Here is a picture of them ready to head out and the second installment of costumes: Mia as a Peacock. She was very excited to win an award for the "Most Creative" costume at the ward Trunk or Treat last week.
Happy Halloween!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween
Well, the girls are out with Grandma and Daddy trick-or-treating. It has been fun and a blessing to have Jeffrey's mom in town this weekend.
Here is a picture of them ready to head out and the second installment of costumes: Mia as a Peacock. She was very excited to win an award for the "Most Creative" costume at the ward Trunk or Treat last week.
Happy Halloween!
Here is a picture of them ready to head out and the second installment of costumes: Mia as a Peacock. She was very excited to win an award for the "Most Creative" costume at the ward Trunk or Treat last week.
Happy Halloween!
Tag Times Two
Okay, so I take a few days off blogging and when I log back in to catch up, I find that I have been double "tagged." Thanks, Lisa and Andrea. At least one tag conferred a "coveted" award, which I suspect is just a well-concealed attempt to guilt others into playing along.
In any case, I am supposed to provide two lists: seven things I am grateful for and five things that are weird about me. Hmmmm...
Things are always tainted by current experiences, so excuse the focus on my present pregnancy complaints, but here it goes...
I am grateful for:
1- Health- Having spent two large blocks of time at the hospital this last week being pumped full of drugs to stop the premature labor I was going into, I am grateful that otherwise, I am healthy, my family is healthy, and by all indications, our baby will be healthy -- we just want her a little bigger. It is easy to focus on how inconvenient and stressful such moments are for me, but really if you are going to spend time in the hospital, what a cushy reason to do it!
2- Advanced Medical Care- Despite the fact that my hands are shaking so bad right now from the drugs I am on that I can hardly type (you should see me try to write, it looks like I am back in 3rd grade!), I am grateful for innovations that can do amazing things. I start feeling this at the end of every pregnancy, because as I am expecting breech baby number three, I am personally indebted to those who have created ultrasounds, anesthesia, amazing surgical techniques, and a host of other tools to allow my babies to arrive quite safely. I don't like to think about the likely outcomes of delivering a baby feet first with a neighbor "midwife" during the pioneer era.
3- A Supportive Husband- No way I could handle stressful situations very well on my own. How sweet it is to have a partner who is loving, concerned, protective, full of faith, and so very good at putting our family first. He has been so good to me, even when he has been kept up over 28 hours in a row and then gets only two hours of sleep before arising to get Mia off to school, run all my errands, and clean up the house. What a man!
4- Friends and Ward "Family"- I am not good about asking for help and too often I feel alone in my life. But, for having lived here for just over a year, I have been so moved by how many people have just taken it upon themselves to check up on my family this week. Seriously, I could hardly sleep when I got home from the hospital Tuesday morning for all the calls to check on me! Special thanks to Melanie, who did not get any sleep Monday night either. And for dinner, and help with kids, and just rearranging my commitments, and on and on .... thanks. It is so nice to know you really are not alone!
5- Two Wonderful Daughters- Mia and Maggie are beautiful, loving, energetic children full of personality. I love to watch them grow as they amaze me with all they think and can do. Expecting a new little one has reminded me how very remarkable they are, how much they have learned, and how much I love being their mother. There is nothing more challenging or more rewarding in my life!
6- Faith in God- I am grateful to rely on more than my own understanding and ability to control this situation. (I don't do well when there is really nothing I can do!) How wonderful and comforting it is to trust that God is in control of my life, that he can help and strengthen and protect me and my family, and that I can have hope through Christ in all things.
7- Soft Sheets- Seriously, I am so grateful for sheets over 400 thread count, nice cotton towels, and a squishy pillow. I know it is a hospital, but does that mean that every fiber in the linens that they purchase needs to be itchy? And, while I am on the subject, who thought that making bands to wrap around someone's body out of scratchy Velcro was a good idea? Like you are not already uncomfortable enough having people stick needles into your hands and arms, stick swabs and other objects into other body orifices, being squeezed every fifteen minutes by a blood pressure cuff (that in my case seems to have determined I have abnormally skinny and untoned upper arms that may be refined by being constricted so hard that it feels like I will never regain full circulation), etc. -- is it necessary to have all the surfaces in sight irritate my skin? In any case, I am grateful that at home I can rub my feet against soft sheets that do not chafe them. Luxury - too often taken for granted!
Now, on to my weirdness:
1- I apparently have an oddly shaped pelvis that prevents my babies from turning around and coming out head first. This means that sometime in the next 28 days I will have my third c-section to deliver this last baby. It also means that I have constant burning pains in my rib cage from a baby sticking her head up there, a child whose heartbeat is hard for nurses to find, and babies that, so far, have been born with bald spots on the backs of the heads where their hair was rubbed off against my ribcage while in utero.
2- I really like watching old British comedies. I was reminded of this yesterday as I tuned in for a couple of hours while at the hospital with nothing else to do. Don't know exactly why I prefer such humor to more American forms. I like to think it is an indication that I am refined and witty, but most likely it just means I am rather stoic and boring.
3- I am truly, like really deeply and with great emotion, relieved that I voted early last week. I know, it is kind of the last thing to be concerned about right now. But, given that I am supposed to minimize my time on my feet and that I am not sure I won't be back in the hospital on Tuesday, I would be SO upset if I thought I was going to miss voting. Nothing like taking your civic duty too personally!
4- There are certain things I cannot quite figure out and that make me feel prematurely old: like texting and facebook. I just can't quite catch up. Maybe I need to get the Young Women I work with a church to tutor me in these new arts.
5- On the note of the last three entries, these are just further proof of what I have long known to be too true about myself: I really am just a big nerd. I am still trying to come to terms with the accuracy of this classification, but really I am. I know nothing about pop culture; it is quickly proven in a game of Trivial Pursuit! But, I can run on for hours about legislative process or what I thought of a piece of literature. In sum, I am just doomed.
And I tag... I don't know, my brain is on slow and I have too many with both of these. Tags to come later...
In any case, I am supposed to provide two lists: seven things I am grateful for and five things that are weird about me. Hmmmm...
Things are always tainted by current experiences, so excuse the focus on my present pregnancy complaints, but here it goes...
I am grateful for:
1- Health- Having spent two large blocks of time at the hospital this last week being pumped full of drugs to stop the premature labor I was going into, I am grateful that otherwise, I am healthy, my family is healthy, and by all indications, our baby will be healthy -- we just want her a little bigger. It is easy to focus on how inconvenient and stressful such moments are for me, but really if you are going to spend time in the hospital, what a cushy reason to do it!
2- Advanced Medical Care- Despite the fact that my hands are shaking so bad right now from the drugs I am on that I can hardly type (you should see me try to write, it looks like I am back in 3rd grade!), I am grateful for innovations that can do amazing things. I start feeling this at the end of every pregnancy, because as I am expecting breech baby number three, I am personally indebted to those who have created ultrasounds, anesthesia, amazing surgical techniques, and a host of other tools to allow my babies to arrive quite safely. I don't like to think about the likely outcomes of delivering a baby feet first with a neighbor "midwife" during the pioneer era.
3- A Supportive Husband- No way I could handle stressful situations very well on my own. How sweet it is to have a partner who is loving, concerned, protective, full of faith, and so very good at putting our family first. He has been so good to me, even when he has been kept up over 28 hours in a row and then gets only two hours of sleep before arising to get Mia off to school, run all my errands, and clean up the house. What a man!
4- Friends and Ward "Family"- I am not good about asking for help and too often I feel alone in my life. But, for having lived here for just over a year, I have been so moved by how many people have just taken it upon themselves to check up on my family this week. Seriously, I could hardly sleep when I got home from the hospital Tuesday morning for all the calls to check on me! Special thanks to Melanie, who did not get any sleep Monday night either. And for dinner, and help with kids, and just rearranging my commitments, and on and on .... thanks. It is so nice to know you really are not alone!
5- Two Wonderful Daughters- Mia and Maggie are beautiful, loving, energetic children full of personality. I love to watch them grow as they amaze me with all they think and can do. Expecting a new little one has reminded me how very remarkable they are, how much they have learned, and how much I love being their mother. There is nothing more challenging or more rewarding in my life!
6- Faith in God- I am grateful to rely on more than my own understanding and ability to control this situation. (I don't do well when there is really nothing I can do!) How wonderful and comforting it is to trust that God is in control of my life, that he can help and strengthen and protect me and my family, and that I can have hope through Christ in all things.
7- Soft Sheets- Seriously, I am so grateful for sheets over 400 thread count, nice cotton towels, and a squishy pillow. I know it is a hospital, but does that mean that every fiber in the linens that they purchase needs to be itchy? And, while I am on the subject, who thought that making bands to wrap around someone's body out of scratchy Velcro was a good idea? Like you are not already uncomfortable enough having people stick needles into your hands and arms, stick swabs and other objects into other body orifices, being squeezed every fifteen minutes by a blood pressure cuff (that in my case seems to have determined I have abnormally skinny and untoned upper arms that may be refined by being constricted so hard that it feels like I will never regain full circulation), etc. -- is it necessary to have all the surfaces in sight irritate my skin? In any case, I am grateful that at home I can rub my feet against soft sheets that do not chafe them. Luxury - too often taken for granted!
Now, on to my weirdness:
1- I apparently have an oddly shaped pelvis that prevents my babies from turning around and coming out head first. This means that sometime in the next 28 days I will have my third c-section to deliver this last baby. It also means that I have constant burning pains in my rib cage from a baby sticking her head up there, a child whose heartbeat is hard for nurses to find, and babies that, so far, have been born with bald spots on the backs of the heads where their hair was rubbed off against my ribcage while in utero.
2- I really like watching old British comedies. I was reminded of this yesterday as I tuned in for a couple of hours while at the hospital with nothing else to do. Don't know exactly why I prefer such humor to more American forms. I like to think it is an indication that I am refined and witty, but most likely it just means I am rather stoic and boring.
3- I am truly, like really deeply and with great emotion, relieved that I voted early last week. I know, it is kind of the last thing to be concerned about right now. But, given that I am supposed to minimize my time on my feet and that I am not sure I won't be back in the hospital on Tuesday, I would be SO upset if I thought I was going to miss voting. Nothing like taking your civic duty too personally!
4- There are certain things I cannot quite figure out and that make me feel prematurely old: like texting and facebook. I just can't quite catch up. Maybe I need to get the Young Women I work with a church to tutor me in these new arts.
5- On the note of the last three entries, these are just further proof of what I have long known to be too true about myself: I really am just a big nerd. I am still trying to come to terms with the accuracy of this classification, but really I am. I know nothing about pop culture; it is quickly proven in a game of Trivial Pursuit! But, I can run on for hours about legislative process or what I thought of a piece of literature. In sum, I am just doomed.
And I tag... I don't know, my brain is on slow and I have too many with both of these. Tags to come later...
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The reason two year olds should not name their siblings...
Because, when I was expecting Maggie Mia settled on the perfect name for her younger sister: FISH. That's right, she pulled it from a line out one of her favorite songs, Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World." We were taking a walk one day and she was singing this song, which she had learned from a CD she would listen to in the car with her grandma on the days I worked. When she hit upon the line, "Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea..." she stopped mid-stanza and declared to Jeffrey and me, "Fish. That's it! That's a good name for our baby, Fish."
We could not convince her to call Maggie anything else until after she was born. Her teachers at church and school would ask her what her baby sister's name was going to be, and she would say, "Well, my mom and dad want to name the baby Maggie, but I like Fish." We did get some recommendations for hip ways to spell this name, such as: Physh and Phish and Fische. Apparently, according to an article on MSN this week, giving your baby a noun for a name is all the fad, so perhaps Mia was simply ahead of her time.
In any case, this week I have begun telling Mia and Maggie that we are going to name this baby, "Elsie Jane." Although Jeffrey and I still vacillate a bit, I figured that saying it out loud may help the name to stick. So of course, after talking with them about it during the day, I told Maggie that evening to tell her dad what her baby sister was going to be named. "GARCIA," she proudly declared. "Garcia?" I inquired. "Yes," she insisted, "Garcia." (Mia thought this was rather cool since the aide in her kindergarten class is Mrs. Garcia.)
No matter what I say, this baby is now "Garcia" to Maggie. I honestly don't even know where she had heard this name before. I tried to explain that this was a boy's name -- no help. Jeffrey reacted negatively since this was the name of the very cheap barber that his dad took him to when he was a kid who turned out to be a pedophile and was sent to prison (don't worry, Jeffrey was NOT a victim). Needless to say, we were not keen on "Garcia." But, for Maggie it is a done deal. Like "Fish," I am hoping it will fade away once the baby is actually born.
On an unrelated note, we have been studying and memorizing the Thirteen Articles of Faith over the last year for Family Home Evening. Mia has been doing great -- you should hear her recite the tenth; she has a bit of lazy "r" which makes it very cute when she talks about the "witerwal gathewing of Isweal and the westowation of the ten twibes."
Monday we were talking about the 12th which deals with sustaining the law. As we were discussing Mia asked a very insightful question, "What if the law is bad, like telling you not to pray. What do you do then?"
Jeffrey and I fumbled around for a minute, saying that it was a bit of a quandary, and then Mia said, "I guess we would just have to move to a different country." There you go. Leave it to the five year old to find a simple and direct solution to the problem.
We could not convince her to call Maggie anything else until after she was born. Her teachers at church and school would ask her what her baby sister's name was going to be, and she would say, "Well, my mom and dad want to name the baby Maggie, but I like Fish." We did get some recommendations for hip ways to spell this name, such as: Physh and Phish and Fische. Apparently, according to an article on MSN this week, giving your baby a noun for a name is all the fad, so perhaps Mia was simply ahead of her time.
In any case, this week I have begun telling Mia and Maggie that we are going to name this baby, "Elsie Jane." Although Jeffrey and I still vacillate a bit, I figured that saying it out loud may help the name to stick. So of course, after talking with them about it during the day, I told Maggie that evening to tell her dad what her baby sister was going to be named. "GARCIA," she proudly declared. "Garcia?" I inquired. "Yes," she insisted, "Garcia." (Mia thought this was rather cool since the aide in her kindergarten class is Mrs. Garcia.)
No matter what I say, this baby is now "Garcia" to Maggie. I honestly don't even know where she had heard this name before. I tried to explain that this was a boy's name -- no help. Jeffrey reacted negatively since this was the name of the very cheap barber that his dad took him to when he was a kid who turned out to be a pedophile and was sent to prison (don't worry, Jeffrey was NOT a victim). Needless to say, we were not keen on "Garcia." But, for Maggie it is a done deal. Like "Fish," I am hoping it will fade away once the baby is actually born.
On an unrelated note, we have been studying and memorizing the Thirteen Articles of Faith over the last year for Family Home Evening. Mia has been doing great -- you should hear her recite the tenth; she has a bit of lazy "r" which makes it very cute when she talks about the "witerwal gathewing of Isweal and the westowation of the ten twibes."
Monday we were talking about the 12th which deals with sustaining the law. As we were discussing Mia asked a very insightful question, "What if the law is bad, like telling you not to pray. What do you do then?"
Jeffrey and I fumbled around for a minute, saying that it was a bit of a quandary, and then Mia said, "I guess we would just have to move to a different country." There you go. Leave it to the five year old to find a simple and direct solution to the problem.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
More Fall Photography
I provided ample warning that this is a season I just can't miss. So, when Jeffrey had the day off for Columbus Day, the weather was beautiful, and the leaves were changing, we had to get out and enjoy it.
We drove to the Shenandoah Mountains (which really when you are from Utah are more like large hills) for the afternoon. It was positiviely gorgeous, except for a swarm of gnats that followed us whereever we went. I was not up for a hike at 7 1/2 months pregnant, but we took a couple of walks and got some great pictures.
I just had to share...
We drove to the Shenandoah Mountains (which really when you are from Utah are more like large hills) for the afternoon. It was positiviely gorgeous, except for a swarm of gnats that followed us whereever we went. I was not up for a hike at 7 1/2 months pregnant, but we took a couple of walks and got some great pictures.
I just had to share...
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Price I Paid for Halloween Costumes
When Mia and Maggie began excitedly perusing the Pottery Barn Kids catalog recently, I knew I was in trouble. I had tried to come up with some creative, thematic costume ideas for the whole family this Halloween, which would also minimize the required sewing. However, I had failed. And, my fate was sealed when they discovered the PBK costume collection.
No matter how very adorable they may be, I was not about to spring for two costumes at $120 a piece. Ouch!
Now that I have just about finished making my own versions, I am wondering whether they were less or more expensive. This is what I paid:
2 afternoon trips (approximately 3 hours) to the fabric store (since Mia changed her mind on her costume once she saw Maggie's being made)
$38 on fabric, sequins, and other supplies, plus two packs of over-priced candy to keep Maggie occupied while I shopped for fabric
45 minutes finding needed components for Mia's costume online
$20 leotard and tights, in blue, for Mia
$10 peacock feathers off ebay(which still have not arrived)
2 afternoons and evenings (about 7 hours) cutting out and sewing costumes
1 morning (2 1/2 hours) picking up all the scraps of fabric on the floor and the disastrous mess my kids made doing crafts and playing with toys while I tried to sew uninterrupted
2 evenings (4 hours) spent doing the finishing work by hand
45 minutes spent with a magic eraser scrubbing crayon off the basement walls - Maggie's "craft" project gone astray
10 minutes spent scrubbing Elmer's glue off the tile floor - for the same reason listed above
A mess throughout the rest of the house that I "let go" while I finished the costumes -- still haven't finished cleaning so that I could tabulate the cost in hours
So, $68 and 17.5 + hours later, I have two cute costumes for my girls. If I value my own time at about $10 an hour (pretty cheap, I would say) and add in the cost of gas, I think maybe I broke even.
All that being said, this is one of the only times of the year that I sew for my kids, and I do, in some ways, enjoy the creative process -- especially since I only had to unpick something once this year. Hurray!
When I was all finished, I decided it would be a fun fall photo shoot to do pictures of Mia and Maggie in their costumes. So, here is a preview of Maggie at Halloween (Mia will follow shortly when her feathers arrive) -- I am quite pleased with how the pictures turned out. I need to find some more opportunities to hone my skills in this arena. Can't wait to take the next set...
Plus, my favorite shot of Maggie not in her costume. She was a bit fatigued of being my model by this point...
No matter how very adorable they may be, I was not about to spring for two costumes at $120 a piece. Ouch!
Now that I have just about finished making my own versions, I am wondering whether they were less or more expensive. This is what I paid:
2 afternoon trips (approximately 3 hours) to the fabric store (since Mia changed her mind on her costume once she saw Maggie's being made)
$38 on fabric, sequins, and other supplies, plus two packs of over-priced candy to keep Maggie occupied while I shopped for fabric
45 minutes finding needed components for Mia's costume online
$20 leotard and tights, in blue, for Mia
$10 peacock feathers off ebay(which still have not arrived)
2 afternoons and evenings (about 7 hours) cutting out and sewing costumes
1 morning (2 1/2 hours) picking up all the scraps of fabric on the floor and the disastrous mess my kids made doing crafts and playing with toys while I tried to sew uninterrupted
2 evenings (4 hours) spent doing the finishing work by hand
45 minutes spent with a magic eraser scrubbing crayon off the basement walls - Maggie's "craft" project gone astray
10 minutes spent scrubbing Elmer's glue off the tile floor - for the same reason listed above
A mess throughout the rest of the house that I "let go" while I finished the costumes -- still haven't finished cleaning so that I could tabulate the cost in hours
So, $68 and 17.5 + hours later, I have two cute costumes for my girls. If I value my own time at about $10 an hour (pretty cheap, I would say) and add in the cost of gas, I think maybe I broke even.
All that being said, this is one of the only times of the year that I sew for my kids, and I do, in some ways, enjoy the creative process -- especially since I only had to unpick something once this year. Hurray!
When I was all finished, I decided it would be a fun fall photo shoot to do pictures of Mia and Maggie in their costumes. So, here is a preview of Maggie at Halloween (Mia will follow shortly when her feathers arrive) -- I am quite pleased with how the pictures turned out. I need to find some more opportunities to hone my skills in this arena. Can't wait to take the next set...
Plus, my favorite shot of Maggie not in her costume. She was a bit fatigued of being my model by this point...
Monday, October 6, 2008
Fall Favorites
I know, I already wrote my whole Ode to Fall a couple of weeks ago. But, since it only comes around once a year, you will just have to put up with more of my ramblings about the glories of my favorite season. Sorry!
The weather the past few weeks in Virginia has been PERFECT! What is better than chilly mornings, warm afternoons, and crisp evenings? I really don't know. Little in life can compare.
Since the first week (with blistering hot temperatures) passed, it has made for some beautiful Saturday mornings watching Mia play soccer. She is so excited about playing, but we have to be careful to not talk to her too much from the sidelines. If we say, "Mia good job. You are doing great." She will stop playing and run over to where we are to talk a little more about how well she is doing in the game.
Once, last week, when she did this, I said, "Mia stay in the game." To which she looked down, verified her feet were still inside the field's boundary line, and replied, "I am in the game." She is regualarly our little lawyer; it is just too funny.
We also enjoyed the Manassas Fall Jubilee on Saturday. This street fair has all the typical artisan and business booths. Mia loves this sort of thing since she has perfected the art of walking up and asking, "Is this free?" She gets more stuff (free or not) given to her at such events!
As we were walking down the street, Maggie looked up at me and said, "Dis just like Dineyland!" Wow! It doesn't take much to impress a two year old. (Who, by the way, when she saw the picture I posted on my last "anniversary" blog entry said, "Mom, you be a princess!" As I said, not too much to impress her, but goodness she can be cute.)
I also loved watching about half of General Conference -- I watched the whole thing, it is just that with my children's exhaustion at times, there was only about half that I really enjoyed watching. Thank heaven for satelite dishes and DVR technology. Because I would NOT have loved taking my girls to the stake center for 8 hours this weekend. And, I would have heard VERY LITTLE of the conference if we did not have the capability to pause, rewind, and simply save for later portions of the conference we could not hear when they were being given live.
In fact, there was a moment when President Eyring was talking about unity and my girls were fighting over crayons and whining and crying and I was feeling myself get more tense as I tried to be able to actually hear what was being said, that I thought, "It is a good thing that I have faith that apostles speak with prophetic power, because otherwise, I would never believe at this moment that peaceful unity is even a possibility for my family!" In any case, I am trusting that my best efforts to love and teach my children will produce unity and love in the future, if not always in the present moment.
Finally, I am posting a few of my favorite fall soup recipes. These are four that we have had again in the last few weeks. One more reason to celebrate the season!
The weather the past few weeks in Virginia has been PERFECT! What is better than chilly mornings, warm afternoons, and crisp evenings? I really don't know. Little in life can compare.
Since the first week (with blistering hot temperatures) passed, it has made for some beautiful Saturday mornings watching Mia play soccer. She is so excited about playing, but we have to be careful to not talk to her too much from the sidelines. If we say, "Mia good job. You are doing great." She will stop playing and run over to where we are to talk a little more about how well she is doing in the game.
Once, last week, when she did this, I said, "Mia stay in the game." To which she looked down, verified her feet were still inside the field's boundary line, and replied, "I am in the game." She is regualarly our little lawyer; it is just too funny.
We also enjoyed the Manassas Fall Jubilee on Saturday. This street fair has all the typical artisan and business booths. Mia loves this sort of thing since she has perfected the art of walking up and asking, "Is this free?" She gets more stuff (free or not) given to her at such events!
As we were walking down the street, Maggie looked up at me and said, "Dis just like Dineyland!" Wow! It doesn't take much to impress a two year old. (Who, by the way, when she saw the picture I posted on my last "anniversary" blog entry said, "Mom, you be a princess!" As I said, not too much to impress her, but goodness she can be cute.)
I also loved watching about half of General Conference -- I watched the whole thing, it is just that with my children's exhaustion at times, there was only about half that I really enjoyed watching. Thank heaven for satelite dishes and DVR technology. Because I would NOT have loved taking my girls to the stake center for 8 hours this weekend. And, I would have heard VERY LITTLE of the conference if we did not have the capability to pause, rewind, and simply save for later portions of the conference we could not hear when they were being given live.
In fact, there was a moment when President Eyring was talking about unity and my girls were fighting over crayons and whining and crying and I was feeling myself get more tense as I tried to be able to actually hear what was being said, that I thought, "It is a good thing that I have faith that apostles speak with prophetic power, because otherwise, I would never believe at this moment that peaceful unity is even a possibility for my family!" In any case, I am trusting that my best efforts to love and teach my children will produce unity and love in the future, if not always in the present moment.
Finally, I am posting a few of my favorite fall soup recipes. These are four that we have had again in the last few weeks. One more reason to celebrate the season!
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