Magic words

We have been trying to help Hattie understand the difference between need and want. She says, "I need to watch a show," or "I need ice cream." No Hattie; ice cream, however wonderful, is not a need.

Just a moment ago she kept saying, "I need a cookie." I patiently tried to coax her through the proper wording.

"Mom..." I said
"Mom, " repeated Hattie.
"I want..."
"I would like...a cookie."

I just kept staring at her, waiting for her to say the magic word. I could see the gears turning in her head, thinking, "What do I have to say to get a cookie?" And then it clicked..."AMEN!"

She got the cookie.

A moment to vent

Here in Lubbock we get an occasional snowstorm. Typically, it snows an inch or two and by the end of the day it has melted away. Apparently during Christmas while we were in Oregon, they got about 7 inches, the most they had received in about 12 years. Because Lubbockites aren't used to snow, when it does snow, even just a few inches, it's like the world stops. Schools close, kids are sent home, worship services are canceled. For one thing, they don't have much snow removal equipment, so if the snow happens to stay overnight, the next day the roads are horrible. But since it is so ridiculously flat here, it's not like you are driving up and down any dangerous hills. It's just a little icy.

Today I am particularly frustrated because Paul was supposed to have a test this morning. But because of the snow, the Health Sciences Center is closed. There's maybe an inch and a half of snow out there! Now the test will be Monday, so instead of having a nice, relaxing, stress-free weekend, Paul will still be studying all day today and tomorrow. Lame. Paul was already at school this morning when they decided to cancel it, so it's not like the roads are so horrible that our little Mazda couldn't make it (especially considering the number of trucks and SUVs in Texas).

Now I know that icy roads are plenty dangerous, but it's just so extreme! I think I remember having 2 snow days in my entire lifetime, and that was when we had 2+ feet outside, not 2 inches. Grrr...I'm just sad that my weekend is ruined!

Anna Banana

Today little Anna is 6 months old. It's incredible to me that our babe has been here so long. It seems like only yesterday I was holding a little 5 pound girl at the NICU in Boise. Anyone who has seen her recently knows that there is nothing premature about her now. I'm guessing she weighs around 16 lbs.

Anna continues to be such a wonderful baby. She so snuggly, especially compared to Hattie who was always too busy to enjoy hugs. She is very sweet tempered and observant. She loves it when Hattie gives her snuggles, and doesn't cry too much when Hattie squishes her. She isn't very adventuresome...she doesn't reach for toys yet or sit up, but she loves to watch everything around her, especially Hattie.

After a strike on sleep while we were in Ontario, we were fed up (and exhausted). So about three week ago we sleep trained her. The first night we let her cry, it took about 50 minutes, but since then, she's been marvelous. Tonight she didn't make a peep. It's to the point now where when I put her to sleep, her eyes almost seem to thank me for putting her in bed. She's a marvelous sleeper again, and without a pacifier :)

But she is hard to get a good picture of...so here are some of the best ones...happy half birthday Anna Banana!

Highlights from Hattie

Hattie is at a remarkably fun...and stubborn...age. She has discovered makeup.

She sits on the counter to watch me make dinner, and sneaks bites at the cheese behind my back.



She hops in the tub with her diaper and shirt still on.

She just likes the tub so much.

She loves to play dress up...whenever she sees her boa she exclaims, "Oh, my favorite!" She can generally be seen with a tutu on over her pants

She is currently obsessed with blankets. She had me lay all her blankets on her (probably about 20) and yet she kept insisting on "'Nother one please."

She is a great big sister. She gets ridiculously excited whenever Anna wakes up from a nap, running into her room to shout, "HELLO ANNA. Wake up" whenever she hears Anna make a peep. She gets right close to Anna's face to say that she loves her and that she's "so cute." Anna endures it pretty well. I'm grateful for such a fun and crazy daughter!



(As I reviewed this post for publishing, Hattie walked in and saw all the pictures of herself. She said, "Oh! Hattie's eating cheese. Crazy Hattie. So funny." At least she amuses herself.)

Snow fun in Ontario

Here are a few pictures missing from our trip to Ontario. I misplaced my camera for a few days, so these were taken on my mom's camera.

It snowed about 7 inches on New Years Eve. Hattie absolutely LOVED the snow. She was out there for a few hours, I'd guess. We first went outside to collect the chicken eggs, hence the ice cream bucket for carrying them back. My uncle Len and I spent at least an hour shoveling the driveway before Paul ever started building his masterpiece snowman.

Hattie kept calling him Frosty

And she loved getting buried. It was a lot of fun and we were glad to have a good amount of snow, since in Lubbock we usually only get an inch or two. And of course, here's our little Anna Banana. She's such a good babe.

Hattie speaks

Hattie has really begun to talk a lot lately, and with that, she has of course said some pretty funny things.

Last week for Family Home Evening, we talked about Joseph Smith. Today I asked Hattie, "Do you remember who Joseph Smith was?" Her eyes widened and she spoke in a whisper, "A baby!"

While we were in McCall over Christmas, Hattie was exploring the condo. When she ventured upstairs, she quickly came back down and said that it was scary. So she grabbed Paul's hand to guide her. We wondered what she found so terrifying. When they got upstairs, she pointed to a rather creepy life-size Indian carving (that I was afraid of as a kid) and said, "Scary Jesus!" I think we need to clarify that not all art of someone she doesn't know is the Savior!

Recently she showed how aware she is, even at age two. She and I went to pick up Paul's parents and brother Daniel from the airport yesterday. Daniel is autistic and has severe retardation. He is 18 years old and requires a lot of work. But Hattie loves to have him around and give him hugs. While driving, she suddenly said, "Daniel is sad. He has an ouwie." She quickly gave her remedy. "He needs a hug. He needs a nap. He needs ice cream."

I sure love my little girl, who has mastered the cheesy grin, head tilt and all.

Highlighting my hobby

I've mentioned before that after marrying Paul, I started quilting. Paul's mom is a great quilter and got me interested. For the last three years I have given my siblings quilts for Christmas.

For Mark and Kerri, 2007


For Val and Jonny, 2008

This one has a great story. I mailed the quilt to my mother in the box our DVD player came in. She wrapped it for me and handed it over to Val and Jonny. On Christmas morning they opened it, wondering why in the world we gave them a DVD player. They were totally perplexed, since we knew that they had a DVD player. As they were cleaning up the wrapping paper and presents, they were talking about returning it to Wal-Mart when they realized that it probably didn't have a DVD player in it. Can you imagine if they had returned it to Wal-Mart? I would have died.

For Laura and Aaron, 2009

My new favorite! This one was made mostly from leftover scraps from Mark and Val's quilts, so I didn't have to buy very much fabric at all. That's one of my favorite things about quilting...you can make something beautiful out of your leftover pieces that would almost seem worthless.

It's always so satisfying to complete a big project like this. Each one is more fun than the last, and each one is harder to give away! I'm working on a blanket for Anna right now that I'm really excited about...hopefully I finish it sooner than later.

And to Lisa, Spencer, and Sharee...I hope this doesn't ruin the surprise of what you'll be getting from us!

Christmas Recap

We are finally home in Lubbock, so I guess it's time I post more about Christmas in Ontario. We were there for 3 1/2 weeks, which was absolutely wonderful. We got a little bit of snow when we first got there, so Hattie had fun walking around in it and making footprints.

And of course no trip to Grandpa's is complete without visits to the chickens. Hattie loved going out to see them, feed them, and collect their eggs.

Our little angel Anna finally showed her rotten side. She vetoed sleep on this trip, rarely sleeping for more than 2 hours at a time. Considering that she was sleeping 13 hours/night before this trip, it was a rude awakening for us. Hattie was a great sleeper, so for the first time in my life I could empathize with new moms whose babies were awake all night. It was just frustrating that she digressed so much. Hence the novelty of this picture.

Hattie LOVED spending time with her cousins. Every morning she would wake up and ask where her cousins were. She still asks for Abby, Kate, Charlie, Lukey, and the rest of the gang on a regular basis.

We got together to make graham cracker houses. Hattie kind of missed the point but the rest of the cousins loved it.

We went up to McCall for a few days in the snow. Sadly, I forgot to take our camera along. Lisa and Val watched our girls for us so Paul and I could ski. It sure made me miss being close to the mountains. Hattie really loved going sledding and would have stayed outside all day if we had let her.

Christmas Eve rolled around. Mark, Kerri, and Co. came over Christmas Eve. We didn't go caroling, which is a family tradition, but it was a bit unrealistic with 5 little ones. But we enjoyed singing Christmas carols together. Please ignore my voice in this video...not too pretty. We were enjoying watching Charlie and Hattie impromptu dance and hugs. Also, notice how Hattie always stares off into the distance...she's checking herself out in the front window.

When opening her stocking, Hattie went right for the good stuff. She opened all her Reese's and lined them up in a row.

Anna got the only thing she needed....socks.

And Grandma got Hattie some Ruby Red Slippers, which she wears all the time.

After Christmas we had another week to relax. Hattie got into all of my mom's cupboards and found these little bowls from Skippers. She had a great time equally distributing her milk amongst them. She also painted for the first time. (She really is mastering the cheesy grin)

My sister-in-law had her baby while we were in town, so we got to meet little David Dame! That also meant that my mom took care of Kerri's three older boys for a few days. Hattie LOVED having Isaac, Sam, and Charlie around all day...especially Charlie. The two of them would disappear to the basement together for hours. Once I came across this scene:

Of course, I didn't get too many pictures of Anna. She is growing so quickly. It's hard to believe that she was premature.

I was also able to spend a little time with my brother Spencer. He'll be leaving on his mission to Tallahassee, Florida in less than a month, so it was wonderful to see him one last time. I can't believe that Anna will be older than Hattie is right now when we see him again. Good luck Spence!

Flying home alone with the girls was once again stressful...not quite so bad as the first time around, but one of our flights was delayed 2 hours, which made us miss our connecting flight to Amarillo. Gratefully, both girls slept on the long flight from Portland to Dallas, so I had a few hours to relax...as much as one can relax with a baby sleeping in their arms and a toddler using your knee as a pillow. When we finally pulled into Lubbock at 10:00, I was exhausted, having been awake since 4:00 that morning. Paul had prepared a nice dinner for us and we had a mini-Christmas where we opened gift from Paul's mom and sister. Hattie was in heaven again.

All told, a wonderful vacation. I loved being with my sisters, watching Hattie play with her cousins, playing Pinochle until 2 am, cooking with my mom, and visiting with my dad. I've been blessed with such a wonderful and caring family. But we are glad to be home, getting back to normal and back on schedule. Gratefully, Anna has remembered how to sleep, so we are enjoying 13 hour nights again!