it's been said

Uggghhhh, freakin' toilet!

{when the lid fell down on her back}

+

{after running an errand with Daddy}

Oh, little sister! I missed you!

{followed by a kiss}

+

{after I sing her bedtime song}

I want Lichelle {my mom, who was visiting} to sing to me.

+

Should I stand on my bike?

{sure, and then crack your head open}

+

{while waiting for our lunch group to arrive}

I think I hear my friends coming!!!

{cocking her head to the side and actually listening for them}

+

I have my dancing scarves and strollers! {whaaaa?}

+

{while practicing her lowercase letters}

Look! It's a little A! It's so tiny like Lydia!

+

{while standing in Lydia's car seat}

Mommy, look - are you proud? {totally}

+

{when cousins and friends came for the blessing luncheon}

Thanks for coming to my room guys!

+

{during the middle of Mommy and Daddy singing I'm Trying to be Like Jesus at bed time}

Hey! Jesus loves me guys!

+

{after explaining that a friend was getting baptized and that we were invited to the baptism}

Um...do I go in the water with Daddy too?

+

{after attempting to explain the Holy Ghost}

Where's he? I wanna see the Holy Ghost!

+

{reading The Hungry Caterpillar to herself}

...And he ate two kinds a lums.

+

{while I change Lou's stinky diaper}

That's magic poop!

{um, magically disgusting...}

+

Me: Okay, I think we're ready to go.

Belle: Fo' real?

+

Me: Alright, let's go buy this stuff.

Belle: Seer-us-lee Mom? Seer-us-lee?

 

Photos by Danielle.

procreation

So some of you may be wondering if you should have a baby.

Let me answer that question for you:

Yes. Yes, you should. :)

random

+ My heart has been on the tender side all day. I love my girls so much. I say it so much, but it's so much a part of me. They are my heart. I can't get enough of them.

+ I sort of live in mommy world, so I didn't even know Coldplay had a new CD until my sister mentioned it. I've been consuming it since. In my opinion, they didn't top Fix You from X&Y, but dang that Chris Martin. His voice. Like buttah. (Try Up Against The World, Princess of China, or Every Teardrop is a Waterfall. Yum.)

+ I amped up my spinning too soon and I've been "resting" my blasted Achilles tendon for a week now. So obnoxious. But then I realize that this simply isn't the time of life that I'm going to be a tiny skinny person with a six pack. In fact, I will probably never be tiny or skinny. And I most definitely will not ever have visible abs under the stretched out skin that growing babies in my belly have created. But I have beautiful babies. And they fit me much better than any pair of jeans.

+ Do you Pinterest yet? Because if you don't, I highly recommend this life suck. It's the most creative way I've ever wasted time. And I can't. Stop.

+ I'm thrilled that the holiday season is upon us. Last year was a pregnant holiday season. Which means I merely survived it. I'm so happy that I'll actually be able to see the twinkling lights without mentally calculating how long I have until I puke. I'm so happy I'll get to watch my Belle really understand some of the holiday. And it's our little Lou's first Christmas. So magical.

+ We signed another six month lease at our apartment complex. We've now lived here over a year. We planned on six months. Strangely, we're pretty okay with it. We just feel good about where we are. And so we stay. Also, house hunting is exhausting. And we have no desire to move our junk in the snow. I've mastered the two babies and six bags of groceries up the stairs, so why not stay, right?

+ I make this pumpkin bread at least once a week. It's delicious. And I pretend it's healthy because it has some wheat flour. Annabelle loves it too, especially because it has lots of ingredients she can help dump in. I can't decide which I love more: the bread itself or making it with my baby.

+ My little sister is having a baby. Any. Minute. I think about her all the time. Her life is about to change in the best of ways. The very best. She is about to do the most important thing she has ever done. And I know she can do it. I'm so proud of her. And I'm so very excited to meet her tiny little love. (Hang in there Sooh. You'll have your feet back and a baby in your arms before you know it.)

a blessing

Since the day that we brought Lydia home from the hospital, Jess hasn't been totally sold on her name (the Lydia part, not the Lou part, which is what we really love and what she basically goes by anyhow). He tries out random names on her all the time, which is kind of a comedy. Eliza Lou? (So cute, right?) Lizzie Lou? Today we blessed our little Lou, and I will admit that I had a small ulcer wondering if I would walk into church with a Lydia and leave with a Bertha because Jess had finally decided that was the name for her.

The good news? We left with a Lydia Lou. It was such a beautiful day with friends and family, and a wonderful chance to recognize our little lady. And I thank my lucky stars that this little Lou is ours. She is indeed one of my most treasured blessings.

Almost all photos by Danielle.

it's been said

 

{singing} The sound of music is alive!

+

I want Maria to get married!

{the song they sing during Captain VonTrapp and Maria's wedding}

+

Mommy, whatchoo saying in your mouth?

+

Look Mommy! A car just my size! {VW bug}

+

Lydia smells like stinky feet.

+

My blanky smells like...fruit. {perhaps it should be washed?}

+

I need some lovin'. {after getting a bonk}

+

I peed in the potty! Are you proud?! Is Lydia proud?

+

I wanna go up there and see Angel Moroni.

{pointing up high to Angel Moroni on top of the temple}

+

Mommy, what are you talkin' to?

+

{after eating a few bites of a new pasta sauce}

That...is not good.

+

{after I ask her where she'd like to go, expecting Target to be the answer}

To Gatlinburg!

+

{while carving pumpkins}

I wanna cut the pumpkin! Puuuhhhhleeeaaasssse!

+

{practicing Grandma Christensen's name - Lichelle}

Michelle. Maaaa-shell. Maa-Lichelle. Ma-Lichelle. Mmmmm. Mm. Lll. Lichelle!!

+

I want the song the prophet singing about a mountain. {whhhhaaaa?}

+

I don't want to have my skipping bath. {she wants to skip her bath}

+

Grandma Christensen: You're a hoot and a half!

Belle: You're a half!

+

Belle: Daddy, will you do me a favorite?

Jess: A favor? Sure, what do you need.

Belle: Fill up the diaper bag.

+

Belle: Can I get in the exersaucer?

Me: No, the exersaucer is for babies like Lydia. You're too tall now, but you played in it when you were a baby.

Belle: {thinking} Can I crawl under the exersaucer?

Me: Um. Sure.

+

Belle: Mommy, Lydia's being naughty!

Me: Oh, really? What did she do?

Belle: She won't look at me like I said her to do.

+

Me: I'm just going to steal your nose, okay? {a little game my mom played with us too}

Belle: Nooo! I need my nose.

Me: But I want a little nose. Can't I have yours?

Belle: Ummmm...go in that room and take Lydia's little nose!!!

+

{playing hide-and-seek}

Belle: Okay, I'm hiding!! Come fine me!!

Jess: Hmmmm. Where could Annabelle be?

Belle: I'm behind the door in my room!

 

good morning!

Sometimes I literally pace the floor waiting to see these faces in the morning.

Wouldn't you?

How can a day not be good when it starts with this?

Granted, some days I'm also stumbling out of bed in a sleepy stupor, but

a day doesn't pass without me having a moment of realization

that perhaps I'm the luckiest mommy in the world.

some smokies

Here's the truth: I don't even know where all the photos of the Smokies are. I know they've been offloaded - but their destination is unknown to me. And by staying ignorant, I avoid the responsiblity of sorting through them. Because seriously, there's crazy and then there's Jess. He takes so many photos it gives me ulcers. I'm not even the one responsible for them, yet the thought of all those files just piling on top of each other makes my head hurt. And then I have to drink Diet Dr Pepper. Although the two incidents are likely unrelated.

But the husband has gone through a handful of photos. And by handful, I mean a handful. Just a small tip of the photo glacier my friends. But here's proof that we went. And that it was beautiful. It was a much more stressful trip for me than Gatlinburg trips of the past as I had an extra baby and the first baby has an opinion these days. But it was still lovely. I distinctly remember walking out of the Knoxville airport (where we flew in), and I stood there (five bags of luggage, two car seats, and two babies hanging off of me), shut my eyes, and breathed in that woodsy, mountain air. There's something about that air that is almost tangible. It's one thing I truly miss. We have our Utah mountains, and they are truly spectacular. But the air is different here. The air in Tennessee was refreshing and full of foliage. And I loved it.

 P.S. I still want to find the photos that actually have humans in them. I'll work on it.

a kitty and a bug

So I'll be the first to admit that Halloween isn't on my list of top ten holidays. In fact, the only list I'd maybe put it on is Holidays That Are Gross. The holiday is mostly strange and kind of evil in my opinion. Too much disguise and deception and blood and gore. Not to mention how every innocent costume now has its whoreish counterpart - trying to find a chaste cat costume for Belle was a joke. Good thing Grandma Cheney had one for us. That said, I can get behind babies in cute costumes. And I totally get the appeal of getting free candy. (Although, again - another sort of negative point to the holiday - gluttony.) I also love my mom's tradition of chili and sweet rolls every Halloween. Any excuse to eat good food, right? This year, I made chili for the Cheney clan and because I really hate the failure that baking bread represents, I started my own tradition: pumpkin cobbler. All in all, a hit.

So although I will probably never dress up with my kids, and they will never EVER be allowed to be something gross or whoreish, I'll let them be cute little animals any day. In truth, Belle was going to be a hiker up until two weeks before Halloween. She didn't have an opinion, and well, we've discussed my penchant for Halloween, so my sister-in-law gave me the suggestion as Boo loves hiking with her daddy. I was going to go all out with a fanny pack and tourist hat and a walking stick and everything. But then when her Great Grandma asked her what she was going to be, she replied, "A white cat." Well, stripey cat was acceptable and so there you go. And of course my little bug is a lady bug. What else could she have been?

And so I present, Halloween-palooza.