Emma's Baptism and Katie Sue's Blessing...

...were last weekend. I fail at blogging. *hangs head in shame* They were both very special, though. Emma's baptism was awesome, and she is taking it very seriously. What a special day! So many friends and family came, that was wonderful. A picture from before:

Family photo after:

And here's a picture of Katie Sue in the family christening gown:

All changed after:

The major points of her blessing were: -name by which she shall be known is Katherine Susanna -may she continue to grow both physically and spiritually -may she be married in the Temple to a worthy Priesthood holder -her Father in Heaven expects great things of her -may she turn to Him throughout her life for comfort and strength. It was very sweet and Jeff didn't seem at all nervous as he did the first few times, though apparently he teared up (I didn't really notice.) It was special, as always. :) And since we also had Thanksgiving this week, I'll just throw in a Thanksgiving photo of the girls:

And a family photo, also from Thanksgiving:

(Those never turn out with everyone smiling at the same time... We took three, that one has the good shots of the MOST people, though Emma's good shot was the one before. How it goes, I guess. Sigh.) Now, on we plug toward Christmas... My most stressful time of year.

Counting Blessings

I'm feeling blessed tonight. So, I'm counting my blessings.

Jeff, who is being pretty incredible lately (not that he isn't always.) Three girls with me to make me laugh and smile. Becky looking out for us as she waits for us to join her.

A big comfortable house to live in. Enough food to thrive on. A fairly healthy body that should be able to safely bring more babies to our family to bless us. A doctor who supports that desire and will help me do that the way I want to.

A family that doesn't judge or chastise but just lovingly supports even when I'm not at my best. Friends who love me for who I am and give of themselves in ways I'd never ask.

Faith that even though I'm not good enough, that gap between the self I am and the self I can be will be bridged by grace, and my efforts will be helped. Love, lots of love. Divine love, familial love, true, deep love from Jeff, love of friends.

Opportunities to make a difference, to help change things for the better for others. Wonderful discussions with others who share the same work.

A brain capable of learning and deciding to do things better every day. A mouth capable of talking to teach and share with others. Eyes that can see beauty all around me. Ears to hear music, music that can touch me.

Life. I love life. Faith to not fear death. Peace in my heart knowing that those I love who pass out of life are safe.

So much I can't even write it all. Love, love, love, at the center of it all.

Wow.

It's been a while hasn't it? I didn't realize how long it's been since I blogged...

I've been busy. Busy, busy, busy, seems like we've been DOING for two months straight. April is always super-busy for us and with Bridey's broken leg was more so this year. We spent several weeks at my mom's house, then came home just in time to get ready for Easter and birthdays and... Yeah. While at my mom's house we had lots of help, which is good as for 2 weeks I could not lift and Bridey could not bear weight. The Relief Society stepped up and I also had help from family, friends, and even my family's friends-- my sisters' friend's mom came and helped us several days (and gained the girls' undying love by making cupcakes with them and making them princess outfits out of tissue paper and ribbon and tape...)

Right before the end of tax season (which was 3 days late this year) I worked a check at the Petersen Auto Museum with SafetyBeltSafe, and we got a "Safety Belt Saved" award. The coolest part of this for me was my button. I keep it on my purse. It's teh awesome.

Here is a picture of the girls in their Easter dresses, as is tradition all matchy and adorable:

And wearing their hats, yes, hats are also tradition, bonnets until 2 or 3 and then hats thereafter:

Then there was May. My brother was confirmed a member of the Catholic church (he converted) and had his First Communion; we attended to support him in his desire to renounce evil and turn to God. We had a family birthday party for me and the girls the same day.

Bridey got her cast off, and after a slight snafu (we realized the next week or so that she still seemed to have a stitch in; we had my dad remove what turned out to be TWO, and thereafter her limping and complaining of pain stopped) she's doing great.

We got a new van! It's a 2005 Odyssey-- after we were protected so well by our 2002, buying anything else was kinda out of the question for us. We love it. We went out to Corona and found out that it will be a cinch for us to get swivel screens added in the back rows so rear-facers can watch the DVD player! That will be kinda super-cool as the older two tell me they want to rear-face again to feel safe, and we're going to oblige them with Swedish seats...

I had a few private seat checks in there too-- including one for a friend whom I think I know now better than I did when we were in high school, but either way, I'm glad to know her. And so glad she cares to keep her sweet kids as safe as possible. :)

My uncle who has ALS has been in the hospital; we downloaded Audacity and recorded a CD for him. It has some hymns from me, a song with all of us singing, Emma reading a story, us telling jokes, Ems and Mags singing songs with me (Bridget was not in the mood, lol, typical), and I hear it was a hit. The kids and Jeff learned a new song for it-- the "Alleluia/Praise Ye the Lord" caller/response song-- and it was very amusing to me that Jeff couldn't remember his part on his own. So after Emma learning the whole "Alleluia" tune with me, she had to switch to his side to lead him in "Praise Ye the Lord" because he couldn't remember the notes without a strong singer leading him! LOL! Note to self, if we ever sing a group thing as a family, put Emma with Jeff...

I had a birthday. It was kind of a hard day, being 5 months anniversary of Becky's birthday. I crashed a bit hard the day after. The day of though, my aunt watched the girls and we went to a movie. Then we had dinner with my dad. The day before we had dinner with my friends Melina and Leslie and their mom Celia at their house (I also consider Celia my friend, actually.) We have known each other since Meli and I were in Brownies together... We go way back. They're pretty much family at this point. Isn't it great how your family can grow to include people who you love even if they weren't born into your family? I have a lot of friends like that. Some I've met online, some IRL, but all are now family. Love that.

Anyway, in between ALL that business-- we've been sick over. and over. and over. Ick. It seems like when we're not busy, I'm sick, and when I'm not busy or sick, I have a hard grief day. I'd say I'm ready for a break but, um... I don't know that there's one in the foreseeable future coming up... I'm looking forward to stuff like flying to Ohio to help with a friend's son's birthday party, getting together with local-ish online friends, a trip to Reno, etc. But still.

That's ok. I'd rather be busy doing good things, making happy memories for my kids, and helping and supporting others. I mean, that's life, you know? Even with some grief and illness mixed in-- it's good. And I'm glad I get to experience it.

Summertime, and the livin' is... rainy?

We've been having "June Gloom" here. Not every year, but some years, it happens. It happened 6 years ago (wow, that long) on our wedding day. It rained out my little brother's birthday party many a year.

I kind of like it. (Well, when it doesn't drive my ring ceremony/wedding reception indoors in a tiny living room packed full of 80 people!)

It's a nice break before the heat of July and August. I like the grey skies, a change from the blazing sun we expect much of the year here... I actually love the weather when it's like this, as long as it doesn't ruin my plans!

On to other subjects...

We have a new bishop. So funny because I've been feeling for a few weeks we were going to get a new bishop. When they made the announcement I was out in the foyer with Mags. Later Jeff and I both agreed that as soon as we heard he was to be released, we knew who was going to be called as our new bishop! Funny how that works...

I went to a really fun baby shower Saturday night. I love baby showers. I really do. And afterward, I did a car seat check-- always fun! I found out that the woman whose seat I checked, one of my new best friends in the ward (they just moved in) lives literally a 1 1/2 minute walk (if I walk slowly!) from our apartment complex! She has an 11 month old and is due with her second in August... I think we will be over there quite a bit in the Fall! It's a hard adjustment sometimes to go from 1 kid to 2, I know from experience! And she's having them much closer together than I did, that can make for a hard few months as well, I've heard. I'm so glad to have a friend that lives so close. I don't think we'll ever be quite as close as my "BFF" Rayann and I are (we live halfway across the country from each other but we're close nonetheless) but it's nice to have a real friend in the ward, not just a friendly acquaintance you care about but aren't close to and don't "share" with.

Also, someone on car-seat.org found a company that is still writing liability policies for CPSTs, and I called up and found out that as a volunteer (I never take any money for my services) I can be covered at a discount (50% off the employed rate.) Woo-hoo!

A friend from my childhood found me on Facebook. It's so nice to hear from her. She and her parents are still in the area; I'm hoping some time to get together and meet her kids!

Jeff's little brother left for his mission. He'll be serving in the Washington Tacoma Mission. What's really funny is that Jeff guessed he'd be in Spokane! He was closer than anyone else in the family! We know Kevin is going to be a wonderful missionary. He's a great guy and Tacoma is lucky to have him.

Jeff's first day at his new full-time job today. It's going well, from what I hear so far. I'm really happy he's at a place he likes.

We have a new plan. Since Jeff will be getting home relatively early from the new job, every evening when he gets home we'll be doing a 30 minute cleanup. Everyone (well, not Maggie but everyone else) will clean, together, just for 30 minutes a day. We have some cleaning that needs catching up and seeing as Maggie doesn't let me put her down much right now (teething) and the kids can destroy 3 times as fast as we can pick up, I think putting them in charge of helping undo the damage they've done is a good idea. We'll do it 5 or 6 days a week until the entire place is really in order. (I'll also be de-stuffifying during this time, and try to get rid of 2 or 3 bags of stuff a day.) Then we'll scale back to just 10 minutes a day, and keep that up for, well, forever. We're hoping that this will work!

So, things are... going, here. Hope all my readers are well. :) Let me know if you want to hear more about a certain subject... I sometimes have no clue what to blog about. ;)

Primary Program

Today was the Primary Program. Emma behaved so well! She sang, she spoke when told to (though when her teacher whispered her part to her she said, "No, you have to say it louder!" LOL, guess we stressed that a little too much...) She needed me to sit with her so I sat with the Sunbeams in the first row. They were SO reverent during the Sacrament! I was impressed. They all sat and folded their arms and bowed their heads, took the Sacrament reverently and did not chatter or play, and even the counselor who was conducting noticed and thanked them for their example and reverence.

Toward the end of the program they got a little restless (they were up and down but didn't go up for some of the songs-- including Emma's favorites); the little boys were drawing and one of the girls was on the floor, and when they went up Emma kept leaning forward trying to monopolize the microphone (thanks for teaching her that, Dad! LOL!) But they got through without major misbehavior and the rest of the Primary (almost all of them were there-- about 22 kids in all) were great too. It was very sweet (and of course we made the bishop cry, I love our bishop.)

Anyway, it was Emma's first time in the Primary Program and I was very proud; she's getting better about things like when she's "moved" by the counselor who never seems to remember that she doesn't like to be touched, and speaking or singing on cue (instead of when SHE wants to.)

Thoughts and prayers appreciated:nearby fire, ward members evac'd

So we went to church yesterday and the chapel looked really empty. In Relief Society I heard why: half the ward had been evacuating their homes because of a wildfire in the Angeles Crest National Forest and nearby Lakeview Terrace.

The fire is only 20% contained and we're having Santa Anas. (Santa Anas are a particular kind of strong, dry wind; they're usually warm but right now they're accompanying colder weather.) The wind is bad enough it's keeping me up tonight and my toddler keeps waking and crying because the winds are howling and rattling so hard.

Apparently yesterday smoke and ash was being blown all the way to Malibu (which, strangely, meant we got no smoke only a few miles away because it was all being blown the other direction.) But anyway, the forest is really beautiful, my friends (and their animals-- the area is zoned for horses as well as chickens, goats, and house pets) have been evacuated, and the Wildlife WayStation animals are caged and ready to be evac'd if necessary. It's scary to me to hear the winds howl, knowing they're fueling and spreading the fire and putting people's homes and firefighters' lives at risk (the lives, of course, being more important than the homes, but the homes not being negligable.)

If you've got a moment, please send good thoughts/vibes/prayers for the brave men and women who are battling this fire, and those who have been displaced, as well as the animals and the forest if you are so inclined. It would mean a lot to me to know that other folks are thinking of our area and our firefighters.

An emotional weekend

Friday was Jeff's day off. We got calls all day about Uncle Bob's status, and finally went to see him in the evening. We only went in for a few minutes. Since he's in the critical care unit overflow, the girls couldn't go in at all... (I had been asking my dad that and it would have been nice if he would have just read the sign and told me that. All he would say was he didn't know if it was a good idea, he never said it was a rule.) At that point they were not thinking he was going to pull through. Today he is given a 90% chance of survival.

Let me backtrack a little. Thursday we found out that he was going to the hospital. He has ALS, as I've mentioned before; he had pneumonia, a really bad case that had progressed to sepsis. And of course because of the ALS it's harder for him to fight things off, especially things that involve breathing.

It was really hard to see him in the hospital. While we were waiting to hear if he'd even be awake for us to go see him and such, we ended up going to the thrift store. I did find some awesome books. I listed them on eBay but if they don't sell I think I'm keeping them!!!

Then Saturday we got up early and I headed to choir practice. After I got done with that we went to my mom's house but on the way hit a yard sale. I got a Pack and Play for $3, and a whole bunch of clothes for the girls (mostly winter clothes for Bridey; Emma skipped from a 2T to a 4T and Bridey is firmly a 3T, we don't have a lot of clothes that fit her, but a few for Emma and Maggie, too) for 25 cents a piece. Then we went to my mom's; her former boss (retired) was there, and they took pictures of Maggie doing different things for a presentation they're making for parents on what to do and not to do to ensure a nice round head in your baby (preventing positional plagiocephaly, which has spiked really high since the "Back to Sleep" campaign started, with proper positioning techniques, tummy time, etc.) She made us spaghetti for lunch. We all enjoyed that.

We didn't make the evening session of Stake Conference Saturday night because it is "adults only" and there's no way we could keep the kids under control and not disturb people, and we didn't have a babysitter.

This morning we were at the Stake Center at 8:30 for choir practice again. When we finished the last song, Bridget was ready to go, poor thing! (It did not make sense for them to go home and come back because they'd only end up with 15 minutes at home or so before it was time to come back-- and they'd lose the sweet parking spot we scored, actually in the SC parking lot instead of in the school parking lot backing up to the SC, so 10 minutes less of walking, and even in the shade!)

Stake Conference was good. I heard a lot of things I needed to hear. In particular I loved the Primary President's talk. I really needed that one, though she directed it to the children it was for the parents just as much. And I was interested to hear the big focus on getting out of consumer debt; our stake has been challenged by our Stake President (who used to be my bishop and I love him and his family so much) to be consumer debt free by 2010 (this is not inculding houses and school loans but is including cars, credit cards, and everything else.) Luckily we are in a position where we have already been able to start paying this debt off. We may have another car payment by then, but are hoping to have it mostly paid off. (We will have to get another car if we have another child, because we're using all the seats in our Corolla right now!) And there was also emphasis on teaching our children and those around us good spending/saving habits. The Primary children are going to be provided with savings banks from the Stake Presidency that have 3 parts; one for tithing, one for saving for a mission or education, and one for spending.

The choir was so big we overflowed the rather poorly designed loft, and three or four of us had to be down on the pews and walk up. However we had less than we had thought so there were 3 empty rows that had been reserved for us; I volunteered to sit down there and got to have my family with me. A very nice lady held Maggie through much of the meeting so I could get up and down with the choir. Emma fell asleep on the pew; Jeff took Bridey and later Maggie too to the Nursery room (where they had toys out and also had a video feed from the chapel so the adults could hear the talks.)

I had an asthma attack near the end. It was pretty bad; it took 6 hits from my inhaler to even start breathing properly and 2 more before I was completely breathing. I was shaking so badly from the albuterol when we got up to sing the closing number that I forgot I was supposed to sing second soprano until halfway through the verse... Oops... I did manage to hit the high note at the end, though. (One of the first sopranos couldn't hit the note so she switched parts with me just for the last line.) We sang my favorite arrangement of "The Spirit of God." I really love this one because it's so powerful, especially if you think of it the way I do, as a metaphor. See, it starts out with a solo tenor voice. Then the tenor is joined by a baritone. Then they are joined by a small group of men, then all the men, then the women, and in our case we added the congregation on the last verse. I think of it like a metaphor for the growth of the church and it has always added a lot to my appreciation of the piece.

So anyway... It was a weekend of ups and downs. I don't really know how much longer Uncle Bob is going to last. As much as for his sake I hope he does not have to suffer too long in a body that doesn't work while he retains full consciousness of what is going on, I hope for our sake to have him a little longer. It's confusing and it hurts and... Well, I guess I will just have to try to appreciate whatever time we are given to be with him. There are some things I want to do with him. I want him to hear Emma do her reading lessons before he goes, that would make him so proud (he's one I really talked things out with before deciding to homeschool, before his diagnosis and before he went downhill so fast, physically speaking.) And I want him to see Emma dance. And I want him to see Maggie grow and Bridget mature. But I don't know how much of that will even be possible (well, in this world. I'm sure he'll care for them after he is gone. But you know what I mean.)

This dying stuff is hard. :(

Fun plans

We have many things coming up that look to be lots of fun (if we ever get over these colds...)

So not so much a real blog post as a list of stuff we'll be doing that I'm looking forward to.

-the Watermelon Festival is this weekend. That's always a blast!

-the weekend after, we're staying Friday night in a hotel in Costa Mesa. Jeff has a seminar he has to attend for work that Sat. at the Huntington Beach Hyatt Regency, and while that's too rich for our taste, we'll be close so he won't have to get up at 5:30 to get there. The place we're staying at is literally across the street from an IKEA, so we'll have a late checkout, and just sleep in our clothes, get up, and go spend about 3 or 4 hours at IKEA while Jeff goes to a boring seminar! We do so love IKEA. And sleeping away will kind of be like a mini-vacation, so fun! Jeff has that Friday off so we can do stuff that afternoon, too.

-when he gets out, we're going to his cousin's wedding reception in Pacific Palisades. Not only do we get to go to a wedding reception and see his cousin; that happens to be the building I was baptized in! It should be fun for me to go back, see if there's anyone still in the ward who remembers me! (Long shot-- it's been 7 years, and I've changed a lot!) Maybe I'll get a chance to show the family the font where I was baptized. That would be cool. Also, it's just plain beautiful there. :) Emma will love looking at the ocean. Hopefully Bridey will sleep in the car there. Now, I get to decide what we're all going to wear... (Well, what we're going to change into. Jeff will probably be the only one to wear what he's going to wear to the reception all day.)

-I get to buy a super-cool carseat! Jaden, our niece, just had her birthday. She turned 4, and she's outgrowing her carseat. So for her present, we're buying her a Britax Regent, which is just an incredibly awesome seat (we'll probably be buying one when we get a bigger car, for Emma, and when she's outgrown it Maggie will probably be ready for it, my long-torsoed girl... Do you know she has a TWELVE INCH torso already? :o ) Anyway, there's going to be a Britax sale soon, so we're getting this ASAP (when Jeff gets his bonus for getting his EA next paycheck-- oh, did I mention that came???) from Amazon, which has a 30 day price guarantee. Then when the price drops for the sale, I'll just call and get my refund. Simple! I even found a website that will track your Amazon items and notify you when the price drops. Awesome!

-I got a new swimsuit (from Land's End-- via On The Counter), and I get to try it out. I love having a pool. :) And I just ADORE their swimsuits. This is a "High-Neck Slender Swimsuit." Which is just how it sounds! Has a high neck, and slenderizes you. :D

And I'm sure there's more fun stuff that will happen too! But that's my top-five excitement list right as of this second. :)

Blessing Maggie

Today in church we blessed Maggie. My mom came, which was nice (and afterwards held her and got her to sleep for us, suh-weet! She usually fusses through Sacrament Meeting.) In the circle, besides Jeff, were the bishop, Jeff's dad, and for the first time, Jeff's brother (half-brother, whatever), Kevin (he was ordained an Elder just recently, so this is the first time he's been able to participate in blessing one of the kids.)

She wore the family dress (see my post on blessing Bridget), which I washed using Clorox 2 and got a little lighter, and darned several spots on by hand (the bigger holes that had developed since last use; the smaller ones I decided to leave and not do more damage.) And she didn't spit up on it, which was good. She's the first girl who's been small enough to wear a size Newborn onesie underneath, the other two wore size 0-3 mos. by the time they were blessed. (Maggie wears 0-3 in most things and 3-6 in pants, because of the length, but still fits Newborn onesies, because she is long but SKINNY. Like our other girls. But she is more petite, bone-structure wise, than the other two. Except her feet, of course, which are huge.) The dress hung off her a bit, but it was okay. She is just so narrow. Afterwards, we changed her into a white dress I found at the thrift store, and got for $0.50; so cute! It has lace around the collar, is made of Swiss dot fabric, and has poofy little sleeves. We put a white headband on, too.

The blessing was pretty short, compared to the other two, but that was okay; what the Spirit directs the Spirit directs and when the Spirit says "the end", that's it! She didn't make a sound, unlike her sisters. We got her into her father's arms and calm before time to go up, so there was no transition to make her scream. It seemed to work well. The main points were as follows:

-Name by which she shall be known in the records of the Church is Margaret Nancy;
-That she may be an example to her siblings;
-That she may seek an education;
-That she may be married in the Temple to a loving husband and father.

Like I said, short but very sweet. I was particularly interested in that first point! ;) It is interesting to me that Emma and Maggie were blessed to be married in the Temple and Bridey was not; we will see what happens there, I guess! Of course we want that for all of them, but more than anything we want their happiness.

During Sunday School, Bridey came in to get her diaper changed and cracked everyone up yelling out, "The find the daddy! The find the daddy! The change me! The POOP!" *giggles* It was the fifth Sunday so we had a combined RS/Priesthood meeting third hour. That was really great. As usual. I love when the Bishop teaches. After church we went to my aunt's and had lunch and cake (Emma insisted that we had to have candles and sing "Happy Birthday"-- even though it was no one's birthday), then home for a nap, then to my mom's, where we talked (and played) with my sister Megan (half-sister, whatever) and then she had to leave as Jeff's parents and Kevin showed up for dinner. It was a great evening, after dinner we looked at old photos that Jeff's mom had brought, and they were so cool. We found out some interesting things. Jeff sits, squats, stands, and holds a kid EXACTLY the way his grandfather did (which I never knew, his grandpa died while we were dating.) Emma has her Grandma Leslie's grin. And Maggie looks almost exactly like Jeff's cousin Barbara did when she was an infant. There are definitely some dominant genes in that family! ;)

All in all it was a great day, despite a few minor willful episodes on the part of the older sisters. It followed a very full weekend (on Friday, the Pacific Asia museum and a Dodgers game; on Saturday, the train to downtown, lunch at Phillipe's, Chinatown, shopping for lunch Sunday, and then dinner with my dad and Sheri and Jeff's family at the Star Cafe), and we are looking forward to a more restful one next week, though we had fun (and Emma REALLY bonded with Uncle Kevin!)

Happy Easter!

We had a good one, hope you all did! We dragged ourselves out of bed (laaaaaate night, no sleep) and got dressed. Then we got the kids up (Emma tends to be cranky getting up early for church but "Let's go see if the Easter baskets got filled!" worked wonders.) Then while they ate junk (the Easter bunny put mostly healthy stuff in their baskets but, of course, they went STRAIGHT for the jelly beans, which were at least fruit-juice based; they did have some jello with peaches and some apple juice, I guess that's fruit, right?) we got them dressed. Went to church (and stayed the whole time! Jeff fell asleep in Elder's Quorum, I was looking all over and the EQ Pres. noticed me and said, "Oh, he's in there, you can get him any time... He fell asleep and we figured he needed it so we just turned off the lights and left him..." Well, at least they understand!)

Then we went home; I made the ham (and burned it a bit, but it was okay on the inside! I think our oven must run a bit hot) and everyone else napped. We had to turn on the air; record-breaking highs yesterday combined with oven on for 3 hours equals too hot! Then I trimmed up the artichokes, and we headed over to my mom's. I got the artichokes cooking. My grandma had taken the potatoes to her house to cook, since my mom's oven had died! So we waited for her to get back while the kids played in my mom's living room (she has all kinds of cool old FP toys, like a castle and a Sesame Street set) and then they took their baskets and hunted eggs. (We made sure Emma left some of the easier ones for Bridey while she got the hang of it, but by the end Bridey was spotting even some of the tougher ones!) Then we all had dinner. Michael showed up with one of his friends. They actually behaved. (So did the kids-- mostly.)

After dinner we got some belated Christmas presents (everyone got sick and we never did our Christmas stuff with my mom and grandma.) The kids got some toys, books, clothes; I got a really cool diaper bag from my mom, and a neat Tupperware thing from my grandma. Then we ate cheesecake; by that time we were all exhausted!

I do have some pictures, but they're not off the camera yet! I'll post them when we pull them off.

Shopping: the good, the bad, and the painful

We had a shopping day today. USA Baby was having a sale; we didn't end up with any big-ticket items. We did end up with $60 worth of small ones, including things I'd been meaning to buy online but couldn't justify the shipping for; the sale price made them as cheap or cheaper than online prices, so I got them. We also got a very nice calming CD with instrumental arrangements of hymns and gospel songs that put the kids right out in the car and calmed my crankiness, and some cute and cool little pacifiers that snap closed to cover the nipple part when baby drops them (like this; we got two Bugsy Beetle patterned ones, one Lola Ladybug, and one Ethan Penguin.) Everything in the store WAS on sale, but unfortunately it was almost all only 15% off, not the higher-end discounts they had advertised so heavily, and most of it was overpriced to begin with. We did pick up some training chopsticks just because I have fond memories of learning to eat with chopsticks as a kid and even though Ems already knows how to eat with chopsticks, Bridey gets jealous and would like to learn too. And the price wasn't atrocious after the discount, so we figured why not.

Then we went over to the "Holiday Tent" at IKEA. We got all our gift wrapping stuff for Christmas.

Then since Macy's was right there and my aunt had given us some old Macy's scrip they never used for Jeff's graduation, we decided to do Macy's too. We got Jeff two dress shirts (one on sale, one on clearance) and a tie, then went downstairs so I could eye up all the baby stuff. The Christmas dresses were soooo cute. I really liked a few of them, but I knew we couldn't afford them (we had about $35 left after the shirts and tie, and that was before tax.) But then Jeff told me to choose the ones I liked, and buy them anyway; he said it was okay that it was a little more than I had budgeted for both dresses this year, that it was worth it to see me happy. I went and looked at the ones that I had loved the most-- and noticed a green notation on the tag. They were already marked down to $25 from $50, 50% off! With the additional 30% discount, that meant that both dresses would be $35 together, not $35 each, and just paying the tax was definitely within our budget! Then when I checked out, it turned out that the clearance shirt was on additional sale as well because of the brand it was, so it was $10 instead of $15 as it had been marked. So we walked away from checkout with two dress shirts, a nice tie, and two Christmas dresses for an out-of-pocket cost of $2.38-- less than the total tax on the items we bought!

Unfortunately, things then took a turn for the worse. As we were exiting, I slipped on a spill on the floor. (A "wet floor" sign was up, but on the other side of the walkway from the spill and behind a sign, not easily visible.) I cried out in pain as my back pain was immediately eclipsed by hard, painful contractions. My husband managed to help me limp over to a chair they pulled up for me. They gave me some water, took my information, and immediately cleaned the spill up better (apparently it had already been mopped, but not well) and moved the sign, as well as posting an employee to warn people away (which I was glad to see.) After a while the contractions were less, and I was able to walk out to the car. But they didn't stop on the ride home, or when I got home and put an ice pack on my back. I was worried, so we called around until we found someone to help with a blessing (our home teacher works late most Saturdays, and most every other night, unfortunately; he's a full-time student and has a full-time job as well to support his two kids and pregnant wife. I don't begrudge him supporting his family, of course, but it can be hard to reach him, so we often end up calling someone else for immediate needs.) He came right over and after the blessing, the contractions finally stopped (I had one during the blessing and then no more.) The pain in my back also got better (helped as well, I am sure, by the Tylenol and ice pack.) But all in all, it was a scary experience. Thank goodness, no bleeding, although I did have rather heavy cervical mucous discharge. If the contractions had not stopped, I was nearing the two-hour deadline I had given myself before I was going to have to call the doctor and probably go in. Instead, I laid back on the ice pack and we watched Evan Almighty (very funny, not at all disrespectful to religion, and really quite entertaining.) So I'm hoping this is pretty much the end to the incident, but we'll see.

Stake Conference and My New Most Embarrassing Moment

So Stake Conference was this weekend. It was great, as always. We had 3 GAs attending: Elder Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve, someone from the presidency of the Seventy whose name unfortunately escapes me, and another member of the Seventy whose name I also can't remember. (I'm rotten like that. Sorry.) The reason was that the Glendale Stake was discontinued, and they joined our stake. We used to be part of the Glendale Stake, but split off 37 years ago. Now people keep moving out of their stake, while ours is rapidly growing (two new wards and a new branch in the past five years or so.) So the La Crescenta Stake began as part of the Glendale Stake, and now the Glendale Stake has become part of the La Crescenta Stake.

In any case, we had wonderful talks. For the Sunday morning session, we had brief testimonies from all the released leaders (they did some shuffling in the presidencies and such.) Then a rest hymn, then President Packer spoke, then we sang our choir number. (We also had the opening hymn.) President Packer spoke on "the only true and living church of Christ", and it was wonderful. He also poked some gentle fun at our stake president, who served in his mission when he was a mission president. My favorite quote was, "Satan will try to trap us, and say, 'I have you now!' But he never has us! The Lord will not rest until all of His children are safely home." Powerful stuff.

Anyway, after our closing piece was the prayer. I started to get a little bit dizzy, and caught myself on the bench behind me. But I thought I was okay, so I stood back up and bowed my head again. I then proceeded to pass out (I get these low blood pressure episodes, it happens.) That's right, my new most embarrassing moment: I passed out on the stand, in front of the whole stake and 3 GAs. I fell forward (because I was leaning that way because of the bowed head) and came back to consciousness just in time to throw out my hands and stop myself from hitting my head. Then I couldn't get up right away. The sister next to me was a nurse, and made me lie down. Everyone had been asked to remain seated until the GAs left, as they had a plane to catch, so they got to see me passed out on the floor as they went by. Our wonderful stake president, who is a doctor, asked if there was a paramedic present (of course there was; he came right up) and waited to make sure that I was attended before leaving with the rest of the presidency and the guests. I had my pulse taken and was fine, and was eventually able to get up to a pew to sit down, but couldn't immediately stand. The sister who had been next to me went to get my husband, who moved the car closer (we had parked at the school above the stake center) and got the strollers and kids in the car before helping me out. But, yeah, embarrassing. I'm never going to forget that stake conference, for more reasons than one!

Bridget took four steps today...

...and I missed it. :( I was in Stake Choir practice (we only get two, this week and next, then we're having a combined Stake Conference with the neighboring Glendale Stake, and President Packer will be there again-- that makes 3 SCs in a row for us with him there. We will have three members of the 70 as well, including one of the presidency. Speculation is rife as to what is going on, we have come up with about 5 or 6 theories ourselves, but will have to wait and see.) Anyway, I was so sad to hear I missed it! Later she almost did it again, at my mom's (we went for my birthday dinner with her) but she kind of squatted after two, then got up and did it again. Also, she will apparently only walk to Jeff or to chase cats, not to me. Very sad.

Hopefully she will start doing it more soon and I will get to see her really walk, and walk to me.

Here's to Emma, Helper of the Day...

(That's a song my brother's kindergarten class used to sing, and it's become part of our family's customary repertoire.)

We've been working hard now that Emma's 3 to have FHE EVERY week, especially since Jeff is out of work and we have a little more time together. Today Emma gave her first lesson. (She volunteered.) She came up with the topic herself. "We think about Jesus in Sacrament Meeting." After our opening prayer and calendar time, we talked about how we need to behave in Sacrament Meeting and why, that we think about Jesus when we take the bread and water, that we don't have toys or food in Sacrament Meeting because it's a special time, and that Jesus loves us and we like to listen to the talks and learn about Jesus and Heavenly Father. She led the discussion. It was totally awesome. Then we sang some hymns, and had a closing prayer and ice cream. I am amazed at how that little child can process adult concepts and at her pure love and solid testimony. She's a great kiddo, and we're very proud of her and love her very much.

Frazzled and Kind of Down and Stuff

It's one of those times when I feel like so much is going on that I'm just overwhelmed-- even though not that much really gets done. Sunday, of course, was Easter; the day before we went to my aunt's for an egg hunt, and on Easter proper we went to my mom's and did another (indoor-- it was raining Sunday) egg hunt and dinner (just us, my mom, my sister Megan, and my Grandma Katie.)

Thursday I taught my crockpot cooking class for Enrichment, one of three (the other two were housecleaning tips and gardening), and it was a lot of fun. Everyone loved it, I felt kind of silly telling women older than me how to cook and especially mentioning the information I did about eating balanced meals and observing proper food safety protocols, but I felt the need to and at least one person, a visitor no less, thanked me for it. So I guess it wasn't so silly. And I did like the eating part afterwards (we sampled all kinds of crockpot dishes. I made three. Everyone LOVED them.)

I guess I'm kind of stressed out right now. Between Jeff not working (he's looking for something part time and of course promoting the new business, but we have no clients yet despite assiduous fliering and networking and an awesome domain name for the website; there's a job fair Tuesday and AccounTemps, an accounting temp firm, will be there, so he'll be heading to that) and my stuff going on (I have bad cramping this week and my bleeding, which just finally stopped, has now started again, AND a cold, AND I was getting started on a UTI; I just started cranberry extract for that) I am just physically and emotionally drained. And frustrated. And Ems is not helping-- I think she is picking up on the household stress and it's contributing to her rambunctious, clingy, contrary behavior. And let's not even talk about potty training. Jeff losing his job means we can't afford preschool right now; we're still getting the registration process started (she needs a physical anyway and we have to have her doc fill out some forms) and hoping that it's going to work out that she can go (we had settled on 2 days a week and my aunt and dad were each going to pay a third each month, but right now we can't scrape the $80/mo. together for it.) Bryan and Amy are having a lot of trouble (she ran a fever after the c-section, and James ended up back in the hospital with blood in his stool; after a lot of tests they thought it might be something Amy was eating, like he has Celiac disease or something, and they put her on an elimination diet), but they aren't really telling anyone so we hear about it, with very frustrated overtones, from Jeff's sister Heather, who feels left out because she kind of hears about it more by accident than by inclusion. We feel REALLY left out because if it weren't for her we wouldn't hear about it at all. (What, just because we moved away because that's what we had to do, we don't belong in the family any more?) And then I get all judgmental because I hear this stuff and think "gee, they really need to learn to accept help", not thinking that, well, having a baby is a hard adjustment and we all do it differently and I know Amy has had some of the same problems with our mother-in-law that I have and maybe that's the root of it. *sigh* I really need to stop judging so quickly. I do think they could at least let us know to pray for them, though, but then I have to smack myself because there I go judging again.

I wish I could take a break and just get away for a day, but my mom is insanely busy and a little depressed herself right now-- her boss, who is also one of her best friends, and another of her best friends both have breast cancer. That means, on top of the emotional load, she's shouldering a ton of work that shouldn't be hers right now, even going in Saturdays. And it's tax season so my aunt isn't able to help watch even one of the girls. And, well, I am hesitant to leave the girls with my dad and Sheri until they're older, because my dad can't even remember what they can or can't eat, and their house is the most un-childproof one I've ever been in, and Sheri, for all she loves babies, feels helpless around them, I think. Plus my dad can't understand a word Emma says. It doesn't make me confident leaving the girls with them, even if they WEREN'T busy all the time. So there go our babysitters... Maybe my sister would take them... But even so, Bridey is going through a clingy, separation anxiety phase. *bangs head on wall*

Anyway, I feel frazzled and a little down, and I think everyone in our house does now. I am excited about all the eBaying I get to do lately, though, it's always fun to watch my stuff sell. Kind of thrilling, an adrenaline rush, you know? I have all our neighbor's dresses and stuff up this week and I'm hoping that they'll sell well, for her sake and mine, 'cause I get half the profit... Sadly, anything I make goes into the household account right now (well, what doesn't go back into my eBay business in the form of inventory or shipping supplies) instead of being my "mad money" like it usually is. But that's kind of nice, at least I feel like I'm contributing something. But I still miss my "mad money." All luxuries are now no-nos, except a little treat for Emma now and again when she's been helpful and we have recycling money (my mom and aunt save cans and bottles for us.) My trip to see one of my bestest friends ever, who lives in OK, this summer, is on rocky ground; there's no way if Jeff doesn't get a job in the next month or so I'm going to be able to make it, and I was really, really looking forward to it. *cries*

Well, what are you going to do? That's life. There are good times and rough times, and sometimes you've gotta have the rough. I just hope things cycle up again really soon.

Sometimes random acts of kindness and the tender mercies of the Lord...

...are the same thing, I think.

For instance, today I was walking with Ems and Bridey in the double stroller. We were stuck at the little island between two crosswalks that cross a very busy street. I put the brake on, but apparently it didn't catch all the way. I went to go and push the crosswalk button, about five feet away, and as I pushed it, Emma started wiggling, because she wanted to keep going. I saw the stroller start to roll into fast-moving, oncoming traffic, and lunged, knowing as I did that I was not going to make it, and all I could hope for was cars to notice and swerve until I could pull it back-- and at that exact moment, a mother walking her young son was passing it, and was paying attention despite being a little past it. Without a word or a thought, she turned around, grabbed the stroller, and held it until I made it there. With a smile, she moved on. And I praised the Lord and thanked Him for this act of kindness from a stranger. Because it was both an act of kindness and goodness, on her part-- and an act of love and protection on His. God knows when we will be in need and provides the instruments for our help and protection well in advance-- often in the form of putting those around us in the right place and position to help us. I truly believe this. Maybe we can all pay attention to these opportunities to serve others in small ways and recognize them for what they are-- an opportunity to be the instrument of the Lord's tender mercies in someone's life.

Late-night Vent

I am having a grumpy day. I know this is probably my fault, but it's my blog and I'll vent if I want to. (WARNING: COMPLETELY UNRIGHTEOUS GRUMPING AND COMPLAINING AND WHINING AHEAD.)

I have blisters on my hands from untangling my hair last night. I'm shedding, and it was pretty awful. It took about two hours of washing, conditioning, combing, conditioning, untangling, conditioning, untangling, conditioning, and untangling before it was braid-able. I weighed the hair I lost (what didn't go down the drains despite my best efforts); about 4 ounces. My head feels lighter, but my neck hurts from the tugging.

Testimony meeting this morning was okay, but I didn't get to enjoy it much because both the girls were grumpy. And hyper. At the same time.

In Relief Society, we had a lesson about Relief Society. And how wonderful it is. Whatever. I was just not in the mood. After a wonderful SS lesson (the high point of church today; I wished it could have gone on for two more hours) I just wanted to keep that good feeling going after my grumpiness from not getting to enjoy testimonies. I might have tolerated it some weeks, but this week I sat in the back and made snarky comments to a sister who knows how I get and loves me anyway. She had the good grace to giggle and try to cheer me up.

Also, during SS and RS my hands kept turning purple and red and white and blotchy and I was getting dizzy and seeing funny visual things. I thought I was over that. Apparently not.

Jeff had gone home during SS to put Bridget down for a nap, so I had to call him to make him come back (I had baby clothes in the car to give to someone, and he has an after-church calling, and I needed to go to choir.) It didn't make much difference. I only got to do about a third of choir anyway because the girls were so grumpy and clingy and because Jeff was busy in the clerk's office I couldn't just have him watch them. A sweet Mia Maid I know watched Bridey for about half an hour, and I actually got 15 minutes in, but then Ems started acting up and I had to take her out so as not to disrupt the entire choir practice. By that time Bridget was screaming, too, and I had to hold both of them because if I put one of them down the crying would start again.

We got home and I didn't feel like cooking dinner. But I had promised and we didn't have enough leftovers in the fridge for everyone to eat, so I made cheeseburgers. And oversalted them. At least our new dishwasher works really well so I don't have to do the dishes.

In RS today they announced a joint baby shower for two of my friends (sisters-in-law, due a month apart, one with twins), and the woman in front of me said, "I hope it's not at so and so's house (one of the pregnant women), it's so small and a ton of people always turn up for a Saturday baby shower, it will be so crowded." That ticked me off. We can't all afford rich fancy big houses, and what a thing to criticize for! I'm sure she didn't mean anyone but her friend to hear, but I did, and it just added to my bad mood. And whoever scheduled the shower did it on General Conference weekend, how much sense does that make? Not much. I think it might be between the sessions, but still.

Emma is still awake. Again. Her schedule is all out of whack.

And she's afraid of the toilet and no amount of Mr. Rogers book reading will get her over it and I am SO SICK of changing her nasty diapers (she's a big fruit eater and often has a virus, to boot.) She doesn't like diaper changes, either, unless it's really bad she runs away and screams when you change her. I have tried to explain that the way to avoid this is to do it in the toilet but that just makes her madder. I know I have to wait until she's ready but I'm just fed up tonight.

And sometimes I am just so sick of living where we do and like we do and not having a car (I don't think I even remember how to drive, it's been so long) and our dumb landlord and one bathroom and no washer and just... Everything. And then I feel REALLY guilty because I know there are SO MANY people who have less than we do, in fact I've been one of them, and I know we are so blessed because the Lord has always provided for us, often with help from friends, family, neighbors, and because I must be a horrible person to be so covetous but it's hard not to WANT. *sigh*

I'm also sick of my insomnia and sleep disturbances and difficulties. And being sick. And tired. And ugly and fat and horrible.

And I miss my friends. I'm surrounded by friends, but not, you know, my soul sisters. And I am lonely for them and they live so far away and I wish I could visit right now but I have to wait.

There. That feels somewhat better. Sorry about that.

Calling!!!

Yep, that's what it was about! Well, we had a good chat first, our wonderful Bishop never just extends a calling when he can chat first. ;) And I will indeed get the calling I thought I would get. Which is good, I suppose, because our website is in DESPERATE need of an overhaul.

I also just went up and met our new (right above us) neighbors. It's a mother and son, very nice people. We offered them dinner but they are having pizza, so we exchanged phone numbers and I let her know she can ask if she ever needs anything. It's so nice to have neighbors you can get along with.

Calling???!!!???

I just returned a call from the Executive Secretary, who called because the bishop wants to see me.

Now, I don't think I've done anything bad enough that the bishop would call me in if I wasn't getting a calling. So I think this means that I'M FINALLY GETTING A CALLING! I've been in this ward a year and a half without one. I'm soooooo ready to have a calling! (I have a feeling it might be Ward Webmaster, which I've been before and didn't love, but hey, it's a calling, and I would be good at it, and our ward website needs HELP. It hasn't been updated in about twenty gajillion years-- okay, so I exaggerate-- except for automatic updates, and I'm constantly forgetting that nothing is on the online calendar and trying to check and see what time something is. So I really wouldn't mind that all that much. At least I'd be useful! Of course, watch me be totally wrong.)

New job, now possible new calling? It's been a good day!

Things I Learned at Dinner Today

We had the missionaries over tonight, and it was a barrel of laughs! They love coming to our house 'cause apparently we always have good food (tonight it was onion soup, arabic bread and hummus [from a can, snazzed up with fresh lemon, garlic, and a little salt], corned beef and veggies [in the crockpot, bought last year at St. Patrick's when it was on sale for 29 cents/lb. and stored in the freezer, cooked the way I like it with carrots, potatoes, and a mixture of apple juice, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and water for the liquid, and the meat removed to rest and the cabbage put on top to steam over very low heat for the last hour or so], and for dessert fresh mango eaten with American flag toothpicks and fresh and grilled pineapple spears. It was eclectic but all fun and they devoured it right along with Jeff, Ems, and me.) They are always fun to listen to and today made me laugh so hard I choked on my mango telling me about some of the slang terminology used in my mission among the elders.

Apparently, when you are about to become a "trainer", you are "pregnant." When your new companion arrives, you "get an hijo", a "little son", and become a "father." When you are on your last transfer you "die" and "your hijo is killing you." (That is the one that made me choke on my mango.) The first area you were in when you arrived is where you are "born." If a comp you trained trains someone else you are a "grandfather". "How old are you" means "how far into your mission are you." It was very entertaining. I doubt the sisters use all the same terminology, though! Can you imagine someone overhearing a sister missionary talking about "being pregnant?" :o It's one thing for elders, but I don't think the sisters would say that!

We also heard from our newer elder (one was here last time we fed the missionaries, one was not) about where he grew up (Shreveport, LA, and he chatted a little about places they had been with my husband, who grew up in Dallas) and things like that. I love having the missionaries over, they never turn down a dinner invitation and they love anything and everything I cook! I think I will look in the freezer to see what else I've got that they'd love to eat and have them over again soon.

Anyone else got funny missionary terminology (from your mission or the mission you live in now) that you want to share?