I love little girls

Having little girls is fun. They wear cupcakes and piggy jammies. They like stories of Rapunzel. They play with shoes and necklaces. They like to wear aprons during cooking. They love to love their baby dolls. They take walks with miniature stories. They say, "Pretty!" when they put on their sunday dresses. They want to wear make-up. Which is why I'm having another one.

Yes, that's right. I'm expecting another little girl and we just found out today! I may or may not post any pictures, after all, you've seen me pregnant before. I'm hoping for a dark haired little girl now to complete my "set". She should be born in April and so she'll be able to wear all the clothes that Nathalie wore.

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I have two dilemmas. One-- I made a purple-and-yellow baby quilt for Emily and a pink-and-green quilt for Nathalie. What should I do for this girl? The second is a name. We had two favorite girl names, and we've used them. Luckily we've got awhile to decide this.

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Wish me luck! I foresee drama starting in about 10 years. Also weddings, braces, proms, girls nights out, boyfriends (please no!!), sharing clothes. It's like relieving my youth all over again and how I got along with two sisters.

Nathalie is wide awake and a Happy Thanksgiving to you!

We had a sicky week. It started with me getting HBD. Two days later Emily started coming down with a nasty cold. Then Matt got HBD and then Nathalie got HBD. Matt and Nathalie recovered by Wednesday night. Just in time for Nathalie to get slammed with the nasty cold that Emily had. Currently no one has HBD, Emily is recovering from said Nasty Cold and Nathalie is right in the middle of it. We are grateful for our health this year!

Which is why she's awake at 11:04 pm. She fell asleep on my bed at 8, but when the medicine kicked, she woke up feeling better.

We all got to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving though. We had a wonderful time at my grandparents, and all of us were mostly healthy. Healthy enough to enjoy the good food (homemade stuffing and Mint Cream Pie, anyone?) even if Nathalie and Emily have looked like this over the weekend. Now 2 days of rest before I officially start the Christmas season. Or, judging by Nathalie's hyperness right now, maybe there won't be that much rest.

"This is a National Emergency Warning: The GlubMonster is on the loose"

Description: The GlubMonster is approximately 37 inches tall, 33 lbs, has blonde curly hair. The GlubMonster has blue hands and feet that look strangely deflated. The GlubMonster has a disarmingly charming personality. The GlubMonster is dangerous and should be feared. Charges: The GlubMonster is charged with stealing "glubs" from the trunk of the car during a cleaning, attaching them to its appendages and tickling anyone in sight. The GlubMonster is also charged with pestering anyone in sight to continually attach "glubs" to its appendages. The GlubMonster especially loves to run around like a crazy and laugh.

In the event you meet the GlubMonster: Do not make eye contact. Do not speak to the GlubMonster. NEVER SMILE AT THE GLUBMONSTER. The GlubMonster will presume any contact to be open invitation for tickling. Back away slowly. The GlubMonster is as fast as an adult, so one can run away from it. BEWARE: The GlubMonster is very tricky and has a "cute" voice to attract its prey.

If you see the GlubMonster, please call 1-800-Glub-Monster.

HBD + the Weekend

Matt and I had a chance to go to Columbus this last weekend and get to the temple. It was a wonderful, especially because it's been a while since we've been to the temple together. Anyway, that was Friday. Saturday morning I thought, "I'd really like to take Emily to the temple since she thinks the churches here are temples." So we drove over the temple.

Emily was kind of grouchy. I took her inside to the waiting room and we looked at pictures of Jesus. Then she tried to do a bridge (think gymnastics move) on the floor in the waiting room. Awkward. I picked her up and moved all three of us over to the couch. Then Emily had a tantrum. Again, awkward. Lucky for me, a very nice woman was sitting there and read a book to Nathalie while I stopped Emily's screaming. Then I tried to tell her that in the temple we feel quiet, calm and that Jesus loves us. But she was still mad at me for interrupting her bridge and refused to acknowledge me (hence the above picture where she's refusing to look at me).

At least I tried, right?

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And Saturday night was our church's big Thanksgiving dinner. I was really looking forward to it-- ham, turkey, mashed potatos, green beans, yams, rolls, salads (I made one), pies, cookies, brownies, casseroles, etc. But on our way home, I started feeling sick. At first, I passed it off as motion sickness. But it got worse. By the time we got to the church, I knew I wasn't going to eat anything. Apparently I got HBD (Horrible Barfing Disease) which caused me to "B" 5 times in a little over 2 hours. I don't think I've EVER been that sick. Thankfully again, (I was blessed a lot) a good friend gave me a shot of Phenergen and a couple of pills AND a friend took Emily and Nathalie at the dinner. She fed them, cleaned them, got them seconds and dessert and watched them while I moaned and groaned in a separate room.

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And Matt pampered me on Sunday. Took the girls to church, cleaned the house, made dinner, cleaned up. Let me say it again: I was BLESSED this weekend. And I'm feeling better too.

Cookie Helpers

I had some great helpers making gingersnaps for the missionaries! We're lucky we have enough aprons for everyone. Nathalie has such a great smile. She lights up any room. She is my happy child.

You don't get much prettier than this girl! And yes, I did make her wear clothes before she helped us with the cookies.

Love her.

Emily has just discovered drawing more than smiley faces and people. She draws cows (that what she tells me they are), forks, spoons, etc. This is her version of a spider. If that were in my house I'd faint. At least it's happy!

Through A Child's Eyes

On the night of the aforementioned Wal-Mart escapade, I experienced life through Emily's eyes. As we drove up to Wal-Mart, she saw all the Christmas inflatables outside. Her eyes got really big and she said, "Mommy! Look! It's Merry Christmas! Mommy, let's go see the big Merry Christmas!" And Nathalie said, "Snowman!"
(Swinging at the park during our beautiful week last week. )

As we walked through the store with all the Christmas decorations, Emily was so thrilled. She sat on the floor (gross, I know) staring up at a big Christmas tree. She walked around it, touching the ornaments softly. Nathalie shrieked with delight when an inflatable had a movable Santa and both girls stared wide-eyed at the sparkling tree lights. They, in their simple joy, showed me what their life is like.

( Emily showing me the person she drew. I think the ears are below the arms! This is the smile she gave me when I was excited for her)

One of the things I strive for as a mother is to try and understand what they are feeling and seeing. Yes, their reasons are usually completely irrational, but that doesn't mean their feelings aren't real. I often ask myself, "When I am speaking to them in (insert emotion), do they understand me? What do my tone of voice and body language convey? Am I really trying to understand what they feel is going on?" I'm not perfect, but I always try to convey to my girls that I want to understand. That's what our Heavenly Father did for us when he sent Christ. Made a way so someone could understand what our feelings and trials are. In my incredibly imperfect self, I'm trying to do this as best I can, which, I assure you, is not great. But it means something to those little sweethearts at my house.

And this is why I only go once a month.

I went to Wal-Mart tonight. Some of you might be gasping in surprise. But hey, when it's all you've got and Kroger doesn't sell some of (insert item) very cheaply, it's worth it to go to Wal-Mart.

Except after tonight, I'm willing to pay more at Kroger.

It started out innocently enough. The girls were doing fine, looking at all the Christmas things. I grabbed some wrapping paper and we headed over to get some more presents. We got stuck in an aisle because it was too small for the cart. Yes. Too small for the cart.

Emily had to go to the bathroom, so we turned that direction. Turns out, the entrance to the bathroom requires serious manuevering with a toddler hanging off the end of the cart. And I was not going to leave the cart outside the bathroom with my other toddler in it. So manuever we did, and made it in.

More uneventful shopping.

Reaching the checkout line. I'm starting to panic-- it's almost 8:00 and even though I'm going fast, apparently it isn't fast enough so it's almost bedtime. We still have to get home and take a bath too. We pick a line with no one in it thinking, "Great! We have 3 separate purchases to make, this should be simple." (Still working on figuring out how to buy things with separate envelopes and be efficient in the checkout).

Enter training cashier. 10 minutes for the first purchase. Emily has gone to the arcade area. I can see her, she's happy. Nathalie is literally climbing out of the cart trying to reach my money. "Money! Money!" (This doesn't bode well for the teenage years). By the 7th minute, I'm ready to strangle the cashier. I had 5 ITEMS. 5.

Second purchase, decent timing. Emily comes over.

Third purchase, she's moving slow. Emily tells me she has to go the bathroom. Then she starts doing the bathroom dance. Tells me again. And again. And again. Suddenly, she picks up her dress and looks underneath. Uh-oh. An accident, and not the easy-clean-up-paper-towel kind. You understand.

Cashier still moving slow, Emily is crying because she pooped her pants. I'm apologizing to her, feeling SO bad.

FINALLY we get out of line. Head over to the bathroom. Cleaning cart in the way and the manuevering I thought was tight before is nearly impossible. Get Emily cleaned up, get in the car and go home. Get girls to bed, clean up house.

Check my Wal-Mart receipt for our budget. The cashier charged me twice for one of my items. I have to go back on Monday.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

You Know You're A Mother When...

You find these in your refrigerator...and you leave them there!Good day today. Lots of laundry, cleaning, prepping our garden for winter crops and playing outside. Beautiful weather. Happy girls. Good food. What about your day?

It's a rainy kind of night

This is me trying to get a nice picture of Emily for our Christmas cards. This is the best smile she gave me. It's great to be 3. It's rainy and cold outside tonight. The weather makes me grateful for my warm house. I can hear Nathalie singing "Old MacDonald" to herself and Emily singing "A,B,C" to herself. Emily has to go to sleep in our bed because Nathalie will talk/sing to herself for an hour. Matt's at work, I'm home and thinking about putting a hot rice bag into my bed and reading until I fall asleep. It sounds great doesn't it?

I wanted to show you this picture of Nathalie. See how her bangs are really uneven? Don't blame it on me! I walked past the bathroom today. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nathalie sitting on a stool and Emily in front of her. I heard them talking, but wasn't listening to the words. But then Emily acted suspicious. Turns out she was cutting Nathalie's hair. Which is really sad since Nathalie doesn't have a lot to begin with! Maybe in a year it will grow back.

Eeny-meeny-miny-moe

You should check this promotion out on Shutterfly. 50 free photo cards for a little writing, which, if you have a blog, you're already doing anyway. And if you're like me, sometimes you have nothing to write about so this is a good idea.

I love this card because it can hold 6 photos. And it looks organized (you know how important that is to me!) I also love this card, which is actually a photo card for 3 photos, and a small letter on the side. Check it out. It's a brilliant idea, for those of us (ME) who don't want to include a big letter (what is there that interesting to say about our family anyway?) but want more than just a generic "Merry Christmas" on their card. I might just choose this one. And especially this card because of the cute layout and ability to write a sentence or two for each picture.

If you want to check out their great selection on photo cards, click here. And if you want something a little more sophisticated, click here. And last, if you want to be super duper cool and have matching address labels (something I will aspire to, but probably never reach, unlike my mother who has matching envelopes) check out their selection here. It's great.

Shutterfly has some great promotions, decent prices and really adorable designs. If you’re like me and you weren’t blessed with the creativity to come up with some unique card, or you don’t have the time for that, this is great for you. I always love photo cards, and every Christmas we tape our Christmas letters and photos around our kitchen doorframe. It’s a fun tradition Matt’s family has, and it’s so fun to see pictures of all the people we love.

So go ahead. See what you like on Shutterfly.