how sweet it is

how sweet it was to peek in at claire yesterday during naptime and find her sleeping on the chair with a book open on her lap. i thought last night as i was reading myself to sleep about how many hundreds of times i've fallen asleep reading, (often photographed) and hoped that she continues her love for "reading". i've always, always been a book worm, and love that claire is following in my footsteps. keep it up bub-a-chub!

meh.

three more weeks of baby carrying. just three... more.... weeks.... doc keeps giving me false hope that i could go at any time... makes me feel like a bomb waiting to go off. i honestly feel like doc wants it out (for my sake) just as badly as i do. (although i must admit, its nice having someone besides joe tell me i look beautiful every time he sees me. LOVE my doctor.) but i have to keep reminding myself we want to keep it in until after joe graduates. because he really needs to finish classes. its important he passes those classes. right? gah, i just don't think i was this uncomfortable last time around. i know it wasn't comfortable by any means, but really, i can't find a comfortable position. 22 days (or less!) left. (i will be getting induced a week or so early, like i said, my doc wants it out of me :)

okay enough complaining. just look at how cute munchkin is!
i think she looks like shes ready to go surf. ha.
typical face. get this one like 40 times a day.
waking up is SO hard.
because her mattress is on the floor, we often find her in funny places. her closet is her usual, today it was behind the door. anyways, its always a good laugh to see where she slept.
wearing momma's shoes. she loves it. i love it.
another typical face.
and again. promise she's not on drugs. (even though shes gotten into benedryl and almost ate excedrin. those lids are not as child proof as you might hope.)

i promise i usually try and do something with her hair- i realize in these pictures it makes her seem a little out of control. and she is. but its not quite long enough sometimes.

other than that, not much else going on here- we celebrated our anniversary last night a month early. lets face it- the next two-three months will be a little hectic! (joe has school, graduation, um NEW CHILD, getting ready for said child, work, callings, traveling to and from st. louis, and claire in general, all these will likely take up some time.)

oh and my garden is actually producing, produce! yes. actual food. amazing, huh?

similarities

we spend so much time out swimming, this could easily be claire

and when we do claire's hair in pig tails now, she really reminds me of her

all the blond hair,

the perfect spiral,

bangs....

she is definitely all her own, but i was reminded of those the other day.

are. you. kidding.

GAH! i felt like pulling my hair out when we went to target yesterday. you know why? it was BARELY half way through july and they had their back-to-school junk out already! (yep i said junk) what? it. is. barely. flipping. JULY. why is anyone thinking about back-to-school? we are just getting settled into the hot weather (which now is everyone's favorite thing to complain about. get over it- you live in the desert!) and they go and do this. just couldn't believe it.

that's my rant for today. sorry we are not more exciting.

oh, and just so you know, sheep and goats in utah moo. no joke. come over and we'll go for a walk down the street and find some. ask my mom if you don't believe me. so its kind of confusing to teach claire to baaaaa and mooooo, when the animals all kinda end up sounding the same.

house of learning

i am always wondering if i am teaching claire enough. if i am doing things right. if she gets it. i had a little bit of clarity tonight though- i had been thinking about a comment my sis-in-law made about how she wants to keep her home like the temple. she does an amazing job with her bunch and i really look up to her for how well she does. i've been wondering lately if my home feels like a temple, if when someone walks in they feel good.

on our way home from our little date we had tonight i sighed to myself as i thought of the stack of dishes i had waiting. sweet. after getting home and getting claire in bed i sat down for a minute and put my feet up because they were swelling- and i looked around and thought "its been a really, really good day for us. one look around here and you can see that." towels hanging on chairs from swimming, dishes from a good home cooked meal, claire's alligator piano from when she was practicing playing and singing her abc's, books from reading, crayons and paper from coloring, blankets from snuggling, exercise ball from rolling around, lucky charms spilled on the floor with the marshmallows picked out.

and it dawned on me. i consider my house relatively clean. most of the time. definitely room for improvement, but cleanliness is not the only thing that makes a temple. when you just look at all the evidence that there was teaching and learning going on in my home today, i would consider it still temple-ish. scriptures were out from reading; pictures of Christ adorn the walls; an ensign or two are always lying around; books and puzzles everywhere; the flour bucket pulled up to the kitchen counter so claire could see what was going on. and then there were the teaching moments that are only memories now: singing claire's favorite songs; working through a tantrum when we needed to go home and struggling to get jammies on; working on keeping arms folded during a prayer; waiting for mom or dad to be in the pool before getting in....

after pondering my house of learning, i decided to leave the tv off, turn on some good tunes, and clean up the mess with a happy face, peace in my heart for the first time in a few days, and said a prayer of gratitude for such a wonderful day, an excellent husband, a joy of a child, and to know that even though i've got a loooooong ways to go we made some progress today. definitely sweet.

water baby

oh hey

dunk!

this is a BIG deal for her to get away from the steps and hang out in the ring.... she loves water, but likes putting her feet down. so for her going out is a big deal!

are you loving all these pictures lately? mmmmm i just love summer! and the weather in utah lately has been GORGEOUS. thursdays are our weekends around here with joe's work and school schedule and claire just LOVES spending the time with her daddy. i think she looks forward to this time all week to just get someone to throw her around and play.

and here's a funny for ya- we finally watched the movie "valentine's day" (it was finally in redbox!). the last scene on the bridge was stolen from when joe and i were dating. yep they totally stole it. the first time we kissed we both felt like we had kissed a sibling. we were laughing so hard because it was SO awkward. ah, good times. (i know that was incredibly random; we were talking awkward dating/engagement stories at a meeting last night and i've been remembering funny things like that all day)

little winky bean

what a ham bone. so grateful for miss sassy pants. i was teaching the lesson inn YW today and was finishing up preparation for it this morning. it was on the sacrament, and while i don't teach regularly i am always prayerful that someone will gain something from whatever i end up saying. i asked specifically that i could feel the spirit and be able to ponder quietly as it was passed, something that has been hard to do with claire. but miracle of miracles she sat quietly, folded her arms during the prayers, and she drank the water instead of pushing it away and spilling it. so nice to close my eyes for a moment and meditate with my arms wrapped around my bub-a-chub. i though a lot about this quote from our lesson. i totally lost it while it was being read, but i think its worth sharing. kinda long- but worth the read:

“Our Father in heaven … loved his Son, Jesus Christ, better than Abraham ever loved Isaac, for our Father had with him his Son, our Redeemer, in the eternal worlds, faithful and true for ages, standing in a place of trust and honor, and the Father loved him dearly, and yet he allowed this well-beloved Son to descend from his place of glory and honor, where millions did him homage, down to the earth, condescension that is not within the power of man to conceive. He came to receive the insult, the abuse, and the crown of thorns. God heard the cry of his Son in that moment of great grief and agony, in the garden when, it is said, the pores of his body opened and drops of blood stood upon him, and he cried out: ‘Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me.’ …

“… His Father looked on with great grief and agony over his Beloved Son, until there seems to have come a moment when even our Savior cried out in despair, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’

“In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even he could not endure it any longer; and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as not to look upon the last struggles, so he bowed his head, and hid in some part of his universe, his great heart almost breaking for the love that he had for his Son. Oh, in that moment when he might have saved his Son, I thank him and praise him that he did not fail us, for he had not only the love of his Son in mind, but he also had love for us. I rejoice that he did not interfere, and that his love for us made it possible for him to endure to look upon the sufferings of his Son and give him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. Without him, without his sacrifice, we would have remained, and we would never have come glorified into his presence. And so this is what it cost, in part, for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of his Son unto men”

that was from Melvin J. Ballard, and i really loved it. hope you do, too.

anyways, happy fourth of july! we pretty much did nothing to celebrate, but maybe we'll do something tomorrow? i love the fourth but i don't do crowds and tons of crazy people very often. it was a typical mad house in provo yesterday by six, and i just didn't want to deal with it. i'd rather relax and just hang out with people i like :) and last night was just me and claire, but i totally loved it so its all good. hope your weekend was as good as ours!

for your entertainment

in our first picture, we have myself on the far left with my roommates (and some random guy), each of us dressed up as pregnant with balloons on halloween. i was having twins.

picture number two shows me with claire exactly 20 months ago. sick. forgive me, it was six in the morning.

and numero 3, little nugget, with approximately 6 1/2 weeks until d-day.

and yes my head is cut off. and no, the picture does no justice for how truly large i actually look. nor the soreness inn my ribs. and the fact that i get really bugged having my thighs rub together. oh well. just trying to fulfill some requests. hope this satisfies for a while!

on life and love

our little family is expanding, and its been amazing to watch the love here grow. despite my crazy pregnant hormones raging, claire's toddler-ness sometimes getting the better of me, and not getting to see joe much while he's busy finishing up school and working like a mad man, we have a pretty good time.

goggles. she loves 'em

the munchkin keeps us laughing, naturally. how could she not? beyond that though, i LOVE watching the learning process. seeing her become a little mommy to her dolly and feed her, tuck her in, and make me give her just as many kissies good night. i love watching her grab the broom and attempt to sweep, and her love/hate relationship with the vacuum as she tries to figure it out.

time with daddy. winking and displaying her chubby chin

i'm slightly obsessed with watching claire interact with her daddy. i could sit and watch them all day- and while these moments are currently limited i soak it in. she adores him, and asks for him from the moment she wakes up.

like i said, she loves 'em

from the day bub-a-chub was born joe and i have frequently looked at each other and laughed because we actually have a child, and more recently laughed because she's already so big and we have another one coming. how incredible is it that we've been entrusted with these precious spirits! its a lot to think about, but really such a pleasure. and when people look at me funny because i want a lot of kids, i look at them funny because why not do something i have always dreamed of doing?

showing off her muscles- being shy, but she loves showing off those muscles.

speaking of more- i am so stoked that i get to see the growing process again. i'm sure i missed a lot this first time. i do hope, however, that he takes his time. claire walking so early seemed to make her grow up faster than it should have. maybe he'll be too chubby to support himself? maybe?

ranch stache. or 'dip'- she LOVES to dip anything into everything.

oh and funny story from tonight- related to the above photo. because she loves to dip it gets all over her hands. she was dipping chips in her salsa tonight and accidentally brushed her eye with messy hands. ohhhhh there was screaming! i felt bad but she got over it pretty quick when we wiped it out. silly babe. lesson learned hopefully!

a few random thoughts for tonight. i got lots and lots- and now that we have internet again i'll share some more. later. now off to bed!