Joy to the World

Much can happen in just a few weeks, so here are the highlights.

Although Anna started feeling much better the weekend after Thanksgiving, the rest of us spent the next week sick. Mariah was sick off and on all week (and teething, which just adds to the joy), and Adam and I both got sick, although my illness was more pronounced. Plus, I’m better at letting everyone know I’m miserable than Adam is. So, we pretty much didn’t go anywhere or do anything until Friday night, when we went to the ward Christmas party. We were very proud because Anna, despite a bit of trepidation, visited with Santa, sat on his lap, and told him what she wanted for Christmas (a piano and a drum, btw). Last year, she wouldn’t get closer to Santa than across the entire cultural hall, so we were very pleased.

We’ve enjoyed a few Christmas-related FHE’s in the last few weeks. One week we watched Joy to the World (the church movie), which Anna loved so much that she now asks to watch it almost every day. And my favorite thing is that no matter how many times we watch it, she asks the same questions in the same places every time—“Why wasn’t there any room?” or “Why did Mary ride a donkey?” or “Why did the bad men want to hurt them [the Nephite believers]?” It definitely gets repetitive, but there are some answers that make my voice crack every time—“Because some people don’t believe in Jesus and they don’t want other people to believe in Him either.”

One FHE activity was a gingerbread house. It started out a little sad, and ended up a little crazy, but we had a good time making it, so that was the point.

If you look closely, you can see the parade of gummy bears headed into the house, where Adam declared they would be eaten by the wicked witch (which did NOT impress my gentle Anna). Instead, if you look closely again, you can see that the bears enter the house to be turned into Gumdrop Tree ornaments. Except for the smart bears who remained outside the house to play a soccer game. Yes, I did let Adam control much of the decorating. But the colored licorice roof was all mine.

We’ve also made a momentous switch this week: Princess Anna…

was banished in favor of Tooth Fairy Anna. Although eventually, Tooth Fairy Anna decided Tooth Fairies should wear princess dresses. We also discovered a funny hiccup in our explanation of the Tooth Fairy’s duties. Anna somehow thought that when the Tooth Fairy comes to take your tooth after it falls out, she brings you a new one. You can see that in this video.

In a momentous evening last weekend, Adam and I attended our first adults-only party since Anna was born. No, seriously. We are eternally grateful to our friends for their invitation because we had a great time. They provided good food, good company, and some truly wacky White Elephant gifts. Plus, I was so flush with the spirit of freedom that I actually played Lips (Xbox karaoke, for the uninitiated). Those of you who know me will already be aware of the fact that this is only the second time in my entire life that I’ve sung karaoke. And I had so much fun, I might even do it again sometime. In about 10 years. And the frosting on the cake? Our girls had a great time being babysat at Kayleigh’s house, even Mariah, and barely even missed us. Does it get better than that? I got my Christmas wish.

Besides all this, we’ve done some Christmas shopping and tried to get ready for our trip. We’re leaving soon, we’ll be back in a while, and all I can say is, this trip had better be good for all the preparing/worrying it has required. I have researched and purchased tire chains, which are not at all in my line, I have purchased many of my gifts online so they can be shipped straight to Grandma’s house, and I have bought and delivered most of my important presents to people up here. Luckily all that’s left to do before we leave is laundry, dishes, sweeping, mopping, bathroom scrubbing, vacuuming, fridge cleaning (no nasty surprises when we get home), clothes packing, gift unearthing (I tend to hide gifts and not be able to find them again), snack planning, and a few other things I’m sure I’ll remember once it’s too late. It’s a good thing Thursdays come with a full 24 hours. Oi. And I, Her Majesty the Princess of Procrastination, have just discovered why I was overwhelmed with the need to blog tonight. :)

In a final thought, I’ll share tonight’s pre-bedtime activity. For days, because of her fascination with the Nativity story, Anna has been trying to get us to all act out the Nativity together. Adam’s been working so much and I’ve been so busy just holding things together that this is the first night we were all playing together and able to do it. Now, picture this in your minds. Mary (me) and Joseph (Adam) left Nazareth (our bedroom) to come to Bethlehem (the living room) with Mary riding on her donkey (the popper push-toy) being led by Joseph (a string tied to the popper’s handle). We entered Bethlehem, and the first innkeeper we came to (Anna), despite all urgings, insisted that we occupy her most comfortable stable (the cozy pop-up tent), complete with manger filled with hay (large laundry basket and fuzzy blanket). Mary and Joseph entered the stable (folded themselves into knots trying to fit in the tent with a gigantic laundry basket). Then Baby Jesus (baby doll—Mariah lost her rights to the role earlier today when she refused to lie quietly in the laundry basket) was born, and one angel (Anna) sang while another angel (Mariah) joined us in the tent and tried to climb in the manger. Then the angel announced to the shepherds (Adam) that the baby had been born (“Gory to God in the Highest” – no, I didn’t misspell that), so they came to visit with their sheep (Mariah saying “Baaaaa Baaaaa”). And finally, the wisemen (Adam), led by the angel, came bearing gold (a toy wheelbarrow), frankincense and myrrh (pretend) while the other angel sat in Mary’s lap in the tent (to read a book) and Baby Jesus slept peacefully.

And somehow through all the ballyhoo, that might have been the sweetest Christmas moment I have had all season. I found myself, as I sat crunched in the corner of that tiny tent, thinking very personally about how Mary must have felt lying on the pokey hay, smelling the barnyard aromas, wishing there were curtains to pull across the windows as this brand new baby, who by his mere existence was already fifty times heavier than any baby should be, lay curled in her arms. She must have felt inadequate and frustrated, knowing whom she held yet seeing the lowliness of the place where she’d introduced him. But maybe, despite all that, she felt nothing but the peace I know many mothers feel as their child lay in their arms for the first time. Or maybe the Spirit spoke peace to her heart, assuring her that her son would know of her love for him and that she would be helped to give him all he needed. I can’t really imagine what it was like, but just for a moment tonight I felt closer to knowing her. And to knowing Him. And tonight, I say a prayer of thanks for my beautiful little Anna who dearly loves this story and the one it’s about.

So, Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!

Sick of Being Sick

Here, once again, is our only picture from this week.  Mariah and I were going on a walk during a particularly cold, sunny morning, so I had her all decked out for the weather.  She was less than thrilled, but she looked terribly cute. 

 

This has been a sick week at our house.  Since this week was Thanksgiving, instead of complaining, I’ll describe our week by counting the many blessings we’ve received. 

Blessing #1: Anna threw up in Michael’s, the craft store, and while it was an unpleasant surprise and totally gross, clothes are easy to clean up, she was inside the cart so it didn’t get on any merchandise, and after I cleaned up the goop on her, the worker lady sent me on my way and cleaned up the little puddle in the aisle underneath the cart.  All in all, it was very tidy, considering.  She threw up several more times that night, but since there was pretty much nothing left in her stomach, it wasn’t too messy. 

Blessing #2: Despite feeling yucky, Anna managed to remain fairly cheerful through the week.  She was feeling better, so we got to go to the home of a nice family from our ward for Thanksgiving dinner, and both girls were feeling great and had a wonderful time.  They both ate a dinner almost entirely made up of mashed potatoes and Jell-o, so who could complain about that? 

Blessing #3: On Friday morning, since everyone was feeling good, we went Black Friday shopping.  We got about five feet into our first store when Anna started feeling bad, but she held herself together while I picked out, tried on, and purchased four shirts, two pairs of pants, and a jacket for myself (Black Friday is the day we shop for ourselves, not for other people – duh!).  She was looking worse, so when I’d finished, we headed out, but Adam wanted to run in to Best Buy on the way home.  I stayed in the car with Anna, and before he’d been gone for five minutes, she’d thrown up again.  So where are the blessings? She didn’t throw up in the middle of shopping, I was sitting next to her in the car, so I caught the goop in a blanket and the only part of the actual car that got dirty was her seatbelt.  Plus, although Adam was planning to buy something and wait in the hideously long line, he ended up not finding what he wanted, so he came out rather quickly and we were able to head home. 

Blessing #4: She hasn’t thrown-up since then. 

Blessing #5: Mariah has thrown-up twice in the last hour, but at least I don’t have two girls really sick at the same time.  Plus, both times have been almost entirely in her bed, so we just whip the sheets off, get her some new blankets, and pop her back in the bed.  We may have a long night ahead of us, but we also sort of know what to expect with this little illness, so we’re not worrying about whether it’s something more serious and we’re more prepared for what kind of night it might be. 

Blessing #6: Neither of us has gotten sick yet.  Hopefully we won’t at all, especially considering how much work Adam has to do (he can’t afford to take time off for himself or to cover for me).  But so far my prayer that we won’t have more than one person sick at a time has been answered, so I’m going to have faith that it will continue to be answered. 

Blessing #7: A washing machine.  And a dryer. 

Happy December!

More Bumps and Bruises

Here you can see the only picture I’ve taken in the last two weeks.

So, yes, Mariah has another big boo-boo, and there’s another one on her cheek, although in the picture it just looks like a shadow.  Both were received within 24 hours, and both were received on a wall/door jamb.  See, this little girl likes to run, and when she’s very excited, she runs VERY FAST.  Unfortunately she reminds me of one of the kids from the movie The Mighty Ducks 2 (doesn’t that reference date me? :)).  He was the fastest skater that anyone on the team had ever seen, but he didn’t know how to stop.  They finally had him setting up a wall of empty pop cans as a barrier to stop in front of, and every time he knocked them over, he had to set them all back up and try again.  Well, Miss Mariah has a similar problem—she can’t stop.  So she goes running to get something, trips over a toy, rug, sock, or speck of dust, and crashes headlong into the nearest large object.  I think the cashier at Babies ‘R Us last night was concerned we were abusive, but most parents who’ve experienced the joy of a one-year-old can understand readily. 

Today is the first weekend in the last month that we haven’t had company for dinner, and while it’s nice to rest for a bit, it’s kind of silly that we pick the one Sunday that we get out of church at noon instead of 2:00 PM to be by ourselves.  We’ve gotten to catch up with a lot of friends, and Anna has had a wonderful time playing with other kids.  She hasn’t even minded sharing her toys, which I think is a great sign that she’s getting ready for some kind of preschool in the fall.  She’s dealing better with other kids at home and at nursery.  Last night we went to the play area at the mall, which was absolutely teeming with children, and she was perfectly happy.  She didn’t let anyone scare her, and if another kid got in her way, she waited her turn and got on with life instead of giving up and running to mommy.  She also jumped off the tallest toy all by herself, and we were almost as thrilled as she was. 

The only other recent event worth mentioning was Monday’s doctor’s appointment.  We discovered that our little Anna, who has always been so tiny, is now in the 75th and 85th percentile for weight and height, respectively.  We never thought she’d catch up, but apparently she has.  I’d stopped even noticed how big she was compared to the other kids, but I realize now that she is one of the biggest.  That was the good part of the visit.  The bad part was Flu Shot #2.  Mariah handled it normally – a scream of blood-curdling fury, a few minutes of sorrow, then a return to cheerfulness.  Anna, however, was traumatized.  The nurse didn’t do a very good job of distracting her, so she happened to look at her arm right as the needle went in.  She cried, and was solaced by a Tootsie Pop, but Mariah got her shot second and Anna kept trying to look.  When Mariah screamed, Anna started sobbing uncontrollably and is still fairly traumatized.  She wouldn’t even let me take the bandage off her arm for days.  We were going to get her a pretend doctor’s kit for Christmas, but now I’m not so sure.  I don’t want to remind her about shots.  In the old days you could tell a kid they wouldn’t have shots for years, but there will be another flu shot next year, so I can’t make any promises.  It’s so sad, and yet, pretty typical I suppose.  Poor kid. 

Happy Thanksgiving, and Happy Black Friday!  Stuff yourselves with turkey and spend some money – help the economy!!!  :) 

Another Happy Birthday!

And now, only a month after Mariah’s birthday, we have some pics from Anna’s birthday.  She had a wonderful day, and she is very proud now to hold up her three fingers and tell people she is “Free.”  She got quite a few presents (despite our attempts to keep things more under control and not spoil her… yeah, right), so she was all set.  Her favorite present is her box full of dress-up costumes (yipee for a post-Halloween birthday – yipee for Clearance sales!), and she has spent a significant amount of time in the last few days as Glenda the Good Witch…

or a Cowgirl.  She loved her chocolate cake with strawberry frosting and strawberries on top.   And she’s already been enjoying her new sets of paints from Grandma. 

 

I am very proud to now be the mother of a 3-year-old and 1-year-old, and I think we’re all excited to see what year #4 of parenthood is going to bring.

Year #2 of Mariah has already brought it’s first significant accident.  I refuse to reveal details (because it was just too close to being MUCH more horrible than it really was), but it happened yesterday morning and here is the result. 

As you can see, it hasn’t left too big of an emotional scar, but I feel scarred.  I’ve always known that Mariah’s determination could combine with her lightening-strike temper to make trouble, but it’s so much more real now.  Oi.  We’re in for a ride.  Here’s a classic look at her earlier in the day, too.  The people in the restaurant last night were quite interested in the band-aids, especially older kids, so that’s why I took them off. 

Other than this event, we’ve had a great few weeks.  Hope you all have, too. 

All Hallow’s Eve… and Other Stories

Two weeks  with no posting have given us lots to discuss, so prepare yourselves. 

Here are some pictures of us in all our Halloween related activities.  First, a couple of weeks ago, we made Halloween cookies.  I bet you can guess which ones Anna decorated. 

For FHE last Monday, we carved a pumpkin.  Anna had a glorious time with all the goo inside, and she loved that we got to put a candle inside. 

Funnily enough, we only remembered to light the candle once.  :) 

Here are the awesome Halloween costumes.  Anna is holding her “magic wand” and her “flowers.”  She was also boing-ing around the house yelling, “Princess princess boing boing boing!”  Yes, she liked being a princess.  And luckily, she’s young enough not to mind that almost every single other little girl out Trick-or-Treating was a princess.  She just thought everyone else looked so pretty, too. 

We got to Trick-or-Treat at Adam’s work, and after going around one half-floor of one building, we had more than enough candy.  We came for dinner, then went to the Halloween party at the church.  It was fun to see everyone in all their costumes, even if the evening ended a little too late for at least one princess and one ghost.  And although we gave out our candy in handfuls, we still have plenty for Mommy, Daddy, and Mariah to all eat at least as much as Anna.  *sigh*  Anyway, we all had fun, and Anna is just sure she wants to be a princess again next year.

The few days after our last posting were filled by having our water leak repaired.  It ended up being right under the driveway, so I was absolutely dreading getting it dealt with, but luckily it was done very efficiently, and our landlords were great about everything.  All in all, it was done with relatively small inconvenience to us, excepting the 36 hours we spent without much running water.  It was easier than I had expected because, luckily, I had done laundry the day before.  The most frustrating part was having to go out to the street and turn the water on at the meter every time we needed it.  That’s why we just filled a jug and some pots and only turned the water on to shower, to wash the dishes in the sink, and to get ready for bed.  We just didn’t use the bathroom.  :)  It was rather exciting, though, after the pipe was hooked up, to turn my kitchen faucet on.  I was almost cheerful about doing the dishes that day. 

We had a great family experience two Mondays ago.  Sunday morning, we had let Mariah carry around Adam’s work badge (because she loves it so much).  Sunday evening, as Adam got his stuff ready for the next morning, he couldn’t find the badge.  We still couldn’t find it the next morning, so he paid for the bus and got a temporary work pass, but since we didn’t find it during the day (after cleaning almost the entire house), he was getting really frustrated.  Finally, I decided that it was a good time for us to have a Faith experience, so I taught our FHE lesson about how Heavenly Father gives us answers to prayer, and I told a story about EFY a few years ago when He helped a friend of mine find her room key.  It was a scary lesson for me to teach because although it’s easy to believe in the theory of answered prayers, it’s unnerving to put my faith on the line and test it for my vulnerable children.  Anyway, at the end of the lesson, I suggested that we all say a prayer together and then look for the badge again.  Anna was very excited, and for a few minutes after the prayer we all searched diligently.  And we found…. nothing.  Still absolutely no sign of it.  We decided to have our treat and get ready for bed, and while the girls were eating at the table, Adam kept looking.  After a couple of minutes, he thought to look under the oven and saw nothing.  But for whatever reason, he grabbed a flashlight and shined it underneath.  Sure enough, there was that badge, against the back wall under the oven.  Now everyone, as you sit in your chairs and read this, must realize that under-the-oven is not a place we often think to look for lost things.  We were all thrilled to have found it, and I was hugely relieved.  It’s not that I didn’t believe He could help us.  I just worry that for His own reasons, He won’t help how we think He should.  But I should have trusted more, and hopefully next time I will. 

Have a great week, everyone, and welcome to November! 

Happy Birthday, Mo!

This week has been… eventful. Ahem. Adam is still depressed about the BYU game, so for my sake, don’t ask him about it. But that sorrow has been tempered slightly by our successful second canning experience of the season: applesauce! Adam worked hard to talk me into this one, but he finally managed, and at 11:30 PM on Tuesday night, we had almost 40 bottles of applesauce. In some ways it was easier than the peaches (the actual process was faster), but we were cleaning up until nearly 1:00 AM, so it’s a good thing we didn’t spread this one over two nights. Ah, the joys of mopping a kitchen floor at 12:30 at night. *sigh* And no, we didn’t take a picture this time. Just go back to the entry about peaches weeks ago and imagine the bottles are whitish yellow instead of orange. :)

Mariah’s birthday was also this week, and here’s a video and a few pictures of the event.

Mariah loved her cupcake, and especially loved the gummy bears.

She received a lot of books, some shirts, a spinning top (from Anna), her very own backpack (from Grandma Sherri), and…

her favorite present of all, the vacuum cleaner. She runs around the house with it, banging into walls with joyful abandon. Anna likes it, too, and is really struggling with the idea that something in our house is NOT HERS. We all get opportunities to grow up.

Anna went to her first play this week. Molbak’s nursery in Woodinville puts on an annual harvest play, and this year it was Hansel and Gretel. We went to the first showing, and it was packed, but Anna still had fun. She loves when I tell her stories, but seeing people act one out is ten times better. I thought the actors did a really good job, especially considering a distinct lack of props, and they even managed to entertain parents with some adult cleverness (for instance, Stepmother put a magic spell on Daddy Woodsman that went something like “Omino ducani urbanus condominate,” which convinced Dad that he wanted to move to the city, get a job with CarrierPigeon.com, buy a Vespa, and purchase a one bedroom condo downtown for an outrageous price). We met Kayleigh’s family there, but we also got to see a lot of old friends from previous wards, and it was great to catch up for a bit. My favorite moment was when Rachel, a friend from Redmond two years ago, said, “Wow, you guys have two kids now. You’re, like, all grown up!” And while it’s true that we’re entering into the more “average American family” phase, sometimes I still feel like we are very young (I stick my tongue out anyone who just said, “Of course you’re still young!”—I don’t want to hear it).

But life certainly does conspire to bring experience. Yesterday afternoon Adam opened our water bill and almost set the tree above him on fire with the smoke coming out his ears. We spent the evening discussing ways to reduce water consumption, but after more investigations in the after the girls went to bed (since, as you may know, sometimes bills are hard to really understand), we realized that we couldn’t possibly have used as much water as the meter said, and we all know what that means – a leak. We followed the water company’s instructions and discovered that there’s a water pipe leak somewhere between the meter at the curb and the house, which our landlord confirmed this morning. After a day of investigations, Adam thinks it’s under the driveway, which is going to be SUPER FUN to have fixed, but I keep being grateful that at least we don’t have to pay the plumbing bill this time. Water leaks seem to be our destiny (see blog entries from last fall). So, we’ll see how that goes.

Sometimes life throws curveballs, as was illustrated by some dizziness and nausea from me this evening (shut up—I’m not pregnant) that led to us cancelling a dinner with Jason, Jen, & Co., but I was thinking tonight about how grateful I am for how generally good our lives are. Adam made dinner, for which I am ever grateful. I was munching on one of his rolls (he gets better every week), watching Anna sucking the “broccoli juice” (the water the broccoli cooked in) out of each piece with relish, and laughing at Mariah’s enraptured, passionate expression at the sight of a bag of fruit snacks coming toward her, and I was suddenly overwhelmed with how beautiful life can be in its simplicity. My cynical side immediately revolts against my contentment, assuring me that something will soon go disastrously wrong, but I’m trying to ignore it and just enjoy a sense that life is wondrous. I hope we can all find something to be joyful about today. Like a new pink headband.

Finger-painting

The last two weeks have been mostly very… normal. Not to say boring, but there was nothing momentous, so here’s a few pictures of various activities that have filled our time.

Anna’s dress is finally almost done (minus a few sequins), so we started working on a crown. We’ve been to every store in a 20-mile radius, and nothing I’ve found there has been good enough for either of us. Everything Anna likes is either topped by The Little Mermaid or doesn’t fit, and everything I like is given a thumbs down before it can come off the display. So we finally compromised on a pipe cleaner crown, and this is a photo of one of our practice crowns. I haven’t made the real one yet, mostly because I know it will be destroyed within the first 24 hours of its life, but Anna sure loved this one.

Another of our activities was saved for Mariah’s naptime for obvious reasons. I’ve painted Anna’s toenails before, but that day we had a little pedicure session and did both of us. Anna wouldn’t wear socks for a week afterward because she loved her red toes.

And here’s a movie of my most adventurous activity in a long time: finger painting. It was a gloomy, rainy day, we’d been inside all afternoon, and Mariah had decided not to take an afternoon nap, so I was desperate to fill the time. It took up about an hour, which sounds impressive to you mommies out there, but it’s less impressive when I explain that it took 15 minutes to set up, ten minutes to paint, and 35 minutes to take a bath afterward. :) But those ten minutes of fun were golden. Here are also a few other shots of them that were just too cute not to post.

A few more cute stories from the week:

Last night was mine and Adam’s first real date night in months. We haven’t had Mariah babysat very often because she has never been very friendly about it, but we finally got up our nerve and had Josh, Melissa, and Kayleigh watch the girls while we went to dinner. It all went very well, and Mariah even had a good time, for which I give all the credit to J,M, and K for making her comfortable and keeping her busy. Anna, as usual, had a wonderful time. Adam and I also enjoyed our freedom, although our less-than-stellar meal took the wind out of the evening. We ate at Buca di Beppo, which I’ve heard good things about, but we were disappointed. It’s got a fun atmosphere, and the menu was comfortable, so that was nice. Unfortunately, we were consigned to the smallest room (eight tables) in which six tables were holding a wedding party. The people were loud and high-priority, which meant they took up more than their fair share of space and attention. When we finally got our food, it was okay, but I think it contained a month’s supply of garlic. Even the broccoli was drenched in a garlic sauce with garlic chunks the size of peas. I like garlic, but really. Yes, I know – it’s all a matter of taste. Anyway, then we ran over to Toys ‘R US for Mariah’s birthday present. And so that you all know, toy shopping is a really good marriage workshop--lots of opportunities for learning to discuss different points of view, compromise WITHOUT guilt, practice forgiveness, etc. *wink*

Another recent development is that Adam is learning how to make bread. And yes, that partly means yummy dinner breads (Conference Sunday yielded a very tasty ciabatta), but it mostly means a practical, dependable, and pleasant sandwich bread, which is sometimes even harder to create. He’s already good enough that we’ve stopped buying bread at the store, but different experimental batches produce varying degrees of dryness/moistness, stickiness/crumbliness, and sweetness/blandness. I’m very proud of his efforts and his success, but I’m proud even more for another reason. I am not ashamed to say that despite wanting to be a “good Mormon wife,” I choose not to care about making bread. I don’t care, and I’m not currently feeling any pressure to make myself. But homemade bread is important to Adam, and instead of being annoyed at me for not making it, he’s stepping up and making it himself. So now he’s learning a new skill that he’s finding very rewarding, and his family is enjoying the fruits of his labor. It works out for everybody.

That’s about all I’ve got. Mariah’s birthday is this week, so we are gearing up for celebrating. It’ll probably just be the four of us, since like most one-year-olds, she’d probably rather spend her birthday eating cake and playing with her new toys than having too many people in her house after Mommy has spent all day cleaning. But we did buy some snazzy birthday hats to wear, which I’m sure you’ll all see pictures of next week.

Here’s one more cute picture of the girls from last week. Anna is holding Maggie (her beloved kitty) and Tess (Mariah’s beloved bunny/dog/creature). Yes, Mariah has an animal named Tess. She also has an elephant named Joe. Anyone who realizes why that’s cute and clever gets a gold star. :) Adios!