Just Because

This afternoon Amelia was playing in the kitchen, sitting on the floor, and Sophia sat down on her lap.  They were playing so cute together and I managed to catch some of it with the camera.  I said to Sophia "say cheese", and this is what she did . . . (she's signing "cheese") 

This time I got them both smiling . . . even with Amelia holding on tight ;)

Then Amelia wanted a turn taking pictures . . . and caught Sophia cleaning.

And took a picture of me and Sophia.

And her friend, Henrietta the Hippo.

 And her other friend, Polly.

A New Ride

Pediatricians now recommend that children stay rear-facing in the car until they're 2-years old.  I knew Sophia wouldn't fit in the regular carseat until she was 2 and the carseat type that Amelia has doesn't fit in our car rear-facing, so I figured I'd just keep Sophia rear-facing until 18-months and then put her in a carseat like Amelia's - front facing.

Well, the other day, Costco had the carseats on sale for $20 off, so I bought it and figured I'd just keep it in the garage for another 3 months.  But Ken is all about keeping our new garage clutter-free, so he suggested I just put the new carseat in the car.  Sophia was all smiles on Sunday when she rode to church in her new ride.  And liked playing in the carseat before installing it the car . . . who knew our kitchen paint is the same color as her hair ;)

As part of my continuing birthday celebrations, I went to Portland for a few days, just me and the girls.  I was grateful that Sophia was forward facing, as it made it easier to hand her things while I was driving - don't tell Ken I did that ;)  It was weird to go overnight somewhere without Ken and we missed him, but I really enjoyed my time staying with the Bullocks and meeting friends for lunch and dinner.  Thanks friends for a great few days - next time I'll have to make it longer . . . and bring Ken with me.

Embracing 40

My 40th birthday has come and gone and I'm ready to embrace my 40's.  Just as I did for my 30th birthday, I plan on celebrating often and all year long.  Now, this doesn't mean I'll be having parties all the time, it just means I'll be celebrating me - by taking time for and doing things for me.  Maybe this sounds selfish, but no worries, I'll be involving others - my friends and family.

On my birthday, I celebrated with Ken and the girls by going out to dinner.  Taking time for me includes not having to fix dinner - yeah!  And I got an extra bonus as both girls were extremely well behaved at the restaurant.  We also celebrated with an ice cream cake at home.  I probably should have just had the ice cream, but hey, it's my birthday, I deserve cake at least once a year, even if it does make my sinuses hurt. 

Ken gave me the best present - just what I wanted - the gift of time*.  Babysitting once a month for a few hours so that I can take time for me.  Time to finish Sophia's baby quilt, get some scrapbooking done for the girls and other things on my to-do list.  When I told some friends about how I planned on spending my "me" time, they laughed, as it was completely different from how they would spend their "me" time - they would read, take a long bath, etc.  But I'm happiest when I'm doing something productive, so I'm very much looking forward to some productive time this year.

I also celebrated my birthday by hosting a birthday party for myself.  It was a casual night with a few of my girl friends from this area; just a fun evening of talking and eating.  And it turned out just liked I hoped it would.

And next week, I'm taking the girls down to Portland so that I can spend time with some of my friends there.  This year is off to a good start, already filled with joy and satisfaction!

*Ken also gave me a clock, to go with the "time" theme.

Oh Deer

A month or so ago I mentioned that we had some deer in our backyard, and if you follow me on Facebook, you know that not only have we seen more deer since then, but we've also seen male deer.  I've seen female deer travel together, but I've never seen male deer travel together until now.  In the last few weeks, I've seen 2-3 male deer in our yard at the same time on multiple occasions.  Judging by their size (or points of their antlers), they're all about the same age, but one looked older, possibly because he was limping.  I don't really mind that they're eating our bushes . . . they needed to be trimmed anyway, but it made me sad to see one of the deer hurting.

On Saturday afternoon, Ken was working out in the yard when he came to show me what he had found on our lawn.

The antler stump was still red from blood, so we were guessing that a deer must have lost it pretty recently.  Then Ken also noticed that a corner of the lawn, near the green space was all dug up, and a small tree was broken.  We can only guess that perhaps 2 of the deer were fighting for territory? and one of them lost an antler in the fight. 

That evening, during my party, I'm telling the ladies about the antler Ken had found, and one of the ladies wanted to see our backyard, so I turn on an outside light and we look outside, and there is a male deer . . . with only one antler . . . and he's limping.  Now at least we know which deer it was that lost the antler.  Who knew when we moved here that we'd have such interesting wildlife adventures?

Incredible

I've been trying to find time, energy AND motivation to finish Sophia's baby quilt before she's not a baby anymore.  A week or so ago, I pulled out the fabric squares and got it all laid out, ready to sew. . . .which got me all fired up and excited to start sewing.  I set up my sewing table that I bought myself for Christmas and have been eagerly waiting for time when I could sew without interruption (or at least too much confusion).  Tonight the stars all seemed to be lined up and I snuck off to sew while Ken played with the girls.  And then the "incredible" happened - my sewing machine wouldn't work.  I can't get the pedal to lower, so I can't sew.  Big Bummer!  Now I'm going to have to wait until I have money to get it repaired, then time to get it repaired, and then find the time, energy and motivation to start sewing again.  I know this isn't tragic, but I'm super disappointed.

On a more positive "incredible" moment:  I got a little red wagon for Sophia for Christmas and the girls love playing with it . . . and surprisingly they're pretty good at taking turns with it.  Yesterday Amelia spent quite awhile giving Sophia a ride in the wagon and I was wishing I had had my camera with us in the playroom.  And today, I "incredibly" watched as Sophia pulled Amelia in the wagon.  Yep, you read that right.  Sophia pulled Amelia from one end of the room to the other, without me even helping a little bit.  I'm pretty sure I just stood there with my mouth open, amazed that Sophia could pull Amelia.  By the time it registered in my mind, and I thought about running downstairs to get my camera, Sophia had stopped.  Maybe I'll keep my camera with me tomorrow just in case.

New Furniture

We've waited a long time for new living room furniture.  Maybe not as long as some or even most, but it seems like we've been talking about getting a new couch ever since we were married.  And today I mentioned on Facebook that I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new living room furniture.  Why anxious?  Because we had never seen our couches in person or sat on them or tested them in any way . . . we ordered them online and trusted our instinct.

And when they came, I was relieved that the color wasn't too red, that it didn't look too formal, and that the couches were comfortable to sit in/ lay on.  Sophia likes them too.

Amelia likes jumping on them (I couldn't get her to stop even long enough to take a picture of her standing still).

 And now we just have to figure out how to arrange them in our living room.

Word of the Year - 2013

I read a friend's blog today; she mentioned the concept of having a Word of the Year.  I've never heard about that idea, but after reading other's ideas and thinking about it, it came to me what I wanted my word of the year to be.

JOY

• I want this to be a fun year, but I want more than fun, I want it to be joyful: filled with satisfaction, happiness, and rejoicing.  It's all about attitude.
• Joy is my mother's name.  Now that I am a mother, I realize even more how many sacrifices she made for me and what incredible lessons I have learned from her.  Joy is also Amelia's middle name.  Not only do I want Amelia to know about her namesake, I want her to know her namesake, and have plans for this year for Amelia to know Joy.
• I was also reminded of a General Conference talk by Pres. Monson who spoke about Finding Joy in the Journey.  As I re-read the talk, it reinforced what I have been thinking about for this year.  Taking time to enjoy the moment, enjoying my children and the fun things they do, making time for the important, lasting moments and not getting caught up in the mundane or overwhelmed by trials and change.