seasons of love

Five years

Two children.

3.2 college degrees (Neil's trying for the tie!)

2 universities

12 jobs (most simultaneously)

47 Neil haircuts by Rachael

1 wife taught to ski by a very patient husband

85,000 miles

4 cross-country trips

1 cross-country move

4 (overflowing) bookcases

2 computers

6 apartments

1 house

2 best friends

1 happy marriage

Last one for awhile!

We're headed up to Chicago tomorrow for the first part of our marathon-esque (but fun!) Christmas celebrations, so I probably won't post for quite awhile. I'll leave you with this most adorable of moments:

Last night while we were doing the dishes after dinner, Jules was pretty fussy. She was in her bouncy seat, which usually calms her down, but it just wasn't doing the trick this time. Neil and I both plied our best parenting wiles to no avail--she wasn't hungry, she wasn't in a squishy diaper, she didn't want to be held--she was just fussing. So we finally let her go at it.

Abigail, meanwhile, had been watching all our futile efforts. When we gave up, she crouched down by Juliet and started patting her head, then said very tenderly, "Baby Juliet, I'll be your best friend, okay?"

She stayed there patting her until Juliet had calmed down, then brought over Juliet's special blankie, lovingly spread it over her, and sat down and showed her an assortment of toys. Juliet, watching Abigail with enormously wide eyes, started to smile, then giggle, and the two of them played happily together while we finished the dishes.

And after my Grinch-like complaining yesterday, I feel that I should make it clear that I really do love all the treats around Christmastime, be they actual treats (like the box of petit fours that my grandparents had shipped to my door this morning, which are like my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE THINGS ever and I can't even express to you how rapturously happy I was to see those blissful little yummies), or the unexpected package from a friend's mother who had thoughtfully sent us an assortment of children's books (I was so touched I just about cried!), or the box full of Tide (remember my blog about my obsession with Tide?) given to us by that same friend. I always just feel so special at Christmas. :-) And I guess that's why I make people treats, so that they can feel special too.

So there. I'm not a Grinch. After all, as Abigail reminded me yesterday, "Dat Grinch, he was so not nice and he took the toys from Santa, and Mom, that's just not nice. He needs a time out til he can be nice again, huh."

So I'm being nice. :-)

today's "for real" post

EDIT: Okay, I remember why we do Christmas plates...because we love going to give them out. :-) We just had some fab-o family time. Gotta love it!

*********
I know I already posted twice today, but here's what I've REALLY been thinking about over the last week:

Cookies.

Specifically, those plates of Christmas cookies that everybody feels guilty about around this time of year.

A couple of weeks ago, everybody was doing Christmas cookie exchange parties. I told Neil I wasn't planning to go to any, because I didn't want any cookies, and he put on this really sad "you don't love me and understand my need for a variety of cookies" face, so I went to one (but no more).

And then exactly what I thought would happen happened: Neil ate about two cookies, Abigail took bites out of another six and left them lying around the house in various exciting places that I discovered days later (despite KNOWING that she's not allowed to take food out of the kitchen), and I managed to dispose of the rest one at a time, so subtly and sneakily did they slide down my throat. I would pass through the kitchen, absent-mindedly nibble a bit, and wham, those cookies were gone.

But I reassured myself that at least I didn't have to make those plates of cookies and take them around to people because I already exchanged cookies with people, so I was done.

Well, I forgot about the rest of my friends who didn't go to the cookie thing, until these little bags and plates and things started appearing on my doorstep in floods.

So all these people keep bringing me cookies. We have plates and plates piling up. I'm not even trying to fight Abigail on it. She wants a cookie? Sure. Give her another one. She's only going to eat one bite anyway, then she'll go hide the rest and forget about it.

So I have cookies all over my kitchen, and all these nibbled cookies all over my house (seriously, I have to do a sweep through the house every couple of hours). And I'm now starting to bake for the plates I wasn't planning on doing (although truth be told, we're limiting it to home-teaching and visiting-teaching families, which I should have been planning on in the first place). This is the same sort of guilt that I felt when I sent my friend Andrea's husband home with a bag of fudge. I knew it was good fudge (I think), I knew she would like it (I hope), but I also felt slightly guilty, because who sends fudge to their (former before our babies destroyed our schedules) workout buddy?

And for all of you reading this, what is your opinion on the Christmas cookie thing? Do you love giving and recieving them? Or do you wish that you could all sign a mutual "I love you, I'm glad we're friends, but let's just not swap the cookies and save ourselves the eating!" petition? My mom and I have an accord like this over Mother's Day gifts, and I must say, it's great. Smart woman, my mother.

In any case, who's for joining the "Love, Not Calories!" 2008 movement, eh?

I have a feeling that after reading this, nobody will be bringing me cookies anyway next year...

my date with Miss Abigail

This morning while Juliet napped, Abigail and I had a "speshul day-tt just us." We read Christmas stories, painted our nails, and baked cookies. (and btw, I discovered last night that dipping pretzels in chocolate is about the coolest thing in the world for a little kid, and right on their skill level. Just remove all clothing before starting, which I didn't, and I still haven't figured out how she got chocolate on her back UNDER her pants).

What fun things do you do when you spend quality time one-on-one with your kids? Share the (idea) wealth!

classic moments

While I was doing laundry, Abigail took off with one of the baskets and used it as a boat to "float" around the living room. A few minutes later, I had this conversation with Neil:

Me: Why are there clothes in this laundry basket in the living room?
Neil: Because they are mine and they're dirty.
Me: I know, but why are they in the living room?
Neil: That's where the laundry basket was.
Me: You didn't think "Hmm, maybe I should put the laundry basket back in the closet and THEN put my clothes in it?"
Neil: No. I just thought, "Look! A laundry basket for my dirty clothes!"

Abigail: Mommy, why are you on the treadmill?
Me: Because I want to be pretty and skinny.
Abigail. Oh. Waits five seconds. You all done and skinny now?


Neil and Abigail playing outside in the snow...
Neil: Abigail, you're not helping!
Me: Abigail, can you help Daddy build a snowman?
Abigail: sitting at the top of the slide Mommy, I am helping him! I'm going down the slide for him!

the laundry quandary

Yesterday I did four loads of laundry. As I was putting the last load away, I looked towards my closet and realized that one of the baskets was almost full again (after everyone's baths, showers, and playing outside).

I don't feel like I'm compulsive about doing laundry--we wash the sheets once a week, the bathtowels every couple of weeks, bathmats about every month, etc. But we manage to dirty enough clothes so that I do, on average, about 8 loads a week for four people.

So here's my question for you, since some days I feel like all I do is laundry--how many loads a week does YOUR family require to keep everyone reasonably odorless?

In other news, we had a lovely time at the library this morning (I love storytimes! and glitter crafts!) and I realized when we got home that Jules probably has thrush. Poor kid. Thank goodness for call-in prescriptions.

I just ran 3 miles.

ON MY NEW TREADMILL!!!

YAY!

and Neil seems to be over his food poisoning, praise be.

sometimes it's like there's this little gastrointestinal sensor that says DING! It's the holidays! Time to start throwing up!

snowed in

Last night we all got dressed up in our Bethlehem-esque finery to go to the ward party.



Getting small children to wear headgear required substantial bribery.



They ended up looking more like pirates anyway.



And then it started to snow. A certain person may or may not have encouraged his daughter to pray for more snow and then added "and then maybe church will be canceled!"

But reprobates that we are, we rejoiced when we got the call at 8 am that church was indeed canceled.

Because it looked like this outside:



And this:

And this:

Oh yeah, and this:

One more:

So we ate breakfast, opened most of our Christmas presents (it was a perfect snowy morning and we didn't have anywhere to go! And we're going out of town for Christmas anyway, and we didn't want to haul everything there and back. But we did save some for Abigail to open later), and then went outside to attack the drifts.

Neil was SO excited while he was getting Abigail ready that he completely forgot to put on her shoes and sent her outside in her socks. She, of course, ran straight into a puddle.

Abigail learned that you can jump as much as you want into snow without ever getting a bump.

She learned pretty quickly that you should go backwards, NOT face first.

And then she invented this game where she rode madly down our (sloping) driveway on her tricycle towards the big pile of snow that was the road:

I'll just say this: I haven't laughed so hard in a LONG time.

Then we got all cleaned up and had a big potluck lunch with some families in the ward that live on our street. Hurrah for snow!

I'm procrastinating starting another project, so I'm doing another tag-thing.

What Was I Doing 10 Years Ago?
Starting my freshman year of high school and learning how to use that new email thing!

What Was I Doing 5 Years Ago?
Taking the GRE, moving all my stuff into my new apartment, going to bridal showers, and counting down the days until my wedding (the day after Christmas!)

What Was I Doing 1 Year Ago?
Just finding out I was pregnant with Juliet and finishing my first semester of university teaching after finishing grad school (as opposed to the four I taught while in grad school).

What Was I Doing Yesterday?
Working on an editing project, going on a date with my husband (Thai food and browsing at Barnes & Noble), cleaning my house, and entertaining two children all day long.

5 Snacks I Love
String cheese, Wheat Thins, sugar snap peas, sliced apples, and raisins.

5 Things I Would Do if I Had a Million Dollars
Buy a fuel-efficient car, hire someone to do a custom job on my closet (think millions of drawers), put more insulation in the attic, pre-pay tuition for the next three years, and stash the rest in savings.

5 Places I Would Run Away To
Solitude (for skiing), my parents' house (for great food and even better conversation), the gym (for peace and endorphins), a Christmas tree farm (for nostalgia), and Belgium (for chocolate).

5 T.V. Shows I Like
Well, since we don't have a TV, the only TV show I really watch is Pushing Daisies (from ABC.com). But I love Seinfeld!

5 Things I Hate Doing
Grading, mopping the bathroom floor, cleaning up potty-training accidents, going to Wal-mart on a Saturday morning, and going to bed without my husband.

5 Biggest Joys of the Moment
Watching my daughters, having my husband done with finals and (sort of) around again, anticipating the delivery of my Christmas treadmill on Monday, looking forward to making fudge and Christmas cookies with Abigail this afternoon, and looking forward to spending the holidays with both sides of our extended family! (Christmas with his family and New Year's with mine)

I tag anyone who wants to do it. Like Rachel said, it was really interesting to think about the 1, 5, and 10-yr benchmarks.

preserving the moments

This morning while I was working on a project, I asked Neil to make a grocery list for the next week, including our trip to Chicago, so that we could get all the food for the meals we're responsible for during our family reunion.

This is what he produced after twenty minutes of diligent thought:

• Milk
• Oreos
• Egg nog
• Stocking stuffers

Then he left the list on the kitchen table.

Oh, I love that man. But I'm sure glad he has me around, for nutritional advice if nothing else.

In other news, it's snowing, we're all done with our "to do" list for today, tummies stuffed to the brim with grilled-pesto-mozzarella-tomato sandwiches (and a few bites of delicious Thai curry left over from our date last night), and we're cuddling up to watch the last hour of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix while the girls nap. We've got the makings for Christmas fudge waiting on the counter and a ward social tonight...it's shaping up to be a lovely weekend.

parenting rule #578723

The timing of time-outs should be conducted in the following way:

Time-outs end one minute after the time child whines "can I get out yet?" so you can say firmly "No, you still have one minute left."

parenting rule #578724

Subscription to parenting magazines is vital. Absolutely vital. Do you abide by the precepts outlined in the articles?

No.

You let your child cut out the pictures and glue them onto a sheet of construction paper while you make dinner.

Vital, I tell you.

opportunity costs

One of the things I really love about our life right now is that there are a gazillion grad students in our ward, which means there are tons of little kids to play with and lots of wonderful women for me to be friends with while our children attack each other.

The con to this is that we're here for another 3 years (or so) while Neil finished his doctorate, which means that we're watching our friends leave one by one. I was thinking about this a lot yesterday because so many of our friends are getting ready to leave. Yesterday we had one of Neil's colleagues, Phil, over to dinner. He's graduating and leaving next week, and Abigail was SO excited all day because he was coming over--running around and around and around and checking the door every five minutes to see if "our friend Phil here yet?" She sees him enough that he's one of the people she regularly has "conversations" with on her toy phone, and I was thinking about how sad it's going to be for her to go to Neil's lab and not see her buddy Phil.

And then I started thinking about all our other friends who are leaving (we were talking about this at playgroup too yesterday morning) and just thinking, WOW, this is going to be hard for Abigail! Most little kids lose one or two friends from moving, but all of Abigail's friends that she's literally grown up with are going to be moving almost all at once. Poor kid.

Anyway, I was just thinking about that. That's all. I don't really have anything wise or succinct or funny to say, other than I feel like we've been so blessed in our friends here. I'll be sad to leave! But meanwhile, we'll enjoy all the wonderful people who surround us. :-)

On another note, can I just say that yesterday was a really good day? It's funny how much the happiness of my day depends on Abigail's moods. But I really made an effort yesterday to be almost sickeningly sweet to her all day and spend tons of time reassuring her about how much I adore her and how special she is to me, and I think it helped to counteract some of the jealousy she's starting to feel now that Juliet is interacting a lot more with me and placing a much bigger demand on my attention. In any case, she was happy and cheerful all day and we had a good time making special Christmas cards together. She was so happy that our visit to the crazed post office, which I have been DREADING, was actually really fun (and the bank, and the car parts store).

She's such a happy-go-lucky little kid when she feels like she's important to me...it really makes me realize how patient she's been with this new little Juliet and how I need to be sure to set aside some special "Mommy and Abigail" time every day. I've been doing a lot of the "fun stuff" I do with her while Juliet's still awake, and I didn't realize how much she's been sort of tolerating Juliet until yesterday I put Juliet down for her nap midway through our reading time and Abigail crawled into my lap and laid back on my shoulder once Julesie was gone.

cars and ginger-babies

After a long hard week working in the lab and studying for exams, sometimes I like to send Neil out into the garage to earn his dinner.

Here he is fixing the wheel bearings on the Jeep so that the wheels don't fall off or something equally exciting like that. Spoilsport.


Sometimes he worries over our extravagant automobiling ways.



Sometimes he gets so greasy that he's not allowed in the house. And sometimes he's at a total loss to explain how Abigail (playing next to him and handing him wrenches and doing manly stuff that makes her tell me "Mommy, I want to be a big boy!") got grease all over her hands AND clothes.



But he sure does a good job, our in-house mechanic. Yessiree. We'll let him have some dinner after all.



Here's a picture of me staring oddly at Juliet, just so my children know in later years that I was actually around for their childhoods.

Here's Juliet after we tried helping her sit up. She didn't do so well.

Sometimes when we go to playgroups, I feel a little embarassed over the way Abigail's hair looks. It's pretty hard to slick down sometimes, and she's getting a lot more contrary about letting me put in pigtails.

But then I remember what it looked like that morning when she got up, and I feel better.

And she just doesn't have hair. Just cute baldness.

Last night as a family we made "ginger-mans." Abigail took one look at this and burst into tears. I'll let you guess what she thought it was. She started sobbing, "No! Please! I want to make GINGER-babies-mans! I no wanna eat that big yucky!"

But then she quickly calmed down and started smashing little cookie cutter men out like a pro.

Most people sneak bites of cookie. Abigail sneaks bites of flour...always has. Weirdie.

Jules sat in her swing and chewed on her fist. Mmm...fist.

all the mommies and daddies

One thing that I think is just sweet about Abigail is the way she categorizes everyone in the world: they are all mommies and daddies.

For instance, today she told me about

• the nursery mommy who taught her a new song on Sunday
• the nursery daddy who picked her up when she fell down
• the library mommy who reads her stories
• the doctor mommy who gave Juliet her shots
• the worker daddies who built the "so so tall tower by the library"
• the "runner mommies and daddies" that we passed on the road

I just think it's darling. I love the fact that she sees all big people as being nurturing parents. And also I think it's darling that when I went in to check on her tonight, she stood up on her bed, held out her arms, and fell towards me. Completely asleep, all she wanted was a hug. When I hugged her and laid her back down, she stuck her arms straight up in the air and waved them wildly until I bent down and hugged her again. Then she finally let go, rolled over onto her tummy, and started snoring again. It made me feel better about her perception of me as her mommy...she still loves me after all the "no, you can't eat a cookie for breakfast, stay in time out, no, you can't wear Mommy's glasses, please go put on your shoes, give Juliet her toy back, don't throw things in the fishie's water, please put the cheese back in the fridge, don't climb up the Christmas tree to get the candy cane" that seem to comprise much of our conversations.

And my new favorite phrase of hers? "Trust me, Mommy."

As in "I do have to go to the bathroom!"

"Abigail, you just went!"

"Trust me, Mommy! I reeree do!"

And today at the doctor's office (item of note: Jules at 4 months weighs 15 lbs 8 oz, almost double her birth weight of 7. 13) she tried to feed me some raisins, and when I said, "No, honey, it's okay, you eat it, it's your snack," she looked meditatively at the raisins, picked through them for a minute, then gave me a big smile and held out a plump raisin and said enticingly, "Here, Mommy. It's a reeree nice one!"

Enough rambling for now...as always, I have lots of pictures to post, but I need to get to bed! (Note: Neil is reading The Odyssey right now, which makes me feel slightly de-intellectual (is that a word?) in my choice of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...for the fourth time).

vocab

Today (while I edited) I learned these words:

• pruritus
• erythematous
• excoriated
• lichenification
• transudation

If you can tell me what all five of those are without cheating (looking them up), I won't give you a prize, but I will respect you (as someone who knows a lot).

And then you should head over to www.freerice.com to do something with all that knowledge.

some links

I was so tired this morning that I was fighting sleep while I fed Jules and supervised Abigail and her friend Elise's playdate. I looked forward with heartfelt anticipation to naptime.

Currently Abigail is trying to figure out how to get out of her room when the door's tied shut and a chair is placed under the handle (this is the result of 8 days straight of no napping on her part. I wouldn't mind, except she doesn't just not nap--she comes out EVERY FIVE MINUTES. Hence, the locked door). And Juliet is complaining in her crib, but she's staying there, since she took one twenty minute nap this morning and then woke up after twenty minutes this afternoon (she should be taking a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon). I keep repeating in my head "It's for their own good...this too shall pass."

Speaking of child battles, my friend Ashley's post encapsulated my week last week (except she won).

And speaking of Christmas, my friend Kristyn has a great little discussion going on performing acts of service as a Christmas gift for one's spouse. (something I've been thinking a lot about since Charlotte's fabulous Relief Society lesson(s) a couple of months back!)

And speaking of Christmas things, cjane had a very amusing post on whether one should send Christmas cards when one blogs.

Okay, go look at those links. I'm done for today.

Although I do want some service ideas. :-) Kristyn, I'm borrowing your idea. My reader friends, how do you show love through service to your spouse/roommate/family/other? And please comment! I need some good ideas! (And since my site meter is telling me this page has had 385 hits in the last 6 days, that means there's a lot of you reading it who should comment and give me some ideas. Or you're just all like me and check people's blogs 6 times a day to see if they've updated...)

funny kid

Favorite Christmas Abigailism: "ginger baby-man!" (since obviously, gingerbread men are not full-grown, since they are so small)

My family happens to be one of those who more or less enjoys Napoleon Dynamite. Or at least we enjoy quoting it at each other, especially such salient phrases as "Your mom goes to college!" and other such variants. I've even heard my mother say that a time or two.

So this evening, while we were eating some yummy chocolate mousse pie Andrea left with us after some friends came over last night, Neil said, "We've got to get this recipe!" I agreed, then said thoughtfully, "I think we do have Ruth's recipe for chocolate mousse," then thought a minute more and added, "She does it [the ingredients measurements] in grams."

Abigail's little voice piped up from the other end of the table and with all the eloquence of an imitative two-year-old said,"Your mom does it in grams!"

That struck me as pretty funny. But then about two seconds later I was on the receiving end of another Abigail salvo when I was showing Neil how much my tattered and well-beloved bought-in-eighth-grade sweatshirt had faded by comparing the inside and outside of the frayed cuffs and Abigail said disapprovingly, "Mommy, you need a new shirt. That one is a big yucky." (which, incidentally, is something Neil has been saying for the last five years. Too bad for them both.)

In the midst of sending out your Christmas cards?

Take a minute and send some to the US troops stationed away from home during the holidays.

It's totally free and takes about 15 seconds!

my guilt overcame me

Ashley, this is for you.

And everyone scroll down for more yumminess. On either website.

food zip

So I have a whole bunch of recipes and pictures just waiting to be written up on my food blog (including your quiche that you requested a looong time ago, Ashley, I am so sorry!!). They're all sitting there, waiting patiently in my Pictures folder. Someday soon. Maybe even tomorrow.

Meanwhile, since I was doing my weekly penance, a.k.a. cleaning off the front of my fridge tonight and removing all the magnetized scraps of paper covered in undecipherable writing and possible food drips from its lovely face, here's one little pumpkin goodie, for those of you who may be mourning the wasted days between Thanksgiving and Christmas where you have no real excuse to make a pumpkin pie. This is just as tastebud-a-licious, with a little zip of curry.

So skedaddle on over and make yourself some curried pumpkin soup!

our life in pictures

The newest denizens of our home: the goldfishies Orange and Nemo (guess who named them)


Names: Abigail Grace and Juliet Elizabeth
Favorite activities: "Snug-wing"
Oft-repeated phrase: "It's cold in here. We need our swep-ers."


Juliet Elizabeth...four months old today!

and happy about it!

Abigail the cookie monster

With our eat-at-your-own-risk bird feeder down until the wind subsides, Abigail and I got crafty and made this (well, I made it with all the kids during Joy School on Wednesday. It was really fun, except for the part where they started licking the peanut butter off the pine cones).

"Mom! I need some REAL gloves!"

Neil stomped a trail all around the yard. Then Abigail followed it around, and around, and around, and around. One time she got stuck in a loop and couldn't figure out where the "exit point" was. We laughed really hard. She'll probably remember that all her life, just like how my earliest memory is of my parents saying "Rachael, walk to us!" when I was wearing a really puffy snowsuit and standing in snow up to my waist, and they laughed every time I fell down. I used to feel really aggrieved about that. Then I had kids of my own and realized how fun it is to tease your offspring.

where did the time go?

Both my little girlies seem to be growing by leaps and bounds.

Abigail's current favorite phrase is "Remember last week when...?" Today she told me all about coming to visit me in the hospital when I had Juliet, how the elevator had two doors, then she went along the hall and knocked on my door, then she saw the baby, then she climbed on my bed and kissed me and ate my pears and drank my milk.

I'm amazed at her memory. And I finally figured out the "zoo" thing--our community has a teeny tiny little zoo near a local waterpark, and we took her to it for a few minutes one day when we all froze in the pool. (I finally realized this when she said "Remember last week when we went to the zoo and we weared our towels because Daddy was helping me swim like a fishie, then we went to the zoo with my friend Mia and saw the monkeys in the trees?"

And my flabbergasted moment of the day: I was feeding Jules and talking to Abigail while she played with some toys. She was telling me the names of everything she was pointing to, and it totally floored me when she pointed to one and said "Balls! Pelotas!" and then went on to the next and said "Apples! Manzanas!" (Note: Neil speaks Tagalog and I speak French. Only her toys speak Spanish).

And lastly, little Jules finally decided to make her vocal entry. I've actually been really worried because she hasn't been vocalizing very much--she used to coo a lot, but lately she just watches us with those enormous eyes. It's sort of eerie sometimes. In any case, today she was playing on her blanket while I worked on another editing project, and she was starting to get a little frustrated by the lack of attention. So she started chortling and trilling and cooing and giggling, and then it was like she suddenly realized hey! This is fun! and she's been making nonstop noises all afternoon. She and Abigail have been having quite the noise-fest, since Abigail thinks it's great that "we singing togedder!"

Also, I have a gazillion pictures which need to be posted. Someday.

i have no time to write anything other than "i have no time to write."

so, so, so busy.

tired.

out of time.

parenting classes? i wish!

Two of our best friends in the whole world (who I miss so, so, so much!) had their second baby yesterday. He came a bit early (surprise! And lucky Kristin!) Which got me thinking about babies, and parenting classes, and how they suggest that you take birthing classes before your child is born, which teach you the following:

• You can't go to the hospital until basically you think the contractions are killing you
• That epidural needles are really long
• Labor is "uncomfortable"
• Various other scary statistics that I did not want to know and immediately did my best to forget

However, I felt distinctly cheated in the week after Abigail was born and I realized that the nurse had never covered the following:

• nursing is neither easy nor painless
• the aftermath (in terms of pain) of having a child is much much worse than the actual process itself
• you will never again sleep. Ever. Just give up now.

A bit tongue in cheek, yes, but over the last few years, I've really wished that there was some sort of "parenting" class I'd been able to take before having children. Or at least a sort of joking marathon event or something. For instance, I wish I had known more about the following:

• symptoms of an ear infection
• various schools of thought on training your child to sleep
• that your kitchen shears are perfect for slicing up everything into child-size bites, and it doesn't compress like a knife does

And I could have done with a few events like this to really give me a slice of what it would be like:

• The Visiting Teaching Lug-Along: get two children (one in a car seat), a diaper bag, a handful of snacks that Child 1 refuses to put into the diaper bag, a chicken pot pie, your Ensign, and various shed-as-they-run-mittens through freezing cold to the door (especially when Child 1 decides it's too cold and makes a mad dash back to the car)
• Grocery Store Adventures: wise up to the idea that you can trade grocery store babysitting with a friend so that each of you only has to take one child to the store.
• Irony 101: understanding the following equation: 1 freshly bathed baby+1 freshly laundered set of baby clothes+one freshly laundered crib sheet=one immediate diaper blowout+ one delighted baby gurgle/smile

But when it's all said and done, there's nothing as delightful as the funny impish adorable little people who populate my house and besmear my world with peanut butter, and who tell me when I return from the 15-second trip to the mailbox: "Oh, hi, Mom, come on in! Did you have a good day? I'm so glad you came back! I miss you real bad!"

Three inches of snow!

A baby who rolled over completely for the first time yesterday!

Hurrah!

have you seen this?

http://math.cofc.edu/kunkle/lamentations.html

if you have small children, i think you will appreciate it. or if you've ever been a small child.

i laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

conversations with a two-year-old

Me: Abigail, it's time to get dressed.

Abigail: Why?

Me: Because we're going to go see Daddy at work and see the decorations and hear the bells.

Abigail: I want to wear this.

Me: Uh...no. I don't know where you found that, but it's weird. Sorry.

Abigail: Oh...it's weird, huh? We're going to the zoo, right?

Me: No, we're going to go see Daddy.

Abigail: Yes, that's right, we're going to the zoo.

Me: Uh...no.

Abigail: We will go to the zoo and see the lion and it will say rrrraaarr and try to scare me. It will try to scare me, Abigail, so I will run away and look at the monkeys. They will say "ooh ooh aah aah!" and I like the monkeys, Mom. And then we will go see...um...the big big doggies and oh! We will see some dolphins in the water! Because we are going to the zoo.

Me: Uh...

Abigail: I went to the zoo yesterday. I liked it. I will go again today.

Me: Uh...no...we're going to go see Daddy.

Abigail: Oh yeah. Going to see Daddy.

Me: That's right.

Abigail: Daddy can come to the zoo too.

bells and some catching up

Well, I feel like I haven't been doing a very good job blogging lately because I have been SO tired. Juliet (who will be 4 months old on Friday) is still waking up 3 if not 4 times a not, which is not conduicive to much animation on my part.

Here is the little insomniac herself:


You can tell she's plotting something, can't you?

And I also have been trying to catch up more around the house, since I feel like we've still been in survival mode for the last four months. As a matter of fact, I disinfected my counters yesterday for the first time since Juliet was born (by which I mean that I moved everything off my counters, doused them in cleanser, cleaned it all up again, polished all the appliances, etc.) I used to do it at least every month. Back in the day. In any event, I've made a list of things that I really HAVE to do, divided it out, and stuck to it. it's sort of the bare minimum of chores compared to my usual list, but it's the bare minimum to keep things sparkling, rather than the frantic efforts to just keep on top of the laundry. And it's very refreshing to only have 4 things that I allow myself to do every day, rather than thinking "oh...I really should go do this..." but now I can say "Hah! I don't have to do that until Thursday."

And I've been working on an editing project, and then also working on lounging around and reading whenever it gets quiet. So that's what I've been doing rather than much blogging.

And hanging out with these two little imps.



Today we went to campus to look at all the Christmas decorations, including the biggest tree I have ever seen in my entire life. We also listened to the campus bell choir (which was fun, Abigail really started dancing when they brought out the jingle bells) and met up with Neil for a "picnic" lunch.



It was really, really, really big.

One of my favorite things about the student union building is how beautiful it is. It feels almost like you're walking into a cathedral.



More cathedral. Sort of Druidic tree-worshipper cathedral.

Abigail was entranced by the "presents" piled all around the tree.

And frustrated by my repeated attempts to take a cute picture of her in which a) she was not doing a scary smile and b) nobody's leg was in front of her.

This was our compromise.

In other news, my sister Elise found out today she was accepted into BYU! Yay Elise! That's 4 for 4 so far (no pressure, Rosalind). I'm so excited for her! I know she's going to love it (but I'm also going to miss her so much! I love being only 3 hours away from her, since she was still young enough when I left for college 6 years ago that I'm getting to know her all over again now).