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Enjoying the Journey November 30, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Church, Daily Life, Family, Little Man Dallin, My Former Dog Children, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Thanksgiving , 5comments

Today, my heart grew three sizes.  (This is the only thing the Grinch and I have in common.)

One perfect day down.  Lots more to go.

To Tell the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth. November 27, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Princess Hannah , 9comments

I should probably lock the bathroom door.  I was never warned that when you become a mother you instantly loose the right to privacy.



When I take a shower (which, amazingly, I still try to do on a regular basis) I have two choices.  I can lock the bathroom door, and listen to Hannah yell, “MOMMY!  WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” again, and again for 20 minutes, or I can leave it unlocked and let her walk in to see for herself.

Being the very grown up, independent two year old that she is, she invited herself into the bathroom while I was taking a shower today.

“Mommy, what are you doing?”  (She still asks this question even though she knows darn well what I’m doing)

“Honey, I’m taking a shower.  Now shut the curtain and go play!”

“Hannah take a shower!”  (She likes to refer to herself in third person)

Before I knew it, she had stripped off all her clothes and diaper.  How can you turn down a well meaning two year old?

As we sat in a bath of water while I shaved my legs (because shaving is the most important part of taking a shower) Hannah got a big smile on her face and said, “Mommy, Hannah’s peeing in the bathtub.”

Nice.

And then I smiled and thanked her for telling me.

I am so THANKFUL on this THANKSGIVING DAY that two year olds are inclined to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Lucky for us, we got to take two showers today.

Taking Up Residency In My Computer November 26, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah , 2comments

David has been gone for five weeks.  Everyday for five weeks now, I have had the same conversation with my two year old:

“Where’s my daddy?”

“He’s in Louisiana.”

“Oh, yeah.  Lose-e-anna.” (she pronounces it just like a true Southern)

I could tell that Hannah was starting to think this Louisiana place was a big non-existent plot of land, so we had a web cam conversation with her dad so she could clearly see that he was alive and well, and thriving in the land of Louisiana.

She wanted to see all the important things in his place: his microwave, his bed, and of course, his shoes.

After their nice chat I asked Hannah where her daddy was.

“He’s on the COMPUTER!”

“No sweetie, he is in Louisiana.”

With a big grin on her cute little face she replied, “No mommy, Daddy is on the computer.”

And what can I say to that?  She is exactly right. That is where Daddy lives.  IN MY COMPUTER.

Two Weeks and Counting November 25, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, My Handsome Husband, Texas , 3comments

I am in a funk, topped with sick kids, a sleep deprived baby, and homelessness.  I don’t know where to call home. Everything I own is in a storage unit in Texas, my husband is in Louisiana, and I am bouncing back and forth between my parents’ house and my in-laws’ house.

Notice how there is no “my house” written anywhere.

I hate the FUNK.

I am now a professional car seat installer, after changing my kids car seats back and  forth between my mom’s car and my father-in-law’s car like 100 times.

Oh, did I neglect to mention that I’m car-less too?  Because I am.

Tonight, I plan to sit my tired body down and watch Dancing With the Stars and catch up on all my favorite TV shows on Hulu and Fancast.

I am running on three hours of sleep now, but I will pry my eyes open with toothpicks if necessary.

I need “Emily downtime” that badly.

Dave comes home in two weeks and I’M TOTALLY COUNTING.

Envying a Dog’s Life November 24, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, My Former Dog Children, Princess Hannah , 3comments

Sometimes, I’m jealous of my dog.  She gets to do what she loves all day long.

Her eight years of life have been pretty posh as our family pet.  She has been able to sun bathe in Arizona, Texas, and the Caribbean.

She is spoiled.

Her only little friend since Kyaha passed away is Hannah.  Unfortunately, Paris is scared of Hannah.  She spends most of their time together hiding from her under the table.

Even still, there are days that I envy her very simple, uncomplicated life.  Bad breath and all.

When You Can’t Buy the Whole Store November 19, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Princess Hannah , 6comments

You need to get yourself a kid if you don’t have one.

Really, I’m being serious. It will improve the quality of your life by a thousand percent.

Really.

Truly.

I wish I could bottle up Hannah’s giggle and sweet personality and send it to Dave in a care package.

This last week, we have all been so sick (Hannah and I have had terrible colds and Dallin is sick with croup).  We have been cooped up in the house, quarantining ourselves for days, not wanting infect the rest of the world with our nastiness.  My medication makes me drowsy and all I want to do is sleep.  Which is so boring.

Tonight we were feeling a little better so we enjoyed some mommy/daughter time by indulging in some retail therapy.  I took Hannah to Bath & Body Works and she wanted to buy everything.  As in the WHOLE STORE.

That’s my girl.

I want to buy the whole store too.

Somehow, I was able to convince her that buying just one shimmer lip gloss was almost as good as buying everything in the store.  She believed me, and out we went with her new gloss.

The lip gloss was permanently applied to her lips as we drove home and while I got her ready for bed.  I had to pry her hands off it so we could brush her teeth.

Before falling sound asleep, she giggled about how much fun it was to go shopping.  She also reminded me that the lip gloss on the nightstand was hers.

I promised not to take it.  She’ll be looking for it first thing in the morning.

And this is why people have kids.

Completely Sleep Deprived With Cabin Fever November 13, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Photography, Princess Hannah, Thoughts , 5comments

Where have I been for over a week?  I am a one mama show with two very sick kids.  I have been able to see, hold, rock, feed, and talk to my children every hour the past few nights.  I actually called David to share with him the crying harmony of our children.  I’m nice like that.  I didn’t want him to be left out.

On top of a very sick toddler and a very sick baby boy who also is just plain needy, I have been the steward over a green bebe Hannah picked up at my sister’s house last week.  This tiny choking hazard has become her most prized possession.  I can count on her asking me where it is 77 times a day.  Do you know how much brain power it takes to know the whereabouts of this little thing?  A LOT.  Especially since my brain is currently being used in more productive areas like HOW TO GET MY KIDS WELL.

But, right now, the little bebe is under the kitchen table on the wood floor.

And that is where it will stay until Hannah remembers to ask me about it.

On a different note, my kids and I enjoyed a very early breakfast with my dad this morning.  (Unfortunately, we were all up very, very early.) In passing conversation, he mentioned how he remembered when plastic was invented.

As I choked on my chocolate protein shake practically spewing it on him across the counter, I said, “EXCUSE ME?  I’m pretty sure I didn’t hear you correctly.  Are you implying you were born before plastic was invented?”

And then he was all, yes.  I am old.  Very old, and you better respect your elders.

And on another unrelated topic,  did any of you watch Oprah yesterday?  I happened to turn Oprah on at the right time when she announced a great giveaway for ALL VIEWERS. Snapfish is giving away a free photo book to everyone!  Click here and create your free book!  It must be uploaded by midnight Sunday.  I have made several digital photo books before, but I have always used My Publisher (which I have loved) and out of curiosity, I have wanted to try other digital photo book companies to see different layouts and styles.  Now we all can, FOR FREE!

Missing Our Main Man November 6, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Thoughts , 6comments

We miss David around here.  It’s sad that he misses the everyday cute things our kids do.  Even Dallin takes a break from crying every once in a while and surprises us with a cute little number.  Like yesterday, he belted out a full on laugh.  Our nephew was doing something really silly and Dallin thought he was downright hilarious.

Do you know how exciting it was to hear Dallin giggle?  This was a huge milestone for our little guy whose recent emotion of choice has been crying.

We could use a little more of his laughter around here.

While David is more than a thousand miles away, I keep him updated about our little family with several emails throughout the day. I sent this email to him last night:

David,

I just got up for a midnight potty break (yeah, because I drink LOTS and LOTS of fluid) and I checked on Hannah too.

She is SO DANG CUTE.  Every time I check on her, she has somehow maneuvered her way around in the bed to seep horizontally.  As I blindly felt around her bed for her lost binkie (to put on the night stand) she did something so cute, you need to brace yourself.  Better yet, SIT DOWN.

SHE TALKED IN HER SLEEP.

She mumbled something like, “Why it her?”

I want you to imagine the grin pasted on my face as I walked out of her room.  Even if I couldn’t remember giving birth to her (which would be an impossible 30 hours to forget) I wouldn’t need a DNA test to prove she’s my child.

I’m going to go talk to Dallin now.

IN MY SLEEP.

I miss you,

Emily

We’ll be so glad when David is home with us again.  I’ll be happy to sneak back into bed beside him at midnight to tell him how cute our kids are instead of shooting off an email.

Grandpa’s Little Shadow November 5, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, Little Man Dallin, Princess Hannah, Utah , 1 comment so far

Since we arrived at my parents house last week, Hannah has become my dad’s shadow.  She is always 12 inches behind him, doing whatever he is doing. He lets her help out in the yard, and gives her projects.

However, I think they mostly ‘mill around’ because my dad is the master of that.

Especially now that he is retired.

I’m so glad Hannah is able to spend quality time with both my parents and David’s parents.  This way, she doesn’t get lost in the shuffle while I tend to our high maintenance baby.

I Love Kissing Her Toasty Little Cheeks November 4, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, Princess Hannah, Utah , 5comments

Did I mention my parents basement is FREEZING cold?  Because it is.  During our first night here, I checked on Hannah more than three times during the night, (which is totally not typical for me to do, but because it was so cold, I was worried about her) which probably classifies me as a ‘neurotic’ mother.

When I checked on her around 4:00 AM, I found her lying down horizontally on the bed, in the fetal position, shivering, with no blankets.

At that moment, I secretly thanked myself for being a ‘neurotic’ mother.

After repositioning her in the bed and wrapping her in 27 blankets, I went back to bed.

In the morning, I had a chat with my parents about the Arctic temperature they set the thermostat to.  I kindly let them know we prefer more of a Caribbean temperature.  Hannah now sleeps with a jacket on (I had to buy this jacket specifically for her to sleep in and when I gave it to her, I pitched it as her ‘Dora Night Night jacket.’  Heaven knows she would NEVER wear a jacket to bed that she wore to the park, or store, or around the house.)



She also sleeps with a space heater and like 34 blankets.

I’m so happy to kiss her toasty little cheeks in the morning.