Bilingual

Perhaps I should consider teaching my little Kenna another language. She is so intrigued with other languages, and can often be overheard pretending to speak Spanish. She will rattle off in her own little language as if she is fluent. The problem is no one knows what she means. Not even her. Sometimes she will say some crazy word and then ask me what it was in English. The poor little thing almost gets upset with me that I don't know.

I loved the idea given in General Conference last fall about reading scriptures with little ones and having them repeat the verses with you. So, when it was Kenna's turn last night while reading our scriptures, she decided to repeat the verse back to me in "Spanish." Yes, I know you're amazed. My daughter is extremely intelligent for a 5 year old. I'm astounded at her capabilities.

Now how about my little Allie Gal? Lately this little lady is big into "that's not fair." I have no idea where this came from or how it started, but she is the Queen of making sure everything is absolutely fair. If anything is not balanced in her eyes, then it's just plain not fair. "It's not fair Kenna got 5 chocolate chips and I didn't." "It's not fair Kenna gets to go with dad and I don't." The absolute BEST "not fair" came out of her mouth the other day, and I still chuckle when I think about it. We were driving home from town and as we drove past the bowling alley, she looked out the window to see all the cars in the parking lot then said, "It's not fair all of those people get to go bowling and we don't!" Life is just full of disappointment sometimes!

Then there's my Ty guy. Cute little stinker. He finally cut his top two teeth, and now that the sharpest part is through his gums he is much happier. They still have a long way to go, but my goodness they gave us a run for our money. Now I need to gear up for when his i-teeth decide to make their debut. As I recall with my girls, those were the worst. He finally can roll from his front to his back, but it's really not his favorite thing to do. He just likes to sit. But really, do I want to get overly excited about him crawling? That calls for some major home renovation for everything up to about 2-3 feet. Where in the world did those last 8 months go? I can't believe how quickly they change from being newborns. Speaking of changing quickly, I need to do better at getting some more pictures. And make sure Allie gets just as many pictures as Ty and Kenna. Gotta keep it fair, you know.

Perspective

I was assigned some new visiting teachers who stopped by for a visit last week. They are a mother/daughter-in-law combo, the mother being an 85-year-old woman who is doing very well for her age. Throughout the conversation, we talked about children and how they grow so fast. I learned that included in her posterity are 2 great-great grandchildren.

How amazing is that?

And then she said something that really made me stop and think. Here's what she said: "What's really weird is thinking of my daughter as being a great-grandma."

Oh my goodness.

Now THAT is perspective.

Is it really possible for years to pass so quickly and someday these two sweet little ones will be doing the same thing I am doing now?


I'm afraid it probably will happen. For now, we'll enjoy the journey. After all, it seems there is still much joy to be had even when you're 85.

Yucky Bugs

Oh the beloved cold season.

Cold as in virus. Cold as in more snot than little nostrils should possibly even be able to physiologically produce. Cold as in two trips to the doctors office for ear infections in Allie and then Ty. Cold as in "I really have to remember to give my child an antibiotic twice a day for 10 days?" Cold as in let's polish off our flex account before the year hardly even begins. Yes, that was January.

So what does February bring? Round two. ANOTHER cold. MORE snot. Once again, Allie and Ty get the worst of it. And once again, Allie has an ear infection. I'm just waiting for Ty to follow suit. It would really just top things off for my little Ty man. His top two teeth are trying to cut, and it's not making life very pleasant for either of us. Throw in the snot and the cough, and he is just one sad little monkey. And the real kicker here in this whole thing? I'm in the middle of trying to wean him, too. Between he and Allie, I was up 5 different times last night.

Oh what's a mom to do?

Stock up on Kleenex and extra hugs, I guess. This too shall pass.

Well hello there February, I really didn't see you coming. I'm still stuck in January. Of 2010.

Anyhow. Much to catch up on! Where should I start?

Maybe I'll start with how much I LOVE having my new living room. Or, I could start with a story about Jacob passing out at the doctor's office. Or perhaps the myriad of silly little things my girls have been doing lately. Also can't forget our wonderful visit from Grandma Marsha, Grandpa Clark, and Uncle Karl. So many decisions. This may take a while-

Aaaaaah, THE LIVING ROOM. Is now what it should be. Fresh paint, new carpet. Death threats to anyone who even so much as thinks about spilling even a drop of water on it. Goodbye hideous pink carpet! Adios horrible dirty tile entryway! This picture is sort of okay- still doesn't quite capture it all. Still have some odds and ends left, but it is a 100% improvement.



Back up a bit to this- just after the removal of the tile in the entry. Jacob looking at it as if to say, "Hmmm. Now what?"



But who needs to worry when you have two little helpers like this?



Now how about putting the wood laminate down the hallway? Jacob should go pro, really. Talent folks, talent. I especially love the long hose to the finish nail gun in the picture. It just isn't home without dangerous, random power tools lying all over.

We are loving the wood in the hall. To be completely honest, sometimes you can't help but let the inner kid come out in you when you get a good start and then slide down the hall in your socks! Of course the first night we had it in Allie managed to slide right into a doorway and bang her head. We're slowing learning to navigate the new flooring. But really, it's Allie. We're not surprised. Her head is a danger magnet.


What do you think, Ty? Why the look of concern?


Don't worry, don't worry, you get to crawl on it too. But maybe first you should learn to roll over.

We also can't forget our casualty of the living room project- Jacob's nose. If you remember from the previous post, Jacob sliced his nose on the jagged chimney pipe thing. Well, it never healed right. Ya ya, should have just gotten stitches in the first place. Live and you learn.

So, Jacob ventured into the dermatologist office to see what could be done. All they did was numb up his nose a bit, then shave off the piece of skin that was sticking out. I think the whole thing took maybe 7 or 8 minutes. Well, apparently they sat Jacob up to give him a look at his nose and he passed right out! Cold. Flat. For a good 20 seconds, so the doc says. Not to mention it was the first day of work for the new little nurse in there. Break 'em in quick!

So there I was, starting to paint the hallway at home and had no idea what was going on. I hadn't heard from Jacob for a while to see how his appointment had been, so I decided to give him a call. The sound of his voice was pathetic. I certainly wasn't expecting to hear, "I passed out. You're gonna have to come pick me up." Oh no! I felt so bad for him. Now I have to admit, I am extremely talented, but wrestling a husband, 2 preshoolers and an infant down the stairs of the doctor's office and into the car is beyond my capabilities. So I made a quick call to the neighbor to see if she could watch the girls for a bit. (Dear neighbors, bless you. BLESS YOU!) So we get on coats and shoes, load up the baby into the car seat and head out to the van. I turn the key and.....

...the van won't start.

This is one of those moments in life where you have to pinch yourself and say, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

Maybe I turned the key wrong. Try again. The van just makes a ridiculous noise as if to say, "I don't feel good. I think I'm going to pass out." Nice. Good thing we left the doors open almost all day the Saturday before and killed the battery.

Oh for crying out loud. Now what? My talents are quickly failing me. Well, on to the next neighbor! This time I go across the street to our other neighbor to beg for a ride into town. Bless her gracious heart, she happily obliged. I should mention this is the same neighbor who drove me to the hospital when I was going to have Kenna and Jacob was 45 minutes away. This is ALSO the neighbor who drove me to the hospital when Allie split her forehead open. Now this. They're going to move away from us, I just know it. Can you blame them, really?

So, we FINALLY made it in to pick up the sick and afflicted. Thankfully Jacob had his car in there, so my neighbor was now off the hook. When I got up to Jacob, the poor guy did not look good. Well, back up. His nose looked great. The rest of him looked like.. well, he had been hit over the head with a cinder block. I think that is about how he felt. We got him home and put him to bed where he stayed there until 9:00 at night. It really took it out of him. He was so sick. Amazing what a difference being passed out for 20 seconds can make. I am pleased to say it is now in the past and hopefully the last of our living room woes.

Knock on wood.

This post is really long. But I have more cute pictures. Read on if you will!

A few weeks ago we had family come and we loved it. For some reason I didn't manage to get pictures of the actual family, though. Way to go me. Great for memory sake, huh? Grandpa Clark and Uncle Karl had meetings in St. George, and Grandma Marsha stayed with us for a few days. I was in heaven! We had so much fun. I did manage to get some shots of the girls cooking with Grandma. She is so patient and kind with the girls, they just love her. And, many thanks to Aunt Connie, the girls donned their cooking attire and whipped up some Valentine cookies and a pan of brownies.



Thanks to family, we love having you. I think the girls concur.

Whew. That was long. My goal is to try to keep updated more often, but we'll see. It will be July before I know it!