A Pendergrass Picture

I love you!

2012-01-09T20:39:00.000-08:00

While snuggling Lucy tonight...we apologized for being mean to each other during the day...she started it by saying how sorry she was for not listening and then I apologized for yelling. We told each other we loved each other and then she said such a priceless line that I hope I remember forever:

"Mommy I will love you forever. Even if I say I don't love you, really I always will."

I may need to remember this in moments to come. What a very sweet and loving girl.

I was thinking of why Jesus said to be like a child. I came up with many reasons, one of which is that children are very full of love and very quick to forgive and forget.

Children are no respecter of people. Today Levi waved "Hi" to all sorts of people, many of which I would not have said "Hi" to. But he didn't judge them, he was friendly anyway. I am sure Jesus wants us to be friendly to everyone.

Children want to help with everything. They learn very quickly. They are humble when you correct them and show them how to do something. They remember when you give them your word, but forget when you do something wrong.

Sometimes I feel like I am not as "good" of a person as I used to be before I had kids, because I was always nice and patient with children (when I only watched them for a few hours). I was also really kind to my spouse and left him notes and made him things all the time (which I usually don't have time or energy for anymore). But then I remind myself that the trials that I face now are much more challenging. Of course, I was always nice when I got enough sleep and had lots of free time to do whatever I wanted and no one hung on me and cried when I tried to call someone or make food. Now, although I lose my patience more, I think I have actually become more patient as a whole, because I can stand a lot of craziness for a long time before losing it. Even though each day is harder, being a Mother has helped me to become much more Christlike as I hardly do things for myself anymore, and try to be kind despite utter and complete exhaustion. I would be fooling myself to look in the past and think that I was a better person then just because I had easier trials and I was a nicer person. I am sure there will always be another dimension to being like Christ. As we conquer each little obstacle it gets harder, as to improve us more. We will always be looking back thinking (wasn't life easy when...)

Enough deep thinking... on a sillier note, last night Lucy and I were arguing about whether mermaids were real. I was arguing that they probably were real and that we had no way of proving that they didn't exist. Lucy was arguing that they are only in our imagination. We talked about a real mermaid we saw at the beach (yes we saw a girl at the beach swimming around with a fin last summer). When I asked Lucy about it, she went off on how she was fake and how she saw her with legs and that she took her fin off (even though this was 6 months ago and she said nothing about it to me at the time). She told me "I know mermaids aren't real." When I asked how she knew, she told me very seriously "I prayed about it and the spirit told me in my mind that there are no mermaids." Well, I couldn't argue anymore after that. I told her Heavenly Father would know best what he created and if He told her that then He was right. Such intense discussions with a four year old. I seriously felt like I was in some speech and debate competition with all her evidence. I hope we can enjoy Christmas just a few more years!

Wedgies

2011-11-29T22:52:00.000-08:00

The topic is Wedgies...is that even how you spell wedgie? Probably not in the dictionary... anyway, Lucy sure keeps life interesting!

The other night I was snuggling her before bed, that special time when she asks me deep questions about life.

She gets all profound on me and asks "Mom why do we get wedgies?"

While I am floundering for an answer about the size of our underwear and how far we pull them up Lucy continues: "Because I always get a lot of wedgies"

We took her underwear shopping the next week. Apparently it was time for the next size!

Little Climber Legoland Summer 2011

2011-08-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Legoland fort...Levi is insisting on being a big boy and doing it all by himself!

He watched Lucy climb up a rope tube...

And then the next minute, he was like "I can do that!"

And look...he made it all the way on his own.

Love those little climbers

Lucy made it as a volunteer in the princess show. She got to be a jouster. How cute is that little horse costume!

And when we got home I promised some face painting because there is no way I am paying $14 for something that is going to wash off the same night!

Hey, I am not that artistically inclined, but she asked for rainbows, so I got off easy!
I love summer!

Beach Days

2011-08-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

Ah, beach days...this is the life!

Levi started really walking this week (he was taking little practice steps before, but this week was the shift from primarily crawling everywhere to primarily walking everywhere). He crawled to the water and then just stood up and started going. The waves were calling him. I can already hear him begging me to go on the surf trip with Uncle Brian! Caught a few steps on camera:

This kid sure isn't afraid of the water. He doesn't mind the cold either. In fact, he actively tries to dunk his head under and he comes up laughing when I let him! He is just like a happy dog at the beach!

Lucy learned to Boogie Board and Body Surf all by herself this summer. What an amazing swimmer! Nothing makes me happier than watching my little mermaid dash happily through the waves.We have gone to the beach a lot this summer because everyone is happy there. Both kids forget the need to sleep or eat and just have total and complete fun the entire time. It is such a great break for a couple hours...until we get in the car and everyone realizes they are dying of starvation and are too tired to even eat! I try to feed them snacks while we are there, but I can only get a bite or two in. I love it, love it, love it, even despite the tired ride home. I wish summer would never end! I took some pictures and videos on Thursday because I realized I hadn't snapped any all summer. We have just been having too much fun to go get the camera out!

Harry Poppins?

2011-07-23T10:14:00.001-07:00

Lucy was begging me to watch a show...she asked me "Mom can we please watch a show?" Then she held up Mary Poppins and said "But I haven't watched Harry Poppins before..." and to further improve her argument, she added "Can we just watch 5 miles of it? Please..."

Anyone want to come over and watch 5 miles of Harry Poppins with us?

The Fair 2011

2011-07-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

The Fair was soooo much fun this year! Dave got unlimited Fair tickets for his birthday this year so we were able to go a few times! Lucy was old enough to really enjoy it! And I was not 8 months pregnant like last year so I fared better too!

We started out visiting the horses. Lucy was crushed when she found out she couldn't ride the horses there, but tried to suffice with an imaginary ride! She takes horses seriously!

Well, yeehaw! She made it look so fun...Dave and Levi wanted to join too!
We let Lucy choose one ride because we were kind of on a budget. She chose the spider swing! When she watched it go around and made her selection there was tons of kids aboard, but when she got on, she was the only kid in line! I thought that would make her sad, because it sure looked lonely, but she smiled so big and put her hands up anyway. Just having fun in her own little world, thrilled that she got to ride something!

At night the lights were really beautiful! Even though the kids were tired, nobody was about to close their eyes and miss out on any magical fair moments. Here is the kids looking up at the lights and rides! Pure amazement, huh?

Got some big smiles in there too!

Levi was getting really tired, but he only opened his eyes wider. Yup turns out we have another live wire in the family...seriously though... sleep is so overrated! Maybe one of our kids won't mind putting his head down when he is tired like Dave... I look forward to this child with very dear emotions, but for now I just enjoy the party!
Here was our view of the fair from where we parked...so beautiful, huh? Very worth the walk up the hill with the stroller, plus we saved 10 bucks!

I went back for more fun on another day and entered Levi in the diaper derby. I had high hopes since I won the diaper derby at the Del Mar Fair 26 years ago. I thought maybe it was in the genes... ...but Levi just started socializing with another cute baby, backed off the line, disqualified himself, shattered his mother's dreams, but still got the 3rd place ribbon, because only 2 babies actually came in and Levi did turn around and make it the whole way across and come in third. He is fast, but I guess we didn't train hard enough! Levi wasn't impressed with his ribbon!

On the other hand, Lucy had a magnificent time! Papa let her go on the trampoline!

I have never seen a happier 3 minutes! Pure bliss!

And then if that wasn't good enough, he topped it off with a pony ride! She has been asking to ride a horse for months now! All of Lucy's dreams came true in one magical day!

I expected to hear how thrilling the ride was, but when she got off she asked me "When do I get to run on a horse?" One step at a time there cowgirl!

What a fun time! Thank you so much for the tickets Mom and Dad! We had a blast!

Fourth of July

2011-07-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July is always one of my favorite holidays!

The day started as it always does...stagecoach park, pancakes, and a bike parade! Lucy was old enough to join!

And Papa was still young enough to join! Gotta love good old Uncle Sam. My Dad is such an exciting person! I love it!

I didn't even plan the opposite stripes and hats on purpose, so I had to take a picture of this cute coincidence!

Levi is 9 and 1/2 months here. Crawling fast, climbing everything, took his first two steps yesterday, July 3 (of course I set him all up and he wasn't that balanced, but those legs moved on their own)...so cute!

Having fun with Papa at the next party!

Here is Levi showing off his mad standing skills! He has been pulling himself to standing for a while, but today he figured out how to get to standing without holding anything. It won't be long before he is just running around!
Finished the afternoon at the beach! What else would you do on the fourth?

Lucy and Aunt Lani, never a dull moment! Lucy is having entirely too much fun with her being home for the summer!

They are so cute!
Over to the snows for another pool party and watched multiple firework shows from their backyard. I love to be up close, but this was fun and probably better with the baby anyway.

Easter and Pictures

2011-05-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

I finally found some patience for a picture upload, so here is some Lucy and Levi Love after the drought!

Easter after church at my parents house.

Oh Wow, my kids are so adorable...

And they love each other sooooo much... (I didn't even tell Lucy to do that! She is so sweet and love her brother so much!)

And... oh wait...how did this picture get uploaded!!!! You guys come on we are pretending to be perfect! Lucy let Levi out of the headlock and please don't bite him or else you will get a time out! (We have had a little more sibling rivalry going on at home now that Levi can crawl to Lucy's toys and steal them. I never knew a 7 month old baby could bug his older sister quite so much and he thinks it is funny already!)

Easter Egg Hunt!!!
We won Best Egg Overall at the Church Activity Easter Egg Decorating Contest due to me and Lucy's Rapunzel obsession!

It was a great Easter to say the least!!! No really it was. We had such a fun time. We ate foods Jesus would eat all week, and had lessons about his life and read scriptures by candlelight. I loved it!

Here are some more random pictures of our life recently:

Levi's first official beach trip. "Official" meaning he went in the water and not just his toes. It was April 16 2011 and he loved it. I dunked him to his neck to wash the sand off and he didn't even cry. He was in heaven although the picture would suggest otherwise.

Last Thursday we went to the beach. Dave and I played some volleyball while Lucy entertained Levi. She did a pretty good job because he was laughing hard and I have never seen so much sand on a baby's face before. Surprisingly he didn't even cry when I drenched him in the freezing showers.

Lucy came out with Levi's pants on the other day and said "Mom, I have never worn these pants before!" I was surprised they fit her so well!
Went to Legoland on Monday. It was hot so even Levi got to go on the splashpad. He was a hit just splashing and laughing. A stranger even asked me if they could take his picture. Later I saw some people in a line and they said, "Oh you are the one with the baby who loves the water. He was so funny."

Here is Lucy pushing Levi in the swing!

Our little heat spell has made me so excited! This is going to be a fun summer!

Quick little update:

Levi is a fast army crawler these days. He has even pulled up on the furniture a bit. He surprises me everyday. He laughs a lot and has a wonderful sense of humor. He loves to eat! He chows everything and tries to swallow the spoon. It is a huge difference from Lucy. Levi doesn't even care if he nurses, I insist that he nurses a few times a day. Lucy would have perished if she had to rely on solids. She gaged on everything until at least 9 months. Levi loves music. He shakes his head and bounces to the beat. I dunked Levi under the water at the pool on Tuesday and he loved it! He was 20 lbs at his 6 month check up and I am sure he is more now! Big Kid!

Lucy loves her gymnastics class. I thought it would be an outlet for her daring spirit, but I think it is encouraging jumping off of furniture and hanging upside down on anything she can grab. She can sound out lots of words, although she hasn't learned all the hard weird letter like x and z. She loves to swim and can take a few breaths now without my help. She sleep walks and talks which is hilarious. I should try to catch it on video. She is so fun and imaginative. She names everything really unique names and you can ask her the Spanish word for anything and she will make something up and tell you. She wants to know "Why?" about everything. She is an absolute joy!

What fun ages and stages right now. We just can't get enough of them!

Why do I have a Part?

2011-05-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

While doing Lucy's hair the other morning I said "Hold still, let me do your part."

As I started to concentrate with the comb in my hand, Lucy asks me "Why do we have this thing on our head?" She pointed to the the line where her hair parts.

"A part?" I questioned for clarification.

"Yeah, Why do we have a part?"

"I really don't know sweetie, it just is something on our head." I answer very non creatively.

Lucy responds "Maybe Heavenly Father knows. We should ask him. Can I ask him today or do I have to wait until I go to heaven?"

Oh Lucy! I sure will miss these conversations we have someday, just trying to figure out every detail of the world.

Levi's Hairstache

2011-04-30T23:05:00.000-07:00

Sitting out in my parent's backyard on Wednesday, Lucy takes a cup of water and dumps it on Levi's head. I was stunned by her boldness right in front of me, and I didn't even say anything because I was trying to think of how to punish her. Then I watched her start to style his hair into a mohawk. Upon finishing she proudly announced

"Mom, do you like Levi's Hairstache?"

Well, that is one way of putting it! How original! I absolutely adore that word! Lucy made me laugh so much, I forgot all about punishing her for pouring water all over Levi's head. What I originally thought to be malicious, ended up being an innocent step on the path to completing Lucy's "hairstache" quest. Besides Levi was laughing and loved being doused anyway!

Sometimes it feels like kids are being naughty just to test you, but if you wait sometimes you see a truly more magical and creative side of a three year olds brain. Sometimes...

Silly Kids!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T21:49:00.001-07:00

We have been talking a lot about Jesus all week in preparation for Easter. Eating the food he ate. Finding things in nature that remind us of Jesus and other small activities and stories. Lucy had been sweet, but I was wondering how much was sinking in.

Tonight I told Lucy the story of Jesus' Crucifixion by candlelight to remind us of the hours of darkness that followed Christ's death. Lucy loved it and really got into asking lots of questions.

The we watched the cartoon "He is Risen." When Christ first appeared to Mary in the Garden, I pulled out our Christus (which I wish I had out all the time, but it just didn't seem to work in a kidproof home). Lucy had never seen it before. She asked me "May I please hold him." She was so careful as she hugged him and kissed him and then told me "I love Jesus."

Later when I tucked her in bed I sang "I am a Child of God" while scratching her back, as I always do, but this time she stopped me with lots of questions.

After the first line "I am a Child of God and he has sent me here." She asked me "Why did he send me? Why do we have to be away from him? I miss Heavenly Father and Jesus. I want to talk to them."

Well, that was too many questions all at once, so I only answered the part about talking to them and told her about prayer, which didn't satisfy her.

"No, I want to talk to him real. I want to talk with him. I want to hear him."

I mentioned to her that we would see him again. I told her Jesus would come again. She got sooooo excited!!!

Then she enthusiastically rambled on "When is he coming? Can he come next week? What will we do with him? Is he staying many days? Is he staying a week? Will he stay the night?"

So I answered a lot of "I don't knows" and then she asked me very sincerely:

"I know Jesus is busy. Will he have time to go to Legoland with us? He is coming on Legoland day. I really want to bring him there."

So Sweet. I love how she talks about him like he is her best friend. She is so close to the spirit. Children are truly magical. I am so glad I have had the opportunity to understand why the Savior loved little children so much and always took time to be with them and bless them when he could. I am trying to be more like a child, more like Lucy.

Some words from Lucy

2011-04-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

Watching conference with Lucy was really sweet. We didn't make her sit there, she just played in the room while we watched. During Elder Nelson's talk he said "precious boys and girls" immediately after Lucy perked up and said in a little elated voice

"Precious!! I am precious."

I sure wish everyone felt like that! We spend so much time telling ourselves why we aren't of worth and doubting the prophets words when it comes to how precious we are to our Heavenly Father. We should be more like children and exclaim with joy that we know we are precious!

As Elder Nelson continued his talk he also said the word "light" and Lucy repeated "Light. I am light!" I have told her that her name means "light" and that she is a "light" many times. She was so excited.

He then mentioned the song title "I am a Child of God" once again Lucy piped in with her excited spirit "I am a child of God!"

I wonder if my 3 year old felt the spirit stronger during Elder Nelson's talk than most adults. She didn't need to understand every detail, she got the message. We have to spend hours and hours listening to the prophets and apostles trying to absorb the spirit, but I guess she is already a lot closer to the spirit.

This week I have been trying to teach her the importance of Easter. We have been discussing things Jesus did. Tonight I explained how Jesus taught in parables and then shared the parable of the Ten Virgins. After the parable I started to explain that it was about how Jesus will come to Earth again. I told her

"You know how weddings are so exciting? The wedding they are talking about is Jesus coming again."

Lucy got a really excited look on her face because she loves weddings and the topic of marriage. Then she pointed to Jesus in the picture of the second coming and said "Look Mom, it is a wedding because Jesus is wearing white, just like a married girl. And he has long hair like one too!!!" Then she exclaimed "I love Jesus!" and started kissing the picture.

Okay, that wasn't exactly what I meant about Jesus' coming being like a wedding, but I am sure the Lord has a sense of humor!

MOM

2011-03-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

I have been doing some little reading and writing lessons with Lucy lately, wondering if anything is really sinking in. Well, last week I drew some "m"s and asked her to draw her own. After working on it for a minute, she says "Look mom! Read it." When I looked at the first word she had ever written on her own I just squealed with joy, praised my daughter with kisses and then almost cried! That little girl sure knows how to make her Mama happy! What a special calling to be a mother. I am so very thankful to be Lucy's Mother.

Handsome and Gretel

2011-03-10T19:44:00.000-08:00

Lucy was just introduced to the story of Hansel and Gretel this morning via itouch. I never told it to her before because it really bothered me as a child that the Dad left his kids in the woods. Yeah, I know the stepmother pressured him and they were out of food, but come on... you just starve together, you don't go leave your kids in the woods. Anyway, my personal feelings aside, Lucy finally read the story.

After I finished my shower, I asked her if she liked the story.

"Yeah" she answered.

Unsatisfied with the lack of details, I started fishing "So what was it about?"

She states as if there was nothing else to be said, "Handsome and Gretel"

Ha ha...get it! Handsome and Gretel!

Lucy was telling me a story the other day and instead of saying last night she says "Yester night" I guess that makes sense.

Along the same lines, she was talking about waking up from her nap and she says "In the morning from my nap..." I realized she thinks the "morning" is whenever you wake up rather than the time of day.

Last funny Lucy talk. We were at the Aquarium and Lucy sees this big fish with a pouty lip. She declares, "That fish is ugly."

I was a little annoyed she was being so judgmental. I started asking questions to help her realize it was ridiculous. So I asked her "Why is that fish ugly?"

She answers "He has a stout face."

Wow... I didn't know she knew that word. She has been coming up with all sorts of words and phrases lately that I am sure I don't say. She is a little sponge for language right now!

Broccoli without any bread

2011-02-25T21:04:00.000-08:00

I caught Lucy in the bath playing with her toys repeating the nursery rhyme about the "old woman who lived in a shoe" She made an addition the had me laughing.

Real Version: "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children she didn't know what to do. She gave them some broth without any bread. Then whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed."

Lucy's version: "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children she didn't know what to do. She gave them some broccoli without any bread. Then whipped them to bed."

I love her little word slips. Right now my favorite word slips she uses regularly are:

"sombrella" for Umbrella which is making things really confusing when learning her ABC's because there is always a picture of an Umbrella for the "U" and it doesn't match the sound she makes!

"Mazagine" instead of "Magazine" It is especially funny in the context because she is usually trying to be like an adult. "Mommy may I have my mazagine please?" so proper and yet so not.

"Heavenly Evening" for "Family home evening" This is one I hope she never grows out of. It really is heavenly and the funny thing is she talks about it all the time. She asks me all the time "Can we do heavenly evening this morning" after explaining that Daddy is at work and it is morning time she then asks "Well, can I still have a treat?" okay so maybe that is the only reason she wants to have FHE, but I believe she really loves it when we are all in the same room being silly and spiritual together.

Lucy's other talent is interpreting English into Spanish. You can ask her any word and say "What is _______ in Spanish?" Then she will make up a word and tell you. The words are hilarious. If I try to tell her what the real word in Spanish she corrects me and tells me I am wrong. It cracks me up. She is so confident!

Lucy is such a positive person. Talk about looking on the bright side... whenever Levi spits up on something she makes funny comments. For example, Levi spit up on the floor. Lucy's comment is "I am so glad Levi didn't spit up on my dolly! He just missed it!" or when Levi spits up on my shirt "Yay, Levi didn't spit up in your hair." I am glad I have her to remind me that is could always be worse!

Levi had been so much fun lately. He grabs everything! Loves the bath. Loves music. Loves to be outside. Hates things on his head. Shakes his head back and forth like he is saying "no" when he is tired. Still spits up a lot, but it seems like only puddles instead of buckets like it used to be. He is still huge ( he is 19 lbs right now and in the 90th percentile for height and weight) He loves tummy time and has a very flexible back. His very favorite thing is when Lucy comes and plays with him. He just lights up and starts laughing. He has very ticklish thighs. He is very social, but very independent at the same time. Loves to smile. I took him on the carousel for the first time yesterday and he loved it. He is so much fun and I absolutely love having two kids. It is so much more fun than only having one!

A Month of Love!

2011-02-22T21:56:00.000-08:00

I learned a powerful lesson this Valentine's Day and now I am feeling like a relationship pro after only 6 years (which I am sure to look back at laughing in years to come...kind of like when you think you aren't a newly wed anymore on your first anniversary, so not true!)

Valentine's Day is usually just not very good. It usually consists of me trying to make dumb little mushy meaningful crafts for Dave which I find under the bed months later, and him being so stressed about doing something for me that he ends up doing nothing and then me thinking he just doesn't care when really he did care, but it just didn't work out. Sound familiar?

This year I had the best Valentine's Day ever and it's not because Dave surprised me with a trip to Paris, although I would be okay with it if he wants to use that idea sometime in the future. It is kind of cheezy and you have heard it your whole life, but serving others is really what makes you happy. It was a very busy day. We had to get treats and crafts ready for Lucy's valentine exchange party, and then played at the park with friends and read valentine's books to the kids. Next me and Lucy made a Valentine for Daddy as well as Lucy's friend Marcus, and a make believe Valentine to her crush Oliver from the play we were in last November (she hasn't seen him since November and yet she still talks about how she is going to marry him). Then we made the pink pizza dough and frosted the treats. I squeezed a quick photo shoot in of the kids. We visited Marcus with Lucy's valentine and then picked up Dave and made pink heart shaped pizza. We had a short Family Home Evening about loving your neighbor, delivered treats to all the neighbors and then finished with a heart hunt. Lucy found hearts all around the house until she found her valentine including nail polish, body glitter and princess gloves. Well then I made a little heart hunt for Dave and I can't tell you what his Valentine present was.

I was sooooo tired by the end of the day and yet soooooo happy. I contemplated why it was such a good valentine's day and realized I was so busy thinking of all the things I was going to do for Lucy and Dave, and the party and the neighbors that I never thought about what anyone was going to do for me. And that is the formula for happiness!!!! If you aren't concerned with what you are getting you will be so much happier. This sounds like a Christmas moral, but it hit me on Valentine's Day this year. I didn't even realize until the next day that I really hadn't gotten anything and it was so refreshing to not be expecting anything. I realized all these years (the whole 6 we have been married!!!)I have been wishing for Dave to be superman on Valentine's Day and that is not what it is about. It is about how you can show your love for others.

I feel like, duh! I mean theoretically I have always known that you should serve other people and be selfless and then you will be happy, but I guess I never actually internalized it.

Love really is a verb. It is something you do and then you feel. The more I find myself waking up thinking, "what can I do for Dave today?", the more I feel like he is the most amazing husband ever. Anytime, I have been upset with Dave it was because I was thinking of things he wasn't doing for me and I hadn't given any thought to his needs. I sure Love this adventure of Love. My favorite moments in life are when you feel like you really grow and have a whole new awareness in life. That is the whole purpose of this life right? To learn and grow and be able to Love more fully.

I caught some of the cuteness and love on camera!

Photo Shoot:

Valentine Party at the Park:

Lucy's Valentine from Marcus

Levi found his Valentine!
Lucy and her friend Emma at the party

They are so full of personality. I love it!

Lucy's hunky Valentine, Marcus!

Lucy helping me make the pizza dough.

The pizza turned out pretty cute!

Lucy wearing all of her valentine gifts the next morning. Notice the body glitter and princess gloves!

Anyway I hope your month and I guess your entire life are completely and totally full of LOVE!!!

Don't Instruct!

2011-02-22T21:38:00.000-08:00

Lucy came up to me enthusiastically with a rock, held it next to my face, scrutinized for a second and then said as if making a completely new and thrilling discovery "This rock is just your age!"

What is that supposed to me?

Okay really I just cracked up because it was cute, but I hope I don't look as old as a rock. I may be in need of a little sleep, but come on people let's be polite!

So we pull up at our apartment the other day and Dave and I are talking. Lucy has been quiet for a little while in the back seat of the car. Then she interjects during a pause in the conversation "Don't Instruct!"

"hmmmmm, does she even know what "instruct" means," I think. I am pretty sure she doesn't, but I ask because Lucy's definitions are usually hilarious.

"Do you know what instruct means?" I ask her.

She puts on her know it all sassy face and answers "It means talk. So don't talk."

Okay...maybe she knows what it means...that is weird. I guess I do talk to much. This reminds me of the one time Lucy told me I need to share with Daddy. I was completely confused until she finally got across her point that Daddy needed to say things too. Oh Wow! Don't they say girls use 30,000 words per day and guys use only 10,000. I guess Lucy observed that firsthand.

But really on a deeper level, I probably do instruct Lucy too much. Actions are more powerful than words and I need to remember that sometimes. Besides I don't think lecturing a 3 year old has ever worked for anybody! It's okay, at least I am as old as a rock!

Gumba I dedicate this post to you, because you read them. I hope you are laughing as you try to imagine the scenes of my life!

The Latest Photo Shoot

2011-02-04T20:25:00.001-08:00

Here are our latest happenings!

Do you think Levi could pass for a baby girl? Poor Levi, this is what Lucy and I do when Dave isn't home to protect the little guy. Seriously though, he is all boy. I don't think a bow could fool anyone!

Lucy is always begging to hold Levi and then wants a picture. Well, this one turned out cute, so I shared.

Levi is chillin' at Legoland in this picture, while Lucy is playing. He sure loves outings!

Here is Lucy getting ready for gymnastics, striking a pose. She sure loves her class!

We curled her hair for church, because the time was pushed back and we thought we had lots of time, but she has a lot of hair so we were still a little late. But boy did she look cute! (I promised Dave I would never be late again because I was doing Lucy's hair!)

And Levi got a new photo shoot... he didn't mind because he got to be naked half of the time.

Oh, nothing like little baby exploring pictures!

Naked Baby!

Levi is getting to be quite the rolly polly and can even do a few in a row to get what he wants! Look Out Mom! He loves to stand and dances if we turn the music on. His favorite activity is lying on the boppy while playing the toy piano. He is sleeping better these days and so that is why there is a blog post! Hooray!!! Don't get your hopes up too high...I said "better." It is all relative!

two times or twice?

2011-02-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

Lucy was playing doctor with Dave and her dollies. The doll had to come in once to get her cast on and another time to get her cast off.

After Dave took the cast off, Lucy was upset and demanded:

"You were supposed to fix her twice"

Dave answered "I did."

Lucy responded "No, you only fixed her two times."

hmmmmm.......

I heard her playing with her people the other day and they were all telling their ages. The first one was "seventeen," the next was "fifteen," and the last was "eleventeen." It made me laugh.

I love hearing her make sense of the world. She has such great vocal skills, but still just doesn't understand everything and it is hilarious to hear her vocalize what she is thinking.

Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair!

2011-02-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

So My sister Heidi was looking at the pictures on my camera the other day and started cracking up because I had done such a photo shoot of Rapunzel's tower. I will admitt, I am kind of obsessed with the movie. I love it and can't wait for it to come out on video (and if you know me I own about 10 DVD's and don't plan on having collection, so the fact that I want to buy it says a lot!)

So I decided to make a Rapunzel tower because Lucy wanted one. I let her help me paint and glue it. It was a lot of work and it is very not like me. I am not painty. I am not gluey. I am not artistic. I am not crafty. Wow! It turned out great. It looks artistic! There are vines. I painted bricks and vines. Maybe I am crafty. Maybe I just think that because no one else made one that I can compare it to and realize that I am not artistic. Lucy loves it and that is all that matters.

Anyway, I had to document this crafty moment.

I also wanted to say a special thank you to Cassie and Steven Daines for bestowing the small Rapunzel on us. (Steve it was soooooo great to see you and Cassie you pick amazing presents and hope to see you soon too! Cooper keep up the great work! Only 20 more years and you might be able handle this little woman!)As you can see the big doll, didn't fit and Lucy was torn up over it once I glued the roof on. I made a braid out of yarn and was looking for a little doll to glue it on, but I really prefer the real thing! We now play with little Rapunzel every day and big Rapunzel is her Mommy. It is awesome! I am so glad I have Lucy to share my Rapunzel obsession with!

Look big Rapunzel fits as long as there is no roof

Oh no the roof is on.

We can pretend the braid is hanging out of the tower. (It was Lucy's idea to put it on the chair so the tower would be taller)

Pretty much finished!

Added a yarn braid, plus put it in a magical forest!

Now we have little rapunzel! Yay! A match made in heaven! Perfect to scale!

Practice Practice Practice

2011-01-30T21:32:00.000-08:00

Lucy and I were driving home in the car today. I had the heater on. After a little while Lucy asked me "Do you want to know how I made the car warm?"

Playing along I responded "Of course"

"I make the car warm with my nose...see" and she starts blowing in and out of her nose really fast.

I said "Wow, that's really something."

She responded "I know. Maybe someday you can do it like me, but you have to practice."

I am grateful Lucy knows how to make the car warm with her nose.

Levi is 4 months and other adventures!!!

2011-01-16T16:19:00.001-08:00

I can't believe Levi is already 4 months old!!! Crazy the way time flies... and I thought it went fast with Lucy!

He had his 4 month checkup this week and he was 17 lbs 6 oz and 25 and 1/2 inches long!!! Whoa!! He is in the 90th percentile and so are my biceps!!! (Well, at least the right one is getting big, the left one is still pretty weak!) I've just pulled out his 12 month clothes. Crazy!

He is much different than Lucy already. Last week he grabbed rice off my plate and shoved it in his mouth. Whenever we eat he smacks his lips and drools, so I started regularly feeding him solids this week ( I had let him have a bite or two of a few things before). He loved it. He smiled, he smacked, he swallowed. He seriously already eats better than Lucy did at 9 months old. She was such a pill, always gagging on everything. She would only eat if she had the spoon, so she couldn't possibly have eaten more than 5 calories per feeding. Levi even drank his Rotavirus vaccine. Lucy spit at least half of it out and freaked out! So funny! The other huge difference is Levi likes to play on the ground and practice his skills. He can push his tummy off the ground for a little bit now when he is on his tummy. Lucy would go down for a few minutes if I entertained her the whole time she was down. Levi is really very happy although he was still colicky (which doesn't seem to make sense, but he would be happy a lot and then I could tell when his tummy hurt and he was miserable).

Levi used to roll a lot between 2 and three months, but now he seems to be working on his push ups when he is on his tummy. He also kicks and paddles like crazy on his tummy. One lady at the park remarked "He looks like he is paddling for a wave" and he very well could be already working on his surf skills. He loves to look at things and grab them, his favorite being my hair. He also loves to growl like a dinosaur. He loves it when me and Lucy dance with him. His favorite activity is bath time. He starts giggling as soon as I turn the water on and he knows it's time. When he goes to sleep, I put him in the crib and he coos and sings himself to sleep ( If I get him down soon enough, if not I have to rock him in the blanket). I won't comment on his night time activities, I'll just leave you all thinking he is an easy baby!

Here is his little 4 month photo shoot I did yesterday in my parents backyard.

Levi looks like he doesn't have hair, because his hair is the same color as his head. So just to prove it (and to be funny) I put it in a little mohawk for you!

Is that both of my kids smiling at the same time? You have no idea how many pictures I took to get that!

We went hiking at the Torrey Pines State Reserve on Thursday. It was a beautiful day. We finished it collecting shells at the beach.

Two weeks of gymnastics lessons and she is a pro already!

I love living here! Winter is such a different experience!

Last, but not least we got a good family shot!

Fitness Training

2011-01-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

Click Here!

What Language do babies speak?

2010-12-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

The other day Levi was babbling. I asked Lucy "What is Levi trying to say?"

She answered in a matter of fact voice, "I don't know...he is speaking spanish."

Wow! What a smart baby I have!

Today on the way home from church Lucy started making a big fuss "Why did you put that in my face?!!" She asked angrily.

Both Dave and I answered in unison, "What did we put in your face?"

"The sun" she declared, and we laughed and then explained that the sun did what it wanted to.

I'll be honest...the other day I got mad at Lucy. She went in to Levi's room while he was sleeping and blew the recorder in his ear.

She started crying when I got mad at her and then said through her tears "You need to be nice. Why are you listening to Satan?"

Serious blow to me. Of course, I started crying and apologized. Then she came and hugged me and looked up at me through her tears and said sincerely "It's okay Mommy. I still love you."

What if everyone could be so forgiving instead of holding such grudges. I think this is what the scriptures mean when they say to be like a little child (as opposed to running around screaming and destroying the entire house in 5 minutes).

I am so thankful for the life and atonement of Jesus Christ, especially so that I can be forgiven, after getting mad at such a sweet little girl.

Smiles!!!

2010-10-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

I finally caught some good smiles on camera yesterday. I got some on video a few weeks ago, but haven't really tried that hard with the still camera because the lighting isn't very good at our house and I don't stalk Levi with the camera like I did with Lucy...ha ha!

He sure is a smiley guy! He started smiling at 3 weeks and I'm not talking one measley smile. He was smiling all the time, right up at you. Now he smiles and babbles with you. I think he will be quite a social guy, although he is very independent. Sometimes he starts crying because he wants to be put down. Lucy never did this and it has come as quite a shock. I got in the habit of carrying Lucy everywhere, because she pretty much cried if I put her down. Levi just gets annoyed because I tend to carry him, then he stops fussing when he can wiggle on the ground. Wow! That's cool!

Lucy thinks it is hilarious to take pictures with her tongue sticking out. I guess Levi does too!

Yesterday I was struggling to get Lucy to take a nap. I finally said "Where do you want to sleep?" She answered "Right here" then I responded "Okay, then lay down" and she did! I was laying down on the bed and the next thing I knew I woke up an hour and a half later and she was asleep on the ground. She is always full of surprises!

Lucy Moment: At church on Sunday the topic in Sacrament meeting was Reverence. I was asking Lucy about it and then reminded her that while we fold our arms we also think of Jesus. Then I asked her "What are you thinking about Jesus?"

She answered "I think I will share my toys with him. Where is he? I don't see him." As she looked around the congregation for him.

Now that is true devotion right there! Hey, sharing toys is big in the life of a three year old! I love her!

Lucy and Levi

2010-10-23T10:54:00.001-07:00

Caught some love on camera yesterday!

Lucy is really obsessed with her baby brother. She loves him sooooo much! The problem is she loves him soooooo much!

When he was 3 weeks she got him out of his swing and put him on the ground. I try not to imagine his little head flopping around. He did start screaming, but calmed down pretty quickly. Somehow I managed not to freak out and yell at Lucy (only because Dave was there to help me).

Last week Dave left Levi in his crib for a little while and came back and Lucy was sitting in it with him.

I have told her the rules - no picking up, no touching face and not to give him little things, but she still says "Don't worry Mom, I'll go get him" when we hear him wake up on the monitor.

She wants to help me wash him and change his diaper and smother him with cuddles! I keep telling myself "Babies were made to withstand siblings." Let's just say, Levi has already had a much different upbringing than Lucy. Lucy was only ever touched very gently and probably cried without help from a parent for a total of 30 minutes in her whole first year. Levi just has to cry sometimes and gets attacked with love, but I'm sure he will turn out fine!

I guess it could be a lot worse. She could purposefully be hurting him...

Here is a one month old pic, taken on October 14
He had a doctor's appointment on October 11 and he was already 11 pounds! I am so proud of my big boy! Wouldn't it be great if we all put on two pounds per month! Or better yet increased our weight by 20%!!!! (That was a very rough calculation)

Levi loves the bath. He gets really smiley, but of course I couldn't get it with the camera. I don't know if you can tell how he is getting chubby little arms and legs. He even has some creases. I love it! I really miss Lucy's chub and am excited to have some chub again.
I have gotten some great videos of his smiles. He started smiling really early, around 3 weeks. I kept thinking he was too young to do that, but he really did it in response to looking at him and talking to him. I guess he is just a happy little guy! Don't get me wrong, he screams when he is hungry. He goes from 0-60 in one second. He is smiling at you, babbling and then the next minute yelling "Feed me now."

He has been sleeping pretty well. He usually sleeps from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. eats and goes back to sleep until 7 or 8. Lucy would do 6 hours when she was about 2 weeks old, but then she was up for a long time. The going back to sleep part makes a big difference in my happiness! Actually I have been extremely happy this time around. 2 kids is way easier than I had anticipated (It's not easy, I just thought it would be completely overwhelming). I even catch myself thinking about how soon we could have another baby, which I'm pretty sure with Lucy at this stage I was thinking, "Maybe one child would be just perfect." It's not really Levi's personality vs. Lucy's, I think I just have accepted my role as a mother and already know how to take care of a baby. Now, I am not shocked when I have spit up in my hair and poo all over my clothes, instead I am pleasantly surprised when I don't have anything gross on me. I used to think I didn't like babies, but i loved kids, so i had to do the baby thing, but now I really do love having a baby. I love being a Mom. I am so blessed and so grateful for my sweet kids and awesome husband. He is always putting me first, even when he is dirt tired at 4:00 a.m. It's amazing!

I have so much to say, but so little time...so I guess this will have to do!

I love Halloween!!!

2010-10-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

I think I have a post with this title every October...but I really do love Halloween. I am whimpy and don't like scary stuff, so it doesn't really make sense. I just love dressing up and carving pumpkins and eating candy. I am so glad Lucy is finally old enough to get candy, so I can eat it!

We painted pumpkins last week (which is much better than carving for a three year old), and made lolly pop ghosts this week. Halloween crafts are the best! Plus get a sneak peak of Lucy's Halloween costume. She wants to be Ariel, surprise...!!!! It's the one princess costume we didn't have, of course! She is insisting that Levi be Flounder, Dave is Prince Eric, I am Sebastian, her Papa is King Triton, and Heidi is Ursula. We will see how it goes!

Ever since we got this Ariel costume, it is all she will wear, and we have to call her Ariel at all times! She was disappointed that she couldn't wear her fin in the bath. What kind of fin is this? You can't wear it in the water? I have finally convinced her that Ariel has special waterproof panties that she wears under her fin because she wouldn't wear panties the first few days. She kept saying "Ariel doesn't wear panties. They will get wet in the water." I have always been a big believer in never lying to your kids to get them to do things. This doesn't really count, right? I think this one just goes in the imagination category. There is no proof that Ariel doesn't wear waterproof panties under her fin!!!

Whoa, Lucy just ate 3 whole apples, skin and all. Where did this kid come from?

First Outings

2010-09-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

We took Levi to the beach for the first time on Saturday night. He loved it. Of course, who wouldn't?

I took him again today, since it is incredibly hot here! We had so much fun! He just ate and then napped in the tent for 2 hours, while Lucy played with a friend she had just made.

I am so happy to be raising my kids here. I felt very confused raising Lucy in the snow. I never really knew what to do, except stay in the house, which was kind of miserable (I am not a home body).

I also took the kids to the park on Saturday morning (since Dave had to work and I had to get out). I am so proud of myself when I leave the house, since it usually takes a whole hour to get everybody ready (and that doesn't mean looking good, we are talking fed and clothed, not necessarily matching).

Anyway, here are the cute shots from the beach:

Sunday Morning

2010-09-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning I decided to sleep in with Levi and rest one more week before getting back in the full swing of things. After I couldn't sleep any longer, I did a photo shoot (What did you expect me to do in my free time?)

Lucy was really happy to see me and Levi when she got home from church. She wanted to snuggle Levi. Oh, precious.

Oh, I just love little feet...

Gotta love that little man!

Can we keep him?

2010-09-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

Lucy is always thrilled to come see her brother in the morning. It's as if she is surprised every morning that he is still here and its all real. The first thing she said this morning as she came to look at her brother was

"Mommy, can we keep him?"

I answered "Yes, we will keep him forever."

How sweet. I am glad she loves him. I was wondering what stemmed that thought and realized we have recently been telling her the story of Rapunzel. Maybe she is worried someone will take him away just like the witch did.

Levi continues to impress us all! He slept 8 hours last night from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.! Of course, he ate every 40 minutes from 6:30 p.m. to10:30 p.m., but I think it's a pretty good trade! Where did this child come from? I feel sooooo good and am soooooo happy!

I knew Dave would love having a son, even though he said he wanted another little girl. Oh, I love these boys!

The First Week

2010-09-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

First, Here are some pictures:

Bringing Levi home on Wednesday night, September 15

Lucy welcoming her brother home

Me and my kids (I love saying "the kids")

I think they are going to be best of friends

Our first family car ride to the Pediatrician on Thursday Morning, September 16.

Lucy finds her own Boppy!! Funny Girl!

Levi's first tummy time! (I think it made his umbilical cord bleed a little, so we will wait a few days to try again)

Lucy is trying out Levi's bathtub. She is enjoying all the fun new baby things around!!

The first week has gone by in a flash! Surprisingly, I have loved it. With Lucy it was a really hard and shocking adjustment for me, but this time I love it. Maybe it is because Dave didn't even let me change one diaper until he was 4 days old (he is the best father there ever was!), or that I already know how to breastfeed, or perhaps it is because Levi just came home from the hospital sleeping at night. I kid you not, I don't know how it happened (okay, actually I prayed a lot for it while I was pregnant), but Friday night he slept 4 hours, woke up and ate and went right back to sleep for 3 more. Saturday he is increased to 5 hours, quick feed, back to sleep for 3. Sunday night was 6 hours (from 11:00p.m. to 5:00 a.m.), quick feed and awoke again at 8:00 a.m. Last night (Monday night) 7 hours!!! He went to sleep at 12:00 p.m. and woke up at 7:00 a.m., quick feed and back to sleep until 10:00 a.m.!!! Hallelujah!!!! With Lucy I am pretty sure I didn't want to have any more children after the first week of newborn care, but this time I am so happy, I am already ready to have another one! (Okay, not quite yet!)

My Favorite moments this week:

Watching Lucy hold her brother and kiss him softly and then rub her cheek on his head. She is so good at calming him. She even started calmly singing "I am a Child of God" to him when he was fussing. He stopped fussing and it was a very sweet moment!

Every morning when Lucy wakes up she wants to come see "her baby" and give him a kiss.

Levi spit up and Dave called out to me because he needed a burp rag, "He's spitting..." Lucy then asked inquisitively "Does he need a time out?" So funny! (She went through a little spitting phase and got time outs for it).

Answering Lucy's questions about birth. She asked how the baby got out. I told her he came out my bottom and responded "That's silly!" and hasn't asked again.

Telling Lucy stories about me and my little brother Brian and what we would do together. Lucy seemed kind of annoyed that she couldn't play with the baby yet, so I told her first they have to grow and then they will be lots of fun. I told her all the adventures I went on with my little brother and she loved it. Now she asks all the time "Can you tell me about your little brother, Brian."

Lucy found a neck pillow and used it as a boppy to feed her baby doll! Hilarious!

When Levi cries Lucy consoles him by saying: "It's okay little man." I guess she must have heard me saying that.

Lucy keeps asking if she can have some milk (as in breastmilk). I told her "Sure, you can try baby milk," but then she chickens out and says "That milk is for babies, not older sisters." I am so glad she came to that conclusion on her own without me forcing the issue or letting her try any.

Last night Lucy was helping me burp Levi, and he burped while she was patting. She was so proud. It was precious.

Levi had a weight check on Monday and was 9 lbs 5 oz. Yay he gained 5 oz! I am so proud he is on his way to becoming a big and tall athlete!

Yay! His umbilical cord fell off just a few minutes ago! (11:00 a.m. September 21)

I love being a Mom of two!

The Real Labor Day!

2010-09-18T11:00:00.001-07:00

Levi David Pendergrass has arrived! He was born on Tuesday, September 14th at 9:37 a.m. He weighed 9 lbs and is 21.5 inches long. I am so proud and hoping this means he will be a big, tall and handsome athlete, just like his Daddy!

Here are a few pictures of Levi's first days in the hospital. I also wrote my labor story because I know a lot of people are interested in that, but I put it after the pictures, because I know a lot of people are definitely not interested in that. So enjoy if you are the curious type!

Here is the Labor story! Feel free to skip it if you aren't into that kind of thing!

September 13th before bed I started bawling. I can't really explain it... I just knew I was going to have the baby the next day and these were my last few moments with only one child. Lucy had predicted about a month ago that the baby would come on a Tuesday. I asked her when the baby was coming and she said matter of factly "Tuesday in September." The 14th is my Grandma's Birthday and I had told her I would have the baby on her Birthday for her. Now it was here, and I knew it. I was worried about Labor and taking care of a newborn and not being able to spend as much time with Lucy. When we decided to have a baby is was 9 months away and so unreal, now it was here and I still didn't feel ready so I just got overwhelmed. Eventually I got over it, realized there was no real other way out of being pregnant and went to bed around 11:00 p.m.

September 14th

3:00 a.m. Wake up to a nice, real contraction. Pretty sure it was real. I wait to wake Dave up. He will need sleep. I stay in bed through a few more contractions coming every 10 minutes.

3:30 a.m. Okay the bed is not comfortable anymore! I get up and go get some breakfast. Going to need my strength today!

4:00 a.m. I am tired. Maybe I can sleep in between contractions. I go get back in bed through 2 more contractions. Dave wakes up. I wish he could have slept longer. I tell him calmly that I am in Labor for reals.

4:30 a.m. Dave and I jump in the shower. Got to look good for my little man's first day on earth! Just kidding. I did it more to feel good, but I do think it helped the pictures turn out a little more to my liking.

5:00 a.m. My shower has turned into a bath. I call the midwife from the bath tub and tell her I can't remember when I was supposed to call and when I am supposed to go to the hospital, but currently contractions are 7 minutes apart lasting 50 seconds. She said I could wait until contractions are 4-5 minutes apart and 1 minute in length, but I could go sooner if I felt like I should. I stop timing contractions because it is annoying. I figure I will know when it is time.

5:30 a.m. I finish packing my hospital stuff. Dave packs some snacks and I eat some ham and cheese sandwiches. I go snuggle Lucy while she is sleeping, wishing I could tell her goodbye, but not wanting to wake her. Contractions aren't too great while lying down, so I sadly stop snuggling her.

6:00 a.m. Dave calls my parents. At this point I have found that my favorite position for contractions is standing hugging Dave or kneeling at the couch like I am praying (or really praying).

6:30 a.m. My mom arrives. We talk for a little while. She give me some good last motherly encouragement.

I can't believe I have already been in Labor for 4 hours. It went by really quickly and was uncomfortable, but not unbearable by any means. Just felt like I was working out really hard and in between contractions I was happy as ever.

7:00 a.m. We leave for the hospital.

The freeway is jammed up, so we decide to take the coast route to the hospital. As we are nearing Moonlight Beach I have an uncontrollable urge to go walk in the water. I beg Dave to please take me to the beach. He asks if I am sure I shouldn't be at the hospital. I tell him "I think I will know when I am about to have the baby. Don't worry about" He jokes about catching the baby on the beach and how he will quote that for forever. We are cracking up which kind of hurts during a contraction while riding in the car.

7:20 a.m. We arrive at the beach, take our shoes off and go stand in the water. I felt overwhelming happiness wash over me. I can't explain how amazing it was. I really wanted to just kiss Dave the whole time we were there, but he kept it appropriate because there were a few joggers and such. I could have cared less. I was so scared the night before, but standing in the water in the early morning sunlight, holding the man I love and thinking about having a new little man to love, just made me start crying. I was crying because I was so happy. I knew I could do it. I knew I would love our new baby. I was crying because Dave had been such a good labor coach, even though he couldn't come to any of the classes. I was crying because Labor hadn't even gotten hard yet. In fact, I wondered if we weren't going in to the hospital a little early. I had stopped timing contractions long ago. To make a long story short, there is no better place to labor than sunrise at the beach with your feet in the water. It was so beautiful. I know it sounds crazy, but I actually cherish these moments being in Labor.

7:50 a.m. Okay, I guess we had better leave. We get in the car and start driving. Labor is so much better at the beach than in the car! Dave and I realize neither of us has ever been to the hospital from this direction and we end up going the wrong way. We were laughing. I wasn't worried. The contractions still weren't unbearable so I figured I was still a few hours away.

8:20 a.m. We check into the hospital and apologize for our sandy feet. They put me in a wheel chair, which I didn't think I needed, but it is always fun to be pampered. The nurses were nice. They doted over me and told me I looked beautiful. They sat me down and hooked me up to the monitors, but didn't give me an IV because I asked them not to. They did put a lead in my wrist just in case I needed emergency blood afterward. They check to see how dilated I am. I get really worried all of a sudden, because last week at my Dr. Appointment I wasn't dilated at all. I told Dave, if I am only at a 3 or something, I am going to just cry, wishing we hadn't left the beach! The nurse says to me "Looks like you have already done all the work. Good job! You are dilated to a 9 with a bulging sack of water. I will get the Dr. in here" I absolutely can't believe it! Was it really that easy? I can't believe I am still happy, talking, joking with the nurses and Dave. In shock that it's not that bad. Okay, I am only talking and happy in between contractions, (during contractions I am completely zoned out, breathing deeply and working hard) but they still aren't unbearable and Dave is shocked that everything is calm and I'm not yelling at him like in the movies (Although I was really tempted to, just for fun, while we were in the hallway!).

Sometime between checking in and Birth: A few more contractions, the Dr. breaks my water, okay. Now the contractions are intense. I was ready to push and on all fours and the Dr. asked me if I wanted to push like that. I said "I don't know" because at this point I felt like I didn't really know what to do, although I had planned to push on all fours or in a squatting position. Somehow the Dr. talked me into lying on my side, because he knew I wouldn't lay on my back. My emotions were confusing at this point. Before I felt like I knew what I wanted and was calling the shots. All of a sudden I felt like I didn't know what was going on, some animal inside me was taking charge and my logical side was gone. It felt scary, but actually really good to become so uninhibited. It was completely just me and my body and my baby, and I didn't care anymore that I sounded like Tarzan roaring in the jungle. The pain was not what I expected and really hard to describe. It felt very natural and unlike anything I have ever felt before. It is not like falling and getting hurt or like a really bad headache. It's more like when you are exercising really hard and pushing yourself to your total capacity, harder than you ever have before. So hard that some higher power takes over for you and you aren't thinking about what you are doing anymore. It was definitely really hard, but it was also an incredible feeling that my body could really do that. And really cool to actually feel your baby coming out.

9:37 a.m. Anyway, I pushed through two contractions and then had a little man! I was a little sad because I wanted him to come right to my arms, but he was blue and not breathing, so they had to cut the cord right away, take him to the table and then called on the intercom "I need help in room 4." Which worried me. The Dr. assured me he was okay, but you wonder all the same. I prayed in my heart for him.

The Dr. told me at first that I didn't tear, but then when he checked again found a little one. He said it was small and he didn't have to stitch it, but it might heal nicer asked what I wanted. I let him stitch it, but regretted that shortly. I am not going to lie. That sucked. I don't know what kind of numbing agent he used, but it seemed like I felt everything and it took too long. And it is a sharp pain, not a muscular pain like labor. I think I deal a lot better with muscular pain, than needles and pokes. I squeezed Dave's hand more while being stitched than in labor!

And then it was over. My baby was okay and they finally brought him to me. We cuddled and nursed and I knew I would love him forever. And that is the beginning of Levi David Pendergrass.

The recovery is going great! I feel ten times better than I did with Lucy. I appreciated Labor being easy because of the epidural with Lucy, but it felt really weird and was a much slower recovery. This time around, I loved being able to walk around and move right after delivery and I felt so happy afterward and still do. With Lucy I felt kind of weird and confused and cried a lot.

Now that I have had both experiences, epidural and natural, I can say that I loved the natural birth experience and will definitely choose it again. It has increased my appreciation for my body and it's amazing ability. My knowledge of God's grand design, the miracle of life and the creation of woman has deepened. I feel honored to be a woman and mother.

Hopefully it is really Labor Day!

2010-09-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I never posted any pregnancy shots this entire pregnancy, so now that I am due in 2 days and in honor of Labor Day (Ha ha) I better do it quick! Just took these a few minutes ago(well Dave did, not me). I am really sticking it out in this one, so I figured I better include one with normal posture, too...
I really meant to post a few shots along the way...let's face it I will probably always be a procrastinator. A few minutes ago I got a strong contraction and what did I think about... oh no I never took any real pregnancy pictures or posted them, quick Dave get the camera...you would think I would be more worried because I haven't even packed a hospital bag yet! As if Labor wouldn't be exciting enough if you were prepared...

The funny thing is my water broke at 11:50 p.m. on Labor day three years ago. I was sooooo excited. I had been hoping to go into Labor on Labor day all day and had finally given up. Let's see if we can make this Labor on Labor Day # 2!

HAPPY LABOR DAY from your friend who hopes she is in Labor!

3 Year Old Photo Shoot

2010-09-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Lucy just likes to wear dresses. Wednesday was one of those days where she just woke up ready to dress up. We were going to the doctor's, but I let her wear a church dress. Then she found this hat in the car and was wearing it, that happened to match perfectly. Then while at the doctor's she started asking if we could go to the beach (which is right by the doctor's, and we quite frequently go after appointments). Well, one thing led to another and the stars aligned for a photo shoot and it just happened to be 3 days before her birthday, so here is her 3 year old photo shoot!

I'll give a little Lucy update as well. After the photo shoot I put Lucy's bathing suit on. She is so brave these days. She runs out in the water, even though it is cold and takes the waves head on. One completely knocked her over and she tumbled with the wave. I started running to rescue her, but she popped up on her own with a smile on her face and said "Mama I swimmed!" It scares me to death, but I am also love how brave she is!

Her latest thing is to go up to new kids at the park or beach and ask "Do you want to be my friend?" or "Do you want to play with me." Her overfriendliness catches many kids off guard. I would say over half of them say "No" and run away. Then she comes and tells me "Mommy, they didn't want to play with me." I have tried to explain that some kids are shy, but it still makes her sad, until she can find someone else to play with. If someone does say "Yes" she is absolutely ecstatic and follows them around the rest of the time.

Lucy loves to sing. She has the words memorized to many songs, including at least a whole verse of "Part of Your World" and "A Whole New World"

Lucy is very excited for her little brother. She talks about him like he is already here. It annoys her when people talk about it in future tense. For example "Are you excited you are going to be an older sister?" she responds "I am an older sister." or "Are you excited you are going to have a baby brother?" same response "I have a baby brother." She says it with a tone expressing that these people are dumb for not knowing. She keeps asking me if I have toys in my tummy for the baby to play with. I told her he doesn't and she seems really worried that he is bored in there. She keeps saying, "I will play with him" and poking my tummy.

On her Birthday, September 4, she told me "The baby wants to come now." I explained that if he came she would have to share her Birthday. She answered "I don't think that sounds good."

Lately here is how Lucy's prayers sound " Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you we can sleep well. Thank you we can be safe. Thank you if we have a storm in our heart. Thank you we have peace in our heart. Jesus Christ Amen" We talked about having a storm in your heart and how Jesus could help you have peace for family home evening a few weeks ago and now she always talks about it. She also wants her stuffed animals to pray on different nights. She folds their arms and helps them pray. It's sweet.

She loves to braid my hair. She just takes 2 pieces and twists them around, but I love it.

I wish I could capture everything about her and never forget it. She is growing up much too fast! She reminds me every day how wonderful life is!

Loveable Lucy

2010-07-09T11:42:00.001-07:00

Lucy said a couple really sweet things the other day. I ran into an old friend (Mary Griffin) and she started talking to Lucy and asked her

"What is your favorite thing to do in the whole world?"

Lucy answered "Play with my Mommy"

Oh, my heart grew! I have tried since then to play with her more. I found I was starting to always say "I am too tired" or "Maybe Later." Now when she brings me a toy and asks me to play, I can't help giving in, no matter how tired I am.

It has been cold and cloudy here for an entire week. Yesterday, when I asked Lucy to get dressed she came out in a sun dress. I told it was too cold and cloudy to wear it. A few minutes later she came back to me and said

"I want the sun to come. Let's go tell the clouds to go away"

It was so sweet. If only it was that easy! I feel the exact same way! We did go tell the clouds to please go away and they answered via Lucy's Daddy "We will go away in a few days"

Last night Lucy was getting silly before bed and pulled my hair. I turned away from her and told her that it hurt. She started crying and said "Mommy, can you teach me to be nice?" Now you can't stay mad at a tired little two-year old who asks you to teach her to be nice.

Yesterday was a hard day. Lucy and I got stranded without food (We ate a small breakfast and then didn't get food until 3:00), in the middle of nap time (for both of us) for too long, which is not a good combo for a pregnant lady and a two-year old. I was trying so hard to be tough for Lucy, because she had already been crying about how we were going to get home and asking where our car was. I kept thinking about the pioneers and how we really weren't going to starve to death. To make a long story short when we finally got to a place with food (My parents house), I started to make scrambled eggs and dropped the eggs on the floor. I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Seeing me cry made Lucy hysterical and we both just cried for a few minutes. The sweet thing is she looked and me through her tears and said:

"Mommy you need to wipe your tears. Here use my dress" then sobbed "I don't like it when you're sad. I want you to be happy." I told her I would try to be happy and she told me "I will try to be happy too." Wow it is amazing how much the mood of the Mom affects the mood of the child. I feel like I have a little mirror following me around.

Anyway, just a few stories about Lucy on my mind

T-shirt Quilt

2010-07-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

This is random, but I was playing around with my camera and it started working again!!! I haven't been able to work it since March and I have tried many times. Anyway, I have been wanting to take a picture of the T-shirt Quilt I made for Dave with all his high school and college memorable T-shirts and so that is the first thing I took a picture of with my working camera! Lets face it, it is impossible to get rid of all those memories, but nobody needs 50 T-shirts. It turned out great and I am so proud because I am not good at any of the homemaking arts. (I'll be honest, without help from my Mom this would have been impossible!) I actually gave it to him for Valentine's Day, but what better time to post about it than the present!

I am a Child of God

2010-06-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

On May 23, Lucy, My Dad and I sang at Church. It was a really special experience.

I was asked to sing a few weeks before and was having a hard time deciding what to sing. I had started singing "I am a Child of God" to Lucy before bed each night. I had only done it for about a week, when I observed her playing and singing the song. I was amazed that she sang the whole song through, having never heard her sing it before. It then hit me that there was nothing more spirit filled than a child singing. Since the goal of singing at church is to invite the spirit, I thought the best thing I could do was have her sing with me. Building upon the idea I invited my Dad to sing with us. That way it would really relay the message that we are all Children of God, young and old alike.

It was the sweetest experience. I was worried because in practice she would rush through it and give me attitude about singing it more than once, but in the real performance she sang it slowly and very heartfelt. She stuttered a little at the beginning, I think seeing all the people took her back, but then she regained her confidence and remembered all the words. When she finished the first verse, she launched right into "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam" which got a lot of laughs! It was really sweet. Then she tried to upstage me and grabbed the microphone when I was singing the second verse. It was a little comical, but still really invited the spirit. I really wish we had a video, but we decided against breaking rules and hiding the camera while we were trying to bring the spirit.

Anyway, what a special experience I will never forget. Lucy is so full of the spirit. I am so blessed to be her Mom and spend so much time with such a wonderful Child of God.

Cooking at its best!

2010-06-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was making biscuits (what a good homemaker huh? At least I cook every once in a blue moon!) I had just started measuring the flour, when I got a phone call and then had to take one of my hundred trips to the bathroom. When I returned, Lucy had climbed up on the counter (surprisingly, this is the first time she has done that. She is a pro on the playground, slides down the poles and everything, but I guess she just never thought about doing that at home. Lucky me!). She was just sitting there, concentrating, measuring the flour in the measuring cup and pouring it into the bowl. She had emptied almost the entire flour bag into the bowl.

She was concentrating and then looked up when she realized I was watching her and said "I am helping cook!"

What a sweet little helper! She just melted me. I let her help with the rest of the biscuits, even though it takes twice as long and makes a big mess in the kitchen and on me and her.

She loved kneading the dough and rolling it out. She mentioned that I was like Snow White, when I pulled out the rolling pin. She said she rolled for the dwarfs. I can't even remember if she does that or if Lucy made that up. She is getting quite an imagination these days. In fact, this morning we pretended to make about 10 birthday cakes for me, her and all of her toys and sang each one Happy Birthday at her request. When we ran out of toys to make cakes and sing to, I was thinking "What a relief," but then Lucy suggested we make a cake and sing to the pillow as well. I realized there would never be an end. She would probably keep finding things to make cakes for, so I distracted her with a book.

I think cooking is Lucy's favorite activity right now, which is great because it makes me like cooking a lot more. In the past I haven't really enjoyed cooking, but watching her light up while she helps make things is worth it. She is great at cracking eggs and rarely gets any shells in the bowl, which shocks me every time. I mean, I still get shells in the bowl! She loves to pour everything into the bowl and stir it and takes her jobs seriously.

She is so much fun these days, I am kind of worried about adding to the family and throwing off the happy balance we have come to, but I know we will love it too!

Lucy Prayers and Scriptures

2010-06-04T22:48:00.000-07:00

I am so blessed to have such a sweet daughter. She brought me to tears during her prayer tonight.

It started by getting home late. We arrived around ten and then I wanted to wash my feet before bed because we had been at the beach earlier. Lucy (my little shadow) came in wanting to wash her feet too. Then she started getting mad because she wanted to sit where I was sitting while she washed them. She started bossing me around telling me to move and I said "No, I want to sit here." I tried to move her to the other side of me so she could reach the water better, but that just sent her into a tantrum. She started screaming and crying, so I finished washing my feet and started brushing my teeth.

She cried and cried until we got in bed and then she started to calm down. We talked about what had happened and how I didn't like it when she yelled at me to do things. She sobbed that she was sorry for yelling at me to move and tried to explain why she wanted to sit there (which I still don't understand, but she definitely had a reason).

We got in bed and then Lucy started crying again with a worried tone "We didn't read scriptures. We have to read scriptures scriptures." Although she was very tired, I couldn't deny such a sweet request.

Lucy offered the prayer. She started off in a calm collected voice "Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for this day. Thank you for scriptures." And then just totally broke down sobbing all of a sudden "Please... help Lucy... feel... better and not... yell at... mommy."

Before she had closed the prayer we were both sobbing, although I was trying to hide it from her so she wouldn't ask me "Why" and then I would have to explain tears of love to her. She just wants so much to be good and do what I ask her and sometimes she is just to tired and emotions get the best of her. I have helped her to pray and ask forgiveness over things a few times before, but this time she felt serious sadness over being mean and she prayed about it all on her own.

I am so lucky to be with her every day. I am beginning to truly understand why the Savior taught us to be like a little child. She is so teachable and so forgiving of other's mistakes. Here she is thinking the whole thing was her fault, when it wasn't as if I was being really patient, plus I kept her up past the hour of reasoning ability.

Anyway, we read scriptures and Dave sneaked out to take a shower. It really upset Lucy once she noticed he was gone and she wanted to wait until he was there to continue. We only started reading scriptures as a family about 2 months ago, but it has certainly become a huge part of her life. She loves reading the stories and makes sure we read them every night. I love it when she talks about "Lamey" and "Lemul" because they are kind of "lamey." She always asks why the lamanites are being mean and why they are fighting (and "why" about every other picture). When people do mean things she has started talking about Jesus and how they aren't making him happy, which I don't remember explaining to her, but maybe she learned it in Nursery. She is definitely not going to let us off the straight and narrow path anytime soon.

Lucy Photo Shoot

2010-05-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

So I used to do a photo shoot about every week, but my camera has been broken since March. I finally gave in and borrowed my Mom's camera and did a little shoot in their backyard on Sunday. I realized I had been seriously missing out on Lucy pictures for the last couple of months, but the break paid off and Lucy was actually pretty happy to smile for the pictures! Yay!
If anyone wants kittens these ones are just about 8 weeks old and ready to go to a new home (although it will definitely break Lucy's heart).

Lucy loves to play Tennis in the backyard with my Dad. He hits the ball really high in the air and then catches it. Here is Lucy watching the ball go way up high in the air. It always fascinates her no matter how many times he does it.

She is not too bad at hitting the ball herself. I always wonder what Lucy will want to do when she gets older. Maybe it will be tennis?

Lucy Conversations

2010-05-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland and California Adventureland week ago. Lucy was really excited to talk to Crush the Turtle, because we did the same thing about a month before. She kept telling me how she was going to talk to him and I was worried because I knew only a few kids actually got to talk to him and I didn't know if they would call on a two year old. Sure enough she was the first one he talked to. He asked her name and she answered perfectly "Lucy." Then he asked where she was from and she answered "Hawaii." Then he asked what Island and Lucy just looked confused. I finally confessed we were from the San Diego Island. He talked to me a little bit too and asked how many kids I had and if they asked me lots of questions. I answered that Lucy's favorite question was "Why?" I seriously hear that 100 times a day and I am having to dig deep into my understanding of simple matters I have never questioned. Anyway, it was a wonderful experience for Lucy. She felt so special!

Other funny things Lucy has said recently:

She keeps saying "I Laugh in the face. HA Ha Ha" I finally realized she was trying to quote Simba from Lion King "I Laugh int he face of danger, Ha ha Ha" at first I just thought she was being really silly because she was laughing so strangely afterward.

The other day I told Lucy it was time to get dressed and so she went in all by herself and put some clothes on. She came out so proud and said "I am!" I told her she had put on jammies and without a hint of sadness she replied "Oh, sorry Mom. I am going to try again." I thought her determination was sweet and she did successfully pick clothes out the next time.

I put a movie on for her and the tracking started getting messed up, so Lucy called me in to fix it. Then I sat down to watch some of the movie (Nothing like a great Disney flick) because I was tired. Lucy patted me on the back urging me to get up and said "It's okay mom. Go ahead. Go do things." I laughed over this for a while. I guess I always go try to get something done when I turn a movie on for her and she thought it was weird I sat down with her. It is amazing what little kids pick up on sometimes.

Lucy's thoughts on the baby:

"I am going to rock him and pat him and teach him to eat and play games and carry him."
Oh, what sisterly love.

After repeating that I have a boy baby in my tummy Lucy says "I have a girl baby in my tummy. When mine gets out and yours gets out, they can play together."

"Someday, I have a girl baby in my tummy and then there's no more Lucy." I asked her "Why won't there be any more Lucy?" and she answered "I am a Mommy" I then tried to explain "I am a Mommy and my name is Wendy. I am Wendy and a Mommy." She looked tragically at me shaking her head and said "No more Lucy. Just Mommy." ~ What a funny thing for her to think of that she wouldn't be Lucy anymore once she had kids.

The other day my Mom pulled up and instead of say "There's Mommo" she said "Look, there's your Mommy." It was really sweet the way she made that connection.

Lucy has a Minnie Mouse dress and I mentioned to her "We need to get you Minnie Ears." She looked at me questioningly and while holding her ears said "I have ears."

Something Interesting about Lucy, I have always tried to give her back massages and she has never liked them, which bothered me because we all massage each other in my family and she never lets me. A few weeks ago I tried to give her a back scratch for the first time and she loved it. Now she asks for a back scratch every night and when I start finishing up she keeps asking "One more please." I usually sing her "I am a Child of God" so One more means one more verse. I had never even sang it with her, but after a week of singing it to her at night, I heard her singing it to herself and she sang the whole thing through perfectly. Wow! What I wouldn't give for a memory like that now. I can't even remember half the funny things she says when I try to write them down just an hour later!

Lucy had her height and weight taken about 2 weeks ago and she was 35 inches, 29 lbs.

And there is the little update on Lucy at 32 months!

Toilet Training at its Best!

2010-05-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

So I started toilet training Lucy when she turned two. She got it down pretty fast, because she really wanted to wear princess panties, but I still had to take her every two hours or else she would tell me she needed to go without enough time to make it to the toilet. Gratefully, she started mastering the control needed to actually tell me and then make it to the toilet. I have only cleaned up one accident since being in our new house and we moved in at the beginning of April. The only problem now is, she has gotten a little too independent and doesn't see the need to even tell me she has to go anymore, hence the hilarious story I am about to tell.

So, on Tuesday I was sitting out on the big grassy area with a few ladies from the ward and all our kids were running around playing together. They were pretty far away, but we could still see them. I glance out to check on Lucy and notice she has taken her panties and shorts off and is squatting in the grass. Too late the damage is done! Little nature woman just decided to take care of everything all on her own like a big girl. I just started cracking up and went over to remind her to put her clothes back on.

I didn't even know what to say to her. I was so proud she didn't have an accident, because we were pretty far from a bathroom and I don't know if we would have gotten there in time even if she did come tell me. But it's not like you can praise your kid for peeing in front of a bunch of people in a public area either. I ended up just saying "I'm so glad you didn't go in your panties" and left it at that. I laughed for a good ten minutes. I love being a Mom! Kids are just so unpredictable and spontaneous. They are so untouched by the rules of society and I just love it.

Now, my biggest problem is she did a repeat on Friday. After walking with my friends, I let Lucy run around at the end of the walk. There are some little bushes and trails. I was caught up talking, until Lucy came over with her panties in her hands and said "I did tinkles all by myself."

Uh oh! Let's not start a habit! Wish me Luck on the next phase of my potty training adventure!

some funny things Lucy says

2010-03-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

I just found this post in the Saved drafts page. I think I wrote it up and didn't have time to edit it and then didn't get on my blog again until now. So these sweet discussion all happened about mid March.

Lucy snatched some candy from one of those bowls of peppermints while we were out and about. I told her not to eat it because we were about to have lunch. She asked me if she could hold it and for some reason I was feeling generous (although I totally know better by now!). While in the car she sweetly volunteers:

"I not eat the candy. I lick the candy"

I turned around to see the damage and there was red stickiness all over her hands, face and clothes, but she had the candy in her hand, not her mouth. I couldn't even get mad. She was trying so hard to be obedient and get what she wanted at the same time. It would have been a lot less messy if I had just let her eat it. Funny girl. She is finding new ways to get around what I say all the time.

This afternoon she got the tape out and I told her she could have 2 pieces. (She gets really tape happy and will use the whole roll in one sitting). After she used her pieces she brought her frog over and pretended like it was talking to me and asking for tape. I told her she already had 2 pieces and she said "frog needs 2 pieces too." I couldn't resist and gave her 2 more pieces of tape. Toys are so real to her at this age, I didn't want to treat her little friend unfairly. I am worried I might have to get a little tougher as she gets smarter and smarter at getting what she wants.

This morning Lucy woke up cranky. She was crying and I thought she must have had a bad dream. Then she sobbed:

"I want to go to Disneyland"

Well, then I figured it must have been such a good dream she didn't want to wake up. We took her to Disneyland for the first time on Saint Patrick's Day and she can't stop talking about it.

I can't even remember what Lucy was giving me the other day, but it was something I didn't particularly want, but she wanted me to want it. She started handing it to me and coaxing me the way I always do

"Say please Mommy"

So I played along and said "Please."

Then she gave it to me and told me what I always say after she says please "Thank you for saying please Mommy"

I feel like I have a little tape recorder going at all times, but really it is just Lucy's brain.

I was writing a quick note in my planner and she grabbed it from me. I reprimanded her for grabbing and took it back. Then she told me "I want to write in your book"

To which I explained "I need to write something important really quick"

Then she answered "I need to write something important in your book really quick"

That reminded me that what she wants to write is important to her. I found a page that she could write on. Couldn't resist, again!

And her last little conversation she had with Dave. They finally had the why do you go to work discussion.

Lucy and I were planning on going to Legoland and Lucy asked Dave "You want to come with us?"

He told her he had to go to work and she of course, asked "Why?"

He tried to explain that he made money so she could do fun things like go to Legoland.

She responded very sweetly "Oh, thanks Daddy"

It's a boy!!!!

2010-03-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

That's right! I'm pregnant! We found out last week (March 16) that we are expecting a boy!!! Yay! I really wanted to let everyone guess before I went in, but I didn't know I would be finding out the gender at such an early appointment. I was shocked we were able to tell when I was only 15 and 1/2 weeks. With Lucy I didn't have an ultrasound until 21 weeks. I guess the ultrasound tech for my Doctor is one of the best and has really state of the art equipment. Right now I am almost 17 weeks and due on September 8. The doctor told me according to the ultrasound that the due date was September 4, but that is Lucy's birthday, so I think we will stick with the 8th. It's always plus or minus 10 days anyway so there is no need to change it!

Here is what Lucy predicted:

About a week before my ultrasound I was talking to Lucy about the baby. I asked her if she was excited to be a big sister. She answered as if she already knew what was going on, "I am going to have a baby brother?" I explained that we didn't know if she would have a little brother or a little sister yet. Then she requested "How 'bout a sister."

After the Ultrasound:

I got home from the ultrasound just as Lucy was waking up from her nap (my mom watched her while I was gone). At first she was sad, because I told her she could play with Mommo when she woke up from her nap. She told me "Leave Mommy. I want to have fun with Mommo." After I got her settled I told her she was going to have a little brother. She said "I want a sister" and rolled her eyes at me. I cheered her up by telling her that I had a little brother who is now Uncle Brian. I told her how much fun it was to play with him when I was little. Then she replied "Okay. I have a little brother. I want a big sister." She is so funny! I love her little opinions.

I am really happy and starting to feel good again. The last couple months were rough, but not as rough as with Lucy. I haven't actually gotten sick too much, just kind of constantly nauseated, whereas with Lucy I couldn't even count how many times I got sick. I haven't gained any weight yet, but with Lucy I had lost about 10 pounds by this point, so I am really glad! I am so happy that food is becoming appealing again!

I really wanted to post the ultrasound pictures, but Dave felt like that would embarrass the poor boy later in life. I guess a man's got to keep his pride, even if he is only 16 weeks. I didn't feel like an ultrasound picture was too detailed to worry about that kind of thing, but I am not a guy so I decided to let Dave make this call. Oh well, ultrasound picture are really the the type of thing that are only exciting to the parents anyway.

I am pretty sure I felt a few small kicks 2 nights ago, so that was really exciting! I actually just had my first real Doctor appointment today, where I was able to hear the heartbeat and everything. The ultrasound tech picked it up for me when I told him I hadn't heard it yet, but I guess today's was official.

Lucy had a Doctors appointment on Friday. They had to take her blood and give her 6 shots (3 in each leg). We did a lot of shots before we left for Korea, but she was only eleven months and the state requires that they happen after 12 months. I actually knew that when we had her shots at 11 months, but I didn't want to go to Korea without her updated on her shots. I guess I had hoped they would overlook it, but they didn't. So they had to redo them. Sad, huh? She hobbled around like a duck on Saturday. She seemed really sore.

Her appointment was really funny actually. It was nap time and after they took her blood we had to wait a while for the doctor. Lucy fell asleep on the table. The Doctor did her whole check up while she was sleeping. Then they gave her shots. Poor girl, what a miserable way to wake up! I got some pictures of her sleeping on the table. They are on my phone. I will have to see if I can post them. She weighed 28 lbs and measured 34 inches. That put her in the 25 percentile. I'll be honest it kind of made me sad because when she was a baby she was always in the 90th percentile, but I think she was set back a little after she was hospitalized in Korea.

Well, I'm sure that's quite enough to read. I'll try to keep you updated about the baby and post my tummy when I start showing!

Hawaii

2010-03-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

Since it's been a few months I think I will finally put up some pictures from our Hawaii Trip.

For Christmas my parents took our whole family there. Needless to say, it was awesome!

Some quick highlights of the trip:

Lucy slept the whole way there on the airplane. That was cool!

Staying across the street from the beach in Waikiki

Going to the Pipeline Masters Surf Contest

Lucy got stung by a jellyfish the first day out on the beach, after only a few minutes in the water

Snorkeling Hanauma Bay. Dave and I saw an eel. I wanted to get a closer look. Dave thought I was crazy and wouldn't let me.

Seeing my cousin Channy and her husband Sean.

Getting awesome deals at the swap meet. (I still haven't given Lisa her cool Christmas present!)

Visiting Pearl Harbor

Racing across a little bay in Waikiki

Swimming to Chinaman's Hat. It was Lucy's first real Kayaking adventure. I know we have put her in the shallow water before, but I don't think we ever actually kayaked with her.

Surfing lots and lots. It was Dave's first time getting up and Lucy's first time surfing (of course, she didn't stand up).

Watching Brian surf the big waves!

Swimming with turtles.

Visiting the Polynesian Culture Center.

Eating really good pineapple

Christmas Caroling in Foodland (local grocery store) on Christmas Eve

Lucy got pink flip flops from Santa for Christmas that she still loves and talks about. She had wanted flip flops for a very long time.

Christmas Day we went to watch huge waves at Waimea Bay (They were about 40 feet I think). We watched about 30 guys get thrashed by a huge set. Boards were washing up, broken in two. All the guys came in except 5 crazy ones. Lucy caught a ladybug while we were watching.

Dave and I hiked Laie Falls. I love hiking in Hawaii!

My favorite was swimming without getting cold!

Thank You so much for the best Christmas Present ever Mom and Dad!

Sweet Lucy Conversations

2010-03-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

It is so hard to keep up with Lucy these days. She says at least 20 funny things daily! I can't even come close to remembering them all, but I try. Her speaking skills have skyrocketed over the past 6 months. She usually uses complete sentences with good grammar and loves to include new big words she learns. I have read her Fancy Nancy books the past couple days and now she tries to say things like "That is strodinary" trying to say extraordinary, and she likes to say "I am furious" instead of mad. It's funny. She still makes some cute little mistakes like saying "my" instead of "I" sometimes, but they are getting much fewer and I miss some of them. The other day I heard her say "I want to do it by myself" and I was crushed because I love how she used to say " I want to do it my byself." Oh well, it is always a little bittersweet as they grow. She has also started using lots of adult expressions and it cracks me up when it comes out of such a little girl. Well I will write a few of the cute things I remember from the past couple days.

She just woke up from a nap and had so much to say "I had a good dream, not a bad one. I played with Jack ... and Kate...and Madilyn and Papa and Mommo and Heidi and Gumba and Lani." I was surprised. Usually I ask her if she had a good dream or a bad dream and she says bad. Then I ask what it was about and she says "I don't know," then I give her a few choices and she picks one. This time she woke up just bursting to tell me about it.

I am pretty sure she has crazy dreams. This morning she started yelling in her sleep "catch me mommy!" so I answered back "Don't worry, I'll catch you" and then she kept sleeping. Sure wish I knew what was going on in that little brain sometimes.

This was the FUNNIEST one from the past week: I put her on the toilet and told her to do some tinkles. I guess I missed that she had already gone because she answered:

"I can't. My tinkles are in the toilet's tummy." I have never mentioned the toilet having a tummy before, so I thought the connection she made was hilarious!

On Monday she was sick, so I let her O.D. on T.V. I think Yo Gaba Gaba is really weird, but apparently Lucy loves it because while watching it she said "I want to go there" I asked her "Where" and she answered "In the T.V." Then at the end of the show she said "That was so fun watching Yo Gaba Gaba, huh Mommy?" Of course, I pretended like it was really fun. I remember pretending we were part of the shows on T.V., of course, I was a lot older than Lucy.

I can't remember what she was asking for the other day, but she asked for something and before I could respond she prompted me the way i always prompt her "Say 'Sure" Mommy"

She has also started saying "How 'bout you?" The other day I asked her if she could draw and "L". She answered "I can't. How 'bout you?"

Lucy loves to find the letter L, M and W. She gets really excited and says "Mommy, look what I found! L for Lucy (or M for Mommy! W for Wendy)"

Sometimes Lucy will ask me to do something and I will say "Why?" She usually responds by saying "The monster will get you. You better." For example, Lucy is really bothered by the fact that everyone she knows says "Oh my Gosh" but me and Dave don't. We just decided a long time ago to eliminate negative euphemisms from our vocabulary. I don't tell Lucy not to say them, but I just don't. Well, it bothers her and the other night she was telling me to say "Oh my Gosh" I said "Why" and she answered "Cuz the monster git you if you not say that" I promise I have never convinced her to do something by saying a monster will get her if she doesn't. Hmmmm.....maybe I should talk to Dave about that one. I will check into it...

The other night I read that book that goes "I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living my baby you'll be." I always start crying at the end, especially if I read it aloud. Well, that really upset Lucy. I tried to tell her that I wasn't sad, but she broke down crying and then said "My heart hurts and I'm crying. I have tears. Put 'um back" I put her tears back one time and now she always wants me to.

Lucy reads books to herself and it is really cute. She just talks about the pictures and then at the end she says "Amen" I love how she says "Amen" for "The end" it's so funny.

I have been watching the Foulger kids for the past week and the other night, Jack was crying because he got hurt right before the dinner prayer. Lucy told me "We should bless Jack he'll be happy." I asked her if she would say the prayer and it was so sweet "Thank you that Jack be happy and healthy. Jesus Christ. Amen" Then I remind her to bless the food "and thank you the food. Amen" She has really started understanding other people's emotions and really cares about them. She even tells me sometimes "Watch out. Be really careful Mommy. Might bump your head" if my head is close to a light or something. And she asks about everyone in the pictures in her books "Why are they mad, why are they sad?" It's sweet.

Here is the last conversation I can remember right now. When I was reading her the Butterfly Fancy Nancy book there is a part where it says "Bree is Heartbroken" Lucy says "Ohhhhh poor Bree. Let's help her." I then ask if we should give her a hug, so Lucy hugs the book. Then Lucy says "It didn't work. Her heart is still broken." Then I ask Lucy "what should we do?" she decides "Let's put medicine on it" then she pretends to put some medicine on it and says "There now it's fixed"

So most of these were probably funnier to me than you, but hopefully they are still enjoyable for someone who isn't a doting mother!

Pony Tales

2010-03-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Lucy always wants to take my pony out. She isn't rude about it. She usually asks "Mommy, can I take your pony out?" I just thought it was a random habit.

Today she asked if she could take it out and then after my hair came down she held my cheeks and said "Now you're Wendy." As if I wasn't Wendy before?

I finally realized that it just doesn't feel right to her if I have a pony. I remember being really annoyed as a kid when my Mom got a haircut. One time she got a perm and I really felt like it wasn't her anymore. It struck me as funny that Lucy feels that way about me with my hair down.

Silly girl!

Lucy Conversations - The Heart

2010-02-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

Lucy is starting to come up with really original ways to describe things.

We were at the Wild Animal Park and Dave jumped out and scared her.

She got really scared and actually started crying.

As I was holding her and reassuring her she explained to me:

"My heart came out." Then she pointed down the sidewalk a ways and said "It's running"

I pretended to grab it and put it back into her chest and that seemed to fix the problem.

I thought it was funny, because we all know what that feels like when we are startled, but we describe it different such as "My heart skipped a beat." It is so interesting to get inside the head of a two-year old!

Lucy Conversations

2010-02-22T17:03:00.000-08:00

This is embarrassing, but funny.

The other night I was complaining to Dave. I started whining and fake crying.

Then Lucy scolded me from across the room "Mommy Behave"

Dave and I both looked at each other and tried really hard not to laugh. We both knew she was right.

She totally caught me modeling terrible behavior when I thought she wasn't listening.
It was really sober to hear my two year old tell me that. I was kind of acting like a two-year old.

I can never let my guard down these days or else my two-year old Mommy will let me know about it!

Lucy Quotes about Jesus

2010-02-16T15:41:00.000-08:00

Last week me and Heidi and Lucy were eating breakfast at the table. Lucy was talking and I responded

"Really?" One of my typical little kid responses when I really don't know what else to say.

Then Lucy asks "What does 'really' mean?"

I proceeded to explain "Well, it means it's not fake. Some things are fake and some things are real. Real things are actually here and fake things aren't really here. When I say 'really' I am asking if what you said is real." Realizing that it is impossible to explain what "really" means to a two year old, and hoping I didn't totally confuse her.

Then Lucy states very matter of factly: "Jesus is Fake"

I am thinking, you are way too young to be questioning these things and I answer her "No, Jesus is real sweety."

And then she points up at the statue of Jesus and says "Jesus is Fake"

I laughed a little when I realized what she was talking about "Oh, yeah that Jesus is fake. Very good Lucy. That is a fake Jesus to remind us of the real Jesus. Jesus really came to earth and now he lives in heaven"

Now I am assuming she gets the whole thing.

She then exclaims "Funny Jesus!" Laughs a lot and then "Funny Girls!" And then she goes into a little laughing fit.

I am still laughing in my head thinking about her saying "Funny Jesus" like he was really hilarious.

I am sure He was probably laughing too!

Do you think Jesus has a sense of humor?

It's kind of hard to imagine, but he probably does.

Hello World!

2010-02-16T15:29:00.001-08:00

Hello! I am coming out of hiding! I can't believe I haven't posted anything since December 5! Of course I have some sort of excuse for you!

We spent 2 weeks in Hawaii with my family for Christmas, which then launched me into vacation mode for way too long! Let's just say I finally finished Dave's Christmas present and gave it to him for Valentine's Day ( I am really proud too! It's a t-shirt quilt. I will have to post pictures!) Plus our the charger cord for our laptop stopped working and all my pictures were on there and the computer was dead. It took a few weeks to solve the problem and then I just wasn't in the habit of going on the computer anymore. Let's put is this way, when I checked my email today, I had over 200 emails! Signing up for Facebook a few days ago did not help the email numbers! Yes, that is right! I finally broke down on my anti-facebook campaign. It's silly really, but Dave's Track Coach at BYU recommended that the athletes didn't get Facebook, and so I figured it wasn't a good idea. Plus I think sometimes people forget to actually call people and get together because we are so into our virtual relationships. Or you could just be like me and be anti-text, anti-computer relationship and never call people or get together with them anyway!!! At least some people show people they care via computer!!!! I am not saying I don't care, I just go into Me and Lucy world and forget the earth is still turning for everybody else.

Anyway, I am still alive and well, just in case you were worrying about me!

Ode to October: Cornbellies Cornmaze

2009-12-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite days in October was October 15. I have always wanted to go to a cornmaze and since I was on a "must do everything before I leave Utah spree" we went to Cornbellies Cornmaze for the day.

The coolest thing was, I had no idea how much fun stuff there would be there!

We ended up staying for 3 hours, going home for Lucy's nap and then going back in the evening (yes, we had that much fun and still had our admission wrist bands on).

There was a glorious pumpkin patch, but I only took pictures of my pumpkin.

Princess dress ups, with a tower, stage and Cinderella carriage. We danced on the stage and googled over the carriage (we, meaning Lucy and I, not Dave).

3D haunted house (It looks creepier without the flash of the camera on everything, plus the glasses help)

Cow cart ride.

We watched the pig races. When they asked for volunteers I told Lucy to hold her hand up. Wow! They called on her, so Dave took her up. 4 kids each got a pig they were cheering for. The pigs had hilarious names, but now I can't remember Lucy's pig's name (Should have blogged about it when it happened). Lucy's pig won! She got a pig nose so she would always remember the experience! Cute!

On the hayride

On the bouncing pillow. Lucy would have jumped all day, I think. The kid is a walking spring. She definitely got her Daddy's hops. She talked about it for weeks afterwards. She would mention "I jumping en pollow & dragon" (There was a huge dragon we went through). That is how she would talk about the whole experience over and over. It is getting so much fun to bring her places! If this was fun, just wait until her first Disneyland trip!
Oh, aren't we the cheeziest corn family you have ever seen. I just love Lucy in her little bundle.

Lani joined us for the evening festivities.

They even had princess dress ups for the Moms! I was ecstatic!

I didn't actually get any pictures of us in the cornmaze, because it was dark. We felt like we were totally lost. At first we tried to use the clues and map, but after about 10 minutes we just let Lucy choose where to go. She got us out in no time! We were all amazed and she felt like the most important person in the world, getting to make all the decisions. The next day, while driving she was getting really upset that I wouldn't go the way that she told me. I try to let her choose every once in a while, just for fun now a days.

What a blast! I highly recommend it next year if you are nearby! The pictures I displayed didn't even show half of the activities there!

Lucy Quotes

2009-11-29T21:41:00.000-08:00

Sunday, November 22 -

"Mommy, you are cute!"

Monday, November 23

"Cute shirt Momo!" Which really took my mom by surprise.

So I thought that was pretty funny, until she totally topped that later that evening.

I was changing for volleyball, when Lucy exclaimed

"Cute panties Mommy!"

I guess I have been telling her that her princess panties are cute a little too often!

If I ever tell her "no" she responds "Maybe yayter (later)"

The other day she told me to eat something and I answered "No thank You" she responded
"Oh Fine"

Haha. I love that girl!

Ode to October: Post 4

2009-11-29T17:54:00.000-08:00

October 3 - After Conference Birthday Dinner.

We went to the Mayan.

My Dad wanted to stay at the Family History Center in Salt Lake, because he doesn't get the opportunity to research there as often as he likes. I said that was fine, but later I was sad he wasn't coming to dinner with us.

We decided he really should come and devised a plan to get him to come with us. Me and my Mom secretly found him in the bottom floor of the library and snuck behind some nearby desks. We started whispering, as if he was hearing voices:

"We need you..."

"Come with us..."

"We need you..."

Progressively getting louder.

He kept looking around, wondering what was going on, until he caught me crawling closer under the desk.

We didn't really have him fooled. He thought it was one of the other patrons talking to themselves. He got quite a laugh out of it and decided he would reward our hard work by coming. He still had a little more work to do, but he did manage to pull himself away and share the evening with us.

I had such a great Birthday dinner, and loved being sang to with my rocket volcano sundae.

The shows were awesome and much improved from the last time I had been. Usually they just have normal divers doing tricks off the cliffs, into the water (No wonder I love this restaurant, huh?) Now they are dressed like natives, and make more of a show out of it, plus they have a fire dancer. Lucy loved it too. She kept saying "More show" I guess every 15 minutes wasn't enough for her. Dave and I call this the "Grown Up Chucky Cheese."

After Dinner, Dave and I went in the Haunted House the were doing upstairs. I was really scared and screamed a lot. I just hate when you are in closed spaces and being chased and don't know which way to go to get away from creepy people. I don't really mind the creepiness, but I hate being startled. It was definitely exciting. Dave really enjoyed it because I was scared. Oh boys! They just live for scaring girls and it doesn't change as they get older!

We concluded the night with a photo shoot inside the creepy (I think that is the word of this post) snake mouth. What a very fun night and Birthday! Definitely one of the best I can ever remember!

Fire Dancer
I didn't get any good shots of the divers. It was too dark inside the restaurant.

Yummy Dessert

Snake Photo Shoot:

I think I just have one more post to go about my Birthday weekend. And then just a few more October Posts to get done in the next 2 days (Let's be honest I cannot post about October in December!) Wish me Luck!

Weird Story

2009-11-27T16:57:00.000-08:00

Wanna hear a weird story?

If you will remember back to my Halloween Post, I mentioned going to the beach and getting stung in the foot, after stepping on a bee. That was a little strange. I had never seen bees at the beach before. I Certainly had never been stung at the beach before. I can't even remember the last time I was stung by a bee. Oh well, it happens right?

The story gets weird when I stepped on a bee at the beach AGAIN on Tuesday! It felt like Deja Vu, except it actually happened!!!!! It wouldn't even be that weird if I got stung again, but it was on the same foot, exact same spot, in the exact same way at the exact same beach. It was about a 1/4 mile down the beach from the last time, but still!

Why are bees attracted to my right foot? How annoying, but really not the worst thing that could happen to you. In fact, this time it hurt less than last time. It didn't swell up at all, and has only been a little itchy. You can see a small red mark where the stinger was. I wonder if the first sting worked like a vaccine and now I am not as sensitive to bee venom in that part of my foot. STRANGE! Now, I feel like writing a creepy honey bee x-files episode or something!

Any ideas why such a strange thing happened to me and should I be worried about this happening again, or just forget about it? I really don't want to start wearing shoes to the beach. That would be ridiculous, in fact that would probably be considered a crime in my family.

Curiouser and Curiouser...

Lucy Quotes-Time Out

2009-11-22T19:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got mad at Lucy because I asked her if she needed to go to the bathroom (she is pretty much potty trained, although if she gets carried away playing, we do need to remind her) and she said "No, Daddy took me." Which I totally believed, until she wet herself about 30 seconds later on the Christmas Present for Dave that I have been working on. I didn't yell or anything, but I did ask in a not so happy voice "Why did you lie to me?" ( which is definitely uncalled for when dealing with a 2 year old and an accident). Then Lucy proceeded to tell me in a cheerful voice"Mommy's Mad. Mommy needs a time out. " She then led me to the bathroom and told me I could come out when the watch beeped ( I started giving her time outs the last few weeks. They happen rarely, only if she gives me serious attitude or disobeys me when she already knows she is not supposed to or asks for one, which did happen once). I totally went along with the time out. I wouldn't have let her discipline me like that, but I knew I was out of line, and I thought it was only fair if I got the same consequence she did when she gets out of line. It cracked me up and helped diffuse the anger I felt toward my little angel. Kids!!!

Ode to October: Post 3

2009-11-21T16:30:00.000-08:00

October 3

My Mom, Dad and I went to the Saturday afternoon session of conference. My Dad had never been to conference before, so it was a treat to bring him!

Dave watched Lucy outside the conference center. He said an Ensign Photographer took lots of pictures of them. I just checked the November Ensign and they didn't appear to have made. That's okay, someday we will be in the Ensign.

I did a little SLC Temple Photo Shoot and shared posted a few of the many pictures I shot. I love pretending I am a professional photographer. I can hardly wait 'til I have a state of the art camera and actually know how to use it! Anyway, if you want to praise my photography skills in the comments section, I will be your best friend! (Flashback to elementary school!)

After conference we went out to dinner in honor of my birthday, at The Mayan (my favorite restaurant in Utah). I think I will post the pictures and a little blurb in a separate post, since this one is already getting long. I had to work hard to get my Dad to come, it's a funny story, so stay tuned!

Here's the goods!

Lucy and Momo. I think they both have the same cute cheeks.

Yay for Conference!

Creativity in the Classroom

2009-11-18T23:05:00.000-08:00

It's taken me a while, but I really wanted to write a little bit about what I learned at the "Opera for Young children workshop I attended in October. I will share the details in another post, but before that post I wanted to set the preface and share a priceless (Plus very entertaining and hilarious) video that we were assigned to watch before the conference.

So my latest topic of passionate discussion is the need for more art and physical activity in school. I think it is totally unreasonable to make kids sit still, learning about Math, Science, English and History for 6 hours every day. Why is P.E. only twice a week? Why not dance everyday? What about the power of music and using it as learning tool? What about art?

Dave always said P.E. was his favorite subject in school. I'm guessing he was not alone. It's natural for children to have energy, and they should be able to use it. I believe we are training children that life is supposed to be boring, hard, and miserable with little spurts of enjoyable moments, such as art, recess, singing, dancing, P.E., etc. I realize some people really love Math, but I don't think it is the majority. Well, kids just grow up to get miserable jobs that they hate and then every once in a while have a vacation where they actually enjoy life. This is dumb. The percentage of time enjoyed should be higher, but I believe we are actually teaching our children this philosophy.

And we wonder why 60 % of America is overweight? It is very obvious to me that school drains the life out of them. Lucy has soooooooo much energy. She is excited to wake up in the morning. She asks me to run around with her all day. Why do children stop doing this? People can be conditioned for anything and I believe we are conditioning children to sit all day long. We punish kids for having energy. We tell them they have problems if they can't sit there and pay attention all day. I wonder why so many adults feel like they have no energy.

We were blessed with a body and I believe it is supposed to be used. If all we needed was a brain, that is all we would have been given. I'm not saying we shouldn't educate our children in Math, English, Science and History. There is lots of value in academic subjects, I just don't think it should be given preference. I think the joy of life is in the arts, in CREATING rather than memorizing. And why not teach them History by acting it out, instead of focusing on memorizing dates they will undoubtedly forget?

Somewhere out there is a dancer, a singer, an artist, a composer, who has no idea because they were never given the chance. They might be sitting there wondering why life is miserable, but it only is because they don't realize there are worthwhile things that they would actually love to do. They were told to stay seated, and raise their hand if they can answer the question. Don't go off topic (be creative), please stand up (use energy).

What would you do if you were more creative and had energy?

What could our children be if they stayed creative and kept their energy to pursue those creations?

I'm not blaming teachers. I believe they are amazing people with good hearts, who have been trained a certain way. The school boards are the ones running the show and saying what matters and what doesn't and that if you're class doesn't get high enough scores you are in trouble. (My personal feeling is that by increasing creative activities, children will actually focus better on the academic subjects and actually perform better on standardized tests.) I guess I can't just put the blame on them, I guess they just have pressure to teach what society values. I just don't know why more people don't value the arts, or if they really do then why are standardized test scores the gold standard?

I am concerned because Lucy only has three years until she will enter the school system. I definitely don't want to home school her because I believe there are great social benefits to going to school, and I don't know if I could do much better than a teacher anyway. Knowing me, Lucy might end up dancing all day long and getting a little behind in the boring areas.

Is EDUCATION just a fancy word for DECREATIFICATION?

I know I sure wish I was as creative as I was in 3rd grade. Ideas used to come a mile per minute. I am trying to retrain myself in the way of creativity, hoping that it is something you can regrow, like building a muscle, rather than a one time shot, like your growth plates closing up and leaving you at 5'7'' forever.

I don't have the solution, do you?

Do you even agree with what me and this video are saying? I realize not everyone loves the arts as much as I do. Am I just talking crazy talk or is this really a problem we are facing?

Ode to October: Post 2

2009-11-17T09:36:00.000-08:00

October 2 (2nd half of the day)

We took a ride on the Heber Creeper with Me, Dave, Lucy,my Mom and sister Lani. I have always wanted to ride and had a wonderful time being treated to it, as part of my Birthday weekend.

The train is old fashioned, just like the olden days. It moves slowly, and passes beautiful mountains, lakes, and farms.

Lucy fell alseep in the car on the way, so the first half hour of the ride she fell back asleep on Dave. It was sweet. She woke up enjoyed the last hour of the journey.

Thank you for the great treat!

The pictures are from the end of the trip to the beginning (I just didn't have it in me to reorder them today. When I work on the laptop, without a mouse, I HATE dragging things around!) so don't be confused!

Lucy, hanging out the window.

The back of the train (so cute, I wish the lighting was better!)
I really wanted a picture of the barn in the background, so I took a picture of Lani really quick. It turned out soooooo cute!
Oh, and here's my model shot!

Me and my little sis. Ohhhhh......
The wind was strong, so we zipped sleeping Lucy into a cozy little pouch.
So sweet to have a sleeping little one in your lap. Dave is covering her ears with some extra tights I had in the diaper bag (I don't know why they were in there). This was before we decided zipping her up would be easier.
Pretty little stream, with two pretty ladies.
Looking at the cows

The start of our journey. You can see the old fashioned train car behind us.

Fun Journey! Fun Day!

That night my parents went to my Dad's mission reunion and Dave took me out to see "Into the Woods" as his birthday present, while Lani babysat. That is one of my favorites, so of course I loved it, and still have the songs stuck in my head. It was Dave's first time to see the show, so I really enjoyed sharing it with him. The weirdest thing happened during the show.

The Little Red Riding Hood went into Grandmother's House after her main song (which takes place after they escape from the wolf's stomach) she screamed really loud. We didn't know what was happening at first because earlier in the show she screamed the same way when the Baker took her cape, and it was totally part of her character.

But then, Cinderella's Mother comes out saying "Dad, get up here." He runs up on stage and comes out 30 seconds later calling out "Is there a Doctor in the House?" The curtains are closing now, as a young man runs up on stage saying "I'm an EMT"

After that big drama we sit there for about 7 minutes before someone comes on the intercom explaining that Little Red's ankle is hurt and it will be about 15 minutes before the show will resume.

One of Cinderella's stepsister's fills in as Little Red and one of the Junior Theater volunteers takes the place of the stepsister. It was crazy! In all my play going days, I have never been to one with so much real drama! I think it turned out that she had gone to the hospital and her ankle was broken, but I am not sure.

The funny thing is, I have always wanted to play the part of Little Red Riding Hood, as Dave knows, since I always sing her song. He was encouraging me to go backstage and volunteer to play the part. I really wanted to, but I didn't want to be insensitive. I didn't know if the girl was going to be okay or not and didn't want to overstep my bounds. Wouldn't that have been a story if I had filled in the role? It would have been a dream come true for me.

Very fun day, with an interesting night. Stay tuned for more "Ode to October" Posts! We'll see if I can get them all in before November is over.LOL!

Lucy Quotes

2009-11-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

Sunday November 8

Lucy wakes up and asks first thing "I watch T.V.?"

I answer "No, it's Sunday. We don't watch T.V. on Sunday"

She responds "I can watch T.V. on Monday Morning?"

I don't ever remember telling her that before, but I must have said something like that because I really don't think she knows the days of the week yet. Her mature answer really surprised me.

Later at Church was the primary program. Lucy really loved it, but she kept saying "It's my turn" and trying to run up to the stand. Dave brought her up after sacrament meeting to have her turn.

While I am mentioning primary, I should also mention that I am the new Primary Chorister! I am thrilled about this calling!

Monday, November 9

Lucy praying on her breakfast

"Dear heabeny Fader. Thank you the food. Thank you Cinderella. Thank you Prince. Bless the food (I prompted that sentence). Jesus Christ. Amen."

In most of her prayers she says thank you for everyone that is with us. Last night at dinner we had me, Dave, Heidi, Sierra, my mom, my dad, and friends AJ, Hannah and Aubrey. She said thank you for everyone, including herself. I was impressed!

Funny girl!

"Sometimes I go to beach" I told her we would go to the beach later and she dreamily looked off and said this!

"No Dis Nummy. Dis Nummy" She says while sorting through the food on her plate and tossing non "nummy" things aside.

Her favorite phrased this week are

"look at me"

"watch me"

"whoa cool!"

"where's Lucy's?" In response to telling her that something is not hers.

She says so many funny things these days, I really can't remember all the cute things I was going to write down. Just thought I would share these ones while I still remembered.

Ode to October: Post 1

2009-11-03T22:58:00.000-08:00

So many wonderful things happened this October, but I neglected to post anything. I would say it was because we were moving and such, but let's be honest, I always have an excuse. Hey, I always get to the good stuff.

Anyway shoot back to October 2.

My parents came to town so that my Dad could go to his mission reunion and attend conference which he has never done before. It just happened to be the same weekend as my Birthday, so they completely spoiled me!

The weekend was so jam packed that I will only tell you about Friday morning in this post!

Me and my mom took Lucy bowling. This was actually her second time, her first time being the week before with David, but this was my first time watching her.

I never thought it would be so much fun to take a two year old bowling, but it was really really cute. Lucy was so excited about rolling her ball and cheered whenever she knocked pins over (which was pretty common since we had bumpers up) Check out the joy!

"Heaby Mommy Heaby. Help" I kept making her carry the bowling ball just because I love the way she says "Heavy!" Is that mean? It was only six pounds.

What a fun way to start an amazing Birthday Weekend. I truly think this was my best birthday ever and this was only the beginning of 3 days worth of fun! Okay not as cool as the time my Dad took me on a biplane ( I was turning ten, I think and my whole goal in life was to fly.)

My apologies for the false info

2009-11-02T22:54:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let you know that you were given false information. I posted on Saturday that I had gotten a bee sting on my foot and it hardly hurt.

I spoke too soon. It did swell up a little later and by Sunday I was noticeably hobbling.

Today wasn't so bad, just serious itching.

I had no idea that bee stings got worse with time.

Dave said he knew that would be the case all along, but didn't want to burst my bubble on the way home from the beach when I kept going on about how quickly my bee sting healed.

I'm sure it will be fine in just a day or two, but I didn't want you to go on believing in my miraculous bee recovery story!

Have a fun day!

Funny Hair

2009-11-02T22:45:00.000-08:00

Lucy always asks me to do "Funny Hair" when she is in the bath. I took this picture about a month ago, and in those couple of weeks her hair has already grown too long to do this with! I still pretend to do it anyway, but I am really glad I got a picture while I still could.

Oh, now I strangely miss our old pink bathtub. It was so fifties, which was exactly how the entire neighborhood felt. Everyone knew everyone. You waved and talked with your neighbors as they walk by. There is no place like Provo and especially the quaint little neighborhood we lived in.

Goodbye baths in the pink bathtub. We miss you.

Happy Halloween!!!!

2009-10-31T17:23:00.000-07:00

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!!! The color orange, black cats, playing dress up... ahhhhh my mouth is already watering! I guess that is kind of weird since I hate hate hate being scared. I don't even watch scary movies and I totally freaked out in this mildy scary Haunted House we went to. I still love it. We usually have a Halloween Party (murder mystery are my fave!), but since we just got to California last week (Yes, we moved back sooner than anticipated: Dave found out that he could still get in state tuition for his SUU Graduate program even in California, and Utah was starting to get cold!) and I have been sick (just a little cold, not the dreaded swine flu for those of you who were worrying about talking to me at church tomorrow)this week, we didn't pull one off this year, or last year since we were in Korea (whoa I can't believe that was a whole year ago, time is flying!). Our tradition is falling apart after 3 solid years! That makes me sad. Oh well, I will just have to throw the best one ever next year and enjoy our first year taking Lucy trick or treating!! I love how she says "Trick or Treat." I am not as crazy about her candy obsession. What mixed messages we send our kids huh? Be cute, dress up, say "Trick or Treat" okay now "Thank you," but don't eat the candy! Kids must be pretty confused if you ask me!

Just wanted to mention a random occurence before I get to the sweet Halloween pics. We went to the beach today (and I think I should just rub in that the weather was perfect, don't be jeolous, just come visit me and feel lucky you know someone who lives here!) I got stung by a bee, which was unpleasant obviously. I stepped on it and found the bee stuck to my foot with the stinger inside my foot. Usually the bee flys away... odd, oh well. It hurt a little, but not really as much as I remember from being a child. I went and stood in the cool, salty ocean water and I seriously couldn't even feel a twinge of pain after only 10 minutes. SWEET! or should I say salty? I was so glad our beach day wasn't ruined! Yay.

Okay, what I really wanted to say about the beach was, people brought sleds and all the children were sledding down the sand mountains. That made me happy, because I was sad I had to leave Utah before taking Lucy sledding. Guess I didn't miss much. I thought you would enjoy this funny So Cal Sledding picture from Halloween Morning:

Isn't that one of the most awesome pictures you have ever seen? So funny, yet cool!

Anyway, here is the goods, the fall photo shoot back in Utah where leaves fall and things change colors, plus a very scary Lucy and Lucy as Belle for Halloween!

Is this not Halloween Worthy?

Scary!!!

Fall Photos. This is the first time I have ever braided her hair. I am no pro, but it is still pretty cute (of course Lucy has a way of doing that to anything she is involved in).

As Lucy would say "Heaby, berry Heaby"

I stopped getting genuine smiles out of her so I asked her if she could do a mad face. It turned out much cuter than her smiles at the time!!

Throwing Leaves
No toy can compare with a big pile of leaves! The neighbor kids actually raked them all up for us, just so they could play in our leaf piles. None of them had big trees in their yards! Good deal for us!

Lucy and one of her best friends from the neighborhood, Taylor. She used to come over and play with her all the time. The picture turned out very darling. Lucy sure misses her and so do I!

Lucy on her way to the "Trunk or Treat" church Halloween activity. She looks like and opera singer! She is really just blowing a kiss!

Her Nana Lisa got her this Belle costume for Halloween from Disneyland. So Spoiled! You can tell it is high quality as well as gorgeous on her. Thank you Thank you Thank you! Lucy loves it! Anyone who knows Lucy knows she is very very Belle obsessed. She couldn't be more thrilled to look like her!

Anyway, I hope you truly enjoy your Halloween! I would love to hear comments about your Halloween traditions. I am always trying to add on to the festivities!

Word to the Wise

2009-10-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

Don't sautee dehydrated onions, even if you don't have fresh onions on hand the and recipe says to first cook onions in a pan of oil.

Just add them later, or else they will burn and you will have to start over.

Been there, done that!

Surprisingly, my second attempt to cook chicken curry with deydrated onions worked! All I had to do was wait until the simmering phase!

"When at first you don't succeed, try try again."

Thank you for teaching me that saying mom. Your family enjoyed dinner last night because of it!

Nana & Sleeping Beauty

2009-10-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

September 5

I never finished blogging about Lucy after her Birthday party, so here it is! After Lucy woke up from her much needed nap, we went to go see the movie "Up," but it was sold out, so we went to a nearby park and played until dark (as you can see in the pictures!) Lucy had a ball playing with Nana.

One game we played was "Wake the Princess" where Lucy pretends she is sleeping beauty and then we wake her up with a kiss. Since that sounds like such an exciting game, I will brake it down into action shots for you!

The Sleep

The Kiss

The Awakening

Pretty Amazing how that works, huh? Okay, okay, but you gotta admit, it's cute!

The next day after church we had an adorable little photo shoot, since I don't have nearly enough pictures of these two!

Let's get them a little closer together...perfect!

They are both so beautiful and look so much a like (of course everyone at church was surprised when I said she was Dave's Mom and not mine)

Oh, I love when kids do sweet cheeks!

And the sweetest little kisses!

Lucy on her new bike! (That is not very new now, but was only one day new when we took this picture, even though it was second hand to begin with!)

Alas, Nana couldn't stay with us forever and this is such a sweet goodbye picture at the airport I had to close with it!

Thank you so much for coming Lisa! We had so much fun with you and miss you a lot!

Lucy Quotes and adventures

2009-10-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

"I'm too big"

"Roll over Mama"

"Nope" It's never just "No," it's always "Nope"

"Yup" Yes, has turned into Yup, as well.

"Where Lucy seat go?"

"Go away Mama!"

"I wuv you Mama!"

"I wuv you more!"

Here's the details:

The other morning Lucy told me "Roll over Mama." We were on the bed and she wanted me to move, so she could open the blinds. Trying to be funny I said it back "Roll over Lucy." She answered "Nope , I'm too big!" I couldn't help laughing. You're too big? Then I realized I always say that to her because she wants me to put her clothes on, and play in her little tent and jump on the bed. My answer to all of those things is "I'm too big." And these days with her using the toilet, I tell her all the time what a Big Girl she is. So I guess she thinks you don't have to do what your Mom tells you to do if you are "big, " even if it is just little big, and that that is a good excuse! The next morning I asked her if she could read me a book and she again answered "Nope, I'm too big." Silly girl!

Crazy adventure the last few days. On Friday I went to Logan with my sister Lani for a conference about teaching the arts to children, with Michael Ballam's Opera For Young Children program. Dave convinced me to go without him and Lucy, and I am so proud I did my first over nighter without her! I'm sure it was harder for me than her! Dave said she was totally happy and fine, although she did wake a few times in the night, she went right back to sleep. Yay! I am so proud of myself!

But that is not all of the adventure. We decided to move back to California (which is a long story, if you want to know comment about it and I will write a post about it, otherwise it's just a lot of details I don't know if you would care for). Part of Dave convincing me to leave (don't get me wrong, I want to move to California, but I just always thought it would be in a year or two and then all of a sudden we are leaving, and I get really emotional when it's time to leave people, especially since I just got my dream calling in the Mia Maids a few weeks ago!) was that I could write a list of things I wanted to do before we left. One of the things on the list was go to the Salt Lake Temple. (I originally went through the temple there and haven't been there since, so it's kind of sentimental). We decided to meet in Salt Lake Since it is halfway between Provo and Logan. Lani and I drove from Logan, while Dave and Lucy drove from Provo. I was so happy to Lucy and she was happy to see me after our long night apart! When I told her I had to leave again, but would come back that night, she said "Nope!" Then I said "Will you hug me" and another big fat "Nope" escaped her lips. Then she just looked hurt and pouted "Go away Mama!" I told her that made me sad and then asked if she was mad at me because I had to leave again. She answered "Uh huh." Finally I got her to hug me a few minutes before leaving for another couple hours. Lani drove Lucy home, while Dave and I attended the Temple.

Well, Lani had a date at 7:00 p.m. and we got out at 7:10 p.m.,Whooooooops! Took a little longer than we thought. Luckily her date was a little late! Anyway, I asked Lani if any of her roommates were around that could watch Lucy. One roommate could, but she had to go at 8:00, which would be cutting it close. Lani called again because Lucy went into hysterics when she tried to leave Lucy with her roommate. I told Lani to leave and then called up our good friends, babysitters, and renters, Nathan and Lindsay and asked them to go get her because Lucy loves them. They so wonderfully helped us out and all was well! Crazy, crazy Day!

After all that, when it was time for Lucy to leave Nathan and Lindsay and go to bed, she told me again "Go away Mama!" I was sad. I tried to be a big girl, but she has never not wanted me before. When I told her that what she said hurt my feelings, she did give me a big kiss, so that helped. And she has been making up for it by telling me spontaneously all day today "I wuv you Mama!" answered by me saying "I love you Lucy! I love you more" to which she responds " I wuv you more" and then we go on that way about 20 times. She wakes me up that way these days and I love it. There is nothing else in all the world like waking up to Lucy touching your cheek and saying "I wuv you Mama."

Anyway to finish the explanation of all the quotes, Lucy's car seat was locked in Lani's car last night, so we just went without it to church this morning. (Shhhhhh! Please don't call the CPS!) When Lucy got in the car and saw that her seat was missing, she exclaimed in a very bewildered voice "Where Lucy seat go?" The way she said it was really funny. It is never quite the same in writing. Anyway, that is the low down on all of Lucy's recent cute quotes and the rest of our adventures!

The newest Usborne Book Consultant

2009-10-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

I recently became an Usborne Books Consultant! I always promised myself that I wouldn't do Sales, and especially not Network Marketing, but then again I also always promised myself I would never marry before the age 21, nor have children before age 25, all of which I have done! I guess the moral of the story is not to be judgmental or make ridiculous promises to yourself (Beware of the humbling experience soon to follow)!

I am very excited about being a consultant, selling Children's books. I couldn't resist when I hosted a party and saw all the awesome books they sold (I hosted the party just to get free books, which is an awesome perk of hosting a party if you would like me to throw one for you! Ha ha, it is so weird trying to sell stuff. I can't believe I just threw in a pitch for you to throw a party! Selling things is going to take a lot of getting used to.) Anyway, I really loved the products they offered. Maybe it seemed grander than it was, just because I have been reading millions of ridiculously boring books to Lucy while in the process of potty training. I am so excited Lucy loves reading, but she asks me to read to her nonstop and they really need to be more exciting books.

I haven't really had any training yet, but I do know a little bit about what I can do. People can buy books from my website (click here to visit the website), home party's (awkward!!!! But seriously these are short, fun, educational get togethers) and you can become a consultant for elementary schools, and run Usborne Book Fairs and earn books for the schools. Anyway, I am excited about this company and my new job! I promise all of my friends I will never be a pushy salesperson. If you want me to come do a party for you I would be overjoyed! If you want to buy books through me I will be very grateful! If you are buying children's books for Christmas presents, please check out the website and all the awesome books we offer, before paying high prices at a bookstore. Other than that little plea I will not bug you. I might ask you personally if you would like to throw a party, but if you say no it won't offend me and I won't keep asking.

I will probably post again, some more details once I know more details, but for now I just wanted to make the exciting announcement! Wish me luck!

Click here to check out my website and browse the books!

Lucy's First Movie

2009-09-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

We tried to take Lucy to see her first Movie, "Up" (about an old man who launched his house with millions of balloons) on September 5th, as an added Birthday Bonus, but it was sold out! I even took a picture of her outside the theater with Nana (who visited us to celebrate Lucy's Birthday) to signify the great event, before we found out we weren't going! Oh well, it is still a cute shot.
We took Lucy later that week on September 9th. She didn't really know the difference I guess. She loved the movie, and I was surprised how good she was.

Funny fact about Lucy, whether at home or at the theater Lucy's eyes water whenever she watches shows. She forgets to blink (I used to think she was crying). We have to remind her to blink the whole time. It is sweet.

It was a really cute show! Dave and I both cried just within the first 15 minutes, so you know it was good for both child and parent. It had a sweet message about enjoying life at every age!

I would recommend it whether you have children to take to it or not!

Lucy's Birthday Party

2009-09-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

September 4 We went swimming at Lani's pool, let Lucy watch Disney movies (she chose "Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin," both she hadn't seen before. It was kind of a celebration of the fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no t.v. watching before age 2! We are so excited to start sharing our favorite childhood movies with her. Plus I felt really sick in the evening and didn't know what else to do with her.) She went to the dollar store and picked out a princess necklace and then to the ward Fish Fry with Dave for dinner. I think she had a really fun day, which was the goal!

This is the only picture we got of Lucy on her actual Birthday, September 4. I realized we hadn't taken any pictures of her, so sleeping is better than none, plus I thought how she was completely turned around with her feet on the pillow was hilarious. She is such a crazy sleeper!

September 5 we had a party with all the neighborhood kids. Here is the invite we made. I am sometimes not very crafty so I am really proud. I had Lucy color a bunch of paper and then I cut them out and pasted them on the backside of brown paper bags. Lucy helped me write the invitations by handing me the correct color markers when I asked for them (I didn't know she knew her colors so well, but I would say she gave me the right color about 90% of the time. Yay Lucy!).

We started the party with fishy crackers. Check out the monstrous handful Lucy just grabbed. This explains the funny faces she is making in the next couple of pictures.

First Activity was an obstacle course. They had to dress up (girls in princess clothes, boys in Dave's clothes) crawl through the playhouse and then under the hi chair as shown below.Then hop over a bucket 5 times, throw 3 balls into a laundry basket, and then shake the music shakers and dance for 10 seconds (Lucy shaking pictured below).

To finish you had to make a tower 5 blocks high. We timed the kids and they had a blast. We had over 20 kids there (I know I am crazy! But I love having all the neighborhood kids over). Here is Lucy with her tower and a face still full of fishy crackers, even after the entire obstacle course!

Then we played animal charades. I cut out animals from magazines and had the kids choose one and act it out until someone guessed it.

Then we played drop the clothespins in the bucket as pictured below.
Not everyone played...some just doted on Lucy. She looks like such a little princess surrounded by all these fun girls giving her attention in this picture. They are such sweet girls! I love our neighborhood!
Before we finished the Birthday song, Lucy was already diving in. I just stacked Costco brownies for the cake. I didn't feel good the day before so I let Dave talk me into going the easy route for a few things. We forgot candles, to top off our already kind of interesting cake, so we put Belle and Beast on top and had her blow them over. Hey, it worked!

We finished the party by building towers with blocks. It was a hit!

Zach is so cute!

And here are some of the sweet girls, Linea, Mathilde and Aynslee
Here is a rocket launch

And here is an attack on Dave

Here is the gang. Some of the kids already had to leave and some were just playing in the house and not to be disturbed, but here is the majority.

We tried to wait until everyone went home to have Lucy open presents, but a few girls really wanted to stay and watch. It was so fun to watch the excitement on her face!

Princess Shoes

Princess Panties

A Barbie Tricycle (that we got at a yard sale in great condition for a few bucks! Yay!)

Dave's Mom Lisa came and spoiled her with a few awesome Princess Belle things, and a Toy Laptop as well.

A tired little girl after the party! What a sweetie! I can't believe she is 2 already!

Happy Birth Month (Since this post is so late)! We love you!

Lucy Quotes & Update

2009-09-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

At Target the other day, Lucy plopped down on one of the display's and exclaimed: "Nice Couch" The way she said it was soooo funny. Then she asked "Mama, come sit down!"

"Itsy Bitsy Spider" I always thinking she is asking for "peanut butter" but then I see her spider like hand motions!

"Mommy Quengrass" Lucy started calling me "Mommy Quengrass" instead of "Wendy Pendergrass."

Instead of saying "The End" at the end of books she says "Amen." I love it, and can't find it in my heart to correct her. I hope she says this as long as possible.

"I cowy" which mean "I want to color" Lucy was sleep talking the other night. She woke up intensely demanding "I cowy" at 3:00 a.m. Then she fell back over and went to sleep. It is such a crack up when she sleep talks.

"Beauty and Beast. Sowa (Cinderella) Belle Please ha ha ha ha ha" Lucy always says this. It is her joke. Especially when she is tired and we are driving. She will say this about 20 times, laughing hysterically after each time and then just conk out. It is such a funny little joke!

September 22 Before Bed

Me: "Lucy it's time to say prayers"

Lucy: "Mommy, Daddy, Amen." She said as quickly as possible and then started climbing in bed.

Me: "Lucy can you start with 'Dear Heavenly Father?'"

Lucy: "No Dear Heavenly Father. I sleep!" as she put her head down on the pillow and tucked in. I guess she was pretty tired.

That last story reminded me of Nursery on Sunday (I wasn't there, but my sister went in for a little while). I guess the leader asked "Who wants to pray?" and without being called on Lucy said "I pray! Mommy Daddy Amen." Then the nursery leader said to all the other children still raising there hands "I guess we already had a prayer. Good prayer Lucy." She is a girl who knows how to get what she wants, that is for sure. She is already wheeling and dealing. If I tell her she can have one of something (like a bedtime story for example) she asks for two. If I finally give in and say she can have two, she asks for five. What a little bargain maker. So hilarious!

Since Lucy's birthday I have been putting more effort into potty training. She has only had 3 accidents in the last 6 days. I am so proud of her! All it took was princess panties and Lucy was totally on board! Although we still put a diaper on her for bed, I am loving all the diaper savings! Woo hoo! Go Lucy!

I love having a two year old!

Arches Adventure Day 3

2009-09-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

September 3 - Arches Adventure- Day 3

We started the beautiful morning on the swing set. You can just barely see the beautiful red rock and sunflowers in the background if you look closely.

While hiking to Landscape Arch, we encountered a huge, cool lizard. Dave was happy to see something cool, even if we didn't get to see any scorpions on our trip (that is what he was hoping for!)

Lucy hiked almost the whole mile to see Landscape Arch (she wimped out once we hit a sandy portion of the trail). This was one of my favorite arches. It is so long and skinny. Very impressive that you can find things like this in nature, somebody must have had a little fun along with all the hard work creating the world.

Here's Lucy flashing a big smile from her sacrificial diaper changing rock. It made for a nice changing table.

The entrance to the Sand Dune Arch. Lucy says "No Trespassing!"

A family pic a little bit farther into the hike

I am making this hike sound long. It was only .2 miles, but it was beautiful so I took a lot of pictures on the "long" sandy trek. Here is Dave scaling the crevice.

This was definitely Lucy's favorite Arch. Shoes off, rolling down the dune. This is the life.

The sand was sooooooo soft! We spent the most time here out of anywhere that we visited in the park. It just felt too good to sit barefoot in the shade.

Here is a picture on our way out of Lucy copying her Daddy.

Goodbye arches. We love you!

This was an amazing trip! I can't believe I have lived in Utah for so long and this was my first trip here. I had camped in Goblin Valley before, which wasn't very far away, but had never made it out here. I just had no idea it was so breathtaking. I thought we would get here and see two cool arches and then be ready to go. Instead, there were hundreds of arches, and even when there weren't arches there were extremely impressive rock structures. It's only 3 hours from P-town, so make sure you visit on your next Utah trip!

Arches Adventures- Days 1-2

2009-09-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

Arches Adventures - Days 1-2

September 1st and 2nd

Happy Birthday Heidi! In Honor of you, we traveled South and went camping!

We decided in the afternoon on September 1st, we better go on a cool trip before Dave gets a job and may have a more complicated process to get time off.

So at 7:00 p.m. we made up our minds to leave right away. We threw everything in the car as fast as we could and were on the road by 7:30 p.m. Dave and I are just like that sometimes. Neither one of us really likes to plan very far in advance.

Since we left so late we stopped at Green River to camp. This was Lucy's first time sleeping in a tent so of course we documented it with a picture. She really loved the tent, although she didn't display that by sleeping very well in it.

Outside Arches National Park Visitor center Lucy found a friend that also had two ponies.

Our first stop along the trek, Park Avenue.

At this point, I looked at some map and thought we could hike to "Balanced Rock" from here. So we went on a hike, and luckily after only one mile we came to the road again and realized that "Balanced Rock" was miles away. I guess what they say about women reading maps might be true, at least for me. Dave hiked back and got the car for us. I was extremely impressed with Lucy, because she hiked the whole mile and absolutely refused to be carried. Even when we stopped to wait for Dave to get the car, she wanted to keep hiking.

Here are some pictures of our very awesome, short hike to the road that we drove on to get to "Balanced Rock":

Lucy going under a Lucy sized arch that we found

Dave and Lucy, with "The Three Gossips" in the Background

Here is the cool rock Lucy and I ate lunch underneath, while Dave fetched the car.

After getting in the car and driving 9 miles, we finally reached "Balanced Rock." I am sure glad we didn't try to keep hiking there!

Here is Dave and Lucy trying to blow "Balanced Rock" over

Pretty cool, huh?

And we don't look like we have been sweating out here or anything

Here is Lucy trying to balance her own rocks. These interested her much more than the random huge balanced rock above her head.

Ah, and here is the artist in me, capturing the real "Balanced Rock" with Lucy trying to balance her rock. I thought it was sweet.

Do you think Dave is strong enough to push it over?

Maybe with the help of Lucy he can. Lucy didn't understand what we were doing of course, but she really wanted to pretend to do whatever Daddy was doing too. I couldn't get her to line up perfectly, but she sure tried hard.

Here is one of the Window Arches. I thought it was pretty cool and worth a picture.

Here is the other Window Arch (I think).

Double Arches (This was one of my favorites!)

Dave asked some ladies, while video taping, "Where's the arches? Are they up here somewhere?" while we were standing underneath them. They were foreign and tried to explain to us that we were already there. We pretended to react as though we had no idea we were right underneath it. It was funny. Maybe if I get highly motivated sometime I will post the video.

Here is the view from up at the arch

Who's that hot silhouette?

It's me!

Here is the most famous "Delicate Arch"which is also on our license plate. We didn't hike to it because Lucy was asleep and it was supposedly a somewhat hard, 3 hour hike. Maybe next trip. It's not too bad of a shot, zoomed completely in with my camera.

After a long hot Day, we set up camp at Slide Rock campground in Moab. The campsites were pretty small and shabby, but they had a pool and that was all that mattered to Lucy. Even the freezing temperature didn't stop her. Here she is jumping in (one of her favorite pool pastimes).

Look at the love on those faces, even through chattering teeth.

What a perfect ending to a perfect day! We celebrated the evening by going to the grocery store and buying Green Machine Naked Juice, which we also discovered was one of Lucy's favorite things (as well as mine). The adventures aren't over yet! Stay tuned for Day 3 of our Arches Adventures tomorrow.

A Very Tired Little One

2009-09-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

August 30 - Sunday

Lucy refused her nap. We got home from church past nap time and she was just too worked up to relax when I laid her down. Oh well, we'll just skip the nap today and put her to bed early. Around 5:30 p.m. I went to make her dinner in the kitchen. She climbed into her high chair anticipating food and began to squawk for food. I quickly graced the table with some grapes to tide her over. She went very quiet. I assumed the grapes were just occupying her mouth, while I continued preparing her a meal. It only took me 5 minutes to whip something up, but she was fast asleep at the table when I came in with her dinner. Not much of her head was even on the table, I don't know how it was balancing. Not very many grapes were eaten. Poor sleep deprived child!
I remember probably over a year ago now, seeing a picture like this of Blake McCoy, sleeping in his high chair. I thought to myself "Wow! That is so amazing that he can sleep anywhere when he is tired. Lucy would never do that. She always has to have everything perfect." I am happy to report that when Lucy is tired enough, even she will sleep.

Since this day, 2 weeks ago, we have discovered the wonders of putting Lucy to sleep in her stroller. She was really fighting naps and having a hard time relaxing. Now we just take her on a 5 minute stroller walk at nap time and she is out in no time. We walked home from church today and she went out without a fight, something that was rare for a Sunday after her schedule has been thrown off (we also had a breakthrough today as far as Nursery goes! She has struggled to go by herself ever since we moved, but she went in and was fine all two hours today. Woo Hoo!)

I only wished we had discovered this stroller trick earlier. I have spent hours with her reading stories and trying anything at nap time to get her to sleep. It usually took me anywhere from a half hour to an hour and a half to get her to sleep. Bedtime was usually quick, but naps were really ridiculous. Thank you stroller and thank you David for figuring out that this worked while I was gone at Education Week!