Titter-tatter*

Sitting on my front porch in the cool weather (finally!), eating some Cabbage Patch Soup, listening to the rain and watching Clara play in her rain coat. All of those all at once? Life doesn't get much better than that.

*There's a sky light in the hallway by Clara's room and last time it rained she said, "I heard this titter-tatter and was like, 'What is that noise?' and then realized it was the rain." I guess I don't enunciate my p's very well.

Children's Museum of Phoenix: A Great Day

Yesterday we went to the Children's Museum of Phoenix with Camille and her girls. She had culture passes so it was free, which is always a bonus. I've been wanting to go, but didn't want to pay so I was really excited for the invitation to tag along. If you haven't figured it out by now, I like free stuff. This was no exception, however, we had such a good experience that I left thinking I'd be willing to go back as a paying guest. I liked it that much.

As a bonus, the drive to Phoenix included rain, stormy skies and a bright, beautiful, full rainbow. Clara's new thing is yelling "wooooh!" when cool things happen and this was perfect reason for her to practice her new noise.So this museum, I thought, was awesome. We were there for nearly five hours and had lots of fun. There's something about how free the kids are to explore, create and imagine. The decorations were so kid-friendly, yet they spoke talent from a high-paid designer. It's in the old Monroe School building, which only added to the environment that has been created. I just really don't know how to describe it.

The 1st floor has this huge climbing area that we loved.

Plus it had a wall of tubes with air rushing around, shove the chiffon fabric into the holes, watch it get sucked to an exit then wait for it to float softly back down to you.

In the "fort" room, they had this awesome place for reading books. I am now determined to create something like this in Clara's room. Any suggestions?

This climbing thing is 3 stories tall and is pretty awesome. Clara wanted me to climb in it with her and parts of it were fine, but parts of it weren't exactly designed for pregnant woman as myself. I was so proud of myself for climbing all throughout this structure with Clara not once, but twice, that I made her take my picture so she can remember how much I love her. :)

Now for the only bad part of the trip... Clara got stuck in this little cage part. For some reason she was terrified and wouldn't come down the way she went up. Normally she's fearless, so I started getting a little impatient with her. I talked her through laying on her stomach, then sliding until her feet touched the next level, but she wouldn't do it. She'd lay down, start to slide and then hang onto the sides for dear life. I think she could see how high up she was and didn't realize her feet were literally 2-3 inches from the ground. She started to panic and I started laughing and taking pictures. How cruel am I? There's was nothing I could do though. I couldn't crawl in there and she wouldn't do what I told her. Anyway, after I tried over and over to get her to do it and a little boy climbed in to help her, she was still stuck. Finally one of the workers told us that if she went all the way to the top, it connected to the rest of the climbing areas. Clara didn't mind going up, so that worked like a charm and the first thing she did after she got down? Run to do it again. Obviously she wasn't too traumatized.

It was a great day.

Batch #6: Everything Else

Clara's dance class - Clara started a little dance class once a week. She loves it. I smile every time I see all the little 3-5 year old girls in pink and black leotards and dance shoes. I can hardly wait for their first performance...This summer, my dad's cousin Carol came to visit. I don't think I've ever waited 6 months to post something, but for posterity, I didn't want to let this one slide. Anyway, Carol and her daughter Sam were in town and it was fun spending time with them. Carol's dad is my grandma's brother so it's fun to hear about the family.
My goal to read literary classics... one and a half down, lots more to go. Somehow I missed out on reading pretty much every single literary classic in school. I decided I need to start reading classics. I started with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It was interrupted by Daughter of the Forest and then between moving and the slowness of the book, I only made it about half-way through before I used up ALL my renewals at the library. Good story, but it did drag on. Next up, To Kill A Mockingbird. Rachel was slightly horrified when she discovered I hadn't read it. A few days later, we were in Costco and she saw an anniversary edition and told me she'd buy it for me if I wouldn't buy it myself. I figured I better buy it. I bought it. I read it. I enjoyed it.


Rachel's post-reunion visit - Let's talk about how lazy I was the week after when Rachel and her kids stayed here in Arizona. I went to my mom's every single day and spent as much time with Rachel as I could. This meant Clara spent LOTS of time with cousins. It was fun while it lasted, but adjusting back to reality was difficult. I actually had to think of things to do with Clara, I had to entertain her during the day and she begged every day for weeks after Rachel left to go to Grandma's and/or Lucy and Elsa's. We swam, shopped, visited, played and had fun. After our shopping trip, Clara ran smack into a table and hit her forehead pretty hard. I asked her how it happened and she said she didn't know where she was going so she had her eyes closed (while running). I just love that 3 year old logic. I didn't take many pictures because I was really lazy, remember? Rachel's always up for good food so one night Rachel, Angela and I ate at LGO and another night we ventured out to the Fort McDowell Casino for all you can eat crab. All you can eat crab for $10/person? Kind of awesome. Anyway, looking through pictures made me really miss Rachel and her family. If I wasn't 7 months pregnant, I think I'd drive to Utah and see her.

My dad would not smile for the picture. Rachel and my mom made up for it though.

Missing Jason's family reunion - Because of moving, we missed Jason's family reunion this year. I don't think he's ever missed it except the two years he was on his mission. I've been 8 years in a row. I missed going, but sitting on my couch Saturday night and not being freezing cold helped me get over it.

Zoo - Clara and I went to the Zoo for the Member's Sneak Peak of the koalas. We had fun, but it wasn't because of the koalas. Might as well have shoved a stuffed animal in a eucalyptus, we wouldn't have known the difference. Clara did get her face painted while we waited in line, so she loved that. We ran into some friends of my family and enjoyed a good visit with them. I think this is the first time in 2+ years that we went to the Zoo for a specific event (the koalas) and it's the only time I have ever forgotten my camera. Thank goodness for cell phones!

My bug-infested, but incredibly delicious, broccoli cheese soup - I love soup and broccoli cheese might be my favorite. I made some and it was SO good. I found a little bug in it, but since I'd pureed it, I figured it flew in there after. The next day, I took some leftovers for lunch at work. I found a few more bugs, but it didn't bother me. They were tiny and the soup was good. Then the next time I went to have leftovers, I noticed a bug and looked a little closer and realized there were at least a dozen more! The broccoli must've been infested and at after that, I just couldn't ignore them anymore. I was so sad to have to dump my bowl down the drain as well as the huge bowl I had in the fridge.

Now I'll go back to actually posting about things when they happen... not months after the fact.

Batch #5: Pregnanacy

I guess I took the weekend off. We (I) were (was) a little busy laughing at the discovery of our termite infestation. Jason doesn't think it's quite as funny as I do. It inspired us to watch The Money Pit, but I just fell asleep. Why give up sleep to laugh at someone else's money pit when I have my very own to keep me entertained?

Moving on to the point of this post...

There are those women that love being pregnant.

I am not one of them.

Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful I am able to be pregnant and have children. It's a blessing, no matter the cost. I love being a woman and love being a mother. I love babies and children and know that the sacrifice to bring these little ones to earth is more than worth all the discomforts and misery that come along with it. But, I've gotta be honest, I don't enjoy being pregnant like some ladies do.

I don't enjoy feeling so physically limited (ironic since that's what it takes to provide another human their physical body?), feeling so easily exhausted, always out of breath and having heart burn pretty much all the time. The other night I decided I want an epidural for my heart burn. Why hasn't that been invented? It starts from the second I eat breakfast, actually, sometimes it's there even before I consume any food for the day. How does granola and yogurt or cottage cheese and fruit or oatmeal and blueberries cause heart burn? I just keep thinking of what I'm going to eat in the hospital after I have the baby. My first meal after Clara was born was a bacon cheeseburger and fries. Nasty, fattening and greasy, but I savored every single bite because I knew there'd be no heartburn to make me regret it.

Lately, I've also been feeling extremely uncomfortable. I think the baby went through a growth spurt because my skin just hurts. Here's the belly today. This picture doesn't really do my stomach justice. I think it's because the skirt is not up against my body so you can't see how far my belly protrudes out. Trust me, I definitely look 7 months pregnant.Complaining aside, I feel like I've managed this pregnancy much better than with Clara. I know weight gain and swelling are inevitable, but I feel like I've managed both much better this time around. I do have a lot more aches and pains (my back started really bothering me and my hips aren't helping my comfort level either), but I don't have as much swelling (yet). Hopefully I can keep it that way. The first five months kind of crept along, but the last two months have flown by. Two months left? That's nothing... and that's why I have the sudden urge to get the baby's room set up. She'll be here before we know it.

Oh, and here's my new rug. I still like it a lot, that's a good sign.

Batch #4: The Houses

House #1: My last bit of really good news for now is that we found renters for our old house. Obviously time will tell, but I'm thinking we couldn't have found better tenants. We are blessed and I am very grateful. Jason and Dan spent a lot of time filling in holes, painting, cleaning and finishing up the backyard landscape. Hopefully our new house will get that much attention before we move out. :)


House #2: There are so many things I'd like to change with our new house. However, focusing on practicalities, I have a short list of things I think need to be addressed sooner rather than later.


1. The windows in the family room and dining area: It's a darn shame these two rooms aren't filled with plants because they are the perfect green house. They get so hot. My goal is to get the windows tinted and find curtains for them before the end of the year. It'll be worth splurging, especially when summer rolls around next year.

2. The baby's room: I'm nearing the two month count down. To some, that might be a lot of time. To me (aka cheap, indecisive, uncreative procrastinator), this is scary. Putting a child in that red room with green blinds could be considered child abuse. Which is why I'm determined to get that room done before the baby is born.

3. Rugs: I found the perfect rug for the entry way. Now I need some for the kitchen and one giant rug/piece of carpet for the family room. Picking the right color will be the hardest.

4. The green wall: The more I sit and look at this green wall of ours, the more insane it makes me. I've had frequent urges to rip the entire entertainment center thing out myself. At first I thought we'd paint over it. Now, I'm hoping it's gone by the end of the year, even if I do it myself. I might not be able to help it, but then again I might not want to deal with the consequences either.


Other than that, I can live with everything else. For now. Things (my brain) feel more settled now that we have our house rented out. As such, I've been able to spend more time enjoying my favorite parts of our new house. I love having a gas stove, big closets with shelving, big bedrooms, my 3 car garage and being so much closer to everything. The dust is settling, the worrying is less and I feel like this is home and it's right where we're supposed to be.

Batch #3: Preschool

Clara started preschool at Kathryn's. It's Lucy, Elsa, Clara and Kathryn's nephew Eldon one day a week and sometimes a field trip another day of the week. Clara was so excited to start school and ecstatic to be with cousins. She loved her hair (I put it in sponge curlers the night before in anticipation) and felt so grown up with her backpack on her first day.I'm glad it's just one day a week and fun and I'm glad I don't have to send her off to Kindergarten for two more years. It's definitely good for her because she acts like she understands nothing for me. In the few short months I've seen huge improvement, especially in her handwriting. Plus, I know she comprehends A LOT MORE than she lets on. A few weeks ago she walked up to the dishwasher and said, "S-T-A-R-T, that spells 'start'".


So far for field trips we've gone to the Park of Canals and the Zoo. Poor Eldon didn't get in on the hand-holding action. Must be tough to be the only boy.

I love her preschool schedule, one day "business", one day fun. My only disappointment is that this can't last for the next 14 years.

Batch #2: Creepy Crawlies: Spiders, Scorpions & Toads

One night I was at my mom's when Lily saw a giant wolf spider on the ceiling. I wanted a picture of it, but pictures from the ground made it look so tiny. I stood on a chair but was afraid to get too close because I knew the slightest move and I'd fall off the chair. Luckily, my dad came home just in time to hold a ruler next to the spider. I was a little too close for comfort so the spider isn't centered on the ruler, but if it was, you can see it's nearly 3 inches across. Good thing Jason wasn't there because it has become evident that Jason would rather walk into a room and face a rattlesnake than a black widow spider. He definitely suffers from arachnophobia. Buying a home in scorpion territory wasn't something he wanted to do. But, the benefits were worth it and for his sake, I agreed to pay for an exterminator (something we've never done). Plus, Jason spent hours and hours with help from his friend Dan sealing the foundation of our house with caulking. The results have been fabulous. Prior to moving in, we were finding 1-3 live scorpions a day. In the month that we've lived here since the sealing and spraying, we've found a total of 2 live ones inside. Jason found one and another surprised me in the shower. Jason walks around the house with a black light, inside and out, every single night. His two favorite weapons are the scorpion grabber my mom got him as a house warming gift (ha!) and the plumbers torch our neighbor gave him. I tease him a lot, but I'd rather have someone overly paranoid than careless, especially with a baby on the way. Just a warning, if you come over to visit at night, there's a pretty good chance you'll be invited to go hunting. I wanted a picture of the scorpion in the black light, but settled for Clara. Here it is with our scorpion hunting gear.

And the toads. At our old house, we enjoyed giant Sonoran Desert toads each summer. They would hang out in our drive way, in our lawn and under the foundation in the dark corners of the exterior of our house. They eat bugs, lots of bugs, and we loved them. So much that we almost brought some over here. :) For some reason, this year they had a billion babies. I don't remember babies at all in years past, but this year, something must've been in the water. If you walked in the grass, it looked like crickets hopping everywhere, but really, it was these tiny baby toads. One night, I got a picture of one and you can see how tiny they are. See him under that blade of grass?

Oh toads, I miss you. You are way more cool than scorpions. Obviously, since scorpions aren't cool.

A Post A Day...

It seems I'm only getting further and further behind on documenting my life. Which really is a tragedy since that in turn keeps me from posting all together. How sad. In attempt to catch up, I'm going to have to batch my posts and try to do a post a day. It's going to be about quantity for the next little bit, not quality.

Batch #1: Friends

10 year high school reunion
I didn't go to our "real" reunion. It was $100/person and I really couldn't find a way to justify spending $200 to spend a night talking to people I already talk to and being reminded of all my high school insecurities. However, a more casual {free} get together was planned for the night before. I decided to go and ended up seeing some people I have always wondered about, which made my effort to go totally worth it. There's a group of girls that befriended me when I moved to Mesa in 9th grade and we always had classes together in high school. However, we didn't hang out really so after high school, we didn't keep in touch. Of course I didn't take any pictures, but the next night some of us had dinner together and I took a picture with the Lawyer and the Physical Therapist. It's so fun to see the careers people choose and the realize that under their titles and fancy degrees, they are still the same fun, friendly individuals.
Beka's birthday
For Beka's birthday, a group of friends went to dinner. It was my first time to Benihana's and I have to admit, I prefer Ah So. But of course the company was priceless. I know Danny was happy he sat next to me. It's not every meal that you get a full cup of ice water spilled all over you. I can't imagine why no one would stand near me in the picture.Arizona Science Center
We went to the Science Center with Camille and her girls. So fun! I loved the "Wonders of Nature" exhibit that simulates all types of acts of nature, from tornadoes to wild fires. It scared Clara a little bit. The funniest exhibit, and possibly Clara's favorite, is the giant stomach. As you walk in, it belches, then gurgles when you climb up the slide and passes gas when you slide down. Clara loved it, but I'm not sure she realized what she represented as she slid down the slide over and over and over.
Here Melanie and Clara are being tested to see who is the calmest. I just love the deep concentration from both parties.I tried, Camille tried, we all tried. That soccer ball was not going to float no matter how much we pedaled. Clara loved Melanie. Good thing Melanie isn't claustrophobic, but aren't they sweet?
Work Friends
I had dinner with some friends I used to work with, Erin and Karen, Erin's husband Jason and their chunky baby Ava. Too bad it's taken me SEVEN months to see her sweet baby. It was fun to visit and hopefully we can do it more frequently. PS Clara is NOT strangling Ava, she's very gently trying to help her look at the camera. You know what they say, looks can be deceiving.
Kami's Birthday
Several girls got together at Joe's BBQ for Kami's birthday. Visiting with the girls is always a treat and that is such a great place to eat with kids. If only it hadn't been nearing 100*. Seriously, it's mid-October. (Nope, that's not Clara I'm holding, but Katelyn really wanted to be held up.)Visitors
We've had a few friends over to the Peach Palace and I'm hoping I'll make some kind of progress on the unpacking before they see our house again. I'm not holding my breath though, that's for sure. I did laugh when I was apologizing to our home teacher about the entry way being full of stuff when really I probably should've been apologizing for the green walls. Someday.

I'm grateful for good friends. Sometimes, especially when life is rough, I think I would be a total recluse if it weren't for friends to call and get me out of the house.

Conference & More Good News

I love General Conference weekend. We get to listen to the Prophet and Apostles speak twice a year; once in April and once in October. This year I missed most of the first Saturday session, but was able to enjoy that afternoon session and the two on Sunday. There were several talks that seemed to be just what I needed to hear. I especially loved Elder Scott's talk. It seemed that one talk was an answer to all three problems/concerns I'd prayed about the week prior. I also noticed certain words/themes that surfaced in several talks. Faith. Trust. Righteous character. Choice. Agency. I enjoyed reflecting on these topics in my personal life and considering changes I need to make. It was a good weekend.

Now some good news. Last week my client that I work on site for let me know that since we'd gotten all caught up, they no longer needed me to come in regularly until something comes up. You'd think having so much of our income gone, I'd be a little nervous, but the night before, I sensed this was coming. The extra money would've been nice to have for savings, decorating and times I impulsively disregard the budget, but the extra time I'll get to spend with Clara before this baby comes is priceless. I'm looking forward to getting unpacked and organized sooner rather than later (hopefully!), getting the nursery ready and having even more flexibility in my schedule. I'll still work from home on my other clients. I might even pick up another client or two. But not having to leave Clara regularly sure makes me happy.

Lesson Learned

For about two years, I was constantly stressed, depressed and I made myself sick from worry when we were trying to sell our house in Utah. I was totally exhausted from trying to do everything to make it sell and begging and pleading to have our lives free of that burden. One afternoon, on my knees and in tears (almost a daily scenario), I pathetically pleaded for help and the impression came, "I've always been there." I could not argue with that. No matter how tough things were, a way was always provided. Through it all, I could not deny that we were watched over during every moment of that experience. With some hesitation, I relinquished my will and decided rather than focus so much on trying to make things change, I would do my best and do what I could and then have faith and trust in the Lord that all would work out. I will never forget that day because of the peace I felt. I learned that day what it feels like to truly trust in the Lord's will. I learned that peace can come before the problem is resolved. The burden wasn't gone, but I didn't feel it. I trusted in the Lord's timing and the Lord's way. If only it hadn't taken two years to learn this... but regardless, I learned it. From that point until the house sold, life was much better. I can't say I never worried or stressed, but I was happier, I wasn't sick from worry and I have to admit, I was impressed with how well I was able to manage my stress.

After I wrote this post, I did a lot of pondering. I wrote a lot of my feelings in my journal, which always helps me figure out my feelings. I started thinking about the fact that while I can't always pick the circumstances I am faced with, my mood is my choice and I remembered the lesson I learned a few years ago. There's a fine line between doing all that we can do while trusting in the Lord and trying to force life to go our way. But trust me, opting to live the first way of life makes things way better. I'm just glad this time around it only took a few weeks, not a few years, to change my ways.

Ever since my attitude adjustment, I've had all sorts of good news. First bit of good news? I didn't fail my glucose screening test. Yay! I failed it with Clara and the three hour test was the pits. I was certain I would fail again, especially since the nurse called and left a message to call to "discuss the lab results". All she wanted to tell me is that I'm anemic. Way better than failing my glucose test. :)

More good news to come...