Addition

3 + 1 = Four

Our family is adding one more.

Due Oct. 26

Saturday wrap-up

* Since she slept through the Easter egg hunt I was going to take Amelia to, we had our own in the back yard. She was as excited about finding eggs as she was pinecones. (Sorry, I don't have pictures - they're stuck in my phone and I can't figure out how to get them into the computer.)

* Who decides that a pint of ice cream is 4 servings? Really? It's a stretch to make it to 2 servings.

* This week Amelia has really gotten into walking. She is so excited when she's walking, and doesn't seem to mind falling at all. I bought her some shoes; she knows the sign for shoes, but didn't seem as excited about wearing them.

* It's been so long since I've been around real grass, and played in real grass, I forgot how allergic I am to grass. Amelia's time outside on the lawn today was cut short by a sneezing, watery-eyed mother who desperately needed to go inside and get relief.

* Do you ever come back from running an errand and catch yourself in the mirror, and think "I went out in public looking like this?" I did that today. Thank goodness I didn't run into anyone I knew.

* Ken is out of town this weekend. Tomorrow in Primary I get to teach six 3-year olds while trying to entertain a 1-year old. I'm hoping the kids will be as good as they were the last time I taught them.

* This week I reminded myself why I don't read more. When I am reading a book I really enjoy, I can't put it down - to the detriment of housework, eating, and sleeping. It wasn't so much a problem when it was just me, or even when it was just Ken & I, but now that Amelia needs attention, well, let's just say there were a lot of things that got done late or rushed this week.

* Amelia loves to laugh - and frequently starts laughing while playing on her own. I often wonder if she's remembering something funny or just likes to hear the sound of her own laughter.

Weekend and weeding

We went to Portland for the weekend to celebrate Ken's birthday, go to the temple, and visit Ken's mom. We ate at fun restaurants, visited with friends, enjoyed the peacefulness of the temple, and had a great visit with Ken's mom. It was a very full weekend. Amelia didn't sleep well on Saturday night, due to the unfamiliar location. Ken had a cold. And I was just tired.

Ken's cold really caught up with him, and added to the full weekend, led Ken to call in sick today. Amelia was grumpy - I still suspect she's teething, but see no evidence of teeth. So, I left Amelia at home with Ken while I went to run a few errands.

This is what I came home to: (it's a bit long - I was too tired to edit it - sorry)

Happy Birthday Ken

Ken is celebrating his 40th birthday . . . again. The last few years we haven't been able to celebrate as we should, so we decided to try to do better this year. We'll celebrate in Portland with family and friends this weekend. And in honor of this "40th" birthday, I thought I'd list the 40 reasons why Ken is awesome.

On second thought, I'll spare you the laundry list and condense it to the top 10 reasons times 4 that I love him so much (in no particular order).

Top 10

1. He loves to learn and is always researching/ reading something, to help him at work or at home.

2. He is willing and able to provide for the family.

3. He is spontaneous - although that one took some getting used to.

4. He loves to play with Amelia . . . and I love to watch them play.

5. He accepts any calling, and dives right into it, even if it's stressful and there are a lot of unknowns.

6. He makes me laugh.

7. He cleans up after dinner every night.

8. He is working hard to help his mother during a stressful time for her.

9. He goes walking every night (even if it's raining) for exercise.

10. He willingly watches Amelia every week so that I can go grocery shopping without her.

x 4

1. He's a better decorator than I am.

2. He likes to explore the area with his family.

3. He likes to cook and is willing to help me when necessary.

4. He is the best father and husband.

Happy Birthday Ken . . . we love you!

I may complain, but . . .

I may complain about the mess Amelia makes when trying to eat, but she has so many other enduring qualities, they overshadow the mess.

* Amelia continues to do new signs almost every day. She gets a lot of practice doing "train", since it goes by so frequently. I'm thrilled that she can sign what she wants (water, food, cheese, cracker) so that I don't have to guess.

* Amelia loves to walk, and even though she doesn't do it independently just yet, she's getting very close.

* She loves to cuddle.

* Amelia loves books and will sit for long periods of time "reading" books in her room on her own.

* She has started waving and smiling to people in stores, rather than crying when they looked her way like in the past.

* She understands so much of what I say and acts accordingly. The other day I told her "your diaper is dirty, go find your Dad to change it" . . . and off she went to Daddy :)

* Amelia has the cutest giggle. Even now, she's sitting at my feet giggling - like she just remembered a funny story or something - how fun.

Somedays

Some days I think that potty training is going to be easier than teaching Amelia to feed herself - with or without a spoon. Watching Amelia make a mess is almost more than I can handle some days. And just when I think she's progressing, she starts happily squishing food between her hand as hard as she can . . . and then hands me the squished food . . . if there is any left to salvage. And don't even get me started about using a spoon . . . although, I think she's slowly catching onto that one. I just keep thinking, if she only had teeth, I could give her harder, less squish-able, food.

Someday!

Randomness

*I mentioned that Ken had planted half of our garden. Did I mention that the garden is directly in front of the house? (Our landlord wasn't too keen on us digging up part of the lawn for a garden, so we just used the existing flower beds.)

* Ken is excited for the Swiss chard and spinach; I'm looking forward to the fresh tomatoes and basil (which we haven't planted yet because it's still too cold for basil).

* I think it's been raining too much here lately. I dreamt that I was grilling worms for dinner. It even grossed me out in my dream.

* It stopped raining long enough for Amelia and I to go for a walk. "Let's go Mom!"

* About half of the time I go to the library with Amelia, I am appalled at other parent's lack of etiquette. Who just lets their kids roam around stealing toys from other kids? (I was mean - I wouldn't let him have mine.) And who watches their child dump all the legos all over the floor and then leave without picking them up? Really? I think people are doing a disservice to their children by not teaching them better skills.

* I live near railroad tracks and am frequently behind a bus when it has to stop at the railroad crossings. It makes me wonder - if buses don't trust/ can't rely on the crossing arms, lights, and signals, should we? Besides the fact that buses typically carry more passengers, what happened in history that requires buses to stop at railroad crossings?

* The Primary President switched me from teaching the 10-year olds to the Sunbeams. Apparently the current Sunbeam teacher needed a change of scenery for some reason, and the Pres. felt inspired that I should switch with her. I like Sunbeams and all, but I'm extremely disappointed. My class and I were just getting in a groove. I'm going to miss them.