Dusty+Mary Anne

Rub a dub dub...

2012-01-26T06:29:00.002+01:00

...my three kids in the tub! This is the one and only time I have attempted this so far in the three months that Emmett has been with us. The bathroom turns into a bit of a "splash zone" with the older two, and truth be told, bathing newborns is not my favorite activity (they're so little and slippery and have no control of their body movements). So putting it all together really wasn't appealing to me at all. But we decided to give it a go, and it actually went really well. Sadie took on the complete responsibility of making Emmett clean and happy, a task for which she received an A+.

That's an empty bottle Canon has in his mouth...not that drinking bathwater is really allowed in this house, but better than you thinking I let my children drink soap.

That's a subtly happy face Emmett is wearing. He was gazing at Sadie as she poured water on him.

Whoa! A little close to the face.

And that's exactly what I told her not to do...but Emmett actually didn't tell us he minded too much.

Sadie is washing his feet here. Poor Emmett is probably wondering how hard his sister is going to pull on his leg.

What is it that is so tempting about bathwater?

Until the next bath...

Photograhpy Giveaway!

2012-01-26T06:05:00.005+01:00

Listen up people! If you live in Arizona and would be willing to travel to (or already live in) the Gila Valley area...I have some exciting news for you. One of my besties (a.k.a. favorite people ever) Erin Householder is having a photography giveaway. She is incredibly talented...trust me when I say you want this girl to snap your picture. She has a Facebook page up, and here's what she listed on her page:

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!! The winner of this giveaway will receive a 1 hour mini session and 10-15 images on cd, with print release, provided by Erin Householder Photography. (A $125 value). Winner must live in, or be willing to travel to, the Gila Valley, Arizona. The photo session must be scheduled before August 1st, 2012.

To enter, please follow these steps:
1. You must 'Like' the Erin Householder Photography facebook page.
2. Leave me a comment on THIS POST. That's it!
3. Keep reading to learn how to get extra entries.

For Extra Entries:
1. Share this link with your facebook friends by clicking on the 'share' button below this post, and then LEAVE ME A COMMENT ON THIS POST letting me know that you shared the link. If you don't leave a comment, it doesn't count. You can share as many times as you wish, but you only get one extra entry for sharing the first time.

2. Blog about this giveaway and then LEAVE ME A COMMENT ON THIS POST letting me know that you blogged about it. Again, if you don't leave a comment, it doesn't count. Bloggers, in your comment please provide the link to your blog post.

*Leave one seperate comment for each additional entry (up to 3 entries total).

The winner will be chosen on Monday, January 30th. GOOD LUCK!!!

Go find her! Click on this link to get to her FB page: Erin Householder Photography FB Page

Dancing Queen

2012-01-25T06:42:00.000+01:00

Sadie started a tap/ballet dance class a few weeks ago. I'd call this her first official "class" of some sort. We did that mommy and me gymnastics back in Germany, but this just feels more real. And ever since we bought her a leotard and skirt, it has felt more real than ever. I swear, you put a little girl in these clothes and she becomes an instant dancer.

Her class is on Wednesday, and on Tuesday night I told her that she had dance the next day. First thing she did when she woke up was get on her entire dance outfit and all the things I needed to to her hair.

Love those "noisy shoes." That's what her teacher Miss Polly called them.

She also has this wand that makes the perfect dance partner. Silly girl.

Just beaming.

I didn't take any pictures in the actual studio because I wasn't sure if it was allowed, plus sometimes I feel dumb busting out the giant camera in new public settings. So we took some of her dancing in the living room.

Props are always nice...Sadie loves this umbrella.

She has only had two classes, but she already improved so much from week one to week two. Don't get me wrong, she is often the student being told to stay in her spot (Sadie has been called a "free spirit" more than once in her life...), but she's getting the hang of it and following a lot more of the dance moves and warm ups. It is hilarious to watch and I cannot wait for Dusty to come to her class while he is here visiting. He is going to melt.

Eight is Great

2012-01-24T07:28:00.001+01:00

My nephew Luke turned eight in December and was baptized the first weekend of January. I don't always get to be baptisms, so it was nice to be close enough to attend his. It was a wonderful day. I saw Luke in a whole different light that day. He was shining in his little white jumpsuit. I felt so lucky to be there.

Afterward we got a picture of all my family that was there. Holy moly I love these people. Luke is the handsome boy front and center by his wonderful mom.

It is days like this that I am so glad we came back to the States for a little while. We love (and miss!) Germany, but there's just nothing like good quality family time.

iPod Flashback

2012-01-24T07:21:00.002+01:00

Here are some iPod moments from November until today. The iPod has helped us stay connected as a family more than I ever thought it would. How convenient to take a picture (or video) of anything and everything and immediately send it to daddy. Seriously, best pre-deployment purchase. It makes me feel better that he is up to date on some of the crazy happenings around here.

This picture is soooo oooold, but it was a funny little position that Emmett fell asleep in and I wanted Dusty to see it, too.

This is from when we were staying at my sister's house for two weeks while her and her husband went to Germany for a vacation (that they planned/bought plane tickets for before I even knew I was pregnant. Sad that I was gone while they went!). One day Sadie and Canon were cuddling on the bed (can you say "rare"?) and it was too sweet to pass up on the photo op.

Emmett "helping" me make dinner one night. I know a picture of a baby sleeping probably isn't anything astounding, but Emmett didn't do a whole lot of sleeping for the first couple months of his life, and when he napped, it needed to be documented!

Canon and Sadie has a blast riding bikes outside every day with their cousins. We even went to a bike rodeo at the elementary school and the older kids got new helmets, so Canon inherited Brock's old one. He was in heaven and wore that thing everywhere!

See what I mean? They even needed their helmets to watch TV. How special.

Oh and you better believe that Sadie needed hers to make a Nutella sandwich. That is dangerous business.

Probably hard to see in the poor quality photo, but this is Emmett's first "major" owie, inflicted by his older brother. Two big red bumps on his forehead. Damage was done by the blunt force of Lightning McQueen race car wheels.

Canon and cousin Mayley helping get the foundation ready for a new shed in Grammy and Grandpa's backyard.

A ginormous cement truck came to pour the foundation...I can't believe it got back into the little corner where the shed was being built.

Sadie and I made lots of paper snow flakes to send to daddy for decorating his room. Then Sadie decorated every door in the house. This is her door.

Canon sat on Santa's lap at the ward (church) Christmas breakfast. Sadie said "she already did" (at the other party she and I went to), and refused to sit on this Santa.

Emmett fell asleep like this on Grammy's lap. Out cold.

Jumping in leaves and eating popsicles. With cousins. Good times.

Sweet boy, sleeping on my lap.

This is the first really recognizable picture Sadie has drawn of a person. It isn't the first time attempt, but the first time it has been a head to toe drawing. She drew this on one side of the paper:

And this on the other side. She said one was her and one was Canon, and then later told me they were both just Canon. She has also drawn me with a little Emmett down in the corner. That girl...makes me so proud.

Eating cheerios together on the couch.

Canon got into mommy's mascara. Not a good look for him.

It was even in his mouth...

Canon has been so sick lately, but is finally feeling better. One day not even a popsicle or a doughnut could make him happy. That's serious.

Sadie love Love LOVES to help Grandpa "work" outside. She is one dedicated assistant, picking up every single twig off the ground and putting it into the wheelbarrow. And she must put on her work hat before going outside. Just like Grandpa. One day she planted several rocks in the garden next to Grandpa's garlic.

After working so hard, Grandpa thought she earned a wheelbarrow ride.

Remember how Canon hasn't been feeling well? It turns out he got Fifth Disease, which sounds terrible, but mostly it's a virus that causes a fever, this lacy looking rash along with flaming red cheeks, plus other cold-like symptoms. Here you can see the rash on his arm, but his cheeks were no longer red.

And that's part of our life as seen through the iPod. There are also probably a hundred videos to go along with this, but it would take at least a year to upload them all. No thanks.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

2012-01-24T06:43:00.002+01:00

Blast off! Dusty's family has a tradition to shoot off rockets each Christmas. This year Sadie was old enough to understand what was going on. She was right in the action and wanted to push the launch button every time.

She also had fun running after/trying to catch the falling rockets, even if she was going the wrong way most of the time. She is the teeny girl in the pink shirt, and Canon is on the far right of this picture.

Getting things all set up

Sadie was given a teeny tiny yellow rocket to have as "her very own." Grammy helped her stuff the parachute inside before it's launching debut.

So proud. So bright outside. So grown out of that shirt. Hello belly.

Love this tradition and will keep it going in our own family...as long as Dusty is around to help build the rockets. That is totally the boys job.

Talent Show

2012-01-24T06:43:00.001+01:00

We had a little talent show with the cousins on Dusty's side while they were all down. It started out with Grammy giving the rundown on talent show etiquette. Like watching quietly when someone else is doing their talent, waiting patiently for your turn, and cheering everyone on.

Uncle Woody is always trying to give the babies sweet snacks before they are old enough. This was the closest that Swedish Fish made it to Emmett's mouth. Hilarious.

Sadie and Canon both did a little jumping on the trampoline for their talent. Sadie did a "bum to feet" bounce and Canon just bounced. His face in this picture was too funny.

I was so happy I this moment I caught with Grandpa Dave laughing and Canon looking at him with his little smirk.

This is everyone who was there for Christmas (minus Wes and Brittney). Two of my three kids are being hung upside down because they were not listening when asked to come for the group photo. *Tsk tsk.*

That's a pretty talented bunch :)

Merry Christmas?

2012-01-21T21:34:00.002+01:00

*Deep breath*

Okay, I guess I'll write about Christmas. Looking back I have to laugh at myself and how the morning went. It certainly wasn't how I pictured it.

I was so excited for Christmas morning to come. Santa was bringing Sadie the toy cat she had been asking for and talking about for weeks. It was going to be magical. And I was going to catch it all on video. This is what actually happened:

Looking at that now, it wasn't even bad. But that day, I turned off the video, went into my room, and bawled. Oh boy did I ever. How embarrassing is that to admit? I really don't cry that often, but there were several things leading up to this point that set me on emotional edge. I think at the moment it felt like a culmination of all my insecurities and failures as a mother. Hey, guess what? You can't even make your kids happy on Christmas! Take that.

That's a hard pill to swallow when you're *temporarily* managing the parenting department alone.

To be fair, we had woken Sadie up because she was sleeping in and everyone was waiting. No one likes to be woken up. Then, she walked into the room and there were several people telling her what Santa brought and to go look. Sadie lives in a world where she likes things to be "just so," and if one think goes off kilter, she let's you know about it. I think if she had discovered it more on her own or with less attention it would have been better.

Luckily, while I was being a baby in my room and missing everything (I didn't want to be seen like that!), my brother-in-law Rob took some other videos of Sadie opening up her stocking. If it weren't for him and my sister, I wouldn't wouldn't have many memories of this day. THANK YOU for being there for me.

Eventually I pulled it together and joined the party. I got to help Emmett open up all his presents. And my puffy sad face? It's just the reality of it folks.

Here Sadie has a penguin pillow pet that was definitely not hers. Hurry and put the wrapping paper back on!

One of Canon's stocking stuffers...

Sadie wanted to help everyone open their presents.

Daddy sent us traditional clothes and jewelry from Afghanistan. Here is Canon in a hat and vest. He looks thrilled, doesn't he?

This was supposed to be for Sadie. It's a scarf, but I decided to 1) steal it from Sadie, and 2) wear it like this.

I gave my dad a tied fleece blanket for Christmas. The material is something my mother-in-law found at a grocery store in Utah. I was so grateful that she let me have it. My dad is a scouter to his very core, and I couldn't wait for him to open it.

I think he liked it?

Sadie modeling her new Tinkerbell watch.

We had two Christmas dinners that day! One with Dusty's family and one with mine. Canon cannot eat enough of my mom's rolls. I like his "poke it with a fork" technique.

Eat that roll, Canon.

The family and our awesome prime rib dinner.

Emmett and Olivia (my sister Kirsten's daughter) got acquainted over Christmas as well. We even got a picture of the two of them smiling. They are exactly two weeks apart.

Love you Emmett!

Despite the morning setbacks, it really was a Merry Christmas. We got to Skype with Dusty (a special treat), we attended a beautiful church meeting, and we were surrounded by people who love us. So blessed.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-19T21:56:00.003+01:00

O Christmas Eve, O Christmas Eve...you happened oh so long ago.

But we still need to document it.

Here's the rundown: We did the traditional Christmas caroling with Dusty's family on a HUGE trailer (complete with hay bales), I tried desperately to get a screaming Emmett to nurse (when all else fails...) while singing "Jingle Bells" repeatedly, we came back to Grammy's and the kids got new pajamas, and we tried to get a nice picture in front of the Christmas tree. We didn't have time for acting out the nativity. I didn't get pictures of much more than the pajamas. Hard to take pictures while nursing a screaming baby in the freezing cold while driving down the road on an open trailer filled with hay bales and singing Christmas carols. Follow?

Here are the pajamas:

Need a little CPR Emmett?

Happy boy

A little story:
My sister bought this material to make pants for her boys. She had some leftover and oh so kindly cut out pants for Sadie and Canon. I just had to sew. She didn't have a pattern for Emmett's size, but she gave me her leftover scraps and I tried to piece them together and create a pattern using some other homemade pants that Auntie Ashely made for Emmett. A few bad cuts later, and...
Emmett had "skinny" pajamas. I think it's hard to tell in the picture. But oh my. They looked like they were made for a Barbie. Poor kid. They hardly came up over his diaper. Good thing his legs aren't chubby.

Sadie wasn't cooperating, so we got a few shots of Canon holding Emmett in front of the tree.

Canon is totally in love with his little brother.

Awww.

This is so my children. Canon poking Emmett's eye. Emmett being a good sport. Sadie brushing her teeth and refusing to give up the toothbrush. I love these kids.

I could not even explain to you what Auntie Ashely was doing to make them smile like this. But it worked!

By the time we got home and tried taking a picture of mine and my sister's kids in front of our parent's tree, it was way past everyone's bedtime. And...well...it showed.

There they are! Canon, Trevor, Ashlee and Olivia, Brynlee and Emmett, Landon and Sadie.
Do you see that green sippy cup Sadie is holding in front of her sad face? It's gone. Yep. Goner.

I've known I needed to break her habit for quite some time (she basically used it as a pacifier...sucking on it even when she wasn't drinking, refusing to use a big girl cup at dinner, etc.), but I just kept putting it off. Then one night while getting ready for bed, Sadie made a series of bad choices, which included kicking her mother several times. Not like in the shin, I'm talking she was laying on her back, me in front of her, and she full forced her foot into my throat. Owie. In my frustration I banished the cup from existence. I told Sadie I threw it in the trash, and she went to look for it. It wasn't there (it was still in the fridge), and she asked me where it was. I told her maybe the sippy cup fairy had come and taken it because she knew Sadie was a big girl and didn't need it. She went off crying to Grandma, "The fairy took my green sippy cup! Where did she put it?" I felt pretty awful for lying, so I reminded her that it was gone because she kicked mommy. Surprisingly, it was rough for a few minutes and then she went to bed just fine. Actually, more than fine. She went to bed really happy! She asked for it a couple of times in the next few days, but we are now all about the big girl cups. And she honestly seems so much happier now. As if ditching the sippy made her grow up overnight. She quit throwing (as many) tantrums throughout the day. Bedtime routine is smoother. Dinner is more successful. She's eating better at every meal. Win-win-win-win situation.

And I have one less thing to remember to put in my diaper bag.

Hallelujah.

Rock Climbing

2012-01-08T16:55:00.006+01:00

While Dusty's family was here for Christmas we took advantage of Woody and Erin's rock climbing equipment (for all ages!), and went out for an adventure. Sadie was right where the action was as everything got set up. And although she had probably never heard the words "rock" and "climb" in the same sentence before this day, she told me "I'm a really good rock climber!" and couldn't wait for her turn. She has so much confidence. She will try anything.

After waiting for several cousins to go, it was finally Sadie's turn. Auntie Erin helped her get her harness on.

Looking at the rock face...contemplating how she is going to accomplish the grand task before her.

I think I said something like "Are you going to climb up that big wall?" Here she is telling me "It's not a wall! It's a rock!" Oh golly Sadie. Don't yell at your mother please.

Cousin Colton scaling the rock face.

Uncle Wes and Uncle Woody helped her get hooked up and helmeted.

Being around Dusty's brothers is the next best thing to being around Dusty. They are all such great, helpful, loving dads.

Here she goes! Woody hoisted her up, and within fifteen seconds she was...

...done.

(I cannot get enough of her face in this picture)

After all the time spent getting ready, it was a bit anticlimactic. But I was so proud of her for trying, even if it was harder than she probably thought it would be. I admire Sadie for her ability to look life in the face and try anything that comes her way. I wish I could be more like that!

P.S. I did rock climb, too. I wasn't awesome or anything, nor do I expect to be when I'm with Dusty's family. They are all so good at anything (and everything) they do! I'm convinced my purpose on earth is to make others feel better about themselves. But it was definitely fun and I hope it isn't the last time I get to do it. I know there is pictorial evidence, but it wasn't on my camera so I don't have it. I hope that doesn't make you too sad. Actually, the sight of me in a rock climbing harness may have done just that. So, you're welcome!

Gingerbread houses

2012-01-08T16:43:00.000+01:00

My mom is an expert gingerbread house maker. I'm pretty sure she even took a class on it. They always turn out beautifully, although I joke with her that the candy she uses (that Brach's brand of ribbons, Arabian Night's mix, etc.) is less than desirable when it comes to eating. This year she had several grandchildren coming over and decided to go the graham cracker route instead of making the gingerbread from scratch. And somehow we had all kinds of chocolate yummy candy to go on top. Basically, we broke all the traditional gingerbread house rules this year.

Canon took one look at the table full of candy and neeeeded to climb over to it. With as much time as Canon spent climbing all over the table, day and night, cousins Ashlee and Brynlee probably left thinking he was pretty crazy.

Here is Sadie with her "Arizona style" flat top house. Her first house had some structural issues so we decided to simplify the design.

Ashlee's creative juices were flowing...she made the cutest little Santa out of a gingerbread man.

Brynlee's house ended up with a garden of M&Ms on the side. Clever.

Kirsten's boys also made houses, and when they were all done my mom had the cutest idea to make a little gingerbread house village as the dining room table centerpiece. Even Sadie's house that looks like an earthquake rumbled under it got to be included. Fun fun.

Bedtime

2012-01-02T22:42:00.000+01:00

One night my dad was reading the kids a story, and I couldn't help but get out the camera. Not too many pictures of them together. They were reading "The Big Honey Hunt" by the Bernsteins. Love that book.

I think this is from a different night, but man Emmett sure can crane his neck back in his sleep. I don't even understand how that could be comfortable, but whatever keeps you sleeping is fine by me.

He was startled by the sound of the shutter release, and settled back down in this position. Oh Emmett. We love you.

Speaking of bedtime...I think it is past mine. Goodnight.

2011 and 2012

2012-01-01T22:03:00.001+01:00

I wonder if one day I'll send out Christmas cards. It's one of those things that isn't even on my to-do list. I don't usually even feel guilty about it. But when I sat down and thought about it, 2011 was a pretty big year for us! So since you won't be reading any sort of holiday letter written by us, here are some of the "top" moments of our year...

-Living in a hotel for five weeks
- Moving into our house in Germany
- Surprise! We're having a baby.
- Trying on our travel wings (The Netherlands, Poland, Paris, Venice and Verona, Switzerland, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and of course, Germany)
- Making new friends and visiting old friends who also live in Europe
- Dusty leaving for his year long deployment
- The BIG mold problem in the basement right when Dusty left
- My parents coming to visit us in Germany
- Me and the kids moving back to the States for a while
- Welcoming Emmett to the family

In 2012, we are looking forward to many more adventures. Some of which will include:
- R&R (Dusty's two week vacation)
- Moving back to Germany...YAY!
- Girls trip to Scotland/run a 10K while I'm there
- Welcome Dusty home for good...double YAY!
- Travel, travel, travel (maybe even go on our first cruise)
- Do a race with Dusty (I'm thinking a half marathon)
- Have family visit from the States
- Soak up a real German Christmas for the first time

Oh 2012...I think I'm ready for you. Let the good times keep on rolling.

New Year's Flowers and Sparklers

2012-01-01T17:15:00.003+01:00

I love this time of year. Most everyone does. On top of all the Christmas cheer, I get to fall in love with Dusty all over again. We went on our first date two days after Christmas, and on New Year's Eve we talked through the night and decided we needed to be together forever. What a crazy, amazing, inspired time in our lives. That was five years ago. Today I have these flowers he sent to remind me that it was the best decision I ever made.

Last night I took Sadie and Emmett with me to a party at a friend's house. Canon was being super tired and grouchy so he went to be early and stayed home with Grandma. Dusty called while we were at the party, and we got to think about how quickly his two week visit is coming up. Sadie had a blast playing with sparklers and celebrated the new year in her skeleton pajamas.

Hopefully I'll get to write a "2011 Review" or a "2012 Resolution" post here soon. For now, I'm going to be happy about the seven posts I just wrote and hope this isn't my new blogging style. Happy New Year!

It starts.

2011-12-31T07:17:00.001+01:00

Remember the post where Sadie played beauty shop with her ponies? Well, she decided to take it one step further tonight. And despite the evidence from the crime scene, this did not happen with a pair of tweezers.

The good news is that I've heard Mohawks are very "in" in the pony community. No wait, that's the zebra community.

I hate to break it to you Little Pony, but that will not be growing back. The good news is, Sadie will love you just the same.

"The Santa Party"

2011-12-30T07:17:00.000+01:00

One day I got to take Sadie on a mommy/daughter date to a Christmas party at a local golf course. They had fun crafts, free popcorn, pictures with Santa, and enough candy canes to make thousands of sticky little hands. It was a blast.

She put foam stickers on this wreath...

...and when I asked her to hold it up and show me, this is what she did:

She wrote a letter to Santa...

put it in an envelope (I helped her write Santa...)

...and stuck it in the giant mailbox to go to the north pole.

Santa rode in on a sled pulled by Huskies...but he was already off of it when I got a picture.

Sadie was excited to sit on Santa's lap until it was actually her turn. She still went, and told him what she wanted, but she was a bit shy about the whole process.

A story I want to remember...before we went to the party I was asking Sadie what she wanted Santa to bring her. She told me "A cat!" To which I replied "Like...a toy cat?" "No...a cat that says 'Meow.'" Oh boy...we are definitely not a cat family. I got slightly nervous but quickly came up with "Oh, Santa doesn't bring pets. Just toys." So I dodged that bullet, and Sadie was more than happy to ask Santa for a toy cat. When we were leaving the party, she stopped suddenly and said "Wait! Where's my toy cat?" So I explained that Santa still had to go to his workshop and make it, and that he would bring it on Christmas Eve. She was pretty excited about that, too. Whew.

Her Little Ponies

2011-12-30T07:13:00.000+01:00

If Sadie had to put her "essentials" in a top ten list, I think her My Little Ponies would rank up there around third place. She could play for hours and hours with them, making up imaginative scenes and stories with them. The other day, she decided to take them into the beauty salon for a fancy new "do."

I think each pony, on average, had 12 hair ties carefully place on her mane and tail.

Now that you're all dolled up, time for a photo shoot! I love how she's looking through the lens (which when you look through you see a scene from The 12 Dancing Princesses) and scooting that one pony in just the right place at the same time.

Looking to see if it turned out good...

"Say cheese!"

Lookin' good girls. Lookin' real good.

See the second pony from the left? She wins the prize for most bands on the same piece of hair.

She actually told me, "I'm working really hard!" Yes, I can see that my dear.

Work those little fingers.

Smiling...right on schedule.

2011-12-25T07:05:00.000+01:00

Emmett smiled at me for the first time when he was 6 weeks old. I finally got it on camera about a week later. At first he was most willing to give his smiles in the morning after he was fed, but now he smiles more and more throughout the day. He frequently gives a little "goo" along with it. And laughing is there occasionally, too. My favorite.

The angle on these is all wrong, and they aren't the best smiles he's ever given, but they're the ones I've got for now!

His curled little lip and half smile. Twinkle in his eye. Oh man I love him.

All smiled out. Whew.

Being a baby is hard work.

The Christmas Parade

2011-12-22T07:04:00.000+01:00

Growing up we always went to the city's Christmas parade, and this year I got to take our kids to it. Only difference is that they have it at night now instead of early in the morning. Since it's dark the floats are all decorated with Christmas lights. Kind of like a really really scaled down version of the light parade at Disneyland, but still a little bit magical.

We popped some popcorn to eat while we watched, bundled up in blankets. I think the fire engines were too loud for Sadie's liking. But she also does this when we flush the toilet in a public bathroom so apparently it doesn't take much.

Grammy and Canon watching intently

Emmett did great. I fed him right when we got there and then he slept the rest of the time.

Of course we got to see Santa!

Sadie got into the spirit of things and said "Merry Christmas!" to the people who passed by in the parade. It was a fun start to the holiday season.

Painting nails and tractor rides.

2011-12-21T07:00:00.002+01:00

Sadie always loves when her cousins come into town. This girl is all about "friends." And the last time Mayley and her family came for a visit, these two got right down to the girly stuff.

Painting fingernails...

Sadie's turn to do Mayley's toes...

Canon also got to play with Landon. He loves that boy and cannot help but give him several hugs when he's around.

Don't you think for a second that these girls stopped painting their nails. I think they did this for a good portion of the day.

Then, even though the air was bitter cold, we needed to get out of the house. So we bundled up the kids and Grammy took everyone on a "tractor ride."

Cute cousins

So happy.

That face.

2011-12-20T20:09:00.000+01:00

Canon is a man of many expressions. His looks can melt your heart, break your heart, and make you laugh all in the same minute. And while this is not the full spectrum of emotions he wears on his face, here is a sample:

Pensive

Delighted

Cocky

Confused

Curious

Pouty

And all this in a mere matter of minutes. I think being Canon would make me tired!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-20T19:06:00.001+01:00

I didn't take many pictures on Thanksgiving, which is really a shame because so much of my family was able to come down to my parents' house this year. It was the first time we've ever had Thanksgiving dinner at their house. We always traveled somewhere else growing up. And while most of the pictures I took that week were family pictures for some of my siblings, I did get some of the cousins playing on Thanksgiving day.

I can't believe I caught this moment...Sadie totally whacked Emily in the face as she threw those leaves. I zoomed in and sure enough, Sadie's little fingers are imprinted on Emily's cheek. Sorry Emily! Even funnier is that Andrew in the background seems to be reacting for Emily.

(Sidenote...Sadie did get dressed on Thanksgiving. This was earlier in the morning.)

After dinner the kids played outside a lot. Here are "the boys" (Brock, Kieran, and Canon) hanging out doing...boy stuff!

Too cool for school

This is from the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm throwing it here so I don't have to make a separate post for this solitary photo. Canon sure loves to sitting on Grandpa's riding lawnmower. And I love letting him think he's big.

Now that Thanksgiving has been posted, that means Christmas can officially arrive. *Squeal*

Why you shouldn't tell kids to say "cheese."

2011-12-13T07:11:00.002+01:00

Hey Sadie! Look at me. Look at me! Look! Say cheese!

"Cheeeeese!"

Case in point.

Three years, 18 months, and one week.

2011-12-11T20:35:00.000+01:00

Three years

18 months

One week

Wow. What more can I say? Oh, I'm sure I could think of something. We'll save my thoughts for another day.

Emmett...through the weeks.

2011-12-11T20:15:00.001+01:00

6 days old...

(this one just makes me laugh)

Hat made by a friend named Lizzie. Bought it from her Etsy shop.

Little hands.

Little feet.

These were a gift from my friend Jessica from our BYU ward. Handmade by her sister. Precious.

A sleepy smile after his first "photo shoot" was over.

3 1/2 weeks...

5 weeks...

Ooooh...bad dream.

I think I need to take more pictures of this boy!

Typical

2011-12-11T19:39:00.001+01:00

Sadie trying to be as close to Emmett as possible. Nutella on her face. Sippy cup in hand. Still in her pajamas. Emmett struggling with all the excitement. Probably fussy. Still in the clothes he wore the day before.

So typical.

from the iPod

2011-12-11T19:38:00.000+01:00

It seems that I take lots of photos on my iPod lately. It's nice because I can snap a shot of what's going on and immediately send it to Dusty in an email. A great way to keep him in the loop on the day to day things. But the don't end up on the blog because I forget to download them to the computer, and also the quality is usually sub par. But here are some of the pictures from the iPod we've taken over the last several weeks...

Emmett asleep on my lap

Emmett asleep in the very pink and brown bouncer chair

Sadie with her most prized possesion

Canon taking a ride with Grammy in the go cart

His face. Oh his face.

This is a picture of a picture, so it's even more crummy than the rest, but it's our first family picture of the five of us. Dusty is there on the computer Skyping with us the day after Emmett was born.

When I looked at this picture I tried to think of a caption. The first thing that came to mind was "spit fire sugar plum." You can decide what in the world that is supposed to mean.

little artist

2011-12-11T19:35:00.000+01:00

Sadie had fun decorating pumpkins with me, but she wasn't interested one little bit in carving them. She just wanted to make them all into pirates. So we made a couple pirate hats out of paper bags and painted them. They looked pretty bad, but she didn't notice. She was actually thrilled. And she insisted on coloring a face on them with a marker. So that's what I let her do.

She seems to be contemplating her next move...

Focus

She does pretty good work.

Is it me, or does that pumpkin on the right look like Jack Black?

Here are her three pirate pumpkins (we found one more hat in the costume box), and the one pumpkin I forced her to help me carve. She wanted all the pumpkins to have a pirate hat, but somehow I talked her out of it.

And I know I already posted one of these pictures from Halloween, but here is the rest of the Halloween night pictures...

Grandpa helping Canon get all costume-y.

And one with the lit up Jack-o-lanterns.

Monday Motivation

2011-12-05T15:30:00.005+01:00

It's crazy how a phone call can change everything.

Luckily, the phone call I had with my friend in Germany last week changed things for the better. The MUCH better, I'd say. Aside from just having a good long conversation with someone who is in a very similar family situation as myself, this friend has lost a lot of weight recently, and she also told me about a race in Scotland some ladies from church were going to do at the end of May. As we talked, I knew I HAD to do that race. And what do you know...I'm in. Yes!

Nothing motivates me more to lose weight than other people's success stories and RACES. Knowing someone else has done it, is doing it, and then having a personal goal to work toward (like a race)...it's money in the weight loss bank. And after that phone call, I'd say I'm officially back in the "motivated to lose weight" saddle again.

I have been heavy for most of my life. I played sports, but was always the big girl on the team. It wasn't until after I had babies that I finally got in shape. But I think I'm at a point where I think of the "in shape" me as the real me, and not the big girl who had little confidence in herself. So today I am revisiting my weight loss and races from the past, because at seven weeks postpartum, I need to be reminded that I have done it before, and I can do it again!

Training for my first triathlon after I had Sadie helped me lose 35 pounds. I credit Dusty to inspiring me to do races. I never would have tried to do one if he hadn't told me I could. Seriously, who would I be without that man?!

My first triathlon with my sister Kirsten (our husbands did it, too)

A couple weeks before my first triathlon, I ran my first 10K with my sister-in-law Ashley. For the first time in my life, I felt like a runner.

At seven weeks postpartum with Canon, I walked into my first spin class. What was I thinking? Who knows. But that is one of the best decisions I've made in my whole life. My teacher Cindy taught me more about myself and fitness than I ever expected. She will always be dear to my heart.

First 5K completed as a family...shortly after Dusty got home from Ranger School. This morning is such a happy memory! Frantically throwing our running clothes on because we slept in, bundling up the kids, Dusty grabbing the little camera and taking pictures of everything, finishing side by side, my best 5K time ever, pancakes after the race with our friend Doug...I hope those memories never fade. Dusty has always had visions of us doing races along with our grandchildren (and beating them :), but now I see the vision, too. Minus the beating our grandkids. I always want us to be an active family.

I trained for my first half marathon while Dusty was at Ranger School. This race helped me finish shedding 40 pounds in the six months after Canon was born. Bless my children for being well behaved in the jogging stroller and making it possible.

I was reminded this morning as I stepped on the scale that weight-loss has it's ups and downs. The numbers will inexplicably show something other than what you think you deserve. But you just have. To keep. Going. Let me also add that you can do it, too. Not only can you lose weight, but you can love exercising,. I used to think that people who liked to run were crazy, and people who said they liked to run must surely be lying. But I can honestly say that I learned to love running. I looked forward to my daily run. My weekly spin class. Not at first...it took who knows how many weeks to get to that point. But it came.

Let's keep each other motivated...tell me about how you've had success losing weight, or a goal you've achieved. I thrive on these things!

Six new posts...

2011-12-03T19:02:00.002+01:00

...so keep on scrolling.

I feel a Monday Motivation coming on this week.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-14T00:22:00.003+01:00

One day Grammy and Grandpa took us to a pumpkin patch in the area. It was a cute little place with a petting zoo, a tractor train ride, and of course...plenty of pumpkins for picking.

Every petting zoo should have a turtle or two. Makes the kids feel good since they can't run away.

Goats can run, though.

And this one is trying to nibble at Grammy's pants.

A duck pond...Sadie was counting them. With her middle finger. I have tried and tried to change that habit.

Hello little pony.

And that goat is trying to eat Sadie's skirt. Don't they feed you guys around here?

Train ride! We were all smiles at the beginning...

And half smiles/half tears at the end. It was a really bumpy ride. The stark contrast between their expressions is my favorite.

Pumpkins make everything better. I love the way Canon says "pun-kins."

So many to choose from

Grammy helped Sadie find the perfect one.

Mostly Sadie just wanted to carry her teeny one. All the others were "too heavy."

I don't know why Canon looks so worried, but I just love his face no matter what expression it's wearing.

Sadie and I found a good one.

Time to go home.

On top of the world.

Every fall needs a trip to a pumpkin patch. Thanks for taking us Grammy and Grandpa!

65 years young

2011-11-14T00:20:00.002+01:00

Back in October my dad became an official senior citizen :) My mom was gone to Utah helping my sister Kirsten who just had her baby (see a theme running through these last several posts?), so I tried to spoil him in her absence. Me and the kids took him some balloons at work, and then Dusty's parents watched the kids so I could take him out to dinner. When I asked him where he wanted to go eat, he surprisingly didn't say Golden Corral. I kid. We went to Outback and it was fabulous. We both came home stuffed, but somehow managed room for the Chocolate Mousse Crunch Cake I made. (click on the link if you want the recipe)

That's a lot of candles.

And that is a bonfire on a cake.

Dad has a sense of humor though...here he is warming his hands by the fire.

There he blows...

The aftermath actually didn't set off any smoke alarms. Maybe we should get those checked.

Love you dad!

Phoenix Children's Museum

2011-11-14T00:16:00.003+01:00

The same week of my grandma's funeral, my sister-in-law's grandpa passed away. She needed to fly to Utah, and I got to go stay with her two girls in Phoenix while she was gone. At the same time my mom also went up to help my brother and his wife who had just had their baby. One day we decided to meet up at the Phoenix Children's Museum. My sister Allyson also came with her little boy, Brock. Three, three year-olds, a two year-old, and a one year-old. Crazy, good, fun. It was so dark in the museum and I didn't have a flash on my camera so the pictures aren't fabulous, but the memories are!

Painting water on slabs of rock...

The "pool noodle" forest! Trying to keep track of them all in here was hilarious. We had one adult at the entrance and exit points, and one in the middle of the madness.

Ice cream stand! But please, please stop putting your mouth on those fake scoops of ice cream. Who knows how many before you have done the same.

Canon was pretty excited about it all.

Next was a place where you could "make" food, and also a grocery store.

Sadie did NOT want to share her cart with Canon. Canon didn't really care what Sadie wanted.

Time to check out!

She was so particular about how things went at the check out line. These pictures don't show it, but there was a tantrum or five thrown in the grocery store. Just trying to keep it real.

Uh, ma'am...I think you might need another cart.

There was a place in the grocery store where you could measure and weigh these split peas.

Then we went to the race tracks! Seriously, this place was never ending fun. We stayed here for a long time.

"I did it!"

So excited about life.

Canon liked climbing in and out of these crazy cars.

One room was dedicated to building forts. How awesome is that.

Then there was a "car wash" that you could ride little bikes through.

She seriously has such a zest for life, and I love it.

Brock was nice enough to give Canon a ride.

There was also an art studio, where Sadie and Lindsey tried their hand at painting the big castle. I wonder how many layers of paint are on that thing.

This contraption was fun. You stick the balls in, the air in the pipes pushes them through, and then they fly out of the hole at you. You can also change the direction of air flow to make the balls fly out of different holes. Pulling Sadie away from this to have a snack was no easy task. She would shove like five balls in all at once and laugh her head off when they flew out.

This was a HUGE maze built up into the air. It was made out of all kinds of different materials, with lots of stairs and tunnels and dead ends. I'm sure it was fun to watch this pregnant girl chasing four little kids through it. There were some tight spots, and once you got to the top, the only way out was to go back the way you came. Trickier than it might sound, but I seriously think they should consider installing a slide.

This was a larger scale version of the thing I wrote about earlier with the balls, except this one used little scarves. They would float down from up high and the kids tried to catch them.

We all laughed pretty hard when this happened...

Last was this PVC pipe/ping pong ball thing. The air coming from the pipes kept the balls afloat.

Naturally, they loved it.

After the museum we went to Yogurtland...hello yummy.

What a fun day with cousins. I wish we lived closer to all of them!

34 and 37

2011-11-14T00:13:00.004+01:00

I know this is old old news, but I these are the last belly pictures I got before I had Emmett...

34 weeks

And 37 weeks taken with my iPod. Lovely quality.

Not going to lie, pregnant bellies are cute, but I'm so glad I don't have one anymore. Now it's time to hit the ground running and get my old body back!

cousins...old and new

2011-11-14T00:12:00.002+01:00

While we were in Phoenix for the funeral, Sadie and Canon got to spend time with lots of cousins. Here is Sadie, Brock, Emily, and Andrew watching a movie and eating popcorn.

We also went to watch Luke's basketball game one day...

During half-time they let kids go out on the court and play. Sadie couldn't wait to be a part of the action.

But when you are three and they are seven...sometimes you don't get the ball as much as you want. Hence the sad face. And maybe she also needed to go potty?

On our way home we stopped to see David and Noel in the hospital with our newest nephew (and cousin) Jace. He is so stinking cute. See how Sadie is gazing at him? This made me so excited for our own baby to come.

My brother David with Jace.

And this is big brother Kieran with Jace and my mom. Kieran has more personality than three kids his age. He is a blast to be around. Just like his daddy.

We love cousins! And with four new babies born in my family in the space of ten weeks on my side, and two more on Dusty's side, there is all the more love to go around. One more still to come in February...I love when these babies come in groups!

Grandma Kerby's Funeral

2011-11-14T00:11:00.003+01:00

I guess it's time to play catch up. The computer in general, and the blog specifically, have not been near the top of the priority list lately...though it has frequently been on my mind. Especially every Monday. Remember Motivation Monday? Yeah, I have a faint memory of it, too.

In the meantime, I'm taking a trip back in time (which I know is ever so interesting to do in the blogosphere).

On September 15th we headed up to Phoenix for my Grandma Kerby's funeral. It was so wonderful to be around so much family. I've already written in a previous post about the funeral and the feelings I had there, so I'll just get to the pictures I took that day.

The 99 year old man there in the middle would be my grandpa. He still makes me laugh every time I see him. His memory is not what it used to be, but his sense of humor is.

My cousins and brothers were the pall bearers.

My mom, grandpa, and Aunt Debbie at the dedication of the grave site.

Grandma and grandpa's bishop said some wonderful words.

My mom and her sisters with grandpa.

Here is a picture of my immediate family...we are only missing my sister Kirsten. And boy did we did MISS her.

My dad and brother Tim helping grandpa to the car.

Our family (spouses and kids who were there included...which wasn't even close to all of them) with grandpa. I love this group of people.

Four generations...

Our Halloween

2011-11-10T16:34:00.002+01:00

I'm sure you're all dying to know what our children looked like on Halloween. Well wait no longer! We had two Little Einsteins, June and Leo. Sadie had high hopes that everyone in the household would make up the entire Little Einsteins team (including Grandpa as Rocket), but just her and Canon ended up representing. I thought they looked rather adorable myself. If only Canon would have left his whole costume on longer than the 1/60 of a second it took to take this picture...
And then there was Mr. Emmett who sported a little "I {heart} my mummy" onesie. That was costume enough for this "new and still trying to figure everything out" mommy of three.

We had a blast trick or treating. Sadie was the most excited thing on this side of the Mississippi. After every. Single. House. She would run back down to me and cheer "I got another one!" Once she added (with her index finger emphatically pointed in the air), "But I still need more." Ha. She was at the front of the pack, leading the way from house to house. It made it so much fun to watch her excitement. Canon...well I made him go up to the first two houses. I tried to get him to hold his bucket in his hand. I told him over and over that they would put candy in it. And then when I realized this was not even close to up his alley, I backed off and let him run around like a wild man. He is our track star. He will run and run (almost always in the direction opposite of where he should be going), and then run some more. I was so lucky to have my friend Marlee there chasing him around. He's not so good at following the "come here" command. Canon walked away with one Kit Kat and a handful of Pixie Stix. Sadie managed to fill her princess bucket nearly to the top. Emmett hung out in the Moby wrap and was happily sleeping until the very end when I was carrying Canon on my hip and he decided Emmett had been asleep long enough. I imagined Dusty and I laughing all night as the events unfolded. It is FUN when your kids start to "get it." Hooray for the holiday season!

Meeting Emmett

2011-10-29T21:52:00.004+02:00

hope I never forget the first time the kids saw Emmett. They stayed down at Dusty's parents' house the night he was born and came up the next morning. I was in heaven watching them interact with him.

Sadie putting her cheek against Emmett's to feel what heaven feels like.

Getting acquainted with Grammy Tammy

Canon's first peek...do you think he likes him?

Look at that face. Like she has the whole world in her hands.

Canon was so hilarious. At first he was so sweet, and then it was like he just wanted to wrestle this little brother. I think they will be good friends...once Emmett can defend himself.

So much glare coming from those windows. I'm sorry. In fact, the lighting (and my editing) is just awful on all of these! I blame my lack of sleep and haste to get them done for the crummy edits. You understand, right?

Cheeser!

Sadie looks out for Emmett. She seems pretty concerned about whatever it is Canon is doing. Oh, that would be him biting the new baby. All out of love, I'm sure.

See? So stinking sweet. He sat there like that for several seconds.

Listening to him cry...

Okay! I've had enough of this. As he pushed little buddy off his lap.

I just like this one. It was an absolutely crazy moment for Canon...and Sadie just beaming because she is near Emmett.

A little more crazy.

Grammy was sitting there holding Emmett and Canon just climbed up onto her lap and started jabbering to him. He was saying "baby," "soft," "kiss," and some other stuff. Too cute. And then he started playing peek-a-boo. I'll throw a video up so you can see it all.

"Let me tell you what it's like around here..."

Oh my goodness...Emmett's face.

"Sawff" (soft)

It is insane how huge your "baby" (a.k.a. Canon) looks next to an actual baby. A phenomenon I know any mother of more than one child has experienced. Everything from his feet to his diapers to his personality seemed to grow ten sizes.

And now for the video version of the past seven pictures:

And one last one of Emmett...

He definitely has his own look (when compared to his siblings), but he reminds me so much of Sadie, especially when he makes certain faces. I looked at some pictures of Canon as a newborn and had a hard time seeing any similarities! When I was pregnant I always just thought he'd look like Canon...you know, because he's a boy. Well, boy was I wrong. It will be fun to see him grow and change and come into his own.

(Car) Labor and (Home) Delivery

2011-10-20T22:47:00.000+02:00

So there I was. On a deserted island.

Okay, just kidding. I really don't know how to get started here. All I can say is, this is going to be a long one. So grab a snack. Or your speed reading glasses. However you like to tackle lengthy blog posts.

I guess I'll start back at last Wednesday (the 12th) when I was at my prenatal appointment. I had asked my (amazingly wonderful) midwife, Stephanie, if it would be alright for me to go to Phoenix that weekend. I was 37 weeks at the time, and would be almost 38 when I got back. She said it would be fine, just to keep up my water intake, eat my protein, and take a break in the middle of the drive to walk around and reduce swelling. We weren't worried about the baby coming...he was going to be a good boy and wait until Stephanie got back from a convention she was speaking at in Salt Lake City the next week. She would be gone the 18th to the 23rd. Plenty of time, even if I went a week early like I did with Canon. I wasn't due until November 1st. She also told me to call her for an over-the-phone prenatal appointment on Monday since she would be gone that week during our normal prenatal time.

So up to Phoenix I went for the weekend. We had a baby blessing, lots of family time, laughing, and good food, crafts and shopping with the girls, a backyard baseball game, and then before me and my mom came home on Monday we went and saw my grandpa. We left my grandpa's place at 4:40pm. Around 5:00 we were on the "dip road" that takes you the back way from Gilbert to I-10. The "dip road" is so named for it's several dips that make your tummy flip when you go over them just right. My mom hit a good one, and Sadie thought it was great. I kind of went "Oooh..." My mom jokingly said, "Maybe we shouldn't go over the dips, you might go into labor." Eyes rolling, I responded, "That isn't going to put me into labor." But that baby sure was doing something down there. And I was feeling it.

A few minutes later I started to recognize some light contractions. Just a week before this I had been having several Braxton Hicks contractions that Stephanie told me were probably due to dehydration. When your body gets used to drinking 3 quarts of water a day, sometimes even that isn't enough. So I told my mom that I was feeling some contractions, and we decided I probably just needed more water. I started drinking.

About 15 minutes passed, and I was still feeling them. I decided I should start timing them, more out of curiosity than anything. Just so I could know if they really were regular or not. Me and my mom were chatting, and she noticed me check my watch. "Are you timing them," she asked me. "Maybe..." And she started to be a little worried. I decided I should probably call Stephanie for that over-the-phone prenatal. I still wasn't sure I was in labor, but wanted to talk to Stephanie about it. She didn't answer, so I left a message. I didn't mention the contractions. I'm always so afraid of being "that girl" who cries labor at the sign of every Braxton Hicks.

Fifteen more minutes passed, and so did five more contractions. They were definitely coming every few minutes, lasting about a minute. I felt like I needed to call Stephanie back. She answered and asked how I was doing, and I told her I was having some contractions, but not sure if it was anything to be alarmed about. After talking through a few more, she told me to come straight home (I really needed to go potty after drinking a bunch of water), and for my mom to drive quickly. She also said she was really glad that I called when I did, because she and her husband were just grabbing a bite to eat, and then heading to Phoenix that night in time to fly out the next morning.

I called Dusty's mom to inform her that I was in labor and to ask if she could meet us at the house to take the kids for the night. Then I called my dad and asked him to get a few things together before we got home. My mom pretended that she was on the Autobahn in Germany, and got us back in great time. I was grateful, and decided that the car is not the most ideal place for laboring. My back was hurting pretty bad by the time we got home at 7:00, and my bladder could not have been more happy for some relief.

On the way home I was complaining to my mom that my hair was in a ponytail (and not a cute, stylish one), and that this wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Ha. So first things first, when we got home I asked her to bring in my suitcase so I could straighten my hair if I had time. She did, and I did, and I felt so much better about life after that (even though I got hot and sweaty during labor and threw it up in a pony again anyway...). Then we got everything else in order, we had plenty of time to take care of everything we needed to do before the baby came. Stephanie got there shortly after we did (and her assistant Misty came a little after that), and started helping me through contractions by applying pressure on my back. I was mostly kneeling by the bed through contractions, and must have hit the transition phase while down there because I felt like I was going to throw up. I didn't. Whew. I told Stephanie I didn't think I wanted to do this much longer. She said she didn't think I was going to have to. I felt like such a baby for even saying that out loud, but whatever. It was nice to hear that I was getting to the end.

When my knees started to hurt from kneeling for so long, I got up into bed and had a few more contractions laying on my back. I wasn't loving that position, so I went onto my side. As it turns out, it's just hard to be comfortable in any sort of position that late in labor. But on my side I remained until the very end. Stephanie checked me when I was complete (fully effaced and dilated), and asked me if I wanted her to break my water. I asked her what that would do, and when she said "It'll speed things up," you can bet I was all for it. During my next contraction she broke my water and immediately I felt like I needed to push. Oh happy day. I knew the end was coming. They coached me to push slowly, giving them time to work with the baby so I wouldn't tear. I almost didn't, but his shoulders were nice and broad, just like his daddy's were when he was born. And all of a sudden, two weeks early, Emmett Dustin was here and they put him up on my chest to get acquainted. Quite frankly, everything was perfect.

After I had a chance to nurse him, me and baby got to take an herb bath together. After the bath Emmett got a head to toe exam from Stephanie and Misty, and I just got to watch the whole thing and take a million pictures. Since we were at home, it was the first time that I was there for all of that (in the hospital, baby is whisked away and you don't see anything), and I loved it. In fact, Emmett and I were never separated after he was born. One of the many things I loved about a home birth. And here come a small sample of the million pictures...

I love these two women...

Listening to heart and lungs...

You always need a crying picture when they're brand new.

He got doctored up with all kinds of essential oils, and I love the way he smells from them. Here they are putting Myrrh on his umbilical cord.

Checking his leg movement

Getting his first diaper from Grandma

Sweet boy

Eyes open...

Hi, my name is Emmett and I look just like my daddy did when he was born. At least that's what they're telling me.

I just couldn't leave this one out

Getting weighed...love those little feet.

7 lbs 12 oz, 19 1/2 inches, born at 8:53pm on October 17, 2011

Out like a light

Stephanie, me, Emmett, and Misty. Cannot thank these women enough. They are an incredible team.

Couldn't have done this without my amazing mother! I am so glad that she was able to be a part of it all. She helped make this the best birth experience yet. I love you, Mom.

And truly, it was the best birth experience I've had. And unless I can do it again the same way, it will be one that is hard to match. Unless of course Dusty can be there. That would have been better :) But he was there. He was there every time I had a contraction that got a little more intense. He was comforting me as much as a husband can from the other side of the world. Because of a certain memory I have of Dusty, I had something to imagine, a place to go, where he was right by my side. And I knew I could do anything with him there.

And just like that I wasn't pregnant anymore, we were a family of five, and it was time for bed. What a surprise ending to my Monday. I had to get this shot before I turned out the light.

Goodnight little Emmett...

Welcome to this world. Welcome to our family. We hope you like it here.

Prague, Czech Republic

2011-10-13T22:00:00.004+02:00

So I kind of do and kind of don't have reasons for my little absence. But I haven't even started typing them and they're already boring me, so we'll just pick up where we left off, and hopefully be caught up before this baby comes. And at 37+ weeks, that's probably sooner than later, so I better get typing.

I have had a serious mental block toward this Prague post and I'm afraid it is going to show, which is sad because it really is one of my favorite cities I've seen thus far in Europe. The architecture is incredible, and you really don't even have to try and see beautiful things because they are just everywhere.

We started off in the famous "Old Town Square." Man my belly seems so little in retrospect. Well...you know what I mean. You should see it now. Whoa.

Old Town Square's center is home to the statue pictured below of religious reformer Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake in Constance for his beliefs.

There were several food vendors camped out in the Square. One of them was making Trdelnik (the Czech and the English don't exactly have similar views on the use of vowels), which is the same thing as the "chimney cake" I mentioned in Budapest. These ladies were making them hot off the coal burning grill, and for some reason we decided not to get one. I would curse myself later for this. You'll see why if you keep reading. Or be left in awful suspense if you don't.

We did buy some yummy Czech ham and a kielbasa sausage, although the man who I ordered it from was fairly rude. His English was hard for me to understand (bless him for even knowing it...), but he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder toward the tourists...the same tourists who kept him in business. Whatever. Just give me my food.

That's St. Nicholas Church there on the right, and you can catch a small glimpse of the crowd gathered around to see the Astronomical clock's hourly performance. It's a pretty big deal.

I have to say that I am not the most informed tourist. We knew the Astronomical Clock was in the square, but we couldn't see it. Time was quickly approaching 1:00 and we were going "Where is this clock!?" when we realized there was a HUGE crowd gathered across the way from where we were standing. Um, hello, that's probably it. So we ran over and got to see the little "Walk of the Apostles" show with moving figurines representing the Twelve Apostles, and also hear the little trumpet player do his thing in the top of the tower. Phew. We almost missed it! Here we are in front of the Astronomical Clock:

About to cross Charles Bridge...this picture is awful and I have no clue why it made the cut.

A statue of St. Charles...I think he was a "St." anyway.

A view of Prague Castle on the hill from the far side of the bridge.

My parents and the kids on the bridge, with the castle behind...

Okay, do I really have to keep narrating these?

A view down the Vltava River...

This is the Bridge Band and they were so fun to listen to and watch. Please look at the man with the washboard stomach...or rather the washboard on his stomach. He was so good. So into it. The singer was awesome, too.

Ah, yes. There's a good close-up.

And here's a short video, which doesn't do them justice whatsoever, but it's at least a taste. There was one point where each person had their own solo and I wish I would have got that on video. The washboard guy really kicked it up a notch for his solo.

Just a pretty view along the river...

I know, it's the same picture just with my cute parents added in. I couldn't pick.

This is the Lesser Town Bridge Tower, the official entrance into...wait for it...Lesser Town. It is on the other end of the Charles Bridge.

"Charles Bridge" in Czech.

A street view in Lesser Town as we made our way to the Prague Castle. The building at the end of the street is St. Nicholas Church...but not the same St. Nicholas church as in Old Town Square. That would just be silly.

We climbed up the hill to the castle, and this was the view from the top.

We tried to get a good picture of the view AND us, but it proved easier said than done. I'll take this instead. Sadie actually wanted nothing to do with sitting on the wall, and I was tickling her to make her happy.

The palace gates, complete with real guards.

My 50mm view of St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle.

We got lucky and stumbled upon a performance by the Prague Castle Guard Band. I was certain a king and queen were going to grace us with their presence with all the pomp and circumstance surrounding it, but no.

We just watched in awe and wonder...or in Sadie's case it appears to be confusion. She really did think it was neat. Promise.

We ended up buying "short tour" tickets to see some of the castle sights. With our ticket we got to go further into the cathedral than we would have without it.

I have yet to master taking pictures inside churches. Dark rooms, bright stained-glass, lots of detail to capture. It's tricky. And I don't know what any of these pictures are actually of, but I guess they seemed picture worthy to me.

Bummer. I hate when the royal crypt is closed because of technical reasons.

Another view of Prague from the Old Palace. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the Old Palace, but there was this lookout point along the way.

This is the backside of St. Vitus Cathedral.

This is St. George's Basilica, and the contrast of that storm cloud and the bright sun shining on the building (with a teeny bit of blue sky poking through) was pretty beautiful in person.

I just have to show what a difference a crowd can make as you are touring and trying to capture places in still photographs. The next two pictures are of Golden Lane at Prague Castle. It is an ancient street lined with 11 historic houses that once belonged to goldsmiths, but are now are filled with exhibits of different medieval trades. And overpriced souvenirs.

Anyhow, back to the demonstration...
Picture A:

Picture B (5 minutes later):

What did we learn today, class? Crowds are yucky.

Another view of the whole city as we were leaving the castle. I'd say it's pretty stunning.

So we're coming full circle with the Trdelnik/chimney cake story. As we were leaving the castle we ran into a smell that I couldn't pass by. First of all, I was hungry, and second of all it smelled like sweet cinnamon-y baked goodness. Bad (but good) combination. So we followed our noses and found another street vendor selling the Trdelnik. I waited and waited and waited in line. They were coming hot and fresh from the oven, but the only problem was that they were coming out one at a time. There were maybe two people in front of me, one who was buying two of these cakes, and by the time I realized how long it was going to take to get mine, I had already been standing there for 15 minutes and felt committed. I didn't time it, but I would not be surprised if it was 30 minutes of waiting before I got mine.

There he is, rolling MY Trdelnik it in sweet goodness. I can almost taste it...

...and then I did. Tasted it, that is. And guess what? It wasn't even cooked all the way through. Completely doughy in the middle. What was I even supposed to do at that point? I certainly wasn't waiting for a different one. So I took it back and asked for my money. Talk about the ultimate let down.

I bet the ones made by those ladies on the coal stove weren't doughy...

Yes, just another view. I couldn't stop myself from taking them there or posting them here.

Despite the Trdelnik tragedy (it deserves a name like that, right?), we were able to find a cute little cafe in Old Town Square to sit down and eat dinner. We all decided to get the daily special, which ended up being a three course meal of AMAZING. It started with an appetizer of a yummy tomato soup (no picture), then a delicious beef and chili goulash (the flavor was explosive) with fries...

And lastly, a simple but divine dessert of crepes with a raspberry filling. It had a price tag to match (actually, we decided you would probably pay a comparable amount if you got a three course meal at any chain restaurant in the States), but I think it ended up being the perfect ending to our day. We had fun, we weren't so rushed, we tasted the city, and then we waddled our full bellies back to the parking garage. It was lovely.

Going to Prague was a spur of the moment, what are we going to do tomorrow, do we go or do we not, type of decision...and looking back I can't believe it almost went unvisited. I think that would have been the real tragedy of my parent's vacation. I am so glad we went!

Vienna, Austria

2011-09-29T21:40:00.007+02:00

After we left Budapest, we drove to Vienna since it's practically on the way home. Once again, my time management was off and we ended up getting into our apartment later than planned. Exhausted (and looking back, I bet my parents were still a bit jet-lagged) and a little hungry, we walked down to a restaurant and got some dinner to take back to the apartment. It wasn't the most amazing food ever. Enough said about that.

The next day, we took Rick Steves' self-guided tour of the city. It was a pretty quick trip to Vienna, and there is probably so much more we could have seen and done, but I think it was enough for us (with the exception of the opera house...more on that later). Orignally we were going to make one more stop in Salzburg, but since things had been pushed back a day we decided to cut it out.

And now for the pictures along the self-guided tour...some with descriptions and others without. The Rick Steves' book that we used for the tour is in Germany, and I don't remember everything about everthing. I'll do my best. And probably use Wikipedia to help fill in some gaps. In other words, don't expect to learn a lot from this post.

The first stop was the famous opera house. Vienna is known for Mozart and classical music, and the opera house is definitely a huge part of that. They have concerts all the time, and I wish my parents could have gone to a show. My mom is a very musical person and I think she would have loved it. The next two pictures are just some close ups around the opera house.

Here we are in front of the opera house. When I looked at this picture the words "large and in charge" came straight to mind. That shirt + that skirt + that backpack = not a flattering outfit. Mental note made.

This is a picture of a billboard in front of Cafe Sacher (it was under construction)...which is world famous for their Sachertorte, a dry chocolate cake with apricot jam. We didn't try it.

The Albertina...a famous museum in Vienna.

Across from the Albertina is "The Monument Against War and Fascism." The picture below just is a small part of the momument, respresenting a Jew forced to wash anti-Nazi graffiti off a street with a toothbrush.

The Donnerbrunnen "Four Rivers" Fountain in Neuer Markt Square

Rick Steves' book mentioned a small place in Neuer Markt called Oberlaa Kurkonditorei (a place to buy sweets), so before we headed off on the rest of our tour we decided to get a little treat. We chose several of these cookies that were about the size of an Oreo, all different colors and flavors...chocolate, vanilla, orange, strawberry, lemon, pistachio, etc. They were soft but somehow had a hint of crunch to them. They were just good. Here's a picture from the internet because I forgot to take one.

Here is St. Stephen's Basilica. We decided not to go inside this time. This is going to sound awful, but sometimes going into another church just doesn't sound like what you want to do at the moment.

The Plague Monument

Some church with a cool green roof. How's that for a history lesson?

The Hofburg Palace. This was the last big stop on our self-guided tour.

A closer up view of the entrance to the palace.

Did I mention there were horse and carriages EVERYWHERE in Vienna? And they didn't stop for no one. Oh no. Stay out of their way unless you're curious what it feels like to be a pancake.

Statue of Habsburg Emperor Franz II in the main courtyard of the palace.

I believe this is referred to as the "New Palace."

On our way back to the car we stopped in the Burggarten to see this statue of Mozart. Love the flowers in the shape of the Trebel clef. Too clever.

Then we bought some Doeners (yummy sandwiches) for lunch from a street vendor, found the van and a potty, and headed for home! Combined with Budapest, it was a fast-paced trip, and I learned a thing or two from the experience. Luckily I would still have one more chance to take my parents out traveling, and I think we all really enjoyed Prague. Stay tuned.

Budapest, Hungary

2011-09-26T21:36:00.016+02:00

Has it been a year since we took this trip or what? It sure seems like it. So much has happened since then. But thinking back on it brings back lots of memories. I have to say that I did not give us enough time to visit Budapest. My original plan only included a day and a half of touring. I thought we could leave in the morning, drive for six hours, do a little bit of sightseeing that day, have the whole next day to finish seeing things, stay the night, then drive to our next destination in the morning. Wrong-O. First of all, I ended up having a doctor's appointment that morning, we got out of town way later than planned, and hit major construction and traffic jams along the way. We didn't end up checking into our apartment until 8 or 9 o'clock that night. Finding the apartment alone took way longer than it should have, but once we found it...wow. It was nice. I'd totally recommend it to anyone needing a place to stay in Budapest. But don't expect to see any pictures. Because I plain forgot to take any.

We made our plan of attack that night before hitting the sack. I wanted to have it all laid out because we only had one day to be there, and I didn't want my parents to be disappointed. We bought the "Hop On Hop Off" bus tour passes (which basically stops at several popular sights and you can get on and off the bus whenever you want) because we figured we'd be able to cover the most ground that way. Budapest is pretty big, and the sights are fairly spread out. Getting on and off the bus with the double stroller proved to be interesting (and comical) at times, but when is traveling with a double stroller not interesting (and comical)?

Small tangent...as we headed out for our adventure, we loaded into the elevator on the third floor. Doors close, I hit the button for level one, nothing happens. We were squeezed so tightly into that little elevator (what with a double wide stroller and all), and I started to think I was going to die. Probably only a couple of minutes passed, but I was sweating, having a hard time breathing, and trying to go to my happy place. Have you ever been stuck in an elevator? Let's just say if I wrote a song about "My Favorite Things," that would not be one of them.

Anyway, our apartment was smack in the middle of the downtown area, and really close to the first bus stop on the route. The first bus didn't come until 10:00 so we headed out on foot around 9:00 to see St. Stephen's Basilica (right down the road from the apartment) before starting the bus tour. It was beautifully magnificent. The next several pictures are of the basilica.

Front steps

Outside entryway

Inside was unreal.

Looking up into the large dome you see from the outside.

The basilica is named in honor of Stephen, the first king of Hungary. His mummified right hand (which is said to be incorruptible and is reffered to as the Holy Right Hand) is kept in a special chapel in the back of the basilica. This is a picture of it...it's sitting there inside that church-shaped holder on a little red pillow. It's hard to tell, but it's legit. Pretty crazy.

*Insert story that shows how awesome it is to travel with small children and a double stroller.* The stroller wouldn't fit inside the basilica doors, so my parents went in first and I was going to go when they came out. Of course the kids needed a snack because we had been gone from the apartment for 30 minutes and churches are really no fun for kids in the first place. I was squatting down behind the stroller, digging through the multitude of snacks in my backpack when all of a sudden Sadie got out of the stroller, came around behind it, grabbed the handle and proceeded to hang on it like a monkey. This led to the entire stroller tipping backwards (Canon still in it), landing on Sadie and leaving Canon nearly upside-down. Both kids start crying. People start looking. I'm sure they're all thinking I'm nuts for bringing my family there. It's all part of the fun.

After the basilica we walked down Andrassy Avenue. It's a famous street in Budapest and it dead ends into Hero's Square. There were a few bus stops along this street, but we ended up walking for a little while to see some of the sights along the way. We saw the opera house...

...and then we stopped and went inside The House of Terror, which is a museum that shows the awful effects of the Communist and Nazi occupations in Hungary. That poor country has been through a lot. The building itself is the former headquarters for the secret police of both the Nazi and Communist governments. It had a grim feeling throughout it, and if I did it again I would not take the kids with us. I asked the people who worked there if kids were allowed, and they said it was fine, but it would have been better to stay outside with them while my parents went in. There were no pictures allowed in the museum, but this is the outside of it.

Okay, so I was naughty and took one picture inside. It's just of my maiden name...which is Hungarian, and I couldn't help myself. It is the last name of one of the men involved in the museum's creation.

Here is my wonderful Sadie and me after our first "Hop On."

Sadie was obviously fascinated by all of the facts she was hearing through her headphones. And I was obviously not concerned that she had remnants of lunch on her face. I really like this picture of her.

The bus dropped us off at Hero's Square. The monument is dedicated "To the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom of our people and our national independence."

Behind Hero's Square is a huge park where you can find a zoo among other attractions. Unfortunately, since we were pressed for time we didn't get to venture much into the park, but we did stop and eat some lunch. This lake was the view from the little cafe where we ate. It had a bunch of random things floating out in the middle of it, including a little bench to sit on.

This was lunch. And it was yummy. My friend had told me we had to try "langos" which is a popular market/street food in Budapest. This was a little different than the langos she described to me, but it was still awesome. It was comparable to pizza on a thick, soft crust.

And that is me about to eat it.

I don't blame them for a second, but the kids were soooo tired and cranky. They were both running on very little sleep from the night before, and Canon hadn't had a nap yet that day. He is usually my smiley, happy boy, but he also needs his sleep! Plus they had been sitting in a stroller for most of the day up to that point. I tried to lift their spirits with ice cream bars after lunch...which worked...until they were gone.

Random statue in the lake by our table.

On the bus ride from Hero's Square to the Buda Castle District, they both finally fell asleep. Sweet babies. Can I still call Sadie that? Because I do.

A view over the Danube from the bus window...

When we got to the Castle District, our first question was "Where is the castle?" No, really. I asked a couple of girls who passed by us because we weren't sure what we were supposed to be seeing. I didn't see any structure that screamed "I'm the castle!" They said that the whole area was the castle...that part of it had been turned into a museum, and other parts were something else. But basically it was like "You're looking right at it." Then there was one section that looked like it must be ruins. But I don't really know. That would explain the picture below.

Here we are (well...here is my dad and the stroller) walking down the cobblestone toward the section of the castle that had been turned into the museum.

Along the way we found a lady who was selling "chimney cakes," a traditional Transylvanian treat. I thought we needed to try one.

Another view of the "castle turned museum."

And my parents in front of it...

Okay, my siblings are going to love me for this. My dad noticed this little set up along the side of the street. You could dress up like a king and queen and take a picture. When he pointed it out I gave as much encouragement as I knew how so that they would take advantage of the opportunity. How often does a chance like this come along? So, here are your king and queen of Budapest:

We came to a great lookout point on our way back to the bus. My parents helped each of the kids see the beautiful city sights.

That fancy building off to the left hand side is the Parliament building. We'll go there in a minute, but this gives a better view of the whole thing.

Here's a view of the famous Chain Bridge...

One for the husband...

Here is Grandma helping Canon with his headphones...

Another view of the city out the tour bus window as we drove by the Citadel.

Our next stop after the Citadel was the Parliament building. I think it was more impressive from afar, but that might just be because I couldn't get a great picture of it with my lens and how close we were to it. It's the world's third largest Parliament building.

A neat building across the street from the Parliament building.

A couple of views overlooking the Danube...

Everyone was a little beat by the end of the day. I think Sadie's hair says how we all felt inside.

I sat down on the curb while we waited for our last bus to come. Sadie laid her sweet little head in my lap. I wanted to remember that moment forever. I knew I felt (and probably looked) tired so I tried to put on an extra happy face for the picture...turns out I need some practice in that area.

I feel pretty bad that I ran us ragged. I wanted my parents to have a good time and see it all, but I'm not sure either aim was met to the fullest. I think they had a pretty good time and we did get to see a lot, but it could have been less rushed. I should have left us more time. The day I chose not to be a tour guide was a good day. Okay so that was never actually a concious decision, but I really wouldn't have made a good one.

Lesson learned #1: You need at least two full days to see Budapest and enjoy it all.
Lesson learned #2: Give yourself plenty of time to see the Great Market Hall. I ran in really quick on our way out of town to grab some "real" langos for me and my parents, and as soon as I walked in I wished I had my camera. It's basically a three story building full of vendors, and most of the stalls on the ground floor offer produce, meats, pastries, candies, and spices. The second floor is like a big food court with some souvenir stands (this is where the Lángos stand, which Rick Steves considers to be the best at the market, is located). The basement contains a supermarket, fish market, and pickles. I didn't even go into the basement due to the time crunch. My dad was driving "around the block" (which is easier said than done in Budapest...traffic and streets are crazy!) and would pick me up on his way back around, so I didn't have much time to peruse.

There were so many things we didn't get to see and do...which only means one thing. We have to go back! Darn.

Monday Motivation

2011-09-26T08:35:00.000+02:00

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important." -The Help

While I was up in Phoenix I was able to see the movie "The Help" with my mom, two sisters, and one sister-in-law. I read the book and loved it. Liked the movie, too. One thing I took away from both is that I need to speak positively to, and about, my children. What if I told them one thing everyday...something I really wanted them to know...and just said it during one of the quiet moments of the day? Would it be so engrained in their minds that they never forgot? And what would I choose to say? I think Aibileen (a main character from the book) was on the right track with that quote at the top. It covers a few different areas. Short and to the point. Easy to remember. I'm not sure it's exactly what I'd say, but I like it. And I love the idea of it.

This week I am committing to only say positive things about my children, whether while talking to them or about them to someone else. It's too easy to say "Man, Sadie sure knows how to throw a tantrum..." and I don't want her to hear it and think that's who she is. Because she is kind. She is smart. She is important. And I want her to believe in herself.

A weak mommy moment.

2011-09-24T21:00:00.001+02:00

Our TV used to be in the basement, but since the mold incident happened it just sits in the garage. So when the kids want to watch a show they have to sit on my bed and watch it on the mini portable DVD player. It actually works just fine. We don't have cable so it doesn't really matter. I have to say though, there's a pretty strict policy in our house that kids have to be dressed with breakfast in their bellies before I'll even think about turning on the TV. Who knows how they got away with it this time.

It kills me every time Canon puts his blanket up on his head. It usually means he's pretty tired. He loves that blanket...or scrap piece of fleece is probably a more accurate term.

Going back to weak moments, sometimes I think I have too many rules (mean mommy alert) and then other times I think I obvioulsy don't have enough rules (like when I can't get a certain someone to stay at the dinner table for more than a minute at a time). "They're just kids! Give them a break." "But they have to learn somehow...and it's up to you." The timeless battle between the angel on your right and the devil on your left. Who knows. Can I get an amen? Or do you all have this one figured out already? One day I'll get the balance between the two right. Until then, I'll just love them. That should work.

Primary Party

2011-09-24T20:01:00.002+02:00

A couple of weeks before we left, we had a Primary party to celebrate/kick-off our scripture reading program in our ward Primary. We encourage the kids to read five minutes a day. If they read every day (or make up for missed days by reading extra the next day), then at the end of the month they get a scripture hero collecter's card. Then after several months (it will just be twice in the year) they get a bigger reward if they've read consistently for several months. This time we had an ice cream party with a member of the bishopric. Since there were so many new kids we let everyone in the Primary come, and celebrated those who had been reading and re-introduced our program to the new kids.

One of the other counselors made those fun tissue paper flowers to hang up. I love them! Nadja did a great job. All the kids wanted to take one home afterward. We had to go with one per family.

I put dessert together, and got some cute ice cream parlor labels from this website. I really should have taken some close ups. Not that is was nearly as adorable at the set up they have on the site, but I'd recommend checking it out if you're having an ice cream party anytime soon.

I took a spin off of the big paper flowers hanging around the room and made the littler ones for the centerpieces...in the "Primary" colors of red, yellow, and blue. The kids got to draw with crayons on the tables as they came in. We've got some pretty darn good artists in Primary.

I miss these kids! But I don't miss that room that was probably 90+ degrees that hot, AC-less, summer night.

Sadie and Canon got to come by association. Sadie did really well at the activity and participated as though she was a Sunbeam. I can't believe she will be one next year. I can't wait to see how she acts in Primary.

I think the kids had a really good time and I hope they left not only on a sugar high but also on a spiritual note that left them with a desire to read their scriptures daily. I know it makes all the difference.

Wildgehege a.k.a. Feeding the Deer

2011-09-21T07:02:00.001+02:00

Taking a little trip back in time...I've still got a few posts left from Germany. This day we went to a place called Wildgehege in Plech with a couple friends. I'm learning that there are lots of fun little day trips around the area and I've just got to pick the brains of the ladies who have lived here a while to find where they all are. It's usually a little bit of a drive, but not bad. And feeding deer in the wild? Totally worth it. This place was great because the kids were free, adults paid a two Euro donation, and then you could buy a box of deer food for 50 Euro cents. Then you just walked around the trail in the pretty park and looked for hungry deer.

I actually didn't think Sadie would be too keen on having wild animals come up to her, but I was wrong. She showed absolutely no hesitation.

In fact, when the deer wouldn't come to her, she decided to take matters into her own hands...with her sidekick Abram.

"Here deery, deery, deery..."

Canon had been sitting in the stroller, but then I decided to let him loose. You never know what he'll do, and he's faster than I am nowadays. But he did really good and didn't run off.

I only took about a million pictures of it, but Sadie would hold this funny expression on her face the entire time the deer ate out of her hand.

I love this boy's smiles.

Then we came across a small play area along the trail and the kids got to climb around for a bit. Sadie and Abram worked hard on this giant spider web.

Canon tried with all his might to touch this owl's eyes.

There's that expression again...

That deer was still hungry and wanted Sadie's box.

It was pretty funny.

Ooop...there's that face again. I swear this is the last one...but it's my favorite of them all.

Canon's turn to get up close and personal with a deer...

You can see he's holding his little fistful of food just waiting for a deer to come and notice.

With a little assistance from Kaitlyn (she is so good with Canon), he finally got to feed a deer, too. We tried to put some on his head to see what would happen, but it fell off before any deer had a chance to eat it.

Look at that face. Who wouldn't want to eat out of that hand? Unfortunately deer don't understand human sympathies and didn't fall for it. The fact that his fist is closed, hiding the food inside, didn't help much either.

There were also wild pigs at the park, but those stayed behind the fence. That was alright by me.

After we walked through the park we ate our picnic lunches and tried to not get stung by any more bees. The bees (acutally I think they are yellow jackets...) in Germany are brave. I've never been around bees that would come right up and sting you. They were everywhere but luckily I was the only one in our family that left with a sting. Sadie has been stung on the playground before...the darn thing just came right up to her, landed on her leg (which she thought was pretty neat until...), and stung her. It kind of hurts!

Minus the bees, it was a great time for everyone. Next time we'll have to take daddy with us.

Monday Motivation

2011-09-19T05:00:00.001+02:00

So apparently when I get out of my routine, I really get out of my routine. I know the excuses are anything but important, but between the traveling, parents visiting, preparing my house to leave behind for several months (with loads of help from mom and dad), moving across the ocean, jet lag...oh the jet lag, a funeral for my grandmother, and the driving back and forth from Phoenix, I haven't been online, on my knees, in the scriptures, or brushing my children's teeth quite as much as usually am. And did I mention the jet lag? It made for an extra tired version of myself that, even when I tried to blog, gave up in the first five minutes when get my fingers couldn't type anything coherent.

However, I think we've almost adjusted, and I think we may even be sleeping in the same house all this week. Which feels almost as good as Christmas.

Quite honestly I hadn't been feeling able to motivate myself or others in the last little while. I guess getting way out of your routine will do that. And then I went to my grandma's funeral. It was a blessing in and of itself that I was able to go...I came in from Germany less than a week before it happened. I felt extremely blessed to be around so much family, and the funeral service left my mind provoked and desiring to be better. My grandparent's bishop said some words at the end of the service, and part of it was a poem. I'll admit when he said he was going to read a poem called "The Dash" I thought it might be cheesy. I was surprised by how much it touched me. Maybe some of you have heard it before...

The Dash
By Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth
And now only those who love her
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile…
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

The morning after the funeral, I opened up my scriptures to where my bookmark had stayed for more nights than necessary. Helaman Chapter 5. I started reading, and it didn't take long for my heart to feel full of gratitude for the words that had been waiting for me to read them. In verses six and seven, it reiterated many of the thoughts I had been having.

Helaman 5:6-7 (These are the words of Helaman to his sons Lehi and Nephi)
6. "...Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.

7. Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them."

I wasn't named after my grandma, but as I listened to her life story I was very impressed with the woman she was. I am part of her posterity, and I need to live up to her name. Between the funeral, the poem, and these couple of scriptures, I have felt a renewed desire to live a life of good works so when someone is telling my life story I won't have to cringe in heaven as they read it. Since it was my mom's mom who passed away, I thought a lot about me and my own mom, and how I need to be more kind to her. She, like her mother, does so much for her children. I know I don't show my appreciation enough. In fact, I know I can be downright awful sometimes. And she just keeps on loving me.

So, although there is always a twinge of sadness that accompanies loss, I am extremely grateful for the lessons I have been taught this week. I was in dire need of the reminder, and it came at just the right time. Thank you, Grandma.

"I'm free years old." Part Two.

2011-09-06T20:11:00.003+02:00

Quite honestly I can't remember very many details during the day for Sadie's birthday...I think we actually ran some last minute errands and finished cleaning the house for Grandma and Grandpa Kovacs' arrival. How exhilarating. But I do think we had some fun mixed in there, too. Then we ate an early dinner and loaded into the car to go pick up our visitors from the airport. We put together little welcome bags full of German treats to give them as they came off the plane. Sadie is carrying one here as we walked to the airport:

And here's a close-up of the other one.

It turned out that their flight from Amsterdam had been delayed for an hour, so we wandered around the airport for a while, went to the bathroom, and to kill a few more minutes we got ice cream. Canon and I shared a cone, and when it got to the bottom I gave it to him to hold and he dug his little spoon in there like a professional.

He almost ate it like a professional, as you can tell from the chocolate mustache.

The birthday girl and her "ba-ni-wa" ice cream.

Too cool with her spoon in her mouth.

Then we made our way over to the arrivals gate and waited anxiously. Sadie had Grandma's bag nice and ready.

And then they were here! Sadie ran up to deliver the goods.

My mom said she didn't even recognize me because I was wearing my glasses and my hair has gotten long. My camera was the giveaway. Ha.

Then we came home to have cake, open presents, and play with balloons. It was already very much past the kids' bedtime, but you only live once.

Canon sporting my dad's "Woodbadge" hat.

Do you think Sadie was excited to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat her caterpillar cake?

I think her face says it all.

Canon liked the birthday song, too.

Yeah, just a little bit happy that Grandma and Grandpa were there singing to her.

Blowing out the candles...it took a few tries. I cannot get her to stop doing an "f" sound when she blows.

Grandpa and Canon love being silly together.

Time for presents!

Grandma and Grandpa got Sadie a cute pink backpack full of things to take on our airplane ride back to the States.

The hardest part is making her wait to play with it all until the airplane ride! We let her pick one or two things to have before then.

Grammy Tammy and Grandpa Dave sent this musical princess book that has a special "CD" for each princess. You play certain songs as you read each princess' story. A big hit for sure!

Then she got to open a box from her friend Ethan who lives in Italy. Sadie and Ethan were both born while we were at BYU, just five days apart. It was so sweet of Ethan (and his mom Heather) to think of Sadie! Among other things, they sent a 60 piece, double sided, 3D Toy Story 3 puzzle (with 3D glasses included), and within a few days Sadie was doing it all by herself. Both sides. She easily spends at least an hour a day doing that puzzle over and over again.

All in all I think Sadie had a day full of excitement and fun. And she's THREE. Which is good because when we add another one it would just sound crazy to say we have a two-year-old, a one-year-old, and a newborn.

So, Happy Birthday Sadie! I can't imagine my life without you.

"I'm free years old." Part One.

2011-09-05T21:09:00.007+02:00

Sadie Mae! You are three. You were so excited for your birthday to come. You kept talking about being three years old, how Grandma and Grandpa Kovacs were coming on an airplane, and you would get to have your blue caterpillar cake and open presents. I'm sure you thought mom was putting it off forever just to torture you. I wasn't sure August 27th would ever get here either! But it did.

Guess what, Sadie? DADDY got to Skype with us on your birthday! What a special treat it was. It almost didn't work because the connection was bad, but miracle of miracles we got sound AND video. He needed to call early and I woke you up at 6:00 so you could talk to him. When I first woke you up you were pretty confused at what was going on, but as soon as I said daddy was on the computer to talk to us you woke right up and were so excited. He was so happy to see you. We even woke Canon up and it was the first time daddy got to see him since he left.

Mommy decorated the dining room with tissue paper flowers and balloons hanging from the ceiling. You wanted to play with them all day and I told you we could take them down after Grandma and Grandpa got there. You picked out a balloon for everyone and told me who was going to have what color. I blew up some other balloons for you and Canon to play with during the day, but they just weren't as interesting as those ones in the air.

I couldn't seem to keep you (or Canon) off of the table. Those decorations were just too tempting.

You are so silly

We made pancakes for breakfast and yours was shaped like the number three. Mommy struggled a bit, the pan was too hot, and it wasn't pretty, but you didn't care.

I let you open two presents at breakfast, but wanted to save some for when Grandma and Grandpa came. This one was from mommy and daddy...

A talking cash register! It even scans bar codes.

Aunty Kirsten sent you this June (from Little Einsteins) costume. Oh my goodness were you ever in love with it. Had to put it on right away.

Yes, it even came with a wig and headband. I cannot look at this picture and not smile.

Oh, of course we had to stand on the table to model it.

Showing off the shoes...

No really mom, did you see the shoes?

That's one happy little girl. We may just have to be June for Halloween this year.

More birthday fun to come!

Mommy and Me Gymnastics

2011-09-05T19:56:00.002+02:00

Warning: Lots of crummy quality pictures from my iPod ahead.

There. You can consider yourself warned.

That being said, the kids and I did a "Mommy and Me" gymnastics class on post. It was completely unstructured (meaning the kids didn't have to wait in lines and could basically run around and do whatever "station" they wanted to) which was perfect because I don't think Canon would have understood that concept. It was for ages 1-2 (Sadie would turn three shortly after the classes, and I was definitely the only mommy there with her two kids...let alone with another on the way. But it was fine since I didn't have to do any real one on one interaction during class. It was awesome.

They did somersaults...

Jumped/hopped over (or stepped on) these bars on the floor...

Pushed this circular mat around (it was to help learn how to do somersaults, but Canon had other plans for it)...

Sat and rocked on the rocking mat (it looked like a giant cheese wheel with a piece cut out)...

Walked on the balance beams (Sadie more than Canon)...

Played with the parachute...

Walked/crawled through tunnels...

Cautiously tried the higher balance beams...

Decided we liked the low beam better...

...and jumped on lots of springboards and mats.

Here's a plethora of videos that may be a little more interesting and a little higher quality:

This class made me excited for soccer games, dance classes, piano recitals, or whatever they end up doing as extra curricular activities. It's fun to cheer them on as they learn and grow and discover life.

Cool pool party...la la la la.

2011-09-04T20:26:00.000+02:00

Ten cool points if you get the song reference in my title. Sixteen cool points if you leave me a comment saying you know the reference. That's right. Cool points from me...now that's worth something.

Moving on. We went to a fun little pool with a few other ladies and their kids. I haven't taken the kids swimming at all this summer. That's pathetic. But I didn't want to take them by myself for the first time to a German pool (I had heard it was a little "different" over here and it made me nervous...call me Miss Unadventurous), and Dusty and I hadn't made a point to go together. Plus, summer wasn't even hot until this week in Germany! Just cold and rainy most days. I rarely had swimming on the brain. But the kids loved it and I'm glad we went.

Canon looks a little dazed, but he warmed up...

That's a little better, buddy.

There was a slide in the kiddie part of the pool that Sadie went down all day long. It was metal and very slick and fast, so she wanted me to catch her at first. Eventually I convinced her that she did not need my help, and she went down by herself the rest of the time we were there. She went under the water a couple of times when she landed, but was pretty good about popping herself back up.

Run, Canon, Run!

Here's a little better view of what the kiddie area looked like...but still not the whole thing.

Canon isn't a huge fan of slides, but he loves stairs. So he would climb up and not want to go down. But I made him do it anyway (holding him the entire time) and after a while he would say "Yay!" when he was done. He looks pretty skeptical here.

Canon doesn't own a swimsuit in his size, so he sported the swim diaper all day.

Sadie is trying to hold his hand and get him to go down with her. Not happening.

Fine then. Eat my (water) dust.

He preferred to play in the water at the top.

Both kids ended up with goose eggs/bruises on their foreheads by the time we left. Canon's is a little more noticeable (above his left eye)...

...and Sadie's was less so by the time we left. She hit her head on a big rock and it left an indentation that turned into a bump. It was right in the middle at her hairline. Anyway, point being that I thought it was funny we left with matching forehead injuries.

There was a big water slide that I also got to take Sadie on, but no pictures of that. The first couple of times we went down we moved at a snail's pace. I was wearing board shorts that slowed us down. So I took a page out of the German's book and pulled my shorts down right before we took off. Only difference between me and the natives is that I had a swimsuit on underneath. If you're picking up what I'm laying down, you might be picturing a bunch of bare bummed kids going down the water slide. And you'd be dead on.

The German pool was a little different, but not too scary :). We'll be better about going next summer...and hopefully the weather will be better, too!

We're doin' it together...

2011-09-03T20:38:00.001+02:00

I know I've posted probably a million times about Sadie and puzzles, but just for the record she still loves them. Not only does she love them, but she has figured out ways to keep challenging herself with her same old puzzles. She has one book with five different princess puzzles that are double sided (i.e. Cinderella in the pink dress that her stepsisters ripped apart on one side, her in the beautiful gown on the other). So I guess all together that is ten puzzles. Well, one day she started to put them together like this:

There are pieces from each different princess represented here...Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella, and Ariel. She picks random pieces and makes a complete puzzle, and she knows which side needs to be facing up in order for it to work. Then she'll take one piece off at a time and replace it with a different one, constantly changing the picture. I find it all very fascinating.

Then she made up this song to sing as we did the puzzles "all together." By the time I got out the video I had to encourage her to sing it again, but she came up with it on her own. And she has some Nutella on her face from lunch. Forgot to wipe that off before I hit the record button.

Canon Conquers the Stairs

2011-09-03T20:27:00.009+02:00

Our little boy is growing up...

...and I am loving it.

He has been climbing up stairs for months now, but just in the last week or so he learned to go down by himself.

He also has a way larger vocabulary at 16 months than Sadie did. He says at least 30 things and uses new words pretty much every day. He just tries to say the things that he hears, and I don't remember Sadie's vocabulary really taking off until she was 18 months. It's fun to see him so excited when you understand what he's saying to you. His whole face lights up. Here's some things he says:

Mama
Dada
Baby
Ball
Dog and "Woof"
Cat
Bird
Pig and an "Oink" type sound
"Moo"
Duck and "Quack"
"Grrr" (for bear)
"Roar" (for lion)
"Bock bock" (for chicken)
Fish
Spoon
Shoe
Hat
Jump
Hop
Up
Yes (although he usually chooses to emphatically nod his head)
No
Poop (I know, I know...)
Nose
Eye
Bubble
Water (sounds like "wawa")
Block
More (he'll sometimes sign this instead)
Whoa
Uh-oh

...and I'm sure I'm missing some.

He can also point to his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, head, hair, hands and feet.

He recently discovered the Little People building blocks and cannot get enough of them.

He likes to "shoo" flies away like mommy and Sadie do. He waves his whole arm around and sports a big grin on his face.

He climbs on top of the dining room table.

He picks strawberries and tomatoes (rotten, green, covered in dirt, whatever) from the garden and eats them.

He takes two good naps (about 2 hours each) every day, and sleeps for 12+ hours a night.

He still hits a lot...need work on that. He really is the happiest little thing, and then you make him mad or sad, or when he's tired, or sometimes for no apparent reason at all, he'll hit something...anything within an arms' reach.

And that's a little about Canon at 16 months. We sure love having that boy around the house.

Monday Motivation

2011-08-29T22:19:00.004+02:00

So there I was. Hanging out with my mom. She happened to be looking at my blog and we were just talking. She said something to the effect of "People are going to be wondering where your Monday Motivation post is..."

Ooops.

It's Monday. Did you know that? Not only is it Monday, but it's almost Tuesday where I live. And I completely dropped the ball. Like I haven't even thought about this week's post until 30 minutes ago. In fact, I was pretty sure that tomorrow was Friday. So I told my mom, in a voice heavily laced with sarcasm, "I'm sure everyone will wake up and say to themselves 'What am I going to do?! Mary Anne hasn't posted her Monday Motivation yet...'" I mean honestly. Pretty sure everyone would be fine. Mostly I would just be sad that I didn't follow through with my commitment. So although it isn't everything I would hope it to be, I'm still throwing something out there.

Since my parents got here, we've had some good laughs. Probably the hardest laugh yet was while watching my dad and Sadie, both with a doll in hand, have a pretend conversation. The dialogue was incredible. And I thought my dad did pretty great.

I know I talked about laughter last week. But I really like to laugh, and don't know how I missed this quote:

"In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured."

— Gordon B. Hinckley

Enjoy your week...don't just get through it.

Mold is growing all around...

2011-08-26T21:24:00.002+02:00

I think I briefly mentioned that we have a mold problem in our basement. Yeah, it's still a problem. One I can't wait to be done with. I originally thought it was contained in one room...the biggest room...the one we had turned into a play room...but I soon discovered that it was an issue in the entire basement. There is only one small room down there that didn't have multiple things with mold growing on it, and I think it's because there were mostly plastic totes in there. So many of our things that we had stored in the basement have been ruined, and neither our insurance or the landlord's will pay for it because it wasn't caused by a "pipe leak." The people in the housing office know me by name, and they may even know me by just the sound of my voice or my number on the caller ID. We're tight like that. We almost moved at one point last week, but there was nothing available before we would be leaving to Arizona. So many of my days and nights have been dedicated to the emptying of our very full basement and the cleaning of its contents. I don't want anything down there while we're gone. The landlord is going to fix it in our absence, and hopefully this won't be something we have to deal with again. Like ever.

Back when I was waiting to hear from our insurance companies, I started taking pictures of things that were mold infested, just in case they would want to see what exactly was thrown out. I had already thrown away several things before I thought to start taking pictures, including but not limited to:

A recliner
An office desk
A large piece of carpet (about 12 feet by 12 feet)
An infant rocking chair/toddler chair
A mini trampoline
Two push toy/walkers
A toy piano (large enough for a small child to sit at)
Several movies (VHS tapes)
A baby bassinet
A basket that held blankets
A couple of blankets
and probably some other smaller items that I can't remember.

Some things that I took pictures of, but the mold wasn't painfully obvious in the pictures (a lot of it just looked dusty or dirty, but it was definitely mold) so I didn't post them:

Baby swing
Baby bouncer/vibrating seat
Baby "Jump-a-Roo" (the kind that sits on the ground)
Baby jumper (the kind that hangs in the doorway)
Card table
Umbrella
Stereo system and speakers
Little People building blocks

I mean this mold was even growing on the TV, DVD player, and VCR. And the entertainment stand they sat on. Why/how does mold grow on electronics?

Here's pictures of some other stuff where the mold is more visible:

A pair of Dusty's running shoes

The tray to our stroller (don't know why it wasn't attached to the stroller in the garage...)

A suitcase (there was another one that had visible mold, but not as bad as this one)

My guitar case

Dusty's guitar case (his was way worse than mine). The guitars also had a little bit of mold on them but I'm going to clean them and hope for the best.

Four boxes of infant/children clothing (luckily everything else was in plastic totes and unharmed). This was the outside of one of the boxes...

But inside the box was a nightmare.

My poor baby girl shoes...

It was all of our 0-3 month baby clothes (both boy and girl) and all of our boy clothes size 12 month-4T. Luckily I was able to get most of the clothes clean. I did have to throw some things away, and there are still some clothes that the stains wouldn't come out of. Let me be honest, the process of soaking, washing, drying, and folding all of that laundry was tedious. Annoying at times. Some days I just didn't want to deal with it any longer. But I'm glad that so much was saved...I can't imagine throwing away all the infant clothes we had. Talk about a sad day.

I was able to wipe down a lot of things with bleach water. If it was something with a hard surface or didn't have little nooks and crannies in it, I tried to save it. But things like toys and other things that I couldn't get rid of all the mold, I just tossed. I didn't want to keep things and end up carrying the mold problem with us to a new house. Maybe that was irrational of me, or paranoid, but I just couldn't do it. Also, all our baby items...I mean how could I lay my infant in something that was once infested with mold, even if I tried to wipe down the surface material with bleach water? The clothes I feel fine about because I soaked them in diluted bleach and vinegar water and then washed them in the hottest water possible. I think they will be fine. And in case you were worried about my health, or the health of my unborn child, I tried to wear gloves and a face mask every time I worked in the mold zone. You can picture that and laugh right about now.

Sheesh. That was a long, drawn out post. Sorry. It is late and I'm sure I rambled. I'm sure I also left out a lot of details that I'll wish I had written later. But luckily things are wrapping up and I almost have the basement cleared out. I had done a lot of it myself but then some people from church (angels, really) came and helped me with the really heavy stuff that I couldn't lift and carry up the stairs without putting myself into labor. So glad for willing helpers and good friends.

I hope this will never be a problem in your home. Though I've decided that living in a home simply comes with various issues. And you've just got to learn to deal.

Flea market

2011-08-26T15:13:00.003+02:00

Sorry for the post overload lately. Mostly it's so Dusty can know what is going on with his little family, but even more so this week as a last ditch attempt to catch up before my parents get here...TOMORROW! Because then we'll be vacationing, taking more and more pictures, getting behind and not able to catch up (probably) until we find ourselves stateside.

One Saturday we went with some friends down to Amberg for their local flea markets. The kids did...okay. Actually, Sadie wanted everything that had wheels on it, and Canon just wanted to get out of the stroller. Sadie won twice...she got a little bike that is popular over here in Germany, and a scooter. Canon didn't win at all. Hauling around our finds was hard enough without chasing a toddler around the crowds. My favorite buy of the day was an old metal wash basin for storing blankets in our living room.

After we were done we stopped at a little food place for a bratwurst sandwich. My friend noticed an interesting item on the ice cream menu:

BumBum? Only 1,20 Euro? Steal! We talked about it and we're pretty sure it's ice cream with some sort of bubble gum in it.

This is the scooter Sadie got. It was only 5 Euro so I caved. It even came with an extra wheel...how could I not? She proudly gave her lamb a ride around on it all day.

"Come on Wamb!" She still doesn't say her "l" sound.

I think she'll keep enjoying it as she gets older. She does pretty well on it, but something to grow into is always nice.

Same park. Different party.

2011-08-25T21:19:00.001+02:00

Remember the ice cream party I just posted about? Well we went back on a different day for a "ribbon cutting" celebration they were having. Pretty sure the park has been open for weeks, but I guess they were just getting around to the official ceremony.

They had a yummy cake. Sadie couldn't wait to have some and then gave it to me after one teeny bite. She's really not into baked goods. But she likes the idea of them.

They were playing catch with a balloon...which apparently doesn't work so well on a windy day.

A clown made a cat balloon animal for Sadie. They are using the word "cat" pretty loosely in the balloon making business nowadays.

Oooorrr, don't look at the camera. Whichever you want.

Canon sat in the swing and ate grapes and other treats that "Auntie" Rachelle was giving him.

I had to be very persuasive to get Sadie away from the playground and into the long line to get her face painted. I guess I don't blame her, but I'm so glad she finally did it. She picked the butterfly and let me tell you what. These people were good at what they did.

"Can I trust you?"

Sadie was very obedient to the lady's instructions...mostly to keep her head up. When the lady would turn to get more paint, Sadie would look down at what she was doing, but as soon as she turned back to Sadie she would quickly tilt her head back to be ready.

I am so sad I didn't get a picture of her when she looked in the mirror at the finished product. It was priceless.

It started to rain when we were about to leave, and Sadie was so concerned that the rain would wash the butterfly off of her face. We hurried to the car!

I didn't get a picture of this event (mostly because they were closing it down by the time we got around to it), but they also had an obstacle course. After you completed the course (or showed that you wanted to do it but you couldn't because it was shut down), you got to pick a prize. They had some pretty good gifts to give away. Sadie got a "Scentsy" lamb with a little smell-good packet that goes in it's back. Canon got the "Winnie the Pooh's Heffalump Adventure Movie." It was all they had left besides the lambs. It's her new favorite toy (and the movie is her new favorite movie).

She takes good care of her toys.

Awww...

She would not look at me for some reason. I guess her and the lamb were having a moment. How special.

A fun party, cool free stuff, and we even ran into some good friends who happened to be there as well. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

Oh children...

2011-08-24T21:18:00.000+02:00

Just when you are saying a prayer of gratitude because they are playing together so well, allowing you to get some much needed work done...

...you realize they were actually making a little bit more work for you after all. It's usually worth it though...I think this day it was worth it anyway.

My favorite part was I went in to ask Sadie about it (I didn't discover the mess until a little later that day), and I said "Did you do that to the tree or did Canon?" Her quiet, sweet, and completely honest response, "Me and Canon..."

Those two. How I love those two.

Ice Cream Social

2011-08-24T21:07:00.003+02:00

We had a church ice cream social a little bit ago, and we were looking forward to it since the day they announced it. Sadie couldn't wait for the "ice cream party." I took about three pictures. Mostly because I was having so much fun just enjoying the people I was with. The three pictures were basically some variation of this:

I did take a couple of videos, though. I was over pushing the kids on the swings, and some of the Primary kids came over and had Sadie laughing pretty hard. She thought they were hilarious (her laugh is more of a squeal because she was so happy), and I thought they were so sweet for playing with her. It will kind of make you sick to watch, because she's swinging back and forth, but if you close your eyes you can still hear the laughter...for those of you who are intoxicated by that kind of sound.

Making new friends

2011-08-23T21:16:00.001+02:00

We had the most pleasant surprise one weekend. FRIENDS came and stayed with us. We hadn't ever really hung out with these friends before, but I still think that's the most appropriate word. Here's some background info: I briefly met Erica back before Dusty and I were married at a race her husband and Dusty were both doing. We met, but didn't really talk or hang out at the race. Fast forward a few years, and somehow, I don't even remember how, we started to get to know each other through our blogs...leaving comments, asking questions, giving advice. I felt like I knew her. Even though we had never hung out, or talked on the phone, or had a play date, it seemed we had a lot in common.

One weekend they were going to be driving through our part of Germany (they live on the other side), and they decided it would be nice to split their trip up and stay the night somewhere. It was right after Dusty left, and Erica didn't want to add any "stress," but I assured her that company in my home would be the farthest thing from stress I could imagine. I was so excited.

They arrived and Erica and I hit it right off. At least I thought so :). It was so easy to be around her, never an awkward moment of conversation. Plus, they have a daughter Sadie's age, and they went away playing princesses and kept each other company all night. They also have the cutest twin girls that are a bit older than Canon. That boy was definitely outnumbered by all the women in the house. I don't think he knew what to do with so many choices of people to play with.

We decided they all should take a bath together. Canon looks a little disgruntled.

They were perfect guests and cleaned up my kitchen after dinner while the kids bathed. Anyone who wants to do that can come visit anytime :) Actually, it was hard for me to let them, but I did appreciate it whole-heartedly. They are a wonderful couple.

This picture was taken right before they went home the next day. Sadie kept telling me that my timer hadn't gone off so they couldn't leave yet. Awww. I am not even close to exaggerating when I say Sadie was in heaven having Annika around. She still talks about her every day, and Annika even comes up in the conversation while Sadie is "pretending" with her toys. She obviously needs a friend!

I wish I would have taken a picture of Erica and I. I also wish five hours of road didn't separate us. But thank you for making our house a stop on your way home, so we could all make a new friend.

Shapes

2011-08-23T16:30:00.001+02:00

We got these shape puzzle thingy-s (pretty sure that's their official name) in a package from Grammy the other day. Sadie calls them her "shapes," and insisted that we sit down together and do them as soon as we opened them. She picked one for her, one for me, and when we were finished we'd switch. She really enjoys sorting the shapes into piles, and will also just take out the certain shapes she needs, telling me "I don't need those ones," about the ones not on her picture.

All done...doesn't take much to make me proud of her I guess.

Thanks Grammy! They were a hit.

Monday Motivation

2011-08-22T09:00:00.003+02:00

Do you need a laugh? I always need a laugh. Or want one, at least. The kind that makes you cry is good. Surrounded by family or close friends is the ultimate. But sometimes you aren't surrounded by family and friends and you still want to laugh. I don't typically laugh out loud when I'm alone (there are exceptions to this, for sure), but I'll take a good internal laugh any day of the week. This song basically does the trick for me.

Oh Hilary. You are so...right. But really, what I take away from that song is to find humor in life. Because...it's funny! Life is so funny. And since other people always say it better than I can, here are a few more thoughts on laughter:

"The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable." -Jospeh B. Wirthlin, October 2008 General Conference

Have you tried this? I do sometimes. Like when Sadie is refusing to listen and my patience is running low...I'll wrestle her down and tickle her until she squeals. It definitely gets her attention, and we're both happier than we would have been if I'd just used my "mom voice."

"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache." -Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Yeah, and who wants that? Although I admit sometimes this girl just needs a good cry, and then I can get on with life. However, laughing is definitely preferable.

And remember, "You're never fully dressed without a smile." -Little Orphan Annie

I'm pretty sure that was the quote underneath my senior picture in the yearbook.

So don't go walking around only half dressed this week. Smile. Laugh. Be happy. Even when the crummy stuff starts to happen. And let me know how it works out for you...I love a good report.

Pirate Park

2011-08-19T21:00:00.005+02:00

One Sunday I got a Facebook friend request from a lady at church. Shortly after I had accepted, I got a message from her inviting me and several other ladies to go to the "Pirate Park" the next day. I quickly told her we were in, though I knew nothing of this pirate park or what we would do there. It's in a town about 40 minutes away and we'd never been. She filled me in on some details about the place, and just like that we had plans. I love having plans.

It was a (free) little park with a shallow pond, a sandy beach, a pirate ship and a raft that really went from boat to shore...among other fun things. The water was FUH-reezing, but most of the kids hardly seemed to notice.

Canon mostly hung out on the beach, snotty little nose and all.

Nothing like a smiling mouth full of sand and boogers. I love you Canon.

That's the pirate ship I mentioned earlier...Sadie is playing on it, but you can't actually see her. I was growing impatient so I just took a picture anyway.

Someone decided to test the waters and see how far he could get before someone stopped him.

Remember how I said the water was FUH-reezing? And it was a partly cloudy/breezy/not-as-warm-as-a-summer-day-should-be kind of day. Before too long I looked up and saw the lobster version of my daughter shakily walking toward me. Her legs were bright red, and she was so cold she could hardly control her body movements. I had never seen her like that before. It was so sad, and I told her we needed to change her clothes and get warmed up.
"Bu-u-ut I ju-u-u-st wa-a-n-t to-o-o pla-a-ay i-i-in the-uh-uh wa-t-er-er." Poor thing couldn't even get her words out right.

That shade of red on her is just not normal.

Don't worry, I did get her changed. Took this shot on my way back from getting her a towel and a change of clothes.

Canon had fun with the other boys that were there. I can just hear the sound that he is making along with that face...a little "eehhhh?" with an upward inflection at the end, like it's a question. Figuring out the mechanics of a sand toy. So into it.

There was this other part (pictured below) that was basically a multi-level...I don't even know what to call it...made out of brick and stone and it had tunnels and all sorts of greatness to it.

Little rock climber

Canon couldn't resist it, either. He would just walk right along the edge where the water is. He's pretty steady, but I couldn't help but imagine him taking a spill, hitting his head on the jagged rock, and landing in the water. Why do I think like that?

A little ways away from the water there was this tractor made out wood that they loved. And did not want to get off of it.

There's proof of brave little Canon, making his way toward the big kids...because he's big too, you know.

On top of the world.

What is it about tunnels? Kids love tunnels.

Peek-a-boo buddy! Yes, you are every bit as great as you appear to be in still photos.

This is the raft I mentioned. Everyone would hop on, and then you could pull yourself over to the ship with the rope. I thought it was quite clever. That older boy (who is actually only fifteen or something, but looks way older that that) was so nice and took care of Canon like he was getting paid to do it. Canon almost fell backwards looking up at him sometimes because he's so tall. I love older kids who gladly help your children. One lady who was there said "Every baby should come with a twelve year old." I thought that was hilarious. And so true.

And the kids had a fun time getting a free ride.

Seriously, such a fun little park. So glad I got that FB friend request, so glad we were able to go, so glad to be surrounded by good people here. There were probably at least ten other ladies there from church, and I am excited to keep getting to know them. It will be hard to say goodbye in a few weeks when we head back to the States for our extended "have a baby and some help" vacation. But I also can't wait!

Monday Motivation

2011-08-15T09:00:00.008+02:00

Yesterday at church, there was a bit of time left after the scheduled speakers, which gave our bishop the chance to share a few impromptu/unprepared/led by the Spirit words. Unfortunately, the meeting prior to this point was a blur to me. I had been wrangling Canon in all of his wiggly-ness and trying desperately to convince Sadie to sit with me instead of the family behind us. With as much as I was sweating (no AC in our chapel, and hello, I'm pregnant), you would have thought I was at the gym, not church. But for some reason, when the bishop spoke I was able to listen, and I have to say...I am certainly grateful for that man and his inspired counsel.

He spoke to us about the lies Satan tells us. Very real (not true, but real) lies that he puts into our minds to make us feel like we are nothing. That our attempts at success are pathetic. To make us give up on the things most crucial to our success in this life and the life to come. Man, Satan is such a jerk! My words, not the bishop's.

I think he's been whispering some lies to me lately.

They have come mostly in the form of loneliness and self-doubt, thinking that there is no one to talk to, that no one will understand, that people are judging, that everything you say and do is all wrong, and that no one here really wants to be your friend...not the kind you need, anyway.

Now that all sounds terribly depressing. So before you start to worry or think "Oh Mary Anne! How could you think that! You have plenty of people who are there for you! No one thinks less of you for the way you feel or the decisions you are making for your family!"...just let me explain. I said these are lies...so obviously they aren't true. I know that. But there are some moments of some days when they are harder to not believe than others. And some days the feelings leave me almost struggling for air. It's a pretty strange sensation, actually. Certainly not one I'm accustomed to.

"Is this seriously her Monday Motivation? Because I just feel confused."

I'm getting there. I promise.

I don't know why I have to perpetually learn this lesson...to be confident in who I am and what I can do. To be kinder to myself. In short, to listen only to whisperings from the Spirit. But I do. And these are some words that help me remember:

"When you feel worthless, 'remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God (D&C 18:10)'. Refrain from repeatedly thinking or saying negative words about yourself—there is a clear difference between humility and humiliation. Identify and use your unique talents rather than dwelling on your weaknesses." -Anthony D. Perkins, October 2006 General Conference

"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are." -Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”

-Marianne Williamson

I'm me. You're you. And that's more than okay...it's wonderful. Because Heavenly Father is confident that each individual can do something of value during their time here on earth. And what else? He already knows what it is. And it probably isn't the same thing as your neighbor, your best friend, or that girl who writes those Monday Motivation posts.

As far as I'm concerned, Satan can take his lies and swim in his own misery this week...and every week for the rest of eternity. Happy Monday, everyone!

P.S. For the record...hitting the "Publish Post" button today was almost painful. I hope someone out there needed it!

Volksfest 2011

2011-08-13T21:27:00.007+02:00

We had seen Volksfest advertised in several places, and figured we'd better go check it out...even though the biggest draw seemed to be the beer tent and live band. The one here is a German/American military combined celebration, which unfortunately equals plenty of alcohol. It was still a reason to get out of the house, and I knew there would be something for kids. It ended up having a carnival type section, and Sadie hardly knew what to do with herself when she saw all those rides. They were naturally overpriced, and everything was in Euro to make it even more expensive. But Sadie got to go on about four or five of them and I thought that was awfully kind of me.

She was so excited to get on each ride, but would always have the most serious face before it started.

She loved it, though.

Again, the serious. I wonder what she's thinking sometimes. Usually when I ask her she says "Uh...I don't know!"

Poor Canon. He was just a little bit too little. I bet no one would have stopped me from putting him in one of the little cars on the merry-go-round, but it went pretty fast and I was afraid he'd get scared or try and climb out. And I didn't see any grown-ups on there with their kids.

"Guess I'll just watch Sadie have all the fun..."

This is an action shot. Looks like she's concentrating pretty hard up there.

We didn't go on this ride. Obviously.

And then we ran into a FREE sandbox! Hooray. I think it was the only free thing within every inch of that place, and the kids played here for probably 45 minutes. Then I made us leave because Canon desperately needed a nap.

He was lovin' on that big old bucket.

He doesn't know how to not throw things. Especially when I tell him it's not okay. Just fueling the fire.

Sorry about the million sandbox pictures. But I know a certain someone who is eating it all up, and that's the important thing right now.

If it was up to me, we would have gone home right then. But Sadie saw those rides again and wanted to go on them so badly. I'm a sucker for that little girl sometimes.

This ride was a teeny bit more expensive than the other ones, which I accredited to the fact that besides going around in a circle, it also went up and down. Kind of like Dumbo at Disneyland. Woo hoo. I was actually really excited for Sadie. Then the ride started, and hers was one of two that were broken. She just sat there going around and around while all the other kids went up and down. I felt my heart sink a little lower each time she passed me at eye level, and almost asked for our money back...what has gotten into me? I just felt so sad for her! And that was the whole reason I chose this more expensive ride. She didn't care, but I did.

We stopped by this same ride she had already ridden as well, and gave a different car a turn. It really did go pretty fast!

I tried to convince Sadie to leave by telling her we could get cotton candy on the way out. It worked.

Well isn't that happy.

Aside from the bees who were attracted to their four sweet, sticky hands, I'd say it was a success. Looking at the picture above makes my heart smile. I sure love those two.

Sesame Street comes to Germany

2011-08-12T22:25:00.003+02:00

I was at a friend's house for a "Scentsy" party, and in passing as I was leaving she asked if I was going to the Sesame Street show the next day. What? I hadn't even heard of it. Why hadn't I heard of it?! I was just glad she said something. I have this problem with being uninformed, which really gets in the way of my desire to get out and have fun. Anyhow, she gave me the details and we worked it out to meet there. It's always more fun to have a friend.

We actually went to a similar show back in Georgia when Canon was brand new. This time around was a little more exciting for everyone I think. They pass out these awesome spinning, light-up Elmo toys. I love free stuff, but I really love cool free stuff.

Sadie and her friend Oaklee on the far right. She loves to play with Oaklee, and even though she's a couple years older than Sadie, Oaklee seems to enjoy being around Sadie, too. Sweet girl.

This is sad, but I don't even know the name of that little boy. He is the son of my friend's other friend who came, who I didn't even introduce myself to. So terrible! I get caught up in keeping track of my kids and whatever else that I forget to be polite. Let's work on that.

Canon's eyes are closed, but come on. I had to put this up here. Sadie takes good care of Canon.

I have no idea why I seem so strained, but I can't get over the opposing facial expressions in these two kids. Canon was enthralled by everything. Craning his neck to see better. Sadie on the other hand loved the idea of seeing Elmo, but got pretty freaked out when he made an appearance. She wouldn't leave my side for a while, but warmed up eventually.

Awww...

We were sitting by one of the spotlights that had cones and bars around it so people wouldn't knock it over. It was a Canon magnet. Here he is getting pulled away by a stranger who was trying to help me out. His face has "Hey lady, get off of me," written all over it.

They do a really good job...cute story about a girl who is moving to a new place, and everyone at Sesame Street helps her feel better about it. I'm sure my kids picked up on all of that and are changed forever. Ha.

Canon loves that crazy Elmo toy. But watch yourself around him...he'll spin it all up in your hair if you're not careful.

After the show...I swear they had a good time! Don't let those faces fool you.

We got home really late for the second night in a row. Messing up the kids' sleep schedule is not my favorite thing to do (their suffering=mommy's suffering), but I think it was worth it. Big shout out to the USO for taking care of military families!

A place for daddy.

2011-08-11T21:50:00.000+02:00

The other night right after baths, I was talking on the phone to Dusty's mom. The children were running around in a diaper or less, hair wet, with me apparently too focused on my conversation to do much about it. We were all in Canon's room, and Sadie started setting up a tea party.

She informed me who's place was who's, then added, "And this one's for daddy."

It was just a tender moment. Not much I can do to explain it. Thank you, Sadie, for just being you.

28 Weeks

2011-08-11T21:30:00.000+02:00

I put this on Facebook, but I'm pretty positive Dusty doesn't check that in his very limited free time. Who knows how often he's even able to check the blog. So here you go my love...here's what your little pregnant wife is looking like nowadays...

Love you. Miss you. And don't worry...I'll keep my hair long until you get back. Wink.

Regensburg

2011-08-09T20:47:00.007+02:00

Back when I made deployment goals, one of them was a weekly "outing" with the kids. I know that seems like a weak weekly commitment, but I kept the number low for several reasons. I'm happy to report that we are easily achieving this goal, surpassing it even.

Our first little outing was taking a guided tour of Regensburg, which is about an hour away from us. It was a group of women from church that went, and our Relief Society President was the one who gave the tour. She used to live here and just loves this ancient city.

She showed us this building and told us about the architect who built it. Apparently he always etched a mouse somewhere into a wall as a little trademark. Startled more than a few people, I imagine. Here Sadie is showing her puppy the mouse.

Nothing noteworthy in this picture, just a sight from along the way.

Our little Sadie posing with her doggie on the steps.

I just thought this door was neat.

Don Juan d'Austria, who was the illegitimate son of Emperor Charles V and his mistress Barbara Blomberg. Don Juan grew up to be a military hero of Spain.

Cute little sign in a cute little alley.

What the heck is up with that skeleton hanging out in the window? Pretty sure it's not Halloween. I'm also pretty sure that they don't even celebrate Halloween in Germany. And is it eating corn on the cob?

Bridge across the Danube, built in 1135-1146.

A view from the bridge

Ben (my friend Becky's husband) was kind enough to help Sadie look at the river...something she would have been content to do all day.

After we looked at the bridge we went down and got some bratwurst (on a bun) from the “Wurstkuchl,” which is Germany’s oldest bratwurst tavern still in existence. It was established shortly after 1146 and served “slow-simmered meals” to dock workers. They still make 'em like they used to, and it was my first time eating sauerkraut. Not sure I loved it, but I did love the rest of the sandwich. Especially the special mustard they had to put on it all. Didn't get a picture though. Too busy eating.

Just a little (huge) David and Goliath mural on a building.

We also stopped to get "Dampfnudel" at a little bakery. While we waited, Ben kept the kids entertained with his trickery and magic. Sadie couldn't get enough.

He kept blowing into his hand and then "poof!" something would magically appear or disappear. Sadie was more than impressed. She tried to imitate him, which is what she's demonstrating in the next two pictures.

Then our Dampfnudel was ready! It was like a roll with a vanilla-y pudding type glaze. Yummy.

This is the best picture I got of the Dom (Cathedral) in Regensburg (the two spires behind the other building). It reminded me a lot of Notre Dame in Paris.

A Protestant church which apparently didn't really hit it off the way it was supposed to. Too many Catholics I guess :)

Of course we got ice cream! Well, Sadie did :) Canon was on the verge of taking a much needed nap so I tried to steer him away from all the kids with ice cream cones.

A little vendor we passed by. Didn't buy anything but I thought there was something charming about it.

This is the gate around the border of the palace. So old.

And this is inside a church that was built around 700 AD. It has obviously been restored since then, but still really neat. It belongs to the people who own the palace.

The ceiling

Outside the church...

We finally made our way inside the "Dom" which was pictured earlier. There is a crypt underground the cathedral, and "Bischoefe" means "bishops" so I'm guessing that the past bishops were all buried here? Or as someone said in a comment maybe it's just listing them all.

These next few were taken in the main part of the cathedral...

Organ pipes...

On our way back to the car we passed by Shindler's House...here's the translation from the plaque:
Oskar Schindler
Saved during the Nazi terror more than 1,200 Jews from certain death. From November 1945 to May 1950 he lived in Regensburg, first in this property, later in Alte Nuernberger Strasse 25 (that's just a street address). Dedicated in the year 1995 by the city of Regensburg.

It was a really fun day and I'm so glad little things like this have been popping up to help us stay busy. It has made all the difference.

Monday Motivation

2011-08-08T09:00:00.001+02:00

Here's a little inside scoop about me. I'm not good at consistently doing the "little things" in my marriage. You know what I'm talking about...love notes on the mirror...see? I can't even think of any more examples than that because I'm so bad at it. Okay, maybe that's not a complete truth. I have times when I'm better than others. I'll occasionally take a special treat to Dusty at work, or leave him a note on the seat of his car when he comes home from a long training, but overall I'd just not say this is a strength of mine. Poor Dusty! Having to be stuck with me for time and all eternity. Looks like I better shape up.

Do you remember Elder Richard G. Scott's talk from last General Conference? He gave some examples from his personal life and marriage on this very topic. He credited his wife for teaching him the "importance of expressions of love." From the sounds of it, this woman was quite a catch. Actually, from the sounds of it they were an adorable little couple. After giving examples of things she lovingly did for him, he wrote this:

"I began to do the same thing with her, not realizing how much it truly meant to her. I remember one year we didn’t have the resources for me to give her a valentine, so I decided to paint a watercolor on the front of the refrigerator. I did the best I could; only I made one mistake. It was enamel paint, not watercolor. She never let me try to remove that permanent paint from the refrigerator.

I remember one day I took some of those little round paper circles that form when you punch holes in paper, and I wrote on them the numbers 1 to 100. I turned each over and wrote her a message, one word on each circle. Then I scooped them up and put them in an envelope. I thought she would get a good laugh.

When she passed away, I found in her private things how much she appreciated the simple messages that we shared with each other. I noted that she had carefully pasted every one of those circles on a piece of paper. She not only kept my notes to her, but she protected them with plastic coverings as if they were a valuable treasure."

*Sigh* Sniff, sniff.

Especially in the face of a long separation, I feel that I need to give a more concerted effort to let Dusty know that I love him. And you know what? To start out I'm not even going to get creative. No, I'm going to copy Elder Scott's idea about the paper circles from a hole puncher. Dusty will know that the idea isn't my own. I don't think that's what matters. He'll know that I was thinking of him, and took the time to do something different. What's more, I think my love for Dusty will grow and deepen as I do more of these kinds of things. Don't you get excited when you take the time to do something special for someone? Plus, we already have a binder of letters we've written back and forth during other times, so we might as well keep it going. And a little variation from the standard college-ruled lined paper (or in Dusty's case the "Write in the Rain" green military notebook paper) might be exciting.

Who all wants to join me? If you read this, I double-dog-dare you to write a note to a loved one on teeny paper holes sometime this week. Think of all the sunshine you could scatter. Here's to a lovely, lovey week!

D-Day

2011-08-06T20:22:00.001+02:00

It's been three weeks and all I can say is that it's a good thing I wrote about this day in my journal while it was still fresh. I was having a hard time remembering the details until I read about it. Do I have the worst memory ever? Anyway, the day Dusty left really was bittersweet. There's something about knowing you'll be apart for a year that makes you soak up every minute, plus there were just some really great moments that day. But then there's that whole goodbye part. Opposition in all things, right? I hope I can always remember this day...a priesthood blessing for Dusty, eating ice cream downtown, jumping on the trampoline, Dusty teaching me all the ins and outs of mowing the lawn, playing in the water, a simple dinner so I didn't have to be in the kitchen too much, going on one last family bike ride, watering the garden, playing on the swing, and then the bedtime routine, which is when Dusty gave us all a blessing as well. We woke the kids up an hour or two after they were in bed to drive onto post. Around that same time Dusty pointed out a mold problem in the basement which has proven to be quite nightmarish, but we're clearing it up. It has given me something to keep busy and pass the time, which is actually nice. Besides the fact that it's disgusting.

Here are some pictures from the day:

If you're noticing that Dusty has been wearing that shirt in a lot of photos lately...well you'll just have to talk to him about that. Okay, so the reason is that he only wears normal clothes on his drive to and from work (and then changes into his uniform when he gets to his office...not allowed to be in uniform off post), so they aren't worn all that much. Then I guess he figured he'd let it get worn all day Saturday. Saves me some laundry to do. One shirt a week? That's doable. It's not always like that, but we do have to tease him about it.

Weird...I could have sworn that baby was growing in my belly, not my cheeks.

Everyone say "static!" I love this picture so very much.

Trying to take self portraits with a 50mm lens is easier said than done.

It was just after 10:00pm when we said our goodbyes.

She was so so tired...

...but not too tired to give daddy a kiss.

And just like that, whether you want it to or not, the year begins. Let the countdown commence!

An early birthday.

2011-08-04T20:21:00.005+02:00

Dusty and Sadie both have birthdays in August, so we wanted to do a little something to celebrate before he left. Boy did Sadie ever luck out with that plan. Daddy took her on a date to the PX to pick out any toy she wanted. She kept saying she just wanted a caterpillar cake and Honey Nut Cheerios for her birthday. Dusty took her to the toy department and it didn't take her long to get some other ideas. They walked away with a swing and two terribly cheap wannabe "My Little Ponies" that she adores. She also got her Honey Nut Cheerios, a bag of M&Ms from the checkout stand, and a chocolate covered apple from one of the stores outside the PX. She came home as happy as a clam.

Dusty set up the swing and the kids both loved it. Sadie was a sweetheart and let Canon take the first turn. She got to push him and she thought that was great.

But she didn't quite have the rhythm down. It was entertaining to watch. Canon looks oblivious to the fact that he's about to whack into her.

Sadie's turn!

And of course Canon wanted to push her.

This was Dusty's idea of a "posed Kodak moment." Looks completely natural, don't you think? Ha. Well Canon does, I guess.

In love with this.

Then we came inside for Sadie's caterpillar cake she had been requesting ever since Canon had one for his birthday in April.

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Canon...you just kill me buddy. "Hmmm...whatcha got there, dad?"

Blowing out candles and a high five. She didn't quite get them all out on the first try. She still makes an "f" sound while she's blowing, which isn't very effective. And I know this is all about Sadie, but I can't get over Canon looking on. Holding onto daddy's shirt. It's just so innocent!

We watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang while we ate our cake. I had never seen it before but it was apparently a childhood favorite of Dusty's. It is now a childhood favorite of Sadie's. She asks to watch it almost daily and she likes to have me draw things from the movie while we're making pictures for daddy. It's a cute movie, but I'm honestly surprised she's so into it. It's the first non-cartoon type movie she's ever really watched. Probably just reminds her of daddy. It was a special night.

Little Mama

2011-08-03T20:19:00.001+02:00

When Canon was born, I'd have to say Sadie didn't quite know how to handle a sibling, let alone a newborn who was completely defenseless when she pulled him off the couch or hit him with her little broom while he slept. But much has changed over the last 15 months, and while she still likes to play rough with her little brother, she has lately taken on the role of "mini mother" in this house. She is constantly putting her toys down for naps, and every time I put Canon in his crib she has to get her own toy to lay down in his room, too. She rocks the chosen stuffed animal or doll to sleep as she sings "I am a Child of God," lays it down with a blanket (and sometimes a bean bag "pillow"), kisses it goodnight, and frequently tells them she loves them as she's leaving the room. Here are a few of the sights I've stumbled upon lately...

Mama June and baby June taking a nap together. This is a common occurrence. There is also a matching "Annie" pair.

Apparently the whole Little Einstein gang got sleepy and needed a nap in my bed.

Annie and June taking a nap together. She will often put me in charge of singing to and rocking Annie while she takes care of June. She favors June. Don't tell Annie.

She also puts things down for naps in the dollhouse in her room. I've seen all sorts of things take naps in there. You can be sure someone is sleeping in Sadie's room when the door is shut and she has a near panic attack when you try to enter before they're awake. She's very protective of her sleeping babies.

Someone in every room of the house...

After they all woke up...

I can't wait to see Sadie with the new one that will join our family in thirteen weeks. I have a feeling it will be different than with Canon. Although Canon...well who knows how he'll react. Lately he's into hitting me when I do something he doesn't approve of. Like wash his hands or stop him from eating bubble wrap. I rule with an iron fist, what can I say. Hopefully we can teach him "soft" in the next little bit, or number three will have a warm welcome to the family from his big brother.

Canon. A big brother? Oh man, oh man.

Monday Motivation

2011-08-01T09:00:00.002+02:00

"If I only had today
I'd hold you and listen
I'd memorize every detail of your face
I'd tell you I loved you over and over
I wouldn't let excuses get in the way
Then I'd remind you of forever
And how our love would never change
If I only had today."

-Hilary Weeks, "If I Only Had Today"

And with that, I'm going to go play with my children.

"What? I was just helpin' ya..."

2011-07-31T21:48:00.001+02:00

The other day I was out watering the garden. I noticed some weeds surrounding the carrot tops. Can't seem to keep up with those. I pulled as many as I could until it was time to change the water to the next plant. Then I started watering the strawberries. Then I was probably lost in some deep, meaningful thoughts for a while. Or not. When I turned back around to the carrots, I saw Sadie. And I saw this:

"Oh no, no, no sweetheart! Those aren't weeds, those are carrots, and they aren't ready to be picked yet."

"What? I was just helpin' ya!"

I know you were, sweet Sadie. I know.

Despite the sad end to our carrot crop, the rest of the garden seems to be flourishing. We started to harvest yellow squash and zucchini shortly after Dusty left. It has taken longer than I remember a garden to grow and for things to be ready to pick, but I think it's because we have so many cloudy/rainy days that it just doesn't get enough sun. Plants need their chlorophyll, you know.

I don't have a great before and after of the whole garden, but I do have this...June 15th:

July 24th:

I love gardens. Watching them grow. Eating of their goodness. Canning the surplus. I'm so grateful for a dad who taught me how to have a garden. And a mom who taught me how to use the fruits of one.

We don't have any red tomatoes yet (sometimes I wonder if they'll ever be ripe), but there are these huge clusters of them all over and the mere sight of them makes me happy. A little tomato family reunion.

Unfortunately, while this whole party was happening I missed a phone call from Dusty. Three phone calls, actually. Dang garden. I still love you.

I thought we were done with this.

2011-07-29T19:48:00.000+02:00

These potty training charts have looked like this for months. I guess I just haven't had the heart to take them down. So much hard work and accomplishment on those pieces of paper. I just have to smile when I think about the layers upon layers of princess stickers represented here. I can still see her proudly placing on another one. But as of late it seems a near impossibility to get my "little girl" (she dislikes being called a big girl..."I'm just little.") to put her number ones and number twos in the potty. I have been oh so very patient...trying to see things from her point of view. Trying to understand. Calmly explaining what is expected. I've had plenty of talks with her to figure it out. She knows what she's supposed to do but just doesn't do it. It has been going on for at least a month now. More accidents than successes. And quite frankly it just needs to stop.

Because today, well today I wasn't patient and I feel slightly awful about that. How long can a girl...mom...whatever...be expected to keep it together? Apparently I need a bit of help. So with that can of worms...

Any advice?

Her finest work...

2011-07-27T20:24:00.000+02:00

Every kid does it eventually, and Sadie has joined the club. She has managed to teach herself how to operate a camera. Here are some pictures she took one afternoon, although I'm sure this is interesting to no one other than her parents. Maybe grandparents. You can partially blame the poor quality on the fact that she can't keep her fingers off the lens and smudges things up pretty good. Besides that, this camera just struggles to take a decent picture.

My little budding photographer. *Sigh*