say hello

famous baby-face {and moi} on p. 9 of february ensign. pretty sure she looks like a boy and you can't tell its me. ah, well. still fun. fun for the g-pas. so sad that i forget how bald she really was! here's to hoping little nugget comes out with some hair.

thoughts:

anyone else think its funny that the picture is in line with all the non- photos?

glad we weren't the one getting our picture taken in a font. i HATE being wet, and posing for a photo while wet would have been a nightmare.

still 100% sure that the girl that bought a poofy wedding dress the other day does NOT look like the Savior. not symbolic, not a representation, there was absolutely NOTHING similar about it.

happy sabbath.

claire really wants a puppy

she flips out whenever she sees one, and just dances around with them. she does her own little woof woof, and gets crazy when there's one on tv or in a book. its quite hilarious.

but a puppy we did not get. and will not be getting any time soon. even though we both grew up with dogs, and i really love them a lot, its just not gonna happen. as happy as it would make claire, it would make me ten times unhappier trying to potty train a dog. and trying to keep the carpet clean- i have enough of that with trying to keep claire from ripping her diaper off and running free, and then cleaning it up. for now, the furby she is trying to kill have to do. but it is on its way out.

so. claire needs a new buddy. and as the giving and loving parents we are, we obliged.

baby #2 is due sometime in august!

we are really, really excited. we had an ultrasound this afternoon, saw the baby's heart beating, claire screamed the whole time, and we are happy. we would be thrilled with a boy or girl, but hoping for a boy- obviously for joe's sake. i feel awful, but surprisingly better than last time. food is disgusting, except for, once again, grapefruit. i'm really mostly exhausted, no matter how much i sleep. at least i'm sleeping, right?

the baby is the blog in the middle of the black- the head is the rounder, larger part :)

little baby was movin and groovin the whole time- we couldn't get a very good photo! we are really pretty stoked. i hate calling the baby an 'it' so this one shall be called little nugget. happy little nugget wiggling away.

munchkin

oh how i LOVE this little pill. she is all energy, nonstop, and a ball of fun. she is cheesy and hilarious, and will put a smile on ANYONE'S face. she is into everything, and while its a total pain, i love how incredibly smart she is, and that she just wants to discover the world around her. she reminds me to be patient, and to hang on a minute while we enjoy the moment. i can't get enough of how she dances to everything. she always stands up and conducts the music at church, and shakes her little bum to good music. she is finally growing some taste buds, and her most favorite thing in the world is pickles from grandpa- she goes crazy for them! claire is not a huge snuggle bug, but she has her moments when she wants to be held, and i savor it. i can't get enough of the pull she has on my parents- its like they become young parents all over again as they watch her discover. oh and her GIGGLE! when she gets going, we do everything we can to hang on to that as much as possible. she has her little chuckle thats easy to get, but her giggle is just contagious. she is ticklish, just about everywhere. she is all girly, with her tutus and pink everything, but can stand up to any little boy. she loves playing rough with her daddy, and loves being outside in the sunshine, like her momma. she definitely has a sweet tooth, but loves the tang of citrus. like her momma, when its bedtime and her head hits the pillow, shes out like a light. she is a chatterbox. she'll talk your ears off if you let her. she'll carry on a conversation with you, and while it seems to make sense to her it is all just jibberish. she says "ummmm...." like its nobody's business. we talk all day long. we can't let her have remotes or phones because she has figured out that if she throws them on the floor, the batteries will come out and she can chew on those. {she did it to my dad's wireless mouse this morning- we were laughing pretty hard at that one} i don't think i understood what a joy a child could be for me. i have always wanted six kids (three boys, three girls, and including a set of twin girls- call me crazy but it seems perfect). if i can have five more kids that bring this much PURE JOY into the world, i think life would seriously be fantastic.

anyways. just a few thoughts about my little 'g-funk' that i had today. she can be shy sometimes (usually if shes tired), but at church this morning (morning church at my parent's ward=heaven) she just kept running from person to person smiling and saying hi. wish i was more outgoing like her!

we went to ihop with my dad- going crazy over a pickle

what a ham bone!

squity eyes, scrunched up nose. yup, thats us.

where she stands to have conversations with her daddy. it may look like a yelling match, and it kinda is, but its just plain funny to watch

too cool for school

{she absolutely LOVES being nakey. gotta have nakey time sometime during the day.}


lindsay's little buddy

visiting grandpa at work. all the ladies loved her!

grammy decided she needed to ride the merry-go-round. she loved it!

little rain gear outfit with her tu-tu. naturally.
{doesn't my mom look so young here?}

Love you bub-a-chub.

at least its over.

just thought i'd share my delightful experience from last night. claire charmed everyone on the plane, fell asleep like an angel, and sat on my lap quietly. ha. no. not my child.

flight #1 went by quickly, no problems. flight #2 was to take off at 4:30, and she still hadn't had a nap. i decided it was time, so i bundled her up and she screamed. bloody murder. and then crashed. ahhh 45 minutes of bliss.... should've known better. an hour and a half later she started to feel wet so i jumped up and headed as quickly as possible to the back of the plane because the front was occupied, and we all know that there is to be no congregating at the front of the plane. i begged my way to the front of the line at the back, only to find out that bathroom is changing-table free. WHAT? i have to go back to my seat and wait and hope i make it to the bathroom faster than anyone else, meanwhile i can feel it spreading, down the legs, up the back, and now all over me.... the stench was becoming overwhelming. it was all i could do to hold it in. we finally get in the 1-foot by 1-foot space and i strip her down. the damage is worse than expected. the flight attendant handed me three garbage bags, and then a fourth to double bag both the garbage and the clothes. 20 minutes of wipes and paper towels, peeing everywhere because she got cold, and refusing to look at myself in the mirror so i could avoid seeing the horror i reluctantly went back to our seat. i would have preffered to stay in the stall and wait til everyone left, but the last time a guy stayed in the bathroom for an hour he almost got arrested. red-faced i brought her back in nothing but a diaper, got her jacket on her and held the tears back. i still stunk to high-heaven, but there was nothing to be done. by that point we had started the descent, and she hadn't been drinking or sucking on her binky. the screaming commenced. the lady next to me tried to convince me that the only person it was bugging was me, but i am very well aware that screaming on a tiny airplane is a pleasant experience for no one. we landed, i fairly ran to the baggage claim, and then was almost hysterical when my mom asked if the jacket was all i had. no blanket? nope- that one is covered in orange juice she spilled earlier. she got my jacket while we ran through the cold 22 degrees to the car. and then i sighed when i walked in my parent's home, sat in my dad's coveted leather recliner, and he laid a warm, fuzzy electric blanket over me while watching the biggest loser, making it all worth it.

sorry to share the gross- but it has a point. looking back i just have to laugh. as i was washing the clothes this morning- incredibly grateful for washing machines to finish cleaning all that yuck- i turned to my mom and said "the things we do as mothers!" i wouldn't have it any other way. it makes me love claire even more. and made me even more grateful to my mom. funny how it happens. ya know?

cheese ball

the little booger is a total cheese ball when she wants to be. she usually HATES anything on her head or face, but has recently decided that sunglasses are pretty cool. and yes, they are upside down. making it that much cooler.

i'm off to st. louis tomorrow to see my family! wish me luck. it'll be the first time i've flown by myself with claire in a loooong time, it could get interesting. i'm really looking forward to being in illinois for some reason. i feel like its been a really long time, even though its only been five months. maybe its that i get to be a little selfish for a while.... even though i've been down and out with a cold or flu the last few weeks and joe has been helping out so much. i've got friends to see there, but its not that i'm excited for that. maybe its that i get some alone time with my mom for just a little bit, and i just really need it right now. momma just knows what you need, you know? anyways, it should be a good trip. its making me happy. although i'm a little bit flipping out that i haven't packed yet.....

it was bueno

church that is. i said a little prayer that somehow it would go alright and that it would be worth it for me to go today. we switched to the dreaded 1130 block schedule today, and i wasn't sure what would go down. but claire decided to sleep in pretty late, and only managed to escape once during sacrament. joe took her for the third hour and i sincerely enjoyed our lesson in yw about growing closer to our Savior. some of the girls even made comments that brought me close to tears. beyond worth it.

looking back at that now makes it comical that i left something at church and can't go back to get it because claire is asleep and joe is at church meeting. the simple solution would be to call him and have him grab it. but my phone doesn't work. i can only call the last person who called me, and that would be my mom. so i called her and asked that she would call him for me and ask him to grab it. we'll see how it goes! (UPDATE: didn't work. he figured the phone call was for me and didn't check the voicemail. sweet. an extra stop at church...)

also bueno- 2009. a fun, long year. i actually completed an entire resolution, and kind of want to continue it. i didn't drink soda! okay i copped out on the 30th because i was feeling beyond nauseated. you don't want to know. but pretty much the whole year i went without it. i've some since, but i think i'll keep it away for the most part. and i'm actually doing the visiting teaching. its kind of whatever, but its getting better. (no worries- my comp's husband mentioned in testimony meeting today that there are three former students of his in the ward and lookd DIRECTLY at me and smiled. it will never stop haunting me!) the rest, not so much. no more gyms, tests at school, and i didn't have a sewing machine so i'm not sure how i thought i would make a quilt.

BUT.

my AWESOME mother-in-law gifted one of her sewing machines to me for christmas. and i. am. so. stoked. that is my one goal for this year. make a quilt. thats all. its gonna happen!

happy twenty-ten. thats what i'm calling it.

airports

they are the bane of claire's existence. for real. maybe more of mine with her- just because she is so INTO everything right now, and airports are a world of other people's stuff for her to get discover. she will make friends with ANYONE who will smile at her, especially those who will share their french fries :) enter moving walk-ways: what we spend the entirety of our waiting time playing on. i'm sure there are signs warning us not to let kids play on them, but i would much rather ignore those and avoid the screaming for an hour.


more about nc to come. i am glad to be home. it was seriously miracle after miracle that we were able to make it with no delays. flights got switched, all baggage made it, never stood in line behind more than one person, the snow stopped in utah, we had a row on the plane to ourselves... i think the Lord was watching over us. i would like to say this though: the security at the raleigh airport is a disaster. while joe was having his boarding pass checked another lady walked right past the guard. she was pretty impatient, even though we were the ONLY ones in line. and then they forgot to check our bottles of milk- we had to remind them twice. whatev. the mountains never looked as good as they did yesterday!