Lemon

Once again, not the U2 song, but rather . . .


14 weeks.

My baby is supposedly about the length of a lemon (3 1/2 inches) and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces which does not account for my already showing stomach area. I am grateful to be clearing out of the first trimester and am hoping for the fatigue and nausea that I have had worse than any of my other pregnancies will just disappear along with that first trimester like it did with the others.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday JoDee!

10 things about JoDee for her birthday.

1. She has the cutest house you have ever seen! I love going up there and seeing what new things she has done to it -- both inside and outside.

For example:

her kitchen

2. She loves to laugh and once all the siblings are together, it's hard to get her to stop laughing and being silly - it's really fun.

3. She karaokes like a champ!

4. She has the funnest family who are always going and doing fun things.

Andersyn, Talin and Baylee

5. She has four of the cutest kids in the world: Andersyn, Madalyn, Baylee, and Crew.

6. She is very thoughtful and never forgets a thank you card or a birthday card in the mail.

7. I love when she comes to the valley to visit because she inspires me to shop which I hardly ever do and I love the break! (although I'm not sure Nate's as thrilled about the shopping).

8. She's the best shopper in the world and I also love going to Cedar and having her take me to her favorite places -- I always come home from Cedar with new clothes!

9. She has more friends than anyone I know -- she and Shane are always going out and doing things with various people and they have tons of fun together. Plus, she understands the importance of "girls night out" and always insists we have one when the family's together. We're working up to a girls trip someday.

10. I'm glad that she's my sister!

Sorry I couldn't find any pictures of her from recent times -- we're pathetic because we usually just take pictures of our kids! As pathetic as it is, this is the best and most recent photo I could find, taken a couple years ago at a holiday party at Aunt Judy's house (when I was pg with Savy so I didn't have kids to take picturess of).

Megan, me and JoDee

The Sweetest Thing

No, I'm not talking about the U2 song although it is one of my favorites that brings back some fabulous memories of my study abroad in London (right when the song came out).

No, I'm talking about dads and daughters.

The other night after bath time I asked Nate if he wanted to brush teeth or hair. I knew the answer before I asked the question - hair. He loves brushing the girls' hair.

As I brushed London's teeth and looked over to see him brushing Savy's hair, it struck me how soft and careful he is and how he could do it forever if I didn't keep things moving. It's just sweet to see a manly man who hunts, fishes, rebuilds guns, etc. to soften up and be so sweet and tender with his little girls. I love watching him brush their hair.

Besides, I'm sure they prefer it over me because I'm not quite that tender and soft . . .

8 Random Things About Me

I think Amy tagged me because I hadn't written an entry for almost a week, but I did yesterday!

1. I can't seem to read enough lately and just go through books as quickly as I can and I'm loving it because for a while there I'd gotten out of the habit and I'm realizing now how much I missed books!

2. I have been watching the first season of Heroes on dvd and can't decide if it's up there with 24 and Lost or not. It's intriguing, but I'm still not sure. . .

3. I've finally come to the realization that London may not need to nap everyday -- and that hurts because I NEED to nap everyday!

4. I only need to nap because I'm pregnant and insanely worn out all the time! I'm hoping that since I'm 13 weeks, the tiredness will go away . . . soon!

5. Last week I watched Glenn Beck every night and am 100% scared to death of a terrorist theory called "The Perfect Day" that is the most probable next step for terrorists, according to experts. Because, believe me, they're not going to leave America alone. Seriously freaked out.

6. Just as I was typing, the FedEx man delivered my syllabus for BYU's English 315 - my only general I failed to take when I was there. After this class it'll be all history and art history courses until I graduate - yeah!

7. As you can tell, my grammar and writing skills need improvement, so this class will really help with all the papers I'll be writing in my upcoming classes!

8. I heard my baby's heartbeat yesterday.

I tag Elizabeth and Rachel.

What do you do or say?

I'm disturbed by something that happened in the grocery store today. I don't know if I'm more disturbed by what happened or by my response.

One of my major flaws is that I don't always react in the moment. Rather, I let it pass and then afterwards I think of these fabulous scenarios replayed in my head where I say and do the perfect thing for that particular situation - but the situation can never be a do-over and what's done is done.

It frustrates me that I can't act or think right in the moment.

So, I'm sure this has happened to many a mother before and I'm wondering what the correct response would have been.

Unloading the cart in the checkout line, I hear London saying "that lady has a baby in her tummy - she has a fat tummy" over and over again. I tell her to stop before they get too close (there were two very overweight women together), but too late: they've heard. Embarrassed by my child, I just say sorry quickly and focus on the groceries I'm transferring to the conveyor belt and hope that London listens to me and doesn't talk anymore.

Then I hear the lady say to London -- a three-year old mind you -- "Stop being rude" in a not so polite voice.

Silenced, London won't even respond to the friendly cashier who tries to talk to her. Then, she asks me why the lady talked to her. I just want to get out of there.

So, now that I'm home I'm disturbed that someone would talk to a child that way. I'm disturbed that I didn't stand up for my child. I know it was a rude thing to say, but London was just excited thinking the lady had a baby in her tummy. I know she wasn't saying it maliciously because she tells me my tummy's getting fat with the baby all the time and I try to correct her, but it hasn't sunk in yet apparently. I think they've overhead Nate complain about his stomach getting fat lately and have caught on to the word and don't quite get that it's a derogatory word.

Sooooo. . . what would you have done?

THE DO-OVER (that will not happen)

I politely stop what I'm doing, look at the lady and apologize explaining that she's only 3 and doesn't understand since I'm pregnant and we've been talking about my stomach growing bigger.

Or is that too much? I do feel bad for the woman and had a good talk with London as I buckled her into her car seat and hopefully that will never happen again, but I still think she was a little harsh with a toddler.

My Favorite Dinner Guests

Last night Gary and JoAnne Waldie came over for dinner. Yeah!!!!

On my mission I spent 7 months in a little town called Peumo with two different companions (Hna Vaneps and Hna Lacey) and the Waldies. Our service every week consisted of helping them learn Spanish which was fun and entertaining to hear Gary speaking without any conjugation whatsoever - but the Chileans didn't mind in the least -- they just conjugated for him as he went so it really didn't matter much.

They helped us with our missionary work so much by always giving us referrals (all the Chileans loved them), giving us background information on the drama of the town/inactive members, hosting FHEs for investigators as well as members, taking us to zone and mission conferences, and many many other things. I must say that they made p-days fun getting permission to take us to the beach or other places and JoAnne's mexican food was always a treat when we were used to eating nasty food most of the time.

me, Gary, Joanne, Hermana Perez (from Argentina)

at a mission conference after I already
left Peumo and was in Pichilemu (beach town)

They have to be two of the best people I have ever met in my life and I am lucky enough to live in the same city as them now! When I got home from Chile, they were already back and we made a little wager. They gave me a year to get married and I said "no way" as I was determined to go back to BYU and have fun. I guess they knew something I didn't because a couple months later, I met Nate.

Charming and persuasive.

I tried to resist by returning for winter semester to BYU, but got engaged in February and came home after finals to be married in May. So I lost my steak dinner bet, but the Waldies took me to dinner anyway to meet Nate and it was an instantaneous connection. I am beginning to wonder who they like better now - me or Nate -- that's how much they love him! Once Gary and Nate get together it's like two teenage boys and I love it.

I love that these two aspects of my life that I love so much fit together so well! My children even call Gary and JoAnne Grandpa and Grandma Jo.

Whenever Nate and I talk about our future and what we want to do in retirement we always return to the Waldies - we want to be like them! They are the funnest retired couple I know who constantly go and do. They travel all the time, have served a mission, have season tickets to the ASU football games, a beach house in Mexico, a cabin in the forest, and I'm sure there's even tons more that I don't know about. They just go go go and I love that!

In fact, they came over for dinner last night so we could hear about the trip they just took to Africa a week ago. Gary hunted and JoAnne visited villages, saw animals and stayed in a resort-type place. I love that they do everything together too -- I told Nate if he ever wants to hunt in Africa (yes, I married a hunter) then he can't go unless I go too!

It's always fun to have dinner guests - but especially fun when it's the Waldies!

First Day of Preschool

Yesterday Savannah and London headed out for the first day of preschool with Mrs. Jill. Aidan is also in their class which made it easier - as I'm sure being together did too. I decided to put them together in the same class (London's in the 4-year old class even though she's only 3) because I didn't want to be running around all day at different times to pick up/drop off both of them. I also wanted to have a block of alone time to work on my BYU schoolwork and get this degree thing finished! And that's not even mentioning how nice it will be in March when I have a new baby and have that time alone with him/her. So, I figure London can handle all those 4-year olds and she'll be extra excited to be in Jill's class again next year and be the pro.

Savannah woke up at 6:30 ready to go. I told her to go play quietly because it was way too early! So Nate and I hear her in the other room looking at books and this is what we heard:

"S is for Savannah" "L is for London" and various other letters being reviewed.

Then it was on to the colors as she would say all the colors. It was so cute -- getting ready to learn!!!

I have gone through various emotions with this preschool thing. A couple weeks ago I got really sad thinking that I would miss them both for 3 hours 3 days a week - and then London would probably come home and nap on top of that!

but then last week happened. . .

And last week was one of the worst parenting weeks of my life! I just felt like it was all falling apart: the girls started fighting and arguing everyday and sassing back to me which they have never done before. I just did not want to deal with it and preschool couldn't come fast enough -- so my sadness flew out the window and quickly feelings of anticipation replaced them as I looked forward to Monday.

And it finally arrived.
Savy and London acted cool, calm and collected on the way there.

Afterwards I didn't get much information out of them until London was napping and I sat down alone with Savy to hear all about school. In fact, all London would say was that they got cheese crackers and apples for a snack. Savy, however, went on and on with entertaining details of the day which is great because last year she had this weird thing about everything being a secret and I couldn't know. Probably the funniest thing she said was this:

"We have a boy named Collin in our class, but he's not the real Collin."

She was referring to my sister, Megan's, little boy Collin. Apparently anyone else named Collin isn't real. Then I laughed and she realized what she'd said and tried to fix it:

"I mean, he's not pretend, he's real, but he's not our Collin." Much better.

It's going to be a fun year for them.

Do you know your Disney Princesses?

Sorry about so many postings of the girls' artwork, but I just want to remember it and this one was classic. Savannah came up to me the other day and asked if I could guess who was who.

Can you?



Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella and Belle are pretty easy as well as the Little Mermaid on the second page. Jasmine and Pocahontas are a little harder because I told her she needed to make a modest Jasmine. And it's funny because I am not even sure if she's ever even seen Pacahantas...

Savannah also loves to draw family pictures and has recently started drawing a baby in her pictures too - very cute.

People, Bunk Beds and The Little Theatre

I am catching up with what happened last week because I never got around to it last week - could have been some nausea, but we'll not talk about that. . .

PEOPLE

Last Sunday, London suddenly started drawing her first people. She's kind of older to do this, so I was really excited because she's never really been as into art as much as Savannah. She was so excited in sacrament meeting that she could draw them that she tried to yell at Amy who was half-way to the stage and we were in the overflow. Yes, our ward fills up almost to the stage every week! Can you believe it??? Luckily we're getting split this Sunday and maybe then I can have a chance to actually recognize some faces every week. But I digress, here I scanned her first person, Papa Pat (Nate's dad):
The Little Theatre

Last Monday Amy went visiting teaching and I watched the boys. Earlier that morning, the girlies had put on a puppet show for Nate before he left to work. Using the couch to hide just didn't work to my satisfaction so I used their new bunk bed boxes and made two little theatres.
Amy came back and we decided to paint them. So instead of painting the last coat on their bedroom, I painted the theatres with the lime green paint intended for their room. (I did also get the room painted, but afterwards.)

That night Amy and Jim came over to save the day and help put together the bunk beds that we recently got for the girls. London is thrilled to not be in a crib and it's about time since she's 3!!!! Poor girl. So the boys did their man-thing of putting the beds together as they rolled their eyes at us painting cute flowers on our theatre. Amy is always game for fun things that really don't need to be done and take a long time -- apparently I am too. But they turned out so darling, and Amy made puppets for the children that made it all complete.

Here are the kids with their puppets of themselves

What's a story without the villain - here is ours . . .

the grumpy old troll

You might wonder what the heck kind of story they performed for us that night. Well, it wasn't exactly as spiritual as FHE Little Theatre should have been, but we'll all survive.

Nate loves to tell the girls his own bedtime stories. He always makes up various stories about the adventures of the two fairy princess sisters who usually get into trouble or learn some kind of lesson. Their favorite is when they get turned into a monkey and a goat for being mean and then learn how to be nice. And more often than not, Nate can't resist making himself the hero as King Nate rides into the forest and saves his little girls. When we moved close to Aidan and Davyn, the girls requested a new version with their cousins so Nate gave them one with a grumpy old troll who wouldn't let the children cross a bridge. The kids all love this story and always tell it to eachother so that was the obvious choice for opening night.

the play in progress - Savannah was the narrator

Bunk Beds

I'm sure people think I'm crazy when I tell them I painted the girls' room lime green, but I absolutely love it! So fresh and clean! I still need to find some cute curtains and take a trip to Ikea for a toy shelf and I have a few crafty things I have planned, but for now, this is a big step forward for me. I'll update as the room progresses.

Like Megan, I have tons of random things today -- funny things the girls have done or said that I've jotted down on paper to remember. Some of them still crack me up even though they happened last week!

1. Lunchtime: I ask if they want a cookie or a carrot. London's reply: "I want carrots because I can't see better." Apparently she was listening when I told her carrots are good for her eyesight. Ever since I laughed at that, they have both wanted carrots at least 3 times a day, telling me they can't see until they eat carrots. Weird children.

2. Last weekend the girls played all morning in the playroom without a peep so I decided to go check on them. They each had a baby and informed me that they were magic and London told me "sometimes we get tired of our babies and magic them away."

Where do I get some of that magic???? (my girls have been fighting for the past 3 days and I'm in shock and sick of it! Preschool starts Monday and I am as ready as them!)

3. I have a new nickname that I'm not quite comfortable with because it's shared with Deity. I'm "the maker." My girls don't call cooking cooking - it's making. So I frequently get requests to help me "make." Last week they decided that since I cook breakfast, lunch and dinner that I was "the maker." I'm hoping if I don't make a big deal, they'll forget it and go back to calling me "your highness" or something.

4. London said the prayer the other day at the dinner table and said the funniest thing: "Please bless Jesus and Heavenly Father that they will have a good day at work." I love hearing the funny and sweet things they come up with in their prayers.

Harriet Potter

When London was first born, her Uncle Jim nick-named her Harriet Potter due to her almost-lighting-looking birthmark on the left portion of her forehead. I always forget about it because she has bangs, but Savannah never forgets and with all the hype about Harry Potter lately, the girls have been talking a lot about London's "Harry Potter mark."

London is very proud of it.

By the way, doesn't she look incredibly like Madalyn in this picture????? Crazy! The other day London was at my mom's house and saw a picture of Madee when she was younger and she thought it was her.

On another note, I had to take a picture of her in these darling pajamas my mom got her for her birthday. She loves them and I can barely get her dressed in the morning.

"mom, I'm going to stay in these for a long, long time."