Mommy and Me Ballet

Sooooo, recently I decided that I needed some variety in my physical activities, so I signed myself up for a ballet class.  No wait, that's not quite right, I actually signed Lydia up for ballet, but who is getting the workout?  That's right, ME.  So far we've been to 2 classes and Lydia loves to frolic around while I desperately try to get her to copy the teacher (or me), whatever.  But, she looks adorable in a tutu and we're having fun, so what more can you ask for?  She LOVES it, too.

See what I mean about frolicking??

 Lydia and her friend from church who goes to ballet, too.

 Smile? Yeah right mom.  Here's my standard "stoney face" for ya.

A trip to the dentist

I guess August was a month of firsts, because Lydia had her first trip to the dentist at the end of August!  She was a VERY good patient and she even sat in the chair while the dentist examined her teeth.  The dentist said she's never seen a 2-year-old do that.  Yep, that's my laid back little girl.  Laid back ... most of the time.  I think the real reason she laid back on the chair was because there was a television on the ceiling and I told her she could see it better if she was laying down.  She just "happened" to be laying there when the dentist came in and was too shy to move.  That's the truth of it.  But she was VERY good for the whole cleaning and examination.  She's still waiting for all of her 2-year molars to come in so they didn't even try to take x-rays yet.  It will be interesting to see what the x-rays will show when she eventually has them because she has genetically crazy teeth.  (Sorry, Lydia, I'm blaming my ancestors too.)  This time though, her teeth got an excellent report.  No cavities, and little to no tarter buildup.  Let's keep it that way!

Smile for the camera, Lydia!!

Yeah right, mom. I'm going to close my eyes, ON PURPOSE.

Watching TV, waiting for the dentist to come back with a balloon and a bag of goodies :)

First Haircut

A few weeks ago, I gave Lydia her first ever haircut. I know, I know, she's almost 2 1/2.  But she had these beautiful curls and I just couldn't bear the thought of losing them :(  However, after spending about 5 minutes every morning untying (read, "ripping") knots out of her hair (due to the fact that she's a compulsive hair twirler), I decided that enough was enough.  I figured (correctly) that if her hair was a little shorter, she wouldn't be able to tie it into as many knots during the night.  So, I got her all set up watching Sesame Street videos on YouTube and she sat still enough for me to get it mostly straight.  I think it turned out pretty good, although I miss her adorable curls terribly.

BEFORE

 See?? Compulsive hair twirler!!!

AFTER

 No more beautiful curls (sniff sniff).  On the upside, no more knots!!

One funny note, when Ben asked Lydia what happened to her hair, Lydia responded, "Mommy took it away."  Oh that funny, funny girl.

INK Museum

A couple of weeks ago I took Lydia up to the INK (Interactive Neighborhood for Kids) Museum in Gainesville.  I'd never been there before but it was a really neat place!  Everything is kid sized and they have at least a dozen different mini areas: supermaket, veterinarian, hospital, hair dresser, diner, etc.  It is designed for kids to explore all different kinds of places on their own level and to be anyone or anything they want to be for the day.

We spent a lot of time in the "grocery store".  We were there about 3 different time.  This girl LOVES the grocery store in general.  Maybe it's the fact that she always gets a snack when we go shopping?  In any case, she loved pulling things off the shelves and putting them in her cart.  She was less enthusiastic about putting everything back when the cart got full, but she still did pretty good.

Lydia was FASCINATED by the model train set that had about a million different buttons you could push to make things move and/or light up. It was pretty cool!

Lydia also played doctor.  She really loves baby dolls and so she had a blast carrying them around the "hospital".

She also "milked" a cow.  No, really, stuff came out of the udders and everything.

And, being fascinated by sirens, she was delighted to find they had a full-sized police car she could explore and push all the buttons!

Then she found the baby doll stroller and had a ball pushing that around (with books and dolls in it) for at least 10 minutes.

The last thing Lydia found before we left was a RAMP.  This girl is obsessed with ramps.  So then she did this for another 10 minutes until we left.

We really had a great time at the INK Museum and we will definitely be going back!

Mookin and s-s-s-fimming

Lydia talks pretty well now and for the most part I can understand everything she says.  There are a few words though that she has habitually gotten wrong.  In part we've encouraged these mispronunciations because they are, frankly, hilarious.  For example, she called "water", "wah-wees" for a really long time.  One word that she still can't say is "swimming".  It comes out as "fimming".  I guess the "s-w" combination is pretty hard as you can tell in this video.  Anyway, as her parents, needless to say, Ben and I find this video hilarious.  I also really like how Lydia's personality really shines in this video which is something you rarely see outside our home because she is just so shy!  It gets a little lengthy, but enjoy!

It's a ...

GIRL!!!! Lydia is getting a little sister.  We are SO excited and can't wait for our new addition.  January couldn't come soon enough!

Yes, It's True

I'm pregnant!

And there's his/her current profile, hot off the presses!  Currently I'm almost 14 weeks and due January 23, so it'll be at least  another month before we know whether it's a boy or a girl.  And trust me, we will be finding out!  It's going to take me at least 20 weeks to pick a name.

So far the first trimester has been a little different from my pregnancy with Lydia.  First of all, whereas I didn't gain any weight with Lydia, I've already gained about 12 pounds ... oops.  I credit that to going crazy (7 pounds) after going off Weight Watchers (can't diet when you're pregnant), and then I gained 5 pounds on vacation.  I'm watching it a bit more carefully now because I really want to minimize extra weight gain, but I'm not going to stress and agonize over it.  Just try to eat healthy and apply the principles I learned while I was doing Weight Watchers.  Oh, and exercise would probably help, too ...

The other thing that was different about this pregnancy is that with Lydia, I felt nauseous only at night.  This time around when I started feeling nauseous at 7 1/2 weeks it hit me in waves at any time of the day.  It was awful! I couldn't even cook dinner because a nausea wave inevitably hit around 5pm and then I was on the couch until 6:30.  I was calling my husband to bring home take-out every night and I decided our budget really couldn't afford to keep that up.  I asked my doctor what I could do for the nausea and he suggested I try taking unisom, so I have been taking one every night before bed and it is like a little miracle pill.  It has nearly wiped out my nausea.  Now it only hits me every now and then, such as when I'm in a room that is far too stuffy.  I still have food aversions: fresh vegetables? Ick!! But overall I'm feeling pretty good, just soooooo tired.  I don't remember being this tired when I was pregnant with Lydia.  But, I wasn't chasing around a very active 2-year-old back then.

And, I'm excited to announce that I am trying for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) this time.  My first birth experience was ... well ... it's difficult to describe it using any sort of negative language when you get a beautiful baby girl out of it, but it wasn't the positive experience I was hoping for.  I'm hoping for a much different outcome this time.  After spending a lot of time on The International Cesarean Awareness Network I've switched to "the VBAC" doctor in Atlanta and I feel so blessed to have this man in the same area.  I feel very passionate about all the pressure that women feel to have a cesarean in our society today (mostly from doctors).  Granted, it is definitely the right choice for a some women.  But not 33% of  women which is what the cesarean rate in the US currently is and climbing.  I could go on and on.  I'm not judging you if cesarean is your choice, I'm simply upset at doctors who take that choice away from women by not supporting a vaginal birth if that is what they truly desire.  It's not completely their fault either ... again, I could go on and on.  But, I know with my new doctor this time around, I won't have a cesarean unless it is truly necessary.

If you're interested, my doctor was featured on the local PBS "Religion and Ethics" weekly a few years ago. It's a pretty interesting video, if you've got the time.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/august-14-2009/dr-t/3115/

All about the animals

Lydia and I went out to Utah for 10 whole days and we just got back this week.  We went primarily for a Welch family reunion, but we went out early and stayed an extra day to spend time with my sister who lives in Salt Lake.  We had an absolute blast and coming home was bittersweet.

On the day we arrived, my sister took us to a goat farm where she buys goat's milk for her little boy.  Lydia and her cousin Marin had a blast checking out and even feeding leaves to some of the baby goats.

The next day we went out to Utah's Hogle Zoo which was really a lot of fun, and a good value, unlike the expensive Zoo Atlanta.

Lydia and Marin

Watching the ... seals? sea lions?? I can't keep 'em straight ...

Whoa!!

After several hot hours at the zoo, with tired, cranky children. But we had fun, anyway!!

Our last Utah animal experience came on the way down to Cedar Breaks Lodge for the family reunion.  We stopped at a gas station off the freeway and they had a PETTING ZOO!  I'd never seen anything like it.  Well, at least I'd never seen a FREE petting zoo next to a gas station.  Of COURSE we stopped in to check out the animals, and Lydia had a great time, even though a goat tried to eat her shirt ...

 We bought some rabbit food out of a dispenser and Lydia fed the baby goats and lambs. It was too cute!

Tubing in Helen

A few weeks ago we went tubing in Helen, GA with some friends.  It would have been really super fun, except that Lydia kept wanting to go "that way", a.k.a. upstream.  How do you explain to a 2-year-old that currents carry you downstream?  She spent a fair amount of the hour on the river whining and crying, and I spent most of that time trying to find things to distract her with so she wouldn't whine and cry.  Ah well.  Needless to say, we won't be doing that again for a while!  It's too bad, too, because I think if not for Lydia it would actually have been relaxing.  I still tried to have fun, anyway.

Walking through Helen after our tubing experience was much more enjoyable.  

Here's Lydia with her little friend, holding hands (so cute!!!).

... after all, when you go to a German town, you must eat German food.

They have all kinds of street performers in Helen, and we happened upon a bird handler ... who put a bird on my shoulder ... and left it there for like 10 minutes while he entertained the rest of the crowd with birds.  I probably could have left and the handler wouldn't have noticed.  But then, what would I do with a bird?

Lydia wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with me while I had that bird on my shoulder.  As much as she says she loves animals, she's all talk and no show ;)

Mother's Day 2012

So, I recognize that it's nearly Father's Day, but realized that I hadn't posted this video yet, and it is one of my favorite moments.  Nothing compares to being a mother and despite the difficult moments, I count the opportunity I have to be a mother as my greatest treasure.

This year on Mother's Day, Lydia and Ben came home early from church because Lydia had a runny nose and couldn't go to nursery.  So, they were waiting for me when I got home, as you will see.  It was such a sweet moment.  I am truly so blessed to have such an awesome family!

Picture dump

Ok, it's time to play catch-up.  Which means ... it's picture time!  Here are a few of my favorites, from the last month (or two).

It's all about licking the beater ...

 Swimming with daddy--she would not look at the camera for ANYTHING, the stinker!

 We LOVE summer and swimming!

 Eating ribs on Memorial Day (note: my daughter normally wouldn't touch meat with a 10-foot pole.

But give it to her on a bone and apparently it makes eating more fun?)

 A mouth full!

 One of her relatively new favorite pastimes: reading the grocery store sales circular.

 Trying out a little tee-ball

Does this girl love anything more than swimming??

Maybe "swimming with cousins" ... 

 Or perhaps jumping off the side of the pool?  Actually, I'm pretty sure that's her new favorite sport.

That's all she wrote!!

Lydia Learns Piano

I've been meaning to post this video for a while, but I kept forgetting!  If you read the post about my mom visiting back in April, then you may have watched this video of grandma teaching Lydia to play a song on the piano:

So now, Lydia plays the piano ALL the time.  One time, I put my phone on the piano so she could watch the above video while she played the song by herself.  I thought she did pretty well, for a two-year-old!!

Is it time to enroll her in piano lessons?

Weekend Projects

Last Saturday we had practically an entire free day and we actually got some work done around here!  It was so amazing.  We now have ...

... an amazing swing set (free on Craigslist, thank you very much) ...

(Lydia can't get enough of the swings)

... and a garden!! My extremely service-minded father-in-law took out some wretched spiny bushes for me and tilled this spot right behind my back porch!  I had my soil tested, added lime and fertilizer per the recommendations, planned my garden using www.smartgardener.com, and bought some plants and a few seeds.  It took me a few hours on Saturday to put in, but it wasn't bad. So, voila! Here it is! I have high hopes for this garden so it had better not let me down!  Well, I have high hopes for part of the garden, anyway.  I knew I was getting a little experimental with the corn and the watermelon, but, we'll just see how it turns out.  You never know until you try!

Joy in the Journey

Warning: this post is going to be extremely personal.  But, I do feel a need to share my feelings on this subject and a few things that I've learned recently.  So here goes.

To say I've been struggling these last 6 months might be an understatement.  Ever since being called as Primary President, I have consistently battled with feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, and inadequate.  Then when my husband lost his job in November, I felt like I was completely in over my head.  Despite my beautiful family, all the financial blessings we received during my husband's period of unemployment, and all the other blessings I "thought" I recognized daily, I continued to feel like I wasn't doing enough, like life wasn't "enough".  I didn't realize it at the time, but I was constantly running through future scenarios in my head.  This is the problem with being a "planner".  You don't tend to "carpe diem", you just plan, plan, plan for the future, never stopping to enjoy the moment.  So I would constantly be thinking: "Oh, it's too bad I can't _____________.  Someday I'll have enough money for it", and the even more common: "I wish I could do _____________.  Someday I'll have enough time for it."    And to top it off, I resented the things that I felt I really should be doing, especially related to my church calling.  If you've never been an auxiliary president in my church, you have no idea the amount of emotional stress it can cause a person, especially when you watch the other "supermen" and "superwomen" being auxiliary presidents and being AMAZING at it when you are lucky if you can spend an hour or two a week on your calling.  I am seriously SO grateful that I never have to serve in a Priesthood capacity.  If the prophet ever declared that all women would now be able to (should) hold the Priesthood, I would probably apostatize.  Be a Bishop of a congregation?  No THANK you.   I'm kidding ... kind-of.

Anyway, I didn't really realize all this was going on, I just knew that I was feeling so sorry for myself all the time, trying to be happy and feeling like I was putting on a show all day long.  My strong-willed daughter was driving me nuts and I wasn't being the kind of mom I wanted to be.  I wasn't enjoying life like I thought I should have been, except on Sunday, anyway.  Sunday was my haven.  Sunday was the day that I could forget everything else, serve in my calling, help other people, and focus on my family; things that I didn't think I had time for during the week.  I really enjoyed Sunday, but once Monday rolled around, it was all downhill from there.  I recognized the peace I felt from Sunday, but I didn't make the connection as to why I felt so good on Sundays until very recently.

This last weekend we went down to Savannah for my nephew's baptism and when we attended church on Sunday I had the opportunity to go to Relief Society for the first time in about a year and a half.  The Relief Society President gave an extremely inspired lesson that I'm sure was meant just for me.  It was one of those tender mercies; one of those moments when I KNEW that God knew where I was and what exactly I needed to hear.  The source of her lesson was President Monson's General Conference talk in October 2008, "Finding Joy in the Journey".  You may remember this talk.  I did, but I didn't remember the specifics about it.  The thing that stood out to me the most during this Relief Society lesson, was that my problem was not in my situation, nor in my calling, both of which are essentially out of my control.  My problem was in my attitude.  I resented the things that I felt I "had" to do, the things that I didn't really want to do.  We all have them, I mean, who really enjoys doing laundry?  The sister teaching the lesson started off taking suggestions for two lists on the blackboard.  "Have to do", and "Want to do".  Then as she developed her thoughts throughout the lesson, she erased the words "Have to Do" and "Want to Do" and replaced them with one word: JOY.  Instead of having two lists, things we wanted to do and things we really didn't but thought we needed to, there was one list: a "joy" list.  The point is not to make a list, but to do things joyfully.  Instead of thinking "Oh man, I really NEED to do this,"  we can think, "I GET to do this".

I used to work with a woman who NEVER, I mean NEVER said the words "have to".  She always said "gets to".  When her son crashed her car, instead of saying that he would "'have to' have it repaired", she would say he "'gets to' have it repaired".  I used to think it was strange that she would completely replace those words in her vocabulary, but now I think it makes total sense.  It implies a completely different way of thinking about the responsibilities we have and the things that we do.

On the way home from Savannah on Sunday, I read that whole talk "Finding Joy in the Journey".  It amazed me, the things that are in there that I didn't pick up on at the time.  I think the part that stuck out to me the most was: "If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."

Uhm--yeah.  When I think about, there's no doubt in my mind that I will miss all those things.  What a joy it is to know that I have a sweet child and the opportunity to raise her and teach her.  When she's grown and gone, I think I will be bored to tears.

So many thoughts, so many possible applications.  It all comes down to this: stop worrying about the future. The future will take care of itself.  Enjoy the day.  Enjoy the little things.  Enjoy your children.  Enjoy the laundry, or at least the fact that you don't have to wash everything by hand.  Enjoy the pride that you feel when you have a clean house (or a clean room), even if it only lasts for 5 seconds.  You have accomplished something!  There is joy and pride to be found in work.  Enjoy one-on-one conversations with everyone.  Every person on this earth has something to contribute.  Learn from them; stop hurrying through every personal interaction.  Enjoy your calling; recognize that you are not perfect and that you will only do what you can do and not a whit more, and by the way, that's ENOUGH.

I never thought that I had a bad attitude, and I guess truthfully it wasn't as bad as some others'.  But, it was bringing me down and making me someone I didn't want to be.  I'm so grateful that the Lord was finally able to teach me where true joy is found. Since that lesson, I have felt more at peace that I have felt in months.  I'm enjoying my daughter more, and focusing more on her. I'm not feeling discouraged, I'm just enjoying the things that I AM able to accomplish on a daily basis.

It's such a wonderful feeling to truly be finding "Joy in the Journey".

Grandma came to visit!

My mom was here for a VERY short week around Lydia's birthday.  We had such a good time visiting IKEA, checking out discounted designer fabrics at Fabric World (drool drool), and visiting Legoland (see previous post).  We also made s'mores ...

... and I discovered that Lydia is a budding pianist.  She hasn't stopped playing the piano since Grandma left.

We loved every minute of having Grandma here and hope that she comes back soon!  (And brings Grandpa with her ... and maybe Uncles Matthew and Jacob, too.)

Legoland!

For my nephew's birthday, my mom, sister-in-law, myself and our kids went to the Legoland Discover Center in Atlanta. I mean, what better place for a 7-year-old boy than somewhere you can play with legos all day long?  We had a pretty good time.  Lydia had to sacrifice her nap to go, but it was well worth it!  The one picture that I DIDN'T get was Lydia wearing the glasses for the "4-D" movie.  It. Was. Awesome. She wore the glasses the entire time and to be honest, I couldn't tell you what the film was about because I was having too much fun watching her watch it ... reaching out to brush away flying legos and the like.  It was hilarious.

Me flying with Scott on "the" ride at Legoland

Making lego cupcakes

Grandma and Emily playing hopscotch 

Building towers out of giant legos 

Question: How do you get three kids to look at the camera at the same time? (See next)

Answer: You don't.

Lydia is almost 90 lego bricks tall!

  

Mommy and Lydia :)