So many changes, so much happiness

Boy, life sure doesn't stop, does it? Some days I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants, while other days I feel like life has stood still. It's really a combination of things that have put me in the weird time warp feeling. First of all, I haven't been working much these days, and the daily "schedule" is pretty off and on due to me feeling off and on each day. Pregnancy has been good to me, much easier than for many, but this one is definitely more "real" than when I was expecting Lucy. I've actually felt sick, queasy, headachy, short of breath, and just weak/yucky off and on. I'm not hanging my head over the toilet every ten minutes, thankfully! But I'm on the couch a lot more than I want to be. :) In those moments time seems to be slow.

But watching our sweet daughter grow and change so much every day has made me feel desperate to grab time and hold on tight! She learns new words and understands more concepts every week. She's constantly getting stronger, more capable, more independent, and more coordinated (phew). It's incredible to watch! From conception (and before) to forever, life is such a miracle and awe.

Our little fearless girl! Her first time on a playground was a total success.

Some of my favorite Lucy-isms right now include her new variety of dance moves, her fake cheezer cry when she wants attention, her hugs and kisses, how she sings "EIEIO", the way she tries to pronounce "Q", how she loves walking backwards and with her eyes closed, and how she lets us hold her hand walking around in public places. She's more independent, but she's also become a little more tolerant to our parent-isms too, which has been nice. :) 

As we watch her develop, we are also thinking of our twins developing inside me! We are so thrilled to be having twins. Yes, it'll be an adventure, and yes there will be challenges. But WE ARE SO EXCITED!!! At 23, I feel so young to be having 3 kids soon (I'll be 24 when the twins are born). But the Lord works in wonderful ways that are not always (if ever) anticipated. :) And I'm glad.

That belly is a good month or more ahead of schedule than it was last time! It's popping out quick!

We are so excited to find out what type of twins they are, and the genders! My prediction is either identical boys or one of each gender. But we'll see! I really don't know. I'll be 11 weeks this Friday. September 8th is my next appointment, and a month from then we'll find out the stats on the twins (at my 16 week appt.). A month and a half! A month and a half! We might be able to see the genders then in we're lucky.

What we do know about them includes:

• they are in separate inner sacs (not sure about the outer sac yet). This is very good! When twins are both in the same inner sac together it's a much higher risk pregnancy for me and them. So lower risk is a relief!
• They each have heartbeats! We saw both their hearts pulsing/beating side by side on the ultrasound. It was so amazing and unbelievable.
• Right now they should be about the size of prunes or small limes.
• They have elbows! Still working on the knees.
• tooth buds in gums, nail beds, and hair follicles are already forming
• Lots of working organs already
• they look more human and less amphibian! The webbing between their fingers and toes are going away now.
• They're twins
• We love them

And in case anyone's interested . . . This time around, just gimme that savory/salty/starchy goodness! I still want treats of course, but not quite like last time. This time I just want FOOD! I have a lot more food aversions, but it's nice to crave real food more often.

Also of note . . .

We said farewell to our beloved turquoise car and joined the ranks of minivan families! It was so sad to see our little FIT go. "Perry" we called it. I'll miss never having to remember where I parked. But alas, three car seats would NOT fit in it. So we are enjoying our van, which feels ridiculously spacious for only three people haha. But it'll fill up in the future!

Also, I HAVE to say I am so incredibly grateful for Sam. He is a complete champ, and the best husband I could have ever hoped for. He is constantly giving, serving, helping, loving, shoulder massaging, listening, forgiving, and laughing with me as I try to feel more like myself. He even surprises me with beautiful lilies when I'm feeling yucky and grumpy. He is a total keeper and I am so blessed. :)

Corn and Hats

Our 17 month old SPONGE!!!

Our sweet daughter is almost a year and a half. She's growing up so fast and becoming her own little person. Since I've been terrible at journaling for the last . . . while . . . I've decided I HAVE to record some things and milestones about her on the blog!!!

Lucy is just amazing me every day! She LOVES to learn, and she focuses intently when she can tell we're actively trying to teach her something. Once we're slowing down, repeating ourselves, pointing, sounding out letters, acting out motions, etc—Lucy goes into learning mode. You can see it in her face. It's really cool! She's learned so many new words, signs, and concepts lately. Here's a list of many things Lucy knows and can do.  I know I'll forget stuff, so I'll probably update it here and there if I remember anything I left out. :)

• Vocabularly she says or tries to say: Hi!, yeah, dada, mama, what's that, door, cheese, Jesus (sounds a lot like cheese), amen, circle (grl-grl), cracker (Kah!), shoes (shu-shu), blueberry (buburu), avocado (haha! from acagaba to abagacba and many other variations), "R" (her favorite letter), "O" (her second favorite letter sound, though every letter and number is currently R or O), ball, food ("fffffff!"), water ("wa-wa"), gold fish ("ishies!), help ("hup!), all done (she always whispers this, for some reason), no, peekaboo (new as of today)
• Signs for: please, milk, more, food
• Does animal sounds for: lion (rar!), tiger (also rar!), bear (grrr or rar!), horse (she says "Neeee!" and then clicks her tongue haha), dog, cat, sheep, cow, elephant, monkey, snake
• Letter Recognition: Yesterday Sam was reading a "Where's Baby" book with her, and today I watched her pull the book out, open it up to various pages, and every time the word "where" was, she'd point to the big "W" and say "Wh! Wh!" Amazing.
• She frequently points to big letters. She notices symbols more and more now. The other day we were walking into Babies R Us, and she look up at the big store letters and points, exclaiming "R! R!" 
• She RUNS everywhere! She has one speed when were out and about: lightning. She's like a floppy chaotic ping pong ball, and trying to contain her in a store when she's on her own feet is near impossible and often results in tears, haha. She just wants to be free and run run run to the horizon and beyond.
• Music and dancing is another favorite. She loves music and dancing so much! She dances, likes to play on the keyboard, and sometimes hums a little. When others are singing or dancing, she's captivated. And whenever Sam pulls me into the kitchen to dance, Lucy watches enthralled, smiling, laughing, clapping, and usually runs up and asks to be picked up to join in the fun! :)
• She LOVES the park and being outside. She picks dandelions and blows them, then runs up and offers them for us to blow. She likes ladybugs, and has had one crawl around her arm. Lucy has a special love of all flowers. Every time she sees flowers, she points them out excitedly and runs over to them to sniff the petals. 
• Communication and expressing herself: she has really been big into increasing communication with us. If we aren't looking at her, she'll come and grab our faces and turn them to her so we're looking eye to eye. Often she'll say "hi!" in a high-pitched voice. She actively tried to make me laugh and will hold my face so I'm looking at her and then sway side to side super fast and make goofy faces. Once I start laughing she stops and giggles and squeals too. When she's angry or frustrated about something we do, she'll growl and sometimes bite her hand and then point at us (this one is a true self-expression of her anger or frustration, it just came out one day and it's what she does every now and then if she'll really mad).  She also does tantrums, flopping to the ground, sometimes not breathing for a while and turning purple. When she's really happy about something we do or say, or if we guess what she's trying to ask for correctly, she'll scrunch her nose and grin and run up and throw her arms around us in a big hug (I LOVE THIS!).
• Favorite shows: Super Why (all-time fave), Winnie the Pooh, Baby Einstein, sometimes Curious George
• Movies she has seen: to my knowledge the movies she has seen include Finding Nemo, Frozen, Rocket Man (UGH!), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Enchanted (I fast forwarded the scary parts with Narissa), and half of Air Buddies. She doesn't watch movies often and neither do we. But she loves her shows, especially Super Why. It's her favorite and she asks for it every day haha.
• Favorite songs: Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree (she does ALL the actions with it!), I Am a Child of God, Row Row Row Your Boat, Caspar Babypants songs, and a random little ringtone Sam created with GarageBand on the computer. Whenever it plays she goes nuts, clapping and kicking her feet.
• Favorite foods: Blueberries, grapes, avocado, banana, cheese, raisins, plain white yogurt. Honestly, she's a really great eater, and eats a variety of good foods and snacks. Occasionally she'll be picky, but she never refuses the before-mentioned foods. She also loves black beans, funny enough, and will devour a tray of black beans and rice from costa vida, haha.
• Junk foods she's tried: cake, ice cream, pizza (is it really a junk food, though?), chocolate chips (they were dark!), whipped cream, chicken nuggets, and french fries.
• Favorite toys or "toys": her binkybear, her white and pink puppy, megablocs, balls, and KEYS! Keys are the big one now. She always wants people's keys, and once she has them—good luck getting them back. She knows keys go into locks, and tries very hard to open the mailbox, front door, and car doors when she has keys. She also enjoys anything with a screen, of course, and knows how to swipe to unlock my phone.
• Hairstyles we do in her hair: her hair is still pretty straight and short on top, and long and curly in the back, so we're a little limited still in hairstyles, but we get creative and it's fun. Her mullet is so long that we can do lots of little curly ponytails and piggytails in back. We also do the fountain on top sometimes, and often just leave it down, fro-ey, and free.
• Other random concepts she understands: her bedtime routine, if she's nakie it means bathtime (which she loves), shaking her head often means "no", putting on shoes means going outside, walking past our rose bushes means we're getting in the car and not playing outside (she usually whines or cries a little)
• When we say prayer, she bows her head and clasps her hands together for a few seconds before continuing whatever she was previously doing. Progress. :)
• TEETH: She has 8 teeth fully in, 2 that have cut through, and 2 more that will cut through soon. So before too long she'll be up to 12 teeth.
• Privacy: she likes her privacy sometimes. Every now and then she'll go into her room and close the door. We'll go peek and find her pulling stuff out of drawers, or just sitting and playing with books and toys. She also frequently wants privacy when she's filling her diaper. Sometimes I'll notice, "Hmmm... it's been too quiet for too long." Yep, Lucy's door is shut. I'll peek in and see her around the corner working on a job. If she catches me peeking at her, she'll often look at me like "Excuse me!" and close the door in front of me!

Oh how we love this little ham!!! She brings so much light and joy into our lives! We feel truly blessed to have her in our family. I know she will grow into an amazing person, and will be a great big sister to future siblings.

She is so much like her daddy. :D

Run, Lulu, Run!

Our little lady! So grown up with her ponytail.

Watching our neighbor's little boy William.

Playtimes and Pasttimes

Spring is here and we are loving it! The weather has been amazing. Lucy and I try to get out and enjoy the sunshine at least once every day, whether it's strolling or going to the park. Val and her kids came to Provo today, actually, and we were able to play at the park together. It was so fun! She's the cutest preggo mama of almost three, I just have to say. :) It'll be so fun to see what this next little guy will be like when he's born. And Dean and Rachel are just looking more and more grown up! It's amazing. Dean is such a little man, and such a gentleman. And he was so good with Lucy, following her when she'd wander too far, tossing a ball back and forth with her. It was so cute!

These days have been somewhat busy but wonderful nonetheless. Sam has been going crazy with school. This has been a very heavy semester with papers, reading, and tests, so I think he'll be in heaven next month when he graduates. We're still waiting to hear from BYU and USU for grad school. Exciting decisions and adventures ahead either way. :)

Lucy has been enjoying playing with her little friend Sam Blake each week. We got to have him over twice this week, and it was a blast. He is such a sweet boy! It's hilarious to see how the two interact, and how their interactions change as they grow.

(Apparently Lu thought his song was pretty funny!)

Friends since the womb days. ;) It's amazing to remember me and Dana being super pregnant, making preparations for the babies. She came over when I went into labor and we watched I Love Lucy, and talked, and ate yummies until Sam came home. Now look at these kiddos! We will be so sad when they move this summer!

A sweet and simple joy is strolling to campus to meet daddy/hot guy husband at the end of his school day. We walk home together and chat about our days while enjoying the fresh air and the fading sun. Yesterday Lucy and I sat outside and enjoyed some animal crackers while we waited for Sam to meet up with us. Ain't she just darling!?

Here are some other fun pictures of how Lucy likes to spend her days:

Trying on Daddy's shoes

 Sticking greeting cards in the printer

Pulling allllllll the clothes out of her drawers and dragging them all over the apartment!

Being cute and funny, and keeping us company :) We love this doll.

Simple Joys in a Spring-like Winter

Well I think there's has only been one day below 50 within the past week. It's balmy! I keep thinking "What on earth will summer be like here this year" because of this bizarre and warm winter. No snow. No ice. No freezing. And it's almost the end of February! Though I'm not complaining too much. Being able to get out and about outside and take Lucy to the park without coats has been amazing (I'm so sorry Josh and Kristen!!! Poor folks are basically in Antarctica aka Iowa).

Luckily, with this warm weather and Lucy's recent walk-a-holic development, we've been able to get out and let Lu explore the world more! This has been a joy! She loves being outside more and more, and grass is becoming safer. For a while, any time we'd stick her in grass and move away, it was as if the grass turned into lava and the lava monster was approaching, haha. Now she's adventurous and curious, while cautiously staying near me and holding me for encouragement every now and then. :)

BEFORE: (courtesy of Valerie Abenroth Photography!)

AFTER:

Another joy in life is Lucy's LOVE of music and dancing. She dances in her high chair, she dances when she's playing, she dances when we hum or sing something. It is so much fun, and brings sunshine into our hearts. The keyboard is a favorite past-time for Lucy. Often she'll lead us over and motion that she wants us to hold her up to play with the keys and buttons. Sam was a kind daddy and lowered it so she could reach better and play on her own. She loves it!

We are all loving having a recliner, as well, including Lu! This kid knows how to kick back and relax. :) (This picture makes her little leggies look so long! She really is getting tall. We've had several people comment "Oh, she must be tall for a one-year-old!")

Okay, this is a HUGE simply joy in our lives: oven/stove knob protectors!!! I didn't know they existed until I went to Babies R Us the other day. LIFE SAVERS. Now Lucy can't reach up and turn on the gas/fire. Phew. Times a million.

For Lucy's birthday, Sam's aunt was so kind and gave little punkin some birthday money. This past week we finally spent it at Toys R Us (Lucy helped pick them out). She was ecstatic, and have been loving her two new toys daily! It is the funnest thing to see her snuggle her puppy and cruise around lightning speed with her walking toy. It actually converts to a ride-on toy as well, but we tried that once and Lucy seemed a little unsure about sitting on it and moving, so it's back to walking/pushing for now. Maybe when she's older . . . .

There are so many other joys and blessings in life I am grateful for as well. Lucy, first of all, being the greatest joy in our lives. Starting my job, getting my first paycheck, baking and cooking A LOT, and spending time together as a family and as a couple have been wonderful joys. Also, Sam and I were able to go swing dancing on Valentine's weekend, and we had a total BLAST! It felt so good to dance together again, and to learn a new dance (lindy). May there be many more times! Dancing is something we can't completely lose. ;)

Feeling happy and grateful lately. :) Life is good.

A Lesson in Parenting

Tonight gave me much perspective on the kind of parent I want to be.

I never realized how OCD I can really feel/act sometimes until I became the parent of a hilariously determined, adorable, and independent one-year-old. Sometimes, when Lucy makes messes or acts like a one-year-old, I feel like singing this:

There are time when I want so desperately to teach Lucy, to help her understand, to encourage developing good habits. Then, I remember she's only one. Tonight was one of those remembering times.

Tonight we gave Lucy cheese and green beans for dinner (dinner of champions, oh yeah). As we are our own dinner (baked carrots and nachos!) Sam broke up pieces of cheese and spooned chunks of green beans onto the table for Lucy to reach. She gobbled and gobbled (especially the cheese), then quickly decided green beans were squishy and fun. As bean by bean became a handful or more of squished beans all over the table and floor, I felt those urges rise up within me. Urges to wipe up the mess, to tell her "no squishing and dropping beans, just eat them, Lulu!", urges to say "if you don't eat right the food goes away", urges to cringe at the green beans she was stuffing under her legs and diaper with glee. But I resisted and watched instead this time. And what I saw was beautiful:

I saw a young child learning about food, feeling and touching and playing. I saw a young father smiling happily at his sweet baby, showing her the most loving example of patience and support. I saw a one-year-old girl being exactly what she is, a curious goofy child with a curious goofy nature. She smiled, she laughed, she talked while she played. And for every five squished or stashed beans somewhere in the kitchen (or on Lucy's person), a couple more were calmly popped in her mouth and eaten. I saw joy in our home, a dinner being somewhat eaten, a child being a child. And you know what? I felt peace—a real, tangible, and memorable peace. No frustration, no upset baby hands slapping my frantic cleaning ones away from her creations, no crying, no annoyance at the mess. Only joy and calm.

The lesson continued. After dinner Lucy and her daddy cheerily proceeded to clean up the green bean mess on the floor together. Sam sang and hummed as he wiped up beans with his paper towel, and Lucy happily  crawled back and forth through the green beans waving her own paper towel. Then, she ripped up her paper towel in tiny pieces, and carefully gave Sam each piece one by one. They had SO MUCH FUN! And I realized the simple small choices Sam made truly made all the difference in how the evening has gone. We've been so happy tonight and Lucy has been such a peaceful girl, and I honestly believe it's because Sam let her be a one-year-old, patiently teaching her, showing her, and letting her help "clean" up. She felt validated, she felt like she was okay, she felt supported and loved. And she got a little needed "smashing" out of her system, hahaha.

I am so grateful for these moments Heavenly Father blesses me with, blesses us all with. I'm so grateful for our precious little daughter, for the joy she is, for the opportunity we have to love and care for her. And I am so grateful for a special eternal companion and love who helps teach me to be a better parent and person each day. Sometimes little things matter. But sometimes things like green beans on the floor really aren't that big of a deal. Sometimes it's better to just smile and laugh and thank Heavenly Father for giving us a beautiful bright one-year-old named Lucy. :)

Beware the werewoman . . .

(Photo obviously altered, original from www.wallconvert.com)

Beware the full moon. It's not only a caution to enemies or prey of the werewolf. It's also caution to men. The other afternoon while I was talking with my husband, he randomly gasped in realization of something and seemed quite amused. I asked him, "What??" and he said "You know what I just realized?" Next, he proceeded to pull up a website that showed the frequency a full moon takes place. With goofy yet respectful glee he pointed out the hilarity of his realization. The full moon comes out about every 29 days. A woman starts a special monthly cycle about every 28 days. Coincidence? Maybe it was the post-stomach flu or pre-finals brain fog that made it so funny, but considering the implications of this imperfect coincidence, we laughed and laughed and laughed (stifling as best as we could so we wouldn't wake Lucy from her nap). Sam of course followed up by assuring me he was being silly, and asked to make sure he hadn't hurt my feelings, which of course he hadn't. I thought it was goofy and hilarious. OH! how I love my husband. :)

I've since devised a werewoman survival plan should you ever encounter one:

1.) Werewomen—especially ones at a heightened stage of emotion—can be difficult to decipher. If her emotions are contentious, it is best to stand at a safe distance away. However, take note that if her heightened emotions have been provoked by a cause other than you, holding her tight and not letting go for at least several seconds may be a better choice. This should instantly calm her slightly if not significantly.

2.) There are a several ways to pacify and even tame a werewoman. These include but are not limited to: chocolate, ice cream, chocolate ice cream, back and foot massages, favorite snacks and comfort foods, plumpery pillows, suggestions to go lie down and read for fun, compliance with pleas to watch any or all Jane Austen-inspired movies, spontaneous compliments on messy bun or PJ sweats attire, or any combination of the aforementioned methods.

3.) Remember this phenomenon is not permanent nor is it constant. Your werewoman will soon be restored to a safer, more normal state.