Simplify

I need to simplify my life. It's probably the fast approaching due date of our second child that has helped me realize this - and also the increasing feeling that life feels unbalanced and even overwhelming sometimes. It's getting me worried that if I can't handle it right now, what am I going to do when this baby shows up?! And I am not one to worry, generally speaking. So I'm trying to take a hint that it's time to make some changes.

Anyway, please disregard my last post about the new blog. Instead, I am getting rid of BOTH blogs. I just can't keep up with either one right now. Too often I find myself thinking, "I should blog about this!" and even taking pictures for the sole purpose of putting them on the blog instead of just enjoying the moment for what it's worth. Then, if I don't post the pictures and write about whatever it was, I feel guilty. And sometimes I feel guilty when I DO because I think "I should be doing better things with my time." I don't think blogging itself is bad and definitely do NOT fault others for blogging because I love keeping up with friends that way, but I've decided (as with facebook) it's just not the best thing for me personally. So I'm still planning on sending the occasional email update but that will be it for me! Goodbye blogging world.

A New Kind of Blog

Just before Daphne was born I got all ambitious and started a cooking blog. I pretty much gave up on it before she arrived and was definitely out of commission after she showed up. I still have it though and have decided to transform it into our homeschooling blog. Then I decided I don't need two blogs and it would be confusing to try to keep them separate anyway as the homeschooling one will still highlight a lot of our day to day activities. So from now on I'll be blogging there. But since it is going to be focused more on homeschool and education, I'm still planning to send a basic family update via email. Hope that makes sense - keep up with us on www.5days5ways.blogspot.com

Write It Down!

I have had these four projects in the works for months - two for over a year. They were always in the back of my mind, saying "work on me! finish me! hurry up already!" but somehow they just kept getting pushed to the side while all these other little things got in the way. So about a month ago I wrote them all down on a piece of paper and stuck it on our fridge.

To Do
(1) Russian Book (a gift for some friends)
(2) Garage Sale (something we've been meaning to do since we moved in)
(3) Preschool Plan (basically what to do about preschool for Daphne)
(4) New Diet Research

Right away two of them practically took care of themselves.

My mom called one morning to let me know that her neighborhood was having a community garage sale. She told me this thinking I might be interested in shopping around, but instead I took it as an opportunity to have our own. We used my parents' front yard and made some decent money. And checked that one off the list!

Then one day I finally just wrote up a plan of what I wanted to try do with Daphne for preschool and put it into action. It worked for about three days before she was over it. I guess I wasn't too surprised since I don't believe in structured learning for kids her age, but for some reason I was feeling the pressure to try to "teach" her. So it was a good reminder that I don't need to do anything but let her play and be involved in my daily work and she will learn all she needs to know right now. And I got to cross that off the list as well.

Finishing the Russian book was a lot more difficult, but Steve sort of unexpectedly decided to visit some friends in California - including the friends for whom I was making the book, so that gave me just the motivation and deadline I needed to get it done. Yay!

And now I can work on researching and planning our new family diet. Basically we are trying to switch to a more whole foods/real foods/fresh foods diet and cut out highly processed stuff as much as we can. I think I'm more excited about it than Steve, but he says we can try as long as it fits the budget. So wish me luck!

(Lesson learned: Write it down and it will get done!)

It's a Boy!

We found out Wednesday - we are having a BOY!

I know some people don't want to know, but I think it's so fun to find out ahead of time. It makes it seem more real for me, to be able to call the baby "him" and not "it" and to wonder what he will be like and all that.

Steve and I both felt we'd be happy either way (how could we not be? boy or girl - every baby is a blessing and a miracle) but I am so excited for this kid to join our family. I think it will bring a nice balance to things and I know Daphne will be a wonderful big sister. She's still not clear on the whole gender thing, so when I first told her "the baby is a boy!" she corrected me, "No, just baby." And when I tried a different tactic, "You are going to have a little brother!" she still wasn't convinced. "No, I'm a big sister." But we keep repeating the words boy and brother and I think she is starting to get used to them.

Either way, she is always happy to talk about the baby in Mommy's tummy and that's good enough for now.

May 9th!

There are a lot of April birthdays in my family. So all the celebrations last month got Daphne pretty excited for her own birthday, this month. She told anyone and everyone when her birthday would be, "May Ninef!" and couldn't wait for the party to begin. I think we did not disappoint her.

For convenience sake, her actual party was on Saturday May 12th, but as she had been talking about "May 9th" for weeks, we couldn't let it go by without doing something special. So we took her to Applebee's, which offers a free kid's meal and ice cream sundae. She was so excited about everything! Smiling and dancing the whole night.

For her party, we had my family and our neighbor come to celebrate. We started with pizza, then presents (so many presents!), then cupcakes and ice cream. I can't believe we didn't get a picture of her with her cupcake (though we have some video). I'm sure (I hope?!) someone else did though. Cameras were flashing everywhere.

The main event was her new "big girl" bed. She opened presents containing bed sheets, a pillow, a mattress cover, a quilt, pajamas... of course she didn't know what it all meant. She was just happy to be pulling stuff out of bags like everyone else does on their birthday. So while she ate her cake and ice cream we set up the big surprise in her room. It was a success. She ran and jumped on it and pretended to sleep on it and did some kind of swimming moves on it... Throughout the rest of the night she would invite people to go up and look at her bed again. And surprisingly she has slept through the night every night since (three nights in a row now). Which is saying something, as she hasn't consistently slept through the night for months. We were hoping this bed might cure that. It's too soon to tell but I'm enjoying the extra rest while I can.

The quilt was made by Steve's grandmother (years and years ago - not intended for Daphne specifically, but it couldn't have been more perfect). I know some people might consider it a shame that we are using it at all, not to mention using it for a kid's bed (as it will most likely be loved to pieces over time) but isn't that what quilts are for?

little girl in a big bed

 

Now our little girl is two years old! It's hard to believe she's been with us that long, but we can't imagine life without her.

Some Silly Soliloquies

Here are some of Daphne's random ramblings while I did the dishes this morning. I wish I could remember them all! It was fun to listen to and nice that she entertained herself.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 7, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19... 17, 18, 19... 17, 18, 19... 19, 19, 19..." (this was repeated the most often, in fact she probably took a counting break after almost every other rambling)

"D-A-P-H-N-E spells Daphne A-P-H-N-E Daphne P-H-N-E spells Daphne P-H-N-E... A-P-H-N-E spells Daphne..." (this was another favorite, she repeated it several times throughout the morning)

(in a low voice) "one two three four five six" (switch to a really high voice) "seventeen eighteen nineteen!"

"chick-a-boom, chick-a-boom, chick-a-boom-boom-boom"

"roly poly up and down up and down up and down..." (adapted from a song learned at library storytime)

"skipping skipping skipping... ready to skip? hold my hand! skipping skipping skipping..." (this said while skipping a Minnie Mouse toy around the kitchen floor)

"baby in Mama's tummy.... get bigger... come out... holds it me... play Daphne... share toys... drink milk... not THIS baby!" (the last phrase said as she picks up her doll)

"way up high, way up high, way up high... careful! slippery! aaahhhh!" (as she climbs a chair and balances magnetic letters on the blinds of our kitchen windows, then pulls the cord so the blinds turn down and the letters slide off)

"cheese cheese cheese! I like cheese! cheese cheese cheese! I like cheese... Mama, need something eat" (not surprisingly she asked for cheese)

"crocodile sad... he crying... say no no no go away!" (not sure where this one came from... it took me a few times to even figure out she was saying "crocodile")

"Gotta dream... Gotta dream... Tangled Tangled Tangled.... Mama, need to watch Tangled"
(me) "no Daphne we're not watching Tangled"
(Daphne) "Yeah do! Need to watch Tangled! Do!"
(me) "No Daphne, not right now"
(Daphne) "Maybe watch Tangled Daddy comes home... say "Please Daddy? PLEEEEASE?!" and watch Tangled" (thankfully this satisfied her for the moment and she didn't argue the point anymore. we'll see if she remembers her plan later tonight. and if it works. she seemed pretty confident.)

Almost all of this was spoken to herself as she wandered around the kitchen, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I was listening, except the parts obviously addressed to me. Here are the things she said KNOWING I was listening, or that I soon would be, as made clear by the fact that when I realized what she was saying and looked at her, she was already looking at me with a big smile on her face...

"poop poop poop!"

"poker face poker face poker face" (yes she knows the song, no she did not learn it from me. when she had my frowning attention she continued...) "Katie sing that. Kelsey sing that. Backyard Grandma's house. Pulling weeds. [that's where and when she heard the song this weekend] No sing Daphne's house. No sing Mama's house." (as you can see we've already discussed my disapproval of the song, but that didn't stop her from whispering "poker face" a few more times.)

"shucks man!" (when I looked at her) "Kelsey say that!" We both laughed.

"BUSTED!" (I looked at her) "Kelsey say that!" Apparently she learns a lot of fun phrases from Aunt Kelsey...

And that's our morning so far!

April Fools!

Last Sunday while sitting around the table eating breakfast, Steve realized (and said out loud) "It's the first day of April... Hey it's April Fool's Day!" He thought for less than a second before adding, "Daphne, Daddy's pregnant!" She got a big smile on her face and said, "Mama's pregnant TOO!" One of these statements is correct. I'll let you decide which.

My Little Sous-Chef

I decided recently that Daphne needs to start pulling her weight around the kitchen. Or maybe I just thought it would be fun to let her help me with the cooking. Either way, she was more than happy to get involved. If she stands on the top step of our stool, she can reach over the countertop, and from there the possibilities are endless. Measuring, pouring, blending, tasting - she wants to do it all!

 kneading some pizza dough

But she's good about letting me have my turn as well.

I think Steve asked her to say "cheese!"

The funny thing is I get no benefit out of this. It always takes longer, and she might mess something up (or just sneeze all over everything...repeatedly...). But it's still fun for me and I know it is fun for her. Which is probably why I enjoy it so much - it's so obvious how much she loves it. 

Four Generations

About a month ago we visited my grandparents in Shoreline, just for the afternoon. It was a nice quiet visit (usually there are at least three other families running around competing for attention, this time it was just us). Daphne had all the toys to herself. We got to eat as much of Grandma's homemade bread and cinnamon rolls as we wanted. We even had time for a card game. And of course, we couldn't resist taking a four generation picture...

And here's everyone else...

Curly Sue

Did you know that Daphne has curly hair? Here's what happens if I don't comb it after her bath...

She gets it from her Daddy.

Love Is...

A few weeks ago I was enjoying a bowl of ice cream after dinner. Daphne (who has an ice cream radar) came right over and invited me to share with her, which I did. My brother noticed this generosity and asked, "Daphne, do you love your mom?" To which (of course!) she replied, "Yeah."

My sister, wanting to measure the validity of Daphne's response, questioned further, "Do you even know what love is?" To which Daphne replied, "Ice cream."

Church with Daphne

Daphne likes to go to church because she LOVES to go to Nursery. She talks about it throughout the week, but especially Sunday morning as we're getting ready, telling us all her plans: "Play toys, color, eat gummy bears, goldfish, drink water..." Apparently even the water tastes better there. Sometimes she lists off the names of the other kids in her class. Sometimes she starts singing a song she learned there. And from the beginning of Sacrament Meeting, if there is ever a pause or quiet moment she asks excitedly "Go Nursery now?!" Actually she is getting better and only asking toward the end of the meeting, but there really was one Sunday when she asked after EVERY prayer, song, speaker, announcement, etc... and each time she asked more loudly so that by the closing prayer (which we assured her was really the last thing and then it would be time for Nursery) she stood up and yelled "GO NURSERY!" She just loves that place.

the bow never makes it to church, but she likes to wear it for a few minutes before we leave

In spite of (or perhaps because of) her excitement about Nursery, she's really pretty well behaved during that first hour. We bring a few small things to entertain her, sometimes a snack - but she mostly just enjoys people-watching. And visiting Grandma and Grandpa, or Uncle Josh or Aunt Katie or Kelsey (they usually sit next to us). We remind her occassionaly to whisper, but she's pretty quiet most of the time. She holds a hymnbook and hums along with everyone while we sing. She likes to take the bread and water (Sacrament) and declares them each "SO yummy." So while I still don't get as much out of church as I used to, and there are some Sundays when we do have to take her out in the hall for a break, it's overall a pretty stress-free experience - for which I'm very grateful.

Wacky Weather

We ended up getting a LOT more snow. Between 8 and 10 inches. Maybe more. Around here that is fairly unusual. Still, it would have been manageable - without the ice storm. After a few snowy days the temperature rose and the snow switched to rain and we thought that was the end of it, it would be gone by dinnertime - boy were we wrong! The rain and warmer temperature only had time to melt SOME of the snow before the sun went down, the temperature dropped and the wet slushy snow became a thick sheet of ice. Yikes.

this is the road in front of our house, I don't think the snow plows ever did make it up here

But wait - there's more. The trees were all weighed down with ice, more than they could handle - and branches started breaking everywhere, falling on power lines and cutting out power to over 200,000 homes and businesses - ours included.

beautiful but dangerous

We were grateful to be able to get our gas fireplace working and huddled around it for a little while before deciding if we were going to be cold and miserable, we might as well join the rest of my family who were probably doing the same and certainly had more non-perishable food to share. We were able to drive over there safely enough, but as more ice built up during the day we were unable to drive home that night and didn't feel like walking up that big icy hill in the dark. Luckily my parents had room for us and lots of blankets so we had a little sleepover party.

I remember as a kid it was always exciting when the power would go out. We'd pull out the candles and flashlights and bumble around the house before bedtime. But I don't remember it ever being more than a couple hours. This one lasted about 30 hours for us (several days for many others), just enough time for most of our refrigerated items to spoil (though our freezer was fine). Dad grilled us some hamburgers. We roasted marshmallows. Just your typical winter evening barbecue...

Daphne helping restock the fridge. My mom was smart and packed most of their food into snow-stuffed coolers outside.

After a few more days of warming temperatures and lots of rain, the snow and ice disappeared. But there was still a mess of branches to clean up. Luckily we don't have any big trees in our yard to worry about, but we opened our window during the big freeze and looked out behind our house (where there are several large trees) and heard an almost constant cracking and breaking and crashing of limbs. One of those "cool" but humbling moments with nature, when you realize how powerless you are against the elements.

So it was back to typical Washington weather for a while, then things really lightened up - we had three or four days of SPRING! Sunny skies with barely a wisp of a cloud and temperature in the upper fifties to low sixties. It was wonderful. And we were outside as much as possible. Some good times included trips to the park, to the lake, and washing the cars. It got us all excited for "real" spring and even summer and we started talking about all the plans we have for warmer days. The only bad thing about out-of-season weather is that sooner or later you have to get back to the season it truly is (winter) and remember that you still have at least a month or two of that. Sigh. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

Here are a few pictures from our visit to the lake. We had to let Daphne feed the ducks and of course she loved it. She was pretty good about breaking the bread and getting it into the water, too. And (no surprise) totally fearless when it came to being around scores of almost equally fearless ducks. Then she and Aunt Kelsey threw rocks in the water, we played on the merry-go-round at the park and just walked around a bit with Grandma.

Washing the cars was a first for Daphne, and she jumped right in with enthusiasm. She was pretty much soaked by the end.

Such a good helper. Hopefully she keeps that willingness to do the dirty work.

As you can see, she preferred a very hands-on approach (though she did eventually switch to a washcloth).

Winter Wonderland

I like sunshine and warm weather as much as the next person - but how can you not get excited about the first snow of the season?! We are loving it.

Steve swept our neighbors' sidewalks before church on Sunday. Daphne helped.

I'm getting better at putting gloves on wiggly fingers. Mittens are so much easier.

Here's our little snowbaby! Daphne decided it needed a hat.

And a kiss.

We also went sledding (on the gently sloping four-foot "hill" on the side of my parents' house... she got stuck about halfway down and needed another push. Oh well, she loved it anyway.)

We got a couple more inches of snow today. Enough for a real snowman. Aunt Kelsey did everything but the middle section. I think I made it a little too big.

Despite Daphne's grumpy face and posture (above), she had a blast the entire time. I made the mistake of telling her it was time to go inside, just before bringing out the camera. At least she stopped crying for the picture.

Here's one of the goofy faces she makes when you ask her to smile. Silly girl.

Something about making her come inside today, because she was soaked with snow and I knew she had to be freezing, even though she begged to stay outside and made me feel like I spoiled all the fun - those are the moments that make me feel like a "real" mom. Of course, after I explained to her that she'd be getting a nice hot bath once she came inside, she was happy to oblige.

We're expecting 4-6 inches (or more!) over the next few days, before it turns to rain. That's a big deal around here, where we mostly just get rain.

I love snow days!

First Things First (My 2012 Reading Schedule)

Because an unwritten goal is only a wish, and because a goal written on a post-it note is a soon-to-be-lost-or-forgotten wish, I decided to post my 2012 Reading Schedule (I no longer make the goal to read 100 books a year, mostly because it is unrealistic now that I have a daughter, but also because I realized how much junk I was reading just so I could meet the goal. Nothing inappropriate of course, but not much that was helping me become a better person either. It was quantity versus quality, for sure.) So here's the new plan, and the order is important...

30 minutes - scripture (standard works only, with at least 15 minutes in The Book of Mormon)
30 minutes - other uplifting/inspiring reading (the Ensign, Believing Christ, Daughters in my Kingdom, Gospel Principles, etc.)
30 minutes - secular study (parenting books, history books, foreign languages, classic literature, etc.)

THEN, and only then, may I have...

30 minutes of "fun" reading (Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and so forth)

While the ideal is to read for two hours every day from a variety of sources and genres - the real point is for me to focus my reading time on what matters most - making the scriptures and other inspiring books a priority. So if by some miracle I find myself with some free time, and I feel like reading a book, I stop and think "Okay, have I read my scriptures yet?" If the answer is yes, I move on to the next set, and so on. I don't really have a problem with daily scripture study - in fact I've been doing 30 minutes a day for several years now - but then I just move right on to the fun stuff. So now I'm making the time for more important studies.

Along with my mother's example (though she has a completely different plan for herself)*, this shift in priorities was inspired by the following scripture:

"And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118)

I realize we're only nine days into the new year, but so far it's going well and most mornings I have my hour of combined scripture/spiritual reading done before Daphne wakes up. It's a good feeling and sets the tone for my day. It's amazing how much more time I have when I put first things first.

*I think we all have to find out what works best for us. I'm not endorsing this reading schedule as the "right way" or the "best way" for anyone but myself. The important thing is that we're moving forward, coming to Christ, and trying to be a little better each day.