More Things to Remember

*Ellie running towards me yelling, "Wait mama, wait! I hug you first!" She squeezes one leg as tight as she can and says, "I la lou, too." (I love you, too.)

*For the past week, whenever I start to cook dinner, Ellie runs into the kitchen with arms waving and shouts "Oh no! A ruuuune the soooouup!" in Remy fashion. Don't know who Remy is? Lucky you. That means you haven't seen Ratatouille 100 times like I have. Here's a clip. (The ruined soup happens at 2:10.)

*I asked Makayla if her hurt finger was feeling better. She responded, "Not today. Maybe next year it will feel better."

*I love to watch my girls sleep. It's so funny that they both sleep with their hands above their heads. That's how their daddy sleeps, too.

*I try to teach my children to tell the truth. Even though there will still be consequences for wrong choices, the punishment is not nearly as severe if they fess up to what they have done. I think this lesson is starting to sink in with Makayla. When she does something she knows she is not supposed to do, she comes and tells me immediately before I even find out what she's done. It's usually something like this, "Mom, I'm sorry that I took a treat." This is, of course, after the treat has already been eaten and the evidence hidden.

*I asked Makayla who she wanted to take her to school today. "I want daddy to take me and you to pick me up." Whenever Kasey is home, this is her response.

*Make-believe is very popular in our house. Makayla has so many imaginary friends that I can't keep them all straight anymore. Ellie is a big fan of feeding everyone chocolate cake--the imaginary kind, of course. I ask her what she wants for breakfast and she says, "Grandma choc-o-late cake. Mmmm! Want a bite?"

*Makayla felt the baby kick for the first time today. She thought it was sooo cool. She was giggling and asking to feel it again. After a second kick to her hand, she decided she wanted to hear the baby, too. Instead, she got a swift kick to the cheek. She ran into my bedroom where Kasey was sleeping and yelled excitedly, "Daddy, Daddy! My little tiny baby sister kicked my cheek!"

Political Satire

It doesn't matter which candidate you support, this video is pee-your-pants funny!

Life Lesson 201: Regret

Regret: it's a topic that has been on my mind a lot lately.

Regret is an effective, but unforgiving teacher. It's effective for teaching us things that will help us make better decisions in the future, but it's unforgiving in that we can't always remedy that which we regret.

Kasey and I are finally to a point in our lives that we are ready to buy a house. It's something we've wanted our whole marriage but has not been possible up to this point for various reasons. I've been excitedly driving around neighborhoods where we'd like to live, looking for possible homes. I've looked at all sorts of websites which instruct new home owners on all the ins and outs of buying a first home. I've made lists of things we need and things we want in a home. I've used a variety of mortgage calculators to find out just how much our dream home would cost vs. a home for which we would simply settle. At times, I am encouraged at the prospects. At other times, I am filled with such regret and despair.

You see, last year we were faced with an important decision. I knew it was important, but I was impatient. My impatience led to a rash decision. I didn't think too much of it at the time. It really wasn't a huge deal then. But that decision is now preventing us from buying a house. Not a day goes by that I don't wish I could go back and decide differently.

This has been an important lesson for me. In the future, I don't think I will be as likely to make big decisions hastily like I have in the past. In that respect, I'm glad that I'm learning this lesson. I just wish the lesson didn't have to be accompanied by so much regret at lost opportunities.

Concert For One

As happens so many times throughout my day, I heard Makayla singing to herself in the other room. Except this time, she was pounding on the wall as she sang one of her favorite songs.

I went to investigate the reason for the pounding and found this.

She was playing the piano using this wall hanging that my mom made for me years ago. It's currently hanging above Makayla's bed.

She was a little reluctant to keep playing when she saw I was taking pictures of her.

An Interesting Fact About Our Family

As I sit here at the computer listening to my girls reading stories to each other in the next room, a thought occurs to me: I don't read to my children. It's not that I never read to them, I just do it so rarely. That sort of falls under the daddy category at our house.

He is a much better story-teller. He is so animated when he tells stories. He gets into character. He uses different voices. He exclaims in all the right places to add emphasis and suspense. The girls absolutely love it!

I think they settle for my story reading when daddy is working because a poorly read story is better than none at all. Actually, sometimes they prefer to just read the books themselves.

The thing that's interesting to me about this situation, is that I'm the reader in the family. I have been known to read as many as 4 or 5 books simultaneaously. Kasey hates to read. His attitude is this: If the book is good enough, someone will turn it into a movie. If it's good enough for someone to take the time and money to make the movie, then I'll save myself the time of reading and just watch the movie.

Very different attitudes, to be sure.

I guess that's why it's kind of funny to me that Kasey is the one to read to the girls, not me. Oh well. As long as someone is reading to them, it really shouldn't matter who. Right?

Things to Remember

These are some random things about my girls. I don't have specific stories, but these are things that I don't want to forget.

*Makayla always sings when she goes to the bathroom. Even her preschool teacher has commented on it.

*Ellie responds to anger the same way I do: she clenches her fists & teeth and shakes. Except when she does it, it's really cute.

*Ellie knows 2 colors: pink and purple. Go figure!

*The girls can turn anything into a game. My favorite: the carpet is the ocean, the couch is a boat, and the vacuum is a mean shark coming to get them.

*Ellie says "dirly" instead of "dirty"

*Makayla still can't say yellow, but most days I don't want to correct her because her exaggerated "lellow" just sounds so darn cute!

*Both girls are really opinionated when it comes to their clothes. Already. Aack! They won't wear anything I pick out for them. They want to choose their own clothes each morning.

*We recently bought the movie Shark Tale. When I ask Ellie to say it, she says "Shark Pale."

Lessons on Life & Death

M: Mom, what happened to Nemo's mom?

L: She died. Do you remember?

M: She died?

L: Yes. At the beginning of the movie.

M: Well, how come she did that?

L: Sometimes people die.

M: Well that is super sad!

L: It is super sad. But when people die, they go live with Heavenly Father and Jesus in Heaven, and that's not sad.

M: Oh! I would like to live with Jesus.

L: Okay, but you have to wait for a really long time.

Baby Names

Kasey and I are having a tough time deciding on a name for this baby. I offer new suggestions to him every day, but we can only seem to semi-agree on 1 or 2 names. I know, you are probably thinking, "Isn't 1 or 2 names all you need?"

Well, yes, that is true. But I'm not completely in love with the names that we semi-agree on. Maybe with time, the names will grow on me. But for now, I'm still searching for something else that we might like better.

It was in my baby name search tonight that I found a celebrity baby name list. It proved to be quite an entertaining read for Kasey and me. Check it out here. Among the favorites, as in made us laugh the hardest, are Peaches Honeyblossom and Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily. At least we know that whatever name we pick, there will always be someone whose name is far more unfortunate.

In Search of. . .

some new lotion for my girls. We live in a really dry climate. Lotion is essential, especially in the winter. I've tried a few different kinds that I found at Walmart, but they have either been too greasy or too stinky.

I need some help. What lotions do you use for your kids? Brands? Scents? Where do you buy it?

Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

Pregnancy Update

A few people have asked how I'm feeling. So here's a little update. No more morning sickness/nausea. Yay! I'm so glad to be over that. This little girl is going to be a soccer player, I think. She is such an active little kicker. She's already discovered my bladder and is quite fond of kicking it. Not so fun. I, amazingly, am still wearing my regular clothes, but today I had to put a rubber band on the button on my jeans. The waist band is getting just a little snug. It won't be too much longer before people at church actually believe that I'm pregnant. haha

I've started having some contractions (Yikes!) and back pain from carrying her more in my back than out front. Anyone else carried a baby this way? I'm desperate to know how to relieve the pain a little bit. I know it's only going to get worse and, frankly, that scares me a little bit. Oh well. At least I'm on the downward slope now. Only 19 weeks to go. Maybe 18 if my doctor is feeling generous!

Lots and Lots of Pictures

I was going to write a post about how annoyed I am with my 15-year-old car that is giving me grief. But then I remembered that I haven't posted pictures of my girls from their recent photo shoot. And since seeing their lovely faces does more to lift my spirits than complaining about my stupid car ever could, I'll stick with the pictures.

A Rare Political Post

I've been tyring to keep up with all the election stuff this summer. I read several political blogs, and the election center on cnn.com is a daily visit for me. But for all my efforts, I still don't know a whole lot about what each candidate is all about.

Tonight I spent several hours listening to speeches made at the DNC and RNC. Whew! I think I'm all speeched out!

After all that, I have come to this conclusion: both candidates, Obama and McCain, are basically saying the exact same thing. They both say they want the same things for our country, (lower taxes, better education, a peaceful resolve to the war in Iraq) but they definitely have two different ideas of the best way to achieve those things.

So now, for me, the task is not deciding which candidate I like better, but rather deciding which candidate will execute change that is the best for my family and most closely follows the ideals I have for my country.

I realized, after watching both candidates' acceptance speeches, that the choice is not as obvious as it was to me earlier today. Now I really have my work cut out for me. I have 56 days to research in much more depth the candidates' stances on the economy, the war, education (the three most important issues to me right now), and other issues that will affect my family.

Hopefully, on November 4, I will be able to make an informed decision about who I think should be the next president of our country.

First Pumpkin Cookies of the Season

I love autumn time. It's my favorite season of the year.

It's the time of year when I break out my jackets and long sleeve shirts. It's also the time of year when I start cooking again: soups, stews, bread, cakes, and cookies.

My favorite taste of Fall is pumpkin. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, cream cheese filled pumpkin muffins (which I discovered last year--yummy!) and pumpkin cheesecake. Mmmm! I love pumpkin!

I actually have a few different recipes for pumpkin cookies, and I tried a new one last night. Let me just say, EASY. It would be impossible to mess up this recipe. So here it is:

1 box Spice cake mix

1 15 oz can 100% pumpkin

1 bag cinnamon chips

Mix those together and drop on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes.

That's it! How easy is that?!?!

Kasey's wasn't too sure about using cinnamon chips. So I split the batter in half and did half cinnamon chips, half chocolate chips. We both decided that for this particular recipe, cinnamon is the way to go.

Here's a picture of the finished product for those of you who don't like trying a recipe without seeing what it looks like first. (I'm like that sometimes.)

The Much-Anticipated Ultrasound

I had my ultrasound today. Finally. It seems like I've been waiting forever. I've been a little nervous that something might be wrong with the baby because at 20 weeks, I'm still not showing. Luckily, the doctor said the baby is growing right on schedule, and I have nothing to worry about. That's always nice to hear.

We were very eager to find out what we will be having. I'm such a planner and can't possibly imagine waiting until the delivery room to find out the sex. How do you people do it?

Anyway, it seems like we don't have enough practice with girls. So we get to try again with another one in January. I was somewhat disappointed at first. I was really hoping for a boy. But now that I've had the afternoon and evening to digest the news, I'm excited. One thing's for sure, we are very prepared with a whole arsenal of pink and purple blankets, clothes, and toys.

Poor Kasey. Now he's really out-numbered!

Ellie's New Word

It took me a while to understand what she meant when she said "fuller-buller." I finally got it.

Translation: butterfly