For My Mom

Remember this?

Matching!

And what post would be complete without a picture of Maggie?

Maggie loves to sit in the baby bouncer and rock her bunny. She switches the vibrator on and has her very own massage chair!

She is also quite the little mommy changing diapers and such.


Sisters!!!

The Start of Something New

No, it's not High School Musical 12. It's my baby growing up.

This was about as discreet as I could get while still giving you enough to get the picture, so to speak.

Don't get too excited. She's not potty-trained yet. But about two weeks ago she started asking to sit on the potty. Who was I to tell her, "I'm too busy to potty train you right now." Besides I had heard it takes a while for many kids to warm up to the idea. So, we got her a little training potty-seat and she has been doing very well. I'm not pushing it, because frankly I'm not in any hurry to toilet-train her unless she really wants to, but I'll ask her if she needs to go periodically and she tells me sometimes when she needs to go. And she really does go when I put her on. So that's something. Last Friday, she kept her diaper dry almost the whole day and told me every time she had to go. And she really has gone at least one-to-two times a day the past week-and-a-half. So now I'm wondering if maybe I should just go ahead and toilet-train her. I don't want to discourage her for goodness sake. Any ideas? I've never done this before. Jenn, maybe you need to give me a brief synopsis of your potty boot camp methods.

Anyway, at very least it's nice to see she's taking an interest.

Did I Mention?

I love my life. I really do.

As a six-year-old I got a baby doll for Christmas. I carried it and a fully loaded diaper bag every where we went for at least the next year.

When I was in my mid-teens I would always look at the young families at church and dream of the day I was in their shoes. That's not to say I didn't enjoy being a teenager...I did. But I also hated it. You know how it goes. Always looking forward to the next step.

In college, my favorite class was one I took my freshman year called Parenting and Child Guidance that I had to take as a prerequisite for the Early Childhood program. I cried more in that class than in any other simply because I saw what a beautiful opportunity parenting could be, especially with the principles of the restored gospel. I just couldn't wait.

Now, I am a young mother myself. I have two small babies, ages one and none. I have a wonderful husband who is so good and patient with me and who is a better father and provider than I ever imagined he'd be (and I thought he'd be a good one). I have a little house in a small town and am loving making it my own. And I have a lot of love. It's not perfect. Anyone who knows me well knows I have a wish list a mile long; probably at the top of it is wishing my family was nearer. But it's better than I ever anticipated. You might say my dreams are coming true, day by day, moment by moment.

That's not to say I don't have any nightmares. If you saw me yesterday looking frazzled as I loaded my two small children, carseats, sixty-odd fresh-baked crescent rolls, diaper bag, music, and table activity in my dear neighbor's car for a church activity I was both helping to orchestrate and performing at, while my husband was at an evening meeting for work with our only car, you'd probably wonder if I wasn't in over my head. And maybe I am. But most of the time, I don't think so.

By the way, the Relief Society Anniversary Celebration (Relief Society is our women's organization in my church) I was helping with went well and my performance was I hope decent. I sang a solo version of this song, "May I Serve Thee," which I really think is beautiful. And thank goodness for my amazing friend Sarah that played for me last minute. The biggest disappointment of the night was I realized I never got to put on any make-up. (I don't usually put on much, but mascara is to me what lipstick was to my wonderful Grandma Mayse.) So I put on some mascara before bed. I felt a tiny bit better.

I spent some time earlier today browsing this blog that I saw recommended by a friend. It made me really reflect throughout the day on things I have learned (and am still learning) since being married and becoming a parent and also think more about things I am still figuring out. (A post or posts on what some of these lessons are is forthcoming, if anyone cares, but this post was getting ridiculously long.)

I then proceeded to waste my precious children's nap time, when I could have been productive or gotten a much desired nap, continuing to browse the internet and getting excited about all kinds of do it yourself projects to beautify my home. It a recent hobby (read: obsession).

Then tonight I was rocking my sweet baby Maggie before I put her to bed. (I can still call her baby, right? She's not two yet.) I was singing her songs and after each she would say "moh?" (more) in her sweet little voice. And I was just thinking how wonderful life is. I LOVE being a wife and mother. There is nothing better than this. I'm learning and growing so much, though I sometimes don't feel like it. I just wish time would slow down. My little girls are growing too fast and I want to enjoy every minute.

And as an added bonus to a happy day, tonight as Mike and I were enjoying a fifteen minute date of planting flowers in my new flower pots (that are so cute by the way), we found the keys I have been looking for the past week. And finding my keys was actually an item on my to-do list today. Mission accomplished.

If any of you are wondering, the keys were in this little pocket bag I keep seed packets in that happened to be hanging on the door to the garage. Definitely a Maggie-doing.

Then and Now

Last fall Maggie helped plant some bulbs.

Here is what she has to show for it after last night's snowstorm.

Three Months

Our little Kate has now made it through three months of eating, sleeping, and being adored. To celebrate her special day, we let her take her first bath with Maggie, which thrilled Maggie and put me in a precarious position for several minutes, hanging over the tub while we washed up Kate. I think we'll wait another few months to make joint baths a regular occurrence.

Kate's little personality is definitely emerging these days. She has a winning smile which she has been sharing more and more and really talks and coos a lot at us. She loves to start little conversations these days. Her favorite word is "aaaah." (It's really sweet to see Maggie coo back at her. They will "talk" back and forth for quite a while.) Kate also graced us with her first giggles this month, so we are looking forward to hearing more of those soon.

Kate is now fine with baths, not particularly fond of tummy time (after about five minutes, she has had it), and still loves eating and sleeping. She spends a lot of time clasping her hands together and studying her hands and feet. She also occassionally enjoys sucking on her fist. She is getting more active and sometimes moves around by scooching herself with her feet while she is on her back. (Sadly, this has resulted in her bumping her head on the baseboard if I leave her on the changing pad while I wash my hands...and inevitably get distracted helping Maggie with something.) She really can see me across the room now and loves following me around with her little eyes. She especially loves to "follow" Mike around when he comes home for lunch and will give him huge smiles across the kitchen. It's really sweet. We love our smiley girl!

Designer Babies

Some fun with our resident baby models, image settings, and point-and-shoot.

It Might As Well Be Spring

The sunshine has returned to the park and so has Maggie.

New Wheels

We took our maiden voyage in this baby a few weeks ago, when it was finally warming up a bit. I found it used on craigslist.com back in the fall and have been excited ever since to try it out with the girls. They and I both love it. I've taken it both running and walking and it works well for both. (Though, those hills feel a lot steeper while pushing this thing.) And the good news is, I can even get it in the door at the library so I don't have to chain it to the bike rack. Does it get better than this? I just love strollers. To me, it is just as easy, if not easier, to strap the kids into the stroller as it is to put them in the car. Albeit, the car can go much faster and farther. It definitely has its place. :) (And yes, I know I'm crazy to take my girls out in thirty-degree weather, but I bundle them up really well. In the picture above, Maggie had taken off her mittens when we pulled in the garage.) Besides, they end many of our excursions like so...

Surely this is a sign that they are comfortable.

The sun has been out, we're expecting some weather in the 50's this week and strawberries were $1.88 at the grocery store last Friday. Thank you Winter for the fun times, but we are ready to say, "Hello Spring!"