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.

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. ;)

Emma's first dinner guest

Today we went to the store after Emma's dance class and she wanted to buy all kinds of veggies. So I asked if she wanted to make vegetable soup. She said yes so I let her choose what went in it (cannelini, potatoes, barley, carrots, celery, green beans, etc.) I chopped and she stood on a stool and sauted and stirred (she also helped wash the veggies.) She wanted someone to come eat it with us! So Grandpa came over and had some veggetable-barley soup and biscuits (she helped put them in the pan to bake them) with some green plums we'd got and I sliced and Dove Ice Cream Mini-Bars for dessert. We all liked it and she was very proud! (Of course she and Bridey spent as much time running around-- we ate outside 'cause it was hot in here and gorgeous outside-- and telling knock-knock jokes as eating...)

Firsts

Since our fridge is out, we ordered pizza and pasta and salad and garlic bread from the local Guido's. Since it was a really nice evening, the sun just setting and not too cool or too hot (and bath night) we ate out by the pool, in our suits, then hopped in the hot tub (a bit too cold for the big pool; I pre-heated the hot tub while we were eating and then turned it off so the kids wouldn't overheat.) It was about as warm as a warm bath, really nice.

For the first time, I took Maggie in with me (in the Solarveil sling, so no chance of dropping her.) She seemed to like it. We all had fun and when she started to fuss a bit and sweat we got out and went in to shower. It was Maggie's first shower, too. She stayed in the sling and didn't seem to mind at all as I rinsed her off and soaped her little arms and legs and rinsed again. Then she got handed off to Jeff (who was already out, having used the other shower to wash up and wash Bridey) while I washed Emma's hair and body (she likes to pretend it's rain) and then I got the shower to myself once she got out. (That's why we almost always swim only on bath nights; that way we just shower after we're done and baths are done for the night. Because they have sensitive skin and eczema, Ems and Bridey only get baths on Tues., Thurs., and Sat. Maggie generally only gets one if she smells or if she wants to come in the bath with me. Her hair gets washed a little more often but not much.)

Anyway, it was a first, and it was fun, and we all felt better after dinner, a soak, and a shower, I think.

Artichokes, mmm mmm...

(In case you don't know, that's from a song by Malvina Reynolds)

We just had a yummy dinner; we started it with artichokes my dad picked up for us earlier in the week. We all love artichokes. These were giant ones, but fresh and still tender. Mmmmmm. The kids each finished a whole one off, too!

Then we had salmon and steamed rice. We've had the salmon a while, it's been sitting in the freezer. They were salmon patties, actually (like round steaks, the size and shape of a hamburger patty), from Trader Joe's; I think my aunt gave them to us. I threw them in a simple marinade I often use:

-1 part soy sauce
-1 part apple cider vinegar
-2 parts honey
-1 part water or apple or orange juice to dilute
-handful of dried onions or a few cloves minced garlic

You just dump it in a ziplock bag, seal, mix it all up by shaking or squishing, and put the meat in, re-seal, and squish around to cover, then pop it in the fridge to marinate. It's kind of teriyaki-ish, and goes great with fish or chicken, though turkey and some cuts of beef can be good, too! Then Jeff grilled it (we have a very nice communal gas grill out by the pool. Makes grilling really pleasant!) It is hot but clear, a perfect day for grilling!

It was so delicious with just plain steamed rice. Really yummy, easy dinner!

Oh, and I've done two things on my list (below.) I went swimming Thursday night and tried out my swimsuit (which is GREAT! The high neck keeps me covered even when I have, ahem, buoyancy issues. And the slenderizing really holds me in, even when I'm "really" swimming, not just towing and chasing Emma! As usual, Land's End has more than just satisfactory quality. The color, rich and attractive when dry, gets richer as it gets wet instead of just looking sodden. And did I mention it STAYS PUT? I highly recommend this suit!) And yesterday we went to the Watermelon Festival. We picked up dinner on the way and ate it there, then had all the watermelon we wanted for dessert! The kids rode the carousel and Emma rode a kiddie ride; she seemed scared at first but warmed up to it by the end. She insisted she REALLY REALLY wanted to go on it even though she had to ride it alone... It was a bit nerve-wracking for me, since it's the first time she's ever gone on a ride alone, even a little one! I was proud of her for giving it a try and even smiling by the end. :)

Boom

Happy Fourth of July, readers!

We hit the thrift store this morning for a 1/2 off everything in the store sale, yay. Got an end table, clothes, movies, and toys for the kids, items to sell. Fun times.

Also went to dinner; on the way back, saw a ton of fireworks (we managed to catch parts of about 5 shows while on the freeway, then when we got off, turned and sat on Apperson for a while and caught the bulk of the show at CVHS. Emma had fun, but Bridey LOVED the fireworks! She said, "Look! Look! The fire! The flower! The pretty! Look!" Over and over again she said it. :D She was just totally thrilled by the fireworks. It was a great spot to view them, too! I tried to explain to Emma why we have fireworks on Independence Day but she was too distracted to listen; I'll try again sometime in the next few days. (I also tried to get her to sing a different patriotic song besides "You're a Grand Old Flag", which I am decidedly NOT fond of and which she learned in preschool, but no dice. She shot down "America the Beautiful", which is probably my favorite, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", and "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." She just wasn't in the mood, it seems. Well, except when I got sarcastic and said if she HAD to sing a patriotic song, "how about "God Save the Queen?" She wanted to know how that went and actually showed some interest. Of course. Note to self: sarcasm backfires with this one.)

Then we hit the grocery store, we had to get some more bread and some Tylenol and cereal and things like that. I am annoyed that Ralphs no longer doubles coupons the same way (but still advertise their policy the same way.) So we went to Vons because the sales on things we needed were better this week and now that Ralphs has a stinky policy their coupon doubling policy is the same, and Vons has the store-brand rapid release acetominophen that work EXACTLY the same as the rapid-release extra strength Tylenol but are way cheaper (and even on sale this week.) Then we came home and the kids pretty much crashed! Us, too! Tomorrow morning we're going to my dad's for breakfast since Jilly and Craig are in town, so it's nice that the kids went down fairly early (compared to what they sometimes do.) Though I think we're going to sleep in anyway, get up at 9, and the kids just go in jammies (and Jeff and I throw on some loungewear.)

Anyway, hope you all had a great Independence Day!

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!)

A good day

It was a nice day today. First we went to Maggie's appointment (we have found a new clinic that we REALLY like) and the doctor was great, the nurses were kind, and Maggie has gained 1/2 a lb. over her birth weight. Which is good. The other girls mostly behaved, and the doctor gave them stickers and a book. Very nice. Did I mention how nice everyone was? Yeah. We like this clinic. Which is good, since it would be $326/mo. to add Maggie to Jeff's health insurance, so we won't be doing that, and it will be a year before she qualifies for Healthy Families and can go on Kaiser like her sisters.

Then we all went home and rested. Jeff and I watched some Netflix, while the girls all slept. Everyone got a nice long rest. And there was a package at the door-- Jeff had sent me a Harry and David "Tower of Treats" for Mother's Day! He told me I could open it right then. Since I knew what it was already. ;)

Then we went to Tortas Mexico for our Nauvoo forum get-together. Jan and Jana (our out-of-country guests) were already there when we got there; they walked with Ems and me and Maggie over to Albertson's across the street to see if they had any of Maggie's pacis (they didn't; we picked some up at Vons on the way home) and pick up a few things for themselves, while Jeff got tables together. It was just a very nice day and the weather was beautiful. They were in love with the flowers all over the place (it is, after all, spring.) When we got back people had started arriving, and we all had a wonderful dinner, following which everyone took a turn holding Maggie. It was just as much fun as our get-togethers always are! I am not finding the camera cable right now, but pictures are forthcoming whenever I do get them uploaded. :)

We're home! We're ALL home!

We got to the hospital this morning so I could feed her (ouch, was I full, despite all the breastmilk now residing in my freezer from last night.) The nurse said, "The doctor was just here and she's discharged. I imagine you want to feed her first?" Yes indeed!

So we are all home safe now. I will post a real announcement post later. :)

...and sometimes, they actually learn what you try to teach them.

We went to the store today, the little Armenian grocery near our home. It's been really nice weather; I am trying to get out as much as possible while it lasts! (The walking is also good for my hips, and helps the baby not poke me so much.) We picked up some stuff for lunch and dinner, some more apple juice, milk, stuff like that (and of course a few treats.) Our fridge is still broken so we've only got our freezer and my mom's mini-fridge that we're borrowing, so it's been a bit of a pain keeping food in the house, we're averaging a trip to this store (the only one in walking distance, really, at least walking distance when this pregnant) about every 2 or 3 days. And lots of delivery in between.

Anyway, we were there at a kind of busy time of afternoon, I guess. There were several people with small children (6 or 7 and under-- several around 2 or 3) in the store at the same time. There also happened to be a man in an electric wheelchair, who had Cerebral Palsy. He was verbal only with great difficulty (I heard him talking in Armenian to the storekeeper at one point) but he had a big smile on his face the entire time we were there.

What made me happy today was the way my children reacted to this man who was differently-abled. The other children in the store stared rather worriedly, or kind of hid behind their mothers, and the older ones kind of pointedly looked away, trying not to be rude by "staring." Bridey saw him smiling and smiled back, waved, and said, "HI!" Then she turned and excitedly told me, "Mommy, man habe swollew wike me!" ("Man have stroller like me!") He laughed at this, and so did she, because she laughs when others laugh. Then Emma walked up and said, "Hi! How are you? My Aunt Mimi has a wheeled-chair like yours. I like it!" He burst out into the biggest, sunniest smile you can imagine.

As we were on the way home, Emma told me (in between bites of her ice cream), "I liked that man's wheeled-chair! I really liked it! Mimi uses a wheeled-chair too. I think they are fun." Then she told me, "That man holds his hands differently. But that is okay. He was nice."

I think they're gonna be okay.

Birthday party

We had it at Dunsmore park. Emma loved it. Bridget seemed to enjoy it pretty well, too. Besides my family (my mom, Grandma Katie, Aunt Linda, my sister Megan) and us, Max and Wendy, our upstairs neighbors, came. (Emma loves them, especially Max, and Max loves Emma and especially Bridget.)




We ate sandwiches (I made 4 kinds on 2 big loaves of french bread, cut in half), fresh fruit (Ems hogged most of it), lemonade, water, and cupcakes (broken oven, so we had to buy a cake.)




It was sweltering hot but other than that great. Emma made us all wear butterfly party hats. Emma and Max played on the equipment and then came in the shade and did play clay for a while when it got too hot. (Max made Ems a bracelet which she tried very hard to wear, it was so sweet.) Max also showed us his new skateboarding skills (he's taking a class at Sunland Park.) Bridey showed off her table-dancing (and standing) skills. Max hugged Bridget and Bridget tried to eat his nose and pull his hair (which he was not fond of.)

After the cake (and cleaning up from the cake!) they opened presents. They got some really cute clothes and some toys they will love. (3 kinds of blocks/building sets, a wagon, and assorted other toys and books, including a really annoying one from my mom which mercifully has an "off" switch!)





Then after we all went home and the girls had 1.5 hour naps (and I got a half hour), we headed over to the Stake Center for a Korean culture night put on by the (20 member!) Korean branch, which was awesome, delicious, spiritual, and touching, all in one fun bundle. :)

It is positively balmy outside.

I mean, I've heard the term before, but it was the first time I've ever been walking outside and the word "balmy" popped into my head to describe the night. I was getting the laundry out of the dryer, and it is just a lovely night. I'm tempted to find a project (or a book and a drink) and go outside and sit by the door, just to enjoy it. No one's out there to see my pjs (which are nice, anyway; my daddy got them for me after Christmas when they went on sale because I liked Sherí's so much, and they are white with red cardinals and flowers and soft blue spots on them; Ems calls them my "chicken jammies") and it's nicer outside than in right now. Mmmmm...

In other news, we got a package from Bridget and Emma's "Auntie" Yvette today, with some late Christmas presents (which they loved.) Emma is thrilled that the Spot stuffed toy matches the Spot books... If you're reading this, thank you, Auntie Yvette! We'll send a note soon.

"We awe habing a picpic!"

(Picnic, that is.)

Last night we were talking to Wendy and Max, our new neighbors. Max wanted to play with Bridget but Bridget needed a nap. So I asked if he would like to have a picnic tonight and play with Bridget and Emma after dinner. He and his mom said yes, so we did!

I made breaded chicken tenders, rice (Max said he liked rice when I asked him what he likes to eat, but he actually ate more chicken than rice), chicken gravy, and veggies. The kids had apple juice and we grownups split a bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. We all sat on a blanket and towel on the ground on the back patio area, except for Bridget, who sat in the baby rocker and was fed jarred baby food. While we ate we talked, and then we grownups cleaned up while Max and Emma both played with toys (they each have some outdoor toys stored on the patio, and played with each other's to their hearts' content. Max also taught Emma how to dump dirt with a toy dump truck.) Then we had the fruit cocktail cake that I had made, and some cookies and cream ice cream that Wendy brought. The kids played more while we finished clearing up, and then we said good night.

It was really fun! I love having neighbors we can hang out with, and Max and Emma seem to be fast friends already. I think that she was not very close to the last little boys who lived here because there were three of them, 4, 5, and 6, so they always played together, and also they were much rowdier than her, plus their parents smoked so I never wanted her in their apartment. Since Max is an only and Emma just has Bridget, who she loves but who is after all just a baby so far, and because Max is a much gentler, quieter kid, they seem set to become good friends. Also, Wendy doesn't smoke, so I don't care if Ems goes up there to play with Max. Anyway, it was great to eat outside (the weather has been nice) and have friends to share it with.

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.

Mountain Lion!

Right by my apartment-- okay, not right by, but pretty close, and only a block or so from the park I walked the girls to today.

I wasn't too worried; I heard about it from a neighbor as I was leaving (that's why those helicopters were circling incessantly for two hours!), but I figured if there was danger they would clear out the park or stop me from entering. And there wasn't, and they didn't. It did create a traffic snarl, though. My husband had to detour when he got off the freeway coming home. They still had the area roped off (for the prints, I suppose) when we got home after our errands tonight, about 10:20.

Of course, when a boy and girl, about 9 and 12, playing on the equipment overheard from somebody else in the park that they had brought in an Animal Control truck with a cage, they ran past me and the woman sitting next to me on the bench (who was their mother), yelling, "Bye, mom! We're going to go see the mountain lion! They've got a cage to catch it with!" Whereupon she jumped up and started vehemently (in Spanish) forbidding them to do anything of the sort. It was quite amusing; I remember the days when the chance to see a mountain lion would have seemed a grand adventure to me, too.