters involved. :)

So Christmas morning, James woke up and woke Grandma up, and then Grandma went in and got Jolie out of bed. When we were ready for them, we all came out into the hall together.

It was Christmas morning, and Santa had come!

The kids were really excited (though not entirely surprised; they got exactly what they asked for) about the gifts Santa had left them. James got a helicopter (as well as a coordinating motorcycle- bonus!), and Jolie got a (stuffed) puppy. We all enjoyed opening (emptying?) our stockings and discovering the fruit, nummy candy, and other little trinkets which had been left inside.

Once we were finished with our Santa presents, we ate some breakfast and got ready for church. Jolie had an especially hard time changing out of her cupcake jammies and into a church dress. I very nearly let her go to church in her pjs! But Daddy convinced her that her "hess" was "pity" and that she could change back into her cuppie cake jammies when we got home. We made it to church on time (Christmas miracle!) and enjoyed a very pleasant, very joyful Sacrament meeting.

When we returned home, we slipped back into our new pjs and resumed our present opening. It was really nice. We were able to take things slow, letting the kids play with their toys for a bit before opening new ones... letting them appreciate them before greedily tossing them to the curb (that's how a rushed Christmas morning feels to me; I'm glad we didn't experience that).

The children exchanged their sibling gifts first because they (James) were so excited to see the other one open the gift they'd chosen and wrapped themselves. James gave Jolie a set of little mermaids - Ariel and her sisters. She loved them. She calls them her "Ah-ahs" (as in the tune Ariel sings in The Little Mermaid- "ah ah ahhhh, ah ah ahhhh..."). :) I know, adorable. Jolie gave James a "shark airplane" that he's been admiring for the past year (smart advertising, Imaginext). Then they opened their other presents.

The kids mostly got three presents from us, and they were shared (for both kiddos) gifts: a road rug/play mat from IKEA, a dress-up box containing various dress-ups collected throughout the year, and probably the biggest one- a play kitchen that I made for them (soooo proud of the results). The most magical and wonderful part of it all was that both kids were genuinely thrilled with all of their presents, and genuinely grateful, and genuinely having a BLAST when we stopped to play with all of it!

It was such a fantastic, peaceful, wonderful morning.

After all of this wonderment, we had lunch and then naps. Ah, naps. :) Grandma Marilyn went home for naptime, and I'm pretty sure we all slept, having worn ourselves out from all of the excitement. When our naps were over, we headed over to Julie's house for the Anderson Christmas Gift Exchange. (Mindy, if you're reading this, that part was for you.)

Most of Derek's side of the family was there (we missed you, Lays!). We got there in time for Christmas dinner, which was mostly a casual grazing of fantabulous foods. Then we opened our Mary Poppins type bag of gifts from Grandma Julie, followed by our sibling family gifts to one another. We chatted and laughed and reminisced and just soaked up the love.

It was a very love-filled Christmas for me. Evidently.

Finally- at midnight (ack!), we packed up our kiddos, came home, and put them to bed. And we slept... while visions of sugar plums danced in our heads.

Graduation!!! (at long, loooonnng last)

2012-01-10T12:48:00.000-08:00

DEREK GRADUATED!!

Woohoo!! Finally!

And we couldn't be more proud.

I say "finally" more for him than for me, because while of course I was impatient to move on- the hard work and stress (for the most part) was his burden. And it wasn't a small one, either. Sorry, babe. But HE DID IT!! And he did it WELL! He totally scored grade-wise on his last semester, too. I was so proud! Especially since he felt in over his head for much of it (don't we all). He's such a smartypants! And immensely dedicated. And such a hard, hard worker. Hooray for it paying off!!!

So today, while many people are headed out to USU to spend their hard-earned cash on more education (and books and stress and studying)... Derek is at work making mula! Yay!! lol

And so, while this post is about a month late... I wanted to tell Derek CONGRATUATIONS! ;) We are so, so proud of you! And we love you more than words can say.

Here are some pics (and a bit of commentary) on his graduation celebration(s):

The day of his last class/final, we wanted to go out to celebrate. We tried to hit up sushi for lunch, but apparently all sushi-makers take a siesta, 'cause no places were open (of like FOUR separate places!) from 2:30pm to 5pm. Strange. So we split some take-home A&W instead, and went out instead for dinner. Mmm, sushi. We sat at the bar... 'cause we could. 'Cause we had no kiddos with us. And the sushi chef made friends with us. It was fun. Here is a picture of the celebratory couple. :)

I gave Derek a few days to relax, sleep in, and play video games. He'd had a rough month or so, pulling all of the projects together and working late, late hours to do so. I figured he'd enjoy some down time. (I think he did.) Then I attempted to throw a surprise party for him that weekend. Unfortunately, he caught on before the party began. I blame James. I think possibly when James told Derek, "Today is your party!!!" or "We're cleaning up for your PARTY!!" or any of those similar phrases that perhaps he gave it away. :) It was cute. We'd been planning for this party for a while, and the kids had been helping me do so (buying streamers and balloons, etc) for a couple of weeks by that point. James had been asking if today was the party for lots of days. He was sooo excited, and so thrilled to be in on the secret. The fact that he kept it a secret for that long was pretty impressive. And it was still a surprise... just an earlier-in-the-day one. :)

Here is a photo of (some of) the spread:

And one of the glorious cake:

And one of Derek giving an uber-cheesy thumbs up:

The party was lots of fun. Thank you to all of you who came and supported Derek (and brought some delicious food!). It has been really sweet to see how wonderful our friends and family are, and to see them love and support my sweetie.

Another surprise (which really DID end up being a surprise...) I had planned for Derek was a "staycation" of sorts. I originally had wanted to take him on a cruise. He really wants to go on one, someday. But it didn't really work out this year. (The fact that he finished classes a mere week before Christmas contributed largely.) So I figured we could do something close.

I reserved a night at the Anniversary Inn, in their new African Safari room (eek!! so fun!!), and I took him to a fancy dinner beforehand. Here he is at dinner, posing with our scrumptious appetizer:

He's such a stud.

And here is a lame-and-difficult-to-see-but-still-somehow-cool-cause-it-was-gorgeous-in-there video that I took when we first got to the hotel (yes, I'm romantic like that):

And a final picture that is probably of the least romantic element in the room (woot- sexy heating unit) but is possibly the best I came away with and somehow captures the fantastic, mysterious, exotic, cozy feel of the place:

We had a wonderful time and felt that it was worth every penny (it was not the cheapest staycation, that's for sure). We had a loooottt of hours with just the two of us, and while soaking in the huge jetted tub (with changing lights- so cool) took up a good amount of time, eventually we had to TALK to one another! Now don't get me wrong; our marriage is pretty great. We communicate well. We still really enjoy one another's company. We genuinely are best friends. But having two kids and a lot of life in between somehow resulted in less time to just chat... for hours... about nothing and everything. Thanks to a date that lasted a good 20+ hours, we were able to do a whole lot of that. And it was actually really great... once we figured out how to do it again! :)

So, Derek... You did it. You graduated!! You have a Bachelor's Degree, a pilot's license, and a (now- yay!!) full-time job. You've always been a fantastic provider and amazing husband and father. And now you've proved to yourself that you're an intelligent, accomplished, successful man too. I know I say it too often, but truly: I'm really, really proud of you. We love you to bits. Congrats, Daddy!

Now get back to work! (wink)

I'm a Loser.

2011-12-14T20:42:00.001-08:00

This is random, and hopefully not gloaty-sounding or lame to post. I feel a bit self-conscious about talking weight (it's one of those awkward things like money), but when in doubt, I tend to spill.

Hopefully this won't be as awkward as my Obama post a few years back (*ahem). :)

You see, one of my neighbor/friends Facebooked me and said that she'd just seen me out and was again impressed by how skinny I look (um... seriously? SUPER flattering!) and wanted to know what I did/do to get that way. She's noticed my weight loss and wanted advice so she could do the same.

I was uber-flattered.

Side note: please don't be disappointed when you see me next; I really don't look that smokin'. But this has all been a big part of my life lately, so I'm sharing it. For journaling purposes.

Anyway, this is what I wrote back (excessively wordy, go figure):

My climax of feeling icky and fat, etc, was June 1st. I remember because it was the last day of our quarter at school (I teach adults English), and we had an end-of-quarter class picture. And I was severely disappointed in my pic. I tend to be in denial, thinking I look great... and seeing how not-true that was was the last straw.

So I told Aubrey that I needed to work out (took her up on her standing offer, really), and we did. I made it my goal to work out EVERY DAY (well, minus Sunday- unless we went on a family walk or something). I would run/walk (run as much as I could, which was like 5 minutes at first... it is now more like 30, months later) for 20 minutes at least twice a week. Then I'd do SOMETHING else on the other days. Yoga, an exercise DVD, something. Yoga is super easy sweat-wise, but it really helps my posture and helps me feel fit and sexy. So I'd make sure and work out. Often. It was a big deal, and helped me FEEL tons better as well as lose about 5 lbs. Woot.

Then, in September, I decided I needed to "up" my game. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app on my phone (it is available online too, free as well, at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ if you don't have a smart phone; having it on your phone is significantly easier to do, though).

Anyway, MyFitnessPal is a calorie/workout calculator. I know you said you hate counting calories, and I always swore I would NEVER do it. But oh. my. gosh. It totally worked. I realized initially that so many things were WAY more calories than I ever had realized. I also realized that I snacked far too much. Then I got things under control... and was hungry. Quite a bit. For a few days. So I figured out how to eat things that were higher fiber, higher protein, etc, so I would feel fuller longer. Turns out if you eat healthy stuff- you can eat TONS more of it! So that helped. It was an adjustment, but once I figured it out (which really wasn't that long later) it was honestly pretty easy!

So that's what I do now. Well, what I SHOULD do now. The biggest thing is the calorie counting. Apparently weight loss really IS just a mathematical thing. Eat less, burn more. And having the app to do it makes my life mostly stress free. And the control freak in me actually kinda thrives on it.

So I try to run once or twice a week. For 30 minutes now (start small, then increase a month or so later). I also try to go to Zumba once a week (this kicks my butt). And while I suck lately at squeezing in other stuff, I'm trying to re-incorporate that... like Yoga in the morning or shoveling snow or something. And then I track what I eat. The more I exercise, the more I can eat. So that's good incentive. I try to eat like 200-300 calorie meals so that at the end of the day, I have calories to use for junk. :) Probably not smart, but I seriously love late-night snacking... and I seriously love ice cream and pie and candy. So I still eat it. The real stuff. Just less, and only when I can "afford" it.

Wow. See why I couldn't type that all from my phone? :) Sorry it's so long. I just want to be thorough and hopefully as helpful as I can be. Don't beat yourself up if you suck at it at first. Just tell your body "thank you" and "good job" and be glad you're not on the couch eating a brownie sundae. Anything counts.

You are gorgeous already. Really. But being more healthy is a fantastic goal (and feels super great). So good luck. And good for you.

Helpful??

PS. After I started doing the MyFitnessPal thing (counting calories), I started dropping pounds like crazy! I lost like 10 lbs in a month or something wild. I have now lost a total of like 20 (!!) lbs. We'll see if it stays off, but now I feel like it's in my control. I like control.

There's my testimony. :)

Okay, chao.

There you go. My weight-loss story, lol. I honestly do feel (and hopefully look) so much better now. It's like I'm now the right size for my body. Know what I mean? Before I wasn't nasty-fat or anything, I just wasn't "me." I feel much more "me" now... and much less inhibited by my out-of-shape body. It's pretty sweet.

And so is pie.

Contentment

2011-12-08T10:48:00.000-08:00

My house is quiet, except for the occasional clink-clink-clink of LEGOs coming from the back room. My kids are playing together. And I'm enjoying some marvelously peaceful alone time.

I ostracized them to the back room. I told them they were to play in either James' or Jolie's room, and I counted to five. I'm a good mom like that.

I just need them to realize that they can have fun and be happy without clinging to my pant legs. They tend to hover. And lots of times I don't mind it (except when I'm trying to cook; then it drives me nuts). But they both seemed restless and bored but were doing nothing about it. So I sent them away.

I wasn't angry or punishing them. Just directing their play. And they seem to be happy. It's been quiet and nice. No one's cried so far. Not even me.

I love it when they play well together. And lately- 'lately' meaning the past several months- they've done so fairly consistently. They're at a wonderful age to be perfect playmates. Jolie takes direction from James (which he gladly offers), and they'll play contently for hours.

It's wonderful for me.

What have I been doing this morning while they've played? Well... I've sat in the living room and relished in the Christmas atmosphere. I've painted my nails- several coats, even. I've checked Facebook. I've talked to Derek (on the phone; he's headed up to school). I'm blogging (gasp- I know). It's seriously been great.

A lot of my friends are pregnant or wanting to be. And although I'm super excited for those who are having or wanting to have newborns, I really am glad that I'm not. Life is really great right now, really easy most of the time. The kids are old enough to run errands with me and flexible enough to let me push them a bit past naptime or even lunchtime. They're getting to be quite independent and able to do a bunch of things by themselves. I can communicate with them, and they with me. It's nice around here.

I'm content.

And while I'm not ruling out the possibility of another child someday, I'm really happy to be just the four of us right now.

Sometimes life is just good. That 'sometimes' is right now.

(Note: This time the silly play was directed by Jolie.)

From the Mouths of Babes

2011-12-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

This happened about 4.2 minutes ago. I had just gotten out of the shower and was putting lotion on my face, when Jolie walked in. She got down on her knees and folded her arms and said, "Mommy, a pair?" "You wanna say a prayer?" I replied. She nodded. "Hess." Uh... sure... okay.

So I got down on my knees next to her and folded my arms. Prayers thus far with her have been more of the say-and-repeat variety, but this time she just took off. No prompting necessary. This is what she said (translation to follow):

"Dear. A Fadder,

Tay-too Daddy coal.

Ike-Oh in-eh gun.

A name. Day-dus.

Uh-men!"

{swoon.}

Translation:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for Daddy's school.

Michael is gone.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen!

This girl seriously melts my heart.

PS. "Hess" is her new, adorable way of saying "Yes." I love it. It makes me happy every time.

PS#2. She must have noticed that Daddy has been stressed about school as of late.

And PS#3. She really misses Michael. She tells me he is gone and not at Grandma's house at least once a day, and always with a frown. :(

FHE: The Christmas Story

2011-11-27T22:35:00.001-08:00

Sheesh! Three posts in one night!! {If you want me to keep 'em coming, I recommend commenting on each.} What are Stefan and Damon going to do without me?? :)

Okay. The post. I have been pretty crumby at posting our Family Home Evening (FHE) lessons on here, but generally speaking we have been routine about having them. Tonight I whipped something together while the kids finished eating dinner (they are seriously the slowest eaters). This is what I came up with.

FHE: The Christmas Story

Opening Song: Away in a Manger (though any Christ-centered Christmas song would work)

Opening Prayer.

Lesson:

1. Brief recap of The Christmas Story (using a fabric book I made for James in '09)... Mary, Joseph, the manger, Baby Jesus, shepherds, wise men, etc.

(I bought the fabric panel from

Hobby Lobby. This photo is not

actually mine, but it looks basically

the same. I swiped this off of ebay.)

2. Elaborate if necessary... We talked further about the fact that Christmas is a time when we celebrate Christ's birth. ("It's Jesus' birthday", is actually what I said.) I like to tell them that Jesus doesn't need us to give him toys, but we can give each other toys and other presents because it makes Him and Heavenly Father happy. Kind of like when James is nice to Jolie, it makes me happy... etc. It is my way of explaining Christ's teachings when He said, "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matt 25:40) Our theory is that Santa must love Heavenly Father a lot, cause he gives so many people presents! :) Really, though, I think they understood.

3. Watch this YouTube clip {The Christmas Story, a clip from The Nativity Story I think, set to Silent Night sung by David Archuleta} *link here.

Activity: Make the following Christmas craft, using black construction paper, a nativity picture (found ours online here- scaled to about 5" tall), crayons, popsicle sticks, star stickers and glue.

Our pretty Christmas crafts

Derek's

James'

Mine (Becca's)

Jolie's

Treat: Cherry Crunch Pie via Marie Calendar with Blue Bunny Homemade Vanilla ice cream (226 cal for my small portion) Mmm!

Closing Song.

Closing (Family) Prayer.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-11-27T21:22:00.000-08:00

We put up our tree this weekend. Yes, put up. We bought a fakey last year, and while we love the smell and effect of a real one, artificial is so, so much easier (and less messy)! We did spend a lot of time choosing a tree that looked fairly realistic, though, so that helps.

Anyway, the tree. It's up. And decorated. And glorious! We got out our decorations (this was all Friday, I believe) and had a grand time putting them all up/out. It's so fun to see all of the decorations and things I haven't seen in a year and remember just how much I love them. Our stockings, for instance. And the darling little nativity set I bought our first year of marriage... and how it sat atop our lil' TV back then because we basically had no other furniture. :) The memories and nostalgia are a delightful side effect of Christmas. I love it all.

So now our home feels cozy and warm... and definitely ready for Christmas!

Here are a few pics. Taken with my iPhone. Because my little boy may or may not have put our camera in the freezer and made it unworkable. :( Oh, well. C'est la vie.

CHRISTMAS!

Daddy, James and Jolie

"helping decorate"

Setting up the train

Various shots of our pretty, festive living room:

(Our "real" nativity set...

purchased circa 2005)

(The kids' nativity set;

James wanted it set up

next to the other one.)

Ah... Christmas.

Thanksgiving Week 2011

2011-11-27T20:23:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving time has been a riot! We've been going, going, going, and (besides the crazy-kids aftermath) it's been super fun!

My brother, Michael, came up last Friday night from NM. Mom and I drove down to pick him up; Derek stayed home with kiddos. We went to IKEA first... um... AWESOME! I could (probably literally) live in that place! It makes me quite happy inside. Then we waited. A while. You see, silly Michael didn't realize the importance of arriving early (well, earlier than 24 minutes pre-flight) to the airport, so he missed his flight. Several hours and much stress (mostly his) later, he got to Salt Lake.

I was home by then.

Hm... okay, backtrack (so much for a brief recap). Michael missed his flight. We were on our way to Salt Lake. It was crazy snowy, and the roads were bad. We didn't want to backtrack and try again later. Plus... you know, IKEA called. :) So we went to SLC, and Michael got on standby for a later flight. We (Mom and I) shopped. It was great. I got a bunch of materials I need for a Christmas present I'm making for my kids; Mom got her Christmas gifts pretty much all taken care of. Michael was en route at this point. Mom and I went to In-and-Out Burger for dinner. I exceeded my calories, needless to say, but it was yummy. Then we waited. And waited. Michael wasn't supposed to fly in until the morning, so we drove to Micah and Brittney's house to crash. As it turns out, Micah needed to head to {insert home here} by early morning, anyway. Britt didn't want to come until later. I had a hubby headed to work at 5am and therefore kids potentially left alone at home, which wasn't going to work. And I was supposed to run my first 5K at 10am.

SO... Micah and I took Mom's car and headed to {that town again} at 12:30am or so. Mom stayed at Britt's, and they would get Michael from the airport and then head up to {afore mentioned town} in the am. Micah slept over at our house and headed out to help his dad in the morning. I ditched my kids at Aub's and ran my 5K (SUPER AWESOME! More on that later...). Michael arrived safely, and Britt, Mom, Michael and the kids (Britt's, not mine... they're at Aubrey's, remember?) drove up here. We all met back at Aub's by about noon.

And the rest is history. :)

Jolie, Michael, James & Grandma

We hung out with "Uncle Ike-Oh" and "Glamma" for lunch time, had naps, then went out for Indian food (mmmmm....). Sunday we hung out too. Then Sunday night (afternoon, really) "Apple Pie" got here. More family, more fun.

"Apple Pie" is Jolie's unintentionally funny way of saying "Grandpa (&) Polly." One day fairly recently, we were sitting at the dinner table, and Jolie piped up with "APPLE PIEEE!!" She was really excited, but it was really random. Finally we figured out that she was talking about Grandpa and Polly, and we all laughed quite a bit. Super cute. So funny.

So Grandpa and Polly came and stayed at our house. It was lots of fun! We played games ("No... a fish!"), went shopping, ate some nummy nummy food (again with the excessive calories!) at Firehouse, watched the boob-tube, and lounged around enjoying one another's company. I'm so glad they came. It's great to see my kids bond with family we rarely see. The effort of travel and time is certainly not overlooked.

Grandpa reading to Jolie

Polly reading to Jolie (spoiled much?)

One afternoon while they were here, Polly and I went shopping while Grandpa and Daddy and the kids stayed home. When we got back, we saw that they had been busy! Building some fan-tastic snowmen! Apparently there's a Daddy snowman, a James snowman, and a Jolie snowman. Grandpa is unrepresented though he did much of the work. Sorry, Grandpa. :) They looked great. Derek said Dad (Grandpa, that is) was very meticulous with his snowman-making. Well apparently it paid off, cause look at those beauties! The kids were very proud. And quite sad when the snow started to melt and snowpeople started losing their heads. :)

Our single-parent snow family:

Dad and Polly left on Wednesday. We recouped, cleaned up, and had long, wonderful naps. Then the "Amma" / "Ike-Oh" party recommenced. We went shopping to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner. We went out to eat (Mexican... Ole!) to avoid cooking (and cleaning) when Thanksgiving was just around the corner. Then the kids spent the night at Grandma's house.

They. Were. Thrilled!

Jolie was significantly more excited than I thought possible. I just assume she's too young to care about that stuff. She always surprises me by caring quite a bit. I think part of the excitement was due to the extra opportunity to be in Michael's presence. :) She really, REALLY loves him. It's super cute to see. I think she may have a crush on him. hehe. She just adores him, really. She was quite sad today when he had to go home.

Uncle Michael (with his new haircut!) shaving...

when did he become a MAN???

Jolie went from leery of Michael to

absolutely infatuated with him!

Here she is decorating his face with stickers-

PRETTY!

Having a bath (all aboard!) at Grandma's...

let the Sleep Over begin!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. Mom made a beautiful feast (seriously; I made stuffing- and yummy, homemade stuffing- but still, everything else was thanks to Grandma), and we quite enjoyed eating it. We stuffed ourselves silly, took naps, then ate some more. We watched the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade (recorded, of course... we weren't even awake when it originally aired!). We hung out. We had a grand ol' time.

I should have made them wear Pilgrim hats and feathers.

Late that night, I experienced my first Black Friday. It was fun... for maybe an hour. The subsequent 2-3 hours (spent IN LINE)? Not so much. I will not be doing that again. At least with no sweet sale item in mind. It's seriously just not worth it. People weren't rabid or anything, it was just the waiting... But still. Ugh.

Friday morning, Derek worked and we spent a quiet day at home. That afternoon/evening, we met up with Grandma and Michael again. We did dinner at our place, then Grandma and Michael hit up the town (they went to the theaters to watch Jack & Jill... and liked it, I believe). Derek and I stayed home and vegged. Then at about 11pm, Aub came to my house and asked if I wanted to make a Kmart run with her, Tosha and Mel. I did.

We went to Kmart, perused the toys and such, bought some silly socks (and some pretty dress-up shoes to add to the Christmas stash), and came home. The Kmart employees pretty much escorted us out. Kindly, but still. Apparently we weren't picking up on the "our store is now closed and has been for twenty minutes... please get the heck OUTTA HERE" intercom messages. :) We came back to my place for pie and pie and pie and pie, watched some sexy vampires on the telly, and crashed. A fun time had by all. :)

Tosha, Aubrey & Melody

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Saturday included a DI run (or slow mosey, really) with "Amma" and "Ike-Oh" followed by a quick jeans-buying excursion to Old Navy. Then we went to Grandma's house for lunch and naps and came home in the late evening for baths and sleep. There's really nothing like your own bed for getting some good zzzz's. The kids didn't know it, but they needed their own beds. They needed home. Vacations and parties and outings are fun, but they make for some very frazzled kiddos (and mommies, let's be honest). Home is centering. It felt good to touch base.

James REQUESTED this picture.

I was more than willing to accomodate! :)

This morning (Sunday), we went to church with Grandma. Jolie coughed her germs all over the congregation; I'm sure they appreciated it. Needless to say we came home right after Sacrament Meeting. Church is wonderful, but not so much when you feel like death. The kids got into cozy clothes and played quietly. It was refreshing. I cleaned up the kitchen, and soon- we all got together here for lunch. A bit of wrestle-mania and some hanging out later, Grandma and Michael left for Salt Lake. :( They wanted to see the lights at Temple Square before he flies out tomorrow. We will miss him.

Uncle "Ike-Oh" being silly

We will miss everyone.

It is wonderfully peaceful to be home with just our little family, but I always feel a little lonely after holidays are done. I hate the craziness but I love the people. I miss the people.

Tonight we had a wonderful, Christmas-centered Family Home Evening. It was a pleasant and special way to end our crazy but wonderful week. And right now, the loudest sound I hear is my typing on the keyboard. The Christmas tree is glowing. It's warm and cozy in our home. And all of my wee family is under one roof.

"Peaceful" does not even cover it.

Halloween 2011: a short story

2011-11-13T20:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!! Okay, it was a while ago. But I'm going to post pictures anyway, cause you know- I'm crazy like that. I'm also gonna tell you a spoooooky tale. Here it is:

Once upon a time in a far away land lived a happy family of four. They were a perfectly normal family: a mommy, a daddy, a boy and a girl. Well one night when the moon was full and the wind was rushing through the trees, something mysterious and spooky blew through the air... and POOF! They all transformed into perfectly UNnatural creatures! Mommy turned into a witch (yeah, not a stretch at all). Daddy turned into a warlock with a crazy nose and mustache. The boy turned into a super-scary skeleton. And the girl turned into a glorious butterfly.

How surprised they were to find themselves in such a predicament! Whatever were they to do? Well, they decided to wander the streets in search of nourishment. They left before nightfall, seeings how it was warmer and the wee creatures were in happy moods. They went around from door to door, knocking on the doors and threatening, "Trick or treat!" Apparently the neighbors preferred to give treats and avoid the afore-mentioned tricks, so they handed over their candy. More and more and more candy. They family was thrilled! What a feast they would have! (What big thighs you have! Better to... hmm, that doesn't quite fit.) They continued to roam the streets and threaten any who would dare answer their knocks. Then it was time to return home. So they did.

At home, they devoured the candy, one by one... until at least one piece a person was consumed. Then they turned off the lights, turned to boom box high, and had a spooktacular dance party. What a glorious time they had! The lights were off. Each creature was armed with a magical glowing branch, and the house was a-rockin! Finally the wee creatures began to yawn (and yowl), so the witch and warlock readied them for Dream Land. In two straight (well...) lines they broke their bread, brushed their teeth and went to bed.

As they drifted off to sleep, they dreamt that change was coming at last. The wind rushed through the trees, a howl was heard in the distance, and magical fairy dust filled the air. When they awoke the following morning, they were normal again. A mommy, a daddy, a boy and a girl. Perfectly normal.

... Or were they?

Aaaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha (that's a witch's cackle)!

:) Happy Halloween!

PS. The above tale is based on a true story.

PS#2. James got to dress up four times this year: once for a neighborhood party, once for Grandma Marilyn's ward party, once for preschool, and once for actual Halloween. His face paint got progressively better. Jolie got to dress up thrice. She was equally adorable each time. :) Both kids were super cute and very excited about the festivities this year. It was a very fun time had by all. Hooray for such a fun, silly holiday. Hooray for Halloween!

James' Birth Story

2011-10-25T16:35:00.001-07:00

Because I somehow never did and don't want to forget, I'm going to record James' birth story... only 4+ years late.

...

I was due to have him on July 15th, 2007. Because I begged and pleaded for months and ultimately broke down in tears, Dr. Fxx (I should make that triple X; he's such a stud) finally relented and induced me- three days earlier than my due date. His excuse on record was that the baby was measuring large-- which while very true, was not severe enough to warrant an induction. Fxx took one for the team, and I was and still am eternally grateful.

I'm not a very good host, as adorable as the "parasite" may ultimately be. I wanted that baby OUT of me!

(Stud, right?)

So the night of July 11th, Derek and I went to the theater to watch Harry Potter. It was our last date night in a long while, and we knew it. It was fun... even with the far-too-frequent potty breaks on my part! We got a good night of sleep (again, our last one in a long while), and woke up ready to have a baby.

The morning of the 12th, Derek woke up to install the car seat. I remember being so excited and so happy to see him playing "daddy" already. Now all we needed was a baby!

Because by-choice inductions are low on their priority list, the hospital's instructions were that I call that night, and they would let me know if rooms were available. I waited and waited and finally, 7pm came. I called the hospital to see if I could come in, but they were booked with actually-laboring mammas and told me to call again in a couple of hours.

I don't remember what we did in those two hours. Probably paced the floors (have I mentioned patience is not a virtue I possess?). But I know that at some point in those couple of hours, I went to the bathroom. I just had to pee, no big thing for a full-term pregnant gal; it happens allll the time. But to my surprise, when I wiped (sorry; totally tmi) a ginormo glob of clearish mucus made itself known. I had lost my mucus plug! And all at once, too! It was seriously as big as a golf ball and was UBER-sticky (I may or may not have put it on my hand, tipped my hand so it was upside down, and waved it around to show Derek that it seriously was not coming off... I know; he thought it was gross, too). So exciting! That meant labor was sort of happening on its own! (Note: At my last appointment I was something like 60% effaced and dilated to a 1cm.)

I called at 9pm, and **cue Hallelujah chorus** they told me to come on in! Yay! We were so pumped. We grabbed our hospital bag and my pillow, drove to the hospital, got there in 10ish minutes, and checked in.

After filling out all of the paperwork, etc (which there wasn't tons of, due to the fact that I had been in to Labor & Delivery several times throughout my pregnancy because I was certain I was in labor or was paranoid 'cause I couldn't feel him move enough), I got in my gown and got hooked up to the machines. They checked me, and I was something like fully effaced and dilated to a 3. They had planned to put a little pill in my cervix to get things going (which is technically "inducing"), but they didn't have to since my body was already laboring a bit. I was even contracting, just not a ton. So they broke my water, started me on Pitocin, and labor officially began.

And oh man, that Pitocin was very effective! My contractions started banging away like crazy! Being a newbie, I had no idea they were too strong, but when the nurse came in and saw the charts/monitor she exclaimed in surprise and quickly lowered my dose. Then she came in a few minutes later, was again surprised, and lowered the dose again. Apparently I just need a teensy bit of drugs to kick start some pretty thorough contractions!

I wanted to feel the contractions, to experience labor and all of its pieces, so I hadn't planned to get my epidural until my pain was at a 4 or 5 on a scale from 1-10 (which, for the record, I am horrible with... I always figured 10 should be excruciating pain- like as much as you possibly can handle. After having now two kids and conversing with nurses as part of all that, I have learned that they view the scale a little differently, ha.). So once my contractions got to be painful enough that I was struggling quite a bit with them and having to breath "hee hee whoooo" style through them, I asked for the anesthesiologist.

Little did I know (again, live and learn), asking for an epidural doesn't necessarily mean getting one any time soon. The anesthesiologist may be in surgery (I think ours was in the middle of a c-section) or otherwise delayed, and your pain will get even worse before he/she gets there with the power to take it away. Our anesthesiologist was Dr. Garcia or something like that. He was very kind and did very well. He had me sit with my feet dangling off the side of the bed and my head down on Derek's chest (balled up that way to let him at my spine). Because James hadn't dropped at all and I had immense amounts of amniotic fluid, this position was a disaster waiting to happen. I immediately started gushing- and I do mean GUSHING- fluid. I told the nurse, but she brushed it off, assuming I was the exasperating type (we all know this is not true... ahem...). But then a waterfall started to pour off the side of the bed! Derek had to hop out of the way to avoid getting drenched! The nurse shouted in surprise, called for backup and started mopping up the mess. We hadn't gotten to the epidural part quite yet, so she changed my sheets and got me lots of towels to sit on, and we started again. The epidural administration was really not so bad (obviously not wonderful, though compared to my experience with Jolie's, it was a walk in the park), but I continually was gushing fluid. Maybe that was the comedic relief, 'cause it really was fairly entertaining. Once my epidural was in and the nurse(s) came to clean up, they had to literally mop up the water. "Oh my! Buckets!" was the phrase the nurse used.

The epidural was a relief. Not a total relief, as I could still feel a good amount of pain, but enough that I didn't (yet) just wish to die.

So once it was in, we waited. And waited. And waited. The contractions were coming pretty frequently and in full force, but I just wasn't dilating enough. Before the epidural, I wasn't dilating AT. ALL. My body doesn't relax well in pain. So once I had the epidural in, I did dilate some, but I got stuck at a 6 and wouldn't budge. James still hadn't descended, and the doctor was worried. They were concerned that they'd have to do a c-section. It was a stressful (and painful) waiting game for a while. Finally around 4am, I was exhausted, and things weren't going anywhere. They upped my drugs, and I fell asleep. Oh, sweet respite! They left me alone and didn't check me for a while, letting me sleep for about two hours. If I was still at 6cm when they checked again, I was going to have to get a c-section. But when I woke up around 6am, they checked me ... and I was a TENNNN! Yayy!! Sleep was just what I needed to relax enough and let my body do its thing. Hooray, hooray, hooray!

They called Dr. Fxx and got the labor tools out and ready. Ready or not, here he comes! I started pushing at 6am. I hated my labor nurse, but mostly because I hated the pain. She said she really wanted me to feel the "urge to push." But all I felt was the urge to DIE! I hurt so much. The epidural had put my legs to sleep but had left my lower abdomen entirely alone. So pushing hurt like a mo-fo. Ow. I pushed and pushed and pushed. James had finally gotten down into the canal during my little nap, but he was getting stuck on my pelvic bones and would not budge. Ugh. Again. I was angry that they hadn't induced me sooner (meaning weeks sooner) when he would have fit through my whoo-ha. I was frustrated that I would likely need a c-section even now, when I'd finally dilated. And I was in a whole lot of gosh-awful pain.

I pushed and pushed and pushed. I wept a good amount. Two hours later, I was ready to give up. My energy was drained after laboring all night and pushing for that long, and really- I just have crappy endurance. But Fxx kept encouraging me, and Derek was amazingly strong (and fantastic as a breathing coach, btw- love that guy). Finally they said they saw the head. I thought they were tricking me and didn't believe them (ha, but seriously). They got out the mirror to prove it, and once I could look beyond my own stretched-and-swollen-beyond-belief junk, I could see it- a teeny head, just wishing to come out. That gave me the strength to push harder. Fxx said "I know you don't want me to cut you, but if I make just one tiny little snip, he'll come right out." Well, you didn't have to tell me twice! He could have sawed off my right leg if it got that baby out! I gave him the go-ahead, he snip-snipped, and one push later- James' head came out!

They cleaned out his nose, etc. They untangled the cord that was wrapped around his neck (twice- scary). I pushed one more big push, and TA DA!!

My baby was born.

He was gooey and slimy, all scrunched up and swollen, and his poor little head was pointed beyond belief (that's what happens when you're stuck in a tiny tunnel for several hours). But he was mine, and he was wonderful.

Friday, July 13th, 2007.

James Russell Anderson

He was born at 8:11am.

He weighed 8lbs 11oz

and measured 22in long.

And he was perfect.

Fxx still had to "birth" my placenta and stitch me up and all that jazz, but I didn't even care. The second that boy was born, the horrible pain diminished. Instantly. It was amazing. James didn't scream like I thought babies did when born, and I remember being really concerned about it. The nurses reassured me that he was just fine. I figure he was tired. He'd been through a whole lot, that poor, sweet baby. We all had. But we had each other, and we'd be okay.

I should have slept while I was at the hospital. I should have taken advantage of the nurses and the "free babysitting" available. But I couldn't. (I tried, and it just made me break down bawling... so Derek went back for him, reassuring me that I didn't have to do anything. If I wanted to hold my baby, I most certainly could.)
I held him and stared at his beautiful face. I was captivated by that darling little child. I seriously could not believe that such a miracle had come out of me.

I think I resented him a little when he was inside of me (see my previous comment about "parasites."), but the second he was born, I fell helplessly and hopelessly in love. This darling, sweet baby was ours.

Derek and I were a family.

...

A Child's Prayer (Part II)

2011-10-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

James' prayer tonight was as follows:

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Bless that we have trees that give us apples and that Grandma Julie is lots of fun. Bless that we can pick apples and plums and go bobbing for apples. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I bet you can guess what we did this evening! :) Love that kid.

Goodnight.

Welcome to the CIRCUS, baby!

2011-10-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

Backtrack a week or so. We just picked James up from preschool, and the kids and I are running one last errand (Jolie and I had run several while James was in school, but we had one left and decided last minute to just getterdone). We go to Walmart to return a clock I bought that was craptastic and didn't work. We go to the customer service desk and wait in line. Finally it's our turn. I explain the situation with the clock, and the return process begins.

As she is punching buttons, the customer service lady asks, "Do you want to go to the circus?" I see fliers on the counter and figure she's trying to sell me something. "When is it?" I ask. I'm skeptical. She explains that it's October 13th and in town. Apparently the circus guy asked if he could leave some fliers at her desk, and in return left her two complimentary guest passes. Two free tickets! She was getting married just a day or two after, so she figured she likely wouldn't be able to go. So she was trying to give them away. To me. For FREE! ("Gratiz. That's free, yo." *Name that movie.)

So I said, "Heck yeah, I wanna go!" And she gave me her tickets! Woohoo! I was so excited. For one, free entertainment is always welcome. And two, I've not been to a circus since I was a wee one and have really wanted to take the kids to one! When I found out that adult tickets were $30 a piece at the door, I was even more grateful for the free tickets! What a deal!!

SO.... We went to the circus! And it was a blast!

Because our tickets were free, we upgraded them to VIP seating for $20. This way, instead of sitting in the general stadium-type, crowded, far-from-the-action seating, we were literally arm's length from the action! It was awesome! The kids did so well and were very captivated by it all. We got to see an elephant (though not in an act, boo), lamas, monkeys and horses. We saw a lady get turned into a beautiful, amazing-to-see-up-close tiger. We saw a man do outstanding, heart-stopping tricks on a flying trapeze. We saw a kangaroo boxing! We saw impressive juggling and spinning and twirling, hilarious clowns (well, above-our-kids'-heads clowns), amazing feats of flexibility and balance, and really just a whole lot of AWESOME!

We really enjoyed ourselves! Thank you, random lady at Walmart, for the tickets and your generosity! And thank you, crazy carnies for living the bizarre life of the circus to bring us fun family entertainment! So fun.

Here are some pics - via our phones (hence the fabulous quality):

I Love to See the Temple

2011-10-14T10:15:00.001-07:00

Word up to those who don't know: We are Mormons. More correctly, we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We are Christians. And we love it.

For Family Home Evening (aka: family night) a couple of months ago (yes, I am just uploading those pics from our camera- ha), we took a "field trip" to the Temple. We dressed in our Sunday best to show respect and reverence. We taught the kids the importance of the temple and how we should be reverent while we're there- even on the grounds. There was no playing around of goofing off. We want them to understand that sacred things should be treated as such.

While there, we learned about what temples are for and why we have them. We learned about being worth of entering the temple and (again) how to act while we are there. We strolled around the grounds, felt the Spirit there, and took a few family pics. It was a great night, and a great idea (Thanks, Grandma Marilyn!).

I am very grateful for temples. I know that the ordinances performed there are ordained of God and are real, holding ordinances. I know that families can be sealed for time and all eternity in the temple, and this is perhaps the greatest blessing of all! We can be with our wonderful loved ones forever! Even after death! And this is indeed GOOD NEWS!

Enjoy the pics. They're pretty cute.

And visit a temple near you TODAY! ;)

My Busy, Busy Bug!

2011-10-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

This post is late. Like over a month late. But better late than never, right? :)

This fall James started PRESCHOOL! He did preschool last year with me- kind of a Joyschool sort of thing, where there were five kids and five moms. Each mom taught in rotation, hosting the kids at our respective houses. It was spectacular fun, and very beneficial for James. But this year, we knew we needed to "up" it a bit.

He now goes AWAY from me to learn (bitter-sweet). Twice a week. For a couple of hours each time.

His school is called "Busy Bugs Preschool," and his teacher this fall is named Suzie. We love her. She's great. She's super cute, energetic, and amazingly patient. Earlier this week, I got a call from her during school to tell me James had thrown up. (!!) He didn't seem sick, but he needed a change of clothes at very least. I dropped Jolie off at Aubrey's (Thank you, Aub!) and went to Teacher Suzie's house to take James some clean clothes. I decided to stay and assess the situation, to determine whether he needed to come home. I ended up staying the rest of the time, and let me tell you: Suzie has way more patience than I do and a much higher tolerance for chaos as well! Ten crazy kiddos in one confined space? Heaven help me. But it was great to see her with the kids, and very fun to see James learning and interacting with his new friends.

We are loving preschool so far and are excited to see how the rest of the year plays out!

Hooray for learning. It's a magical thing.

James all ready for school, wearing his

new skeleton shirt from Grandma Polly!

An apple for the teacher. :)

James and Teacher Suzie

Jolie was a bit lost and distraught

after we dropped James off. :(

Meh, she'll live. :)

A Wonderful, Lazy Sunday

2011-09-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

I've been journaling (in an actual journal, not online... obviously) a lot more lately, and I thought you might care to "read" an entry. So here is today's. You're welcome.

18 September 2011 / Sun. (during naptime, around 2pm)

We're ditching church today. Not for any anti-religious reason, we just need a day off. Jolie's been sick all week, just a cold-turned-phlegmy-cough, but still enough to keep her out of Nursery. Then Derek came home from work yesterday telling me he'd felt sick all day and had been about to puke all day, he was so tired. So he fell asleep at about 5:30pm... and slept solid until 9:00 this morning. (!!) I know. I couldn't believe it, either. The Andersons are amazingly good sleepers- known to sleep for an entire 24-hour stretch, so I shouldn't have been surprised. But still! Either way, with 2 out of 4 of our family down and out, we figured a TOTAL day of rest was in order.

And it's been really nice so far. We slept in (really- James didn't come in our room until NINE!) and have mostly been lazy. The kids played with PlayDoh (Jolie only ate a teensy bit). Derek and I fooled around with our phones (iPhones; Derek played "TapFish2," and I played "WordsWithFriends"). We had breakfast somewhere in there, and later we had lunch.

Now before I explain more about our delicious lunch, let me backtrack. I decided recently (last Thursday) that I'm going to start counting calories. I've been exercising regularly (cue "Hallelujah" chorus) since June 1st. Seriously- sweating and everything! :) Aubrey's been my workout partner, and she's been fabulous. And I HAVE seen results! I have lost about 4-6 lbs and just feel a lot more attractive and a lot less ugh. My clothes fit better. My energy's higher. It's been great. But I still want to lose 20 lbs. It may be unrealistic, but I want to give it a shot. I just figure that at 28 (Happy Birthday to me!) I should be at the hotness-peak of my life. I'm not. Also, I'm genuinely concerned that our (Derek's and mine) lifestyle habits are going to result in a miserable, disease-ridden, obese middle-aged couple. And I don't want that. I figure it's easier to change now than when I'm 60. And for all of those reasons combined - I'm starving myself.

:) No, I'm really not. I'm actually doing and feeling just fine so far. I downloaded an App on my phone called "MyFitnessPal" that has made the whole calorie-counting thing not only doable but actually kinda fun! I enter in everything I eat that day (I can search it or barcode-scan it; the calories are calculated for me) as well as any exercise I do, and it tells me how many calories I've used and how many I have left. At the end of the day, I submit the information, and it tells me (love this!), "If everyday were like today... You'd weigh ___lbs in 5 weeks." So cool! Very motivating.

So there you have it: a ginormo tangent all about my health/fitness goals. :) You're welcome.

Now. Back to lunch. This is what we ate: Beef Tenderloin Steaks (Filet Mignon) with Red Wine-Tarragon Sauce and a Romaine-tomato-green onion salad (served with Atwood's Ranch, of course... just not tons for me). Mmm! The entire meal was only about 311 calories. And my GOSH- it was yummy! Hooray for fantastic food that's ... wait for it ... good for you! I know. I'm impressed, too.

Post-lunch, we let the kids play together for a bit, and now we're all taking a nap. In the spirit of full disclosure, Jolie's taking a nap. James is playing quietly in his room ("resting"). Derek is working on homework for his ASP.net class. And I'm ... well ... obviously writing in my journal. After naptime we plan to break out the Thomas tracks (the Thomas the Tank Engine train tracks set with self-propelled Thomas) for the kids - as per James' request. Then we'll eat a yummy dinner and possibly do FHE ... and eat a delicious treat (angel food cake?). In the meantime, I'm gonna go nap. I'm falling asleeeeepppp. :)

The End.

Note: We did get the Thomas train tracks out, but we also went for a walk (a mile, maybe... we were gone about an hour). Below are some pictures we took while we were out. They were all taken on my iPhone, so they're not stunning, but man- it was beautiful out!

Post-walk, we ate a fabulous dinner (thank you, Derek). And yes- we finished it off with some angel food cake. (No, I'm not obsessed with food. Well, any more than usual!) :)

What a wonderful, oh-so-lazy Sunday!

Too Many Kids in This Tub

2011-09-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

I think author Shel Silverstein said it best in his poem entitled "Crowded Tub" when he wrote:

There are too many kids in this tub.

There are too many elbows to scrub.

I just washed a behind that I'm sure wasn't mine.

There are too many kids in this tub.

hehe.

One FAIR Day

2011-08-30T23:07:00.000-07:00

I don't really feel like posting right now. I did until I had to wait like an hour for my pictures to upload from my iPhone! Okay, so it was like 5 minutes maybe. And yes, I'm complaining about this. :) Anyway, Derek has work early tomorrow and should be sleeping, but he instead is channel surfing in the living room so I can have the computer... so I can post on our blog. I probably actually should then.

With that in mind (I never did learn how to keep inner thoughts in), here ya go. For the sake of posting more. Because looking back, I really have been slacking.

A couple of weeks ago (mid-August), the FAIR came into town. This used to be a huge deal to us. We would meet up with our friends Micah and Brittney, go eat carnie food for dinner, and follow it up with a stroll around the booths. It was something we did routinely (annually) for a few years. It was a tradition of sorts. Micah and Britt have since moved away, but even then we've carried on the tradition with just us. This year, however, we almost missed it.

We ended up going on a Saturday morning and only for like an hour. Derek had to work the night before (lame) and also had to work that afternoon-into-night (also lame, but normal), so we had to squeeze it in when we could. And I'm so, so glad we did!

It was so fun to take our kids this year! They both were old enough to think it was pretty sweet- especially James. We told the kids they could each ride one ride (generous, I know), and James picked the Ferris Wheel. We decided to make it a family affair. afFAIR. ha. Let me just mention here that I seriously dread the day when our kids don't love spending time with us. I know it will happen eventually- and probably much sooner than I realize, but it breaks my heart to even consider. We've gotta take advantage of the fact that they love our company now, I guess. I'm sure we don't enough.

So after much confusion involved with talking to the not-so-fluent carnie (not judging, just funny), we got our tickets, waited our turn and hopped on. Initially they stuck us in a pink box (box? not sure of the word). But I embarrassed Derek and asked them if we could switch for a blue one (again dealing with the fluency issue). Luckily, they not only understood but also let us switch. Hooray! Because as much as we love pink, I knew James wanted to ride in the blue one (his favorite color). He didn't pitch a fit about it, but when we switched he was really happy about it. :) Sweet boy.

I don't think I've ever ridden the Ferris Wheel with a boy (if I did and it was with you, boy reading this, I apologize for forgetting). I'm pretty darn sure I've never ridden one with Derek. Either way, it was the first time I've ever ridden one with my whole little family. And it was wonderful!

It sounds really cheesy, but if there is such a thing as carnie perfection, we had it. It was seriously a hugely happy moment for me. Moments, as the ride lasts a while. The kids were amazingly adorable and happy, and Derek and I loved watching their excitement (again, mostly James... Jolie is still young enough to think being carried and moved up and down is a normal part of life) and experiencing something fun with them.

Just writing about it makes me smile.

Anyway, I'll stop gushing over my fabulous family and show you some fun pictures. Enjoy!

Thank you, random stranger, for taking our picture for us.

I love Jolie's face in this one.

Great job with the genuine smile, sweetheart.

James was so excited.

Jolie eventually figured out that she was too.

I love this one a ton because you can just see

the hint of James' smile. So genuine. So sweet.

The following pics are evidence that we did, in fact,

eat carnie food. We just got one huge corndog to

share, though, and then got something yummier

(is there such a thing?) and healthier on the way home.

Mmmm. :)

So there you go. One FAIR day. ;)

A Decade in Review

2011-08-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago, I graduated from high school. I know; I'm old. Next month, my graduating class is having our ten-year reunion. I most likely won't be able to go (sad), but I sent in (as requested) the above recent family picture along with the following blurb about my life over the past ten years. It was interesting to go down memory lane and think of all I've done over the past decade. This blurb is obviously condensed (well, as condensed as is possible for me- haha), but still- fun to remember.

After graduation, I attended Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher, AZ. I lived with my best friends Cassie, Stacie and Brianne for a while, which was awesome. I took a bunch of classes and graduated with my Associate's degree in about 3 semesters. Then I moved out to Logan, Utah, for my Bachelor's degree- and a bit of an adventure.

I attended Utah State University, with a major in French and an emphasis in Secondary Education. After about a year here, I met my husband- Derek. I met him at a party at his brother's house (his brother was a friend of mine). I seriously saw him and angels sang. It wasn't necessarily love at first sight, but it was something quite close. We started dating within the week, dated for about 1 1/2 years, and got married in June of 2005.

I graduated from USU that December and got a job teaching English as a Second Language to adult immigrants. Derek and I lived in Paris the summer of 2006 (a.maz.ing.), and the following school year, I taught French at Preston High School in Idaho (it's about a 30 minute commute). I also coached cheerleading. I only taught for a year, though, because the following summer, my son was born. Since then, I've basically been a stay-at-home-mom but have still kept the ESL job- teaching a couple of nights a week.

I have two kids: James (4) and Jolie (18 months). They are spectacular! I love being a mom and am still very blissfully in love with my husband. Really, life is pretty great. We still live in Logan and hope to stay here to raise our kids. It's a great place- "city" enough to satisfy me with a mix of agriculture and "country" to make me feel at home.

the part where I gush over my babies

2011-07-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

Can I just say how much I love my children? I can? Okay: SOOOOOOO MUUUUUCHHHH! :) They really make me so happy every day. I especially have been quite smitten by the way they've been together as of late. They're so, so cute. They hold hands and walk around the house (James loves to lead Jolie around and guide her play, and Jolie loves to be lead by him). They sit together and read. They chase each other all over being silly. They smooch and giggle and love on each other.

And nothing makes me happier.

I am so glad I have them, and so glad they have one another. These two little darlings are the highlight of my life. I love them more than words can express. I'm so, so glad they're mine.

Sorry to BUG you! {giggle, giggle, har, har}

2011-07-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

I should be baking a birthday cake right now. Or cleaning my horrendously filthy bathrooms. Or wrapping presents. But instead, I'm sitting. For at least three minutes.

If you haven't seen one already, here's a peek at James' birthday invites. No, that's not our address. The real ones have the real one. If you didn't get an invite, please don't be sad. Mostly no one did. It's going to be a super exclusive party (if you count "pretty much only local relatives" as exclusive). If you're one of said "local relatives" and didn't get an invite- I'm sorry, and the above one's for you! :) Though you may want to call for directions.

For now... will you all just send lots of positive thoughts my way? I'm currently assuming that a) a spider pinata will manifest itself from the craziness of glue and newspaper and tissue paper that is now my kitchen, b) a beautifully ugly "dirt cake" will come together and both look and taste terrific, c) the weather will be nice so that we don't have to try and cram a ton of people into our little house, and d) that we will all be pleasant and happy and able to enjoy the day (and not have the drama, swearing, kicking and biting that may or may not have existed the last time we threw a party here... cough, cough). It's a whole lot of wishful thinking, I know. But hey- I'm a wishful person!

So be a pal and wish us luck. And come tomorrow with low expectations so you'll be pleasantly impressed. :)

Happy {almost} 4th birthday, my handsome boy! We love you!

And , you know, bugs. Obviously.

Jolie and Kona sittin' in a tree...

2011-06-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

~~K-I-S-S~~… freak-dan-cing! :)

So, I know I have mentioned before just how much Jolie loves Kona (our friend and boy-next-door). Kona is James' friend, but Jolie just adores him! I can't say I blame her; he's quite the stud. But really, it's hilarious!

Well, the other day we were babysitting Kona and Kainoa (his younger brother) while Mom and Dad went out on a hot date. We had loads of fun! We set up a "picnic" table in the living room, broke out the pizza and popcorn, and watched "Gnomeo and Juliet." They loved it, all of it. Then when the credits rolled and the fun, crazy music started up, Jolie started ... well, freak-dancing Kona! :) I know she wasn't really. She honestly just bounces up and down like that when she dances (or really, that is HOW she dances). But she just couldn't keep her hands off the boy! It was super funny! And Kona was such a good sport; he just took it all like it was no big thAng.

Check it out. It's super funny!

Jolie Elizabeth Seeholzer. It does have a certain ring to it... (wink)

Jolie Bug: She SPEAKS! :)

2011-05-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

So I was perusing through our old blog (http://anderson-trio.blogspot.com), just flipping through like one might flip through a photo album. As I perused, I found a post (here) in which I detailed all of the words that James could say then. He was about Jolie's age, and SHEESH! That boy could talk! I got worried about Jolie as I read the post, thinking that we needed to start working with her on so many things. Not to compare, but really- I felt she had a minuscule vocabulary compared to his at her age. Anyway, it got me thinking... and worrying... and thinking. I was talking with one of my friends, expressing my worry, and she asked if Jolie said mama and daddy. I replied that of course she did, and she also said this and this and this... And then I realized something: it's quite possible that she talks much more than I give her credit, and that it's just that I don't pay as close of attention! With James (for better or for worse), our entire universe revolved around him. And while we love and adore Jolie just as much, she gets vocally drowned out by that jibber-jabbery brother of hers and overlooked in far too many things.

SO! I decided to sit down and make a list of things Jolie says (well, words- her coos and babbles don't get much mention). And I was pleasantly surprised! She says a whole lot more than I realized! Another smarty pants! (Phew!) :) It must run in the family, ha. And while she does talk a lot less frequently than James did/does, she consistently says the following words. (Heaven forbid we have a soft spoken child, eh?) :) Sweet girl. Okay, here ya go (in no particular order):

Da-ee (daddy)

Mama

Day (occasionally "Jace" ... for James)

Gama (Grandma)

Peeez (please)

Teh-too (thank you)

Ssssieu (shoe)

bah (ball)

uh-oh

oh, no!

uh-huh

yeah (usually accompanied by a full-body nod)

die (bye)

baba (bottle)

buk (book)

muh (more)

woof-woof (which is really more like "uff-uff", for dog- and many mammals)

quack-quack (for duck... or frog... or anything non-mammal, really)

twee-twee (for bird)

amen (which sounds something like "tah-beh"- strangely enough)

ah-duh (all done)

dah-dah (tada!)

dee-doo (peek-a-boo)

essieu (bless you... for sneezes or farts, equally... so I've heard...)

She also makes an exhale/hissing sort of noise for dinosaurs and a vroom-vroom kind of sound for cars. :) And when we tell her to say "Love you!" she blows kisses instead. I know... awww!

All in all, I'd say that list is not too shabby for a 15-month old. Don't you think? I guess I don't have to be too worried after all. (Phew!) I do, however, still think that she deserves more one-on-one time. We'll have to work on that.

Oh, a few more tidbits I jotted down while I was thinking of it: Jolie's all-time favorite book is entitled What Shall We Do With the Boo-Hoo Baby? by Cressida Cowell, followed only by Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman. She loves dogs (which is cute, as James loves kitties) and first showed favoritism to a cheap little stuffed doggie that was overlooked in James' stash. She also loves shoes (her pink soft-soled ones in particular) and her "pretties" (necklaces, bling-bling, what-have-you)... and pretty much being a lady! She likes to use my big make-up brush on her face (and tongue, ew), to put on lip gloss and smack her lips, and to get her toenails painted. And her favorite thing in the whole-wide-world (besides daddy, as of late... lucky guy) is her blankie! It's a simple cotton one I made for her, hot pink with black polka dots. I just got a yard of fabric and hemmed it. Easy-peasy. But somehow she fell in love. Now the corners are well loved (aka: gnawed on), and just the sight of Blankie makes her giddy. :)

I love this girl. We all do. She's not just my baby; she's OUR baby (including James'). We love having her in our lives, in our family. She's a darling, sassy, sweet little thing, and we'd never want a world without her in it!

Love you, Jolie Bug!!

FHE: Doing Good & Other Good Things

2011-05-22T17:22:00.001-07:00

Tonight's FHE was about Doing Good & Other Good Things. The idea mostly formed when I thought that we should play something fun together, especially since life has been crazy with our house all messed up due to the flood (more on that later... maybe). I just wanted to do something fun, something GOOD. These thoughts somehow lead to my breaking out in song- the 13th Article of Faith song. Hence that direction. It's kind of a longer FHE (not just 30 minutes, with the game, etc, anyway), but I think it's a good one.

Note: I got most of this lesson from this link via Sugardoodle.net. I love that site! I get lots of great ideas for teaching Primary from there, too!

Okay, here it is.

Song: "The Thirteenth Article of Faith" (Children's Songbook)

Scripture: "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to

all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." (Article of Faith 1:13)

Discussion 1: Break down the 13th Article of Faith and explain what it means- focusing first on the We believe... in doing good to all men part. Explain/discuss that Heavenly Father has commanded us to love Him and to love others. We show our love for others through our thoughts and actions. One way we show our love is by doing good to others.

Sit in a circle and take turns drawing a slip of paper (on which are written the listed items below). When someone draws a slip, read it and answer the following: What are ways you can do good to others? Tell how you would do good to:

1. A new boy at school.

2. Your mother when she is really tired.

3. An old man that lives next door.

4. Someone you know who is serving a mission.

5. A new Primary teacher.

Activity 1: Play "Spin the Bottle" - saying something you can do that is GOOD when the bottle points to you. (Examples are: help mom do the dishes, play nicely with sister, be honest, help cheer up a sad friend, etc.)

Discussion 2: Explain and discuss the “. . . If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” part of the 13th Article of Faith. Explain that to “seek” means to “look for.” Even when you think you are already doing good things, you can still seek after more things that are good.

Name some things and have the family decide if they are GOOD things. If they are, shout "YES!" or something similar in happy, fun voices. Some examples are:

___ butterflies

___ playing with toys

___ the scriptures

___ reading

___ picnics

___ lying

___ writing in a journal

___ music

___ fighting

___ talking rudely

___ laughing

___ saying naughty words

___ rainbows

___ throwing toys

___ honesty

___ love

Activity 2: Play a GOOD game or similar fun, good activity. (We played with trains together like James had been wanting to do for a few days... The Thomas Game, he called it. You could also go for a walk or something similar.)

Treat: Cherry pie and ice cream (since we didn't end up eating it last time) ... Mmm!

*Image from here.

FHE: Honesty

2011-05-15T14:07:00.001-07:00

FHE for 05/15/2011 = Honesty

Tonight's FHE is going to be on Honesty. It's something we're trying to teach James, and something he's struggling with. We're not too concerned with this, believing it to be just part of his normal development. We know that three- and four-year-olds start to develop their imaginations, which is super fun when it comes to playing pretend... but not so fun when it blurs the line between truth and lie. But still, it's something he needs to learn, something we need to teach. When I saw the article in the Friend, I decided to whip up a quick lesson to address this topic.

Song: "I Believe in Being Honest" (Children's Songbook, p. 149... link for sheet music/lyrics here, link for FREE mp3 download(s) here)

Story: "The Catcher's Mitt" by Jane McBride Choate (The Friend magazine, May 2011, pp. 22-23 ... pdf link here)

Activity: Make two paper signs (on construction paper, maybe) for each family member: on one, a happy face and the words "Truth" / on the other, a sad face and the words "Lie." Prepare one set of statements that are true and another set of statements that are not true. Examples: Snow is white. Rain is wet. People need water to live. Salt is sweet. The sun is dark. Ice cream is hot.

Arrange chairs in the middle of the room with one less chair than there are family members. Everyone march around the chairs as you sing “I Believe in Being Honest." When the music stops, say one of the statements and have the person who does not have a chair decide whether the statement is true or a lie, holding up either their Truth or their Lie sign. Repeat multiple times, until everyone gets a turn.

Ask the children what truth is and what it means to be honest. Remind them that we believe in being honest. In the end, discuss that lying is naughty and we don't want to do it, and tear up the Lie sign. Have each family member hold on to their Truth sign to help them remember to always tell the truth.

(Original idea taken from the October 1996 Sharing Time Suggestion, found by me via Sugardoodle.net)

Treat: Cherry pie and ice cream! {Update: Make that AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS strawberries and shortcake at Jon & Ash's place! Mmm!} :)

*Photo credit: Matt Smith- (cropped from) here.

FHE: Family Home Evening

2011-05-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

What is FHE? LDS.org defines Family Home Evening (FHE) as "a special time set aside each week that brings family members together and strengthens their love for each other, helps them draw closer to Heavenly Father, and encourages them to live righteously" (link here).

Since Derek and I have been married, we have thought it a good idea to hold Family Home Evening (FHE) every week. We believe in the strength it gives a family and/or a marriage and wanted that strength in our own. Unfortunately, our desire never met with determination (real life and schedules always got in the way), and we've never been very good at it. Recently, however, we watched General Conference and felt inspired to give it another go. Get back on the horse. Try, try again. So we did.

Most people hold FHE on Monday nights. This has never worked for us as I work then, and trying to squeeze it in before work has never been successful. I figured this time around that the actual day didn't matter, but what mattered for us was that we did it- that we provided the opportunity and environment that allowed us to teach our children about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Gospel, and other important life lessons. So our family has FHE on Sundays. And so far (every Sunday since and including April 3rd- go us!!), it's been a plan that has worked.

In order to keep FHE a positive experience, we try to keep things short and sweet. We generally open with a prayer and song, read a story and/or have a discussion about a topic, follow up with some sort of activity that reinforces the lesson, close with a prayer, and end with a yummy treat. We try hard to keep the lessons at our kids' "level" - as to actually teach them something as well as to hold their attention. Mostly Jolie wanders around the room as we teach James. She's still a little young. But we try to involve her as much as possible, as I believe kids are much smarter than you'd think and can process much more than people expect they can. At the very least (can you call that least??) they can feel the Spirit. And that's probably the best lesson they could learn, anyway. So we try. And so far we've all really enjoyed it.

Why the novel, you ask? Well, I'm explaining all this so that you aren't baffled when I start posting the FHE "lesson plan" each week. I'm putting these out there to 1) help me remember/journal, and 2) give others who may be intimidated by FHE-with-wee-ones some ideas. So be prepared. Comment or don't. And if you're looking for a way to unite your family, strengthen them and/or bring them closer to Christ, give FHE a try. You'll be glad you did!

*Image: Copyright by LDS Clipart and LDS Images in the LDSFiles.com Clipart Gallery (here).

Thoughts on Motherhood

2011-05-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

*Note: The following is an excerpt from my journal, written 07 May 2011. I thought perhaps it would be an applicable blog post for this Mother's Day weekend. Mostly I just advocate sharing raw, genuine (not to mention RAMBLING) thought and emotion and therefore do it far too much. Anyway, here ya go...

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I was thinking about this tonight, and I wanted to journal my thoughts. Hopefully someday down the road, my kids will read this and realize (if there were ever any doubts) how I feel about being their mother.

I love it. I feel blessed. I feel honored. I feel tired. :) But I feel happy.

I've always wanted to be a mother. I don't, however, think I fully realized what that really meant until I was one. I wanted a baby, to love and take care of, but I never realized that a baby is a REAL PERSON! That my child would have likes, dislikes, opinions and personality that I had no influence on forming! I think James was a few months old when this realization fully dawned on me. Haha! At first I was just baffled- "What do I do with this??" But now, it makes being a mother that much better! Because now, I know that I didn't just birth a possession... I was given a friend.

Heavenly Father sent me amazing children. They both are so sweet and kind and GOOD! Derek and I talk about this a lot- just how blessed we are to have such good kids. They really are.

James is compassionate and funny and so, so smart. He has a beautiful voice and loves to use it! He's silly. He's imaginative. He's super social, and he's absolutely darling. He's a total boy, and he's a total sweetheart!

Jolie is a total girlie girl (already!). She is snuggly and sweet. She loves to play and is so silly. She already has a sense of humor and also loves music (dancing and "singing" all the time). She absolutely idolizes her brother (could be because they have so much in common- this just realized, haha). She's adorable! We really quite adore her.

Granted, they're not perfect angels all the time (and some days not at all). They both can be little stinkers sometimes. But really, we just know how fantastic they are and have set the bar pretty high. (Also, I likes me a bit of sass! Sh! Tell no one!)

Above all, we love them. I love them. With all of my heart- and more, that I never even knew existed until they came into my life. I cannot even express how much I adore them and how grateful I am to have them in my life. I love being a mother. I love being theirs.

People say that parenting isn't rewarding (or that the rewards don't come until years down the road), but they're full of crap. There is nothing more rewarding than when James brings me a pretty dandelion that he picked outside (or an enormous armful of them- silly boy!). Or when Jolie climbs onto my lap and gives me a slimy little smooch. Or when one of them is owie and only Mommy's kisses will cure their ails. :) I love seeing their pride and self-satisfaction when they succeed at something hard. I love seeing them treat one another with kindness, friendship and love. I love seeing how much they love Daddy, and knowing how much they love me.

And I do know.

How much more reward can a person ask for than that??

I love these babies, and I will love them when they're grown. Our family is eternal, and nothing makes me happier!

*Photography courtesy of Li - a la Photography by Li

Happy Easter 2011!

2011-04-26T09:50:00.001-07:00

This Easter I decided to get my craft on and make us some fancy Easter clothes. The skirts were super easy, and I got to break in my "new" serger (love that thing- thanks, mom!). The ties were a bit of a different story. They turned out... well, small. Maybe I printed the patterns not-to-scale, maybe the patterns were not so bueno, or maybe my men are just long torso-ed. Either way, James' original tie got tossed, and Derek's became James' (cutting out only like 2-3 inches of material- ha). So Derek didn't actually get any new clothes for Easter, but he promised me he didn't mind (and quite frankly was probably relieved... PS he did get a new video game to make up for his loss, lol). It was fun getting us all dolled up and coordinating. Nothin' like a matchy family to make a holiday complete! ;)

Here are some fun pics- courtesy of the fabulous Aubrey S. of {be} posh photography. Thanks, Aub.

*Note: Obviously the Brown One isn't one of ours... she's just our hottie neighbor/friend! ;)

In Stitches

2011-04-18T09:59:00.000-07:00

Literally, I mean. I'm not laughing.

This weekend, we invited Shawn & Mindy (and those beautiful girls of theirs) to dinner. It had been a really long time since we'd hung out with just them, and I was really excited about it. We decided to break out the grill and pretend it was summer - playing outside, eating burgers, brauts, the works. Mmm. They showed up around 6:30pm, and we fired up the grill. We still needed to prepare the veggie toppings (tomatoes, lettuce, onion... that sort of thing), so I got started on that.

Backtrack a second: My mom recently moved up here (which has been really nice), and she was going through her stuff and found some things she no longer needed/wanted. She offered them to me before they went to DI. Among these things was a Pampered Chef kitchen mandolin - a slicer, and a nice one at that. I was pretty excited as I've wanted one of these for a while. She told me I could have it as long as I promised to always use the protective guard - you know, the thing that prevents someone from lopping off their fingertips. I promised.

I lied.

I'm sure you can put A and B together. Part C is as follows:

I sliced the tomatoes. And they were beautiful... perfect, uniform slices. I got out the red onion and began to slice. I was careful to watch for my fingertips. But apparently I forgot to watch out for my palm.

I sliced it. Pretty badly. A big ol' chunk nearly ripped clean off (icky, I know). I pulled back, swore a lot (sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t... repeat... yeah, luckily the kids were outside playing), and went white (so Mindy tells me). I was mostly irritated with myself for ruining the evening. And, you know, for being such an idiot.

In the end, Mindy doctored me up (so sweet; love that girl!) and I sat down to regain the color in my face while they ate a bit of dinner at my insistence. Then Mindy took me to the ER, and Shawn and Derek stayed to hang out and watch the kids.

I felt really stupid going to the ER. I mean, really- I wasn't about to DIE or anything! But the doctor thought it was wise that I had, and I ended up getting stitches- six of them. The stitches weren't so bad, since I was numbed up by that point. But MY GOSH! The anesthetic shot the doc gave me hurt like MAD! It felt like he was pouring acid on my BONES! Dramatic? Yes. Honest? You betcha.

Owie.

So now I have a huge ol' gauze wrap on my right hand. I'm pretty much an invalid. Derek has to shampoo my hair... and shave my left armpit. (That's love, I tell ya!) In a few days, I can get my hand wet. That will help things out a ton. In the meantime, don't judge me if my hair looks a little skewampus. I'm trying...

I promise.

*Note: The following images are gross.*

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Dish-wish Cookies

2011-03-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

As James and I said our prayers tonight, this is what he said:

"Hem'ly Fadder, Thank you for this day. Thank you for our dish-wish cookies. Thank you for our daddy. Thank you for Jack and Kona. Thank you for the dirt we plant. Thank you for the food we eat. Thank you for my fam-wee. In name-o Jesus Christ, Amen."

I just can't get over the sweetness. :) I'm so smitten with these babes of mine...

Jolie Girl's Birthday {at last}

2011-03-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

My little Jolie is one. Crazy. I cannot believe how quickly she's grown. I also cannot imagine our lives without her! Here are a few shots of her pretty party for your viewing pleasure... :) Sorry it's taken me over a month to post them. Love you all!

{Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!}

A Child's Prayer

2011-02-19T20:09:00.000-08:00

Tonight Derek put Jolie to bed, and I put James down. Fairly normal for a Friday night. James and I had finished singing and rocking. We knelt by his bed. I said a prayer first; then he followed suit. Normal. His prayer was unusually (or especially) charming, though... I tucked him in, kissed him goodnight, and then sprinted to the computer to "jot" it down (my typing is significantly quicker than my handwriting). This is what he said (sorry if it's inappropriate to post a prayer; I couldn't decide if it was):

"Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for this day. (Long pause for thoughts...) Thank you that Kitty can lay by me and look at books. I love my grandma. AND I have two grandmas! One, two, three (counted this on his fingers)! And help us sleep well. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I seriously love this crazy, adorable little boy!

I swear I don't abuse my kid.

2011-02-12T00:09:00.000-08:00

I really, really don't. But James does have a broken foot. And it is my fault.

Here's what happened: So after lunch today, James and I were playing and being pretty cute (if I do say so myself). I was holding him and rocking him and telling him what a beautiful, darling baby he was. :) It was pretty fun. I think having a baby in the house who gets all of that fussy sort of attention and being "to big for it" is hard. It was fun to be silly and lovey with my "big boy" for a change.

Anyway, holding him in a cradled position was fun for him but also unnerving. James is (and always has been, even as a wee thing) totally scared of heights and frights (not sure of a better word). Jolie, however, is a total adrenaline junkie. :) For instance, Jolie loves being tossed in the air. James has always hated it and clung for dear life onto our arms when we've tried. So cradling him was scary for him. He was super nervous that he would fall and/or I would drop him. No bueno, right?

So, being the good mommy I am and sensing a good teachable moment, I tried to explain to him how I would never ever have him do something that would hurt him. Then I explained that falling isn't all that scary, really, because Heavenly Father gave us really wonderful bodies that could help us fall safely. I then broke into song ("I'm all made of hinges, cause everything bends..."). I showed him how you can land squatted, bending your knee-hinges, and using your hands so you don't get hurt... blah, blah. He jumped a couple of times to practice landing.

Then I held him with my arms strait out (I'm 5'4" people... that's not high!) and dropped him. He caught himself and landed just fine. He was shocked and proud that he wasn't hurt- it wasn't even scary! He wanted to try it again. This time, I held him out again but tossed him up a little bit (his feet were maybe a foot off the ground). Perhaps not the best move on my part. Apparently when you land funny on your foot, you discover that your foot bones do NOT have great hinges and might- in fact- crack.

Apparently his did.

It's his left foot, on the outside bone. We didn't know if it was broken and assumed it probably wasn't. I mean, he was hardly off the ground and didn't kaboom or anything! It was naptime immediately after, so we put him down and hoped a nap would help him feel better. It did a little, but post-nap his foot was really swollen. And he wouldn't put weight on it... and it still hurt. So we got ready and went in to Instacare. They x-rayed it, and sure enough- there's a little fracture. Poor boy. (Crappy mom.)

Luckily, James thinks it's pretty cool. They don't do casts there, so he has a hard splint thing (like a half cast) wrapped with an ace bandage... which is then wrapped with blue sticky-wrap stuff, purely for the sake of giving him a "blue boot" (as requested). He doesn't seem to mind wearing it but cannot walk on it. He'll likely get a real cast on Monday when we meet with a podiatrist. But until then, I think we'll be watching a good deal of movies around here. And eating picnics in the living room. And probably having some delicious snacks as well. Yeah, not too shabby from a three-year-old's perspective. Maybe it won't be too bad after all. Let's hope.

So there's the story. James's first broken bone. Thank goodness I taught him so thoroughly about how falling isn't scary... FAIL!

Jolie's Impromptu Photo Shoot

2011-02-07T07:05:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning, I had just finished feeding the kids breakfast. I was still messy-haired, stinky-breathed and bra-less. I probably should have hopped in the shower. Instead, I called my friend/next-door-neighbor, Aubrey, and asked, "Hey, you wanna come over and take some pictures of my kid?" She said yes and came right over (I was able to fix the teeth and bra issues before she showed up; worry not). These delightful photos were the results:

Isn't that one hilarious?? :)

Aren't they fantastic? My goodness, that little girl is gorgeous! Thank you, Aub. I LOVE them!!

PS. Aubrey's photography blog is http://beposhphotography.blogspot.com/ if you're interested (of course you are). :)

Mommy + 2 Teenie Weenies + Travel = Interesting (to say the least)

2010-12-14T06:54:00.000-08:00

So it seems that Santa DID get the memo about our spending Christmas in New Mexico. In fact, he even met us at the airport so that we'd feel entirely reassured! :) Check it:

Well, we survived the flight (though only just- ugh) and are currently safe and moderately sound in the Land of Enchantment. We've enjoyed our time here so far, though we miss our "daddy" quite a lot.

Because I'm too lazy to post more of our time here thus far, I'll just leave you with a few more pictures of our probably-as-good-as-it-gets-but-still-fairly-sucky day of travel. ;)

Here are my sweet kiddos in Phoenix.

Jolie finally decided to nap during our layover- all 20 minutes of it!

And please disregard the coat- it was WARM!

Also in Phoenix- with the pilot!! Pretty sweet, huh?

PS. This was the smallest airplane I've ever been on-

and the hottest, ugh. That poor pilot must have just died!

James and Jolie - This is how we felt initially about flying.

James and Jolie again - Jolie's demonstrating how we felt

about flying by the time we were done.

Nah, it really wasn't a bad trip. Just exhausting. I had thought Jolie would sleep most of the time, but instead she stayed wide awake and grabbed at everything (and anyone) in sight. Not naughty, really, just a lot of work. James was a really good boy, super helpful and very obedient. I never worried that he'd run off and/or get kidnapped. And people (employees and civilians alike) were very sweet to us- understanding, helpful, and complimentary (seriously- I know my kids are beautiful, but it sure is fun to hear them admired so much by strangers).

There's something about flying alone with kids that restores your faith in humanity. If you're feeling up to it, I'd say it just might be worth the exhaustion. :)

Santa Claus is coming ...

2010-12-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

... to town. And we're not going to be here. Hopefully he gets the memo to deposit our toys when he's down in New Mexico. I think he knows; he's a pretty smart fellow.

Here are a few pictures of our visit to "Santa's Pole." :) James is convinced that the North Pole is in the mall. We've tried explaining that he is simply visiting, but it's useless. I suppose it doesn't matter in the end.

James was so excited to see Santa. When we saw the room he was in, Santa waved at us- and James took off running! :) It was very cute. James hopped right up onto Santa's lap and immediately said, "I want a submarine!" lol. I think we may have prepped him too much. He chatted with Santa for a while. Then we sat Jolie up there with him. She was mostly trying to crane her neck around to get a look at him - beyond that bushy beard. She wasn't really happy but didn't cry- though she started to get there toward the end. Overall, I think the visit was a success.

When we left, James was kind of upset and wanted to know where his toy was. lol. Again, we had to explain. My goodness, December is long for a little kid! :)

Tonight we're leaving. Derek will stay. We will miss him oh-so-much. Those of you in town, take care of our "daddy." And Derek- please know that all I want for Christmas is YOU! See you soon. xo

Nakey Nakey and the Tall Old Lady

2010-11-30T19:28:00.001-08:00

Jolie pooped tonight. No news there; she's a bit of a poop machine. But it got up on her shirt. So I stripped her of her clothes, changed her diaper, cleaned her off, then ran the dirty diaper outside to the trash. My hands were gross, so I left her on her changing pad (on the floor- fyi) and washed up. When I came back- literally seconds later, this is what I found!

She had crawled her little naked self all the way out of her room and into the hall. Silly girl! (And the cutest little nudist I've ever seen, don't you agree? Mmm... those darling little fat rolls!) :)

Also tonight...

James found Derek's old clipboard and some printer paper and told me that he wanted to color- with a pen. I tried to convince him that crayons would be better, as there were more colors to choose from. But he was insistent about the pen. So I let him.

He's done this before. Pens- since they are generally reserved for mommies and daddies- are totally cool, and he loves being able to color with them. But this was a first time for something...

Look at the below picture and tell me what you see.**

I walked by James as he was coloring, and he told me the following: "Momma, I'm trying to draw a tall lady."

??!

He's never tried to draw ANYTHING- just a bunch of lines and scribbles and such. I've not pushed him about the "What's that a picture of?" sort of thing, as I'd heard it is too pressure-filled and they do not draw pictures, really, at this age. But apparently he does now. And I'm so excited for him!

Look at the picture again (click on it to blow it up if you want... and please disregard my awesome paint skills).

Here is how James explained it to me:

[1] is the head (Can you see it?)

[2] the hand (There is only one.)

[3] the body ("The swirly 'hings are the body, a course.")

[4] a foot

[5] another foot ("It's like a crunchy shark tooth 'hing... but it's not reawy (really) a shark 'hing... it's jussa foot.") lol.

He then proceeded to tell me that it wasn't me, but a different lady. One he's "ne'er seen afore." An old lady, "a course." :) Of course.

Can you see it? Or her, rather? Fun, right?? :)

Very cool. I tell you, I am totally entranced by these two. My children are ingenious. Or, you know, nudists at the very least. ;)

** (I didn't see it, either. Shh!) :)

What I Saw Last Night

2010-11-29T09:27:00.001-08:00

{Quick tangent: So my title reminds me of a fantastic book I recently read- "What I Saw and How I Lied" by Judy Blundell. It's really very good. You should read it. You won't regret it. Okay, on with the post...}

Last night Derek put Jolie to bed, and I put James to bed. Afterward, Derek played World of Warcraft in our bedroom/office, and I read Moonraker's Bride {by Madeleine Brent -- this is my third time reading this book. THIRD! I rarely re-read books, but this one is Just.That.Good. Mmm... Thank you, Bonnie!} on the couch, by the light(s) of our Christmas tree.

Anyway, I heard Jolie start to fuss. I ignored her, hoping she'd get herself back to sleep... and if not, that Derek would get her. Then I heard her cry escalate a bit. Dang. I thought about going to get her, but then I heard it stop. I assumed Derek had gone in with her. But soon after the silence, I heard her giggling hysterically. What? I got up to see what the heck they were up to. As I peered into her room, this is what I saw...

James had gotten up, gone out of his room, opened her door and turned on the light... and gotten into her crib! :) Her giggles were a result of either his silliness or just the silliness of the situation- the fact that instead of sleeping, she was playing with her brother. :) Naughty children.

I must admit, it was about the cutest thing I've ever seen. It's the reason I want them to share a room someday... so they can giggle and whisper and conspire against us... you know - bond as siblings. Apparently they don't need to share a room to do that.

I sure love these kiddos. And I quite adore how much they love one another!

Ghost-ez

2010-11-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to journal about a bunch of things lately but just can't get the time or motivation to do it. (I tend to write way too much, too slowly, and go off on a bazillion tangents when I write. Surprising, I know.) So instead of journaling, I'll blog about it. Ultimately, my goal is to print all these online ramblings off and bind them up in journal fashion. So hopefully it all counts as equal in the end.

One day (a couple of weeks ago?), the kids and I were sitting at the table eating lunch. Jolie was in her high chair; I was sitting at the table next to her, and James was next to me. Jolie was busy eating, but James (as is usual) was jibber-jabbering away instead. On this particular day, I had a post-it note and a pencil on the table as well. And it's a good thing I did, because James was spouting off all sorts of funny stuff, and for once- I wrote it down so I could document it. Here are a few conversations he and I had. It's fascinating to me the way his little brain works...

James: Mom, where do ghost-ez (plural of ghosts) sleep?

Me: In haunted houses, I guess. In beds. Or maybe on the ceiling!

James: When it's Christmastime, what do ghost-ez hang up?

Me: (Confused... then catching on.) I don't know. Do you think they put up a Christmas tree?

James: YEAH!

A few minutes later... after asking him if he wanted some of my almond milk (which, PS. is super duper yummy... buy the Silk brand, vanilla almond milk. Mmm... you won't regret it) and telling him that it tastes like ice cream.

James: This smells like ice cream!

Me: Yeah, it smells yummy, huh?

James: Yeah. And your toes FEEL like ice cream!

(He was touching my feet with his; my feet were cold.)

And again, a few minutes later...

James: Mommy, can you help me eat more?

Me: Sure, just a sec.

James: You're a good mommy. You help erry-hing I want.

:) Aw... so cute. He is (generally) a super sweet boy. And apparently I'm a good mommy because I help him with everything he wants. lol. Well, whatever it takes, I suppose.

James has also been really into Hide and Seek lately. He's wanted Derek and I to play with him, and since that sort of play is actually enjoyable, we've been doing it. And let me tell you, it's been TONS of fun! My very favorite part is when James hides with me (when Derek seeks). It's awesome because James will giggle and giggle and be SO excited. Not surprisingly, we are easily found. But really, it's worth it to see him so happy.

Once recently, I was seeking... and Derek, Jolie and James were hiding. James was in his room (behind his rocking chair, probably; it's a favorite spot for him), but I was trying to find Derek and Jolie first. I was walking around the house calling, "Daddy!" when I heard a teeny voice say, "Daddy!" in return. :) It was soooo cute! It was Jolie! So I kept calling, "Daddy!" and hearing "Daddy!" in return, sort of in Marco Polo style. Finally I found them... in the hall closet! Derek says I cheated, but really- with a little voice that cute calling back, how could I resist? :) It was lots of fun.

More on Jolie's talking... she now says "ha" (hi), "ba" (bye), "dad," "daddy" and "mama" (though mostly when she's whining, go figure). Once I was getting her out of her bed in the morning, and James came into the room. She got all excited and started bouncing up and down (she seriously adores that boy) and said, "ha jay!" (Hi, James!) It was adorable, and I really think she meant it. So yes, our little girl is growing up way too fast. And talking. And screaming (who taught her how to protest?), too, unfortunately. She's still a very good, pretty chill little girl. She's just not okay being ignored anymore. It's probably better. You know, self survival and all.

Jolie's eating tons of real foods (among them: gingerbread cookies and banana bread... tell no one) nowadays. She especially likes diced up bananas, diced yams and diced apples. She especially hates most vegetable purees and acts like she's being mercilessly tortured when we try to feed them to her. (Don't worry. When it comes to power struggles, I always win. lol)

She's also been getting tons of new teeth. And by "tons" I really mean tons. James was very by-the-book with his teething. He got the bottom two middles, then the top two middles, then the sides... Jolie got the bottom two in one day, then a third bottom tooth. Now she's getting FOUR top teeth - all at once. It's awful. For her and, in turn, for all of us. But I think she's past the worst part (hooray) because - minus the veggie puree incidents - we've got our sweet little girl back. :)

Oh! And she crawls. Like for realz, yo. Up off the tummy and all that jazz. I'm so proud of her. She is pretty proud of her, too. :)

It's crazy up in here... but really, quite fun.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-09T10:46:00.000-08:00

Happy {belated} Halloween! :) It seems that I never post about Halloween until mid-November. Hm. I guess we're always busy (or recovering from our candy comas) until then. Er, now. Whichever... you get the idea.

This year for Halloween, we were Goldilocks and the Three Bears! :) It was fun. Jolie was Goldilocks- though due to her general lack of locks, she wore a wig. lol. And James, Derek and I were the Three Bears. I made all of our costumes (Jolie's skirt and shirt, even)- from scratch! I'm pretty proud of myself. In part due to my fear of patterns and in part to my pride of figuring things out on my own, I didn't use any patterns and decided to "wing" it. I think they turned out alright. We do look like bears, don't we? Hope so.

I didn't get any decent pictures of Halloween night, but my friend Li took some (thank you, Li!). Here are a few for your festive delight...

(Please disregard my funky stance. I swear I'm not (I hope!) as squatty and deranged as I appear in this photo. Holding Goldilocks and squatting down were not the best combination, apparently. lol)

James with his buddies Evan and Asher.

So silly already! And they hadn't even

gorged themselves on candy yet! ;)

Family Photo

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Fun, right? :)

A little back story: We generally go trick-or-treating with our cousins in Smithfield and have a blast doing so. There is a family in their neighborhood (whom we now know and love but admired even before that) that totally grills up hot dogs for everyone and anyone who walks by- complete with hot cocoa and FULL-SIZED candy bars! (I know; they're awesome!) Derek and I have been totally impressed with this and swore that "someday" we were totally going to do this.

Well, this year, we decided to give it a go- on a mini scale, anyway. So we decked out (minimally, but still) our garage and bought some Styrofoam cups and warmed some hot cocoa in our CrockPot... and voila! Instant coolness! :) Mostly we wanted to do it because it is just so NICE and neighborly. It's not something you see anymore, and it makes you feel so special as a recipient. It was especially good this year as it was cold and raining; it was a good chance to let people step out of the rain and warm up a bit.

I think it went well. Thank you, Derek, for pulling it all off. It was my idea, but (go figure) I got stressed and overbooked doing other things- and Derek (again, go figure) saved the day. Night. Whatever. ;) Also, thanks to the Packs for stepping up and playing host/hostess when we were too lazy/busy to get off our duffs and help people. (We love you guys!!!)

It was a fun night. Our house is finally beginning to recover from it all. And I'm seriously considering boycotting junk food from now until December 23rd. :) I do love me some chocolate chip cookies, though, so we'll see how that goes...

Happy Halloween! We hope it was as spooktacular for you and yours as it was for us and ours!

Oh, and James really didn't wear flip flops with his costume. After the photo op, I made him change into real shoes with socks. It was freezing and wet that night (and spooky... definitely spooky). And as much as I try to convince myself otherwise, I really am a better mom than that! :)

Random October Musings...

2010-10-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it is October already?? I seriously cannot. When did all those months fly by? Is my baby really 7 1/2 months old already? I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

Seriously, time flies like CRAZY once you have kids. I'm pretty sure it's because they grow like crazy. It's hard to keep up... and sad that you always feel like you miss so much - even if you're always there and paying attention.

My baby Jolie can CLAP! Not sure if this is technically a milestone, but I'm still so proud. So is she. I'm pretty sure the first day she did it was October 1st. Here's a picture to prove it:

Notice the fact that she just might be getting hair now! Another milestone?? ;) And below, she is grinning at James- her favorite person in the whole, wide world. Really, she loves him so much.
Here's another clapping picture, this time when she was dressed and ready for the day. I actually took a whole bunch of pictures on this day (last Friday, I believe it was). It was just a lazy day... love those.

And here is a series of pictures I will now title "How To Get Fabulous Pictures of Your Children"... aka: "How Hard It Is To Get Kids to Cooperate for Pics." :)

1. Both kids are barely in frame... I'm pretty sure it was James who would not stay put.
2. Hey, everyone look at James' feet! Yes- perfect! :/
3. No, I said SMILE, James, not ROAR! (Side note: Jolie totally growls/roars like a dinosaur with/at James. It's their communication, apparently. It's pretty adorable, albeit not-so-ladylike.)
4. Okay. Good enough.

Here's another of my pretty girl... blow this one up to see it better. She's got such pretty eyelashes, such feminine features. Don't you just want to eat her up? I really do. Mmm... those cheeks!
Later that day, Daddy came home. He wanted to nap, but both kids just wanted to jump on him. I think they were supposed to be snuggling, but mostly they were just playing on Daddy. (Hop on Pop, anyone?) Check out this pair of photos... Watch Jolie.

Before...

After!

Funny, huh? Poor James. Good thing he totally deserves it! He pesters her all the time... lovingly, mostly. It's only fair that she occasionally returns the favor. :)

And in case you didn't get your fill of videos from the last post, here are two more. This one is of Jolie clapping for the first time (well, as soon after I witnessed it - after the time it took to snag the camera and shoot). Disregard the awful lighting and crazy shadows. The front door was wide open, letting in some warm, wonderful sunshine. Unfortunately, my camera didn't know how to "read" it... making it appear super dark and weird. Still- she's cute. So enjoy!

And this last one is of the crazy kids we do Preschool with. A handful of moms in my neighborhood (on my street, really) got together and decided to teach a basic intro-to-academics kind of preschool to our kiddos. We trade off every week, thus having to teach only about once a month- though the kids get school twice a week. James is LOVING it! This last week, I taught for the first time. It turned out really great, actually. (I was nervous.) The kids are really well-behaved, sweet kids. I think that contributes hugely to the success we've had so far.

This video is one I ran to record after observing their crazy, kid-directed game (we were in transition from snacks to washing hands to waiting in the living room... apparently they got bored and invented some fun). :) It was especially enchanting to me because I hadn't realized that kids this age were old enough to invent activities all on their own like this. I love the creativity that James (and his peers, it seems) is developing lately. Love, love, love.

Anyway, here's the video:

It's been a great October so far... and it's only the fourth! We had a busy, enjoyable weekend just barely- full of General Conference that is always so peaceful and sweet and harvesting/canning out at Jon and Ashley's (aka: Julie's) place. Canning in and of itself isn't the bomb shiznat, but the results sure are! Mmm... Homegrown and handmade really do take the cake. Or, er, jam. :)

Okay. Derek is home from class, and I need to get moving to get ready for work tonight... so I'm gonna jet. But hooray for October... bring on the fun!

Charades... or not.

2010-09-23T18:01:00.000-07:00

James wanted to play a game the other day, so I broke out the Memory game we got him for Christmas. He did pretty well- much better than the last time we played (ie. months ago... I'm really not a very fun mom)! Anyway, once we had done a few games of regular ol' Memory, James wanted to change things up. I decided to try our hands (does that work in the plural?) at Charades. James loved it! Here is a lil' video demonstrating his mad-awesome skills.

{Just kidding. It's too big, apparently... lame.}

Hm. Well, there are more videos I've been wanting to share as well. I'll try and toss those puppies up here, too. One is of James playing the uber-cool harmonica. Look out, Hollywood! The other is of Jolie showing that white girls can jump. And the final/third one is of James and his buddy Kona and... well, just watch. :)

Also, I'll throw in an adorable picture of our Jolie-- for Aunt Dena & Co. {Thank you for the sweet dress, you guys! She loves it... or loves eating it, anyway! :) It is such a pretty one and fits her perfectly! Oh, and don't judge us for the wrinkles; I'm pretty sure this is post-nap.}

So far this September...

2010-09-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here is an update... and a few pictures (though quite frankly, each of these items deserves its own post):

1. James hit a milestone this month... his first day of PRESCHOOL! It's really more like pre-preschool (myself and four other moms are on a teaching rotation, cycling our five kiddos through each week and introducing them to the concept and basics of school), but still. What a big boy! He's loving every minute of it. On his very first day, he fought with me when I came to pick him up (just down the road). He dramatically declared, "I want to live here FOREVER!" Pssh. Thanks for making me feel missed, buddy. Oh, well. At least he had a positive experience. :)

2. Jolie hit a milestone as well. She has now officially conquered SITTING! She started getting the hang of it around 5 1/2 months, but she was still pretty tipsy. She now can sit and play for a good, long time without face-planting it too often. :) She's growing up too fast. My sweet baby girl...

(PS. This picture was taken while she was still in the wobbly stage... hence mommy's legs helping her stabilize.)
3. We got to see DENA & CO!!! Dena (my sister) and her family were up in Idaho for Labor Day, so we drove a couple of hours to visit them. (A couple of hours is no fun, but quite frankly- 18 hours is much, much worse!) It was super wonderful to see them all. They had never met Jolie, and it was sweet to see them loving on her so much. Dena pretty much didn't stop snuggling her the entire day! I loved seeing them... and was super weepy and homesick afterwards. Still, it was worth it. We really love you guys! Let's never let another year and a half (yikes, I know) go by between visits. Okay? Okay. :)
4. I had a birthday! I'm now the big 2-7, and I tell you- I'm feeling it. ;) I'm never going to make it to 100 at this rate! (Maybe it's the cheesecake...) lol. But really, it was a fabulous day. Derek spoiled me like none other. I didn't lift a finger in the kitchen (or altogether) the entire day... and we all ate super well! I was able to relax and nap the day away. I got sung to about SIX times (Derek and James sang a different version of "Happy Birthday" to me at every meal!). I was wished a "Happy Birthday" by about FIFTY different friends and family (seriously- could I feel more loved?), and we topped off the day with some yummy cheesecake with friends. It was a good day. Thirty... bring it!
Hooray for September. Let Autumn commence...

I'm baaaaack! (Warning: LONG post!)

2010-09-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

My gosh. Where to start? So much has happened since I last posted. Shoot- so much had happened before that, things I never got around to posting. Sorry about that. I suppose I'll start with one thing at a time and work from there (genius idea; I know).

1. 8/13/10 Jolie got a pretty great present for her 6-month birthday: her two (bottom) front teeth! I was playing with her on my bed, just letting her chew on my knuckle... when I felt something pretty sharp! It got my attention, and I sat up to investigate. Whaddayaknow? Two teeth! She hadn't been fussy or anything (go figure; really, she's such a good baby!) so I didn't suspect. But yep- our girl's got some chompers. (Beware: they're sharp!)

Look at her goofy grin! Mama's funny! :)

2. Later that night, we went to Derek's 10-year-friends-reunion... a casual, up-the-mountain hangout with his buddies that graduated when he did. The official reunion was the next night. It was WAY less fun, albeit tasty. Though it was also cancer-free, and that's always a perk. (Seriously, that nasty smoke was carcinogen filled; I'm sure of it. Ick. My throat is better now, but if I get lung cancer later on, I'll know what to blame.)

3. 8/16/10 James had an appointment with a specialist (pediatric GI) at Primary Children's Hospital... at long last. It was a pretty decent experience, as you can tell from the not-sobbing-but-smiling picture below. Dr. Wu was super great; the whole hospital was! After a pretty thorough examination- which included a bit of bum-probing by Dr. Wu (ick- James says Dr. Wu is naughty cause he got poop on his finger... sorry for the tmi)- and some blood being drawn (which got him a TOY CAR as a post-draw prize... not bad, I say), we discovered that he's just severely constipated (ha- just...). Nothing is wrong with his plumbing, and he doesn't have a disorder or anything. He just needs to get cleaned out- and stay that way. Dr. Wu explained a lot and put us on a good regimen (diet, medication and routine) that has been helping quite a bit so far. Yay!

Jolie was at Micah and Brittney's (thanks, Britt!) while we were at the hospital, which helped a ton. Afterward, we took James to Red Robin for a James-only date. It was fun. We never really do that, and I'm glad we did.

4. Jolie is working hard on becoming even more GORGEOUS. Really, look at her! Just thought I'd share this picture. I really just love it... and her.

5. 8/19/10 I hosted book club at my place in August. It was fun! I love our book club- and all the fabulous women in it!

6. James loves reading, and he loves being outside (mostly because then he might have a chance to escape to Kona's house... sneaky boy). Here is a picture of how I found him the other day... doing both. Seriously, I love this boy!

7. Buzz and Woody (aka: James and Kona). BFFs. Need I say more? ;)

8. 8/23/10 When a computer is not available, the men in our family turn to the Xbox. :) James got to play video games with daddy for the first time... and loved it! Derek would tell James, "Good job!" and James would positively BEAM from the praise! Really. James is totally and completely in awe of Derek and wants more than anything to be like him. He copies his every move and misses him like crazy when he's gone to work or school. I love to see it. And I can't blame the kid; his daddy IS pretty fantastic! I quite love him, too.

9. You're still reading? Wow- good for you!

10. 8/28/10 I cut James' hair for the first time EVER! Though it took quite a while, he did really well with it. (Thank you, neighborhood girls who distracted him. I cut it outside.) I think it turned out pretty well, though you can't tell from the pictures. Ugh. He was NOT in the mood to model for me. Lil' punk. But yes- I was quite proud of myself. He looks even MORE handsome when he's not quite so shaggy! :)

11. Nope. That's all. I'll post again with other stuff...

The End.

12. I lied. Here's a pic of Derek (and James) with our new computer. I don't know if you can see how ecstatic he is about it all, but I promise you- he is! :) I love my handsome geek. But you can't blame his enthusiasm. We all share it. (It's a pretty awesome new toy!)

As James put it in a recent conversation with me...

Me: Don't you just love our new computer?

James: I love BOTH our computers!

Me: Me too.

James: Yeah, they're pretty sweet.

Cute, right?

Okay. I'm done.

Really.

R.I.P.

2010-08-24T20:10:00.001-07:00

Our computer died. It was pretty old and had lived a good life, but losing it still ... well, sucked. Because of this, however, a miracle has occurred. We are forking out the cash to get a new one {cue "hallelujah" chorus}! Derek is seriously so thrilled. He's like a kid in a candy shop. A fat kid.

Because of this tragedy, I have no access to our pictures. So... until next week, I won't be posting anything really. Too bad, too, cause I actually want to! {That's a lot of 2s.} Oh, well. And yes- if you want to see us pimpin' it nerd-style, swing by our place sometime next week. It's gonna be sweet.

My Shiny New Toy

2010-08-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

So check out what I got yesterday... a pretty new bike!!! {Pause while I do a happy dance.} I'm so excited! I don't think I've ever had my very own bike, so it's a bit of a personal accomplishment for me. And look how sweet it is! :) It's an old-school Shwinn Cruiser. It fits me perfectly (which makes me less terrified of riding... seriously, I screamed like a little girl when I attempted to ride Derek's). And I got it for fifty bucks! I know. I'm a little jealous of me, too.

Disregard the awful sun-in-face shot and admire me and all my pimped-out-red-bike glory. Oh, and I got a haircut today. Gotta clean up for Derek's ten-year reunion this weekend (scary). Now I should get going... need to paint my toenails. And wax my back. (Ick!)

Just kidding on that last part... Or am I?

family date

2010-07-30T09:22:00.001-07:00

Last week our little family of four went on a date. We wanted to do something festive, something that felt very much like summer. And more than anything, we wanted to have some fun as a family. So we packed up the kids, smuggled some Micky D's in the diaper bag (we're bad people), and hit up a matinée.

We ate our hamburgers while the previews played. Then we watched "Despicable Me." The kids were totally engrossed by it. (Sadly, this includes Jolie. She couldn't take her eyes off the screen- granted, it's an entire wall wide. Still, I felt a teensy bit guilty... ) We adults thought it was pretty great, too. It's funny. Go see it. Anyway, it was fun. Both kids were totally well behaved and absolutely darling. James would get "scared" when the movie was particularly loud, but I think partly he just wanted to hold me. :) Luckily, Daddy doesn't mind snuggling with his little girl, so it all worked out all right.

After the movie, we went to Casper's Malt Shoppe for ice cream. James got pink. We weren't entirely surprised. (He really is a total boy in lots of ways, and/so we're not in any way concerned about this... but his favorite color is currently pink. I can't bring myself to tell him that it's not such a macho choice. We'll clue him into all that in good time.) It was a blast. James was thrilled with the whole experience.

We all had such a wonderful day together. Thank you, Derek, for working so hard so that we can not only live and pay bills but also splurge on fun family dates. And thank you, too, for the fab idea of this date! (It was totally his plan; he's way more fun than I am.) I love that we all are friends. Sure, we parent first and befriend second. And granted, our kiddos are tiny. But I think we'll be alright in the end... that we'll be buddies when all is said and done. And that's a happy thought for sure.

Here are some pictures from our date.

(Jolie wasn't really scared, just looks it. May have been the flash.)

Mmm. I love these guys. Once again, I'm glad they're mine.

Here's to many more happy memories... and lots more family dates!

why I love this picture - and a bit about berry salt lake

2010-07-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

This summer has been lots of fun so far. We've done a ton of fun things, spent a good amount of time together as a family. Derek has been going to summer school- which is the sucks, but even with that and work, he's had a decent amount of time to spend with us (mostly because I'm not working this summer. It gives us a couple extra evenings together). It's been really nice.

One of the things we've been able to do is attend Howell Campout in Bear Lake. James was very excited by the prospect of going to "the beach." But he couldn't wrap his head around the name of the place. He kept calling it "Berry Salt Lake." :) Close enough. It was cute.

We didn't actually camp. We went up one day and mostly hit up the beach with Shawn and Mindy and their kids (LOVE them!). It was a fabulous day- minus the horrid sunburns we all came home with as souvenirs. (Hint: Sunblock should not be applied pre-road trip and should be reapplied at some point during a day-long sunshine adventure!) I'm a bad mom. Or mostly, a bad sunbather. The albino in me just isn't experienced enough to know how to do a beach day. Oh well. Live and learn... and possibly get cancer.

We did have lots of fun, though, like I said. After the beach, we went up to the cabin to say hello to the fam. It was good to see everyone. It seems we just don't see them all like we should. Then we came home to sleep (great choice with small kiddos) and came up again the next day.

I love Bear Lake. I love how busy it is in the summer and how isolated it is in the colder months. I totally want to live there. Except for the immense love of here. I love it here. (Warning: tangent ahead!) I'm so glad I came here, so glad I met Derek here, and so glad we made this place home. I miss my family like crazy, though. I always want to pack up and move to Arizona (sorry NM), but then I realize that we'd be leaving so much behind here, too. I couldn't bear it. So we stay. And hope for the day when the cash flow is so great that a plane ride every month is comparable to pocket change. (Derek keeps saying he's waiting for me to make us rich; I say it's his job, so he'd better get crackin. We have this play argument often, lol.)

Anyway- fun times. Berry Salt Lake, we love you.

And now on to "Why I Love This Picture." It's fairly obvious. Look at that little darling. She's the sweetest, most well-tempered little thing ever. She makes my heart nearly explode with love. I cannot stop kissing those cheeks. I love her little smile in this picture, and I love how chill she is just kickin it at the beach (she really was an angel the whole day... though that's really not unusual for her). Then you look a little closer and see two small figures in the background. And now my heart's a goner. My little family, captured in this little memory. It was a great day, but moreso- these are great people. I love them all so much. Heavenly Father gave me the perfect husband; He knew just who I needed and sent him my way. Then He gave us the sweetest, funniest, most perfectly fitting children to complete the group. And we get them forever, as long as we play nice. It's amazing to me. I really love these three people. I don't deserve them, but I couldn't live without them. They are my air, and I am so, so glad they're mine.

Sniff. Ahem. Oh, and did you notice the rockin' 1980s layout? That's right. I'm hip. I'm totally reviving the poofy bangs today, too. You just wait and see ... ;)

Look at me! Now I'm THREE!

2010-07-19T00:13:00.001-07:00

Can you believe James is three already? I really can't. He's growing up way too fast! I keep asking him if he'll stay a baby - just for me. I try to cuddle him and rock him and coo at him. He'll humor me for maybe a minute, but then he's ready to be a big boy. And he really is. The other day, I found him sucking away at a lil' box of rootbeer milk. I asked him where he got it and he replied matter-of-factly, "I got it from the box!" He had climbed up to the table, wriggled a box free, removed the attached straw from the box, removed said straw from its plastic wrapping, inserted the straw (without spilling), and proceeded to drink! All by himself! (I realize this is not genius-in-the-making behavior and that probably most three-year-olds can do this stuff; it's just that I tend to baby James and therefore am super surprised when he up and matures without my permission.) Then when he had finished with his milk but still had some remaining, I was going to take it from him... but he said, "No, mom. I'll just put it in the freezer." He meant fridge (at least the mix up is a teensy bit baby). Then he freakin' opened the fridge, put his milk inside, then shut it- again, himself! I'm constantly amazed at what this boy can actually do all by himself. What a big boy.

And what a big tangent! Sorry. Anyway- short story long, my little boy is growing up... whether I like it or not. Here's proof.

(More pictures to come... when it's not past 1am!)

We've been doing a lot of this lately...

2010-07-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

{James and his buddy Kona}

Fab photos thanks to Aubrey Seeholzer and

her awesome camera. (Thanks, Aub!)

Jolie's Newest Trick - Before & After

2010-06-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

Jolie learned a new trick. Or I suppose we let her try it out at long last. She's pretty good at it... and quite fond of the happy results! Check out these two videos. We'll call them "Before" and "After." :)

Before:

After:

PS. Please disregard the box of junk in the background (first video). We still have quite a bit of unpacking left to do...

Jolie + Rice Cereal = Love

{How is it that she's old enough for this already???}

Naked Party

2010-06-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Growing up, when my dad would go out of town for some conference or another, my mom and sisters and I would have what we called Bra and Panty Parties. We were too young for any real bras, but we had those little belly-shirt tank types that came with our nightgowns (remember those?). We would watch a movie, eat popcorn, and just hang out in our undies. I remember these parties fondly. They were lots of fun and made us girls feel a little bit like women.

Well, it seems the Anderson household is headed in a similar direction. We've yet to make it a tradition, but the other day- we did have a Naked Party. Mostly we were all roasting hot from playing outside, so as soon as we walked in the house, we stripped down to our undies- and the kids their diapers. We danced around and were silly- playing up our Naked Party for James' sake (yes, that's what we tell ourselves). It was lots of fun... very silly and definitely tons cooler than a Clothed Party. ;)

Above is a picture of our super-silly event. (Don't worry; Derek and I are not in it.)

Side Note: We girls had a Bra and Panty Party when we were old enough to wear real bras... and let me tell you, it was not nearly as much fun. It was more like a We're-So-Awkward-and-Uncomfortable-and-Covering-Ourselves-As-Much-As-Possible Party. :) I wouldn't recommend it for pre-teens or teenagers for that reason. But for itty bitties, it's a grand ol' time!

Sibling Giggles

2010-06-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

I could watch this video everyday, and it would still make me laugh. So could James. Really, it's just that funny.

PS#1. This was going on during dinner last week (hm- a couple of weeks ago, maybe... on the 1st). It was absolutely unprompted and unsolicited. It was, however, encouraged- as I ran to grab the camera as quickly as I could.

PS#2. A bit of James-anese translation:

1. Towards the beginning, after my request to make his sister laugh again- "I'm almost done wiff my sammich."

2. In the end, amid giggles- "Wha-did me DOed?" (pronounced "dude," meaning past of "do"... lol)

I love, love, love how much they love each other.

liberated

2010-06-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

Oh, Glorious Internet-

How did I ever live without you?

No, seriously. How?

It has been just over a week now that we've been internet-less, and MY GOSH! It's been the hardest week EVER! I am officially hooked. I should probably be ashamed by this realization, but mostly I am just determined to never be without internet again. And now that my sweet love (we'll call him "Netty") is back, I am feeling oh. so. liberated!

Welcome back, Netty. We've missed you.

And since I know you all have been just DYING to see pictures of our kids, ourselves, or our new place- I'll upload something special RIGHT NOW. That's right. It's an ALL CAPS DAY. :)

Our new place... along with one hottie patottie husband. Enjoy.

We're moving...

2010-05-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

... this weekend.

Holy last-minute craziness!

Wish us luck.

PS. Same town, just (much) more south. Souther, if you prefer.

Mommy

2010-05-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes (okay, often) I wonder if my kids would be better off with another mommy... one that is more patient (or AT ALL patient), one who loves doing kid-crafts and making messes, one who keeps the house cleaner, one who yells less. It's actually a substantial source of anxiety for me. They really are amazing people; they deserve someone amazing in return. I don't feel like that's me almost ever. But then my little Jolie gives me her saved-for-mommy smile, and James snuggles up to me and says, "I love you, momma!" and all of the sudden my doubts disappear. Maybe another mom would do a better job, but I can GUARANTEE you that no other mommy could love my babies more. Ultimately, I hope that matters most. They are the world to me, and I never want to be separated from them. Better or worse, they're stuck with me. Forever.

Note: Pictures taken mid-April.

My Two Favorite Midgets

2010-05-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

Sweet, huh?

Additional note: James was holding up a book with his

right hand; that's what they're so engrossed in.

Additional note #2: We had just finished a dual-diapering

session. We really don't just kick it on the changing pad.

My gosh, I love these two.

Good. Morning.

2010-05-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

Jolie woke me up this morning at nine o'clock. That's right. Nine. Not 3am, not 5am, not 7am. Nine.

My little girl slept through the night.

I kept her up last night (well, nursed her around seven and let her doze in my arms while I watched Private Practice) since we had had an exhausting afternoon. (Note: If you're interested in talking poop, give us a call. It's been a major focal point of our family as of late.) Then Derek gave her a bottle and put her down at about 10:30pm. She didn't wake up until (yep- you guessed it): NINE. Ah... What a life.

And Jolie isn't the only one on my "I-love-you-so-much-right-now" list. James woke up at seven, apparently. Derek was leaving the house to take his last (this semester) final and says he heard him bumping around in his room about then. But he didn't call my name or bang on the door like he often does to get out (yes, we lock our kid in his room). I didn't hear from him at all until Jolie started fussing. Then I heard a, "Mommy?" and opened his door.

What I found was this:

As much as I hate messes, I LOVE when he gets out all of his toys and just goes nuts. Generally, I wonder if he even likes them. Toy boxes tend to hide more than organize. But he had found his toys and was having a blast (albeit a messy one)... for TWO HOURS! And all the while mommy was asleep! What a good boy.

I really have amazing kids.

I nursed Jolie in James' room while he played even more. He likes me to watch him play. That has worked out nicely, actually. I stressed a lot while I was pregnant about how I would manage nursing Jolie with a busy toddler. I figured he'd have major jealousy issues or wouldn't hold still for long enough for me to. But things have worked out great. James absolutely adores his sister and has yet to show any resentment at all! (Well, one time she was crying pretty hard, and I heard him mumble, "Sister is so annoying." lol. Oops. That must mean I've called him annoying. I thought of getting after him for the negative comment, but then I realized it was true. Listening to crying like that is annoying. So I let it slide. Besides that, though, he generally finds her quite delightful.)

I was taking pictures of James and his messy room. Then I started taking a few of Jolie. James decided he needed to take some himself, on his "phone."
A while later, we were playing in my room (okay, I was checking my blog/email). I laid Jolie on the bed, and soon James joined her. Here he is, giving her kisses...
... and hugs. (Seriously, check out her face! He wasn't being too rowdy or rough, so I didn't stop him. But BOY, she wasn't quite sure what to think of it!)
Ah... all alone. That's better.
Then James discovered the Bumbo chair I had gotten out of storage last night. Jolie is constantly trying to sit up lately (probably to reach her feet; she quite loves them), and I figured she might enjoy sitting in this. Anyway, James thought it was for him and was a little put out when I told him it was for babies. (Though later I let him sit in it while watching Word World, so all was well.)

Jolie wasn't quite sure what to think of the whole thing... until she discovered her glorious right foot! :)

Jolie loves her right foot. Maybe because her right hand is especially coordinated (well, more I should say) and can grab at it especially well. She's a silly girl.

And a good sleeper. Mmm... hooray for getting a good night's sleep. It's been a while. Let's hope it continues! xo

Baby Blessing(s)

2010-05-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

{The following is an excerpt from my journal- written 05.02.2010}

I’m a little disgusted with myself. Today was an amazing, fabulous day (today we blessed our little Jolie), and I wanted to journal all about it. But before I began, I thought I’d turn back to see what I’d written about James’ blessing… and THERE WAS NO ENTRY! What??? I couldn’t believe it. I knew I had (and Ashley had- for back up) taken notes during the blessing, but I still never had recorded it all in actuality. Lame. What a mom. Then I flipped through and saw my labor experience journaled (Jolie’s, that is) and decided to peek at what I’d said for James’. NOTHING! I’m pretty majorly freaking out right now. I mean, it’s not like I don’t remember pretty vividly all of those things. I can certainly journal retroactively. But still. So sad. Shame on me!

I try to hard to do a lot with Jolie so that she isn’t screwed by being the second child. I feel guilty in lots of ways that she won’t have as many things that James had. Attention more than things, I guess. He was rarely ignored. His every coo and milestone was superbly celebrated. He was our entire world. Jolie is equally loved and adored, but she is significantly more neglected out of necessity and can only really be half of our world, because James is here too. And while I am feeling guilty and trying so hard to make sure Jolie isn’t overlooked or overshadowed, I have absolutely neglected to document pretty critical moments in my firstborn’s life! Pathetic. I’m seriously disgusted by the whole thing.

So I will double dip. When I document important things in Jolie’s life, I will document (from memory) those in James’. I will try hard to make sure both of my kids are covered, so that when I tell them they are equally loved- they might actually believe it. :)

Now back to today…

Today was amazing. Fabulous. Magical. Really, it was great. I woke up and felt like crap- as per usual, but not worse than usual. Jolie had actually slept really well last night; it’s just that mornings are not my flavor. Regardless, I knew I needed to get going, so I got James some breakfast and even ate some myself. I fed Jolie and talked to my dad.

(Side Note: Dad and Polly drove up for the blessing. They got here yesterday afternoon. It was so great seeing them! James adores them both, and Jolie seems to be on a similar path. We hung out, read books (James and Jolie were totally hooked up- spoiled kids!), ate dinner, put kids to bed, and watched Star Trek. It was an eventful evening. Fun. I’m really glad they came!)

Later than I was supposed to (who’s surprised?), I showered and got ready. Derek got himself ready and then did everything else. Seriously, I am so lucky to have him. He is super-husband, no doubt about it. We got to church just in time.

Another baby was being blessed in our ward today, too, and wow- the place was packed! They had to open up the back for overflow seating. The other family had a lot of visitors, but so did we. So many of our family and friends were there. It made me feel very supported, very loved. Jolie’s blessing was first, for the record, and it was a goodie.

Derek Ray Anderson, Jolie’s father, performed the blessing. Others in the circle were: Bishop Scott Wilcock, Jim Barentine, Shawn Anderson, Kurt Anderson and Jon Ford. I was holding James, but I had asked Ashley and Bonnie to take notes for me. They did a very good, very thorough, job.

Jolie was such a good girl throughout the blessing- and really, throughout the entire day. She looked gorgeous. She is such a beautiful girl, and she looked like an angel in all that white. She wore a pretty, “foofy” dress (I caved; who can blame me?) and had a darling white flower in her hair (or headband, anyway). She was all smiles and very happy all day long. She was the belle of the ball, the star of the party, and she did not disappoint.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recap of Sunday, September 2, 2007:

We blessed James on the first Sunday of September, 2007. I’m pretty sure it was the second. We waited to do it until then mostly because we were waiting until my dad (Jim Barentine) could come up from New Mexico and stand in the circle. Dad and Michael drove up to stay the weekend with us, and although nerve-wracking (I tend to be self-conscious, especially when I’m new at things… ie. Mothering), it was wonderful to have them here. It was sweet to have James meet his Uncle Michael, whom he resembles like crazy, and Grandpa Jim, after whom he was named.

James looked super studly in little-man church attire. He wore khaki slacks, a white shirt (onesie) with a collar, and a darling blue tie. It is pretty common (one might say “the norm”) to bless boys in an all-white, fussy suit- sometimes even with tails. I resisted the norm and went with this more practical approach because I thought the whole “foofy” getup was overkill. At the time, I felt that babies were best dressed in as little as possible and should not be clothed as smaller, uncomfortable-versions of adults. My perspective has changed a bit since then, resulting in a good deal of guilt (seeings how his sister got all sorts of dolled up, which seemed to me as preferential treatment), though looking back at pictures I think he looked quite handsome indeed.

Derek Ray Anderson, James’ father, performed the blessing. Others in the circle were: Bishop Ward, Jim Barentine, Shawn Anderson, Kurt Anderson and Jon Ford. Ashley and I jotted down some notes, bullet-style, of the blessing.

It was a wonderful blessing. Derek did especially well considering the fact that James screamed full-throttle the entire time. As soon as the blessing was over and Derek handed him back to me, he burped one big burp and fell immediately asleep. :) Derek and I both bore our testimonies at some point during the meeting, and afterward we held a luncheon at Julie’s house for family and close friends.

Got grits?

2010-04-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

(Image source here.)

Necessity of food storage, primitive society, utter chaos, impending doom. This is a sampling of what's been on my mind lately. And by lately I mean since about ten o'clock last night when the power blacked out and I was certain the end of the world had officially come. Sadly, I'm only exaggerating a little. Growing up in the sticks, it was not at all uncommon for the electricity to black out for a good amount of time (which sucked even more as our water came from an electric pump... mid-shower blackouts were especially awesome). But I have lived here for going on eight years, and I have NEVER experienced a blackout that lasted as long. Seconds, maybe, but not even minutes and certainly not over an hour! (Last night, electricity was down for an hour and a half!!)

I was scared. My gut reaction was to start filling buckets with water (see childhood reference above). After Derek assured me that the water still worked and we didn't need to worry, I decided to take a bath. As I was doing so (by the light of a lantern), the thought kept coming to me that this might be the last hot bath I would have in a long while. (I know, right?) Then I started thinking of what we would do if the electricity never came back up. How would grocery stores operate? How would we pay for anything? Our money, our entire society, is absolutely electronic! Only the people with piles of cash would be able to buy food! We have a total of twelve bucks in cash. Our babies are going to starve!!! Really, I even discussed with Derek the possible necessity of feeding the family on breast milk. (Don't guffaw; you'd drink it too if it came down to it!)

Anyway, I know that faith and fear cannot coexist. But I also know that "if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." The thing is: we are not prepared. It's terrifying to think that if something happened, we'd be screwed. We have a lot of friends and family that love us, but if we tried to borrow oil from their lamps their children would be hungry. Even the nicest of people won't sacrifice their children for you. Sharing won't really be an option. We'll need our own resources. And, you know, maybe some guns.

Needless to say, it was a long night. And you can bet we will be getting oats and iodine for our birthdays this year. Gold coins in our stockings. And solar panels on our apartment if we can swing it (wink).

Announcements

2010-04-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

First announcement: We had our little girl!!! Okay, okay... I know this is old news, but now that I FINALLY mailed out the birth announcements, I can post one on the blog. (If you didn't get one and should have, let me know. My brain is officially mush after two kids!)

Second announcement: We are blessing Jolie on May 2nd*. That's right. Soon. We are not sending out official invites to this; we'd just like you all to come. Family and friends... please join us. Enemies, well- you're not welcome. :) I'll probably make a few phone calls, but YOU (that's right, you) are invited!

We'll be doing a luncheon afterward at our (Julie's) house, but I haven't figured out all of that yet. I'm thinking we'll grill up something and eat in the backyard. Maybe hotdogs? Maybe Sanpete Turkey? Not sure. If any of you have suggestions for this (or would want to bring a side) please let me know. I suppose I should have an approximate RSVP count for this, if I'm buying/making food... so probably let me know if you're coming. We'll see you then!

PS. Isn't that Jolie just the most gorgeous little thing you've ever seen?? I know I'm partial, but MAN- she's pretty! :) Oh, and if you want amazing photos like the one above, contact our photographer. She's pretty great, too!

*For location and time info, please call/email/you know- contact. I'd rather not divulge all that on the blog.

I love to ride my bicycle...

2010-04-04T22:27:00.001-07:00

Well, James does anyway. I don't actually have one (boo). Maybe that can be my birthday present this year. We'll see. If I get one, I totally want one with a big ol' fatty seat on it, so I don't get saddle sore riding. But Derek's a bit of a bike snob and may not go for it... that and he'd have a hard time getting me a cheap one, which is what I ultimately would want for how much I intend to ride.

WOW! That was a really long and wordy tangent! Sorry about that, folks! Anyway...

The happy afternoon pictured below actually occurred on March 12th. I had promised (here) to post pics and a video, so I am simply following through on that promise. That and I am still so proud of James and his recently acquired pedaling skills. :) It was a genuinely happy day. I'm so happy that these darling people are all mine. You see, I am quite fond of them.

Picture commentary for those who care to know:

The afternoon was "warm" (aka: not snowing

or freezing), so we decided to take a walk.

Things started out like this:

And quickly turned into this:

Which later turned into this:

Your daily history lesson: When we got James this bike (trike, technically) for his birthday last summer, he couldn't even reach the pedals- let alone use them. He did ride it some, mostly coasting down the (slanted) driveway. After our walk, Derek thought to get it out and let him try it out a bit. I'm so glad that he did because James LOVED it! It's amazing how much a boy can grow (physically as well as coordinated-ly) in only about six-month's time. And it's amazing how much pride a mommy can get when her little boy does a simple push-push-push with his feet. :)

Note: The video I had intended to post with this was taking WAY too long to upload. So I'll do that tomorrow. It's late and I's sleeeppyy! (yawn) Goodnight.

with a wink and a SMILE :)

2010-03-27T23:20:00.001-07:00

This just in: Jolie SMILES! :) I always thought babies weren't supposed to smile on purpose until they were about two months old, but apparently our little girl is ahead of schedule. Her first real smiles that we recognized happened last Sunday (03/21/2010), when she was but 5 weeks old. It was her first time at church. Derek and I had her with us in Sunday School (Marriage and Family class, fyi), and she was super happy and absolutely all smiles. It was amazing. Then late Thursday night, I went to Bookclub and took her with me. My friend Missy was holding her and smiling at her... and Jolie smiled some HUGE smiles in response! Adorable. THEN- the most smiley she's been thus far was just last night. We had Kurt/Bonnie and Jon/Ashley over for dinner. Jolie was reclining on my knees, and Kurt was talking/cooing at her. She smiled some humongous smiles! We all gathered around to oooh and aaahhh at her... and everyone took a turn trying to get more smiles out of her. :) Jon, Kurt and Derek had the best success; I think she's partial to men. But she had a good 15 minutes of utter bliss and nearly endless smiling. And my goodness, we were all quite smitten as a result. I'm not sure what it is that makes me both melt and squeal when she smiles... it might be that she's just. that. pretty. Or it might be that her eyes light up. Or it might be just the joy of knowing that she's responding to me/us. Whatever it is... it makes me SO, so happy. And considering the smiles, I'd say she's pretty happy too. :)

Note: The above picture is from Jon's iPhone, taken last night. Aw... too sweet.

Got Green?

2010-03-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

So- Derek has a St. Patrick's Day shirt that says, "Got Green?" on it. It's bright green, and he looks super studly in it. Yes, I'm biased... but look. Proof:

No, you can't see the print and can only hardly see the shirt. But I LOVE this picture. This is the man (Er... boy? He looks so young!) I fell in love with. Mmm...

Anyway, he wore it to a concert once, and all the stoners were like, "Yeah! Right on, dude!" :) Who knew "Got Green?" worked as a pot reference? I suppose the pot-o-gold at the end of the rainbow has a dual-connotation! lol. So yeah... Happy St. Patrick's Day... from the pot-heads AND us! :) Here are some stories and pictures of our day so far.

I looked through Jolie's closet today, on the hunt for something festive for her to wear. I discovered that we don't really have any green outfits for Jolie, so this morning... I SEWED A DRESS! I know! I'm so proud of myself, too. :) I used an old shirt of mine (one I had saved in my fabric scraps because I just couldn't part with it- it was too cute) and chopped it up. It turned out pretty great, if I do say so myself! Then I whipped up a headband in three seconds flat (seriously), and TA DA! Pretty little green girl.

(Oh, and PS. She was MAD in these first couple of these pictures... starving and neglected, really. I was impatient and had to get some pics as soon as I finished sewing, and they were just too funny not to post. Sorry, baby.)

Fed, full, and significantly happier.
James looking green and great.
Just not too anxious to have a full-on photo shoot.
Derek's on spring break right now, and it's been great "playing with daddy" all day long. It's actually been spring-like weather lately, too, which is amazing and very much welcomed. We've been able to get outside and play a bit (remind me to post bike-riding pics/video later). Today we decided to go and have fun at the PARK! Woohoo warm(-ish) weather!
Jolie's first time in a park. She, uh, loved it... ;)
Hey, mom!
Our awesome family picture (Daddy and Jolie were snuggling; James and I decided to make it a family affair.)
Aw... love.

Later tonight we'll be having corned beef and cabbage with carrots and potatoes. It's cooking now, and YUM- it smells good! What a great day. Hooray for spring break, warm sunshine, and ... you know... drunken Irish leprechauns. :)

Week 3

2010-03-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

As a recap of recent events, I will start by quoting myself (I do that a lot... egocentric, I know). :) I posted this "status" on Facebook on Sunday (Feb. 28):

"Rebecca Anderson is finally a little LESS crazy-emotional. There are still moments, but I'm feeling so, so much better. We just might survive this "family of four" scenario after all! :) Jolie is still an absolute doll. Getting more vocal about her needs being met, but still a very good, pleasant baby. And James is no longer a germy ball of disease, so I love him more too. I know. I'm heartless. So long, doctor career!"

For those of you who didn't know, James was sick. A throat infection, nothing major- but enough to make life pretty hellish around here. He got sick the day my mom left, and the transition was awful. I wanted to cry for my Jamesie because I hate to see my baby sick. And I wanted to cry for me because I'm a germaphobe and a crappy nurse... and really, I'm a sucker for self-pity. It was a rough week or so, but with meds, Lysol and a dash of TLC, we survived it okay. By Sunday, he was feeling tons better (and coughing tons less), and by Monday he was pretty much cured. Yay.

Since then, we've done much better. James is amazingly well-behaved when he's not sick. I think I take that for granted normally. He really is a great, happy little boy. I am super lucky/blessed to have happy, sweet children. I was nervous about Jolie since we already had one practically-perfect child (remind me of this comment the next time he throws a fit, will you?), but we lucked out again. My children are fabulous, and I am so happy they're mine.

Also, my kids are weird. (They must get that from their daddy- wink.) Or at very least, they are weird sleepers. Here is evidence. Jolie sleeps wide-mouthed like this. It makes me crazy. I am constantly thinking, "We are not a cod fish!" (Name that movie.)

And Jamesie ... well, at night we go in to kiss him goodnight before we settle in to snooze. It started when he was a teeny one and we would go in to make sure he was still breathing. He was healthy and strong, but new parents are paranoid. Somehow the checking-of-breathing evolved into just tucking-in and kissing goodnight. Still, though, he gets checked on nightly. We often will find him in funky positions. The below pose is but one example.
This pic is not the best, really, but it showcases a very normal expression for Jolie. Chill. Kinda bored. Not really sure what's going on in her head, but yes- if she's awake, she often looks this way. :)
Gettin' cozy with Uncle Jon.
One morning recently (this last week, not sure when) we were laying on the floor, "playing" with "sister." We started singing songs. James loved it. Jolie... well, she liked it fine. James came up with a pretty great song for his lil' sister. Check out the video post-pic to hear it.

Love this face. Also pretty normal.

Cute. I know.
Here's a little shout-out to our buddy Kurt. Kurt is Derek's little brother, but Derek really looks up to the man. There's some good, quality brotherly love going on here. Anyway, Kurt got accepted into pharmacy school (hooray!), and we had him and his wife (Bonnie) over to celebrate. We toasted with some sparkling cider and watched an appropriately-titled movie called "Accepted." It was a fun night. We tend to have those with these beautiful people. They're probably our best friends right now, and although we're thrilled to see them move on in life... we hate that they're leaving us. I guess it's good we're family. As such, they're pretty much stuck with us! :)
Disregard the lame positioning (newborns are quirky; what can I say?) and focus on the darling little girl and her rockin' outfit! I love this little ensemble... and yes, the little girl, too.

Precious, no?
James was eating a PB&J the other day. Delicious and nutritious, I know. Anyway, as I watched- he smeared the jam all over his lips, puckered up, and said, "Momma, you wanna kiss me now?" :) Silly boy. And... no. No thanks.
Jolie had her first photo shoot yesterday (Thursday, March 4th). My friend Li is a photographer and does AMAZING work! Really. She took our family pics this last summer, and I am forever spoiled now and don't think I'll ever be able to go back to a studio chain. She's so much better! And (major plus) the experience is amazingly better. No waiting an hour in a waiting room while kids get restless, hungry and sad. No more annoying posing by amateurs. No more frustration! Li does great, and I cannot WAIT to see all of the proofs! She posted a sneak peek on her blog. Check them out. They're sooooo, soooo cute. (Proud mama speaking, but still- I think you all will agree.) Go to: http://photographybyli-blog.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-logan-utah-newborn-photogapher.html

Anyway, while she was shooting, I took this lil' gem over her shoulder (what photographer doesn't love that?!).
And lastly, the weather. It's been crazy-springlike around here lately. Warm (yes, we count 45-55 degree weather as warm!) and sunny. Wonderful. We've been on a walk and everything. (I think that walk was the happiest my lil' guy has been in a LONG time! The poor thing needs summer, I think.) Then yesterday it rained in the afternoon. Then towards the evening, it started snowing very suddenly and very hard core(-ly?). It was also beautiful, just kinda weird. Here's a pic.

Life is good here. We're (generally) happy. And healthy- at last! Thanks for wanting more pictures (ahem- Katie). It's a difficult request to fulfill with the craziness I'm still adjusting to, but it's flattering that you care. We love you all. Out.

Two Weeks' Notice

2010-02-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

Wow. Two weeks old tomorrow. I'm afraid she's going to be 16 before we know it. Scary. Until then, however, we will continue to adore her. Our little Jolie.

{{ Side note: On the name... we wanted to name our little girl something French. I was a French major and therefore speak French as well. We both are madly in love with Paris (and had possibly our most romantic adventure there in '06). And really, a French name would be pretty rockin' for a sweet little girl. Unfortunately, French names are very French, and we didn't think "Françoise Anderson" would cut it. I liked Margot, but Derek said it was too old-lady and wouldn't even consider it. (I still like it; tell no one.) And one day (pre-James, actually) I thought of using a non-name as a name: Jolie.

In France, "jolie" is not a name. It's an adjective. It means "pretty." I suggested it, but Derek embraced it. Pretty much the man has veto power and lacks any suggestive creativity. But once he likes a name, he sticks with it. (Though I suppose he came up with James Russell... so maybe the "lack of creativity" comment is unjust.) Anyway, we liked Jolie... but what middle? Or would Jolie BE the middle?

We played around with lots of names and eventually decided on Elizabeth as a middle. Naming a kid "pretty" is nice, and you hope your daughter is... But I was hung up on the paranoia of what if she thinks all she IS is pretty? I wanted a middle name of substance. Elizabeth fit. I mean, really... Queen Elizabeth I was uber-substantial. A hugely important monarch. Amazingly independent and strong. Loved by her people even today... and not cause she was pretty. It worked. Then there's Elizabeth in the Bible. And Elizabeths throughout time. It's a name with a good amount of history behind it. It makes her name more classic, so that James Russell and Jolie Elizabeth don't sound too clashy. And Elizabeth Ann was my doll's name as a child. She's currently napping in my hope chest in New Mexico. Really, it's totally fitting.

Other side-notes to my side-note (which is very long; sorry): My mother's middle name is Joanne. Derek's mom is called Julie. Joanne + Julie = Jolie (nice to conclude since James is absolutely and undeniably named after his grandpas).

So Jolie Elizabeth it is. }}

Okay. Dang, I'm long-winded. Here are pictures. I'll go easy on the commentary.

Post-bath (first one at home)

She loves her fingers... especially for dinner.

Here she is sucking on her index finger and thumb.

The posh sleep set-up. (Our kids are spoiled.)

She sleeps with us, either between us or in our arms.

I know she's super spoiled that way, but shoot- if

she'll sleep 4-5 hours at a time that way, she's

spoiling us, too! It's only fair to return the favor. :)

I LOVE this series of photos.

James + Jolie = Best Friends Forever!

What's up with the nudie cop? Hm... (Cute, though, no?)

This is how we roll. :)

Here's a super-cute video of my kiddos. If you can't hear

clearly, at the beginning James is saying, "Smile! Cheeese!"

He doesn't get that she can't ham it up like he can. Also,

apparently Jolie is Momma's Darling and James is

Daddy's Good Boy. Glad we sorted that out. :)

Jolie and her adoring fans

Yes, I painted her nails. Already.

Cherubic. Man, I love this girl.

Daddy feeding (and dabbing drool off) Jolie.

Derek really is wonderful. He wakes up when I do.

He feeds her, changes her, loves her... and still

does all the "manly provider stuff" too. I'm a lucky girl. So is she.

Thank you, Grandma! :) Grandma Marilyn came

and stayed with us for a couple of weeks and was AMAZING!

Really, she deserves a post of her own. I didn't know she

(or anyone, really) was capable of being absolutely and

totally devoted to taking care of other people. She put

110% of herself into helping us... and I really don't know

how we'd have done it without her.

Anyway- I love you, Mom.

And thanks.

Here are James and Jolie with a few gifts my mom got

while out shopping. James "gave" Jolie her present.

Luckily he knew not to put it right on her face!

Here's Grandma Marilyn with our kids. (Weird... kids.)

And here is perhaps my very favorite pic of Jolie so far.

She. Is. So. Beautiful.

Like I said before, we're all quite smitten.

Really, though, can you blame us? :)

LABOR Day (aka: Jolie's BIRTHday)

2010-02-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

Wow. It's been 11 days since my little Jolie was born. Where has the time gone? I can honestly say the past week and a half has been a blur. Sleep deprivation, hormonal imbalance, craziness we now call "life with two kids"... not sure what the culprit is, really, but wow- what a ride!

Finally, however, I have a story to tell (and even better- pictures to share). Here ya go.

We called the hospital at 6am (possibly 5:58am... impatiently speaking) on Saturday, February 13th. They asked if we could come be there by 7:15am. We said, "heck yes!" I showered, did my make-up, shaved my legs (as much as possible; you have to remember the huge mass I had inside of me), packed our bags (and/or supervised as Derek did) and drove the whole three minutes it takes to get there.

Here's the "before" picture at the hospital, prior to IV or anything.

Notice the massive bulge I called a stomach...

keep it in mind for the next time you see me.

Then possibly you'll think I look less pregnant now! :)

We got to the hospital and got checked in. The paperwork and question-answering took a while, and I didn't even get an IV and Pitocin until around 8:45am-ish. I was already contracting and dilated to a 3, so they didn't have to fully induce me- just get me going on harder, more efficient contractions. By 10:30-ish, I gave them the go-ahead on the epidural. I wasn't really hurting too badly, but the nurse was pretty convincing when she mentioned that if I dilated too quickly it'd be too late. I kept saying, "well they're not making me cry or anything." She mentioned that they didn't want me to cry at all-- and that sooner was better than later. The epidural request wasn't a minute too soon. By the time the anesthesiologist showed up, the contractions were pretty strong and pretty painful.

The anesthesiologist did a great job... I don't think he was incompetent at all. But he was grinding the needle against my spine. And holy OW! It hurt. A lot. I cried. This was the most painful part of the labor experience. My contractions were really, really painful- making me cry. And holding still through them (balled up- for the epidural administration) while having a needle battle my bones was hard. I didn't swear or scream or say, "You did this to me!" I wept. As loud as I am in regular life, in labor- I tend to weep.

Once the epidural kicked in, life was MUCH better! With James, my epidural had left me feeling paralyzed from the waist down (minus one critical part of my stomach- ow), but this time I could feel and even move my legs and feet- just not with super great coordination. I could feel pressure, but not really pain. It was nice. I actually felt the urge to push like everyone talks about... not just the urge to die like before.

I got my epidural around 10:30-11am. At about noon-ish, they checked me and... dun du du DUN... I was ready!

Wha??? I had expected a baby by dinner, not by lunchtime. This labor was much faster than my last one. By 12:30ish, Dr. Fxx was there (and none too soon... I swear {so sorry for the icky description} I was "prairie-doggin it"). About 5-6 intense-but-fairly-painless pushes (and a bit of snipping and ripping) later, our little Jolie Elizabeth was born.

Amazing.

Here is Daddy admiring (and showing off) his little one.

Mother and daughter- meeting each other "officially"

Skin to skin (sorry for the nudity)

Jolie's first bath

Isn't she beautiful?

James seeing "sister" for the first time... mwah!

Meeting Jolie- a video

The greatest treasures of my life... really, how I love these three.

Going home. (Please focus on her double chin, not mine...

or, you know, on that handsome hubby of mine.)

A welcome-home hug for sister (looks comfy, doesn't it?)

We're so, so happy to have this little one home with us. I still have to hold her a ton. I think I have separation anxiety if she's not in my arms. I mean, hey- she was in my tummy for a LONG time! We're a pair, you know? James has done really well with her and hasn't shown any resentment at all - which is a beautiful thing. He really loves her and adores her, and it's touching to see. We're all very happy that she's here at last. Happy BIRTHday, Jolie!

Introducing...

2010-02-16T11:08:00.000-08:00

Jolie Elizabeth Anderson

Born 02/13/2010

@ 1:05pm

9 lb 8 oz

21 in. long

Note: Thanks to Mindy for taking (and posting) this pic. I totally stole it because I'm just too sleepy to upload my own. :) More to come... I promise. Just probably not today.

Note#2: Our little Jolie is the cutest, most wonderful little girl ever! We are all quite smitten. I just can't stop holding her. I guess we'll keep her after all.